Text
February 2023
TheBeeSupply.com
THE BEE SUPPLY
Monthly
Cover Photo: Lark Treadwell - Scout Bee
Feature Topics Planning for Spring Symptoms of a Nutritionally Starved Hive Preparing for Varroa Mite Season What's That Hole in the Hive Tool For?
Edition 32
Table Of Contents
We welcome your feedback and submissions! editor@thebeesupply.com Beekeeping Questions: help@thebeesupply.com
In case you missed it, here's last month's issue.
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8 Monthly Tips 12 The Day I Finally Believed I was a Beekeeper 16 Quick Tip - Planning for Spring 18 Symptoms of a Nutritionally Starved Hive 20 Quick Tip - Pollen Patties: When & How Much to Feed 24 Reversing Brood Boxes 26 Preparing for Varroa Mite Season 30 Varroa Treatment Options 31 HBHC Decision Tool 32 Expert Interview - Cade Houston (BIP) 34 What's the Buzz... about that weird hole on hive tools? 40 American Foulbrood vs European Foulbrood 46 Why Make a Mistake Once When You Can Make it Twice? A Sideliner's Story 50 It's Not Just Woodenware 54 Variables in Beekeeping 56 Quick Tip - Can my split be a honey producer this year? 58 Planting for Pollinators 64 Club Finder 66 Webinar Q & A 68 Recipe - Salted Honey Macchiato 70 U.S. Drought Map
Page Topic
Did you see our BIG News Last Month?
TBS is growing and we’re taking you with us! Although we're somewhat biased to Texas’ iconic trademarks like our BBQ, State Fair and of course beekeepers – our educational tools and innovative quality products are catching on outside Texas too! As we expand our e-commerce sales to neighboring states, we need a name that will apply a bit more broadly but keep the same "TBS" that Texas beekeepers have come to know and trust. Other than a slight name change, what you’ve come to depend on with TBS will remain the same – but as always, our plans are as big as Texas! One big push for us in 2023 is creating more localized beekeeping education. In Texas alone there are 4 different planting zones. When we began building tools and resources on how to keep bees in every zone and county in Texas, we went ahead and started doing the same thing for the entire USA. Growth is essential to fund those big ideas! No, we haven't sold TBS or brought on investors. :) We are still Texas- based, with Texas only stores. As we grow however, our goal is to become better than ever. Better products, better prices, MORE localized practical education, and more resources than before. At our heart we love talking and teaching about bees; we just sell stuff to pay the bills to let us keep doing that! Thank you from all of us at TBS! Owners- Blake, Lyndon & Tammy Shook
IS NOW
A candid talk with Blake and Lyndon on the TBS name change
NEW NAME, SAME TEXAS FAMILY-BASED COMPANY, STILL "TBS"!
TEXAS-SIZED ANNOUNCEMENT!
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I, my husband, and our 15 year old took the Beginning Beekeeping class on June 11th, 2022. I am so glad we did! We hoped to learn just a little about how to keep bees and what to do. Our goal was to possibly get a hive established next year depending on what we learned. I am pleased to say we have two hives already, our 15 year old is right there with us performing hive inspections and even points out things we miss (new eggs, pupa, even the queen!). When Texas Bee Supply says call or email with any questions, they mean it. Not only were emails answered w/in 24 hours, I also spoke at length with several employees about one of our 'difficult' hives which we ended up having to re-queen (successfully I might add). The knowledge gained is great. However, the support from everyone is what is really the best experience about taking this class and even doing business with Texas Bee Supply. I will gladly make the drive from Katy, TX to continue doing business here.
2023 BEGINNING BEEKEEPING CLASSES
February marks the beginning of hive expansion in most areas. As your hive begins to grow, their need for food will grow as well. It takes up to 2 frames of honey to raise 1 frame of brood. Be sure to check your hive at least every other week to ensure they have enough food stores to grow properly. Even if flowers are blooming, that doesn't mean those flowers are producing enough nectar to sustain your hive. We recommend maintaining at least a 20 lb. surplus of stored honey or syrup in your hive during February for a hive that has at least 1 deep box full of bees or more. Feed a 1:1 (1 part sugar to 1 part water) syrup if your hive has less than a 20 lb. surplus of stored honey/syrup. 1:1 helps stimulate brood rearing, while 2:1 is better for bees to store for the winter. Although still winter, by mid to late February an increasing number of trees and flowers will begin to bloom, therefore feeding a pollen substitute is generally not necessary. However, during the months of February and March, you can expect cold weeks with gradual warming as we approach spring. During these cold weeks the bees are unable to forage. If the weather is 50-55 degrees or below, bees typically forage very little. If there are more than 6-7 consecutive days below these temperatures, a strong, growing hive can quickly run out of stored pollen. If a hive runs out of pollen, they will begin cannibalizing brood, which can cause your hive to rapidly lose strength. To prevent this, give each hive a pollen patty if these conditions occur. Consider reversing boxes. If your hive has overwintered in 2 boxes, you will often find the majority of your bees are now in the top box as they migrated upward over the winter, consuming honey. If this has happened to your hive, reverse the boxes, placing the box full of bees on the bottom, and the empty box on top. If your hive has all of the boxes currently 80% or more full of bees, add an additional box. Very strong hives can and will swarm in late February, or early March. Prevent swarming by adding an additional box and planning to make a split later in the spring. Consider testing and treating for Varroa mites. Every hive has mites, but not all hives have high enough levels to necessitate treating. A visual inspection IS NOT a reliable method for determining mite levels. In general, if you visually see mites, the infestation is already at lethal levels for your hive. If you hive has more than 2 mites per 100 bees, treat.
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By: Blake Shook
February Tips
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Spring can't come fast enough for some beekeepers!
Upcoming Agenda
Live in the Bee Yard Tips Rotating Boxes Feeding Needs Gearing Up for Spring Crazy, Early Splits Pollen & Nectar Flow Live Q & A
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By Chari Elam
It doesn’t happen overnight you know…believing it that is! When I think back on how it all began, and the mistakes we made, I sure didn’t think we were eligible to wear the “Beekeeper” badge for a long time! The first year of our journey was probably more comical than anything – at least it is now when I reflect back. We often get asked how we got into beekeeping – I almost hate to admit half of it – but here goes. True story – Many years ago James and I owned and operated a remodeling and upholstery business (you can’t make that up). One day after coming home from one of his jobs for a family friend, James said, “Did you know Bob has bees in his backyard?” You can imagine the face I gave him – bees in a backyard? Cause he wants them? You have to be kidding?! One day not long after that, James walked in from work and said, “Bob is giving us a hive!” What? Nah, I’m good…we don’t want bees – do we? He continued on… “all we need to do is join the local bee club and he will mentor us!” Again…what?! There is a club for people that keep bees? Who does that? Well, it turns out a LOT of people do! Within a week of this conversation, we were on our way (at night) to pick up a colony of bees! But hold on, I can’t pass up the opportunity to point out this photo. This was our very first hive box that we put together in anticipation of getting our bees! Look closely at the picture…. Closer… do you see it? Yep – we had put the lid as the bottom and the bottom as a lid! Yes, we were that clueless! I even posted it on Facebook … Bob was so kind about it and just politely stated, “Your hive looks great… just one thing, you need to reverse the location of the top and bottom and you’ll be good to go!” How embarrassing. A few days before we were to get our bees, we realized we were missing one very important part of beekeeping – A SUIT! Where do you get a suit? I don’t want to buy a suit! We won’t be doing this for very long and why would we need to open the box anyway – Right?! Just 2 days shy of our "babees" coming home, we had to come up with “something” to wear. You remember the word “upholsterer” in the title of our business? That was me for nearly 30 years at the time….meaning I can sew really well! So for our first suit we bought Tyvek painters suits (it’s white and baggy right?!) For the veils - I used black fiberglass window screening and 9-gauge upholstery edge wire. Hey, they worked, and didn't look all that bad! Plus, we didn’t have more than $20 invested! James wore welding gloves and I used garden gloves to top off the ensemble. Great plan, right?! Not really - Have any of you ever worked bees wrapped in a plastic bag? Because that’s exactly what beekeeping is like when you wear a Tyvek suit! Ha- ha! As Bob suggested, we started going to the local bee club. It was so interesting to hear the people talk – like a world we never knew existed. Within a couple of months, it became glaringly obvious we just “might” stay in this for longer than originally anticipated, therefore we might as well invest in real bee suits. This turned out to be a very wise decision, as this was a particularly hot summer that year. By summer's end we had overthought everything we absorbed from the club and successfully killed our Bob Hive. Yep, killed it deader than a doorknob! What did we do wrong? Absolutely everything! But we kept going to the club – thinking that maybe, just maybe we could learn enough to try again. Afterall, we did buy the suits! By fall our mentor (Bob) asked us to do a presentation for the club. Do you mean like get up in front of people and talk to them about bees? We killed our bees and sure don’t know enough to “teach” beekeeping! “Sure, you can,” he said… “Just pick an article from a beekeeping magazine and talk about what you read!” O…k…. This just seemed so far-fetched to both of us – so much so that we took it down a different path. We found a book called Bee Hunting by John R. Lockhart, published in 1909, and turned what was an instructional book on how to “line bees” (learn their flight path) into a comedy skit…or at least that’s how it ended up. We practiced and practiced… had our lines down pat – it was THE MOST nervous moment we had ever experienced! Just breathe – there’s only about 40 people here – they don’t really know us so if we fall flat on our faces, we can still show our faces in town! As we proceeded with our take on “Bee Hunting” the audience seemed attentive, even somewhat interested! By the time we were done, not only did we have a blast, but the audience was cracking up laughing at the obviously satirical act just performed. It was great! Still didn’t have bees…but that’s ok, we were MEMBERS OF THE CLUB! It was only about a month after that we finally “purchased” a new hive. Yep, we’re giving it another go, and we had to buy this one so maybe that would make it work better…It did! Actually, that hive is still producing all these generations later. By the following year we were “elected” First Vice Presidents of the club. That meant we were “really” teaching programs! Although we didn’t have a clue what we were doing in the beginning – to this day we credit that time with our success in beekeeping. Fast forward to year 3 – We had successfully kept about 6 hives “alive” and surprisingly enough, they were even thriving! This is when we experienced our “AH-HA moment”! You know what that is... when everything just makes sense. You probably think that’s when I “believed” I was a beekeeper – not yet but almost. It wasn’t until year 4 that it really sank in. We are Beekeepers! I know what to do! If someone asks me a question, I know the answer! James and I both just “got it”! We probably had “it” for a while but we finally believed it! Now all these years later, I can honestly say that I (we) have learned so much from these cool little bugs and the wonderful people that keep them. So, if you are wondering if you’ll ever feel you are truly deserving of the title “beekeeper” – just give it a minute…you will. Moral to this story - Teaching and mentoring someone how to keep bees can be the the lessons you need to become a successful beekeeper yourself.
The day I finally "believed" I was a Beekeeper!
Picture of me in my "new suit" with grandson Nike. He graduates from high school next year.
Our mentor Bob Rabuck - When we would ask him a question, he would say, "Bees don't talk, and bees don't write books!" .... then he'd give us a nugget of knowledge, ultimately making us the beekeepers we are today.
Clean, repair or replace equipment – Equipment health can rank up there with bee health. Good equipment ensures moisture and pest won’t challenge their daily work activities. A quick coat of paint on a cold day, some caulk or putty in the separated corners can go a long way in preserving your investment. Rotting corners or top edges will invite moisture and pests in your hives and should be culled from use. Replacement is easy on a warm day. Simply place the new painted/stained hive body next to your existing hive and transfer frame at a time to the new box, making sure you keep them in the same order and orientation – Your bees will thank you! Develop a back stock of equipment – There’s nothing worse than getting out to the bee yard and realizing you don’t have the equipment to do what needs to be done. For every single hive body you have in service, you’ll need an additional box come spring! Don’t forget the frames! For every box you’ll need either 8, 9 or 10 frames depending on which size you prefer. Don’t be caught empty handed. Protective Gear – Your suit doesn’t have to be sparkling white to work your bees, but it does need to be cleaned periodically. Simply remove the veil and toss the suit in the washing machine with regular laundry soap. Hand wash the veil and then hang both dry. Rips or tears in your suit? 2023 could be your year to upgrade! Bee Health – Now is the time to start planning your hive's health checklist. Varroa treatments need to be alternated to prevent mites from becoming resistant. Questions about which one to use? Our staff can help you decide. Adding beneficial supplements such as Super DFM to your bees’ diet can dramatically improve immunity and digestive health. ORDER BEES – Do you like to be first in a checkout line? Who doesn’t?! We want you to have your spring bees as soon as possible and not be last in line! The old saying, “The early bird gets the Bee” really applies to ordering your bees – Order today!
SUPER SUIT
Planning for Spring
Quick Tips
It's not just a suit - It's confidence in knowing you're wearing the best suit on the market. Designed and worn by Blake Shook for comfort, durability, and function at an affordable price. This suit will last years, making it an investment not just another bee suit.
I Opened my Hive and ...
"The fastest way to fix a starving hive is to simply give them food!"
Everything You Need to Know About Feeding Syrup
A starving hive can take on many symptoms and can occur at many points throughout the year. Thus, it is important to be able to identify the symptoms. The most common conditions which can lead to this are: For regions that have very warm winters (daytime temperatures 60-70 degrees) your hive may never stop rearing brood and possibly need some supplemental pollen and syrup throughout winter. For most of the country, little to no pollen is needed during the dead of winter since no brood rearing is occurring. In these instances, a starving hive is one which has run out of stored honey or syrup. Early spring before a major honey flow begins and the bees are building up faster than flowers are blooming. You should watch especially close if there is a late spring cold snap and the bees can’t forage for a week or more while they have a rapidly growing population. If this occurs, a gallon or two of syrup and a pollen patty are typically sufficient to carry them through a week of non-flight. Post-harvest. This is the most common time to see bees suffer nutritionally. Once you harvest honey, typically in early summer, many regions experience hot and dry conditions and a dramatic reduction in nectar and pollen available. Now that we have identified when to watch for nutritionally starved hives, let’s discuss what it looks like in a hive: Less than half a frame (combined) of pollen stores in a hive Less than 10 lbs. (combined) of honey or syrup in a hive (1 deep frame full of honey is 8-10 lbs. and a medium frame is 4-6 lbs. for reference) Bees cannibalizing brood. You may see the bees uncapping and consuming pupa, or more likely, you will see almost no eggs or larva in the hive, despite a laying queen. Before cannibalization begins, larva will look “dry” in a hive. The small larva in a hive should be floating in royal jelly. If they are not, this is an indication that the hive doesn’t have enough stores. The fastest way to fix a starving hive is to simply give them food! Keep in mind that if they have plenty of stored honey, but little to no stored pollen, they need a pollen patty. If they have little to no stored syrup/honey, they need syrup. When in doubt, a little food can go a long way to help protect a hive!
SYMPTOMS OF A NUTRITIONALLY STARVED HIVE
Winter Feeding
How much & when to feed pollen patties depends on the time of year, and the strength of the hive. You want to feed only as much as the bees can fully consume in a 7-10 day period to ensure small hive beetles don’t begin reproducing in the patty. In essence, making sure the bees fully consume the patty between feedings ensures the SHB aren’t hatching in the patty. A hive which has about 1 deep box full of bees should eat a 1lb patty in about 7 days. A hive with 2 boxes full of bees can eat 2 patties in 7-10 days. Alternatively, for a box that’s only half full of bees, tear the patty in half and give them a half pound. A general rule of thumb is that if you don’t see at least a half of a deep frame's worth of stored pollen in the hive, it’s ideal to feed pollen substitute until they begin bringing in and storing more pollen. In late winter - feed 2-3 weeks before the late winter/early spring pollen flow begins, feed 1 - 1 lb. patty for every box that is 80% or more full of bees (so if you have 2 boxes 80% full of bees, feed 2 - 1lb patties at a time) to help them get started rearing brood a bit sooner. For most areas, this is about 4-6 weeks before the last spring freeze, though this can vary some.
QUICK TIP
Global Pollen Patties - 4% Pollen
Pollen Patties: When and How Much to Feed
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By: Chari Elam
Reversing Brood Boxes
It goes without saying (but I’m going to say it anyway) – there is a time and place for reversing hives in February and March. In most areas it is still very cold, and if you’re in an area like ours, then you’re getting summer one day and dead of winter the next. This temperature fluctuation can wreak havoc on a bee colony. It’s almost better for those of you in consistently colder climates than those in warmer ones! Why? On a warm day foraging is attempted whether there are resources to gather or not. This seek and find mission then results in the working forager bees wearing themselves out prematurely before spring. Unfortunately, because of the added exertion, they also consume much more honey stores, putting a burden on the colony's ability to feed themselves. As winter progresses, bees consume stored honey around the cluster first. When it is depleted, the cluster will migrate upward to reach honey stores above. This is all well and good, except as spring gets closer most of the bees have moved out of the bottom box completely and into the top, leaving it empty with no bees or resources, making it harder to defend and climate control. It is suggested (but not required) that reversing brood boxes prevents the swarming tendency created by space limitations from that single occupied top box. One would think the queen would just move back down and start laying in all of that open real-estate and sometimes they do, but not always. It is my experience that reversing brood boxes speeds up the expansion process and prevents swarming. The result, the bees treat it as though you added an additional brood box – when in reality you just “re-provided” them with their own abandoned space! Keep in mind that you would ONLY do this if 90% of the bees have moved to the top box. If bees are working or clustering in the bottom box, or spanning both, then reversing the boxes could do more harm than good – especially if they are clustered. Tip: Monitor your space and food stores closely for the month of February and March. As the population grows, the need for space and food grows with it. Depending on your area and what weather challenges you are dealt – food for your bees could be hard to come by. Be prepared to feed if you have less than 2 deep frames of stored honey at any time during the population expansion season. Additionally, for overwintered single deeps, be prepared to add a top box the minute you've reached 80% capacity.
This is what it looks like on the losing end of the battle with Varroa. Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) is being expressed here.
Varroa mites have been a plague on the beekeeping industry in the United States since 1987. They cause extreme damage to a colony through their feeding on the fat deposits of developing and adult bees, all while vectoring many different viruses such as DWV (Deformed Wing Virus) A&B, Acute Bee Paralysis Virus, Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus, and multiple others. It is extremely important to control these pests in your colonies and keep them at a low level. A major determining factor in whether the colony lives or dies is how well you’ve controlled Varroa throughout the year.
By: Cade Houston
Varroa mite on drone larva; a favorite breeding ground due to the length of time the cell stays capped (15 days).
But wait! How many mites do I have? To know when to treat, you must know what your mite load is. Test! Test! Test! Mite monitoring is one of the most crucial tools you need to be utilizing in your beekeeping operation. If you are determining treatment times based off visual cues such as seeing mites on bees, mite signs – such as frass (mite feces) in the cells, or deformed wing virus, you have missed the mark and your mite levels are most likely well above the treatment threshold. The next question is: How do I find out what my mite count is? There are a few different options for mite monitoring. The most effective and timely way to complete a mite wash I have found is the alcohol wash method. Not everyone does it the same way, but I prefer using the following materials because it allows me to do more washes more efficiently. A thin piece of metal bent into a V-shape (such as roofing flashing) Quart mason jar filled with a 70% isopropyl alcohol and water solution at a 30:70 ratio 2 white plastic tubs 2 sieves (one large with coarse filtration and one small with fine filtration wire There are all-in-one mite wash systems also available. So now that you have your mite wash equipment, let’s get into the actual art of mite washing. 1. Begin by inspecting your colony and finding a frame of hatching brood. These are the youngest bees in the colony and will have the highest concentration of Varroa, because newly emerged bees still carry the mites from the recently capped cell. 2. Shake the bees from this frame onto the piece of metal that you have placed over the open slot that the frame came out of. 3. Take a ½ cup of bees (~300 bees) and place them in the jar with the alcohol solution(unfortunately this does kill these bees). 4. Shake for one minute 5. Then pour the bees onto the large sieve and wash three times. With every wash, you will pour the liquid through the smaller sieve after washing it over the bees. This is to collect any mites that remain in the liquid. 6. Count your mites after three washes and determine your mite load. The economic threshold is 3% or 3 mites per 100 bees. So, in the case of a 300-bee sample, 9 mites would be a 3% mite load. If your colonies test at this level or close to it, a treatment is necessary. The plan of attack So now that you know your mite loads, if they are above the treatment threshold, we attack! You must think about Varroa control as an ongoing battle that must be won or your colonies will perish. There are many different control methods on the market that will work when used correctly. There are four main treatment time periods that are imperative in your battle plan against Varroa. 1. The first is at the beginning of the year when inspections start. This is an ideal time to get ahead of the curve and knock them out early since there is very little brood in the colonies. Most of the Varroa will be out on the bees and theoretically will be exposed to your treatment. 2. The next ideal treatment window is usually around March-May depending on the region you are in. This is splitting time. The time when your colonies have very high populations and need splitting to avoid swarming. Treatment is necessary here because as your colony grows in population, so does Varroa. The more bees in the colony, the more Varroa are present. 3. The third treatment window is July- August post honey flow. The colonies will have grown by now and most likely produced a honey crop. Most available treatments cannot be placed in colonies while honey supers are on. This gives the mite populations time to grow. It is imperative that you treat for mites during this time because the bees that are hatching now are the bees that will raise your winter bees. The hatching bees are the ones that will form that winter cluster and if they’re not healthy, your hive will most likely die. 4. The last treatment window for most beekeepers is September -October. This is highly regional as some areas have already gotten too cold to open hives at this point. One last treatment before winter ensures a healthy, virtually mite free hive that will flourish in the coming spring because you kept mites low and therefore kept viruses low. If mite washes are turning up low counts at this time of year - Congratulations!!! You won the battle!!! By: Cade Houston - Bee Informed Partnership Tech Transfer Team, Field Specialist (Texas)
Preparing for Varroa Mite "Season"
Pictured is the smaller sieve for catching the mites in your wash. As you can see, this colony has an extremely high mite load and will need treatment immediately.
Collecting ½ cup (~300 bees) for our mite wash
Photo Credit: Nanette Davis
Who can relate to the overwhelming feeling when faced with having to choose a Varroa mite treatment? What do I use? When do I use it? Will it hurt my bees? And the list goes on…. Here’s the answer: Honey Bee Health Coalition developed a “Decision Tool” for beekeepers that is fast, easy, and reliable! Finally, an “answer and get answers” tool for beekeepers that are unsure of their ability to make these decisions on their own. Basically, you answer the series of questions, and the program generates a list of options for you to choose from based on your input. Genius! Once you complete the survey your options will appear. Simply click on a product and that products information page pulls up. On that page you’ll learn everything you need to know about the product. You’ll also even find a video link at the bottom to show you how to use it. Keep in mind, even if you have a favorite “go to” treatment, its recommended to alternate treatment methods. Doing so helps prevent VM from developing a resistance to the treatment. Take a minute to click on the tool and give it a try! And remember – February means it’s time to Test!
VARROA TREATMENT OPTIONS
SHOP TREATMENTS
HELPFUL ARTICLES
Many people have heard of Bee Informed Partnership, but few have the opportunity to meet the team behind such an important part of our industry. Cade Houston is a Tech Transfer Team member based out of College Station, TX, and his experience with Varroa testing and treatments are worth listening to! Cade invites anyone with questions about Varroa or BIP to email him directly at Branson.Houston@ag.tamu.edu
SIMPLIFIED VARROA MITE CONTROL ONLINE CLASS
Join us for this Virtual Class on how to manage Varroa mites. We'll walk you through testing and treatment options, making what can be overwhelming, much simpler.
Talk with the Expert Introducing Cade Houston - Bee Informed Partnership (BIP)
with Chari Elam
VARROA CLASS
By: Lynne Jones
Something that has bugged me ever since I became a beekeeper in 2016, is the weird hole on hive tools. It seemed to me it must have had an important purpose at one time because all of the hive tools have it! They say if you ask a dozen beekeepers, you’ll get at least thirteen answers. But what if you ask 127,000 beekeepers? Surely at least one of them knows the answer. So, I posted my question in the Facebook group Beekeeping Techniques and I was not disappointed. Some of my favorite answers: Sizing bees Range finder Targeting Small Hive Beetles Tuning the hive tool for Tanging Swarms Popping beverage caps on Friday Pulling up the zipper when your suit gets too tight Propolis trap in the summer and mouse guard in the winter A small black hole that sucks the entire hive tool in. While the other answers are obviously tongue-in-cheek, based on my experience, this is the reality answer! But if you want to go with the most popular answer, 44 of 60 ‘serious’ beekeepers said the hole is used to pull nails. Geegee Smythe said the hole’s original purpose was for, “Pulling wax foundation support pins.” This would fit with my theory that it was intended for a specific purpose that was important at the time. There are beekeepers who still wire their frames but wired wax foundation and plastic foundation are used by most these days. I figured Geegee’s beekeeping must go back a few years to cite such a very precise use for the hive tool - so I asked him how many years he’d been a beekeeper. His reply, “First year – good mentor” came as quite a surprise! Kudos to both you and your mentor Geegee; I am impressed! Far from being a first-year beekeeper, E.T. Ash, who started beekeeping in 1962 said, “With migratory tops it was quite common in the commercial beekeeping world to nail on the tops. This allowed you to pull the nail and then by using the curved end, you could reset the nail when the inspection was complete.” E.T.’s vast beekeeping experience includes working for three commercial migratory beekeeping operations, so I’ve no doubt he used a hive tool for this very purpose. There were a few who doubted the hole could be used to pull a nail. After looking closely at my four hive tools currently in use (my two primaries, my backup, and my back up to the backup) I can see why there would be doubt. Of the four, only two had any taper to the edge. The only nails the two with straight edges could possibly remove, would be nails that are already well on their way to coming out. It seems for some manufacturers the oddly shaped hole is more about the traditional look than function. The comment with the Best Hive Tool Hack, goes to Cathy O’Bryan Misko, a 33-year beekeeper in Centerview, Missouri. Cathy threads a cord through the hive tool hole so she can throw it over a limb, then uses the cord to jerk a swarm down. She calls this her Bee Boom-a-rang. She cautions us to, “… be careful to not let it swing back on ya', lose the end of the cord, or get it stuck in the tree.” What an awesome tip Cathy! Thanks for sharing. E.T. Ash and several others pointed out that the origin of the hive tool is actually a very common tool available at the hardware store. Google “scraper nail pry tool” and you will see tools that look very much like a hive tool. They are used to, “remove molding, open boxes, scrape paint and pull nails.” But before you go crazy putting a bunch in your cart, know that the quality might not be as good as what you get from a bee supply store. Many are made from softer, unhardened metal, which won’t be good when trying to pry apart boxes. Now that the mystery of the weird hive tool hole has been solved, what did you think of Cathy O’Bryan Misko’s hive tool hack? Do you have a good hive tool hack?
What's the Buzz...about that weird hole on hive tools?
If you would like to share a hive tool hack with me, you can message me on Facebook or send an email to BrazosRiverHoney77474@gmail.com
It's not about the color of your hive tool... It's all about the experiences you have using them.
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Valentine's Day is almost here and we have some fun jewelry that your Honey is sure to love!
American Foulbrood vs European Foulbrood
Photo Credit: Bee Informed Partnership
Thankfully not as prevalent as it had been in the past, American Foulbrood is still worthy of discussion. It is a fatal bacterial brood disease infecting (via contaminated brood food) and eventually killing larvae soon after it is capped in a hive, and easily spread from hive to hive through robbing or contaminated hive tools. These bacteria are very resilient and can live for decades in equipment, therefore burning frames and scorching wood equipment is the only way to kill these highly infectious spores. In the south, it is fairly rare to find it in hives but in cooler, wetter northern climates it is more common –but it is still not widespread or common. It is very important to properly diagnose AFB before you begin burning equipment! Other brood diseases can look similar! Diagnosing AFB: Spotty brood pattern with dark colored larvae (rather than pearly white), and uncapped, sunken brood cells, many of which will be partially opened as the bees begin to remove the dead larva. Capped brood looks greasy and wet Old, dried larva will form a scale inside the cell that is very hard to remove. The hive has a sulfur, or rotten smell Do the “rope test.” Find a decomposing larva (try on several) that is still moist, and stir up the larva in its cell using a matchstick, small twig, etc. Pull the twig out and see if the larva ropes out more than a few cm, if so it is probably AFB. Finally, consult a mentor or expert, and use an AFB testing kit. The test kit is well worth the cost when you factor in the loss of a hive. If your hive does have AFB, there is unfortunately little that you can do. Some states require the State Apiary Inspector be notified, and the hive burned, others do not. However, you certainly do not want your infected hives to spread AFB to other hives. The best thing to do is kill the bees late in the evening by spraying them in the hive with soapy water. Then, burn the frames, and cover up the ashes to prevent any robber bees from picking up any remnants of honey. You can also bury the frames rather than burning them. The rest of the equipment can be scorched with a blowtorch to kill any remaining spores. While there are antibiotics which can cause AFB spores to convert to a vegetative form, it often returns when they are no longer used. Terramycin, Tylosin and Lincomycin are approved to treat AFB and can be purchased from some bee supply companies, but they require a prescription from a vet first. If you do choose to treat with antibiotics, burn any brood frames that are heavily infected first. Follow the labeled instructions and monitor the hive for 2-3 years for a resurgence of the infection.
Foulbrood test kits are very simple to use. Check out this video for step-by-step instructions
The Vita European foulbrood Diagnostic Test Kits enable beekeepers and bee inspectors to test for EFB or AFB in honey bee larvae and to obtain the results immediately and easily in the apiary. Each single use, disposable kit is easy to use with results ready in 1 - 3 minutes.
Test Kits
Unlike American Foulbrood, European Foulbrood is much more common, but not nearly as harmful to a hive. Nor do the spores last long periods in equipment, making burning hives unnecessary. I’ve seen EFB many times, often in the cooler spring period, and when hives are stressed. It affects larva, often killing them when they are 4-5 days old. Diagnosing EFB: The classic sign is uncapped larva appearing twisted, yellowish, or brownish, rather than the normal pearly white. Larvae are often dead in a “C” shape. In mild infections you may only see a few infected larvae, up to hundreds in a severe infection. For moderate to severe cases, the brood pattern will also be spotty. You can also purchase an inexpensive EFB test kit. There are a handful of causes: Contaminated equipment or frames from other hives. Stressful conditions like moving bees, splitting, and not providing splits enough bees to care for brood. Nectar dearth, where the bees are nutritionally stressed and need more food. Treating hives with EFB: Use the antibiotic Terramycin. It’s the only approved & proven treatment for EFB. You will have to get a prescription from a local vet before purchasing. Be sure to follow the instructions. I would only recommend using this for a moderate to severe infection. For mild infections, feed the hive, requeen if the queen is older than 8-10 months old, and try feeding some bee probiotics.
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By: Kevin C. Benson
BENSON APIARIES
Being a Sideline Beekeeper
My beekeeping journey began at 8 years old in Central California when I was invited to check bees with my cousin’s high school boyfriend, a guy I deeply admired. With a burlap sack over my head as a veil and a string tied around my neck (sounds safe right?!), I quickly realized the several holes in it would have me going to school the next day looking like Quasimodo. Despite this painful introduction, I fell in love with beekeeping. As I got older and became more and more involved, I learned a great deal about honey bee husbandry, and almost equally as important – how to operate a forklift and load hundreds of hives onto a big rig! This was all experience I was needing to one day have my own operation. I continued to work with a mentor over the years until I moved to Texas in 2012. In 2015, once I felt established, I purchased 100 packages of bees, the woodenware required to keep them, and started my own beekeeping business. This was my first time owning my own hives and I was thrilled! I also had no idea what challenges lay ahead of me, and the mistakes I would make… If I had to classify the mistakes I made, they would fall into one of three categories: Underestimation; Poor planning, and “The Easy Button.” When it came to underestimation, that encompassed two main areas: equipment and time. When I started my operation, I didn’t have a set goal as far as how many hives I wanted. All I knew was I wanted to grow my operation as fast as I possibly could. This was a mistake I made multiple times that cost me a great deal of time, money, and effort. I would purchase equipment, be it a ¾ ton truck or equipment to feed bees, whatever I needed to accommodate what was required at that moment in time. Problem was, as soon as I grew past that particular point, that equipment was no longer capable of supporting my needs. Then I would have to spend more time and money buying more equipment! After 3 trucks in 4 years, a yard full of extra equipment I didn’t need anymore, and a great deal of frustration, I finally learned a lesson. Instead of wishing to have a 1000 hive operation, I set a benchmark of 250 hives, bought the equipment necessary to accommodate an operation at that level and stayed there for a while. If I made splits and went over that number, I would sell sell the extra bees and make money! Before I knew it things got a lot easier, and I found myself in a comfortable routine! Poor planning – Another category of mistakes I made multiple times. I quickly learned that if I am not planning one season ahead, I am already behind. I now know, if it’s winter, I need to be preparing to move bees in the spring, make splits, and treat for mites. In spring, to stay ahead, I’m planning for a hot Texas summer, finding out-yards or safe row-crops to help feed my hungry bees when summer dearth hits… and so forth and so on. Time management was another skill I learned through mistakes. In the beginning, I had a bad habit of assuming that things would go perfectly smoothly when I needed to do some heavy hive work with the bees. For instance, doing in-depth hive checks, splits, or moving bees – I only allowed a narrow window of time to accomplish all these tasks. Inevitably, my good “friend” Murphy (Murphy’s Law) would arrive, and something would go sideways. After finding myself repeatedly in the situation of not accomplishing all of my tasks, I finally learned to give myself plenty of time, making it easier on me and ensuring I get everything done. “The Easy Button” – We’ll use TEB for short. This category is one I am almost embarrassed to discuss because it’s where I made the most mistakes. The first two categories can be explained away as inexperience, but “TEB” mistakes are honestly just silly blunders made over… and over……. and over again for the sake of laziness and taking short cuts. Examples of “TEB” mistakes are convincing yourself that you can accomplish an easy task without putting on your bee suit. God forbid you spend 2 extra minutes putting your suit back on to walk into the middle of your bee yard for 10 seconds to grab the smoker you left… Only to get back to your truck, look into the mirror and there he is again – your old friend Quasimodo looking back at you! A second “TEB” I was famous for was the ol’ – “eh, I don’t think I need any more straps to tie these hives down!” … 10 minutes later, I’m on the side of the road picking up hive-lids and adding that extra strap anyway. I could write an encyclopedia on “TEB” mistakes to avoid but let me save some time and say this: Don’t take “little” short cuts. They will inevitably cost you time, money, and possibly temporary disfigurement from swelling. Mistakes – They are going to happen, often more than once. It comes with the territory of beekeeping. As a full-time Firefighter/Paramedic in the DFW area and a sideline beekeeper for 7 years focused on almond pollination, the best advice I can provide to an aspiring sideliner is to give yourself grace when mistakes are made and learn to love your beekeeping journey. Set your benchmark and enjoy the time it takes to get there, mistakes and all. You’ll eventually look back at some of your most frustrating mistakes and feel an odd sense of fondness, and hopefully some humor as I have.
Why Make a Mistake Once When You Can Make it Twice?!
To say hive boxes have come along way over the years might be an overreach…with only a few exceptions, hive bodies are (for the most part) Langstroth design and made out of wood! But isn’t there more to it than that? There is! So many of us have been locked into a certain box style, size and configuration based on what our mentor, area or club suggested. But it’s never too late to learn other options! Check out the video tutorial on the following page – It goes into great detail about these aspects of woodenware and what is new to the market to replace the “wooden” aspect of equipment! Learn the differences between: Pine Cedar Apimaye Top Bar Hive Configurations such as: Single Deep Double Deep All Mediums 8 frame vs 10 frame …. And more!
As seen on the January Monthly Webinar
It's not just woodenware - It's your bee's house!
HIVE BOXES
Are some of these boxes yours? We're hard at work getting as many boxes painted as we can so they will be ready for you! Time to stock up and be prepared for spring!
By: Kasia B. @kasia.and.bees
Variables in Beekeeping ... an urban beekeeper's perspective
kasia.and.bees
The other day I was asking myself why is that when you ask 10 beekeepers for advice, you'll get 10 different answers? My conclusion – too many VARIABLES in the bees + beekeepers world to find one solid answer, one best method, approach, or solution. And, if we don’t take all of them into consideration, we’ll be getting answers that are not good for us! What are those variables? 1. Local climate, micro-climate, periods of nectar flow and dearth, current weather 2. Scale and character of the operation (commercial beekeeper, sideliner, hobbyist, only 1 hive) 3. Reasons for beekeeping (motivation) - for pollination of your garden, for honey and other hive products, for observation and admiration, for money (i.e., migratory beekeeping), for saving-the-bees, or a combination of all the above. 4. Bee breeds, genetics (if mixed), and their origin (from breeder, feral bees, bees imported from other areas/climates) 5. Time of year (the bees do different things in Spring than in Autumn). And...Winter in the US = Spring in Australia 6. Location of hives - closeness to other hives, number of hives in the area, availability of nectar sources, presence of pests, parasites and diseases 7. Beekeeper - his / her age and health, level of education and experience, geographic / demographics (different beekeeping schools / techniques, equipment in different areas / countries) 8. The bee colony - health of the hive and the queen, size of the colony, presence of parasites, bees' background, how often they are inspected, hive’s inspection notes 9. Beehive type - Langstroth, Layens, Horizontal Langstroth, Warre, Top Bar Hive, Skep, Log hive, Sun hive, Comfort hive, AZ Slovenian, Flow hive, etc. 10. Level of management (may be determined by the motivation for keeping bees, but not limited to) – hands on management, part time management, having someone else manage, or letting the bees manage themselves 11. Bee’s mysteries - we still don’t know so much about bees!!!! Many aspects about the bees and their biology / behavior are yet to be discovered. We have many theories, but we definitely should not perceive them all as fact. I had to unlearn many things: how much to smoke, how to inspect the hive, a whole bunch about treating for Varroa, pest management, overwintering, equipment, etc. When you are a fresh beginner, you search for all the information you can possibly get, books, on-line, YouTube, other beekeepers, courses, etc. And believe me, it can be very confusing! But if you filter all of it using these variables, you will find YOUR perfect way of beekeeping. And most importantly, keep LISTENING AND LEARNING FROM THE BEES.
Learn how to effectively and safely split your spring hives with an experienced beekeeper! This class covers all the basics in making splits, both inside the classroom and in an apiary. Topics covered for this fascinating class include: ordering queens for your split, how to prepare your hive to split, hive strength requirements for splitting, making the split, feeding afterwards, post split care, queen acceptance and more.
Quick Tip
TBS SPLITS CLASS
Randy Oliver: “Rule of thumb: an established colony under good conditions will grow at the linear rate of about 2 frames of bees per week.” Based on that assumption, making splits as early as we can prior to our primary nectar flow is essential if we want them to be part of our honey producers. Further reading, Randy Oliver tells us that a colony of 20 + frames (bees, brood, and resources + a new queen), will yield the maximum honey production for your area. Therefore, a standard 5-frame split (3 frames of brood, 1 frame of pollen/honey, and 1 empty frame) will take 8 weeks to grow into a double deep 20 frames strong. Considering a primary nectar flow starting at the beginning of May, splits will need to made by March 6th. Unfortunately, viable mated queens aren’t typically available until April – thus requiring us to make stronger splits to gain honey production from those hives. As you can see, this is why you will hear beekeepers say (when it comes to questions about splits) “Are you making bees or honey?” The answer to this question will depict whether you split or not, or the size and timing of your splits. We’ll cover more on splits in the March issue.
Can my splits be honey producers this year?
More Info
Planting the right forage for your bees doesn’t have to be hard – but let’s face it, knowing what tree, flower, grass, or vine can be challenging in regard to planting zones. Here is a very handy tool provided by the Pollinator Partnership that allows you to simply put in your zip code and up pops a 24 page information guide for your exact area called “Selecting Plants for Pollinators.” This will save you a ton of time researching each and every plant suitable for your area. Want to know more about Pollinator Partnership – read more here.
Planting For Pollinators
Photo Credit: Pollinator Partnership Poster
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As we continue to grow you will see and benefit from more and more tools designed with you in mind. One that we believe will be very helpful is the Club Finder! This interactive tool allows you to zoom into any area and locate a local bee club. As we continue to add more listings, we encourage leaders from clubs across the nation to click on the form just below the map and update or add the info for your club. With that, we can stay as current as possible to provide our readers with up-to-date club locator information.
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SALTED HONEY MACCHIATO
YIELD:Makes 1 quart INGREDIENTS 20 oz. - milk 8 oz. - espresso 5 oz. - honey 1 tsp. - salt, kosher as needed - crushed ice DIRECTIONS While hot, mix espresso and 4 T of the honey, adding milk once completely incorporated. In a separate glass mix together the remaining honey and salt to make salted honey. To serve, drizzle the salted honey on the side of the glass, pour crushed ice into the glass and then pour the milk mixture into the glass.
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