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Sunday, December 27, 2009

Candy Board Follow Up

davidsheri

Our recent lesson on Candy Boards generated a lot of interest, and I’m getting lots of emails telling me that the link did not work to order the candy boards. If you received the Lesson via Email, that link doesn’t work. So here are the proper links:

Candy boards for 10 frame hives. CLICK HERE

Candy boards for 5 frame nucs. CLICK HERE

Sometimes there is a difference in sizes of nucs especially 4 and 5 frame nucs, so let us know what size nuc you are using and we can provide candy boards for your equipment.

If you want to order these from our website, go to www.honeybeesonline.com then click on BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT AT THE TOP and then click on FEEDERS on the bottom row of links.

Thanks!
David & Sheri Burns

Saturday, December 26, 2009

LESSON 68: What Do Bees Do During The Winter? & Candy Boards To The Rescue!!

davidsheri
Merry Christmas from David & Sheri Burns at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms!
It is always so rewarding to enter into the Christmas season. For us, it means another year of hard work under our belts, experience gained and hopefulness for another great bee year. Of course, the greatest blessing of all is the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We give Christ all the glory for blessing us beyond our imagination.
Sheri and Karee have been making lots of good food and some extra Holiday sweets that are impossible to resist. We had our family Christmas gathering at our home on December 20th, and we enjoyed entertaining 20! Our family continues to grow!
This year we insulated our entire bee building, added on another build room and a paint room. We’ve really been enjoying working in a warmer environment with more room!
IMG_4301 (640x427) We’ve decorated our home with a Christmas tree, lights and other decorations. For a tree stand I use a 3 gallon bucket, stand the tree in it and fill it with small rocks. It holds it really tight and then I fill the bucket full of water. My wife wraps the bucket with a special Christmas cloth.
Because our youngest son is only two, we could not put our gifts under the tree, or little Christian would open them up when our backs were turned. He likes Thomas the Train toys, so he’s got a little Thomas the Train track around our Christmas tree. Battery powered and all, playing Jingle Bells as it goes by. There’s nothing like see Christmas reflected in the eyes of a child. Here’s our family all dressed up for Christmas doing our annual Christmas dance!
Family Christmas Dance

LESSON 68: What Do Bees Do In The Winter? Home Of The Winter-Bee-Kinds!
In previous lessons I’ve talked about how to prepare our hives for winter. Please review those previous lessons if you become nervous about your bees this winter.
But before you become too anxious about your cold bees, let’s gain some comfort from understanding how bees overwinter.
The bees prepare for winter long before we even think about it. In the early spring bees are working hard to store up honey for the long winter months. All spring, summer and fall the bees are making preparation for winter. Their stored honey is their only hope of making it through the winter. They only need 3 pounds of honey per month, provided there is no significant brood to feed. That’s why most hives are doing fine now, in December and January, because with little to no brood to feed, there is food in the hive. However, in January as the days begin to lengthen slightly, the queen begins to lay alittle more, thus requiring more food to feed the larvae. This increases week by week until most hives become stressed in February and March, unable to continue to feed themselves or the larvae and they perish from starvation. Therefore, candy boards to the rescue!
I believe the reason most hives perish in late winter is because they were reserving limited stores of food and therefore reduced their brood rearing. This makes for a decreasing hive in number and a hive that will eventually die out or become so weak that even if it survives into spring, it will not make any surplus honey.
When beekeepers complain of low honey production, their hives probably suffered from low nutrition in December and January when they needed it the most. Now is the perfect time to slap on some candy boards.

Winter Cluster Bees do not hibernate during the winter. Instead, we use the word “cluster” to describe what bees do all winter. They cluster together. When I first started keeping bees I remember someone explaining to me that the bees form a ball in the hive and cluster in a ball and stay warm. My first thought was wouldn’t the frames interrupt their ability to form a tight cluster? One year I removed some frames to see if the bees overwintered any better since they could actually form a ball without frames breaking up the cluster. Didn’t make any difference. Heat travels well through the combs and frames even plastic frames. Remember, the bees do not heat up their entire hive like we do our homes. Instead, they merely gain heat from their surrounding sisters. When the temperature outside dips to 50 and below the bees begin to form their cluster. The colder it becomes, the tighter the cluster.

The cluster moves around more when the temperature reaches around 50 outside. At this temperature or higher, they may actually travel to a frame of honey that is around them and carry that honey back to the cluster to feed others. And at temperatures 50+ they will fly outside the hive to finally go to the bathroom (defecate). During the winter, the temperature in the center of the cluster is maintained around 80 degrees and warmer if there is brood. However, toward the outside of the cluster the temperature may barely be above freezing. Cold bees are pulled back into the warmer cluster by warmer sister bees.
I believe my bees do better the more winter fly days they have per month. It seems to me they stay healthier if they can fly one or two days per winter month. But that sometimes never happens here in Central Illinois.
Winter Cluster Drawing In the cluster the bees stay warm by generating heat by flexing their muscles. To do this, it requires eating honey. The colder they are, the more they will need to eat. But the warmer it is, the more they eat because they’ll want to move around and even fly out. Therefore, we have no choice but to leave 60-80 pounds of honey in the hive for winter, or feed them candy boards or sugar water during the winter. By January and February the bees have made their way up into the top deep hive body. The image shows how we can rotate our two hive bodies in April. But, never rotate the hive bodies unless you are absolutely sure that the entire cluster is in the top deep. Never break up the cluster if they are in both the top and bottom deep. Some beekeepers rotate their boxes too early and put the cluster in the bottom deep away from the upper heat source as heat rises. A cold snap can produce a larger number of dead bees than is acceptable.
Winter-Bee-Kind For Winter Feed For Bees
Winter-Bee-Kind For Winter Feed For Bees
In The summer of 2011 we introduced our Winter-Bee-Kind after several years of studying overwintering hives. We could barely keep up with production they were in such demand. We still make them right here at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms but we've expanded our production methods to keep up with demand. So many beekeepers told us that these were the only thing that got their hives through the winter. This year, it's time for the 2014 production year. We even mix the sugar and pollen and right here and pour the candy into the Winter-Bee-Kinds. WHAT IS A WINTER-BEE-KIND? It is a one piece candy board that provides food, ventilation, upper insulation and an upper exit/entrance to help bees remain healthier during the winter. Someone said it insulates, ventilates and feed-i-lates. With the built in upper vent, you don't have to worry about snow covering up your hive's lower entrance. The bees can still go in and out through the top vent spacing. We avoid shipping Winter-Bee-Kinds in hot weather and start shipping each September-March. You can place our Winter-Bee-Kinds on your hive anytime, even in the winter. Because it goes on top of the hive in place of the inner cover, and you are NOT removing any frames, it can be placed on the hive in cold weather. Just do it fast. Open the top, remove the inner cover and place the candy side down and the vent slot toward the front of the hive and you're done. Click here to order your Winter-Bee-Kinds Some form of a candy board has been around for a long time. Beekeepers of long ago placed candy in their hives to provide enough food for their bees to survive the long months of winter. There are various mixtures and receipts for candy boards. Some are made with soft candy and some with hard candy. The end result is still the same. The bees will consume the sugar as they need it. We've always been concerned about the amount of condensation that can develop in the hive during the winter. The bees produce heat within their hive and as the temperature is very cold outside the hive, condensation will develop on the warm side, just above the bees on the inner cover or top cover. This condensation can accumulate and drop down onto the winter cluster of bees below. Bees can stay warm in the winter but they must remain dry. If this cold water drips down onto the bees, it can reduce their ability to keep their cluster warm. The insulation on our Winter-Bee-Kind helps reduce the excessive moisture and even puts some of that moisture to work, as it accumulates on the candy and makes it easy for the bees to consume the sugar. Thus, a Winter-Bee-Kind can help lessen two winter stresses, the lack of food and excessive moisture. We make our Winter-Bee-Kinds with sugar and a healthy amount of pollen powder. Many beekeepers make the mistake of only feeding their bees sugar in the winter, but the bees also need protein which they obtain from pollen. Our Winter-Bee-Kinds come with pollen mixed in with the sugar.. Click here to order your Winter-Bee-Kind today. We recommend that you place candy boards on your hive any time between Oct-March.


Commonly Asked Questions
Q: Which way does the candy face in the hive?
A: The candy faces down just above the winter cluster. Normally, this means that the Winter-Bee-Kind would be placed on the brood box that contains the cluster. For example, if you overwinter your bees in a single deep hive body, the Winter-Bee-Kind would be placed on this deep hive body with the candy facing down toward the cluster. If you are using two deep hive bodies to overwinter, then the Winter-Bee-Kind would be placed on the top deep hive body. It is best to disregard the use of an inner cover, and simply place your top cover over the Winter-Bee-Kind.

Q: What about winter moisture?
A: Moisture can develop in the winter from condensation, a contrast of the heat the bees produce in the hive and the extreme cold temperature outside the hive. Condensation accumulates on the warm side, which means moistures collects on the inner cover or top cover above the hive. This can drip down on the bees and chill them during the winter. A Winter-Bee-Kind takes the place of an inner cover and any moisture that develops from condensation aids the bees in consuming the candy.

Q: How long will a Winter-Bee-Kind last on a hive?
A: On average about 3 weeks. However, a colony that has ample stored honey may not consume the candy board as fast or not at all until they need it. A colony close to starvation may consume a Winter-Bee-Kind within a week or two.

Q: Since Winter-Bee-Kinds are placed or replaced on the hive in the winter, can I open the hive up on a cold day?
A: It is best to place the candy boards on a hive when the temperature is above freezing and try to place the candy board on and have the hive sealed back up within 1-2 minutes. It should not take over 1 minute. Do not remove any frames in cold temperatures, only place your Winter-Bee-Kind on and off quickly. If you can choose the warmest day during the winter, that would be best. Try to avoid very cold, windy or rainy days.

Q: How do I refill a candy board?
A: It is best to send back your candy board and we will refill it for $7 plus shipping. If you are a good candy maker, you can do it yourself.

Q: How do I get one with a pollen?
A: Our Winter-Bee-Kinds contain pollen as well.

Q: Can I make my own?
A: You can, but you must experiment, because you do not want the candy to be too hard or too runny. The exact mix depends on your altitude, heat source and other conditions so it will be different from one location to another.

Q: Why was some liquid sugar dripping out of my Winter-Bee-Kind when I received it?
A: It is the nature of candy boards to be a bit on the dripping side even though the top may be hard. Do not be concerned if you see liquid sugar dripping out of your boards when you receive it. It usually means it was left on end during shipment for a prolong period of time. The bees will clean everything up and enjoy this soft liquid.

Q: How much sugar is in one Winter-Bee-Kind?
A: Approximately 5 pounds

Q: When do I put a Winter-Bee-Kind on my hive?
A: Any time! Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb are good months to place on the boards.

Q How often should I check my Winter-Bee-Kind?
A: Every three weeks, take a peek.

Q: Do you make Winter-Bee-Kind for 5 frame nucs or 8 frame hives?
A: Yes, check out our website to order, but carefully read the description to make sure you are ordering the correct size and type.

Q: Can the candy break loose from the board on the hive?
A: It rarely happens, but during extreme winter weather, the candy and separate from the board while on the hive. This is not a problem. The bees will continue to consume the sugar.

Q: When I place it on the hive, do I use my inner cover. Just how does it go on?
A: Winter-Bee-Kind takes the place of your inner cover. Simply place the Winter-Bee-Kind on the top of your upper hive body or super with the candy facing down, then place your top cover on top of the Winter-Bee-Kind. Be sure to use a rock or brick to make sure the wind does not blow your top cover off. There is overwhelming enthusiasm about our Winter-Bee-Kinds. Click here to order now.

It has been a pleasure being with you today, and from Sheri and David Burns, we do wish you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
Here’s our contact info:
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
14556 N. 1020 E. Rd
Fairmount, IL 61849
WEBSITE: www.honeybeesonline.com
BLOG LESSONS: www.basicbeekeeping.blogspot.com
PHONE: 217-427-2678
EMAIL: david@honeybeesonline.com
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/longlanehoney

Friday, November 27, 2009

Lesson 67: Woodenware Improvements, Pollen Patties, AFB & Mice

davidsheri
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, from David & Sheri at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms! Thanksgiving is one of the holidays that our family enjoys the most. All the women love to cook and all the men love to eat. Sheri and hope you find plenty of reasons to be thankful.
Today, I want to give a lesson on improvements we have made to the woodenware (hives) we sell and how I recommend pollen patties to be used in the hive and why mice are bad for hives during the winter. But first, alittle about what we’ve been doing.
We are enjoying an Indian summer, nice warm days. That should change soon, but we’ve taken advantage of these nice days to try and get our outdoor winter preparation projects finished.
This week , I’ll be moving a bunch of my hives into an area where we had walls of dirt brought in to act as a wind block. Then, I have large, and I do mean LARGE, canvas material that I am going to use to shield the hives. Again, this is somewhat experimental. I’ve never had any better winter survivability when I’ve wrapped in the past, but this time I’m adding more ventilation. So we still have lots of hives to move.
signs(Remember you can click on all pictures for a larger picture.) We had a new and larger sign made for our farm, and signs for the vehicles. I have been really surprised at how much business those signs have generated.
I was featured in another newspaper. It was a nice article, but the reporter got a few details incorrect on the timing of raising queens. That article really generated a lot of interest and phone calls. Here’s the link if you want to see the article. CLICK HERE


LESSON 68: WOODENWARE (Langstroth & TBH Hives), POLLEN PATTIES & MICE
Woodenware is a term used in the beekeeping community to refer to the actual wooden bee hive, not the colony of bees. There are two commonly used hives today. The most common is the hive that pastor Langstroth designed back in 1851. Pastor L. L. Langstroth was pretty depressed over his ministry and found comfort in his bees. It’s hard to believe that a congregation could sting more than a hive of bees. During his work, he designed discovered bee space, a space measuring around 3/8” that bees would leave as a travel space. With that knowledge he designed a hive known as the removal frame hive. Before that, most bees were kept in skeps and logs.
Another common hive is known as a Top Bar Hive. TBHs are gaining popularity. They are shaped like an upside down triangle. Simply put, the only part of the actual frame used is the top bar. The bees add their comb to the top bar down toward the bottom. Langstroth’s hive is not the perfect design, nor is the TBH.
I’m often asked what I think about TBH. I’ve never operated one, so I may change my mind if I were to use one. But apply some basic beekeeping knowledge and comments I’ve heard TBH folks make, here’s what I think.

The TBH followers claim it is much more natural and usually they are referring to the cell size. Since bees are not using a pre-existing foundation pattern, and some conclude they make smaller cell size. Then, the small cell size proponents claim this helps reduce mites. However, in scientifically controlled assays the results did not show any advantage of small cells comb in controlling mites.
The disadvantages I see with TBH are:
1) In order to inspect a frame, the comb is often attached to the side of the hive and must be cut away to be lifted out.
2) Honey frames cannot not as easily extracted and is often crushed and allowed to drain.
3) Other components are not as available, such as feeders, supers etc.
4) Some state bee inspection rules state that frames must be removable and might not view TBH frames as easy to remove without having to cut the comb.
And I always suggest and encourage new beekeepers to become familiar with beekeeping by using the traditional Langstroth designed hive, and once they have the basic fundamentals under their belt, then they might try a TBH.
We’ll probably one day make and sell TBH but as for now, we are happy with the Langstroth’s hive.

The Langstroth hive has been slightly improved over the last 158 years, but is basically the typical white hives you find sprinkled throughout the countryside, and city backyards.
We enjoy the ease of the Langstroth hive. It is easy to use, compatible with various accessories such as pollen traps, top feeders, frame feeders, entrance feeders, supers, cloake boards, fume boards etc.
Since we are beekeepers, we keep improving upon the way we make our hives that we sell. I want to point out a few of these improvements.
Deep Hive
Here’s a picture of one of our deep hive bodies being built. We now place 9, 8 penny nails in one corner. That’s 36 nails in one deep hive box. Holes are predrilled. Also each corner receives a generous amount of exterior glue. Those of you who are wood workers know the strength is really in the glue. But those 9 nails give the box strength especially the 4 nails that are cross nailed.
Deep Hive2
Also, we’ve hunted and hunted until we’ve finally found the perfect wood we like for our hives. We use a high quality pine. It took us several years to finally locate the perfect wood source. We buy it through our local small town lumber yard. They actually get it out of Indiana. It is strong, dried to our perfection. Knots are small and kept to a minimum.
Deep Hive 3
Here’s a look from the inside of the deep hive. We make our own metal frame rests. Notice how we staple them in from the side not the top. When stapled in from the top, the staples catch the hive tool when scraping off propolis. So we staple the frames rests in from the side, leaving the top smooth. These frame rests allow the frames not to stick to the wood. In other words, a wood frame against a wood frame rest can become so glued together by the bee’s natural bee glue (propolis), that the frame’s ear can actually break. But the frames do not stick as much to a smooth metal surface.
Also, this picture shows the frame rest area that is cut into the front and back pieces just above the metal. Since the board is 3/4” thick, half way through is 3/8”. However, we have widened that cut so that the remaining piece is slightly thicker because historically that has been a weak spot.
TOP We’ve also improved out telescoping top cover in three ways. First, we’ve added a screw at the bottom of each corner. We noticed that beekeepers use their hive tools to prior open the tops when they are glued down by the bees. So we’ve stiffened up the corner with a screw. Secondly, we’ve started using screws to fasten our metal down. Thirdly, we are now using a high quality, painted aluminum for the metal top.
Frame1 Another improvement that we’ve have made to our hives is the frames. The frames that we now use in our hives are of the highest quality. No knots on the wood used for frames.
Frame2 Notice in these pictures that wide staples are used, connection points are glued, side bars are a full 3/8 inch, bottom bars are much thicker and ears are tapered up to assist in moving and freeing the frames if the bees use lots of propolis.
The final improvement we have made to our hive is our paint. We’ve always used a high quality Valspar exterior paint, but we’ve added a paint room to our operation. The controlled and consistent drying temperature and humidity has significantly improved the overall paint coverage.

Entrance Cleat We’ve also listened to our customers and they keep telling us they need an entrance reducing cleat that fits when they have their entrance feeders on in the spring. So we now include two entrance cleats, a large one and a smaller one for use with our entrance feeder.
These improvements require more time in producing your hives, but we feel quality is important. But do remember, that your bees really aren’t impressed at the quality of your hives. Bees are comfortable in old, nearly rotten trees. But the better quality your hive is, the longer it will last so that you can enjoy years of beekeeping.
POLLEN PATTIES
PATTY We’ve been asked a lot of questions about pollen patties. I’m sure I’ve address the issue before, but rather than waste time trying to find out, it is faster just to address pollen patties here. WHEN, WHERE, WHAT and WHY?
It is my opinion that the major producers of pollen patties are good and reliable. We sell BROOD BUILDER pollen patties which are filled with pollen, and other minerals and nutrition that is good for bees. You’ll find some beekeepers like some brands better than others.
These are pre-made and come between two pieces of wax paper. Again, I can only share my opinion and experience, but I feel and have found that pollen patties are very beneficial to the overall improvement of nutrition in the hive. Of course, one would expect that the bees would bring in plenty of their own choice of pollen during nectar flows, and they do. So I only use pollen patties in late winter, early spring just prior to a good balance of natural pollen. However, if a beekeeper only has a few hives, it wouldn’t hurt to keep a pollen patty on the hive all year, just in case they need a boost. It will not get mixed into the honey because pollen is kept separate than honey in the hive.
Lay the pollen patties just on top of the frames above where the winter cluster is located. One is plenty, maybe even half of one is enough. Keep an eye on it and when it is almost consumed, add the other half. The bees can move up into the pollen patty on warm days. DO NOT remove the wax paper. The bees will consume it. If you remove it, you’ll find on warm days, the patty can become so soft that it can melt and fall between the frames, and be messy in the hive. So keep the paper on it.
POLLEN Here’s a friend of mine who has a pollen patty on now that it is fall. You can see they have not consumed much of the pollen patty. You might also notice the Ziploc bag full of sugar water with a few holes on top to help feed the bees. Wonder why they are not consuming the pollen patty?
I found out why. He called me in fear that he might have American Foul Brood. He saw a frame that appeared greasy and spotty. So, I ran out the next day and we examined his hive. Though I have never had AFB, I have examined several frames of it in study of my master beekeeper certification. Spending any extended time in the presence of a frame of AFB makes me nauseous because it smells so horrible.
AFBMy friend pulled out the frame under suspect and I’ll let you see it here too. What do you think? Click on the image for a full size picture and see if you know what is wrong with this frame? I’ll give you a minute and then I’ll tell you… His description was accurate. Looks greasy and wet and perforated.
Nothing is wrong! This is a beautiful frame, not of brood, but of bee-bread. Bee bread is a combination of pollen and honey. Take a look at this article on the discovery of what bees do with bee bread:
Scientist solves secret of bee bread from Science News, Nov 5, 1988 by Ingrid Wickelgren
A microbiologist has discovered the microbial ingredients honeybees embed in the nutrient-packed pollen derivative known as bee bread.
Martha A. Gilliam of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Ariz., identified 107 molds, 81 yeasts and 29 bacteria in the bread while she and co-workers sifted through the yellow granules for proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes.
Workers bees newly emerged from the comb must eat bee bread so their glands produce food for the queen and developing larvae, whereas older worker bees -- the foragers -- survive primarily on honey.
"We think bee bread is somewhat more nutritious than regular pollen, but until recently, we weren't sure what happened to it [after the bees collected it]," says Elton Herbert, a research entomologist at the Agriculture Department's Beneficial Insects Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Md.
Using standard chemical methods, Gilliam picked apart pollen on its path from plant to hive. She took samples from beeless almond trees, from the carrying basket on the bee's leg and from the combs in the hive.
"We found that as soon as bees touch the pollen on the plant, they are adding glandular secretions, microorganisms and either honey or nectar to make it sticky," Gilliam says. The added microbes produce enzymes that help release nutrients such as amino acids from pollen, and the organisms manufacture antibiotics and fatty acids that prevent spoilage. The bees also remove unwanted microbes from the pollen.
My friend was pleased and overjoyed that his hive did not have AFB, but rather had a good source of bee bread to take into winter and next spring!
PROPOLIS
MYSTERY PHOTO??????
WHAT IS THAT…..
A friend had this dripping out of the edge of his hive. Anyone want to venture a guess? Most beekeepers can quickly identify it as propolis. Indeed it is as I pinched and smelled it. But the real question is why would it run out of the hive and down onto the cement stand. Email us your answers and we’ll publish them in the next lesson. Email your guess to: david@honeybeesonline.com
MICE
Mice like warm places to overwinter. When nightly temperatures drop and farmers harvest their crops, mice look for shelter. What better place than a warm and roomy bottom board of a bee hive. Dead bees are nicely dropped down for the mice to consume. Often, mice and bees coexists without harming the other. In the spring, mama runs out of the hive with her new family. However, usually what happens is the mouse gets greedy and wants more than just dead bees. They start eating live ones, honey, wax, pollen and begin to move up into the brood next of the hive where the heat and food is and by that time, the mouse will kill the hive. It’s challenging enough to overwinter bees, so don’t over winter mice in your hives.
Usually the entrance cleat is sufficient to deter mice from taking up residency in the hive. Do keep mice out! One year I overwintered a nice number of colonies along with huge families of spring mice. That crop of mice then raised me a nice crop of snakes who stayed curled under my hives waiting for mice. So, since I stopped raising mice in my hives, I no longer have snakes either.
That’s all for now and I do hope you’ve learned a thing or two new about beekeeping. Maybe it’s all new and maybe it all sounds Greek. Don’t despair. We beekeepers just like to rattle on and on about beekeeping. But you can be an excellent beekeeper just by keeping it simple. Bees existed fine before we tried to domesticate them, so rest assured your bees will be very forgiving of your learning curve.
WE ARE NOW TAKING ORDERS FOR PACKAGE BEES ONLINE. CLICK HERE TO ORDER Package Bees
Here’s our contact information
David & Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
14556 N. 1020 East Rd.
Fairmount, IL 61841

PHONE 217-427-2678
EMAIL: david@honeybeesonline.com
WEBSITE: www.honeybeesonline.com
Until next time, remember to BEE-Have yourself!

Monday, November 2, 2009

LESSON 66: Become a Better Beekeeper Through Books, Conferences, Magazines & Mentorship

We are David & Sheri Burns from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms located in Central Illinois and it is nice to join you for another lesson in beekeeping.

Before we get started today, we are happy to announce that we are now taking online orders for packaged bees!! That's right, interest was so strong, we jumped in a week early. CLICK HERE to order your packaged bees online now. Don't delay too long as last year many people called us too late and we could no longer supply bees.
You can click on all images and enlarge them. Have you ever wondered how we make up packages of bees. Here's a video I took in April outside of Orlando, Florida. We will do it all again in just 5 months. These packages are available for local pickup from our apiary here in Illinois but must be pre-ordered online or by phone.

L673 We spent the summer adding on a new build room to our operation, and it will be a very nice addition to our production of bee hives. L674
We are already having an unusual increase in orders, which leads me to believe that it will be another year of extraordinary interest in beekeeping.
In our next lesson, I want to share some special and unique touches we have incorporated into our beehives. I can't wait to share those things with you.

And we have a new edition of our Podcast, Studio Bee Live available, so check it out at: www.honeybeesonline.com/studiobeelive.html
One more thought before we jump into today's lesson. Feed your bees on these nice fall days. Use 2:1 sugar water with Honey-B-Healthy. Several days this week will be perfect days to feed bees here in our apiary, and so I've already mixed my syrup. I'm feeding them now with chicken waterers. L672 I do have to modify the opening by placing in a piece of 1/8 hardware cloth to keep the bees from going up into the jar. They will get up into the jar and then they drown. Every beekeeper needs to have a roll of 1/8 hardware cloth available to keep bees either in or out.
L671 As you can see in the picture, since the syrup mixture is so thick, I've started heating mine on the stove to dissolve the sugar. I also add several other spices and such that I've found to be helpful. I will not share my secret receipt, not because it is a secret, but because what I do has not been tested or written up about, but I believe it in. I add a natural mineral and spice along with Honey-B-Healthy.

L675 As you can see, the bees go crazy over it. I did review various scientific research that has been done on this particular mineral to help bees, so that gave me the idea to add it to my fall syrup.
LESSON 67: BECOME A BETTER BEEKEEPING THROUGH BOOKS, MAGAZINES, CONFERENCES & MENTORSHIPS
In most parts winter is setting in, the bees have kicked out all the drones and soon the bees will form their winter cluster. The bees have done all they can do to prepare for winter and we hope as beekeepers we have done our part to help them make it through the winter. There is very little we can do now except wait for spring and see how well the bees go through, what many are saying, is going to be a harsh winter.
But, why waste your time worrying and wondering about your bees! You did a good job as a beekeeper, now relax and use this winter to become a better beekeeper by reading good beekeeping books, which I want to tell you about two books that are really good, and by attending conferences and association meetings where you will find those willing to mentor you along.
First, let's look at two books that I highly recommend. HONEY BEE BIOLOGY AND BEEKEEPING by Dr. Dewey M. Caron. This is an excellent book. With some books on beekeeping, they are either oversimplified or overcomplicated. But this book finds a good balance so that it is helpful to the new beekeeper and to the experienced beekeeper as well. Dr. Caron is Professor of Entomology at the University of Delaware where he was presented the University's Outstanding Teaching Award.
Here's what Dr. Caron says about this book. "My intent is to explain bee and beekeeping basics in a manner meaningful to a person who lacks an extensive background or knowledge of biology. Yet I have not oversimplified bee biology to the point where it is meaningless to the serous beekeeper or informed biologist."
I will suggest where you can purchase this book, but first let me tell you about another great book because you can purchase both books from the same place.
The second book is another book that I highly recommend. "What Do You Know" by Dr. Clarence H. Collison. I met Dr. Collison in August at the Eastern Apicultural Society conference in New York. Dr. Collison heads up the master beekeeping program. Dr. Collison is Professor of Entomology and Head of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS. He has also had a column in the magazine, BEE CULTURE, for over two decades.
This book is fun! It allows you to answer questions to see how much you really know about beekeeping, then the next chapter gives you the answers so you can see how well you did and learn the correct answer.
Both books are available at WICWAS PRESS. Dr. Lawrence Connor is WICWAS PRESS. He's an Entomologist and is always on the cutting edge of beekeeping and has a column in the magazine, AMERICAN BEE CULTURE. Contact Larry today and order these two books. You can email Larry at LJconnor@aol.com or call him at: 269-344-8027 or online at www.wicwas.com
These two books will greatly advance your beekeeping knowledge!
BEEKEEPING CONFERENCES
Most state beekeeping associations offer conferences and classes. Most areas have small affiliate beekeeping associations. To find one near you, you should contact either your state's Department of Agriculture or Department of Natural Services. You can also contact your local county extension office. Attending local bee clubs and state associations is a great way to meet other beekeepers, learn from knowledgeable and experienced beekeepers and develop friendships that can turn into mentorships. By subscribing to the beekeeping magazines, you can read all about the conferences, workshops and classes in your area.
BEEKEEPING MAGAZINES
I used to think that subscribing to beekeeping magazines were expensive. But, when you consider the information you gain and how much money that information can save you through better beekeeping practices, it is well worth the investment. There are two major and well known monthly magazines: AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL also know in conversation as ABJ. It's a product of Dadant & Sons in Hamilton, Illinois. The second magazine is BEE CULTURE. It's a product of the A.I. Root company. Both journals provide the latest discoveries. I highly recommend that the serious beekeeper invest in subscribing to both magazines. Click on the links below for more info on each:

AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
BEE CULTURE
Finally, let's talk about mentors. Every new beekeeper could benefit from having a more experienced beekeeper to lean on. Of course, not everyone who keeps bees is a beekeeper. Some are bee-havers, meaning they just have bees but they have not gained experienced through the above mentioned points of learning. So here's what to look for in a mentor:
1) Has kept bees for at least 5 consecutive years.
2) Attends regular club meetings or state association meetings, classes or conferences.
3) Is well read in beekeeping.
4) Lives near you or has email and you have the ability to email digital pictures of your hives when you have questions.
5) Is willing to help you.
It really is nice, when you first start keeping bees, to have someone that can answer what you might call "silly questions". I think that new beekeepers would enjoy beekeeping faster if they spent the first year being tutored by a seasoned and well informed beekeeper.
Thanks for stopping by for another lesson in beekeeping. Do keep us in mind for all your beekeeping needs.
Click here to order your hives today. Remember two hives are always better than one. If one hive begins to weaken or loses their queen, you can use bees and frames from your other hive to strengthen the weaker hive.
For those of you wishing to drive out and pick up your supplies but not sure of our location, the easiest way to find us is to go to google.com and type Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, then click on MAPS
Here's our contact information:
PHONE: 217-427-2678
EMAIL: david@honeybeesonline.com
WEBSITE: www.honeybeesonline.com
MAILING ADDRESS:
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
14556 N. 1020 East Road
Fairmount, IL 61841
Until next time, BEE-Have yourself!
David & Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms

Friday, September 25, 2009

Lesson 65: Screen Bottom Boards In The Winter? Fall & Winter Feeding

DavidSheri Hello, we are David & Sheri Burns from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in Central Illinois.
Today, I want to address a few controversial issues about preparing a colony for winter. For example, screen bottom boards are of tremendous benefit in reducing mites in the summer, but should we leave these open for the winter winds? And, what about feeding bees in the winter? How can we feed bees without the sugar water freezing? Before I address these and other issues, let me remind you of our upcoming beekeeping class.
WARNING: There is a push to make beekeeping appear practically hands free. New beekeepers are failing to implement best management practices. I want to be your mentor. I am currently accepting positions to mentor a limited number of beekeepers. You'll have access to my personal cell phone and private email. And you can send me videos or pictures of your hive when it just doesn't seem right or you don't know what's going on. You'll also receive 4 new instructional videos from me and a weekly tip of what you should be doing. Click here to see if spots are still available.
L653












l664 Those of you who have visited us know why we are called Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. We live down a long lane, a long gravel lane and with heavy trucks coming and going, our road is constantly full of potholes. So, we added Thomas the Tractor to our arsenal against potholes. L663A 1958 Case 800 tractor with a front pallet fork and a rear box scraper. I'm a penny pincher. When we first moved here, I had 5 loads of gravel dumped in piles down my lane and for weeks, my son and I used shovels and rakes to smooth it out. I've been working on Thomas for a couple of weeks, repairing hydraulic lines but now the old tractor has joined the work force at the honey bee farm.
LESSON 66: Screen Bottom Boards In The Winter & Fall & Winter Feeding
In a previous lesson, I shared several approaches on how to prepare for winter. In this lesson I want to go into more detail about screen bottom boards and winter feeding.
Bottom Board 001 Screen bottom boards prove to be very beneficial in the summer for reducing mites and for increasing ventilation. But do they pose a threat to a colony during the winter? That's a debated issue. Some cover their screen bottom boards while others leave them open. A few years ago, we did a simple test. We placed covers over 3 colony's screen bottom board and left the others open. We lost all three that were covered. So we always leave our screen bottom boards open all winter. It is our opinion that an open screen bottom board cuts down on excessive moisture. Cold air sinks and warm air rises, so the threat of an open screen bottom board, in our opinion, is minimal.

If your hive is up in the air 6 or 8 inches, then you want to prevent cold wind from curling up and blowing onto the cluster. This can be accomplished by building a wind block around your hive.
Remember, that a winter cluster warms only the cluster and not the inside of the hive. On an extremely cold night, the air several inches away from the cluster will be the same as outside the hive. The bees consume honey, and vibrate by flexing their muscles to generate heat, much like we do when we shiver. That heat is transferred throughout the cluster. They will be able to accomplish generating the cluster heat with or without the screen covered.
WHAT ABOUT WINTER FEEDING?
Many beekeepers allow their colonies to become extremely undernourished. Pollen and stored honey is essential to winter survival of colonies. In the fall, I work to beef up my colonies. It's tricky for me because of the number of colonies in one location. Even an inside top feeder can create a robbing frenzy. In the fall, boardman feeders placed in the front of hives is a certain robbing disaster.
So my approach is two fold. 1) During the fall only, after most nectar is no longer available, I want to prevent robbing, and 2) I want to beef up my colony nutrition for winter.L662
You can click on the images for a larger view. My approach is simple. I do use boardman feeders, but I place them on stands throughout the bee yard. And on dry days, I pour dry pollen out on the feed stands. My sugar mix is two parts sugar and one part water for fall. I have to make the holes bigger in the lids for the syrup to pass through. I also add one teaspoon of Honey-B-Healthy.
Winter-Bee-Kind For Winter Feed For Bees
In The summer of 2011 we introduced our Winter-Bee-Kind after several years of studying overwintering hives. We could barely keep up with production they were in such demand. We still make them right here at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms but we've expanded our production methods to keep up with demand. So many beekeepers told us that these were the only thing that got their hives through the winter. This year, it's time for the 2014 production year. We even mix the sugar and pollen and right here and pour the candy into the Winter-Bee-Kinds. WHAT IS A WINTER-BEE-KIND? It is a one piece candy board that provides food, ventilation, upper insulation and an upper exit/entrance to help bees remain healthier during the winter. Someone said it insulates, ventilates and feed-i-lates. With the built in upper vent, you don't have to worry about snow covering up your hive's lower entrance. The bees can still go in and out through the top vent spacing. We avoid shipping Winter-Bee-Kinds in hot weather and start shipping each September-March. You can place our Winter-Bee-Kinds on your hive anytime, even in the winter. Because it goes on top of the hive in place of the inner cover, and you are NOT removing any frames, it can be placed on the hive in cold weather. Just do it fast. Open the top, remove the inner cover and place the candy side down and the vent slot toward the front of the hive and you're done. Click here to order your Winter-Bee-Kinds Some form of a candy board has been around for a long time. Beekeepers of long ago placed candy in their hives to provide enough food for their bees to survive the long months of winter. There are various mixtures and receipts for candy boards. Some are made with soft candy and some with hard candy. The end result is still the same. The bees will consume the sugar as they need it. We've always been concerned about the amount of condensation that can develop in the hive during the winter. The bees produce heat within their hive and as the temperature is very cold outside the hive, condensation will develop on the warm side, just above the bees on the inner cover or top cover. This condensation can accumulate and drop down onto the winter cluster of bees below. Bees can stay warm in the winter but they must remain dry. If this cold water drips down onto the bees, it can reduce their ability to keep their cluster warm. The insulation on our Winter-Bee-Kind helps reduce the excessive moisture and even puts some of that moisture to work, as it accumulates on the candy and makes it easy for the bees to consume the sugar. Thus, a Winter-Bee-Kind can help lessen two winter stresses, the lack of food and excessive moisture. We make our Winter-Bee-Kinds with sugar and a healthy amount of pollen powder. Many beekeepers make the mistake of only feeding their bees sugar in the winter, but the bees also need protein which they obtain from pollen. Our Winter-Bee-Kinds come with pollen mixed in with the sugar.. Click here to order your Winter-Bee-Kind today. We recommend that you place candy boards on your hive any time between Oct-March.

Commonly Asked Questions
Q: Which way does the candy face in the hive?
A: The candy faces down just above the winter cluster. Normally, this means that the Winter-Bee-Kind would be placed on the brood box that contains the cluster. For example, if you overwinter your bees in a single deep hive body, the Winter-Bee-Kind would be placed on this deep hive body with the candy facing down toward the cluster. If you are using two deep hive bodies to overwinter, then the Winter-Bee-Kind would be placed on the top deep hive body. It is best to disregard the use of an inner cover, and simply place your top cover over the Winter-Bee-Kind.

Q: What about winter moisture?
A: Moisture can develop in the winter from condensation, a contrast of the heat the bees produce in the hive and the extreme cold temperature outside the hive. Condensation accumulates on the warm side, which means moistures collects on the inner cover or top cover above the hive. This can drip down on the bees and chill them during the winter. A Winter-Bee-Kind takes the place of an inner cover and any moisture that develops from condensation aids the bees in consuming the candy.

Q: How long will a Winter-Bee-Kind last on a hive?
A: On average about 3 weeks. However, a colony that has ample stored honey may not consume the candy board as fast or not at all until they need it. A colony close to starvation may consume a Winter-Bee-Kind within a week or two.

Q: Since Winter-Bee-Kinds are placed or replaced on the hive in the winter, can I open the hive up on a cold day?
A: It is best to place the candy boards on a hive when the temperature is above freezing and try to place the candy board on and have the hive sealed back up within 1-2 minutes. It should not take over 1 minute. Do not remove any frames in cold temperatures, only place your Winter-Bee-Kind on and off quickly. If you can choose the warmest day during the winter, that would be best. Try to avoid very cold, windy or rainy days.

Q: How do I refill a candy board?
A: It is best to send back your candy board and we will refill it for $7 plus shipping. If you are a good candy maker, you can do it yourself.

Q: How do I get one with a pollen?
A: Our Winter-Bee-Kinds contain pollen as well.

Q: Can I make my own?
A: You can, but you must experiment, because you do not want the candy to be too hard or too runny. The exact mix depends on your altitude, heat source and other conditions so it will be different from one location to another.

Q: Why was some liquid sugar dripping out of my Winter-Bee-Kind when I received it?
A: It is the nature of candy boards to be a bit on the dripping side even though the top may be hard. Do not be concerned if you see liquid sugar dripping out of your boards when you receive it. It usually means it was left on end during shipment for a prolong period of time. The bees will clean everything up and enjoy this soft liquid.

Q: How much sugar is in one Winter-Bee-Kind?
A: Approximately 5 pounds

Q: When do I put a Winter-Bee-Kind on my hive?
A: Any time! Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb are good months to place on the boards.

Q How often should I check my Winter-Bee-Kind?
A: Every three weeks, take a peek.

Q: Do you make Winter-Bee-Kind for 5 frame nucs or 8 frame hives?
A: Yes, check out our website to order, but carefully read the description to make sure you are ordering the correct size and type.

Q: Can the candy break loose from the board on the hive?
A: It rarely happens, but during extreme winter weather, the candy and separate from the board while on the hive. This is not a problem. The bees will continue to consume the sugar.

Q: When I place it on the hive, do I use my inner cover. Just how does it go on?
A: Winter-Bee-Kind takes the place of your inner cover. Simply place the Winter-Bee-Kind on the top of your upper hive body or super with the candy facing down, then place your top cover on top of the Winter-Bee-Kind. Be sure to use a rock or brick to make sure the wind does not blow your top cover off. There is overwhelming enthusiasm about our Winter-Bee-Kinds. Click here to order now.
Bee Factory 212 Feel free to order your hives for the spring by calling us at 217-427-2678. We take credit cards over the phone, or you can order online by clicking here.
We always appreciate your business, whether it is for your woodenware hive needs, queens, packages, nucs, clothing or extraction equipment, we always appreciate your loyalty.
Here's how you can contact us:
Phone: 217-427-2678
Email: david@honeybeesonline.com
Web Address: http://www.honeybeesonline.com/
It's easy for you to sign up to receive these Lessons right to your Email address. It is free and you can unsubscribe at any time. Just enter your email address below and click on Submit Query. Please spread the word about these lessons to others who may be interested in learning more about beekeeping.


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Until next time, remember to BEE-Have yourself!

David & Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
Fairmount, Illinois

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Lesson 64: Why Is Honey So Good For Us?

DavidSheriHello Friends! We are David & Sheri Burns operating our family honey bee business in Central Illinois where summer seems to be giving way to fall. We've had a few cool nights in the mid to upper 40s so it seems like fall.
NEWS FROM AROUND OUR FARM
August 20 09 014 Sheri's chickens are laying about 5 eggs a day, not quite enough to keep up with our family's need, but they are just now 20 weeks old. Every day we all race out to the chicken coop to gather up the eggs. I didn't realize until I read up on it that fresh eggs are much better for you than older eggs. Speaking about what's good for us...we all know that honey is good for us. And in today's lesson I want to give you some information explaining why honey is so good for us. Before I start today's lesson, let me continue to bring you up to date on what we've been doing.
tractor12 I bought an old farm tractor,  a 1958 Case 800 with a front end loader. We are always plowing, digging and hauling things around, so this will be a big help for us. I bought it on Ebay and hauled it up out of southern Illinois last Saturday. It's two years older than me!
Two weekends ago we had a wonderful group at our beekeeping and queen rearing courses we offered at our honey bee farm. We had people here from Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and California. The students were very enthused about keeping bees and raising queens. The weather was great so we were able to spend some time in the hives as well.

Lesson62u Our honey crop was good and we were able to bottle up a good amount of beautiful tasting honey and our customers have lined up to buy it before we run out as they do every year. Our customer's appetite for honey is greater than our bee's ability to keep up with demand.
ilqueen This will be our last month to produce queens. It becomes much more difficult to produce late queens but this is when so many people want to requeen, in September. Once again we gained so much knowledge and skill in our queen rearing operation. Can't wait until next year!! Where we really need to improve is in overall production of our queens. We have the quality where we want it, but now we must increase quantity. We had to turn away so many request.
on including the location and directions: http://www.easternmobeekeepers.com/meetings.htm
And for those of you who are Studio Bee Live addicts, we are producing more finally! These are broadcast that we produce here on our farm and place on the Internet. These broadcasts are located at: http://www.honeybeesonline.com/studiobeelive.html Check it out!
LESSON 64: Why Is Honey So Good For Us?
Nutritional Value
lesson63a What's in honey? The actual chemical make up of honey can be slightly different based on the local nectar sources. Typically, honey consists of simple sugars known as glucose (dextrose) and fructose (levulose).
Bees do not gather honey from flowers. They gather nectar which is a sugary substance from plants which is very high in moisture. The bees carry the nectar to the hive and then hand it over to carriers in the hive. These carriers work the nectar droplet. Invertase is added by the bee who works the nectar to help evaporate the moisture from the nectar. This goes on for nearly several minutes and then the nectar is placed in the comb where it dries even more. Bees fan the open cells of nectar to cure it by evaporating the moisture level down to around 18%. Then it becomes honey and is sealed over with a wax cap.
Honey is made up of Moisture (17-18%), Fructose (around 40%) Glucose (around 30%) and other sugars, vitamins, minerals, and complex carbohydrates.
Honey is fat free, sodium free and cholesterol free! Honey does have vitamins like B6 and thiamin, niacin, and riboflavin. Honey contains minerals that are good for us like calcium, copper, iron magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc.
Antioxidants are also found in honey, such as chrysin, pinobanksin, vitamin C, catalase and one antioxidant that is only found in honey, pinocebrin.

This nutritional information was obtained from the National Honey Board's website.
whippedhoneyHoney is the only unprocessed food that never spoils. Sometimes honey will become hard or solid. This natural process is known as granulation or crystallization. For the most part all honey will eventually crystallize over time, but some takes much longer than others. The deciding factor is the type of nectar or floral source from which the nectar was gathered which determines the sugar content.
What causes honey to crystallize or granulate? Since honey is composed of glucose and fructose, this high concentration of the sugar begins to separate out and can then form crystals. Remember that honey is 70% sugar and 20% or less of water. Any small particle such as pollen specs, or even air bubbles will provide a seed for these sugar crystals to begin to grow. We count on this process in making our cream honey. We just grind the seed crystals to be extremely small so it makes the honey feel creamy.
Granulated honey is not spoiled. It can be warmed and most of the crystals can be re-liquefied. Remember, all honey will eventually granulate unless it has been heated to 140-160 degrees and highly filtered to remove all particles. Of course, heating honey damages it by removing or killing valuable enzymes.
Something that often does follow granulation is fermentation because water is forced out of the sugar in the granulation process. This extra water causes the honey to ferment. Natural yeast within the honey will begin the process of turning your honey into mead or alcohol when the moisture level is above 18%.
Honey absorbs water? It will absorb it from the room you process it in. That's why I keep my processing room around 30-35% humidity and dry my supers 3 days before I process the honey. I've never had a fermentation issue.
What is the shelf life of honey? A long time! Do not put it in the refrigerator. It is fine left at room temperature.
Many people including myself use honey on skin injuries. I recently spoke with a hand surgeon and he explained to me that honey can keep a wound very moist to aid in healing yet kill bacteria. Honey kills bacteria because it is hygroscopic. This means that honey absorbs moisture from bacteria that tries to grow.  This is why honey is such a safe food to eat no matter how long it has sat out, maybe centuries!
Thanks for joining me today, and I really enjoy preparing these lessons each week.
I want to remind you that we manufacture our own hives, built to our own specifications because we are beekeepers. Please check out our website at: http://www.honeybeesonline.com for all the honey bee products we carry including hives!
I always welcome you comments or suggestions on future lessons and I also appreciate it when you pass these lessons on to others.  You can encourage your friends to sign up to receive these directly via Email.
We now have 911 subscribers receiving these lessons directly to their email. In fact, there is a link at the bottom of this post (sent via Email) and I'll include a link here:
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Here's our contact information:
PHONE: 217-427-2678
EMAIL: david@honeybeesonline.com
WEB: www.honeybeesonline.com
Until next time Bee-have yourself!

David & Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
14556 N. 1020 East Road
Fairmount, IL 61841

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

LESSON 63: PROPERLY HANDLING THE SMOKER

DavidSheri Hi! We are David & Sheri Burns from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in Central Illinois. We are a family owned beekeeping business and our niche is to provide a place where you can find everything you need to become a successful beekeeper, from equipment, hives, bees,queens and even a hands on beekeeping education!
Thanks for stopping by and reading today's lesson. In fact, in just a moment, I'll present LESSON 62 about the essential and well known beekeeping too, the smoker. But before I do, let me remind you of a few important things.
You can have these lessons sent directly to your email box each time a new lesson is published. We'd love for you to sign up to receive these lessons free, and sent directly to your email in box. Click here to sign up now! It's free and you can easily unsubscribe at anytime. Also at the end of each lesson, there is a link where you can click to forward a lesson on to a friend. Please take advantage of this feature as well, to help let others know of these lesson. We would appreciate it.

Lesson62t
Also, remember we manufacture the woodenware and by that I mean the bee hive components. So, if you need a beehive kit, a complete hive or various hive components, we'd welcome your business. Our hives are hand made and are of the highest quality. We also sell everything else to do with beekeeping and more. So call us today and place your order. 217-427-2678. Thank you.
Sheri and I produce a podcast on beekeeping. We are working on our latest podcast and it should appear today. We'd love for you to stop in and hear our latest podcast at: www.honeybeesonline.com/studiobeelive.html
This fall and winter, I'm taking my Beekeeping Course and Queen Rearing course on the road. If your association would like to host a class in your area, I'll come and do all the teaching. Many people want to take our courses but live too far away. With the help of other associations in other states, I hope to come to those who can't drive over to Illinois. Talk to the members and presidents of your associations and see if this might work for you. It's a neat way to encourage new members, first time beekeepers and even boost the income for your local association. Give us a call at: 217-427-2678.
We are conducting a survey asking beekeepers what is the most important characteristic they want in a queen. Please take the survey by going to our blog www.basicbeekeeping.blogspot.com and you see the survey on the upper right hand side. Choose only one option. So far, disease resistance is the most sought out characteristic.
LESSON 62: PROPERLY HANDLING THE SMOKER
The invention of the modern day smoker is credited to Moses Quinby who was born the same year as L.L. Langstroth who discovered bee space and the removal frame hive. Blowing smoke on bees to calm them goes way back, but Quinby made the first handheld smoker with a bellow to keep the fire burning in a tin container.
Most beekeepers believe the smoke causes the bees to act as if their hive is on fire which forces them to eat honey to prepare to leave the burning hive. A honey bee that is full of honey has a more difficult time of stinging because they cannot curl their abdomen to inject the stinger.
A more modern day understanding is that the smoke masks alarm pheromones (isopentyl acetate)of the honey bees in the hive, disrupting their ability to communicate that there is an intruder in the hive.
STARTING YOUR SMOKER
To start your smoker, you'll need a source of fire and fuel. By fuel, I'm referring to your source of fire, not actual liquid fuel. Most beekeepers use fuel that is easily accessible, such as pine needles. Those of us who run wood shops use sawdust. I've found that very dense and powdery saw dust is not good. Instead we use the more stringy saw dust that comes more from dado blades. Others use burlap, hemp rope, clean 100% old cotton rags...anything that is not toxic and makes a cool dense smoke.
0063cStart your smoker by saving newspaper or an old phone book and tear a page out and place in the bottom of the smoker and light it. I keep a long grill lighter handy and here I'm lighting a used shop rag. Without burning your fingers and suffocating the fire, work the paper to the bottom of the smoker. Once the paper is burning well in the bottom of the smoker, start adding your fuel, such as pine needles or saw dust. Do not add so much that the fire is put out. Gently puff the bellows so that air accelerates the spread of the fine within the canister.
0063b Add the right amount of fuel that generates mostly smoke instead of fire. Never add flammable fuels. You can add a slightly wrinkled up piece of paper to fit into the inside tip of the lid to help prevent stray pieces of hot fuel from falling or blowing out onto the bees. Just be sure it fits lose enough to allow smoke to seep through.
Once your fuel is producing adequate smoke you can close the lid. Remember canister is very hot. Do not touch it. Every year I usually burn something with my smoker. One year I burned a nice circular hole in the bed liner of my wife's truck. Another year I burned a hole in a polystyrene hive lid. I have one polystyrene lid and so I'm used to placing my smoker on the top of my metal top lids when I'm inspecting a hive. And this year I burned three fingers on my smoker. So do be careful.
HOW TO SMOKE A HIVE
Approach the hive with your smoker producing a cool, dense smoke. It should not be shooting out flames or sparks. Remember your hive is made of wood and wax, all of which are very combustible.
A friend of mine told me that his wife accidentally caught the grass on fire in their apiary and over 80 hives went up in smoke in a matter of minutes.
Put a few puffs of smoke near the entrance of the hive to disarm the guard bees. Now, slightly lift the outer top telescoping lid and blow a few puffs of smoke under the lid and put the lid back down and allow the smoke to settle in the hive. Usually 30 seconds works well. Now, slowly lift off the top cover and smoke gently as you see the bees.
The bees will become more noisy as you smoke them, but they should. That's normal and does not mean that they are mad. It just means your smoke is working. They will settle down and you can begin your inspection. The smoke causes the bees to head for honey and put their heads in cells to eat. They generally run away from the smoke so if you smoke from the top, many bees will head to the lower boxes. If you smoke from the bottom they will all run up. And if you are looking for the queen, smoke causes her to run too, making it harder to find her.
You will need to keep your smoker handy as you inspect your hive. I've noticed after a few minutes, the effects of the smoke begins to wear off and the bees will start to inspect what's happening. Their little heads will look up at you between frames. When you see this, it's time for a few more gentle puffs of smoke across the tops of the frames.
HOW TO PUT OUT A SMOKER
0063z I used to empty my smoker out in a safe area, away from dry grass, like on a gravel road or concrete. But when I was taking my Master Beekeeper tests in New York, my field inspector showed me a trick I had never seen. Take a half sheet of regular paper and open your smoker and place the sheet over the top of the canister and close the lid. Wow! This works great.The lack of air suffocates the fire and the fuel that remains in the smoker will light more easily next time, and you can even use the paper as fuel.
IS SMOKE HARMFUL TO BEES?
Non toxic smoke used in moderation has been used for years to work beehives and there has been no associated problems.
It is my opinion that no one should work a hive without a smoker. The trade off of being able to inspect your hive regularly with the use of smoke to calm bees certainly out weighs not inspecting often because the bees are too aggressive.
WHAT ABOUT LIQUID SPRAYS INSTEAD OF SMOKE?
I've tried using a spray instead of smoke and it does not work well for me. It is commonly called a spritz spray and is usually a sugar mixture with additives such as Honey-B-Healthy.
I see several problems in using a liquid spray to calm bees. It's a liquid and sticks to the bees causing them to need to be cleaned, and perhaps interfering with their movements and flights far more than smoke.
Liquid sprayed into open comb could effect the developing larvae. The water is also cool and if used when the bees are already cold, it could chill the bees and cause a change in their work and behavior until they re-heat.
The smell of sugar water on and around a hive could invite robber bees. Some people have found it to be better for them than smoke, but I prefer smoke.
WHICH TYPE OF SMOKER IS BEST?
The type of smoker used is based more on personal preference than anything else. I prefer the old traditional smoker without the protective heat cage. There is usually a smaller 7 inch smoker and a larger 10 inch smoker. Obviously, if you need your smoker to burn longer, then a larger smoker is what you need. For a hive or two, a smaller smoker is fine.
0063eBefore you get all excited about buying a stainless steel smoker, remember that when you heat stainless steel it changes properties. So, if you use your smoker often, say every other day, you might put a new smoker in your budget every few years. For me, smokers usually last about 2 years, then the billows rip and hinges break. I get some extra months out of mine with duct tape.
Thanks for joining me for today's lesson, and I hope you learned a few things about using your smoker today.
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BEE-Have yourself!

David & Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms