It has been forever and a day since I posted something here, so I thought I would share a review my hive performance this year. They are tucked in for winter right now, some hives stronger than others. In this post I will focus on my top bar hives, perhaps prompting me to do another post about my Langstroth hives in the coming weeks.
Our local club held a Mite Assessment Workshop in my yard this past weekend, so thought it might be a good time to review my mite status. I’m a little laid back when it comes to Varroa mites. I only use organic compounds, and only when my counts exceed my threshold.
Looking at frames and checking for mites.
This was actually our second workshop of the year. We had one in April, also in my yard. I try to check the hives once a month, and having workshops in my yard in April and August certainly helps me keep up!
The classic bees vs mites curve, shown below with caption from Randy Oliver’s Scientific Beekeeping web site, illustrates the problem. After the summer solstice in June, the bee population ramps down in preparation for winter. The mites keep chugging along, and without an intervention the mites overwhelm the bees in fall or winter.
The main problem with Varroa, of course, is the viruses they vector. Like mosquitoes, which transmit Zika, dengue fever, malaria, and other diseases into humans, Varroa mites transmit deformed winged virus (DWV), acute bee paralysis, and other viruses into honey bees. That’s why humans work to keep the mosquito population down, and why beekeepers should work to reduce mite populations.
In any case, back to my hives. I captured one swarm and have made some splits, so I now have 9 hives. Here is a table of my mite checks in 2019. This shows the number of mites seen per 300 bees. I use a threshold of 2%, which is 6 mites from my roughly 300 bee sample.
| Hive Name | Apr 28 | May 18 | Jun 30 | Aug 25 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturn | 0 | – | 0 | 7 | |
| Med Nuc | – | – | – | 7 | |
| Titan2 | – | – | – | 5 | |
| Venus | 13 | 1 | – | – | Treated with Formic May 4, removed May 12 |
| Pandora | 2 | – | 3 | 34 | Treated with ApiGuard Aug 25 |
| Calypso | 3 | – | 10 | 0 | Treated with ApiGuard Jul 21, added ApiGuard Aug 4, removed Aug 18 |
| New Deep | – | – | – | 0 | |
| Mercury | – | – | 1 | – | Ran out of time, didn’t check |
As you can see, I had a high value (10) in Venus on April 28, and another in Calypso (13) on June 30. Since these exceeded my threshold of 6, I treated Venus with Formic Pro, and Pandora with ApiGuard. The subsequent reading in each of these hives verified that my treatment worked well.
Handing off a top bar frame for inspection.
In our workshop, there are few high readings, but Pandora really stands out with 34 mites, which is over 11%. Readings above 18 (6%) are considered a likely winter death. Perhaps these bees had drifting from Calypso (right next to her) or picked up mites elsewhere. Replacing this queen is a good idea, since her workers clearly do not handle mites well and we don’t want to preserve such terrible genetics.
I should point out that a high value like this is also problematic because even with a solid treatment mites are left behind. Say we kill 90% of mites, that leaves 10% in the hive. So starting at 34, we should still see 3-4 mites per 300 bees in a subsequent test. This is why I treated right away with ApiGuard, to get this started, and I will consider a follow-on treatment of Formic Pro. I will definitely look to replace this queen at my first opportunity.
My top bar hive row, with Saturn, a medium nuc, Titan2, and Venus, all had a reading near 6. I need to get some Formic (I am out) so I can treat these hives, as this time of year the numbers will only rise. We didn’t test Venus because her bees are a bit aggressive and I didn’t want to open her up around visitors. I need to replace this queen as well, I think.
Even though the other hives tested okay, I will check them again soon, especially Venus and Mercury. In the fall mite counts can rise rapidly, and with a “mite bomb” like Pandora nearby drift can be a real problem.
By performing regular checks, I have a sense of which hives are faring well (most of them) and which ones are a problem (Venus and Pandora), so this will help me decide some strategies going into winter.
This popular song from the musical Grease is about the summertime affair between the main characters Danny and Sandy. The most popular version of the song was performed by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the hit movie released in 1978.
For my bees, the days and nights have certainly been hot and heavy lately. This past week is the first time we’ve had daytime temperatures regularly below 90 F (32 C) for a while. When I though of our hot summer, this song just popped into my head. So it seems an appropriate metaphor for this particular post.
May you prosper and find honey.
A quick update on the bees. Our temperatures have been unseasonably cold. We’ve had a few sunny days in the 50’s (above 10 C) that have gotten the bees out and about, though many nights are below freezing. I went into the hives last weekend, and my five remaining hives seem to be doing well.
Comb built out in an Imirie shim on March 24, 2019. ©Erik Brown
Spending the afternoon inside today: a good time for a new post. Beeswax is melting on the stove, my darling wife is crafting, and I am sitting in my favorite chair typing on a keyboard. Given that my blog missed much of the beekeeping year, this post summarizes where I ended up in terms of hives.
My hives on October 13, 2018. Lower right is Titan; on the left Saturn, Mimas, and Atlas; and in the back is Pandora, Venus, and Calypso. ©Erik Brown
Apparently I have not posted an update on my bees since April. A rather tough spring and summer, emotionally at least, but here I am again. I thought an update on my mite situation could be interesting, as I have not treated my hives this year. A bit unexpected, hence this post. Continue reading
I spent some time in the apiary yesterday with some nice weather. Not too hot and very sunny. The bees were happy, as far as I could tell. Foragers are all over our cherry trees, and I saw them working the holly, dandelions, and viburnum this weekend as well. The nectar flow has definitely arrived, so an update on my hives seems appropriate.
The cherry trees just outside my apiary (the flowering bushes inside the fence are viburnum). The trees are in full bloom, with the smell the flowers and the buzzing of bees when you walk beneath. ©Erik Brown
There is a saying in beekeeping circles to “be a bee keeper, not a bee haver.” It expresses the notion that we should intervene with our bees when necessary to keep them alive, as a farmer typically does with any other livestock. The measurement of success for “keeping” your bees is for them to live through the winter and into spring. It is easy to have bees and then watch them die over the winter due to lack of food or varroa infestation; it is much harder to keep them healthy until the spring nectar flow begins. Be a bee keeper, not a bee haver.
I seem to be skirting the line between having and keeping bees lately.
Dead bees between the frames of Mars. ©Erik Brown
Winter….. Snow, cold, and wind….. The bees cluster in their hives and beekeepers keep watch, read a few beekeeping books, and prepare for spring. As we near the winter solstice, this seems like a good time for a status update on my six hives. So here it is. Continue reading
It is the time of year when beekeepers start thinking about winter, and whether the hives are strong enough to make it into spring. One key factor is the number of pesky mites in the hive, something I have been tracking since the end of July. This post chronicles my ongoing efforts to keep the little beasties under control.
We also dropped our youngest daughter at University in Massachusetts recently. I was on the lookout for bees, of course. ©Erik Brown
We have escaped our life in Virginia by travelling to Scotland for a bit. Among our many good times was a visit to Stirling Castle a few days ago. It turns out King James V of Scotland added The Royal Palace to the castle in the 1500’s. The statues on the outside were apparently named after my beehives.
On the corner of the Palace is a statue of King James V, after which statues of Ganymede, Venus, and Saturn appear. ©Erik Brown
Bees with eeb 