The Classroom
Classroom - September 2010
by Jerry Hayes
excerpt
Hygienic Bees
The helpful interconnectedness of the beekeeping world is truly amazing. There are lots of good people out there. Here is one small example. I didn’t know what the photo below was showing, so I asked colleagues. Dr. Medhat Nasr from Canada said that Dr. Jeff Harris, ARS/USDA, Baton Rouge might know and voila! He did!
Q
Jeff, I was sent a photo showing what the beekeeper called “volcanoing”. This is where the bees bring up the edges of the caps on brood and it looks like a volcano. The bees never seem to cap the developing brood; they just do this other partial capping activity. It is seen more in the fall than in spring, but can still be spotted throughout the year. What do you think?
A
Hello Jerry, I added some white lines to highlight the areas that look like hygiene. There are trails and two circles around cells that look like recapped pupae. The raised uncapped pupae appear to be in the process of being recapped. So, what are the bees chasing? The uncapped pupae with the raised edges are the result of hygienic bees enlarging the cell diameter to chase something (wax moth larva) around the bee pupa. When they recap it afterwards, the entire wax moth trail will have a raised and discolored appearance (as you see along the white trail). So, my first thought is that this is a hygienic track from bees chasing a wax moth larvae. I say that because there are so many recapped cells and a few uncapped pupae in a single path that it must be the result of a local phenomenon. It may be a L1 or L2 wax moth larva that can be easily missed with the naked eye. I often see this kind of trail and under a microscope, you can usually find a small wax moth larva. The only other critter that could lead to a localized hygienic response like that would be small hive beetle larvae, but a trail that large would also probably show some slime or soiling (which is not apparent).
Having said that, if this is an extremely hygienic colony, they may be uncapping most or all pupae, inspecting them, and then recapping all of those that they do not remove. The two circled pupae could be recapped—and all around them are other pupae with a similar appearance of the cap (what looks like a sunken hole in the middle). This is often caused when a hygienic bee uncaps to smell or look inside, and other bees recap the pupa and never remove it. Some highly hygienic colonies will do this, and we don’t know why yet.
Q2
Thank you Jeff. Interesting that it may be a seemingly “good trait” like hygienic behavior in response to something else like wax moth or…whatever and then repaired. Question: Can there be too much hygienic behavior?
A2
It is interesting; I have found that many stocks of bees are very sensitive to wax moth larvae. I think that the relationship between that hive pest and bees is older than some of the new problems (e.g. Varroa), and bees in general have developed a very good detection and removal ability using hygiene to remove wax moths. However, colonies good at hygienic removal of wax moths are not necessarily good at removing Varroa, chalkbrood or anything else. This seems a little odd to me EXCEPT that the cues for detection are likely different. In the case of wax moths, the bees need to smell the wax moth larvae and NOT necessarily any odors related to an injured host bee. Detection of disease, dead or sick bee larvae probably involve detection of “sick bee” odors.
Yes, I think there can be too much hygiene. I don’t have hard evidence, just a sense of things after many years of selecting for very high hygienic behavior. It seems that extremely hygienic colonies will actually investigate all or about 90% of the capped pupae in a brood nest—uncapping each one, smelling and looking inside, and if they don’t remove an infested or diseased host pupa, they will reseal or recap the cell. I have seen several cycles of uncapping-recapping for a single pupa.
The problem with this behavior is probably two-fold: 1. The cell cap is there for a reason (e.g. humidity control within the brood cell) and removing it for prolonged periods of time could be detrimental to the developing larva and 2. Certain bacteria can be transmitted in the vegetative stage (e.g. European foulbrood bacterium) by hygienic bees. So, the very act of patrolling and hygienically inspecting too many cells could actually accentuate propagation of a bacterium that causes disease. Again, this is mostly speculation, but there must be some reason that Nature does not allow hygienic behavior to become as high as we can make it with breeding. There must be a cost to resistance with hygiene, and we still do not fully understand what it is.
Classroom - August 2010
by Jerry Hayes
Hello Jerry—I recently learned of the possibility of a “Biblical proportion” of grasshoppers this summer. In response I ordered a 1 lb. bag of Semaspore Bait. (See the information below that I copied from the website). After researching various sources and the company, I purchased the product from them. The evidence indicates that this product WILL NOT harm my bees. Because I trust your judgment, I am emailing you to confirm my decision to use the product...so, what can you tell me? (We have a large orchard and several gardens...grasshoppers have been a problem in the past, so I just want to make sure before I use this product in a proactive response). Thanks for your time Jerry!
From the mountains of North Idaho
Linda Maureen
“Semaspore Bait contains Nosema locustae, a naturally occurring grasshopper control. After eating Semaspore grasshoppers become sick, eat less, and begin to die. The disease spreads to healthy grasshoppers through cannibalism. In 2-4 weeks, 50% of the population will die, and most survivors will be infected to continue spreading the disease. Infected survivors eat 75% less than healthy grasshoppers and lay fewer eggs. Safe for people, pets and the environment. OMRI Listed for use in organic production. Apply 1 pound Semaspore Bait per acre, when grasshoppers are young (1/4 to 1/2-inch long). Heavy infestations may require repeat applications. Note: Semaspore has an 8 week shelf life - 5 months if refrigerated.”
Active Ingredient:
Nosema locustae ..... 0.05%
Contains 1.0 x 109 viable Nosema spores per pound)
Other Ingredients ..... 99.95%
A
Linda, that sounds scary. The Gulf of Mexico is full of oil, undocumented aliens are flooding into the U.S., the deficit is out of control, volcanoes and earthquakes are everywhere and now GRASSHOPPERS!
There are probably 30+ different kinds of Nosema that are specific to different kinds of insects, from beetles, to wasps, to honey bees and Grasshoppers. Nosema locustae is specific to Grasshoppers and shouldn’t affect honey bees. Nosema locustae is the microsporidian that is combined with bran that young nymph stage grasshoppers eat. It destroys their gut over a period of time. Other grasshoppers eat the dead ones and it spreads. It is pretty slow acting though and generally only affects about 50% of the population of grasshoppers.
LINDA WRITES BACK
Good morning Jerry,
Thanks for your response! I can always count on your expert advice and rich humor. Thank God for the simple pleasures in life, like our honey bees!
Linda Maureen
Q “Potentiated” Pollen
Jerry, I hope you remember me. I live in Tennessee and have a brother in Florida who called me the other day asking questions about “potentiated” bee pollen. I know there is some evidence out there that implies that regular bee pollen is difficult to digest. I have taken bee pollen off and on for several years, and I know it is helpful to me. However, my brother found this on the Internet or somewhere, and I felt like you could shed some light on this subject. What he found comes from New Zealand and they claim a lot of things like their potentiated pollen provides 80 times the nutritional value that regular pollen provides. Thanks for your time.
Jim Garrison
President
Tennessee Beekeepers Association
A
Hi Jim, How could I forget you! Pollen, the male genetic element of the plant’s reproductive process, is crucial to the plant species survival. It must be protected, and preserved in the process of having an insect, in our case pick-up, transport and re-deposit the pollen grain on the appropriate flower part (stigma) in order for the fertilization process to begin. This must happen even though the pollen grain is exposed to heat, humidity, sunlight, getting bumped around, etc. Tough trip. The plant protects pollen grains by enclosing them in a tough resilient shell. Our digestive systems have an almost impossible task in trying to get digestive juices in and nutrition out. In order to obtain any benefit from the pollen grain, it must be broken open somehow by crushing, grinding, or sonication to get to the contents. The marketing claim by the product’s producers that it has about 80 times the nutritional value is probably because the pollen grain is broken open to expose the goodies. It is “potentiated” because it is broken open:)
Q Pure Sugar
Dave and I are trying to produce the “purest honey on Earth”. To achieve this goal of “zero pesticides and man-made residues” we need your advice on the source of “pure sugar” to feed the bees that will not concentrate pesticides and other man-made residues in the “bee food”.
The FDA has become very concerned over the sources of foreign honey that are heavily contaminated with pollutants that are coming from China, Russia and India. We would like to be the source of “blank (no manmade component) honey” and be scientifically certified as the source of this “blank” honey. So, we need “pure” sugar.
Do you know of a source?
A
I have been asked this question several times in the last year or so. I am not aware of any “organic” production from sugar beets or sugar cane that is at a price that one could easily justify as a food supplement for honey bees. In many cases having enough “carbohydrate” resources available is a management decision. In a perfect world the bees would collect/produce enough honey that the beekeeper manager could leave on an appropriate amount for the bees’ use or be able to feed extracted honey back to the colony from a secure known source.
Feeding sugar solutions to honey bees should be minimal and for a reason i.e. survival or the production of beeswax to build comb quick and then move on to natural sources.
Q Problems in Pakistan
I am asking you this question on behalf of my fellow beekeeper who lives in a remote place and cannot communicate with you. He is keeping 80 beehives in D.G. Khan, a city of Pakistan. It’s a hot place reaching a temperature of up to 50°C in summers. He keeps hives there throughout year with small distance migrations within 50 kms thrice a year. He has observed strange behavior in few of the colonies. The flying bees, when leaving the hive, do not fly but instead crawl out of the hive, go to a distance of one yard and start to rub their hind legs and then take their flight. From inside, the colonies seem healthy so I wonder what causes them to exhibit this behavior? Could this be the precursor to some big problem?
Naveed Ahmad
Pakistan
A
Generally speaking, when one sees honey bees crawling and rubbing their legs or grooming themselves in this manner, it is a sign of some type of toxin issue (whether from varroa chemical treatments, as applied by the beekeeper, or from toxins picked up in the environment such as in production agriculture settings). This type of crawling in more temperate regions of Europe or North America can also be sign of tracheal mite or Nosema infestations, but in Pakistan with 50°C temperatures, I do not think this is the challenge. So, the question is: If the problem is “chemicals” of one type or another, what are they doing to the general health of the colony and the developing brood? If the bees’ lives are shortened by even a few days, then the whole colony’s balance/ecology is thrown off.
Q Icky Combs and Queenless Hives
Hello Jerry. I believe this topic has been addressed in a previous column, but I’ve been unable to locate the past ABJ issue. Is it all right to put honey supers on a hive that have a small amount of black mold on the frames? If not, can you recommend a safe and effective cleaning procedure? Or, are these frames bound for the solar wax melter?
On a second issue: One month ago a thorough check of my six hives revealed one hive that was not queen-right and the other five seemingly all right with a satisfactory amount of brood in various stages of development, but with an abundance of drones and drone cells. I gave the queenless hive a frame of uncapped brood from another hive in the hopes that they would produce a new queen. My hives have, in the past, produced successful and productive supersedure queens and with this season’s abundance of drones, I counted on their ability to mate a virgin queen.
One month later I was back to add honey supers to these hives and to check on my attempt to re-queen and found all six hives were queenless. The hives had pretty close to 50% drones and no honey or brood. Each hive had tried to requeen, as evidenced by six or more queen cells in each (some looked as though they had successfully produced a queen - others were only partial cells). But apparently, none of the queens had mated, despite the high drone population.
I’m in the process of ordering new queens for installation this week. Do you recommend any other tactics to get these hives back on track? Should I try to kill some/most of the drones so the workers can produce some excess honey? Is there a recommended way to reduce the drone population? Thanks for your help and always-valuable advice.
Susan R. Morgan
Texas
A
A weak household bleach or vinegar solution are both good cleaning agents for icky, moldy combs.
Your unfortunate news about all six of your hives going queenless at the same time is certainly unusual. One possibility is that your queen problems could be due to African Honey Bee (AHB) genetic introgression from “open mating” of supersedure/replacement queens. AHB loves to reproduce by swarming up to 15-20 times per year in Texas. This spreads AHB genetics around quickly. Drone congregation areas can be dominated by AHB drones and voila you have colonies that do AHB-like things more.
Ordering marked queens from a producer participating in BMP’s (Best Management Practices) as a tool to keep AHB genetics out and keeping manageable European honey bee genetics viable will help. If you look into your colonies and then see a queen not marked, then you know things have changed and you need to change them back.
Q Safer Treatments
We’ve been hearing a little about the use of essential oils such as spearmint, lemongrass and thyme to treat bees for disease/parasites. We are a small commercial apiary and are concerned about the amount of chemicals we are exposing our bees to. Do you think this is a viable treatment for commercial use? Where can we get research information on this type of treatment? As always thank you for your help.
Scott VanDerwalker
VeeBee Honey and Pollination
Buhl, Idaho
A
Scott, I think that you are thinking about the right things and the right direction to go in. You are asking the questions that more people should be asking. There are products on the market right now that meet your varroa control needs more sanely. Apiguard and ApiLife-Var are two products using essential oils that have excellent efficacy and not the level of toxic residue concerns as some of the “strip” varroa products. These products certainly are not benign in a colony, but the documented short- and long-term side effects or collateral damage is not as comprehensive as other products. Nothing is perfect. Remember, in regards to varroa control, broadly speaking, you are trying to kill a little bug on a bigger bug. This is tough to do without negatively affecting the big bug (honey bee) in small subtle ways.
In my mind diet, nutrition, environmental toxins, the sequestering (storing) of chemicals in beeswax, genetics and honey bee stress (whatever that is) are all of the other variables that are impacting honey bees. But not all honey bees are dying. The parallel is human health. When a new novel human disease makes its appearance in a population, it never affects everyone. The question is: What variables make someone get a full blown fatal case of H1N1, Ebola or Hanta virus and someone in the same exposure setting not?
In honey bees, my opinion is that 80% of the problem is varroa. Controlling them safely for the bees and the beekeeper are the goals without causing more long-term problems.
Q Share and Share Alike
Our bee club is considering buying extracting equipment that can be used by club members. We have considered storing it with one member and renting it out. We have also thought about having it stored permanently in a location where members could come to use the equipment. Both approaches raise questions regarding cleaning up after use, liability if users or observers get stung, tracking who has it now, and what would be required if used in a permanent/stationary location such as water, power, tables, etc.
Do you know of any clubs that have attempted something similar? I appreciate the role you play in getting information out to hobby beekeepers.
Regards,
Doug Morris,
North Carolina
A
Doug, bee clubs have been doing this or considering doing this since Adam or at least Cain and Abel. It all comes down to the ethics, morals and level of trust you have in the rank and file membership. All of the concerns you note are real. In the days when local clubs had maybe only 15 members, this was all a bit easier because everybody knew each other and there was some fraternal social pressure that kept extractors clean, facilities washed, not sticky and care and respect for equipment was at a high level. Now with local or regional clubs having 50-75-100+ members, things are not as “simple” as they used to be. Many clubs have now chosen to have a central permanent location, sometimes at a larger beekeeper’s “honey house” that has the dedicated facilities to allow safe, clean extraction and collection of honey. Many times this is better than somebody’s garage or basement when you are trying to harvest a pure food product. The club may have several “extraction days” and everyone gets together to share the work, beekeeping stories, and any blame that goes around. I have heard that if the larger beekeeper’s equipment is used, there is a per pound charge for the use of facilities.
Having the club bring an extractor, trying to keep up with where it is, dealing with cleanliness, dings/dents and broken parts can be done, but you need a dedicated person to do all this stuff. (See Howard Scott’s article on this subject on page 751 of the August 2009 ABJ.)
Q Chalkbrood
What causes chalkbrood? At this point I have three hives which have chalkbrood that didn’t have it before. I know there is no government-registered medication for it, but was wondering if there is anything that can be done to fix this?
John McQuown
A
John, the fungus Ascosphaera apis causes chalkbrood. Fungal spores attack honey-bee larvae. The larvae become moldy with the white fungus hyphae, the vegetative part of the fungi. Because of all of the fungus hyphae, the larvae turns into a white chalky- looking pellet. When the fungus is ready to reproduce, it sporulates. These “fruiting” bodies are black and the chalky “mummy” takes on a black appearance. These hard pellets of fungus can rattle in the comb when shaken and sometimes, as the bees try to clean the cells out, they appear on the bottom board and the entrance landing.
Some honey bees are genetically predisposed to be infected by chalkbrood. Some Australian bees that have been imported into the U.S. have shown a high incidence of chalkbrood. Sometimes in the spring of the year, when temperatures are cool and damp and the brood is expanding faster than the colony can keep them warm and fed, chalkbrood appears, but then disappears as the weather stabilizes. The rule of thumb has been that if springtime chalkbrood doesn’t self regulate and go away, then requeening with a different queen from a different supplier than the susceptible stock is a good remedy. This generally takes care of the problem. The new bees clean up the hive and all is good.
Q American Foulbrood
Thank you very much for the awesome column you continue to write for ABJ. I love reading it every month. I have been keeping bees for nearly 10 years now, and I still am having occasional problems with AFB. I have destroyed nearly all of my old frames by fire and scorched my brood boxes with propane flame, but I hate to discard my good frames containing considerable amounts of stored honey.
My questions for you are:
1. Is there a simple way for the hobby beekeeper to test for American Foulbrood (AFB)?
2. Is there any practical way to disinfect my AFB-tainted frames by radiation, etc? Thanks in advance for your savvy assistance. I hope to hear from you soon.
Yours truly,
Douglas Stream
Belgrade, Montana
A
Thank you for the Classroom compliment Douglas. As you know, American foulbrood (AFB) is primarily identified visually. Everything that is in or on a colony of honey bees is first and foremost visual. Diseases, either bacterial or viral, mites, chalkbrood, chilled brood, etc., all have symptoms that are most easily “seen”. However, there are AFB “test kits” available commercially www.vita-europe.com to confirm if your diagnosis from visual cues is actually AFB or not.
We have radiation facilities in Florida that are used to treat some fruits and vegetables to kill pathogens that cause rot and extend shelf life. We have gone through the exercise to have the dosage calculated to treat pallet loads (minimum) and neutralize AFB and most other harmful organisms in hive bodies, frames and comb. The cost, per pallet load, is approximately $7.00 per hive body with 10 frames/comb. This is actually a pretty cost effective route. However, these facilities cannot guarantee that they can disinfect full uncapped frames of honey. These are just too thick for the radiation to penetrate with completely reliable results. Extract this honey first before processing these frames through a radiation facility. This honey is perfectly safe for human consumption, just not for honey bee consumption.
Where commercial radiation facilities are not feasible or available, culling and destroying all combs with active AFB or dried scale is necessary. Burning is the most effective method of eradicating AFB spores. Some honey bees are genetically pre-disposed to becoming infected with AFB. So, replacing existing queen stock with other queens bred for hygienic behavior is in order. Scorching woodenware and empty wood frames is not really necessary as the infective AFB spores are in the cells in the beeswax comb, not on the surface of woodenware.
Sometimes the big unknown is whether or not you have neighboring beekeepers around you who have AFB and think that antibiotics will cure AFB? They are delusional. When things get tough for active, vegetative AFB when antibiotics are applied, they simply form long-lived (decades) spores and are a reservoir for future AFB infections. If your neighboring beekeepers are not doing the same sanitary, hygienic things you are doing, then you will continue to get AFB occasionally over time. Hang in there. You can do it.
Q Specific Nectar Plants Information
Jerry, could you point me to a web site that has the plants with the most nectar for bees, starting from the most to the least. I am looking to plant some crops for my bees and would like to know.
Thanks,
Tom O’Neil
Powhatan, Virginia
A
Tom, I am not sure there is a web site that covers all honey plants to the degree that you want. Certainly there are some tree, shrub and small flowering plants that you can generalize on, but a tried and true list is difficult. Try searching the Internet for honey plants and you will probably find some reasonably good web sites and information. Then, try localizing your computer search to honey plants that are good for the Mideastern U.S. or Virginia. Certainly, tulip-poplar, sumac, black locust, clover, thistle, persimmon and sourwood would have to rank high for the Mideastern U.S.
Nectar secretion is variable, based on climate, soil moisture, soil ph, sunlight, average temp, temperature swing from night until day and other factors. Now with (global warming) climate change, plants which did or didn’t grow in a particular area or region now can or can’t. I would contact the oldest person in your local beekeeping club and ask him or her the same question. You will probably get a more accurate answer. Plus, the information that he/she provides will be localized for your area, so you will know that it is more accurate.
American Honey Plants by Frank Pellett was probably the last really comprehensive book on the subject. However, it was last reprinted in 1976, and even then it was starting to sound dated since most of the research was done in the early to mid 20th Century. Dr. George Ayers, our ABJ monthly honey plants columnist, is probably the foremost expert on American honey plants right now. He authored an excellent chapter (100 pages) on honey plants in The Hive and the Honey Bee that is available from Dadant & Sons, Inc. www.dadant.com. It is currently the most up-to-date information on American honey plants that I know about.
The Medhat Nasr
and A. J. Williamson Varroa Shaker
In my mind varroa is the most significant health challenge of honey bees. If we could eliminate varroa, in my opinion we would get rid of 80% of our problems. Well, we are not going to eliminate varroa entirely, but we can treat sanely, rationally and safely.
But, how do you know when to treat? Well, when you have identified varroa at the “economic threshold level” (Lots of previous ABJ articles on this), then you treat or modify your Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy. How many of you are treating because somebody told you to do it at a certain time, season, or month? How many of you are treating only when it is needed based on monitoring of varroa mite infestation? Is monitoring, surveying, sampling more of a pain than it needs to be and is that why you are or are not doing it?
Here is a modification of the standard screened top jar method that has been used for alcohol or powdered sugar from Dr. Medhat Nasr and A.J. Williamson from Alberta (Canada) Agriculture and Rural Development. This method was briefly explained in the May issue of ABJ in Abstract 20 (page 504) of the Proceedings of the American Bee Research Conference. However, some readers may have missed it or not fully understood its improved efficiency for monitoring varroa infestations. It is a great extension on the original design; it is effective and reliable. Win-win.
Take two 500 ml transparent plastic jars, cut the centers out of both lids and put in 8 mesh screen sandwiched between the two lids back to back and glue them together. This makes a strainer-closure that can keep the two jars connected mouth to mouth (see photo). Collect 3-400 bees from the brood nest area in one of the jars holding alcohol. Then, the second jar is screwed back on. The varroa hand shaker is vigorously shaken for 1 min. Then, see how many varroa you have. The varroa hand shaker is flipped upside down to keep the bees on the top of the screen and allow the mites and alcohol to pass through the screen into the empty jar. Now count the mites. Pretty slick. Make one and use it!
Classroom - July 2010
by Jerry Hayes
excerpt
. . . . . . .Boy Scouts and the Beekeeping Merit Badge
In the April Classroom I alerted you to the efforts being made to reinstate the Beekeeping merit badge in the Boy Scouts. Many of you sent letters to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in support of reinstating the Beekeeping Merit Badge. I even received a letter (see letter) from Mr. Robert Mazzuca, the chief scout executive, in response to the "Classroom" call to action a couple months ago-pretty wishy-washy, but a response nonetheless.
Many of you have told me that you received replies also. Some of you have been told by the BSA that the Beekeeping Merit Badge was "too hard" to obtain.
As of April 28th the BSA has offered new merit badges for Cub Scout Webelos for VIDEO GAMES! They can get pins and belt loops for video games! Give me a break! What a sad commentary on where we are as a society. The Scouts have strayed from the original intent of the program. Lord Baden Powell is spinning in his grave. We need more opportunities to raise boys to be real men. Maybe I am just getting too old, but I don't think awards for video games is it.
West Virginia Beekeepers
Back in late spring of this year I had the distinct honor and opportunity to participate in the West Virginia Beekeepers' Association spring meeting. I had worked previously with Wade Stiltner and Paul Poling in the West Virginia Dept. of Agriculture on some joint apiculture training a few years back. The Heartland Apicultural Society (HAS) held their meeting a few summers back in Huntington, WV and life intervened to prevent me from being able to attend that meeting. So, when I was invited to come to the WVBA spring meeting, I jumped at the chance. Other than the good people I already knew in beekeeping from West Virginia, I really didn't know that much about WV beekeeping or West Virginia in general.
The meeting was held at a very cool place outside of Huntington called the Heritage Farm and Museum, http://www.heritagefarmmuseum.com. A tremendous amount of time, energy and resources have been given by the Perry family, who have championed this project to give the rest of us a glimpse of WV History through the farm and museums. It is really a great place for a beekeepers' meeting and a terrific getaway. Dan O'Hanlon, Gabe and Rhonna Blatt and a whole host of other active and engaged WV Beekeepers made this a smooth, enjoyable and information-filled meeting. There were a number of great talks and training sessions, not the least being Dr. Larry Connor conducting his well-known Queen Rearing Workshops.
Attendance records were broken with 207 attendees from West Virginia, as well as Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and Florida. I am flatlander from Florida, so the mountains, hills, ridges, hollows, hardwood trees and fast flowing mountain rivers were very, very beautiful.
There is a push for more internal queen production by the WVBA, so that is the reason the association sponsored Dr. Larry Connor's Queen Rearing Course. With the opportunity to access remote locations in the state that allows control over drone distribution, West Virginia has a large advantage to significantly and positively add to queen production-queens that will be hardy, reliable and lead big healthy colonies.
Keep an eye on West Virginia. They are quietly moving their beekeeping, queen production and specialty honey production forward strongly. I wouldn't be surprised if we were looking to WV queen breeders in a few years to purchase queens.
Q Washington Requeening
Hi Jerry. I am one of your loyal readers out in Western Washington. I am wondering if you have an opinion whether annually requeening is a good hedge against queen-related problems or is more expense and effort than it is worth? I keep fewer than five hives, depending on winter survival.
If it is a worthwhile endeavor, is it best to do in spring, fall, or some other time? And, what other considerations or recommendations are there for a successful requeening regimen? Thanks for all you do for the beekeeping community.
A
The first question that comes to mind is: What challenges are you experiencing that are causing you to consider this? Are the queens you have purchased less of what you want the second year than the first? Do they lay less? Do you have less worker brood? Do you have more drones? Are you having more swarming the second year?
The quality of commercially produced queens has not been very good the last few years. We have seen lots of "supersedures". The colony is not recognizing the queen as a queen and replacing her-then replacing the replacement. Data shows even in the best circumstances, queens do not last very long, but this is even worse than that.
We, the industry, have been taught that spring requeening is the best. It certainly is easier with lower colony populations. But, probably the best time to requeen for successful overwintering is to do so in late summer or early fall after mite treatments have been completed. You have a new queen that can contribute lots of young "winter bees" and is ready to go in the spring for quick build up with no delays or breaks in the brood cycle that can occur with spring queen replacement. Give it a try.
Q Can I Feed Raw Sugar to Bees?
Dennis from Lonestar Farms referred this question to you; it may be a little early, but I can start planning now. I raise ribbon cane and some sorghum and I usually make some syrup and sugar in the fall. I am new to beekeeping, but I was wondering if the raw sugar I make in the fall would be okay to mix with water to make the sugar syrup for fall feeding?
The Classroom
June 2010
Excerpt
From the Shameless Commerce Division at the Classroom*
There is a "New" book by Dr. Elizabeth Capaldi Evans titled "Why Do Bees Buzz". This is a fun, very interesting book that answers lots of those fascinating questions we all have about honey bees. Dazzle your friends with your knowledge of honey bees. I found everything from basic honey bee biology, to African "Killer" Bees, Colony Collapse Disorder, Mayan Beekeeping and everything in between. It was a fun read.
And no, I don't get a commission :)
*Shameless Commerce Div. title taken without permission from the "Car Guys" on NPR.
Q Confused
I would like to start by saying I really enjoy your "Classroom" section in the American Bee Journal. As a new subscriber to the magazine, I find it a must read every month.
I am new to beekeeping this year, and I am finding that I have a lot more questions than answers, as I'm sure it is with most new beekeepers, so I will go ahead and dive in head first with my first question.
I have read in several articles that it is suggested to feed Fumagilin-B to all newly installed package bees for the control of Nosema, and then on the other hand, I have been told not to feed it until you see signs of Nosema in your hives. So, my first question is: Do I need to feed it or not? I am starting out with 3 lb. packages in brand new 10-frame deep equipment. I am also using wood-bound 10-frame hive-top feeders with two chambers that are divided. If I need to feed Fumagilin-B, do I need to put it in both chambers, or just one? The mixing instructions that came with Nosema say to feed 1 gallon to each packaged colony. If I feed it in both chambers, that will be two gallons for each colony. I would also know how long to feed it to them before I stop.
The mixing instructions are this... 1/2 gal water + 8 lbs sugar = 1 gal syrup and then add 1 rounded teaspoon of Fumagilin-B. I forgot to mention that my feeders will hold 1 gallon in each chamber.
I'm sure these are some silly questions, but I really don't know how to proceed. Any help that you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time,
Mark Lawrence
P.S. Are there any ill effects to bees that are fed Fumagilin-B?
A
These are not silly questions at all Mark. I generally do not like to or suggest the use of "antibiotics" for prophylactic use such as feeding antibiotics to prevent a disease. As an example, are you now taking antibiotics because you are afraid of getting an ear infection? Probably not and it's the same thing with feeding antibiotics to prevent American or European Foulbrood. It doesn't work very well and has negative side effects.
But, and in this world there are buts, Nosema ceranae, the predominant "Nosema", is almost an endemic 24/7/365 disease pressure. Fumagilin-B still seems to have some activity against Nosema ceranae, which has fundamentally replaced Nosema apis. So, I would suggest following label directions for mixing, dosage and time frame. If you have a partitioned 2-gallon feeder, only use one side to feed the Fumagilin-B to be sure that they get a proper dosage in the proper time interval. After this, you can use the feeder, both sides, to supplementary feed as needed.
Fumagilin-B, like any other chemical, is a stressor on honey bees. It is tough on them, but not more so than Nosema. Take care and enjoy the learning curve. It will be fun.
Q A Smelly Situation
I have bee frames that were put away in plastic bags for the winter. When I opened the bags, I noticed they had a mouse nest inside. The frames are new and I would like to know how I could clean or disinfect the frames before putting on the beeswax foundation. Thank you and awaiting your reply.
A
Mouse urine is pretty stinky. Use soap, water and maybe some baking soda and a sponge or brush. Or, take the easier way out and buy some new frames. Even in tough economic times, they are still pretty cheap.
The Classroom - May 2010
(excerpt)
by Jerry Hayes
Q Should I Buy Queen Cells?
Since queens seem to be dying shortly after I get them, I am considering ripe queen cells. But, I have read that one has to very careful when handling them. The Postal Service is not designed to be careful. What are the chances of getting them from their breeding places to Illinois alive and well?
A
Dave Miksa in Florida raises about 100,000 cells each year for sale to mainly commercial beekeepers. They have developed a system to transport hundreds of queen cells by the buyer. It is important to keep queen cells at a certain age in a certain position, warm, humid and not jiggled, bounced or shaken if possible. That leaves the Postal Service, UPS, Fed Ex, DHL or any other commercial delivery service out of the picture. Drive to Florida, pick up your several hundred queen cells and drive back to Illinois with the queen cell transport box securely next to you in the passenger seat.
Q Politically Touchy
What do you think about all of the Australian packages of bees coming in for almond pollination?
A
You are right Jeremy, lots of package bees from Australia have been brought in over the last several years to fill in the gaps caused by shortages of U.S. colonies. Approximately 1.3 million honey-bee colonies participate in almond pollination for this $2 billion dollar crop. California can only provide about 500,000 colonies internally, so the rest have to come from outside the state. Almonds absolutely, positively have to have honey bees to pollinate or their $2 billion value slips and growers obviously do not want it to slip. Can Australian packages come into the United States economically and contribute to almond pollination? The answer seems to be yes, which is a good thing for the almond industry.
However, some Australian honey-bee import critics speculate that Australian bees are weak genetically because they have not been challenged by varroa and other varroa-implicated health issues. They have not participated in the survival of the fittest scenario. According to some critics, Australian bees seem to succumb to various new parasites and diseases rather quickly in the United States.
The problem from my perspective is that if they survive long enough to possibly provide virgin queens and drones, these Australian honey bees can mate with our "survivor" bees and, of course, make them weaker genetically, compounding problems we already have. However, the $2 billion dollar almond industry will not be denied. Nevertheless, if Australian honey-bee imports should falter for any reason, and U.S. colony availability continues to worsen, look for the Mexican border to open up to them to bring their AHB colonies to the California almond groves.
Q Nosema... Fungus or Protozoan?
Jerry, in a recent communication with a member of the Washington State Beekeepers Association, I was told that Nosema is caused by a "fungus". This was a surprise, as I believed it was caused by a microsporidian. So, my first question: Cause of Nosema...fungus or microsporidian?
Second question: If it is a fungus, why does an antibiotic (Fumagilin-B) work at all, since antibiotics are effective on bacteria, not fungi?
Thank you,
Morris
A
Hello Morris. You are correct that the causative organism is a microsporidian, either Nosema apis or Nosema ceranae. Nosema is one of those diseases, which has both protozoan- and fungus-like characteristics. It was classified as a one-celled protozoan before and now with more advanced taxonomic techniques, it is a micro (really small) sporidian (spore-forming) life form.
Fumagilin-B, the commonly recommended antibiotic to control this bee disease, is also used widely for patients with HIV/AIDS because it controls fungus growth in people with compromised immune systems caused by this disease. Remember, antibiotic means anti (against) biotic (life). The term antibiotic is a catchall for bactericides, virocides, fungicides, etc.
All of that to say-The causative agent for Nosema is now classified as a microsporidian. And, sometimes Fumagilin-B works and sometimes it doesn't. Now that should clear it up :)
Q Chemical-Free Beekeeping
Hi Jerry, what I want to know is information you may have on keeping bees free of chemical use. Many Thanks.
Buddy
A
I think using a variety of integrated pest management (IPM) techniques can get you away from many chemicals generally used in beehives Buddy. Hygienic queens, screened bottom boards, drone removal, powdered sugar dusting every 3-4 days, rotating 3 frames or so of comb out yearly, and continuous surveying will keep you on top of most varroa and disease issues. These techniques are certainly not perfect, but pretty good. You may still have varroa population booms at times that have to be knocked back with Apiguard or Mite Away II.
Removing the infected comb and destroying it can control bacterial disease like American foulbrood (AFB). Sometimes antibiotics have to be used as a tool. The key point is that you have to know your bees and be a good manager and that requires you to keep tabs on what is going on inside the colonies. This is certainly possible, but proves hard for most people. But, you are not most people, so you can do it!
Q Confused About Sugar Dusting
I may have missed an episode on sugar dusting bees for varroa. Please, could you explain where you stand on this issue? I refer to the abstract of your paper in the Journal of Apicultural Research, which concludes that powdered sugar dusting did not significantly reduce varroa levels and your continuing advice in this column, which appear to contradict one another. Thank you.
Regards,
Ben Rees
United Kingdom
A
Ben, I am old enough, and you may be old enough as well, to know that there are vast swatches of gray in this world and relatively few firmly black and white, yes-or-no answers. When you focus on worldly "science", it is a process that is always in flux with new information arising to update previous data, which at one time was thought to be the final answer or at least pretty close. So, I guess you are right that I have seemed to contradict myself.
Dr. Amanda Ellis, who led on this research in our lab, did great work and gave some insight into powdered sugar dusting within the parameters of the research over a year's time. The data presented in the Journal of Apicultural Research paper was that when you treat every few weeks that it certainly knocks off phoretic mites, but the varroa adjust and increase reproduction. So, over a year's time, even though these treatments remove lots of mites, the mite count has not significantly changed. Would it have grown more if the mites had not been removed? But, the population certainly seemed to hold its own.
We have done some preliminary trials using powdered sugar dusting every 3-4 days to remove phoretic mites as they continuously emerge from reproducing in cells. This does not give them a chance to re-enter cells and reproduce. They cannot catch up biologically or reproductively. After doing this for 4 -5 weeks, we have covered all brood cycles and mite levels are very, very low. Is this labor-intensive method practical is the question? Probably it is for some, but not for the majority.
I think removing mites from your colonies of honey bees is a good idea. And, removing mites using powdered sugar is a sane idea that works under application methods as noted above. The more you do it, the better the long-term results are. I would rather someone try using powdered sugar as often as possible to remove mites and hopefully postpone a "chemical" treatment than simply go to "chemicals " first. So, thus arises my apparently contradictory stand. I hope it makes sense!
The Classroom - April 2010
(excerpt)
by Jerry Hayes
Q
Boy Scouts and Beekeeping Jerry back in 1964, when I was in the Boy Scouts, I was flipping through the merit badge book. I noticed that there was a merit badge offered for beekeeping. I was so excited that I immediately applied for the merit badge book through my troop master. From that day on, my life had changed forever. I have had bees in my life since. I have had as many as 500 hives. I have worked for commercial beekeepers in the USA and Germany.
Now that I am in a position in my life to slow down, I decided that I would offer some of my time to the Boy Scouts and help get the young ones interested in receiving their beekeeping merit badge. I called the "Boy Scouts of America" to inquire about some troops in my local area. I was totally blown away when I was told that the beekeeping merit badge was no longer offered and hadn't been in a long time. I thought that the person was joking. It is no wonder there are fewer hobby and sideline beekeepers.
By the time our youth get to be in their upper teens, they have other interests like video. I always believed that starting our youth with good things early in their life was the best answer for their success. Any ideas on how to put a little sting under the "Boy Scouts of America"? Our youth and our country would be better off if we could offer beekeeping through the Scouting program.
Dennis Bryan, Texas
A
The squeaky wheel gets the grease, Dennis. The louder the squeak (more people), The faster things happen. How can I help you squeak? This is not a new occurrence, as you probably know by now. The Boy Scouts eliminated Beekeeping as a merit badge in 1995. It was created in 1915. However, with the resurgence of public interest in preserving nature and the environment, as well as producing one's own food, perhaps it's time to bring back the Beekeeping merit badge. What do you think Boy Scouts?
RESPONSE FROM DENNIS Maybe you could mention this problem in the magazine since that is a pretty big wheel that touches a lot of people, including scoutmasters. Ask for suggestions from the readers. Maybe you could find enough driving force to light the fire. After reading your column every month for as long as I have, I can tell that when you get a passion for something, you don't stop until you have accomplished your goal.
Think of all the young ones who are missing out on the wonderful world of beekeeping and the things it brings to the table! That special beekeeping knowledge lasts a lifetime and think of all the good it does for Nature.
Because of your current position, you Reach more people than any one of us. If you could get passionate about this fault in our society, take the reins, and generate the momentum, I and probably thousands of others would help in any way that presents itself.
If we can't encourage our young people to participate in something that is good and wholesome, then what is left? Thanks for your help.
Dennis
Bryan, Texas
JERRY FOLLOWS UP I took some time to track down the leadership of the Boy Scouts to ask your question "How can the Beekeeping Merit Badge be re-instated?" Man, that wasn't easy! Unfortunately, they are not a very transparent organization at the top-perhaps because they do not want hard questions? Because this exercise was so difficult I thought, "Let's go to the top and see what happens?" Chief Scout Executive / CEO Robert Mazzuca, Boy Scouts of America, 1325 West Walnut Hill Lane, P.O. Box 152079, Irving Texas 75015, email Robert.Mazzuca@ scouting.org, 972-580-2000.
Comment: Classroom readers, you are a strong, smart and vocal group. Ask yourself if you want to do this. Can we make a difference?
Let's see. Take a minute to contact Mr. Mazzuca in one or all of the ways above and see if he responds or ducks. Let me know.
The Classroom - March 2010
Organic and CCD-Comment
I want to thank you for what you said in the Jan. 2010 edition of the ABJ about organic and CCD. On both subjects you said just what I have believed for a long time. We have a small pumpkin farm with about 10 beehives. We will never go through the organic certification process, although we do not use pesticides or herbicides. Our soil amendments are provided by the cover crops, the cattle, donated horse manure we compost and the tons of duck manure in rice hulls we buy. We just tell people the pumpkins and other crops are raised naturally to protect our bees. In other words, we are a bee-friendly farm. People understand that! I also tell them just what you said about the causes of CCD. I remember that talk I heard at Apimondia in Australia where the speaker said it was "death by a thousand cuts". I quote that statement when people ask about it. Keep up the good work educating beekeepers! I learn a lot from your monthly column!
Ettamarie Peterson
Q Cleaning and RewaxingPlastic Foundation
I have a question about cleaning used plastic foundation. I have heard that scraping the old comb off and then power washing it works. Now, specifically, do you try and remove ALL of the wax or do you just scrape it and let the bees clean it up and leave a little "old wax" for them to work?
Next question, I know that bees work better on wax-coated foundation. So, if you suggest removing ALL old wax, how would you go about re-waxing the plastic? Would you melt down your own cappings, dip them in some way and hope the bottom of the cells don't hold too much wax? I'm racking my brain here!
Thanks,
Nick
A
I wouldn't worry about getting 100% of the wax off. Shoot for 85-90%. Yes, bees do better at drawing out comb if they have some in place and don't have to make it all. In some type of double boiler arrangement (beeswax is highly flammable) melt some beeswax and use an old small paint brush and paint the beeswax on. You don't have to be neat. The bees will mold, shape, massage the wax into the proper areas and construct new cells. You are helping your colony by removing old potentially disease-holding brood comb and the negative chemical residues they contain. This will help honey-bee health as much as anything.
Q Which Type of Honey Bee to Use?
I have a small bee yard in mid-Michigan (8 to 12 swarms). I have always kept Italian bees with good success, but have become curious about the Carniolan strain. They seem to be perfect for our climatic conditions in Michigan. I am contemplating trying a couple of swarms this season. However, I am not sure if I should go with Russian honey bees. I have read that the Russians can be "touchy" and require regular requeening to retain their mite resistance and productivity. However, price and availability seem to be on their side. I am just looking for some suggestions.
Thanks,
Tom
A
Tom, I think that purchasing "hygienic" stock from reputable queen producers is the long-term solution to lots of our problems. Hygienic Russians are better than they were a few years ago. There is a list of approved Russian producers on the web. There are legitimate, reputable breeders of hygienic stock and then there are the mass marketers selling junk.
Q Can You Overfeed Honey Bees?
I have a question that has bothered me for some time. Can you overfeed bees? By this I mean, the bees take all the HFCS or sucrose fed to them and store it in cells, which may not be consumed by springtime. This leftover food could be mixed and extracted with honey the following season. We talk so much about contaminated honey. Could it be possible that we ourselves are doing this without being aware of the consequences? Depending on weather conditions and strength of the hive, the bees will consume various amounts of food over the winter. This amount is hard to predict and it's better to be on the plus side than to starve the bees. It still makes sense to over-winter bees with pure honey rather than feed them with other sugars. I know that this is not always possible. Thanks for your help.
Fred
A
Fred, I cannot argue with any of what you have said.
Q Trouble with the Neighbors
I am writing to you because of a problem that I have. It is not with the bees that I have, it is with the neighbors that I have. I have six or seven hives at my house and six at another location. The neighbors have several teenagers who think they can do anything they want to do in the neighborhood. I have had words with them about the bees in my yard because they trespass using my yard to go to their buddy's house. I have checked with the township where I live and can legally have them, so I don't have any problem with the law. It seems every time they see a honey bee or any other flying insect, they call the police to complain.
This summer we had words about the bees because I caught them killing a swarm of bees that was in their yard. About 5 days later, when I checked on my hives, I noticed a foul smell. When I opened the hives, I found that two of the bee hives were dead. I highly suspect that they had been bug-bombed with insect killer because I recognized the odor in the hive. I have also had several of my hives kicked over. Since there was snow on the ground at the time, it told me the story of what happened because the footprints in the snow lead straight to the neighbor's house.
Just this week the boys were outside and made a comment to me that they knew what happened to my hives and if I did not get rid of the rest them, they would do it for me. Their statements indicate to me that they killed the hives since I did not say anything to anyone else.
What I would like is to get some information as whom to call if and when they try to kill another swarm or hive? I think that if the issue is turned over to the federal government because they were killing this vital insect and let them deal with the boys, then they might get the idea to leave them alone. I do not know whom to contact and was wondering if you knew who to talk to?
Sincerely,
Ken Berg
Flint, MI
A
Ken, if I were you, I would have called the police, sheriff or whomever is supposed to enforce Michigan Law. It sounds like this relationship with your neighbors is out of control and you are losing. If you have checked local law and you can keep honey bees in your community legally, you are in the right. Of course, you must also be sure that you are abiding by any regulations about how many hives you have on your land or how close they are to your neighbor's house.
You have evidence with footprints in the snow. Did you take photos? They admitted they destroyed your colonies to your face because they apparently know that you won't do anything.
You should contact Mike Hansen, who is the Michigan Dept. of Agriculture Apiculture Chief and report a honey-bee kill. They can come out, take samples, and analyze dead bees, comb, etc. You might consider putting up a "motion sensing" camera such as those hunters use to monitor deer movement. Turning the other cheek, giving your enemy your coat and going the extra mile certainly is Biblical, but you must hold those who harm you to a level of Biblical accountability and responsibility or you will actually stunt their growth.
It's too bad this situation could not have been nipped in the bud with amicable give and take between you and your neighbor (perhaps even a few jars of good-will honey). However, it may have gone beyond this stage of reason by now.
Q Raising Queens
Mr. Hayes, I really enjoy your classroom column in the ABJ. This spring is my third year in beekeeping, so I still have lots of questions. I got lucky last fall and found a hive, about a half-mile from my house that was abandoned three years ago, according to the property owner. The hive contains a strong colony of bees. This coming spring, I'd like to make a split out of this hive and install a sister queen from this survivor hive.
Here's where I get lost. I've read several of the most recommended books on queen rearing, also every article I can find. I've also read and am familiar with several of the methods commonly prescribed for rearing queens. I have no desire to learn or perform the grafting method. Most every method seems to me to be geared towards the commercial production of queens, or at least towards raising large numbers of queens. I only need one. Can you suggest an easy method of raising my own queen from this survivor stock? I have two other hives of bees at my home location, plus an empty nuc box. That's the extent of my equipment right now, though I'm not opposed to adding more if necessary.
I helped my nephew do what he called a "dirty split" last year, where we just put a frame of eggs, plus frames of food and bees in a nuc and let them produce their own queen. This seemed to work (if they survive this winter, I'll call it a success), but I've read several times that you shouldn't do this as it results in inferior queens. No explanation why. Thanks for any help you can give.
Gary Blackford
Hebron, Ohio
A
Gary, I lived in Wooster years ago where I went to the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute specializing in beekeeping. I like Ohio. The queens with the most ovarioles (egg-producing organs) are raised from the youngest larvae, hours old, that are being fed copious amounts of royal jelly, the food that turns a female worker larva into a queen. Commercial queen breeders manipulate situations in order to facilitate these conditions.
If you want to raise one queen or several, then I would simply identify frames with eggs in spring, distribute them equally in two hive bodies, along with a few frames of honey and pollen. Then, take one of the hive bodies and place it next to the other box on a bottom board, etc., making a new hive. In a couple of days, go in and see which one has queen cells. There you go. Not pretty, but effective!
Q Treating with Antibiotics
I enjoyed your presentations at the Louisiana Beekeepers Convention earlier this month. I am a new beekeeper who is blessed with a beekeeping club close to me. However, there exists a large experience and age gap within our club. We are told to give antibiotics twice and year, Fumidil in the fall, etc.
I've been in the medical field for 16 years. I have seen that the abuse of antibiotics in people contribute to some of the worst resistant bacteria imaginable. I believe this was through indiscretion and ignorance. I believe this could happen with honey bees also. The reason I'm writing you is because your presentation Saturday at the convention was the first time someone had suggested that bees should only be treated when symptomatic.
I have no real resource within my club and want your input or perhaps some study or publication that could clarify this "medication" dilemma for me. Any help you can spare would be great. Also, thank you for your presence here at our conference. I appreciated your work.
Brent Ingvardsen
Stonewall, Louisiana
A
Good Morning Brent. Thank you for the compliment. I am glad that you are a new beekeeper and it is good that you have the expertise of members of a beekeeping club close to you. Like many organisms, honey bees can take a lot of stress and abuse that does not kill them, similar to humans and our livestock that are exposed to lots of chemicals that are purposely ingested, applied or inhaled. As you know in the medical field, antibiotics are prescribed freely and taken freely and many times incorrectly which has led to MRSA and other really scary stuff. This will only get worse as time passes and practices do not change dramatically from either the medical practitioner side or the patient side.
Production livestock are fed a diet that routinely contains antibiotics to lower infection levels in these animals that are crowded together in stressful and unhealthy conditions. None of this will change soon since food production for the lowest cost per unit output is the goal. E. coli and other organisms' resistance to antibiotics have been documented. As long as the ultimate product does not immediately kill the consumer or make him/her sick, it is considered to be all right.
Honey bees are just as tough as a cow or a chicken. However, the real question should be: Are they healthy and thriving or are they just OK? We have antibiotic resistance in bacterial diseases in honey bees. The most significant and prominent is Paenibacillus larvae, the causative organism of American Foulbrood (AFB). A couple of reasons for this are: 1) Feeding antibiotics inappropriately and 2) applying them inappropriately. To highlight, (1) why feed antibiotics when there is not a disease? My example at the meeting was when I asked, "Is anyone taking antibiotics now because they are afraid of getting strep throat in the future." No hands went up from the audience. And in regards to: 2) Not following label directions as a factor in antibiotic resistance, I believe antibiotics are designed to kill all sensitive organisms, both good and bad, if applied properly in multiple doses over X period of time.
This is similar to when your doctor prescribes antibiotics for you to take over a 10- to 14-day period so all the bad organisms are killed. If you don't follow the instructions, then you are promoting bacterial resistance because some of the bad organisms are genetically hardier and they stay alive after the first or second exposure to the antibiotic. If you quit taking the antibiotic after a few days because you are feeling better, you have then become an evolutionary selective agent who has selected for organisms that are somewhat immune to a partial treatment. When this happens over a large population, over and over again, then at some point in time you have selected for organisms that are entirely resistant to this antibiotic and the disease cannot be controlled easily, i.e. MRSA or flesh-eating bacteria found in all hospitals now.
The same thing happens with honey-bee diseases such as AFB. The beekeeper may not complete treatments using labeled products or he may use antibiotics in "food patties" for disease prevention when there is no active disease, thereby selecting for those organisms that have some natural resistance. These resistant bacteria breed and then you develop an organism over time that requires a different stronger antibiotic. In the beekeeping industry we have gone from Terramycin to now Tylosin and already there is some noted AFB resistance to Tylosin because of the reasons cited above.
Now let's take a quick look at what honey bees eat for protein, lipids, vitamins and minerals. It is not pollen. It is beebread, which is a fermented product that is created by honey bees adding bacteria, yeasts etc., to pollen to break apart the pollen grains sealed in silica (glass) to release and pre-digest this vital nutrition enclosed. If you have an agricultural background, stored bee pollen is kind of like pollen silage. Or, for you or I, it might be compared to a fermented food like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, sour cream, etc. Adding antibiotics kills both good and bad bacteria in a honey-bee diet. Antibiotics even kill the good bacteria that honey bees need to make beebread in order to obtain full nutrition. Thus, unknowingly, the beekeeper may have further stressed and compromised the health of the colony.
Antibiotics are extremely valuable tools for human and animal health. However, any tool is not the right tool. A hammer is not a screwdriver. A crescent wrench is not socket wrench. We have been abusing antibiotics and are now suffering the consequences personally and in our animals. We are relying on our advancements in technology to step up and save us. I hope that they can continue to do so. Sorry to drone on so long.
Q Colonies in the Winter
Thank you once again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to drive all that way to speak to our group. Everyone enjoyed it and I am hoping that we will have more of our members getting registered and involved in the Best Management Practices (BMPs) about which you spoke.
And, since I have your reading eye, instead of your listening ear, I have a question. What are eight-frame brood boxes supposed to look like at this time of the year in this area? I checked mine today and there were only about two or three frames that had any eggs, larvae, and capped brood on them. There was plenty of honey and pollen stores. The frames that do have the eggs and such on them are not very consistent either. I did see fresh eggs, still standing up, just not a lot. When I had bees before, I didn't look into them at this time of year. I am trying to be a good bee mommy, but I just don't know what I am supposed to be seeing at this time of year. Thanks for your help,
Debbie Bohannon
Florida
A
I enjoyed being able to address your group. They will all be good beekeepers with all the support and mentors available. I am all eyes. The European honey bees we have are varieties with a biology/physiology that is attuned to always preparing for winter-a season that has harsh temperatures and is food resource barren. In temperate climates, honey bee colonies and their reproductive queens respond to the shortening day length, downward temperature changes and lack of nectar and pollen availability by slowing down and eventually stopping brood rearing to save food resources in this energy-dependent activity.
In Florida, it is a bit confusing for European temperately evolved honey bees since the days are shortening and the temperature is dropping (but not by a lot). However, a few flowers are still blooming. If your colonies have brood in all stages, lots of stored food and parasites, pests and diseases are at nonexistent or controllable levels at this time of the year in Florida, I would say you are in good shape.
Q Medications and Ventilation Questions
First, I really enjoy your column, "The Classroom". There are always great questions asked by fellow beekeepers who have run into problems and need your help with fixing them. This might be a problem someone else is having also or may just help them to prevent a future problem with their bees. Great job!
Jerry, here is my first question. When hives are medicated in the fall and early spring with medicated syrup, there is a time limit on when it must be removed before a honey flow and supers can be put on. Later, there comes a time to put the queen excluders on and then supers, whether above a single deep, double deep, one and half, or three mediums as the brood boxes. These colonies are still expanding the brood nest and making room for more brood. Do they move the medicated nectar or honey from the brood area up into the supers as they are making room?
My second question, if you have time to answer, is: What is the best cover to use on your hives? Beekeepers talk about hives needing ventilation and to keep the hives cooler in the summer, so the bees don't have to work as hard to cool the hive. The telescoping cover and inner cover create a dead air space, plus you can put a hole in the rim of the inner cover to create a upper entrance and to let the hive vent out some of the moisture. But in the South, it seems that most of the hives I had seen pictures of in the magazines use migratory covers. It seems to me that being in the South where they would get a lot more humid temps, the colonies wouldn't cool the hives much with that solid migratory cover on them.
There seems to be so many different opinions on what is best, but as beginners in this area of beekeeping, which one do you choose! I wish there was a standard to go by, depending on the area in which you live. Which is the best brood box set up, cover, entrance, reduced entrance, vented top, etc.? Can you help me out with some answers? Thanks Jerry. Keep up the great job!
Robert Warnick, Jr.
A
Robert, Thank you for the "Classroom" compliment. I learn things all the time from the excellent questions that are central to an understanding of beekeeping. I'll try to answer your questions.
I guess my first question is why are you medicating in fall and spring? Do you have a disease? If you have a disease such as American foulbrood or European foulbrood, antibiotics can be a valuable tool. If there is no disease to treat, then why treat?
Always follow label directions for antibiotics labeled for honey bees. The directions will indicate how far in advance of the nectar flow the antibiotics should be withdrawn in order to prevent contamination of stored honey.
Honey bees are successful insects because they have the genetics which require diversity. With certain exceptions, Apis mellifera can live in most locations-at high altitudes, at low altitudes, in deserts, in jungles, in cities, in the suburbs, in hollow trees, rock cavities or the attic of your house. They survive because of genetic diversity contributed by multiple matings from multiple drones. Instead of putting their survival into the genetics of mating with one drone, honey bees spread the risk around by mating with many drones. If one drone's sperm carries weak genetics for over wintering, then only those workers produced by that sperm are at risk, not the whole colony. Honey bees go for the averages not a homerun every time at bat. That is why there are only generalities for hive dimensions, covers, bottoms, etc. Honey bees don't care. They adapt because they can.
Use whatever kind of cover you want; it really doesn't matter. Upper ventilation in the hive is something to consider. Honey bees, in the process of eating and processing stored honey, release excess water in the form of water vapor/humidity as respiration takes place. Now, think of putting your warm, moist breathe on a cold windowpane in winter in your house in Farmersville, Ohio. Water droplets form from the condensation of the water vapor in your warm breath. The same thing happens in a beehive in winter. Water condensation can freeze on the top of the hive (inside). It can build up and freeze layer upon layer over weeks of subfreezing temperatures. It can freeze inside the hive because the cluster does not heat the entire hive like your central heating in your home.
The cluster, for efficiency reasons, just heats itself so not a lot of extra heat is produced to keep the condensation from freezing inside the hive. When there is a break in the outside weather, the hive warms up. The frozen condensation melts and the bees have a cold rain on them that compromises their ability to stay warm. Cracking the top to let water vapor out before it condenses and freezes is a reasonable management practice. Too much insulation applied by the beekeeper keeps too much water vapor inside the hive, which like your house, encourages mold and fungus to grow. This is not a healthy situation. Cold does not kill honey bees. In healthy honey bees with adequate winter stores, the honey-bee cluster easily deals with the temperature extremes.
The Classroom - January 2010
Excerpt
Q
IS IT VSH or VHS or DVD?
Dear Mr. Hayes,
Please give us some detailed information about the Minnesota Hygienic stock and the VSH (Varroa-selective Hygienic) stock developed at the USDA lab.
Thanks,
Marcel LeBlanc
Houston, TX
A
The difference is VSH (Varroa Sensitive Hygiene) is a genetic trait of the honey bee that allows it to recognize capped cells with mite-infested pupae. The bees in a communal way get together and cut through the cap, drag out the infested pupa and the mites and dump them outside as trash.
Minnesota Hygienic Bees have the genetic trait that is one of a high degree of hygienic behavior that targets diseases like American foulbrood and chalkbrood. So, VSH targets "varroa mites" and Minnesota Hygienic target "diseases". Theoretically, one could have both traits simultaneously from 1% to 100% and everything in between. Honey bees have survived for millions of years by having a wide selection of genes for different situations and scenarios. Having a hyper-trait may adversely affect other traits, so everything is a trade off.
Marcel answers:
Jerry, thanks for the reply, but that is not what I have heard. You haven't helped me!
Classroom Readers: I do not know everything, but I generally do know who knows, so I handed this one off to Dr. Jeff Harris at the USDA/ARS Bee Breeding Lab in Baton Rouge to see if he could help me out.
Thanks Jeff
Reply from Jeff Harris
Hello Jerry, I can understand the reader's problem with accepting that there are differences because we are not really sure ourselves as to how or why these two types of honey bees are different. So, I'll try to say what we know as briefly as possible:
It seems likely that hygienic removal of varroa-infested pupae (or Varroa-Sensitive Hygiene) is really the same behavior or a subset of general hygienic behavior that is found in the Minnesota Hygienics. The difference is in selective breeding methods that were used to obtain the two types of bees. Marla Spivak selected for improved performance in removal of freeze-killed brood. The VSH team selected initially for bees that reduced the reproductive abilities of mites. It was only later that we discovered that this disruption of mite reproduction was caused by VSH activity.
As with MN Hygienics, bees with high levels of the VSH trait are also very hygienic towards freeze-killed brood, and our experience suggests that they are also good at controlling chalkbrood, American foulbrood, small hive beetles and wax moths (we just have not published these kinds of data). So, what are the differences between MN Hygienics and VSH bees? The biggest difference is that the VSH bees remove many more mite-infested pupae per unit time. They can uncap and identify 100s of mite-infested pupae in just a few hours. The MN hygienic bees find varroa-infested pupae at a much lower rate. In pure VSH colonies, varroa mite populations decline. In pure MN Hygienics, mite populations continue to grow, but at a rate slower that is significantly slower than in non-hygienic controls. So, it is quite possible that both bees are utilizing the same mechanisms to find mite-infested pupae (in fact, it seems likely), the difference may only be in degree. However, there is also evidence that the genetics controlling general hygiene is different than the genetics controlling VSH behavior. I'll just leave it at that for now. I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jeff Harris
USDA/ARS Bee Breeding Lab
Baton Rouge, LA
Classroom - December 2009
by Jerry Hayes
(excerpt)
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Fact: Everyone in the world shares the same mtDNA. There is nuclear DNA or the genetic code, the blueprint for that individual cell and you. Cells have separate structures in them that make energy for the cell; they are called mitochondria. Mitochondria have their own DNA separate from cellular DNA. This DNA in the mitochondria comes from and is passed down generation to generation from the Mother. Guess what, whether you are big, little, black, brown, yellow, white, beige, big nose, thin lips, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Eskimo, Mongol, French, Cherokee or whatever, science has proven what the major religions teach that we all came from the same mother. So, if we are really all brothers and sisters and therefore family, why are we so mean to each other? Let's make this season meaningful and not mean. There is a reason for the Season!
WORD OF THE DAY!
The word for today is GUTTATION (gu-ta-shun). This was a new word for me too. Let me tell you about the guttation process. First let me tell you what it isn't. As always, for some of you the caveat is that this might not seem as interesting now as it may at the end. Hang in there deep thinkers!
Plants have to have water for a variety of reasons and water has to be balanced within certain limits so the plant doesn't wilt or the cells explode from lots of water. Either extreme does not help photosynthesis and growth. During the day, when the sun is shining, plants regulate water concentration through a process called transpiration. Plants have structures on their leaves (mostly) called stoma or stomata that are valves that open in the day for CO2/O2 exchange. This CO2/O2 exchange carries along water vapor, just like when we breathe in and out. Think of your breath on a cold day. The roots take up the water and it is transported with nutrients up through the plant and through the leaves with this transpiration process and exits the plant.
Remember, transpiration is a daytime process. What happens at night? Plants don't sleep. Roots don't stop taking up water and nutrients. Plants have a process for balancing water needs in this situation too. It is called, you guessed it, guttation. At night water is still coming in (roots suck it up) and it can't get out through stomata because the daytime transpiration process is over and they are closed. Many plants have other special organs called Hydathodes that are located at the tips of some seedlings like corn or on the margins of the leaf like strawberries. (See photos)
These hydathodes allow liquid to exude. When evaporation is limited by high humidity such as at night when transpiration does not occur, it collects on the leaf tips or margins. Unlike transpiration, where water leaves as a vapor (like your breath), in guttation the liquid is exuded (pushed out) from the plant and can collect as droplets on the plant, sometimes confused with early morning dew.
So, why is this important to beekeepers? Well, one of the proven concerns of beekeepers and researchers is the data that shows some pesticides, fungicides and herbicides can be transported through a plant systemically and appear in the nectar of a flower. These amounts are relatively low, in sublethal doses because it has been filtered through nectaries. Guttation is a straight shot process from roots and out. Because it is a straight shot, the guttation water drops can contain concentrated chemicals. So, any chemical used as seed coatings or applied to the soil or in irrigation water like chemigation, can be transported out with the guttation water. It has been reported to me that a large chemical company in Germany has admitted that their neonicotinoid corn seed coatings can be transported through the small corn seedling hydathode and the water droplet can contain a lethal dose of the pesticide to adult worker honey bees that drink this toxic water droplet.
I get many calls from beekeepers who say their bees have done poorly in or around watermelons, squash, pumpkins, strawberries, corn and flowers in the understory of apples, cherries, citrus, etc. Data shows that pollen and nectar from these plants' flowers can contain pesticides, but in low amounts. Now we know about guttation and all of the short list of plants above freely practice guttation. If bees collect this water directly to drink, share with their sisters, or use it to cool the nest or for any other uses, it can be toxic.
Take a look at the You Tube video from an Italian researcher found at: www.youtube.
com/watch?v=e8Nsn4KvjM
Q Sanitized For Your Safety
Jerry, what is the practice of sanitization when the backyard sideliner and the commercial beekeeper find hives with CCD?
John McQuown
A
What is CCD? If I can answer my own question, the "symptoms" are a dramatic loss of worker population, the queen is left, and there are no dead bees in or about the colony or apiary, lots of brood and resources are still in the colony recently abandoned. You have probably read all of the possible causes of CCD-varroa, viruses, bacteria, Nosema ceranae, fungi, mold, pesticides, nutrition, queens, sperm, eggs, genetics, development temperature and many other things, along with all of the gazillions of combinations and permutations of all of the variables.
Your choice of the word sanitize is better than sterilize for most beekeepers. Radiation facilities can neutralize most pathogens with the proper rate and exposure. Ozone (O3) seems to neutralize/change some pesticides. Organic acids-acetic, formic, oxalic will kill/disable some pathogens. Air drying/UV will kill some pathogens, etc. So, your question is an excellent one: What can a "normal" beekeeper do to not sterilize but simply wipe the surface clean and knock back the many bad things, negative inputs both intentional and accidental introductions from this environmental sampler, the honey bee?
I think the easiest and most logical choice is to replace comb every 2-3 years-comb rotation. Clean comb is the key. Being exposed to "stuff' 24/7/365, if eliminated, can reduce stress and premature colony failure.
Q Alcohol Isn't For The Bees Either
Hi Jerry, I would like to know if fermented sugar syrup affects bees? The reason for asking is that when I feed bees sugar syrup, after about three days, I notice that the sugar syrup starts to ferment. Does this have any negative effects on the bees? Thanks much.
Regards,
Patroy Foster
A
Patroy, does fermented sugar have an effect on you? Sugar fermented by yeast collects a by-product of the yeast, a waste, called alcohol. This alcohol (ethanol) is a neurotoxin. In people it poisons the brain and central nervous system causing people to lose their balance, equilibrium, speech is slurred, they have difficulty walking and goodness knows, driving. Thousands are killed each year from "drunk" drivers. At high concentrations the bees simply won't consume it. At small concentrations it acts as a toxin on honey bees as well and they become inefficient.
By the way, your syrup should not be fermenting that quickly. Most of the time the bees consume it in just a few days. You may be making your syrup too thin; try increasing the concentration of sugar you are using. You will have to heat your water to do this, so be sure to let the syrup cool before giving it to your bees as feed.
Classroom - November 2009
by Jerry Hayes
Q Sometimes Size Does Matter...
Hi Jerry, I would like to know why some naturally raised and fully mated queens are large, and some are small? Recently, one of my hives swarmed, and the new queen is larger than any I have seen in my three years of beekeeping. This queen is over an inch long and as big around as a pencil and is laying a good pattern. It makes me wish that the queens that I pay good money for could look like this one. Thank you for taking time to answer.
David J. Flaugher
A
David, all things being equal, raising queens naturally or with beekeeper intent is a variable process. As a review, all the workers in a colony are sexually undeveloped females. Sexual development or not is based on the diet fed these young female larvae. The optimum age of a worker larva is three days old or less to develop into a premium queen. The younger the larva is, when selected for being a queen, the more ovarioles or egg-producing organs the queen will have and the supporting body structures to allow optimum egg production. The diet fed by nurse bees is called royal jelly. It is produced in the same hypopharyngeal glands of the nurse bees to feed "worker larvae", but is much higher in protein. This diet is fed in large amounts and actually floats the larva out of its cell, out over the front of the cell, so that the colony builds a larger vertical cell that is characteristic of "queen cells".
Let's say that your colony knew it was going to reproduce asexually-swarm. As a result, they started preparing potential replacement queens by feeding young larvae "royal jelly". The planets were aligned and they selected the perfect age larva and there were lots and lots of young nurse bees to feed the larva more than enough royal jelly. As a result, you got a whopper, beautiful queen. This is hard to duplicate, but when it happens it is pretty cool. Enjoy.
Q No Recipe
What is the best mixture for thymol crystals to treat varroa mites?
W. Martin
A
The best mixture is found in two tested, approved and labeled products called Apiguard and Api Life Var. No other thymol preparation is approved for use on beehives in the United States. Garage chemistry is not a good long-term solution or plan.
Q Sweat Lickers
Morning Jerry, I was mowing the grass and worked up a pretty good sweat. I decided to take a breather and sit down in the backyard. Soon my bees were on me like honey, licking up the sweat. What is with this?
John McQuown
A
John, you may have noticed directly or heard about honey bees visiting swimming pools and causing a nuisance, visiting muddy ditch water or even livestock feed lots.
Honey bees are attracted to and need minerals in their diet. If their diet does not contain the small minute amounts that they need, they go and look for them. If you add salt to your food or pepper, then you know what I mean.
Your sweat has an odor profile, which is easily identified and honey bee investigators, if not threatened, will collect your sweat for its minerals and oils. How many people would have been afraid in this situation where honey bees landed on their arms to collect sweat? Obviously, most nonbeekeepers would have been threatened and repelled such advances, but as a beekeeper you were wise enough to not feel threatened and let Nature take its course. Pretty interesting.
Q Use Of Honey-B-Healthy
I feed my bees essential oils (Honey B Healthy) in sugar syrup at certain times of the year. I ran across an article that mentioned bees move honey from one place to another in the hive. I just assumed the bees put nectar (or syrup) in an open area of the hive and that is where it stayed while they process and cap it. Guess I assumed wrong!
The label on the Honey B Healthy clearly states the contents is NOT for human consumption, so the article on honey movement concerns me and raised this question:
Are the bees likely to move any honey made from the sugar syrup containing the essential oils from the brood boxes up to the honey super when placed on the hive?
Deborah Rankin J Bar D Ranch
A
I wouldn't feed anything while nectar is being brought in for honey conversion and you have surplus honey supers on your hives. Hopefully, anything you fed before will have been consumed mostly for early brood production. Uncapped honey can be moved if the bees are so inclined, so if nothing artificial is fed during nectar collection, you are better off.
More From Deborah
I live in a very rural area, mostly pine forests and pasture land. We have had severe droughts ever since I installed my first hive in 2005. Our nectar flows pretty much end around early-May; the next thing that blooms of any significance is goldenrod in the fall, and even it is sparse. Nectar flows here are not very strong any time of year.
I do not use any hard chemicals. I use screened bottom boards year round, grease patties with wintergreen during the winter, and when I feed in the early spring and in August, I give the bees at least one gallon of syrup with Honey B Healthy, sometimes two if the weather has placed a lot of stress on the bees.
What does it do? Well, it makes those girls feel good - and they love it. Honey B Healthy contains spearmint and lemongrass - analgesics and carminatives. They relieve headaches, indigestion and heartburn in humans; they must have some similar effect on the bees. I also have planted several different herbs in my garden - lavender, rosemary, thyme, etc. for forage for the bees.
I monitor mite loads with sugar shakes and if necessary I use Apiguard before summer's end to keep the Varroa within manageable levels for the bees. I don't have any commercial beekeeping operations near me, and the only farming operation of any size is many miles away, so no pollination hives are nearby. You could say I am blessed - or "in the ditch" depending on how you look at it. Love "The Classroom" - I have learned many great tips from it.
Take care,
Deborah
A
You are probably blessed-blessed to be in an isolated place with no commercial beekeepers or production agriculture. And, blessed to care about your stewardship with your bees. What you are doing is probably not going to cause any problem, so keep doing what works for you and bees. Also, keep monitoring varroa mite levels and using Apiguard after honey flows as necessary to control your mite levels.
Q Thunder and Lightning
Hi Jerry, I have recently read that Florida is the thunder and lightning capital of the USA. Over here, across the pond in the UK, it is a widely held belief that thunder and lightning make bees very bad tempered. Is this the case over there and, if so, how do you deal with it?
Best wishes,
Peter Smith
A
Peter, being in a sub-tropical/tropical part of the world, we have a fair amount of heat and humidity that increases during the day and results in afternoon thundershowers. This is a bit different than weather patterns that are associated with "frontal" systems. These "fronts", high or low fronts, have a change in pressure associated with them. This change in barometric pressure is what generally alerts and disturbs honey bees, possibly affecting their disposition.
The thunder and lightning found in the weather, usually after a low-pressure front moves through, happens before and after the frontal boundary has passed and is not really what causes the bees to become disquieted. Florida thunder and lightning are daily isolated events that pop up, then disappear and re-appear elsewhere. These don't have a major behavioral effect on our honey bees.
If you like heat and humidity, Florida and the whole Southeast US were the places to be this summer!
Peter Follows Up
Thanks for the prompt and very knowledgeable reply. I didn't know that you were a meteorologist as well! I have read all sorts of things about this: Some say or write that the increase in electrical fields, as well as the vibrations from some thunderclaps can cause the little devils to become agitated. The pressure theory you expound seems a little more reasonable. Thanks for your time. Peter
Q Where Did The Egg Come From?
Hi Jerry, I inspected my hive today as usual. The bees that I have are of the Russian variety, so I knew that I would have queen cups on some of the frames. This is my first year keeping bees and I know some of the things that need to be known. I had the state apiary inspector inspect last Tuesday and we were able to find the queen.
Today, while doing the inspection, I found a queen cup that had an egg in it. I know that in previous articles you have stated that most hives have a few laying workers, so I am not ruling this out completely. My question is: Do the house bees move eggs to and from these queen cups and if there is an egg in this cup, will it be removed by the house bees or if the egg is in the queen cup, is it set in stone that the bees want a new queen?
This is the only queen cell of the four that I found today that has an egg in it. Also, do queens actually lay an egg in a queen cup knowingly as a precursor to swarm? Thank you in advance for you help.
Daniel H. Burk
A
Daniel, workers do not arbitrarily move around eggs. There are some "old beekeeper tales" that workers do this, but I am not at this time a believer. If laying workers did lay in a queen cup, their unfertilized egg and the drone larva resulting from it would be removed (eaten) by the nurse bees, as it is the wrong gender in a wrong location.
Queens lay eggs in queen cell cups to start the development of a new queen to replace the old one that leaves with the swarm or to replace herself because she is failing, sick, old or all of these. At times, the workers will also "rebuild" a worker cell containing an egg into an emergency queen cell. The best way to handle this is to check the queen cell in another few days. If the egg hatches into a larva and the workers start feeding it, then you are probably safe in assuming that a new queen is being raised for queen supersedure or swarming.
You are witnessing the variability, flexibility and capability of a colony of honey bees. Remember, most of the time, they are smarter than we are!
Q Herbicide, Garlon 3 A
Hi Jerry, my utility company sprays the herbicide Garlon 3A along the right-of-way, under the power lines to control unwanted vegetation. Unfortunately, our ditches are home to many bee friendly plants and provide lots of nectar. How concerned should I be with this chemical treatment?
Thanks,
Eddie Mac
A
Eddie, I didn't know what Garlon 3A was, so I appreciate you asking. I learned something and that is always fun. The active ingredient is TRICLOPYR, which was registered in 1979. It is used to control unwanted woody and herbaceous weeds. There are two forms, triclopyr triethylamine salt (TEA) or, and this is interesting, triclopyr butoxyethyl ester or BEE. According to the label and toxicity from the EPA registration documents, this material is non-toxic to honey bees. It does funky things to rats, rabbits and rhesus monkeys, but not honey bees, according to research conducted thus far.
Q African Bee Traits
Hi Jerry, my husband and I are fairly new beekeepers and have truly enjoyed and learned a lot from your Classroom series - thank you! Now it is time for us to ask you a question. Just this morning, when checking this year's new hive, we removed 13 swarm cells from the bottoms of three different frames. This is the second time we have removed these cells - last time was 23 days ago when we removed eight. It is apparent from all of the larvae and capped brood that our existing queen is doing quite well and there are still empty frames, so they should not be inclined to swarm. Can you tell us why they might be building so many queen cells?
There were some queens still in the cells and two emerged after we harvested them and I did not see any indication of varroa mites. We look forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely,
Cyndee and Tony Blenkush
A
Swarming, asexual reproduction, is based on congestion in what is the brood area. Empty frames just mean a smaller brood area and easier congestion. These bees want desperately to follow their genetic predisposition to swarm. This behavior is genetically programmed in these bees. Where did you get them? In Africanized honey bee (AHB) areas, this is not unusual or queens purchased from Southwest AHB strongholds. It would be unusual to find varroa in a queen cell. Let me know.
Cyndee and Tony Respond
Thank you for the quick reply Jerry. We do appreciate it. Yes, because we live in Southern Colorado at an elevation of 8,400 ft, we purchased our queen (and colony) from a southwestern U.S. package bee and queen company. Last year's queen and colony came from there too, but we did not encounter this behavior with them. They are very gentle small bees and we are told that they are a Carniolan and Buckfast hybrid.
Would you recommend we move in an empty frame or two toward the middle of the brood area? We look forward to hearing back from you.
Thanks again,
Cyndee and Tony
A
You may have some degree of Africanization from where you purchased your queens in the Southwest. The production queens there are open-mated and will probably pick up African drone genes from the surrounding feral population. You certainly could keep the brood nest open by continuously moving filled brood frames out and empty comb (not foundation) in. However, it may be easier in the long run to replace the queens with something more manageable from another source and get rid of these genetics. Caveat emptor (buyer beware).
Q Drones and Buckwheat
First, I want to thank you and the Journal for the lessons.
Question 1: Because mites favor the drone cells, would it be to my advantage if I destroyed some of the cells when I am in the hive anyway? I know I need a few drone cells, but how many because the queen has already mated?
Question 2: Buckwheat blooms in the morning and clover in the afternoon, but I like the clover better. What can I plant that the bees (for a July/August bloom time) will work in the mornings that will produce a light honey?
I am new at beekeeping and appreciate your answers. Also, what can I plant that will help me remember what I have read? (Joke) Thank you from northeast Oklahoma.
A
Thank you for the Classroom compliment. Drones are a breeding reservoir for female varroa. As a varroa control, removing a few scattered drone brood cells while routinely checking your colonies probably won't help much, but it is a good varroa sampling tool. On the other hand, an organized and dedicated program of regular drone comb insertion and removal would help since it is a recognized varroa control method.
Are you or a neighbor actually growing buckwheat? If so, how many acres? If you are, I am impressed as hardly anyone grows buckwheat in the U.S. anymore. I would take advantage of the buckwheat since many people want the darker honeys for the health value. Since you already have acreages of clover, I cannot think of anything that you could plant in enough acres in northeastern Oklahoma for white honey production in July/August other than alfalfa that you could let go to bloom. Maybe someone else out there has a suggestion? Sunflowers and cotton come to mind, but their honeys are often in the light to medium amber color range.
In answer to your last question about what to plant to help you remember what you have read? How about some forget-me-nots!
Q Brood Cannibalism
My 9-year-old daughter was going through her hive today, and said, "There is a lot of dead brood." I was alarmed and checked it for her. I found that the queen was gone and the remaining workers were cannibalizing the pupae-three partial frames of them (probably over 1,000 half eaten pupae)! There were no eggs or larvae and no indication of any kind of brood disease. I observed one bee hatch out, but many more died of apparent neglect from the workers. Its like every nurse bee suddenly forgot her job and turned on the brood. Other colonies in the small apiary were putting up honey. I have never seen anything like it (I have been keeping bees for about nine years and have 60+ colonies).
The colony was split in June (it's winter here until late May) with six frames of healthy bees. On July 7th, I checked them and all seemed to be A-ok. I have had no instances of CCD, so far, and these colonies are well away from commercial crops. I promised my daughter I would consult you for advice.
Thanks for your input. I love the classroom in the Bee Journal.
Boyd Taylor
Alturas, CA
A
Boyd, if the field force dies out in the field from pesticides or dwindles due to queenlessness, disease, mites, etc., then the nurse bees will automatically advance to the next role of forager to fill in the gap or loss. With no foragers returning with resources, pollen (protein) in particular, there is no food. If there are few nurse bees to produce liquid larval food, then brood cannot be fed and it dies. There is still a protein need, so the nurse bees start eating the brood and recycle protein already fed to them that is now in their sisters. Why only this particular colony is in this condition I have no idea.
Boyd Replies
Thanks Jerry, that makes sense. I was pretty focused on the pupae, but now that you mention it, I don't recall any honey, either. I will get them straightened out.
Boyd
Q Queens From South Africa
Jerry, we first corresponded in January of 2006 about some aggressive bees from Texas, but I will be surprised if you recall me from that - anyway, thanks for your
"Classroom" in the ABJ.
What do you think of Dr. David Fletcher's recommendation (September, 2009 ABJ) that we bring in queens from South Africa, which have docile characteristics? I have had contact with Africanized honey bees (AHB) since 2000 and can attest to their vigor! In the past year I have requeened at least 11 AHB swarms. AHB swarms do work for raising queen cells. I make sure these units are small and isolated. If a colony does not accept the new queen, it gets "depopulated" by soapy water or a shop vacuum.
My present project is to get mite-resistant gentle productive bees. I have been doing instrumental insemination of queens under the guidance of Sue Cobey at UC-Davis. I am working with about 50 colonies that have not been treated for mites and are still looking healthy.
Bill Weinerth
Ventura, CA
A
Hello Bill, I just read the article by Dr. Fletcher in the September American Bee Journal. It seemed to cover the accurate and anecdotal history of African honey bees (AHB) in Africa and what we are learning about the population we have in the U.S. It was an interesting article. I would challenge his reports and his opinion on some points, but it really doesn't matter because what we have now is what we have and we can‘t go back.
Sure we could scratch our heads about Dr. Kerr's less-than-perfect scientific decision more than 50 years ago in Brazil, but to be perfectly selfish, I have to deal with the results of this decision for the public and beekeepers every day and it is a scary pain in the neck!
Dr. Fletcher is recommending finding manageable African bees (scutellata), importing them to the U.S. to competent "bee scientists" as he says. So my question is: "And then what?" The USDA has had an ongoing project in trying to distribute the hygienic "Russian" honey bee genetics for over a decade now. Getting the beekeepers in the U.S. to accept and vigorously purchase these has not met with universal success. Sue Cobey, Marla Spivak, Joe Latshaw and a host of other very smart people have also developed lines of genetically improved honey bees. Have all 2.4 million U.S. colonies been requeened with these easily available better queens? No. Will they? Probably not.
The AHB we have in the U. S. is under selection pressure from the environment and from beekeepers who cannot tolerate defensive/aggressive honey bees in the least, especially in close proximity to people, pets and livestock. Zoning restrictions are already causing beekeepers problems, insurance companies are dropping beekeepers who are not participating in a Best Management Program (BMP) such as in Florida and lawyers are getting paid for what lawyers do. This is current reality.
In a perfect world, Dr. Fletcher would be right in suggesting that a breeding program is needed to modify the behavior of AHB. In our imperfect world, he is still right, but the mechanics of this happening are slim to none. Reality will win over the best intentions every time.
_____________________________________________
Classroom - October 2009
(excerpt)
Q You Need To Do It Once
Hi, I have a home that is going to be demolished, and there is a beehive in the overhang at the entrance to the house. I have a small hive of my own and I want to save and take the bees from the hive in the house. I've tried to use a funnel made of screen for two days and I just can't seem to get it completely sealed up. Do you know of any other methods? I've heard of some queen bee essence? If possible, please help. Is there some type of vacuum that can be used? Thanks much for any and all help.
Hank
A
Hank, first, if you are in an Africanized honey bee (AHB) area of the country, one can assume that the queen to this colony will be mixed mated with AHB and European honey bee (EHB) genetically based drones. They may be calm now, but the potential is for them to be overly defensive in the future. Be careful. If the house is going to be demolished anyway, why don't you just disassemble the part of the house where the colony is and get the whole thing with the queen as well? It takes weeks to trap out a colony using the "cone" method and then the queen is still left behind with the entire comb, etc. Vacuums, pheromones, combs with brood, combs without brood, etc., can all be used, but the only way you get the whole thing is to peel back the part of the house where they are, cut out the comb and tie it into empty frames, no comb or foundation, and get all the resources. Every beekeeper needs to do this once. You will create all sorts of your own personal beekeeper war stories and be able to keep pace with all the other beekeeper sagas at the bee meetings. I think it is an opportunity:)
Q Florida Honey Standard
I find much of Ms.Gentry's comments in the July 2009 Classroom to be rather disingenuous at best. s and serious illnesses from "tainted milk, spinach, peanut butter, pistachios and jalapeno peppers, to name a few." I don't remember the pistachio issue, but I think that the milk, spinach and jalapeno issues involved raw foodstuffs in or on which harmful bacteria were present. From everything I have read, honey does not allow microorganisms to grow. Osmotic pressure and the hydrogen peroxide in honey make it generally a reasonably good antibacterial material. To bring those instances into the picture is just plain wrong.
The real problem most hobbyists and sideliners have with the rules is with the very high cost of meeting the rules for a "processing facility"...a separate building, three-basin sink, etc. Especially onerous are the lengths to which the regulators carry the rule. I was told, when I called the Department that the mere act of placing a Ross Round into the plastic container was "processing" and had to be done in an approved and inspected facility.
When my Rounds are ready, I think I will show up at the grower's market with the super(s) and a bag of containers and ask the customers to place the comb in the container themselves and explain the ridiculous stance of the regulators.
Boiled peanuts, and cane syrup are exempt from the rules and have been for some time. Where are the s and illnesses associated with those food items? I know that everything about this is political. And, I really appreciate all the work Ms. Gentry did on getting the Honey Standard into place. Thanks for that. But please be more reasonable when it comes to the one size fits all processing rules. At least don't pick off-point inflammatory examples when attempting to support your new cause.
Richard Winters
A
Mr. Winters, I appreciate your comments on the "Honey Standard" as enacted in Florida. For specific questions about how this was enacted, I would certainly contact the Florida State Beekeepers Association, the Florida Honey Bee Technical Council, Ms Nancy Gentry, who was given the task to move this protective measure for beekeepers forward, and all of the rank and file of these organizations that had full input into this landmark legislation.
An opinion is like a nose, everyone has one. Here is mine on the Honey Standard. This is the first time in the United States/North America that any state or federal government has stepped up to protect beekeepers/honey producers from unfair mixing, blending and sale of cheap inferior honey products and giving the industry the strength and professionalism to elevate the product and the producers. This is being accomplished while giving the consumer confidence in Florida Honey and separating it from the "junk" that has been blended, modified, enhanced, and is sold to the consumer as "Pure Honey".
The Commissioner, Charles Bronson, is to be applauded for taking this issue forward in support of the Florida Beekeeping Industry. Remember that no one had ever done this before. The Federal Government chose not to do it. Mr. Bronson was not discouraged or dismayed as he drove forward to the benefit of all of Florida. And, there are 17 other states that have been waiting for Florida to take the lead on this and follow our example. This is a National event. It is a win/win for everyone. Having a pure product is much better than having a product that is of poor quality, potentially tainted and at the worst causing sickness. There are already warnings about feeding honey to infants. We do not want warnings on honey as on some fish and seafood products that those who have compromised immune systems or are pregnant should not eat them.
We have the best product in the world and we need to stand tall and protect it so that it continues to be the best product in the world. Florida Food Safety will be charged to monitor and enforce this new "rule". Your obligation and for all Florida Beekeepers is to report honey that isn't really honey to Food Safety. It is no different than someone selling "cat" and calling it chicken. It will make us stronger in our own eyes and in the eyes of all consumers, which at the end of the day is what matters.
Q Varroa? What Does It Mean?
Jerry, some time ago I read about monitoring the debris from the bottom of beehives via a removable tray. I have now made and use some bottom board trays in my hives, inserted from the back, to frequently and easily review the Varroa mite drop. The mites have now shown up here these past few years in Minnesota along the Lake Superior north shore where we have a few isolated hobby beekeepers. Last year, and again this year, I've noted flightless bees crawling in the grass in front of the hives, (occasionally one with deformed wings) perhaps about a dozen daily from three hives, but apparently mostly from one. (These are handy for bee venom therapy for my minor arthritis.)
The Varroa load seems minor, but I'm not sure I fully understand what I'm seeing on my trays. On any given day, often the result of 2-3 days, and mostly only with that one hive, I see about a dozen mites per tray, never more than 2-3 of them alive. The and live ones are about half and half brown and light beige color. Looking with magnification, I see that the are generally dried up. One could suspect that the live mites have ally fallen from the bees. But what about the majority which are ? Might this be normal mortality or would it be the result of grooming, or would grooming of live mites not show up at all due to their being carried away?
I have dusted with powder sugar, but see very few mites from that, a dozen at most after 30 min. from a two-box hive. Is my and alive ratio understandable? What should I be finding?
Rev. Eugene Lehrke
A
Varroa mites pass on (vector) a variety of viruses, some of which cause deformed wings in developing honey bees. The mite fall you are seeing over a 2-3 day period is good. You might want to coat your "tray" with petroleum jelly or spray cooking oil. This sticky coating may reveal more mites. Mites that fall on a non-sticky tray can simply crawl back up into the colony. Some of the mites you are seeing have been groomed off, died naturally or fallen naturally. Some have emerged with the damaged bee and are still maturing, so are different shades of brown. Try dusting each brood box with a cup of powdered sugar separately and see if there is a difference. Sounds like your mite level is growing. You need to monitor that mite increase and treat once you reach the economic threshold (that point at which mite numbers start to damage your honey production and hive health).