www.TexasBeeSupply.com
New Feature Click on a Topic on the contents page and it takes you straight to the article!
TEXAS BEE SUPPLY
Monthly
Cover Photo: Rich Beggs
June 2022
Feature Topics Honey Production My Queen is laying in my honey super! Queen Cells & Laying Queen Preparing for Harvest
Edition 24
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
On Orders Over $50
Need Supplies? We Ship
When ordering online - If a product says "out of stock" please call. It's possible other options are available.
Get the most out of this electronic magazine! Click on the "User Guide" below for details!
6 Monthly Tips 8 Honey Production 11 Quick Tip: 3 Things to do Post Harvest 14 My Queen is laying in my honey super! 16 Ask the Experts: What do you do when your queen is laying in your honey super? 18 When & How Much Honey to Harvest 20 What to do if your honey has high moisture 21 How to use a Refractometer 24 Preparing for Harvest 28 Post Extraction Robbing 32 Interview: Justin Russell 33 Quick Tip: Small Hive Beetle Trap 36 Topics Beekeepers Can't Agree On: To feed or Not to feed post harvest 40 Ask the Experts: Do you feed post harvest? 41 Sugar Syrup Recipe 44 Water Sources Drying Up 46 My Hive has Queen Cells and a Laying Queen 50 TBS in the Community 56 Recipe - Smoked Italian Panini 58 Webinar Q & A 62 Club Announcements
Page Topic
MORE INFO
Kim Townsend & Shannon LaGrave
HOUSTON AREA
James & Chari Elam
DALLAS AREA
BEGINNING BEEKEEPING CLASSES
1. In most areas the honey flow will continue into early June, then begin tapering off in mid June, fully ending by late June. During the first half of June continue adding honey supers when the existing super becomes 80% full of honey. 2. When the major nectar producing plants in your area begin dying, that is a signal the honey flow is coming to an end. You will also begin noticing your hive is bringing in less nectar. 3. Bees typically cap honey once it is cured, but there are several scenarios where the honey may be cured, but not capped. To see if uncapped honey is ready to harvest, simply hold the frame of honey horizontally over your hive, and shake it vigorously. Uncured honey will rain out of the cells. Cured honey will not come out at all, or only a few drips can be shaken out. If that is the case, the honey is ready to harvest. 4. There are many methods to remove bees from your supers once the honey flow ends, and you are ready to harvest. In Texas, we recommend fume boards, a bee brush, or blowing the bees with a bee blower or leaf blower. Bee escapes are not recommended due to the presence of small hive beetles in Texas. Smoking the hive extensively is also not recommended, as over smoking is not very effective, and can give the honey a smoky flavor. Remember to extract your honey right away after harvesting. Storing honey supers for several hours, or days, give small hive beetles a chance to ruin your crop. 5. Once your honey is harvested, place your supers back on your hive to let the bees clean up the excess honey. Remember, your bees will be "robby" since there is very little natural nectar available. Make sure to put your freshly harvested honey supers back on your hives late in the evening, which will give your hive all night to clean and remove the excessive smell of honey. This will help prevent other hives from robbing your hive the next day. Once the supers have been cleaned, you can remove all but 1 box above your brood nest, and store the rest in wax moth crystals for the next season. 6. Begin providing a water source for your bees as natural water sources begin drying up for the summer. 7. Post harvest care of your hive is the most critical time of the entire beekeeping year. Watch for details in the July issue.
By: Blake Shook
JUNE TIPS
Both Images Credit: HBHC.org
By: Chari Elam
Honey Production! What you put in it, is typically what you'll get out of it! It never ceases to amaze me that these tiny little bugs can amass such a gorgeous honey crop each year! Year after year… But wait – you aren’t getting a massive honey crop? Do you ever wonder why? It could be several things actually. Area – Your forage area doesn’t provide good nectar sources for your bees Weather – Maybe your area is one that has been hard hit with drought or the opposite – too much rain Varroa mites – Wait … what?! Yes, unfortunately a high mite load can cause bees to simply be too sick to forage (deformed wing virus.) Or, it’s affected the population to the point where there’s simply not enough bees to provide a surplus crop of honey. Management skills – Ooh… that one stings (pun intended.) As a beekeeper grows in their ability to manage bees “well,” they often find honey production is one of the first rewards. Let’s elaborate on that… We can’t control the weather, and most often can’t control the area where our bees forage. But we can control Varroa mites and management skills! I won’t make this article a long dissertation on Varroa (that’ll be next month – ha-ha), but I will say: If you go into honey production time with a high mite load, you sealed your fate. First and foremost, our duty as bee ‘keepers’ is to manage our bees (animal husbandry.) In doing so, pest management is 3rd on the list of beekeeper duties. Have you seen the list? My list anyway... 1. Housing – hive boxes in good order, maintaining a safe, dry environment for our bees. 2. Nutrition – keeping our bees fed when nature or their circumstances require us to. help. 3. Pest management – controlling Varroa and other pests and diseases. Put those all together and that’s hive management! Years ago, I did a summary article on Honey Bee Health Coalition’s “Best Management Practices for Hive Health” (BMP) It was a l-o-n-g article. I might as well have published the guide itself (82 pg.) Take a big sigh of relief – I’m sparing you that today! I will however entice you to read it! It is truly your “responsibility” guide in detail. List of topics: Preparation and Personal Safety Apiary and Hive Maintenance Minimizing Risk from Pesticides Integrated Pest Management and Varroa Mites Other Pest and Diseases Queen Health, New Colonies, and Honey Bee Breeding Honey Bee Nutrition If that doesn’t cover it “all,” I don’t know what will! Please take the time to download and read this publication. You and your bees will benefit from it! The last point I want to make is, something I read in a comment online that really rang a bell in my head, “Decisions have consequences.” When you think about it, the opposite is true as well. Indecision has consequences too! This brings us full circle back to the beginning of this article – honey production. Honey production can be directly related to a decision or the lack thereof we made somewhere in the past with our bees. It could be a “good” decision and have “good” consequences (healthy bees, good honey crop,) or it could be a “bad” decision that yielded “bad” consequences (sick bees, no honey crop.) In hindsight, I might would add a 4th point to our list of duties – Keep your enthusiasm up through your journey, even when you mess up! (We all have.) Beekeeping is so much fun when we take the time to manage our colonies, ensuring they have the best possible chance of thriving while under our care. It truly is up to us… isn’t it?!
Honey Production
"What you put in it, is typically what you'll get out of it!"
More than 6 mites found in the Easy Check - Action needed! More than 9 mites found on a Sticky Board in a 24 hour period - Action needed!
Lauren Ward
Blake Shook
Ask the Experts Do you test/treat for mites post harvest?
3 Things To Do Post-Harvest Feed Test for Varroa Watch for Robbing
Quick Tip
1st Thursday of Each Month Next meeting June 2nd - 6:30 pm!
SHOP
We here at Texas Bee Supply are humbled and so appreciative of the outpouring of concern and well wishes from hundreds , if not thousands, of our wonderful customers after experiencing a fire in a warehouse at our Blue Ridge location. You'll be happy to hear, we were only closed one day - and with plenty of stock from our other stores, we were able to open the next day and resume shipping right away! Texas Bee Supply team members work tirelessly to get your orders out within the same day or the following day - day after day! If an item shows "Out of Stock" online, don't hesitate to call - it's possible we have an alternative.
One of the largest virtual meetings offered! Can't attend live? Register and get the recording sent to your inbox!
CHECK OUT OUR LAST WEBINAR!
Always FREE!
Live Virtual BEE Meeting
Live in the Bee Yard ! - Prepping for Summer - June Tips - Bottom Supering - Final Supering - Venting Hives - How to tell the honey flow is over
SIGN UP
1-800-356-4229
Upcoming Agenda
Photo Credit: Mudsong.org
It just happens sometimes! I’m going to address this from two perspectives: You did not use a queen excluder, and the queen is laying brood in your honey super during the honey flow & you are trying to figure out what to do before extracting. You have already extracted honey, and the queen is laying in the honey supers you added back to the hive after harvest. For #1, that is very common! You have a few simple options. If the frame(s) with brood are less than ⅓ covered with brood, and the rest is honey, you can proceed with extracting. Just leave the brood alone and put it back on the hive after you extract the honey from the frame. Some of the brood can survive the extraction process if it is done the same day and left capped. If your honey super is a deep box, simply swap the frames of brood in your super with frames full of honey from your brood box. If your honey super is a medium box, you can follow step #1, or leave the frames with brood in the super, extract the frames with honey, and replace the empty extracted frames post extraction. For #2, again, this is very common. Many beekeepers let their queens lay in the supers post-extraction. If your hive already has 2 brood boxes, and the top box is not more than 80% full of bees, you don’t need to leave the supers on the hive. The only issue with allowing queens to lay in the super is, it ages your comb and makes it a bit more attractive to wax moths as the developing bees shed their cocoons as they develop. However, this is a minor issue, and most supers end up with some brood in them over time. If the queen is actively laying in your supers, and you want to remove some of the supers, you can consolidate all the brood in the supers into just 1 super and leave that on the hive above a queen excluder. Once all the brood hatches, you can remove & store the super. However, if the top brood box on the hive is more than 80% full, and you are more than about 2 months from your first freeze, it is a good idea to leave the extra super on top of the hive to help prevent swarming. You used a queen excluder but there is still brood in my supers! Unfortunately, this can happen occasionally! A couple of things could have happened: Your queen excluder has a broken bar, or got bent, allowing the queen to pass through and lay in the super. If this is the case, simply replace it or fix it. At this point you will need to find the queen or shake all the bees out of the super into the brood boxes to ensure she is no longer in your supers. Smoking the supers, then gently brushing or shaking the bees off the super frames into the lower boxes is also sufficient. Your queen was trapped in the supers when you put the queen excluder on the hive. The quickest way to tell if this has occurred is to see if there are eggs & larva in the lower brood boxes. If not, she was trapped in the supers. If there is, follow the previous suggestions in #1.
MY QUEEN IS LAYING IN MY HONEY SUPER!
Dr. Jamie Ellis Gahan Endowed Professor of Entomology Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida
Chris Moore Moore Honey Farm Founder - ©Real Texas Honey Produces and sells honey in 5 - SE Texas Counties
James & Chari Elam Texas Bee Supply Instructors Owners Blue Ribbon Honey Company
Ask the Experts what they do when a queen lays in the honey super!
Ed Erwin Master Beekeeper Mentor Director Montgomery County Beekeepers Assn. Founder BeeHarmony.org
When and How Much Honey to Harvest
How to Know When it's Time to Harvest Honey There are a handful of indicators to help you know when to harvest your honey. The major nectar producing flowers begin to die. What those flowers are will vary by region. Every region has one, or a handful of flowers that produce large amounts of nectar which the bees store as surplus for us to harvest. Visiting with local beekeepers to determine what those flowers are is incredibly helpful. When they begin to die, harvest time is right around the corner. Thankfully, this usually happens about the same time each year within a week or two. Once you discover the time the flow typically ends in your area, you can often harvest roughly the same time each year. What are your bees doing? When the nectar flow completely ends, you will notice that the bees begin to uncap the capped honey and eat it. Ideally, you want to harvest before that happens. You will also notice the bees are no longer storing large amounts of fresh nectar in the cells, but are capping honey, and there is less and less uncapped open cells of honey in the hive. Bees will also become more “robby” and robber bees from other hives may try to steal honey as you open and inspect hives. The bees have capped & cured the honey. This is often one of the most confusing aspects for new beekeepers since bees will often not fully cap every cell on every frame. That’s OK...sometimes the flow ends suddenly, and bees don’t cap everything. Pay attention to the factors above and then do a shake test if there are large amounts of uncapped honey. This entails holding a frame horizontally over the top of the opened hive and shaking the frame. If nectar rains out of the frame, the honey is not yet cured, and you should wait another week before testing again. If no nectar rains out, or only a couple drips after vigorous shaking, it’s cured & ready to harvest. A full super of uncapped frames is often not ready to harvest, but if half of the cells are capped, and it is the end of the honey flow date wise, it’s typically fine to harvest. How Much Honey Should I Leave for My Bees? For once, the answer to this question is up to you! There is the perception that if you leave a lot of honey for your bees, everything will be OK. While having their own honey to eat rather than syrup is a little better for them, it actually doesn’t help as much as you would think. Things like handling mites and feeding properly are far more important to the long-term health of your hive. I encourage beekeepers to always leave all the honey in the bottom brood box for the bees. Then, if you have a second brood box, you can leave all that honey, or harvest about half of it, and also harvest all the honey out of the supers above the second brood box. After you harvest, ensure you feed properly to replenish the stores you took. Often times that summer feeding is great for the bees, and encourages them to continue growing and thriving, which is better for them than just sitting around with nothing to do. If you don’t want to feed at all, then you will need to leave at least 40 lbs of honey in the second box above the first brood box.
HOW TO USE A REFRACTOMETER
Verify the unit is calibrated - if not follow instructions provided to calibrate it prior to testing. Lift the plastic cover and verify the glass plate is dry, clean, and lint free. Place a small drop of honey on the glass (a toothpick works well as a dropper - too much honey on the glass will 'fog' the reading making it hard to read) Close the plastic cover over the honey sample Hold the refractometer up to a light source and read the measurement under the column "water %" This will be the line where the blue meets the white. Clean honey off the glass and plastic cover with a damp soft rag, drying thoroughly for storing. Tip: For a more accurate reading, honey and refractometer should remain in the same room long enough to be the same temperature before testing. Extreme differences in the two will skew the results.
High moisture honey can certainly be a problem, as honey over about 19% can easily ferment. We often see high moisture honey in especially wet springs or humid areas, if honey is harvested too early, or water was introduced during extracting. There are some simple tricks to reduce the moisture content of honey on a small scale. First, you will need a refractometer to see what the moisture content of your honey is. If it seems especially runny, it's a good idea to test it. If the moisture is above 19%, heating or cooling, and stirring the honey over a period of days can reduce the moisture. Here are some options if you have high moisture honey: Simply bottle and freeze your honey immediately after harvesting, and thaw jars out as needed. Frozen honey cannot ferment. Place your honey in a 5-gallon bucket. Place the bucket in a small room, or enclosure like an old refrigerator or large ice chest inside your house where the humidity is low. Place a small fan in the enclosure, and leave the door cracked slightly. Warm the space to 85-95 degrees with a light bulb. Leave the lid off the bucket and stir 2-3 times per day. After about a week, it should reduce the moisture by 1-2%. Similarly, you can chill the honey to about 65 degrees in a small enclosure and follow the same steps above. Purchase a small dehumidifier and place it in an enclosed area with your honey, mixing 2-3 times per day for a week. This will also help pull the moisture out of the honey.
Reading of 18.5% Perfect moisture content
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR HONEY HAS A HIGH MOISTURE CONTENT
Meet some of our Happy Customers!
We'd Love to Hear From You Too!!
REVIEWS
Click on links in BLUE for complete descriptions of each item.
June and July are known as “Honey Harvest” months for most beekeepers - Some with totes full and others with buckets full! Remember: This is not a contest! Any harvest is a GOOD harvest!! Here are some tips to help you get ready for that harvest as well as make it easier once you begin. Extraction equipment Extractor – Depending on the amount of honey you will be extracting, a small unit (2-4 frames) may be sufficient for short term use. Or for larger quantities and better quality for any scale beekeeper, Maxant (industry leader in extraction equipment) has several options. Bee clubs will often have equipment to loan to members, as do other club members willing to help out. Plastic Uncapping Tank Capping Scratcher Uncapping knife Food grade 5-gallon bucket– Most hives will produce at least 1 medium super of honey weighing from 35-45 lbs. A single bucket holds 55-60 lbs. so purchase accordingly. Bucket honey gate – Avoid storing in the bucket with a honey gate. It will leak… IT WILL LEAK! Use this bucket for bottling only. Tip: Perhaps install the gate on the lid and not the bucket. This allows you to move the lid with the gate from bucket to bucket for bottling. Simply lay the bucket over on its side (with lid on securely) to fill bottles . Strainer or Filter – For “Raw and Unfiltered” honey designation, straining would be your choice over filtering. Otherwise floating your honey would also qualify. This method is simply letting your honey sit for a period of time (a few days) allowing all of the impurities to float to the top to be skimmed off for bottling. Bottles – There are a number of honey bottles to choose from in various sizes. Purchase what best suits your market. Note: Only bottle ahead what you can sell quickly. Honey crystallizes quickly and is much easier to liquify out of larger containers than smaller ones. Another aspect of preparing for extraction is choosing the location. Fortunately for small scale beekeepers this can be your kitchen! You will of course want to have it spotlessly clean, just as you would want any product you eat packaged in a clean area, Using plastic on the floors and counter tops can make clean up much easier. Tape them down with blue painter's tape to secure them preventing a tripping hazard. Tip: Have a bucket of water and rags or towels to wipe your hands and any spills through the process. Another tip: Avoid extracting honey outside – Consider the consequences… bees will be all up in your business even with a screened enclosure. Gathering supers Most experienced beekeepers have developed their favorite way to gather supers without bees. Here’s a list of methods to remove bees in order of slowest to fastest Bee escape – This method allows bees “out” but doesn’t allow them back in – often taking over 24 hours to work but this method is not highly recommended in Texas. Bee brush – An item already in your tool box. Simply brush the bees off your honey frames. Problem is…it’s a bit like herding cats – takes time and you never really get all the bees off. Leaf Blower– Somewhat fast - a bit aggressive but a gas powered blower can quickly vacate bees from a honey super. Note: Bees will hang on even with this method and the gas blower is a bit cumbersome to some. Solar Fume Board– The fastest way for most beekeepers (large or small scale) is to use a fume board. Whether you use Honey Bandit (smells good) or Honey Robber (smells bad), the solar fume board will work within minutes when most other methods take much longer.
Preparing for Harvest
Check out our honey containers! A variety of shapes and sizes, in-store and online!
CONTAINERS
FUN FACT In 2020 - Texas topped 7.4 million pounds in honey production!
Honey is in the air! Literally when honey supers are pulled, the air is filled with the wonderful aroma of honey, beckoning other hives to take advantage of a free food source. Unfortunately, robbing can kill a perfectly vibrant hive within a matter of hours if left alone. Identifying a robbing situation A sudden increase in hive activity Fighting at the entrance Dead bees at the entrance or on the ground in front of the hive Higher pitch hive sounds (agitation/desperation) Bees gathering around the cracks and seams of the hive Bees normally fly straight into a hive, while robber bees tend to sway back and forth as they try to gain access past the guard bees. An overabundance of wax at the entrance or on the bottom board (under the hive if the screen is open) Once a robbing frenzy has been identified, take action immediately! Waiting can be detrimental to your hive. How to stop robbing – 1 or more of these can be done simultaneously Reduce the entrance – If you don’t have an entrance reducer, a stick, grass, or anything that will reduce the entrance down to a size allowing only a couple of bees at a time to traverse. Install a robbing screen– leave it on for several days Drape a damp sheet over the hive – Why damp? A slightly wet sheet will keep the hive cooler during it’s time being covered. The sheet will no doubt trap a good number of robber bees, but it will allow time for the hive to gain the upper hand, not allowing more robbers in. Leave this on at least overnight. Robbing should subside by morning. Run a water sprinkler over the hive – Setting up a water sprinkler, creating a “rain storm” will shut down aggressive robbing quickly. Bees can’t/won’t fly in the rain so simply create rain! Run this sprinkler for several hours if possible. It doesn’t have to be set very high, just high enough to cover the entire hive, including the entrance. Tape seams and cracks – Probably one of the most common mistakes beekeepers make is allowing hive boxes to go into disrepair. Excessive openings at corners and seams can and will become an access point for robbing bees. During a robbing event, duct tape any entry point as well as wrap seams to prevent hive aroma from continuing to attract robbers. Post Robbing Check the hive for damage – Inspect the hive that experienced the robbing as soon as possible. Doing so early morning (before lunch) could help to prevent another robbing frenzy. Note: Robbing is accentuated during the peak of the day (typically mid-afternoon) Excessive dead bees on the bottom board will be removed by the remaining bees, but any help you can give them is less work for them. Be prepared to reduce the hive size – Often after a severe robbing a hive will have lost a substantial amount of the population. If this happens consider the “box to bee ratio” and reduce the number of boxes to the number of bees left if warranted. Feed Internally – keeping in mind the hive has lost a lot of its resources. If the hive didn’t make it (can happen) – promptly break down the hive components and store properly for future use. Hive equipment – Any hive boxes that have rotten corners or are worn allowing gaps, need to be replaced. Simply take the frames from the old box and place them in a new one and place it back on the hive. How to prevent robbing Return honey supers at dusk while other hives aren’t out foraging (or looking for the opportunity to rob other hives.) This allows the hive to clean up the excess honey in the supers overnight, eliminating the aroma of honey in the air the next day. When post-harvest feeding, avoid spilling any syrup around the hive. Feed using internal feeders only – area feeding and boardman feeders can attract feral colonies as well as other hives looking to take advantage of a weak hive. Make quick work of inspections – the longer a hive is open the greater the chance of robbing. Get in and get out!
How to: Identify Stop it What to do after Prevention
Post Extraction Robbing
Photo Credit: UF/HBREL
Remember – summer dearth is right around the corner. As soon as we rob honey, the honey robbers go on the hunt!! By: Chari Elam
Courtesy beekeeper, Nancy Werstler - Use felt backed table cloth for trapping Small Hives Beetles on your bottom tray! Simply genius Nancy!!
QUICK TIP
with Chari Elam
Interview Series May Edition Justin Russell
Do you know this guy? Justin Russell and his wife Ashley have taken what most call a hobby and catapulted their love for bees into a very successful commercial operation (Prime Bees) in just 7 years! Join me in listening to what he's doing with his bees in June and much more!
Small Hive Beetle Trap
Summer Splits Class
July 9th Dayton, TX
June 11th Blue Ridge, TX
Join our expert beekeepers to learn how to effectively and safely split your summer hives! This class covers all the basics in making splits, both inside the classroom and in an apiary. Topics covered for this popular class include: Ordering queens for your split How to prepare your hive to split Hive strength requirements for splitting Making the split Feeding & installing a queen To Move, or Not to Move Post-split care Queen acceptance and more Class begins at 9:00 am and concludes at 12:00 pm
It's almost time to split hives! Will you bee ready?
Photo Credit: Erin Carver
Last Splits classes of 2022
You better Feed after Harvest!
By: Lynne Jones
Topics Beekeepers Can't Agree On!
Though there are many aspects of beekeeping that apply universally, or at least nationally, much of beekeeping is based on the conditions specific to the apiary’s location. Texas has 10 different and distinct ecological regions.1 The growing season ranges from, 145 days in the north to 334 days in the south. The average rainfall can be as little as 8 inches in the west, to 56 inches in the east. Suffice it to say, in Texas, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to beekeeping. What works for beekeepers in Houston isn’t going to work for beekeepers in El Paso. To complicate matters, what worked for beekeepers in Houston this year, might not work for the same beekeepers next year. Now you know the reason, if you ask a dozen beekeepers a question, you’ll get at least 14 answers! On May 2nd, I asked members of two Beekeeping Facebook groups* if they feed their bees after harvesting their spring/summer honey crop and to explain why they do or do not feed. Fifteen beekeepers replied and the two sides were almost evenly split. The reason given by those who do not feed was, because it wasn’t necessary - their bees still had, or were expected to have enough honey to see them through. Kelly Disque’s comment expressed the sentiment well: “I leave them adequate honey and only take the surplus. I give them empty frames to clean up. In North Texas there is a secondary flow in the fall which I do not harvest.” Why do almost half of beekeepers feed after harvest? Even though they leave enough honey for their bees, I’ve learned there are still reasons to feed. For example – if the beekeeper made splits, needs the bees to draw out comb in a new box and to fill it with food before winter, feeding will put the colonies in a good position to be split again next year! Another reason, some beekeepers prefer to re-queen in late summer (typically mid summer in Texas is not when colonies make queens,) therefore, by feeding, brood-rearing is stimulated providing both the nurse bees and the food nurse bees need to make healthy queens. But the overriding reason beekeepers feed after spring/summer harvest, is because they want a strong colony next spring. In order to have fall bees not only survive winter, but raring to go in early spring, the fall bees need to be “fat bees.”2 In order to have fat bees, the late summer bees need abundant resources to feed the larvae that will become the fall bees. Counted among the beekeepers who feed, is Stan Gore. Stan said, “The beekeeper's calendar starts in August. What you do from that point forward, sets the stage for success for winter and spring and beyond.” I asked Stan what he does in August to make his colonies successful half a year later. His four To-Dos are: doing an alcohol wash to know your varroa mite population (treat if needed3), trickle feeding for fat bees, reducing a colony’s hive boxes, and requeening with a young, vibrant queen. Personally, I’ve always been one to leave my bees sufficient honey and feed if needed in February. Overall, my colonies have come out of winter in decent condition, but they could be in better condition if they are stronger going into winter. I will add trickle feeding to my routine starting in August and make plans to requeen some of my colonies in the fall.
No - Don't Feed!
POLL RESULTS
*Facebook Links: Central Texas Beekeepers Texas Friendly Beekeepers
2 Somerville,D. (2005).Fat Bees Skinny Bees - a manual on honey bee nutrition for beekeepers.Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.CLICK LINK HERE 3 Honey Bee Health Coalition’s website is an excellent resource if you need information on doing an alcohol wash or what the treatment thresholds are.CLICK LINK HERE
Lynne Jones is owner of Brazos River Honey Secretary-Treasurer of the Fort Bend Beekeepers Association and Advanced level in the Texas Master Beekeeper program
"The beekeeper's calendar starts in August. What you do from that point forward, sets the stage for success for winter and spring and beyond." ~ Stan Gore
Do you feed your bees after harvesting spring/summer honey?
Yes
No
7
8
1/1 (Most like Nectar for feeding larvae and drawing out honeycomb) Spring/Summer - 1 Part Sugar with 1 Part Water 4 pound bag of sugar formula: 8 cups of water per bag of sugar Makes approximately 3 ½ quart jars or 1 gallon 10 pound bag of sugar formula: 20 cups of water per bag of sugar Makes approximately 8 ¾ quart jars or 2 ½ gallons 2/1 (Most like Honey for consumption) Fall/Winter - 2 Parts Sugar with 1 Part Water 4 pound bag of sugar formula: 4 cups of water per bag of sugar Makes approximately 2 quart jars or ½ gallon 10 pound bag of sugar formula: 10 cups of water per bag of sugar Makes approximately 4 ½ quarts or 1 ½ gallons Directions: 1/1 syrup mixture - only requires “hot as can be” tap water. Add sugar and water together and stir or shake until dissolved. 2/1 syrup mixture - Heat water on med/high heat in a large stock pot “just till marbling (slow swirl)” NOT BUBBLING –boiling will cause syrup to candy. Add sugar stirring constantly. Turn off heat when sugar has all been added. Stir occasionally (every 10-15 minutes) until all dissolved. Syrup will be clear but “opaque.” These formulas are “volume” mixture not weight. By weight formulas are “slightly” different.
Sugar Syrup Recipe
Dr. Jamie Ellis
Ed Erwin
Syrup
PRINT RECIPE
Don't Want to make you're own Syrup? We have essential Oil infused syrup Ready to Feed!
Chris Moore
Do You Feed Post Harvest? If so, Why? Let's ask the Experts!
Photo Credit: Hillary Nickerson
Water Sources Drying Up
As summer begins to heat up, natural water sources begin to dry up. There are countless options to provide your bees with water - Bird bathes, pet watering stations, small vessels in your garden areas, and livestock watering tanks - just to name a few. The common denominator is having an object for the bees to land on to gather this most important component to their survival in hot summer months. You can use rocks, sticks, marbles, cork, and yes - even lily pads! The water doesn't have to stay clean, just needs to have fresh water added frequently - by rain water or the water hose!
My Hive has Queen Cells AND a Laying Queen! Now What?
Photo Credit: GarettSlater.wordpress.com
Unfortunately, it's not uncommon to see an active queen and queen cells. But before we talk about what to do about it, let us first break down the different types of queen cells found in a hive. To start, a queen cell is simply a cell in which a queen is actively being raised. A queen cup, or emergency queen cup as they are often called, is an empty queen cup that bees often have in the hive. Bees keep these empty cups ready in case they need to rear a queen. But, unless it has a larva in it, it’s of no concern. If there is a developing larva in the cell, then you need to decide if it is: A supersedure cell - the bees replacing a failing queen. A swarm cell - half of the bees are preparing to leave with the queen. An emergency queen - the hive has lost their previous queen. If you read most beekeeping books, they explain that supersedure cells (queens being raised to replace a failing queen) and swarm cells (queens being raised in preparation for half the bees & the old queen to swarm away) are easy to spot. Swarm cells are typically located along the bottom & sides of frames, and supersedure cells are located in the middle of frames. Although that principle is often true, I’ve seen it fail many times as well. While keeping it in mind, here are a few additional ways to tell the difference: Supersedure cells: Often located in the middle of frames Typically found in weakening or dwindling hives that aren’t full of bees Found all times of the year Hive often appears weak, with a poor brood pattern Often only a few queen cells Swarm cells: Often located along the bottom & sides of a frame Found in overcrowded hives, where every box is more than 80% full of bees 90% of the time found in Spring or very early Summer Hive appears generally healthy, full of bees & brood, with a good brood pattern Often 5-20 cells In a nutshell, swarm cells are found in healthy, overcrowded hives preparing to swarm. Supersedure cells are usually in weakening hives which need a new queen, so the bees are preparing to requeen themselves. If you are seeing queen cells and have a laying queen in your hive (verified by seeing her), or you are seeing plenty of healthy eggs, larva and brood, there are a few things you need to do. Make sure what you are seeing are actually queen cells. Make sure you don’t have a drone layer laying eggs rather than a queen. If neither of the above are relevant, then typically 1 of 2 things are happening. If your hive has a newly introduced (last 1-2 weeks) queen, bees can still raise queen cells as the new queen’s pheromones fully develop. If that is the case, simply wipe out the developing queen cells. If the queen is not new, chances are they are raising supersedure cells to replace a failing queen. In this case it is best to order a new queen quickly, wipe out the queen cells, remove the old queen when the new one arrives, and install a new queen in the hive. NOTE: It only takes the bees 12 days to raise a new queen when they start with a 24-hour old larva, so you don’t have a lot of time to replace the queen. If you already see capped queen cells, gently uncap one of them. If there is a fully developed white pupa in the cell, you will need a new queen within 2-3 days, otherwise it will be too late, and the new queens will begin hatching out by the time you get a new queen. If the pupa is already turning brown, it’s too late...they usually hatch within 1-2 days. Chances are if you try to wipe out all the queen cells, you will most likely miss one, and that virgin queen will kill the queen you introduce.
TBS Queens available through Summer!
QUEENS
Photo Credit: GoldenBee.Ca
Queenless - Laying worker hive (Drone Layer)
Earlier this year, Texas Bee Supply was contacted by AG Teacher, Katelyn Garza of Madison High School in Houston. She had taken it upon herself to develop a beekeeping program for her students in hopes that one day they could have bees to care for and learn from. With that, our staff jumped into action! James and Chari Elam (TBS Dayton Instructors) quickly volunteered to give the students an online (Zoom) beginner class to be followed up with an in-person installation of bees we provided. What a great opportunity for these students to learn another aspect of farming through this AG teacher that was willing to think outside the box! Thanks to Ms. Garza for reaching out to us - We were thrilled to bee a part of this project and look forward to seeing the progress!
Nuc installation day! Everyone was so excited!!
TBS in the Community
TBS Beginner Class workbooks were instrumental in our online class
James helping one of the students with his suit.
Ensuring the future of beekeeping through the perpetuation of beekeepers! These ARE our future beekeepers!
Installing 3 Nucs!
Learning to light a smoker
All of the students enjoyed the process of installing the Nucs and are excited to see the fruits of their labor - next year!! We'll be helping Ms. Garza throughout the summer to ensure the bees will be healthy and ready for the students after summer break.
Photos Courtesy: Rich Beggs
Here let me help you!
Supplies
Webinar & Magazine
Help
Classes
Thanks!!! Texas Bee Supply "help" staff is AWESOME!
Bees
Photo Credit: Nanette Davis
YIELD:Makes 2 sandwiches INGREDIENTS 1 cup - arugula 2 - ciabatta rolls 8 oz. - Taleggio, sliced 8 oz. - smoked Italian ham 2 T - honey DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 350°F. Slice ciabatta rolls in half horizontally, drizzle 1 T honey over the cut roll faces. Cover both roll halves with sliced Taleggio cheese. Layer half the arugula on each sandwich, on the top half roll. Top the bottom half roll with Italian ham. Put the roll halves together, wrap in aluminum foil. Bake for 12-15 minutes until heated through. Add additional honey to taste. Recipe developed by Chef Tamara Westerhold for the National Honey Board.
SMOKED ITALIAN HAM BAKED PANINI WITH ARUGULA, HONEY AND TALEGGIO
Webinar Q&A
I can't wait to get my bees!!!
DALLAS, HOUSTON AND AUSTIN AREA!
SUMMER BEES
Some GREAT questions from the last Webinar meeting! Click on the button below to read them all!
Check out our last Webinar!
PICK YOUR DAY PICK YOUR LOCATION!
Stay in touch - so You don't get lost!
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
Thank You! To our customers for your continued support and patronage! YOU are why we do this!
RD.COM, GETTY IMAGES
- CONTENTS - SEARCH - FULL SCREEN - SHARE - DOWNLOAD - PRINT PAGE(ES)
Texas Drought Status
Digital Publications Users Guide
Digital publications are a window into a world of technology! Learning how to navigate them is easy! Simply use the "menu bar" along side of the opened publication, and choose the option you would like to explore. Here are the icon definitions:
For real time info, click here
Beginner Beekeeping Class Dayton/Huffman