Dewey Caron

Publicity about the ‘plight’ of honey bees have been a “key” to freeing of federal grant monies for beekeeping research/extension. Coining of the term CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) in 2006 and Time Magazine cover “Plight of the Honeybees,” 2013 [Time labelled the situation Bee Apocalypse] helped “others” to see the seriousness of our colony loss […]

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.

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

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

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;