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Swarm Control Apr 2024

Queen Cells in my Hive! What do I do?

A talk by Nick Silver 27/4/24

Finding queen cells in your hive is the beginning of a natural process which ends with swarming and the establishment of a new colony in a new location. Hopefully, the old colony will rear a new queen who will mate and continue the existence of the nest.

If your intention is to have a honey crop then you may be out of luck if the bees swarm. These notes should help you understand what the colony is doing and how you can manipulate the swarming urge to your advantage.

When you see empty queen cups, what are the bees thinking? This is usually nothing to worry about. Often, these empty cups are called ‘play cups’.

Queen cups with an egg or larva plus royal jelly (below) shows a definite intent to swarm. Now is the time for the beekeeper to take action to prevent swarming.

Queen cells with one or more sealed means you are probably too late. Swarms tend to depart when the first queen cell is sealed.

If you see a ‘bronze’ tip to a queen cell (below, left), the new queen is about to emerge.

An empty queen cell, possibly with a hinged lid, means the virgin queen has emerged.

Squishing – symptom of a beekeeper with no plan

Destroying queen cells by squishing may be used to buy the beekeeper a bit of time, but the workers will just build more queen cells.

At this point it is as well to remember the life cycle of the developing queen cell.
Egg 3 days – larva 5 days – capped on day 8

A queen cell can be created from a 1, 2 or possibly a 3 day old larva, so by squishing you are just trapping the colony in the 4-7 day zone of queen development. In this state they can go very quickly and you also risk missing a cell. This is very easy to do as they will build emergency cells around the fringe of worker brood which are very hard to spot – even if you shake off all the bees. Repeated squishing will demoralise the bees and can easily lead to a hopelessly queenless situation if the swarm decides to depart anyway.

The Basics of Swarm Control

The colony may be thought of as three parts:

  • The queen
  • The brood (and queen cells)
  • The flying bees

Separating one of these parts from the other two should dispel the swarming urge, making the bees think they have already swarmed.

Some swarm control methods

  • Pagden – flying bees with the Queen
  • Two nuc method – flying bees with Queen Cells
  • Basterfield split – flying bees with Queen Cell

What is your method?
Be ready to use it at any time.
Always have the equipment you need with you.

Pagden (the bench mark method)

This method is good for:

  • Simplicity
  • Learning and Observing
  • Easy inspections

But there are issues:

  • It is expensive for equipment and requires space
  • Opportunities are missed:
    Could get more increase
    Could get more honey

Two nucs (Stewart Spinks – Norfolk Honey Company)

This method is good for:

  • An easy way to get more increase (to sell or use)
  • Nuc boxes are much cheaper than hives
  • Easy inspections
  • Simple swarm control

The issues:

  • Watch for equal split of flying bees
  • Honey crop sacrificed for increase

Vertical Split (Ken & Dan Basterfield)

This method keeps the colony together, so good for:

  • Honey production
  • Minimal equipment needed
  • Single site and single manipulation

Issues are:

  • Slightly more complex
  • Inspection of lower brood box could be problematic

This is the starting configuration. Entrance to the south, queen excluder on original brood box plus two supers.
Remove roof, crown board, supers and queen excluder.

The brood chamber and floor are now turned 180° so they face in the opposite direction. Note that for National hives, the frames should be warm way to present a flat surface for the flying bees to walk up to the new entrance in the split board.

Half the brood frames plus adhering bees are moved to a new brood box, leaving the queen in the original box. Destroy any queen cells in the original box. Proportions in each brood box should be: stores – more in the original box; young to sealed brood – roughly equal. Top up both brood boxes with spare comb. Place the split board on top of the original brood box with only the top entrance open as shown.

Only one good, open queen cell should be left in the new brood box.
Replace queen excluder on top of the new brood box, followed by supers, crown board and roof.

There are variations on this manipulation depending on the starting situation and the desired outcome.

They can be found in the original article describing this method HERE (PDF file)

Cut-outs and Queen Marking

Stan and Mike’s Cut-out Video + Nick and John’s ‘To Clip or Not to Clip’

April meeting, held at Kilmington Village Hall. 30+ attendees.

The evening started with Stan Wroe and Mike Jones giving an illustrated description of their bee cut-out adventure. Stan was originally alerted to bees going in and out of a large out-building by the owners in February 2021, and decided to attempt a cut-out in late March before the established colony grew too big. Mike was a novice beekeeper at the time.

Stan outlined his approach to both the property owner and the way he and Mike had planned and prepared for the event. The owner was made aware that there may be some damage to the fabric of the building and it would be his responsibility to carry out repairs.

The kit consisted of a National brood box with empty frames to fasten the cut-out pieces of comb into, a large sheet to spread on the ground, a large number of rubber bands, and a small panel saw to cut the comb pieces to size. Just in case, they took a spare nuc box with more empty frames plus more rubber bands. The tools included hammers, chisels, screw drivers, Stanley knife and saw, to facilitate opening-up the building.

Kit

Prepare kit

More kit

More kit

Remove planks

Remove planks

Good progress

Good progress

1st glimpse

1st glimpse

The images show the stages of the operation. They are taken from the video that was recorded by Mike’s wife, Julie, who had never seen inside a bee hive before or worn a suit and veil. She very bravely got up close to the bees, and was thoroughly fascinated by it all.

The nest

The nest

Start cut-out

Start cut-out

Section of comb

Section of comb

Transfer to frame

Transfer to frame

In brood box

In brood box

For the most part, the bees were well behaved. This certainly made life easier for Mike who was responsible for fastening the comb pieces into the frames. Stan also cut out some clean pieces of comb for the owner’s son, aged about 10, who had taken a keen interest in the operation. He took the comb and some video clips to school and was able to give a short presentation to his class.

Honey comb

Honey comb

Brood comb

Brood comb

Comb secured

Comb secured

Transfer to hive

Transfer to hive

Comb sample

Comb sample for son

When the brood box was full, the bees could be seen fanning at the hive entrance, indicating that they had probably managed to save the queen, although no one had spotted her during the transfer. The new hive was transported to Mike’s apiary, where it recovered from the ordeal and thrived. It turned out to be a good tempered and moderately productive colony.

Job done!

Job done!

Bees fanning

Bees fanning

Nest site cleaned up

Nest site cleaned up

Transfer to apiary

Transfer to apiary

Stan’s take-home message to new beekeepers:

  • Volunteer to help swarm collectors – you’ll be surprised how much of what you learn on the beginner’s course stands you in good stead.
  • Swarm collectors are often happy to have an eager volunteer help them.
  • Interaction with the public is a great way of explaining how bees live – you already know so much more about bees than they do.

To Clip or Not to Clip

Nick started the discussion by using a quote from Professor Tom Seeley:
87% of wild colonies attempt to swarm every year.
Of these swarms, only 23% will survive the winter.
In other words, expect your bees to swarm, and the quality of caught swarms can be very variable.

Basic facts

It is possible for an unclipped queen to swarm 4 days after you last inspected the colony! However, with a clipped queen you will have a minimum of 11 days before a swarm can emerge successfully. You will have lost your original queen, but you will not have lost your honey crop.

This means you can do fewer inspections, requiring less work, or you can have more colonies using the same amount of work.
Either way, it is less risky building up powerful production colonies, which should give more honey per unit of time and effort.

By going down the clipping route you avoid nuisance swarms and the need to collect them, and you will improve your handling skills, something that is required for the General Husbandry assessment.

Nick likened beekeeping to a spectrum from wild bees on one side to bee farmers on the opposite side. Where you fit onto the spectrum depends on your aims, how many colonies you have, and your skill level.

John took the view that if you wish to mark and/or clip then you should make sure you can achieve your aim without harming or endangering your bees. He related three anecdotes concerning apiary demonstrations by experienced beekeepers that had gone wrong.

Marker pen flooding

Too much ink will clog the spiracles, and possibly cover eyes, antennae and mouth parts. The queen is unlikely to survive. Always check the pen before use and shake off any surplus ink before approaching the queen.

Queen goes into ‘shock’

Clipping the queen’s wing can sometimes cause ‘shock’ symptoms, such as quivering. If this happens, keep the queen warm and return her to the brood box as soon as she recovers.

Queen flies off

If this happens, stay still, don’t move equipment and wait until she (hopefully) returns. Close the hive when she does. Why does it happen? A newly mated queen can still fly strongly, so wait until your new queen is laying well before attempting to mark or clip.

A show of hands suggested the majority of the audience did not clip queens.

To clip a queen, remove ⅓ of one wing

Island Beekeeping Mar 2024

From Orkney to the Isles of Scilly – the challenges and quirks of island beekeeping at the geographical extremes of the UK, even when varroa isn’t present.

A talk by Stephen Fleming, joint editor Bee Craft magazine, held at Kilmington Village Hall, 7/3/24. 35 attendees.

Stephen has been involved in some research work aiming to find out whether the bees on small island habitats are black bees (Apis mellifera mellifera), and whether inbreeding in these small communities is a problem. This work may also answer the question ’where did they come from’?

The Isles of Scilly are a natural laboratory as they are a group of islands about 11km by 11km in area, and 40km west of Land’s End. Thus, no bees are going to invade naturally.

The Orkney Islands, on the other hand, are a larger group of islands about 75km by 60km in area off the north coast of Scotland, 10km from John O’Groats. Again, it is unlikely that bees will fly that far over sea.

The weather conditions at these sites are diverse. Curiously, Orkney has more hours of sunlight than the Isles of Scilly, however they both have a maritime climate, although Orkney is generally cooler than Scilly. They both have persistent strong winds to cope with. Both island habitats have long lived queens, probably due to a lack of varroa-mediated diseases.

Windbreak hedges on St Marys

Wind break hedges on St Marys

High winds expected

High winds expected on Orkney!

The Isles of Scilly have 15 known apiaries, with 15 beekeepers spread over 5 islands (St Mary’s, St Agnes, Bryher, Tresco and St Martin’s).

St Mary's

St Mary’s

Bryher

Bryher

Tresco

Tresco

St Martin’s

St Martin’s

On Orkney, there are 21 known apiaries with 35 beekeepers spread over 5 islands (Mainland,
St Margarets, Rousay, Shapinsay and Sanday).

Orkney landscape

Orkney landscape

The Scillonian Bee Project

This aims to answer four questions:

  • Does Scilly have native bees?
  • Is inbreeding a risk?
  • Is Scilly varroa free?
  • Can the Asian hornet be kept out?

Note that swarms can survive on Scilly and feral colonies are known to exist.

Orkney by comparison:

  • Known that dark bees are dominant.
  • Can Orkney be kept varroa free?
  • Currently no fear of the Asian hornet.

Note that swarms do not survive over winter on Orkney.

The History of bees on Scilly

A monastic settlement was established on the island of Tresco in 946, so it is possible that honey bees were introduced then, but by 1351 the monks had fled due to piracy. Bees are certainly around the old Abbey grounds today in the world-famous Tresco Abbey Gardens with its 20,000 subtropical plants from all over the world. Their origins are uncertain but over recent decades several different imports of queens and/or packaged bees are known to have occurred. With small numbers of colonies in Scilly, inbreeding is a potential problem. Experts believe 12 colonies might be the minimum number to avoid inbreeding becoming a problem.

Forage on Scilly

The islands would probably be naturally treeless, with areas of ling and bell heather, ideal for late-summer forage. Today, the plantings of Pittosporum, Griselinia and Escalonia hedging, protecting crops from the relentless winds, have transformed forage on St Mary’s. Managed, flower-rich grasslands on Bryher produce useful forage but on other islands there is a dearth outside early spring and summer. The most abundant late-summer forage at Tresco Abbey gardens are brambles, bell heather and Lily of the Valley tree (Clethra arborea, originally from Medeira). Echiums also abound.

Forage on Orkney

Basically, the climate is too cool to get much of a crop from the heather growth, but clover grows extensively, along with bog strawberry (Potentilla palustris) and meadowsweet. Wild flowers flourish in sheltered places (see images).

Orkney wild flowers

Orkney wild flowers

Orkney flowers

Orkney wild flowers

Seashore flowers

Poppies on the sea shore

Thrift

Thrift

Wild thyme

Wild thyme

Vetch

Vetch

In May 2021, beekeeper Jilly Halliday arrived on Tresco and teamed up with Nick Bentham-Jones of BIBBA to sample drone larvae for genetic analysis as part of the Scillonian Bee Project. The samples were analysed by Beebytes, a social enterprise specialising in honey bee genetics and DNA analysis. The results varied greatly from island to island. For example, St Agnes drones were 83% carniolan/Italian while Tresco drones were 89% mellifera strain. These preliminary results imply shared genetic ancestry between drones sampled from Bryher and Tresco. This could be via similar imports, human mediated movement or, intriguingly, via ‘island hopping’ of drones, queens or swarms.

The island barrier

Apart from the obvious natural barrier to invasion by alien species, such as varroa mites, there are other aspects to island beekeeping.

  • Both archipelagos seem to be free of EFB and AFB.
  • Currently, there are no reports of Nosema.
  • Wax moth has only recently been a problem on Scilly.
  • Conversely, chalk brood is a significant problem on Orkney, possibly due to adverse climate or dearth of early pollen.
  • Braula coeca, a wingless fly that lives harmlessly on adult bees, used to be a common sight of honey bees in the UK before varroa treatments but is now rarely seen. However, it still thrives in varroa free environments such as the Isles of Scilly and Orkney.
Braula

Braula (© Crown copyright)

Honey bee mating on Scilly and Orkney. The Game of Drones.

The Game of Drones is part of the Scillonian Bee Project working with local beekeepers to develop a sustainable population of honey bees in harmony with other pollinators and the environment on the Isles of Scilly.

A pheromone lure on the end of a 4m fishing rod will attract drones at drone congregation areas (DCA). By marking drones in apiaries on one island then catching drones at DCAs on the adjacent islands should indicate if and how far drones will fly over water. The alternative is to capture and mark drones at DCAs and record sightings of marked drones in surrounding apiaries. These experiments are documented in Bee Craft as part of the Scillonian Bee Project.

Stephen ended his talk with a reminder of an offer of 20% off a year’s subscription for groups with 10+ subscribers. Email subscriptions@bee-craft.com for details.

Both archipelagos have been inhabited for thousands of years.

Ancient village, Scilly

Ancient village, Isles of Scilly

Scara Brae, Orkney

Scara Brae, Orkney

For gardeners. Some windbreak hedges on the Isles of Scilly.

Pittosporum angustifolium. Weeping Pittosporum.
Evergreen, hardy, salt resistant, drought and wind tolerant, Australian origin.

Pittosporum crassifolium
Leathery leaves withstands high winds, salt tolerant, evergreen, 2-6m high, a bit invasive. New Zealand origin. Dark red to purplish bee friendly flowers in early summer.

Escallonia rubra macrantha, red escalonia.
Grows to 2m, salt tolerant, fast growing, dense evergreen growth. The extended flowering period makes this a good choice for bee forage.

Griselinia e.g. G. littoralis ‘Dixon’s Cream’

Keep calm, Feb ’24

How to Keep Calm and Carry on

A talk by Clare Densley and Martin Hann at Kilmington Village Hall, 1st February 2024.
A joint meeting with West Dorset branch. 60+ attendees.

Richard Simpson welcomed back Clare and Martin. The full title is How to Keep Calm and Carry on when Things Don’t Go as Planned (with your Bees). The talk will look at three topics:
– Dead outs (bees died during the winter),
– My colony does not have a queen,
– I have too many colonies.

Dead Outs

‘My bees all died, and I don’t know why’ is the question we need to answer. It will probably be one of the following:

  • Starvation, including isolation starvation
  • Queen failure
  • Nosema or other disease
  • Varroa
  • So called Acts of God e.g., the hive blows over

Starvation

Starvation

Colony probably died of starvation

Dead bees in cells

Dead bees in cells

Starvation can usually be identified by the appearance of the comb. The images show the typical appearance of starvation, the bees having their heads in the comb, trying to reach the last vestige of honey. If there is plenty of honey further away from the cluster then it is probably an isolation starvation situation which occurs when the bees cannot leave the cluster during a cold spell.

This raises lots of questions:
How much food does the colony need to overwinter? Do small colonies need less? What kind of food/stores? When should I feed my bees? Does it matter where it is stored?

Martin suggested a full super of stores, 35-40 lbs, should be adequate provided the bees have access, (no queen excluder in the way), and can move up through the stores during the winter. They need to stay in easy reach of stores at all times. Do not feed syrup after the ivy crop has finished. It is too damp and cold for the bees to store as honey. If more stores are needed later than this then feed fondant. Remember, bees need water to utilise ivy honey and fondant.

Queen failure

Drone laying queen

Comb of drone laying queen *

Laying workers

Multiple eggs of laying workers in each cell

The image above shows the typical comb of a drone laying queen. When this occurs during autumn or winter it is ‘game over’. In summer, it might be possible to fix the colony, if caught early enough, by removing the old queen and supplying a comb of brood from which a new queen can be raised.

Drone laying workers

By the time this situation occurs the workers will be too old to create a new, well-fed queen. Any attempt to save the colony is probably a waste of time and resources.

Nosema

Evidence of Nosema

Evidence of Nosema at hive entrance

Nosema apis spores

Nosema apis spores *

Classic signs of Nosema are bee poo on the front of the hive and possibly dead bees on the ground in front of the hive. Best to confirm your diagnosis with a microscopic examination of the bee poo. Feeding a protein source as well as sugar syrup may help them survive.

Varroa

Varroa damage

Varroa damage *

Varroa damage

Varroa and DWV damage *

Varroa is still with us and still killing colonies! The image shows typical varroa damage, emerging brood with extended mouthparts and partially removed cappings. Deformed wing virus (DWV) is visible in the second image.
Images marked * Courtesy The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Crown Copyright. More images and advice at BeeBase.

Hive knocked over

Always strap hives in winter. Even if the hive is knocked over the bees will survive, provided the hive parts are not scattered all over the apiary.
The ‘Knock Test’
To find out if your bees are still present, put your ear to the brood chamber and knock the hive. You should hear a momentary buzz.

Dealing with ‘Dead Outs’

You should remove the hive and tidy everything up. Clean and sterilise frames and scorch boxes so that swarms or robber bees do not enter possibly contaminated gear.

My Colony is Queenless

The priority here is to make absolutely sure there is no existing queen before trying to introduce a new queen. These are Clare and Martin’s pointers to queenlessness:

  • Can’t find the queen
  • No eggs (or larvae or sealed brood)
  • Bees are disorganised and buzzy
  • There is a queenless ‘roar’
  • Reduced activity at the entrance
  • Colony has become a drone layer
  • No eggs but emergency queen cells present

The reason you need to be sure of queenlessness is because, if there is already one in the hive, (it could be a dud, or an unmated virgin, or a drone layer), the workers will kill your attempted introduction of a new queen. A good way to check this is to put a queen from another hive in a cage and place this on the brood frames. If the workers ignore the cage they already have a queen. If they crawl all over the cage and try to feed her it is fairly certain they are desperate for a new queen.

Maybe there is a queen, but you have not found her yet. If there is no brood, she may not have started to lay yet, and sometimes queens just stop laying for a while e.g. when the main flow has finished. Or she could have got above the queen excluder. Sometimes, a queen returning from a mating flight will miss the entrance and end up under the hive.

Alternatively, she could have left with a swarm. Look for characteristic clusters in nearby trees, lots of queen cells in the hive, no eggs in the brood area and possibly depleted numbers of bees. Additional reasons for queenlesssness are beekeeper error (queen squashed by accident), a supercedure that didn’t succeed, or maybe she just died of old age at a time of year when she could not be replaced.
When you have ascertained there is no viable queen in your colony, it is time to decide what to do. Three approaches:

  • Where there are queen cells present, ask the question ‘Was the colony strong enough to produce a good, well-fed queen? Remember that the existing workers are getting older and less able to perform house-bee duties. Leave only one queen cell. Martin’s tip for selecting that one cell is to observe which queen cell the workers are oriented to. That one will probably be your best bet.
  • Where there are definitely no queen cells you may wish to introduce a new queen cell (one of your own perhaps). In this case you will need to prepare the colony for queen introduction. Obviously, make sure there is no possibility for the bees to raise their own queen. Consider introducing a protected queen cell, either in a special cage or the simpler aluminium foil wrap, leaving the tip uncovered.
  • To speed up the recovery of your queenless colony you may wish to introduce a new queen rather than a queen cell. The safest way is to create a 3 frame nuc with no viable eggs or larvae, then introduce the new queen to that. When she is established and laying, then use the newspaper method to combine the nuc with your original hive.

How long must I wait for a ripe queen cell to become a laying queen?

Absolute minimum would be around 12 days, but could be up to 35-40 days before you need to worry.

How many hives are too many hives?

There are no set rules, but there are some considerations we should all engage with.

  • If your beekeeping becomes a chore, it is probably time to reduce your colonies.
  • The honeybee colony has evolved to produce several cast swarms, so queen cells should be reduced to one. If you have multiple swarms, you can combine them all in one box.
  • The environment your bees are in has a limited capacity to provide sufficient nectar and pollen, so best not to overcrowd your apiary. In the wild, a swarm will usually look for a new home more than 300m away from their parent colony.

Our thanks to Clare and Martin for a stimulating and informative talk, and we hope you enjoyed the tea and cakes.

Winter Social-Tips & Tricks

My Beekeeping – Tips and Tricks

A talk by Nick Silver at the EDBK winter social

7th December 2023

I started beekeeping in 2015 and now have 16 colonies (9 for production plus 7 nucs) spread around four apiary sites. The aim is to produce good quality food products. This year I had 550 lbs of honey.

I use double National brood boxes on production hives. Management starts early in the season. In April, all colonies are checked carefully for disease (Module 3 is extremely useful for this).
Now is the time to carry out replacement of old, diseased and distorted frames. Select the 7 oldest frames, usually found in the lower brood box, and replace with fresh foundation. Make sure all the new foundation is in the upper brood box or swap the boxes if its easier. This ensures a maximum of 3 years for frame rotation. Incidentally, there is no need for Bailey frame change or feeding.

Starter strips for drone brood

In spring, the bees are desperate for drone comb, so insert frames with starter strips between two drawn combs. These will be preferentially used for drones, protecting your brood frames from disruption. It is also a good trick if you are low on foundation!

Starter stripStarter strip

Old starter stripOld starter strip

Use of dummy boards

I use three different widths in order to adjust the space available to the bees. I find this useful if the colony is a bit small. Alternatively, if you are greedy, you can force more honey into the supers.

Queen rearing and making increase

Again, start early! This schedule worked for me in 2023:

Mid AprilSelect a strong colony.
20th AprilRemove Q into a nuc.
25th AprilRemove 6 frames, all with QCs,
distribute into 3 more nucs.
24th MayDonor colony has new laying Q.
Went on to produce 2 full supers of honey.
29th MayAll three mating nucs have laying queens.

Result from one colony: 4 viable nucs, 4 new queens, 2 supers honey

Making increaseMaking increase

Taking a spring cropTaking a spring crop

Take a spring crop

  • Oil seed rape now quite common (see graph above).
  • Take off this crop and the bees will work harder.
  • More total honey per colony.
  • You need to learn how to store and process OSR.
  • Don’t lose valuable drawn comb with hard set OSR.
  • We need to train our customers to like it. Younger people often prefer it.

Unite and / or boost before the flow

It’s easy to build up your honey production colonies using nucs as donors. This is effectively a simple two queen system. If you then move the nucs to another part of the apiary, the honey producing colonies will gain the flying bees as well! If this is done early enough, the nucs will recover during the rest of the season.

Using double National brood boxes – May, June, July

Ensure you can double up during May, June and July. Advantages are;

  • The arch of honey in the upper brood box protects the supers from pollen.
  • Supers can be removed anytime without concerns over starvation.
  • Bees respect the bee space between the brood boxes.
  • Swarm cells tend to be built between the brood boxes. Thus no need for full inspections. Just tilt and smoke.

Using double National brood boxes – August

By August, the bees have their arch of honey in the upper brood box and the brood area is reducing. Himalayan balsam will boost the nectar flow. Varroa treatment can be administered if needed, otherwise it is safe to go on holiday!

Using double National brood boxes – September

You will need about 20kg of stores in your hive by the middle of October when feeding ceases. The theoretical maximum for one National brood box is 25kg, so a single brood box hive would only have a couple of frames for the bees to live on with 20kg stores.

Alternatively, leave them a super of honey but this raises questions.

  • Do you leave the queen excluder in or out?
  • What do you do in the spring?
  • What do you do with any honey left in the super?
  • It may be contaminated with varroa treatment products.

Double brood – disadvantages

  • Harder to move double brood hives.
  • Hives can get rather high.
  • Can lead to very strong colonies which could be daunting to newbies.
  • Requires more boxes.

These could be good problems to have!

Swarm control with double brood boxes

There are so many options! Here are a few suggestions:

  • Move top box onto a new floor (Pagden)
  • Remove queen into a nuc.
  • Remove queen cells into a nuc.
  • Snelgrove or Demaree.
  • Basterfield vertical split (Q in the bottom). Link – BBKANews Nov 2013 p19
  • And many others…..

Other Tips and Tricks

Bait Hives and Swarm Attractants

For those situations where you need to attract and catch a swarm, attractants just work surprisingly well. All you need is a brood box, two old frames and swarm attractant. Put the box in a suitable place and wait. The pictures show the hiving of a swarm just driven out of a chimney by lighting the fire.

Bait hiveBait hive

Swarm attractantSwarm attractant

Swarm on chimneySwarm on chimney

Swarm on bait hiveSwarm on bait hive

Returning the queen to the hive after handling her

The problem is the odour from your queen clip or your hands may cause the queen to be killed if she is just put straight back into the colony. To avoid this happening, take a frame with some brood, shake off the older bees, and release the queen onto the frame. It is now easy to see if she is accepted or rejected. If accepted, put the frame with her on gently back into the hive.

Clearing bees from supers

I use rhombus bee escapes with an eke below so that the bees have space to go down into. They should all be down overnight. Note; the image on the left is upside down

Porter bee escapes in the crown board are fiddly, slow and prone to propolising. If you are in a hurry, shaking bees off capped honey is surprisingly easy and efficient. The frames need to be immediately placed in a covered container.

Feed Calculation

Feeding large numbers of colonies is hard work, so make things easier for yourself.
Always have spare syrup to carry with you.
Over-feeding creates extra work next spring.
Feed what they need – no more – no less.

To calculate the quantity of stores in your colonies:
    Both sides of a full BS brood frame equals 2.3 kg stores (5 lbs).
    Estimate the value for partially filled frames.
    Total all the values together. Should be around 20 kg (44 lbs).

Thanks, Nick, for a thought provoking talk. Beginners through to experienced beekeepers can find something there to improve their hive management.

Bee Microbiome 10/23

The Honey Bee Microbiome – An adventure on the inside

A talk by Graham Kingham to East Devon Beekeepers, 5/10/23

‘You are what you eat’ or more correctly, what you digest. We will briefly look at human and honey bee digestion and the alimentary canal. The honey bee microbiome will be explained and the effects of disease, pathogens and chemicals mentioned.

Definition

The microbiome is the collection of all microbes, such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, and their genes, that naturally live on the outside and inside of bodies.

Microbes are very small but can contribute in a big way to the health and wellbeing of a human or a bee. They protect against pathogens, help the immune system develop, and enable digestion of food for energy production. Most microbes are harmless but nearly all life, including plants, cannot live without them. The human microbiome is composed of communities of bacteria, viruses, fungi, archaea and parasites that have greater complexity than the human genome itself.

Microbiome research is a relatively recent topic, with the human microbiome taking centre stage. Often-quoted numbers for human microbiome are 100 trillion microbes per person, 95% of all human microbiota is in the gut, the microbiome weighs 2kg, 90% of disease can be linked in some way to the gut and microbiome health. There are hundreds of different species of microbe in the human gut.

Every part of an animal has a microbiome e.g., skin, urogenital tract, mouth and digestive tract. All these sites, microbes and inter-relationships make the microbiome extremely complicated to research and understand.

The role of the human microbiome

The human microbiome has extensive functions such as the development of immunity, defence against pathogens, host nutrition including the production of short-chain fatty acids important in host energy metabolism, synthesis of vitamins and fat storage. It has an influence on human behaviour, making it an essential organ of the body without which we would not function correctly. The human microbiome tends to be dynamic and variable dependent on many factors, including food, environment and medication.

The honey bee gut and microbiome

Bees have a less variable diet compared to humans with only 5-9 species dominating the gut microbiome. The bee gut consists of a tube from the mouth to the anus with specialised regions along its length performing distinct tasks (see References).

Simplified diagram of honeybee gut

The crop

The crop or honey stomach receives the nectar/pollen mix during foraging. Also in the same region is the proventriculus or stomach mouth, a projection into the crop from the ventriculus or stomach. This valve prevents the collected honey from running into the stomach but allows the pollen to pass. Crop microbiome is mainly derived from the surrounding environment and tends to be variable with seasonally changing diets.

Ventriculus

This is a long, wide tube lined with a membrane (the peritrophic membrane) which is continually in a state of proliferation. Muscle fibres force the gut contents towards the rear and the membrane is detached and mingles with the food. The membrane produces enzyme secretions which aid the digestion of the protein contained in the pollen grains. The microbiome at this stage can still be variable depending on the environment.

The peritrophic membrane was thought to protect the lining of the ventriculus from sharp, spiky pollen grains but is now considered to be important in concentrating a range of digestive enzymes where they are most needed.

Small intestine

This is a narrow tube which is surrounded with the outlets of the Malpighian tubules. These tubules act in a similar way to the human kidney. The tubules are followed by the pyloric valve which controls the flow of material along the intestine.

Rectum

The small intestine opens into the rectum, which is capable of great distension to accommodate the waste material during long periods of confinement. The vast majority of the bacterial community live in this region as it is more stable.

The relative simplicity of the honey bee microbiome leads to a very consistent set of bacterial species known as core bacteria. These are present in all honey bee workers worldwide. Understanding how the microbiota interacts as a community helps predict how that community will react to change and how that change will affect the host.

Larvae and newly emerged bees have little bacterial colonisation. Cell cleaning provides a faecal origin for the initial inoculation. Thereafter, the microbiome will adapt to diet and environmental conditions. In a relatively constant colony, the core microbiota is maintained. Over time, as colonies split, some microbes may evolve to improve the survival of the colony, thus ensuring their own survival.

What effect does the beekeeper have on the microbiome?

  • Feeding liquid sugar syrup or fondant can lead to blistering in the ventriculus.
  • Food supplements such as pollen substitutes are not normally consumed by bees in their natural environment, so must have an effect on their microbiome.
  • Smoking bees and weekly inspections disturb and stress the colony, with loss of pheromones for possibly several days.
  • Varroa treatments and pesticides linger in wax for a long time. They have been shown to affect bee systems, such as the fertility of drones, but currently their effects on the bee microbiome have not been published.
  • Thymol additives to stop mould growth or treat Varroa can repel bees. The odour can mask the chemical cues that trigger the removal of diseased or dead brood thereby affecting hygienic behaviour. As a mould inhibitor, thymol must affect the microbiome.

Treating bees is a trade-off between starvation, disease and pest control.

What can we do?

We can be more proactive in helping bees. Bear in mind that they have survived for millions of years without our help!

  • Try to leave honey on the hive for winter feed. This is the best food for bees.
  • Consider the forage in your area, and whether you could move your colonies to an area with better forage. Can the forage in your area support the number of colonies in your apiary?
  • Practice good husbandry. Reduce stress of your bees wherever possible as stress adversely affects the microbiome.
  • Always practice good hygiene.
  • Consider your Varroa treatment. Is there a ‘kinder’ option?
  • Work towards becoming treatment-free.
  • Handle bees gently and use minimal smoke.

References

These references to honeybee anatomy are both available in the East Devon branch library.
H A DadeAnatomy and Dissection of the Honeybee. International Bee Research Association.
Celia F DavisThe Honeybee Inside Out. Bee Craft Ltd.

Bee Myths, April ’23

Queenright queen rearing, 02/02/23

Queenright Queen Rearing Using the Ben Harden System

A talk via Zoom by David Evans

Presented as the joint winter meeting of West Dorset and East Devon branches by Somerset Beekeepers via the Eventbrite portal. 396 attendees.

David Evans has been keeping bees for 15 years. He was formally Professor of Virology at the University of St Andrews where he worked on control of honey bee viruses (DWV and CBPV). He currently runs c20 colonies and is interested in queen rearing and stock improvement. He is a member of Lochaber BKA at Ardnamurchan on the west coast of Scotland, where the bees are currently Varroa-free.

This talk aims to help explain ‘active’ queen rearing and introduce the basic conditions under which new queens are produced in the colony. Along the way David will describe the small amount of specialised kit needed for grafting and discuss the use of nucleus colonies for queen mating. The talk is intended mainly for hobbyist beekeepers with a few years experience and 2-5 colonies.

Passive and active queen rearing

Passive queen rearing refers to situations such as re-queening during swarm control or using naturally produced swarm cells for increase in nucleus colonies. In these situations, the bees dictate the timing, provenance and quantity of new queens.

Active queen rearing allows the beekeeper to choose their best colony for donating larvae at a time that suits them. Docility, disease resistance, honey production, etc, can all be improved in this way.

David warned that there are hundreds of queen rearing methods described but cautions that, for beginners, it is desirable to learn one method well and avoid complicated techniques.

Queens reared in a normal hive

New queens are predominantly produced in the early part of the season, with plenty of drones available, a good nectar flow, and possibly a crowded colony with an aging queen. Under these conditions the queen mandibular and footprint pheromones will be reduced. The aim of the Ben Harden method is to reproduce these conditions.

The Ben Harden method

With queenright queen rearing the queen is present throughout the operation. The method can be used with a single colony and a minimum of additional equipment. Thus, there are no interruptions of the honey flow and no significant colony manipulations. A similar method has been used by the National Bee Unit (see references at the end).

Overview

Prepare the colony by:

  • Add a second brood box
  • Reduce the volume of upper box
  • Encourage lots of young bees into the upper box
  • Add suitable larvae to the upper box
  • Monitor queen cell development
  • Remove queen cells when mature (14 days after egg laying)

David’s list of what you need

  • A spare brood box
  • Queen cups and a cell bar frame
  • Two fat dummies
  • A grafting tool (e.g., small paint brush)
  • Nuc box(es) for queen mating
  • Good eyesight
  • Good weather
  • Good record keeping (score traits desirable to you)

The ‘bad boys’

David advised culling drone brood from aggressive colonies where ever possible in the area.

Cell bar frame with the Nicot system of cell cups (David’s preferred way)

A cell bar frame is easily and cheaply made from a standard frame with additional cross bar(s) attached. To the cross bars pin the brown mount (using frame nails). The cream coloured cup holder is pressed onto the mount and a small brown cup pressed into the cup holder. When the new queen cells are capped, a plastic cage can be fitted over them to avoid the first queen to emerge killing all the other queens. It helps if the bottom bar can pivot for easy access.

Cell bar frame

Fat dummies

Easily made from correx plastic sheet cut to size and taped together or use old frame parts and thin plywood nailed together. The idea is to leave space in the top box for just 4 frames in the middle (see Ben Harden setup).

Fat dummies

Grafting tool

You will be transferring 1 day old larvae from the donor hive frame to your cell bar frame. The larvae are about the size of an apostrophe. There are many different grafting tools you can buy, but the easiest for beginners to master is the 00 or 000 paint brush, usually with sable bristles. The soft bristles are far less likely to damage the larvae.

Hints and Tips

A head torch improves visibility and leaves your hands free.

Make sure you can see the larvae. Use a magnifier if necessary.

Preparation and Planning Schedule

  • Select the colonies for a) cell raising (quality irrelevant), and b) the larva source colony (quality important). These could be the same colony.
  • 24-48 hours before grafting, set up the Ben Harden system to acclimatise the cell bar frame in the cell builder colony.
  • Graft.
  • Check for cell starting after 24 hours.
  • ~10 days later use the new queen cells.

Grafting – It’s much easier than you think!

Before actually grafting, you MUST check the brood frames in the top box for queen cells. Destroy them all.

The general principles are to transfer very young larvae without damaging them, chilling them or allowing them to dry out. So, select larvae adjacent to eggs (likely to be very young larvae), and keep grafts warm and moist by covering with a damp cloth.

A quick check 1-2 days after grafting will show if you have been successful. If not, simply try again.

The queens will ideally have been grafted on day 4 from egg laying, in which case they will emerge on day 12 from grafting. Make sure the cages are in place before emergence.

Queen mating

As we all know, successful queen mating requires reasonable weather; warm, sunny and only a gentle breeze. Your options are to add a cell to a full sized colony, a nucleus colony or a mini-nuc. In all cases the recipient colony needs to be queenless. Which ever type of colony you use, they can be left alone for 2 weeks or more before checking for a laying queen.

David did not recommend beginners using mini-nucs as they require some skill to manage successfully.

A mini-nuc

To add your new queen cell to the hive or nuc, remove the cage and pull the cup holder from your cell bar frame. Gently press the cup holder and queen cell into a small depression on the face of the comb above emerging brood, and close up the hive. You need to be patient!

It’s as simple as that!

Further reading

A simple method of raising queen cells – Ben Harden, Nutshell #59, Northern Bee Books.

Rearing queen honey bees in a queenright colony – David Wilkinson and Mike Brown, American Bee Journal, January, 2002 (http://bit.ly/LrD4qJ )

Visit David’s website: www.theapiarist.org