Great time of year to be a beekeeper. Honey is starting to come on (for those of you with power hives), and there’s generally plenty out there for bees to enjoy.
Here are some ramblings, and things to Honey, Bear in Mind this time of year.
Colony Progress
In about a week I’ll share some info on colony progress in this area, so newbees can assess where they’re at.
Most of our first year colonies are well into building out / filling a second hive body, with many on a third. We do still have a few stragglers in just one box, but about to need a second. They have about a week to prove to me that they will kick it in. Most of them have requeened, watched too much reality TV, and gotten distracted by shiny stuff (oops, that was me) … but now that they’re all queenright, well, time to get focused Ladies!
We are checking all hives about every 10 days. If a colony is in two boxes (or more), and their disposition seems normal (for them), and they’re making progress, we just check for Evidence of a Queen (eggs or larva or the darling herself if we spot her). No need to go through every frame and box.
And of course, if it is 90 degrees and humid, we generally feel no need to check anything!
Swarms?
Over a recent three days, I’ve had about a dozen calls from “newbees” with bee issues. Because of that, my first question now is “you got a swarm?” (I’m standing by with some possible helpful hints and spare equipment if so.)
Yes, swarms are happening! Make sure your colonies have plenty of room to expand so they don’t get the urge. Two bee-loved plants around our area (purple loosestrife and goldenrod) are (gasp!) blooming, which is early. This gives me hope that some of our hives will produce superfluous honey for us this season. I do have this sense of foreboding though about what this early bloom might mean. Early winter? (Seems like winter finally finished about a month ago.)
CAUTION: Goldenrod pollen / nectar in the hive smells like a locker room (but tastes great.) If your hives stink, you probably don’t need to be alarmed this time of year.
There’s $100 on the Ground
Marshall and I spent about 20 hours cutting bees out of a house last week. This was an unpaid but hugely interesting (and tiring) task—but what else was the owner to do? They’d built well into the home (between the kitchen ceiling and bedroom floor) and down an exterior wall.
We hope that we got so many bees that even if we didn’t get the queen, the colony doesn’t have sufficient resources to rebuild. This woman was blessed to have been chosen by bees, but the interior damage from honey above the kitchen ceiling, and the safety issue (bees didn’t like her grandkids flying kites in the backyard), well, time to relocate them if possible.
God works in mysterious ways. We were exhausted from that volunteer effort, but were rewarded with a call 48 hours later about a swarm that had settled in a driveway. It was almost as easy as picking up a $100 bill. A package of bees costs about $100, and this swarm had waaaaay more bees than that.
Both these colonies are now relocated in our apiary … and they’re staying–knock on wood.
Beards
I love this beekeeping term, used to describe when bees are all gathered on the face of a hive. It is usually because it is warm inside, and / or nice outside. The foragers have returned from the field for the day, and playing cards and having frosty drinks on the front porch seems like the thing to do. The house bees are busy trying to cool it down in there anyway, why add to the confusion? It typically does NOT mean they’re about to swarm.
Sometimes though, all those bees outside means it is overcrowded inside. Make sure they’ve got plenty of room.
Some hives beard (or—with fewer bees—moustache) practically any warm night for most of summer. Some never do. Some also make layers of bees of varying depths. One theory says that they’re directing air currents inside the hive when they do that.
Whatever the reason, it is really cool to observe! And, the bees seemingly don’t care. I once checked a bearded hive (from a distance) at about 2:00 in the morning. Yep, they were still bearded. It was just a nice night to watch the stars I guess.
Mites
See previous blogs. Like my dentist says, you don’t have to floss all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep. You don’t have to monitor for mites in all your hives – just the hives you want to keep.
Of course, no need to monitor if you’re not going to do anything about it! There’s a strong school of thought that suggests colonies who can’t handle mites through natural resistance and behavior shouldn’t propagate. I see that point.
Of course, there’s another school of thought that suggests bees can’t live without intervention in our chemical-laden world. Perhaps.
It really is up to you to research and figure out your philosophy.
There’s a variety of ways to treat, from minimally-questionably proactive stuff (powdered sugar, screened bottom boards, drone foundation, brood disruption.) Google those for more info. Every time we’re in a hive that hasn’t had a big break in the brood cycle (like those that didn’t have queens for a while), we sprinkle about a cup of powdered sugar across the top bars of each hive body. Figure it can’t hurt. Plus it is always fun to see the ghost bees that have been doused in powder sugar, flying about.
We have found that these proactive, fairly natural approaches are helpful. The one year I had 100% overwintering survival I believe was because I (and the bees) let me use drone foundation religiously and effectively, and I powdered sugared all the time that summer.
You can also bring out super-harsh dangerous chemicals. Effective? Plenty of research supporting either side.
There are also some middle-of-the-road approaches, like the “softer” chemical Apiguard. Internet is full of insights / research—read and do what feels right for you.
My philosophy now (it has evolved over the years) is that—if I’m doing all the proactive stuff AND the levels start to increase to the threshold that the University of Minnesota recommends treating at (see previous blogs for that reference), I’ll consider chemicals.
Chemicals aren’t healthy.
Neither are dead bees.
Movie – More Than Honey
Recently saw this movie, again. Very disturbing, but amazing, documentary on the bee industry worldwide and the plight of the honeybee.
Your Calls and Emails
I love them. No need to apologize. If I can answer I will, because I love bees and learning and thinking about bees, which your calls make me do. (Sharon – did they swarm yet?)