Swarming is now going to happen in urban areas

Those of us who have hives in the countryside where rape seed is still in full flower will have had to cope with swarming. Those of you who are organised will probably have split strong colonies before they make a queen cells themselves.

Now it is the turn of those beekeepers in towns to have to cope with swarming. i.e. Crowborough, Heathfield and Uckfield. Beginners and even those of you who are very experienced often make a classic mistake when doing an artificial swarm. Those of you who came to our session on swarming will know that the easy bit of splitting a colony by doing an artificial swarm is by putting the old queen in a new box on the old site. I won't insult you by going through that part of the artificial swarm again.

However it is the second part of doing an artificial swarm that leads to so many people ending up with a small box of bees and potentially a runt Queen. Study the development of a virgin queen below.

Day 1 egg

        2 egg

        3 egg

        4 larva

        5 larva

        6 larva

        7 larva

        8 larva Queen cell sealed

        9 larva still feeds off royal jelly

        10 larva turns round and detaches from royal jelly and spins cocoon

        11 prepupa

        12 prepupa

        13 pupa

        14 pupa turns darker colour

        15 pupa : tip of queen cell turns a darker brown

        16 virgin  queen emerges

Now this is where we all go wrong. When doing an artificial swarm the brood and young bees are moved away from the original site. It is this box that poses the real problem in this manipulation. You need to go into this box twice in order for there to be only one queen cell for this colony. If you don't do so it is likely that they will cast, perhaps several times! And you then end up with a useless box of bees, perhaps without a queen.

In an urban setting you are probably best, when the colony has really built up well, to split the bees before they make queen cells. By doing this you force them to make emergency queen cells. They usually start the process by taking larvae that are two days old and converting them into Queens. This is okay because ordinary workers and queen larvae are fed in the same way for the first two days. However there is  a danger that they will be panicked into choosing a three day old larva. A three day old larva would make a runt Queen as she won't be fed royal jelly for long enough and this is one of the things that you need to avoid.

So the initial problem you have is one of timing. Once you have split the bees you need to go back three days later and cut out all sealed queen cells. This will get rid of any of the three day old larva that you panicked them into choosing.

At this stage you should mark with a drawing pin on the frames two open queen cells. I would try and choose queen cells that were on frames with other queen cells. Think about where the cell is positioned so that it is as protected as possible by any of your manipulations. At this initial stage I would not destroy other open queen cells. They may have to be your fallback position.

Now for the tricky bit. Look carefully at the life-cycle that I have listed above. The bees can continue to make queen cells for a considerable number of days. You removed the Queen to force them to make emergency cells but on the day of removal there are still eggs in the hive. Those eggs could take three days to hatch and there are a further two or three days when they can still be converted into a queen. So six or seven days after the split you must, and I repeat you must, go in and cut out any unwanted Queen cells. Now the bees are very clever and they cluster around the Queen cells. On the frame with your chosen queen cell carefully touch the bees to check that there is no other queen cell other than the one that you have chosen. Hopefully this is the same cell as the one you marked three days after the split. If not it will have to be one of the other cells on the frame. If there are no other cells on that frame, then you will have to go and search for another good looking queen cell somewhere else in the box. The frame with the chosen queen cell must not be shaken but must be examined carefully so that you do not leave two or three queen cells on it. That would be a disaster as the bees would cast.

Now for the bit that you all don't do. All other frames must be shaken free of bees. The bees are very good at hiding queen cells as they cluster around them. You really must be brave and shake all the bees off the frames that do not contain your chosen Queen cell. Destroy all queen cells except the one on the frame you have chosen, hopefully the one you originally marked. 

Good luck Urban beekeepers.

Malcolm Wilkie 4th May 2017

Are you denying your honeybees their human rights?

Of course I am being somewhat facetious in suggesting that honeybees have human rights. Perhaps I should have said animal rights or even better insect rights. In fact perhaps I should rephrase my question and say instead, are you denying your honeybees their insect rights? Let's hope that by posing such a silly question you will dismiss this article and read no further. Perhaps if enough beekeepers ignore my advice then there will be some good swarms that the beginners might be able to get hold of to start beekeeping. That's what I am hoping for anyway. So please don't  read any further than here, and thereby you will be letting your colony swarm and Peter will have some good swarms to collect.

During this current nectar flow young bees have an absolute need to make wax. Your colonies are expanding at an exponential rate. Your queens are laying eggs on almost every frame. Congestion is taking place in your hives. Those of you who have heeded my warning about loving your bees too much have already done something to avoid congestion in the hive, and you have taken out a frame of stores and added a frame of foundation next to the brood nest. If you still find that a big colony needs more space you can, in extremis, commit the ultimate sin. You can (it has to be a strong colony) split the brood nest by placing a frame of foundation in the middle of the brood. I now expect salvos to be launched at me by the more experienced among you, but I know this is what some bee farmers do.

But how about our honeybees insect rights? Imposing congestion on your bees is a far worse sin than the manipulation mentioned above. When you impose a small space onto a large colony, they then set about swarming. Supering and supering at the correct moment allows your bees to expand and decongest the brood nest. In the past I have sometimes found the bees putting nectar on top of eggs they had so little room. How terrible is that?

You are the sort of beekeeper, of course, who takes the trouble to provide fresh wax for your bees to work on during a nectar flow. Old wax is refreshed with a hair dryer, Kemble wax is given to the bees because you know it is better. You check your supers regularly and you become aware when the bees have completely filled the super with nectar and are crying out for more space and room. You are the sort of person who would then put on a second super. You place this directly above the brood nest so that if there is foundation in the super then the bees can draw it out as quickly as possible. The warm spot above the brood nest is the place where the bees will find it easiest to draw out the wax.

By proceeding in the fashion suggested above you are allowing your hive to breath. A lot of space is needed for nectar to be stored before it is turned into honey and there needs to be space in the brood nest for the Queen to continue laying, otherwise the bees vote for Brexit. And once the bees have decided on Brexit, there is no going back. Your job as the beekeeper is to keep your charges busy working for you and making honey. Don't even let them think that Brexit is a possibility!

It may be a good idea to alternate in your second super frames of nectar, with frames of foundation. By doing so the bees will instinctively draw out your foundation for you, particularly if the foundation is just above the brood nest. Distract them, by forcing them to work. Margaret Ginman says that you should think of your bees in the same way as you would think of a group of adolescent boys. If you don't give them something to do, they will misbehave. And in this context misbehaving means swarming or put another way, Brexit.

So are you respecting your bees fundamental needs to make wax? Are you checking that the Queen has room to lay? Are you giving the bees adequate space by supering at the right moment? Are you alternating frames of nectar with foundation to force your honeybees to work to their maximum potential? What do Syrians do when they are treated as they are treated by Assad? They leave! What will your honeybees do if you treat them badly by forcing them to live in a box that is just too small for them? They will leave! And you can't really blame them either! They would have loved to make you honey if only you had managed them better! So they will seek refuge elsewhere. Perhaps they will find a better beekeeper than you. And he may be a Trump-like figure, who bangs the box and is rough handling them, but if he gives them space that is what they really want.

Listen to what your bees want. Pop off the roof and look how many of them are milling around above the crown board. If there are more than a few doing so, they need space!!! Give your bees their insect rights, give them space and by doing so you will get honey. However if your unit is only a small unit, hang back and let them build up naturally without adding draughty supers that they will ignore anyway.

A note of warning. Currently a lot of the nectar is coming from oilseed rape and this will not stay in flower for ever. Once you see the fields of oilseed rape going over, you need to extract the honey ASAP. Oilseed rape honey sets rockhard in the frames and is useless to the beekeeper and it is useless to the bees. If you are in the Groombridge area you need to keep a very careful eye. If you are in the Eridge area, ditto. Will you be able to get hold of an extractor when you need to extract? Could you combine with another local beekeeper and both of you extract on the same day using the same extractor? Ask yourself these questions now, otherwise you will be in a mess.

Malcolm Wilkie April 8th 2017

SOS - super now

We are very early in the season because we are still in the month of March, however there is a nectar flow on at the moment. Believe it or not rape seed is now coming into flower and we are still in March!! The fields around Lamberhurst are yellow today. At Mount Camphill on Friday the large ornamental cherry tree was abuzz with honeybees. At the slab castle apiary the blackthorn (sloe) is in full flower. In Hastings there are trees after trees awash with spring flowers and the presence of these spring flowers coupled with high temperatures are enabling our bees to bring back nectar to the hive.

Experienced beekeepers have been aware for a number of weeks now of the unusual high temperatures and activity in the hives has been strong. Those of you who do not work have been able to choose a nice day to go through your hive or hives quickly. You have realised that with a very strong hive there is a lot of brood and as Keith taught you, you have put on a super to allow the bees room to expand. Those supers are currently filling with nectar! If, like me, you have ignored the warning signs of high activity in a strong colony and not yet supered, you will find yourself with comb built above the crown board and stuck to the roof. When you remove the crown board there are bees everywhere.

So what do you do? You will have to go in and smoke the bees down, scrape all the honey off the top of the frames and then put on a queen excluder and give your charges a super. It may be wise with a strong colony like this to examine them on Thursday (March 30th) when temperatures could get up to 20 degrees, to check that they are not building queen cells. Sid Hook tells me he has drones in his hives at this very moment. Temperatures are not so high on Sunday but if you work and have no other option, you will have to do it then. The season is kicking off with a vengeance!

The majority of you will not be in this situation but sit up and take note. You need to put a super on your hive. This can be drawn comb or a mixture of drawn comb and foundation. If the foundation is old it must be warmed up by using a hair dryer. Don't think you can dispense with the hairdryer because the bees just do not like drawing out old wax and in the long run you will make work for yourself by not freshening up the wax. Some foundation in your super box is a good idea so that the young bees can make wax; young bees without the possibility to make wax will trigger swarming in your hive. Keep your bees busy and it will take their minds off swarming for the time being and, of course, give you a spring crop. Be warned  supering and choosing the right moment to put a super on is part of swarm control. If bees don't have room to expand, they swarm!

With a small to middling sized colony they sometimes ignore the super completely.  Box clever, put your super on without a queen excluder. Go back three or four days later and if they are working the super pop your queen excluder in at that stage. If you are a Newbee and only have foundation, this is the way to proceed to tempt your charges to draw out the foundation for you. Remember foundation is more likely to be drawn out if it is placed above the brood nest.

In colonies with lots of young bees now is the moment when you can replace a couple of old brood frames with new foundation. All those young bees are desperate to draw out the wax for you. If you were organised last autumn you put the dirtiest combs on the edge of the box and it is these that you are now renewing.

Beginners should also take note of this email. The season is early and if they wish to obtain bees it is crucial that they have a hive ready. This hive should be in position and the frames of foundation should be made up so that  they can be placed in the hive at a moment's notice.

Keith and I are holding a session on keeping control of swarming on Thursday the 6th of April at Cross in Hand at 7.30pm. Given the early nature of the season it won't be a moment too soon for us to hold this session. Swarming is never easy and cannot be controlled 100%, but having a strategy in your head and a hive ready or a nucleus box ready, will help. Remember to let Rosemarie know if you are coming.

28th March 2017 - Malcolm Wilkie

Subject: Topical Tips - Shopping list for Heathfield
Here are a few ideas for anyone who has just started keeping bees or has only been keeping bees for one or two years. It will help you plan for the season ahead. Perhaps also a reminder for those of you who have kept bees for a longer time.
Essential
Apiguard (a type of thymol gel) to treat colonies in August for varroa
An eke for each colony (to apply the Apiguard). If you are good with your hands you can make one yourself
Super frames and wax foundation (in the hope your bees will make you some honey)Make up the frames but don't add wax until you are ready. Keep the wax indoors in a dry but cool place but not near a heat source. Under a spare room bed is ideal.
A contact feeder. Everyone should have one. This is the feeder with the fine mesh covering a central hole. To use you need to have an empty super placed on top of the crown board.
2 Queen clips. Make sure the spring works really well. If in doubt ask Helen or Keith
A spare hive tool. As brightly coloured as possible
What would be good
A polystyrene nucleus box. Contact Paynes beforehand so that they put it on their lorry. Specify size ie ordinary national, deep national, commercial, WBC. The owner of a nucleus box can get themselves out of so much trouble. Every new beekeeper should have one. They are not that expensive
A plastic rapid feeder for each colony. Never buy wooden; they leak and that causes robbing. Make sure the feeder you are buying is the right size for your hives!
What I would be cautious about buying
Bad quality equipment in the auction
A honey extractor in the auction that does not work. Why do they allow them to go into the sale?
A colony of bees without a Queen. How can beekeepers allow a beginner to waste their money in this way?
A colony of bees on the wrong sized frames for the hive type you have purchased. Only a strong colony can be shook swarmed.
If you are thinking about buying bees at least check on the Internet what price a colony or nucleus usually is going for. Don't pay a lot more than you need to pay. Don't get carried away by the fact the bees are being auctioned.

As far as equipment to make increase is concerned, far better to wait until October and get the equipment at the national honey show, or wait until one of the autumn sales and buy the equipment at a fraction of the price at that moment( unless you have a strong colony and will have to divide it to stop swarming). But a nucleus box would get you out of this difficulty. Remember most beginners who manage to buy a whole colony at this time of year loose most of them in a swarm about a week after they have bought them Your choice, but not having the possibility of dividing a colony will get you into trouble. Beginners you are warned.

Paynes 01273 843388
Ben and Maggie Pratt 01323 841249

And finally some plants for the bees. Or just some plants. Keith always comes up with something quirky.

Malcolm May 10th 2016

Diseases

Traditionally beekeepers do not start to think about treating disease in their colonies until August. The reason for this is varroa takes time to build up in a colony and it is at this stage in the year that you will really begin to see bees with deformed wings.

Varroa which is causing DWV (deformed wing virus) is only one of many viral, fungal and bacterial infections that are probably present all the time at low levels in every colony. Varroa is the number one enemy at present and I will be suggesting some strategies for dealing with it, but other infections should not be ignored and at the beginning of this missive that it what I shall be dealing with.

The worst infections from a novice's point of view are EFB (European Foul Brood) and AFB (American Foul Brood). Outbreaks of AFB don't seem to be that common but EFB has been a problem in this area.

Suffice it to say that if you see in your hive melted down larvae this could be EFB. The larvae look like 'snot'! When EFB starts to take a hold you may not see many larvae like this as, to begin with, the bees remove them. However it is the very act of removing the larvae and cleaning out the cells that is spreading the disease further. If nothing is done to treat eventually the hive will start to smell fishy, as bacteria start to hasten the decomposition of the melted down larvae (these are not being removed by the colony as they have become overwhelmed by the disease).

The above scenario would entail you contacting firstly someone in the association and then the bee inspector who comes out, and using a lateral flow device tests for the presence of EFB. A simple test you can do yourself is to take a pair of tweezers and pull one of the suspicious larvae apart. If a ball of yellow pollen can be seen, then probably everything is alright. This is because EFB is a bacteria that feeds off pollen in the gut of the larva and if EFB is present the bacteria will have already digested the yellow pollen.

Yellow pollen in the gut = larva hasn’t died due to starvation; EFB may be present at an early stage or you are mistaken and it is sac brood or another fungal infection.

White snotty mess when the gut is pulled apart = larva has died of starvation; EFB likely

One of the commonest diseases for beginners is chalk brood. . In the initial stages you will see dead larvae in the frames that have died. These larvae have become mummies that are hard and look like chalk. This is a fungal infection and if left unchecked the mummies of the dead larvae turn from looking like chalk to a dark blue colour and this indicates that the fungus is producing spores, which will further pollute your hive and slow up its expansion. You will find dead mummies on the inspection board if you have it in. If you leave well alone the bees usually clear out the mummies, but only if the colony is strong. I have found that beginners often leave their inspection boards in and the lack of air circulation seems to worsen this problem. If you have open mesh floors, then let the bees have plenty of air. The inspection boards are not intended to be left in for any great length of time!

In cold summers sac brood can become a problem. Beginners muddle this with EFB. The larvae curl up in an odd way and it has been suggested that this looks rather like a Chinese slipper. The larvae do have a slightly melted down look but you can still see the Michelin tyres on them. They tend to turn a dark brown colour as they die. Once again this usually clears up.

If you have the luxury of keeping several colonies, I personally would try and combine two or three hives, as with more bees they will better be able to cope with these fungal infections. EFB, of course, is another matter. If you have a number of colonies the best bet when EFB is confirmed in one hive is destruction (inspection floor added, entrance sealed with gaffer tape, petrol poured through the crown board at night). Remember to seal up the hive so your other hives do not go and rob out the infected honey. Then burn all frames. The box should be torched as should the crown board, floor and roof. A Beekeeper should have a blow torch anyway so as to regularly clean his equipment. Remember hot water and soda crystals are insufficient to kill the bacterial spores of EFB, which can only be eradicated by using a blow torch. Bacterial spores are even resistant to boiling water!

Now to varroa. Some of you will have read the article in the BBKA news and will be thinking you should perhaps just do nothing and the bees will find a way of dealing with it. Don't! Unless you have got a huge number of colonies.

Colin Stocks swears by icing sugar and dusts this onto the frames each time he looks at his colonies. This will knock off a small percentage of phoretic mites and delay the build-up of mites in a colony. He does nothing else and that can only work, in my opinion, if you have a really good strong colony. Something beginners rarely have.

A late summer treatment with thymol. The bees try and remove the thymol from the hive and this irritates them so they keep cleaning themselves. Probably the thymol gets transferred to the varroa mites damaging their delicate outer carapace and this causes the demise of most of them. However beginners make the mistake of not starting the treatment early enough. To be really effective temperatures for the whole period of the treatment need to be well above 15 degrees. So you will only get the best out of the product if it is put on mid or even early August. By the time we visit the French in Normandy in late August their winter treatments are already complete. The inspection board needs to be put in, and I have even resorted to putting gaffa tape over the back of the hive so as to guarantee as little ventilation gets into the hive as possible. You want the volatile oils in the product to irritate the bees to the maximum as this will try and make them remove it from the hive and in so doing pass it around among themselves thereby guaranteeing a good mite drop. An eke is needed for the tray of Apiguard. If you have no eke , buy Apilife Var, the biscuits of which are laid directly on top of the frames. So if you have not yet got your late summer treatment from Paynes or Ben and Maggie Pratt, then order it now in readiness.

When a colony swarms you also have options. If you have a virgin and she is about to come into lay, Oxalic acid is an option. I have never wanted to do this fearing I might damage the new Queen. However inspired by Jonathan Coote in West Sussex I am now using a weak solution of lactic acid. This is no stronger than lemon juice but when sprayed on the bees they concentrate it down and this damages the delicate feeding parts of the varroa. This knocks off 70% of the mites on the bees. However bees need to be excluded from their supers. This will hopefully mean that in August I won't have the huge numbers of varroa in these units that I have had in the past. Helen has mixed up the correct quantities and you should contact her if you want to try this option.

If you have a number of hives, you may be able to take a frame of eggs and young larvae and introduce it into a hive where the Virgin is about to come into lay. Mark the frame clearly and when it has been sealed remove it. It will be full of mites as they will not have been able to breed for at least five weeks, so will have been desperate to dive into the nearest brood cell. Uncap the sealed cells and you will see the number of mites you have trapped.

I won't now deal with winter treatments. That will be for another time. As ever I hope the above is helpful.