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.
Prepare kit
More kit
Remove planks
Good progress
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
Start cut-out
Section of comb
Transfer to frame
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
Brood comb
Comb secured
Transfer to hive
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!
Bees fanning
Nest site cleaned up
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.
Island Beekeeping 07/03/24
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.
Wind break hedges on St Marys
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
Bryher
Tresco
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
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
Poppies on the sea shore
Thrift
Wild thyme
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 (© 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, Isles of Scilly
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
Colony probably died of starvation
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
Comb of drone laying queen *
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 at hive entrance
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 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 strip
Old 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 April | Select a strong colony. |
| 20th April | Remove Q into a nuc. |
| 25th April | Remove 6 frames, all with QCs, distribute into 3 more nucs. |
| 24th May | Donor colony has new laying Q. Went on to produce 2 full supers of honey. |
| 29th May | All three mating nucs have laying queens. |
Result from one colony: 4 viable nucs, 4 new queens, 2 supers honey
Making increase
Taking 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 hive
Swarm attractant
Swarm on chimney
Swarm 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.
AGM 02/11/2023
EDBK Annual General Meeting
Held via Zoom on Thursday 2nd November 2023
The meeting was held via Zoom because of the chaos caused by storm Ciarán.
Successful candidates in the 2023 Basic examination were announced; Mary Hugill, Alex Dungar, Simon Norton, Paul Lowman and Harry Burrough. This was followed by the disclosure of the winner of the Craythorne Cup, Simon Norton, who achieved highest marks in the group. Simon was surprised and delighted at this achievement. In addition, it was noted that Harry Burrough, the youngest member of the group, also achieved his Junior Certificate in Beekeeping Husbandry. Well done to all of you. Certificates and the trophy will be presented at a future meeting.
The AGM was efficiently run as all the reports had been circulated beforehand.
Election of President, Officers and Committees for 2023/24
A big thank you to the 41 members who attended the AGM and voted in your new Committee.
| President | Hilary Kirkcaldie |
| Chair | Alasdair Bruce |
| Treasurer | Keith Bone |
| Secretary | Val Bone |
| Committee members | John Badley, Mary Boulton, Marion Coleman, Ralph Cox, Rhiannon Hodson, Rosemary Maggs, Richard Simpson, Stan Wroe |
| Delegate to the Devon EC | Nick Silver |
Honorary membership for David Wiscombe
Our President, Hilary Kirkcaldie, put forward a proposal to nominate David Wiscombe for Honorary Membership of East Devon Branch.
Citation
David ‘accidentally’ became a beekeeper when the Headmaster at the school where he was teaching retired and handed over responsibility for the school hives. Not wishing to lose face with the pupils, he donned the hat and veil and got on with it!
David taught Rural Studies at Axminster school and was already serving on the Branch Committee when Hilary first heard his name. In 1986 Hilary also joined the Branch. By this time David was heavily involved with setting up and running the Branch Apiary at its first location at Summerleaze Farm, not far from our current apiary. In winter he ran carpentry sessions making mini-nucs and other equipment. In due course, David became Chairman, an office he held for several years, later becoming President.
Few members have contributed so much across such a wide spectrum – establishing an apiary site, erecting the apiary hut, making and demonstrating equipment, running apiary sessions, giving talks to the branch members and to beginners and participating at Committee level – over so many years without a break.
David Wiscombe assembling the observation hive.
David Wiscombe at the apiary. Note bare hands!
The proposal was carried unanimously.
The Branch Teaching Apiary
This has been an unusual year for the bees and has caused a lot of headaches in the Branch Apiary Team. Coming into the winter with 16 colonies we had 8 losses in the cold weather before Christmas and 1 further loss in Spring. All had good food stores but appeared to die from the cold rather than starvation.
A teaching apiary is slightly different to a hobby beekeeper’s apiary. The latter is a case of reacting to what the bees do whereas the teaching apiary has to plan ahead and manipulate the colonies to make them ready for opening on various dates in the summer programme. These come thick and fast with beginners opening hives immediately after Easter. We therefore imported 5 hives from members retiring from beekeeping, so were up to 12 colonies by Easter.
The weird weather seemed to precipitate much queen cell production and some swarming, which made hives for teaching very difficult to produce. However, by July, the bees settled down to bringing in stores and provisioning for winter.
No varroa was found at all in the autumn, probably due to so many brood breaks. Oxalic will be administered in mid-winter if needed.
East Devon Beekeepers attendance at Local Shows
The most important local Show we attend is the Honiton and District Agricultural Association Show held in August. In the past, we have also attended the two day Axe Vale Festival, but this year the costs had risen so much that it was no longer viable. Instead, East Devon were represented at Goren Farm Festival, Colyton Goose Fayre, Stockland Fayre and Dalwood Country Fayre. These smaller local shows seem to be popular with the public and allow East Devon Beekeepers to fulfil their remit of spreading the word about the importance of pollinators in the environment. They also act to recruit possible candidates for our annual Beginners Beekeeping Course.
Dalwood Country Fayre.
Stockland Fayre Bee Marquee Team.
Stockland Fayre Show Ground.
Let’s hope the weather is kinder for our next meeting on December 7th.
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).
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 Dade – Anatomy and Dissection of the Honeybee. International Bee Research Association.
Celia F Davis – The Honeybee Inside Out. Bee Craft Ltd.
Winter Preparation 2/9/23
A talk by David Chambers 02/09/2023
Held at the Bee Shed.
David started by reminding us why we prepare the hives for winter. Everything revolves around keeping the bees alive and healthy through the cold period and ready for the start of the new season.
There are three causes of colony loss:
- Queenlessness
- Varroa damage
- Starvation
Queenlessness
This can happen to anyone, and for a variety of reasons, e.g., poorly mated queen during bad weather. Now is the time to ensure your colonies are headed by a strong queen. Any colonies that are underperforming should be united with queenright colonies. Using the newspaper method is the simplest. Ideally, remove the queen you don’t want before uniting. Always ensure the colony above the paper has sufficient ventilation by poking holes through the paper with your hive tool.
Varroa
First and foremost, beekeepers should monitor their hives for natural mite drop at this time of year. Once you know what state your colonies are in, then you can plan appropriate action dependent on the level of threat. A rough guide to varroa mite drop numbers is given on page 146 of your course book, the Haynes Manual.
Normally, there are two times of year when Varroa treatments are considered. First, in August after the honey crop has been removed, to ensure the winter bees being produced now are healthy and will last through the winter. Second, around Christmas when there is minimal or no brood so that treatments such as oxalic acid solution can be used. Oxalic acid does not kill mites inside brood so is more effective in midwinter.
During the autumn, David uses MAQS (formic acid), but only on large colonies. Smaller colonies are treated with Apiguard (thymol based) as there is less likelihood of killing the queen. Remember that there are a limited number of legally available varroacides (see Veterinary Medicines Directorate website) (use the Search button for ‘Bees’). Any treatments given to your bees should be recorded and the record kept for 5 years.
Starvation
Once you have taken the honey crop off it is time to think about feeding the colony. David recommends rapid feeders in autumn, up to ½ gal at a time, and monitor to see how it is being taken down. If leaving a super on the hive then it is advisable to remove the queen excluder so the whole colony can move upwards during the winter to access stores. Best to feed in the evening to avoid robbing. Don’t forget that there will inevitably be wasps around so all entrances should be reduced to a minimum. Be tidy. Sugar syrup spillages will attract both wasps and robber bees!
Feeding should be completed by October as the temperature will be lower and the bees will have difficulty converting the syrup to stores. Looking ahead, if your bees run short of stores in Jan, Feb and March then use fondant as this will not ferment. If feeding is required in late March, early April, then David uses a contact feeder that can be placed directly over the hole in the crown board. Use a super as an eke.
General considerations
David then went on to discuss ventilation of hives over winter and other aspects of good husbandry. Essentially, hives should be off the ground and protected from cold winds. It is generally agreed that open mesh floors are preferable but whether you use a tray insert during the winter or not is your choice. Now that we have open mesh floors it should not be necessary to insert matchsticks under the crown board, as advised by some older books.
Make sure you have some form of protection against mice entering the hives as they can cause a lot of damage and may even lead to the colony dying out.
There were many questions asked during David’s talk, clarifying issues as they arose. At the end of the talk there was a lengthy discussion and exchange of views on using brood and a half over winter. David explained that he uses 14×12 brood chambers which provide ample space for over wintering, without the need for any other boxes. However, a National brood box can be a bit too small for a strong colony to store enough for overwintering. A lot of beekeepers play safe and leave a super with stores above the National brood box, having first removed the queen excluder as explained. Another school of thought is to put the extra super UNDER the brood chamber.
Problems may arise in the spring when the colony has moved up and is laying brood in the super. In this case, David suggested that you may as well leave the super in place and run the colony on brood and half, as they obviously need the space. Giving plenty of brood space this way will probably reduce the urge to swarm early next year.
Another issue that was discussed was partially filled frames. One solution is to leave these frames in a super above the hole in the crown board. Hopefully, the bees will take these residues down and store them in the brood box below. The empty frames can then be removed before winter.
Val Bone demonstrated a ‘Waspinator’ which she has been trialling with some success. See photo and Waspinator website.
Our thanks to David for a constructive talk and answering all our questions.
Honey Processing, Aug ’23
Honey Extraction in words and pictures
Demonstration by David Shale and Val Bone at the Bee Shed, 12th August 2023
The whole process can be divided up into discrete operations.
Removing the honey frames
There are many gadgets to clear bees from the frames of capped honey, but all of them require more than one visit to the apiary. David favours the ‘one visit’ approach of shake and brush.
Put the bee-free frames in a box or bin with a lid as you work through the super(s). This is easier with two people. If you intend to make cut comb be sure not to damage the cappings e.g. use wide spacers while transporting the frames.
Tip: use a plastic tray underneath while transporting honey frames!
Removing the cappings
This may be achieved with the aid of a serrated knife using a sawing action (see photos). Whether you cut up (towards the fingers) or down (safer), tilt the frame slightly so that the cappings fall off.
There are many ways of doing this operation, some simple and inexpensive such as an old bread knife and baking tray, some more expensive using heated knives and trays from bee equipment suppliers. The illustration is of a Pratley heated tray. The hot air gun technique will only work when there is an air gap between honey and wax cappings (and is very messy).
Honey Spinners/Extractors
A simple way to separate liquid honey from the frames by centrifugal force.
Two basic types:
Radial, both sides of the comb spun out in one operation.
Tangential, one side of the comb spun out at a time. Frames need to be turned round to spin the other side.
The illustrations explain the process.
Tip: Balance the full combs as well as possible. Start spinning slowly to avoid breaking the comb (especially tangential spinners). Frames in tangential spinners may need to be turned a second time and spun at higher speed to complete the extraction.
Tip: Ideally, all honey processing should be done in a warm, bee proof area. Equipment may be cleaned with water no more than hand heat (hot water will melt wax and propolis). Detergents are not needed. Dry all equipment thoroughly.
Sieving the honey
The liquid honey and debris from spinning is allowed to flow through multiple meshes and left to ‘settle’ for a few days in a warm area.
Tip: All equipment should be food grade e.g.stainless steel or plastic suitable for kitchen use. Use a coarse filter to remove wax particle etc, followed by a fine mesh of, say, 200 microns. These can be bought from equipment suppliers.
Use cling film as illustrated to remove froth from the surface. Just spread film over the honey surface and gently lift off.
The separated, filtered honey can be run into jars or stored in food grade tubs for future bottling.
Tip: Stored honey will eventually granulate and will need warming before bottling. Smaller tubs, e.g.15-lb, are easier to lift and handle and will melt more quickly causing less heat damage to the honey. Ideal storage temperature for honey in tubs or jars is 14°C
Cut Comb
This product is easy to prepare, does not need an extractor or settling tank, and commands a higher price than the equivalent weight of bottled honey.
Use special thin unwired comb foundation in supers. Needs a strong colony and a good honey flow.
Tip: Avoid the 1st super above the brood chamber as this will almost certainly contain some unwanted pollen. Method – cut blocks of comb with a comb cutter then place in a cut comb container. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.
Soft set honey
Basically, control the crystallization process by stirring (see photos), or by adding approx 10% of finely grained OSR honey and mixing well. Bottle before it thickens then store in a cool place.
Wax cappings
What do you do with the wax cappings? Allow your cappings to drain in a covered container. The honey can be put through your sieves and the wet cappings can be put above the crown board for the bees to recycle the honey remnants.
Checking the moisture content of your honey
Legally, honey should be no more than 20% water content. Above this level there is every possibility that the honey will ferment and spoil. A refractometer will tell you the exact water content or you can rely on the ‘shake’ test. Take a frame with some uncapped cells, hold it horizontally over the hive and jerk it forwards and backwards a few times. If no drops of honey come out it is ripe enough to extract.
Tip: Always stir your buckets of honey top to bottom before storage. This will ensure all the honey is the same water content and helps to avoid fermentation.
Thanks Val and David. We hope these images help you to produce some first class products.
Literature
A good guide to processing honey would be Wally Shaw’s pamphlet Harvesting Honey, obtainable via Northern Bee Books or you can read online here.
Varroa update
Varroa: a problem or not, how do I know, and what to do about it.
Plus: an overview of the Asian hornet threat.
A quick reminder of the life cycle of the Varroa mite will set the scene for the talk.
- A fertile female mite will enter a larval cell just before the cell is capped. This can be either a worker or a drone cell, with a preference for drone.
- The mite punctures the larva to feed on the bee’s fat body.
- The mite lays one male egg followed by several female eggs.
- When mature, the male mite mates with the females.
- The bee and mature, fertile female mites emerge and the mites start the cycle again.
CHEMICAL TREATMENT PHASE
- Varroa were found in the UK in Devon in 1992, over 30 years ago.
- We used Apistan and Bayvarol synthetic pyrethroid strips to achieve 99+% kill.
- Feral colonies disappeared.
- Resistance to pyrethroids built up within 10 years (as predicted).
INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT PHASE
- The NBU instigated a change to Integrated Pest Management, using biotechnical, management and chemical controls.
- This has worked well for most people, with fewer chemicals being used.
- More feral colonies are surviving.
- Generally, there are lower mite counts in colonies than there used to be. The bees are learning to fight the mite!
WHAT NOW?
Help bees to help themselves by:
- Breaks in brood production e.g., via swarm prevention or swarm control management.
- Warm hives favour bees and disadvantage mites. See Addendum.
- Breed from feral swarms as they are likely to have hygienic behaviour (use a quarantine apiary).
- Continue to monitor mite levels.
- Try to use management and biotechnical methods only.
- Only treat when necessary with approved treatments.
- Avoid synthetic chemical treatments that tend to be persistent.
Integrated Pest Management
- Open mesh floors can be used all year round, with or without a tray.
- Drone brood removal can be used in April/May. A super frame placed at the edge of a brood box will stimulate drone brood production in early April. You probably only need to remove drone brood once a year.
- Artificial swarm management from April to June will induce a brood break in at least part of the colony. Shook swarm procedures (March to May) will force a brood break and leave most of the mites behind in the abandoned comb.
- Queen trapping in July is an efficient way to reduce mite numbers.
All of these techniques are described in the free NBU .PDF file Varroa Management.
VMD Approved Treatments 2023
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate lists 14 approved varroa treatments for use in England. They are listed below based on the active ingredient(s).
The smiley faces indicate acceptability, based on the opinions of local beekeepers.
Thymol is acceptable but has a pungent odour which hangs around for a long time in the hive.
Apistan and Amitraz are synthetic products and may lead to resistance.
The literature says oxalic acid is unlikely to prompt resistance and the dose given by the dribble method is proportional to the size of the colony, reducing the problem of overdosing.
Formic acid treatment often makes the queen go off lay (or even disappear). It is strong enough to corrode the metal parts of your hives e.g., metal mesh floors.
Always follow the instructions as to when and how to use these approved products.
Counting mites
The group took part in a mite counting exercise using mesh floor inserts.
Addendum – Warmer hives
Polystyrene hives are gaining in popularity as a warmer option for bees at any time of year. WBC hives are also claimed to be better for overwintering colonies. You can make your own insulated roof using 75mm thick building insulation, see below.
Offcuts can be glued together with modern contact adhesives to produce a cube-shape with no base. Paint with exterior wall paint to make it last longer. The cube should be big enough to slide easily over your hive (without your normal roof) but not to cover the entrance. Use a mesh floor. The bees will thrive despite the fact that there is no top ventilation!
Asian hornet update
Identification, Life Cycle and Nest Destruction
Professor Stephen Martin argues that the only proven method of hornet control is colony discovery and destruction. Neither task is easy.
Never attempt to remove or kill an Asian hornet nest yourself.
If things go wrong you put yourself and others in grave danger, even of being killed as has happened in France. Further information on the EDBK website Asian hornet page.
I Spy… Getting your eye in. 2023
I Spy….. Getting your eye in. 27th May 2023
Thanks to all those who came to this meeting and made it a success. We hope you enjoyed the afternoon’s beekeeping session and will put some of the hints and tips to good use in your own hives. As promised, I have duplicated the Task Sheet and put together some notes on possible answers / scenarios to act as prompts when you are working your own bees. There is also a down loadable PDF you can use.
⪻ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ⪼
We will start with 20min – 1/2 hr chat to explain what this exercise is all about.
You will be divided into groups and allocated a hive to study plus an experienced beekeeper to guide you.
Follow the Task Sheet questions and make notes as you go if you wish. We will be around to help answer questions and point things out if you get stuck.
After the Practical session we will return to the Bee Shed for tea, cakes and discussion!
Task Sheet (left hand column) and some possible observations or deductions (right hand column)
Before opening the hive
Observations/Deductions
What can you predict from this information?
Record says low on stores, weather poor – MAY NEED TO FEED
Record says good stores, weather fine – MAY NEED TO ADD SUPER(S)
Implications?
Oil seed rape out now, will cease soon – BAD TEMPER!
Not much out at the moment, but nectar flow may start soon – watch SPACE in supers and ADD boxes in plenty of time.
Air temperature?
Pollen loads?
Drones?
Nectar loads?
10℃ minimum for bees to emerge.
Pollen loads easy to spot.
Drones, indicator of swarm possibility. Check in brood box.
Nectar loads, honey stomach full, legs hanging down.
Robber bees?
Asian hornets
Robber bees enter hive empty (legs up), and leave full (legs down).
Hawking behaviour
Distribution of debris?
Mites?
Significance of dark cappings and/or white cappings in debris?
Count different coloured pollen loads.
Count mites and give average daily mite drop.
Dark cappings are from brood comb therefore bees emerging.
White cappings are from honey stores therefore bees actively using stores.
How many different pollen colours? 6 or more should give adequate nutritional diversity.
Signs of:
a) Nosema
b) ABPV
c) DWV
Fanning
a) Diarrhoea streaks
b) Shiny bees and quivering bees
c) Deformed wings
Nazanov gland not visible – fanning for temperature/humidity control
Nazanov gland open – colony has been disturbed.
After opening hive
Observations / Deductions?
Crowded or uncrowded?
Space for queen to lay?
Should be space for queen to lay: do you see pollen blocking or solid stores?
Do bees have enough space to process and store nectar / honey?
Are extra supers needed?
Add new super under existing super or above? Discuss.
Brood in all stages (MUST see eggs)
Queen present?
How many drones? (a few, fair number, lots)
Queen cells or cups?
What is your assessment?
Drone numbers may indicate likelihood of swarming.
Dry cups or cells are nothing to worry about at present. Only need to take action if cells are charged with royal jelly/larvae.
– Perforated cappings,
– Sunken cappings,
– Larvae that ‘don’t look right’,
– Chalk brood,
– Deformed wings,
– Sac brood,
– Bald brood – a sign that bees may be uncapping brood to deal with varroa.
Check for queen before shaking.
Make sure you recognise the difference in bald brood from wax moth damage and uncapping varroa mites.
Images Courtesy The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Crown Copyright
If so, what is going on?
Ideally, provide somewhere for them to lay drones from April onwards.
Discuss alternatives, half frame, drone foundation.
Maybe the bee space is wrong.
– New queen still learning.
– Old queen fading.
– Disease or old comb.
– (Diploid drones)
Comment on findings.
If no eggs, could be swarm preparations, dearth of forage, poor weather (or need new glasses!).
What is bee space in supers?
Spacing for new foundation.
1 bee space for supers.
Standard Hoffmann spacing is 35mm. This equates to no fewer than 10 frames in a National super.
Picking out a few observations:
- All the hives had different characteristics! Most were calm, some were busy, some were laid back and not very active. Perfectly normal!
- Some had lots of pollen going in, others had very little.
- Pollen colours were 2 to 4. Disappointing, but should improve later in the year.
- Good selection of flowers spotted, including dandelion, hawthorn, lots of buttercups (but not used by honeybees) and all the usual hedgerow flowers.
- I think nearly all participants saw eggs. Well done!
- Ratio of eggs : open brood : sealed brood. Some comments that egg numbers were low in comparison to sealed brood quantity in one or two hives.
- Very little disease spotted. Chalk brood seems to be the main offender in some hives.
- Queens spotted.
Thanks to the apiary team for preparing the hives and to the experienced beekeepers for their help and advice. Feedback on the session was positive and participants were pleased to have hands-on experience in small groups with a knowledgeable beekeeper there to help and advise.