Summer 2019 Honeybee Shipment & Beekeeping Workshop

The 2018 beekeeping season was awesome! When this happens it means a perfect balance occurred between weather, colony management, and honeybee health. I am teaming up once again with Dale Lupton to bring quality honeybees into Fairbanks this spring. The price will be near the same co-op price as last year with a slight increase. We will have a final price by the middle of January.

I hope to have a co-op meeting the end of January and my one and only bee workshop this year will be March 2nd & 3rd, 2019. See syllabus below:

Science-Based Art of Alaska, LLC

Instructor: Dawn Cogan 

To register, email Dawn at sciencebasedart@yahoo.com

When:
March 2nd and 3rd 2019
1-5 PM each day for a total of 8 hours

Where:
Monroe Catholic School 615 Monroe Street, Fairbanks, AK 99701

Cost: $150.00 per family

Syllabus:

Students will receive a book with hand-outs to keep. Door prizes include brand new beekeeping tools.

• What is beekeeping? How much honey will I get? How much will this all cost me?

• Equipment necessary to keep bees in Alaska
• Biology and races of honeybees
• Members of the hive and their duties
• Where can I get bee equipment? Should I get new, used or build my own?
• Getting equipment ready for the arrival of bees

Hands-on Project: Construct a beehive in class

• Insulation, feeding bees properly
• What to do when the bees arrive
• Is my queen marked? (queen marking tool)
• Management of honeybee colonies in Alaska, The Beekeeper's Calendar
• Running 2-Queen Hives
• Swarming and how to prevent it
• Honeybee diseases
• Extracting your Alaska honey
• What to do at the end of the season/wintering over
• Storing your equipment
• Beeswax candle making

Harvest your Honey, Honey!

If you haven't harvested your honey, the bees have been eating it by the pounds because of the cool temperatures. I have taken all frames that are at least 75% capped and storing those that are 25% uncapped in totes with no lids so the honey can evaporate to the correct moisture content (17%). This keeps it from sugaring as fast. Eventually, all honey crystallizes. I never heat my honey because I don't want to kill the amazing enzymes. Some people say heating honey to around 100* is ok, however, I won't take any chances. After extracting, I give the sticky frames back to the bees and they polish everything up, consolidating the honey on one frame. Some of my colonies will have had the queen caged for three weeks next Monday which means no eggs or larva. After frames have been polished, the bees can be shop vacuumed anytime. This is done best when it is cold an crisp outside (early morning or evening) because the bees can't fly as much when it is cold.
Don't forget to dump dead bees in the compost for organic vermiculite! The soft organs make rich garden soil and the exoskeletons don't decompose as fast so they aerate the soil.

Responsible Fall Beekeeping

Now that July is behind us and the honey flow is nearing the end of the beekeeping season, beekeepers must continue regular hive checks after the queen is caged. Especially after the queen is caged, the bees may try to create new queens which may increase the risk of swarming. It is our responsibility to keep colonies from spending a winter in someone's attic or eaves. I continue to perform hive checks every 10 days until the day I shop-vac my bees. Right now, I'm waiting for the bees to finish capping all the honeycomb. When most of it is capped, I will rob the frames, extract, and give sticky frames back to the bees to clean up for winter storage.

Another Queen Caging Demo Coming Up!

Hi Folks,
This has got to be one of the top two best seasons for beekeeping in the 14 years I've been keeping honeybees in Fairbanks! People who have kept their colonies from swarming should reap the rewards this year! I just harvested 80 pounds of honey from two colonies out of three honey supers and expect to obtain at least another 80 pounds from the same hives in a couple weeks.

Queen caging has been going very well so far this year. The colonies that I hived in the middle of April have now all had their queen caged. Colonies hived toward the end of April and beginning of May will have queens caged on Sunday, August 5th.
Anyone who wants to observe is welcome to meet me at Botanical Gardens at 4:00pm, weather permitting.

Questions? email me at sciencebasedart@yahoo.com

Stay tuned for tips on wrapping up the season. . .

Queen Caging & Honey Robbing Demo

This year I plan to cage my queens in the last week of July. I will be doing a demonstration of this on Monday, July 30th starting at 605 Betty Street at 5:30PM, then going to Cold Climate Research and Botanical Gardens. Please bring a suit as the bees become more aggressive toward the end of the season and especially during and after being robbed.

Addressing Working Layers

An experiment was recently done here in Fairbanks to address laying workers. The experiment was a great success!

Problem: 
Laying workers are female honeybees that have developed ovaries and lay multiple eggs in each empty honeycomb cell. This occurs when a colony is queenless for an extended period of time (say a couple weeks or more). All worker eggs are unfertilized and become drones if they make it entirely through the metamorphosis. This is very undesirable because the comb becomes drone comb and who wants a colony full of drones?

Solution:
Cage the queen.
Take all frames that have no cells with multiple eggs out of the hive and brush the bees off both sides over the hive. Store them in cool, indoor storage.
Lay a white queen or king-sized sheet out on the ground at least 100 feet away from the hive.
Take all frames with bees and walk over to the sheet.
Brush the bees off of each frame onto the sheet.
Hang the caged queen in the middle of the top box of the hive.
Release the queen a couple days later.
Perform a complete hive check in a week to 10 days.
The colony should be rid of the laying workers because they shouldn't return to the colony with workers who have not developed ovaries.

Honey Harvesting and Queen Caging

Harvesting Honey
It is tempting to start taking honey now, however, we are right in the middle of the honey flow. I wait until the first week of August at the earliest to start harvesting honey.
I take one frame of capped honey at a time, brush off all the bees and walk to a Rubbermaid tote at least 30 feet away from the hive, brushing off any bees trying to stay on the frame. I quickly lift the lid off the tote and gently place the frame in the tote, replacing the lid as quickly as possible. Some bees will get into the tote and they can be released before extraction. Once all the capped frames are removed from the hive, I replace any empty space with other frames to keep the bees from building burr comb in those spaces. If I can eliminate the entire box I will. After extracting the frames, I give them back to the bees to be cleaned up. Some years I will be able to harvest two to three times.
I do have a two-frame manual extractor for rent $25 per day. It comes with all the uncapping tools, a gated bucket, and stainless steel double sieve. Please call to set up a time to pick up the extraction equipment. 907-460-6050

Caging Queens
For beekeepers who are not wintering over bees, queens must be caged 21-24 days before the end of the season to ensure all brood has hatched prior to the final honey harvest. This ensures the honey has no eggs and larva in it.

This year I plan to cage my queens in the last week of July. I will be doing a demonstration of this on Monday, July 30th starting at 605 Betty Street at 5:30PM, then going to Cold Climate Research,  and Botanical Gardens. Please bring a suit as the bees become more aggressive toward the end of the season and especially after being robbed.
I am gathering up the queen cages now so I have them ready. I use a piece of wine cork for the queen cage lid to ensure my queens cannot escape and start laying eggs again. Caged queens are placed in the top box between two frames in the middle of the hive. I make sure the bees can feed the queen through the queen cage and the queen can breathe. Her pheromones keep the colony happy until the end of the season.

Any questions? Please post and I will respond.

Adding Honey Supers & Queen Trouble

Hello Folks,
We are halfway through the 2018 beekeeping season.

Adding Honey Supers
I will be adding medium honey supers over the next two weeks. I no longer use a queen excluder so the bees don't have a barrier to storing nectar in the super comb. At first, the queen may lay some brood in the middle frames however with two brood boxes under the supers, most of the brood is laid in those. June is the month notorious for swarming so I am meticulously checking my hives every 10 days to remove queen cells.

Queen Trouble?
If you lose a queen this late in the season the best thing to do is let the bees create their own queen so don't remove queen cells until you have determined you have a queen. You can physically see the queen or see eggs to determine a queen exists. It's really too late to re-queen and the chances an established colony will accept a new queen is pretty slim. I just did a hive check with Peggy out in North Pole because she was quite sure one of her five colonies was queenless. We checked all the comb for eggs and found no eggs, some larva, lots of pupa, and more than ten queen cells. We determined all five colonies had plenty of drones for successfully fertilizing a new queen. Peggy chose the most mature queen cell in its pupa stage and we destroyed all other competing queen cells. We hope to perform a hive check in ten days to find a new queen, new eggs, and larva. I will give a report after we do the check.

I have tried to re-queen my top bar hive twice this year and the bees would not accept a new queen. I expect this colony to die off within the next couple weeks.

When local beekeepers are out of queens I like to order extras from https://www.koehnen.com/

https://www.koehnen.com/queens

Keep Grass and Weeds Short in Front of Hives!

Ant Problems?

If you discover ants in your hive or near your hive you can sprinkle cinnamon around the base of the hive. Cinnamon is water soluble so you will have to keep repeating this. Another thing to do is place your hive in the middle of a kiddie pool on foundation bricks. The ants will drown on their journey into your hive. Make sure to put rocks, moss, and twigs into the pool to keep the bees from drowning and keep your eye on the level of water especially after a hard rain. The water level should be kept about a quarter inch or less deep.

Drawing a queen into the 2nd brood box.

A trick for drawing the queen into the 2nd brood box is to:

• Place the box on the top of the two brood boxes;
• Pull a couple frames with all stages of brood (eggs, larva, pupa, and adult) from the 1st box, into the center of the 2nd box;
• Worker bees will work harder to build the nest larger to encompass all brood frames
• The queen will lay in both boxes;
• The newborn bees hatching out of the pupa stage will work on the frames around the area they hatched from.

This needs to happen now, before the honeyflow!

Article discussing the beliefs of some people re: the affect GMOs on honeybees.

http://dailynativenews.site/2018/03/37-million-bees-found-dead-after-planting-large-gmo-corn-field

Entrance Reducers, Brood Boxes, Hive Checks, Swarm Prevention, & Water Source

Entrance reducers can be removed completely now.

I am now exchanging brood boxes to get the queen to start laying in the 2nd box that was added sometime in the past three weeks. So, I am taking the top brood box off, setting it aside and then removing the bottom brood box and setting it aside also. Then, I am putting the box that was on the top of the bottom board and setting the box that was on the bottom on top.

None of my hives have feeders in them except for the top bar hive.

Regular hive checks every ten days keeps honeybees from swarming. I am looking for eggs, larva, pupa, and an increasing population of adults every hive check.

June is the month with the most potential for swarming. Once I determine I have a laying queen, I remove all queen cells and queen cups to prevent swarming.

Excess comb that is built outside of the wooden frames is removed and saved for making cosmetics or candles during the winter months.

Now that most snow has melted, make sure a water source is available nearby. A shallow drinking space is preferred to keep the bees from drowning.

Insulation, Entrance Reducers, Inner Feeders, Health Brood Pattern, and Regular Hive Checks

Hello Folks,
The beekeeping season is well underway with queens laying up to thousands of eggs every day.


Insulation:
Outer insulation has been removed and inner insulation is still in place for about another week or so.

Entrance Reducers:
Right now I'm removing entrance reducers in the morning (40* or warmer) and replacing them on the smallest setting at night (Less than *40).

Inner Feeders:
For hives with drawn-out comb, all feeders will be removed this week and the bees will consume any sugarwater stores in the cells, giving the queen more space to lay eggs.

Healthy Brood Pattern:
All colonies should have eggs and larva and most should have pupa. Here is a photo of a healthy 
brood frame:

Regular Hive Checks:

Every ten days I am performing complete hive checks.

1) Ensure the queen is laying and her pattern is healthy
2) Remove all queen cups and cells
3) Check for any abnormalities or disease
4) Remove any burr comb or comb built outside the boundaries of the frame
5)Check to make sure queens have enough space to increase the population

Bee Space & Chalkbrood

During this week's hive checks, I noticed most of the honeycomb cells were full of brood, pollen, or sugarwater stores. This indicates my colonies need more "bee space".

Bee space can be added in two ways:

1) Add another box to the bottom of the hive, keeping the original brood box on the top of the hive to prevent chalkbrood. Chalkbrood can be resolved when cold and/or wet conditions change back to a proper balance, however, it slows down healthy population growth and colony efficiency.

2)Turning frames with bare foundation towards the brood nest, making sure you don't divide frames with brood on them (brood frames are those with honeycomb cells containing eggs, larva, or pupa).

Read up about chalkbrood here:
http://www.cornwallhoney.co.uk/beepedia/chalkbrood.htm

Removing queen cups and cells, & undesirable queen patterns

As soon as Jack Frost finally leaves town, I will do a complete hive check on all hives. I am looking for three things:
1) Queen evidence: (eggs, larva and pupa). The brood pattern should be full:


Full pattern brood frame




Spotty pattern brood frame

2) If I see the queen and/or evidence she is laying well, I remove any queen cups and cells:

Queen Cups:





     Queen Cell




3) Bee Space:
When there is only one or two frames without stored resources and/or brood, it is time to add a second brood box. I do not add the second box until the weather is above freezing at night. The second box must be added beneath the original brood box to ensure the babies are warm because, as we all know, heat rises!

If you find multiple eggs in honeycomb cells, kill all your bees because one of the workers is laying unfertilized eggs and you will never figure out which worker is laying.



Comb with several eggs per cell is very undesirable.

Wholesale Honey Buyer

A retired doctor is looking to purchase raw, local honey for $100/gallon.    

Bob Roth bobrothak@hotmail.com

Chemicals that kill insects in Fairbanks

Local beekeeper, Fred Tuttle, has been speaking with Mosquito authority about protecting honeybees from the lethal chemicals used to kill mosquitos. Mosquito Authority is willing to keep an address map of beehives in our community and inform beekeepers of locations, dates and times chemicals are being used. Beekeepers can cover hives with a wet sheet to protect the bees from exposure.
If you want to be on the map, please call Mosquito Authority at 907-750-2588 to communicate with Darren and get your location on Darren's list.

TOP BAR HIVING DEMO TODAY - Botanical Gardens 2:00pm

Today at Botanical Gardens, UAF, Jennifer and I will be hiving one colony of Carniolans in a top bar hive. This is a great time to ask questions. Please wear a bee suit for this.
https://www.google.com/maps/search/botanical+gardes,+UAF/@64.8545275,-147.8616585,14z/data=!3m1!4b1?hl=en&authuser=1

First Complete Hive Checks

First complete hive checklist (5 - 7 days after initial hiving):

Do not remove frames in the middle of the brood box.

• Start on the side of the box opposite the feeder.
• Slowly remove insulation follower board being careful not to smash any bees.
• Slowly remove one frame at a time checking for eggs, larva, and perhaps even a little pupa.
• It is not vital that you see the queen, especially if you see evidence of a queen.
• After removing several frames you can start putting one frame back before removing another frame. I usually remove three frames and set them on a frame rest or lean them against the hive on the ground (portrait rather than landscape) so there is room to see.
• I make sure to put the brood nest back in the center of the frames so the babies can be kept warm by the cluster on cold days and nights. (The brood nest is frames with eggs, larva, and pupa)
• If you do not see evidence of a queen you may need to re-queen.
• Please call Dale Lupton or me if you need another queen - depending on the circumstances, queens are $30.00.          Dale 907-978-1455    Dawn 907-460-6050
• Keep topping off sugar water every 3-5 days.
• On warm days (50* or warmer) remove entrance reducer and replace it in the evening before the temperature drops below 50*.

ANY QUESTIONS? Post a comment below.

Do not let sugar water run out in cold temperatures!

Honeybees generate heat when they have enough carbohydrates. A minimum of 1:1 sugar water should be fed to the bees in an internal feeder. If they run out of sugar water for very long in cold temperatures, they may die.

Interior Alaska Beekeeper's Co-op Meeting has been changed to 4/22/2018 at 2:00pm

Hello Folks,
I am changing the Interior Alaska Beekeeper's Co-op meeting to Sunday, April 22, 2018 at 2:00pm because a dear friend of mine has passed away and his memorial service is April 21st.

Please bring your bee suit to this meeting as we will be hiving bees into one Langstroth hive and one top bar hive. Bring your beekeeping questions for an outdoor Q & A at the Botanical Gardens, UAF.
http://www.georgesonbotanicalgarden.org/

Top Feeders Don't Work for Spring Feeding in Alaska's Interior

Top feeders do not work for spring feeding in Alaska's Interior! Been there, done that and don't recommend it. Top feeders are not warm enough and the bees really struggle to get at the sugar water. Internal feeders are the way to go and my favorite comes from Mother Lode Products
https://www.motherlodeproducts.com/product/in-hive-feeders-with-cap-ladders-set-9-58-or-6-58-50-count/

Hiving Bees in Cold Weather

I try to hive honeybees in temperatures 50* or warmer. If temperatures are below 50* I tend to wait, feeding the bees with 1:1 sugar water using a spray bottle. My equipment is warm because I bring it into my house the day or two before hiving. This is very important for giving the bees a better chance at survival. I have insulation on the outside and inside of my hives and an internal sugar feeder in each hive.

Another beautiful summer of Beekeeping in Alaska! - Next Interior AK Bee Co-op Meeting

Hello Fellow Beekeepers, Another summer is beginning to awaken in the Interior of Alaska and the bees will arrive anytime between April 11th and the last day of April.

• If there is still snow on the ground a few days before the bees arrive, I shovel down to the dirt or grass to remove a patch of snow at least 10 feet wide by 10 feet long to ensure the bees have a place to complete cleansing flights without getting confused between the earth and the sky. The light reflecting off the snow and the sunlight in the sky can disorient honeybees. If bees fall or fly into snow they will surely die.
• A couple days before the bees arrive I will bring my equipment into the house to warm it up. 
• I have purchased sugar for spring feeding. 
• The day before or day of arrival I will thaw out pollen patties and mix sugar syrup (minimum 1:1 ratio) water to sugar. 
• My hives will be placed with the entrance facing southeast for the earliest morning sun.
• I am insulating the hives inside and out and starting out with one brood box. The smaller the house, the easier and cheaper it is to heat!

You are cordially invited to the next Interior Beekeepers Co-op Meeting at Botanical Gardens on April 21st, 2018 - 2:00pm for two live hiving demonstrations. Jennifer and I will be hiving one colony of Italians in a Langstroth Hive and one colony of  Carniolans in a top bar hive. All are welcome and please bring a bee suit to this event.

Interior Alaska Beekeeper's Co-op March 2018 Meeting

Hi Folks! Honeybees will be arriving in the next six to nine weeks! Our next Interior Alaska Beekeeper's Co-op meeting will be March 24, 2018, at First Presbyterian Church - 547 7th Avenue -2:00 PM. This month's topics are hiving bees, spring feeding, and queen health. Pollen patties will be available for sale at this meeting. Hope to see you there!

Are You in Need of Beekeeping Equipment?

John Werczynski is driving to the Anchorage area and stopping by AK Wildflower Honey if anyone needs beekeeping equipment. He has offered to pick up equipment for interior beekeepers.

Next Interior Alaska Beekeeper's Co-op Meeting

Hi Folks,
The next Co-op meeting is on February 24, 2018, at First Presbyterian Church, 2:00PM.
Come with questions and hear some tips on wintering bees over in the Interior.
(547 7th Ave, Fairbanks, AK 99701)

4 lb. Packages for $180.00

Italians or Carniolans for $180. After 2/7/2018 the packages will go up to $185 because our supplier's price for the next allotment of bees has increased. 
Join Dawn Cogan in ordering from a reputable supplier. 

The packages are from Sacremento almond fields. They are 4-pound packages with a single queen, arriving mid-April. The date will be set as we get closer to the delivery. The final price to Fairbanks is $185.00 if you order after 2/7/18. These are being brought directly into Fairbanks by me and two other veteran beekeepers.  We now have a local co-op to help local farmers/beekeepers rather than keep relying on outside suppliers who continue jacking the price up. The goal is to keep quality up and prices as low as possible. Dave Greer has kept bees in Fairbanks for over 30 years. He has run as many as 50 colonies in a season. Dale Lupton runs about 30 colonies every year, has wintered his bees over and has been keeping bees for about 10 years here in Fairbanks. He has been ordering bees from this new supplier for several years now with great success. Last year one of my students ordered a package from Dale and I helped hive the bees. She harvested 7 gallons of honey from bare foundation this fall (from out off Nordale Road).  

We are bringing in Italians and Carniolans. 

First come, first serve.

To order call Dale Lupton at 907-978-1455. Payment can be made by check, money order, or credit card. 

Questions? email Dawn at sciencebasedart@yahoo.com

2018 Beekeeping in Alaska Workshop

Science-Based Art

Instructor: Dawn Cogan 

To register, email Dawn at sciencebasedart@yahoo.com or call Dawn at (907)460-6050.

When:
 March 3-4
1-5PM each day for a total of 8 hours

Where:
Monroe Catholic School Library- 615 Monroe Street, Fairbanks, AK 99701

Cost: $150.00 per family

Syllabus:

Students will receive a book with hand-outs to keep. Door prizes include brand new beekeeping tools.

• What is beekeeping? How much honey will I get? How much will this all cost me?

• Equipment necessary to keep bees in Alaska
• Biology and races of honeybees
• Members of the hive and their duties
• Where can I get bee equipment? Should I get new, used or build my own?
• Getting equipment ready for the arrival of bees

Hands-on Project: Construct a beehive in class

• Insulation, feeding bees properly
• What to do when the bees arrive
• Is my queen marked? (queen marking tool)
• Management of honeybee colonies in Alaska, The Beekeeper's Calendar
• Running 2-Queen Hives
• Swarming and how to prevent it
• Honeybee diseases
• Extracting your Alaska honey
• What to do at the end of the season/wintering over
• Storing your equipment
• Beeswax candle making