How to identify bee hives infected with the Varroa bee mite

Identification of bee mite Varroa jacobsonii. Methods of identifying infested beehives and treatments used are explained in this article.

How the Varroa mite arrived in these countries is a mystery because it requires a living honeybee carrier to survive. The mite originated in Asia and started spreading. In 1955, it had infected USSR, in1961 China and India succumbed. In1974 it was South America, 1978 it was Africa, and during the 1980’s it spread to Europe. America discovered the mite in Florida late of 1987. In May 2000, New Zealand discovered the serious bee pest. The only country free of the mite is Australia.

The bee mite, Varroa jacobsoni a.k.a. the Varoa destructor is an external parasite of the honeybee. It feeds on the haemolymph or the blood of the bee. The mites are about the size of a pinhead, deep in red brown color and oval in shape. The mite cannot survive without bees, dieing after two days. The critical time for a beehive to be infested by this killer mite is at the end of summer, which also coincides with the end of the honey flow. At this time, the colony will be reducing in size in order to prepare for over winter. If the level of brood cannot sustain the hive the colony will disband, causing the hive to be robbed by other bees. The infestation will travel to other apiaries and eventually these hives will die. If the Varroa remains unchecked the honey and pollination industry will be severely affected.

Once inside the beehive, the female mite will lay brood cells. These cells will immerse themselves in the larval food at the base of the cell. Once the cell has been capped for the bee larvae to mature, the female mite moves onto the prepupa and begins to feed. The female lays eggs within 60 hours of the cell being capped and then every 30 hours after that. About 1 to 12 female and male eggs are laid. 5 days later, the male partner dies. Adult females mites then transfer to other bees within the hive through the close contact.

The best method of checking infestation, of course, is opening the hive and closely inspecting bees and brood. This could involve decapping some of the brood cells to check all stages of larval development; if the infestation is still in the early stages. But to quickly check a large number of hives one can:

• Observe the hive entrance (alighting board) and look for bees with crippled wings or bees that are having difficulty flying. Another indicator is a sudden decrease in the hive population, check in the late afternoon when the population is returning for the night.

• The quickest method is to slide a clean, white sheet of A3 paper in the hive entrance on top of the base board, fill the smoker with cardboard, get it to the point of smoking, and then add a handful of shredded tobacco. Generously smoke the entrance, pop the top a little, and then generously smoke the top. Smoke the entrance again. Let it lie for 30 seconds, smoke again, and then slowly draw the sheet of paper out. The tobacco smoke irritates the mite enough to cause it to drop off the bee and fall to the paper. This is a quick method but not foolproof. If the hive is in early stages of infestation there could only be one or two mites on the paper but will still prove infestation has occurred.

• A new method has been developed recently in the U.S. called the Powdered Sugar Shake. It needs a 2 liter preserving jar, the screw ring, mesh large enough to allow the mite to pass through, and fine mesh to allow the sugar to pass. Scoop about 300 bees (approx. the size of a baseball) and put them in the jar. Put in a tablespoon of icing sugar, seal the jar, and roll the jar. Wait a couple of minutes and roll the jar gently again ensuring that the bees are all well coated. Replace the top with the coarse mesh and pour the sugar/mite mix into another container then put it through the fine mesh. If there are mites they will be visible. Replace the bees back in the hive where hive mates will groom the sugar from them. It works because mites have a sticky pad that helps them stick to the bee. The icing sugar makes it difficult for them to adhere and the sugar stimulates the bees grooming. This method is very good as it is gentle on the bees and also provides 90% separation of the mite and bees.

There are two methods of control. The first is referred to as 'biotechnical' and involves the manual removal of the mite. The advantages to this method are that there are no chemicals introduced to the hive. It is also inexpensive. The disadvantages are one, it is time consuming, two, it is complicated, and three can cause the hive never to be mite free.

The second method involves chemical miticides. Different countries have licensed different chemicals for treatment but they are based on chemicals that will have a minimum residue in the hive and not have a detrimental effect on the hive population. In New Zealand we have just approved the use of Apistan in brood boxes only and after 2 years the data will be reviewed to determine the level of residue.

To date the best method of control has been a combination of both treatments though care has to be taken not to develop a miticide resistance among the mite.

by Norman Wright
Source: http://mama.essortment.com/varroabeemite_rcfg.htm

How bees make honey

A forager bee, which is a she bee, travels out of the hive for quite far distances to find and bring back nectar to the hive. After that the forager bee passes the nectar on to a younger bee and then she goes out to look for more nectar.

The younger bee rolls the nectar around and around in its mouth for about 20 minutes. Then they put the nectar in one of the cells made of wax that the bees make.

The nectar is left in the cell because then it can allow water to evaporate, which makes the nectar thicker and more concentrated. When the nectar is thick enough, the worker bee chews the nectar once more so its at the point where it's proper honey.

It then spits the honey into a wax cell, then it is sealed with wax until the honey is needed. Sometimes when you taste honey you can smell a hint of flowers thats because the odor of the flower goes into the nectar.

The forager bee also brings back pollen and water. The pollen gives the bees in the hive energy. All the bees in the colony open the cells and eat some honey from time to time to give them a bit of energy. Pollen is also rich in protein.

At the start of winter, all worker bees die, so every spring the queen bee starts to make a new colony. The queen bee cannot survive without her worker bees to feed and clean her. Hundreds of workers have to survive to look after the queen bee. For this to happen, the honey bee gets nectar in the summer. Honey is important to the bee colony throughout the year. It gives nourishment for the larvae and for the bees that are on duty in the nest.

The Wildlife Fact file says "A worker bee must eat 6 grams of honey to make 1 gram of wax." It also said that "A forager bee will perform a little dance to the other bees to show them where a rich source of honey is, and it may visit up to 1000 flowers before its honeysack is full."

When the worker bee is about 3 weeks old, it flys from the hive to get familiar with the surroundings outside the hive.

A bee's body is hairy. Its two back legs have tiny pollen baskets in them and their two middle legs have stiff hairs on them for brushing the pollen into the little baskets. The middle legs also have a tiny spur for removing wax from the bees underparts. The front legs have a little notch for cleaning the antennae and a tiny comb for cleaning its eyes.

There are all different kinds of honey. There is manuka honey which is full of goodness, and comb honey which still contains the wax cells in it. It is crunchy and also good for you.

So next time you put honey on your bread or toast, give a thought to the honey bee and the work it took to get that honey on to your table.

by Jade Morris
Source: http://wa.essortment.com/beeshoneyhow_rbfw.htm

How to capture and hive a bee swarm

The reasons for bee hives swarming, when they swarm and how to identify swarms and swarming tendency. Capture and re hiving a bee swarm.

Swarming is an instinct that bees inherit and keeps the bee population viable which preserves the species. It is nature's way of splitting a colony and providing enough bees of different classes to set up a new hive that will survive and proliferate. The different races of honeybee (Apis Mellifera) have varying intensities of the swarming instinct but given the conditions swarming will occur. Swarming mostly occurs in the last few days of spring or the first few days of summer. The three major causes of swarming are:

• Overcrowding within the hive. During the build up in preparation to the honey flow the population increases tenfold within a few weeks and requires ample free space in which to expand. If there is not the room the brood colony will become overcrowded and the queen will feel uncomfortable. This has the effect of unbalancing the population and will start the swarming process. Overcrowding can also be caused by bad weather at the end of spring, as the worker bees are unable to get out to the field for food gathering. Externally an overcrowded hive can be identified by many bees hanging to the front of the hive or clustering near the hive entrance or on the alighting board. Internally it will be evident by irregular comb; comb constructed in any spare space such as the top of frames or in corners and comb will also be seen hanging from the lid of the hive.
• Lack of ventilation. Often found in conjunction with overcrowding but also a problem in itself. The bees try to reduce the excessive heat by fanning their wings at the entrance to the hive. One cause could be that the entrance still has the wintering blocks in place, which reduces the ability of the hive to breathe.
• Ageing queens. Queens can live up to three years, whereas worker bees during the honey flow generally have a life expectancy of about six weeks. The egg laying viability of queens reduces with age and by the age of two years the brood being laid is spotty and irregular. The workers notice poor brood laying and will start to construct queen cells for the supersedure process. In appearance the cells look like a peanut shell and are found in damaged sections of the comb or hanging from the bottom of a frame. Once the egg has been laid inside the cell the nurse bees will feed the grub with the concentrated bee food - royal jelly. The hormones within the royal jelly will change the ordinary worker larvae so that on emergence from the cell the queen is larger and has a fully developed reproductive system. This will be the queen left behind to continue hive population. When the queen cell is capped the hive will then swarm otherwise the queens will fight for precedence.

Swarming

In the preparation to swarm the bees will gorge themselves on honey as it could take up to a week to find a suitable location for the new hive. The first bees will emerge between mid morning and mid afternoon. After swirling around the hive in ever increasing numbers the queen will join the swarm. Once this happens the swarm will fly away in a dark, deeply buzzing cloud. In flight the swarm varies in size from that of a small car to that of a truck. The swarm generally only flies a short way before temporarily settling, usually on a tree branch within a kilometre from the original hive. Once settled they will gather into a tight ball between the size of a football and a large cushion. Having then found a temporary resting-place the swarm will send out scouts to find a suitable home for the hive. This can be a hollow tree but in a built up area it will more likely be in the eaves or roof of a nearby house. It is at this stage that the swarm can be gathered and re-hived.

Capturing the swarm

Locating the swarm can be tricky if you didn't see it emerge or the direction that it went but if you keep your eyes open for stray bees and likely locations for the swarm you'll have a good chance of finding it. Places to look are trees or shrubs that are sheltered and with few branches or a sunny wall. More often than not they'll have settled within 5 feet from the ground. As the bees are full of honey they are lethargic and easy to handle. This means that they are unlikely to sting. The best time to gather the bees is during the late afternoon as by this time they are resigned to weathering the night and are less active.

Equipment needed

• A good sized cardboard box with a separate tight fitting lid, also tape over any holes that the box may have.
• A pair of secateurs.
• Bee veil (nice to have)
• Gloves
• Light coloured overalls
• Sack
• A hive on a solid foundation and 2 supers filled with 16 frames of foundation comb.

Gathering the swarm

Once the swarm is located and you have your cardboard box, secuteurs, bee veil and gloves handy you are ready to start. Firstly clear the area underneath the swarm. Then very carefully start trimming any leaves, branches and extraneous shrubbery away from the branches the bees are suspended. This is a tricky, delicate job because the aim is not to dislodge any bees. If the branch is clear of all protuberances place the box directly under the bees holding as close to the bottom of the swarm as possible. At this stage it is helpful to have a brave volunteer to assist as a swarm of bees is quite heavy and having a tight, two-handed grip will save accidentally pouring the bees on the ground or worse - down your gumboots. Give the branch a sharp shake and all the bees will fall into the box as a gluey lump. If done correctly you will have managed to get 95% of the bees into the box. Quickly place the top on the box, ensuring that he lid is on snugly. You are now ready to transport the swarm to your prepared hive. If, due to difficulties, some of the swarm is missed don't worry, as they will congregate on the same branch again shortly, thereby giving you the opportunity to gather them later. If a second swarm box is available, use it now. If not, you can use the original box, but be careful as the bees inside will have spread over the interior of the box making it awkward to reopen. If the swarm has managed to settle on a wall and not a branch try sweeping them smoothly and gently into the box, you might have to do it more than once to get most of the bees.

Hiving the swarm

Having successfully boxed your swarm and transported it to the hive (carefully ensuring a tight fit of the lid if moving it by car!), you are now ready for the transfer. This is best performed late in the afternoon when the heat of the day has dissipated. Place a sack in front of the hive with one edge on the alighting board, the idea being to make it as easy as possible for the bees to enter the hive. Pour the bees gently on the sack. If poured close to the entrance the bees will start to troop into the hive immediately. On occasion I have poured the bees directly into the hive but have needed to place an empty super on the top. The danger with this is that swarm bees will start adding wax to foundation immediately (drawing comb) and if the empty super is not removed the next morning, the bees will start making wild comb, hanging it from the roof. This causes a difficult cleanup job later on.

Other points of interest

Main swarms happen just prior to the honey flow, which means that there is no brood to support and nurse as the nectar comes on stream. The advantage of this is that just about the entire colony can commit their energy to nectar and pollen gathering and large swarms can produce a sizeable honey crop during their first season if properly managed. Hives sometimes produce smaller swarms later in the season, but these exit the hive with virgin queens and therefore have a lesser chance of survival. The best way to treat these swarms is to amalgamate them with an existing hive. One method is to add another super to a healthy hive but separating it with a sheet of newspaper. Insert four frames, two on either side of the super and pour the swarm in. Very gently insert the other four frames and replace the lid. It will take the bees 2 or 3 days to chew through the paper by which time the bees will be used to the odour of each other and the only fighting will be between the queens. Generally the existing resident queen will win unless it is too old. The hive will benefit from the influx of extra workers.

One more point to remember about swarms is that they're not thousands of dangerous bees looking to sting someone and something to be feared but a wonderful act of nature and to be admired.

Often the way many hobbyists first enter beekeeping is by being given a swarm or gathering one themselves, so if you're keen keep your eyes open.

by Norman Wright

Source: http://ctct.essortment.com/beekeeping_rlih.htm

Record-keeping System For Your Hives

An important aspect of beekeeping is keeping track of how each hive varies over the year and from year to year. For example, sometimes a queen’s rate of egg laying will suddenly drop off, and the number of frames of brood will drop. Without a record of the history of the hive, it might be hard to note changes like this until it is too late for remedial action. Similarly, hive conditions vary from year to year depending on such factors as rainfall, nectar flows, and type of bee. All of these variables make it difficult to recall past years’ conditions or how a hive in the past reacted to changes in key factors.

There are many ways to set up a record-keeping system. One idea is to make notes in pencil on the top cover of each hive as to its condition, what you did on each visit, and any recommendations for future action. Or, you can number your hives and keep a notebook. Some beekeepers use a brick on top of each hive, with its position indicating hive status. I recently came across a record-keeping form that looks quite useful.



You can find it at this URL: http://www.pugetsoundbees.org/hiveinsp.pdf

You might want to print it out and give it a try. At least it would provide a general outline of what to look for as you open a hive.


Source: Tom Chester’s Beekeeping Tips

Beehives

Equipment needs vary with the size of your operation and the type of honey you plan to produce. Over the years a wide variety of man-made hives have been developed. Today most beekeepers use the Langstroth hive or modern ten-frame hive. A typical hive consists of a hive stand, a bottom board with entrance cleat or reducer, a series of boxes or hive bodies with suspended frames containing foundation or comb, and an inner and outer cover. The hive bodies that contain the brood nest may be separated from the honey supers (where the surplus honey is stored) with a queen excluder.

Hive Stand. The hive stand, actually an optional piece of equipment, supports the floor of the hive up off the ground. In principle, this support reduces dampness in the hive, extends the life of the bottom board, and helps keep the front entrance free of grass and weeds. Colonies often are supported on concrete blocks, railroad ties, pallets or logs rather than on commercial hive stands.

Bottom Board. The bottom board serves as the floor of the colony and as a take-off and landing platform for foraging bees. Since the bottom board is open in the front, the colony should be tilted forward slightly to prevent rain water from running into the hive. Bottom boards available from many bee supply dealers are reversible, providing either a 7/8- or 3/8-inch opening in front.

Hive Bodies. The standard ten-frame hive body is available in four common depths or heights. The full-depth hive body, 9 5/8 inches high, is most often used for brood rearing. These large units provide adequate space, with minimum interruption, for large solid brood areas. They are also suitable for honey supers. However, when filled with honey, they weigh over sixty pounds and are heavy to handle.

The medium-depth super, Dadant or Illinois shallow, is 6 5/8 inches high. While this is the most convenient size for honey supers, it cannot be cut from standard lumber sizes efficiently.

The standard shallow-depth super, 5 11/16 inches high, is the lightest unit to manipulate (about 35 pounds when filled with honey). This size has the greatest cost of assembly per square inch of usable comb space.

Section comb honey production is a specialized art requiring intense management. It is not recommended for beginners. Section comb honey supers, 4 5/8 inches high, hold either basswood section boxes or plastic rings and section holders.

Different management schemes are used according to depth of hive bodies found in the brood area of the hive. One scheme is to use a single full-depth hive body, which theoretically would give the queen all the room she needs for egg laying. However, additional space is needed for food storage and maximum brood nest expansion. Normally a single full-depth brood chamber is used only to crowd the bees for comb honey production or when a package, a nucleus colony or division recently has been installed or established. Most beekeepers use either two full-depth hive bodies or a full-depth and a shallow for the brood area. Using hive bodies similar in size allows the interchange of combs between the two hive bodies. Beekeepers who wish to avoid lifting the heavy full-depth hive bodies use three shallow hive bodies for the brood nest. This approach is certainly satisfactory, but it is also the most expensive since it requires thirty frames instead of twenty.

Frames and Combs. The suspended comb is the basic structural component inside the hive. Each comb is composed of a wooden or plastic frame that supports a sheet of comb foundation. After the workers have added wax to draw out the foundation, they use the cells for storage of honey and pollen and for brood rearing. Frames come in sizes to fit the various hive-body depths. Frames are 17 5/8 inches long and either 9 1/8, 6 1/4 or 5 3/8 inches high. Each frame consists of a top bar, two end bars, and a bottom bar. Top bars may be either grooved or wedged; bottom bars are split, solid, or grooved. Top bars are suspended on ledges or rabbets in the ends of the hive body. Metal strips in the shape of an acute angle or frame spacers are often nailed on the recess for reinforcement. The shoulders on the end bars may also help hold the frames apart.

The comb foundation consists of thin sheets of beeswax imprinted on each side with patterns of worker-sized cells. There are two basic types of comb foundation, distinguished by their relative thicknesses. Thin surplus foundation is used to produce section comb honey, chunk honey, or cut-comb honey. Thick or heavy foundation should be used in the brood chamber and in frames for producing extracted honey. Thicker foundations often are reinforced with vertical wires, thin sheets of plastic, metal edges, or nylon threads. You should select a foundation according to the type of bottom bar and size of frames you have. Sheets of foundation are secured within the frame with either metal support pins, horizontal wires, and the wedge of the top bar, or with two v-shaped metal wedges. Vertically wired foundation has wire hooks on one side that fit over the wedge of the top bar. Combs may be strengthened further by embedding horizontal wires (28 or 30 gauge) into the foundation with an electric current from a small transformer or by using a spur wire embedder.

Undrawn foundations should be given to only rapidly growing colonies such as a package, swarm, or colony split or to established colonies during a major nectar flow. When foundation is given to colonies during a nectar dearth, the bees will often chew holes in the foundation. Workers build combs as they add wax to the cell base imprints on the sheet of foundation.

Wax is produced by four pairs of glands on the underside of the worker's abdomen. As wax is secreted and exposed to the air, it hardens into flat wax scales. To produce comb, the bees remove the wax scales from the underside of the abdomen with spines located on the hind leg. Then they manipulate the beeswax with their jaws until it is ready to be formed into six-sided cells.

Queen Excluder. The primary function of the queen excluder is to confine the queen, brood rearing, and pollen storage to the broodnest. It is an optional piece of equipment and is used by less than 50 percent of the beekeepers. Many beekeepers refer to queen excluders as "honey excluders," since workers are reluctant to store honey in the supers above them until all available space in the brood chambers is used up.

An excluder is constructed of a thin sheet perforated metal or plastic with openings large enough for workers to pass through. Other signs consist of welded round-wire grills supported by wooden or metal frames.

Frames of honey in the super directly above the brood chambers or comb sections act as a natural barrier to keep. the queen down. Properly timing the reversal of brood chambers in the spring with supering and a surplus nectar flow will serve the same purpose as a queen excluder. For this reason queen excluders should not be left on throughout the entire foraging season.

Keeping brood combs separate from honey combs is an important consideration, since brood combs darken with use and will darken the honey. Queen excluders also are used to separate queens in a two-queen system, to raise queens in queenright colonies, and for emergency swarm prevention. An excluder also may help in finding the queen. If you place an excluder between hive bodies, after three days you will be able to tell which hive body contains the queen.

Inner Cover. The inner cover rests on top of the uppermost super and beneath the outer telescoping cover. It prevents the bees from gluing down the outer cover to the super with propolis and wax. It also provides an air space just under the outer cover for insulation. During summer, the inner cover protects the interior of the hive from the direct rays of the sun. During winter, it prevents moisture-laden air from directly contacting cold surfaces. The center hole in the inner cove may be fitted with a Porter bee escape to aid in removing bees from full supers of honey.

Outer Cover. An outer telescoping cover protects hive parts from the weather. It fits over the inner cover and the top edge of the uppermost hive body. The top is normally covered with a sheet of metal to prevent weathering and leaking. Removal of the outer cover, with the inner cover in place disturbs few bees within the hive.

Beekeepers who routinely move hives use a simple cover, often referred to as a migratory lid. Covers of this type fit flush with the sides of the hive body and may or may not extend over the ends. In addition to being lightweight and easy to remove, these covers allow colonies to be stacked tightly together. Tight stacking is important in securing a load on a truck.

Painting the Hive Parts. All parts of the hive exposed to the weather should be protected with paint. Do not paint the inside of the hive: the bees will varnish it with propolis or plant sap. The only purpose in painting is to preserve the wood. Most beekeepers use aluminum paint or a good exterior white paint. A light color is desirable since it prevents heat buildup in the hive during summer. Various combinations of colors will reduce drift between colonies.

Plastic Equipment. The basic parts of the hive traditionally have been made out of pine, cypress, and redwood. Today all hive components are available in plastic. Plastic components are durable, strong, lightweight, and require little maintenance. Unfortunately, since plastic does not breathe, it does not allow the venting of moisture. Plastic also warps easily and lets in too much light, which makes it difficult to draw foundation.

Obtaining Equipment. New bee equipment generally is "knocked down"' or unassembled when purchased. Assembly directions furnished by bee supply dealers are usually easy to follow. It is for beginners to purchase their equipment earlier so that it will be ready to use when the bees arrive. Sheets of comb foundation should not be installed in the frames until needed. Otherwise, storage temperatures and handling may cause the wax to stretch and warp, resulting in poor combs.

Some beekeepers find they can save money by making their own equipment or purchasing used equipment. With both approaches, it is important that the equipment is a standard size. When making new equipment, use readily available construction plans, or use a commercial piece as a pattern. Many beekeepers find they can economically make covers, hive bodies, and bottom boards, but not frames.

Success depends on availability and cost of materials, proper equipment, and the beekeeper's wood-working skills.

Purchasing used equipment can present problems and is not recommended for the beginner. Initially you may have problems simply in locating a source of used equipment and determining its value or worth. In addition, secondhand equipment may be contaminated with pathogens that cause various bee diseases. Always ask for an inspection certificate indicating that the apiary inspector did not find any evidence of disease.

Diagram and dimensions for a standard Langstroth beehive.

Source: http://www.msstate.edu/Entomology/Beekeeping/Beekeeping003.htm

Tips on Harvesting Honey

18 Things a Beginning Beekeeper Should Know to Help Things Run Smoothly on Extracting Day

The following suggestions are offered for the benefit of beekeepers with a few hives who do not have a permanent honey house. They are meant to supplement the information in books where everything seems so simple and easy. Many beekeepers, including myself, have learned some of these self-evident truths the hard way.

1. Honey is sticky. It will drip. Every doorknob, shoelace, telephone and radio button that is touched while uncapping or handling wet frames will become sticky. Walking spreads the honey around on the floor.

Solution: A bucket of water to rinse hands and a dishtowel are essential in the extracting room, especially if you are married and want to stay that way.Turn on the fan and radio, and get everything else ready, before getting all sticky. The garage, basement, barn or porch are usually better places to extract than the kitchen, providing you can keep the honey clean. Watch the kids.

2. Bees in the extracting room are attracted to light. Straggler bees left in the supers will find their way into the extracting room and will tend to fly towards a window or light bulb.

Solution: A small exit near the top of a window will allow them to return to their hives if they are nearby.If the hives are not nearby and you have a lot of bees in the room, hanging a few drawn frames near the top of the window with a caged queen will provide a place for them to settle and create a nice nucleus colony when you’re done. A vacuum cleaner hose is an alternative. Don't extract directly under the only light bulb in the room.

3. Bees away from their hive are not inclined to sting. Bees carried into the extracting room in supers are normally extremely gentle, with no brood or queen present. However, they are very adept at stinging the finger that accidentally crushes them while picking up a frame or super. Beware.

4. Household items can serve as good alternatives to supplies found in beekeeping catalogs.

• A serrated bread knife makes a good uncapping knife. Use a sawing motion. No need to heat it. Change directions if it catches the wood. Some beekeepers really like using a hot-air electric paint stripper to quickly melt the cappings, but I haven’t tried it.
• Kitchen strainers, nylon paint strainers, and women’s nylon stockings can serve as good honey filters. Clean ones, of course.
• Tupperware and Rubbermaid both make good plastic containers to hold honey and cappings. Honey is acidic, so don’t use items such as aluminum and galvanized steel that will react with the honey acids. Stick with plastic, stainless steel or glass.

While there is a good household substitute for most extracting equipment, there is no good substitute for a good centrifugal extractor.

5. Let the honey settle. Honey that rests for a few days after extracting will not leave tiny bubbles around the rim of a jar.Be patient. Almost all debris left in the honey after filtering will either float or sink within a few days. A spigot just off the bottom of a container will prevent both floating and sunken debris from being accidentally bottled.

6. If there is no nectar flow, bees will rob honey. If the honey in an extracting room is more appealing than local flowers, the neighborhood bees will try to feast on it and tell all their friends.
Extracting is best performed in a closed screened room such as a garage, basement or barn, or outside after dark. I heard a story about a guy that brought some supers into his basement to extract the next day, but he left a window open. The next day he found that his bees had brought half the honey back to their hives.

7. Uncapping is easier with only 8 or 9 frames spaced evenly in a 10-frame super. The thicker comb means almost no scraping with the fork. After bees have drawn out the foundation the first season, return only 8 or 9 frames into each extracted super to make the next crop easier to uncap. Uncap all the way down to the wood on the top and bottom bar, regardless of how far the comb in drawn out, so the comb will be nice and even next year.

8. Propolis sticks to shoes and almost everything else. Extracting is a great time to clean propolis off the box edges and frame-rests, but if they are going to be scraped it is best to cover the floor with old cardboard, newspaper or a plastic painter’s tarp so there won’t be little propolis reminders of the extracting experience. Wax isn’t quite as bad.

9. Butyric acid (Bee Go) really stinks. It works great, and is the best way for most hobby beekeepers to clear bees from the supers. The bees don't get as angry as brushing or blowing them, but that smelly fume board belongs behind the garage or near the fence when you're done. The chemical bottle belongs in a plastic bag inside an old coffee can or something else that won’t tip over; this is stuff you do not ever want to spill. The almond-smelling Benzaldehyde smells better and works okay in cooler weather, but it still belongs outside. Bee escape boards work okay too, if you can install them the day before extracting, have enough escapes for every hive, and don’t have too many holes between the boxes where the bees can enter and rob the honey. My equipment is old and leaks.

10. Extractors, uncapping tanks and other extracting equipment are best borrowed or shared. Most hobby beekeepers will only use their extracting equipment one or two days each year. The rest of the year it typically gathers dust in an attic, garage or basement. Thus it is very practical and economical for several beekeepers or a beekeeping association to share equipment. The expense is avoided, and it eliminates the need for storage space. So borrow or share, and use some of that money saved to buy a few of the nice non-stick polyurethane candle molds. If you must buy, a good quality hand-crank 4 frame extractor will suit most beekeepers better than 2 or 3 frame models, since it reduces the spinning work and thus greatly shortens the extracting time.

11. Extracting honey is best accomplished with two people. One person uncapping frames while the other spins the honey. Very efficient and the conversation can be good. It’s not very stressful to a relationship either, unlike hanging wallpaper. If you have clean wax from an earlier extraction, a side candle-making operation is an effective use of time since candles take time to cool.

12. Warm honey flows best. Warm honey spins out of the comb faster and more thoroughly than does cold honey in an extractor. Warm honey also strains faster through a filter. Honey at 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 c) or higher will be extracted most easily. This is normally not a problem in the summer, but in cool weather a light bulb under a stack of supers overnight can provide a lot of heat if the escape of the heat is controlled. Don’t melt the wax!

13. Extracted honey absorbs moisture from the air. Uncovered honey also catches insects, so keep the honey covered.

14. Sufficient honey containers are needed on extracting day. Enough containers need to be on hand when extracting, so it is good to learn how much capacity you’ll need before extracting. In rough numbers:

1. A shallow super will typically yield between 25 and 30 pounds of honey, or 2 to 2 ½ gallons.
2. A medium (6 5/8”) depth super will typically yield between 35 and 40 pounds, or 3 to 4 gallons.
3. A full-depth box will typically yield between 60 and 70 pounds, or 5 to 6 gallons.

Actual yields vary due to the number of frames, how well they are extracted, age of comb and other variables.

15. Wax cappings hold a lot of honey.Wax cappings typically hold 10% or more of a beekeeper’s honey crop. Cappings should be drained of honey through screening. After draining, the cappings wax can be melted into a block. Melting is best accomplished using a solar wax melter, or by heating the cappings in an inch of water in an old pot. Feed the honey-water back to the bees.
Solar wax melters really do work well – use double-paned framed window glass and build around it. Alternatively, the cappings can be left outside for the bees to feed on and then thrown away

16. Utensils that are used with melted wax will not be used for anything else. Melted wax leaves a waxy film on every pot, spoon, dipping cup or strainer it comes into contact with.
Crock pots with an inch of water are good for melting cappings that have been drained of honey, but the pot will never be the same. Old crock pots are also near-perfect for melting wax during candle making, and they are often available at garage sales. Heat to between 150 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit; no need to boil.

17. Bad comb and rotten boxes should be replaced while extracting. Extracting provides the perfect opportunity to cull bad combs, frames and boxes that need paint or replacing. Have replacements on hand on extracting day. When short a few frames, frame feeders (also called division-board feeders; the kind that normally replace a frame or two) can be put in the empty spaces in the supers so any burr comb built there will be inside the feeder where it will actually be useful to prevent drowning when it is time to feed.

18. Let the bees clean the “wet” empty supers after extracting. Whether intending to return the supers to the bees or store them off the hives, the bees do a great job of drying supers after extracting. A stack of supers can be placed on a hive, over an inner cover that has a hole, and they will usually be dry the next day. Best to put them on the hives late in the day, to reduce robbing.

Every beekeeper has unique conditions, and there are many good beekeepers that use different methods, so enjoy experimenting with what works best!


Source: http://outdoorplace.org/beekeeping/extracting.htm

Standard Hive Inspection

Smoking the Bees and opening the hive

Keep in mind the following. It is highly recommended that you inspect the colonies on warm and sunny days. The reason: the bees will be busy foraging and a large percentage of bees will be away from the hive. Also, keep to the back or the side of the entrance. Staying directly in front of the entrance will on cause the bees to constantly bump into you as they exit and return to the hive. Activity at the front can be as busy as an airport and you should always stay out of the way of this traffic.

Dress as you feel comfortable. If I'm doing major hive rearranging then I'm in long pants, long sleeve shirt and eye protection. But generally speaking, I go in with shorts and a teeshirt, bare-handed and just usingieye protection. Most of you will not approach the hive in this casual clothing and that is understandable. For me though, I use this lack of clothing as a constant reminder that I need to be alert and mindful of all my actions movements around the bees. If I were dressed to the hilt, I'd likely spend less time being careful and and more time being clumbsy and inadvertently hurtful to the hive.

After placing all your tools within reach, light the smoker as described above and send several slow puffs of smoke into the entrance of the hive. Wait a minute and repeat this process. Next remove the outer lid and shoot smoke into the hole of the inner cover. Again wait a minute and bellow smoke into the entrance and inner cover.

Each time should be a solid puff of cool smoke. Make sure that all flames are out inside of the smoker and DO NOT pump too much smoke into the hive. The bees should make an effort to clear the smoke, they noticibly will increase their buzzing for about a minute before calming down. Over smoking can harm the bees and larva and hot smoke can burn them. You need to keep the smoke cool and to a minimal when treating the colony during inspection. Over smoking them will result in harming them and may increase their agressiveness, totally the opposite of what we are trying to achieve.

I like to pry all the boxes loose before I start taking the boxes apart. I place the hive tool into the tight spaces between the boxes and slowly press downward, raising the boxes above just enough to break the seal of propolis that usually patches any air leaks within the colony. I don't lift the boxes so high as to let the bees crawl their way toward the openings, to do so will result in squooshed bees and an instant alert mode in the colony.

Remove the outer lid and inner cover, placing them "Bee Side" away from you, but with in easy reach. You will be looking down into the 10 frames of the top box, but for this lesson we are going directly into the brood box. This is a major concern to the beekeeper and the place that all inspections should start.

Remove any upper honey box or boxes and set them aside. You should now be looking into the heart of the colony, the brood box. Of course in a larger colony there could be several brood boxes. If that is the case, repeat these methods for each of the brood boxes and be sure to return the boxes in the same order that you found them.

Get on in There...

I like to take an end frame out of the hive and set it aside, this gives me room to slid the remaining frames around to easily break the wax that binds them together. I then pull a frame from the center of the brood box and I slowly raise a frame so that it about 1 foot from my face. This is where you are going to pay lots of attention and make several mental notes. Later you need to transcribe your thoughts to print - log keeping is eccential to the servival of your colonies. Trust me, a few lines in a simple logbook now will save you hours of torment later on.

First I look at the general patteren of the brood on this frame. Normal brood patterns from a healthy queen appear oval across the length and heigh of the frame. Noticibly, you shouls see a near perfect oval from top to bottom and side to side with a good combination of sealed pupa, larva of all ages and cells filled with eggs. In each corner of the frame you will see nectar, honey, pollen and water stores - this is perfect text book stuff and immediately I am thinking that the colony is doing fine. I briefly look on both sides of the frame for similar patterns and development and then I go a bit deeper into the cells within the brood pattern.

I want the sun behind me and I want to raise the frame so that the sun shines all the way to the bottom of every cell. Never BREATHE right on to the bees either, they will take off and likely sting you. I am always conscience of my breathing and the roll my physical body is playing. I try to anticipate my next move and slowly move toward it in a mechanical, yet fluid fashion.

I look deep into the cells, looking for eggs which are very tiny and hard for the new beekeeper to spot. But once you get the sun from behind to shine deep into the cell, you should see the tiny "Comma sized ) eggs standing up and well centered in each cell. These eggs actually swell as the get closer to hatching, so day old eggs, which are obviously the smallest will be the toughest to see. But please note that any eggs in these cells will alert you that the queen was alive and laying within the last 5 days. This is great news and even if you DON'T see the queen during this inspection, you can assume that she is alive and somewhere about the hive laying nearly 2000 more eggs this day.

Place your protected eyes about 8 inches OR your minimum focus length and pause to let bees regain their footing and they return to bee work. A good cheapy pair of reading glasses can really help you get in there super close. Slowly move your hands from side to side letting the frame move under your vision and carefully, methodically inspect each cell under your vision. Larva is another great tool to use when inspecting brood frames. Larva of all sizes can be seen on an average brood frame. From remarkably small ( nearly the size of the swollen eggs ) to rediculously big, where they larva almost spills from the cells can be seen. The remaining cells are capped over with a duller golden color and they are filled with pupa, which are only days away from emerging as fully developed bees.


After looking along an entire side, slowly rotate the frame to see the opposite side. The easiest way to turn the frame when using TWO HANDS to hold it is to just flip the bottom over the top, slowly rotate the frame with a flip of BOTH wrists. Again, let the bees get use to being upside down before you move in close, the bees on this side of the frame haven't seen you yet. Always, smooth and purposeful movements.

Approaching the hive

As you approach the hive, slowly move in with your arms in front of you. You want the bees to see your arms as early as possible. No need the all of a sudden being scared by flaring arms. Squat down to the side of the hives entrance, about 3 feet away. Never stand in front of the hive blocking the entrance during your inspect. I prefer the rear but that is not always possible.

I stand about 10 feet from the hive and watch the bees coming and going. I use a simple formula that a friend taught me, I count the bees coming and going for ONE minute. He said multiply the number times 1000 and you will have a rough idea of the total bee count.

I stand there looking at the hive, focusing at the entrance, almost zooming with my eyes and studying the traffic.

I slowly walk toward the hive, looking out my glasses as if they were a camera lens and my body is the camera dolly, panning and moving as smoothly as a helicopter choreographed to a fine work of mozart. If you think of this as a movie that you are watching and interacting with, the sooner you will become seamless with experience.

Look for pollen on the legs of the returning workers. Colored sacs of bright orange, yellow and red. Look for dead bees at the entrance and dead bees on the ground. Look for normal hive activity, if something appears out of place, remember it for your log.

Lift off the inner cover and slowly place it on top of the stacked empty supers. Shifting your weight, studying the way weight and balance move through your body and be as fluid as possible. You are doing a ballet of sorts. Again, make up your mind WHERE you are going to put something before you remove it. Keep your thoughts, one step ahead of your hands and remove as much lifting and carrying as possible.

Either by using your hands or by using the frame grabber, pull a few frames from the upper box, which should be honey storage only, egg cells will be in the lower box. I mentioned earlier that we are using a queen excluder which is used to keep the queen in the lower box. This is a real handy device for easily maintaining a colony and I recommend a queen excluder.

Pull several frames out, checking to see how much honey your hive has. This of course varies with seasonal changes, how much you've collected for your own use. You can also use a bathroom scale for measuring how much honey you have. Set a brick on the scale and use a hive box sized 3/4" plywood sheet. Place them on the scale, readjust it to zero, then place the super on top of the plywood and log the weight. Otherwise, just mentally. Note: that a full frame is about 12 pounds.

Again look at this side of the frame as you did with the first side. Look at several key frames in the honey box and look at many of the frames in the EGG LAYING bottom super. The queen excluder is marvelous in keeping your queen ( thus eggs, larva and pupa ) in the lower box. Keeping ALL honey in the upper box. I really recommend a good queen excluder.


EGG LAYING ( Brood ) Super

Once you have looked at and returned the honey frames back to the super, place it aside and get ready to inspect the Brood Chamber. This is the most interesting part of beekeeping. Let me try to explain the things you need to do in detail.

At hands length look at the frame and you should see an OVAL PATTERN in the middle of the frame where the queen laid eggs. You will see in that oval space covered cells, larva and if you look DEEP into the cell, you will see the tiny eggs, hanging at the bottom of the cell. It is about the size of a COMMA. You should see lots of each in a good healthy hive.

Look and mentally note how many drones are on the frame. Drones are fat, happy and STINGLESS male bees and should be in relatively SMALL NUMBERS in the hive. Only a few hundred at best in the entire hive.

I suggest you have your queens marked. I don't mark my swarm queens, but I do my surviving queens after a Wintering. I do though plan to mark future queens JUST to make my photography a bit more enjoyable.

It's NOT unusual to NOT see the queen during your inspection. If you do it's always fun to watch her march around. I often see the queen inspecting the empty cell and then dip her abdomen into the cell and lay an egg there. If you don't see her, just make sure you DID see eggs or larva. If you do, the queen was alive just a few days ago and is probably fine.

Source: www.beemaster.com

Bee Propolis

The term "propolis" comes from two Greek words: "pro," which means "before," and "polis," which means "city." This ancient term came into being centuries ago when some early Greek student of Nature established the fact that honeybees use propolis to narrow the opening into their "cities," or hives, to keep out unwelcomed intruders. Many sources attribute the word to Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

What is Propolis ?

Propolis is a sticky resin that seeps from the buds of some trees and oozes from the bark of other trees, chiefly conifers.

The bees gather propolis, sometimes called bee glue, and carry it home in their pollen baskets. They blend it with wax flakes secreted from special glands on their abdomens.

Propolis is used to slickly line the interior of brood cells in preparation for the queen's laying of eggs, a most important procedure. With its antiseptic properties, this propolis lining insures a hospital-clean environment for the rearing of brood.

The Constituents of Propolis

Chemically speaking, propolis is a very complex mixture. Its chemical elements vary according to its source. Colors range from golden brown to brownish green to reddish brown to blackish brown. A broad analysis reveals approximately 55 percent resinous compounds and balsam, 30 percent beeswax, 10 percent ethereal and aromatic oils, and 5 percent bee pollen. Many flavonols contribute to propolis. Other components include cinnamic acid, cinnamyl alcohol, vanillin, caffeic acid, tetochrysin, isalpinin, pinocembrin, chrysin, galangin, and ferulic acid.

The Properties of Propolis

Propolis is another medicinal marvel from the beehive. Research shows it offers antiseptic, antibiotic, antibacterial, antifungal, and even antiviral properties. Propolis is Nature's premiere preventive. It is so powerful in action, it is often called Russian penicillin in acknowledgement of the extensive research the Russians have mounted on this wonder worker from the bees. Propolis demonstrates strong antimicrobial properties against various bacterial and fungal infestations. Even streptococcus bacteria have been shown sensitive to propolis.

Natures's Preventive Medicine

Propolis has been justly called Nature's premier preventive. The immune system is supported and strengthened by the ingestion of propolis. Modern scientific studies indicate that those who take propolis regularly escape winter colds and sore throats and seem to develop a natural immunity to common viruses, including the various strains of flu.

Chemical antibiotics destroy all bacteria in the body, both the friendly, (necessary flora required for healthy functioning in the entire gastrointestinal tract) and the bad intestinal flora. An individual who constantly takes prescribed antibiotics for one condition after another soon learns to his sorrow that the drugs may no longer work as well as they once did. As invading bacteria get "smarter," the drugs become less and less effective.

Propolis, the natural antibiotic, works against harmful bacteria without destroying the friendly bacteria the body needs. Propolis has also been proven effective against strains of bacteria that resist chemical antibiotics.

The field of influence of propolis is extremely broad. It includes cancer, infection of the urinary tract, swelling of the throat, gout, open wounds, sinus congestion, colds, influenza, bronchitis, gastritis, diseases of the ears, periodontal disease, intestinal infections, ulcers, eczema eruptions, pneumonia, arthritis, lung disease, stomach virus, headaches, Parkinson's disease, bile infections, sclerosis, circulation deficiencies, warts, conjunctivitis, and hoarseness.

Propolis helps regulate hormones and is an antibiotic substance that stimulates the natural resistance of the body. Propolis may be used by everyone, sick or healthy, as a means of protection against microorganisms. Propolis is also efficient against conditions caused by bacteria, viruses, or different fungi. Propolis cures many diseases because it is a special natural substance with strong effect.

Use it as part of your daily program of supplementation. It has helped the bee society survive and thrive for over 45 million years. It may well help you survive ... for a long time!

Source: www.draperbee.com

Installing the Bees.

A quick look at installing honeybees from packages





This example uses hives which have been split from other hives - they have frames with drawn comb and some honey also, but the installation is the same if you have frames with only foundation. I set up the top supers, which are half filled with honey on my side walk, placed the removed frames from the bottom supers and the packaged bees their while I readied the bottom boards and brood supers. I used the smoker to get them a bit better in the mood for the installation.




I brought over a shipping cage and took off the top board holding the feeder can and queen cage off. I carefully took out the queen cage, inspected it to see she was fine and removed the small cork that would prevent the workers from chewing their way into the queen cage to get her out too soon.




I temporarily covered the entrance where the queen cage was pulled out from the shipping cage and placed the queen into the comb-less foundation - due to the ridiculous metal strapping used to attach the queen cage to the frame - I prefer nylon straps that allow you to further drop the queen cage further into the hive that at the very to as shown in the photo.




I removed the side and bottom wood rails that held the cage screen in place, rolled the screen upwards out of the way and banged the shipping cage DISLODGING most of the bees in one good plop into the hive through the few frames I had removed. I shook out any remaining bees easily without having to force them through the small feeder can hole. This keeps the bees very calm and they will go right to work.




I replaced the frames into the hive and returned the second story high super into place. As you probably noticed, I skipped a few steps from C1 to C2, since the steps are identical for each installation and the final product is hives ready for action. This whole process can take only minutes if you are prepared. And just as quick the bees will be off doing orientation flights.




Finally, I placed the two feeder cans filled with syrup over to the hive entrance feeders until I got a chance to open these cans, mix it's content with my sugar-water mixture and place glass gars where the tin cans are located in the photo below. The final photo - taken early during the install shows EXACTLY how close to my neighbors property line is.





This is pretty basic installation and shouldn't take more than a half an hour to do two hives. Ideally, you can do one hive at a time with about a 1 hour break in between.

Source: www.beemaster.com

History of beekeeping

Beekeeping is one of the oldest forms of food production. Some of the earliest evidence of beekeeping is from rock painting, dating to around 13,000 BC. It was particularly well developed in Egypt and was discussed by the Roman writers Virgil, Gaius Julius Hyginus, Varro, and Columella. A pioneering beekeeping popularizer in the 19th century United States was Amos Root.

Beekeeping was traditionally practiced for the bees' honey harvest, although nowadays crop pollination service can often provide a greater part of a commercial beekeeper's income. Other hive products are pollen, royal jelly, and propolis, which are also used for nutritional and medicinal purposes, and wax which is used in candlemaking, cosmetics, wood polish, and for modelling. The modern use of hive products has changed little since ancient times.

Western honeybees are not native to the Americas. American, Australian, and New Zealand colonists imported honeybees from Europe, partly for honey and partly for their usefulness as pollinators. The first honeybee species imported were likely European dark bees. Later italian bees, carniolan honeybees and caucasian bees were added.

Western honeybees were also brought to the Primorsky Krai in Russia by Ukrainian settlers around 1850s. These Russian honey bees that are similar to the Carniolan bee were imported into the U.S. in 1990. The Russian honeybee has shown to be more resistant to the bee parasites Varroa destructor and Acarapis woodi.

Before the 1980s, most U.S. hobby beekeepers were farmers or relatives of a farmer, lived in rural areas, and kept bees with techniques passed down for generations. The arrival of tracheal mites in the 1980s and varroa mites and small hive beetles in the 1990s led to the discontinuation of the practice by most of these beekeepers as their bees could not survive among these new parasites.

In Asia, other species of Apis exist which are used by local beekeepers for honey and beeswax. Non-Apis species of honeybees, known collectively as stingless bees, have also been kept from antiquity in Australia and Central America, although these traditions are dying, and the trigonine and meliponine species used are endangered.

Source: wikipedia