3 Pound “Package” of Honeybees – Getting Ready to Install

→ Inspect the brood pattern at the beginning of dandelion bloom.

→ Check the queen’s performance, symptoms of brood disease and Varroa.

→ Reverse brood chambers if bees are in the upper box only.

→ Apply mite treatments and requeen failing queens if necessary.

→ Divide and requeen colonies at fruit bloom via multiple frame splits or colony divides to recoup winter loss, increase apiary size and swarm control.

→ Treat for mites if detected on workers or in drone brood.

→ Inspect package bee colonies for health and queen condition.

→ Manipulate frames if necessary to aid in comb construction.

→ Manage hives for population buildup and swarm prevention.

→ Continue feeding nucs and package bees until they have drawn out the comb in their brood chambers.

→ Urban and suburban beekeepers should put out swarm traps prior to May 15th.

This monthly post is adapted from “The Beekeepers Calendar, A Year In The Apiary-Central Maine” by Tony Jadczak, Maine State Apiarist

Though this guy seems to have more shop tools than many have at their disposal, it is a nifty idea.

Thanks to Prince William Regional Beekeepers for pointing us to this video.

Thanks to Prince William Regional Beekeepers for pointing us to this video.

Spraying a Package of Bees with Sugar Water

→ Monitor food reserves.

→ Feed medicated (Fumagilin-B) light syrup (1:1) to hives low on stores.

→ Scrape bottom boards and check the brood pattern on a mild day.

→ Install package bees April 15th or later and feed light syrup.  Some people medicate with Fumagillin.

→ Apply mite treatments to wintered colonies if Varroa are detected (mid-late April) in the drone brood.

Installing a Package of Bees in Maine

→ If you medicate hives with Terramycin, dust according to label instructions.

→ Make plans for attending EAS this Summer in West Chester, Pennsylvania

→ Continue feeding nucs and package bees until they have drawn out the comb in their brood chambers.

This monthly post is adapted from “The Beekeepers Calendar, A Year In The Apiary-Central Maine” by Tony Jadczak, Maine State Apiarist

Last April, The Bee Line featured an article, “Beware of the Ides of March,” that reviewed the consequences of a mild winter and early spring. In short, the article stated that when the bees are flourishing, so are the Varroa mites. The article cautioned beekeepers of the potential for a repeat of 2010′s experience and urged them to monitor and control Varroa populations before it was too late.

The advice offered last April still applies for this year, although bees and mites are not building at the rate experienced in 2012. Manage honey bees according to weather conditions and plant phenology — not calendar date — since for the most part, that is what the bees are doing. Early spring management should include the usual: feed if necessary, unwrap when weather moderates, and then do brood inspections for queen performance and disease/mite presence. Treat for Varroa if necessary with the appropriate pesticide or management strategy.

This year, beekeepers will have seven approved pesticides for Varroa control, two of which are under EPA-FIFRA Section 18 Emergency Exemption. It is important for beekeepers to consider the pros and cons of each material prior to use. For example, ambient temperature, the presence of supers, time of expected honey flow, and bee toxicity of the pesticide should be considered during the treatment period. All pesticides are not equal with respect to bee toxicity, human toxicity and performance.

Currently, there are three synthetic pesticides and four organic (“soft”) pesticides available to beekeepers for Varroa control. Each group is as follows, in order of introduction to the market:

Synthetic Pesticides

Apistan

active ingredient: fluvalinate

Apistan is a pyrethroid and one of three synthetic pesticides formulated in a plastic strip. This pesticide has been available to beekeepers since the late 1980s and worked exceptionally well until repeated use and illegal use of unregistered formulations selected for Varroa with resistance to fluvalinate. With few exceptions, Apistan is no longer effective against Varroa mite.

CheckMite

active ingredient: coumaphos

CheckMite is an organophosphate insecticide formulated in a plastic strip that has been used by beekeepers since the late 1990s. This product also worked well at controlling Varroa mite until repeated and illegal use of unregistered formulations rendered it ineffectual. Varroa are resistant to this pesticide with few exceptions.

Apivar

active ingredient: amitra

Apivar is a triazapentadiene compound, a member of the amidine chemical family. It is currently approved under EPA-Section 18 Emergency Exemption and was previously sold as a Varroa control strip by the trade name Miticur in the late 1980s through early 1990s before its use was discontinued by the manufacturer. This pesticide has been reintroduced by Arysta and is again formulated in a plastic strip. The pesticide can be used a maximum of two applications per year (spring and/or fall). Apivar cannot be used while bees are making honey and supers are present. In addition, Apivar strips must be removed two weeks before the honey flow starts, in order to prevent contamination of honey. Amitraz, the active ingredient in Apivar, belongs to IRAC Group 19 and is highly susceptible to resistance development by Varroa. Over time, resistant Varroa will reproduce and dominate the mite population. Resistance can be delayed by rotating this pesticide with other Varroa controls in different chemical classes. Like all pesticides, use should be based on integrated pest management (IPM) strategies that include monitoring; record-keeping; and taking cultural, biological and other chemical control practices into consideration. Using IPM with strict adherence to label directions (specifically the removal of strips after 42 days or a maximum of 56 days) on approved treatments reduces the risk of encouraging the development of resistant Varroa populations. It is important to monitor treated hives for resistance development and report performance issues.

Organic (“Soft”) Pesticides

ApiLifeVar

active ingredients: thymol, eucalyptol, menthol, camphor

ApiLifeVar is a contact/vapor action pesticide formulated on a vermiculite tablet. It is considered to be an organic pesticide and is dependent on optimum temperatures. It requires three successive applications when bees are not making honey and supers are not on hives. This pesticide can cause adverse effects to hives in a weakened state.

Apiguard

active ingredient: thymol

Apiguard is a contact/vapor action pesticide formulated as a gel. It is also considered to be an organic Varroa control and is effective in controlling Varroa under optimal conditions, like ApiLifeVar. The product is only effective within a limited temperature range when bees are not making honey and without supers in place. Apiguard can cause bee mortality if used in high temperatures and may incite robbing behavior to hives undergoing treatment.

Mite-Away Quick Strips

active ingredient: formic acid

Mite-Away Quick Strips is an organic vapor-action pesticide formulated in a pre-soaked pad. This product is effective within a certain temperature range and can be hazardous to the applicator. The MAQS can be used while bees are making honey with supers on colonies. This pesticide is associated with queen loss, adult bee and brood mortality, and absconding when used during hot temperatures. The product’s efficacy is inconsistent and influenced by the amount of brood present and size of the hive being treated.

Hopguard

active ingredient: beta acids

Hopguard is authorized under EPA-FIFRA Section 18 Emergency Exemption. It is an organic pesticide formulated on a cardboard strip. The product may be used while bees are making honey and supers are in place. It performs well in hives with minimal-to-no brood and provides control for approximately three days (while strips are wet). The current formulation necessitates multiple applications when hives are actively rearing brood. The manufacturer is currently developing an improved delivery that will provide control for 10 – 14 days. In 2012, Hopguard applications in Maine during cold temperatures resulted in some adult bee mortality due to continual contact with clustered bees. This situation also occurred with CheckMite applications during cold temperatures while bees were clustered.

It is important for pesticide applicators (beekeepers) to read the entire pesticide label prior to use. Following the label instructions is crucial in order to ensure safety to the applicator, bees, and honey destined for human consumption. Proper pesticide usage will also slow the development of Varroa resistance to the active ingredient, thereby extending the long-term efficacy of the compound. Finally, remember that just because a pesticide is considered “organic” does not mean it is not toxic to the bees or applicator. Pesticide labels have signal words that convey toxicity to the applicator. They are:

• Caution: slightly toxic, over one ounce needed to kill the average person);
• Warning: moderately toxic, one teaspoon – one ounce needed to kill the average person; and
• Danger: highly toxic, a few drops – one teaspoon needed to kill the average person).

Pick your poison prudently!

According to the dictionary, a definition of “super” is:

A prefix from Latin, with the basic meaning “above, beyond.” Words formed with super- have the following general senses: “to place or be placed above or over” (superimpose, supersede), “a thing placed over or added to another” (superscript; superstructure; supertax), “situated over” (superficial; superlunary) and, more figuratively, “an individual, thing, or property that exceeds customary norms or levels” (superalloy; superconductivity; superman; superstar).

Thus we can see that the reasons early beekeepers gave the name “super” to those boxes in a Langstroth hive that hold excess honey were not only the location of the boxes on the top of the hive, but also the fact that the honey stored there is honey that exceeds the level needed for the cluster of bees to get through winter. Their honey is stored at the sides and upper areas in the brood chamber.

Hive Bodies – Courtesy of The Honey Exchange in Portland

A deep (box) is the standard box from which everything else is measured. A shallow (box) is half the height of a deep, and a medium (box) is three-quarters the height of a deep. Shallows are used as supers, while mediums can be used as supers and/or brood boxes. A brood box is one of the lower boxes of a colony, in which brood is being raised. The brood nest, or cluster, is inside the brood boxes. Sometimes the whole area containing the brood nest is called the brood chamber. Beekeepers usually use two deep brood boxes for a brood chamber, but some use three mediums for a brood chamber, and this configuration has virtually the same total volume.

Those who raise comb honey use just one deep brood box during a strong nectar flow, to get the bees working better in the comb-honey supers.

Some beekeepers overwinter a colony in a brood chamber made of two deeps and a shallow, or two deeps and a medium. This is a way to really make sure the overwintering bees have enough honey to eat.

Many books use the term “hive body” to refer to any box of any kind. This is the proper term to use when speaking of boxes in a general sense, and it will not cause confusion.

“Hive Body” is the proper phrase to use when speaking of boxes in a general sense.

Erin MacGregor Forbes “Shaking” Package Bees

Those of you who have been members of the Maine State Beekeepers Association for a few years probably remember the grant project I conducted with Larry Peiffer comparing Northern-raised nucs, commercially raised packages, and commercially raised packages that we re-queened with northern queens. For those of you who haven’t heard of the project, we compared 54 colonies over the 2009 & 2010 seasons, from which 20 were disqualified, leaving 34 in the final (adjusted) results as follows (in a nutshell):

The northern-raised nucleus colonies and the packages that were requeened with northern queens demonstrated approximately twice the survival rate of the conventionally raised packages. The increase in survival in our project was stunning. I had expected that requeening packages with northern-raised queens would make some improvement in survival rates, but I didn’t expect that requeened packages would have the same likeliness of winter survival as a northern-raised nucleus colony. I had anticipated that the packages would come with a mite load and associated virus load that would set them behind the northern-raised nucleus colonies.

Spring
2009: Larry Pieffer installs packages

I decided in late 2011 that I would apply for another SARE grant to continue this work, this time narrowing the project to comparing just conventional packages and requeened packages. The SARE organization caps Farmer Grant projects at $15,000, which will allow us to purchase and compare 36 colonies. We are also hoping to secure funding for an additional 14 colonies, bringing the total of this 2013 project to 50, which will nearly double our sample size as compared to the first two years — learn more about this opportunity on our website [overlandhoney.com/news/seeking-funding-for-northern-queen-project/ ].

Erin Forbes installs nucleus colonies, hives in that SARE apiary. Spring 2009.

We will re-queen half of the colonies in June when northern queens become available, and measure the colonies for strength, honey production, disease loads, and ultimately winter survival over the course of the summer, fall and winter. Final evaluations of the colonies will be performed in late April 2014. We hope to increase the statistical significance of the data we collected in the first two years by bringing our colony number up to a total of 104, while eliminating some of the environmental and outlying factors that contributed to our first two years’ results. If this year’s project results are as promising as in the previous project, we may generate some interest for a larger organization to continue this work.

We are presently preparing for the 50 colonies. This means a lot of new bee equipment to assemble and move around. We will be running this project at our new location in Jefferson, Maine, with all 50 colonies in one apiary. The associated work will be done by me and by my business partner Cindy Bee, Master Beekeeper from Georgia, who relocated to Maine in January 2012. As part of our grant outreach, we will write regular articles for The Bee Line, keeping you all posted on the activities of the project. We hope to engage as many of you as possible, and we look forward to sharing our methods, results, lessons-learned and stories over the next 16 months.

If you would like to learn more about the previous years’ projects, visit the SARE website [sare.org/Grants] and search the final reports for projects FNE09-665 and FNE10-694. To read an overview of our new project, search for FNE12-756.

To receive a personalized invitation to participate in Bee Informed Partnership surveys, and summaries of their findings, please visit beeinformed.org/participate to sign up.

Bee Informed Partnership and the nation’s beekeepers, cooperatively seek solutions to reduce colony losses. While some beekeepers are experiencing near normal loss levels, others are experiencing devastating losses. Bee Informed Partnership seeks a collective approach to gather and share information on what works and what doesn’t work. We need your participation on two annual electronic surveys, covering both annual colony losses and management strategies. The information, after coming directly from beekeepers, is then analyzed and displayed graphically in a way that is easy to understand.

Beekeepers can find out which management techniques correlate to lower colony loss when beekeepers anonymously share data.  More data is always more accurate than less data. Last year’s survey included over 5,000 participating beekeepers sharing information.

As the third year of these surveys approaches, the goal of the partnership is to increase participation and report it so it is more significant and meaningful to beekeepers. This third year of data will enable us to conduct multi-factorial analysis and report results on a more regional basis; especially in states with large participation. Commercial beekeeper data will be separated to highlight this group’s special needs and concerns.

The cost for participating is free. It will take less than 20 minutes to take both surveys. In return, you will have access to the compiled data from all aspects of bee management. The information you enter into the survey is completely anonymous deigned to improve everyone’s beekeeping success.

Go to beeinformed.org to see what we have gathered so far and sign up for this year’s survey. More Beekeeper participation means more information and more answers. We want you to BEE INFORMED.

The surveys will be available beginning March 29th and will stay open until April 15th.

For more information, to sign up to participate or to fill out a survey on March 29th, visit beeinformed.org  or email Karen Rennich, BIP Project Manager at usbeesurvey@gmail.com

Honey Bees Peeking Out – Winter Feeding in Maine

Check colony conditions. If honey reserves are low, feed candy or dry sugar.

Colonies that consume feed should be monitored and fed as needed.

Feed protein supplements (pollen substitute) for brood production to hives colonies that you are planning to split. Make sure they have sufficient honey stores, they will go through stores much more rapidly as they engage in brood rearing.

If you are new to beekeeping, go ask questions at your local bee club meeting.   If you know a thing or two, go to the same meeting and give words of wisdom to the “NewBees”.

Don’t bludgeon yourself eternally if you find or suspect your bees to be dead; take a deep breath, read Tony’s Feb/Mar 2011 Bee Line article, “When Disaster Strikes,” determine the (possible) cause, and learn for next season.

Have you renewed you Maine State Beekeepers Membership for the year?

This monthly post is adapted from “The Beekeepers Calendar, A Year In The Apiary-Central Maine” by Tony Jadczak, Maine State Apiarist, from a few years ago.