Maine State Beekeepers Association
We love honeybees - you should too
The Varroa Destructor seems to have come to Maine in 1987, the year after the Tracheal Mite. Both created devastation in the beekeeping world and caught beekeepers off-guard. At that time it was referred to as the Fall Dwindle. It took a closer look to see that the die-outs were coming from a pesky little parasitic mite. The Varroa is now known to suck the blood-like body fluids, hymolymph, from … [Read more...]
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 medicated with Fumagillin (PDF). Apply mite treatments to wintered colonies if Varroa are detected (mid-late April) in the drone brood. … [Read more...]
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Members of the Maine State Beekeepers Association are indicated with a bee icon … [Read More...]
This document is intended as a reference and standard for honeybee management in Maine, with particular emphasis on urban/suburban … [Read More...]
Annual Bee Schools are sponsored by Local Chapters, Adult Education Programs, and sometimes in cooperation with the County Extension Service. These … [Read More...]
Reflections on 2010
The past year presented several valuable lessons to beekeepers. For example: bees should be managed according to weather conditions and plant phenology, not calendar date; monitoring Varroa is crucial since mite populations can explode under certain circumstances; and the timing and choice of Varroa treatment can have variable outcomes. Also, reading pesticide labels is imperative! In … [Read more...]