August, and that means treating our bee colonies for Varroa if we want them to have a chance at overwintering. The Fat Bees won't be born until September, and the idea is to have their nurse bees as virus-free as possible so they don't pass viruses on to the Fat Bees which need to live through a Wisconsin winter. To do that, the colonies need to be treated for Varroa by mid-August. We'll talk about treating the Fat Bees for Varroa as we approach late fall. I treated all of my colonies on July 29 with FormicPro. From the results of using FormicPro in early June, I'd say it works quite well. I did some 24 hour sticky board samplings recently and the results varied from zero to eight mites, well below the treatment threshold after two months. It's important to treat all colonies in an apiary at the same time, even if a mite count is zero. A zero mite count in a sampling does not mean the hive is mite-free. It isn't. It just means the level is very low, and that's a good thing. Untreated colonies are incubators for mites, and the populations will explode exponentially during August and September. Knock them down now. A phenomenon that can occur if a hive is left untreated is the Varroa Bomb. With exponential growth in August and September the population of mites can overwhelm the colony and the bees abandon their mite infested home (abscond). This is not swarming, or anything like it. This is bees taking off in a hurry, abandoning brood and food, and finding new homes in other hives and bringing their mites with them. That's why even those of us that treat in August also need to treat in September and October/November. And that's why I, and others, suggest that if you don't treat for Varroa to pour soapy water over the bees in your hive in early September to sacrifice that one colony to save many more. Beekeepers need to be responsible not only for the bees in their hives, but for all honey bee colonies, both managed and feral. I, for one, have declared war on Varroa. Besides the two FormicPro treatments this year, I have Apiguard (thymol based) on order for a September treatment and lots of oxalic acid for vapor treatments in late fall/early winter. There are other Varroa treatments available, these are just the ones I chose for this year. I hope they help. Looking around my area, there's sunflowers, sweet white clover, black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, purple loosestrife, and a bunch of other plants in bloom. Bull thistle and goldenrod are still a few weeks off, and those herald the end of the honey season. We may get a good flow with goldenrod, but that will be pretty much all She wrote for this year. Then it's harvest time for those that harvest at the end of the season. We talked about harvesting techniques at our last meeting, and I did get a fume board to try out this year. Bees are not happy with us stealing their honey ever, but in fall they get really upset. They see the honey as their winter food and will defend it. By using some of the techniques we discussed at the meeting we reduce the likelihood of a major sting event. For those of you who are pretty happy that you didn't have to use your smoker once this year and that your bees are calm and gentle, I'd have it lit and at the ready, just in case. For a little more sting protection insurance, I just washed my gear (again) with added bleach. I really like the feel of a fresh bee jacket and bee britches, but mostly I wanted to get the alarm pheromones washed out. I had noticed several spots on the back of the jacket and on the veil where bees had stung, and the "sting here" pheromones would still be present. Weakened, but still present. Any ECWBA member that would like to use the ECWBA extractor located at the Rushford Meadery and Winery, contact Pam to coordinate dates and times with Shane. [email protected] Now is the time to start keeping a watch out for yellow jackets around your hives. As we head into fall they will try to get into the hives for larvae. Wasps eat mostly sugars during the spring and summer, much like bees, but in fall they need lots of protein, much like bees. Yellow jackets can mimic the scent of a hive and gain entrance. If they like what they sense in the hive, they go and get the rest of their colony and can completely decimate a colony in a few hours. Our only defense mechanism (that I'm aware of) to help the bees guard their hive is to install an entrance reducer. This is always a tricky time for me. I don't want to reduce the entrance if there's a flow on, and I don't want them exposed if the yellow jackets are hunting. (I want the bees to have as easy access as possible to maximize building up stores of honey and pollen.) So I visit the bees often and watch. When yellow jackets start going in and out with impunity, the reducers go on, regardless. So far I haven't lost any colonies to yellow jackets, but a friend lost 3 out of 4 colonies when he was late checking on his bees. Don't be late. Our next meeting is on National Honey Bee Day, August 18. We do not have an Event scheduled, but Linda DeNell, director of the Caestecker Library, had offered us the use of the library if we wanted to hold something there. Nothing was forthcoming, so it will be a regular meeting at 9:30 a.m. The meeting will be a good time to talk about Fat Bees, their need for protein and how we can help, and other winter preparations. By mid-September our bees will be in a dearth of nectar and pollen that will last until May, with only a very few plants able to provide them with anything until the first killing freeze arrives. Feeding will become important to make sure they get to winter weight and strength. We'll be talking about that. We'll pick up the conversation then. I have attached the current apparel list. If you're interested in any ECWBA gear, contact Laurie and she will try to have it ready at the next meeting (if ordered far enough in advance). These are custom ordered, so order ahead. You can contact Laurie at: [email protected] or [email protected] I'll see some of you at the Fair, and hopefully more at the meeting. Gerard
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
ECWBA NewsletterSince 2009 Archives
March 2019
|