Intermediate Beekeeping  -- Lesson One

Objectives of lesson one:

1. Realize that learning is a continuous process.
2. Start  to think about your "style of beekeeping."
3. What are the advantages in joining an organized group?
4. To understand the nature of the natural biology of the honey bee.   
5. To compare a natural "honey bee nest" with that created by humans.
6. Know what a beekeeper should do to lessen robbing.

Introduction:

      This course is divided into six parts.  The first is the introduction.  All beekeepers seek truth and knowledge.   Even if you do not agree with some beekeepers, they feel as if they are seeking truth and knowledge.   One of the common statements made by beginning beekeepers is that they get very confused as what to believe.   This is understandable!   Beekeeping is an art.  How you end up keeping bees may very well be much different than the way you are taught in this class.   A beekeeper is faced with many methods (ways) to do the same thing.  Choices are made and lessons are learned.  

      I would like to think that I am a sponge -- I absorb what I see and hear.  I also reject those things that do not work for me.   The longer we are in beekeeping and the more beekeepers we know, the better our chance to absorb ideas.   From these ideas will come  our "style" of  beekeeping.   Even long time beekeepers change their style from time to time.  If something works better, switch to it.   We live in a world in which change is required to survive.  Beekeeping is no longer simply a matter of  putting the bees out back and robbing their honey in the fall.   If you are going to become a beekeeper, you will indeed need to keep abreast of new threats, new products, and new information.

      If you are new to beekeeping, so much the better.   Many older beekeepers are fixed in their ways and question any techniques which differ from "the way they do it."   Don't get me wrong -- mistakes can be made and are made all the time by both beginning beekeepers and experienced beekeepers.  However, if a person tells you that they have nothing new to learn, then they have buried their head in the sand and are going backward as far as beekeeping is concerned and that might apply to almost anything else in our society.   We are in the process of learning.  That is the nature of the honey bee.   We can learn about honey bee behavior but then they do something which we just do not understand.  

      One of the goals a beekeeper should develop is the technique of reading what the bees are doing.   It takes time to develop a sense of knowing something is wrong when you open a hive.  It might be a sound that just doesn't sound right or it may be bees rushing about the hive in an agitated manner.   The beekeeper must develop the sense of smell, sight, and hearing.   These are important.   It is hard to teach these skills.   Only by going into bee hives on a regular basis can one develop an idea of what is normal and what is not normal.   Hopefully you will have an opportunity during this class to visit a number of  bee hives and begin the process of  "reading the bees."

       All beekeepers need encouragement.   We have our up's and down's.   Beekeeping is keeping our bees alive and healthy.   We advance from one level to the next in our skills on a very gradual time line.  It is not something which can be hurried.    A fact that you can engrave in your mind is a fact that was passed on to me by my grandfather,  "Beekeepers earn everything they get from the bees!"    If you invest little time with your bees, don't expect great returns.   In fact, experienced beekeepers realize that one year doesn't make a beekeeper.   The season  never seem to repeat like it did last year.  The nectar flow somehow never materialized like last year.   The mites were worse this year than last year.   The winter kill for this year was the worst  bees have had in the last ten years.  And it could go on and on with the beekeeper who has had bees for any length of time.   Those beekeepers who have kept bees for ten, twenty, thirty, forty years can look back at years in the past and still not know what weather this spring, summer, fall or winter will bring or what effect it will have on bees.   From experience, they will be aware that certain things will happen if  we have an extended winter into spring and the bees can not get out to fly.   We can read all we want, but actual experience will guide most beekeepers.

Professional Organizations:

    When a beekeeper joins a group, club, or organization, the beekeeper is networking with others.  There are many valuable rewards for doing this.  First, we learn from others what they think.  Ideas are paramount to growth and advancement.  Second, we can reach out for help.   All of us need to have questions answered, and sometimes, even a helping hand.   Third, we have the opportunity to give as well as take.   If you truly believe in what you are doing, then you should not mind promoting what you believe.  The best way to do this is in some organized fashion.  One voice is not nearly as strong as many voices.   Finally, you may find someone who would be delighted to let you work their bees with them or for them.  Many elderly beekeepers need help and could even reward you for your efforts by giving you needed equipment and even letting you get one of their swarms.     Many individuals who have a few hives have built up by working bees on shares.   Clubs could lead you to beekeepers in need of help and almost everyone likes to help a beginner.

      Beekeepers are served by local, state, and national organizations.  If you are having trouble finding a local organization we will help find one for you.   A good starting point -- the same one we will use -- is   Bee Culture Magazine's Who's Who in Beekeeping.

      If you do not like going to meetings and meeting people, the next best thing is the internet.  As we move into this new millennium more and more people are going to be using it.  The resources available are unlimited.  

Getting our feet wet:

As I began to prepare the material in this course, we were in the middle of a very cold December.  This is a good starting point to discuss the plight of honey bees as we wait for spring to arrive.

Eva Crane in her book, The Archaeology of Beekeeping,  provides us with a rough time-line of the development of the honey bee.

"for 150-100 million years     flowering plants have existed."

"for 50-25 million years         solitary bees have existed."

"for 20-10 million years         social bees have produced and stored honey."

"for a few million years           man has existed and has eaten honey."

During the cultivation of "wild bees" by humans, we have not made much of a dent in the existence of the honey bee.   They have survived in spite of what we do to them.   However, in the modern world man has been able to transport "wild bees" from native lands to other places and the same can be said for pest of honey bees.

Through artificial insemination we are able to artificially improve the generic pool and "improve" the stock of bees we raise.  However, in doing so, we are also creating a bee that depends on "man" to maintain its specific traits.  If let alone, the bee would  revert to  the "law of survival" which means that those bees most fit will survive.

When we put chemicals into our hives, we are insuring that bees survive without eliminating the weak who would be victims of the various diseases and pest.  Of course, if we did nothing we might not have any bees to work with.

Successful colonies of honey bees must have a place (hive, tree cavity, interior wall of a house, or some other  location to build comb which is sheltered from the weather elements.   In warmer regions of the world, bees related to our honey bee actually build their comb from tree limbs, cliffs, and other open places.  Have you noticed that bees in the wild usually build their nest in trees and buildings well above ground.  Roger Morse did a considerable amount of research to determine the best height to place a trap to capture swarms.  His research found that bees prefer a height of about 10 feet.

If you were to examine the nest of wild honey bees in a tree cavity, you would find that the bees select a dry cavity, with usually a small opening. They will use propolis to reduce the opening if it is too large.  It will  be protected from the wind and full sun, have good ventilation, and be dark inside the cavity.  They will build a nest of beeswax vertical to the ground and the combs  will be parallel to each other.  The comb is attached to the top of the chamber and to exterior walls.  The comb will not resemble the nice neat straight comb we see in a standard bee hive.  The bees  will respect the "bee space" but will build their comb in waves and use brace comb to support the weight of the honey stored in the older darker comb at the top and the brood in the lighter and newer  comb near the bottom of the nest.

 Bee have adapted to being managed by man.  For starters, we usually locate hives of bees on the ground or very near the ground.  We have built a box which contains frames of starter foundation.  This frame may be wood or plastic and the foundation for the bees to build their cells up is either wax or plastic.  We go to great lengths to make sure the comb built in the frames is straight.

We then add supers (boxes) onto the top of the hive.  Have you noticed that queens seek out new comb to lay eggs if they have the opportunity?   Normally in beekeeping, we confine the queen to the brood nest of darker comb and add new foundation to our honey supers.   This is just the opposite of what happens in a natural wild nest.   However, the bees will move up and store excess honey in newly drawn out comb.   If you have a strong hive of bees in double deep brood chambers-- placing new comb above them to give them more room to expand will not prevent swarming as some bee books seem to indicate.  Removing the queen excluder and allowing the queen to move up may prevent some swarming.  Our solution however is to give the queen more room in the brood chamber.  How do we suggest you do it?

      It is well known that bees build new comb when a nectar flow is on.  If a beekeeper follows the practice of replacing brood frames in the brood chamber by  culling out bad comb and using the older brood comb in good shape in a honey super during this nectar flow, two things are accomplished.   First, you are getting the bees to draw new comb in the brood chamber where the queen will lay her eggs.   Second, this gives the bees plenty of space in which to work on the wax building process necessary for the comb to be built.  Frames with brood can be raised up above a queen excluder and with the bees at or near population peaks, swarming will take a back seat to enlarging the brood nest.  More bees produce more honey and you will find that as soon as brood emerges from the comb moved up above the queen excluder, it will be filled rapidly with new honey.   Or if your goal is to increase the number of hives you have, the brood can be moved to another hive body with enough bees to keep the brood warm and relocated several miles from the donor hive.  Introduce a new queen.    You have reduced the donor hive's tendency to swarm and you have a new colony to nurture along.  All you are doing is taking advantage of the natural behavior of the bees.

You should attempt to prevent your colony of bees from experiencing stress.  Placing the hives in a proper location will help. Part shade on very hot days will help.  Providing a near by water source will help.   Shelter the bees from interruptions by pest such as skunks, children with stones, lawn mowers, etc.  Wind breaks will help.  

Bees really don't care what color you paint a hive.  I have seen all colors used on bee hives.  Bees see red as black.  Some beekeepers paint hives different colors to help bees find the correct hive.  This is helpful when hives are very close together or when raising queens.  You most likely know that a bee has five eyes.  It is common to see young bees that leave the hive for the first time  fly near the entrance (facing the entrance and hovering around the front of the hive) before leaving to forage.  Bees don't see the way we see.  The eyes on each side of the head are compound eyes.  Scientist claim that a bee's  compound eye has over 6000 facets.  Thus, they see a mosaic of things.  The ocelli, (there are three located on the top of the head in a triangle shape) may have something to do with helping the honey bee locate sources of light such as the sun and may play a role in helping the honey bee return to its hive.   I have always found it interesting to note that when we move a bee hive several yards from its  original  location, the bees do not follow the hive but return to the original location and mull about. They will eventually move to the moved hive if it is close enough or another one nearby.

You are also likely to know that the antennae of the bee serve  the senses of smell and touch.  Bees are very sensitive to smell and can detect odors from some distance.  Books often warn the beekeeper about deodorants, hair sprays, etc.  Bee are also attracted to your breath (CO²).

If you have neighbors nearby (roughly 50 yards or so), avoid working with your bees when they are cross.  This could be on a cloudy rainy day, early in the morning, late in the afternoon or when most of the bees are in the hive and no nectar is being gathered.  The best time to work a hive is during a period when the bees are busy gathering nectar.  Many of the bees will not be in the hive at the time of inspection.   Bees are generally very docile because the older work force is gone and many of the bees in the hive are young house bees whose job revolves around caring for brood.  In many cases, the bees will continue to work as you watch when you remove a frame of comb from the hive.

The very best way to get the most stings is just prior to a building storm when the bees are returning to the hive and none are leaving. They are not about to (not notice you).

Bees rob.   The strong take advantage of the weak.  Any weak hive must be protected against other bees and yellow jackets.  They will strip a weak hive of all its honey and let the weak hive starve.  Do not encourage robbing.   Many a beekeeper has learned first hand what it means to have a case of robbing going on.  If you have never seen it or experience it, you will not have to be told what it is once you have.   If you take honey off of your hive or hives, move it immediately to a secure area where bees can not go.  When feeding bees, it is wise to use containers that have lids.   The five gallon plastic bucket with a lid is okay, but a five gallon plastic can with a lid or honey gate is better.  We do not recommend the boardman feeder to beginners.  Bees can not get to the syrup outside the hive during very cold weather.  Since the boardman feeder rest on the lip of the bottom board and has an opening for a quart jar which is also outside the hive, the bees will starve to death in very cold weather.   If the syrup is placed immediately above the cluster of  bees, then they  would have a chance to survive because they could get to the syrup.

Bees get very excited when they find a source of honey.  I have known of beekeepers who have put a few supers in the car to bring home from the bee yard.  They did not immediately remove the honey supers from the car.  You can guess what happened!  Bees descended on the car to get the honey.  The beekeeper rolled up the windows too late and had a car full of bees.   About the only thing to do in a case like this is wait until it starts getting dark, and let the robber bees out or better yet, remove the supers from the car.  After the honey is gone the bees will have no interest in the car.  One might have a little do-do (little brown spots) around the inside of the car.

If you have just a few hives, it might be wise to carry plastic bags to the bee yard and place the supers full of honey in the plastic bag.