August 2024
Photo Credit: MiteCalculator.com
THE BEE SUPPLY
Monthly
FEATURED TOPICS Marketing Your Honey Could My Bees Be Starving? Honey or Pollen- Bound Hives
EDITION 50
Contents
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Clicking on a topic will take you right to it!
Table of
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4 Monthly Tips 8 Marketing Your Honey 16 It's Hot and My Bees Are Being Mean! 19 How to Wash Your Bee Suit 20 Could My Bees Be Starving? 24 Feeding in the Summer Months 26 Honey- or Pollen-Bound Hives 28 Adding Extra Boxes for Summer Cooling 30 Maintaining Colony Strength Through Summer 31 Make Your Own Sugar Syrup 32 Understanding and Managing Varroa Mites 36 Chat with Dr. Cameron Jack 38 Requeening an Africanized Feral Hive 42 Disposing of an Overly Aggressive Hive 44 What's the Buzz? Bricks and HIve Notes 47 Monthly Buzz Webinar Q&A 49 Recipe: Honey Watermelon Granita 50 US Drought Chart 51 Club Locator
August
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As the summer continues, keep a close eye on food stores to ensure your hive maintains at least a thirty-pound surplus. Also maintain a water source and remove mite treatment when suggested by the manufacturer’s instructions. Typically, pollen substitutes aren’t needed during the summer, as there are some flowers blooming. However, during especially hot, dry summers, the conditions can kill the majority of blooming plants or at least cause them to stop producing large amounts of pollen. In these cases, giving your hive a few pounds of pollen patties each month can be an excellent way to keep the queen laying and maintain your hive strength. Oftentimes a dwindling hive over the summer can be the result of insufficient protein. As you feed your hive syrup, adding an essential oil mix like Complete can help give your hive the extra nutrition they need to thrive during the summer. Anything you can give your bees over the next few months to help them thrive should be used. Bee flight will be minimal during the heat of the day. Most activity will occur early in the morning and late in the day. A beard of bees hanging outside the entrance, especially in the evening, is normal this time of year. If your hive is especially strong, giving them a total of three boxes rather than two is advised. See “Adding Extra Boxes for Summer Cooling.”
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SuperDFM - HoneyBee A probiotic that aids in promoting optimal gut health. A balanced gut microbiome helps to optimize digestion and nutrition. In turn, this increases the bees' ability to help combat chalkbrood and nosema, activate the detoxification of pesticides, and increase hive immunity.
By Blake Shook
AUGUST TIPS
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BEGINNING BEEKEEPING CLASS
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Live in the Beeyard Tips Keeping Hives Cool Varroa Control Summer Feeding Fixing Weak Hives Live Q&A
Agenda
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SHOW ME THE HONEY!
You did it! Your bees have fulfilled their end of the bargain—you have honey! Now what? I’ll apologize in advance here. The first steps to mention on this topic are bottling requirements and regulations. Lucky for you, all I’m going to do is hit the highlights and leave the rest to your own research. Being that each state has its own laws and regulations, it would be impossible for me to cover it all here. But so you are aware of what they are, there are five areas of jurisdiction: Food Manufacturers License: Each state will have different guidelines for this license. A quick Google search will tell you what you need to know. FDA Food Facility Registration: Small-scale honey producers wouldn’t normally fall under this requirement, but to verify, here’s the link. FDA food labeling laws (apply to all of us): Here is the labeling guide. Local health department guidelines: Check with your local health department. Homeowners association or deed restrictions: These don’t apply to everyone, but if they do, it’s better to know in advance if there are restrictions in place. OK, now that’s out of the way. To me, one of the most enjoyable parts of beekeeping is the presentation of our honey! Over the years I’ve seen some very creative containers and labeling. How far you take it is truly limited only by your imagination and budget. One point often overlooked in the equation is market identification. Knowing who you are marketing to is the most important factor in making decisions on containers and labels, so keep that in mind. Containers and bottles For beekeepers selling in small volumes to friends and family, let cost and functionality be your guide. As I mentioned, knowing your market is key. Selling honey at a farmers market in a pretty Muth jar might not be money well spent. You would more likely hit your target buyer with a Mason jar or typical squeeze honey bottle. When purchasing your containers, take into consideration how many you can realistically use. Quantity pricing is good for most products, and honey containers are no exception. But keep in mind—they almost never ship free, so picking them up is your most affordable option. Basic labeling Most honey producers (big or small) utilize peel-and-stick labels for their containers. Shopping for labels can be rather daunting. From our experience I can tell you that buying a large quantity definitely saves money. Having said that, I wouldn’t buy more than I could use in a year or so simply because the size of your containers or label design may change. Here’s a good place to start: Avery– Print your own sheets or design online and they will print them for you (including ink, $0.55 each to print your own, $0.50 each if they print them for you if you buy 250+). Vista Print– Roll ($0.68 each for 250), sheet pricing ($0.72 each for 200), or single sticker ($0.76 each for 200). UPrinting– Cut-to-size, another term for “single sticker” ($0.19 each for 250) or roll ($0.77 each for 250). All of these quotes are approximations. It’s important to restate that quantity really matters. We pay $0.07 each for 2,000 stickers from UPrinting. Yes, that’s a lot of stickers, but we sell a fair amount of honey. Attributes to consider when ordering Washable (glossy doesn't always mean washable, but it shows well) Sized to fit more than one size container, leaving the weight open (example: net wt/g _____) Removable (for those of us who need do-overs in applying) Clear labels are hard to read Building a great label Promote unique forage flavors (e.g., clover, mesquite, etc.) Develop your own logo (product branding): This can be free. Utilize AI programs or programs you already have like Canva or Adobe. Use a catchphrase (e.g., “Best honey in town”) Use terms that garner attention (e.g., local, raw, etc.) Phone number (not required but very important so customers can call to reorder!) Keep it simple! Too many words or too much going on takes away from what your goal is—to stand out from the rest so it will sell! Marketing your honey When it comes to marketing your product, nothing matters more than focusing on your target buyer. Small- to medium-scale producers A lot of us fall into this category. Here are some tips that can help get your honey sold: Always keep honey with you! What’s the old saying? “You can’t sell from an empty wagon!” Use social media to advertise (Facebook, Instagram). Start your own page with your “honey name” (e.g., Chari’s Honey Company). Keep it current and post often! Make it known to your friends and family that you have honey for sale; after all, they are your best customers and best advertisers! Let family members sell it for you! Let’s face it—we give a lot of honey away to our families. Why not get them to sell some to return the favor? Sell at farmer's markets and town festivals. Only participate if you are the only honey producer selling. More than one will reduce sales for you and the other vendor. It becomes a pricing war in which no one makes money. Make your honey customers feel special. We order free (+ shipping) brochures from Honey.com and give them to each new customer. They will love it and will tell a friend. The very best kind of free advertising is word of mouth! Get a Google listing. I love that we are “Googleable”! It also gives you the opportunity to post pictures on the listing, your address, and most importantly, good reviews! Create a website. This may sound intimidating, but it’s a lot simpler and cheaper than you realize. For example, a GoDaddy domain costs around $43 per year. Couple that with a simple website (Wix, for example, is $17 a month). That’s an incredible price for the benefit of having a website. With the tutorial videos now available, anyone with minimal computer skills can use the templates they offer and end up with a simple final product that looks professional. Offer a trial size and hit the streets! Depending on your state’s laws, you may be able to sell in stores. Walk in, introduce yourself, and hand them the trial size to taste and fall in love with your honey! You won’t be surprised to hear that your local hardware stores, plant stands, coffee trucks, tea parlors, smoothie bars, and other places are selling local beekeepers’ honey. Often the small mom-and-pop businesses are the best to approach, but don’t limit yourself to just them. The bigger stores might be interested as well. Pricing your honey There’s no real way to “honey coat” this. Price your honey to sell and to reflect what your market will bear. Plus, you need to factor in the cost of doing business and the cost of containers along with the labels you attach to the jar. Also ask around and shop around. You have a special product, so price it accordingly without pricing yourself out of a sale. If I leave you with anything from this article, I hope it’s this: choose your “happy place” in this industry. Biting off more than you can chew (or sell) can be costly. Focus on your target buyers; cater to them and always produce a product you would buy. And most importantly, have fun!
By Chari Elam
Marketing Your Honey
Family or customers making an unsolicited post on social media about your honey is great for business!
Providing simple inexpensive extras can go a long way in standing out among the competition. Adding a honey straw or dipper along with these brochures can make it even better!
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IT'S HOT AND MY BEES ARE BEING MEAN!
Causes and Solutions
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Let’s face it—working with mean bees is not fun. No one likes it, from commercial beekeepers to small-scale beekeepers. When someone complains about mean bees, I always ask, “Have they always been mean, or is this a new behavior?” If they’ve always been mean, then they are just genetically mean bees. In that case, the only way to fix it is to change the genetics by requeening the hive. I understand that’s easier said than done. Many beekeepers struggle to find a queen in a calm hive, much less a mean hive. See “Requeening an Africanized Feral Hive.” For mean hives in which you struggle to find queens, I recommend suiting up really well, and in the middle of a sunny, calm day, smoke them really, really well and then split the hive. See “How to Split Beehives.” Go back in four days, and whichever split has eggs is the one with the queen. Find her, kill her, and give new queens to all the splits. It will be much easier to find her in a small split. Bringing in a mentor or expert to help with an aggressive hive is always a good idea. The last thing you want is for you or your neighbors to get hurt. If you live in a suburban setting, moving the hive to a new, more rural location with the help of an expert before splitting or requeening is a good idea. In a worst-case scenario, where humans or pets are in danger, see “Disposing of an Overly Aggressive Hive.” If your hive is newly aggressive, here are some potential causes: Queenless colony: A colony without a queen may become more aggressive until a new queen is raised. Solution: Wait until they raise a new queen or give them one. Weather: Bees are way grumpier when it’s windy, chilly, or otherwise not nice. Solution: Work them only on warm, sunny, and calm days. Genetics: Some bee genetics are naturally more aggressive than others. If they are consistently aggressive year-round, that’s most likely the cause. Solution: Requeen. Pests: If a skunk or raccoon is visiting the hive every night to eat bees or honey, this can cause them to be more aggressive. Solution: Install ProtectaBEE™, an all-in-one adjustable hive entrance, or a mouse guard. Rough handling and poor smoke: If you are rough when handling the bees and don’t have a well-lit smoker, almost any hive is going to be defensive. Solution: Use a better smoker fuel and practice gentle hive handling. A poorly lit smoker is one of the most common and easiest-to-fix causes of mean hives! Check out this short video on how to light a smoker using burlap as your preferred fuel. Time of year: During a dearth, bees are always more defensive. Solution: Trickle feed syrup during dearth periods. Time of day: Bees tend to be more aggressive in the early morning or late in the afternoon since older, grumpy forager bees are in the hive at these times. Solution: Work bees during the afternoons when possible. If your hive seems especially sensitive to movement, like you walking in front of them, try putting something that moves constantly three to four feet in front of their entrance, like a flag or pinwheel. The bees will get used to the movement and be less apt to chase you when they see you moving in front of their hive. If none of the previous causes fit your situation, it could be that your gentle queen died or swarmed and your hive then raised a new queen who mated with drones with more genetically aggressive tendencies. After working a mean hive, I recommend walking through shade or through branches to get bees off of you. Or get into your car and crack the windows an inch. The bees will quickly fly to the windows and out. We do this all the time in commercial beekeeping. After a few minutes, most of the bees are gone. I also recommend washing your suit to remove the smell of venom.
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1. Detach the veil by unzipping it from the suit. 2. Wash the suit portion only in the washing machine in cool water with standard laundry soap. If it has stains (and it will), you can use products such as Borax, Arm and Hammer Laundry Boost, or Oxy Clean as directed on the product. 3. Line dry the suit. 4. Wash the veil in a tub or sink with mild soap. Use caution with the screen portion of the veil. Harsh chemicals will remove the “black” from the veil, making it next to impossible to see through. 5. Hang veil to dry. Reassembling the veil to the suit can be tricky for some. Check out this video showing you just how easy it is to take a veil off and reinstall it.
HOW TO WASH YOUR BEE SUIT
I really like James and Chari's interpretation of what causes mean bees. They have some good tips that I haven't included here. Check it out!
COULD MY BEES BE STARVING?
You may have heard: "Having more hives enables you to share resources between them!" Well, that is true! Successful beekeepers will tell you that, had it not been for the ability to share honey, nectar, bees, and brood, their success rate would not be nearly as good. Now's the time to build your apiary—2024 summer bees sales end August 23! BUY NOW!
As summer progresses, our bees are likely to struggle to keep up with the demands the nest requires. Here are seven signs that starvation could be occurring in your hive. Robbing Bees that are hungry will rob neighboring colonies to survive. As nectar sources dry up, honey bees will take any opportunity they can find to feed their hives. That includes taking what belongs to another hive. Read “I’m Being Robbed” to learn how to stop robbing as soon as it starts. Note: Bees do not rob for pollen, only nectar or honey. Mean bees Bees that are normally very calm will become aggressive when they are starving. Have you ever found yourself a bit testy when you’re hungry and can’t eat? Bees are no different! See “It's Hot and My Bees Are Being Mean.” Undersized bees When there is a lack of resources for forager bees to bring back to the hive, the hive will withhold its feeding of larvae in order to survive. As a result, the larvae that emerge will be smaller bees. Not only will they be undersized, but they will also underperform. Research studies have shown that bees raised in dearth or starvation mode are less likely to perform normal duties to the standards of bees raised in healthy conditions. This can even be true of the queen. Her productivity and growth are directly tied to the amount of care and feeding she receives from her hive. Nectar shortage Probably the most obvious sign of impending starvation is the lack of nectar or honey in a hive. As nature fails to produce, the hive will resort to using its stores to support the colony. These reserves can dwindle from prolific to gone in a matter of days when no nectar is coming in. Keeping a regular check on your colonies will ensure that you spot this decreasing resource. Absconding (they all left) This is an unfortunate symptom of a starving hive. Basically, the hive leaves to look for a place where there is more food. Nothing left to do here … Cannibalization Bees that experience a prolonged lack of resources will begin to consume developing larvae. Doing so gives them a nutritional boost as well as reduces the population (fewer mouths to feed). Queen stops laying A natural reaction to the absence of food is for the queen to stop making more babies. It’s actually a circle of events. The nurse bees will slow the feeding of the queen because of the lack of food, and the queen slows laying because of the decrease in her food intake. Feeding to prevent starvation When we read all of the above, we can’t walk away and think we have no role in the outcome. Feeding is the answer. Overall, we can make the decision each time we enter a hive. Do they have enough stores to maintain the hive? At any given point during the year, 30 pounds of stored honey will carry most hives through lean times. This equates to three fully capped frames of honey in the top box of a hive. As mentioned, these stores can rapidly decline and disappear in a matter of days; therefore, we feed! Feeding 1:1 sugar syrup or premade syrup nonstop throughout summer will ensure that your hive enters fall with the proper population to bring in a fall nectar flow. Pollen can be fed this time of year if you see your area is lacking in the resources to provide it to them naturally. Dry pollen (open feed) can be utilized for them to store and continue to raise brood, and pollen patties can be used to feed directly to the bees (inside) to maintain their health. Pollen is required for producing babies. A good indicator the bees are lacking pollen is “dry brood.” This is obvious when you don’t see the larvae in a pool of white jelly as they are developing. In the event of dry brood, feed pollen. Continue a regular hive inspection schedule. Observe your bees’ activities before you enter the hive as well as inside the hive. Let’s face it—our job as bee “keepers” is to ensure we maintain healthy bees that will make it through winter and come out ready for spring! Even if you aren’t thinking “winter,” you can bet your bees are.
Dry brood
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A very common question this time of year is whether or not to feed pollen supplements. My answer most of the time is, "Do your bees need it?" Watch as Blake shows us what an "average" summer hive that is low on pollen looks like.
FEEDING IN THE SUMMER MONTHS
Feeding syrup
Blake Shook
For summer feeding, the goal is to maintain 30 pounds of excess honey in the second box and employ trickle feeding of about a quarter gallon per week. Adding a box of foundation allows bees to draw it out for future use. To minimize disturbance, you don't have to fully remove the second box when feeding. Watch this short video where I show you how easy that can be.
With nectar-producing flowers dying off in the heat, the concern shifts to ensuring adequate protein (pollen) for the bees. Inspecting frames for pollen stores is crucial. Lack of pollen can lead to unhealthy hives, affecting larval development and the future winter survival. The solution is supplementing with soft pollen patties, ensuring they are consumed promptly to prevent pest issues. Watch the video above as I explain how to identify and solve pollen dearth inside the hive.
Feeding pollen patties
I'm sure you've wondered, Is all this feeding really that necessary? The answer: it kind of is! Feeding is one of the most critical elements to get right. Although populations will naturally decline due to the season, our bees are still raising baby bees needed to bring in a fall nectar flow. Just like we wouldn't leave our dogs or horses without adequate food, water, and shade during the summer, our bees need us too!
Either way, you should intervene
Why feed if you don't have to? So often we assume that, because of nectar dearth, we should feed. That's not always the case. Watch this short video to get a clear picture of what sufficient stored honey actually looks like.
Identifying honey-bound hives Here are a few ways to identify whether your hive is honey bound: 1. All the boxes above the first brood box are completely full of honey. 2. It is between February and September, and the lower brood box has multiple frames of capped honey and only a few frames of brood. Open cells on the frames of brood are filled with nectar or syrup. 3. There are no open spaces for the queen to lay eggs in the brood nest. 4. The bees are drawing out excess burr comb all over the hive. 5. You are feeding heavily and have been for some time, or there is a strong honey flow. Fixing honey-bound hives Oftentimes hives are somewhere in between fully honey bound and partially honey bound. If your hive still has three to four frames of brood in the lower box but the upper boxes are full of honey or syrup and the lower box is full except for those three to four frames, it is often sufficient to simply add a box and stop feeding (if you are). The bees will typically naturally move food into an upper box to allow more room for the queen to lay. If your hive is severely honey bound, here is a simple and quick way to safely fix the hive: 1. Remove two frames of honey on either side of the brood in the lower box. 2. Set the frames at least 20 feet away from your hives and allow them to be robbed out by other bees. This could take less than an hour or up to a few days depending on the temperature and natural forage conditions. 3. Place the now-empty frames back into the hive on either side of the brood. 4. Add an empty box. 5. Stop feeding if you were feeding. These steps typically fix a honey-bound hive! Don’t forget to continue keeping an eye on food stores. Just because a hive has an excess of honey now doesn't mean it will going forward. It takes two frames of nectar or syrup to raise one frame of brood, so a strong hive can consume food rapidly! Pollen-bound hives Pollen-bound hives are much less common but can happen in areas with extreme pollen flows. This is usually seen in the fall as bees are raising less brood (thus needing less pollen) but are bringing in tremendous amounts of pollen from a strong fall pollen flow. You could define a pollen-bound hive similarly to a honey-bound hive—they have so much stored pollen (multiple frames) that the queen is running out of space to lay in the brood nest. The only thing you can do is to remove a few frames of pollen and replace them with empty frames of comb. The frames of pollen can be stored and put back into a hive next spring for early population build-up.
HONEY- OR POLLEN-BOUND HIVES
Watch as Blake shows us what to look for and how to add boxes for cooling hives on these hot summer days.
As the temperature continues to rise, honey bees adapt their behavior to avoid overheating: Shorter forage flights: They take shorter trips, go less distance, and shorten the time they spend foraging. Foraging for water: What once was a flight searching for nectar has now turned into a water-gathering mission. In extreme heat honey bees will gather water to distribute around the nest and fan their wings to create a cooling effect—much like a water-cooled air-conditioning system. Due to the foraging adaptation, in the heat of the day a hive can show a significant population. And because of the high bee density, adding another box to provide extra space can help keep the hive cool. This additional box could be filled with foundation for the bees to draw out and use for next year or with comb to store syrup as needed. The aim is to give the bees more room and a heat barrier against the summer sun, ensuring their comfort and preparing for future needs.
Let us build and paint your boxes for you! And don't forget— WE HAVE THE LOWEST SHIPPING MINIMUM IN THE INDUSTRY!
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ADDING EXTRA BOXES FOR SUMMER COOLING
1:1 (most like nectar for feeding larvae and drawing comb)Spring/Summer—1 part sugar with 1 part water 2:1 (viscosity closer to honey)Winter or starving hive—2 parts sugar with 1 part water 4 lb. bag of sugar formula: 1:1 ratio—8 cups of water per bag of sugar (makes 3 ½ quart jars or almost 1 gallon) 2:1 ratio—4 cups of water per bag of sugar (makes approximately 2 quart jars or a half gallon) 10 lb. bag of sugar formula: 1:1 ratio—20 cups of water per bag of sugar (makes approximately 8 ¾ quart jars or 2 ½ gallons) 2:1 ratio—10 cups of water per bag of sugar (makes approximately 4 ½ quarts or 1 ½ gallons) Directions: 1:1 syrup mixture: Add sugar to warm tap water and stir or shake until dissolved. 2:1 syrup mixture: Heat water on medium heat in a large stock pot until you see hot steam forming.Do not boil—boiling will cause HMF to form in your syrup, which is bad for your bees. Turn the heat off and add the sugar while stirring. Stir occasionally (every 10–15 minutes) until all sugar is dissolved. These formulas are volume mixtures, not weight. By-weight formulas are slightly different.
MAINTAINING COLONY STRENGTH THROUGH SUMMER
MAKE YOUR OWN SUGAR SYRUP
With the majority of the nation experiencing extended summer- time heat, maintaining a colony's strength can be a challenge. It is essential for a hive to sustain themselves and even grow during these crucial times. Two essential resources are crucial: pollen for protein and nectar for carbohydrates. Due to the poor quality of available pollen during summer, the necessity of either relocating colonies to areas with diverse pollen sources or providing pollen supplements like frozen frames or pollen patties is key. Additionally, ensuring that a carbohydrate source such as sugar or corn syrup is available is crucial in maintaining or increasing colony populations during these challenging months. Listen as Dr. Jamie Ellis addresses these challenges and provides us with some good instruction on how to successfully survive the dog days of summer.
Visual Clues and Testing Strategies
Virtually every hive in the country has or will soon have Varroa. It’s simply a question of what the levels are. If there are more than 2 mites per 100 bees, intervention is needed for the average beekeeper. If you are experienced and are breeding more resistant stock, you can get away with more mites. I hear from beekeepers all the time who say they don’t see mites in their hive, so they don’t have an issue. We often see enlarged pictures of mites perched prominently on the backs of bees. However, it is quite rare to see mites on bees' backs. They prefer to slide between the plates of a bee under her abdomen, making them very hard to see. Plus, the greatest damage mites do is to the capped brood, which you cannot see. The only way to properly determine your mite levels is to test for mites, and then you must treat them if needed. While testing is the ideal method for determining your Varroa mite levels, there are also some visual clues of a Varroa infestation. Keep in mind that, if you are seeing visual signs, it often means your hive has an extensive Varroa mite infestation and could be on a fast track for crashing. These are the visual clues: Varroa mites on adult bees Varroa mites on drone brood: When you break two boxes apart, you may see drone larvae or pupae on your top bars. The queen often lays drones in the burr comb between boxes. When you break the boxes apart, you open up the cells containing drones. Since Varroa prefer drone larvae over worker larvae, this is a great time to look for Varroa. The reddish Varroa mites stand out clearly on the white larvae. Bees with deformed wings: Varroa mites frequently transmit a virus called the deformed wing virus. The adult bees will have deformed wings that look shriveled. Bees uncapping and removing pupae: Hygienic bees can sense Varroa mites under capped cells and will pull Varroa-infested pupae out of the hive and discard them. While these visual signs are indicative of Varroa mites, don’t rely solely on them—test! You should be testing long before visual signs arise. Often, by the time you can visually diagnose a Varroa infestation, it is too late for your hive. When should I test? The more often you test, the better, but for most beekeepers it’s not practical to test every six weeks during spring-fall. At the least, plan to test proactively once in the early spring, again in early summer, and again a month before daytime temps are in the fifties. After honey extraction, mite populations peak and testing and treatment are usually needed. Assuming you aren’t in the middle of your honey flow, treat anytime mite levels exceed 2 mites per 100 bees. When the count exceeds that number, you are at risk of the mite count exploding further and greatly damaging or killing your hive. Many small-scale beekeepers are able to treat only once per year if they don’t have areas where there are dozens or hundreds of hives in a few-mile radius, increasing the odds of higher mite loads as a result of drifting. Note: Seasonally, Varroa mite levels usually peak in the early summer. Always test after you have concluded your mite treatment to ensure it actually worked. Some mite treatments work far better than others! How many hives in each apiary should I test for Varroa? Varroa mites spread from hive to hive as they ride on worker bees who occasionally drift into the wrong hive. As foragers work closely together on the same flowers or watering areas, mites can also jump from one bee to another. As a result, you often have similar mite populations in each hive in each location. There are always a few hives that have much higher levels and a few that are much lower. The best option is to test every hive and treat, or not, accordingly. As stated earlier, each hive that has more than 2 mites per 100 bees should be treated. That being said, if you have 50 or more hives, testing each one takes far too long. Your goal in testing is to get a good average of what is going on in that location. With that in mind, here are my recommendations for testing depending on how many hives you have per location.
Watch as I show you exactly how you can spot Varroa's visual clues.
UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING VARROA MITES
This is not a scientifically proven equation; it is simply based on industry norms: 1–3 hives: Test each hive 4–20 hives: Test four to five hives 21–50 hives: Test five to six hives 51+ hives: Test 5-10% of your hives
A must-have tool for beekeepers designed to make the process of mite sampling both safe and efficient. This product works perfectly with the EasyCheck Mite Wash cup (not included), helping you manage bee samples while protecting your queen.
Queen Excluder for EasyCheck® Mite Wash
What do I do if my test revealed a mite count higher than 2 per 100 bees tested? It’s time to treat. I understand this can be overwhelming. In this case, I recommend using the Honey Bee Health Coalition’s Decision Tool. This tool asks you simple yes-or-no questions and then gives you options based on your answers. It is very easy, and it takes the ambiguity out of making the choice.
Key Features: Queen Safety: The queen excluder ensures that your queen is safely separated during the sampling process, minimizing the risk of harm. Efficient Bee Movement: The included puck guides nurse bees through the excluder quickly and safely. User-Friendly Design: The excluder is designed for ease of use, making the process of sampling and checking for mites straightforward and quick.
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with Chari Elam
InstantVap 18v Compact
The Beekeepers' Trusted Partner in Hive Treatment! The InstantVap 18v emerges as a front-runner in the world of oxalic acid vaporizers. Tailored for both passionate hobbyists and professional beekeepers, the InstantVap 18v and InstantVap 18v Compact offer an impeccable blend of quality, efficiency, and reliability.
Keep your beehive healthy and thriving with EZ-OX Oxalic Acid. Manufactured in the USA, this product is designed for your convenience and ease. The 400g package, certified by the EPA, is used in oxalic acid vaporizers for beekeeping, guaranteeing effective control against varroa mites.
InstantVap 18v
InstantVap is compatible with the following major brand batteries: DeWalt XR OR FLEX (20v or 20v/60v) NOT POWERSTACK Milwaukee (M18) Makita (18v LXT) Rigid (18v) Bosch (GBA/ProCore 18V)
TBS Beekeeper Chat with Dr. Cameron Jack - University of Florida
Introducing the InstantVap 18v
Join me as I interview the very personable Dr. Cameron Jack, assistant professor of honey bee epidemiology and toxicology, alongside Dr. Jamie Ellis at the University of Florida. This chat is full of very helpful, up-to-date information regarding the latest dosing of Oxalic acid, its efficacy, and what the future holds in that regard. We also talk about other treatments commonly used in the industry that are showing signs of resistance and what that means for the future of those treatments. Other topics discussed are nutrition, honey bee health in general, and viruses vectored by Varroa. Check it out!
So you’ve captured a swarm or done a bee removal, and now you’ve got yourself a wild, spicy hive in your apiary. Congratulations, and welcome to the tribe of “free bee” chasers! “But now what?” you ask. “Can I just raise the colony with its own feral queen?” The problem with that is that, since the early nineties, Africanized swarms have infiltrated our wild bee populations. These strains can now be found in southern California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and western Louisiana, as well as central and southern Florida. All of these locations are now wrestling with these hybrid genetics, making feral colonies difficult to be around. Some beekeepers favor these spicier bees because they also tend to be decent honey producers and relatively resistant to Varroa mites. The defensive disposition of Africanized or hybrid Africanized wild hives is just one characteristic that makes them challenging to me, though. I really struggle with the tendency of feral bees to swarm at all times of year or just simply abscond at the drop of a hat. Beekeeping can be heartbreaking enough without losing hives so readily. I also place hives on ranch property to help folks achieve their agricultural valuations and just can’t in good conscience put that kind of liability on my clients. So while there is nothing stopping you from raising hives with feral queens, I typically pinch and replace (requeen). When I capture any wild hive, I set them up in my “BeeHab” yard, far from any human habitation, so they won’t be a danger to anyone. I give the bees plenty of sugar water and the right amount of space to draw comb, then wait for the queen to start laying. Once the colony starts to grow, they show their true colors. What I look for in a wild hive is whether they respond to my smoker and how persistent their defenses are. Do they pour out of the front of the hive when I approach? Do they layer up around my nose and mouth on my veil? Do they keep on attacking even when I move far away from the hive? If so, it’s likely time to requeen. The first step is to secure a new, gentle queen. Next, I must pinch the original queen. Even for experienced beekeepers, it can be hard to find a queen, especially in a feisty feral hive. If you’ve never done it, here are a couple of videos that a good friend of mine, Blake Shook, filmed showing how it’s done. Once the original queen is gone, I can now replace her. Remember that these bees are feisty and will likely kill any new queen you introduce because they don’t know her smell. In order to help the bees accept her, I use a push-in cage to protect the queen and give the hive time to get used to her. A push-in cage is just a small wire box with one side open. I make my own with #8 hardware cloth and zip ties. I first select a good, open-brood frame from my queenless hive. It’s best with open cells where the new queen can lay a few eggs and thus facilitate acceptance. I take that frame, shake the bees off, and install the queen a short distance away, usually on the seat of my vehicle nearby. If the hive is surly, you might end up with a bunch of guard bees making your life difficult. In this case, I’ll even get in my vehicle, start it up, crank the AC, and crack the windows a bit, making it uncomfortable for the guard bees and easier to do the precise work of installing my new queen in her cage. Purchased queens arrive in one of two types of protective mini cages of their own—either the plastic, manufactured pod cage or the small wood-and-screen box. This is where it gets a little tricky. You’re going to have to get the queen out of the mini cage she arrives in and release her under your push-in cage on a frame. That means you’re going to have a queen on the loose between the two cages for a few seconds. If you’re not experienced at handling queens, this can be a bit of a scary proposition. First, just relax. Take a few deep breaths. You’ve got this. I’ve fumbled a few queens and even lost a queen inside my vehicle while trying to install her in a push-in cage (I just waited and found her on the dashboard a few minutes later). Whichever mini cage your queen arrives in, find the end of the cage that is not stopped up with fondant. You need to remove the cork on that end, or with the wood-and-screen box, I sometimes just pry off the staples on the wire cover to let the queen loose. Sometimes queens arrive with attendants inside their mini cage or loose in the larger box the mini cage arrives in. I will try to introduce a few of the attendants under the push-in cage because that helps with queen acceptance. Be careful not to let any random loose bees in there as they are not affiliated and will not tend to the queen (or might even try to kill her). That’s one of the reasons I take the frame away from the hive without any bees on it. As soon as I open the mini cage, I cover the opening with my finger, then I slip the mini cage under the push-in cage on the frame, closing it up quickly after I drop the mini cage. I then wait for the new queen to figure out that her mini cage is open and find her way onto the frame. Once she is outside of her mini cage inside the push-in cage, I can put the frame back into the hive. Be sure the requeened hive has plenty of sugar water and maybe part of a pollen patty. Well-fed bees are happy bees and more likely to accept the new queen. I close the hive and wait three or four days before I return and inspect. Sometimes, even with a good push-in cage, the bees can get to their new queen. If after a few days the push-in cage is full of bees and the queen is alive, you’re in good shape. If she is dead inside the cage, you’ll have to get a new queen and try again. If the hive is completely ignoring the queen under her push-in cage or still “balling” up on the outside of her cage after a few days, trying to kill her, just leave her locked in there for a few more days before releasing her. If the bees are carefully tending to the queen at the edges of the cage on that first inspection, that is a good sign they’ve accepted her, and I will remove the push-in cage and release the queen. Once I’ve released the queen, I’ll give them a week or so before going back to confirm that she is alive or at least that I see evidence of eggs or young larvae, telling me the colony is queenright. Successfully requeening new hives relies on good timing and plenty of food—the rest is up to the bees.
These two videos show you how to find a queen when you just can't find the queen. Check them out!
Part 2
Part 1
Requeening an Africanized Feral Hive
Photo Credit: Actbeekeepers.asn.au
By Charlie Agar - CharlieBee.com
JUST CALM DOWN!
Here's a great video I shot while trying to find a queen in a spicy hive so I could do a split. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and my Facebook page!
DISPOSING OF AN OVERLY AGGRESSIVE HIVE
Are you having trouble determining whether a hive is overly aggressive? Check out this video presentation covering that topic, reasons bees can be overly defensive, as well as some tips on how to work with these hives.
This is probably the most unpleasant task we have to face and one that most beekeepers like to avoid. The reality is that there are times when, for safety’s sake, we do have to dispose of a hive. Before you kill a hive due to aggression, read “It's Hot and My Bees Are Being Mean.” If all else fails and you do need to dispose of a mean hive due to a safety issue—and moving it isn’t an option—here are two options. At nighttime, seal up the entrance with steel wool, insert the screened bottom board cover (if they have one), and cover the entire hive tightly with a black trash bag. If it’s hot outside (above 80) and the hive is strong, they will overheat and die within a day or so. If it’s cooler, you may need to leave it for a few days. Install a screen inner cover on top of the hive. Get a pump-up sprayer and fill it with one part Dawn dishwashing soap to 15-20 parts water. Soak the whole hive, making sure to spray between all the frames. Nothing kills bees faster than soapy water, and you can still reuse the comb. With either method, it is recommended to throw away all of the brood frames. Not only are they very difficult to salvage, but you don’t want those genetics even temporarily flying around. Any empty frames or frames full of honey can be stored and reused in the future. The most important takeaway from this event is this: Don’t give up! Requeen yearly with good genetics, and keep your journey going!
BRICKS AND HIVE NOTES
By Lynne Jones
Do you take hive notes or keep records of your inspections? In the spring months, I am good about taking basic notes for each hive, but by July I’m just trying to avoid heatstroke and note-taking is the last thing on my mind. Recently, I read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. One of the main characters, August Boatwright, is a beekeeper. Though this is not central to the plot, numerous paragraphs discuss bees or beekeeping. One in particular caught my attention. August pulled the wagon while I walked behind it carrying the smoker stuffed with pine straw and tobacco leaves. Zach had placed a brick on top of each hive telling August what to do. If the brick was at the front, it meant the colony had nearly filled the combs and needed another super. If the brick was at the back, there were problems like wax moths or ailing queens. Turned on its side, the brick announced a happy bee family, no Ozzie, just Harriet and her ten thousand daughters. Bricks! I use bricks as hive cover weights, and implementing this simple method would be an improvement over no notes and my bad memory. But it also reminded me that I have read of beekeepers using bricks with each side painted a different color to keep track of the status of their colonies. I searched in a few Facebook groups and found a post by Stan Gore from 2021 on this topic. Stan asked what hive status others would assign to a brick for the colors red, yellow, green, and blue. Calvin Caves commented that he would use red for “not queenright,” green for “healthy hive/queenright," yellow for “weekly inspection” (meaning it has some issues that warrant checking again in seven days), and blue for “needs integrated pest management checks/treatment.” James Vasich was using a similar system but used painted two-by-four pieces instead of bricks. (If you were to use a four-by-four cut into square blocks, you could have six colors.) Rich Beggs said he uses colored magnets attached to his hive cover—an excellent idea if your telescopic covers are capped with galvanized steel but not if capped with aluminum. Chari Elam, editor of this magazine, mentioned to me that she and husband James make notes directly on the hive cover with a china marker—a very efficient method to be sure, but I don’t think I could bring myself to actually write on the cover, even on the underside. However, in my Facebook search, I found two alternatives I am willing to try. In 2022, Brothers Love (Joel Love) shared a post with photos showing how the beekeeper made notes on tape applied to the brick. At each inspection, rather than covering tape from the previous inspection, he applied tape to the next side of the brick. This allowed him to read notes for up to the previous four inspections. He would also take a photo of the brick, a convenient way to keep his notes accessible after leaving the apiary. Going way back to 2019, when I think Post-it Extreme Notes was a new product, Chelsea Murray posted in the Fort Bend group about using Extreme Notes and sticking them right on the hive. I think these would work really well using a Sharpie marker. It’s too bad I didn’t test these out a couple of weeks ago—I could have told you whether or not they held tight in Hurricane Beryl’s wind and rain.
China marker on both wood and metal lids can be smudged off with your bee gloves.
WHAT'S THE BUZZ?
It never ceases to amaze me how beekeepers are so ingenious! Take a look at this system documented by MiteCalulator.com
Photo(s) Credit: Chari Elam
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If you have a tried-and-true method for making hive notes not mentioned in this article, I’d love to hear from you. You can message me on Facebook or send an email to BrazosRiverHoney77474@gmail.com
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HONEY WATERMELON GRANITA WITH HONEYCOMB
YIELD: Makes 6-8 servings INGREDIENTS 1 medium - seedless watermelon 1/2 cup - honey juice and zest of 4 limes 3" - square piece of honeycomb, optional fresh mint and additional lime, to garnish DIRECTIONS Cut the melon in half and scoop out the flesh into a blender. Remove any seeds that may be in the watermelon as best you can. Blend the watermelon until pureed, pausing to stir and fully blend as needed. Add the honey, lime juice and zest and blend until well combined. Pour the watermelon mixture into a large shallow pan and place in the freezer uncovered. Wait one hour and with a fork, run the tines through the mixture to break up any ice crystals, return to the freezer and repeat every 30 minutes until fully frozen and icy. This mixture should be icy crystals, not a frozen block and not slushy. To serve, scoop into a shallow glass and garnish with a bit of honeycomb, mint leaves and a lime wedge. TIP This recipe can be made into a light watermelon wine granita by adding 12 oz. of moscato or sparkling rose to the mixture before placing in the freezer. This may take additional time in the freezer. You can also add a drizzle of a fruity liqueur such as limoncello or melon liqueur over the granita when serving. This makes a unique and refreshing “after dinner” dessert!
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