Last year I only was stung 3 times the entire year...and once was by a bee in the house.
This year I've stopped counting. I think it's a natural feature of being a beekeeper - comes with the territory, as it were. I also think the number of stings relates to how engaged I've gotten with the bees. Last year I was simply hoping that the hives would live through the season and through the winter.
This year I'm trying to get the bees to use natural cell size. I've given a small swarm a home in a nuc and have stolen frames of eggs and brood from other hives to help them get a good queen. I've had a two-queen hive and I've split it effectively into two hives. I've had a hive that barely made it through the winter that I've tried to nurture both to survive and to live in natural cell size. There's a lot going on in my bee yard.
So I shouldn't be surprised that I have been stung more. I've had stings on my knees twice this year. My forearm doubled in size one week from a sting when I didn't get the stinger out in time. Each of my thumbs got stung and each swelled up so much that about ten days later, the skin peeled off as if I had been sunburned. I've stepped on a bee in the house barefoot and been stung again this year. And on and on. I don't notice it as much any more, although the stings still hurt when they happen, still swell, and if I don't get the stinger out fast enough, still itch for about 10 days.
Tonight I was working in my garden in front of my house. Tomorrow is a watering day (we have designated days in Atlanta because we are in extreme drought) so I wanted to get the last of my plants planted and mulched before I start the sprinkler in the morning. It was 8:45 PM and getting dusky. A bee flew up my t-shirt as I was mulching and I guess she didn't like finding herself there. She began to buzz angrily and I headed for the house, stripping as I hit the kitchen door. Before I got my shirt off, she stung me on the upper arm. Then as I pulled the shirt off, I got stung again on the neck. I guess that means there were two bees under my shirt, although I only heard one.
And this sting set didn't even come from working in the bee yard......GRRRRR.
Showing posts with label small cell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small cell. Show all posts
Friday, June 22, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
My Cells are Getting Smaller!
My one hive that made it through the winter, Bermuda, had moved into a medium box full of LC honeycomb. The picture on the right is Bermuda as it looks today.The bees in Bermuda were weak and sickly from a varroa infested winter. I used sugar shakes and treated them with low expectations about growth or honey to help them build their strength slowly. Their queen is a 2006 queen and was still alive and laying well.
As they got stronger I added the next box that you see in the picture with only SC starter strips. When they had drawn out that comb, then I added a third box with SC starter strips.
These bees are thriving and doing great. I don't expect any honey from them this year, as they are doing well to have built up their numbers and collect enough honey for themselves.
Today I found on the Organic Beekeepers Yahoo Group site a file with a measuring tool for determining how small your cells are. You may not be able to access the file without being a member of the group, so some of you may not be able to click on the link above.
Anyway, the tool prints out a ruler of various decreasing cell sizes so that you can see
how your regression is going. I printed it out as per instructions from the author, Michelle Barry, and covered it with clear contact paper (again as per her instructions). I then took it with me to the hives today to try it out.
I only checked one small part of one frame because I didn't want to disrupt the hives too much today - I had opened them on Saturday for a big inspection.
My glove is covering up the measurement and the picture is out of focus (I was too excited to give the camera time to focus!), but the cells on the side of this frame are measuring 5.2, considerably smaller than 5.9 - and that's on the edge of the frame.
I think my girls are adapting well to the small cells. I only measured this one place to see how to use the tool, but I'm looking forward to using it again when I go into the hives
again (which won't happen now for about 10 days).
It's funny to me that the bees in my hives look smaller but the drones look monstrously big!
Monday, April 09, 2007
Set up Weak Hive with a New Medium Box
The last time I looked into Bermuda, the weak hive, the bees were increasing in number and the queen was expanding her brood pattern to five or six frames. I removed a frame of honey from last year (we have a nectar flow on now from the tulip poplar, among other plants and trees) and replaced it with a frame with a starter strip of small cell.
It's about a week later and I think I should give them more space for brood, so I set up a second medium. I wanted to inspire these bees for small cell, so I put in nine frames of starter strips and one frame more or less in the center (with ten, where is the center?) of almost a full frame of small cell. I did this to give them more of a guide.
Since I'm regressing this hive to small cell, I dated the frames so that I will have some idea when I replace them next year. My understanding of small cell is that the bees will have some trouble with it this year, regressing to smaller cell, but not to the natural cell size until one more "regression." To accomplish this, I'll need to replace brood frames again with small cell, so I dated these. Next year I can pull some of these 2007 frames and put in starter strips again, and my now much more adept bees will draw exactly what they need....assuming they live through the winter.
Here is Bermuda with her new medium super. I installed it with great adventure. It was quite cold in Atlanta for April 9 this morning. When I went to the hive around 11 AM, it was still only in the high 40s. Ordinarily Bermuda has been a placid, slow moving hive, so I wasn't too worried about opening the hive just long enough to put on this box and replace the inner cover and telescoping lid.
I put on my veil and went to the hives, carrying my hive tool in one hand and my gloves and camera in the other. I set down the camera (and absent-mindedly, the gloves as well) and opened the lid of the hive. The hive was quiet, but when I removed the inner cover, they were no longer quiet and placid. The bees were thick on the top of the frames and flew out angrily and I was stung on each hand.
I hurriedly put on my gloves and in the process, trapped a bee under my glove, who of course also stung me on my left arm. This shocked me and I dropped my camera, breaking it.......costly beekeeping moment. The picture below is the last picture taken with the camera before it gave up the ghost.
Oh, by the way, after waxing in the starter strips, I poured the remaining wax through panty hose (new) into a bread pan as a mold. The double boiler top in which the wax was melted still had wax residue on it. I poured boiling water into the pan and the wax now hardens on the surface of the water. I can pick it up and add it to my frozen wax cappings in the freezer. "Waste not, want not," the old folks say.
Extra costs of beekeeping this week:
1. I had to buy a new chest freezer. My 30 year old freezer finally died, not of its own accord but because a critter in my basement ate through the electrical cord and by the time I noticed it wasn't working, it was past repair.
2. I have to get a new camera since mine died when I dropped it today.
Lesson learned: Put camera on strap around neck rather than wrist.
I needed a new camera - this one has been taking rather blurry pictures and just yesterday I was thinking that perhaps I should look into a new one. Also the one that I broke was only 5 megapixels -
I came inside, read reviews, and immediately ordered a new camera which should be here in about a week, but probably no posts before I get new pictures. I've ordered one with higher resolution and with an anti-shake feature to control the blur. It will be better in the end for both the bees and my grandbaby. However, I ordered an economic camera given that my camera is always subject to sticky hive stuff as well as the possible casualty of a fall from a high place.
This is a wonderful but more expensive hobby than I imagined!
It's about a week later and I think I should give them more space for brood, so I set up a second medium. I wanted to inspire these bees for small cell, so I put in nine frames of starter strips and one frame more or less in the center (with ten, where is the center?) of almost a full frame of small cell. I did this to give them more of a guide.
Since I'm regressing this hive to small cell, I dated the frames so that I will have some idea when I replace them next year. My understanding of small cell is that the bees will have some trouble with it this year, regressing to smaller cell, but not to the natural cell size until one more "regression." To accomplish this, I'll need to replace brood frames again with small cell, so I dated these. Next year I can pull some of these 2007 frames and put in starter strips again, and my now much more adept bees will draw exactly what they need....assuming they live through the winter.
Here is Bermuda with her new medium super. I installed it with great adventure. It was quite cold in Atlanta for April 9 this morning. When I went to the hive around 11 AM, it was still only in the high 40s. Ordinarily Bermuda has been a placid, slow moving hive, so I wasn't too worried about opening the hive just long enough to put on this box and replace the inner cover and telescoping lid.
I put on my veil and went to the hives, carrying my hive tool in one hand and my gloves and camera in the other. I set down the camera (and absent-mindedly, the gloves as well) and opened the lid of the hive. The hive was quiet, but when I removed the inner cover, they were no longer quiet and placid. The bees were thick on the top of the frames and flew out angrily and I was stung on each hand.
I hurriedly put on my gloves and in the process, trapped a bee under my glove, who of course also stung me on my left arm. This shocked me and I dropped my camera, breaking it.......costly beekeeping moment. The picture below is the last picture taken with the camera before it gave up the ghost.
Oh, by the way, after waxing in the starter strips, I poured the remaining wax through panty hose (new) into a bread pan as a mold. The double boiler top in which the wax was melted still had wax residue on it. I poured boiling water into the pan and the wax now hardens on the surface of the water. I can pick it up and add it to my frozen wax cappings in the freezer. "Waste not, want not," the old folks say.
Extra costs of beekeeping this week:
1. I had to buy a new chest freezer. My 30 year old freezer finally died, not of its own accord but because a critter in my basement ate through the electrical cord and by the time I noticed it wasn't working, it was past repair.
2. I have to get a new camera since mine died when I dropped it today.
Lesson learned: Put camera on strap around neck rather than wrist.
I needed a new camera - this one has been taking rather blurry pictures and just yesterday I was thinking that perhaps I should look into a new one. Also the one that I broke was only 5 megapixels -
I came inside, read reviews, and immediately ordered a new camera which should be here in about a week, but probably no posts before I get new pictures. I've ordered one with higher resolution and with an anti-shake feature to control the blur. It will be better in the end for both the bees and my grandbaby. However, I ordered an economic camera given that my camera is always subject to sticky hive stuff as well as the possible casualty of a fall from a high place.
This is a wonderful but more expensive hobby than I imagined!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Small Cell Foundation Starter Strips
My plan is to encourage my bees to build small cells for their brood so instead of using regular foundation in the brood chamber of the two new hives, I am using small cell foundation that I ordered from Dadant. And instead of installing full sheets of small cell in the frames, I am using starter strips. Michael Bush suggested that I cut the foundation into 3/4 inch strips.
Step 1: Melt the wax to pour into the grooves in the frame to hold the starter strips. I bought a crummy double boiler at a junk store in the mountains to use for melting wax. These are cappings left over from last year. As the double boiler heated up, the whole kitchen began to smell like that wonderful honey/bee/wax smell that you can smell by the hives in the hot summer.
Step 2: While the wax was melting I went to my sewing room to cut the foundation into starter strips. My quilting equipment came in handy. I used a rotary cutter blade that I use to cut paper and my quilting ruler and the green cutting board and quite easily and quickly cut the SC foundation into 3/4 inch strips.
Step 3: Fill the groove in the frame with melted wax to hold the starter strip in place. My wax fastener from Dadant hasn't arrived yet so I was up the creek without a paddle (or in this case, a wax tube fastener) and had no way to pour the wax accurately into the frames. On Beemaster, recommendations included using a straw, a bent spoon, a meat injector for grilling. I didn't have a straw, couldn't bend an old spoon without a vise, and didn't have a meat injector - just a turkey baster and it was too big. Then I noticed a small bread pan on my kitchen counter - PERFECT! I dipped it into the double boiler of melted wax and got about a tablespoon. Then I poured the wax gently into the groove and set the starter strips in place.
Step 4: Leave the starter strips to cool in the frames until ready to install in the hives. I actually have a break tomorrow for about 1 1/2 hours in the middle of the day - just enough time to hurry home, put on my bee stuff, and install the nucs into the hives. I can finish making starter strips for the medium box and to put in Bermuda on another day after my wax fastener comes.
Note: The question was asked in a comment - why starter strips? I am trying to get my bees to make natural cells rather than what we request that they make by supplying a preprinted foundation. Bees on commercial foundation build cells that are 5.9 mm. Some beekeepers think that bees naturally build smaller cells - more like 4.9 mm. Dadant now carries small cell wax foundation.
A bee maturing in a small cell matures faster than a larger bee. This supposedly gives the Varroa mite less time in the cell with the bee so the mite cannot mature. Thus less Varroa in the hive.
I am using strips rather than full sheets of foundation because of Michael Bush's approach. The question of is it more work for the bees is answered by Michael in this way:
"Question:
Doesn't it take longer for them to draw their own combs?
Answer:
I have not found this to be true. In my observation (and others who have tried it), they seem to draw plastic with the most hesitation, wax with a little less hesitation and their own comb with the most enthusiasm. In my observation, and some others including Jay Smith, the queen also prefers to lay in it."
Some of the beekeepers I most respect are proponents of this, so I am following their lead. Michael Bush (my beekeeping hero) has lots of information on his site about natural cell size.
He typically uses foundationless frames.
A major proponent of small cell is Dee Lusby. She and her late husband Ed have done considerable work in this area.
Step 1: Melt the wax to pour into the grooves in the frame to hold the starter strips. I bought a crummy double boiler at a junk store in the mountains to use for melting wax. These are cappings left over from last year. As the double boiler heated up, the whole kitchen began to smell like that wonderful honey/bee/wax smell that you can smell by the hives in the hot summer.
Step 2: While the wax was melting I went to my sewing room to cut the foundation into starter strips. My quilting equipment came in handy. I used a rotary cutter blade that I use to cut paper and my quilting ruler and the green cutting board and quite easily and quickly cut the SC foundation into 3/4 inch strips.
Step 3: Fill the groove in the frame with melted wax to hold the starter strip in place. My wax fastener from Dadant hasn't arrived yet so I was up the creek without a paddle (or in this case, a wax tube fastener) and had no way to pour the wax accurately into the frames. On Beemaster, recommendations included using a straw, a bent spoon, a meat injector for grilling. I didn't have a straw, couldn't bend an old spoon without a vise, and didn't have a meat injector - just a turkey baster and it was too big. Then I noticed a small bread pan on my kitchen counter - PERFECT! I dipped it into the double boiler of melted wax and got about a tablespoon. Then I poured the wax gently into the groove and set the starter strips in place.
Step 4: Leave the starter strips to cool in the frames until ready to install in the hives. I actually have a break tomorrow for about 1 1/2 hours in the middle of the day - just enough time to hurry home, put on my bee stuff, and install the nucs into the hives. I can finish making starter strips for the medium box and to put in Bermuda on another day after my wax fastener comes.
Note: The question was asked in a comment - why starter strips? I am trying to get my bees to make natural cells rather than what we request that they make by supplying a preprinted foundation. Bees on commercial foundation build cells that are 5.9 mm. Some beekeepers think that bees naturally build smaller cells - more like 4.9 mm. Dadant now carries small cell wax foundation.
A bee maturing in a small cell matures faster than a larger bee. This supposedly gives the Varroa mite less time in the cell with the bee so the mite cannot mature. Thus less Varroa in the hive.
I am using strips rather than full sheets of foundation because of Michael Bush's approach. The question of is it more work for the bees is answered by Michael in this way:
"Question:
Doesn't it take longer for them to draw their own combs?
Answer:
I have not found this to be true. In my observation (and others who have tried it), they seem to draw plastic with the most hesitation, wax with a little less hesitation and their own comb with the most enthusiasm. In my observation, and some others including Jay Smith, the queen also prefers to lay in it."
Some of the beekeepers I most respect are proponents of this, so I am following their lead. Michael Bush (my beekeeping hero) has lots of information on his site about natural cell size.
He typically uses foundationless frames.
A major proponent of small cell is Dee Lusby. She and her late husband Ed have done considerable work in this area.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Complaints of a Beekeeper with a Full Time Job
I wish I had a job with more flexibility. Truth be told, I do have a lot of flexibility....I am self-employed but the kind of work I do involves regular commitments and I need to make a living to support all of this bee equipment purchasing I keep doing!
So I end up with a set schedule (which I set) in which I leave early and return home after dark. It's, of course, different in the spring when we are on daylight savings time (coming soon - March 11). Now, however, I don't have daylight to work the bees unless it is the weekend and then I am often busy or out of town. And even if I come home and it is still light at the end of my day, it is not the time to open the bee hives.
My new nucs (two of them) should be here in the next week or two (the beekeeper from whom I'm getting them said it could be as soon as next week.) I need to paint hive boxes and get ready, but I haven't yet. I'm hoping I can find some time for these getting ready tasks before the bees actually arrive. I do own the hive boxes already and am not waiting for an order to arrive.
I did find some paint for the new hives. I have several quarts of paint left from when I was choosing paint for my sunporch - so one hive will be painted "grape beginnings" and the other "peach blush." I don't want to leave Destin yellow since all the bees in it died - bad sign. So I want the new bees to have a fresh color and new start to their lives on my deck. I'll have to come up with two new names as well.
Assuming, as I did, that my hives would make it through the winter, I ordered a comb honey super from Walt Kelly. You have to have a really strong hive, at least in their second season, to make comb honey and my only living hive is quite weak, so I'm putting that box aside until next year. Maybe with small cell regression and more powdered sugar shakes, I can beat the Varroa mite to the punch and keep my hives alive next winter.
So I end up with a set schedule (which I set) in which I leave early and return home after dark. It's, of course, different in the spring when we are on daylight savings time (coming soon - March 11). Now, however, I don't have daylight to work the bees unless it is the weekend and then I am often busy or out of town. And even if I come home and it is still light at the end of my day, it is not the time to open the bee hives.
My new nucs (two of them) should be here in the next week or two (the beekeeper from whom I'm getting them said it could be as soon as next week.) I need to paint hive boxes and get ready, but I haven't yet. I'm hoping I can find some time for these getting ready tasks before the bees actually arrive. I do own the hive boxes already and am not waiting for an order to arrive.
I did find some paint for the new hives. I have several quarts of paint left from when I was choosing paint for my sunporch - so one hive will be painted "grape beginnings" and the other "peach blush." I don't want to leave Destin yellow since all the bees in it died - bad sign. So I want the new bees to have a fresh color and new start to their lives on my deck. I'll have to come up with two new names as well.
Assuming, as I did, that my hives would make it through the winter, I ordered a comb honey super from Walt Kelly. You have to have a really strong hive, at least in their second season, to make comb honey and my only living hive is quite weak, so I'm putting that box aside until next year. Maybe with small cell regression and more powdered sugar shakes, I can beat the Varroa mite to the punch and keep my hives alive next winter.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
IPM and the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Meeting
Tonight the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers' meeting centered on IPM (Integrated Pest Management). Jennifer Berry from the University of Georgia's entomology program talked to us about studies she is involved in about the varroa mite.
Although she did discuss some chemicals, I am not planning to use chemicals in my hive, so I won't report about that part of her talk. She did talk about research showing that the screened bottom board is essential to effective IPM. At UGA the screened bottom board stays open on the hive all winter long. She discussed three non-chemical ways to manage the varroa mite (all in conjunction with the screened bottom board):
1. Using hygenic stock such as the Minnesota Hygienic bee or the bees raised in N Georgia by the Purvis Brothers Apiary
2. Killing drone brood. The drones are in the capped state longer than house bees and so the varroa mite likes to lay her eggs in drone cells because the mite has a greater chance to grow up. So you put drone foundation in a frame in the hive and when the cells are capped, remove the frame and put it in the freezer. This kills the drone larvae (and thus the mite can't grow). Put the dead drone frame back in the hive and the bees clean it out and start again.
3. Doing the powdered sugar shake (as I did this year). Take a flour sifter (now why didn't I think of that?) and sift the powdered sugar over the brood box. Put a sticky board under the SBB to catch the varroa which fall as the bees groom each other and the mites fall off. Then you can count the fallen mites to get an idea of how many mites are in your hive. If you do a powdered sugar shake every 10 days for a month, you should significantly lower the mite count.
I asked her about small cell bees and she said that the UGA lab is just beginning a study on small cell. One major beekeeper, Bill Owens, in Georgia has all of his hives regressed to small cell and she talked about his successes. With 800 hives, he has only lost 3 hives this year and not to varroa.
On the other hand, she mentioned that while Dee Lusby is going around talking a lot about small cell, she didn't feel convinced because she noted that Dee lives in Arizona and all the bees there are African honeybees - which have a shorter developmental cycle anyway and are varroa resistant. Jennifer's point was that the bees that Lusby has regressed to small cell would be small and varroa resistant because of their genetic heritage (African) and that the cell size didn't make a difference. She also talked about how long it takes to regress bees and how hard it is.
Jennifer is sampling honeycomb which Cindy Bee finds in her bee removal business. So far the "wild" comb is about 5 mm and doesn't support the theory that bees in the wild naturally build 4.9 mm comb. If you'll scroll down this link, you'll find a short write-up about both Cindy Bee and Jennifer Berry.
In spite of all of this, I am ordering small cell foundation this winter to begin regressing in the spring.
Although she did discuss some chemicals, I am not planning to use chemicals in my hive, so I won't report about that part of her talk. She did talk about research showing that the screened bottom board is essential to effective IPM. At UGA the screened bottom board stays open on the hive all winter long. She discussed three non-chemical ways to manage the varroa mite (all in conjunction with the screened bottom board):
1. Using hygenic stock such as the Minnesota Hygienic bee or the bees raised in N Georgia by the Purvis Brothers Apiary
2. Killing drone brood. The drones are in the capped state longer than house bees and so the varroa mite likes to lay her eggs in drone cells because the mite has a greater chance to grow up. So you put drone foundation in a frame in the hive and when the cells are capped, remove the frame and put it in the freezer. This kills the drone larvae (and thus the mite can't grow). Put the dead drone frame back in the hive and the bees clean it out and start again.
3. Doing the powdered sugar shake (as I did this year). Take a flour sifter (now why didn't I think of that?) and sift the powdered sugar over the brood box. Put a sticky board under the SBB to catch the varroa which fall as the bees groom each other and the mites fall off. Then you can count the fallen mites to get an idea of how many mites are in your hive. If you do a powdered sugar shake every 10 days for a month, you should significantly lower the mite count.
I asked her about small cell bees and she said that the UGA lab is just beginning a study on small cell. One major beekeeper, Bill Owens, in Georgia has all of his hives regressed to small cell and she talked about his successes. With 800 hives, he has only lost 3 hives this year and not to varroa.
On the other hand, she mentioned that while Dee Lusby is going around talking a lot about small cell, she didn't feel convinced because she noted that Dee lives in Arizona and all the bees there are African honeybees - which have a shorter developmental cycle anyway and are varroa resistant. Jennifer's point was that the bees that Lusby has regressed to small cell would be small and varroa resistant because of their genetic heritage (African) and that the cell size didn't make a difference. She also talked about how long it takes to regress bees and how hard it is.
Jennifer is sampling honeycomb which Cindy Bee finds in her bee removal business. So far the "wild" comb is about 5 mm and doesn't support the theory that bees in the wild naturally build 4.9 mm comb. If you'll scroll down this link, you'll find a short write-up about both Cindy Bee and Jennifer Berry.
In spite of all of this, I am ordering small cell foundation this winter to begin regressing in the spring.
Labels:
Bill Owens,
Cindy Bee,
Dee Lusby,
IPM,
Jennifer Berry,
powdered sugar,
small cell,
Varroa mite
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Pin this post
LinkWithin
