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TEXAS BEE SUPPLY
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Cover Photo: Nanette Davis MoCo Youth Sponsorship Students and Mentor
May 2022
Feature Topics Saving Weak Hives Fixing Honey Bound Hives Managing Supers Drawing Comb Your First Month Home Moving Bees
Edition 23
USER GUIDE
Table Of Contents
Did you miss last month's issue? Click the cover below and step inside. We welcome your feedback and submissions! Beekeeping Questions: help@texasbeesupply.com Cover Photo Montgomery County Beekeepers Association Youth Sponsorship Program Class of 2022 attended a Splits Class at the Dayton/Huffman store. These young beekeepers are the future of our industry! What can we do for your club's Youth Program?
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6 Monthly Tips 8 May-Bee I Can Save This Hive 14 Fixing Honey Bound Hives 17 Quick Tip - Boosting Hive with Swarm Bees 20 How to Get Your Bees To Draw Comb 22 Your First Month Home 24 Winning the Battle Over Small Hive Beetles 28 Ask the Experts: How do you manage SHB 29 How to Install Beetle Traps 30 Interview Series: Nanette Davis 34 Managing Supers 40 Topics Beekeepers Can't Agree On: Queen Excluders 44 Moving Hives 50 Lighting a Smoker & Keeping it Lit! 52 Pop Quiz 56 Inner Cover - Notch Up or Down? 60 Barb's Bee Story in Pictures 62 Club Announcements 64 Webinar Q & A 65 Pop Quiz Answer 66" Day in the Life" Winners 69 Drought Chart
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Kim Townsend & Shannon LaGrave
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James & Chari Elam
DALLAS AREA
BEGINNING BEEKEEPING CLASSES
1. As the honey flow begins in most of the state, your hive should be reaching its peak population. Check your hive weekly to ensure they have enough room. In some areas, bees can bring in up to 10 lbs of nectar per day! 2. If you are adding supers of only foundation rather than drawn comb, you may need to feed the bees for a few days, or weeks, to encourage them to begin drawing out foundation. Once they have drawn out a fist-sized piece of comb on 3-4 frames, you can stop feeding, add a queen excluder, and let the bees continue drawing out the foundation naturally. 3. Using a queen excluder is optional. If you do not use one, your queen will move up in to your honey supers and lay eggs. In many cases, as the bees fill the box with honey, they will begin forcing the queen back down into the lower brood box. However, you will typically still have a few frames of brood left in the super. This is not a problem, but an inconvenience that will be addressed as we pull honey. If you do use a queen excluder, be sure the bees have begun to draw out a fist-sized piece of comb on 3-4 frames before adding it. Bees will not travel through a queen excluder to draw out foundation if they have not already started. 4. If you have started with Nucs or packages, continue feeding them until they are ready for their second brood box, which is when 80% of the frames in the first box are drawn, and covered with bees. At that point add your second brood box. When that is also 80% full, follow the instruction from point #2 to add your first honey super. 5. If queens were not available in March or April, splits or requeening can easily be done in May. In most cases May splits don't grow fast enough to make a honey crop. 6. Begin providing ventilation for hives by using a screened bottom board, or slightly cracking the lid. Bees do better in full sun, with some afternoon shade. Avoid placing your hives in full shade.
By: Blake Shook
M A Y T I P S
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Photo Credit: Theresa Guy
By: Chari Elam
Photo Credit: Stuart Heggie
May-Bee I Can Save This Hive?!
May runs a close second to the busiest time of year for beekeepers – July honey extraction rightfully holding first place! Right now, we’re running around determining which hives are ready for supers and in some cases, adding second supers for the “over achievers”! What about those “under achiever” hives? Probably classified as an affliction… but most hobby beekeepers will nurse our under-achiever hives until the very end – meaning, until they are dead. We pour all of our love (and money) into saving these not so fortunate bees, all for what? To cure what ails them of course (I say with determination in my voice)! After a decade in this industry, we’ve tried a multitude of “tricks” to save weak hives. Some of which have stood out to be valid solutions and more often than not brought a hive back into production. Disclaimer: There are hives that are just too far gone. That’s when you accept the circumstances and move on with your head held high – After-all, the current statistics in colony loss hovers around 40+%. Identifying a low performer This is a hive that is nestled in between or along with other thriving colonies being cared for exactly as the rest of them. There is no visible difference whatsoever – yet it struggles with consuming syrup, low brood, low forager activity… overall a weak hive. I’ll address a single hive bee yard that “never took off” further along in this article. What’s different with this hive? Mite count? Did this hive have a higher mite load than its neighbors? If so, did you retest after treatment? It is understood that hives with higher mite loads (continually) never thrive. My first order of action for this hive is to requeen asap. After a full brood cycle with the new queen, I test again and treat again if necessary. If I don’t see a difference – then it’s something else. Drifting Bees drift – they just do. It’s my observation that bees which under perform tend to be the hives that bees drift “away” from. Why would that be? The populations can’t seem to increase… the queen is laying… just can’t seem to keep those bees coming back! Location –location – location! It may sound crazy – but I am convinced that there are locations in the earth bees don’t want to live. We’ve had multiple bees on a platform where colony 1, 2, & 3 did fine – 4 didn’t, and 5, 6, 7… and so on did fine as well! Why? Beats me – I have no idea! But – when we moved that hive (#4) to the end or in another position on the platform it almost instantly started growing and doing better! Why? Again… beats me – I have no idea! Studies have shown that bees on a platform don’t do as well as bees spread apart or placed in a horseshoe pattern. Drifting is a big part of it. When bees drift, they “share” mites, viruses, and can deplete the forager population simply because the bees don’t return back to the hive. Having said all of that – try moving the weak hive to another location in the bee yard. You might be surprised how it makes a difference! If it doesn’t move on to the next suggestion… Change out and donate frames to the hive It is remotely possible your frames are the culprit. Older brood comb can become so old that the cocoon buildup (from years of brood rearing) is so extensive the queen and workers just simply don’t want to work it. Working out old frames can be difficult because it’s the active brood frames that need to be replaced! Easiest way to do it is to start by moving the center frame over 1 or 2 spaces. Then a couple of weeks later, moving it a couple of spaces more, until it’s on the outside and not being utilized anymore. Replace it with new foundation at that point. Doing this in the winter is easier than in population increase (now) but it can be done. Click here to watch Blake’s video on culling old frames from your hives. Once you’ve worked out the old frames, we’ve had success by donating a good fully capped brood frame from a healthy hive. This frame can make a huge difference in the performance of this hive once it emerges. It gets a boost of nearly 7000 bees and has a new(er) brood frame for the workers and queen to work with. Give it another brood cycle (21 days) and assess the hive's health again. Odds are it’s improved! Feeding weak hives There are times when weak hives won’t take syrup. Why? It seems illogical (in my best Spock voice) that a hive with virtually no resources wouldn’t take nectar. More times than not it’s a population problem. If you only have a few frames of bees, they won’t be able to maintain the temperature inside the hive any time of year. Bees consume “warmer” syrup better than they do “cooler” syrup. In this instance combining hives would be a good solution. Ideally combining 2 hives that aren’t feeding well (stronger hive on bottom/weaker hive placed on top) to boost the population. Obviously, you’ll have to choose a queen– and honestly… it may boil down to “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe” to decide which one to keep. Or… let them duke it out and the best queen wins! Another reason a hive could not be feeding is a failing queen. We don’t often think about that, but workers don’t tend to bring in resources for a queen that is under-performing. Solution (maybe) – requeen. I say maybe because in the game of trying to save weak colonies, you’ll have to make your best educated guess to what each colony will best respond to. Click Here to watch how to combine hives. A word of caution – we talk about combining weak hives, but “some” weak hives should not be combined with a good hive. If a hive is truly a “failure to thrive” hive, and you’ve tried all of the above and still nothing improves – I’d cut my losses and let it go. You can salvage the queen if she doesn’t seem to be the problem, but don’t take those frames and bees and expose them to another hive… it can easily be a boat anchor for the good hive instead of “saving” the failing hive. Freeze the frames (minimum 3 days) if they are relatively new and in good shape for using later. Back to the single hive beekeeper Unfortunately, some hives fail to thrive and if you only have 1 hive it makes it much more difficult to make any corrections. In this case, try reducing the size of the box to the smallest size that fits the bees. In other words. If you have a double deep but there’s only enough bees to fill a single – take off the second deep. If it’s a single deep and they aren’t filling it – put them in a Nuc box for a while. Feed nonstop and it’s possible they may take back off. Adding a feeding stimulate could help in this case as well. My next advice (if you aren’t already) is to join a bee club near you. Having the “resource” of other beekeepers can be your greatest asset! It gives you the ability to share frames with others outside of your bee yard as well as the help they offer in support. Nursing weak hives (in my experience) only works about ½ the time. But that’s a 50% success rate in my book! Most of these suggestions don’t cost you anything but maybe a queen. And in my opinion, it’s worth the try.
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Fixing Honey Bound Hives
Some basic facts that are important to know: Honey bound hives only occur when a hive has run out of room to store nectar/syrup. February-September the queen should always have multiple frames of brood in the lower brood box, or multiple frames available to lay on. The only time it is OK for a hive to begin filling the broodnest with significant amounts of syrup is late fall, as the hive begins to naturally shut down for the winter. Even so, there should still be some frames with at least 50% of space available. Identifying Honey Bound Hives Keeping those things in mind, here are a few ways to identify if your hive is honey bound: All the boxes above the first brood box are completely full of honey It is between February and September, and the lower brood box has multiple frames of capped honey, and only a few frames of brood. Open cells even on those frames of brood are filled with nectar/syrup. There are no open spaces for the queen to lay eggs in the brood nest The bees are drawing out excess burr comb all over the hive You are feeding heavily, and have been for some time, or there is a strong honey flow. Fixing Honey Bound Hives Often times hives are somewhere in between fully honey bound, and partially honey bound. If your hive still has 3-4 frames of brood in the lower box, but the upper boxes are full, and the lower box is full except for those 3-4 frames, it is often sufficient to simply add a box, and stop feeding if you are feeding. The bees will typically naturally move food out of the way into an upper box to allow more room of the queen to lay. If your hive is severely honey bound, here is a simple & quick way to safely fix the hive: Remove 2 frames of honey on either side of the brood in the lower box. Set the frames at least 20 feet away from your hives and allow the frames to be robbed out. This could take less than an hour, or a day depending on the temperature and natural forage conditions. Place the now empty frames back into the hive on either side of the brood. Add an empty box Stop feeding if you were feeding These steps typically fix a honey bound hive! Don’t forget to continue keeping an eye on food stores. Just because a hive had an excess of honey doesn't mean they will moving forward. It takes 2 frames of nectar or syrup to raise 1 frame of brood, so a strong hive can consume food rapidly! Check out this video I recorded last October. Although centered around fall, the same principles apply. Blake Shook
A honey bound hive is one which has brought in so much nectar or stored so much syrup, that it has run out of room to store it and is beginning to fill the brood nest with honey/syrup to the point the queen has nowhere to lay. This is very detrimental to a hive since the queen can no longer lay a sufficient number of eggs to sustain the hive. A honey bound hive can begin to dwindle in population and eventually die if there is no intervention by the beekeeper.
QUICK TIP VIDEO Boosting Hives with Swarm Bees
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Having only new foundation can really slow the progress when expanding hives. Regardless of your particular focus – there is a solution! Drawing comb in new colonies If you’ve just purchased a Nuc, package, new hive of bees, or made a split, chances are several frames in your brood box are new foundation. It will greatly increase the speed at which your new bees can draw out comb if you feed them heavily. Whether it is summer or spring, feeding as much as they will consume until they begin drawing out the two outside frames in the bottom box is ideal. At that point, you can add an additional box. Check out this article on adding a second deep from a past issue. Drawing comb in your second brood box Once your bees have begun drawing out about a fist-sized piece of comb on the two outside frames in your bottom box, it’s time to add another box. Assuming your second box is a brood box, and not a super for honey, simply continue feeding your hive as much syrup as they will drink. This will help them draw out the comb in the new second brood box as quickly as possible, so you can move on to adding a super and making a honey crop. Drawing comb in supers pre- honey flow Once the top brood box is 80% drawn out, or 80% full of bees, it’s time to add your honey super. Remember, don’t add your queen excluder yet, since bees won’t get started drawing out foundation through a queen excluder. So, with no queen excluder in place, add your super, and continue feeding. Check back every few days, and once your bees have drawn out a fist-sized piece of comb on 3-4 frames in your super, you can stop feeding, add your queen excluder, and allow the bees to finish drawing the comb and filling it with natural nectar. This will ensure you have honey in your super, not sugar water. If the bees stop drawing out comb when you stop feeding them, start feeding back up for a few days, then stop again. Sometimes it takes some starting and stopping to get them going strong on their own, especially if the honey flow hasn’t quite started yet. Drawing extra comb for next year during early summer months One fun thing to try is using feeding after harvest to encourage your bees to draw out an extra box or two of comb to jump-start your new hives or splits next year with already drawn comb. After pulling off and harvesting your supers, add a deep box of foundation to your hive, above the brood box(s) and feed a 1:1 syrup at a rate of 1-2 gallons per week until the box is drawn and full of syrup. That additional box can be left on over the winter or removed and stored in wax moth crystals. This works far better in early summer than late summer, as the later in the year you go, the more bees resist drawing out comb.
How To Get Your Bees To Draw Comb
By: Nanette Davis
Winning the Battle over Small Hive Beetles
Beekeepers anywhere in Texas or neighboring states are likely to have opened a hive at some point and caught sight of a small dark beetle scurrying about like a minuscule rat across the inner cover. For the lucky beekeeper, a glimpse is all that has been seen of the Small Hive Beetle (SHB). For others however, a hive overrun by a hoard of beetles that resulted in the bees absconding and a disgusting slime out have been a reality. Fortunately, most beekeepers have been somewhere between these two scenarios and continue to search for methods to limit the potential harm from these pests. Gaining an understanding of SHB and some techniques to reduce their numbers can help beekeepers safeguard their colonies and decrease anxiety when dealing with these small insects. SHB are an invasive species in North America that thrive in warm climates. However, they are also adaptable to colder regions because they can overwinter inside a hive and live up to six months. The beetles locate hives by smell and prefer locations in shade. An adult female can lay more than a thousand eggs in her lifetime. Clusters of eggs are laid in crevices or directly in comb and hatch within 2-4 days. Remember the hatch period of 2-4 days? A few beetles can turn into hundreds of larvae within one week; and unlike the tidy bees that go outside the hive to eliminate waste, the beetles and larvae eliminate inside the hive. It is this contamination that contains a specific yeast that can quickly result in the notorious slime out where fermented honey drools out of the hive - resulting in the bees absconding in search of a healthier home, and the beekeeper is left with a nasty mess to clean up. So, what can be done to address these unwanted guests? Being proactive is the best policy to avoid SHB problems. Maintain strong colonies Keep hives on dry ground in sunnier locations Be fast – the minute you open a hive be ready to kill as many SHB as you can with your hive tool! Use in-hive traps and screen bottom boards Leave propolis in place for the bees to keep cracks sealed Keep bees crowded – bees can’t defend “too much space” Common Traps and How to Use Them In-hive traps The least expensive - Beetle Blaster (for example) is inserted between frames 3 or 4 and can be doubled up on each side of the brood box as well as in top brood box if needed. As beetles seek shelter in the traps from the bees chasing them, they become trapped and die in the oil or DE. Fill ½ way with vegetable oil or DE (diatomaceous earth). If using DE, replace often because it will harden on the surface rendering it useless. Traps left in the hive for long periods of time tend to get brittle, causing it to crack, which allows bees access and potential drowning in oil. Discard after a couple of months and replace. Screen bottom board with tray Although a bit costly, these trays work well to trap and drown/kill beetles that fall off the frames to the bottom of the hive. This trap uses oil or DE like the in-hive traps but under the hive in a tray. The oil in this trap will go bad within a few weeks so keep a schedule to change it often. Likewise, DE (diatomaceous earth) will crust over negating the kill property of the product. Simply use your hive tool to break up the upper crust, exposing fresh DE underneath – in turn reactivates the trapping benefit. Disposable cloth sheets Probably the easiest of all methods, a type of disposable cloth sheet purchased at a bee supply. It is either laid across the top bars as one whole sheet or cut into strips and placed in the corners of the hive where SHB roam. Inventive beekeepers also use “spent/used” dryer sheets or sweeping sheets – any product used (not packaged for in hive use) should be free of scents and cleaning agents. How it works - the sheets become fuzzy as they are “scuffed up” by the bees and the beetles become stuck when they try to hide or crawl across them. Sometimes a few bees can also become stuck and die with the beetles in these traps. Remove and discard after a few weeks. Beyond physical barriers and traps, there are also chemical and biological methods of control. These are treatments designed exclusively for use outside the hive and rely on the interruption of the SHB life cycle by targeting the larvae as they enter the ground to pupate. Permethrin drench An insecticide purchased as a concentrate, which is mixed with water (as directed in the label’s instructions) and poured on the ground around the hive. Beekeepers should be very careful to keep this insecticide from getting on the hive or contaminating any water supply as it is deadly for bees and other pollinators. Beneficial nematodes Used as an organic method of pest control, and also applied with water to the ground around hives. Nematodes are living creatures that thrive in specific conditions and should be introduced to the soil as soon as possible after purchase. The ground should be moist and watered again after application to help the nematodes move in the desired area. Once they are in the soil, they will enter any beetle larva they find, causing death within about 48 hours. Keep in mind there are many types of beneficial nematodes. Look specifically for Heterorhabditis indica (H. indica) and the conditions they need to be used effectively. Ultimately, nothing surpasses the strength of the colony as a deterrent against a hostile takeover by any pest – and small hive beetles are no exception! They are opportunistic invaders that can travel with swarms and live within a hive for months. They have even developed a method to trick the bees into feeding them! Despite our best efforts, beekeepers cannot control all the factors that affect the health and strength of a hive; but knowing how to control and reduce the impact of these beetles will increase your confidence to make a difference at a critical time resulting in success instead of a yucky mess!
Photo Credit: afuturewithbees.com
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Nanette Davis Texas Master Beekeeper Montgomery County Beekeepers Association Youth Mentor Director International Ambassador - Flow Hive International Garden Variety Bees - Instagram
Ask the Experts: How do you manage Small Hive Beetles?
Keeping Small Hive Beetles under control is easy with the right tools - Check out these short "how to" videos on some of the least expensive and BEST tools on the market!
BEETLE TRAPS
Dodie Stillman Vice President - Texas Beekeepers Association President - Austin Area Beekeepers Association Master Beekeeper
Tara Chapman Featured on the Today Show, Vice Media and Eating Well Magazine Two Hives Honey - Austin, TX
Harrison Rogers Vice President Harris County Beekeepers Association Treasurer- Real Texas Honey Program Certified Texas Master Beekeeper
Wear What the Pros Wear Designed by Beekeepers FOR Beekeepers
with Chari Elam
Interview Series May Edition Nanette Davis
Meet Master Beekeeper, Youth Mentor Director and Flow Hive Int. Ambassador Nanette Davis! We discuss supering and pest management - including production comparisons between the Flow Hive and Langstroth hives. Enjoy!
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Work With LIVE Bees! There is no better way to gain the confidence needed to be a successful beekeeper than by working hands on with live bees. We'll show you exactly how to do hive inspections and what to do to care for your bees to keep them healthy and thriving!
"Depending on your area and flow, you could easily add additional supers every 2 weeks."
Managing Supers
Bring on the nectar flow!! In last month's issue we touched on “How to know when the nectar flow begins and when to add a honey super!” This month, it’s gettin’ real!! The time to add supers is NOW!! What size super do I add? Medium or Deep? 2 factors can help determine which best suits you – Weight and nectar flow. A full medium super (both sides capped with honey) can weigh between 35-60 lbs. A full deep super (both sides capped with honey) can weigh between 60-90 lbs. Personally, we have a mixture of deep and medium supers. Take it from me, mediums are much easier to manage. Depending on the size of your bee yard, you’ll want to think about how many you’ll be moving as well as how you will be transporting them and factor that in your decision. Next, your area can make a big difference on how much nectar will be brought in by your bees therefore how heavy your boxes will end up being. For instance, bees kept in a pasture near a Tallow tree grove will likely bring the top end of the weight maximums in honey yields. On the other hand, a pasture in west Texas wouldn’t be expected to come even close! Subdivision bees (backyard beekeepers) can expect somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Area truly does depict the yield. Another aspect that can affect your honey yield is “beekeeper experience.” You wouldn’t think this could, but it has a LOT to do with it. For example, if a beekeeper is doing a great job of keeping mites in check, nutrition of their bees consistent, requeening each year and overall staying on top of hive management – that beekeeper can expect the best honey yield possible from their area. On the other hand, the opposite on all points can be true as well. Adding your first super Once your hive is 80% full of bees AND resources, you may add your first honey super. The reason I emphasized and is because if there is room to store nectar in the brood boxes, bees typically will fill it before adding to the supers. Tip: Just because your fellow beekeepers are adding supers doesn’t mean your hive(s) is ready – inspect each hive first before adding supers. Queen Excluders In this issue, you’ll find an article polling beekeepers on whether or not they use queen excluders. Although it is your choice, learn the proper way to use them if you choose to do so. Adding only once comb is started to be drawn on new supers, is critical. Bees tend to not draw comb if they have to go through an excluder. Then, once some comb is being built, add it. BUT verify your queen isn’t in the super! Trapping a queen above an excluder could be disastrous! Adding additional supers Once your first honey super is filled 80% (doesn’t have to be capped), add another super if it’s before July 4th. Why July 4th? Most areas nectar flow will have stopped or slowed to the point no more would be filled. Do I add additional supers above the previous one or below it? That’s a good question – and one I’m not going to answer definitively. We add them above the previously added super, but I can see the legitimacy of putting it under it. Logic says it could possible fill quicker if the bees didn’t have to travel through one to get to the other. But I’m also not in favor of lifting a bunch of full supers to add an empty under it. I’ll leave it at: It’s your call! Monitoring your supers Nectar flow only lasts about 2 ½ months. Knowing this can be a bit intimidating and make you feel pressured to gain the most honey yield possible. Be careful to not add additional supers too soon! The downside in doing so is that the bees may begin filling it prior to completing the first one – leaving you with supers not filled out or capped in some instances. Depending on your area and flow, you could easily add additional supers every 2 weeks. Typically, 2 or 3 supers all season is the most you could expect for most areas. But don’t beat yourself up if your bees only fill one. That’s still 35-60 lbs. of honey from that hive!! In conclusion Continue your bi-weekly check on your bees. But remember, while there is a nectar flow going, bees won’t be too happy for you to be opening their hive. Do it quickly just to verify things are going smoothly and to monitor the super(s) being filled. IF you find your bees are not filling a super over the course of a couple of weeks or more, evaluate why and act accordingly. It may be that the colony just wasn’t strong enough to produce honey. If you’ve given it ample time and it’s still not filling, remove it - the added space will do more harm than good. What a fun time of year! Start preparing for extraction time…. Getting equipment ready as well as buckets and containers will save last minute running around gather stuff. Bee Prepared!
Us ~ while pulling supers in this bee yard July 2020 ~ Can you tell we were HOT?!
Photo Credit: 12 Year Old Lyra Livingston from Magnolia, TX
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Queen Excluders!
Topics Beekeepers Can't Agree On! By: Lynne Jones
Queen Excluders below your honey supers - always, never, sometimes? That was the question I asked beekeepers in two Facebook groups on April 1st. Out of twenty beekeepers that responded, a whopping 80% use a queen excluder - for one purpose or another.But when a queen excluder (QE) is used specifically to prevent brood in the honey frames, the beekeepers who do versus those who don’t was an even split. Some beekeepers start out QE-free, but eventually the inconvenience of brood in supers outweighs their reluctance to use them. Lee Kunkel said, “I have been keeping bees for 61 years and have tried it both ways….I grew weary of having to cull frames at extracting time…and now use excluders on all hives when extracting supers are added.” Similarly, Maria Jones (no relation to author), a 5-year beekeeper said, “I’m trying them for the first time this year. Tired of brood in my supers.” Beekeepers who don’t use a queen excluder (QE) accept that queens will sometimes move above the honey cap* and put brood in the honey super. They tolerate it because they prefer to let the queen lay naturally or believe honey production is reduced by a QE. I’ve wondered if there is any factual evidence of QE’s having an effect on honey production, and I decided to learn more after reading E.T. Ash’s comment: “… for a long time, I thought (with no evidence or experience in regard to queen excluders) … that queen excluders might in fact be honey excluders. Then I read Jerry Hayes' article in the ABJ titled ‘Is a Queen Excluder a Honey Excluder.’ After reading the article I tried his setup on one yard of bees and after that, began using excluders on most yards and in most years.” The article E.T. referred to, was published in American Bee Journal in 1985 and summarized the author’s experiment comparing the honey yields of three hive configurations: No QE, the control (No QE) ●Bottom Entrance with QE (BE/QE) ●Upper Entrance with (UE/QE), as shown in Diagram A In addition to honey yield, Hayes also wanted to know if the placement of entrances and queen excluders had any effect on brood rearing. Brood was measured at the beginning, middle, and end of the season. Hayes found in the UE/QE hives, where the foragers entered directly into the supers, nectar storage was primarily in the supers and only enough for brood rearing and little surplus was brought below the QE into the brood chamber. There was no back-filling of the brood nest! This could certainly be used as part of a swarm-prevention strategy. In Hayes' experiment, most of the BE/QE hives were plagued with skunk predation issues, which may have affected the outcome. However, based solely on the results as shown in Table 1 of the article, the No QE and UE/QE hives stored an average of almost 25 pounds more honey per hive than the BE/QE hives. Hayes concluded: “These results are quite dramatic in this experiment. It appears from this limited test that queen excluders may well indeed also be honey excluders. From this data the use of queen excluders should be highly coordinated with an appropriate upper entrance. This may well help to maintain the queen in a designated brood area away from honey supers and perhaps maximize the amount of usable, extractable honey.” In my opinion, it is unfortunate that Hayes did not also include the hive configuration of both a Bottom and Upper Entrance with a QE, as it would have been helpful to see how it compared to the others. I think many beekeepers use an extra entrance directly into a super, but not the sole Upper Entrance that Hayes used. Ironically, thirty years later in the December 2015 American Bee Journal, Hayes says, “I am not nearly as fancy now as I was in 1985. I just prop up the super above the excluder with a stick.” If you have used a Queen Excluder without an Upper Entrance, give the additional Upper Entrance a try. I’m really intrigued by the UE/QE configuration for its potential to increase honey production as well as swarm-prevention. If you set up a few hives for comparison, please let me know your results! My summary of Hayes’ article does not do it justice and I encourage you to read it in full. There is a link to Hayes’ entire article below. * E.T. Ash described honey cap as, “…a SOLID box of CAPPED honey right above the brood nest. Ash, E.T. Ash discusses honey cap. Facebook, 7 Dec. 2021, 10:18 am, LINK HERE Accessed 15 Apr. 2022. Hayes, Jr. G.W. (1985, August). Queen Excluder or Honey Excluder? American Bee Journal, August 1985, pgs. 564-567. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from Beesource website. LINK HERE Hayes, Jerry. (2015, December). The Classroom. American Bee Journal, December 2015, pgs. 1287-1291. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from Bluetoad.com, redirected from American Bee Journal website. LINK 1 – LINK 2 Facebook Links: Central Texas Beekeepers Texas Friendly Beekeepers
No Queen Excluders!
TABLE 1
Which is your favorite Queen Excluder?
Wood Bound
Plastic
Metal
Lynne Jones - Owner of Brazos River Honey Secretary-Treasurer of the Fort Bend Beekeepers Association and Advanced level in the Texas Master Beekeeper program
Long distance move (beyond your property)
Moving Hives
At some point in your beekeeping journey, moving a hive (or hives) will be necessary. Here are some tips to help make it a smooth – stress free event.
Prepare the location you are moving your bees to. Move bees at night if possible. You can move bees in the daytime but know that you’ll lose some foragers. Close off their entrance prior to moving. Smoke the bees back inside when closing off the entrance. Products such as vinyl corner bead work well – the bees can get ventilation and are secured. Staple it on with a hand stapler. They do not like this so be well suited. Secure the bottom board to the bottom box, and top box to bottom box with hive staples. Use a ratchet strap (not tension strap) to ratchet the entire hive together “tightly.” Do not take this step lightly. The boxes need to be very secure in transporting to prevent the boxes from shifting. Load using a helper or hive carrier A double deep box full of bees and resources can weigh 75 lbs. or more. Be prepared! When using a hive carrier use caution that the notch handles don’t slip out of the hive box it’s carrying. When loading into a truck or on a trailer, face hive entrances to the rear or side if possible (avoiding direct wind blowing into the entrance). Strap hives down to the vehicle transporting the bees. It’s ok to load bees side by side with no space between the sides of boxes. Take time to truly secure your bees on the transport vehicle. Don’t delay getting your bees to their new location Your bees will be ready to get off and their entrances open so don’t delay this step. If transporting your bees for long distances in hot weather use caution for extended stops. Commercial beekeepers moving bees a long distance will install nets over their bees and water them down on prolonged stops to “cool” the hives. Small scale beekeepers can do the same or consider laying a wet blanket or sheet over the tops of the hives to cool them down if necessary. Once you have arrived at the new location, unload your bees promptly. Remove the ratchet straps. You can leave the staples in the hive boxes for now … Remember, your bees just made a trip, and they are not happy! Open the hive entrance. Wear your bee suit!! Again, they are NOT happy from the ride! Consider feeding once they’ve settled. Unless it’s nectar flow – giving the bees some food will calm them and settle them quickly. Follow the first 5 steps for moving a hive a long distance. If you’re moving to the other side of your yard or property you can use a wagon, golf cart, or other means. This method will “jog” the bees more than a car/truck/trailer and they’ll not be happy about that so act accordingly. If you want to move your bees only “feet” from their original location – You can place them on a wagon or another “wheeled” device and move them just a foot or so a day with the entrance facing the same direction. If you need to reorient the direction the entrance is facing, do so gradually by turning the box just a few inches a day until the direction desired is achieved. If you have to move your bees “today” and don’t have time to move them a short move each day – Move the hive to its new location in the yard and place an “object” at the old location such as a brick or piece of wood. This will give the bees something to land on. Each afternoon for several days, pick up the “object” and take it to the moved hive and shake the bees off at the entrance. They eventually get the point. Also - Place an “obstruction” like a branch standing up about a foot in front of the hive entrance to create an obstacle at the entrance. This will force the bees to “reorient” themselves and help them adapt to their new location - Plus prevent them from returning to their old one. Remove the obstruction after a week. Moving bees isn’t hard – BUT it does take forethought. Take it slow, think through each step, wear protective gear (even for sweet bees), therefore minimizing any issues.
Short Distance Move
Photos Courtesy: Rich Beggs
BURLAP
Lighting a Smoker and KEEPING IT LIT!
It's easy as 1-2-3 Light a handful of burlap and place it in the smoker As you bellow, continue stuffing more burlap into the stack. Close the lid! Tips: For extended burn - Add pellets on top of the burlap. Avoid letting the smoker lay over - keeping it upright will ensure it stays lit and it won't burn down anything.
PELLETS
Question: What do you think is going on here? Answer on page 65
Photo Credit: Susan Caldwell
POP QUIZ
Stay in touch - so You don't get lost!
Note: You may notice the bees building burr comb under the cover when the notch side is down. This is due to exceeding bee space. For this reason, some beekeepers opt to only using notch side down for winter ventilation. However, using as ventilation and/or upper entrance over supers doesn’t seem to inspire more than normal burr comb, as the bees seem to be more focused on building comb in the supers than under the inner cover.
Photo Credit: University of Arkansas
The "Notch" For beekeepers that use telescopic lids, inner covers are necessary in that it prevents bees from propolizing the outer lid to the box. But are you taking advantage of another attribute to these inner covers? How to use the notch: For ventilation turn the notch side down on the inner cover and to the front of the hive. Install the outer cover (telescopic lid) over the inner cover and slide it just slightly forward to allow additional air flow (ventilation) for the hive – but not enough room for a bee to get in or out. Another benefit for the notch, is that it can be used as a top entrance to the hive. This can be beneficial during nectar flow as bees traveling can expedite unloading their cargo directly into the supers without having to travel up through the brood boxes. When using the notch as a top entrance – install inner cover as described when used for ventilation, but this time slide the outer cover all the way forward, allowing enough space for bees to come and go. Another way to use the inner cover as an entrance is to place it above the queen excluder and under the honey super. This allows the bees direct access to the honey supers as described above.
INNER COVERS
Inner Cover Notch Up or Down??
For Curry Honey Mustard Sauce: 1/2 cup - mayonnaise 1/3 cup - honey 1/4 cup - Dijon mustard 1 tsp. - curry powder 1/2 tsp. - smoked paprika 1/4 tsp. - cayenne pepper
For Fries: 2 - Russet potatoes, washed, skin on 2 tsp. - canola oil 1 1/2 tsp. - kosher salt 2 tsp. - garlic powder 3 tsp. - garam masala spice
YIELD:Makes 4 (1 cup) servings INGREDIENTS DIRECTIONS Preheat the air fryer to 380°F. Cut each potato in half, then cut each half into 1/4” slices; next, cut each slice into 1/4” sticks. Place all the potatoes in a bowl of cold water and let them soak for 10 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the water and lay out on a clean towel to drain and pat dry. Add the canola oil to the bottom of the air fryer. Toss the potatoes with salt, garlic powder and masala spice. Place 1/2 the fries in the air fryer. Cook for about 14 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Place the first batch in a low oven to keep warm while cooking the remainder of the fries. While the fries are cooking, mix together all the ingredients for the curry honey mustard sauce. Serve the hot fries with the curry honey mustard sauce. TIP Try this recipe substituting sweet potatoes for the white, they are equally delicious with the curry honey mustard sauce!
MASALA FRIES WITH CURRY HONEY MUSTARD SAUCE
Barb's Bee Story In Pictures
Meet Barbara Boardman & Hattie Norwood of Metro Beekeepers Association! Recently these two ladies had an adventure with an Open Air Hive - we think you'll agree, that's one awesome hive!
Walker County Beekeepers Association 1402 19th Street Huntsville, TX 77340 Last Thursday of each month Q & A on the front porch at 6:30, meeting at 7:00 PM
Need a presenter for your club?
Denton County Beekeepers Association Meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month both in-person and on zoom! Details on www.dentonbees.com and on Facebook
Williamson Co Beekeepers Association 4th Tuesday of each month at the Georgetown library in Georgetown. Zoom attendance also available. Click Here for more info
BOOK IT
Elm Fork Beekeepers 3rd Thursday each month in person or Zoom at the VFW Hall in Gainsville, TX. Go to: elmforkbeekeepers.org for Zoom link
Tri-County Beekeepers Association 4th Tuesday @ 5:30 pm of each month Sam's Restaurant - Fairfield, TX
Lamar County Beekeepers Association Meets 1st Thursday each month at 6:30 Red River Valley Fairground - Building B Paris, Texas
Montgomery County Beekeepers Association 3rd Monday of each month 9020 Airport Rd. Conroe, TX 77303 Non-members welcome! www.mocobees.com
Kaufman Area Beekeepers Association Second Tuesday each month at 6:30 pm United Methodist Church, 208 S. Houston St. Kaufman, TX New Beekeepers Q & A 5:45-6:15
Comal County BeeKeepers Association First Thursday each month at 6:30 - 7:00 dinner - 7:00 - 8:30 meeting Beefy's on the Green - Spring Branch, TX
Pineywoods Beekeepers Association 2nd Thursday each month Lufkin Angelina County Chamber of Commerce 1615 S. Chestnut Lufkin, TX
Hill County Beekeepers Association In - Person meetings every 3rd Tuesday of the month 6:30 at Hill County Annex Office, Hillsboro, TX
Wood County Beekeepers Association 1st Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm! The current meeting location is the Winnsboro Civic Center
Travis County Beekeepers Association 1st Monday 7-9 pm Zilker Botanical Garden ~ Gift Shop 2220 Barton Springs Rd. Autin, TX 78746 www.TravisCountyBeekeepers.org
Harris County Beekeepers 4th Tuesday each month - 6:30 Meet & Greet - 7:00 meetings start - 5001 W. Oak, Pasadena TX 77504 Harris County Beekeepers Association
Austin Area Beekeepers Association Third Thursday each month at 7:00 pm Frickett Scout Center For meeting details CLICK HERE!
Fort Bend Beekeepers 2nd Tuesday of each month (except Dec) in person or online. Bud O'Shieles Community Center 1330 band Road, Rosenberg, TX
Hays County Beekeepers Association In - Person meetings every 3rd Wednesday of the month 6:30 -9pm at Suds Monkey Brewing Company - 12024 US-290, Austin, TX
Central Texas Beekeepers Association Washington County Fairgrounds VIP room 4th Thursday of each month, 7:00 pm CentralTexasBeekeepers.org
Club Announcements
Always FREE! Zoom (Anywhere) or In- Person (Area restrictions apply) Enjoy a 1 hour LIVE Presentation from one of our presenters! You choose the topic!
Houston Beekeepers Association 3rd Tuesday each month in person at Bayland Community Center, 6400 Bissonnet St Houston, TX 77074 HoustonBeekeepers.org
Liberty County Beekeepers Association First Tuesday each month at 6:30 Texas Bee Supply in Dayton/Huffman For more information go to LibertyCountyBeekeepers.org
Webinar Q&A
Some GREAT questions from the March Webinar meeting! Click on the button below to read them all!
Check out our April Webinar!
Answer to Pop Quiz Most beekeepers would automatically think this is the handy work of a Laying Worker - Right? That would be an incorrect answer - Why? Laying workers' abdomens aren't long enough to lay eggs vertically in the bottom of a cell. Therefore these eggs (although multiples in one cell) are laid by a Queen. But why multiples? Often new Queens will lay 2 or even 3 eggs at a time as they learn to "get the hang of it"!
On April 16th - 6 lucky winners, Mitchell Moore, Suzy Kemp, Matthew Garza, Douglas Crabtree, Katherine Briscoe, and James Bates embarked on a fun and enlightening adventure, as they worked along side Blake Shook - Commercial Beekeeper! These eager-to-learn participants learned just how much work goes into making splits and packages - as well as the checking back on hundreds of Nucs, verifying the queen has been accepted and meets the high standards required to be sold under the Texas Bee Supply brand. It was obvious by day's end - a lot of fun was had by all, including Blake! Thanks to ALL that participated - We look forward to doing this again next year!
LOCATIONS TO PICK UP BEES!
DALLAS, HOUSTON AND AUSTIN AREA! PICK YOUR DAY PICK YOUR LOCATION!
ORDER NOW
For real time info, click here
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Texas Drought Status
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Photo Credit: Dayna Druke