A year in the life of a beekeeper

Wonder what goes on in the life of a beekeeper? Here is a quick summary of what we do on the Wasatch Front in Utah.

January, February, March. In January, many commercial beekeepers are preparing their hives to send to California for pollination. I read yesterday that the California almond groves will require 75% of the nation’s bees! Wow! Once bees are gone, it might be the slowest time of year for beekeepers. Stan uses this time to build and repair beekeeping equipment, organize, and prepare for the coming season. 

Truck with a load of pollinator colonies.

February and March is the time most bees starve. In Utah, warm, sunny, spring-like days are mixed with blizzards. On the sunny stretches, the queen starts laying eggs to increase the work force. Bees have also eaten most of their winter honey storage. When flowers begin to bloom, workers can harvest more nectar and pollen. When flowers are not blooming yet, but bee numbers are increasing, they could starve. We monitor honey levels within the hive and feeds bees more honey and pollen, if necessary. 

March-April is also the time to order packages or nucs.

Checking a colony's weight/honey stores.

April, May, June. April to June is swarm season. We regularly (every 1.5 weeks) check for swarm cells (new queen cells) and either divides the colony or removes the queen cells and adds a super to give bees more room. Bees usually swarm when they run out of room. Stan also spends time catching swarms when they escape. Bees will usually swarm on a warm day following a cold spell. This is the busiest time of year for a beekeeper.

California bees usually come home in early April.

Installing a package.

July-August. In July, beekeepers can starts adding more supers as needed. This is done one at a time when bees start working on the most outside frames of the top box. It is a good idea to move one frame that bees have been working on into the new super to encourage bees to move up into the new box. Some beekeepers continue adding supers all summer and extract honey at the end. Other beekeepers (like Stan) extract honey as bees produce it and then re-use the supers. 

There are not many swarms during this time of year. 

As dandelions bloom, beekeepers move bees to higher elevations. (See dandelions post)

She's ready to go beekeeping with Dad!

September-November. In September, we are done harvesting honey. Everything bees produce after Labor Day stays in the hive for winter feed. As a general rule of thumb, the 2-story bee box should weigh about 100 pounds going into winter. Sometimes we re-queen in the fall, if we didn’t do it in the spring. 

Extra supers need to be stored in a bee- and pest-tight area. 

Some beekeepers winterize by putting inner covers, entrance reducers, and mouse guards on their hives at this time. 

December. This is time to relax, enjoy the holiday season, do some art, and leave bees alone so as to not disrupt their cluster. 

Stan with Bee Art display at Sprinville Art Museum's Religion and Art Show

"Fish in Honeycomb"

--Alicia Moulton

Should I assemble boxes with the rough side in or out?

Bee boxes generally come with one side planed smooth, and the other left rough. When assembling boxes, you will need to decide weather to put the rough side of the wood on the inside or outside of the box. We recommend putting the rough side on the inside of the box. Here's why.

Honeybees will note any imperfections in the wood and fill them with propolis. Propolis is essentially the bees’ immune system.* It significantly helps fight off disease (bacteria, fungus, virus) and is a sticky, glue-like substance collected from some budding plants. Having the rough side on the interior makes bees add more propolis than they would add to the smooth side.

Research from the Minnesota Bee Lab shows increased disease resistance in hives where the box was coated with a propolis solution. Also, in preliminary tests, even the HIV virus couldn’t live in a petri dish with a propolis-alcohol solution.

However, there IS an advantage to putting the rough side OUT if will paint your boxes. Paint sticks better to the rough-planed side of the box. 

But it seems to us that the advantages to bee health outweighs painting and we put the rough side on the inside.

*(Okay, so technically an immune system is the one that remembers infectious diseases a body has been exposed to in the past and carries antibodies to fight off the disease-causing organisms. Insects don’t have an immune system like this at all.)

Honey Hot Chocolate

Our house was a bit on the chilly side this St. Patrick's Day afternoon. And so my daughter and I decided to make some hot chocolate. And, given our honey obsession, we adapted the Hershey’s Cocoa recipe to make special Honey Hot Chocolate. It was yummy and I wanted to share!

In most recipes, substitute 1/2 as much honey as sugar by volume. I wanted this to be extra sweet and so I substituted 1/3 cup honey for 1/2 cup sugar. 

1/3 cup Honey 

1/4 cup Hershey’s Cocoa Powder

Dash Salt

1/3 cup Hot Water

1 1/3 cup Powdered Milk

4 cups Water

3/4 t Vanilla Extract (I forgot this once and it was still yummy)

Mix honey, cocoa, salt, and powdered milk in a saucepan. Add 1/3 cup hot water. Wisk it well if you want the yummy froth on top. Cook and stir over medium heat until hot. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Variation: I also make this with a drop of peppermint essential oil to make mint hot chocolate. Yum! Cinnamon is sounding pretty tempting too.

Rethinking Dandelions

Dandelions

It’s time to revisit what we think of this cheerful springtime flower! Historically, dandelions have been used medicinally and as a food source. Remember the stories about Utah pioneers finding and consuming them gratefully? Have you had a fancy salad with dandelion greens? Yum! 

These days, dandelions are often thought of as weeds, which folks try to remove from their lawns and gardens. They even make dandelion-removing tools like this one, and lawn sprays to get rid of dandelions.

Photo from www.theavantgardenshop.com

Experienced Utah beekeepers know that dandelions are an important marker flower in the early spring. 

Early spring is a pretty critical time for honeybees. Their winter honey and pollen storage is usually about gone. When the weather warms up a bit, the bees gear up for production. This means the queen bee starts laying more eggs, creating more mouths to feed. It is a delicate balance between ensuring enough food, while still getting ready to work, and hoping there will not be another large cold spell which will cause a honey shortage. Beekeepers need to watch honey stores in their hives closely to prevent them from starving. When beekeepers see dandelions blooming, they know nectar and pollen are available for their bees and can heave a big sigh of relief. Dandelions are a sign that bees can fly out and collect, and that colonies won’t starve. Probably.

Dandelions are also a sign that beekeepers can move bees to higher elevations. These beekeeping location can be great honey-producing areas in summer, but harsh for over-wintering bees. In the early summer, beekeepers follow the dandelion bloom and move their hives accordingly. For example, a beekeeper wintering bees on the Wasatch Front can move bees up to Heber once dandelions are in bloom and then again to Kamas a few weeks later as blooms occur there. 

Occasionally, when the weather is just right, we harvest some of the dandelion honey. It is one of my favorites. You can just taste a hint of dandelion flower flavor in the honey.

Hopefully you will fall in love with this cheerful flower omen too!

So go ahead, blow!

           

Catching a swarm

It’s almost swarm season again here in Provo, Utah. (Already beginning in other parts of the world). Catching a swarm is one way to obtain a beehive of your own. Expect swarms on the first warm day just after several cold/stormy days. You know, just when you are on your way to church on Easter Sunday. 

Below, you can see Grandpa Arthur Andersen removing a swarm from his tree in the 1960's, I think. 

Arthur analyzing the situation

The swarm!

He placed a deep box (with bottom board attached. . . I guess that makes it a hive body. . .) under the branch, with some frames removed, then shook the branch. The bees landed into the box in one big clump. 

We consider ourselves lucky when swarms are this close to the ground (on bee truck back bumper).

Sometimes they are pretty high up! Here, the bee box is balanced on top of the ladder. 

In this example, Stan placed an empty beehive box on a ladder on the trailer and under the swarm branch. Then he shook the branch, causing the cluster to fall into the box. Then he waited overnight for the bees to settle before bringing the box down and adding frames with foundation. Easy, right? . . .

Want to catch your own swarm? In Utah and Idaho, there is a “Swarm List” where people can report honeybee swarms for beekeepers to collect. 

They do not, however, remove wasps nests. (See below for example) Wasp and hornet nests are typically removed by exterminators or brave homeowners. See “Bees vs Wasps” for more information on how to tell the difference between bees and wasps.

Honey: One of the world's healthiest foods

Raw Honey: One of the World’s Healthiest Foods

Raw honey benefits are described in the article linked below.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=96

Just saw this link about why raw honey is one of the world's healthiest foods. Enjoy!

Benefits list: Contains beneficial bacteria & antioxidants, helps with blood sugar control, decreases stress hormones, suppresses coughs, increases athletic performance, used as topical antiseptic for wounds, and reduces cholesterol

Here is a sample paragraph or two pasted directly from the article:

A Spoonful a Day Keeps Free Radicals at Bay

Daily consumption of honey raises blood levels of protective antioxidant compounds in humans, according to research presented at the 227th meeting of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim, CA, March 28, 2004. Biochemist Heidrun Gross and colleagues from the University of California, Davis, gave 25 study participants each about four tablespoons buckwheat honey daily for 29 days in addition to their regular diets, and drew blood samples at given intervals following honey consumption. A direct link was found between the subjects' honey consumption and the level of polyphenolic antioxidants in their blood.

Tips for Cooking with Honey:

If your honey has crystallized, placing the container in hot water for 15 minutes will help return it to its liquid state. Do not heat honey in the microwave as this alters its taste by increasing its hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content. To prevent honey from sticking to measuring cups and spoons, use honey that is in its liquid form.

Honey makes a good replacement for sugar in most recipes. Since honey is sweeter than sugar, you need to use less, one-half to three-quarters of a cup for each cup of sugar. For each cup of sugar replaced, you should also reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by one-quarter of a cup. In addition, reduce the cooking temperature by 25°F since honey causes foods to brown more easily.

CNN Honey Article: More reasons to buy local raw honey from The Honey Company

Even more reason to buy raw, local honey from The Honey Company!

This article was copied and pasted directly from the CNN website. It was written November 9, 2011 by Emanuella Grinberg. It can be found at http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/11/09/most-honey-sold-in-u-s-grocery-stores-not-worthy-of-its-name/?iref=allsearch. Photos are our own. 

Most Honey Not Worthy of It’s Name

76% of honey on grocery store shelves does not contain pollen. 

Local, raw, unfiltered honey, contains microscopic pieces of pollen and beneficial bee enzymes. 

Most honey sold in U.S. grocery stores not worthy of its name

Most of the honey sold in chain stores across the country doesn't meet international quality standards for the sweet stuff, according to a Food Safety News analysis released this week.

One of the nation's leading melissopalynologists analyzed more than 60 jugs, jars and plastic bears of honey in 10 states and the District of Columbia for pollen content, Food Safety News said. He found that pollen was frequently filtered out of products labeled "honey."

"The removal of these microscopic particles from deep within a flower would make the nectar flunk the quality standards set by most of the world's food safety agencies," the report says. "Without pollen there is no way to determine whether the honey came from legitimate and safe sources."

Among the findings:

• No pollen was found in 76 percent of samples from grocery stores including TOP Food, Safeway, Giant Eagle, QFC, Kroger, Metro Market, Harris Teeter, A&P, Stop & Shop and King Soopers.

• No pollen was found in 100 percent of samples from drugstores including Walgreens, Rite-Aid and CVS Pharmacy.

• The anticipated amount of pollen was found in samples bought at farmers markets, co-ops and stores like PCC and Trader Joe's.

Why does it matter where your honey comes from? An earlier Food Safety News investigation found that at least a third of all the honey consumed in the United States was likely smuggled from China and could be tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals.

Foreign honey also puts a squeeze on American beekeepers, who have been lobbying for years for an enforceable national standard to prevent foreign honey from flooding the market.

The Food and Drug Administration does not have a standard of identity for honey like it does for milk or other products, a spokesman said.

The lack of regulation is what enables potentially unsafe honey is able to make its way into the country, Andrew Schneider, author of the Food and Safety News report.

"Where there's no pollen, there's no way for authorities to confirm where the honey came from, so it's easy to smuggle illicit honey into the country," he said.

Photo of raw honeycomb.

Honey as energy gel

Go Honey is our natural version of energy gel. Use it while exercising for a carb boost. 

What is Energy Gel? 

Energy gels are thick carbohydrate syrups used to extend muscle energy (glycogen) during exercise. They provide simple and complex carbohydrates.  Energy gels are packaged in palm-sized packets for athletes to suck syrup into the mouth.  They provide about 100 Calories (17-25 g carbohydrate) per packet. 

Energy gels are designed to deliver a quick rise in blood sugar and maintain that glucose level for up to 45 minutes during exercise.  Sometimes electrolytes and other "non-essentials" such as herbs and caffeine are added to the gel.

Honey is a great energy gel because it causes less of an insulin response than other sugars.  Honey gives athletes a slower, more sustained energy spike than sugar.  This means it creates a smaller post-sugar “fall” than other sugars.  This is because of the complex mixture of sugars in honey.  Honey contains dextrose (glucose chains), fructose, and at least 22 other, more complex, sugar types.  These sugars are not found in nectar, but are formed during ripening and storage of honey by bee enzymes (Graham, 1997).  This means they are more readily available for absorption by our tissues.  

How To Use Go Honey as Energy Gel

Consume about 1/3 of packet with 250 mL water 15 minutes before starting a run and 45 min into the run.  Repeat every hour throughout the duration of the run.  

Athletes need to consume adequate water with energy gels to prevent dehydration.  A good rule of thumb is about 250 mL (1 cup) of water for every 100 Calories consumed. When water is not consumed with energy gel, water leaves the body tissues, and enters the digestive tract to help digest it.  This means less water for muscles and can lead to dehydration.  

This product is not intended to replace proper diet and nutrition.

Why Honey?

1. All-natural energy source
2. No preservatives
3. Complex mixture of sugars
4. Honey yielded lower insulin response than sugars in 12 studies.  Honey has GI of about 32 to 85, depending on the nectar source.
5. Rich in anti-oxidants: Honey contains as many anti-oxidants as spinach, apples, oranges, and strawberries, according to a study by Gheldof and Engeseth (2003).  Researcher Gross and his team (2004) found that consuming honey increased the level of antioxidants in the blood.  Some antioxidants found in honey include chrysin, pinobanksin, vitamin C, catalase, and pinocembrin.
6. Indefinite shelf-life
   
   
7. Contains live bee enzymes

Why Our Honey?

1. No processing (raw and unfiltered)
2. No water added
3. 100% domestic honey, local to Northern Utah
4. Apiaries located in pesticide-free areas
5. No flavoring added
6. Conservation: The Honey Company beekeepers work to develop bee genetics to improve resistance to disease and Colony Collapse Disorder rather than medicating bees
7. Go Honey Packages are free from BPA and phthalates
8. Go Honey Packages are re-closable
9. Go Honey Packages can withstand 150 pounds of pressure with the lid properly in place

What is the Glycemic Index?

The Glycemic Index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates based on their effect on blood glucose and insulin levels.  Choosing low GI carbs reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes and is key to sustainable weight loss.  Carbs in low GI foods enter the bloodstream more slowly and causes less dramatic fluctuations in blood glucose levels. This means better energy balance, longer physical endurance, and a better refueling after exercise.  

Glucose is assigned a GI of 100 and other carbohydrates are given a number compared to glucose.  Low GI values are less than 55, 56-69 is medium, and 70 or larger is high GI. Honey ranges from 35-87 GI (median 56), depending on the variety and the sugar ratios in the honey. Typical USA honeys have GI below 55. This means honey spikes blood sugar much less than other sugars. Also, honey is twice as sweet as sugar and consumers can use about half as much to sweeten foods.  

Honey Bees as Structural Pests

Here is text from “Honey Bees as Structural Pests” an article from The Utah Pest News, produced by the Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Lab and Utah State University Extension. You can find the complete article at http://utahpests.usu.edu/files/uploads/UtahPests-Newsletter-fall11.pdf. Photo is also from their article.

Honey Bee Hive Built in Ceiling

The honey bees that established this hive in an apartment ceiling were killed previously, but the owner neglected to remove the hive.  The brown area in the center of the hive is where it is being consumed by an infestation of wax moths.  Additionally, honey had begun dripping from the comb and damaging the ceiling.

What if honey bees have actually established a nest on your property?  The pollination services that honey bees provide are vital to our food supply, but their defensive stinging behavior can be a real problem if they’ve built a hive in your yard or even worse, within your walls or attic. If at all possible, you want to avoid killing the bees.  Members of the Utah Beekeepers Association (www.utahbeekeepers.com) may remove these bees for you.  On their website click on the link for “Report a Swarm of Honey Bees!”

Unfortunately, it is a bigger challenge if the bees have established between the walls of your home or elsewhere within the structure.  If this occurs, first you should try to contact a beekeeper to remove them.  Some beekeepers will, but sometimes they are unwilling to, because removing the bees may require cutting away a portion of the wall, which can mean more work and liability than they are willing to accept.  If you are unable to find a beekeeper to remove the bees, you may be forced to kill them.  Many exterminators are able to do this for you, or you may attempt it yourself.  Completely killing all of the bees can be challenging for many reasons in addition to the obvious safety concern.  you don’t know how large the hive is within the wall.  you can kill the adults, but because the pupae will survive, you may need to treat two or three times.  you want to kill the queen so that she doesn’t continue to produce brood, but she could be anywhere within the hive.  And lastly, not all of the bees will be in the hive when you treat it, which is another reason you may need to treat multiple times.

Unfortunately, a bee hive in your wall presents more trouble than just the potential for stings. Once you have successfully killed the bees, you still need to remove the hive from the wall. If you do not, the wax could melt, and the wax and honey will do damage to the wall. Even if the wax doesn’t melt, do you want a lot of wax, honey, and dead bees rotting inside your wall, creating odors and attracting other insects and rodents?  I have actually had people tell me that they’ve dealt with a hive within their wall by simply plugging the entrance hole.  Assuming that the bees did not find another way out, this probably worked to eventually kill them, but it also left behind a lot of wax, honey, and bee corpses to decay within the wall. I would not recommend this as a solution.

-Cory Stanley, USU CAPS Coordinator

Honey as Cough Syrup

Parenting Magazine ran an article on honey as cough syrup. Thought I’d share! This post is a copy of the article text. The photos are our own.

Source: Parenting Magazine September 2011 by Alan Greene, M.D. 

In: Honey

Out: DM Cough Medicine

Parents spend billions on over-the-counter cough remedies, even though the American Academy of Pediatrics never recommends them for kids under age 2, and cautions against their use under age 6. Is is worth it?

Researchers have done a head-to-head comparison of dextromethorphan (the cough suppressant found in “DM” cold medications) with a less expensive natural remedy: honey. The honey outperformed DM in every category, from reducing the number and severity of coughs, to improving sleep--for kids and parents. 

The most effective honeys appear to be the darker varieties. The suggested dose for ages 1 to 6 is one-half teaspoon 30 minutes before bed, increasing to one teaspoon for children 6 to 11 years old.

Source: Parenting Magazine. Alan Greene, M.D. October 2011. Page 121.

For the full research article, see http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/161/12/1140

Paul, I.M, J. Beiler, A. McMonagle, M.L. Shaffer, L. Duda, and C.M. Berlin Jr. Effect of honey, dextromethorphan, and no treatmene on nocternal cough and sleep quality for coughing children and their parents. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007. 161(12):1140-1146.