Nine Successful Hive Checks Today!

Today we found all seven of our queens healthy and laying eggs in full patterns. We also checked a couple hives of one of our students and both were doing fantastic. We topped off sugar water and will continue to fill feeders every 3-4 days until we see abundant dandelions. The bees are beginning to store pollen in the wax cells. This week is a great time to check for evidence of a well-bred queen. At least one frame should have eggs and very young larva. If there is no evidence of a queen and you can't find your queen then you may need to requeen your hive. If so, give me a call at (907)460-6050.

Below are two photos of what I am seeing on my frames at this time. Also, I am posting some photos of possible undesirable colony situations.

Healthy pattern of eggs (1-2 days old)

Healthy Larva (7-10 days old)

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Spotty (Poor) Queen Pattern

Dead Queen - Laying Worker Eggs (Kill Bees!)

Completing Full Hive Checks

The bees arrived on 4/15/17 and on 4/18/17 the queen cage corks were replaced with mini marshmallows. Feeders have been topped off with 1:1 sugar water. Tomorrow, 4/23/17 I will be completing full hive checks on all seven of my colonies. I have four Buckfast and three Italian colonies. Today, during the warmest part of the day I removed my entrance reducers to allow a larger exit and entrance and will replace them, with the smallest entrance open, before the outside temperature drops below 50*. I observed workers arriving at the hive, pollen baskets loaded with pollen from willow trees. I will continue to fill sugar feeders every two to three days and keep my hives insulated from the inside and outside until Jack Frost has finally been kicked out of town for the summer.   Anyone who is taking my summer course can show up at 3:00PM tomorrow 4/23/17 to shadow my first full-hive checks.

This is a photo of Pam and I with four queens being stored in my new queen nuc.

Hiving Honeybees 2017

Today, I demonstrated how to hive honeybees after the shipment arrived. I did not remove the cork from the queen cage to give the bees a couple more days to get acquainted with their new mother. They have only been in the shipping box with their queen for a couple days. On Monday, 4/17/17 or Tuesday, 4/18/17 I will remove the cork and place a mini marshmallow into the queen cage entrance being careful not to allow the queen to escape.  At this time I will also top off the inner feeder with sugar water. Every three days I will top off the sugar feeder. Folks with bare foundation don't have to do a complete hive check for a couple weeks while the female workers are building honeycomb. With the cold weather we try to disrupt the colony as little as possible. When topping off the sugar water every three days, I don't try to lift frames out of the hive or find the queen. I just simply lift the lids off, pour the water in the feeder and shut the lids making sure they are aligned well with the hive body. Looking at the weather report, the best day for hiving will be Sunday, April 16, 2017 as temperatures are dropping over the next week. I will hive five more colonies tomorrow - 4/16/17 at 3:30PM if anyone wants to observe. Please arrive at 605 Betty Street at 3:30PM if you would like to join me. We will be traveling a few blocks away to the Chena River where we will hive two colonies and then to Creamer's Field for another three colonies.

Message from Steve Victors dated 4-11-17

Good Evening Interior Beekeepers,


A special note to all of our interior beekeepers:

If you have serviceable empty packages from last year's bees we would appreciate having them back. This can help control the costs of future shipments. We cannot use the cans again but the wooden screened boxes can be refilled.Please bring them to the Fairbanks pickup point and we can load them in our trailer after we distribute the bees.I am about ready to head out to collect the bees for the 15th.


I have the list sorted and dates/pickup locations are all set.

Donna and I will be picking up the bees from Airfreight as soon as we
can morning.  Last Saturday it was at 7:30 AM. The time
could be variable depending on how busy airfreight is.
It will take us about an hour and a half to sort, load and secure the
bees.  We will update the home recorder 892-6175 with the status of the
bees; and if there is likely to be any problems with the delivery
schedule, you will find that information there.  You may call this
number to get the latest update.    It is not necessary to leave us a
message.  We will not be able to respond to voice mail messages until
late night when we return home.  When we leave Anchorage we
will update the recording with the latest information.  We will continue
from Anchorage to the Wasilla drop point.  Once we have bees ready for
pickup in Wasilla, we will again update the recorder.  We will then
continue updating the recorder as we go north to Fairbanks, Update
points will be Talkeetna, Cantwell, and Nenana.  By this manner, you will
be able to predict our arrival time.
Our pickup point is the same as it was last year: across the street from
Dawn Cogan's house on 605 Betty Street.  This will be in the back
parking lot of Monroe High School.  We are guessing an arrival time of
between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM but the home recorder will have the closest arrival
time on it.
We will have our cell phones with us but may be unable to answer if we
are busy loading, sorting the bees or out of cell range.  Text messages
will likely get through as we can read them once the bees are loaded and
we are moving to the delivery points. If you send a text please leave
your name and phone number with your message for a return call.

If you ordered supplies to be delivered with the bees be sure to
retrieve your things.  If you ordered and prepaid for pollen substitute,
it too will be in the supply pile wrapped and have your name on it.  If
you are paying for any supply order please put the money in an envelope
with your name on it.  The delivery of the bees is quite hectic and if
someone just hands us money we often wonder who it came from several
hours later.

Donna will be home until Thursday, April 13th for those who wish to come
out to pick up supplies here in Big Lake.

Honeybee Shipment to Fairbanks at 605 Betty Street

Hi Folks,
The Victor's honeybee shipment will arrive around 6:00 or 6:30PM on Saturday, April 15th, 2017.
605 Betty Street, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701

We will have pollen patties available for sale as well as 9-frame spacers and frame rests.

For those who took a beekeeping class this spring, you are welcome to join me for a live hiving demonstration after the packages have been distributed.

Please see Steve's detailed explanation for keeping honeybees warm in cold temperatures on the previous post.
'
I will be making my 2:1 sugar syrup on Friday, April 14th and keeping it at room temperature to fill feeders when hiving my colonies. The ratio is richer this season because of the colder weather.

Also, I am bringing all my hive equipment inside the house on Thursday or Friday to ensure everything is warm when I hive my honeybees.

I have my internal and external insulation ready (cut to size).

Entrance reducers are a must this time of year!

I am starting the season with one brood box per colony.

My frames are arranged from left to right: 1) insulation board 2) frame of empty cells 3) frame with pollen stores 4) empty frame for the queen to start laying in 5) empty frame for the queen to start laying in 6) empty frame for the queen to start laying in 7) frame with pollen stores 8-9) feeder insulation board 10) insulation board

If the temperature is below 50* when the bees arrive, I will wait until the next day to hive my colonies and anyone who wants to watch the hiving demonstration can attend.

Hiving Honeybees in Cold Weather

This is information from Steve Victors of Alaska Wildflower Honey.

The arrival date seems not the best timing this year.  Last year we were receiving the bees just one day later than we are this year.  At that time there was concern that the bees would overheat while en-route to the distribution points.  Donna and I traveled with the door to the trailer open to get the cooler air to circulate around the packages.  This year we are discussing plans to add a heater to keep them warm.  

The bee delivery dates are picked out in October and early November of the year before.  Days are reserved for shaking and filling the packages in California to catch that window of time between too cold for queen mating and too hot for transporting bees to the airfreight from the field.  We try to predict when the willows will be blooming and the weather warm enough to hive the packages on arrival to Alaska.  The two windows of time have to line up or overlap just right.  Space is reserved on the airplanes so that it is dedicated to our pallets and they won’t be left stranded at the airport.    Once the dates are set there is not much we can do to change the schedule.  Each year there seems to be some factor we cannot control that challenges the smooth delivery and easy installation of our packages.  In the last four shipments of bees we have had two years of volcanoes and one year of tsunami challenges.  This year we have cold and snow that seems to not want to give up.  Bees are resilient and beekeepers are resourceful; so at least we have that going for us.

Here are some things that you can do to improve your success in early and cold spring.

Darkening the snow in front of the hive helps the bees tell which way is up and will melt the snow faster when it is warm enough to melt.  Ashes from the woodstove work well for this.  Use a vegetable strainer to sift the ashes over the snow to stretch the supply.  Adding something to darken the snow directly in front of the hive and to add contrast to the light color will also help the bees to orient in a vertical sense and there won't as many lost in the snow.  even a few spruce branches will help with this.

Hiving:

Warming the equipment:

Some beekeepers bring their hive into the house prior to installing the package to make sure that the components are warm.  Bees on a cold bottom board have a harder time moving up to the frames to form a good cluster.  Climbing on warm combs is also a help although the combs cool relatively quickly.  Don’t waste a lot of time getting the hive carried out and the installation done.  Keep in mind that moving a hive is not a difficult thing to do, and it is possible to hive right in front of the garage with the bottom entrance already screened and then move the hive inside for them to get settled. 

Size of the hive:

Keep in mind that the bees will cover about five frames.  Reducing the number and size of the boxes will help out.  The use of follower boards (Styrofoam cut to take the place of a frame fitting snugly in the hive) can be employed in a 10 frame hive to reduce the space to a more efficient size for the bees.  A package will cover about five frames.  Followers should go from the bottom board to the inner cover or the lid and from wall to wall.

Single box:

Use only one hive body to install the bees.

Frame of syrup:

If you have drawn comb consider filling the upper portions with sugar syrup by use of a spray bottle.  Make the standard honey arch that you see normally in the hive inspections.  This will allow the cluster to form with food right into the cluster.  Leave the centers of the frames empty for the queen to use as well as the bees to transfer heat through the comb.

Don’t hive wet:

If you regularly spray the bees during the hiving process, they will loose heat faster when they are wet.  Hive the bees dry with full bellies.  To do this, spray sugar feed through the package screen and allow the bees to consume the feed before taking them outside.  A few good sprays with intervals between for uptake can fill a package in about an hour.

Heat of the day:

Use the warmest portion of the day to hive the bees.

Screening the entrances and indoors:

I have hived bees indoors before…. I would not care to repeat the experiment.  If you feel that the bees are better off indoors, hive outside. Screen the entrances and move them inside.  A screen cover under or in place of the inner cover can help you regulate temperatures in the hive.

Feeders:

Over the cluster:

Bees needing feed in the cold won’t travel far; get the feeder as close to the cluster as possible.

Avoid outside or Boardman entrance feeders.  Bees will not break cluster to go down to food; feeding the bees directly above the cluster works well-- just be sure that the feeder does not drip on the bees.

Two feeders:

A frame feeder as well as a feeder over the cluster may be used to keep the bees from being trapped away from the feeder to the side.

Hive top feeders:

 Insulation above the feeder will allow the bees to travel up to the feed without moving from the warmth area of the hive.

Insulation:

Conservation of heat will certainly help the bees establish a cluster loose enough for the queen to lay in.  Just like a house, the best place for insulation is above the cluster.  Insulation pillows using plastic bags with standard insulating materials in them are used in Canada.  Reflectix insulation (foil bubble wrap) cut to the size of the inner cover and laid on top of the inner cover works well.  Styrofoam is another alternative.

Heaters:

Heat sources inside or under the hive can help.  A small silicon oil pan heater stuck to a piece of metal to dissipate the heat can be used.  Heat sources between 25 and 40 watts should be sufficient depending on the size of the space to warm up.

Follower boards rather than outside insulation may be the best method of adding insulation to the walls of the hive.

Entrance reducers:

Use the smallest entrance to reduce drafts

Top entrances:

Small top entrances for the dissipation of moisture may help the hive to avoid the damp conditions.

Holding your package for a warmer time:

Temperatures for holding packages should be around 60 degrees.  To tell if the temperature is right, observe the cluster.  If there are bees running on the screen, it is too hot.  A properly cared for package should have a fairly loose cluster hanging quietly.  There may be a few bees not involved in the cluster found crawling on the screen or exploring the bottom of the package.  Keep the package in the dark or in dim light.

Feeding through the package:

The feeder can is for transport only.  You MUST feed your bees!

You can spray the package twice a day for feed through the screen.  Bees that are hungry will have their tongues out through the screen.

Syrup feeders:

A nut jar or any large jar with a plastic lid can have a number of holes through the lid and placed over the package to feed the bees.  To do this the feeder can is removed and a screen is stapled in place over the hole left by the feeder can.  An overturned nut jar can be placed on top of the screen and the bees can feed through the screen.  Feeder jars can be changed as necessary

This is a lot of information I hope that you find at least some of it useful.

Steve Victors

Science-Based Art
Instructor: Dawn Cogan 

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

This workshop/course can be taken for 1 college credit through the University of Alaska, Bristol Bay https://www.uaf.edu/bbc/
To register for the accredited course, call Toll Free: 1-800-478-5109

When:
3/3/17 6-9PM
3/4/17 10AM -5PM
3/5/17 11AM - 2PM

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

Syllabus:

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