The Honey Factory

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm lurking ... would like to have bees some day. So much to learn! Don't mind me, pretend I'm not here.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

There was a guy at the bee club that said he treated his hives with oxalic acid every October, November, and December, regardless of mite count. I think he said he didn't even check, just assumed there would be some mites.

I like the way he thinks! I also treated in October under the assumption of mites. In the early Spring I am going to make up a mixture of Thyme oil (food grade) as it is thymol, and Coconut oil, also food grade, on some cheese cloth 3x3 pads. Possibly a Varroa treatment I would really like to get away from chemicals. I also used Tea Tree oil in my fall 2:1 syrup. Supposably a Nosema treatment/preventative. These little experiments are possible with a few hives. Back when we ran 20-25 hives this would not have been practical. Plus we were fighting trachea mites, the bane of bee keepers at that time.

 

[Sally PB]

I'm lurking ... would like to have bees some day. So much to learn! Don't mind me, pretend I'm not here.

Please jump in with questions. This is my first year, and EVERYTHING is new and news to me. At the bee club meetings, I was so glad when another newbie asked questions. It was very helpful for me too. "Wow, I never even thought of that! I'm glad someone asked."

I like the way he thinks! I also treated in October under the assumption of mites. In the early Spring I am going to make up a mixture of Thyme oil (food grade) as it is thymol, and Coconut oil, also food grade, on some cheese cloth 3x3 pads. Possibly a Varroa treatment I would really like to get away from chemicals. I also used Tea Tree oil in my fall 2:1 syrup. Supposably a Nosema treatment/preventative. These little experiments are possible with a few hives. Back when we ran 20-25 hives this would not have been practical. Plus we were fighting trachea mites, the bane of bee keepers at that time.

We treated with Formic Pro in a "cool-ish" period. We did a sugar shake and found 3 mites. I took that as an encouraging sign (that there weren't more), but a caution too.

I would love to treat for mites without chemicals. I try to run our household as organically as possible. But I would be ok with a treatment of oxalic acid for mites to save the colony.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

I'm lurking ... would like to have bees some day. So much to learn! Don't mind me, pretend I'm not here.

Same. I'm planning to get bees this spring and I am trying to learn everything I possibly can! I joined a Bee Club in my area, but I've only been able to attend 1 virtual meeting so far. I'm reading and watching instructional videos. Hoping to get hands on experience as spring approaches!

 

[itsasmallfarm]

well my bees are done and wrapped for the year, had a pretty good season i think.

started last year with 5 hives and all 5 made it through winter with one being in bad shape, then was able to get 4 splits, then was lucky enough to have a swarm on one of our apple trees, so ended up with 9 hives going into the cold winter.

honey production was not as good as last year, but don't really mind as the goal is to get more hives at the moment. talked to my bee guy and is hoping we can push to around 18 hives next year.

still have yet to get one of the legendary Saskatchewan honey flows or even the provincial average of 190 lbs per hive.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

A condensating hive was discussed at our last bee meeting. This is what two people said they did, with great success.

Entrance reudcer/mouse excluder was the only opening, and the hive was tipped forward by placing a 3/4-1" shim under the back end. Any moisture that gathers will then slide to the front of the hive, not rain down on the top of any frames.

The two who said they did that said their bees came through the winters better. One guy said he did it last year, with 100% survival, the other said he'd be doing it for "a few years, averaging 75-100% survival."

The idea is that the bees, who still need water, will get it from the drops of condensation, and therefore eat honey when they need food, not just water.

About 5 decades ago i was on summer vacations at my uncle's in northern Germany where bee-keeping was important to stay afloat. He was a beekeeper with more than 50 years of experience at that time and he shared a lot of his experience with me. Unfortunately i was a young boy and didn't really listen and memorize. But two things i vividly remember:

1. Commercial bee-boxes are not good as single bee-hives, their walls are not thick enough to protect the bees from heat or cold.
2. Moisture and condensation are a death-sentence for bee-hives.

#1: Have you ever looked closely at your hive boxes that you bought? The wood is not even ½ of inch thick and has grip notches carved into the walls. Add staples, nails or screws as conductors to this and you should understand why your hives are dying in the winter. Those boxes have been made for commercial bee-keepers who keep hundreds of hives, stored away side by side and stacked-up up to three levels with fork-lifts and covered with heavy tarps, so the hives share the warmth they produce.
A single hive in such boxes is doomed if not heavily insulated - that's why i have moved my hive inside.

My uncle built the boxes for his hives (he had about 50) himself out of pine or spruce wood. The walls were 5cm (~2") thick, the outside coated with bees-wax once a year. The boxes were assembled without any metal parts to avoid any thermal bridges. If i remember correctly the corners were just simple 45° miter joints with wood glue. Simple wooden handles were added to all four sides with just glue and wooden dowels.
Yes those boxes were heavy as led, but my uncle rarely had to move them, they were placed on a couple of cement boxes on a pasture and stayed there for years. They didn't require any extra cover during the winter, just the entrance was sealed with a mesh so the bees would not suffocate. A feeder box with about 6 liters (~2 gallons) of sugar syrup, a quilt-box and a ventilated attic ant the hive was ready for the winter. Winters in northern Germany at that time were like nowadays in the northern plains, cold dry and windy but my uncle's hives had a survival rate of 95% and when a hive was lost it was due to a bear or in one case a car-crash toppling the hive in mid winter.
#2 I vividly remember the moldy stench while disassembling a couple of dead hives with my uncle in an early summer. I was a very wet year and somehow moisture and condensation had built up in the hives, causing mold on the walls and the inner covers. My uncle didn't even bother to reclaim any parts of the hives, they were burnt immediately. He said that the mold spores would spread around and could infect other hives too.

Uncle's one and only rule was »Dry hives are healthy hives!«​

 

[5Australorpasaures]

About 5 decades ago i was on summer vacations at my uncle's in northern Germany where bee-keeping was important to stay afloat. He was a beekeeper with more than 50 years of experience at that time and he shared a lot of his experience with me. Unfortunately i was a young boy and didn't really listen and memorize. But two things i vividly remember:

1. Commercial bee-boxes are not good as single bee-hives, their walls are not thick enough to protect the bees from heat or cold.
2. Moisture and condensation are a death-sentence for bee-hives.

#1: Have you ever looked closely at your hive boxes that you bought? The wood is not even ½ of inch thick and has grip notches carved into the walls. Add staples, nails or screws as conductors to this and you should understand why your hives are dying in the winter. Those boxes have been made for commercial bee-keepers who keep hundreds of hives, stored away side by side and stacked-up up to three levels with fork-lifts and covered with heavy tarps, so the hives share the warmth they produce.
A single hive in such boxes is doomed if not heavily insulated - that's why i have moved my hive inside.

My uncle built the boxes for his hives (he had about 50) himself out of pine or spruce wood. The walls were 5cm (~2") thick, the outside coated with bees-wax once a year. The boxes were assembled without any metal parts to avoid any thermal bridges. If i remember correctly the corners were just simple 45° miter joints with wood glue. Simple wooden handles were added to all four sides with just glue and wooden dowels.
Yes those boxes were heavy as led, but my uncle rarely had to move them, they were placed on a couple of cement boxes on a pasture and stayed there for years. They didn't require any extra cover during the winter, just the entrance was sealed with a mesh so the bees would not suffocate. A feeder box with about 6 liters (~2 gallons) of sugar syrup, a quilt-box and a ventilated attic ant the hive was ready for the winter. Winters in northern Germany at that time were like nowadays in the northern plains, cold dry and windy but my uncle's hives had a survival rate of 95% and when a hive was lost it was due to a bear or in one case a car-crash toppling the hive in mid winter.
#2 I vividly remember the moldy stench while disassembling a couple of dead hives with my uncle in an early summer. I was a very wet year and somehow moisture and condensation had built up in the hives, causing mold on the walls and the inner covers. My uncle didn't even bother to reclaim any parts of the hives, they were burnt immediately. He said that the mold spores would spread around and could infect other hives too.

Uncle's one and only rule was »Dry hives are healthy hives!«​

I say the same thing "wet bees are dead bees", both saying the same thing in a different way. Your uncle saying it with positivity me saying it "they're DOOMED".

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Please jump in with questions. This is my first year, and EVERYTHING is new and news to me. At the bee club meetings, I was so glad when another newbie asked questions. It was very helpful for me too. "Wow, I never even thought of that! I'm glad someone asked."

We treated with Formic Pro in a "cool-ish" period. We did a sugar shake and found 3 mites. I took that as an encouraging sign (that there weren't more), but a caution too.

I would love to treat for mites without chemicals. I try to run our household as organically as possible. But I would be ok with a treatment of oxalic acid for mites to save the colony.

You can treat the whole hive with powdered sugar, one pound per hive box:
Set an empty honey super on a piece of plywood, set the upper hive box aside and the lower box on top of the super and dump a pond of powdered sugar on top of the frames. Then gently shake or knock the sugar through the hive box.
The bees will be covered in powdered sugar, causing the mites to loose their grip (like in a sugar roll). Then the bees start cleaning each other and remove almost all of the remaining mites. Set the treated hive box back to the hive base and treat the upper box in the same way.
The powdered sugar can be collected and cooked into syrup, the cooking process kills all the mites for sure, you can either filter the dead mites out or just leave them in.
This should be done either in fall or as early as possible in spring, on a warm, sunny day with low humidity (powdered sugar is hygroscopic!) to make sure that none of the syrup ends up in the honey.
I would rather use formic acid that oxalic acid as mite treatment. Formic acid fumes make you cough, oxalic acid fumes make you cough and can poison you…

 

[5Australorpasaures]

You can treat the whole hive with powdered sugar, one pound per hive box:
Set an empty honey super on a piece of plywood, set the upper hive box aside and the lower box on top of the super and dump a pond of powdered sugar on top of the frames. Then gently shake or knock the sugar through the hive box.
The bees will be covered in powdered sugar, causing the mites to loose their grip (like in a sugar roll). Then the bees start cleaning each other and remove almost all of the remaining mites. Set the treated hive box back to the hive base and treat the upper box in the same way.
The powdered sugar can be collected and cooked into syrup, the cooking process kills all the mites for sure, you can either filter the dead mites out or just leave them in.
This should be done either in fall or as early as possible in spring, on a warm, sunny day with low humidity (powdered sugar is hygroscopic!) to make sure that none of the syrup ends up in the honey.
I would rather use formic acid that oxalic acid as mite treatment. Formic acid fumes make you cough, oxalic acid fumes make you cough and can poison you…

I have heard of this, could be worth a try.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I have heard of this, could be worth a try.

I did the last year in spring. It was a sticky and stingy situation…
Make sure you're wearing protective clothing, the bees will be p¡ssed!