Hello friends, we’re David & Sheri Burns from Long Lane Honey Bee 
Farms in central Illinois. Our bees are tucked away for winter, nothing more can be done except to replace candy boards as needed.
In less than 100 days, in Illinois the bee season begins and bees will be working early spring plants gearing up for another beekeeping season.
Over the next few days we’ll be welcoming in another year. I’m excited. Good things are going to get better for all of us.
Sheri and I have 3 girls and 3 boys, and over the Christmas Holiday I enjoyed taking my three daughters out to eat and it was so fun just listening to them talk and share their life experiences.
And let me encourage you to follow along my wife’s blog. She enjoys telling about what’s going on around the honey bee farm and at home. We have lots of fun, and Sheri recently shared about some exciting things coming up for 2011. Sheri’s Sweet Life
Now, I’m producing another beekeeping newsletter. It’s a bit different than these online lessons. The new Email newsletter is FREE and is all about beekeeping. It’s more brief, daily and has news events, and usually one brief article I’ll share on honey bees. It’s powered through Ezezine. Check out our sign up page.
In today’s lesson I want to share about what bees do in the winter and what you can do to add to your bees’ survival. And I’ll be sharing a series of lessons on top bar hives (TBH) starting in Lesson 91, our lesson after this one. Before today’s lesson, let me invite you to drop in for our next short course on Friday January 7th from 6-8pm. Frank J. Bellafiore, MD will be demonstrating the art of mead making. He holds an appointment at the University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School Of Medicine as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pathology. While interested in all areas of pathology, he holds a special interest in breast pathology and hematopathology.
Dr. Bellafiore took up honey mead-making years ago and he hopes to pass along some of his knowledge and enthusiasm for the wonderful craft of mead-making in this short course. If you're a fun audience, perhaps he'll share a sample of his most recently crafted mead at the end of the course...a ginger-peach melomel!
He is very experienced in making mead and will make it understandable, and he’s just a lot of fun to be around! I will also be demonstrating how to make candy boards and queen candy. We still have room for more. Call to register for $20 or click to Join us for our mead making class.
We also have our first 2011 Basic Beekeeping class coming up Saturday, January 15th.
Sheri and I are looking forward to this class and we have designed this one day beekeeping course to cover topics on basic beekeeping. I’m an EAS certified Master Beekeeper, so this course is well worth your time. Those interested in becoming beekeepers as well as those who have kept bees for a few years will benefit from this class. Register now to reserve your seat! We still have room for several more. It will be held at our honey bee farm located near Catlin, Illinois. Get a few friends to come along with you! Registration cost is $89 and includes lunch, a hive tool and outlines from the teachings. Also, why not save shipping cost and purchase all your hive equipment on this day. This course is team taught by Sheri and me and you'll have a great day learning about beekeeping.
LESSSON 90: What Bees Do In The Winter
Depending on how cold it gets where you live, bees form a tight cluster to survive the winter. Here in Illinois it gets really cold. And this time of the year, it’s too cold to inspect our colonies. We can open them just for a minute to replace candy boards but for the most part the bees are on their own until late February.
Cold does not kill a healthy, populous colony. Usually beekeepers lose colonies during the winter from varroa mites, tracheal mites, nosema, pesticide build up in stored pollen or starvation.
So many beekeepers ask me what they can do to help their bees survive the winter. I’ve worked up an easy to remember acronym WINTERS:
Wipe out pest & diseases
Initiate protection against extreme climate conditions
New queen
Top Ventilation
Excluders and empty combs off
Restrict Opening to keep out mice
Sufficient Pollen & Honey
How does the typical hive overwinter? Bees make no effort to heat the inside of their hive like we heat our homes. We like every room to be warm. Bees, however, only produce heat from within the cluster. The cluster consumes honey and shiver to produce heat.
Bees begin to cluster when the outside temperature reaches 57 (f). Temperature of the outer surface of the winter cluster is just over 40 (f).
Within the center of the winter cluster the temperature is around 93 (f).
Never inspect a frame outside the hive until the temperature reaches 65 (f).
Colonies in the Midwest and north need around 4 frames of pollen for the winter, along with 60 pounds of honey.
Typically in northern climates the queen will stop laying in November through December but will start laying again shortly after winter solstice (December 21 or 22).
Winter bees have larger hypopharyngeal glands and more fat body reserves.
Bees can die in the winter if they become too filled with waste and cannot fly out and defecate.
Bees keep their humidity level at 40-50% in the summer hive and in the winter cluster.
The diameter of the winter cluster is around 14 inches at 57 (f) degrees, but 10 inches at -14 (f)
An outside temperature of 45 (f) degrees is most optimal for efficient use of stored resources.
A winter cluster is made up of an outside shell of bees around 3 inches thick that is very compressed. The bees heads are facing inward.
Within the center of the winter cluster, bees are less compressed and move around caring for brood.
Bees vibrate their flight muscles to generate heat for the winter cluster.
Normally a colony forms a winter cluster below their stored honey and gradually move up near the available honey as winter progresses.
Smaller winter clusters consume more resources per bee than larger clusters.
Bees can identify temperature differences as small as 0.45 (f).
Very small clusters cannot survive temperatures 45 (f) and below.
The winter cluster prefers dark comb and usually avoids new comb.
Varroa mites, small hive beetles and trachea mites also survive within the warmth of the winter cluster.
Here’s some winter tips:
Never remove frames for inspection unless the temperature is at least 65 degrees.
Aster is not a good overwintering honey because it crystalizes fast and the bees rarely ripen it prior to winter. Crystallized honey in the winter can give the bees dysentery because it produces liquid as it separates and the bees are unable to take the cleansing flights they need.
Never give bees molasses, brown sugar or corn syrup as these contain complex carbohydrates and other compounds which the bees are unable to digest.
Bees prefer to overwinter on foundation that has been used in brood rearing and will rarely move onto new comb.
Here in the Midwest colonies need between 60-80 pounds of stored honey. Here are the weights of frames filled with honey:
DEEP FRAME 6 lbs
MEDIUM FRAME 3 lbs
SHALLOW FRAME 2.5 lbs
Colonies need 4 frames of pollen for winter.
In our next lesson, we will be rolling out a lesson on Top Bar Hives and we’ll be rolling out our own design for the Top Bar Hives that we are not producing in addition to our regular traditional Langstroth hives.
Here’s our contact info:
LONG LANE HONEY BEE FARMS www.honeybeesonline.com
14556 N 1020 E. Rd
Fairmount, IL 61841
217-427-2678
EMAIL: david@honeybeesonline.com
Follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/longlanehoney
Sign up to receive our daily beekeeping newsletter at: http://www.honeybeesonline.com/ez.html
Follow our podcasts on iTunes at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/studio-bee-live/id400801201
Or listen online at: www.honeybeesonline.com/studiobeelive.html
Until next time, BEE-Have Yourself!
Happy New Year,
David & Sheri Burns
Hello Friend, we are David & Sheri Burns from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in central Illinois. Thanks for joining us for another lesson in beekeeping. I’ve been posting beekeeping lessons for over 3 years now. I hope you enjoy them. Today, I want to examine the importance of using a refractometer! A refractometer is used to measure the moisture level in honey. Beekeepers need to become more aware of what the moisture content is in the honey they are harvesting. Harvest it too soon, and the excess moisture content will cause the honey to go bad or ferment, and when it does, you’ll be seeing customers bringing your honey back wanting a refund and spreading around bad news about your honey to others. You don’t want that.
Before we start today’s lesson, let me share some fun we’ve been having here at the bee farm. We had our first ever 2 hour short course and we reached our maximum number of students. It was a great evening. We had Christmas decorations up, Christmas lights up outside and it was snowing…just beautiful. We had warm apple cider made with honey at the door to warm up the travelers as they arrived.
First, Sheri handed out a newsletter that we produced on Cooking With Honey. This particular newsletter is available for sale on our website for $3. CLICK HERE. It’s a very nice glossy 4 page newsletter with recipes and lots of tips for cooking with honey.
Then, she demonstrated how to cook with honey and took us through breakfast, lunch and supper. Of course, someone had to eat all that food she made so I helped myself. All her dishes included honey.
Many beekeepers might spread some honey on their toast in the morning, but few cook with honey in other meals. Sheri demonstrated just how fun and easy it really is. Also, for more on Sheri’s cooking she would love for you to visit her blog at:
http://sheriburns.blogspot.com/
After the cooking with honey demonstration, I had a table with 10 varieties of honey to taste sample. These were not flavored honey, but pure honey made from specific floral sources. Some of the different types of honey included were: Buckwheat, Acacia, Eucalyptus, Blueberry, Orange Blossom, Kentucky Mountain, and North Carolina Mountain Honey.
After the honey sampling, Angela Faulkner gave an excellent presentation on Candle Making. She demonstrated how to melt wax, select the proper wick, dipping candles and more.
Angela revealed some tips and tricks to make candles like using soda cans and placing tension on the wick by drilling a hole in the can and using plumbers putty. She also stressed how important it is to be safe and never overheat the wax or leave a candle burning unattended.
After her demonstration, students were invited to make their own candles. Candle making is such an enjoyable aspect of beekeeping and an excellent way to make some more profit from the hive and make good use of left over beeswax.
It is so rewarding to make your own candles. Many claim that pure beeswax candles burn cleaner and can even purify the air. No one can argue that beeswax candles have a delightful fragrance that is therapeutic!
Our next 2 hour short course will be on the first Friday night in January, January 7th from 6pm – 8pm on Mead Making. Frank J. Bellafiore, MD will be demonstrating the art of mead making.
He moved to Champaign, IL in 1995 and is a staff pathologist with the Carle Physician Group. He also holds an appointment at the University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School Of Medicine as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pathology. While interested in all areas of pathology, he holds a special interest in breast pathology and hematopathology.
Dr. Bellafiore took up honey mead-making years ago and he hopes to pass along some of his knowledge and enthusiasm for the wonderful craft of mead-making in this short course. If you're a fun audience, perhaps he'll share a sample of his most recently crafted mead at the end of the course...a ginger-peach melomel!
He is very experienced in making mead and will make it understandable, and he’s just a lot of fun to be around! I will also be demonstrating how to make candy boards and queen candy. Join us by clicking here to register.
LESSON 89: The Importance Of Using A Refractometer To Make Sure Your Honey Is Ready For Harvest
At our last short course, I demonstrated how to use the Refractometer. Most students had never used a refractometer and were amazed at how simple it is to use.
So in today’s lesson I want to discuss: 1) How using a refractometer can increase your honey production, 2) How a refractometer works, 3) How to use a refractometer, and 4) How to invest in the right model.
First, how can a refractometer increase your honey yields? I took this picture by holding my camera up to the view finder on the refractometer. It reads 18%. Typically, we always say that you should not harvest honey from the hive until all the frames are capped over, meaning all of the cells in the honey frames are sealed with the bee’s wax cappings. But, often the bees fill up the honey cells but do not seal them over. This means that the bees cannot store any additional nectar because there is no room. This is especially the case in certain types of climates where the bees may never completely seal the honey comb. Meanwhile, you could have been giving them more frames to fill. So, what you can do is remove the frames that may still not be completely sealed and give them drawn comb to continue to store incoming nectar. Then, place your filled, but unsealed frames in a room with a dehumidifier and a fan, and use your refractometer to measure and dry the honey to around 17.5% moisture. By removing your frames earlier than normal and drying them, you can place empty frames in the hive to be filled. This is how a refractometer can help increase your honey yields.
Secondly, just how does a refractometer work? Prisms bend light. A refractometer operates in much the same way, but instead light reacts differently depending on the amount of sugar as the light passes through the honey (sugar) and the daylight plate and the main prism assembly.
How to Use a Refractometer
First, open the light plate and expose the light blue area. Now take a couple drops of honey so that the honey will cover the blue area completely. If you use too much honey, it will just be messy. You just need enough to cover the blue plate.
Now, close the light gate firmly to spread the honey evenly over the blue plate. Now, simply look into the view finder and take your reading.
To clean your refractometer after use, simply use a damp cloth and remove the honey from all areas.
How To Invest In The Right Model
While refractometers are very easy to use, I would strongly urge all bee keepers not to purchase the inexpensive refractometers for under $100. These might be accurate, but as many beekeepers have found they are plagued with problems. In my opinion, save up your money and invest in the model we are showing in this lesson. It is not the most expensive model, but it is made by Atago, a superior and well established refractometer company and this model is designed especially for honey. It is perfect every time, durable, handheld and affordable. We sell these for $269. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOURS TODAY maybe in time for an outstanding Christmas gift for the one you love.
Many beekeepers have told me how frustrated they were with the cheaper models. So invest in a life long instrument that you’ll be very happy with.
Refractometers are designed for measuring moisture in various materials. This model we are showing and selling is specifically manufactured for measuring honey.
Before I close today, let me tell you about a new item we are offering. We are offering a unique 3-way queen rearing hive. It is specifically designed to hold 3 queens by keeping them separated by inserts in the deep hive body. These inserts slide into grooves that even travel down into the bottom board so queens cannot travel between sections. What is unique with our design is that when you are finished raising queens, you can pull out the panels, plug the two small openings in the side of the bottom board and all equipment then turns back into usable Langstroth sized equipment. We are selling these for $39. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
Our next Wildlife Pro Network beekeeping podcast is coming up this Thursday, December 17th! I hope you’ll call in and be a part of this live podcast. I’ll be talking about what bees do in and out of the hive.
We encourage you to listen or call in and ask questions. The easiest way for you to call in during the beekeeping show is to call: (724) 444-7444 and enter call ID 16456 when prompted. We’d love for you to call in with a comment or question. I know there are over 1,000 of you who receive this via your Email, so set your timer for Thursday night, 7pm central time.
Here’s another link showing what the podcast is all about and additional ways to join in.
http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/how-to-participate-in-a-wpn-beekeeping-podcast/
Your overwhelming support of Long Lane Honey Bee Farms would be greatly appreciated during these beekeeping podcasts that I am now hosting each third Thursday of the month.
As always we appreciate your business. So many of you have made us your home for all your beekeeping equipment, package bees, nucs and education. Your loyal business keeps us paying the bills so we can continue doing what we do.
Be sure to order all your packages, nucs, queens and beekeeping equipment from us. We appreciate your business.
Here’s our contact info:
MAIN WEBSITE: www.honeybeesonline.com
EMAIL: david@honeybeesonline.com
ORDER LINE: 217-427-2678
PODCAST: www.honeybeesonline.com/studiobeelive.html
Until next time, BEE-HAVE yourself!
David & Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
Farms in central Illinois. Our bees are tucked away for winter, nothing more can be done except to replace candy boards as needed. 
Sheri and I have 3 girls and 3 boys, and over the Christmas Holiday I enjoyed taking my three daughters out to eat and it was so fun just listening to them talk and share their life experiences.
Now, I’m producing another beekeeping newsletter. It’s a bit different than these online lessons. The new Email newsletter is FREE and is all about beekeeping. It’s more brief, daily and has news events, and usually one brief article I’ll share on honey bees. It’s powered through Ezezine. Check out our sign up page.
How does the typical hive overwinter? Bees make no effort to heat the inside of their hive like we heat our homes. We like every room to be warm. Bees, however, only produce heat from within the cluster. The cluster consumes honey and shiver to produce heat.
