INTERMEDIATE BEEKEEPING WEEK 3 CAROL COTTRILL

Transcription

1 INTERMEDIATE BEEKEEPING WEEK 3 CAROL COTTRILL

2 SUMMER 25,000 older foragers, 25,000 young house bees, drones Watch front of hive bees per minute indicates a strong hive Reverse again if needed may be weather dependent Swarm prevention Unite weak colonies in early summer, or add capped brood if enough bees to take care of it Requeen

3 During honey flow encourage hording Inspections less than 15 minutes during honey flow After honey flow remove excess supers Check for condition of queen and brood During dearth cover hives/frames when inspecting to prevent robbing

4 Ventilation: notch up on inner cover draws air flow through the middle of the hive and out the center hole of the inner cover shim outer cover to cool hive and help cure honey open screen bottom boards watch for robbing

5 Robbers: flight longer than orientation flight swaying/weaving in front of hive, looking for way in fighting on the landing board Robbed hive can die Empty hive or almost empty hive, comb with ragged edges Carniolans rob less than Italians

6 Preventing Robbing: keep hives of equal strength no open feeding - use in hive feeders cover or screen notch in inner cover cover hives during inspections use nuc box for removed frames

7 close up hive being robbed or use a robbing screen reduce entrances of robbing hive

8 VARROA With an early spring both bees and varroa build up earlier - treatment may need to move up Treatment is more effective in broodless periods which may be during the August dearth When brood is present 70 80% of the female mites are under the brood cap Drones > 3 mites Workers > 1 mite Requeening breaks brood cycle and slows the rapid increase in mites

9 The female mite lays an egg in a cell every 25 to 30 hours Female mites living when brood is present have an average life expectancy of 27 days In the absence of brood they may live for many months - as long as five to six months during the winter Bees from colonies heavily infested with varroa drift more than bees from uninfested colonies During a dearth colonies stop raising drones and varroa are forced into worker brood

10 Parasitism by mites can cause: pupae infected by multiple viruses decreased flight activity weight loss decreased life span external damage/disfigured bees (ex. deformed wings, stunted abdomen) spotty brood diseases or disease symptoms without bacterial disease increased queen supersedure

11 Mite infestation and virus epidemics are more prevalent right after the main flow when bees decrease brood rearing In late summer (around September 1) the mite and virus levels are increasing as the bee population is declining Sampling: mite levels are highest on nurse bees

12 Nurse bees that raise winter bees must not have PMS Mite management must begin by mid-summer for successful wintering Give bees 6 weeks after treating and before first frost to have enough healthy bees to make it through the winter Example: if first frost is October 1 Using MAQS to treat for Mites for 1 week Seven weeks before October 1 is August 13 - the latest date to apply a treatment if needed

13 Natural miticides are stressful to the bees during application, but appear to be well tolerated in the long term and do not leave harmful residues in the comb Treatment option depend on: the time of year temperature requirements presence of supers effect on bees and queen Dead colonies in the fall probably due to varroa/viruses

14 NOSEMA Goal of the colony is to convert nectar and pollen into bees and honey - Nosema suppresses efficient food conversion Nosema diverts protein that should be for royal jelly production to replacement of gut cells Nosema infections are usually invisible to the beekeeper Signs include poor buildup, reduced honey production, occasionally dwindling or collapse

15 Causes premature aging so decreases the life length of the bee Parasite and host interact without lethal harm to the host - causes morbidity, not mortality N. apis symptoms include defecation near or inside the hive entrance/n. ceranae doesn t N. ceranae spores lost activity when frozen/n. apis did not N. ceranae is more resistant to high temperatures Apis spores can be killed at 120 F or with 10% bleach

16 N. ceranae peaks in May N. apis has a small peak in the fall, increases in winter and peaks in spring before winter bees are replaced, reduces life span of all bees and decreases honey yields N. Ceranae is year round, can kill in a week, weakens foragers so they can t return to the hive, reduces hypopharyngeal gland function which causes poor brood rearing Spring treatment for N. ceranae/fall treatment for N. apis

17 Fumagillin controls N. apis by inhibiting reproduction of the microsporidium, but has no effect on the infective spores Fumagillin should be used when bees aren t foraging (to prevent residues in honey) It degrades in light and in the hive New studies show it is not as effective against N. ceranae Monitoring: oldest bees are most infected so sample from the entrance or under inner cover. Younger bees will have pollen in the gut Samples can be kept in alcohol or frozen

18 Dysentery is not necessarily a symptom of Nosema Dysentery is not a disease related to poor food and confinement Food impurities in sugars, dampness, moisture in the hive, fermented stores, diluted syrup in the fall

19 FALL Condition of the hive in fall will help determine how well it winters Harvest only excess honey Requeen early in the fall Feed pollen late summer/early fall if necessary for fall build up Don t feed 1:1 syrup in late fall as this stimulates brood rearing Want to compact the brood area by feeding heavy syrup they will store Need time to reorganize and store honey

20 Want 25 30,000 bees (5-6 frames) Combine weak hives to take loses in the fall Use newspaper method watch ventilation if hot Store supers: Don t wrap Need air flow and sunlight Freezing kills wax moth eggs/larvae Prevent mouse/insect damage

21 Most common question asked by the general public in late summer/fall: Yellow jackets and wasps Leave until they freeze and die unless in an area that is dangerous

22 GETTING READY FOR WINTER Disease free colony Good population of healthy bees Productive queen with room to lay Strong fall flow can plug up the brood nest Wind break Combine hives only if both are healthy two weak hives won t make a strong hive sacrifice weak hives and take their stores to add to strong hives take your losses in the fall newspaper method to combine

23 Workers well nourished, disease-free bees live longer winter bees/fat bees physiologically different more fat body reserves live longer (little brood to feed/not as active)

24 Hive Configuration in late summer capped brood in top brood box eggs/young larvae in the bottom box When brood emerges the top box is available for honey storage Brood should be in the bottom box going into winter Move old/misshapen frames to outside in preparation for culling in spring

25 Entrance reducer smallest size - notch up reduce drafts want queen to lay in bottom box can use ½ hardware cloth exclude mice/shrews lower entrance may be blocked by snow or dead bees Upper entrance auger hole in upper box notch in inner cover

26 Sufficient Food Stores Honey two frames positioned on the outside of the bottom brood box full deep of honey above when harvesting leave enough for the bees warm fall bees consume stores before winter Pollen can be fed in the fall if needed

27 Supplemental feeding Sticky supers/uncapped honey over the inner cover Sugar syrup 2:1 ratio feed early enough so they can process, store and ripen finish feeding by mid-october Prepare candy boards/fondant for winter feeding

28 Candy Board Recipe 1 pint (2 cups) of water bring to a boil add 5 pounds sugar and heat to 242 F stir frequently to prevent burning add ¼ tsp. cream of tartar (optional) cool to F and pour into molds greased with vegetable shortening and lined with waxed paper (or into a candy board) CANDY THERMOMETER MUST BE ACCURATE!

29 Wrapping For thermal gain Allows cluster to expand to get honey By mid-november in Maine 30 weight underlay tar paper (roofing felt) 78 long piece Can also paint hives a dark color Dead air space or insulation under hive

30 3/8 staples Keep bees from going under tar paper

31 Ventilation/Moisture Control: Vent moisture out upper entrance or shim inner cover (popsicle sticks) Notch down on inner cover draws air along hive wall and not through the cluster Super of honey on top also helps insulate Absorbing moisture insulating board (Homasote) newspaper or other absorbent material candy board/fondant between bees and the outer cover dead air space between insulating board and outer cover to prevent condensation

32 Insulating board spacers

33 FOXRUNFARMHONEY.COM