Essays
Last summer I set up an observation hive for use at the Brooklyn Fair as well as for Charlene to use at the Lebanon Farmers Market. My plan was to combine it with another small hive sometime in October. When not in use, it was mounted to the wall of my shop with a pipe connected to the outside.
As these plans sometimes go undone, the next thing I realized was that it was almost Christmas and the observation hive was still attached to the shop wall. By this time I figured that they would have dwindled to nothing and would be close to dead. On New Years day I decided to uncover them and see the damages. Imagine my surprise when they were not only alive but as I watched, the Queen laid an egg in a cell near the center of the cluster. They still had some honey stores but I did not see a single cell of pollen to feed the larvae.
This got me wondering if I could feed them some MegaBee Diet and sugar syrup to stimulate brood rearing and replenish the population. I filled thier feeder, added the pollen substitute and covered them back up.
It is now January 15th and I am pleased to announce that the bees are on the second quart of syrup, the are eating the Mega Bee and we now have a fist sized patch of capped brood! I am optimistic that they will build back up for this years fairs and farmers markets.
Many times in the spring we find tiny colonies that just made it through the winter but have a good queen and several hundred workers. The first thought is usually to combine several of these hives to make one stronger one. For the last couple years I have tried a different approach. If I can keep honey in front of them and provide some protein, they will eventually build up into fantastic colonies often producing a large fall crop.
I often ponder why some of these colonies do so well while many times the hives that winter with massive populations expolde in the spring only to implode in late summer, often dying by the middle of September.
Here’s my suggestion of what happens. During the winter ( in Connecticut from late October till mid February), the colony suspends brood production. As varroa only reproduce in cells of pupating bee larvae, this also interrupts the reproduction of varroa mites. The adult varroa population is slowly reduced by normal mortality. In the colonies that dwindle down to tiny populations, I also feel that the mite population crashes along with the bee numbers. I seldom see many, if any, mites in these hives. When brood production starts up in the spring, the bees reproduce faster than the mites and get a jump on them.
In contrast to the little hives, the “boomers” have huge numbers of adult bees to feed on and often the bees will start brood production in January. The mites probably start as soon as there is pupating brood for them to parasitize. This allows a huge population of mites to build throughout the spring and summer, eventually both the mites and their numerous viruses overtake the bees and they crash.
So here is my delemma. If I leave those “boomers” for pollination of apples, I risk loosing them in the summer. If I split them in half and then have two hives and therfore two fresh queens out pacing the mites, then they are no good for pollination and I also will miss the early honey flow . This spring I will split some, leave some alone and treat them with formic acid then super them up on May 5th. In any case, I will look for medium sized hives to build up to pollination strength for the apples. I also may use two single story colonies in place of one large one to pollinate.
While I don’t like to find tiny clusters in March, I think that in many cases it is wise to reduce them to one hive body, consolidate them to a center next to a frame of honey and let them build up as the temperature allows. Some times in mid May I will give them a partial frame of brood from a healthy colony only if I think they have enough bees to keep the brood warm. It also never hurts to give them a shot of syrup and a half patty of pollen substitute to help them out. These” little hives that could” will often surprise you by being some of your best colonies later in the year.
As for my observation hive, I am just tickled pink to see brood at this time of the year.
More later, Adam
Bee schools and fstops.
Last night was the first evening of the bee school sponsored by the Eastern CT Beekeepers Assn. Members of ECBA spend various amounts of time planning and preparing for the four nights of class. My involvement as President of the club consists of oversight of the entire process as well as presenting several segments of the classes. Therefore, I get a lot of the limelight and each year my job becomes easier as now all I have to do is slightly modify last years presentation to reflect changes in beekeeping practice.
The real work is performed by the soldiers of the group, the members who agonize over how many students to plan for, print and assemble the notebooks, order reference books, register students, haul all the materials to and from class, account for the money, update membership data, bake cookies, buy supplies, make coffee, make more coffee, usher students to the last available seats, find more chairs and on and on!
Then there are the fellow instructors who plan and present their class segments. Each one updating hand outs, hauling in their stuff, showing students how to hold a hammer and nails etc. Two of them have a background as professional instructors while we other two are carpenters. The one thing we have in common is that we all have a passion for beekeeping and a desire to share this with other people.
This year we have more than sixty new students as well as fifty current beekeepers who want to update their skills. This reflects a renewed interest in beekeeping that is occurring not only in our area but across the nation as a whole. Many people are tired of the disconnect from food sources that has happened in the last couple of decades. Our food is most likely shipped hundreds or thousands of miles from farm to table, many times coming from overseas, grown in countries that don’t have the standards of our farmers here in America. By starting a hive or two of bees, some one can not only produce some honey for themselves, but they can also contribute to the pollination of local food sources as well as the plants that make up our environment. Some estimates claim that 40% of our food requires pollination from insects in order to grow and reproduce. That’s quite a responsibility for a bunch of bugs!
So what does bee school have to do with fstops? Years ago, Charlene and I took up photography. Like most people all we really did was ruin a lot of film and once in a while, mostly by accident, we got an good photo. One day we decided to take an introductory photography class. It was at a local Middle School and was taught by a skilled photographer. She spent the next several nights teaching us how a camera works. Things like shutter speed, fstops, depth of field, composition and so on. By learning the basics, photography no longer was frustrating.It became enjoyable and we could predict results, not just waste film. We now have many photos that we can be proud of.
Beekeeping is a similar endeavor. If you spend the time and money starting a colony and then don’t know the basics, all you will do is kill bees. At beginner classes like ours, you will benefit from the experience and knowledge of seasoned beekeepers who will save you from the pitfalls that trip so many beginners. It costs over $300.00 to set up a beehive. If you go to a beginners class and pay attention, you can have a reasonable expectation of keeping the bees alive and perhaps harvesting a little honey for your self! Later! Adam