The 2018 season is progressing, and many of the early spring blossoms have already come and gone. Honeysuckle and Black Locust are still in bloom, but they’re about done also. The major flow will be here soon, and that will be honey time. We need healthy bees to bring in the mother lode.
All my hives have two deeps right now, and most have a honey super on as well. I added the honey supers when I put in FormicPro strips on May 31 to give the bees more room to spread out, and in case they would need the room for honey during the two-week period that I can’t disturb them while the FormicPro is doing its work. The reason to treat now is to have healthy bees during the flow. Varroa transmits Deformed Wing Virus and K wing virus, among other things, and bees can’t fly if they’re afflicted. This is a prophylactic treatment in that I didn’t take mite counts prior to treatment. I know they have mites, just not how many. In late June/early July I will take mite samples, and if the mite count is above the threshold, I’ll treat again. But regardless, come late July/early August there will be another FormicPro treatment. I’ll talk about that, and the Fat Bees, when we get there. Note: I am not promoting FormicPro, it’s just what I’m using (for the first time). It’s a new product from the people that make Mite Away Quick Strips (MAQS) and is supposed to be an improved method of delivery. Formic acid is appropriate at this time of year because it penetrates the cappings and kills the mites in the cells. And it's organic. The (3) Vermont (northern) survivor mutt queens that I had ordered in February arrived in Oshkosh yesterday and I was able to pick them up at the Oshkosh post office rather than wait a day for them to get to Berlin. One of my survivor hives has been queenless for the past three weeks so one of the caged queens was put into that hive. One of my package colonies was not getting over chalkbrood, had only 6 frames of bees and two foundation frames in the single deep, so I returned that queen to the circle of life, waited 1 ½ hours, and put the second queen in that hive. The third one went into the nuc that I had started a week ago from hive 4 (AKA: the bee factory). I wanted the nuc to start their own queen, so they’d have a Wisconsin survivor mutt queen, but when I checked their progress yesterday there was larva in only one queen cup, which they were attending to. Their survival was dependent on that one chance. So, with “maybe” in one hand and a laying queen in the other, I put her in. I knew the temperature would be dropping and the nuc looked a little light on bees, so I added some from the nuc’s mother hive (the bee factory). I took the bees on the inner cover and two super frames (wouldn’t be a queen above the excluder, I hoped), sprayed them lightly with syrup to mask their scent and make flight difficult, and brushed them into the nuc. A swarm of bees flew above the nuc and I fully expected them to return to their mother hive, but after I put the cover on the nuc several bees stood by the entrance and started fanning. Within a few seconds the swarming bees landed and marched into the nuc, much like when a swarm is captured and the queen is in the box. Very cool to witness. My original plan, back in February, was to replace (3) of the poorest performing California package queens that I got this spring. Things are always changing in the apiary and only (1) was replaced, the chalkbrood queen. She was a beautiful queen; long, plump and golden. But about 50% of the brood turned to mummies and it wasn’t getting better. Replacement is the only possible solution at that point. (I had chalkbrood in a second package colony, but they got over it weeks ago.) We have to do what we have to do if we want to raise healthy colonies. So why do some of us invest so much money and time in honey bees? For me, it’s to help them stay alive in today’s world of pesticides, fungicides, lower nutritional value of pollen, diseases (both old and new), and pests (both old and new). As honey bees have demonstrated over their 100 million years of existence, they will adapt to present day challenges. But a lot die in the meantime and a little help won’t hurt. As we increase the number of survivor colonies, the genetic codes that make them survivors will spread. Man has contributed a good portion to their problems, the least we can do is contribute to their health where we can. For those that prefer to not do anything other than put bees in a box and extract honey, good luck. But please pour soapy water over your bees in mid-August so your Varroa bombs don’t bring my colonies down. Next weekend is Walleye Weekend, and I hope that more members have signed up for booth time with Laurie or Patti. The last time I saw the signup sheet (attached to the last newsletter) there weren’t many names on it, and at least one time slot had no one listed. Part of being a member of the ECWBA is to promote honey bees and beekeeping. It doesn’t speak well to the non-beekeeping, but curious, community if there’s only 1, or no, members in the booth. I hope that everyone can give at least an hour to promoting honey bees and beekeeping. Laurie: [email protected] Patti: [email protected] Our next meeting is June 23 at the Rushford Meadery and Winery, home of our extractor and club hives. Pam has been tending the bees well, with an assist from me, and today she was putting on the second deeps. I expect to stop by and treat them with FormicPro some afternoon this coming week. Dave, a co-worker (welder) of mine, came out to look at what needs to be done to bring the decapping tank up to USDA standards, and I will be taking it into the shop for cutting out the carbon steel and welding in stainless steel, where required. One patch and a modification to the drain. I hope everyone can make it to the Meadery and bring your protective gear if you plan to visit our Buckfast bees. I’m sure Shane and Laurel will have plenty of wine and mead samples on hand and will be happy to sell anyone (of legal age) some bottles, if so desired. To get to the Meadery (8389 Liberty School Road, Omro), take Hwy 21 to Rushford Avenue and turn north. (There is a desanctified, small, white church on the northeast corner of the Hwy 21 and Rushford Ave. intersection called The Gathering Space.) Go north to the next intersection, which is Liberty School Road, and turn right (east). The Meadery is about a mile and a half down the road on the right side. It’s a 1960’s era elementary school, and looks exactly like you imagine. Shane and Laurel have done a tremendous amount of work converting it to their needs, and are still working on it. June 23, 9:30 a.m., the Meadery. See you then...............Gerard
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ECWBA NewsletterSince 2009 Archives
March 2019
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