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 the active season. […]
Insuring FAT fall bees for overwinter success Read More »
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 the chance
Mite-a-Thon Sept 9-16 Read More »
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 the chance
Mite-a-Thon Sept 9-16 Read More »
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 might be needed to improve
July Starts Mite Monitoring/Control Read More »
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 might be needed to improve
July Starts Mite Monitoring/Control Read More »
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 (“Suggested”) Overcrowded hive Congestion of the brood area or lack of
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 which has
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, keeping anywhere from 1 to 48 colonies;
Winter loss report WVBA Read More »
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, keeping anywhere from 1 to 48 colonies;
Winter loss report WVBA Read More »
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 swarms as a
Let the SWARMS begin Read More »
