WELCOME TO OUR CLUB!
We are beekeepers and bee-lovers in the Washington County, Virginia area who meet monthly to educate ourselves and the public about how to nurture honeybees for the benefit of Earth and its inhabitants.
Please join us.
We are beekeepers and bee-lovers in the Washington County, Virginia area who meet monthly to educate ourselves and the public about how to nurture honeybees for the benefit of Earth and its inhabitants.
Please join us.
Next HBA meeting: January 9, 2023 at 6:30 pm at the Higher Ed CenterBEN TEMPLETON, who has been a VDACS Plant Protection Inspector since 2010, will talk to us about Apiary Regulations and Laws.
DID YOU KNOW -- 🐝 The Virginia Bee Law authorizes an apiary inspection program which promotes the science of beekeeping, as well as regulates the movement of honey bees into the state and the sale of bees, queens and used bee equipment. 🐝 The Virginia Bee Law requires that honey bees on combs, hives and equipment with combs must be accompanied by a certificate of health issued by the Office of Plant Industry Services prior to being sold in Virginia. 🐝 Any person who brings honey bees on combs or used equipment with comb into the Commonwealth must first obtain an Entry Permit from Virginia’s State Apiarist. 🐝 Queens and packaged honey bees brought into the Commonwealth must be accompanied by a certificate of health issued by the state of origin. 🐝 Chapter 44 of the Code of Virginia addresses Beekeeping in the State. |
HBA Annual Meeting will be held Jan. 9, 2023.
Come vote for additional Directors to the Board and pay your membership dues of $10. If you would like to be a candidate, please let us know at hbainfo@highlandsbeekeepers.com and we will pass your name on to the Nominating Committee. Members with technology skills are especially needed! Our recently Amended club By-Laws were adopted on November 7. Amendments include:
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Our next HBA Beginning Beekeepers class will be held
Saturday, January 28, 2023.
MEMBER-OWNED BUSINESSES
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* David "Tater" Miller is the owner of Beekeepers Woodenware and Apiary Supply at 25155 Walden Road in Abingdon, Virginia (276-608-6225).
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Notes from our November 7 meeting:
Genie O'Neal. gave a presentation on Technology in Beekeeping, including:
Genie first became interested in raising bees after attending a meeting of the Honeybee Veterinary Consortium. Her apiary (some distance from her home) increased from 6 to 14 colonies between 2020 and 2022, and she realized that remote monitoring would be important.
Although there are several hive monitor companies, the Broodminder system met her needs; it monitors temperature, weight, and humidity, and gives her increased temperature alerts on her phone. (Hive temperature increases when a colony is preparing to swarm.) The company stresses that a visual inspection is always more important than reading data from the monitors.
There are two weight monitoring systems: a strip scale inserted between the boxes and a full hive scale with monitors on all four corners. During a nectar flow, the weight will increase. Snowfall will cause a weight gain that will diminish as the snow melts.
A cell hub (attached to a nearby fence) transmits up to 80 devices to her cell phone. For devices farther away, there is a Bluetooth range extender (“sub-hub”) that can collect data from farther than 1000 feet away. Genie has set her system to record data once an hour (unless there is an “event”), but it can be set to record as often as once a minute.
A visual inspection should include: brood, bees, queen, food, stressors, space, etc. The Broodminder equipment monitors weight, internal & external temperature, and humidity, and translates the data into charts and calendars. A temperature sensor can be helpful in swarm traps to detect the presence of a swarm.
Genie caught a swarm from one of her hives thanks to an “event” transmitted to her cell phone, showing an increased temperature, then a sudden weight drop.
A Broodminder Citizen Science kit includes all three devices and free data storage if you make your data available to BeeCounted.org. Research continues into radar and vibration sensors, and a NSF grant with Purdue University to develop a MiteMinder device.
- Broodminder hive monitoring equipment [see below],
- Seek Thermal Compact Pro (attachment to cell phone) to take thermal imaging photos of the hive to show where the colony is located,
- Flow Hive - developed in Australia, which has very long, strong nectar flows unlike our location in Virginia. Genie suggests it might be good for roof-top colonies or on a small scale.
- BetterComb frame with food grade, synthetic wax (for a last-minute need for a frame with drawn comb),
Genie first became interested in raising bees after attending a meeting of the Honeybee Veterinary Consortium. Her apiary (some distance from her home) increased from 6 to 14 colonies between 2020 and 2022, and she realized that remote monitoring would be important.
Although there are several hive monitor companies, the Broodminder system met her needs; it monitors temperature, weight, and humidity, and gives her increased temperature alerts on her phone. (Hive temperature increases when a colony is preparing to swarm.) The company stresses that a visual inspection is always more important than reading data from the monitors.
There are two weight monitoring systems: a strip scale inserted between the boxes and a full hive scale with monitors on all four corners. During a nectar flow, the weight will increase. Snowfall will cause a weight gain that will diminish as the snow melts.
A cell hub (attached to a nearby fence) transmits up to 80 devices to her cell phone. For devices farther away, there is a Bluetooth range extender (“sub-hub”) that can collect data from farther than 1000 feet away. Genie has set her system to record data once an hour (unless there is an “event”), but it can be set to record as often as once a minute.
A visual inspection should include: brood, bees, queen, food, stressors, space, etc. The Broodminder equipment monitors weight, internal & external temperature, and humidity, and translates the data into charts and calendars. A temperature sensor can be helpful in swarm traps to detect the presence of a swarm.
Genie caught a swarm from one of her hives thanks to an “event” transmitted to her cell phone, showing an increased temperature, then a sudden weight drop.
A Broodminder Citizen Science kit includes all three devices and free data storage if you make your data available to BeeCounted.org. Research continues into radar and vibration sensors, and a NSF grant with Purdue University to develop a MiteMinder device.
Notes from our July 4 meeting on Fall & Winter Management of Honeybees
The beekeepers’ goal for now is enabling a large colony in the fall and a large colony to start the spring of 2023. A strong hive should weigh at least 44 lbs and ideally 66 lbs or more. The colony should be transitioning from spring bees (foragers) to winter bees (longer-living bees capable of controlling hive temperature).
Winter bees live an average of 100 days and a max of about 250 days. What triggers bees to be “winter bees”? They are behaviorally similar to nurse bees and they age slower; they have lower hormone levels and enlarged fat bodies. Younger queens tend to lay longer into the fall, leading to larger numbers of winter bees by November, when they are needed to control the temperature in the hive and to care for small amounts of brood.
Problems for winter bees include keeping them healthy, well-fed, and controlling varroa mites. Consider these things during your fall colony check:
1. Equipment: Remove empty supers or partially drawn comb. Add an entrance reducer. Remove the queen excluder.
2. Ventilation: The beekeeper should keep the hive DRY, not WARM (that is the bees’ job). Use an inner cover, imirie shim, popsicle sticks to ventilate. Elevate the back of the hive slightly. Provide a windbreak.
3. Food stores: Starvation (inability to reach food stores) is the most common cause of winter death. Bees need at least 60 lbs of honey/pollen near any brood, with room for the bees to cluster on the frame. A full deep=90 lbs, medium=60 lbs, two shallow=60 lbs. Fondant is okay to feed bees as long as water is available.
4. Colony strength: Replace a weak queen.⃰ Merge weak colonies.⃰ ⃰
5. Pest prevention: Do a varroa check (sugar shake or alcohol wash–more effective). The varroa population peak follows the bee population peak in June. Apistan ☹️ can create resistance. Need an integrated (IPM) approach.
For bears, an electric fence with an energizer is needed. For mice, use an entrance reducer and a strong colony.
6. Nosema prevention: Apply Fumagilin-B in (up to) 2 gallons of syrup per colony.
⃰ A colony with a 3-yr-old queen is twice as likely to swarm as one with a 2-yr-old queen.
A new queen is accepted better in the spring or fall and during a nectar flow.
⃰ ⃰ A covered deep frame = 1200 bees. A covered medium frame = about 700 bees.
Winter bees live an average of 100 days and a max of about 250 days. What triggers bees to be “winter bees”? They are behaviorally similar to nurse bees and they age slower; they have lower hormone levels and enlarged fat bodies. Younger queens tend to lay longer into the fall, leading to larger numbers of winter bees by November, when they are needed to control the temperature in the hive and to care for small amounts of brood.
Problems for winter bees include keeping them healthy, well-fed, and controlling varroa mites. Consider these things during your fall colony check:
1. Equipment: Remove empty supers or partially drawn comb. Add an entrance reducer. Remove the queen excluder.
2. Ventilation: The beekeeper should keep the hive DRY, not WARM (that is the bees’ job). Use an inner cover, imirie shim, popsicle sticks to ventilate. Elevate the back of the hive slightly. Provide a windbreak.
3. Food stores: Starvation (inability to reach food stores) is the most common cause of winter death. Bees need at least 60 lbs of honey/pollen near any brood, with room for the bees to cluster on the frame. A full deep=90 lbs, medium=60 lbs, two shallow=60 lbs. Fondant is okay to feed bees as long as water is available.
4. Colony strength: Replace a weak queen.⃰ Merge weak colonies.⃰ ⃰
5. Pest prevention: Do a varroa check (sugar shake or alcohol wash–more effective). The varroa population peak follows the bee population peak in June. Apistan ☹️ can create resistance. Need an integrated (IPM) approach.
For bears, an electric fence with an energizer is needed. For mice, use an entrance reducer and a strong colony.
6. Nosema prevention: Apply Fumagilin-B in (up to) 2 gallons of syrup per colony.
⃰ A colony with a 3-yr-old queen is twice as likely to swarm as one with a 2-yr-old queen.
A new queen is accepted better in the spring or fall and during a nectar flow.
⃰ ⃰ A covered deep frame = 1200 bees. A covered medium frame = about 700 bees.
Notes from our May 2 meeting on Preparing Honey for Show by Jeremy Blackwell
Why enter honey?
- Benefits to involvement in beekeeper community
- The thrill of competing
- Refining our honey quality and cleanliness
- Cash prizes (HBA gave out $400 in 2021 Honey Show)
Tips & tricks in preparing honey – - Prepare honey not too early and not too late. Let it settle out.
- Gently warm the jars and honey before pouring to reduce bubbles.
- Keep the lids absolutely clean.
Jeremy recommends a YouTube by Virginia Webb on "Preparing Honey for Show". Her honey has been called the Best Honey in the World.
Notes from our April 4 meeting on Honeybee Pheromones presented by Dr. James Wilson, VT Apiculturist
Honeybee Pheromones
Apis mellifera have about 10 glands that produce pheromones. Humans use visual and audible signals to communicate. Insects use pheromones to signal in chemical form (i.e., a “semiochemical”). Even beeswax contains pheromones, as well as swarm attractants like lemongrass oil.
Some of those pheromones include:
A healthy queen spends 60% of her time laying eggs, 35% communicating with her workers, and 5% moving around.
Apis mellifera have about 10 glands that produce pheromones. Humans use visual and audible signals to communicate. Insects use pheromones to signal in chemical form (i.e., a “semiochemical”). Even beeswax contains pheromones, as well as swarm attractants like lemongrass oil.
Some of those pheromones include:
- Mandibular Gland
- Tarsal Gland - to mark flowers
- Nasanov Gland - orientation to hive or to mark water or food source
- Dufour’s Gland - MANY uses: nest building, reproduction, to pheromones, production of larval food.
- Alarm pheromone (Isopentyl Acetate)
- Feces pheromone
- Ethyl oleate - nestmate recognition
- Brood pheromone - regulates worker behavior
- Drone brood pheromone - negative side effect is that it attracts varroa mites
- Isopentyl acetate (banana smell) - incites workers to sting
- QMP (queen mandibular pheromone), which has many varied effects.
- Q tarsal pheromone - prevents colony from starting a new queen.
- Feces
- Egg marking
- Tergal gland
- Recognition of the queen
- Inhibition of new queen rearing (mandibular gland)
- Inhibition of worker ovary development (tergal gland)
- Stimulates foraging
- Affects worker behavior
A healthy queen spends 60% of her time laying eggs, 35% communicating with her workers, and 5% moving around.
Notes from our March 7 meeting on Spring Honeybee Management
by Extension Agent Phil Blevins
* What to look for when you inspect your hive.
1. Inspect the hive for food, strength, brood/pattern (if temps at 75 degrees).
2. If colony has died, determine why. Head in cell = starvation. Foul odor = American Foulbrood (call VDACS).
3. If the cluster is at the top of the hive, feed them because they have worked their way through their honey stores. Feed pollen substitute or sugar water to stimulate brood production.
* When and why to re-queen.
Queen Evaluation
1. No eggs or multiple eggs = problem. “Chill brood” is dead brood after a cold night.
2. Age of queen.
3. Brood pattern should be solid.
4. Compact brood nest, age of brood radiating out from center.
5. To requeen, kill old queen first, then introduce the new queen in a queen cage.
6. Can combine a weak colony with a strong colony by putting newspaper between boxes.
7. Can add brood and bees from a strong colony to a weak one.
* What kind of food bees need in early spring.
Honeybee Nutrition
They need (just like us) carbs, protein, vitamins, lipids, water. Protein is in the form of pollen (used mostly for larvae and royal jelly). Pollen substitute should be 20% crude protein. Colony will need 3-5 frames of pollen. More pollen = more honey later.
Apiary Location - Move them now if need be.
* What kind of diseases and pests to look for.
Diseases - Sunken caps on brood = problem.
European Foulbrood (bacterial) - in Washington County last year.
Chalkbrood (fungal) - mummified.
American Foulbrood - Call for inspection and destroy woodenware.
Pests
Bears, skunks, mites. Varroa mites are most serious problem today.
* When to add supers.
Supering
Add supers in 2’s and 3’s for lots of room. Bees can fill a super in just a few days.
Use wire if extracting honey. Consider 9 frames (instead of 10) to make it easier to cut cappings off.
Upper entrances can increase honey production.
Nectar Flows - Whitening of the comb (new wax) is a sign of an impending nectar flow.
* Why bees swarm... and can we do anything about it?
Swarms = method of honeybee propagation
Can have up to four swarms from a single colony. Swarming results in a 50-75% loss of bees. They will look for a new home at least 40 liters large (1.4 cubic feet). A swarm will delay production of new workers by a month.
Cause of swarming is basically unknown. Contributing factors include:
a. Overcrowding (queen pheromone becomes diluted in colony)
b. Increase in nectar and pollen
c. Age of queen
d. Lengthening daylight.
Preparing to swarm:
1. Queen lays drone eggs.
2. Workers may raise up to six queens (look for queen cells). A split or other remedy MAY be effective at this point.
3. Capping the queen cells is the signal that swarming is imminent.
Swarm Prevention:
1. Begin monitoring 2-4 weeks before a nectar flow.
2. Can try: reversal of hive bodies, split, 4:5 split, or Demaree split (queen plus a frame of workers is put under the cluster.
1. Inspect the hive for food, strength, brood/pattern (if temps at 75 degrees).
2. If colony has died, determine why. Head in cell = starvation. Foul odor = American Foulbrood (call VDACS).
3. If the cluster is at the top of the hive, feed them because they have worked their way through their honey stores. Feed pollen substitute or sugar water to stimulate brood production.
* When and why to re-queen.
Queen Evaluation
1. No eggs or multiple eggs = problem. “Chill brood” is dead brood after a cold night.
2. Age of queen.
3. Brood pattern should be solid.
4. Compact brood nest, age of brood radiating out from center.
5. To requeen, kill old queen first, then introduce the new queen in a queen cage.
6. Can combine a weak colony with a strong colony by putting newspaper between boxes.
7. Can add brood and bees from a strong colony to a weak one.
* What kind of food bees need in early spring.
Honeybee Nutrition
They need (just like us) carbs, protein, vitamins, lipids, water. Protein is in the form of pollen (used mostly for larvae and royal jelly). Pollen substitute should be 20% crude protein. Colony will need 3-5 frames of pollen. More pollen = more honey later.
Apiary Location - Move them now if need be.
* What kind of diseases and pests to look for.
Diseases - Sunken caps on brood = problem.
European Foulbrood (bacterial) - in Washington County last year.
Chalkbrood (fungal) - mummified.
American Foulbrood - Call for inspection and destroy woodenware.
Pests
Bears, skunks, mites. Varroa mites are most serious problem today.
* When to add supers.
Supering
Add supers in 2’s and 3’s for lots of room. Bees can fill a super in just a few days.
Use wire if extracting honey. Consider 9 frames (instead of 10) to make it easier to cut cappings off.
Upper entrances can increase honey production.
Nectar Flows - Whitening of the comb (new wax) is a sign of an impending nectar flow.
* Why bees swarm... and can we do anything about it?
Swarms = method of honeybee propagation
Can have up to four swarms from a single colony. Swarming results in a 50-75% loss of bees. They will look for a new home at least 40 liters large (1.4 cubic feet). A swarm will delay production of new workers by a month.
Cause of swarming is basically unknown. Contributing factors include:
a. Overcrowding (queen pheromone becomes diluted in colony)
b. Increase in nectar and pollen
c. Age of queen
d. Lengthening daylight.
Preparing to swarm:
1. Queen lays drone eggs.
2. Workers may raise up to six queens (look for queen cells). A split or other remedy MAY be effective at this point.
3. Capping the queen cells is the signal that swarming is imminent.
Swarm Prevention:
1. Begin monitoring 2-4 weeks before a nectar flow.
2. Can try: reversal of hive bodies, split, 4:5 split, or Demaree split (queen plus a frame of workers is put under the cluster.
Our February 2022 presentation on BEARS & BEES by Jerome Blankenship & CPO Matt Arnold provided us with great information and step-by-step instructions on building a FENCE to keep bears out of our bee yards. Here are some of the highlights:
- First build the fence, then add the bees. Bears can smell your bees from a long distance away.
- Un-electrified farm fencing and chain link fences are not bear-proof. Bears can climb over or dig under them.
- The "shocking power" in joules of the power charger is critical. A strong electric shock is the best deterrent to bear visits.
- Do not bait your fence and do not leave birdfeed or edible trash in your yard. You do not want to attract bears. And baiting is illegal.
- The treated posts and a solar charger will be the most expensive elements of a bear fence.
- The only reason a Virginia "kill permit" for bear can be issued is if bear damage causes a loss of income to the beekeeper. In other words, you must raise bees as a part of a profitable business to qualify for a "kill permit".
Notes from the April 2021 meeting on SMALL HIVE BEETLES
presented by Dr. James Wilson, Extension Apiculturist by Zoom from VT
Background: Small Hive Beetles (SHB's) originated in Africa and were discovered in the U.S. in 1998. Adult SHB's are attracted to the alarm pheromone of the honeybee. There are 2 female SHB's for every 1 male, and the females can lay up to 2000 eggs. Both the adults and larvae are destructive pests of honeybee colonies.
[There is a LARGE hive beetle, but not in the U.S.]
Honeybees can corral SHB's to control them, but are often duped by the SHB's to feed them while in confinement. The SHB relies on heat from the honeybee cluster to survive the winter. Small populations of honeybees cannot control SHB's as well as larger colonies. A large infestation of SHB's can lead a colony to abscond.
Damage: The larvae of the SHB tunnel through the comb, discoloring the honey with their feces and creating a citrus smell. The larvae are mobile in the moist yeast slime, and pupate in the bottom of the hive.
Monitoring: 1. Keep a healthy colony and place hives in a sunny location with dry soil. 2. Use a control trap like Beetle Blaster, Jail, Barn, or Bee Gone. Do not use homemade remedies that might poison the honeybees or cause the SHB's to become resistant to the chemical. 3. Use Diatomaceous Earth at the base of the hive to kill the larvae. 4. Other remedies: nematodes, soil drenches. Coumaphos (CheckMite) is not recommended because the SHB is developing resistance to it.
Q's and A's:
Thanks to Morgan Roth, PhD student at VT in Honey Bee Pest Management who contributed her research results.
And thanks to Blountville Bait Company, who donated three raffle prizes.
[There is a LARGE hive beetle, but not in the U.S.]
Honeybees can corral SHB's to control them, but are often duped by the SHB's to feed them while in confinement. The SHB relies on heat from the honeybee cluster to survive the winter. Small populations of honeybees cannot control SHB's as well as larger colonies. A large infestation of SHB's can lead a colony to abscond.
Damage: The larvae of the SHB tunnel through the comb, discoloring the honey with their feces and creating a citrus smell. The larvae are mobile in the moist yeast slime, and pupate in the bottom of the hive.
Monitoring: 1. Keep a healthy colony and place hives in a sunny location with dry soil. 2. Use a control trap like Beetle Blaster, Jail, Barn, or Bee Gone. Do not use homemade remedies that might poison the honeybees or cause the SHB's to become resistant to the chemical. 3. Use Diatomaceous Earth at the base of the hive to kill the larvae. 4. Other remedies: nematodes, soil drenches. Coumaphos (CheckMite) is not recommended because the SHB is developing resistance to it.
Q's and A's:
- Screened bottom board? Yes, can help.
- Soil nematodes? More research coming.
- Attractants to bring SHB's into a bait trap? Yes, must be refreshed. Research continuing.
- Black plastic under hive? Yes, can help.
- Life cycle of SHB? Can overwinter and create more than one generation per year.
- Mating of SHB's? Males move faster than females.
- Do Africanized bees have SHB's? Africanized bees may have adaptations that limit SHB's, such as use of more propylis.
Thanks to Morgan Roth, PhD student at VT in Honey Bee Pest Management who contributed her research results.
And thanks to Blountville Bait Company, who donated three raffle prizes.
Resources you need to know about:
* Honeybee Health Coalition (honeybeehealthcoalition.org)
Search for Tools for Varroa Management -- and other helpful honeybee guides.
* VT Resources for Beekeeping (pubs.ext.vt.edu)
Choose from a dozen different guides.
* MiteCheck app - The Bee Informed Partnership (beeinformed.org)
Citizen science at its best.
Virginia State Beekeepers Association
www.virginiabeekeepers.org
www.virginiabeekeepers.org
