Bee Savvy       by Pete Kritscher

What do you do when you have a weak hive going into the fall?   
          I think the consensus opinion of long-time beekeepers is combine your bees with another hive or shrink your boxes to a Nuc or single deep and requeen with a mated queen ASAP.  You can of course do nothing and let nature take its course.  
          If you have multiple hives you know which ones are weak and which are strong.  But some of us have only one hive and can’t see the difference.  What steps can you take this time of year to strengthen a hive to help it make it through the winter?  I have tried every year to figure this out.  There are a couple of things that I have learned that may help or at least may give you some things to think about.   Like everyone else my results are not always good but at least I know that I tried.  If you have over 3% mites now you may be out of luck. Treat for the mites if that’s your thing.
           Going into cold weather I am doing a couple of things.  I consolidate hives as much as possible.  Usually that involves taking the hive down to one deep or if it is strong a deep and a medium box.  In order to do this I take off any honey supers even if they have something in them.  See Figure 1. 
  
The hive on the right is set up for winter. What I hope for is a single deep full (at least 6 to 8 frames) of bees and brood and a medium box full of honey with perhaps some brood in the middle.  No queen excluder.  Over winter the bees will work up into the honey and in January you may find the bottom super completely empty.  The bees will find it easier to control the environment in a much smaller space in the winter.   
            If I have a weak hive (only 2 to 4 frames of bees and few resources) I like to move the frames with brood into a nuc along with a couple of frames of pollen and honey.  If they need to stay in the deep super I may use follower boards to try to keep the bees in a smaller area to conserve warmth.  Then I feed 2:1 syrup to fill the box and a pollen patty to make sure that they start the winter with lots of resources.    If you are treatment free then at this point you can feed with syrup and hope for the best. 
           I treat so here is my suggestion for those that treat.  If I get them down to a single brood box I mark the frames as treated and I will add a treatment like Apivar to kill the mites.  Formic Pro would be good but the queen may delay laying eggs and that’s not good this time of year.  Many use oxalic acid to treat for mites when the brood levels are low and the mites are all phoretic.   Then I feed with sugar syrup until there is a lot of extra syrup stored on the frames. 
This is where note taking comes in real handy.  You need to be able to go back and see what worked for you.  If you do please share it with me.
           See you on the new website coming soon!
If you agree or disagree with me reach out to me when you log in and let’s start a chat.  We all benefit from the discussion.

Peter Kritscher
VP Member Development
pkritscher@astound.net

Community Education
 

All About Honey

Honey: the thick, golden liquid produced by bees has been prized throughout the centuries and the world over. Known for its distinct sweetness, honey continues to be a staple in cooking and in home treatments for sore throat and skin complaints.
Honey is a thick, golden liquid produced by bees, a result of insects extracting sugary secretions (nectar) from flowering plants.

History of Honey
Bees have produced honey for millions of years. Regarding beekeeping, or apiculture, sources and opinions vary as to when humans first started gathering honey by “keeping” bees. Ancient Egyptians began beekeeping around 2500 BC, though other sources indicate the practice started even earlier in China. And long before any actual beekeeping was practiced, humans gathered, or foraged, wild honey. In Spain’s Cueva de la Araña (Cave of the Spider), a cave painting dating from 9000 BC depicts a figure bravely climbing towards a hive, basket in hand, while bees buzz around. Though methods for collecting honey have evolved since then, one thing remains certain: honey’s popularity as an all-natural sweetener and an effective health salve.


Does Honey Expire?
Technically no, honey does not expire. So long as the liquid is stored in an airtight jar and kept away from excess moisture, honey remains safe to eat for decades (or longer). In fact, ancient Egyptian archaeological sites have yielded jars of honey dating thousands of years old…and the honey was still perfectly preserved. The reason for honey’s infinite shelf life lies in its biological makeup: with a high sugar content and low water content, honey is also antibacterial and has a low pH.
However, just because honey can last forever if stored correctly, doesn’t mean the liquid won’t undergo some changes. Honey can change colors and texture, going from clear to smoky, from smooth to granular. These changes are completely harmless unless the honey has been contaminated by bacteria, and/ or exposed to moisture. How to tell if honey has gone bad? A sour, instead of a sweet taste, is the classic sign.

Types of Honey
It may be easy to assume there’s only one type of honey, being that it is a golden liquid made by bees, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, there are over 300 types of honey in the US alone! This all comes down to what flowers bees take their nectar from, which affects the flavor and color of honey produced. For example, buckwheat nectar has a malty, molasses like taste and is nearly black in color, while the extremely popular clover honey is very light in color and has a sweet, mild taste.

Uses and Health Benefits of Honey
Besides its use as a salve for sore throat during colds, honey is also effective at treating burns, wounds, ulcers, herpes, psoriasis, etc. as it enhances healing. A study has also shown honey as being effective in stopping the growth of cancer cells, due to the antioxidants within the liquid. Honey is also a great sugar alternative as it is low glycemic, meaning it won’t spike blood sugar, unlike regular sugar.
Contributed by Dermot Jones