The Bee Journal

How to Make Creamed Honey

2012-01-17T12:52:00.002-05:00

Making creamed honey is easy to do. You don't have to be a beekeeper to make it. That's because all you need is… liquid honey and some seed honey.

Over time natural honey will soon develop large chunky crystals. It's not a sign that the honey is bad and the honey won't taste any different. It's just that the crystals aren't so pleasant on the tongue. These crystals have square corners that feel sharp and give an unpleasant sensation.

Enter Prof. Dyce from the University of Cornell. He developed a process to control the formation of crystals so that smooth oval shaped crystals are created. These are very spreadable and smooth on the tongue.

But how do you get these smooth oval crystals in your honey?

It's easy: You buy them.

Visit your local established beekeeper. He'll have creamed honey on hand. Try it first, paying attention not to the flavour of the honey but to the feel and sensation of the crystals on your tongue. If they're appealing then buy some.

Use that creamed honey to seed your clear honey by inserting a tablespoon or more into a jar. Then stir the crystals in thoroughly and put the whole thing in the fridge for about two weeks. Presto! You'll have smooth, non drip, spreadable creamed honey. Your own honey gives the flavour but the smooth seed crystals give the texture.

How does this happen? Our favourite golden liquid has a trick or two up its sleeve. If you give clear honey smooth crystals it will replicate them naturally. The term is 'following suit'. The small crystals prevent the formation of larger crystals. It's very similar to how yogurt and cheese are made, although they use cultures as seed.

[Photo - this jar is 90% crystalized - notice the bottom 1" that hasn't converted yet. It's important to stir the seed right to the bottom. With this jar the spoon and beater wouldn't reach the bottom].

By the way, other terms for creamed honey are Whipped Honey, Spun Honey, Churned Honey, Candied Honey, Honey Fondant and Set Honey. All are processed naturally through controlling the crystallization.

[Photo - two buckets of purchased creamed honey that I use as seed for my own. The electric beater stirs the seed very well but it's not long enough to reach the bottom of tall jars.]

Beekeepers don't forget this is another product line you can sell. Non drip creamed honey is great for kids and not so messy. Moms have less clean up in the kitchen and that's a big selling point.

Honey can be stirred using an electric drill - see photo below. This is a paint stirring drill attachment that I purchased from the local hardware store.

More info on making Creamed Honey can be found through these links:

Creamed Honey - Dyce Method
Wikipedia - Honey

Heating and Freezing Honey

2011-12-20T14:58:00.001-05:00

Heating Honey:

In the previous post we looked at why honey crystallizes. Since it's a natural for the sugars in honey to crystallize over time, what's the best method to re-liquefy it?

The answer is to use heat, but the question is how much?

The melting point of crystallized honey is between 40 and 50 °C (104 and 122 °F). Too much heat will destroy the nutritional elements of honey. Heating up to 37 °C (98.6 °F) causes loss of nearly 200 components, some of which are antibacterial. Heating to 40 °C (104 °F) reduces enzymes.

Many commercial beekeepers invest in heated honey storage tanks. With the constant heat the honey never gets a chance to form crystals. These tanks are always kept around 125 degrees F. (More on this later when I learn more about them…)

With our small time operation with no heated tank (not yet at least) we keep all our honey in glass jars. Using glass makes it easier to heat the honey up. In previous years we kept our honey in food grade plastic containers but then it crystallized in those containers and then had to be scooped out into jars and then heated to liquefy. So now we're skipping the plastic entirely.

All family members and even a few friends save and wash all their glass pickle, relish, jam jars, etc., for us to use. We don't put all our honey in "for sale" jars until we need them. That way we don't have to buy boxes and boxes of for sale jars all at once. When ready, we heat the jars to liquefy the honey and then pour into the for sale jars as needed and label them.

[Photo - Last year's plastic pails. We still use them but the jars are used first.]

We use a pressure cooker to heat the honey in a hot bath. This is the marketing manager's (Dad's) job. He and Mom boil water in their pressure cooker. Then they turn off the heat and set the honey jars inside the hot water. The pressure cooker has a wire base which keeps the jars from sitting directly on the metal bottom. They leave the jars for a couple hours and the heat works to slowly melt the crystals.

The key is to not let the temperature get above 40°C (104 °F). At 50 °C (122 °F) honey will caramelize.

Pasteurized honey available in grocery stores has been heated at 161 °F (71.7 °C) or higher. Cooking at this heat destroys yeast cells, reduces enzymes, darkens the colour and changes the taste and smell of the honey.

Freezing Honey:

Below 5 °C, the honey will not crystallize and the original texture and flavour are preserved indefinitely.

Honey will not freeze solid. Instead, as the temperatures become colder it becomes thicker (think of the saying like Molasses in January…). While appearing or even feeling solid, it will continue to flow at very slow rates.

My preference is to scoop the crystallized honey straight from the jar and into my hot tea. In my opinion that's the best way to melt it.

(Many thanks to those experts who contribute to Wikepedia where this info came from)

Why Does Honey Crystallize?

2011-11-29T14:29:00.001-05:00

All honey eventually crystallizes. The higher the glucose/fructose level in your honey (such as Aster flower honey) the faster it happens.

Here's Wikepedia's description of the properties of honey found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey

"Crystallized honey is honey in which some of the glucose content has spontaneously crystallized from solution as the monohydrate. Also called "granulated honey."

Honey that has crystallized over time (or commercially purchased crystallized) in the home can be returned to a liquid state if stirred in a container sitting in warm water at 120 °F (approx 49 °C)."

"The physical properties of honey vary, depending on water content, the type of flora used to produce it, temperature, and the proportion of the specific sugars it contains. Fresh honey is a supersaturated liquid, containing more sugar than the water can typically dissolve at ambient temperatures. At room temperature, honey is a supercooled liquid, in which the glucose will precipitate into solid granules. This forms a semisolid solution of precipitated sugars in a solution of sugars and other ingredients.

"The melting point of crystallized honey is between 40 and 50 °C (104 and 122 °F), depending on its composition. Below this temperature, honey can be either in a metastable state, meaning that it will not crystallize until a seed crystal is added, or, more often, it is in a "labile" state, being saturated with enough sugars to crystallize spontaneously. The rate of crystallization is affected by the ratio of the main sugars, fructose to glucose, as well as the dextrin content. Temperature also affects the rate of crystallization, which is fastest between 13 and 17 °C (55 and 63 °F). Below 5 °C, the honey will not crystallize and, thus, the original texture and flavor can be preserved indefinitely.

"Since honey normally exists below its melting point, it is a supercooled liquid. At very low temperatures, honey will not freeze solid. Instead, as the temperatures become colder, the viscosity of honey increases. Like most viscous liquids, the honey will become thick and sluggish with decreasing temperature. While appearing or even feeling solid, it will continue to flow at very slow rates. Honey has a glass transition between -42 and -51 °C (-44 and -60 °F). Below this temperature, honey enters a glassy state and will become a noncrystalline amorphous solid.

"A few types of honey have unusual viscous properties. Honey from heather or manuka display thixotropic properties. These types of honey enter a gel-like state when motionless, but then liquify when stirred.

"Regardless of preservation, honey may crystallize over time. Crystallization does not affect the flavor, quality or nutritional content of the honey, though it does affect color and texture. The rate is a function of storage temperature, availability of "seed" crystals and the specific mix of sugars and trace compounds in the honey. Tupelo and acacia honeys, for example, are exceptionally slow to crystallize, while goldenrod will often crystallize still in the comb. Most honeys crystallize fastest between about 50 and 70 °F (10 and 21 °C). The crystals can be redissolved by heating the honey."

The problem with these crystals is that they aren't very pleasant on the tongue. But enter Creamed Honey/Whipped Honey and it's another product the beekeeper can sell.

In my next post we'll explore how to Make Creamed Honey.

It's Still About Bees

2011-11-23T12:54:00.001-05:00

I've taken a little blogging break while I work outside in the yard. I've been raking leaves, draining and storing the garden hoses, emptying the eaves troughs of leaves and putting all my garden paraphernalia away.

[photo - yellow butterfly bush in my back yard]

I feel a rush of adrenaline as I hurry to catch up and get these outdoor tasks done. Soon it will snow.

And before I know it it'll be spring again and I'll be so busy with the bees my backyard will again become neglected as the focus shifts back to the bees.

But did it ever actually shift away from them? I don't think so.

They are tucked away with their warm wraps on. I visit them still once a week. I even made some sugar water for them since the next couple days are predicted to be 10+ degrees C so the bees will be flying. I have two hive top feeders set up on a robbing table close by that they can go to.

At home I've surveyed my yard and gardens. As I plan my chores and make my To Do lists and check them off it's always with a mind to get it done now in the fall or winter when it's quieter and I have time. Because once spring comes there's no time any more.

I rake a little faster and trim the trees a little more than usual. Oh yes, I remember how busy spring can be. Now I know where my busy adrenaline rush is coming from. I'm still thinking about the bees.

A Beekeeper's Day Off: Road Trip to Alvinston, Ontario

2011-10-30T00:00:00.004-04:00

Yes, a beekeeper's day off!

It was time for a road trip. Now this trip just so happened to head south down to Alvinston. Our bee club was booked to have a tour of a large beekeeping plant at Munro Honey, a family based business.

Here's photos and descriptions from our tour. If you're a small time beekeeper this can certainly get your saliva running. Just think of it as something to aspire to :)

Let's start with the Mead, honey wine. Munro honey makes award winning wines that they ship all over the world. They said they can't ship to the USA but they can ship overseas.

They make flavoured honeys and I couldn't resist a jar of Raspberry and Jalapeno pepper honey. It was an amazing taste experience.

Of course we did wine sampling and I bought my favourites (I prefer sweet wines to dry) Blackcurrant, Sweet Wine, Raspberry Melomel and an incredible Aged Mead that tastes like a liquor. Amazing.

What is not pictured is the loading dock where the trucks can back right in, nor the large hot room where the deeps are put prior to extraction. The hot room warms the honey up so it flows out of the combs better.

This is the stainless steel custom built uncapper and extractor.

The deep is first set on the flat bit of metal. Then a foot operated hydraulic lift raises the deep up and lifts the frames so that they're hooked on a carrier. (You should have heard the groans of envy when he demonstrated the lift).

There's knives that cut the caps off the frames and then they travel to the extractor.

This giant extractor, with the curved lid up while it's open, can hold 120 frames of honey. It spins the honey at 200 revolutions per minute--that's fast.

They run it for twenty minutes.

They only use frames with plastic foundation. If the frames were wax foundation they'd fall apart in the spinning process.

Here's a another photo of the equipment at the starting point but taken from the other side.

They said they take the equipment apart in winter and put it all back together. They clean it and replace worn parts. They can't afford any down time in the honey season due to broken equipment.

The upright rectangular box attached to the left holds hot water where the knives are stored.

This is the cold room. It's a giant refrigerator.

As you can see it's stacked from top to bottom with silver painted honey supers.

The cold temperature halts the spread of wax moths and keeps them from being a problem.

The room can't be set to freeze though which is what the owners wish they had now.

With small hive beetles on Canada's doorstep, a huge frozen room would be perfect to store frames and to kill beetles.

This is a honey meter which weighs the honey as it's poured into a jar.

This way each jar is filled identically.

It was interesting to note that with a plant this large they still fill their jars one at a time. But one does have to have something left for the Christmas wish list :)

Munro Honey runs about 3,000 hives. In addition to honey they sell comb honey, wax, mite resistant Buckfast queens and nucs as well as beekeeping supplies.

This guy, Dad, is our Marketing Manager, but in this photo he's shopping in Munro Honey's gift store.

He couldn't resist a jar of cinnamon and butter honey.

I couldn't resist a painted wall hanging that said:

"Buzzed on Local Honey"

Their gift shop is well stocked with tasteful items, most of them bee related.

These are large vats that hold the honey wine, called Mead.

Now for a short history, mead is considered to be the oldest alcoholic beverage.

To quote Wikepedia: "Mead is known from many sources of ancient history throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia, although archaeological evidence of it is ambiguous Its origins are lost in prehistory. "It can be regarded as the ancestor of all fermented drinks," Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat has observed, "antedating the cultivation of the soil."

This is a super large melting tank.

The wax is poured out into the plastic bucket which makes nice large bricks.

The bricks can then be nicely stacked on a flat.

Or used as a table to set your lunch on.

See more below...

This equipment is used when making special honeys such as the flavoured honeys I mentioned previously.

When the honey is extracted it's piped across the ceiling and run through this machine.

The honey and any bits of wax are spun at a high speed.

The honey is heavier than the wax and floats to the outside.

The wax stays in the center and knives inside the machine cut it to keep the wax at the same size.

The cuttings of wax fall down to the floor where they are collected.

Then the clean honey is piped to the next room.

This is a large heated tank where the honey is stored.

The honey can sit to bubble out for a few days.

Then it goes into this large heated tank and from there it can be piped to any number of machines or bottlers by turning a valve.

Sweet!

Next we looked at a heated tank that holds a few gallons of honey ...

well maybe more than a few gallons.

This is a micron filter.

Our tour guide told us that it filters out any debris but it doesn't remove pollen.

Which is great because you don't want pollen removed from honey.

This is a label machine.

We didn't see it in action but I can guess it does a pretty nice job.

The day would not be complete without seeing the huge refrigerated tank used to make creamed honey.

I must say their creamed honey was very smooth.

Thanks to Munro Honey, run by the Bryans family for taking time out to give us a tour. They're great to deal with over the phone and even nicer in person.

So, are you surprised I spent my day off at a honey plant?

Honestly, it really was a beekeeper's day off.

I didn't see a single bee the whole day.

Black Wraps are Warm

2011-10-28T23:55:00.001-04:00

It feels weird thinking that the bee season is done. After being so incredibly busy balancing job and house (I don't think I did any housework all summer) and our growing hives now I'll have time to do something other than bees.

Well, you know me, whatever I do it'll have something to do with bees!

A few days ago I fitted the hives with entrance reducers (once the Formic Acid treatments were done). Yesterday and today I put wraps on the hives and removed my hive top feeders.

Our temperatures are dropping at night to -2 degrees so it's certainly time to do it.

For the first time I found bees were landing on me--seeking heat. I'd not experienced that before. As always I warmed cold bees up with my hands until they could fly again.

One hive feeder was full of bees. It was really late afternoon and it was cold. I shook the bees out of the feeder and all they did was land on the porch in a stupor. It would be dark soon and I knew they'd die.

So I took them home. I put them in a pail with a lid. I gave them some honey and left the pail on the kitchen counter. It wasn't long until I could hear them moving around--the warmth of the house brought them back to life.

In the morning they were all clustered on the paper towel in the bottom of the pail. I returned them to the yard.

[Photo - warming up some cold bees]

It was funny watching them go in their hive. Bees came outside to see them and it was like they had a big party. I'm sure those returned bees had a story to tell about their big adventure.

The sun came out today and it was warmer which helped as I finished wrapping. I noticed how much heat those black plastic wraps can generate for a hive.

The plastic gets really warm and it's pleasant to touch on a cold day. I'm sure the bees are feeling much warmer now. Like bugs snug in a rug.

A Little Snack

2011-10-24T12:00:00.003-04:00

A calmer moment. Actually it was a beekeeper's day off. I spent the day at a friend's alpaca farm in Thorndale, Ontario.

After my visit I planned to head to the bee yard.

When I went to my truck I saw that some honey bees found my sugar water jugs. I've been using orange juice jugs lately.

My friend said a neighbour down the road has kept bees for years and years.

I noticed his bees were pretty friendly and I fed a couple with sugar water droplets. [Photo - see the tongue at full extension while she slurps up a sugar droplet].

I enjoy these quiet moments, the beekeeper and the bee. I hope you do too.

In the Zone

2011-10-12T20:00:00.000-04:00

My big dream is to educate people, especially children.

So when I get any chance to talk to families about honey bees I pretty much feel like I'm in the zone. That's when at the end of the day I may be physically tired but mentally I feel energized.

Fall of the Farm at Pioneer Village over the long weekend was just that kind of an opportunity.

Every time I see a child less afraid of bees or parents with a deeper understanding of them I feel I've done my job.

Then there's the Marketing Manager (Dad).

He had another occupation which he retired from years ago as a teacher/principal but what I've always known is that he has the heart of a salesman--and the gift of gab. That's why he loves being in charge of our honey sales. He can network and chat with lots of people.

So all weekend he was in his niche telling people about bees and doing the honey talk. He proudly told people how he does the extraction and bottling of the honey.

Here he is so busy tabulating his sales that he didn't realize I'd been talking to him. He didn't know I took this picture either.

The weather was phenomenal. We had 3 days of 25 degree Celsius weather. Blue cloudless skies greeted us each day.

The leaves on our trees are turning into reds, oranges and yellows and are breathtaking. This photo is Fanshawe Lake.

As the season of beekeeping winds down I look forward to some down time. But I know I'll miss seeing the bees so much, especially when the snow comes.

I do have a list of winter projects though. I'll tell you about those another time.

Oh and our honey sales? They were great.

Celebrate Fall on the Farm

2011-10-08T22:21:00.001-04:00

The weather is much too perfect this weekend to stay indoors.

If you're in or around London, Ontario this (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend, 8 to 10 Oct, why not come out to Pioneer Village.

They're holding a Fall on the Farm weekend with hay rides and pioneering demonstrations such as weaving, ploughing and of course Beekeeping!

The Marketing Manager (Dad) was at full throttle today with 'his' display of honey.

He did let me have a couple tables for showing off bee equipment.

Of course I love talking to people about bees and answering questions. We even brought bee gear for the kids to dress up in.

I don't have an observation hive this time out but I did photograph my bees, print it in colour and taped it into a super frame.

When held up for photographs it looks like a frame of real bees. This is popular with moms and dads who usually have a camera with them.

And of course we're selling our honey.

What is that Smell???

2011-10-05T23:00:00.001-04:00

I am guilty of wearing my footwear without socks. It makes my shoes and my feet smell. I'm also guilty of grabbing the first pair of socks I can find and often they're on the floor--yesterday's socks.

So wearing the same socks on day two I guess you can imagine how embarrassed I was when I went to a meeting at a friend's house where we were expected to remove our shoes. Yikes! I do have painful feet and don't go without footwear so I convinced her to let me keep them on. It wouldn't be good to have people passing out all over the place.

By now you're wondering what my stinky feet have to do with bees. Well, a lot actually. Let me explain.

This summer was quite hot with many very humid days (London, Ontario is in the Great Lakes area which bring moist air). Many days were 40 degrees Celcius and our city even set up cooling shelters for citizens.

The bees of course were busy ventilating and keeping cool. As mid August came I noticed a smell in the bee yard. As the month progressed and the warm weather continued the smell grew stronger and stronger.

And it smelled just like my feet after wearing socks for two days.

I was removing honey supers and I remember thinking, these hives need to have their lids removed to air them out, just like my feet.

Yes I did wonder what the smell was. I knew it was a bacteria smell. Was it because the hives needed airing? My hives have keyhole entrances at the top and the bottom entrances were fully open. Was it something really bad like a disease? Was this AFB (American Foulbrood)? I had read that it had a bad smell too.

I realized I needed to ask an experienced beekeeper what AFB smelled like.

Recently while meeting with some fellow beekeepers I was busy talking but two words got my attention and my ears perked right up: Stinky Socks.

Uh oh. Could he smell my feet? I asked him to repeat what he'd said. "The bee yard smells like stinky socks this time of year," he said. "It's the Goldenrod."

I had the AHA moment then and my mind flashed back to the Introductory Beekeepers' Course. I had heard this before but had forgotten. The instructors mentioned how the fall goldenrod honey tasted fabulous but you had to suffer the smell of it.

I was relieved. I don't know what made me more happy, knowing they weren't commenting on my feet or that my yard didn't have AFB.

Carlo the Beekeeper

2011-10-01T00:00:00.001-04:00

I met Carlo De Marco two years ago when he began attending our local bee club meetings. He had an uncle in Italy that was a beekeeper. He was feeling a strong pull that many do when they reach their middle age--an urge to connect with their roots and their heritage.

My beekeeper friend Janice and I did a road trip With Carlo earlier this summer to our favourite beekeeping supply store. We helped him load up with all the first time beekeeping equipment. Hive parts, bottom boards, veils, helmets, etc. He bought one hive to start and planned to put it on his property.

John, the owner at Oxford Honey & Supply was there to answer a gazillion questions (he does it so patiently). Then we were invited to go outside and watch while he worked on checking his nuc boxes. There were about 30 small boxes lined up outside. John pulled frames and we observed queens and looked over brood.

The next thing I new I got stung right on my upper arm. I complained about how I got stung when all I did was stand there innocently. Then Carlo commented that he'd been stung too, right between the eyes.

I was shocked. I asked him if he was okay and he said he was. He sure looked fine - no swelling and no redness at all. Now if there's any sign that you're suited to being a beekeeper I'd say that was it. Even later when I talked to him he said he never got swelling at all. Janice and I were jealous. We'd been getting stung and swelling up with itchy red patches.

On the drive home we talked about bees. We also chatted about our interest in the skills and trades of bygone days such as cheese making, sausage making, etc. Carlo told us about his family and relatives in Italy and the uncle that kept bees.

It was his uncle's influence that had captured Carlo's imagination and put him on the path to becoming a beekeeper.

And now sadly I must report that on 21 August 2011, Carlo, at age 51, died suddenly from a heart attack. I send my dearest condolences to his family. He will be greatly missed. Carlo was close with his family and spoke of them with love and admiration.

I am glad I had an opportunity to meet him. There are few people willing to talk about bees for hours but Carlo well understood how beekeepers become obsessed about bees.

Carlo's back yard will hear the buzz of bees. His oldest son has decided to follow in his father's footsteps and become a beekeeper. It would appear the apple does not fall too far from the tree. And we all know who pollinates those blossoms.

Carlo would like that.

The Marketing Monster is at it Again

2011-09-28T00:00:00.011-04:00

On Thanksgiving weekend, I booked myself to attend our local Pioneer Village's "Fall on the Farm" event.

The focus is on historic agriculture and of course bees are a perfect fit. This year I don't have an observation hive but next year I will probably take a frame or two of bees to show the public.

The organizer has told me I'll have a table at the general store and if it rains I can go inside.

Then she said we could sell our honey and gave me the contact person to discuss the details.

So, I gave the info to the Marketing Manager, Dad, since that's his area. [Photo of Dad lifting a 75 lb pail of honey, but I did help].

[See the jars on the counter? We're saving all our jars. We put the honey for our use in them].

A few days later Dad called me. Yes we could sell our honey and he'd have to be there very early in the morning, not mid morning like I had arranged.

I said he didn't have to go. I could sell the honey. Not so, he said, because he's the Marketing Manager and it's his job.

I said I'd be taking beekeeping equipment to put on the table. Oh no, I can't do that. He needs the table for the honey. I said we're to share the table. He said he'd bring his own table and if it rained he could go inside the general store.

I think that means I get to stay outside and get wet.

Robbing Station

2011-09-25T21:37:00.001-04:00

I got lucky.

In the bee yard was a bit of a junk pile and this large spool, probably from some heavy wire for construction, was sitting there.

Perfect for a robbing station.

It's sturdy enough that animals like raccoons can't knock it over and better yet, they can't climb it like they can with most tables.

I set out my wet supers and usually cover them with an inner cover and then over that I put a plastic tablecloth and then a brick to hold it down.

Today was a lovely day with temperatures around 24 degrees Celcius. It was hot! The bees were busy flying.
We're supposed to have rain over the next few days so the plastic cover should keep things dry.

I also set out some honey frames from Hive #2 which was combined with another hive.

I've observed hornets and yellow jackets as they rob the frames but nobody can clean up frames better than honey bees.

I'll have to check with some construction companies to see if I can find more of these giant spools.

Here's a video of the activity:

Tips When Buying a Smoker

2011-09-16T00:00:00.001-04:00

I got an FW Jones smoker when I started beekeeping. It was a nice size and came with the protective cage around it, pictured at left.

My only complaint was that the lid didn't fit down completely tight and it would puff a little smoke from the side of the lid.

See the photo - how the cage goes all the way up. It also has a hook on front for hanging it.

Later on I got a second smoker, one to leave in the bee yard for those occasions when I showed up there without my regular smoker. That one is a Dadant smoker. It's sleeker and also has the protective cage as well.

We've used both smokers and both are great. It turns out that the FW Jones one that didn't seal completely is actually easier to use. The Dadant smoker lid comes down with a tight seal - to the point that the creaosote from the fires would seal it shut.

Photo - the Dadant smoker is lighter - the top is taller than the bellows which is good. The cage doesn't go all the way up and that hasn't been a problem.

I did manage to pry open the Dadant smoker so I don't have any complaints about it. With the slightly wonky lid on the FW Jones smoker, it never sticks shut from the creaosote. So I pefer using it as my regular smoker.

A friend has a smoker - a short squat one. Actually it wasn't what she really wanted but it was the only one available at the supplier at that time so she got it. This one is well made but the problem is that the top of the smoker is level with the top of the bellows. So when the lid is open when you're lighting the fire the flames come up and burn your hands while you're trying to puff the bellows. So you must close it if puffing the bellows. Neither of us recommend getting that kind of smoker.

Both my smokers are taller than the top of the bellows so you can leave the lid open and puff the bellows and keep your fingers safe from the flames.

Just something to consider if you're shopping for smokers. Stings are bad enough, so you don't need burned fingers too.

Have you made a smoker kit? If not here's a post about creating a smoker kit

The Ants and the Bees

2011-09-13T00:00:00.027-04:00

We've had some interesting weather in Ontario this year. Some of it has been pretty scary. A tornado in Goderich, Ontario, destroyed many beautiful heritage buildings and homes. Red Cross called me and I volunteered in their reception centre for a couple days.

Back home in London we had tornado warnings, lots of heavy rain and high winds. It was concerning.

This bad weather gets me thinking how my hives are faring.
After a night of particularly heavy rains I went to the yard and after lifting off the outer cover of the hive I saw many black ants on the inner cover. They had their eggs there too. I realized that during the night with the heavy rains they probably had to relocate to prevent drowning.

But what really caught my eye was while I worked on the hive, the ants all stood on the sides of the hive. Many of them holding eggs in their mouths - as pictured.

I did my thing with the hives and closed up. A few days later I was back again and opened the inner cover. Again the ants were there with their eggs.

That's when I clued in. The ants were holding the eggs and not running away with them because they planned to return. And they did.

No harm no foul. I don't believe they'll cause a problem since they're between the inner and outer cover. What's interesting is that they seem to be smart enough to know that my interruption to their new home would be temporary.

A Soft Touch with the Bee Brush

2011-09-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

My first year in beekeeping I was trying to do a fast flick with the bee brush to remove the bees but then I noticed several bees with their feet brushed off. I was brushing from down to up as recommended but I was doing it too hard.

[Photo - Dad taking a turn at brushing bees].

Trust me, seeing bees with no toes is a sad sight.

The next year I brushed much slower and lighter. The frames in mid summer were heavily covered in bees and they fell off in clumps. On occasion a bee would sting the brush but for the most part they were cooperative.

That worked fine last year. But this year was a different story.

This year the yard was behaving differently. Robbing was a real problem and the attitude of the bees when extracting on a few occasions in late July was pretty intense.

So I kept everything covered as best I could. But my brushing was pissing them off. Normally with a brush stroke I might get one bee stinging the brush. But this time I would get about 10. They were really mad. Then they were stinging my fingers and bumping me. They were upset. I got stung so much I had to put gloves on for the first time.

I smoked the air which I believed helped (normally I never have to smoke them) and I rethought what I was doing. I was brushing them lightly but quickly.

So I slowed right down with the brush and I used super light strokes. It worked beautifully. I mostly used the top 2" of the brush to lightly touch the bees, stroking from the bottom up. They would fly up or drop down into the hive. But the huge difference was their attitude. It was like they didn't realize I was there.

From that time on I continued with this technique, as well as covering everything up. It took longer to go slower but the end result was that I didn't need gloves, didn't get stung and I didn't need to use smoke again.

Another thing we learned this summer is that not all brushes are alike. My friend Janice bought a yellow/orange bristled brush but we found her bees got mad too - the bristles were thick and stiff and with each stroke its like the bees were being slapped. When she switched to my softer brush the bees calmed right down. So check the bristles on a brush before you buy one.

Hives are Heavy - Save Your Back

2011-09-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

A medium super can weigh around 50 lbs and hefting them can certainly put your back out. I'm not so young anymore and I find my back complains more frequently with my activities.

Dad and I developed a technique to use for inspections and when taking honey that works well for us. I found it really difficult to hold onto a 50 lb box and bend down to set it to the ground.

The lower I got the harder I found it to hang onto. Often when the box is a few inches from the ground I felt I was losing my grip.

Our hives are on a platform which is about 10" from the ground so that helps. When removing boxes we set them on a card table that we put next to the hive. That way the box is removed and set down at standing height.

Another trick if you need to bend down with a heavy box is to set an empty deep on the ground and set the box on that instead.

Sometimes if my back is aching from bending over a super that's too low down I'll put an empty super under it to bring it higher up. Then the back ache goes away.

Why suffer if you don't have to?

Remember you only get one back in life so be sure to take care of it.

Cry Murder!

2011-09-04T00:00:00.001-04:00

Everybody has to eat right? But often one creature's dinner is a fresh kill.

When watching nature shows I'd feel sorry for the poor wildebeest or zebra being chased by the hungry lion. Then they'd show the baby lion cubs and I'd feel for them too. After all they were just hungry and Mom was trying to feed them. Everybody has to eat don't they?

Nevertheless, it's still killing isn't it?

This brings me to report that I returned to the bee yard after three or four days. My plan was to check on the small swarm that was living in a medium super. A few days ago I shook them out of their hive only to find they had a queen. Their equipment quickly reassembled and them back inside I fed them sugar water.

I did have the foresight to protect them. I reduced all entrances down to a tiny keyhole. I knew the yard was in a robbing mode--between blooms from summer into fall--and I had given them sugar water to help give them a boost. With a tiny entrance they should be able to defend themselves easily.

Or so I thought.

In hindsight I should probably have removed the hive from the yard and brought it home. Or maybe just let it go since they were so small.

When I removed the inner cover I couldn't see any bees at all. I hefted the super to look from underneath but once I had raised it I saw what had happened.

They were all dead. Their bodies were spread all over the floor of the hive. Actually I should say their body parts. All that was left was their heads and legs. They had been eaten.

I'm pretty certain they fell victim to wasps or hornets--those omnivores that were over hungry at the end of summer. It was only last week that I discovered they had a lovely little queen. Then I had to be out of town a few days.

It was a sad homecoming.

Queenless Hive

2011-09-01T13:16:00.001-04:00

This time I recognized the signs right off and didn't delay. I think this means I'm finally getting a clue.

I inspected Hive 3 and found the deep to be full of honey - most of the other hive's deeps were busy with brood and some honey but not full.

Next, the supers were full of honey too, capped and uncapped. And the real teller: No brood of any kind. No capped cells and not a larvae in sight. Also, there were two more supers with drawn comb that had nothing in them. There were lots of bees in the hive. I pulled most of the frames in the deep and did not see a queen.

It was enough for me to conclude the hive was queenless. The bees were in good spirits and the lack of brood was actually a relief - better than seeing only drone cells like with hive #2. A drone layer can really complicate requeening.

I got on the phone to Ferguson's Apiaries and ordered a queen. Bill Ferguson works with our bee association to create hygienic Buckfast bees. He ships all over North America.

It's was his queen which got my Hive #1 going well and it's my most productive hive.

She arrived by mail. In the UK they call their mail system Royal Mail. That's very fitting. In our case the queen came via Canada Post in a little crate with ventilated sides. It was marked Live Animals and I had to go to our local post office to pick her up.

I enjoy that part because the couriers always find our bee shipments interesting.
The postal gal informed me she could hear them buzzing. I could feel the cool air conditioning in the building and I wondered if the bees were cold.

Once outside the buzzing stopped. The truck was nice and warm so I kept the windows up and sweated it out for them. Next I wetted a piece of paper towel with water and set it on a portion of the screening covering the cage.

Yes they were thirsty. The workers wasted no time and stuck out their tongues to lap up the water. Next they busied themselves with the sugar candy. Water probably made it easier to eat.

Next it was off to the bee yard. It was threatening rain and I could see a huge five mile black cloud headed towards the bee yard. I raced, trying to get ahead of it. I knew setting the queen in would only take a moment.

I got there in time, but it was starting to sputter rain. I already made the decision to do the rim spacer, set the cage on the bars and close up. It'd be the fastest solution and also there's often quite a few bees at the top of the hive and they'd find her quickly so she wouldn't get cold.

I took the cork plug off the candy end, being sure to leave the cork still in place on the other end and set the cage down. I carefully put a small hole in the candy to help give the bees a start (the candy was soft so careful when pressing a sharp tool into it. You don't want to stab the queen.)

I set the lid down and waited a minute then peeked again. A few bees noticed her but they weren't doing too much. Should I worry? I decided not to. It would take a few minutes for her scent to permeate the hive. So I closed up and left them alone.

Six days later I returned for a check. My plan was not to pull frames, only to lift the inner cover to check if the cage was empty. It wasn't.

The bees had been busy with the candy. The cage was covered in a huge cluster of bees. They were all very calm and looked most eager to get her out of there. No bees were setting their butts to the cage as if to sting.

[Photo - the queen, marked in white, as she exits the queen cage. Note the small green rim spacer on top to create a space for the cage to sit].

The cage was totally covered in bees and it was difficult to pick up. After picking up and setting down a few times there were less bees.

I wanted to release the qeen. I removed the cork from the non candy end. Then I waited. First a nurse bee came out. The bees were very eager and greeted her with a great deal of enthusiasm. After a few moments the queen walked out, patiently, taking her time. The bees ran after her as she walked across the frame and down into the hive.

I cut the screening to release the other workers and they scurried after their queen.

The signs looked good. I'll give them a bit more time to acquaint and settle in before I inspect again, looking for signs of larvae.

I noted that looking down on the cage it looked like the candy hadn't been touched, but afterwards I could look through the end and saw the bees had indeed been most busy and they had chewed out a tunnel in the candy. In another day the queen would have been freed.

Weird and Weirder

2011-08-25T23:03:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago a small swarm showed up in my yard. They moved into a super of extracted wet frames that had been set out for the bees to rob.

So I let them move in. I did a brief inspection after a week and saw they were clustered and busy building combs.

After two weeks I saw they had capped cells. We looked over all the bees and there was no sign of a queen. All the capped cells were bullet shaped drone cells.

I figured it was a laying worker and that the swarm may possibly have originally come from Hive #2 which did go queenless and ended up with a laying worker.

Since there were so few bees I was going to resolve the problem by doing the shake method - shake them out on the grass and walk away - let them find homes in the other hives.

The other day that's what I did. When I shook the bees most of them went up in the air. I then removed the equipment leaving them no home.

They began to gather on the platform where their hive was and several workers started to do home scenting. I felt bad for them.

A couple minutes later I checked on them. They were in a cluster. And in that pile of bees I saw a caramel coloured abdomen. She was small, but she was there--a queen!

Where on earth did she come from?

Then I realized that I had just shaken them out of their home. So I quickly put everything back together. The queen jumped on my hive tool and I set her in the hive.

Then all her workers marched inside while I stood there apologizing for the rude interruption to their day.

We Can Stay ...for a while longer

2011-08-20T01:47:00.000-04:00

Whew!

We met with the city and they were very supportive. What a relief. And a surprise. I hope it's a sign of changing times.

The old buildings will be demolished and at some point a company will buy the land and build a factory on the site. It'll be sad to see the landscape change but it's hard to argue when a new industry will create jobs for our city.

In the mean time we can stay. At least until the end of this year. After that, we'll have to see.

We've been given more time. Time to explore other possible sites.

Now I can get back to obsessing about my bees.

Finding Marlin

2011-08-17T00:00:00.003-04:00

Sometimes life's instruction comes in an unusual way. I'll never forget one of my favourite movies, Finding Nemo. It's a computer animated children's movie about a clownfish family.

In a tragedy the Mom fish is killed and the young son is captured by a diver and taken away. Now the father fish, fearful after losing his wife must go out past the safety of the reef to find his son: Finding Nemo.

Quite the adventure. I can see how it's so like beekeeping with the ups and downs along the way. We're constantly dealing with one problem or another while trying to keep up with new threats like small hive beetles.

One of the great ups is making friends along the way. In Finding Nemo Marlin, the father fish is full of anxiety and fear at the dangers out there beyond the reef. He makes friends with a blue fish named Dolly and they both look for Nemo.

[Photo - me staying cool by eating Feezies].

The important part for me is understanding the transition Marlin goes through. Somewhere along the scary fear driven journey one episode after another Marlin learns to let go and just be. Then he starts having fun. Instead of being afraid of the jelly fish he learns to jump on their tops - the stingless part.

And Marlin laughs. Is the journey still hard? Yes. Is it still scary? Sure. But Marlin has learned to relax and laugh along the way.

And so I'm being a Marlin.

We had a wonderful opportunity for a bee yard at Pioneer Village located on conservation land less than two kms away. We were a go ahead until their top brass killed the plan. So after one phone call with the bad news we have no place to go.

So like Marlin I'll continue on my journey but instead of panic I'm going to jump on the parts that don't sting.

It should be a good laugh. At the very least it should make for a hell of a good story.

Honey in the Air

2011-08-14T16:22:00.002-04:00

Usually the smell of honey in the air is quite pleasant but on this excursion I don't think it was helpful.

I took five supers off Hive #1. Three of them had been previously extracted and returned as wets. The bees had started filling them with nectar but they weren't capped yet. I made the decision to take them.

I'll put the supers in the freezer to give back next spring as wets. The reason was twofold, I want to encourage them to finish filling the three supers they were left with and then get started on the deep.

The two supers were nearly full and quite heavy - those will be theirs for winter. The deep was pretty light so I knew that the queen would be using it for brood. Last year the deeps were too light so this year I'd rather overdo it and give the bees lots of time.

As I worked alone brushing bees off the frames into the hive I noticed that bees were coming and trying to rob the boxes I'd removed but hadn't brushed off yet.

When I finished and closed up the yard settled down. I knew it would rain the next day and I had limited time. I decided to tackle another hive.

I was concerned that Hive #4 might be queenless - yes now I'm over reactive after Hive 2 had lost their queen. So I removed all supers down to the deep and pulled a frame. Lots of capped worker cells and larvae of different ages. So they're not queenless and I can relax.

Hive #4's deep weight after a heft was identical to Hive #1's. I took 3 supers from them and left them with three - two that are full and one to work on.

With the smell of honey already in the air the robbers returned. What I should have done is covered the supers to keep the bees inside and not let in the robbers.

The way I do extraction is to remove all the supers I'm going to take from. These sit next to the hive on a table. Then I place an empty super on the hive and brush off the frames into the hive. Any frames I'm not taking can then be set into the empty super on the hive. The empty super also provides a place for the brushed off bees to go so they don't just pile up on top of the box.

The stinging started then and for the first time I put garden gloves on to help preserve my fingers from stings so I could finish.

It was getting late in the day and I'm sure the bees weren't too happy with me but finally I was done. Sadly I counted 25 dead bees - all from fighting. Another lesson to be learned.

The second and more pressing reason to take the supers with uncapped frames from the hives is that we may have to move our bees next week. Our deadline to be out of the bee yard is 19 Aug 2011.

And we have no where to go.

But more on that situation in my next post.

Hive #2 - Queenless Hive and Laying Worker

2011-08-09T23:46:00.004-04:00

They say hindsight is 20/20. Well I can see clearly now the failure of Hive 2 as certain events from the last two years come to mind.

The second year I put a foundationless frame meant for honeycomb in the middle of the super. I wasn't using a queen excluder and this queen liked to come up and lay in the supers. The bees had drawn drone comb so the queen laid drone eggs. (If not using an excluder these frames should be at the outside edges). I was reluctant to kill the drones by cutting out the comb. That was a mistake. With more drones the mites increased. The whole year the hive was plagued with mites.

I also noticed three other things that were typical with this hive: They wouldn't take their meds, they wouldn't eat the syrup and they weren't cleaning the hive. They wouldn't use their homing scent much after I would disturb them like the other hives would.

They were just different. I thought I should requeen. But the second year this hive produced just as much honey as my best hive. They just did things, well, differently than I expected. I thought I was being judgemental of their unique way of doing things and opted not to requeen.

I knew these weren't the best queen genetics, especially not being hygienic. My plan was to requeen in the spring 2011. Hindsight plays its part now. I should have done it last year.

Spring came so cold and wet that the bees were behind. The hive had very few bees and their production was very slow to get going. But they did pick and things were slowly moving along.

Queen breeders were a month late and orders piled up while they waited for the queens to get out and get mated. Then when the weather finally got better we had a postal strike. No queens were coming by mail.

Then we were thrown a big loop--we were told the land where our bee yard is was being prepared for sale and we needed to find a new location. Immediately the focus changed to removing supers to downsize in preparation for a move and also frantically looking for another location.

The result was that Hive 2 fell off my radar.

I did manage hive inspections where I confirmed the hive was queenless and had a laying worker. The number of workers in the hive had dwindled to the point that I had to consider whether requeening was worth it.

The hive was also dealing with constant robbing so entrance reducers were needed.

I cancelled the queen order. If I added a queen the bees would most likely kill her. They thought they had a queen.

Next I hit the internet for advice and called my beekeeping friend. How best to deal with a laying worker?

It looked like my mistakes, their bad queen genetics and the weather were going to be the downfall of this hive. I wanted to save it.

I remembered reading beekeeper emails where they discussed the time when you have to weigh the effort of the economics to try to save a hive against its chance of survival.

With so few workers left and the season ending I had to face the fact that this hive wouldn't be able to regenerate itself quickly enough even with help.

But it isn't doomed. It can be combined with another hive.

The best website I found for combining options was Bushfarms Laying Worker page. Michael Bush gives many options to choose from and suggestions for what works best.

I opted for #7 - "Put a laying worker hive over a queenright hive on a double screen board and after three weeks, shake the laying worker hive out in front of the queen right hive. This almost always works."

The double screen will stop the bees from both hives from being able to sting each other. The main reason for the screen is to allow the brood pheromone to rise up into Hive #2. Over a few weeks the pheromones will cause the laying worker's ovaries to be suppressed and stop her/them laying (often there's more than one).

After that I could do the shake out front or a newspaper combine between the hives so they can finally get fully introduced.

I did double screen combine about a week ago and Hive #2 is dong well. They're guarding their entrance (reduced). They're on top of a strong hive that's doing fine as well. They're to stay like that for 3 weeks (see photo above).

Now they just need time to let those pheromones work. Amazing how something we can neither see nor smell can be so powerful.

Amazing too how that hindsight can come back to bite you on the ass. But the teeth aren't so sharp and painful if you can make a valuable lesson out of it.

They Say It'll Never Happen

2011-08-03T00:00:00.003-04:00

I've been told by many beekeepers when I ask. "No, it'll never happen."

The question? "If I put an empty hive into my bee yard will a swarm move into it?"

I'd ask the question when chatting one on one with a beekeeper. I'd ask the question at meetings or at visits to bee yards. They'd all shake their heads, "No, they won't move into it."

I'd always ask why but no one seemed to know why it doesn't work.

But one beekeeper told a rare story about how a swarm flew into his yard and moved into a nuc box that he had sitting in the back of his truck. Now that's convenient and considerate bees. I think those kind of genetics should be carried forward in bee breeding.

I'm here to tell you that it did happen. To me.

After extracting I set out about four supers with wet frames on my robbing table. We weren't booked for rain but just in case I placed inner covers on top to shelter them. The bees were quite happy and many came to lick up the honey.

I returned about four days later. The first thing I did was check the trees close by to see if there might be a swarm (one time there was!). I checked the robbing station. There were only a few bees on the combs. The combs were dry and licked clean and not much interest to the bees anymore.

I worked in the yard most of the afternoon, inspecting and checking supers. When taking a break I noticed a lot of bees flying over the station. They were doing circles, around and around but not landing. I knew right away it was a swarm.

Walking over I checked the trees for a swarm but saw none. There were drones there too and they were landing on one of the supers. The bees began to clump there and then several put their rears in the air and Nasonoved. Homing scent.

This wasn't the activity of robbing bees. I noticed they were coming from the west. I happened to have a bottom board so I put that under the super and placed a lid on. They all moved inside and within a half hour they were home scenting from the stoop.

Mind you this swarm is really small and some would say a swarm in July ain't worth a fly. Regardless, it did happen, really!

Removing the Bee Beard

2011-07-31T00:00:00.060-04:00

I confess that having the bees put on and walking around wearing them was the easiest part of the whole beard experience.

[Photo - Janice a first year beekeeper and me]

If you keep bees you know there are good days and bad and some days the bees are just bitchy. The hive we worked with just wasn't too happy. I think it was the excessive heat wave we'd been experiencing that made them grouchy.

To remove the bees you shake and blow them off much like how you would in the bee yard.

First I stood next to the hive and quickly thrust my body forward. Most of the bees fell off in a clump straight into the hive. I repeated the shake and even tried jumping. The shake worked best.

But by the fourth time the few bees left had decided they'd had enough. I already had sting pheromone on top of my head and so I got tagged there a couple more times.

[Photo - me post beard with remnants of Vaseline on my chin and some bee debris].

I also got stung on the temple and on the neck. Then two bees got me on the upper lip in a double tag. Ouch! Now I knew what bee-stung lips felt like. Soon I'd know what they looked like too.

Thankfully the blower was then available and the rest of the bees were quickly blown off.

Inside my shirt was another matter. There were about 10 more which I shook out.

A half hour later I found another bee inside my shirt wondering around and released her to fly away.

I soothed my stings with my favourite method: Putting frozen freezies on them. Then I eat the freezies.

I was also given an ice pack which worked great - a sponge is filled with water and frozen in a plastic Ziplock baggie. It makes a nice portable ice pack which can be given away or reused. Clever.

Daryl who won the competition said he only got two stings too until the removal when he got quite a few as well.

My sister, the paparazzi for this adventure couldn't resist documenting the whole process, including the swelling from the stings.

I can report that I'm not getting the itchiness from stings like I used too. The next day the swollen lips were back to normal--too bad because they looked like Angelina Jolee's.

She probably paid for hers. Mine were free.

And I got a t-shirt. So that's like a bonus.

I Done It

2011-07-28T23:13:00.002-04:00

I did it and I survived.

Not only that it was fun!

[Photo - me wearing my first bee beard. Behind is John Heimstra my beard groomer].

Wearing the beard was a real awesome experience.

They put the queen in a queen cage and tie it around your neck. Then my "groomer" would shake frames onto newspaper.

Next he'd pour the bees from the newspaper to my cupped waiting hands.

Slowly the bees would migrate up around the neck where the queen is.

I got two stings during the grooming. One on the top of the head and one on the thigh. But my groomer got 10+ stings.

The bees weren't very happy. John got stung so much that we had to stop.

The rules are you only get 20 minutes to pour bees and we heard from the crowds that others had many more bees on them than I did.

Photo - Daryl - the winner, he's a hobby beekeeper too.

The quality of the experience relies a great deal on having an experienced groomer.

Fans and paparazzi watch from the safety outside the screening.

My sister, Dad, Ben my nephew and beekeeping friend Janice got into the fun and posed with beards too.....

the cardboard cut out kind which were completely stingless!

Jordan is pretty young but very brave.

This was his first bee beard competition and he won the crowd favourite, voted by lots of loud cheering.

Earlier in the week we had a surprise. My nephew ( brother's son) from Australia showed up in Canada.

He was toting an engagement ring with plans to finally propose to his Canadian girlfriend. She said yes :)

He's picture below along with my niece Amber (sister's daughter).

It was a very hot day with temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius.

I liberally applied water to my head to keep cool.

Of course wearing 2.8 lbs of bees will make you warm too.

We danced down the straw runway and posed for photos. After the competition the crowds would come up to take pictures with us.

Still no more stings. The beard was stable and the bees just hung on.

photo - Ben and Amber.

The groomer puts vaseline along the chin. It acts as a barrier that the bees don't cross and keeps them on the chin.

Other competitors stuffed their ears with cotton. I didn't but many bees were over my ear and they did buzz loudly... but still no stinging.

I got a free t-shirt as well so of course it was well worth doing just for that :)

Now removing the beard, well that'll be my next blog message.

Look below for more photos....

Not Just an Ordinary Saturday

2011-07-20T10:52:00.002-04:00

I don't know what your plans are this Saturday, 23 July 2011, but this is what I'll be doing and I'd love to see you there:

bee beard grooming at Clovermead.

[photo from last year's competition]

So look for me if you're there. I'll be the one wearing the beard!

Enjoy a Family Day of Fun: Clovermead's Bee Olympics

2011-07-16T00:00:00.015-04:00

If you're in Ontario or even beyond you may want to reserve Sat, 23 July 2011 (or rain date 6 Aug 2011).

[Photo - Dad with the crowd favourite from last year's competition].

Clovermead is once again holding Bee Olympics which will also include a bee beard competition.

Families will enjoy a day at Clovermead touring their heritage buildings, historic beekeeping equipment, and seeing Canada's largest observation hive.

Several hives can be safely viewed up close from behind glass or screening (see last year's blog post). Outside there's plenty of entertainment for the children. Even our seen it all teenagers had a great time.

I hope to see you there!

Just Robbing a Little Honey

2011-07-14T00:06:00.000-04:00

Sunday was going to be a real hot and humid day. The bees would be flying collecting nectar and we planned to steal a little of their honey while they were out.

My beekeeping friend Janice was available and eager to experience taking honey from the hive. Extra hands in the bee yard are always welcome. In fact, having Janice, Dad and myself there was a real luxury.

The plan was to not take on too much and to break down the honey robbing over the month of July. So we would to extract from Hive #1 and Hive #5 and take two boxes from each hive.

Each weekend we'd extract from a couple hives. Last year we did extracting in July and September and we found it was too much to try to do all hives in the weekend because we ended up with twenty or so supers sitting waiting to be extracted.

This year, we'll free up supers to be refilled (and save money by not needing to buy more) by extracting a couple supers at a time and return them to the hive. That way no honey will sit for more than a day waiting to be extracted.

We lit the smoker. I set it on a small table a short distance away, just in case but we didn't need it. Overall we each got one sting, more than last year, but Dad and I find it helps to calm the arthritis (I should look into apitherapy).

Janice had taken the beekeeping class a couple weeks ago, so she had the brush ready, going from down to up. I prefer to do lighter sweeps up which works well. My first year I brushed too hard and found I was damaging the bees' feet.

Hive #1 is always good and their honey was mostly capped and ready to go. A couple frames weren't finished so we left them.

As we carried the 45 or 50 lb supers down the stairs I took time to do a little suggestion to Dad: If we put patio doors on the spare bedroom at the back we could turn it into a main floor honey room.

I'll keep working on that one.

The Marketing Manager (Dad) is quite busy now running the extractor and filling up pails of honey. I'm sure he's planning lots of sales.

Moving a Hive at Night

2011-07-09T00:00:00.002-04:00

The plan: Relocate the swarm hive to the bee yard.

This was the swarm that we collected from our neighbourhood a week ago. We don't know where the original hive is located but I suspect it's close by.

Day Time Preparations:

Empty the syrup from the hive top feeder into a jug.
Put empty honey super with frames on hive (so that I won't have to do it at the yard at night--that's the aqua coloured box).
Secure the hive parts for transport. My favourite tool is duct tape and yes I use a lot of it. A ratchet would be better, I agree. (Note: this hive is new with freshly drawn comb so it's pretty light to carry. Also we're only travelling 4 km to the yard).

The platform at the yard had already been set up - it's a painted plywood board sitting on a skid and the skid is sitting on a couple of cement blocks.

Preparations After Dark:

Some good supplies to have on hand are a veil and helmet - bees can fly and sting at night, a flashlight so you can see

Smoke bees into the hive if they are on the porch.
Place screening into entrance and secure in place.
I also cover the upper entrance.
Carry hive to truck without dropping it.
Place hive so frames are parallel with the vehicle with entrance facing to the road behind.
Place hive on new hive stand.
Remove screening.
Fill up the hive top feeder.
Place partial entrance reducer and greenery temporarily in front of entrance so in the morning it'll look different and the bees will orient to the new location before flying off.
Slap the mosquitoes off.
High 5 with Dad for a job well done and drive home.

Back at Home:

I'm like the army that says "no one stays behind". I don't want a single bee to get lost, so when we removed the hive I put the cardboard nuc in it's place in Dad's yard. That way an escaped bees will go inside or if by chance any bees fly back from the move site which is 4 km away, they'll go into the nuc.

Then at night I close up the nuc to keep them inside and the next morning deliver it to the yard. I let them smell home for a bit and then crack the lid slightly right next to the entrance. Once they smell their queen they're very quick to go inside.

Photo - Hive #7 is white and aqua coloured. I have a newer deep and bottom board that I'll give to this hive, but that'll be another time.

The Next Day:

Return to yard for a check
Remove duct tape from sides of hives if I didn't do it the night before.
Take photos

Lazy Bees? You'll be Surprised at the Answer

2011-07-06T23:49:00.000-04:00

Today was a hot day. The temperature was around 27 with a humidex that made it feel like 34.

It's not uncommon to see bees bearding on the outside of the hive on hot days but sometimes I'll see lots of bees out front just hanging around, like in the photo at left.

Have you looked at your hives and seen your bees do that too? Have you wondered what they're doing? Why aren't they out foraging, especially if the weather is nice? Did you wonder if they were just lazy or stupid?

They look like they're socializing or just relaxing on the porch. They're not in any hurry to go anywhere. But we know bees and they don't do anything without some purpose and these resting bees know exactly what they're doing.

While reading the book The Biology of the Honey Bee I learned about resting bees. The belief is that many workers will stay in the hive and rest. They relax and hang out. But the key thing to take note of is that they aren't just relaxing.

They're waiting.

Waiting for the call to action. They conserve their energy so they're ready to go when needed.

We use resting for popular games like football and baseball. Some team members are in play in the field while others are on the bench or in the warm up area. They're not playing now but they're ready for action at a moment's notice.

The function of resting is that it leaves a reserve pool of workers that are available to react to the needs of the hive and they're available for opportunistic events like the discovery of a superb nectar source.

The returning workers will dance the location and the resting workers will race out to the field. The game is on!

Bees Bees Bees

2011-07-02T21:57:00.000-04:00

It was supposed to be my week off. And it wasn't really going to be a vacation either.

The bees had swarmed and I'd caught them. The split from a few weeks ago was successful and doing well. It was time for a break. Time to catch up on things at home. Catch up on things like housework, gardening and sitting in the back yard doing nothing. And of course reading another mystery novel.

My vacation week is now three quarters finished and the only thing I've done is taken care of the bees.

Bees, bees, bees.

It seems everything is about them: A neighbourhood swarm collected, then hived the next day. Suddenly we realize we're out of equipment. Every deep and bottom board is in service. What if another hive swarms or I must do a split?

Off to the supplier I go to stock up with extra deeps. While there I may as well get some supers.

Then I find I'm back in the bee yard doing an inspection of the honey supers and making sure the hives have enough room.

Finally I'm done the inspection. I sit down in the yard to relax. I tell myself to think of something else, something not about bees.

I look up at the sky. It's a beautiful shade of blue and I can only see two clouds. Look at the clouds I tell myself to relax and have some fun. Imagine the clouds as shapes like you used to do when you were you

were young.

I smile. I'm pleased that my mind is willing to move on to other things. Things not about bees. I look at this cloud. What does it look like I ask myself?

I examine it carefully. I realize it looks just like a.... queen cell.

And look. I see the centre of the cloud looks like a queen bee pupae.

See. Everything isn't always just about bees.

Seven is Heaven

2011-06-29T00:55:00.001-04:00

Dad took the call.

Someone in our city had a swarm in their back yard. Could we come?

Normally we would refer them to our Swarm Collector List but in this case it just so happened that the swarm was in our subdivision.

It was only two streets away. In fact it was a house on my sister's street. And it was the house right next door to hers. Dad called me and we went over. It was around 8:00 p.m.

I called my sister.
"Dad and I are collecting a swarm on your street."

"Where?" she asked.
"We're going to the pink house," I said.
"What pink house?" she asked
"The one next to you. On the corner."
"Oh!"
"Yes, so go on over and we'll meet you there," I said.

Dad was already there when I arrived, along with the home owner, and my sister. The owner stayed a ways back from the swarm. That's not unexpected. He was being cautious.

I handed my camera to my sister. She could be the paparazzi. I noticed she stood a lot closer and wasn't afraid.

She hasn't been to the yard a lot but she's heard so much about bees and has been my beta reader for my book so she's learned a lot about them.

The swarm had placed themselves in perfect reach about 4 feet from the ground.

Isn't it handy that the bees often swarm on a branch close to the ground? I know they don't always do it so nicely, but the last two swarms were very considerate.

Dad and I opted to do the shake method since the limb was fairly substantial. This is where the light cardboard nuc comes in handy - it's easy to hold up to the limb.

After a couple good shakes there were lots of bees in the air so I took to using the brush instead and this actually worked better than shaking. I held the nuc lid under the limb and brushed the bees into it. They fell in large clumps. Then I tipped the lid and shook them into the nuc.

It would probably work well to have the deep on the ground and use the cardboard lid to catch them and then shake into the deep instead. I had a deep there but didn't want to use it because I wanted to clean it up first before putting it into service.

I took the nuc to Mom and Dad's for the night.

The next morning I put the nuc frames into the deep along with a hive top feeder.

Dad had to return the next day because there were more bees clustered around the limb - so we hadn't gotten them all--I should have left the nuc until after dark and given the bees more time.

Mom had her plates of water with sticks again and I asked Dad who removed the rocks from the bird bath?
"I did," he said. "I thought some kid put them in there."
"Yes," I said, "Mom was the kid."

We explained the rocks were there for the bees to sit on when they got a drink.

Once again Mom has a hive to observe. At least for a week or so until we move it to the bee yard.

We have seven hives now but we still haven't found a new location for our yard.

Book Review: The Biology of the Honey Bee

2011-06-26T00:02:00.009-04:00

This book is a beekeeper's must have. I learned a lot of new stuff, details about bee biology that I hadn't read anywhere elsewhere.

It answered the strange yellow stripe on the bees question.

There's a wonderful two page chart which shows the exact development day by day for all three castes - worker, queen and drone. It shows the development of egg, larvae and pupae as well as the stages of capping - this is great when viewing queen cells to see how far along they are. The chart used in queen rearing courses.

I didn't realize how many glands the workers have. Most I knew about but not all of them. Hypopharyngeal (for royal jelly), salivary, mandibular (alarm/defense), wax, poison sac, Nasonov (homing scent), Arnhart and Dufour.

The Dufour and Arnhart are foot glands. The Arnhart gland is used for footprint marking and possibly forage marking as well.

There are many detailed diagrams and charts throughout, i.e., how the worker transfers and attaches the pollen to the hind legs, grooming, use of wings, etc.

The Chemical World chapter was really interesting - how the queen's pheromones get transferred through the hive by worker messenger bees, how brood pheromones encourage workers to forage for food, etc.

The author's writing style is easy to read. There are some technical details but they're certainly not overdone (no need to skip pages or be put to sleep) and the author breaks them down in such a way that you'll get the point, regardless if you're a beekeeper or someone who's interested in bees.

Some of the chapters are: The Origin and Evolutionary History of Bees, Honey Bee Anatomy, Development and Nutrition, Nest Architecture, The Age-Related Activities of Worker Bees, Other Worker Activities, The Chemical World of Honey Bees, Communication and Orientation, etc.

References to studies are listed throughout. There's a full reference section at the back.

This book is available on Amazon.ca. I highly recommend it and certainly plan to read it again so I can absorb more of its content.

Summer Solstice is a very Long Day

2011-06-23T23:46:00.000-04:00

Wikepedia says: The summer solstice occurs exactly when the Earth's semi-axis in a given hemisphere is most inclined towards the sun, at its maximum tilt of 23° 26'. Though the summer solstice is an instant in time, the term is also colloquially used like Midsummer to refer to the day on which it occurs. Except in the polar regions (where daylight is continuous for many months), the day on which the summer solstice occurs is the day of the year with the longest period of daylight. The summer solstice occurs in June in the Northern Hemisphere.

Ever since we moved to the new bee yard two years ago I grew more concerned as I fell more and more in love with that property--concerned we'd lose the location.

Spiderman would say his spider senses were tingling, giving him a warning that something was coming. Something bad. In my case my gut was telling me. I just knew. My pessimistic self says it happened because we had it too good. The site was just too perfect. My optimistic side says it would have happened anyway. Somewhere in there is the truth I guess.

The problem is straightforward: The city owns the land. They're selling it. We have to leave. We have two months.

Lester, the apple farmer, has rented the land for years and years. He's the one who welcomed us there. Now he has to leave too.

They'll level the old farm house and the crumbling outbuildings. At some point they'll probably bulldoze the 700+ apple trees too. All I could think about is where will the Orioles, Warblers, Chickadees and Pheasants go? I've never seen more birds than on this property. It's a bird watcher's delight.

When Les told me I could feel my eyes watering up. I had my veil in hand so I quickly put it on so he wouldn't see the tears.

"Are you crying?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "Sorry. I'm a girl so I can't help but cry."
"I cried too," he said, "and I'm not a girl." He tried to laugh.

It was a sad moment. Two people who cherish the ground under their feet. Now it felt like sifting sands.

He explained that he was trying to find an alternate location for me. I realized he's like me. Trying to give a solution along with the problem. He didn't want to have to tell me but he had no choice. The hives had to go. He knew I loved it there.

I asked where he would go? He's lived there a very long time. He said he'd move downtown. He'd be most happy being close to people. Les is a real talker. I nodded. It made sense.

I couldn't wait for him to walk away so I could be alone to do what Oprah calls 'the ugly cry'.

The bees were coming and going, oblivious to the change that would come shortly yet my little world felt crushed. Only a few days ago Dad and I had installed the swarm hive, our sixth. I was still visiting the yard every few days, often just to hang out and relax, watch the bees and listen to the birds.

On my way home I stopped in at Mom and Dad's so I could let them know. Dad didn't say a thing. It's not like him to be quiet.

The property will be worth millions for some industrial company or investor so it's well beyond our wildest dreams to purchase it for ourselves. Les thought the demolition could begin in a couple months.

21 June is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of daylight. I agree. It was a long day.

Yellow Pollen Stripe on Bee's Thorax

2011-06-19T00:00:00.004-04:00

My friend Janice bought two full hives in May.

She was new to beekeeping and hadn't taken the beekeeper's course yet so I offered to help her with her first hive inspection.

Her hives looked great and she was proud to hear that her queen was an awesome layer. There were wall to wall worker combs on the frames.

With both hives we noticed the occasional worker with a strange rectangle shaped yellow stripe on their back (thorax). It was a yellow daffodil colour and to my thinking it didn't look like pollen.

It was such a perfect rectangle with such straight edges that it looked like it had been painted on. Was it some strange infection I wondered? Were the bees sick with something? Janice wondered if she'd medicated them incorrectly.

I regret very much that I didn't take photos of these striped bees but at the other photos are of Janice and her bees.

There was only one thing to do: Ask an expert.

I emailed our tech team and they advised that there are certain flowers that mark the bees with this stripe.

That was a relief to hear!

I've been reading The Biology of the Honey Bee by Mark L. Winston (I'll report on this book later). In it he says that when bees groom themselves they "have a blind spot on the top of their middle thoracic segment, and workers returning from pollen-collecting visits to certain flowers can be seen with a stripe of brightly colored pollen on that region of the thorax."

It's so nice to have double confirmation. It'd be nicer if I had pictures too… next time I will.

The Naughty Marketing Manager

2011-06-16T00:00:00.022-04:00

There once was a beekeeper/marketing manager who sold honey. He was very proud of his delicious honey. He thought his honey was the best tasting honey in the world.

One day he and his wife packed their suitcases. They were going on an exciting trip to Melbourne, Australia. His youngest grandson was getting married and they were flying down under to attend the wedding.

The day before he was to leave his beekeeper daughter thought about how proud he was of his honey. She knew he wanted everyone to taste the delicious honey. So she asked him if he had packed honey to take to Australia.

"Yes," he said, "but it's in my suitcase and not my carry on bags so it's okay."

"No, it's not okay," she said. "You can't take honey to Australia. It's forbidden."

"It's just one jar. I want my family to taste our honey."

"Australian customs won't allow it. It's against the law," she said.

"No it's not."

"Yes it is. If that honey got eaten by Aussie bees it could spread disease."

"We're going to eat it. I'm also taking maple syrup and Tim Horton's coffee," he said.

"Those are different. But with honey the Agriculture dog is going to bark when he sniffs your bags and you'll get pulled off the plane," she warned.

"No he won't bark."

"Trust me he will bark and you'll get into big trouble. You could get a fine too," she said. "That's how pests get into countries. It's because of well meaning people. Now we have Varroa Mites and Small Hive Beetles. Even American Foulbrood was brought to North America by the Pilgrims."

But the marketing manager was so proud of his honey that he refused to take the honey out of his suitcase.

"You'll get arrested," she warned again.

"Then I'll go to jail," he said.

"You'll get pulled off the plane in Sydney and you'll miss your connecting flight to Melbourne."

He hesitated.

Later that night the beekeeping daughter Googled Australian customs. Then she called the marketing manager and told him, "No bee products are permitted into Australia. That means honey, wax, bees, pollen or propolis."

"Okay, you win. I won't take it," he said.

"It's not winning, it's to prevent the spread of pests, disease and viruses."

Then the beekeeping daughter asked if the marketing manager would bring her home a big jar of Vegemite from Australia.

The marketing manager replied he didn't think that Vegemite should be permitted into Canada if he couldn't take his honey to Australia.

Mini Me

2011-06-13T20:21:00.003-04:00

I don't know why but I admit it came as a real surprise.

I put the swarm I got last week in a hive that I took to my parent's place. The plan is to keep it there a week so the bees can reorient. Then I'll return them to the bee yard.

The surprise was the amount of interest my mother is showing in the bees. In fact she's been spending quite a bit of time observing them.

When I arrived with the hive I noticed she had put rocks in the bird bath for the bees to land on. She'd also set out plates of water with twigs as landing boards.

The next day she commented that some of the bees aren't very good fliers. She noticed that sometimes they bump into each other at the platform. She witnessed caretaker bees carrying out their dead. She watched them stick out their tongues and sip water from the damp paper towel (which she keeps re wetting for them).

Then I heard that she was feeding them honey. She remembered me telling her that I would take my pails and empty combs back to the bee yard for the bees to lick clean. After she emptied a honey pail she put it and the sticky spoons out for the bees to lick clean. And they did.

Yesterday I was at their place for dinner and was informed that the bees had found a food source. I watched them flying in a bee-line up over the house one after another. I wonder what food source they'd found.

For a new hive I've noticed they aren't eating much sugar syrup. I guess they don't need it. On the weekend I'll move them back to the yard and do a hive check just to make sure everything's okay... but looking from the outside and their busy-as-bee activity I can tell things are just fine.

So after hearing about all this interest from Mom I'm left thinking that my enthusiasm for insects may have come from both parents. After all, they say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And we all know who pollinates the blooms.

Naughty Naughty Bees

2011-06-10T00:00:00.002-04:00

Saturday we had storms and some towns outside London had hail.

Then early Tuesday morning another huge storm rolled in bringing high winds and fierce thunder and lightening. They wind was clocked at the local airport at 102 kms an hour. The airport is less than a mile from my bee yard.

We all missed our sleep that night.

By Wed I knew I needed to do a drive by the bee yard to make sure the high winds hadn't damaged the hives or caused problems. I had a delivery to make and a meeting that night so I only had an hour.

This is what greeted me at the bee yard:

Hive #3 swarmed. Oh I knew it would be them. But God bless the little bees because they landed close by where I could easily see them. And they were only 5' from the ground, easily within reach.

Wouldn't you know it, my limb cutters had broken the previous week. I tried cutting the branches with a pair of scissors but they were too thick. The only other option was to shake them.

Originally I hoped to cut the branches and put them in the wooden deep but with shaking, I couldn't hold the deep with one hand and shake with the other. I needed something lighter.

I had brought one of my cardboard nucs to leave in the yard .... just in case. Well this was the just case! I grabbed it, added two frames with foundation, lowered the branch into the nuc as much as I could and shook the branch. (I only put in 2 frames so there was room for the bees).

Thousands fell in a huge clump into the box. Others took to the air, circling. I had on a veil and helmet and short sleeved shirt - no problem. They were gentle.

I shook the other branches until I got as many as I could. Then I set the nuc down on top of the deep. I left the lid partly on and waited. In moments the bees started putting their rears in the air, exposing their Nasonov glands and fanning out homing pheromones. The nuc began to fill up quickly. Within 15 minutes there were very few bees still in the air.

Then I put a moistened piece of paper towel on a corner of the screening on top of the nuc. It was 36 degrees Celsius and very humid. I knew the bees would be hot. I was sweating buckets.

In the mean time I'd made a frantic call to Dad. He came out to take over the delivery of some items that I was supposed to do that night. That left me free to take care of the bees.

I decided to transfer the bees to the wooden deep while still at the yard. Any bees that didn't want to transfer could then fly back to Hive #3. I finally relaxed while the bees did homing scents again and the deep filled up.

I loaded it on the truck, leaving only a small keyhole open - I knew they'd get hot very fast and I wanted to get them situated as quickly as possible.

I warned Mom I was coming and a request: Please set out dishes of water. I've read that the first water source bees find they stick with--and I didn't want it to be the neighbour's swimming pool. With water in a bird bath and some dishes they'd be fine.

We set the hive with a southern exposure. I took off the cover a moment to let out the extra heat. Many bees crawled up for a few minutes and then gradually moved back down into the deep.

I added a hive top feeder. I left them with an upper keyhole exit and half the entrance reduced. It was too hot to reduce it more than that.

I'd used an inner cover as a base for the deep on the ride home and I set that out front so the bees could walk up home, which they did.

[Note the moistened paper towel outside the entrance - the bees were sipping water from it].

The bees on the porch put their rears up and scented for these younger bees to find the new entrance.

They weren't really naughty, since swarming is a sign of a healthy hive but they did get me going for a few hours.

I never did make it to the meeting.

First Split Hive Returns to the Yard

2011-06-08T00:00:00.000-04:00

When is the best time to move a hive?

At night.

This event, moving the new split nuc hive back to the bee yard, was a clandestine operation. So, there's no night time/flash photos. I didn't want to attract the neighbours' attention. I had put the hive in my back yard for two weeks because I needed an alternate location so the workers wouldn't all fly back to their original hive after the split.

[Photo - next to the new split hive is an empty hive. it never hurts to have an extra hive around.]

During daylight I prepared. I was using a hive top feeder because they need to build comb on the deep--six frames and a super. By taking that off early it gave the bees inside a chance to leave and return to the hive.

Next I sealed the hive parts together, the bottom board, the deep and medium super. I'm a big fan of duct tape.

At 9:30 p.m. when it was pretty dark I took a piece of window screening and pressed it into the entrance to keep the bees inside.

Then my nephew and I lifted the hive and set it on the back of the truck.

The advice given here is to place the hive entrance facing to to the road behind so that wind from driving won't blow inside the hive. Also by placing this way the frames will be parallel with the direction of the vehicle so that when the truck sways in motion the frames rock end to end instead of possibly slamming together when you go over bumps in the road.

I had prepared the yard ahead, setting up a platform with cement blocks, a skid and a large piece of plywood on top.

I had flashlights on hand so we could see and I put in a different entrance reducer so the bees would hopefully notice the change and orient before leaving. I also put some greenery right in front of the entrance to slow their exit down.

The bees were calm and quiet and the exchange went well.

The next day I returned and gave them back the hive top feeder and removed the duct tape. The bees were flying well and orienting.

A week later the hive was ready for another super.

A note re our weather - The next day I was driving about 20 kms north of London and came through pea sized hail. But back home they only had rain.

From Lions to Lambs

2011-06-04T00:00:00.003-04:00

When I first was interested in beekeeping I spent a year researching bees. I took the Introductory Beekeeping course too. After a year of novel writing and research I got my bees (after breaking my right arm too!)

[Photo - my "homemade" grafting technique - using a double-pointed knitting needle to hold a queen cell between the frames].

When I finally got my bees I called a fellow beekeeper that I'd met to tell him I was now officially a beekeeper. He laughed and said, "You know, you're not a real beekeeper until your own bees chase you out of your bee yard."

I can tell you that I'm now a real beekeeper.

This spring my bees were not very friendly. It was so unlike them. The rains kept coming and the weather stayed cold. It was difficult to get a day when the hives could be opened.

Then they built swarm cells. This happened two summers ago too when we had a horrible wet summer. I'd heard that many beekeepers were having problems with bees swarming.

[Photo - empty queen cell from my Hive #1 graft]

Another beekeeping friend said the bees need to have something to do, otherwise they think about swarming. When it rains too much and they can't forage they get frustrated. It reminds me of a border collie dog, bred to work all day long without tiring. They must be kept busy to be kept happy.

In the last week my bee yard was like a lion's den. I got stung on the forehead for merely standing six feet away. Another bee got stuck in my hair and buzzed angrily as she tried to sting me.

I had to gear up and the bees pelted off my helmet. I was not their favourite person.

When I opened the hives their personality was different. They weren't relaxed. They were agitated. They went for my hands constantly, bouncing off them or trying to sting. This just wasn't their normal behaviour.

They were zinging me so much that I left the yard.

But ten days after the queen graft I dared to return. And I found that the lions had turned into lambs. I opened all the hives. I didn't need to do inspections pulling frames. I had my answer when just lifting the inner cover.

That happy contented hum. They look up at me and ignored me. I didn't need smoke. I don't know if Hive #1 accepted the queen I gave them (queen cell) or if they had a hatched queen that was mating but either way I could tell they weren't queenless any more.

They were happy. Finally.

And the sun has come out for a few days. It's been hot. I feel happy too.

A Knitter Grafts a Queen Cell

2011-06-01T00:00:00.002-04:00

What has beekeeping got to do with knitting? Well lots actually.

I have cute bee knitting patterns and even wool. I just don't have time to knit. I'm too busy beekeeping. But I digress.

When I did the split of Hive #4 one frame that went into the split had the old queen and I knew there were two capped queen cells there as well.

While making the split at the yard my plan was to crush the cells after I did the split. But the bees got agitated in the split hive and I realized if I took the lid off they'd fly back to their old hive. So I left it to do the next day. I relocated the split hive to my back yard--it'll stay there for a couple weeks so the bees will orient to a new location. Then I'll take it back to the yard (4 kms from my home).

My goal this day was to open Hive #1 for a second closer look. The bees had been very agitated on the last inspection which was unlike them. I suspected the hive was queenless.

On Hive #1's previous inspection the boxes were very full of honey. There were some capped brood--sporadic-- and I didn't see any larvae. No queen cells were evident and neither was a queen.

On this second inspection - it was the same. No capped brood that I could see, nor larvae. And the bees were mad. My friend Henry says they'll sound different if they're queenless. They did: Agitated.

There were a couple queen cups this time but I didn't see anything in them. Maybe the bees didn't have an egg they could use?

I got stung too. This hive has never stung me in three years. I didn't have absolute proof yet but this hive was looking queenless. And I knew where there was a queen. At home in the hive I'd split the day before.

I closed up, raced home.

My solution was to take a queen cell, one of the ones I was going to crush when I did the split. I used a sharp knife to carefully cut the cell away from the bottom of the frame. I held it carefully.

I could actually feel the queen wiggling and moving inside the cell. She wanted out!

An excellent book, The Biology of the Honey Bee by Mark Winston has a great chart showing each day's development in the life of a worker, drone and queen. Based on that illustration this queen would be hatching any time in the next two days.

This is where knitting comes into the story. I was trying to figure out how to graft this queen cell into a frame and do it without harming the queen. I brought a range of potential aids to help me do this--even duct tape.

In the end I opted to use a small double pointed knitting needle. I carefully pierced it through the thick part at the top of the cell, leaving the cell dangling down from the needle. Then I hung it across the top bars so the cell pointed downward between two frames.

As soon as the cell entered the hive the bees gravitated to it. They could smell a queen. I only kept the hive open a moment to watch while they climbed onto it. Their behaviour didn't look aggressive but I didn't stay longer to watch--the hive had been opened twice that day already. I gave them an extra super and closed up.

It'll be up to the bees to decide what to do. If they have a queen, she can dispose of the cell or the workers can. If they truly were queenless then this cell could provide them just what they need. Time will tell.

All we need now is for the sun to come out.

The Difference Between Drone and Queen Cells

2011-05-30T00:00:00.002-04:00

My first year beekeeping I remember nearly swooning when I opened the hive and saw many large capped cells at the bottom of the frames.

Oh, no! Queen Cells, I thought.

They weren't. They're drone cells.

Drone cells are large with cupped tops, almost like bullets. The cells are larger to accommodate the bigger boys. You'll often see them sticking out of the middle of a frame. They look like large golden muffin tops.

When there's a bit more space in a hive and the bees build burr comb the queen will often sneak in there and lay drone eggs. You'll lift off a super or a deep and see clumps of comb along the bottom or stuck to the bars of the box underneath. These cells often get torn apart when you separate the boxes, spilling fat white drone pupae out.

These cells can be worker cells too but most often it'll be drone comb. This is when you get your hive tool going and scrape them off.

If it's honey in these combs you can lay it out on the front stoop and the bees will happily lick them clean. I think they might even take some of the wax back to reuse too, but I'm not certain about that.

When I first starting beekeeping I had a difficult time telling the difference between drone and queen cells. But they're not hard to tell apart because they are different.

Queen cells always point downward. They look just like a peanut textured finger pointing down. If you tip the frame upside down you can look inside and you'll often see a large pool of royal jelly and a larvae inside. The nurse bees will be tending it carefully and often their bodies will be clumped all over this cell and you'll need to ask them to move so you can see.

[Photo - two drone cells and a cluster of four are to the right - notice their position is the same as worker cells. The large queen cell is far left, pointing down.]

Queen supersedure cells are customarily positioned at the halfway point on the frame and swarm cells are positioned at the bottom. But either way, the cells always point down with the opening underneath.

[Photo - The bottom of the frame, looking up. The queen cell is not capped yet and faces downward. The large bullet-like drone cells are sticking out from both sides of the frame.]

Queen cells are larger than drone cells too. Often hives will keep a couple of "queen cups" around. These are starter queen cells which look like the bowl of a tea cup. If these cells are around don't panic... but if there's an egg in one then you'll know the bees are getting serious about swarming/superceding.

An easy way to check a hive to see if there are swarm cells at the bottom of the frames is to tip your boxes up and look underneath. This saves you having to pull each frame one by one to check. Sometimes when a frame is pulled these queen cells break open or get crushed. That could be a good or bad thing, depending on whether the bees need a queen.

[Photo - this is a queen cell with a live queen jiggling inside it.... but more on that story next time...]

I hope this is helpful to the other beginners out there.

First Hive Split

2011-05-28T00:00:00.001-04:00

Hive #4 was a nuc last year. But that was then and this is now: A couple weeks ago they were packed with bees and set to swarm.

I think the only reason they hadn't already swarmed was because of the bad weather we'd been having.

After seeing the queen cells I couldn't relax, worried they'd decide to go before I'd get a chance to split the hive.

The forecast was playing games too. They'd say rain and then the sun came out. And I was stuck at work unable to get away. Would they be gone by the time I got there?

No. Whew!

I took holiday time and raced out to the yard. I did a full inspection. I was thinking if there was just a couple queen cells I might try crushing them, and give them extra supers for space. Maybe they'd change their minds.

But there were lots and lots of cells - all situated on middle frames and at the bottom. Two big cells were even capped. Decision time: I'll do a hive split--my first.

I found the queen on the fourth frame with brood and set that into an empty hive box. Next I put in a second brood frame, leaving all the bees on the frame. I also inserted a frame of pollen and finally a frame of honey into the box = Four frames total. I decided that the new hive should have the old and more experienced queen. The existing hive will have a new queen.

I took some honey frames and shook bees into the hive. Each time I'd put a screened lid on the new hive to keep the bees inside. At first the bees stayed on the frame but as time passed they were scrambling and wanting out.

I knew to keep the hive in the shade while I worked on the second hive. I used a screened bottom board as a ventilated cover to keep them in and allow them to cool themselves. I took them home. I needed to put them in a new location for a period of time so they wouldn't fly back to their old hive.

Once home and set up, I put in an entrance reducer and let them out. They went right for all the water sources in my back yard--several bird baths. The birds were perplexed at all this new activity. What I noted and will remember is that nucs can get very hot and thirsty.

(Note: The first water source bees find they will continue to go back to so you want to make sure it's NOT the neighbour's swimming pool. Provide a water source close by).

I remembered how John would give the queens a square of moistened paper towel to sip from and how it'd calm them down. So if you're picking up or transporting a nuc - do them a favour and let them have a drink, especially if they'll be in that box for a while with no way to get out. Just give them a dampened square of paper towel every few hours.

In a couple weeks I'll take the new split back to the bee yard.

I admit I've enjoyed observing them flying around at home coming and going with purpose.

So far so good. We just need the rain to stop.

Queen Swarm Cells

2011-05-25T00:00:00.000-04:00

My first mistake this spring was delaying a full hive inspection. The weather had been cold and crappy--rain and more rain. That's what made it so easy to put it off. And I still had the winter wraps on.

My full time job kind of interferes too. I'm sure you can relate. The sun ALWAYS comes out during the week when I'm working and hides on weekends when I'm free.

I took my hive wraps off a couple weeks ago when the weather finally warmed up. I did remove the entrance reducers the week prior so the bees could clean the hive easier and to reduce traffic congestion.

Finally we had a sunny/overcast day with temperatures around 26 degrees Celsius. Thundershowers were expected in the afternoon so I hadn't planned on doing hive inspections that day.

Once at the bee yard, the sun was out and I figured I could at least inspect one hive before it rained.

[photo at left of a swarm cell - it's placed at the bottom of the frame and it points downward].

Hive #4 was loaded with honey. There were capped cells in the middle frames and I found two queen cells, long but not yet capped. They were at the bottom of the fourth frame--swarm cells. Crap. The hive was bursting with bees and was obviously feeling overcrowded. The result is the bees planned to swarm.

It is actually a sign of a healthy hive so I shouldn't complain.

I left the cells as is. I hadn't seen a queen yet and didn't want to be too hasty to crush them.

Besides, destroying queen cells doesn't always stop the bees from deciding to swarm. I had given them a super a couple days prior so they had more room.

I inspected Hive #1. It too was heavy, full of honey (where did the bees get all this honey, especially since the spring had been so cold and rainy???). This hive was concerning. I saw very few capped brood, the cappings were spotty. I didn't see any larvae either. It was starting to cloud over and the bees were especially mad (possibly a sign of queenlessness) and unlike their usual calm behaviour. The weather can make them cranky too. I closed up so I didn't get through the two medium boxes to check them for eggs or brood.

A further inspection is certainly needed.

I also need to accept the inevitable. At least one hive needs to be split or they'll swarm.

All of a sudden it's time to inventory what equipment I have on hand.... I wasn't prepared for this. I thought this year would be like last year: Add supers continually and the bees will stay = no swarming.

They got ahead of me this spring. The cold weather hadn't slowed them down as much as I thought it would.

Resourceful little things. They're still outsmarting me.

Home Scent: Bee's Nasonov Gland

2011-05-22T00:00:00.002-04:00

There are lots of occasions when bees will be clustered together.

You use your hive tool to loosen the inner cover and crack it up an inch. It's heavy. It might be covered two inches thick with bees.

They might be clumped under your hive top feeder, happily building comb.

They will exploit every space that's greater than the bee space--1 cm--and build comb.

One method to remove clumps of bees is to hold the object over the open hive and shake it abruptly. Also, thumping the edge of the of the object is very effective.

[Photo - bees are walking up from the inner cover and into their hive].

Shaking and thumping can get the bees in the air and it can also throw a lot of them to the ground. If they're young bees they may have a hard time finding their way home.

A slower but very effective method is to set the object in front of the hive. The best way is to lean it against the hive. The bees will soon catch the smell of home and walk up. If they can step off the object right onto the platform it's easier for them.

Older bees will stick their rears into the air showing a tiny white area that's their Nasonov gland. They'll beat their wings vigorously and and release a homing scent from this gland. The stragglers will catch the scent and follow it right to their front door.

Read more about it on Wikepedia or see my video of it in action below.

The Power of Two

2011-05-19T21:27:00.002-04:00

When it comes to working in the bee yard, two people working together is easier than one.

But often I find I'm on my own, lifting 45 to 50 lb super boxes.

My muscles didn't dissolve during winter and I was really relieved to find I could heft the boxes right away this spring.... and yes, the bees have got a couple supers filled already.

I'm not certain where they're getting all this honey considering the wet spring we've had. I do have a theory... but I'll get into that another time.

The bees know how to glue the supers together with propolis. It can be really difficult to pry them apart. Here's a trick that we use and two people can do it or one.

I use two hive tools. First I get one hive tool into the crack between the supers (yellow tool at left). Then I use the tool as a lever, pressing down until I create a small gap between the supers. I put the second tool into the crack next to the first one. Then I lever the second tool to create a gap and remove the first and insert it in the gap--kind of like working hand over hand with the tool.
Then all that's left to do is heft the box without getting stung and squishing bees.

No problem.

Aussie Queens Say Gidday Canada

2011-05-15T15:40:00.001-04:00

I was at Oxford Honey and Supplies in Burgessville, Ontario, getting some supplies. I didn't know if they'd have queens there.
Last time when I was there and they had a shipment of queens I didn't have my camera with me.

Before leaving home I grabbed the camera, just in case. I was in luck. They had a queen shipment.

The queens had been picked up from the supplier at Toronto's airport. John advised that as soon as they get the queens they immediately open the cardboard boxes and give them water.

Warm droplets of water are sprinkled on pieces of cloth that the bees can sip from. Last year the queens were piping, a high horn sound.

As they were given water, they quieted and settled down.

The journey from Australia would be probably around 25 hours in flight.

Queen deaths during shipment were amazingly low, which is a testament to the good care the shippers and receivers give them. And why not, they are precious.

Back at the shop, local beekeepers will stop by to pick up the queens they ordered. Most of them will be used when they make splits of their hives.

I did a video recording and you can hear the bees feet as they move around.

They'd already had their water and were in a warm room. They were calm and the queens weren't piping.

The cages have a candy plug in one end and a cork plug in the other. The supplier inserts the queen and her ladies in waiting through one end and then corks the hole closed.

The screen keeps them in, lets them breathe and once placed in their new hive will protect them until they are accepted by the bees in the hive. They'll eat the candy plug to free her and by that time her pheromones will be familiar and they'll accept her as their queen.

Engage the Hive Top Feeders

2011-05-02T23:58:00.001-04:00

Homeward bound at the end of a busy day, a worker happily trudges across the platform to the entrance of her hive.

She's loaded with pollen, a sign of a successful trip.

Today there were two shades of pollen coming in, a bright yellow and a soft yellow/white colour.
The rain that was predicted didn't come and the bees took full advantage and kept flying.

Three hives have finished their sugar baggie/Fumigilin treatment so I am now using the hive top feeder - which means I can give them more syrup. They're in week 2 of a 4 week treatment for American Foulbrood (AFB).

Hive #2 is extremely slow to take their meds and also not too quick to clean their hive--signs of lack of good hygiene I think.

Hive #3 love to build comb in any extra space. I removed rim spacers to cut down on their extra space.

See how the bees build the doublesided comb with a 15 degree uphill slant? That's no accident at all.

They do that so when the combs hang the liquid honey and nectar doesn't run out. Surface tension also contributes to keeping the honey in the comb.

Certainly not dumb bugs, that's for sure.

Gold, Lots and Lots of Gold.

2011-04-26T00:01:00.002-04:00

It was a lovely sight to see when arriving at the bee yard. Gold. Large gold lumps on dozens of workers' legs.

Finally we had a warm sunny day with temperatures around +15 Celsius and the bees were happy to be out flying.

The flowers were blooming and offering pollen and the bees seemed to know exactly where to look for it.

The line-ups outside the hive were a pleasure to watch and photograph. I still have my entrance reducers in place. I'll probably be removing them next week when I do my Formic Acid treatment.

Some workers had double loads with their baskets bulging on their lower legs.

Most had packed their pollen well above their basket level. They were waddling into the hive under the weight. I don't think they minded at all.

All four hives were active bringing in the same yellow coloured pollen.

Hive #2 has opted this year to come and go from the top entrance. Typical with this hive which insists on doing everything differently than the other hives.

This just goes to show that not all hives behave the same way.

At our last bee club meeting I met several new wanna-bee beekeepers. It was very exciting to see so many at our meeting this year.

At this visit one of them, Janice, came to see our hives opened and to get some first time hands on the bees. I'm so proud of the bees' behaviour--calm and gentle, as always and no smoke needed.

Hive #1 had not finished their second baggie/Fumigilin treatment. They had eaten most of the AFB powder but aren't due for more until next week.

Hive #2 hadn't finished their first baggie/Fumigilin. This is the hive that does things differently and sometimes makes me resort to prayer. They had brown poop outside the hive in winter so I had a concern they may be battling Nosema and all winter I feared they were dead. But they keep surprising me.

Hive #3 is very busy and they had the most workers out getting the pollen--the photos are of this hive. They had finished their baggie/Fumigilin so we gave them their second and final baggie. Once that's done I'll switch to the hive top feeder. They had made good progress eating their AFB powder.

Hive #4 had finished their second baggie/Fumigilin so their treatment is done. They still had patties and AFB powder to finish. I removed one rim spacer so they had less room (hives 3 and 4 are very keen to build comb if there's extra space). Then I added the hive top feeder with syrup.

Wraps are also still on all hives. I'll look at taking them off in the next week or two when temperatures are more stable and not so cold at night.

Sister Bee

2011-04-23T00:00:00.002-04:00

I had an amazing experience with a worker bee.

There were a few bees outside the hive, stiff and unmoving from the cold. I'd just warmed up a batch, taking photos and video (which are included here but those are the only photos I took).

Then I went to Hive #2 where there were many bees standing in a frozen stupor on the cement bricks that support the platform.

I'd finished the work on the hives so I picked them up. These encounters provide an interesting time for me to observe bees close up. There were about ten of them, along with a drone. I held them cupped in my palms.

One worker stood out in memory because I could see her problem. I found her on the ground. In fact, I'd nearly stepped on her. She had a clump of pollen pattie stuck to her wing. The weight would be a problem and it would prevent her wings from locking together properly so she could fly. It would surely cause her death.

I cupped the bees in my hand, leaving a small portal open between my thumbs. Several were moving slightly when I picked them up. They warmed up very quickly and popped out of the portal between my thumbs like bees leaving a hive, one after the other after the other.

The rest were colder and needed more time to warm up. I could feel them crawling around in my cupped hands.

Each one flew off, the drone was first followed by the other workers. The worker with the pattie on her wing flew too, or at least tried to. But she couldn't fly and she ended up on the ground again.

I picked her up and took her to the truck. I had a tiny metal tool I could use the scrape the wing. Gently I rubbed the wing while she sat on my hand. She let me lift her wings so I had better access, but no luck. I could see the pattie was stuck underneath her secondary wing. It was stuck to her like peanut butter.

I put her in a queen cage and took her home. She needed her wing cleaned off and I had an idea.

At home she was hungry. I gave her honey and while she licked at it I used dampened Q-tips to lift and rub her wing. She sat on my hand and I knew she might sting me, but I decided to chance it.

I was astounded when she actually lifted and separated her wings. She held them up so that I could swab at them over and over. I'm sure she knew I was trying to clean her, like a sister bee. I dribbled water on her and then used the Q-tip to rub. Then I used it dry her off. She never tried to run away and didn't show any sign of aggression.

The dampened Q-tips worked. Her wing was clean. I realized I'd better act fast because she could fly. And she did. The cats heard the loud buzzing and they tried to race ahead of me to catch her.

She landed on the window and I lowered my honey covered finger. She latched on, no problem, her long tongue coming out.

I took her outside and stood in a sunny spot in the back yard. She ate honey for a bit and then she walked across my palm and lifted up in flight.

She circled me about five times, making orientation loops and then she was gone--headed in an eastern direction--for home.

The bee yard is about 4 km from my home so she I knew she'd make it.

I don't think I'll ever stop loving learning from the bees. I wonder what they'll teach me next?

2011 Treatment Recommendations from Ontario Ministry of Agriculture

2011-04-21T00:00:00.001-04:00

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture have released their: 2011 Treatment Recommendations for Honey Bee Disease and Mite Control

(This is an Adobe .pdf document on the Ontario Bee Association's website.

And now, an update on my hives for the record.

I returned to give them their second round of Fumigilin in sugar water but only Hive #1 and Hive #4 had finished theirs. I believe two things are the cause - temperatures have been cool and taste--if the bees could eat regular syrup they certainly prefer it.

I gave all hives their Oxysol AFB preventative treatment - mixed with sugar powder and laid out on wax paper.

It was +6 Celsius today and the hives were active except for Hive #2.

Again Hive #2 is slow to consume their patties and syrup. This is their typical behaviour.

The two 'nuc' hives (#3 and #4) from last year we're doing very well and were very active.

Although they were active I didn't see any pollen coming in. I credit that to our cool temps and lots of rain the last few days.

Hive #4 had finished all their feed/patties and I topped them up. I did not give them plain syrup, only treated, so that's all they have to choose from.

Hive #3 had lots of bees at the top of the hive and they'd built comb attached to the inner cover. They hadn't finished all their baggies.

I'll check again on them again in three days. Temperatures should be warming up a bit over the next week.

I'm holding off on my Formic Acid treatment for Varroa for another week. I want temps to be more consistently above 10 degrees so it'll be more effective.

Spring Treament: Oxysol for American Foul Brood (AFB)

2011-04-20T09:03:00.001-04:00

When reading the history of bees in North America they say the Pilgrims brought hives with them across the Atlantic Ocean to North America.

And they brought a bee disease too--American Foul Brood.

The Oxysol treatment, mixed into powdered sugar helps prevent an AFB infection from taking over the hive.

This treatment is 4 grams of Oxysol which is mixed into 32 grams of powdered sugar.

The hive is to be given 32 grams of this powdered mix once a week for four weeks.

The instructions mention sprinkling it on the bars, but a better way is to lay a square of wax paper on the frames and put the powder on that.

[Confectioner's sugar is regular white sugar but it's very finely ground so it dissolves very quickly. Baker's often use it as a decorative sprinkle on fruits or for a quick dissolving sugar for drinks].

The reason for the 32 grams of sugar is to be sure the bees take in the treatment at a certain rate.

From reading the last two posts you can probably guess that having a small scales is a handy piece of equipment to have around. Dad got our scales for under $10.00.

Here is a quote from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture on spring/fall treatments with Oxysol:

OXYTET-25-S or OXYSOL-62.5 powdered sugar mix. Follow the label directions for preparation of material. Label must indicate that
the mixture can be used for honey bees. Treat according to the label on OXYTET-25-S or OXYSOL-62.5 with the powdered sugar mix along the margins of the brood chamber. Be careful not to put powdered mix directly on to open brood. Repeat 3 times at 4-5 day intervals in the spring and
in the fall. Stop treating 4 weeks before the main honey flow.

PREVENTATIVE MEASURE:
All bee colonies should be treated.
It is not recommended to use the sugar syrup method of application or products such as pollen substitutes as carriers, as this can contaminate honey, is less effective and will promote resistant AFB strains.

Spring Treatment: Fumigilin B

2011-04-17T22:50:00.001-04:00

Fumigilin B is one of three spring treatments I do for my hives.

The Spring Feeding directions say to feed 5 grams of Fumigilin in 4 Litres of sugar syrup.

The idea is that you want the bees to eat the syrup within 24 hours after mixing it, while the medication is still suspended in the syrup instead of settled to the bottom.

I'd been waiting on the weather until temperatures were in the pluses. Most days have been anywehre from +5 to +15.

I did some measuring. A typical plastic juice pitcher is 2 Litres when filled to the bottom of the spout (not all the way to the top of the jug). I used a small scales to measure out the grams of Fumigilin powder.

Next I shook up the powder in a small contrainer of syrup. Then I added the syrup to the pitcher and gave it a really good stir.

My plan was to use sugar baggies laid on top of the frames where it'd be close and warmed by the cluster of bees.

The large bags hold over 3L of fluid but I'd been finding when filled too full they'd leak and drip once slit.

I planned instead to do the treatment in 2 feedings. So they'd get 2L syrup and 2.5 grams of Fumigilin.

[Here's 2L of syrup in a large Glad freezer bag.]

I'll return in a couple days to remove it and give them another 2L syrup.

The bees have been very interested in the pollen patties, even more than the syrup,I think it might be because it's not cold like syrup.

It's probably like fast food--ready made bee bread that they can feed the larvae.

The challenge over the next few days will be finding a day when the weather permits opening the hive. We're looking at rain the next few days.

The Future of Sugar

2011-04-12T00:01:00.084-04:00

Last week on the tv program Doctor Oz, they were discussing a recent accidental discovery about Alzheimer's disease. A doctor was doing an experiment and discovered that nitrites trigger Alzheimer's.

The brain produces insulin and these nitrites play havoc with the brain. Nitrites are found in most processed foods (bacon and deli meats, processed cheese, some beer, white sugar, flour and rice).

Because of the effect of nitrites interfering with the brain's insulin and the nerves of the brain the doctor now describes Alzheimer's as diabetes of the brain.

When the foods we eat are examined many cause our bodies to produce these nitrites and white sugar is one of them.

[Follow this link to Watch the Dr. Oz program to see the whole program.]

Sugar is also well known to cause glucose levels to spike and then suddenly drop so it's not a good energy booster. Honey is a far better choice and doesn't cause sugar levels to drop so suddenly.

Every time sugar comes up the news isn't good. The only good thing that could be said about sugar is that its cheaper than honey... but look at the negative payoff!

Historically, honey was the main sweetener used for hundreds of years. Then after North America and European countries discovered cane sugar everything changed. Sugar quickly overtook honey as a cheap sweetener.

[Photo - our bee club having a friendly honey competition].

Honey comes in so many glorious flavours and colours. It is certainly time for a huge comeback.

Move over sugar, honey's coming.

Beekeeping Suppliers in Ontario

2011-04-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

I have to say when I first started to meet beekeepers I was surprised to discover how willing they are to help.

Get us together in a room and the conversation will go on and on and on. There's a shared passion about bees that just gets us buzzing.

Another great thing about beekeepers are great beekeeping suppliers.

We have a lot of really good ones in both Canada and the USA. Some have been in business for generations. Below are links to lists of beekeeping suppliers in Ontario. (Why recreate the list since it's already on the web?)http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/food/inspection/bees/info_suppliers.htm

http://www.ontariobee.com/index.php?action=display&cat=14

USA Suppliers: Two well known companies are Maxantindustries.com and Dadant.com. Both are well respected and have been in business for years. Dadant has an on-line catalogue. They ship to Canada too.

It's Not Rocket Science. It's a Rim Spacer

2011-04-06T03:01:00.000-04:00

I'm not so sure... this might be rocket science after all because it is hard to get it just right.

I have a few rim spacers in two sizes. What I notice is that if the sugar baggie is very full I need to stack two spacers together to allow enough room for the baggie and the bees on top.

But give them too much space and they find it irresistible. They must build comb!

This just might be a new version of the Goldilocks fairy tale... trying to get it just right.

I mentioned in my last blog how my first year I got to the bee yard with my baggies and spacers. I set the them down on top of the hive and discovered that the rim spacer wasn't tall enough.

Oops. The choices were to either let some syrup out or use a second spacer.

If you're new to beekeeping it never hurts to check things out at home first before you go "live" at the hive. I laid my baggies on the counter and tested with my spacers, discovering I needed two small spacers stacked instead of one medium one.

As things ramp up in spring and it gets warmer be prepared to see lots of bees on your inner cover or on the bottom of your hive feeder. And they'll probably want to build some comb.

[Pictured at left are thousands of bees that have collected and built comb under my hive top feeder while a rim spacer is on the hive. Why both? The rim spacer is used to give some space for treatments such as Formic Acid pads but in this case the spacer was too big and the bees were naughty.]

Originally rim spacers weren't used in beekeeping and you'll see many of the diagrams in books that show the parts of the hive but they don't show the rim spacer or the screened bottom board--both newer inventions that have been created to help deal with pests and hive treatments.

[Pictured - an inner cover with centre hole].

Rim spacers are also very handy to set things down on when you don't want things set down on a flat surface. Using the outer cover is the best choice and is great to set the hive parts on because they provide enough depth that bees don't get crushed.

One thing we learned when picking up either honey supers or feeders is to check underneath before setting them down. Sometimes there are tons of bees collected on the bottom that can get crushed.

Every few days this spring as I open the hives to check baggies I'm seeing more and more activity on the top bars. The bees are gathering there to eat and they are clustering and measuring with their bodies--they're getting into comb building mode.

Sing: Sugar Sugar... Baggies

2011-04-03T03:01:00.002-04:00

Sugar Baggies. When they work, they're amazing. But when they don't they're a pain in the butt.

Here's some tips and tricks (not all my own invention) that I've learned along the way.

* Use only the blue freezer baggies. The plastic is thicker and more durable. The clear baggies can get rips and holes while handling or carting out to the yard.

* Use the extra wide seal bags for a more secure closure.

* Avoid sealing and resealing the baggies. I found that syrup works it's way into the seal and stops it from being tight and then these bags would leak later, usually in the corners.

* After filling, close 3/4 across and them push the air out and pinch the last 1/4 closed. Lay flat and repress the entire seal--be sure! (Once I picked up a sealed baggie. I was going to put it right on the frames but I set it down, laying it flat--the entire thing came unsealed and all the syrup ran out. Now I always lay them flat for a minute before putting on the hive.

* A large 3.79 litre and two medium 946 ml baggie will fit on a 10 frame hive leaving a little room for some patties. This means not having to go back to the yard quite so soon.

* Our Ontario Tech Team reports that an XL 4L baggie works well. I haven't found those at the grocery store yet.

* Go easy on the slits, two or three slits that are 3" to 4" long. The longer the slits the more the chance of a drip or stream of syrup on the edges of the baggie where it curves down.

* Don't overfill otherwise they'll just leak once slit. The bags curve and aren't completely flat when filled.

* Is the baggie empty but covered in bees? Instead of shaking the baggie over the hive to dislodge them, hold the baggie up and tap your hive tool hard on the plastic seal. This knocks the bees off very nicely.

* Is the baggie almost empty? If you pick up one or the other ends, it'll spill in the hive. Believe it or not you can pick up a baggie, even a full one, by sliding your hive tool through the slits in the baggie. Lift it straight up and away from the hive.

* One beekeeping friend is economical and he refills his. He holds the baggie by the tool (as described above--and pours fresh syrup into it and places it in the hive. He's pretty brave. I confess I did this once and it did work.

* Always have extra unused baggies on hand at bee yard. When one bag suddenly leaked or another got a hole I was able to quickly pour the syrup into another baggie.

* Place the sealed edge of the baggie towards the outside edges of the hive. Just a precaution in case it leaks.

* Make sure your rim spacer(s) are tall enough to leave a bee space on top of the baggie once the inner cover is in place. Test them at home before you leave. Once at the yard after placing the baggie and spacer on the hive I discovered there wasn't enough room. I had to remove the baggie and pour some out.

* Are there bees on the frames in the way and you want to set the baggie down? You can smoke them to move. For the remaining bees, instead of crushing them I set the bottom end of the baggie down and then slowly lower the baggie until it just touches the bees and then raise it slightly. This lets the bees know somethings coming and they need to shift out of the way.

* As soon as you remove the old baggie, put the new one in place before the bees walk into that blank space, causing you to have to smoke them out of the way.

* Set the baggie next to the cluster. This year I put the patties over the cluster and put the baggies close to but not completely on top of them. I did this because syrup dripping on bees in early spring can kill them (I started feeding in mid March).

* And finally, don't be an absentminded beekeeper, remember to slit your baggies before you close the hive.

An Absentminded Beekeeper

2011-03-31T03:01:00.000-04:00

There's probably only one thing that irritates bees more than stealing their honey.

And that's an absentminded beekeeper.

It turns out that in my last visit I not only forgot my boots. I forgot to use my box cutter to put slits in one of the sugar baggies on Hive #1.

The bees were crawling over it. Oh, they knew what was inside but they couldn't get at it.

I apologized and quickly slit their baggie. I gave them an extra large helping of patties.

It was sunny today with temperatures around +3 Celsius. Most of our snow has melted and although the temperatures are still cool, we're all hopeful for spring temperatures soon.

Nuc #2 had not eaten their sugar syrup and I checked the baggies and they were slit. They were busy eating the patties so I gave them more.

Nuc #1 was busy eating everything and I topped them up with fresh baggies and more patties.

Hive #2 is doing well--this is the one I was concerned about. They were busy eating pollen but they hadn't finished they syrup yet.

Hive #1 had consumed one baggie and the second was the one I forgot to slit. They were also munching on pollen patties.

Outside the hives sadly, I noticed lots of little round melted holes in the snow in front of the four hives--little tombs where bees flew out and hit the snow and got too cold.

They probably ramped up their muscles to generate heat to fly but instead it caused the snow to melt around them and they sunk down deeper into the snow.

I closed the hives and put the wraps back on.

I have not done a Fumigilin treatment in their syrup yet because it needs to be eaten quickly by the bees to be effective.

I'll wait another week or so until it's warmer.

Oh, and this time, I had my boots.

Make Friends with the Local Donut Shop

2011-03-28T21:15:00.000-04:00

They say if you're looking for a cop you should go to a donut shop. But I think you're more likely to find a beekeeper there.

Why?

It's all about storage.

Honey is food and because it's a food it should be stored in a food safe container.

Just any plastic container won't do. Use Food Grade Plastic to store your honey--that is if your choice of container is plastic.

So what has this got to do with making friends with the local donut shop?

These shops use large pails on a daily basis. They come loaded with donut batter or muffin mix and are thrown away when they're empty. These pails have great fitting lids and they're made with food grade plastic.

Often you can get them for free.

There are other sources to consider as well. The local ice cream store and fast food stores.

Addition: I'm thinking that it's best to avoid pails that have ever had Peanuts in them - like peanut butter pails from bulk food stores, or peanut ice creams. Some people have really severe peanut allergies and it might be possible that even a well washed pail has some residue peanut oil.

Now a caveat about plastic and honey. We filled plastic pails with honey but then it crystallized--see the photo at left. So since last summer we've had to scoop out this hard honey and warm it up in order to jar it.

So this year we're changing our plan and we'll jar all our honey right after extraction.

Jars are much easier to warm up if the honey crystallizes. Of course a metal heated storage tank would be ideal, but that's a major expense.

We'll purchase lots of jars for the sale honey and when they're full we'll fill large glass jars that we've saved -- pickles, pasta sauce jars, etc. This reminds me of years back when we saved all our jars for Mom to use for canning. We did recycling like this for most of my life.

I guess we're back at it again.

Earth Hour: Take a break and turn off the lights

2011-03-26T03:00:00.000-04:00

Tonight is Earth Hour.

From 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, on 26 March 2011, everyone is encouraged to turn out their lights.

And it's just for one hour... like the time it takes to have a nap or to have quality time with the kids. And you help save the planet at the same time.

The bees will like that.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. In 2010, over 10 million Canadians turned out the lights for Earth Hour in over 300 cities and towns across Canada.

Participating in Earth Hour is a simple way to show your support for climate change solutions and sends a powerful message that together we can make a difference.

For more information visit the World Wildlife Fund website: http://wwf.ca/earthhour/

... now stop reading this and go get your candles ready!

I'll see you again when the power is back on :)

Feed Check and Bring the Boots

2011-03-23T22:49:00.000-04:00

The first thing I forgot to bring were my boots.

But I did think to change my footwear before heading out of the house, but in the shuffle I forgot.

The weather warmed up to between 2 to 10+ degrees and the last of the snow melted, adding more water to the mostly frozen ground.

As I write this it has snowed once again, typical for a Canadian spring. Everything is covered in a blanket of white. Oh well. It too shall melt one day.

It was about -3 and so I moved quickly so again, no photos showing the inside of the hive. But here's the report:

For all four hives, the bees had finished their sugar baggies--this probably in the three or four warmer days. There were many of them clustered over the pollen patties, happily eating them.

I gave them all fresh baggies and more patties, putting them into every space on the frames. I knew the weather would be colder again so I wanted to take advantage of this day to top them up. Then if the weather warmed again or the cluster moved over they could take advantage of the feed.

I picked up a few stray bees that fell and warmed them with my hands. Their tongues were quick to lick my skin because it was covered with sticky syrup. They are hungry!

The mud was bad and was sucking my running shoes right off my feet as I tried to work. I got so frustrated I put a piece of plastic/cardboard down to stand on. Note to self: Put some sand around the hives to fill in the low spots where water collects.

I thank God the bees are alive, despite the mistakes I had made. I consider myself fortunate and don't credit it to any great beekeeping skill on my part. I have learned though and will apply all the knowledge I've gained as I work with the bees.

Now let's just hope the snow will melt and we'll have a warm spring.

Hive Check

2011-03-20T03:01:00.000-04:00

It was 0 degrees, overcast, but warm. There was still snow on the ground, wet and heavy, from the rain/snow mix the night before.

It's a sign of spring. We can feel it in the air, the back of winter's deep chill is broken. It still gets cold, mostly at night, but not the bone chilling cold of deep winter.

Spring will find a way. And so will the bees.

A week ago I added rim spacers and sugar baggies. I checked each hive and on 3 of the 4 hives the bees were down in the frames. On Hive #2 the bees were in the frames and on the top bars, surrounded by the sugar baggies but they weren't breaking cluster to crawl over them.

I put some tiny holes in the plastic edge close to them and they responded to the sugar droplets.

Next week's forecast is all in the pluses--+7, +11. I should think the bees will break cluster and find the feed there waiting for them. (I'm not sure at what temperature bees break cluster?)

Outside they were flying and bringing out the dead. The chickadees were quick to swoop down and fly off with the bodies.

It's sad watching the bees hit the snow and struggle. I put a finger down and they clasp on readily. They warm themselves from the heat of my hands. Then they reward me by pooping on my finger.

Below was supposed to be a photo but the camera was set to video and I was moving quickly - so it's actually a 2 second video of Hive #2 with the sugar baggies on the top bars.

SHB Causes Quarantine in Essex County, Southern Ontario

2011-03-17T03:06:00.000-04:00

SHB - unfortunately this acrynom is now part of the Canadian beekeeper's language: Small Hive Beetle.

The beetle has been causing problems for bees throughout the USA and now it's arrived in Canada--in Ontario. Here's a link to an article from Chatham This Week about the quarantine.

The official notice of the quarantine is posted on the OMAFRA (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs) web site at: Notice Of Quarantine Area or you can read it below:

For BeesAuthor: Food Inspection Branch OMAFRA

Creation Date: 07 March 2011

Last Reviewed: 07 March 2011

Preventing The Spread Of Small Hive Beetle In Essex County And Chatham-Kent

March 7, 2011

A quarantine area has been established for bees in Essex County and part of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent to prevent the spread of small hive beetle to other areas of the province and to protect the integrity of Ontario's beekeeping industry.

On March 7, 2011, the Chief Veterinarian for Ontario issued a declaration under the Bees Act establishing the quarantine area and outlining responsibilities for all beekeepers or persons with beekeeping equipment within the quarantine area. As a result of the declaration, these persons must:

* not move their bee colonies or equipment within or out of the quarantine area without the prior written approval of the Provincial Apiarist

* report any previously unreported findings of small hive beetle to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA)

* participate in surveillance and treatment as directed by the Provincial Apiarist

* follow specific biosecurity measures listed in the declaration (e.g., cleansing of footwear and disinfection of utensils)

In September 2010, small hive beetle, Aethina tumida, was confirmed in Essex County beekeeping operations and OMAFRA responded immediately with quarantines on individual yards where small hive beetle was observed. OMAFRA continues to work with the beekeeping industry and other stakeholders to manage this new pest of honey bee colonies..

Establishing a quarantine area at this time, prior to the start of the beekeeping season provides the best opportunity to control movement of bees and prevent the inadvertent spread of small hive beetle from any yard where it might be present but not yet detected.

Background

Small hive beetle does not affect food safety or human health.

Small hive beetle is an emerging and invasive pest of the European honey bee that has established in most regions of the United States. There have been confirmed findings in southern Quebec and western Canada. However, to date, it is not known whether small hive beetle has established a resident population anywhere in Ontario beyond the quarantine area.
Small hive beetle is a significant risk to honey bee colony health and can damage beekeeping equipment and spoil honey. It can be spread through the movement of honey bee colonies and equipment, and beekeeper activities.

In the fall of 2010, quarantines were placed on 16 beekeeping yards and one processing facility in Essex County under the Animal Health Act, 2009. In January 2011, small hive beetle was added under the regulations of the Ontario Bees Act as a named pest. The establishment of a quarantine area under the Bees Act complements these measures to further control the risk of spread to other areas of the province.

The specific boundaries of the quarantine are all of Essex County and the part of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent lying south-westward of a line made up of a Town Line Road, Pump Road and Merlin Road (also known as County Road 7), as if these roadways extended continuously from points of intersection with the shorelines of Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie (see map).

Susan Murray, Communications, 519-826-3145

For more information:

Toll Free: 1-877-424-1300

Local: (519) 826-4047

Make Candles for Earth Hour 26 March 2011

2011-03-14T03:01:00.000-04:00

Earth Hour is 8:30 p.m., EST on 26 March 2011

This is a heads up to get your beeswax candles made in time for Earth Hour on 26 March 2011.

At 8:30 p.m. EST everyone around the globe is asked to participate for one hour, turning off all their lights.

This would be a perfect time for a candle lit hour. Consider a late romantic dinner by candlelight or just enjoy the peace in the glow of a candle flame.

Here's a link to a previous blog post on: How to Make Beeswax Candles using a rubber mould.

I have my wax in a crock pot, set on low heat so it can melt slowly. Always remember that wax can ignite if it's on a high temperature.

This time I did it right where the cord is pulled up from the bottom of the mould. The bottom ends up being the top of the candle when it's done.

When the candle is pulled out, the cord is still threaded and ready for the next candle to be poured.

I discovered by accident that the candles will come out without using a spray release.. but only a few times...oops!

This year I'm making candles for my family and for friends as gifts that they can use for Earth Hour.

Here's a link to the World Wildlife Fund's website with more info about Earth Hour.

It Ain't Over Until It's Over

2011-03-11T07:08:00.000-05:00

"Surprise. We're alive."

I'm sure that's what the bees were saying in Hive #2. To be honest, I expected to find a dead out. I was going to put in the feed even if I didn't see bees. I decided ahead I would not knock on the hive and irritate the bees just to see if they were alive.

[Photo - Last night's snow's all tramped down but the sun is shining warmly. No photos of open hives because I was working quickly].

The bees in Hive #2 were clustered in the frames and many were on the top bars of the hive. I had to smoke them a bit to get them to move down. Moving as quickly as I could I added a rim spacer and a large and small Ziploc baggie along with a small piece of pollen patty (not sure if I should be giving that or not).

Then I closed up the hive. They were alive! Wow!

[Photo - this chickadee enjoys lunching on dead bees].

On Hives 1, and 4 the bees were down in the frames. I could hear them and saw a few come out on a cleansing flight. I gave them feed too, although from what my friend Henry said, if the bees are down in the frames they probably have enough feed.

Hive #3, a nuc from last summer, had a few bees on the top bars as well so I figured they were moving up and probably running out of feed too.

The key thing I'm told with feeding this early is that if you start you have to keep feeding. No problem. I enjoyed being outside for a sunny afternoon.

It really was warm working in the sun. I put the wraps back on and closed up shop.

Video - This worker hit the snow and struggled so I put my finger down and she latched on. She warmed herself up and then flew off.

Best Laid Plans...Rained Away

2011-03-08T06:38:00.000-05:00

I made the decision that I would follow the guidelines for opening hives in cold weather and I would feed my bees.

[The hives are farther back between two trees and on higher ground].

I made up my sugar syrup and put it in Ziploc baggies. I had ordered pollen patties so I had them on hand too.

We were scheduled for rain on Sat but I was hoping it would clear for an hour or so. The temp was predicted to be +8C. At home it was spitting rain lightly so I packed up the truck and headed out.

But four miles away at the bee yard it was raining too heavily. Sun was predicted to be cooler but with Sunshine so I stowed my plans for that day and instead observed the hives and took photos.

Lifting up the bottom of the plastic hive wrap I could see a small pile of dead bees. A chickadee was very active flying down and grabbing the dead bodies to eat.

At least nature doesn't waste an opportunity for a meal.

I took the last of our honey in mid Sept. This was much too late I later realized. The temperatures in Sept grow cold too quickly and when I gave the bees their Fumigilin B treatment for Nosema one hive (Hive #2) didn't eat it. The result you can see in this photo below.

It looks like a really bad case of Nosema--bee diarrhea outside the upper entrance of Hive #2.

This hive was a concern with heavy mite loads all summer that treatments couldn't seem to get rid off.

There were bees hatching with deformed wings too, from mite damage.

Then they wouldn't take their syrup. The blame for this is my own inexperience.

Next year we'll take the last of our honey the end of August, leaving more time for the bees to restock their supplies. I'll take less from them too until I gain more experience with this.

Hive #2's entrance was covered in snow, and I didn't see any dead bodies out front - bees going on cleansing flights and hitting the snow and dying.

I think this is not a good sign and that this hive might have died. I've been kicking my butt all winter over this mistake but it's time to let it go and write it down as a learning experience.

The other three hives look good, with bees coming out on cleansing flights.

It'll snow Sat night but Sunday will be sunny and 0 degrees. I plan to open the hives quickly and add feed.

When?

2011-03-05T03:01:00.000-05:00

Such a big question. When. When can I start feeding the bees?

This is a fearsome question to ask a beekeeper. If you ask three of them, you'll get four answers--or more! And each answer will tell you something different.

[This photo is from a month ago].

So far I've gleaned this advice:

One beekeeper said it's okay to open the hive now for a quick peak (-1 degrees C) but no pulling frames. Go ahead and feed them (rim spacer with sugar water baggie on top bars) if I'm concerned if the bees have enough stores, otherwise it's a little bit early yet. A way to tell if they don't have enough food is if they're all at the top of the hive under the inner cover. If they're down in the frames, they're fine.

Another beekeeper agreed with feeding now repeating the advice above, but only if I was really concerned that they were starving because it is still a little bit early (southwestern Ontario - with snow still on the ground).

There's been emails about this too on the Yahoo groups beekeeper list.

Advice varied from, don't break the propolis seal by opening now as it'll let in cold drafts versus it's okay to crack the lid and drafts don't matter.

(Refer to paragraph two... Ask 3 beekeepers a question... yes I'm sure you understand it now).

Of course Where you are makes a huge difference, along with the temperatures in your area.

I'm concerned that our four hives went into winter on the light side and I want to start feeding as soon as possible.

These guidelines for opening a hive were posted on the Yahoo Beekeepers group and was subject to debate about whether it was good advice or not. (I remember reading these guidelines before so I know it came from a beekeeping book).

Below 30 degrees F
Open the hive only in emergency, such as to feed or remove chemicals. If feeding is necessary below 30 degrees F, we must use dry sugar so the feed won't freeze

Below 40 degrees F
Open the hive only in emergency, such as to feed or remove chemicals. Bees cannot get far from the warmth of the cluster at below 40 degrees F so feed must be placed directly above the cluster.

Below 50 degrees F
At 50 degrees F, the bees are loosely clustered. The hive can be opened but brood combs should NOT be removed. Side combs can be removed to look at brood combs, but must be replaced quickly to avoid letter the brood get chilled.

55 degrees F
Bees begin to fly at 55 degrees F, especially for cleansing flights. Honey bees will not defecate inside the hive unless they have Nosema – Honey Bee diarrhea. They will also begin flying to collect nectar and pollen if it is available. Hives can be opened, but care must be taken to avoid chilling the brood.

60 degrees F
Complete hive inspection can be made, but brood combs should be returned to the hive quickly.

70 degrees F
70 degrees F is warm enough to completely disassemble the hive and farms for a thorough inspection.

And just in case you're looking for lots of conflicting advice, here's a list of beekeeping newsgroups to keep you busy Yahoo.com.

What are you doing? Are you feeding yet?