BE A GOOD BEEKEEPER SUCCESS IN THE FIRST YEAR: COLONY ESTABLISHMENT. 19-Jan-19

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1 SUCCESS IN THE FIRST YEAR: COLONY ESTABLISHMENT Meghan Milbrath 2018 BE A GOOD BEEKEEPER You know what your bees need, and can understand what they are telling you. You make management decisions with confidence, knowing it is the best action Your bees are alive and healthy from year to year. COMMON MYTHS SUSTAINABLE BEEKEEPING Photo by Zeke Cappon BEES HAVE BEEN DOING THEIR THING FOR 1000S OF YEARS, SO THEY KNOW WHAT THEY NEED. Map by Alex Wild honey-bees-causing-blogging-co/ 1

2 WHAT DO ANIMALS NEED? Water Shelter Food Medical care when sick Love WE WILL ONLY BECOME GOOD BEEKEEPERS WHEN WE LEARN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY NEED. THE BEES NEEDS. WHAT DO ANIMALS NEED? What do our bees need? How can we recognize if these needs are being met by the environment? If their needs aren t met, what can we do to help? Water Shelter Food Medical care when sick Love WATER A strong hive can use over 1 quart of water/day WATER WHAT YOU NEED TO BUY Maybe Nothing! Pond / stream nearby Bird bath Poultry waterer Tub with corks/straw 2

3 SHELTER COMMON MISTAKE TOO SMALL SHELTER GET A HIVE Make it easy on yourself. 3

4 REPRODUCTION WHERE TO PUT YOUR HIVE? FOOD MYTH: HONEY BEE COLONIES SHOULDN T NEED TO BE FED / FEEDING MAKES BEES LAZY Honey bees will ALWAYS get food from the environment when they can BEES CAN GET FOOD FROM THE ENVIRONMENT IF. 1. There is sufficient food available 1. Right type of blooms 2. In their flight range 3. Putting out nectar 2. They have the workers to get it 3. They have the weather to work IN ORDER FOR YOU BEES TO GET ALL THE FOOD THEY NEED WITHOUT YOUR HELP, THEY MUST be a sufficiently large colony in a location with flowers in constant bloom, with good weather to promote nectar and foraging. 4

5 EVEN A SHORT TIME WITHOUT SUFFICIENT FOOD CAN BE DEVASTATING YOU MUST FEED A NEW COLONY Baggie Boardman Feeder Mason Jar Top Feeder ALL COLONIES NEED FOOD TO SURVIVE, BUT A NEW COLONY ALSO NEEDS FOOD FOR GROWTH. Growing kids need food growing colonies do too! MEDICAL CARE Most beekeepers underestimate the amount of food that a new colony needs. You have a small animal under your care it is 3 lbs, and you need it to grow to lbs. LEARN HOW TO RECOGNIZE SIGNS OF DISEASE, AND DEAL WITH IT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. 5

6 LEARN AMERICAN FOUL BROOD (AFB) A FIRST YEAR COLONY CAN SUCCUMB TO VARROA. 1. Learn how to monitor. MANAGE VARROA AT LEAST 2 TIMES/YEAR 1. When you first introduce them - Packages - Use oxalic acid or powdered sugar 1-2 weeks after installation. Nucs or packages ½ treatment of Mite away quick strips (MAQS) in Mid June Mid July SUCCESS: YOUR NUC OR PACKAGE LIVES THROUGH WINTER, AND IS STRONG ENOUGH TO SPLIT INTO TWO HIVES IN SPRING. By Fall Two deeps (3 mediums) that are 1) Fully drawn 2) Full of honey 3) Free from disease BEES HAVE BASIC NEEDS, BUT THEY ARE VARIABLE OVER TIME. 6

7 Sept Jun Prep for winter Main Honey Flow No Food Available Oct Jul In cluster, moving up through hive Jan Hive should be ready upper entrance, moisture, wrapped. Make equipment Read Mar Apr Honey Flow Spring Build Up Raising young Bees Ensure bees have sufficient food protein + 100lbs honey Feb Reproduce (Swarms) Raise winter bees Rearrange stores Nov Dec Aug Winter Cluster End of Basswood Aug Dandelions! Maples/Willows First hard frost Goldenrod/Asters 2nd Flow Ensure sufficient food Carbs near cluster, protein Ensure space Treat for mites Store food for winter Ensure space Monitor mites Beekeepers CONCLUSIONS Little Food Available May Dearth Bring food if available/ eat stores Prevent robbing Remove honey Treat for mites You are choosing to keep an animal outside of its native range, in a time of great environmental stress. Bees have the same basic needs as other animals, but they are variable over time. They need water and a good enough place to live, and then you will check to make sure they have enough food and space throughout the season. You can learn everything you need from reading the bees. This takes time in the hive. FIRST YEAR MANAGEMENT GOALS 1. Be able to identify everything in the hive. 2. Spend enough time with your bees to be comfortable with them. 3. Learn to recognize healthy/ normal 4. Have a plan for dealing with varroa 5. Be able to tell if they have enough food and space. HONEY BEES ARE NOT ANNUALS by Fire-Horse-101 7

8 PERENNIALS NEED TIME TO BECOME ESTABLISHED PROBLEM 1: NEW COLONIES ARE DIFFERENT FROM ALREADY ESTABLISHED COLONIES (BUT PEOPLE TREAT THEM THE SAME) Established colony Has survived a winter with a queen and a cluster of bees Will swarm in the spring Has sufficient comb Has enough bees to ensure survival in a favorable environment Can grow very quickly Can produce a honey crop Sarah Scott A NEW COLONY IS LIKE A BABY PUPPY. DON T EXPECT YOUR NEW COLONY TO ACT LIKE A FULL GROWN HIVE. MYTH 1: PACKAGES AND NUCS DO NOT NEED SUPPORT. MYTH 2: A NUC OR PACKAGE SHOULD AUTOMATICALLY TAKE OFF One of the biggest mistakes that beekeepers make is to not give their colonies help to get established. 8

9 COLONY GROWTH ISN T MAGIC, AND IT ISN T AUTOMATIC. IT ONLY OCCURS IF CERTAIN CONDITIONS ARE MET. A WELL FED, DISEASE-FREE STARTER COLONY IN WARM WEATHER CAN TAKE OFF 1. Food 2. Wax / Space to lay eggs 3. Warmth (Warm Space) 4. Time 5. Freedom from Disease Photo by Randy Oliver BUT IT STILL TAKES TIME It takes 21 days for a newly laid egg to emerge as a bee. This means that with a package, it will be three weeks before you will see growth, and your colony will actually get smaller (as old bees die) for the first few weeks. IN ORDER FOR YOU BEES TO GET ALL THE FOOD THEY NEED WITHOUT YOUR HELP, THEY MUST be a sufficiently large colony in a location with flowers in constant bloom, with good weather to promote nectar and foraging. THE BEES WILL BE EXPENDING A LOT OF ENERGY ON WAX PRODUCTION IF THEY AREN T ON DRAWN COMB, AND THEY WILL BE PUTTING A LOT OF ENERGY INTO RAISING MORE LARVAE. YOU MAY FEED A LOT YOUR FIRST YEAR You may not have to feed that much. 9

10 CONTINUE FEEDING SUGAR SYRUP 1:1 UNTIL 1 OF 2 CONDITIONS ARE MET: 1. THE BEES STOP TAKING IT WAX Everything that a colony does happens on the comb. If a colony is put in a new hive without sufficient comb, then they have to first draw out (build) the comb BEFORE anything else can happen. 2. THEY HAVE BUILT ENOUGH* STRUCTURE OF THE HIVE Honey Supers (Excess) COPYRIGHT - MEGHAN MILBRATH 2017 Brood Nest (Bees Home) The colony will establish itself first, and then store excess honey the colony size and the honey stores will vary depending on the time of year. 58 ESTABLISHED COLONY IN PRODUCTION For us (Excess Honey) Ideal arrangement of colony in late summer. The bees have their part full, and well arranged. INSTALLATION The bees want to build upwards immediately, but if it is cold, the cluster must be able to reach the feed. Once it is warm (60s), you can move the feed away from the cluster. Empty Brood Brood Empty For the bees (Brood Nest) Food Drawn Comb Initial placement of nuc/package in hive Cold Weather Initial placement of nuc /package in hive Warm Weather Feeder Food 10

11 COMB / WAX PRODUCTION BEGINS The bees build wax above and immediately next to the cluster first. Empty Food Brood COMB / WAX PRODUCTION CONTINUES Empty Food Brood Drawn Comb Feeder Continue to feed as the brood nest expands and the colony grows to draw out and cover more frames. Drawn Comb Feeder What if they don t move up? ESTABLISHED COLONY IN PRODUCTION Managed Unmanaged If you continue to add new boxes, the bees will continue to fill above the brood nest and move up, often ignoring the frames to the side. The bees will not be likely to draw out the comb on the outsides of the bottom boxes. You do not want empty space in your colony in winter the bees can cluster on an empty frame and starve. Your goal is to have the bottom boxes full like the hive on the left. MANAGING FOR WAX PRODUCTION Empty Food Brood Drawn Comb Feeder To optimize wax production, move frames that are drawn, or full of honey and nectar down and/or to the outside. Note that the brood frames remain untouched. BROOD NEST SUFFICIENTLY FILLED Empty Food Brood Drawn Comb Feeder The feeder stays on the colony until the bottom boxes are sufficiently filled out, or the bees stop taking the feed, whatever happens first. Honey frames down to outside Drawn comb to lower box Wax production continues Growth after arrangement Brood nest sufficiently filled Remove feed, add honey super 11

12 ESTABLISHED COLONY IN PRODUCTION Continued growth into honey supers Once the bottom boxes that make up the brood nest are filled, you can focus on supers for honey production. You want to make sure that these are filled with honey and not sugar water, so you don t feed while honey supers are on the colony. Continue to add supers while the colony is growing. It may take the whole season to fill the bottom boxes, and you may not have honey this year. Empty Food Brood Drawn Comb IDEAL ARRANGEMENT IN FALL For the bees (Brood Nest) Empty For us (Excess Honey) Food Brood Drawn Comb If the honey is capped, the extra boxes can be removed and the honey extracted. As the weather cools, the bees will slow / stop raising young, and the bees will backfill the broodnest with honey. By winter, most of the bottom boxes should be filled, and the boxes that you are leaving for winter should be heavy. PRINCIPLES OF GROWING A NEW HIVE DON T OVER THINK IT Where in the hive is wax most likely to be drawn? Above the brood nest, and directly next to brood If you don t manage for wax production, what would the colony look like? It will either swarm, or be right up the middle. What can we do to ensure that the colony is fully drawn? Move honey frames down and to the outside. 1. You do not have to manipulate every time. You can do it once, or they may be working slow enough that you don t have to do anything. 2. Just don t move the brood around. Move only honey/ empty frames, and you can t mess it up that bad. 3. Remember your goal get the part for the bees (2 deeps or 3 mediums) filled out WHEN DO YOU STOP FEEDING? SUCCESS: YOUR NUC OR PACKAGE LIVES THROUGH WINTER, AND IS STRONG ENOUGH TO SPLIT INTO TWO HIVES IN SPRING. By Fall Two deeps (3 mediums) that are 1) Fully drawn 2) Full of honey 3) Free from disease 12

13 IN LATE SUMMER (END OF JULY/BEGINNING OF AUGUST) OR DO SPLITS, OR DRONE BROOD REMOVAL, OR REQUEEN IF YOU KNOW HOW. 1. Use formic acid if honey on and or temperature is too high Or 2. Use thymol after taking honey off (Apilife var, Apiguard) WINTER BEES ARE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT BEES PROTECT THEM. 1. FEED YOUR NUC UNTIL IT DOESN T WANT IT, OR UNTIL YOU ARE PUTTING HONEY SUPERS ON. 2. FOCUS ON GETTING THE SPACE FOR BEES DRAWN AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. 3. GET VARROA UNDER CONTROL BY AUGUST (AND KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL) sandhillbees@gmail.com BEEKEEPING IS GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT Michigan Beekeepers Meeting March Photo by Joel Trick/USFWS Karl Thomas Moore 13