I have free bees for you

At our last club meeting, a newer member said, "My neighbor has some bees if anyone wants to come and get them.  They are free."  Immediately a hand rose in the air.  Because, after all, we all love free bees.  Right? 

"But wait a minute", chimed a more seasoned veteran.  "Are these bees in a hive?  Or, just exactly where are they living?"  A few text messages later, the response was "they have been living ON my neighbors pine tree".    How quickly the tone of the discussion changed but it became a quick lesson for all.  Honey bees don't typically live ON trees.

Yes, they may swarm and land on trees.  But, that isn't typical in mid October.  And, if they do, it is only for a day - not a permanent residence. 

There are many insects that are colored black and yellow.  Many of them are very aggressive and can put out a wallop of a sting.  So, before traveling 3 counties over for some free bees, be sure you ask a few questions first. 

 

Which leads to a question posed by the club members.  Can we have someone come and talk about the other types of insects that resemble honey bees? So, I'm looking for a speaker that can discuss bees - good, bad, and ugly as well as those that want to be bees but really aren't bees.  Any suggestions?

 

Moisture boards are a great help

For those of you who purchased ‘Easy Bee’ starter hives form me in the spring,  you may have noticed that your hive differs from some ‘traditional’ set up as you have a screened inner cover instead of the traditional wooden inner cover with a hole in the middle.  

Screened inner cover

Traditional wooden inner cover

I have found that the screened inner cover really helps with ventilation during the summer but you might be wondering, what do I do with this over the winter?   I recommend using a moisture board which fits nicely inside of the top of the screened inner cover.  

So what could cause the demise of your bees during the winter?  It is either starvation or moisture.  And, I have added a third item to this list – diseases from mite infestation.

      Mites are a whole topic by themselves.   Mites are basically virus machines.  They are out-producing the bees in numbers during August.  So, this was the ‘critical’ time to address them and curtail the spread of viruses to your young bees that will be expected to live all winter long.  These tiny menaces do not have a foolproof method for eradication so develop your plan and stick to it.

2    Sixty pounds of reserve honey stores is the minimum recommendation for our area.  A deep frame full of capped stores can weigh anywhere from 6 to 10 pounds.  So, that’d be 6 to 10 frames of deep foundation full of capped stores and some say you should plan on having as much as 12 –18 deep frames.   If you don’t have this by now, start feeding ASAP as time is running out.  Now, we switch to 2:1 syrup – that’s 2 parts sugar to 1 part water.  The days are shorter and cooler so the bees do not need the extra moisture to help cool the hive. (See the post about feeding.)

3    As for the moisture, the huddling cluster of overwintering bees produces a water vapor similar to the exhaled breath of air that we produce.  The cooler outside air can cause the moisture particles to condense and fall back down on the bees as water drops.  This in turn causes them to freeze.  So be cognizant of excess water in the hive and provide ventilation all winter.  By using a moisture board, it will absorb the moisture instead of allowing it to condense.  The screened inner cover therefore becomes a multipurpose tool to be used not only in the summer but also serves a purpose in your winter care.

The boards are fairly heavy and therefore if you are only purchasing 1 or 2 boards, it will cost over twice as much to have them shipped.  Therefore as a courtesy and to help keep costs down for our local club members, I have purchased a few more moisture boards than I need this year.   I will be bringing the extras to the October SIBA- Hanover/Madison meeting (Oct 9, 2014, 6:30PM at Hanover College).  They will be available at my cost which $5.50 per board at the meeting only. 

Is it time to feed?

Over the past 2 weeks, I've received a ton of emails and phone calls about feeding.

So, I'll start by admitting it.  I'm a believer in supplementing bees with sugar water and pollen supplements.   I get up every morning and take a handful of vitamins and other supplements myself.  It helps my body maintain a level of the necessary nutrients that I can't consume via meals.  I also provide my dogs, cat, and livestock with supplements.  I view feeding the bees the same way.

So, if you aren't a believer in feeding your bees, just disregard this post and go onto helping people establish their hives with your methods.  Please realize that we all are learning about bees and trying to save them.   If we had all the answers, we wouldn't have so many questions.  It isn't a time for 'hate' mail.  So, back to feeding . . .

It is important to note that I employ different feeding methods for STARTING A HIVE versus MAINTAINING AN ESTABLISHED HIVE.  I think overall we do a poor job of helping new beekeepers because we usually tell them the methods used once a hive is established and forget that it takes a different management style to establish the hive in the first place.  Most of the notes below are for those who have started a hive this past spring - whether it was a nuc or a package of bees.  But, there are some rules of thumb for the experienced beekeeper to use as well.

The bees can't make an entire diet off of just the food we feed them but it can really help them get established - especially when there is new foundation to be drawn out.  So, in the spring and yes in the summer, if it is needed, I encourage feeding 1:1 sugar water (that's 1 part water to 1 part sugar)  until 2 brood boxes have drawn foundation in all 20 deep frames.  This thinner syrup more closely mimics the nectar flow and also stimulates brood production.

In some cases, while the bees are in the mood to draw out wax, I encourage some beekeepers to keep feeding when they put a honey super on - only if the foundation is not drawn out. Having drawn wax is like a pot of gold when the honey flow starts the following season.  If the bees happen to cap off a little of the sugar water in the honey super, you can scratch off the cappings, put it back onto the hive and feed it back to them in the fall.  If there is room, they will move the food supply down to the lower boxes.

What kind of feeder?  Some sort of TOP FEEDER.  I highly encourage the use of the polystyrene (styrofoam) top feeders.  These feeders hold 3 gallons of syrup so when the bees are going through a quart a day, you are not running out to feed the bees every day.  You also do not disturb the bees when feeding them so this means you can feed at night, when it's raining, or just about any timeframe.  For me, it is a convenience factor.  DO NOT USE a feeder that sits on the front of your hive as this encourages robbing.

If you do not have a styrofoam top feeder, all is not lost but you do need to have some spare  equipment.  There are many options but one economical option frequently used employs canning jars with small holes drilled into the lids.  The canning jars are placed upside down on pencils or other sticks about 3/8" thick around the wooden inner cover hole.  The jars need to be surrounded by a hive body and cover in order to allow all the feeding to occur inside the enclosed hive.

When do I stop feeding?  The rule of thumb is that the bees need a minimum of 60 pounds of stored, capped, honey for the winter.  I usually try to ensure that the bees have this by Thanksgiving.

How do I know if I have 60 pounds?  Usually, you can tip the hive slightly forward from the back and tell.  However, a rule of thumb, is that there is approximately 6 to 10 pounds of honey in a deep sized frame.  So, 6 to 10 deep frames of capped honey would be the equivalent of 60 pounds.

What do I do if I don't have 60 pounds of capped honey?  Around the end of September or first of October when the weather starts to cool in the evening but yet you have warmer days, start supplementing with 2:1 sugar water.

Why 2:1 sugar water in the fall?  The consistency of the sugar water should be a thicker syrup in the fall.  The bees will not have to evaporate off as much water and can quickly cap it off.  The days are getting shorter and cooler so they won't need the water evaporation to help cool the hive.

How much do I feed them?  A rule of thumb is that 1 gallon of 2:1 sugar water will equate to approximately 1 pound of capped honey stores (assuming the foundation is already drawn out with wax).  So be prepared to feed as much as is needed to get to 60 pounds.

Do I mix the sugar water based on volume or weight?  There is such a slight difference that I don't think the bees care.  I usually use weight as a very quick measurement guide.  1 pound of water weight 8 pounds.  Sugar comes in 4 pound bags these days.  So a 1:1 mixture is 1 gallon of water with 2 bags of sugar (4 pounds each) and 2:1 is 1 gallon of water with 4 bags of sugar (4 pounds each).