Beginner Beekeeping – Week 4

1. Beginner Beekeeping – Week 4 Fall Management

2. What’s Your Mite Count? • Economic Thresholds • Natural drop < 20-30 per day (3 day avg.) • Alcohol shake – 7 mites per 300 • Sugar shake – 4 mites per 300 (1/2 cup)

3. What if my mid-season count is too high or I’m seeing deformed wings? • Consider treating during the August “dearth” (we’ll get to how in a few minutes) • Site the hive, or prune to get maximum sunshine on the hive • Sun helps reduce both varroa and nosema

4. Fall Management Combining Hives

5. Why combine hives? • To save the bees in a weak hive • To re-queen a queenless hive • To unite a late season swarm with a strong colony

6. Weak hives • In the fall, a hive may not have thrived due to many factors and has a low chance of surviving the winter • A hive may be queenless, and too small to justify re-queening (or it’s too late in the season)

7. A Captured Swarm • If you catch a late season swarm, it may be too small to survive the winter • Hive the swarm • Let it settle, then combine (in a week or two)

8. Assess hive strength • Is the population low (i.e. not filling out the brood boxes)? • Good rule: 6 frames with brood in September • Are honey stores low? Tilt or pick-up the hive. Check frames. If you see many empty ones and it is light to lift, it may be a candidate • Is the queen weak? See week 3 but spotty brood pattern, many drones.

9. How to combine • Unite weak to strong. Two weak hives does not equal a strong hive, it equals a bigger weak hive. • If you have two weak hives, then it is better to create nucs. The smaller colony has a better chance of survival. • Pick a day when the temp is above 60 and then temps won’t fall below 50, otherwise the bees will cluster

10. How to combine • You will need to kill the weaker queen first • Reduce the size of both hives by removing empty frames, moving fuller frames (honey, pollen, bee bread), into consolidated box • You may not be able to reduce the hive to 3 mediums or two deeps. You can over-winter with more boxes provided they have resources in each box.

11. How to combine • You can’t just put the hives together because they will fight • Need to gradually combine • Newspaper method

12. Newspaper combine

13. Combining • 3 boxes

14. Newspaper method

15. Newspaper combine • Remove inner and outer covers from receiving hive (stronger one) • Place a single sheet of newspaper over the top of this hive (on top of bars), making sure that the paper overlaps the edges. • Cut a few slits in the newspaper. This allows the bees to become accustomed to the other hives smells

16. Newspaper combine • Cover the top box as you would any hive, but add a feeder. This hive may lose its field force due to the move so you will need to feed it. Cover as you would any other hive. • Leave it alone for a week. • Check it. The newspaper should be chewed through and the hives happy together

17. Consolidate • After another week, inspect the hive and see if you can reduce it further. • The goal is one hive with normal number of boxes. • But, if all the boxes are full of bees, brood and food, over-winter it like that. You can split it in the spring, requeen the split and have a new hive!

18. Mite Treatments, Chemical • Apistan (fluvalinate) • Checkmite (coumaphos) • Amitraz/Apivar • Hivastan Mites quickly develop resistance – all we’re doing is breeding stronger mites. Studies are showing sub-lethal negative effects on brood viability and queen health. Please, just don’t.

19. “Natural” or Soft Treatments • Follow label instructions and the following products are very safe and very effective. • Each has different limitations, so decide what works best for your life • Do it for the next generation of beekeepers

20. ApiLifeVar(Thymol and Menthol) • (not to be confused with ApiVar) • Tablet form – works with vapors • 3 treatments, 7-10 days apart • Put wafers on top box top bars • Close up holes and reduce the entrance • Put in your inspection board • It can make the bees a bit testy • Treat with honey supers off (and don’t put them back on for a month.) • Use when daytime temps are between 54-95° • Menthol treats tracheal mites

21. Apiguard (Thymol) • Gel form in a tray – bees clean it out and it gets all over them • 2 treatments, 14 days apart • Put above top box top bars with a shim so bees can get into the tray • Put in inspection board • Bees may cluster on the front of the hive • Treat with honey supers off (they can go back on when you’re done) • Use when daytime temps are between 60-105° • Treat for tracheal mites with grease patties, or keep Russian bees and don’t worry so much.

22. Mite Away Quick Strips (Formic Acid) • Slow release of (stinky) vapors in a gel strip • 1 treatment, works for 7 days • Put 2 pads on top bars between brood boxes • Recommended for hives 6 brood frames strong • Leave ventilation open • Treat with honey supers on if you want (formic acid occurs naturally in honey) • Use when daytime temps are between 50-92° • Treat for tracheal mites with grease patties, or keep Russian bees and don’t worry so much.

23. Oxalic Acid • Dire warnings about safety to the beekeeper kept me away • There is no approved on-label application for the state of Maine Hopguard • Just approved last summer • Results look very positive, but it is expensive and challenging for people with 2-3 hives.

24. Honey Harvest! Typical fall harvest happens between Labor Day and September 20th Now is the time to start getting your hive set for winter Repositioning frames – for winter we want honey top and sides and brood centered below A top hive body of capped brood will most likely emerge and those cells will be filled with honey

25. Getting the bees out: • Shake or brush • Dramatic but quick and efficient • Escape boards • Convenient if you have the extra day or two • Fume boards • Works great if it’s sunny and warm • Wear gloves and a veil!

26. Extracting Honey • Please don’t crush and strain – your bees worked too hard for this. • Borrow the Club Extractor • If you’re going to sell honey – apply for a Home Processor License, Dept. of Agriculture • Consider hiring a pro

27. Uncapping and spinning • Use a hot knife, or a cold knife in a pan of simmering water • If using a tangential extractor, spin the first side slowly, then the second side, then go back and re-do the first; get maximum honey without blowing out combs

28. Beeswax • Don’t waste it – put burr comb in the freezer and add it to your cappings wax • Don’t use your good pots for wax – get cheap ones and dedicate them to wax • Cover sticky wax with water; heat till it’s all liquid; pour through an old t-shirt into a bucket; let it settle and cool • Dry and re-melt the disk in a double boiler and filter through paper towels.

29. Other hive products to consider • Propolis – has amazing health properties • Pollen – super food, and in huge demand for allergy relief • (We’ll buy your frozen pollen!)

30. Fall Feeding • Medicate or not? (I don’t.) • Why are we feeding? • Feed 2:1 syrup to hives low on stores • It should be their fault, not yours • At least 1 deep or 2 mediums of capped honey on top at Thanksgiving (with at least 3 weeks to cure.) • Stop feeding by mid-October • Honey is healthier • Feed back frames above inner cover • After nectar flow • Extract unfinished honey and feed it back • Consider feeding pollen if a hive is behind or unhealthy