Bee Colonies Die and Other Things People Need To Understand

Its great that so many people have taken an interest in bee conservation and beekeeping.  However, far too many people link how much they care with actually knowing something useful and that causes problems. Problems for both bees and beekeepers.

Like many things, people make rash and in or mis- informed comments or decisions based on things like feelings, or worse, their personal sense of altruism.  Altruism is a disease of the mind that correlates one person meaning well with doing well and that if that one person feels strongly enough about it, that others not only should agree, but MUST agree.

Ever since the mainstream news media captured peoples attention with Colony Collapse Disorder among honey bee colonies in the early 2,000's a non-beekeeping segment of society has not only grown more aware about honey bees but has become more vocal and opinionated about what should be done, if anything.

Newsflash!

Honey bee colonies have been susceptible and dying due to parasites, pathogens, predators, and poisons ever since there have been bees.  Beekeepers have experienced periods of great difficulty in keeping colonies alive in hives since the Egyptians put them in clay pots.

But somehow now, if people care hard enough, and force others to also, suddenly, somehow, bee colonies will somehow overcome all those problems and survive regardless.

That's a magic bullet beekeepers have been hoping for forever.  It doesn't work.

But now people with no education, training, or experience are wanting to not just be involved in the discussion about bee health and management, they want to be authoritative and tell beekeepers what to do and how they're doing it wrong.  Because, they care so hard.

Beekeeping is an agricultural activity.  A matter of animal husbandry.  Hobby beekeeping is annoying enough to me, but to be honest, I need specific purpose in my beekeeping.  I tolerate hobby beekeepers because I can intellectually understand it, I personally just don't "get it", but that's my problem.

I approach beekeeping as a trade.  There are procedures and methods that result in certain production goals and others that pertain to general health.    Beekeeping in this approach utilizes education, training, and practice.    For most hobbyists, its a "learn as you go" approach and much of it socially engaging.

In contrast, the "bee activists" only know what they get from the mainstream media.  That is basically the equivalent of knowing nothing at all.  

Beekeeping is no place for Altruism.  Whether as a trade, commercial, or hobbyist, beekeeping is very much an individual practice.  The person who owns and/or manages the bees is the final word in management. There's no place for beekeeping by consensus.

Externally inspecting a hive, Pt 1

I've talked in the past about how I find it important to not open a hive too often or for unnecessary purposes.

For the most part, I plan on only two mandatory internal hive inspections over the course of a season.  The first on e in the Spring, late April/Early May to inspect colony strength and do splits and to add new boxes to the stack as determined by the colony strength.

The second internal inspection is at harvest time in mid to late August, depending on the weather.  the purpose then is to harvest from the hive and to determine colony strength going into Fall/Winter.  I may combine weak colonies at that time or re-allocate honey resources depending on what the inspection shows.

In between those two inspections, I rely on external inspections of the hive to indicate if an internal inspection is necessary.  If I deem the colony healthy based on external indicators, then I will not open the hive.

How do beekeepers determine if the colony is healthy based solely on an external inspection?  What exactly are we looking for that indicates a healthy colony from the outside?

The first things we will look for externally is the behavior of the colony from a distance.  How are the bees behaving as you approach?  If the bees start warning you from 20 feet or more distance, there is a problem and the bees are agitated.  Likely something has been rousing their defensiveness.  A skunk perhaps?  Look for animal tracks and leavings on the ground surrounding the hives for evidence of bee pests.

If the bees do not accost you as you approach to within about a foot from the entrance, the bees are calm and there likely is no external agitation.  That is a good sign.

Look at the box itself.  Is it covered in mustard colored fecal spots?  If so, there is likely a problem inside having to do with dysentery, nosema or another disease.  Are the spots thin or thick?  Dark colored or light colored?  Runny or clumpy?  These are all indicators of what might be the issue.  If you see no spots or very few, then there seems to be no problem or an early indicator needing more investigation which could head off worse problems.

Are there bees on the ground around the hive entrance?  No, then all seems well.  Some dead bees is not necessarily a problem, especially in the Spring.  Lots of dead bees or bees that are still moving but with issues are indicators of internal problems.

Do you see where this is going?

The bees live and work outside of the hive as much as they do inside the hive.  Being aware of the sights, sounds, even smells outside of the hive can let you know all is well or if you need to investigate internally.  Let the bees tell you if there is a need for an internal inspection before you just go ripping open a possibly perfectly healthy hive.  We're not helping the healthy hive by opening it up unnecessarily.

A good book with many specifics about external inspections is "At The Hive Entrance" by H Storch.  It provides detailed explanations of what we can see, hear and smell external of a hive and give information on what those indicators likely refer to.

Homestead Beekeeping

Let's talk about this approach I refer to as "Homestead Beekeeping".  I use this term in contrast to "Conventional Beekeeping or "Commercial Beekeeping".

Let's keep facts up front shall we?  Both commercial beekeeping and conventional beekeeping are approaches of beekeeping that focus on beekeepers working hives to maximize honey production in the best interest of the beekeeper.

Conventional beekeeping is, the way I refer to it, using the same equipment, management techniques and prioritization of beekeeper intent over bee intent, just on a smaller and generally more localized scale.

Homestead Beekeepers also want to harvest product from the hives.  However, the motive isn't for profit necessarily as it is to contribute to the beekeeper's ability to be self sufficient.  Not to say that every hobbyist that follows conventional beekeeping is in it for profit, but that the practices they use and the view they take to beekeeping is essentially the same as commercial beekeeping.

No, I'm not calling these people bad people or bad beekeepers.  I'm just saying that a homestead beekeeper has a bit of a different set of priorities and outlook toward the bees.

Homesteading in general is an approach to life that is centered around a person being self sufficient.  The self sufficient person is looking for ways to provide for their lifestyle that is not dependent on the surrounding social system.  They prefer to make and grow and do things themselves to have more control over the process and to use the harvested items in their everyday life.

Homesteaders grow fruits and vegetables.  We raise livestock for food and materials.  Homesteaders try to be as efficient as possible, getting the most out of our efforts as possible and be as resourceful as possible.  We also have a healthy respect for those animals and creatures we include in our efforts.

When it comes to honey bees, we want to not only get the surplus honey, but the extra wax as well.  We want the surplus pollen and the extra propolis.  We also want the pollination for our gardens and fruit trees.  We want to be able to harvest over the long term as much as possible meaning we look out for the welfare of the bees above all.

We have a lot of respect for the bees as being very self sufficient themselves.  They are a role model and example of this worthwhile lifestyle.  Bees do not "need"  people to survive.  They have adapted with flowers over 150 million years.  They are actually very able to over produce to meet their own needs and tolerate harvesting of their surplus resources very well all things considered.

What the Homestead beekeeper understands is that the bees don't need us to do it for them.  They need us to generally stay out of their way and be a good neighbor to them.  The need us to plant lots of flowers all year long.  this benefits them as well as it benefits us.

They need us to stay out of the hive unless it's absolutely necessary.  Whether it is harvest time or because we observe a problem when we inspect the external area of the hive, they will let us know when they need someones attention and assistance to overcome problems they cannot handle themselves.

We as Homestead beekeepers learn the signs of a hive in distress simply by paying attention to the external environment of the hive.  We study honey bee biology and natural behavior to identify and differentiate between a healthy colony and one that needs help.

Homestead beekeepers tend to use hives and methods that allow the best of both worlds, as we see it.  We use top bar hives or even framed hive setups that allow harvesting of honey and wax combs.  This gives us more of those items and it gives the bees fresh, unpolluted wax to raise their brood in each new Spring.  Because we take combs and all, we are very, very careful not to take too much or leave the bees with too little.  In fact, a Homestead beekeeper will be more likely to leave a little more just to ensure the bees have enough for Winter.

We try to use hives that meet the ideals that scout bees look for for when swarms leave a hive in their annual reproduction of the colony.  We look for hives that have similar dimensions and attributes that are sought out by swarms.  In other words, we want to encourage the bees to live "naturally" or as they would outside of human management. 

Why do Homestead beekeepers want to keep bees in this manner?  Because we have a great respect for our bees and e want to promote long term health and prosperity for our bees.  The longer our bees stay healthy and prosperous, the longer we can continue to harvest their surplus and be self sufficient on our own.

More Than One Way To Play With Bees

Ever since Lorenzo Langstroth introduced his hive system, American beekeepers have overwhelmingly used and taught one main way to go about beekeeping.  That approach to beekeeping is essentially the same model regardless the size of the operation by a beekeeper.  Hobbyists, Sideliners and Commercial beekeepers alike essentially use the same approach to beekeeping regardless.

I would suggest though, that modern beekeepers should consider another beekeeping approach.  An approach that is not new or dramatically different from anything that has been done in the past.  Simply an outlook that has been overlooked for at least a hundred years or longer.

First of all, the modern, conventional approach is the Commercial approach.  Nearly all beekeeping in America is done with an eye on surplus honey production.  I'm not saying that this is bad or wrong in and of itself.  I am suggesting though that it may not be the best approach for every beekeeper and possibly for most hobbyists.

In the conventional commercial approach, hive bodies are supered, meaning that new boxes are added tot he hive stack on top of the current boxes.This is done because beekeepers know that bees prefer to store honey above the brood and so by adding more space above the bees, the bees will most likely fill that excess space with honey.

What I would propose might be a better approach for beekeepers with smaller interests is what I refer to as the Homestead approach to beekeeping.

The Homestead approach focuses more on collecting resources from the whole hive instead of just one primary crop like honey.  The Homestead approach seeks to collect honey, beeswax, propolis and even pollen from the hive not so much to sell to others but as a way of being self sufficient in one's own home.

As a result of this smaller scale of beekeeping, a Homestead beekeeper is looking to minimize interaction with the colony beyond harvest.  This doesn't mean the Homestead beekeeper doesn't inspect hives or take measures to help hives stay healthy.   It just means the beekeeper is going about managing the bees differently from a high honey crop production approach.

I think we can see the interest in many newer beekeepers in looking for another approach to beekeeping that is outside of the conventional approach.  A great interest in top bar beekeeping and other types of hives and methods has become obvious in beekeeping magazines, beekeeping club meetings and presentations and in other ways.

In future posts,  I will elaborate on how I see Homestead Beekeeping as an alternative approach to beekeeping and how it can successfully be done.

What's In Your Spray Bottle?

I can tell you that in mine you'll find Honey-B-Healthy.

I "discovered" HBH about two years ago.  At the time I was just wanting to try it out as a stimulant for Spring rearing by mixing it it with 1:1 sugar syrup.

At this point, I cannot see being a beekeeper without it.  It helps with so much more than that.

Mind you, this is all circumstantial evidence, but hey, I believe what I see with my own eyes.

Here are things that I do with HBH that help my beekeeping;

1) Stimulate brood rearing as a feed additive.

2) Spray directly onto queens (usually HBH mixed with water or even not mixed at all) when they are introduced into a colony as a replacement.  The bees just seemingly automatically and unquestioningly accept her even without spending time in a cage.

3) Mix with water to use instead of a smoker.  This seems especially useful when dealing with swarms, cut outs and trap outs.  Spray the bees a bit if they are flying a bit too much or they seem a little too grouchy.  Takes most of the grouchy right outta them.

4) Spray onto frames or foundation to encourage bees to draw wax there.  This seems to especially work well when used as a mix of 1:1 sugar syrup with HBH.  I have been using leftover black plastic foundation that I noticed bees have been reluctant to draw out in the past.  I had a need for the foundation recently and thought it might be interesting to see if the HBH would help that out any.

WOW, did itever!  On average, I have found that bees will draw out frames sprayed with HBH almost completely within 5 days and often sooner.

I still use a smoker on hive inspections, but boy is that spray bottle with HBH handy for working with bees outside of a typical hive inspection scenario.

Urban Beekeeping: Rule 1; Bee A Good Neighbor

With the increase in urban beekeeping one of the things I get asked about a lot as President of the Omaha Bee Club is "What is different between beekeeping in the city vs beekeeping in the country?"

Urban beekeeping is indeed increasing and it's exciting and full of potential.  At the same time, it persents problems that don't exist or aren't pressented the same way in country beekeeping.

Urban beekeeping requires us to think more about our neighbors and the neighborhood we have our bees in.  Country beekeepers might not have neighbors within a half mile to a mile or even further from them.

The first rule of urban beekeeping, I tell people, is to bee a good neighbor.  This means, don't let your beekeeping become someone else's problem. 

Make sure to provide a good water source for your bees so that they don't take over your neighbors swimming pools or bird baths.

Your bees will swarm.  Plan on it.  Try to prevent it if you feel you can or must and be prepared to set out strategically placed bait hives to hopefully catch any swarms that get away.  Your neighbors might think it's cool and wonderful that you're keeping bees, but they don't want your swarms moving into their eaves, roofs, walls and sheds or garages.

Some people have an irrational or ignorant fear of bees.  While the idea of a 6 foot tall, 250 pound construction worker being afraid of some little bees might amuse you or even annoy you, remember that in "normal" society, beekeepers are the weird people.  Try to keep in mind that these people can be your greatest ally or they can be the biggest thorn in your side.  Try to educate them on how your bees are pollinating their gardens, fruit trees and ornamental flowers.  This gives them bigger and more fruits, vegetables and blooms.  Maybe drop a small jar of honey on them once a year, let them get  them hooked on the good stuff.  Whatever you do, don't antagonize your neighbors (at least, not unnecessarily).  You, whether you like it or not, are representing all other beekeepers, why make it harder for the rest of us?

Keep your bees happy.  Now we as beekeepers know that some colonies are more grumpy than others, especially as people get closer to the hive.  Keeping our bees more docile by not unnecessarily riling them up and paying attention to the bees environment by keeping certain predators like skunks, racoons and others away so as not to get them aggressive all the time.  This will help in not having people complain that you have "mean" bees.

In times of dearth, when the temperatures and weather conditions keep flowers from blooming and not much is available in terms of forage, you can put out sugar syrup feeders (try to keep them more than 75 feet away from the hives to prevent robbing).  By putting syrup out for them in your own yard, you can minimize how much they go out to investigate neighbors trash and picnics.  Some beekeepers will use in hive frame feeders at these times to help keep bees in food stores during a dearth.  Keep in mind that if you use outdoor feeder pails with sugar syrup during these times, you will likely get a lot of other visitors to the pails as well like Yellow Jackets and Wasps. 

To be a happy urban beekeeper means keeping your neighbors happy or at least tolerant.  You can go a long way by beeing a good neighbor.

Spring Management of my Modified Warre Style Hive

I've mentioned before that my hives are sorta, kinda Warre-ish types of hives.

I use 5 frame Lang boxes and frames.  Custom built bottoms, tops and quilt boxes.  I nadir all the boxes according to Warre's method and I only harvest the boxes above the bottom two in the stack as they are the brood and winter stores boxes.  The entrances are about 3/8" high by 7 1/2" long at the bottom board.

I don't recall if I ever discussed this particular hive with you but I meant to (and I might have somewhere but I don't remember) and so I will recap it's beginning and then get to where things are now.

This hive started April 28th with a "Baby Nuc" or a 3 frame nuc with a queen which was "salvaged" from another colony that had been re-queened because the owner insisted on a new queen even though this queen was still doing just fine.

I started them in a single deep 5 frame box placing the 3 frames in the center of the hive in frame spaces 2, 3, and 4 with foundation-less frames on each side in spaces 1 and 5.

A second box was added to the stack underneath the first box (nadiring) one week later.  That box had 1 frame with black plastic foundation in the center at frame space 3 with foundation-less frames surrounding it in spaces 1,2, 4, and 5.  This is the "default" new box for every hive I run.

The two box stack was then moved to it's permanent location about three days after adding the second box and has been in place there, un-opened and un-inspected since then.  Based on recent bee yard visits/external inspections  I determined last week that the time was coming to add a third box to the stack based on activity at the entrance of the hive.

This week, today actually, the third box was added to the bottom of the stack with the same setup as described above.  No smoke was used and the bees were not aggressive  or feisty but did exhibit some defensive behavior which is to be expected.  Of the two of us there, no one was stung.

Next week there will be a full inspection of the hive.  Inspections are scheduled to occur at about every 4 weeks or once a month.  The hive is visited weekly with observation and environmental checks to ascertain that the hive is not in need of immediate inspection.

The goal is to minimize intrusion in the nest and disrupting the inner environment such as nest scent and heat.

I'l post again after the inspection and go over how I do inspections and what I look for.