LESSON 107: When And How To Add Supers In The Summer (www.honeybeesonline.com) 217-427-2678

Hello from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in central Illinois where the weather is hot and the bees are hard at work. We are David and Sheri Burns, beekeepers helping beekeepers.

As a note of correction and clarification from our last lesson, it takes 8 pounds of honey to produce 1 pound of wax.
In today’s lesson, I’ll walk us through some tips on when and how to place honey supers on the hive during the summer.    
     

Hi we are David and Sheri Burns at honeybeesonline.com  Please visit our Main Website at: http://www.honeybeesonline.com

 

ADVANCE BEEKEEPING COURSE JUNE 11, 2014 9am-3pm Central Illinois!!

Have you considered the importance of taking our one day Advance Beekeeping Course?  I'll be joined by my good friend and fellow certified master beekeeper Jon Zawislak. Jon and I have written a book on queen rearing and we recently authored a two part articled published in the American Bee Journal on the difference between Northern and Southern bees. Jon and I will be teaching our Advance Beekeeping course June 11, 2014 here in Fairmount, Illinois and we have around 6 seats available. You don't want to miss this opportunity to be around me and Jon and learn about bees for a whole day. Click here for more information.

Check out our entire list of beekeeping classes we offer by clicking here.

Welcome to Long Lane Honey Bee Farms Online Lessons! Visit our MAIN WEBSITE AT: http://www.honeybeesonline.com We have a complete line of hives that we build right here in Illinois. We offer classes, sell queens and much more. Give us a call at: 217-427-2678. Our hours are: M-Th 10am-4pm, Fri 10-Noon Central Time.

Remember to watch for Sheri in Country Woman magazine due out in the stands this week. Our queen rearing operation is featured in this edition of this national magazine (Aug/Sept edition). Or read a condensed version online.

Before we began today’s lesson on when and how to add honey supers in the summer, I would like to spotlight several items that we are proud to sell. Remember, when you buy from us you are helping us pay our bills, offer these free lessons and to be here for you tomorrow.
Since today’s lesson is about putting on honey supers, make sure you have enough supers ready for your honey harvest! Our 10 frame, rabbet joint honey super is fully assembled, painted and includes metal frame rests, 10 wooden frames and plastic foundation sprayed with beeswax. Click here to order yours now.
Queens! At the HAS meeting I heard that throughout the country the average production life of a queen is between 12-18 months. Make sure you have a new queen going into winter. I suggest queens be replaced between June 21 and early fall. A new queen will lay eggs that will become your overwintering bees. And a new queen is likely to have a stronger queen substance which might help reduce spring swarming. Click here to order a new queen ready to ship this week.
LESSON 107: When and How To Add Honey Supers In The Summer
Most beekeepers are hoping to take off some honey from their hives. Honey has become a precious commodity. Prices for raw honey have soared through the roof. In most places, beekeepers can name their price and sell all the honey they can produce.
I want to give you a few tips today on maximizing your honey production. This comes through these proper summer management techniques: 1) Strategically supering the hive 2) Mite and Disease control and 3) Maintaining a Prolific Queen.
In this  lesson we’ll talk about strategically placing supers on the hive.  A good practice is to over super (placing several honey supers on a hive) in late spring and early summer and to under super (limit the number of honey supers used) during late summer and early fall. Why?
Over super in late spring and early summer because studies have shown that the more supers are on the hive in the spring, the more the bees will be motivated to go out and forage. And two or more supers on will make sure you have plenty of room for a harvest. However, in late summer and early fall, it is best to reduce the number of supers because at this time of the season the bees are consolidating their resources in preparation for winter. They are likely to transfer honey from a super above down into the brood nest area.
How and when to add supers?
When 6-8 frames in the existing box on the hive has been drawn out (the bees have added wax, built comb and are using the comb) then add the next honey super.
How? The challenging aspect of adding a honey super is ensuring that the bees will draw out the comb on the frames. Some beekeepers have the luxury of adding already drawn comb, but most have to use undrawn foundation. A common mistake is to add a new, undrawn honey super on top of a queen excluder. This can be a mistake and slow or halt the progress of the bees from ever moving up into the honey super.

So when your second deep hive body has 6-8 frames drawn out, place your undrawn honey super on as follows:
1) Spray all frames with 1:1 sugar water containing honey-b-healthy (follow the label). Make sure the sugar water has covered the frames well and is slightly dripping down off the new frames in the honey super.
2) Leave the queen excluder off for now. Place the honey super on and wait a week. In one week, examine to see if the bees have worked their way up into the honey super. You will likely see some progress. Keep checking every 3-5 days and when you see that 2-3 frames have been started, you can now add your queen excluder, but check first to make sure she is not up on the frames in the honey super. If she is, pick her up by her wings and set her down between the frames in the top deep.
3) Place on the queen excluder with the cross-ribs facing down. Place several supers on if it is early to mid summer. Use minimal supers if it is late summer to early fall.
It is better to have too many supers on than not enough. However, if you see lots of small hive beetles in your hive, you may not want to over super as this will provide extra and unprotected space where the bees are not monitoring, giving freedom for SHB to spread.
TOP SUPERING OR BOTTOM SUPERING
This terminology refers to adding a new super on top of an existing super or under the existing super. In other words, when your first super is almost full of nectar, should you add your second honey super below that super or above it.
This is a matter of opinion. Some bottom super because they feel the bees will have to walk through the new super to reach the one they were working. And while passing through the new one they will stop and pull out the wax. Others, like me, want a honey barrier and so we will use our first full honey super to serve as a honey barrier. By honey barrier I am referring to the limitations placed on the queen because she will not lay eggs in a cell which has honey in it. The queen is only looking for empty cells to lay eggs. When she reaches stored honey on the outer edges of the brood nest area, she will return to the area of opened cells.
I leave the super just above the brood nest area full of nectar to hold down the queen and therefore I do not have to use a queen excluder. I place my new super on top of my nearly full super. This is known as top supering.
Thanks for joining us today! Feel free to contact us:
Website: http://www.honeybeesonline.com
Call us: 217-427-2678 Mon. – Thu 8:30am – 4: 30pm Central Time (Closed Fridays)

LESSON 106: Festooning & FoxNews (LONG LANE HONEY BEE FARMS 217-427-2678) www.honeybeesonline.com

Welcome to Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, we are David & Sheri Burns with a passion to help others become beekeepers, and a compassion toward honey bees.
WE WANT TO HELP YOU KEEP HONEY BEES!!
In today’s lesson, I’ll take a look at honey bees festooning. To me it is almost as much fun to watch bees festoon as it is to say the word, festoon. But before we get into today’s lesson, we’ve had lots going on around the apiary!

FoxNews was here for a whole day on Thursday doing a story about the rapid increase in honey prices. It was really fun for us to hang out with the news team. They brought a large satellite truck from Chicago and several others, like reporters and producers and a sound tech.
Their goal was to produce some “teasers” live, and then to have 3 live segments on beekeeping. The rain held off and the bees were very cooperative.

They installed a small camera in one of our Top Bar Hives and they called it the honey cam. They ran large cables and set up a couple of satellite dishes and wireless antennas for camera and mics…our farm has never seen such technology!
The fellow setting up the honey cam never wore a hat or veil and never got stung. In fact, the only person that was stung was the camera woman. That’s pretty common because those large cameras are black with a huge black fuzzy bear like mic cover and cameras usually give off a vibration which the bees can detect. She took a sting on the arm, but took it like a beekeeping pro.
The interviewer was Jeff Flock, a well-known reporter who actually worked and help start CNN. Jeff was amazed that he could touch bees and not get stung.

They were reporting on the rapidly rising price of honey, showing that it’s gone up about 11% and may continue to climb due to the stresses placed on producing honey.
I always welcome the opportunity to promote beekeeping nationally. I was on FoxNews a couple of years ago with Nel Cavuto talking about bees, so this was another fun time at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms! There are two archives of the live broadcasts:
Click here for the first broadcast Click here for the second broadcast
And, we were featured in Country Woman Magazine in their August/September edition which is due out any day, so watch magazine stands and get a copy of this 4 page article on how we raise queens! Look for the cover to the left for the magazine that we are in.
This was another great opportunity to promote beekeeping in a national magazine as this magazine has a annual circulation of over 3 million!
Many people have asked us where they can find Country Woman Magazine, and it’s available in bookstores, farm stores and most places that sell magazines.
But if you can’t find the magazine, you can read a condensed version of the article online. The article is called "Bow To The Queens (Illinois bee farmers raise royalty for hives nationwide.)"

LESSON 106: Festooning Of The Honey Bee
The word festoon usually relates to flowers or fabric that is loosely linked together with ribbon and is extended between two points. So when we say that bees are festooning, we mean that they are linked together by hanging on to each other’s legs forming a long line or bee web, sometimes extending the full size of a frame.
To teach a lesson on this, I researched why bees festoon. I found several speculations, but more serious research reveals that the reason for festooning is somewhat unknown. Some claim that bees festoon in order to build new comb or to pass along wax scales, certainly that is true. Some research found that bees build as much comb and produce as much wax without having to festoon.
Worker honey bees are able to build wax combs because of their wax glands on the underside of their abdomen. Bees between 12-18 days old secret wax scales from these glands. The last four visible sections of the abdomen secret these wax scales, two on each side, making a total of 8 small oval wax chips. But here’s the catcher!  In order for bees to build comb they have to produce lots of wax scales AND in order to produce lots of wax scales they must consume large amounts of honey or nectar. Bees must eat about 8 ounces of honey to then be able to produce 1 ounce of wax.
Due to a cold and rainy spring and a late start to summer, our bees are far behind on wax building because they have not been able to fly and gather as much nectar. The less incoming nectar, the less wax can be made and the less wax, the less combs are drawn out. The less nectar, and wax, the less the queen is fed, and the less she will lay. The entire colony’s progress is stunted. And to really build comb nicely, it  must be hot, not cool outside. So hot, dry days with lots of flowers to forage on makes a healthy, growing hive of honey bees. Anything short of that and the colony will suffer.
The entire process for a bee to remove 1 scale from it’s abdomen and manipulate it and attaching it to the comb takes 4 minutes.
Normally, bees do not need fed after sufficient natural nectar sources are available. However, during poor weather, feeding bees 1:1 sugar water can help compensate for a lack of nectar or rainy, cool days when bees cannot fly and gather nectar.
Thanks for joining us for another popular lesson on beekeeping from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. Visit us online at: www.honeybeesonline.com or call us during our regular business hours.

Gotta run now and deal with a bunch of swarm cells. See you next time!

LESSON 105: Best Advice In Beekeeping (www.honeybeesonline.com 217-427-2678)

Hello from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in central Illinois. We are David and Sheri Burns, beekeepers helping beekeepers enjoy beekeeping. Thanks for joining us today for our 105th lesson in beekeeping.
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms is a family operated beekeeping farm business. Rather than being a large box store or warehouse of parts, we are a hands on, personal beekeeping business/farm. Folks who return to do business with us do so because they like the personal and friendly atmosphere and the accessibility of information through a master beekeeper. And since we have less overhead as a family farm business, we can offer great pricing.



LESSON 105: BEST ADVICE IN BEEKEEPING
While beekeeping is easy, it can go much better when you are armed with knowledge and experience. But, we all start out lacking some degree of knowledge and experience that only time can bring. During those early years when we are trying to figure things out, we make mistakes or fail to manage our hives correctly. Often, beekeepers do not want to admit their mistakes or neglect and want to blame the bees, the weather or point the finger at having been sold a poor queen or package.
For example, recently I have become more uncomfortable using marked queens. I don’t mind marking them…it’s kinda fun. But, off and on over the years I’ve heard beekeepers suggest that a mark on the queen might cause the queen to be viewed as having a infirmity. Thus, they might replace her. I can’t say I’ve seen that. Occasionally the queen is missing, but how can I be sure it was because she wore a blob of paint on her thorax?
Beekeepers like to have marked queens. Why? For selfish reasons of course. We want to find her faster and easier. But, does a farmer paint his female cows? There are some things about being a beekeeper that we just have to learn, develop and improve upon as we gain more experience, and finding the queen is one. I have not found any research to prove that a marked queen is more quickly superseded, but I hear that often. One thing that I have noticed is that the queens retinue, those bees surrounding the queen, work at trying to remove her marking. This bothers me greatly. Instead of feeding her, and allowing her lay continually, bees are picking at her marking. Twice I’ve noticed this activity caused her thorax to cave in. Though we do sell marked queens upon request, I don’t run marked queens in my hives, simply because queens are not marked in nature.
So I have narrowed down my best advice I can give into two:
1. Take responsibility for the welfare of your bees.
Certainly you can rely for a while on fellow club members, these lessons and books. But when it comes down to it, you have to know your hive and the biology of bees well enough to make decision which are best for your bees. If your bees aren’t building up fast enough, should you move them to a place that has better nectar sources? Should you feed? Maybe you need to requeen.
I was inspecting my hives yesterday and became concerned that several hives showed low pollen and honey stores for this time of the year. If I choose to do nothing, brood will diminish. So I will have to decide if I should feed them, or wait to see if a flow will pick up soon. Or I can choose to do absolutely nothing. But if my decision results in my bees not building up good, then it’s my responsibility. My management style determines the welfare of my bees. If a provider gives me a package, nuc or a queen, I cannot blame them for poor stock if my management style is poor.
When you see or don’t see mites, but you have them, you have to make a decision if you are going to do something or not. We have to accept responsibility of our choices. If we have mites, and choose to do nothing, our hives are less likely to build up or survive the winter. Our management style caused our hive to die in the winter.
2. Keep A Strong Colony! 
As I travel and attend various conferences on beekeeping, I keep hearing over and over that keeping strong colonies is the answer to everything, and I believe that to be true! Strong colonies keep out small hive beetles, wax moth, and many other pests and diseases. But, let a colony become small, and the battle begins. Beekeepers are responsible for colonies becoming small. For example, if a queen fails, the beekeeper should quickly identify that and take immediate action. Discovering a failing queen too late now means the colony is failing.
If a beekeeper allows a colony to replace a queen that was accidently killed or a queen that simply failed, then it will take 30 days for the queen to emerge, mate and start laying. That’s 30 days without new brood. A queen lays around 2,000 eggs a day, so in 30 days, a decision to let the bees requeen the hive lost 60,000 bees! You could have purchased a queen and maybe only lost a week of laying instead of one full month. To keep a colony strong the beekeeper must always have a very strong queen in the hive.
It’s not uncommon for beekeepers to struggle at keeping hives strong. With today’s challenges it takes extra care, attention and work to keep colonies strong. There are several basic requirements in order to keep strong colonies:
1) Keep varroa mite levels down. As beekeepers, we must take responsibility and become aggressive in keeping mite levels down. Green drone comb, screen bottom boards, powdered sugar dustings and briefly removing the queen to break the brood cycle are non-chemical approaches to controlling the varroa mite. Formic acid is becoming an effective treatment if conditions call for the use of chemicals.
2) There must be an ample amount of a variety of nectar and pollen within 2 miles of your colony.
The more nutrition and variety of nutrition available to your bees, the healthier and stronger they will be. Of course the weather must cooperate in order for the bees to be able to forage and gather nectar, but there is little the beekeeper can do about that.


3) The colony must have a very prolific queen at all times.
With queens mating with 15-20 drones, no one can control genetics to the point of making a perfect queen. We can certainly improve upon certain qualities, but we must continually monitor our queens and replace them the minute they start to fail.
4) The colony must have room to expand into additional frames preferably, drawn comb, as opposed to undrawn foundation.  This is another important aspect of beekeeping…knowing when to add additional frames for the bees to expand onto. If too many frames are given too soon, the bees seem to stall and not expand. However, if additional frames are not given soon enough, the bees can become crowded and congested and swarm, thus greatly reducing the numbers in the hive.
Finally, I’ve created a FREE inspection sheet for you to use when inspecting your hives. It’s a .pdf file that you can download and print off as many as you need. Use this inspection form to gather and use information on each hive to help you make good and responsible decisions on what to do next.
Thanks for joining me today or lesson 105. Remember you can have these lessons arrive in your Inbox of your email FREE. And as always, you help us greatly when you tell others about these free lessons and about our business. We appreciate it.
David and Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms www.honeybeesonline.com
217-427-2678

LESSON 104: Slatted Bottom Racks (217-427-2678 www.honeybeesoline.com)

Hello, we are David & Sheri Burns from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, beekeepers helping beekeepers. We are a family business and spend our time manufacturing beekeeping equipment, producing queens and holding classes on beekeeping, advance beekeeping, queen rearing and more.
These free lessons are a big hit within the beekeeping community. So, please help us pass this site on to other folks who would enjoy learning about beekeeping on a regular basis. These lessons can be sent right to your Email inbox--FREE.  Sign up now!














LESSON 104: SLATTED BOTTOM RACK
I’ve mentioned slatted bottom racks briefly in previous lessons, but I want to dedicate an entire lesson to this mysterious invention. When you look at it, you really aren’t sure what it is, how it works, or even how it fits on the hive. Just what is it good for?

We make these here at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, and we cannot keep them in stock. They are challenging to build with 15 different pieces.
If you look at it carefully, you’ll notice that on one side the slates are very close to top and if you flip it over there is a larger opening underneath.
So let’s find out what all the talk is about regarding slatted racks.
It fits on the top of a bottom board just below the bottom deep hive body. Carl Killion used a similar idea to allow space for bees and extra ventilation. C. C. Miller believed in the idea but he simply made 2” bottom boards but found that the bees would build comb on the bottom of the frames to fill the extra space provided. But with a false bottom (the slatted rack), the bees are tricked not to build comb.
People are always confused which way to place these on the hive because on one side the slats are close to the top and the other side they are a over an inch away. Place it on the hive with the slats as close as possible to the frames.
The slatted bottom rack is also thought to help reduce swarming by giving extra space for bees to hang out. Those who use the racks really believe in them, and use them on all their hive. Perhaps you should try one and test it for yourself to see if there is any difference.
Some claim that since the rack keeps the end of the frame 2 inches from the opening that the queen will lay to the bottom of the deep frames.
Click here to order a 10 Frame Slatted Rack.
Please remember to have a hive ready when you get that swarm call. We are selling our popular completely assembled and painted hive so, consider having one ready by clicking here. Don’t be fooled by catchy ads that show cheaper pricing. Compare apples to apples. Our hives have two coats of exterior latex (Valspar) paint, glued wooden frames, frame rests, plastic foundation that has been sprayed with bees wax in the US and our inner covers are not thin pieces of Masonite. Instead, our inner covers are made from 1/2 plywood and have 4 vent slots cut into the rails. Order your complete hive now!
Until next time….

David and Sheri Burns
14556 N 1020 E. Rd
Fairmount, IL 61841
(217) 427-2678

LESSON 103: HOW TO INTRODUCE A NEW QUEEN AND WE ARE SELLING QUEENS THIS WEEK (217) 427-2678 (www.honeybeesonline.com)

Hi, David and Sheri Burns here from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in central Illinois.


LESSON 103: How To Introduce A New Queen
It can be a challenge to keep a hive queen-right. Sometimes queens are rejected even after they have been accepted. Perhaps the queen stops laying well, for example. But once the queen is no longer in the hive, the colony is queenless. Several things can happen to a queenless colony:
1) They can raise their own queen from a young larva but it can take up to 30 days for the new queen to begin laying. So you can lose up to a month of brood production.
2) If the colony fails to raise a queen, several laying workers can start laying infertile eggs which will be small drones raised in worker cells. Those laying workers will mimic a queen making it almost impossible to introduce a new queen. Thelytoky can also occur, which basically means that sometimes a colony can raise a queen from an unfertile egg laid by a laying worker. If your hive goes too long without a queen and without brood pheromone, some workers will poorly take over the queen’s job and you’ll see drones everywhere. So requeen fast!
3) They are suppose to raise their own queen and usually do a good job, but sometimes it does fail.
Now, here are several pointers on installing a new queen in an existing hive where the queen cannot be found.
1) Look for eggs. Make sure you do not have a laying queen.
2) If you do not have eggs, you could have a virgin queen or a mated queen that will start laying in a couple of days. Look through your hive after 6pm to spot virgin queens. Before 6pm they might be out on a mating flight.
3) Destroy all queen cells before installing a new queen.
4) Do not remove the candy from the candy plug.
5) Only remove the cork or plastic cap that is covering the candy.
6) Hang the cage in the center of the brood nest area.
7) Do not place the open screen into the comb or the bees cannot feed the queen through the screen nor can the queen’s pheromones spread throughout the colony.
8) Some beekeepers hang the cage so that the opening faces up so that dying attendant bees do not clog the exit hole.
9) Do not remove attendants from the queen cage.
10) Wait 5 days to examine the cage to make sure she has been released. If not, open the screen and release.
Often the queen cage is held in place between frames by sliding pressure between two frames to hold the wooden or plastic cage. However, you can attach a string or thin metal such as a Christmas tree ornament hanger and attach the other end to the top of a frame to suspend the cage. Just don’t kill the queen.
If the queen cage falls to the bottom of the hive, bees will quickly cover the cage. Use your curved in of your hive tool to pick it up, shake the bees off and re-install.

Thanks for joining us for another lesson!
David & Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
14556 N 1020 E. Rd
Fairmount, IL 61841
217-427-2678
www.honeybeesonline.com

LESSON 102: Adding Hive Bodies & Supers At The Right Time (217) 427-2678 www.honeybeesonline.com

Hello from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in Central Illinois. We are David and Sheri Burns. If this is your first time to stop by, welcome and you’ll grow to really like us.

Hi we are David and Sheri Burns at honeybeesonline.com  Please visit our Main Website at: http://www.honeybeesonline.com

 

ADVANCE BEEKEEPING COURSE JUNE 11, 2014 9am-3pm Central Illinois!!

Have you considered the importance of taking our one day Advance Beekeeping Course?  I'll be joined by my good friend and fellow certified master beekeeper Jon Zawislak. Jon and I have written a book on queen rearing and we recently authored a two part articled published in the American Bee Journal on the difference between Northern and Southern bees. Jon and I will be teaching our Advance Beekeeping course June 11, 2014 here in Fairmount, Illinois and we have around 6 seats available. You don't want to miss this opportunity to be around me and Jon and learn about bees for a whole day. Click here for more information.

Check out our entire list of beekeeping classes we offer by clicking here.

Welcome to Long Lane Honey Bee Farms Online Lessons! Visit our MAIN WEBSITE AT: http://www.honeybeesonline.com We have a complete line of hives that we build right here in Illinois. We offer classes, sell queens and much more. Give us a call at: 217-427-2678. Our hours are: M-Th 10am-4pm, Fri 10-Noon Central Time.
We are an everyday, hard working family desiring to make a living from our bees. We are fun natured and likeable. So get to know us more and you’ll be glad you did.
We have such great customers who continue to express their gratefulness for all that we do. Here’s some recent feedback from our customers:
Dear David -
My husband and I would like to thank you for the delivery of the Italian queen for his hive. She arrived today, and she is in the hive. We will be sure to tell our beekeeping friends the great service we received from your company.
Thank you, Pam
Thanks for putting me on the late list and telephoning me personally when you had extra bees.  You are the greatest! Just the few tips you gave me will make all the difference in the world with this new batch. 
Thanks so much for your superior customer service,
Anita
Thank you. Please take this opportunity to support our FREE online beekeeping lessons by placing an order with us. We sell all beekeeping equipment and our big sellers this month are: fully assembled and painted hives, queens, slatted racks, green drone comb (varroa traps) and fully assembled supers. A few years ago we were some of the first to sell fully assembled and painted equipment. Now almost all other companies are doing the same but at a much higher cost; we make ours much more affordable.

This week was really a special week for us, especially Sheri and Karee. Ann Kaiser, Contributing Editor at Country Woman Magazine spent Monday and Tuesday at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms to do an article on our queen bee operation. Ann writes an article for each edition called Editor in the Country, focusing upon unique agricultural niches.
It was so fun having Ann here for two days. Sheri has read Country Woman  for a couple of decades so Sheri was so thrilled to have Ann here! Ann even marked someone’s queen that we shipped out. The article will appear in Country Woman in the Aug/Sept issue of Country Woman. It was a fun two days! To read more about those two days, visit Sheri’s Sweet Life blog.
Queen requests are off the charts. We are shipping out queens like I’ve never seen before. Some new customers have identified that there seems to be a shortage of queens and that some companies are sold out. Not us, we are fully stocked, grafting is going well and we are in full swing. The weather has finally improved and finally the bees are working hard to make up for lost time.
We hope to double our queen production this year and even Sheri is out there helping us graft and taking care of the mating nucs.
Raising queens is so much fun and we’re glad to see the queen rearing season finally here.


It was a very rough spring for beekeepers here in the Midwest and north. Cold weather lingered on with lots of cold nights and rainy days. Because we are also nuc producers we were forced to work our new nucs in the rain, trying to get food to them during those times when the rain trapped them in the hive for days. Small splits will die if they become too cold. Food in the hive helps them generate heat so we prepared bags of sugar water and placed them in the hive under an umbrella, using a super as a spacer to surround the bag of sugar water.

LESSON 102:Adding Hive Bodies & Supers At The Right Time
Just when is the right time to add the next hive body or super? This is very important in order to control swarming and to hold down the spread of pests. New beekeepers as well as experienced beekeepers can make big mistakes when it comes time to add another box. So let me walk you through some sensible advice.
Bees love to be crowded, but not congested. Heavily populated colonies are always healthier colonies. Honey bees function more efficiently when the colony is well populated. Small colonies have an increased likelihood of struggling with pests and diseases.
For example, if you have a typical hive that consist of two deep hive bodies and a medium super, and you shook your package into those three boxes with 10 frames each, the bees would have too large of an area to protect. Wax moth and small hive beetle could gain access to the hive and lay eggs in unprotected corners.
I have found that it works best for me to make my splits in small 3 frame nuc boxes, and then when those frames are full, move them to a 5 frame nuc, then finally to a 10 frame nuc. But I do not add my 2nd deep box on until at least all 10 frames have some wax being drawn out. This allows the bees to work in a heavily populated environment but still have plenty of open cells in frames so as not to become congested and swarm.
In this picture, a second hive body could have been added weeks earlier. Although I will push my bees harder and wait till all 10 frames are started, I tell new beekeepers to add their second hive body on when 6-7 frames in the first deep are drawn out and full of bees. By “drawn out” I mean the bees have added their comb to the foundation and have extended out their comb on both sides of the frames.
Let’s talk about adding the third box, the honey super. Lots of mistakes are made here. First, add your super when 6 or 7 frames have been drawn out in the 2nd deep box. DO NOT use a queen excluder just yet. Place your super on, but without the excluder. This allows ease of access for bees to find and move up into the super to begin drawing out the comb. Once you see a minimum of 2 frames that are being worked by the bees add your queen excluder, but do so carefully.
When adding the queen excluder below a super after the bees have started drawing out the comb, make sure to inspect each frame of the super to ensure the queen is not in that super. This is very important or else you will trap your queen in your honey super and you will have  a super of brood not honey. If you find that she is in your super, simply pick her up by her wings or thorax and place her in one of the deep hive bodies below.
Now place your queen excluder below your honey super (usually the third box from the bottom). When placing on your queen excluder, be sure to place the excluder with the cross wires facing down. Otherwise, queens might try to slide along the metal and slip in. Plastic excluders do not have this problem and can be place on either way.
One final tip: When placing on your second deep hive body, remove one frame from the bottom deep, preferably a frame of nectar with bees on it and place it in the new deep hive box on the top and place the undrawn frame from the top into the box below where you removed the frame of nectar. With this frame of bees and nectar now above the lower deep, the bees will more quickly get the idea to move up.
There you go, now you know when and how to add your other boxes to your hive.

Thanks for joining us again today for another great lesson in beekeeping!
David and Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
14556 N. 1020 E. Rd
Fairmount, IL 61841
(217) 427-2678 www.honeybeesonline.com

LESSON 101: The Inside Scoop On Feeding Bees (www.honeybeesonline.com 217-427-2678)

Hey there beekeepers and beekeeper wanna-bes. We’re David and Sheri Burns of Long Lane Honey Bee Farms with another lesson, and what a great lesson. Finally, answers to frequently asked question about feeding bees.
I have lots of information to share with you on feeding bees, but before we do, let me tell you of some upcoming events.

We working our way through sending out our packages. This has consumed so much of our time. We work very hard to ensure all packages are strong, healthy and fresh before we send them out. We also have a few valuable techniques that we use to ensure our packages do well in shipment. Three of our children are out package team, our oldest son David (25), middle son Seth(17) and our youngest daughter Karee (20). They do a great job.
Next week Sheri and Karee will be hosting Ann Kaiser, editor of Country Woman Magazine. She’ll be featuring out queen rearing operation and even trying her hand at raising some of our outstanding queens. We’ll keep you posted on when the article if finally posted.
We have lots to do to spruce up the place for some great photos, and if it EVER warms up, we’ll get to work!


LESSON 101: The Inside Scoop On Feeding Bees
I’ve written lessons on feeding bees but for some reason I’ve received enough email to know that some people do not understand how to feed bees. So, let me break it down to where it is easy to understand.
First, there are several ways to feed bees such as: entrance feeders, top feeders, division feeders(frame feeders), pail feeders and several others probably.
Which feeder to use depends on what you want to accomplish and what time of the year it is. For example, entrance feeders are great for spring and early summer but cannot be used in the fall or they will excite robbing. And, entrance feeders will freeze in the winter and when the bees cluster at temperatures below 50, the bees cannot go down to the entrance feeder.
Top feeders work well during the spring and summer and early fall, but are not to be used in cold weather as the syrup will freeze or crystalize and the bees can freeze while eating and fail to re-cluster if the temperature drops fast.
Division or Frame feeders are simply a reservoir that takes the place of a frame. They work well year round because the syrup can remain warm in the nest area. However, it requires opening the hive and exposing the bees in order to refill.
A pail feeder is a pail, it can be a purchased pre-drilled pail or you can make your own, such as the same jar and lid that is used for an entrance feeder can become a pail feeder. Here’s how it works. Simply place the pail feeder above the cluster. It can either sit on the top of frames or it can be placed above the hole on the inner cover, that oval shaped hole. Pail feeders can be used year round, but in the winter it is best to use an inner cover to hold the heat in the cluster and place the pail above the hole on the inner cover. We sell a premium inner cover that has the small mouth hole pre-cut into the inner cover to feed during the winter. Since the jar is above the cluster it usually does not freeze, but it can if really cold or the cluster is really small.
Next, a common question is how long to feed bees after installing a package. Some say that as long as bees are pulling out wax on new foundation, it is good to feed them. There is wisdom in this approach as bees do need sugar to produce wax. 6-8 pounds of honey are needed for the bees to produce a pound of wax. And it takes 500000 flakes of wax to make one pound. As the young bees consume sugar/nectar/honey, they produce wax in their wax glands under their abdomen. However, sugar is expensive and most sugar is GMO beet sugar and so we prefer to only feed new packages about two weeks. Once dandelions are in full bloom we slow down or entirely stop feeding our bees. It seems to us, that if bees are fed too long in the spring and summer they do not forage as much.
When a new package is first installed, there can still be cold spells in the north which can kill packages on undrawn comb. Drawn comb seems to provide a better way for the new colony to stay warm on a cold night. Bees produce heat by eating syrup or sugar. This year, on our small divides which we did in mid April, we made up a sugar patty and placed it on the top frames of our splits. This is made with powdered sugar mixed with just a little water to bring it to a dough consistency. These sugar patties saved the small splits.
How to mix the sugar syrup. Syrup should be mixed 1:1 in the spring and 2:1 in the fall. So in the spring, use one part water and one part sugar. No need to boil, just mix well with warm or hot water. 2:1 is 2 parts sugar and 1 part water. This is good to feed weak hives in the fall because they can store the 2:1 mixture sooner before the weather turns cold.

For winter feeding, we recommend our Winter-Bee-Kinds.
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.

Thanks for joining us today. Call us today to order all your beekeeping equipment, hives, suits, woodenware, queens and more!
217-427-2678. Or visit us online at: www.honeybeesonline.com
Please be patient when calling as this is a busy time of the year for beekeeping questions and orders.

David & Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
(217)427-2678