Best wishes for healthy and happy holiday and good bee days ahead … Read more about HAPBEE HOLIDAYS
Insuring FAT fall bees for overwinter success
In September bee colonies rear the bees that are going to rear FAT fall bees. FAT bees store reserves in their bodies, a process that involves the bee blood protein called vitellogenin, suspending the normal aging process to live many weeks compared to their sisters who live only a few weeks during … Read more about Insuring FAT fall bees for overwinter success
Mite-a-Thon Sept 9-16
The “new” beekeeping calls for the need to sample bees in August, September and October to see how they are doing at keeping varroa mite populations in check. If mite numbers exceed 2-3%, it is suggested that due to risk of poor overwintering of the colony, colony loss (to BEE PMS) overwinter or … Read more about Mite-a-Thon Sept 9-16
July Starts Mite Monitoring/Control
All OR bee hives have or will have varroa mites. It is important to know how many mites are present. Knowing how many mites provides an estimate of approximate risk of mites increasing fall colony losses. Starting sampling in July and continuing into October can trigger decisions on whether control … Read more about July Starts Mite Monitoring/Control
Swarming
SWARMING Problems from swarming Reduces the worker force Hive that swarms may not make any surplus honey Sometimes the swarm is not recovered Valuable queens can be lost There may be after-swarms which further reduces the worker force Factors that may lead to swarming … Read more about Swarming
Swarm Control
If you think of your hive as having three parts, swarm control will involve separating one of these three parts from the other two. The three parts are: 1) Queen 2) Brood and Nurse Bees 3) Flying Force To separate the Queen: Make a nucleus to separate the Queen from the parent colony … Read more about Swarm Control
Winter loss report WVBA
At the March and April WVBA meetings, I distributed paper copies and directed members to a web-based colony loss survey, a continuing effort to define overwintering success of backyard beekeepers in Oregon. This was the 9th year of such survey activity. I received 282 responses from OR backyarders, … Read more about Winter loss report WVBA
Let the SWARMS begin
At the April meeting (April 24) we knew of only a single swarm. Rich covered swarming in his comments and his comments will be posted in the meeting minutes. we should begin to hear of local bee swarms in May and June. Swarming means different things to different individuals. Some beekeepers see … Read more about Let the SWARMS begin
Survivorship Survey – PNW Honey Bee Health & Beekeeping Practices
Last year, 271 OR/WA backyarder beekeepers returned April surveys on overwintering colony losses/survivorship, and management such as colony feeding, sanitation and Varroa control efforts. There were 38 WVBA respondents included in the OR report, which are posted on the website: … Read more about Survivorship Survey – PNW Honey Bee Health & Beekeeping Practices
STARTING PACKAGES/NUCS
There was an informative webinar mid-January from Bee Culture Magazine [“The Kim and Jim Show”] that was all about packages. You can still view the one-hour broadcast at Bee Culture webpage www.beeculture.org Look for it filed under events. Kim and Jim discussed only packages but their … Read more about STARTING PACKAGES/NUCS
Dead Colony Forensics
Dead colony forensics - examining a dead colony to help determine what might have been the reason for non-survival. Identifying the problem can guide changes in management leading to improved overwintering success. Last year backyard OR beekeepers lost 43% of their overwintering colonies – there … Read more about Dead Colony Forensics
Improved Tools Guide for mite control
The Honey Bee Health Coalition has released a series of videos to help beekeepers promote colony health and combat costly and destructive Varroa mite infestations. The videos provide detailed step-by-step instructions on how to monitor hives for Varroa and safely treat when levels get too high. The … Read more about Improved Tools Guide for mite control