Apiary

Members – Branch Apiary

Sub-pages: │ Multi-queen Hives │ Bee Health │

We hold fortnightly meetings at the Branch Apiary during spring and summer, April to September inclusive, where members are given the opportunity for hands-on instruction and have the opportunity to exchange views with experienced beekeepers.

Non-members are welcome to come and see what we do, but this is limited to one meeting to conform to our insurance. If you wish to attend please contact a committee member. Non-members may also come to one winter meeting without joining to get a taste of what we do.

Hive Records

We encourage all beekeepers to keep some form of hive record sheet. The format of the sheet is very much a personal matter dependent on many factors. Download the Hive Record Sheet (PDF file) used at the Branch Apiary and use as your starting point.

You are legally obliged to keep records of any veterinary medicines used on your bees. Download a Veterinary Medicines Record Sheet (PDF file) which gives all the details.

Stings

When a bee stings it injects venom through a fine barbed point. This is usually torn out of the abdomen when the bee flies away and is left behind in the wound. The sac will continue to pump venom, so the quicker it is removed the better. This should be done by scraping the sting out of the wound with a blade, hive tool or fingernail without compressing it.

Simple method of Queen Rearing

Make a split with a nuc box

Sample of bees for Vairimorpha (Nosema) analysis

30 bees must be examined in order to complete the diagnosis. Condition of the bees is also important. Freshly killed bees are best. Avoid using plastic containers as this leads to more rapid sample degradation. A standard sized matchbox is ideal.

To collect your sample, wait until the bees are flying then block the entrance with a piece of plastic foam. Hold a plastic bag open in front of the entrance so that the returning bees go inside the bag. When you judge there are 30+ bees inside the bag, close it and put it in a freezer or freezer compartment of a fridge.

Living with Varroa

BeeBase provides comprehensive documentation on Varroa management, with up-to-date details of the life cycle, spread and control of this pest in honey bee colonies. Click the link to view or download their PDF file Managing Varroa.

Comb Changing

Why change the comb?

• Reduces disease burden.
• Reduces build up of chemicals from varroa treatment etc.
• Repeated use of old comb reduces cell size > smaller bees.
• Building new comb is how wild bees control disease.

Requirements

• Bees need to be 2 weeks old to ensure wax glands are well developed. Wax glands of older bees atrophy.
• Clean boxes, floors, frames and foundation.
• Syrup or sugar solution (1kg sugar / 600ml water) in large bucket feeder.
• “Warmish” weather, March onwards.
• Strong colonies with lots of bees.

Bailey frame change

The gentle way to change all the old comb in the brood box. Does not affect the laying of brood, colony build up or honey yield.

• Place a clean box of foundation on top of the old brood box, feed with syrup and leave for a week.
• When at least one frame of new foundation has been drawn find the queen and place her in the new box.
• Put a queen excluder between the two brood boxes with a new entrance above the queen excluder. You may also wish to leave a small exit hole for drones in the original entrance.
• After 3 weeks all brood in the old box will have emerged. Remove the old box and frames and recycle. Supers can be placed above the new brood box (with queen excluder).

Hygiene in the Apiary

There is a natural cycle in a wild colony of honeybees from initial proliferation followed by decline, usually lasting about six years. At this point the colony absconds or dies out. The nest will be robbed by bugs and small mammals followed by an invasion of wax moths. These are natures scavengers and will destroy all the wax and the pathogen spores it contains so that, after a time, another colony may be started by a swarm moving into the cavity.

As beekeepers, we tend to expect our bees to carry on, year after year, in the same location, so systematically removing old, contaminated comb and replacing with new, clean foundation will keep our bees in a healthy condition. In addition, it is good practice to swap hive parts for clean items from time to time. This applies particularly to floors and brood boxes.

Cleaning methods for frames

There are many techniques for cleaning frames. The list below summarises most of the methods hobbyist beekeepers use.

• Burn the old frames – not very environmentally friendly, and the wax has value when recycled.
• Separate the wax comb and frames. This could be by manually cutting out the comb or using some form of melting device.
• The frames can be scraped then steamed, or boiled in washing soda solution to make them hygienically clean.
• Bees wax can be separated in a solar wax extractor, a bain marie or other wax melting apparatus. Always use soft water when processing bees wax. If the wax is in reasonable condition, it can often be swapped for brand new wax foundation at beekeeping equipment suppliers.

One method of frame cleaning is to use a cheap steaming device. These consist of a steam production unit similar to that used in a wallpaper stripper. Hang the frames in a spare brood box, use a solid floor and direct the steam into the brood box via a tube passing through a roof (see images below). 20-30 minutes steaming should raise the temperature sufficiently to kill most pathogenic microorganisms and pests.

Another popular method of frame cleaning is to use some form of boiler. Having cut out the old wax comb, the dirty frames are put into a solution of hot washing soda. Caution: wear suitable PPE. You will need some way of preventing the wooden frames from floating. The gas boiler below has a built-in plunger to achieve this. Instructions for preparing and using washing soda are given below.

Cleaning methods for wooden hive parts

• For the hobbyist beekeeper, the usual technique is to scrape all old wax and propolis from the hive parts by hand.
• The hive parts can now be ‘scorched’ using a blow torch on the inside surfaces.

Cleaning methods for poly hives

• Remove wax and propolis by scraping and/or using a stiff bristled brush with washing soda solution. Instructions for preparing and using washing soda solution are given below.
• Decontamination can be achieved by using a 0.5% bleach solution. Instructions for preparing and using bleach solution are given below.

Keep it clean!
Simplifying the disinfecting process

A BBKA News article outlining the methods that hobbyist beekeepers can use to disinfect beekeeping equipment can be found at www.bbkanews.com, August 2022, page 270. Note: you will need your BBKA membership number and your postcode to access the archive.

What are we up against?

Here are two simple methods for decontaminating bee equipment.

Washing soda

Make a solution of washing soda crystals (sodium carbonate). Washing soda is readily available in hardware stores. Use 1kg crystals to 5 litres water and use at 80°C or above to disinfect equipment. It should be noted that it does not work on all viruses and will not be fully effective in hard water areas. That said, East Devon teaching apiary use this method to sterilise all wooden frames before reuse.

After sterilising, rinse well with cold water and allow to dry before storing equipment.

Bleach

This is one of the best, cheapest and most effective disinfectants for decontamination of equipment, especially after a disease outbreak. It is capable of killing bacteria and AFB spores (within 20 minutes) and will sterilise Nosema and viruses. In addition, equipment can be washed off easily leaving no harmful residues to damage your bees.

Preparation of bleach solution

As most household bleach is sold as a 5% sodium hypochlorite solution, this should be diluted 1 in 10 with cold water to make a 0.5% solution for decontaminating bee equipment. Make sure the added water is cold, as hot water inactivates bleach.

Use of 0.5% bleach solution

Nonporous surfaces will only take 10 minutes contact time, but porous surfaces like wood or polystyrene need a minimum of 30 minutes. Give it 1 hour to be on the safe side. Heavily soiled surfaces would benefit with a second scrape and/or scrub.

After the soaking

Neutralise bleach residues by rinsing thoroughly with hot water. Leave to dry in the sun. Heat and UV will complete the inactivation of any remaining bleach.

These are just two easy-to-use chemical treatments. Read the BBKA News article to find out more about alternative methods to decontaminate equipment, plus comments on treatment of honey and wax from contaminated hives.

Check out the diseases on the Bee Health page.

East Devon Beekeepers

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Sub-pages: │ Multi-queen Hives │ Bee Health │