Beekeepers Friend

I never did find where the bees were coming from. By the time it stopped raining, it got cold and the bees are not flying. So I will just have to wait until a warm day comes back and try again.

My grandson and I finally went to the apiary to get the bees off the trailer. I put some pine straw in the doorways so the bees wouldn’t get mad enough to come out and sting us while we cleaned up. We moved the hives off the trailer and set them on 8″ x 10″ concrete blocks. Then we pickup up all the equipment that was not being used. You know- bottom boards, deadout boxes, top boards, screens, trash, etc. Just the things that makes an apiary look like a junk yard. By the time the equipment was cleaned up and loaded, the trailer looked like it would not hold any more, and besides I only had three straps with me.  We went home and had lunch with the family.

I now have only 6 colonies of bees. Five up at the winter feeding apiary and one in a garden where there is something to gather all year round. This is the best colony of all my past and present colonies. I am going to try to raise queens from this one colony to see if the queen has some traits that might be beneficial to the rest of the colonies.

After lunch, I remembered that I had not taken the pine straw out of the openings and that the bees would really be fit to be tied if they stayed cooped up for the two to four days that I was not planning on being back. I hopped into the truck and, still pulling the loaded trailer, I shagged back to the north end of the county and released the bees. Yup, they were mad! I really didn’t stay around too long. I left and seeing I still had some time before the Board of Managers conference call, I went to a close by apiary and picked all the equipment up there. Now I only have one apiary left to clean up for the winter.

I got home just one hour before the conference call and I even got to eat supper before I dialed up. That was a really good day’s work!

Stay warm and read play on the internet and research some of the bee questions you may have.  Have a great day. Talk to you later.

Sunday afternoon was spent letting my son and Daughter-in-law pack for him to go to Africa for two weeks. My grandson and I just chilled and stayed out of their way. We should have gone to check on the colony in a lady’s garden, but we didn’t. Too much going on here and we didn’t want to miss anything.

We did, however wait until his dad and mom left for the New Orleans International Airport this morning. Then we went to the north end of the county where the trailer was left with the two hives of bees still on it. It was sunny and very pretty when we left the house about 10:00 this morning. By the time we got to the road leading to the apiary, it started to rain hard enough that the bees would be very upset if we tried to move them off the trailer. We decided that this is not a good time to fool with the bees. We will have to wait until around Thursday or Friday. Maybe even Saturday.

Since it is raining, I will just have to study for my Master Beekeeper test that will be given next November. I have plenty to do to get ready for that. Review all the information gained the last two years, read suggested books, read information on the web (probably printing some of it to hard copy so I can take it with me and study away from the computer), and researching information on my Major. There are seven subjects and I need to pick one. Haven’t decided which one yet. One of them depends on me getting accepted to go to a Third world area to help them learn better working skills in raising bees. If I get to do that, then I will have completed about 3 items on the list. That would get me through the major course and all I would have to do would be my Public Service points, 10 to be exact.

In the meantime, I need to do some planning on the dimensions of the screened bottom boards and new top boards and possibly some top screens for moving bees long distance. I am also wanting to try single sized boxes for the complete hive. I have to do some figuring as to how best to change over. I will start with one or two hives until I am comfortable with that before I go all the way with all my colonies and future ones.

I am also just 3 months away from the Bee Chautauqua (workshop) and there are several things that still needs to be done before we are ready.

So I’ll get back with you later to let you know how I am faring, both in the bee yard and the Chautauqua.

I haven’t had the time to try to find where the bees were living. You know, Thanksgiving and visiting with friends. Today, I took my grandson, age 11, to my friend’s house to pickup two barrels of Peppermint Candy that I bought three years ago. I had forgotten that I even had them. When we started to load the candy, Murphy and his law struck again. The forklift started acting up. The forks would not tip up. Then the forklift died and we had to jump it off not once, but twice.

I took a deep breath and said to myself, “Self, if this is the way the day will go, then I might as well go home”. Well as it was, my wife said that we were taking the grandkids to see the Poarch Indian Pow Wow and Tribal dancers, and that she would meet me at the apiary with the granddaughter, age 5. Again I took a deep breath and told my friend that we had to load the barrels.

Nothing more adverse happened. We loaded the barrels and went to the apiary where the landowner was to off load us. To make a long story short, we had to readjust his back-loader (tractor) so it would raise the barrel high enough to pull it off the end of the trailer. Then found the boom was not long enough to reach the second barrel. But it was decided that he could come in from the side of the trailer, pick the barrel up and I could drive out from under it since I have side rails on the trailer. That worked.

My wife and granddaughter met us and we parked the Ram and trailer. We did all that we were supposed to do and on the way home, picked up the truck and trailer and went to a pizza place to eat. This morning, I discovered that the barrel chain and hooks were missing. Probably because I had left them on the trailer instead of putting them in the bed of the truck, they apparently bounced out on the way home. Now I have to make another set or replace them since they were borrowed.

As the peppermint candy is to be used for winter food, I and my grandson went, today, to pick up four colonies to take to the winter apiary. When we got to the farther-est apiary with three colonies, I was unhappy to learn that two had become dead-outs. We loaded the empty boxes and all the paraphernalia then loaded the one colony.

WE went to the next apiary and picked up all the empty nucs and one colony. That was the total to take to the feeding ground. I have three colonies already there. Now my grand total is 5 in that apiary and I have only one more to check on. That one has been in the same location, a garden, for over 3 years and is my most successful colony of all. I haven’t checked it yet. I am almost afraid to. I will run by there tomorrow afternoon after church and see if I can count on it to keep my moral up.

I don’t foresee any problems this next year. With these six hives, I will do some splits in the Spring. And coupled with the swarms I should be getting around the same time, I should be able to continue to grow on the way back to my former strength of around 100 hives (over 2-3 years).  Wish me luck.

I will be getting some screened bottom boards built for the new colonies along with new top boards. My grandson said that he will help me clean boxes and frames so I can be ready to expand when the time comes. By-the-way, I told you this grandson is only 11 years old and he is going on 21. He has been a great help. If I could just get some of my beekeepers that I am mentoring to work as hard.

At this time, you should have already consigned your colonies to the Winter mode. No need for the veil and smoker, but you always need your hive tool handy and sharp for cleaning and whittling. Until later—

I was sitting on the front porch this afternoon taking a break. As I was thinking of the projects I need to put on my To Do list, I noticed some bees landing on some Spanish Needle in my flowerbed. They were apparently gathering pollen, as their pollen baskets on their hind legs were quite full of the yellow substance. Now I lost all the bees in my back yard during the early Spring and I wondered just where they were coming from.

As I was watching them, my friend called to talk about my loading a barrel of sugar and a barrel of peppermint candy that I had bought 3 years ago. I had forgotten that I had stored them at his honey house. He needed the room so I told him we would load them Friday morning and I would take them to one of my apiaries in the northern part of the county where I was moving all eight of my hives for Winter. As we were talking, I told him about the bees on the Spanish Needle.

I couldn’t see where they were going because they were flying down low and in the shade. He suggested that I catch some of them with some sugar water as bait. putting them in a jar. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on the bees to make them look like white ghosts. Then let one or two out at a time and follow until I lose them. Let a couple more go and follow them, repeating the process until I either found the colony or I run out of  yard.

I will get that started in the morning and  around noon and see where that takes me. It could be that the bees might have swarmed, since we have had swarms as late as the middle of October, and landed in one of the supers I have stacked in the back yard to be cleaned. I might have a colony of bees that I didn’t know of.

Let me tell you, keeping bees is the most interesting and enjoyable occupation I have ever had next to driving an 18 wheeler across this US of A of ours. There is always something that will surprise you when you least expect it.

I have one more screened bottom board that I can use if I do find the colony close. I have several honey supers that I can use to start another hive with and this would be a good time to see if it is feasible to use only medium supers for a complete hive. This is the beginning of an experiment. Remember, I said that experiments are what makes a good beekeeper. And just maybe, I will find that all I have to do is cut my deeps down to 6 5/8″ and that would solve my box problems. Then I just buy some more medium frames and I will be set for the spring honey flow.

Well, it is in the morning here where I live, so I really should get in bed. My wife is cooking 2 turkeys for lunch today. We are feeding about 25-30 hungry bodies and I may have to help by going to the convenient store for something else that she ran out of. So Good Night yawl. Talk to you in the next few days. Enjoy Thanksgiving and relax with a good bee book or a be magazine.

I have said Read, read, and read some more. Well—-I followed my suggestion and have been reading (following links via the web) about a beekeeper in Southeastern Nebraska who uses top entrances only. I think I want to try that here. Not for the same reasons that he does like: keeping the snow out of the entrances of the hives and not having to mow the grass. Here in Florida, it doesn’t snow and if we don’t mow the grass, the hives would be completely invisible and we could lose some of them.

I am going to try just to see if the bees will continue on and develop well. Keeping the skunks, opossums, and small vermin out is a plus. With this kind of setup, along with only one size box, the queen excluder will be completely eliminated from my BMP (Best Management Practice).

One size box means that I will be using only medium supers. No more two or three sizes in my apiaries. Using only one size will eliminate having to take different size boxes to the field. This also means that only one size frames will be used.

Now let me explain in depth. If you use a deep brood box and you need to take a frame of brood out to thin the brood area, you need to have another deep box, either brood box or nuc, to put the frame of brood into. But if you are using only one size box then you can put the frame of brood into any box you have on hand. If you need some more brood area, all you need to do is add another box to the brood area of the stack and the queen will go up and lay some more eggs.

She will probably lay eggs in the honey supers, and when you are getting ready to pull honey, all you have to do is combine all the brood in one super and take the honey frames that have no brood and combine with the honey supers you are taking and all is well. No more wishing you had brought a deep with you. According to the Nebraska beekeeper, Michael Bush, this is the beginning of a lazy beekeeping system that is better for you and the bees. I can see where it will help me. I have been doing the normal beekeeping system ever since I started keeping bees. Now 12 years later, I am beginning to think outside of the box.

Another plus is the honey super is now all the same weight. No more trying to lift 100 + pounds (deep super). All will be approximately 40-60 lbs. Easier on the back and don’t have to keep boxes separated in the honey house. Just grab any box and put your empty honey frame in them and get ready to take back to the apiary. Another plus, when moving bees, supers, or combination, all your stacks will be the same height and you can strap them down more easily. Nice!!

Well, that is enough brainwork for now. Take care of your homework during the day and read, study, and plan for your next project. Stay warm and HAPPY THANKSGIVING  every one.

September 3, 2009 I collected a swarm in a tree. I brought it home and wanted to see if it would survive till winter. I had just decided 3 days ago to go ahead and feed it. However, when I went to check before I mixed some sugar syrup, it had finally succumbed to hive beetles. It had lasted about 2 1/2 months. It started out with about one pound of bees.I really didn’t think it could last that long.

I started to feed it about a month ago, but it was doing so well on its own that I decided to wait. My first thought was the right one. Go ahead and feed. Usually your first thought is the correct one. Sometimes, though, you can be mistaken.  I really thought that the colony was not strong enough to survive. The next time I get one that small, I will experiment again and add two frames of brood and feed sugar syrup and see if I can save it.

Experimentation is one of the ways you can learn about bees. Really, that is what the researchers do - experiment. As a beekeeper, you have to be flexible enough to experiment with one or two of your colonies so you can improve your understanding of your bees. Great discoveries usually come by accident, but some are on purpose. You will not learn unless you take some risks.

Not to say, experiment with all your bees at the same time. Just one or two at a time. If your experiment works the way you want it to, then–maybe two or three more to be sure. If you have improved the system then go ahead on and do it to all your bees. That is why only some of my bees have screened bottom boards. I am still having some not so good results with my bees. As you know from previous posts, I have lost most of my bees. Some with and some without screen bottom board. However, circumstances have made my experiments invalid. So I must rebuild my apiaries and start over with my studies.

If I seem to be long winded and not saying much, it is because, at the time of this post, it is 12:15 am and I am tired. In the future I will try to post at a decent time so my ramblings will make some sense to you.

In the meantime, your bees have probably slowed down the egg laying and are just meandering around looking for something to collect. This is the time to check their winter stores. Do they have pollen put up close to the brood area? Do they have honey? The way you can tell if they have honey, if you don’t want to open the hive, is to lift the back of the hive to see if there is any weight. If it is heavy, then there is enough. If it feels light, the you have to open the top board and check the honey super frame by frame. If there is no honey stores, then you have to start feeding and you will have to feed all Winter long. You need to feed 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. This is what we call sustaining syrup. In the Spring (Jan and Feb), you need to feed 1 to 1 sugar syrup. This what we call jump starting the queen into laying lots of eggs. This is a thin syrup sorta like the consistency of nectar.

About the middle of February, stop feeding so the bees will use up the syrup before the Spring honey flow commences. Don’t want to mix sugar syrup with your honey.

Have a good Winter and read, read, read. In the meantime, when the weather is clear and not so cold, go out and clean boxes, frames, and paint, if you so desire, so you can be ready with honey supers for the honey flow in March.

Talk to you later.

The suspense was killing me. Did I fail to advance. If I didn’t then I still had 4 months to prepare for the next session. But I was feeling that if I didn’t pass, then I would just quit and be done with it.

We had more speakers and classes for the regular workshop-like convention. Then at noon on Friday, Dr. Ellis said that he was going to leave before the Awards banquet and would like to present the Advanced Beekeeper names at this time. The wait would be over. Out of 7 students to take the advance test only 2 passed everything. Most of the others had some form of paperwork not in compliance with the rules. I knew that my paperwork was all in order along with some documents (newspaper clippings, some personal notes sent to me for jobs well done, etc). So the only thing was the one person that failed the practical test. Ha, I knew it. I didn’t get the pinned insects correct. That killed it. He called (I forgot now who) a name and the guy stood up and received a solid hand clap. Then Jamie Ellis started talking about the other student and I didn’t hear half of what he said until——-”Peaches” —-Wha WHAT!!?? ME? I jumped up and and raised my hands and probably yelled, someone said that I came off the floor about 2′. I cannot jump 6″ under normal circumstances much less 2′. But I was excited and I have to rely on others to tell what happened after that. I do remember that everyone in the room started clapping and yelling for me too. I received my Advanced Beekeeper patch and went across the street to the News paper office and borrowed a big stapler so I could get that patch on. I wanted it to be on my vest for the rest of the convention.

The rest of the convention was spent  getting complimented on my advancement, attending more classes, and getting to go to the hands on bee yard to talk to the public that was invited to the Saturday “Day In The Bee Yard”. I got credit for that for the next years test. I am one happy camper. If I make it through the next two levels, this will be the first time I ever got an award for going to school.

I know that you are tired of listening about me, the next post will be about bees. Thank you for visiting and remember to keep your veil close, your smoker lit, and your hive tool sharp.

Continued from Master Beekeeping Program post:

I asked my son how to study for a test since it has been over 50 years since I graduated High School. He said that he waited till the last week and crammed all that he could so it would be fresh on his mind. (I didn’t know at the time that he was joking.) That is exactly what I did. I crammed and crammed and in the night I dreamed that if I wasn’t a bee in the colony, then I was a beekeeper and was covered with honey, ants, wasps, yellow jackets, or I was in the honey house covered with honey, ants, wasps, yellow jackets!!. I was very strung out and on the way to Monticello, FL where the meeting would be held, I started having doubts about my knowledge.

My wife and I left on Wednesday so I could get a good night sleep and be alert for the school Thursday morning. I won’t go into minute by minute details, but I will say that trying to find the school area which was at the same place that the open bee hives were proved to be difficult in the night.  I did find it the next morning by talking to someone and having it explained that the testing site was inside another site that was not named in the directions.

I did take the test and suffice it to say that I wasn’t at all impressed with my answers. The written test was kinda ok with some reservations. 50-50 chance of passing. The practical test I knew that was a disaster. I had to guess at over half of the insects and there was no way I could tell you if they were East or West Yellow Jackets, Greater or Smaller Bumble Bees. North or South Carpenter Bees, Red or Green Fly’s, or if they were even in Florida at the time of the test. Certificates were to be given at the banquet Friday night.

After that was over, my wife and I hotfooted it down to the place we were having a cookout. It was served inside the Opera House that is over a hundred years. Had a good time just visiting with old friends and making new ones. Next day would be another story. Sooo——Continued again  hehe!

The North Escambia Bee Association (NEBA) will be hosting a Beekeeping Chautauqua February 20, 2010 at the Northview High School in Bratt, Florida.

Some of the speakers will be: Dr. Lilia de Guzman - USDA Bee Lab, Baton Rouge, LA;  Virginia Webb, Entrepreneur Extraordinaire:  Doug Corbin, Bee Inspector, NW FL; Laurence Cutts,  Retired FL St Apiary Inspector & Past FSBA President;  Wayne Miller, President  NEBA: David Barns, AFB  Testing Lab - Gainesville, FL; David Westervelt, Apiary Research Environmental Specialist I & Bee Inspector,  FL; Dan Mullins, Santa Rosa County Agent.

Registration will begin at 0700. The meeting will begin at 0800. Every one is welcome to attend. The preregistration cost will be $30 for man and wife, $25 for singles, $12.50 school students (12+) children 11- admitted free. If you choose to register at the door, there will be an additional  $5.00 per person. Please make plans to attend.

For those of you who wish to participate in the honey judging, click here.

If you need more information, please email ekpeach@dpeach.com or call Diana Miller at 850-968-2676 or Peaches at 850-206-9352. See you there.

As some of you know, I am enrolled in the Master Beekeeper Program (MBP) sponsored by the University of Florida. This program is designed to help beekeepers learn parts of the beekeeping industry that they would otherwise ignore. It also helps in public relations skills as well as teaching and presenting the story of honey bees and their products.

Dr. Jamie Ellis, a professor and research leader in the entomology dept of UF, is the instigator of this program and with the help of the Florida Dept Bureau of Plant and Apiary Inspections, and the Florida State Beekeepers Association (FSBA), can conduct the annual classroom training and administer the exams at the FSBA annual meeting. There was so much interest and applications that the FSBA offered to put on a mid year program so the students of the MBP could be spread out to keep from overcrowding the facilities. This has also helped some of the students that for one reason or another did not get to attend the annual classes and test. I happen to be one of those students.

The first year test is administered to those beekeepers that have had bees for a year or more. There was no study period other than what they learned during that year of keeping bees. To become an Apprentice Beekeeper, the student had to go to the beeyard and show the  queen, drone, and worker bee as well as show the egges and larvae. Know the difference in sealed brood and capped honey. Then to the lab to identify parts of the hive bodies, tools, and equipment. There was a written test that was part of the class. Upon satisfactorily completing all this, the student was elevated to the Apprentice Beekeeper level. I received this level in March 2008. March 2009, I didn’t get to attend as that was the time my wife was convalescing from her surgeries in January. However the college said that I could take all the time I want to complete this course. That means I could take 10 years if necessary. I don’t think I will stretch it out quite that long.

When I found out my wife would be able to make the FSBA meeting this November, I decided to start studying again. I had to have read some bee books on my reading list and completed some computer modules, which meant I had some computer websites I had to have read and/or watch some videos to gain that information. There were six modules and each one had a minimum of five websites to study. In addition, I had to have a minimum of five public service points (teaching/explaining about bees to non beekeepers). I had more than that but I was told by several classmates that I could not get more than necessary and bank them for the next year’s quota. I stopped getting them signed. Later I found out that I needed to send in all public service points I could just for the panel to review to see if we were doing our assignments!!? Hummmmm———.

I can see that this is going to take a lot of reading so I will break it down to several smaller posts.

TO BE CONTINUED———