The last couple of weeks in our backyard have had one thing in common - irritable bees. Normally I get stung very seldom. This year I have had my bare hands inside at least one hive every week since April, but have received only 6 stings. Bees are defensive stingers. In contrast to wasps, bees die when they sting you, so hives that sting excessively without reason would suffer from the loss in population and be less likely to thrive. That means that when a bee stings you, you almost certainly did something to trigger defensive behavior.
Last week I got 3 of my 6 stings in one night. That was an interesting evening in the bee yard, if not fun. Amy and I wanted to do a detailed inspection of the long hive to determine if we needed to continue feeding.
Lesson 1: Bees with stores are defensive bees.
It turned out that the long hive Aureus had plenty of stores, and we could have determined that just by looking at how angry the girls were to have us in their home.
Lesson 2: Bees are more defensive in the evening.
Bees don't like being disturbed late, and we were still in the hive taking photos as the sun went down (expect some of our hard-won images in the next post). Also, as all of the foragers return to the hive, more bees of guard age are available to get agitated.
Lesson 3: Once the bees are upset, they don't care that you are just trying to close up the hive.
Amy got 1 bad sting, and I walked away with a serious sting and 2 minor ones. And putting the top back on the hive was a particular challenge since we (having retreated to regroup) knew that the next person to go within 6 feet of the hive would get stung. Sometimes you just need a beesuit...
On the plus side, at least we know now that Aureus is doing exceptionally well. This hive has tripled in size since it started as a split from Voyager on June 20, and they have plenty of stores and bees to defend them with.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
We might have mites!
As the Fall season approaches the nights are cooler and the humidity is down. This is a very pleasant time of year. But early September is also the peak of the Varroa mite population. The mites get a slow start in the Spring and their numbers lag behind the quickly growing bee population. But as the queen reduces her rate of egg laying in the Fall, the mites have their chance to catch up.
Varroa mites grow most rapidly when there is drone brood available to feed off of. So the mite population peaks when the last of the Summer's drones emerge from their cells. Then, they continue to reproduce at the expense of the slowly dwindling number of Fall bees. There is a danger as the bees enter their Winter cluster that they will be overwhelmed by the large number of mites. What can we do about this?
The solution starts earlier in the year. It is most important to keep the number of mites from ever getting to dangerous levels. Rather than wait for the mite peak and then hope your one-shot treatment will be enough to save the hive, it's safer to start early and hit the mites repeatedly. Our preferred method of non-synthetic chemical treatment is powdered sugar. Shaking sugar over the brood nest frames stimulates the hygienic cleaning behavior of the bees. As they clean themselves, the mites are dropped through the screened bottom and are not able to climb back into the hive.
Another commonly used trick to defeat the mites is drone brood trapping. Since the mites prefer drones as a food source, you can reduce their numbers by removing capped drone comb before the drones (and the mites) emerge. The frames can be placed in the freezer for 48 hours and then replaced in the hive. The mites are dead and will be cleaned up by the bees. Then the drone comb will be used to start another generation of drones and the process starts over. Combining drone brood trapping and powdered sugar treatment can really knock the mites back to the point where they will not pose a threat to the health of the hive. And that's good news for everyone.
Varroa mites grow most rapidly when there is drone brood available to feed off of. So the mite population peaks when the last of the Summer's drones emerge from their cells. Then, they continue to reproduce at the expense of the slowly dwindling number of Fall bees. There is a danger as the bees enter their Winter cluster that they will be overwhelmed by the large number of mites. What can we do about this?
The solution starts earlier in the year. It is most important to keep the number of mites from ever getting to dangerous levels. Rather than wait for the mite peak and then hope your one-shot treatment will be enough to save the hive, it's safer to start early and hit the mites repeatedly. Our preferred method of non-synthetic chemical treatment is powdered sugar. Shaking sugar over the brood nest frames stimulates the hygienic cleaning behavior of the bees. As they clean themselves, the mites are dropped through the screened bottom and are not able to climb back into the hive.
Another commonly used trick to defeat the mites is drone brood trapping. Since the mites prefer drones as a food source, you can reduce their numbers by removing capped drone comb before the drones (and the mites) emerge. The frames can be placed in the freezer for 48 hours and then replaced in the hive. The mites are dead and will be cleaned up by the bees. Then the drone comb will be used to start another generation of drones and the process starts over. Combining drone brood trapping and powdered sugar treatment can really knock the mites back to the point where they will not pose a threat to the health of the hive. And that's good news for everyone.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Hive Inspection 8/7 or Where are the queen cells??
Yesterday Amy and I went through both Aureus and Voyager for a full inspection.
First, Aureus, the long hive:
Aureus is definitely the stronger of our home hives right now, even though it began as a split at the end of June. The last time I went through, I opened the broodnest with empty foundationless frames. Since we are still feeding sugar (10 gallons so far...my kitchen smells like a candyshop!), we hoped that the girls would be encouraged to build more comb. Since it's a split, Aureus started from just 5 frames, and we need to grow them large enough that they will have room for the stores they will need by November.
Well, our hopes were well fulfilled. Each of the empty frames had a substantial amount of new comb, about two full frames worth in total, with eggs and syrup being stored throughout. This hive is strengthening very fast - our major concern will be to keep them in sufficient stores to overwinter.
Now Voyager, the Langstroth hive:
Voyager has had some regime changes of late. First, we took Beatrix from it in June to create Aureus and forced the colony to rear a new queen, Benita. When we looked in last week, we found, to our chagrin, 3 capped queen cells. Not only were we sad to think that Benita might have been superceded, but there was also the chance that the colony was preparing to swarm! A late swarm would have little chance of surviving, but might render Voyager even weaker and prone to parasites. Not only that, but the colony had already had a month-long break in brood rearing while Benita hatched, matured, and took her mating flight. The population would only decline further if the hive reared another virgin queen.
It's not clear exactly what the state of the queen is, but we found most of the queen cells ripped open at the side and one that might have hatched or might have been aborted. But there are still new eggs in the hive!
The egg math allows for two possibilities:
1) Voyager's hive mind decided not to rear a new queen and they dismantled the cells.
2) They reared a daughter queen who will coexist, at least for a while, with Benita. Traditional beekeeping thought holds that the colony has only one queen at a time, but some observant keepers have suggested that mother-daughter teams are much more common than previously though.
Either way is fine with us, just so long as eggs keep being laid.
First, Aureus, the long hive:
Aureus is definitely the stronger of our home hives right now, even though it began as a split at the end of June. The last time I went through, I opened the broodnest with empty foundationless frames. Since we are still feeding sugar (10 gallons so far...my kitchen smells like a candyshop!), we hoped that the girls would be encouraged to build more comb. Since it's a split, Aureus started from just 5 frames, and we need to grow them large enough that they will have room for the stores they will need by November.
Well, our hopes were well fulfilled. Each of the empty frames had a substantial amount of new comb, about two full frames worth in total, with eggs and syrup being stored throughout. This hive is strengthening very fast - our major concern will be to keep them in sufficient stores to overwinter.
Now Voyager, the Langstroth hive:
Voyager has had some regime changes of late. First, we took Beatrix from it in June to create Aureus and forced the colony to rear a new queen, Benita. When we looked in last week, we found, to our chagrin, 3 capped queen cells. Not only were we sad to think that Benita might have been superceded, but there was also the chance that the colony was preparing to swarm! A late swarm would have little chance of surviving, but might render Voyager even weaker and prone to parasites. Not only that, but the colony had already had a month-long break in brood rearing while Benita hatched, matured, and took her mating flight. The population would only decline further if the hive reared another virgin queen.
It's not clear exactly what the state of the queen is, but we found most of the queen cells ripped open at the side and one that might have hatched or might have been aborted. But there are still new eggs in the hive!
The egg math allows for two possibilities:
1) Voyager's hive mind decided not to rear a new queen and they dismantled the cells.
2) They reared a daughter queen who will coexist, at least for a while, with Benita. Traditional beekeeping thought holds that the colony has only one queen at a time, but some observant keepers have suggested that mother-daughter teams are much more common than previously though.
Either way is fine with us, just so long as eggs keep being laid.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Feeding frenzy in the backyard!
I went out to give Aureus another bag of sugar syrup today. That's how we feed a long hive, with a gallon bag placed inside the hive. The bag has small slits cut in the top surface which allow the bees to reach the syrup inside without it leaking out. During the dearth, the bees know a good thing when they find it, and they can put away a gallon of syrup in just a couple of days.
There are always some drips when you slit a feed bag, so I had a saucer handy to catch them. Afterwards, I set the saucer down on the bottom board so the girls could easily clean up. But they got much more excited than I was expecting!
It might look and sound threatening, but actually the girls are extremely gentle when they're focused on food.
Here's a close-up of the bees crowding into the saucer.
5 minutes before there was a quarter inch of syrup in it. They'll have it cleaned dry in no time.
There are always some drips when you slit a feed bag, so I had a saucer handy to catch them. Afterwards, I set the saucer down on the bottom board so the girls could easily clean up. But they got much more excited than I was expecting!
It might look and sound threatening, but actually the girls are extremely gentle when they're focused on food.
Here's a close-up of the bees crowding into the saucer.
5 minutes before there was a quarter inch of syrup in it. They'll have it cleaned dry in no time.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Feeding sugar water- the necessary evil
Sugar is not the perfect bee food. Honey contains micro-nutrients, and is already partially fermented. If we had enough honey, we would never feed sugar. And once a hive is established, there should be sufficient honey stores to get the hive through any likely downturn in nectar availability.
New hives are a different matter. New packages always need feed in the spring, since they have to build comb from scratch. Even later in the year, hives started from a package will need some help. So if we are going to feed sugar, what concentration should we use? Traditionally, a 1:1 sugar:water syrup is the standard spring feed. The bees use it for immediate consumption to power comb building. Since it takes 8 lbs of honey (or concentrated sugar water) to make one lb of wax comb, the energy demands are huge.
A tougher question is what to feed later in the year..... after the Summer Solstice. A 2:1 sugar:water syrup is traditional for the late summer and fall. It is more concentrated so the bees have less evaporating to do in order to store it for winter use. But what if you still don't have enough comb? Do you want the bees to use the feed to make more comb, or store it in whatever comb exists?
The seasoned beekeepers I have talked with seem to agree that 1:1 is the best choice. It is easier for the bees to evaporate it down for storage than it is for them to dilute 2:1 for consumption. So it's best to give them something that is easily used for either purpose. As usual, it's best to leave the decision up to the bees!
New hives are a different matter. New packages always need feed in the spring, since they have to build comb from scratch. Even later in the year, hives started from a package will need some help. So if we are going to feed sugar, what concentration should we use? Traditionally, a 1:1 sugar:water syrup is the standard spring feed. The bees use it for immediate consumption to power comb building. Since it takes 8 lbs of honey (or concentrated sugar water) to make one lb of wax comb, the energy demands are huge.
A tougher question is what to feed later in the year..... after the Summer Solstice. A 2:1 sugar:water syrup is traditional for the late summer and fall. It is more concentrated so the bees have less evaporating to do in order to store it for winter use. But what if you still don't have enough comb? Do you want the bees to use the feed to make more comb, or store it in whatever comb exists?
The seasoned beekeepers I have talked with seem to agree that 1:1 is the best choice. It is easier for the bees to evaporate it down for storage than it is for them to dilute 2:1 for consumption. So it's best to give them something that is easily used for either purpose. As usual, it's best to leave the decision up to the bees!
Getting ready for the dearth...
At the Chapel Hill Bees apiary (my backyard), we are all focused on getting our hives through the winter. It seems like a long way off, but beekeepers in most parts of the US must begin planning for winter as early as July! The reason: dearth. This term refers to a steep drop in the availability of nectar. In central North Carolina, the dearth comes with the highest temperatures of the year. When daytime highs spike into the upper 90s, humidity climbs, and rainfall drops off, most flowering plants cannot successfully reproduce. As a result, few plants bloom at this time of year. Dearth usually begins at the end of July and can last into the middle of September.
Dearth is a difficult time for honey bees. Since the foraging workforce lives only a few weeks, the colony must continue to raise new bees even through the dearth. This means that the colony continues to consume honey and pollen even though no new stores are being brought into the hive. Queens from locally adapted stock will reduce laying to replacement rates or less in order to slow the rate of consumption, but all colonies operate at a net loss during dearth. In a bad year or for a weak colony, dearth can be disastrous. Colonies can starve to death in just a few weeks. In addition, cooling of the hive becomes more and more difficult as temperatures rise. If the interior temperature tops 98 degrees, brood may die and wax comb may soften and collapse. All in all, a very challenging time for bees and beekeepers alike!
Both of our home hives, Voyager and Aureus, are well designed and well ventilated, but both are also new this year. Aureus has only been a separate hive for 4 weeks, and is barely large enough to be called a colony! Voyager has more honey stores, but has just been through a long broodless period as they reared Benita, their new queen. Both hives are making great progress, but neither has the large reserves they'll need to get through the winter. If they consume large amounts during the dearth, we may have to face killing one of the queens and recombining the hives so that they survive.
That means we'll be feeding both hives sugar syrup, beginning on Thursday and continuing well into October. Hopefully we'll have a fall nectar flow and be able to stop, but older keepers have told us that the central NC fall flow is often too weak to make up for the dearth. Sugar feeding is not ideal, but right now our first priority is to keep both colonies alive until spring!
Dearth is a difficult time for honey bees. Since the foraging workforce lives only a few weeks, the colony must continue to raise new bees even through the dearth. This means that the colony continues to consume honey and pollen even though no new stores are being brought into the hive. Queens from locally adapted stock will reduce laying to replacement rates or less in order to slow the rate of consumption, but all colonies operate at a net loss during dearth. In a bad year or for a weak colony, dearth can be disastrous. Colonies can starve to death in just a few weeks. In addition, cooling of the hive becomes more and more difficult as temperatures rise. If the interior temperature tops 98 degrees, brood may die and wax comb may soften and collapse. All in all, a very challenging time for bees and beekeepers alike!
Both of our home hives, Voyager and Aureus, are well designed and well ventilated, but both are also new this year. Aureus has only been a separate hive for 4 weeks, and is barely large enough to be called a colony! Voyager has more honey stores, but has just been through a long broodless period as they reared Benita, their new queen. Both hives are making great progress, but neither has the large reserves they'll need to get through the winter. If they consume large amounts during the dearth, we may have to face killing one of the queens and recombining the hives so that they survive.
That means we'll be feeding both hives sugar syrup, beginning on Thursday and continuing well into October. Hopefully we'll have a fall nectar flow and be able to stop, but older keepers have told us that the central NC fall flow is often too weak to make up for the dearth. Sugar feeding is not ideal, but right now our first priority is to keep both colonies alive until spring!
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