3/22/2019. Pollen Yay! Aargh! No Time Beekeeping does not take much

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1 (Tools to reduce mortality and up productivity) Pollen Yay! Aargh! No Time Beekeeping does not take much time Beekeeping takes TIMING. Purposeful fire drill inspections Seasonal calendar, notebook, etc. Beekeeping for over a 100+ B-years Bee Buttons Bee Time and Timing Using Seasonality & Weather Examples Q& A 1

2 Pushing your bees buttons Complex yet simple S R organism behavioral psychology IF your bees are pushed THEN your bees respond Example Vilolate 3/8 Bee space ~ any time! Why Push? You already are! Hiving. Transporting migratory For Hive Health For Hive increased hive product(s) For Additional hive products Because you can a tool! Why not opportunism curiosity (radial hex jar) 2

3 Hive Products to Push for How to push Health! Bees splits, pkgs, nucs, queens, fortifying frames Honey Wax general, drawn brood/super comb Propolis Royal Jelly Depends on what pushing for Pay attention to 1 st Principles Pushing is purposeful, interactive, intentional beekeeping! Pushing allows YOU to MAKE the bee season you want When to push Time & Timing Better seasonal times to push There are wrong times there are prime times Ex. Foundation Get to know your World-Curves Birds, Bees & Trees are weather dependent Weather dependent like most of us Waiters like us see RTH migration map Wait and See Get what you get NOT like us 3

4 Seasonal Walk Through Making it real WHEN & HOW things go wrong Approximately On what exact date do I? 30 Days! (Aside: your honey season is over in 3+ months from NOW!) Seasonal car ride analog Seasonal Variability ~ 3 weeks We are here Egg laid on day 1 hatch day 21 THEN 4

5 Warm soil Warm Bees... Accelerated growth Can Watch & Wait or Day 3 Day 4 5

6 Your beekeeping season has already started! Feeding and Timing From seed to harvest in just days! Geometric vs. Linear Growth Roadside beekeeping Everything looks fine BY THE TIME YOUR NEW QUEEN OR MITICIDE ARRIVES 6

7 By Mid-Season (Your southern bees are mid season by Soy the beans time you pics get macro micro them up north) START with the END in Mind Make the bees/season you want Beekeepers Suffered a lot Learned a lot Have tools & techniques! Queens Mitecides Genetics Lots of beekeeping noise out there Solution Seasonal Monitoring & Management Monitoring simplify B - Curves 7

8 Internal hive populations We are here Your bees are aging in place Just because your queen or bees die Does not mean the hive has to die. Apis Labs Alex Zomchek Apis Labs Alex Zomchek Near 0 mite loads here Monitor for mites here 8

9 Apis Labs Alex Zomchek Apis Labs Alex Zomchek Nutritional Monitoring Once you understand B Curves On the road to Sustainable Bkping! Seasonal Walk Through Making it real WHEN & HOW things go wrong Timely Monitoring (Fire drill inspections) I don t have time takes 3-5 minutes! Get to the centerish brood frame Your snapshot on the current health/state of the colony. Use tech! Stop time 9

10 Bees in right place limit! 1 colony ~ 200 pounds of honey 100 for them and 100 for you. 1 pound of honey takes the nectar from 2,000,000 flowers. So, 200 lbs of honey takes 400,000,000 flowers. An apiary of 10 colonies: 4,000,000,000 flowers. Treasure map(s)! Water, nectar, weather Balanced Diet Nothing they are on their own Liquid Sugars 1:1, 2:1 Hard Sugars hard when not flying Protein soy flour supplements Protein, vitamin, mineral, fat formulas ProBiotics microbials TIMINIG Feed for Starvation, Stimulation, Nutrition Early Nutrition Natural Beekeeper stimulated A silent partnership was taking place from plundering to pollinating 10

11 Magnificent Desolation Buzz Aldrin 11

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13 Bee Selection & Replacement ALL Queens are NOT Created Equal Swarm Emergency Walk-Aways Producer Breeder OTS and More! Beekeeping Truisms It s later than you think S R Change is the norm 90% is wash, rinse, repeat Just a handful of problems & treatments Beekeeping is a Mindset Attitude Deterministic & Contrary Beekeeping 13

14 Time & Timing It s ALWAYS later than you think - Fire drills/inspections - Seasonal B-Curves Feeding History of Feed for starvation, stimulation, & nutrition Sugars, fats, proteins, mineral, & vitamins Timing, timing, timing Put your big girl/boy bee-pants on -Seasonal management up/down - Feed & Feeding - Queen/Bees replace/augmentation -Treatments At the end of the day Only a handful of pests and diseases that we can control. & Only a handful of treatments... Takes work & timing & bee resources Monitoring to be continued! Static vs. Dynamic Beekeeping Sustainable Beekeeping takes work Do It: To save your bees To save $s Because you can that s real beekeeping! 14

15 Summarizing Seasonal car ride analog We are here Your PUSHING journey can starts with a single drop 15

16 Push it a little farther Push to let your imagination (and bees) fly! for there is a fresh wind blowing; we may yet again do things like mountains, and music and beekeeping because they are hard, and clean, and clear in the morning! - Philip Gillett Animal Husbandry Pet Parents Bee Parents? That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse. -Walt Whitman Contact Information: Alexander Zomchek zomchea@miamioh.edu Once you take on the responsibility Takes time, timing, discipline 16

17 Near 0 mortality means changing Beekeeper s behaviors Out of Sight; Out of Mind Absentee Beekeepering Cognitive Dissonance denial procrastination Reality check no breakthroughs per se on the horizon incremental improvements % evolving solutions Be realistic about treatments no silver bullets But with same tools same pests & pathogens if change beekeeping behavior/techniques can save ~80% of the ~50%+ mortality! Transition from passionate, passive beekeepers to disciplined, active Monitors 17

18 Monitoring: Simply Defined A newish way of looking at newish bee problems Remember: Just a handful of problems that you can do anything about A handful of treatments. Timing is everything. What are we Monitoring? (some % examples) Pests Varroa, SHB, wax moths, others Diseases AFB, EFB, nosema, sac brood, chalk brood, others Resources queen viability, space, honey, pollen, water, others Monitoring for Varroa Stethoscope ( how are you measuring mite loads?) When to Monitor * * * * * ** * * * * Base Line Intra Seasonally when things typically happen Inter Seasonally year over year variations Intra Hive Inter Hives As needed Not linear doppler-like Monitoring is self correcting feedback loop Apis Labs Alex Zomchek Monitoring 10,000 foot view - Monitoring tells you: What to look for When to look and how often What to do about colony issues Monitoring is more A conscious, purposeful, focused and timed methodology of hive inspections and treatments A feedback loop tool Skeptical Evidence based prove it! An Approach detective doctor 18

19 So, with these evolving recipes why the current high mortality rates? Why isn t beekeeping working for many beekeepers? Need new recipe(s) taking into acccount today s Beekeepers, bees, pests, pathogens RECIPES ARE JUST GUIDELINES Carolyn Zomchek Definitions Bees extra bees 2.5 hives Queens OTS The best bees/ingredients you can find Feed (for starvation, stimulation, and nutrition) Treatment(s) Monitoring Tools Ex. Sugar Shake Seasonal calendar, notebook, reminders Recipe! (A Recipe is just a guideline customize!) Hive resources include the usual: queen, bees (workers & drones), eggs, larva, pupa, capped brood. Hive resources include food stores (honey & pollen) Hive resources also include Pests (Varroa, SHB, wax moths, ants, et.al.). Hive resources also include Pathogens (Varroa vectored, AFB, EFB, nosema, sacbrood, chalkbrood, et.al.). Monitoring for Hive Resources means to look for and/or testing for all of the above. Monitor throughout season takes timing; not time fire drills! Order package(s) 3lb nucs $$$... Hive location... install bees on foundation drawn comb Build your bees: feeding for starvation, stimulation and nutrition more SUMMER, fall feeding nutritional patties spring, summer, and fall Monitor & Treat (?) before honey flow SHB Queen viability Watch the magic unfold Supering up for swarm control and nectar flow(s) Extract honey supering down Monitor & treat diseases (if necessary) primarily AFB, EFB NOT prophylactic treating terramycin? Monitor pests Treat(?) primarily Varroa mites, SHB prophylactic NOT arcacide(s) Use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach Monitor for effectiveness Build bees for fall health into winter feeding Queen viability Tuck bees away wrap? Monitoring Recipe for Seasonal Beekeeping Done/Repeat bragging rights #colonies alive Near- 0 Hive Loss Seasonal Recipe Location, location, location weather and forage Install best bees you can acquire Feed for starvation, stimulation, nutrition. Monitor/test/treat(if necessary) bee health, pests and queen laying viability Replace queen and/or augment with outside bees as necessary Continue pests monitoring. Accurate monitoring of varroa (3% rule) Disease monitoring. AFB, EFB, nosema, chalk brood, and sac brood Add supers as needed (pre-super).. Seasonal and Threshold Timing B-curves ounces of prevention Effectiveness. Are your manipulations & treatments working? Treatments. Just a handful know them timely use them Resource management boxes, queens, treatments, etc. on shelf. Record keeping regular notes seasonal calendar REMINDERS! 19

20 Example 1: Near-perfect World Go into bee season with a Monitoring Approach Good location Good bees Good nectar season Low Pests & Diseases thresholds Example 2: Real World Go into bee season with a Monitoring Approach Ify location move /feed Suspect bees fix Ify nectar season feed Pests and Pathogens testing & treatments work. Example 3: Triage Beekeeping Go into bee season with a Monitoring Approach Ify location can t/don t move Bad bees to start requeen augment workers Bad nectar flow(s) feed (carbs, pollen, vit., mineral supplements) Pests & Pathogens reacurring keep testing swap miticides Queen issues requeen augment workers... The nutritional monitoring facts! 1 colony ~ 200 pounds of honey 100 for them and 100 for you. 1 pound of honey takes the nectar from 2,000,000 flowers. So, 200 lbs of honey takes 400,000,000 flowers! An apiary of 10 colonies: 4,000,000,000 flowers! Don t overload apiary sites. Monitor for light colonies and nectar and pollen dearths to promote hive health Vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbs, fats You are the key to Monitoring Big difference between knowing the paths (B-curves) and following the curves! Stay ahead of the B-Curves! Be proactive, consistent paranoid? Go Negative ALL is NOT right until proven otherwise. We have evolving tools and techniques (We have figured lots of thing out ) It is the human element and implementation we are currently struggling with. 20

21 Learn Good to know Bad ( train your brain ) Compare/Contrast Learn good from bad Visual inspection Be prepared for WHEN (not if) things go wrong Have a regular monitoring program in place Adopt prevention tactics Intervene. Catch issues early ounces of prevention instead of pounds of cure. Have resources at hand to augment and/or treat your hive(s) when (not if!) things go south. Verify that interventions are working; swap and augment if not. I have developed into an optimistic Bee Contrarian you? 21

22 Monitoring is here to stay the future more to come! Monitoring for Varroa Stethoscope (reducing mite loads also reduce pathogen loads) Queen monitoring Drone monitoring Pollen/Honey monitoring Enhanced Nutrition Wireless remote New treatments Self medicating More! Know External/Internal hive events Know your seasonal B-Curves Monitor for Ps & Ds Stay ahead of the Ps & Ds Curves Treat if/when necessary & verify Feeding Opportunities Appreciate your proactive roll in monitoring Monitoring one last time! Get in early baseline Monitor as often as needed A See things train your brain Catch things early Know treatments (have on hand!) Treat earyly (if needed) Treat again (if needed) Verify treatments are working Have hive resource replacement options bees, feed, etc. Monitoring isn t just a thing Monitoring is THE thing! Near- 0 Hive Loss At the end of the day only a handful of pests and diseases that we can control. & Only a handful of treatments. Caveat #7 You can do this! At the end of the day Just a handful of problems. And a handful of solutions. Takes work & timing Monitoring 22

23 Prevention & Intervention for there is a fresh wind blowing; we may yet again do things like mountains, and music and beekeeping because they are hard, and clean, and clear in the morning! - Philip Gillett References: 1st Quarter 2017 OSBA Newsletter - A Tale of Two Hives Vol 6; Issue 1 2nd Quarter 2017 OSBA Newsletter - Is Near-Zero Hive Loss Realistic Vol 6; 2 That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse. -Walt Whitman Contact Information: Alexander Zomchek zomchea@miamioh.edu Monitoring Reduce Barriers Time fire drills Calendars reminders Knowledge Experience more hive inspections! Have sugar shake accessories on hand Know treatments IPM Have treatments on hand! Have feed(s) on hand carbs, protein(v&m) Breathe! Just a handful of pests and diseases Just a handful of treatment options Timely monitoring for the major culprits (Ps & Ds) Treatment and Verify Beekeeping takes little time; but it does take timing Genetic Diversity Protein Connection 23

24 Animal Husbandry Pet Parents Bee Parents? From seed to harvest in just days! Once you take on the responsibility Takes time, timing, discipline Geometric vs. Linear Growth Roadside beekeeping Everything looks fine BY THE TIME YOUR NEW QUEEN OR MITICIDE ARRIVES By Mid-Season (Your southern bees are mid season by Soy the beans time you pics get macro micro them up north) 24