IF YOU KEEP BEES . . .KEEP ONE OF THESE

If you keep bees, it is great to be proactive when it comes to potential allergic reactions to bee stings.

Keeping an Epi-Pen on hand could help save someone's life.   

Mylan Specialty makes it very economical by again, in 2015, providing a coupon for a $0 co-pay. This makes these somewhat expensive auto-inject pens FREE!

I was skeptical but used this co-pay card last year at CVS without any hassles.  

During the time frame when I'm actively working with the bees, I keep an Epi-Pen in my bee toolkit and another near the honey house.  I haven't had to use it but it gives me piece of mind to know it is there.

A PRESCRIPTION IS REQUIRED.  So, talk to your doctor the next time you visit. Also talk to your doctor about the difference between a localized reaction and a systemic reaction, and other individualized cases which could indicate whether to use or not use the Epi-Pen.  Knowing this important information just might save someone's life.

HERE'S THE LINK FOR THE $0 COPAY OFFER

What can a beekeeper learn from a dairy farmer?

As most of you know, I’m enamored with learning about drones - male honey bees, not the small flying machines. I truly believe that you can’t have a great queen without some awesome drones. With all the attention given to queens, drones are often taken for granted and forgotten. However, since the promiscuous queen mates with 15 and sometimes as many as 20 different drones, they really should not be overlooked.

Brandon Hopkins teaching queen breeders about his work in cryopreservation

 Fairly recently, I’ve jumped into the ever fascinating world of instrumentally inseminating honey bee queens. Having participated in artificial insemination projects with my sheep, I’ve been taken aback by how far behind honey bees are in this area especially when compared to other livestock. Dairy cattle, for example, have seen tremendous gains in milk production by using artificial insemination and are often able to extend great genetics from one bull to many cows. Because of this, it is very rare to find a modern day production milk system where the farmer uses natural cover. Instead, semen from a bull is collected, evaluated, stored, frozen and shipped all around the world to use for insemination. Often times, the bull can be dead and still father calves. It’s all pretty amazing.
So let’s get back to the bees and the associated problem at hand. Due to the Honey Bee Act of 1922, the importation of honeybees and honeybee germplasm from other countries was stopped in order to minimize tracheal mite infiltration into our US honeybee population. However, in doing so, it has also resulted in a smaller genetic resource pool.

To combat the decreasing genetic possibilities, special permission was granted to Sue Cobey and a group of researchers to obtain drone semen from old world countries like Slovenia, Germany, Italy, and the Republic of Georgia. The introduction of new genetics using only semen can take 5 or 6 mating cycles – nothing happens overnight in the world of honeybee biology. The problem is that freshly collected drone semen quickly loses viability when stored at room temperature – although it amazingly lasts much, much longer than its mammalian counterparts. Therefore, without a better preservation technique, it was going to take several trips to gather germplasm to convert a US bee to one that contains 90%+ ‘old world’ stock by using drone semen only. Although previously attempted, a technique to collect, evaluate, store, and freeze drone semen like our dairy farmer friends use didn't provide for a high enough worker progeny ratio so it was seldom used.

Brandon Hopkins is demonstrating some of the equipment used in cryopreservation.

This is where Brandon Hopkins, a reproductive biologist, enters the picture. While working with Dr. Steven Sheppard on his Ph.D. at Washington State University, he recently developed better methods and techniques of freezing and storing honeybee semen. These advancements are allowing researchers to collect germplasm from the 'old world stock' and use it many years later. Now, the honeybee industry can work toward a more efficient stock improvement plan which also includes a repository.

A great group of queen breeders looking to learn new ways to help bees

So, when the opportunity arose to attend a knowledge sharing session with Dr. Steve Sheppard and Brandon Hopkins to learn about cryopreservation of honey bee germplasm, you better believe I jumped on it. I would like to thank the Mountain State Queen Producers for the welcome invitation. We learned some new techniques and strategies that will hopefully allow for advancements in queens in Indiana as well as the Heartland Honey Bee Co-op.

Reflections on the year

As the year draws to an end, it is a time to reflect.  It is also a time to plan for the future; but right now, I’m stuck in the reflecting frame of mind.  My beekeeping passion started without a club and without a mentor.  In the first 2 years of this hobby, I started with 2 hives, a Beekeeping for Dummies book, and a lot of perseverance.   I jokingly tell others that I experienced every possible scenario and problem imaginable during these initial years.  A quick view of the propolis stained pages from the book which resided in my beginning toolkit can quickly ascertain these claims.  I will admit that I wasn’t very profitable and my bees didn’t flourish but I did learn a lot. 

I can certainly tell stories that occurred over the past 13 years.   Some are sad while others are sure to make you laugh until tears run down your face.  But what about this year?  What special things happened in 2014?

I could tell you about the 5000+ kids that had an opportunity to view my bees in an observation hive or the happenings with the USDA NC-SARE research grant which has taken up a considerable amount of time during the past two years.  Maybe you’d like to hear about the politics endured with state associations, the first queen that I instrumentally inseminated which laid eggs, the experience of marking 800 drones with tiny paint dots as they emerged, the successful formation of a local beekeeping club, the thousands of miles driven to assist other beekeepers, the hundreds of emails and phone calls responded too, the nucs and queens that went to beekeepers young and old, or the dozen or so presentations given to the non-beekeeping community about our crazy winged friends called the honeybee?  

Yes, these are things of special note but instead, there is something else that I want to share.  It is something that made me smile.  To some it won’t mean much, but to me it means a lot.   First, let’s set the stage.  We are at one of our local monthly club meetings.  There is a new attendee who recently found our club through our wonderful website.  I don’t want to embarrass her because I’d like to be sure she comes back; but she was very new to beekeeping and had a lot of questions.   But, I have to ask:  Who doesn’t have a lot of questions about bees?  Right?  If someone had all the answers, this beekeeping thing would be easy and we’d all be succeeding at it.

This scenario seems pretty normal for our meetings.  So, what about it made my day and year for that matter?  What could it possibly be? 

Well, you see, the questions were being answered by club members who had just started keeping bees this summer.    They had regularly attended the meetings and unbeknownst to themselves, they had learned a ton.  They were giving great answers! 

This thing we call a bee club, it does work.  It does have a purpose! 

Although I’d love to visit with every person who keeps bees, I realized I just couldn’t physically do it.  By using this club as a tool to teach others instead of adding even more miles onto my vehicles, I had hoped to be able to spread my knowledge and experiences even further and watch it grow exponentially.   Heck, I’m hoping to learn some things too.

So when you ask me to come to your bee yard and I ask if you might have time to take some photos of your bees and attend the upcoming meeting, I’m really not shirking my duties.  Instead, I’m able to tend to my bees – with 70 hives and counting that’s a lot for one person to do along with all my other responsibilities in life.  And you win too!  You win because not only will I be at the next meeting; but you’ll be able to pull from a vast array of experience from other beekeepers too.  Others win as well!  They get to hear about your bees and it just might help them keep their bees healthy. 

WIN!  WIN! WIN!

As you can see, our club is for beekeepers of all experience levels.  There is something for everyone to learn or share!   The 2014 December meeting marks the one year anniversary for the Hanover/Madison chapter of Southeastern Indiana Beekeeper Association.  Bring a friend and we’ll see you at the meeting!

Neonictinoid seed treatment targets the wrong bug

Very interesting news from Penn State.
 

You got to put this pesticide issue in terms that makes sense to those using it. Maybe this will do it!

Slugs are a huge issue for no-till soybean growers. Slugs have a natural predator: the ground beetle.  Neonicotinoid treatment on soybean seeds doesn't kill slugs (not an insect). BUT, the slugs can transmit the pesticide to ground beetles resulting in the destruction of 60% of these beetles. The result in the tests was a 5% reduction in yield. Yikes....

I say spread the word. What farmer wants a 5% reduction in their profit?

Read the story on the Penn State website

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).