Catching a swarm of honeybees should be on everyone’s bucket list. It is one of the most beautiful, exhilarating and rewarding experiences life has to offer.
Swarm From East Facing Hive June 2015
At the end of April, I bought 2 nucs, with last years Queens, and 6 weeks later they have now both swarmed. I am confident this latest swarm came from the East Facing Hive in the farmer’s field. Although this hive still has eggs and I didn’t spot a queen cell, it was looking quieter. I’ll check for Queen cell in a week.
The reality of beekeeping for the novice/improver is not being quite sure what is happening. My cousin Simon had 2 colonies 6 weeks ago, now he has 7. The bees are feisty and he has no idea which hives have queens.
Unusually for me, the swarm catching and hiving went to plan. The bees were on the branch of a tree at shoulder height. A few shakes into my swarm catcher bag and job was a good ‘un.
I put an empty brood box at the location of the hive and put Queen Excluder below to make sure madam stayed. I added in some drawn comb and a couple of frames that were solid with winter stores as well as flat foundation.
I went back to the branch a few times as the bees kept gathering and shook them into the bag and transferred them to the box. The scout bees didn’t start fanning pheromones at the hive entrance until I grabbed a few handfuls of bees from the branch and ushered them through the hive entrance.
Is the Queen in the bag?
Later I move the hive to desired location, added Queen Excluder above brood box (in addition to the one below) and jumbo feeder on top with thin sugar syrup. Perfect.
So I now have three colonies. This one and the 2 original nucs (now in brood boxes) neither of which have mated queens. The hive in the field has just swarmed but has 9 frames of brood and is quite strong. Will this be my productive hive this summer? Or will this large swarm with laying queen get up to size for the July nectar flow?
This article was first published in the newsletter of The British Beekeepers’ Association (No. 222 – June 2015).
It’s taken me three years to confidently recite the seven species of honeybee*, but just as distinctive and varied are the different species of beekeeper. We come in all shapes and sizes, temperaments and abilities, and I’ve found it pays to know who you’re dealing with in order not to get stung.
When I first considered joining the community I presumed all beekeepers were jolly, eccentric men with beards. I imagined they would all listen to the Archers and buy their pants in M&S. I thought they would find a new, young novice like me to be a rather endearing revelation in the beekeeping world but I quickly realised I too fall into a very common breed of beekeeper … and, shame on me and my presumptions, I discovered that half of beekeepers are women.
The Virgin
I strongly identify with this novice group with their budget suits and eager grins. The virgins are becoming more common with 4,700 new beekeepers joining the BBKA each year recently.
Virgins are a bit nervous, often make mistakes, sometimes get lucky and often experience colony losses. However, we’ve all been one and I think it’s really important to embrace new blood. The virgin does become Queen after all.
The Bumbler
I have just about advanced from Virgin to Bumbler, i.e. an improver.
Bumbler Beekeeper
I went from one to four hives. I’ve taken a couple of exams. I’ve bought lots of exciting equipment. And I can almost hold my own in a conversation with a Naturalist (we’ll get to them in a minute).
However, rather crucially, I still have not quite worked out how this beekeeping malarkey works. Like other bumblers, I do my best, try to make educated guesses but often fail miserably.
Still, you’ve gotta love a bumbler. We do, after all, make the rest of you guys look competent.
The Bee Whisperer
This is who all the bumblers aspire to be. The dudes who don’t wear gloves. The people who are beyond exams, or, the Master Beekeepers who are the moderators of the BBKA online forum.
Earthy and natural or technical and scientific but always fearless and the bees know it. They definitely know their hoverflies from their honeybees and don’t have to google “how do I get rid of laying workers”.
It’s both intimidating and brilliant to meet a Bee Whisperer. It feels like you have ‘idiot’ spray painted on to your head but you also want them to tell you why your queen has not started laying.
So please bee whisperers – make friends with us bumblers … our bees need you!
The Natural Beekeeper
The philosophy of natural beekeepers is basically let nature take its course; that nature knows best. I wasn’t going to argue with my wife when she was screaming for an epidural and I’m afraid I do use a smoker and National hives.
However, I remain in awe of this purist beekeeper. YouTube clips of the Sun Hive are pretty amazing; made to mimic the more organic shape of natural bee hives. I like the thought of letting the bees feed on their own honey over winter instead of a sugar substitute. I love the idea of not using chemicals. But I’ve followed the conventional beekeeping road more travelled.
Of course, I’m slightly shamefaced when I come across a natural beekeeper but I hope they can appreciate that we are part of the same passionate genus, if not the same species.
The Wagglers
Bees do the waggle dance to attract attention and there is a new breed of beekeeper which isn’t shy of showing off their hives. From the trendy Hoxton boys with their beards, to the bloggers like me; we are just as likely to send a Tweet when we discover our queen as we are to mark her.
The old school may look on bemused but there are benefits to this swarm of social media. More people are attracted to looking after bees and we are all becoming better beekeepers by sharing information.
The Workers
Some may see profiteering from honey not to be in the romantic spirit of the craft but I think any beekeeper who advances UK honey production and availability is a positive.
Workers may be producing tons of honey rather than tens of jars but basically that’s because they are doing something right. I’ve visited several large producers myself and I can vouch for the fact the sites remain gorgeous and the honey super-tasty.
Such is the appetite to turn a hobby into a career, the Bee Farmers Association now runs an apprenticeship scheme for people wanting to become professional beekeepers. And good luck to them I say.
The Foragers
Like bees, these beekeepers are pretty thrifty. They get scraps of wood and turn them into fully functioning hives. Flat packs are an anathema to them. And they probably shake their head in disbelief at people like me who are afraid to drill a hole and have been known to assemble brood boxes in such a way that the frames don’t fit inside. OK … I’m going to admit something … it’s actually cheaper for me to buy pre-assembled hives because of all the mistakes I make! I am 0% forager.
Conclusion
The BBKA has about 23,000 beekeepers and, of course it’s simplistic to categorise only seven breeds, but it’s clear we do come in very distinctive varieties.
We all have varied styles and purposes and sometimes, like the bees themselves, we can be a bit brutal with each other. Still, like any hive, the crucial thing to remember is that we are all part of one community; one that hopefully has the common goal of keeping bee colonies flourishing (whilst enjoying some honey on our porridge).
* I understand there are seven species of honeybee, all members of the genus Apis. Apis mellifera (European honey bee). Apis cerana (Asiatic honey bee). Apis florea (red dwarf honey bee) and Apis andreniformis (black dwarf honey bee). Apis dorsata (giant honey bee). Apis koschevnikovi (Koschevnikov’s bee). Africanized bees.
Inspired by other bloggers and my cousin Simon I have set up 3 hive traps containing a swarm lure using a pheromone (Nasanov).
I have bought these swarm traps that are made from a moulded fibre material that should last several years and is designed to be like the hollow of a tree.
Swarm Lure
I’ve also attached some swarm lure inside which contains a synthetically produced Nasanov pheromone. The Nasanov (alternatively, Nasonov) pheromone is released by worker bees to orient returning forager bees back to the colony. Apparently, it also attracts scout bees and swarms.
Best Swarm Trap Location
I have read that is best to place traps about 150m away from the target hives and up a hill if possible. Also, best to place the traps as high as you can (without risking your self) and south facing. Mine are all in trees about 1.5m up.
How Effective Are Swarm Traps & Lures
There is evidence that swarm traps containing pheromones are 5 times as effective as traps without the lure. “In new clean traps, those with pheromone attracted 19
swarms; those without pheromone attracted only 4 swarms (Schmidt, J. Chem. Ecol. 20:
1053-56 [1994]).”
And traps with lures are 4 times as effective as using old comb. Some of the results were summarised in the December 1990 issue of American Bee J. on p. 812. Essentially, the pheromone traps caught 13 swarms to the 3 of the traps with comb and no pheromone.
I would love to hear from readers about the effectiveness of their swarm traps.
Film Of Beekeeper Hiving Swarm From Trap
I like this video. Another beekeeper with no protection. Doesn’t seem too bothered by the bee stings.
Apiary Update
I had a disastrous winter and had to buy 2 nucs. I installed these on 25 April and inspected yesterday. One hive had 10 frames of bees and the other 5 and a half frames. I’ll add supers to the stronger hive shortly.
Installing Nuc Of Bees
Also, my one surviving hive from the winter only has 2 frames of bees but I don’t understand why. It has last years queen, pollen and stores. Low/zero varroa. I can see eggs and larvae in various stages but 1 in 10 cells also has 2 or 3 eggs. This could be due to (a) laying workers, (b) a failing queen or (c) not enough workers to properly clean the cells hence queen lays more than one egg in cell. Perplexing. Photo below from this hive. I’m keeping it going to see if it expands. Any thoughts? You can click on photo and zoom in if you want a closer look.
Supering, or supering-up, is when beekeepers add supers (the small boxes for honey) on top of the brood box. This is where the worker bees store the honey that we can then harvest and extract.
How Many Supers Do I Need?
Beehive packages usually come with 2 supers. An average honey yield in the UK for a hobby beekeeper is the equivalent of 1 super, so in theory 2 supers would be enough most of the time.
However, in a good season you might have 3, or even 4 supers, on a hive (though probably not every hive). You could manage on less if you harvested and extracted during the season.
I now have 4 supers per hive. This is based on the advice of Ian McLean (National Diploma In Beekeeping), 40 years experience and who has written for the “in the apiary” section of the BBKA news. In turn, his advice is based on his experience and research by “Rinderer & Baxter” who gained 30% more honey with the practice described below as compared with the 2 supers approach.
His advice also appeals to the optimist in me.
Bee Hives – Mid July
When Do I Add Supers?
In advance of the Spring nectar flow – which is approximately mid-April in the UK.
The standard advice is to add another super when 7 of the 10 frames in the super below are covered in bees.
Ian’s advice is to add 3 supers at the start of the Spring nectar flow. The theory is that the bees use all the space in the 3 supers like a drying room, allowing the water to evaporate off the nectar and thus produce more honey.
What If I Have Flat (Not Drawn) Foundation?
If all your supers are flat foundation – use 2 supers. This will encourage them to draw them out
If you have one super that is drawn and one super that is flat – put the super with flat foundation on top
When Do I Remove Supers?
You can remove supers and extract them at any time so long as the comb is capped.
In areas of oil seed rape, it’s pretty much essential to do an extraction after the first nectar flow before it granulates in the comb – about the end of May.
Many beekeepers do one extraction at the end of the Summer nectar flow – about the first week in August in the UK. I aim to remove the supers in the last week of July so that the bees still have surplus nectar to forage whilst I add Apiguard and then they forage on ivy in September/October.
The 4th super is used when you remove the 3 supers for harvesting, You put this super on the hive to give the 60,000 bees the space they need rather than squashing them into a brood box. The foundation can be flat, you are just making space for all the bees. They are unlikely to draw the comb at this time of year.
Variation – Just Using 3 Supers
I think you could try a variation to the method described above. You could put the 3 supers on at the start of the Spring flow, but at the end of Summer you could make up 2 supers of capped honey and leave a super of uncapped or partially capped honey on the hive. I have been advised to place this super below the brood box at the end of the flow so that (a) you can place the Apiguard on top of the brood box and (b) as the bees go into Autumn and Winter the cluster will start at the bottom of the hive and then make their way up giving more stores and better ventilation (see post link below).
Read More
In the past I was unsure how many supers to buy and use so I held an online poll: The super results are in
Back in May and June last year I posted about my Eleven Guests At The Bee Hotel (or Interactive Mason Bee Management System House as it’s known in the States). This American name still makes me smile and continues to remind me of a story a friend, who worked in Houston, told me, about a colleague who ran into the room to say that the “European Electric Water Heater was about to explode” when he was simply boiling a kettle.
Well … an incredible 11 months later they have started removing the mud plugs and checking out.
Solitary Bee In Bee Hotel
And this is what it looked like in June last year.
Eleven Guests At The Bee Hotel
I was really surprised at how long they have stayed. I thought they would just be in their a few weeks. At times over the winter I thought they must have died. I have now read up on the life cycle of the Mason bee and understand the eggs get laid in Spring and by the summer, the larva has consumed all of its food and begins creating a cocoon around itself and then enters the pupal stage. The adult matures in the autumn or winter and hibernates inside the cocoon until Spring.
Winter Colony Losses
So whilst it appears that I might have zero winter losses for these Mason bees, my honeybee colonies have suffered higher losses.
If you have experienced high winter colony losses you are not alone. I have documented my losses and have had numerous emails from readers regarding theirs. The email below is typical and from a follower of this blog who has been beekeeping about 2 years:
“I have been following your exploits and I can empathise as I did grow to 3 hives at home last year from my initial 2 nucs, but they were quite weak even at the end of the summer. I lost one over the winter, very similar to yourself. Of the other 2 one is hanging in and I have brood but the 2nd which was a virgin queen I actually witnessed hatch last year and was going strong has suddenly gone AWOL/ more likely died ; and I have no brood. Strangely all hives have masses of store. Anyway I have consolidated the remaining 2 which in hind sight I should have done last year to try and strengthen the colony. So at home I have 2 vacant hives as well.
At work I homed a swarm I collected in July and she is text book and gave us 40 x 8oz jars of honey compared to the 26 jars from 3 hives at home. She has loads of room and I have a spare hive there ready to split if I need to in a few weeks time.”
With oil seed rape beginning to show their yellow flowers, the first nectar flow is almost upon us. Good luck to all!
It’s warming up here in the UK with the temperatures pushing an unseasonal 19C. I am sure many beekeepers have had the excitement of their first inspection of the year. I even managed to find the queen that evaded me last year and marked her for good measure.
It is vital to be able to read the comb and understand what healthy comb and diseased comb looks like. Below are some photos and descriptions. At the end of the page are some links with further information.
Please email me any other photos you would like published on this page.
Healthy Brood Comb With Capped Worker Brood
Capped Brood Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
This is what we like to see. Many of the uncapped cells you can see are following the lines of the wire that strengthens the foundation.
Healthy Brood Comb With Eggs In Cells
Bee Eggs & Larvae In Cells
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
Healthy: Single egg in centre of cell, eggs in every cell
To spot eggs have your back to the sun and tilt the frame
Brood Comb With Multiple Eggs In Cells
Multiple Eggs In Cells Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
Cells with multiple eggs or eggs at side of cell or spotted pattern of egg laying means you have a poor/old queen, drone laying queen or laying workers. Laying workers eggs are unfertilised and develop into drones; the signs are similar to those of the drone-laying queen, except that the brood pattern is often less compact. Also there will be multiple eggs present in some cells, often on the side walls as well as at the bottom of the cell.
Treatment: Older queens or queens running out of sperm – re-queen. Laying worker colonies are best destroyed.
Healthy Brood Frame With Eggs & Pollen
Honeybee eggs and larvae
Super Frame With Capped Honey
Frame Of Capped Honey
Capped Drone Brood
Drone Brood
This was drone comb created below a standard brood frame which I then culled as part of varroa management. Drone brood is slightly wider and stands out more than worker brood.
Brood Comb With American Foul Brood (AFB)
American Foulbrood (AFB) Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
Bacterial disease
I find it helpful to remember that A in AFB is for “After” and E in EFB is for “Early”. “After” because the signs are visible after the comb is capped.
Signs of AFB: cappings sunken, perforated, might look wet; spotted brood pattern; foul smell. Insert a matchstick into a suspect capped cell and it comes out a ropey, gooey mass
Brood Comb With European Foulbrood (EFB)
European Foulbrood (EFB) Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
Bacterial disease
Larvae die before they are capped (unlike AFB which die after capping)
Signs of EFB: twisted larvae in base of cells, larvae light brown colour, sunken cappings, a our smell (but not as foul as AFB)
This article was first published in the newsletter of The British Beekeepers’ Association (No. 222 – April 2015).
I feel I need to come clean. I have mixed emotions when inspecting bees, alternating between delight and wonder, to slightly nervous and occasional panic.
Melissophobia is an unreasonable fear of bees. Surely, there should be a word for a reasonable fear? With a particularly aggressive colony, my fear seems reasonable. Those little buzzing things sting.
Having a fear of bees is somewhat unfortunate for a beekeeper but it must be quite common. Surely most beekeepers heart beat increases when they hear the roar of 60,000 bees – especially if you have kamikaze bees. Not all beekeepers can be the type that are happy to inspect their bees with little more than cotton wool in their nose and ears. Surely some, like me, are what they call metrosexuals (i.e. men who have been known to run away from spiders).
Fatalities due to honeybees are rare. In October last year it was reported that a beekeeper in the UK (with known anaphylaxis) died of a honeybee sting and the article I read quoted an Office of National Statistics official that a man last died of a bee sting in 2012 in the UK. There seems to be a higher proportion of deaths attributable to bee stings in the USA, where in 2000, the World Health Organisation reported that, there were 54 deaths attributable to bee stings (from a population of 281 million people and where 90 people/year die of lightning strikes). Perhaps, this is due to an increased prevalence of Africanised bee. So with these low rates of fatality it is apparent that my fear is not rational. I know that probably the worst I’ll get is some painful stings, a swollen leg and a lack of sympathy from my wife – but still, when you’re faced with a hive, it’s not just a bee you’re contending with, it’s thousands of them. Yes I know that the average adult can safely survive a thousand stings, but what if they ALL get me?!?
Facing The Fear
Of course the recommended treatment for phobias is to face your fear, something I will be doing quite a lot over the coming months, with the first inspection of the hives imminent.
This year though I’m going in prepared with my apiary armoury.
In my early days I had some lovely bees and thought that smoke was an unnecessary accessory. As the bees created stores and had something to defend I became a smoker. I now have a bucket-sized smoker. I am resigned to being the Dot Cotton of beekeepers.
Smoking Like Dot Cotton
Clothes-wise, I have learnt that trainers with socks over jeans does not provide much protection especially when you stand in front of the hive entrance. I have discovered that bees don’t sleep and that feeding at night does not mean that the bees won’t fly/pour out of the hive.
Bee Sting Reaction
I currently find myself with a particularly aggressive colony*. When I remove the crown board the bees surge upwards and pour out of the hive like a scene from my worst nightmare. They attack every weak spot. Down my boots. Through gloves. They even sting the tips of my ears where they touch the suit.
I now wear marigolds under my regular gloves. I tape up my boots. I wear thick shirts and jeans under my bee suit. I wash my gloves and clothes regularly to reduce any sting pheromones that might linger and that would initiate more attacks. I have all the rumoured remedies on hand (onions, toothpaste, lemons and half the contents of Boots). Any pretence of me being a brave-beekeeper is well and truly annihilated.
When I do an inspection, of this aggressive hive, I’m in and out and do the minimum required. I have decided they are impossible to inspect after June.
My Skin Breaks Out In, Err, Hives!
Usually I go through the normal cycle of pain, swelling, itching and very tired for a few days if I’ve been stung by upwards of ten bees, but one time due to a combination of being stung and high anxiety – my skin broke out in, er, hives. It was so bad even my wife was sympathetic. This is all somewhat ironic considering I started beekeeping as a way to de-stress.
The solution is obviously to get some nicer bees. Ones that like their beekeeper and welcome a yearly raid of everything they’ve spent their little lives working towards.
My plan is to requeen as soon as possible this year (June) and an old boy has offered to come and jointly inspect the colony in April and perhaps requeen with some of his more gentle Queens. I think he thinks I am either doing something terrible to the bees rather than me having a particularly aggressive colony. Either way – it will be fantastic to see an experienced beekeeper working with this colony and see if he is able to charm them.
Advice
It’s always good to know how other beekeepers handle their hives. Have you found any impenetrable material to protect us from stings? How do you make your inspections less risky? If nothing else, how do you illicit more sympathy from your other halves when you do get stung? Do let me know if you have any ideas.
* When I wrote this article for BBKA News I did have an aggressive colony, but unfortunately I lost it at the end of February (Post: Colony Post-Mortem).
Synopsis: Colony has died. Evidence of dysentery (photos below). Possible Nosema. Not wanting to use acetic acid – should I destroy all the frames and boxes or use hot air gun? Details below. Grateful for advice.
A month ago this hive was looking quiet, with a few flying bees. There were also signs of dysentery (see photo below).
Hive One – Dysentery?? – Feb 2015
At the weekend I found there were no flying bees and opened the hive.
I found signs of dysentery.
Dysentery on top and middle of frameDysentery on top frame
Dysentery on hive floor (in middle of photo)
I found the dead queen (who was 5 years old).
Dead Queen (with blue spot)
I found some dead bees ready to hatch out.
Unhatched bees
Nosema
Due to the presence of dysentery it is possible that the colony died of Nosema. Nosema is a parasitic microsporidian fungal pathogen that invades the gut of the bee. There they multiply rapidly and are then excreted by the bees. Spores are picked up and swallowed by other bees.
The only way to diagnose Nosema is by identifying the spores under a microscope. I don’t have a microscope (yet).
Dysentery is also often associated with Nosema. But the dysentery I found in the hive might be as per usual levels of winter excretion. Hence, I cannot be 100% sure the colony had Nosema.
If it was Nosema the spores can last 12 months and infect new colonies of bees placed in the hive.
Conclusions
The hive could have died due to one of the following reasons, or combinations thereof:
Poor performing queen (as she was 5 years old)
Cold (due to lack of insulation)
Nosema (due to the signs of dysentery)
Reason 1 could have led to a weak colony and then to reasons 2 and 3.
Next Steps
Freezing frames does not destroy Nosema spores.
I have a hot air gun (heats up to 600C and does destroy the spores) but don’t want to use acetic acid as I only need to sort out one hive, don’t have the space for fumigation and don’t want to get involved with acetic acid at this stage in my beekeeping.
I am struggling to find good advice on the following options.
Destroy all frames and boxes? This seems over the top and expensive.
Destroy all the frames and use the hot air gun on the boxes? This will give near 100% piece of mind. But again looks over the top for a diagnosis of possible Nosema
Destroy frames which have dysentery and use the hot air gun on the tops of other frames and boxes? This is my current plan but will not eradicate all the spores
Spring is in the air and many gardeners are beginning to think about what to plant.
But beware – many cultivated garden plants have been carefully bred for their colour and flower size not their pollen and nectar loads and the results is that many are sterile and no good for bees.
So which garden plants are best for bees? Which flowers produce the most nectar and pollen per square metre over the year? These are the types of question that rosybee (online plant nursery in Oxfordshire that sells plants for bees) set out to answer and the results were published in the March 2015 edition of the BBKA News.
No. 2 – Borage (Borago officinalis)
This research ranked garden flowers by taking the average number of bees observed per square meter and multiplying this by the number of weeks the plant was in flower. Of the 45 flowers tested the research ranked Echium vulgare as the best plant for bees and the next three were Borage, Hyssop and Helenium autumnale.
No. 3 – Helenium autumnale
Below is a snap shot of the results but the full report is well worth a read (link to research).
Best Bee-Friendly Flowers (rosybee research)
I think the borage will work best for me (photo further up) and I have tracked some down. It can be used as a herb too. I’ll take photos with bees on it in due course and encourage neighbours to take cuttings.
If you live in the UK and want some bee-friendly plants delivered to your door, then the rosybee website and plants are well worth a look. It is also inspiring to read about their creation of a 6 acre bee haven using sustainable methods – a dream of many beekeepers!
Hive Two looks healthy. 20 bees flying around at any one time on sunny days and I placed the varroa count board under the hive for 6 days and counted 0 varroa. I suspect that another reason for it’s success is that it is protected from the wind and has an insulated roof. Photos below.
Hive Two – Flying Bees – Feb 2015Hive Two – Varroa Board – 28 Feb 2015
I wrote about Hive Five under Colony Post-Mortem. I have now placed old comb on the bonfire and the good frames are currently in the freezer. Conclusions: died of mite overload and cold.
Hive Three
This is the other hive I moved which could also be too exposed to the elements. I saw plenty of flying bees two weeks ago but it has been quieter recently. I counted 6 mites over 6 days on the varroa board which calculates a rough estimate of 50-400 mites and treatment required in 3-5 months. There was not much debris on the board, see photo below, so I’m worried about Hive Three too.
Hive Three – Varroa Board – 28 Feb 2015 – 6 mites
Hive One
I think there are some bees in Hive One, but only a few. The Queen is five years old. I’m hoping she will supercede. I have yet to place a varroa board underneath. Photo of landing board below. Is the brown stuff dysentery or propolis or mud? And would some dysentery here be OK or bad?
Hive One – Dysentery?? – Feb 2015
Conclusions
It looks like I will have had a terrible winter. The reasons:
In at least one hive, I failed to adequately control the varroa. I need to improve on this.
In the dead hive and the two weak ones, despite good intentions, I have not insulated the roofs and they have porter bee escapes and vented roofs allowing air to flow through and chill the bees. I guess quite a few other new beekeepers have this problem, as this is how the hives arrive. I will use solid crown boards and insulated roofs next winter (but guess it is good to allow ventilation in summer)
Moving the two hives 100m over rough ground would not have helped. I will only move nucs or swarms in the new out-apiary location rather than move full colonies
Hard lessons for someone who was hoping to expand to 6 hives this summer.
I’m also thinking that bee equipment suppliers should include roof insulation as standard and advice on closing off any vents over winter.
Post-mortem: An examination of a corpse in order to determine cause of death.
I need your help with the determination. There are comments and photos below and a video at the end.
Me Inspecting Dead Bees
Was It A Weak Colony Going Into Winter?
No. This hive had 11 frames of bees in September and there were live bees in the hive over Christmas. That said, there only appeared to be about 500 dead bees in the hive (see photo above). Had the others absconded or died over the winter and been removed from hive by the live bees?
Was It Starvation?
I don’t think so. The frames were heavy with stores and I don’t think the bees could have been isolated. A few bees had died head first in the comb – but very few.
14×12 Frame Of StoresSugar Stored In CombPollen In Frame. Is that white pollen on the left or sugar stores?
Was It Disease?
I don’t think so. There is mould in the frames (see photo below) but no chalk dummies. There was no foul smell.
Mouldy Frame – But Not Chalk DummiesFrame With Pollen (& Sugar Stores?) On Left; Mouldy In Centre
Was It Varroa?
Maybe. Despite a (low/middle) varroa count of 130 in mid-July (I counted 30 mites over 9 days in July and put this into the NBU calculator which estimated I had 130 mites), followed by Apiguard in August and Oxalic acid in December, there did appear to be lots of varroa on the frames and on the bees. See photo below – I count over 20 mites in a small area. Did this contribute to some sort of colony collapse?
Varroa Mites On Frame
Did the Queen Stop Laying?
Maybe though I saw capped brood and dead bees about to emerge out of cells (see photo below). Cappings are a bit ragged which I think might mean varroa.
Dead bees emerging from cellsDead bees emerging from cells (2)
Did They Get Too Cold?
Maybe. The location is quite exposed. I have not put insulation under the roof of this hive. The entrance points into a prevailing wind (but it has narrow entrance plus mouseguard).
Was It The Move?
I moved them 100m over Christmas. Perhaps some of the bees returned to their old hive location?
Conclusion
A lot of maybes and no certainties. Frustrating. Such is the life of a beekeeper.
On a positive note, I feel like I have done as much as I could for this colony. It seemed to be strong (and aggressive). Hence, I’m not as upset as when I feel like it has been my fault. Overall, I’m sorry for the bees that have gone through this experience and disappointed as it means less bees and honey this summer.
Video Of The Inspection
Hmmmm. Not sure if I should expose myself as such a novice? I struggle to just get the frames out. And I seem to be wearing a bee suit when there are no bees. Apologies for the out of focus shots of the comb.
And if you want more information, I have my notes for the last 12 months on this hive: Hive Five Record Card.
Over To You
Grateful for your thoughts on why this colony died?
What should I do with the frames that are mouldy in the hive? Leave them and let next bees clean it up? Or cut out the mould?
On some of the photos above, is it white pollen or sugar stores?
Bee Hygiene (how-to guide to help reduce colony losses)
Post-Script
Based on comments to-date and my experience of this colony, I am minded to think that the main issue was the high varroa count and that insulation and the move whilst not helpful were not the prime causes.
Lessons learnt: I’ll apply Apiguard correctly next time. I didn’t seal the hives as per the instructions to get the best efficacy.
Next steps:
Freeze and reuse the frames (getting rid of the dark comb frames)
Apply MAQS strips to the other hives when it gets to 10C and 6 frames of bees (I’m worried about the other colonies now)
Insulate the roofs and get solid crown boards to reduce drafts in winter
Perhaps insulate the walls further for the hives that are more exposed
It’s the middle of winter – but that hasn’t stopped the bees from my aggressive hive taking an opportunity to give me a sting – their Christmas present to me!
We moved two hives to an out-apiary on Christmas day. I couldn’t find the instructions for the hive strap, and after several attempts whereby the strap ended up in knots, we decided to free style it. The first hive was moved without incident but the second one, the crown board slid 1cm and the bees were out immediately. We donned bee suits and carried on. It was only when I was removing tape from the entrance that a couple of bees stung me through bee suit plus trousers.
I will use oxalic acid tomorrow and a couple of weeks ago I replaced the entrance narrower but with the entrance at the top so that dead bees don’t block the entrance. I fed the bees 20Kg/hive In September/October so I hope this will get them through the Winter. The hives seemed heavy enough and the colonies are all alive and well at present.
Update 27/12/2014: I trickled oxalic acid into all 4 hives. All hives had bees and plenty of stores.
At the start of Autumn, the disagreements start about how warm to make the house. We compromise at 19.5C which means I’m wandering around in shorts whilst Heidi wears 3 layers of clothes. She sometimes pulls up her hoody but I think that’s just her trying to make a point. When the mother-in-law is down, she’s “freezing” (I think she has been scarred by Scottish winters), it’s 2 against 1, the thermostat goes up, the problem is exacerbated and I have to protest by wandering around naked. My protest does not go unnoticed (my daughter says “daddy pants on”) but it is ignored.
So whilst there is some disagreement in our local eco-system there is also disagreement between beekeepers when it comes to hive ventilation.
Preparing Bee Colony For Winter
Before we talk about hive ventilation, there are a number of elements that most beekeeping literature seems to agree on when preparing a hive to successfully over-winter:
A strong colony
Queen-right
Disease free
20Kg of stores (read: feeding bees for more information)
Low varroa count
Insulation in the roof
My bees are in 14x12s with a super below.
Hive Ventilation
The reason the colony needs good ventilation is to make sure that condensation is not dripping on the bees during the cold, winter months.
There seems to be two schools of thought on hive ventilation and how to configure your hive between autumn and spring. In 2014 in separate issues of the BBKA magazine there were articles by beekeepers advocating both methods. These are described below.
Note: if you have solid floors then top ventilation is required.
Insulation
In all cases insulation in the roof is deemed a positive, though some beekeepers say it is unnecessary. The rationale for roof insulation is that with no insulation the warm moist air which rises will condense on the cold roof or crown board and drip on to the bees. Roof insulation reduces this process.
I say insulate the roof (and the walls if you can).
Option A: Top & Bottom Ventilation
Configuration:
Open mesh floor (allows the air in)
Holes open in the crown board (allow air to flow through)
Insulated roof (means the warm air rising does not condense and drip down due to a cold roof)
Side vents in the roof (allows the warm, moist air out)
Argument for: A chimney effect allows warm moist air to rise and escape.
Arguments against: Some/quite a lot of beekeepers say that this chills the bees too much and works against the nature of bees who try to propolise top vents.
Based on my experience I would advise against this chimney effect, the bees need to be cosy in winter. Go for bottom ventilation only.
Option B: Bottom Ventilation Only
Configuration:
Open mesh floor
Solid crown board
Insulated roof
Argument for:
This is more similar to how wild bees manage condensation
This method establishes a convection current, warm air rises in the middle and then falls at the sides, when it reaches the bottom some of the moist air is exchanged for dryer air
Argument against: I couldn’t find arguments against.
National Bee Unit (NBU) Advice On Hive Ventilation
The NBU does not go into much detail but does say the following on hive ventilation: “Damp rather than cold kills bees so check hives, especially roofs, to ensure rain is shed away. It is best to ensure that your hives are off the ground on suitable stands. If your apiary site is not vulnerable to windy conditions, and you are using open mesh floors, they can be left with the floor inserts out. If not, or your hives are on solid floors, then you can lift the crown board on two-millimetre laths. Used matchsticks are excellent for this purpose.”
Greedy bees. I take an early harvest (4 August), I leave them all their uncapped stores and let them clean up the cappings to see them though the winter and it turns out they’ve gobbled the lot by early September!
Perhaps there’s not much forage around, maybe the colonies are still getting established or maybe they are just like their keeper – greedy!
Time for me to get on my apron and get in the kitchen. The last time I fed the bees my sugar syrup using 2L bottles and an English feeder, I had to make many trips and had bees flying everywhere and getting into my mixture (bottles take a while to pour and English feeders are small). It was like the great British Shake Off and it took me hours.
This time I was determined to deliver a more efficient and civilised culinary delight.
Step 1: Mix sugar and water in 30lb honey buckets
Honey Buckets With Sugar Syrup
I used warmed water to speed up dissolving – but I’m sure cold water would do the job. I’m mixing 5Kg of sugar with 3L of water to avoid overloading. Read Feeding Bees for more information on this process.
Step 2: Use Jumbo Rapid Feeders
… and transport this and syrup in garden cart. Place these feeders above the brood box with a queen excluder below the feeder. Crown boards should be removed.
Jumbo Feeder
Jumbo feeders are great:
Less than £25 – relatively cheaper than similarly sized alternatives
Covers whole surface of hive – so bees can’t fly at you or get into the syrup
Holds 16L (3.5 gallons) – so you could probably feed the bees in one go
And that’s it. “Proper Pukka”!
The bees have taken at least 10Kg of sugar in the last few days.
Read More
Last year’s experience of not feeding bees early enough: Starving Bees
I took the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) Basic Assessment in July. It was tougher than I had presumed. I wish I had been available to attend the preparation session the weekend before.
Despite some last minute revision the night before, the assessment didn’t start well.
I assumed, wrongly, that there would be a beekeeping suit and gloves for me at the apiary. The assessor handed me a very thin, half-suit, and some nitrile, surgical gloves. He commented “you look nervous”. Too right. I was wearing a very thin, half-suit, some nitrile, surgical gloves and I was about to inspect some bees! My recent experiences of bees was of the aggressive kind and I had only used leather gloves to-date and I preferred a full suit. I gave half-suits to my guest beekeepers!
A Disease Inspection Assessment
I was happy to be able to spot eggs and tell the difference between a drone and a worker bee so I was a bit stunned when he announced we were going to do a “disease inspection” as part of the assessment. Hmmmm. Not my strong point! In fact, a very, very weak point as I had no experience of disease and I learn through experience. I’m not advocating learning through experience as it has it’s downfalls, often ending up with the loss of a colony, and I took his point that I needed to know what these diseases looked like in advance of them occurring.
I struggled through the assessment. I noted the brood was a bit ragged with holes and suggested a foul brood. He pointed out the hive would be in quarantine if it had a foul brood. I spotted some chalk brood – phew. I was shakey on the causes and differences between American and European Foul Brood. I’m not going to embarrass myself further, but it highlighted massive gaps in my inherent knowledge.
I’m not sure if this was the purpose, but I learnt quite a lot during the assessment and have since read more on diseases and committed images and symptoms to memory.
I then spent 15 minutes quizzing him on beekeeping (when to remove supers, varroa treatments, etc.) but was aware that he had someone else to assess after me. He repeated that I had been nervous with the bees. OK – I got it the first time. If I did my assessment today he’d find an even more twitchy beekeeper due to my subsequent experience with Aggressive Bees.
Beekeeping Royalty?
As we were finishing, an older gentleman popped his head round the corner and said “he’s ready, should he come in?”. I was a bit confused. Who was this person who waited in the car? Was it royalty? Lord Berkeley, perhaps? A few minutes later an eight year-old (yes eight, not eighty), fully-kitted beekeeper popped his head round the corner. He didn’t look at all nervous. If not bee royalty, he is already probably already more of a beeman than me!
Did I Pass?
It took about 5 weeks to get the result ……….. I passed. Phew.
I thought it worth posting the timeline that reduced the varroa to zero and put out a positive message that beekeepers can significantly reduce high varroa levels.
Hive Two went from counts of 2,000 varroa in December 2013 to zero varroa by the end of July 2014
My interventions: Open Mesh Floor (all year), Apiguard (Aug/Sep), Oxalic acid (Dec), drone culling (May)
Bee interventions: Swarming (May) and a Supercedure (July)
Lessons Learnt: (1) I’m not sure of accuracy of the varroa estimates; (2) be proactive and drone culling seems to be especially effective; (3) don’t worry too much if you have high varroa, because you can do something about it
The Timeline, Varroa Counts & Interventions
I use an open mesh floor and count the varroa on the board I place below. I then use the varroa calculator provided by the National Bee Unit to estimate numbers of mites in the colony.
24th August 2013 – Estimated number of varroa: 290
24th August 2013 – Added first dose of Apiguard
7th September 2013 – Added second dose of Apiguard
18th September 2013 – Discovered that Hive One had died of starvation, so removed Apiguard and fed this hive (Hive Two). Hence, colony had 25 days of Apiguard treatment – 3 days short of the ideal
8th December 2013: Estimated number of varroa: 2,000
21st December 2013: Estimated number of varroa: 1,700 (I did this as I could not believe the first count)
21st December 2013: Trickled oxalic acid
19th January 2014: Estimated number of varroa: 980 (i.e. 40% reduction; it was a mild winter so there would have been a fair amount of capped brood containing varroa)
15th March 2014: Estimated number of varroa: 17-140 (strange result as I had not applied any further treatment)
3rd May 2014: Culled drone comb (I believe this was a key intervention)
18th May 2014: Hive swarmed
24th May 2014: Estimated number of varroa: 1
14th June 2014: First time I saw eggs after the swarm (hence mated Queen again)
6th July 2014: Witnessed a Queen hatching out – confident it was supercedure
20th July 2014: Saw eggs – so laying Queen again
26th July: 2014: Estimated number of varroa: 0
August 2014: Decided not to use Apiguard due to zero varroa
Out of the blue I got an email last week from BBC Radio Gloucestershire who were wanting to interview local bloggers, understand their motivations and how they keep-up the momentum. It went out as “near-live” yesterday:
Read More
Conversation / interview with a New Zealand beekeeper and podcaster: Kiwimana Podcast
How do you move heavy supers, hives and syrup from the apiary to your car or house?
Beekeepers back is something I could fall foul of so I needed a solution for transporting the supers from the hive to home, feeding the bees with buckets of syrup and for moving my hives to an out apiary in the winter (more on this in a future post). Also – when I thought I would have 10 full supers of honey, the need for a hive trolley seemed particularly acute.
I was pointed in the direction of 2 different types of trolleys and went for the garden cart below.
Hive Trolley
It’s perfect for my needs. It can fit 4 national supers without them sliding off. Be warned it comes flat pack, the assembly instructions are very basic, and give yourself 1 hour to understand how it fits and a further 1 hour to assemble. A second head/opinion/helper (or better yet leader/flat pack-enthusiast) is also useful (regular readers will know this to be my Dad).
It’s not cheap (£65-£85) so be prepared for your partner to question its worth when you discover you’re only going to get 35 pounds of honey – and especially so, it they are 8 months pregnant, suffering back pain and haven’t invested in ones of those pregnancy back supports due to the costly nature of them!
A hand / sack truck, like photo below, was also recommended to me by experienced beekeeper:
Hive Trolley 2
Links
If you are interested in hive trolleys, try the Amazon links below:
You will see similar products if the above do not meet your needs or are out of stock.
Make sure the hive trolly will fit your hives. In the UK the external length x width dimensions of national brood boxes and supers are 46cm x 46cm (just over 18 inch square).
I understand the most commonly used hives in the USA are the Langstroth hives with external length x width dimensions of 50.8cm x 41.6cm (20 inch x 16 3/8 inch).
* I could not find an equivalent hand / sack truck for USA (i.e. robust, larger wheels for outdoor use). Grateful for any links to equivalent used in USA.
Some people think aggressive bees make more honey but I have seen no evidence of this. I have only experienced terrifying attacks and their relentless and uncanny ability to find any weak spots in my protective gear, which now includes marigold washing-up gloves under my leather gloves. See video below.
I apologise for some muffled swearing at the end. I thought I was fully protected and I thought bees only walked up … but apparently they can also walk down … down my boots in this case, plus they got one of my ears (again).
Is anyone else having the same level of aggression from any of their hives – and if so, what’s to blame? Is it nature, nurture – or just they don’t like the look of me? I mean these bees are not just a bit annoyed by my visits – within seconds of lifting the lid I have 15 stings protuding from my gloves!
And I thought these bee suits were meant to protect us but even with my DIY layer of insulation underneath (thick shirt / jeans and my trusted marigolds), they are still finding routes to attack (seemingly especially fond of my ears and ankles).
Even when I make my retreat, they don’t accept their victory graciously, no, they follow me 100 metres with one even escourting me to my front door, and attacking again when I re-emerge five minutes later. No wonder I have a persecution complex!
My Physiological Reactions
20 minutes after the above video I was in a mild state of shock. I could see that my arms and legs were covered in hives (skin looks like it is having allergic reaction) and I noticed that my ears felt like they had been injected with wax. Apparently I was shouting. I think the hives (on the skin) and ears were stress related rather than bee venom related as they had settled down after an hour.
Here’s a photo of my feet the evening of the stings. Stings in the ankles are painful. The feet swell by 30%.
For hours (and days) after the experience I could still hear their buzz in my ears. I flinched at small sounds. I jumped nervously when my wife touched my shoulder. I have, it must be said, become a nervous beekeeper!
Ankles After Bee Stings
Re-queening Aggressive Hives
Despite all the above, I’m not giving up on beekeeping! So what’s my plan of counter-attack?
Next June I will re-queen with queens that are proven to generate gentle bees. Re-queening now runs the double risk of the bees not accepting the queen and of winter losses.
So how am I going to co-exist with these bees for the next 10 months? My wife and I can generally talk through our differences, and though she can be quite scary at times (“I’m gonna get you in the night” – terrifying), at least I don’t get beaten up or swell up as a result. I know this blog is called “talking with bees” but there is no opportunity for any bee whispering with these aggressive bees. So I think the only interim solution is to put a top of the range bee suit (made from kevlar?) on my Christmas list and looking at my wife’s reaction to events (she doesn’t like to see me getting hurt) – I might get one.
Post script: Sherriff (the top quality bee suit manufacturer) have now supplied me an Apiarist Bee Suit. So far, so bee tight!
I approach the honey harvest with a mix of excitement, after all, this is what it’s all about; but also dread, as I find the extraction a bit of a drag plus it was too nice a day to be inside.
Having spoken to a few beekeepers, I decided to take off the honey on the 3rd August in order to allow the bees more time to bring forage into their hives for the winter and to allow me to use Apiguard earlier without the risks of the bees starving.
Great Expectations
I’ve always been a glass half-full kind of guy (rather than half-empty) but I surpassed myself this time.
In mid-July I had 11 supers in operation and was sure I had about 150lb of honey and was on track to produce 200lb from my 4 hives. I was even managing to get my wife excited about my honey production with grand plans of getting our toddler to set up a small shop at the end of the garden with neighbours queuing down the road to buy my local wares.
Bee Hives – Mid July
However … when I removed 4 supers on 3rd August it seemed I had about 80lb of honey. (I think the bees had been eating their stores).
And then … when I jarred it the reality was I had 35lb (70 x 1/2lb jars) and that’s after literally scraping the barrel.
I thought I was going to have 300 jars for sale to raise money for a couple of new hives and still have enough to give to patient and greedy friends who listen to my bee stories. The reality is I’ll have 30 jars for friends and 40 for sale (which will only buy part of a hive).
Still, ever the optimist, I’m seeing this result as a 350% improvement on last year and not bad considering I had one colony in April. And of course, the really important bit, is that the honey tastes fantastic (I got the ultimate endorsement when a beekeepers wife told her husband that she preferred my honey to his and he agreed!)
I have created a new page detailing my honey yields and comparing with the UK and South West averages.
Wotton-under-Edge Honey
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New Page: My Honey Yields (compared with UK and South West averages)
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