Beehives in Slovenia

A while back, I visited Slovenia. I was in the Carniolan region, actually, and didn't know about the connection to honey bees. (Ignorant American that I am, I cannot read Russian or Slovene.) When I came home and realized a major breed of honey bees originated in this region, I dug out the old photos to share on this blog. (Carniolan is the breed that originated there, btw.) Cool, right? 

They had large hive houses like this one pictured here. 

I love the folk art painted on these hives!

Pollen Basics

Here is a basic explanation of pollen and some photos of how it is stored in the hive. 

Honeybees collect pollen from flowers. Some of it is transferred to other flowers, fertilizing the flower so a plant can produce fruit. (Pollen is essentially the "sperm" to fertilize the flower "egg.")

Worker bees bring pollen back to the hive and store it in honeycomb cells. Later, nurse bees will feed pollen to brood. Spring pollen stimulates the queen to lay eggs to build up the colony after winter. 

Pollen is made up of amino acids, which are consumed by larvae to build the protein in their bodies. It is sometimes called "bee bread" because it has a bread-like texture when stored in the comb. 

Pollen is bee protein. Honey is bee carbohydrates. 

In the newly installed package below, bees have drawn some comb and filled some of the cells with multi-colored pollen. The pollen color is different for each plant bees visit. Bees do best when there is a variety of different pollen sources.  

Pollen from several plants can be stored in one cell. 

Bees sometimes store nectar within the same cell as pollen. (The shiny liquid below is nectar, which needs to be cured to make honey.) Having pollen below honey in cells can make it tricky to estimate how much pollen is in the hive. We really can't see it when honey cells are capped over.

One more thing: Some people like to consume pollen, or honey with pollen particles inside, to help with their seasonal allergies. It seems to help them. It is important to get pollen or honey produced in the season to match allergy inflammation.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing you a happy Valentine's Day with this vintage honeybee valentine.

Queens from MPCAP Program

Our queen and package supplier is part of the Managed Pollinator CAP program, which tests for hygienic bee behavior. We are excited to be part of the bee decline solution by supporting these producers. 

They test breeder queens for the recessive genetic trait, hygienic bee behavior. Hygienic behavior is when workers bees sense a missing phermone in diseased larvae and remove it before it emerges as a honeybee. The bee breeders use hygienic queens as breeding stock and then sell their daughters as package queens. Not all the daughters will be hygienic, but the percentage of them which are increases over time. (See previous post about testing for hygienic behavior in your own bees.)

They also test for bee pests and diseases, working toward resistant stock.

Criteria for selection:

1. Hygienic
2. Disease-resistant
3. Good honey producer
4. Gentle disposition 

We hope our customers enjoy knowing that they are getting a good queen, carefully selected for the best traits. 

The case for a 'local first' mentality

The case for a ‘local first’ mentality. The article below was copied and pasted from KSL.com. Here is the URL link. http://www.ksl.com/?sid=21721728.

Who needs more reasons to buy local? I guess we all do. This article talks about purchasing at a local store 1 out of 10 shopping trips. If you are considering buying bees, please consider us, a local company, and see money going back into the local economy. Also, compare our prices with our competitors. We have a low overhead and offer high-quality equipment and honey at lower prices. 

At The Honey Company, we are proud to sell Utah-produced products: 

• Sustainably-produced raw honey. 
• Beekeeping woodenware. Produced in Utah by Utah woodworkers from local trees. These include bee boxes, frames, lids, and bottom boards. 
• Our own invention, the barn hive. 

Many of our competitors purchase equipment elsewhere to mark up and resell in Utah, including a recent $3,000,000 order from China. Please ask our competitors where their equipment was produced. 

Hope you enjoy the article below. 

SALT LAKE CITY — Spending money at local businesses can have a bigger impact on the local economy than spending those same dollars at national chains, a new study states.

Research conducted by Civic Economics detailing the amount of revenue returned to the local community by locally-owned, independent businesses showed that 52 percent of all revenues went back into their communities compared to about 14 percent for national chain stores.

The report also indicated that local eateries returned nearly 79 percent of revenues compared to just over 30 percent for national restaurants.

Overall, locally-owned, independent businesses return 382 percent more dollars to the Salt Lake City economy than chain retailers, explained Nan Seymour, executive director of Local First Utah.

“Four times the amount of dollars stay in our community when you spend at a local business," she said.

Seymour said the study also concluded that shifting just 10 percent of purchases from national chains to local retailers and restaurants would keep $487 million in the Utah economy — money that currently leaves the state to be spent elsewhere.

The survey included 15 retailers and seven restaurateurs — all independent and locally owned.

For comparison, Civic Economics analyzed annual reports for four major national chain stores — Barnes & Noble, Home Depot, Office Max and Target. Those stores recirculated an average of 13.6 percent of all revenue within the local markets that host its stores.

Fact:

Locally owned retailers return about 52 percent of their revenues to the local economy. For national chain stores, that number falls to about 14 percent.

In addition, the report analyzed data from three major national restaurant chains — Darden (Olive Garden, Red Lobster), McDonald’s and P.F. Chang’s. Those restaurants returned an average of 30.4 percent of revenue.

"Every study we've conducted around the country has shown that shopping locally can keep at least three times more revenue in the local economy," said Daniel Houston, partner at Civic Economics. "Salt Lake City is no exception. If anything, the 'local effect' may be even stronger in Utah."

Speaking after a new conference Wednesday in the Emigration neighborhood, Salt Lake City’s economic development director said if shoppers consider the long-term benefit of patronizing local businesses, the greater the impact on the local economy.

“The more that we support our local businesses, the better they do,” said Bob Farrington. “The more they can provide local jobs and local products … and the more revenue we all receive from that.”

Betsy Burton, co-owner of the King’s English Bookshop, said she has noticed a distinct trend recently of more people choosing to “shop local.”

“It’s always been something that we felt in our gut, but we always wanted to be able to prove it,” she said. "Now with this study, we know that it's (true)."

She added that her bookstore has experienced a 12 percent increase in sales since January, despite the competition of national chains and the Internet.

“Local is becoming a huge movement,” Burton said. “People really care about their community.”

Email:jlee@ksl.com

Read more at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=21721728#ijz6dx5t3mYYukdY.99

Should I get a 2- or 3-pound package?

First of all, if you are a brand new beekeeper, please consider purchasing a nuc. Here is a post about nucs. You will have more success with a nuc. Promise. Then next year, when you are addicted to bees, get some packages. 

If you have decided on packages (find our more about packages here), you will have the option of 2- or 3-pound packages (sometimes 4-pounders too). Either package size can yield a successful beehive. It is a management decision, and this post describes some things to think about while making that decision. 

Packaged bees are measured by the pound. There are 3-4,000 bees per pound, or about 7,000 bees in a 2-pound package and about 10,000 bees in a 3-pound package. (Honestly, no one really counts the bees!) The initial worker bees in the package are not offspring of the queen, and may be any breed. They are usually Italian, as Italians are known to build up fast.

Once the package is in the hive, the 2- or 3-pounds of initial worker bees get to work. They draw out comb, collect nectar and pollen, and the queen begins laying eggs, and those eggs begin to mature and emerge. It takes about 21 days for the egg to grow into a bee. Meanwhile, the initial work force will slowly die off, hopefully to be replaced by young bees. The emerging bees are offspring of the queen, and will be true to the queen and her mates.

Photo of 3 packages of bees crated together. One of these will be installed in the hive shown. 

If the weather is good (sunny/warm), bees gather nectar and pollen for the upcoming brood. More workers can gather more nectar and pollen and can care for more brood. This can give a head start to 3-pound packages. 

If the weather is poor (wet/cold), which usually happens in a Utah springtime, beekeepers will need to feed bees. More workers mean more mouths to feed, and more time for the beekeeper at each apiary. (This becomes more of an issue with increasing hive numbers.) Packaged bees are used to having plenty to eat, as they come from sunny California (or the South). Thus, a 2-pound package can be easier to feed in the springtime. 

In the cold weather, 3 pounds of bees may be warmer in their hive because of more body heat. 

The queen bee will lay as many eggs as bees can care for. Caring for eggs is typically a job for newly emerged nurse bees. She can only expand her brood chamber so far with the initial package workers. Two pounds of workers will expand to cover about 4 deep frames. (“Cover” means they will take care of eggs laid in the comb, literally “cover” the space with their little bee bodies.) Three pounds of workers will expand the brood chamber to cover about 5 frames. At that point, the expansion stalls out because there are no new emerging nurse bees to care for a larger brood chamber. Once the first set of new bees emerges, the hive really takes off. 

If we conservatively say that the queen can lay 1,000 eggs a day, then it would only take her 3 days to make up the difference between a 2-pound package and a 3-pound package. About 4-6 weeks after the package is hived, you won't notice any difference between 2- and 3-pound packages. They will have similar bee numbers and accomplish the same amount of work. 

This management decision really only impacts the first 4-6 weeks of growth. The 3-pound package has a slight advantage in good weather. The 2-pound has an advantage to the beekeeper in poor weather. 

And then there is price. In 2013, 3-pound packages cost $75, and 2-pounders were $65. The $10 difference is significant if you are buying, say 30 hives. It would save you $300. 

Because of the cost difference, we use 2-pound packages for our operation and they work well. Over hundreds of hives, there is no significant difference between the two sizes after 6 weeks. Also, 2-pound packages are standard in the beekeeping industry. 

We start our 2-pound packages in a nuc box (like the awesome barn hive below) until they fill up the space, and then transfer to a standard 10-frame hive. 

How to check bees in the winter without opening the hive

When temperatures are cold, can be a bad idea to open the beehive. Opening the hive can break up the cluster. And possibly freeze the colony to death. However, there are several ways to see how your hive is doing without opening the lid. 

First, you can place your ear next to the wall of the beehive and knock on the hive. You will hear live bees buzzing inside. 

Another way is to look for a spot of melted snow on the outside of the lid, usually in the center. A healthy colony will form a cluster inside the hive around the honey stores. The heat from the cluster will melt the snow on the outside of the lid. Or if the snow is melted, it will cause the spot in the center to be drier than the rest. Don’t worry if this spot is off-center. It means bees are clustering on one side. 

A third way is to lift the hive and guess its weight. A hive full of honey stores will be heavy. We like a two-story hive to weigh about 100 pounds going into winter. 

Remember that the critical time to feed bees is in early spring (February-April) when the bees are brooding up and stores are running low. In December and January, they should have plenty, assuming hives were heavy enough going into winter. 

Preparing Colonies for Winter

We like to finish harvesting honey around Labor Day here in Provo, Utah. Any nectar bees collect after Labor Day will be used by the bees to build winter stores. 

Ideally, the colony will be 2 deep  boxes and weigh 100 pounds by November 1. Bees will fill both boxes and form a large cluster that covers 10 or more frames. If there are fewer than 10 frames of bees, we will often winter them as a single story colony or in a nuc box. This gives bees less area to heat in winter.  

Ideally, bees would eat HONEY in the winter. Honey is the best food for them. But, if bees are low on feed, meaning that the entire 2-story colony weighs less than 100 pounds, feed them heavy sugar syrup until the colony weighs 100 pounds. Just keep filling up the feeder when bees empty it. (See earlier post on mixing sugar syrup).

Within the hive, most of the frames with honey should be located in the top box. Bees like it when there are a couple of empty-ish frames in the center of the box, with honey in the outer 7-8 frames. The empty frames will give bees a place to cluster. This is the way bees naturally arrange honey stores going into winter. When harvesting honey, try to put it back that way. **If you are reading this in December, don’t run out to change the frame order in your hive and freeze your bees to death. Trust the bees to rearrange things how they want them. 

In winter, DRY is more important than warm. Removing moist air is key to overwintering bees. Moisture is released when bees consume honey, which is 20% water. Some lids have a built-in ventilation hole. Others require an inner cover. We like to have lids with the ventilation hole. It makes it so we don’t have to store another piece of equipment. For extra ventilation, we also drill a 5/8” hole just below the handhold in each box. This serves as an entrance and moisture vent. And the bees seem to like it. 

Below is a photo of an inner cover vent. Bees plugged it up with propolis. 

Here's what happened in inside of the lid without a working vent. The moist air froze to the top instead of venting out.

In the photo below, notice the drilled hole below the handhold. Also notice that the hole in the lid to vent moisture is filled in with frost. It is working.

Place a fist-sized rock on top of the lid to prevent it from blowing off. 

Wrapping hives: The decision to wrap or not wrap hives is a management call. We don’t typically wrap our hives. Wrapping and insulating hives will increase bees’ activity during winter. Increased activity means bees will consume their winter stores more quickly, and there will be more labor to feed them. Not wrapping means colder temperatures, which causes bees to slow down, giving them a well-deserved break during the winter months.  However, wrapping can be beneficial if you want bees to raise brood in the winter, like if you are sending bees to California for almond pollination, or if you want an earlier start in the spring. Keep in mind that in colder states, like Minnesota and South Dakota, they do wrap hives for overwintering success. It is much colder there than in Utah. 

If you decide to wrap, make sure there is ventilation to remove moist air. Removing moist air is more important than wrapping in Utah. Bees also need to be able to go on cleansing flights on warm winter days. Be sure they have an entrance to do this. 

Below are hives we insulated to prepare them to go to California for pollination. 

When hives die, inspect the equipment, clean off any burr comb, and store it in a cold, pest-tight place. (The wax will attract wax moths, wasps, mice, etc.) It is important to remove it from the apiary to prevent robbing. You can reuse disease-free equipment when dividing hives in the spring. 

Look inside your colonies on a warm day in March. If needed, feed honey or light syrup and pollen substitutes. If a colony is dead, remove it to prevent robbing. Feed as often as necessary. When bees finish honey or syrup, fill up the feeder again. Repeat until they stop eating it. Bees prefer real nectar and will stop eating sugar water when there is a nectar source. 

Hope this helps!

What's happening to our honey bees?

I wrote this article while working for USU Extension. Thought it was appropriate to share here. 

What’s happening to our honey bees? 

By Alicia Moulton                                                                     

Honey bees are on the decline throughout the world.  Here’s why.  

Honey bee Colony Collapse Disorder is a complex matter with many contributing factors that have compounded over time.  These factors put “an enormous burden on the immune and detoxification systems of bees, eventually ‘putting them over the edge’” (Spivak and Reuter, 2007^a).  Scientists have assigned the name “Colony Collapse Disorder” as a placeholder until its nature can be identified. 

Factor 1 As we grow in population, we see a decrease in green, open space and an increase of buildings, roads, and other structures.  This means there are fewer plants for bees to forage for food sources.  Bees do best when there is a variety of pollen and nectar sources with flowers continuously blooming all season long.  Farms often grow one crop type each year.  This means fewer plant species and shorter periods of time when plants are in bloom.  

To help bees, plant a garden with a variety of flowers, fruits, and vegetables which bloom throughout the growing season.  It is also a good idea to leave unmown, herbicide-free strips of land for bees to seek refuge in if you do have to spray.  Choose strips of land that do not contain noxious weeds, as the noxious weed law says weeds on the noxious weed list must be controlled.  Removal of several of these weeds requires herbicides.  

To help bees you can also teach your children the value of bees.  Bees pollinate many of the fruits and vegetables we like to eat, and flowering plants we like to see in the landscape.  They also produce honey, wax, and royal jelly.  Teach them the difference between bees and wasps (See Table 1).  Bees have stout, hairy bodies and are not usually aggressive towards people.  Wasps have smooth bodies with a constricted waist, and are often found scavenging near garbage or picnics.  Sometimes wasps can be aggressive and will sting people.  Remember that while wasps are annoying if they nest around your home, some are considered predatory and beneficial insects.

Factor 2 Crop pesticides used to reduce pest insects can also kill beneficial insects like bees.  Many pesticide applicators are aware of declining bee populations and use chemicals with low toxicity to bees where ever possible.  However, a new class of systematic pesticides moves through plant tissue to reduce crop pests.  These can add to stress on bee immune and detoxification systems because the pesticides may be present in pollen and nectar (Spivak and Reutar, 2007^a), which are bees’ primary food sources.  

To help bees, minimize insecticide use by only spraying when necessary.  Be sure to read all pesticide labels for proper application directions.  There may be several insecticides used for the same pest.  Choose products least harmful to bees.  Also, avoid insecticide use while plants are flowering to minimize bee kill.  

Factor 3 Beekeepers are seeing depressed local honey markets.  To make money, beekeepers ship bees all over the country to fill pollination contracts for almonds, blueberries, cranberries, etc.  The number of acres of these crops is increasing faster than number of bees used to pollinate them, which causes pollination contract prices to increase.  These crops require large numbers of honey bee colonies for pollination.  For example, over 1 million bee colonies are required for California almonds in early spring.  Having large numbers of bees in small areas puts nutritional stress on bees as they compete for pollen and nectar.  Increased movement for pollination leads to disease transfer.  “Shipping bees for pollination is like sending your kids to school,” said one beekeeper, “They come back with all the sicknesses around.”  

To help bees, buy local honey.  If beekeepers make more money locally, they may not need the extra money from pollination and can leave their bees home.  Local honey is fresh, delicious, and it gives a warm feeling to know that you are helping local folks and getting a good product.  Also, you can ask the beekeeper directly how honey is handled and if chemicals were used in production.  Buying locally can create more sustainable agricultural systems.  

Factor 4 Bee diseases and parasites are often present in honey bee hives. Over time, colonies can become weakened or less productive. Diseases contributing to colony collapse disorder are not new, but have been affecting bees for a while.  

Varroa mites (Varroa destructor) were introduced in the U.S. in the 1980s.  These mites attach to bee larvae and parasitize bees, living on the outside of the bee’s body.  They are relatively large compared to the bee, about 1/6^th of the bee’s body weight.  To eliminate varroa mite infestations, beekeepers sometimes put insecticides (pyrethroids and organophosphates) in the beehive with the bees.  Mites are becoming resistant to the insecticides and beekeepers risk residue build-up in beeswax and honey (Spivak and Reuter, 2007^b).

      

The varroa mite is also a possible vector for several honey bee viruses, including Acute Paralysis Virus and Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus.  These viruses can severely weaken bees and makes them more susceptible to other diseases (Bakonyi et al., 2002).  

Acute Paralysis Virus and Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus eventually cause paralysis in honey bees.  Bees are found dead outside the hive.  Both viruses contribute to Colony Collapse Disorder of varroa mite-infested colonies.  

Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae are internal parasites that cause nosemosis, or acute diarrhea, in bees.  Honey bees are generally very clean insects and defecate outside the hive.  Nosemosis causes them to be so sick they cannot make it outside to defecate.  Thus, spores from fecal matter are able to infect other bees in the hive.  Nosema is what causes complete disappearance of bees in the hive.  

Foulbrood and chalk brood are spore-forming bacterial diseases which infect honey bee brood (Hansen and Brosgaard, 2003).  Without proper sanitation, foul brood can weaken or kill a colony in one season.  

Honey comb infected with Foulbrood                                  Healthy Honey comb

                           www.usda.gov                                          http://www.pbase.com/beekeeper/bees

Nosema species, foul brood and chalk brood spores can be stored in old wax combs for years.  Therefore it is important for beekeepers to remove old wax combs from hives. These can contain disease spores and pesticide residue. 

Beekeepers are fighting these diseases using innovative strategies and by developing genetically resistant lines of bees.  For example, some bees exhibit “hygienic behavior,” in which worker bees detect and remove 95% of diseased brood from the comb before hatching (Spivak and Reuter, 2007^b).  Bees which exhibit hygienic behavior detect and remove varroa mite, Nosema and Foulbrood-infected larva.  Queens can pass hygienic behavior to their offspring.  This means beekeepers can select for this trait and make their hives more resistant to disease!  

References:

www.extension.umn.edu/honeybees. University of Minnesota Bee Lab

Bakonyi, T., E. Grabensteiner, J. Kolodziejk, M. Rusvai, G. Topolska, W. Ritter, and N. Nowotny. 2002.  Phylogenetic Analysis of Acute Bee Paralysis Virus Strains. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68(12):6446-6450. Available at http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=134446. Accessed May 21, 2008. University of Minnesota.

Cranshaw, W. 2008. What is a Wasp-Hornet-Yellowjacket-Bee?  Available at http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/Pests/whatis.htm. Accessed Sept. 25, 2008. Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, Entomology.

Hansen, H. and C.J. Brosgaard. 2003. Control of American foulbrood by the shaking method. APIACTA 38:140-145. Available at http://www.apimondia.org/apiacta/articles/2003/hansen_1.pdf. University of Minnesota Bee Lab.

Vetter, R. 2002. Identification Guide for California Yellowjackets. Available at http://wasps.ucr.edu/waspid.html. Accessed Sept. 25, 2008. University of California Riverside. 

Spivak, M. and Reuter, R. 2007^a. Why are honey bees collapsing? Available: http://www.extension.umn.edu/honeybees/components/03-26-2007_whycollapsing.html. Accessed Sept. 25, 2008. University of Minnesota Bee Lab.

Spivak, M. and G. Reuter.  2007^b. A Sustainable Approach to Controlling Honey Bee Diseases and Varroa Mites. SARE Fact Sheet #03AGI2005. Available  http://www.sare.org/publications/factsheet/0305.htm. Accessed May 21, 2008. University of Minnesota Bee Lab.

Queen Bee

We found this photo of a queen bee in Grandpa’s files and wanted to share. Can you spot her? Queen bees have a longer abdomen and are larger than the other worker bees present. Here you see her laying an egg in a cell of honey comb.