2022 Beekeeping Season

[Shelley]

Varroa is a scourge for sure, and that's great advice! I would be cautious with the significance of your winter wash number. On the surface it looks devastating, like you didn't even bother to deal with mites. However the testing protocols for mites assume that you're collecting 300 nurse bees in an active hive where 50% or more of the mite population is currently under sealed brood. Your winter wash came from bees that had clustered together, with no brood for the mites to hide in -- so 100% of your mites were available to sample from a tightly clustered group of bees. That changes the factors on which the alcohol wash protocol is based, and thus the significance of the counts.

There's no doubt in my mind that the varroa killed the one hive, but it didn't get the other. Since you did have a series of OA treatments in the fall, I think you probably got the varroa knocked back to a borderline threshold where one hive could make it but not the other. You should do a test on your good hive and see where you're at.

The Dyce lab for pollinator studies has a great IPM guide (pdf) for beekeepers. eCornell offers a great four week online course for newer beekeepers too. I'm a bit biased on that since I help facilitate it, but I do believe that it's the most thorough training course a beginner can do online.

 

[Docsab]

Varroa is a scourge for sure, and that's great advice! I would be cautious with the significance of your winter wash number. On the surface it looks devastating, like you didn't even bother to deal with mites. However the testing protocols for mites assume that you're collecting 300 nurse bees in an active hive where 50% or more of the mite population is currently under sealed brood. Your winter wash came from bees that had clustered together, with no brood for the mites to hide in -- so 100% of your mites were available to sample from a tightly clustered group of bees. That changes the factors on which the alcohol wash protocol is based, and thus the significance of the counts.

There's no doubt in my mind that the varroa killed the one hive, but it didn't get the other. Since you did have a series of OA treatments in the fall, I think you probably got the varroa knocked back to a borderline threshold where one hive could make it but not the other. You should do a test on your good hive and see where you're at.

The Dyce lab for pollinator studies has a great IPM guide (pdf) for beekeepers. eCornell offers a great four week online course for newer beekeepers too. I'm a bit biased on that since I help facilitate it, but I do believe that it's the most thorough training course a beginner can do online.

Just to be clear, I had a single hive consisting of 2 full deeps going into the winter. I appreciate your advice which makes perfect sense. The guide you posted suggests mite thresholds and treatments in the spring prior to supers. Are you treating this time of year and have you found a particular chemical strip superior to the others mentioned? Thanks.

 

[Shelley]

It's still too chilly for me to open the hives safely--this is my first week able to do so and I hope to get at least one test done, depending on the population. I've had good luck for sure with MAQs (Formic acid). I've added oxalic and Hopguard 3 to my list, but my fall situation last year was horrid with robbing so I couldn't do follow-up testing.

I have found that brood breaks via splits and swarming, widely-spaced hives, and uniquely painted hives seemed to do quite well last year keeping the mites way down below the threshold level. I only had 1 or 2 (of 18) rise to treatment levels.

 

[jjhodge3]

Good advice. My plan is test monthly with alcohol wash, 3% treatment threshold. treat with thymol essential oils (can’t remember the trade name Apiguard?) and formic acid until flow. After the flow with oaxalic To get through winter.

update- 3 swarm traps set. No activity on any although swarms are heavy in the area. I get a text every other day it seems of a swarm that someone i know sends me. Moved one box to a friends that her hive swarmed twice and has two capped queen cells in another hive.

 

[jjhodge3]

Update 4-20-2022
Finally got my bees!

My mentor knew a friend that caught a swarm, and she got it for me. Installed yesterday at 4 pm. They were already doing orientation flights around the yard. Did not see or look for the queen. Will keep feeding them 1:1 sugar through a top feeder. I don’t plan on really checking the frames for a couple of weeks to give them time to settle. So far they seemed non aggressive although quite a few were flying around. I must have watched them for an hour. So cool to have my girls!

 

[jjhodge3]

Hello, second colony installed as a fellow beek gave me 2 frames of brood and honey with a nice little capped queen cell. Queen ice has emerged (two weeks ago) and hopefully is mated and laying. Will go into the hives next week as we don.t want to disturb them too often. 1 st colony is doing well. Lots of activity and bringing in pollen.
Two major goals this year:
1. Surviving this winter
2. Getting as much comb drawn as possible.
what are recommendations for #2- besides keeping syrup on them? At what point do I offer a super to get them to start drawing?

Another note- productive day yesterday, made three batches of mead:
Kolsch style braggot as above post, 5 gallons OG 1.042; Citra hopped metheglin, 5 gal OG 1.040; 2 gal Peach pineapple Melomel OG 1.055. Should be nice and crushable as sessions. Brewing for a summer solstice party with the local beekeeping club.

 

[Shelley]

In my experience, they prefer nectar over syrup when available, so if the bees need the syrup, they'll take it. What nectar plants are blooming? That may answer your question.

 

[4give]

Hi - Shelley is right IMO - bees won't take make sugar water if nectar is flowing. You can easily tell by the fact that your feeder will pretty much be at the same level over a period of days.
Regarding when to put more boxes/frames/deeps/supers on, there are a variety of opinions and experiences on this, so I'll tell you what I do to keep it simple. In a healthy colony, I wait until I have at least 8 frames drawn out and full of bees. You can't always tell just by looking at the box. Pull some of the frames and if they're packed in there on those 8 frames, add to the hive.
I'm sure you know this, but if you're putting supers on for extraction/consumption, then the hive doesn't really need sugar, and you likely don't wan sugar water ending up in your honey. This is one reason why I try to educate neighbors/folks on using bee-proof hummingbird feeders. Bees can get on those in a nectar dearth, and I just don't want that in my honey.

 

[jjhodge3]

Hello,
Update: Put mediums with wax foundation on both hives 3 weeks ago to encourage drawing comb. Bees are busting out of the single deep so I added another deep to the 2 nd colony because they had several queen cells and I want to prevent a swarm at this point in the year. Checkerboarded the comb into the new box, queen excluder and kept the medium super w/ foundation on, feeder on top of that.
Quick inspection on Wednesday, 2 nd hive is drawing comb and storing pollen and nectar (yay). 1 st hive is now needing a second deep, found some supersedure cells but no larvae. They still have about 2 frames i
not drawn. Did not see eggs but larvae of multiple stages and plenty of resources. Fed them both about 3/4 gallon of 2:1 light syrup. Noticed about 6 adult SHB, was able to crush them and the beetle trap had several. Inspecting again today where goal is to crush anymore queen cups and add SHB traps. I heard peppermint works good, has anyone tried this?

 

[beekeeper1122]

The 2022 Beekeeping Season was truly remarkable! It was a year filled with both challenges and rewards for beekeepers worldwide. Despite some unpredictable weather patterns and the ongoing concerns about honeybee health, many of us saw our hives thrive and produce delicious honey. It's a testament to the dedication and hard work of beekeepers everywhere who are committed to protecting these incredible pollinators. Here's to another season of helping our buzzing friends flourish and continue their vital role in our ecosystems. #BeekeepingSeason #SaveTheBees #HoneyHarvest2022

 

[edaskew]

I am seriously thinking about keeping bees on my property in North Carolina. It's at 4000 feet, zone 6b, and it got down to minus 8 around Christmas this winter. Rather typical seasonal low. I've heard from people keeping bees in the mountains in CO, and loosing their hives from cold. I don't think it is as cold in NC. We have plenty of bears, and I had a visit last year from one that was really huge. So, I'm thinking electric fence on top of my property and keep the bees up there. I manage this very steep lot for wildflowers. We have two humongous tulip poplars on the land and sourwoods. I would think we can produce some pretty interesting honey.

 

[jjhodge3]

1st mead made with my own hives honey. OG 1.120 should yield 15-16% ABV. Went traditional with KVIEK yeast and spring water. Rehydration with 1/2 tsp of go Ferm. Already bubbling this AM. Have some honeysuckle harvested this summer, May break off a gallon and experiment.
Got about 100 lbs between 36 medium frames. Gave away around 70-80 lbs to family, friends and coworkers. I have 12 lbs left thinking of doing a Belgian yeast trad. Also have some lemon hops, want to try a meth. With those and lemon peel.

 

[4give]

1st mead made with my own hives honey. OG 1.120 should yield 15-16% ABV. Went traditional with KVIEK yeast and spring water. Rehydration with 1/2 tsp of go Ferm. Already bubbling this AM. Have some honeysuckle harvested this summer, May break off a gallon and experiment.
Got about 100 lbs between 36 medium frames. Gave away around 70-80 lbs to family, friends and coworkers. I have 12 lbs left thinking of doing a Belgian yeast trad. Also have some lemon hops, want to try a meth. With those and lemon peel.

Awesome! My harvest this year was pretty good for having fewer hives. I changed locations as the main location I had them at was just too far away and would suck up my time in the round trip drive. The new location seems to have worked OK this year. Honey profile is a bit different. Still has some fruitiness to it, but more a more floral than savory nuance this year. I always measure success by how many hives make it through Spring. I know I had mites to treat for this year, so we'll see how it goes. 'Virtual toast' for best wishes on a successful over-wintering!!!

 

[4give]

I am seriously thinking about keeping bees on my property in North Carolina. It's at 4000 feet, zone 6b, and it got down to minus 8 around Christmas this winter. Rather typical seasonal low. I've heard from people keeping bees in the mountains in CO, and loosing their hives from cold. I don't think it is as cold in NC. We have plenty of bears, and I had a visit last year from one that was really huge. So, I'm thinking electric fence on top of my property and keep the bees up there. I manage this very steep lot for wildflowers. We have two humongous tulip poplars on the land and sourwoods. I would think we can produce some pretty interesting honey.

I highly recommend the investment if you understand the pros/cons (for you). As with making mead, do the research first. Everyone's situation is different, so you may need to take different approaches that work for you, and you'll learn this along the way. I'm still learning after almost a decade!
As for bears... You can keep them out, but if you have a lot in the neighborhood, then it will be a bit more investment. I don't want to discourage you, but I helped a friend put one of his apiaries back together after a bear incursion, and his fence had a lot of juice going through it. If they're hungry, they will eat!!! I'd post a couple pics of the carnage here, but apparently they're too big even after I resize them.