Varroa Mites: Lesson 163 www.honeybeesonline.com 217-427-2678

We all know that if you don’t see any mites, then you don’t have any right? WRONG! If you don’t see any varroa mites, it either means you need to visit your eye doctor or you do not know how to really find them.

Hello, and welcome to another beekeeping lesson from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. We are David and Sheri Burns and we are here to help beekeepers become more successful. And we are also passionate about helping more people become new beekeepers. We need our honey bees to pollinate our fruits and vegetables and we need skilled and educated beekeepers to help make that happen. So thanks for joining us.

Our weekend was extremely busy and great. Saturday we taught on “Getting Bees Through The Winter” and then we had the same class with different students on Sunday. We had students from Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa and Ohio. This class will be held again on Oct. 5th, but it has filled up too, so now we are opening up another class on Monday Oct. 6th from 9am-3pm. For those of you who work weekends, now you can join us for a class on Monday. Or just take the day off from work and come learn some awesome ideas about getting bees through the winter. Click here for more information on the Oct. 6th class or go to: www.honeybeesonline.com/servlet/Detail?no=322

One of the featured field events of our weekend beekeeping classes was to sample hives for varroa mites. It is paramount that all beekeepers take mite samples now while there is still time to do something. Most beekeepers have heard about sticky boards, and checking how many mites are on drone pupae. I’d like to share a simple way to assess your mite load. As I demonstrated to the class in the bee yard, I was pleasantly surprised how many of them commented on how easy it was and how they were looking forward to going home and testing their hives. I do realize that reading the description here is not as good as watching it demonstrated in class, but I’ll describe it in detail so you can start looking and evaluating your mite loads.

WHY?

Why bother counting your mite load?  If you have a lots of mites it is unlikely that your hive will NOT survive the winter of 2014-2015. Mites parasitize bees and spread viruses which can cut the individual bee’s life in half. So, a bee born in October can make it through the winter into March if it is healthy. But, if it has been bitten by mites and contracted a virus, it may only live into January. 

You might think that since you cannot see mites on your bees you do not have mites. I have people tell me they’ve never seen their queen either. If you can’t find your queen, you will not find mites either, but they are there! Mites are small but you can see them if you know where to look. They hide on the backs of bees in the first abdominal segment of the honey bee. It can be hard to see what is hiding. DO NOT ASSUME YOU DO NOT HAVE MITES SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ANY.

If you have a hive, you have varroa mites! I strongly believe it is the viruses which are weakening the colony’s health and causing overwintering deaths. The only way to limit viruses is to kill mites that are vectoring these viruses.  It is unfair for any beekeeper to blame chemicals and chemical companies without first monitoring their mite loads.

Now that we are at the end of summer and entering fall mites are rapidly increasing. To survive a long cold winter beekeepers need lots and lots of brood now. But if this brood is parasitized by mites, the bees will not make it to spring. Do not trust a visual inspection of bees on comb to assess your mite loads. Here’s what I recommend to determine the percentage of mites in a hive. My personal level is not to exceed 3%, or 3 mites per 100 bees tested. 

Materials Needed

1.  A quart jar for canning, with the ring and separate lid which the ring holds securely. Disregard the lid but keep the ring. Now in place of the ring you’ll need to cut a piece of 1/8” hardware screen. It is small enough to keep bees in, but large enough to let mites pass through.

2.  Two tablespoons of powdered sugar

3.  A piece of cardboard or metal shaped like an L

4.  A measuring cup

5.  A plain white paper plate

Steps To Test For Mites

1.  Place two tablespoons of powdered sugar into your canning jar and keep the lid off.

2.  Open your hive and pull out a frame of bees.

3.  Shake the bees on your cardboard or bent metal so the bees land in the inside of the L shape piece. This will help them slide into your measuring cup.

4.  Pour bees into the measuring cup up to 1/2 cup which is approximately 400 bees. You may have to pour a little above the 1/2 cup mark as some may fly out while pouring them into the canning jar with the screen lid.

5.  Pour bees from the measuring cup into the canning jar and place the screen lid on securely.

6.  Dump excess bees from your L shape board back into the hive.You have to keep mite levels down. I hope you will embrace a 3-5% maximum tolerance for mites.

For the rest of the 14 steps to test for mites, visit my website: www.honeybeesonline.com and go down to #24 on the front main home page.

Join me Monday Oct. 6th “Getting Bees Through The Winter” class and we’ll demonstrate mite counts and much, much more. Click now to register.

TIP OF THE MONTH:  The next few weeks are the most critical time to increase food stores for the bees to make it through the winter. I am finding wonderful success in our new Burns Bees Feeding System. It allows the beekeeper to feed syrup from the top of the hive, preventing robbing and allowing the bees to still eat during cold fall nights. Plus it provides special screened areas to feed our pollen/sugar patties without smashing bees between deep bodies. Watch our new video on this feeding system.

See you next time!

David and Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms

M-Thu  10am – 4pm central time
Fri  10am – Noon
217-427-2678

LESSON 129: Beekeeping Supplies www.honeybeesonline.com 217-427-2678

Welcome to Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, also known on the Internet as www.honeybeesonline.com We are David and Sheri Burns and we know honey bees. We are here to help you get started in beekeeping and to enjoy the experience. We hope to earn your trust and business so we can be your one stop shop for all your beekeeping needs, including hives, bees, queens, beekeeping classes and more.
We were amazed how quickly our Feb. 9th Basic Beekeeping Class filled up. We have registrations still available in our Feb. 23rd Basic Beekeeping Class as well as in our March classes too. But do not wait too long or you will be disappointed. Also plan to pick up your honey bees supplies at the class. What you save in shipping pays for the class.
While we have taught beekeeping classes for year, we are so excited to have expanded into our new beekeeping education center. Workers are busy every day working hard to have the building finished for our new season. All of our students this year will enjoy the smell of fresh paint. This will add so much to the learning experience.
It’s winter time and the bees are facing very cold nights. If your bees are healthy and well fed, they should do well. However, if their numbers or resources are low, they will not be able to eat enough honey and pollen or produce enough heat to stay warm. Please consider using one of our Winter-Bee-Kind candy boards with insulation and ventilation to help them through these cold months of winter. Click here for more information on our Winter-Bee-Kind or to order.
LESSON 129: BEEKEEPING SUPPLIES
In today’s lesson I want to talk about beekeeping supplies. Which supplies are needed and which ones are not? Is it better to use new equipment or used beekeeping supplies? What exactly is needed to keep bees? What is the beekeeping equipment terminology. Beekeeping for beginners can be confusing, what all the pieces to a hive are called. What are the essential beginning beekeeping supplies?
First and foremost, before you purchase your beekeeping supplies, be sure you have ordered your package of bees. Bees sell out fast, usually in the winter months. But, do not make the mistake of buying your bees but forgetting to order your hive in time. If that happens, you’ll have bees but no place to put them and they will perish before you may be able to have a hive shipped to you.
Read our lesson on installing bees, or watch our video.
Here’s a quick glossary of the essential beekeeping supplies needed:

• Hive Stand

A hive stand is often unnecessary. Some feel the ramp helps the bees make it into the hive, but in nature bees do not have a ramp.

• Bottom Board

          This is the lowest item on the hive, the bottom board where the hive parts all rest. It can be screened or solid, but screened is best, allowing more ventilation and helps reduce varroa mites.  Can be closed or left open in the winter.

• Deep Hive Body (Also called a hive body, a deep, a large honey super)

Most colonies require two deep hive bodies, containing 10 frames each. This is where the bees will live, raise their young and store pollen and honey for their own use. You should not remove honey from these two deep hive bodies.

• Medium Super (Also called an Illinois super, a honey super or a super)

The honey super sits on top of the two deeps. This is where excess honey can be store which you can remove.

• Inner Cover

The inner cover fits between the super and the top cover. It usually has an oval shaped hole to accept a bee escape which can help in removing your bees out of the honey super when you are ready to harvest the honey. The inner cover allows an air buffer zone just above the hive.

• Telescoping Top Cover

This is the final, outside top to the hive. It is covered with metal and keeps water off the top of the hive.  Since it hangs over the edge of the top deep hive body, we refer to this as telescoping or hanging over the hive slightly.

• Entrance Feeder

The entrance feeder slips into the front opening of the hive and can only be used in the spring or early super. If used later, it can invite other hives to rob your hive. Usually it holds 1:1 sugar water (one part water and one part sugar) and any small mouth jar fits well.

• Entrance Cleat

And entrance cleat is sometimes called an entrance reducer. It reduces the size of opening in the front of the hive to keep mice and cold weather out during the winter.

• Frames

A wooden (sometimes plastic) frame that holds the comb.

• Foundation

Foundation usually refers to the material, wax or plastic that is fixed inside the frame. When we refer to foundation we usually mean that no comb has been built yet.  When the foundation is made into comb, we call this drawn foundation.

• Suit

A suit is a one piece pant, jacket and hood. Most are not sting proof, but sting resistance.

• Jacket with Hat

This is much like a suit only without the pants.

• Hat and Veil

Most beekeepers find this to be the workhorse of protective clothing. It covers your heat and neck.

• Gloves

Most gloves are sting resistant, but some can be sting proof. I enjoy wearing no gloves at all, but as a new beekeeper you may want to build up to this level of confidence.

• Smoker

Essential!  A smoker is a canister with a billow. Smoker fuel can be pine needles, cardboard etc. Smoke helps calm bees.

• Hive Tool

A hive tool assist beekeepers in separating the hive pieces which the bees have glued together with propolis. (For more information on propolis, read our article.)
NEW OR USED?
We all want to save a buck and when we find old beekeeping supplies, we can usually obtain them for next to nothing. However, some diseases can live for 80 years in empty, used equipment. We feel it is best to start with new beekeeping equipment. Why invest so much time and effort and end up losing your bees over poor equipment which could spread American foulbrood disease.
Like any hobby, there are many more supplies and equipment you can buy but we want you to see the basics which are needed. There are some additional supplies which can make it easier, but they are not necessary.
In our next lesson, we have had so many ask for a lesson specifically on “How To Find The Queen” so that’s our  next lesson.
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Thanks for joining us for another beekeeping lesson. See you next time!

OUR HIVE KIT SPECIAL WITH BEES AND SHIPPING IS INCLUDED! Click on image below

Read what the National Geographic says we can do to help save bees and what happens when we lose our bees.
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
www.honeybeesonline.com
217-427-2678
Please visit our online beekeeping store and lessons at: www.honeybeesonline.com