The basic wooden pieces that comprise a honey bee hive. Typically called “wooden ware” we’ll discuss each piece with a goal of helping you to be a successful beekeeper.
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Swarms are the normal, natural and healthy reproduction of a honey bee colony.
They are colony-level reproduction vs individual honey bee. It’s an important part
of the colony life cycle and it’s how honey bees procreate.
It’s time to harvest and extract your honey. If you are a BCBA member you have the advantage of renting the club honey extraction equipment. The club has everything you need to get the job done: an extractor, a planer to uncap the honey, an uncapping tub, a straining set up, and 5-gallon food grade buckets. First things first, you will need to pull the honey which means getting the supers off the hives and the bees out of the supers = honey harvest. There are several ways to do this.
Once you have pulled all of your supers you are ready to set up for honey extraction. You will want to select a place that you are able to keep the bees out of. If you decide to extract outside in the open, you will have unwanted visitor bees, and lots of them.
Bees love to help clean up the honey covered frames with the majority of the honey extracted. Take your extracted supers back to the hive, set an empty super on top of the inner cover and place the extracted supers on top of the empty box (thus leaving a space between the inner cover and the extracted frames). This extra space “fools” the bees into thinking they are leaving the hive, finding honey, and they will bring is down into to hive proper. Remove the cleaned up frames after a couple of days. If you leave them on the hive too long, the bees will sometimes start back filling them again.
Leaving the boxes with extracted frames randomly outside the hive can instigate robbing behaviors which should be avoided. Placing them on the hives ensures your bees have “first dibs” of the leftovers and minimizes robbing behaviors.
You will end up with a mix of wax cappings and honey in the uncapping tub when the extracting is completed. You can leave them in the tub for the honey to drain overnight then open the gate on the tub the following day and strain the honey. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the amount of additional honey you will be able to harvest.
Once you have strained the honey from the uncapping tub and removed your left over
cappings (save them to use later or give to your favorite beekeeper) you can place the tubs and strainers outside FAR from your hives to let the bees clean up. If you decide to try your hand at cleaning the strainer be sure to use COLD water.
Extracted honey should have a moisture content at or below 18%. The club has a refractometer which is used to test moisture content. If the honey has too much moisture – 19% or greater, it may ferment. Often times when there is a high moisture content it comes from extracting frames containing uncapped honey. Some people have success reducing the moisture from the honey using a dehumidifier.
Wash containers the honey will go into and let air dry. Fill containers with honey, label and share with friends.
Tracheal Mites live in the bee’s respiratory system and have become less of a problem with the use formic acid and thymol based treatments for control of Varroa Destructor Mite. These treatments are also effective in treating the tracheal mite, mostly eliminating them. Symptoms include: bees appearing to be disoriented, unable to fly and disjointed wings. Bees are unable to get out to forage, leading to a large number of bees found throughout the day at the hive.
Nosema weakens the immune system of the honeybee leading to increased colony death. It is a problem in winter because bees are not getting out of the hive often to defecate, increasing the risk of spread within the colony. You may see LOTS of bee poop all over your boxes. Don’t confuse normal cleaning flights with Nosema. To prevent Nosema keep your colony strong and healthy, replace old comb and make sure there is good drainage and ventilation in your bee yard. Find more information here.
American Foul Brood (AFB): AFB is extremely contagious. Spores contaminate a hives by drift, robbing, tainted equipment/ tools. They infect and destroy larvae and once the cells are capped larvae turn brown. You will note a rancid smell, spotty brood pattern and sunken perforated cappings; inside the cell you would find melted looking brown remains of the larvae. You can check for suspected AFB by sticking a toothpick into a cell and stir the larva and pull the toothpick out. If it has a ropey appearance, more than 2 cm there is a good chance it is AFB. Because of the infectious nature it is recommended that all equipment be burned or wooden ware be scorched to disinfect before using again. AFB must be reported to the state inspector. More in depth information can be found here.
Sacbrood Virus (SBV) can be seen and easier to identify. Capped brood will have pin sized holes in it. Pupae have underdeveloped heads. The infected larvae will die and become dark and brittle. It will be easy to remove from the cells. SBV is transmitted via contaminated food, feces or during mating. You can try removing infected larvae and re-queening but as of today there are no known treatments to get rid of SBV directly.
Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) can be seen as well and looks as the name describes. Adult bees infected with the virus show no visual signs. It is the most common virus found in a colony and is transmitted by the varroa mite. The bees are unable to perform hive duties or forage and the bees do not survive long. It is transmitted by contaminated food, feces or during mating. The queen can pass the virus to her offspring. Prevention and treatment is mite management.
Supplies needed: Rubbing alcohol, mite jar, collection tub, ½ cup measure. Note: there are devices made specifically for this test. Here is one example from Let It Bee in Greenville WI.
Advantages: accurate mite count each time, quick and easy
Disadvantages: loss of approximately 300 bees, alcohol is flammable – keep away from
smoker
Supplies needed: Powdered sugar, jar with screened lid (#8 hardware cloth), white collection tub or white disposable plate, ½ cup measure, spray bottle with water
Advantages: Bees are kept alive and can be returned for clean-up back in the hive.
Disadvantages: This method is more time intensive than the alcohol wash and not as
accurate due to variables including nectar on the frame and excessive humidity which has a tendency to clump the powdered sugar. When clumped the powered sugar does not remove as many mites.
A bee nuc (nuc is short for nucleus) is a small colony made up of bees taken from a larger colony. It’s normally sold in a box with five frames standing side by side. A couple of those frames usually already have honey stores.
A bee package is typically sold in wooden frame boxes with screens on two sides. They are sold by the pound, and it takes approximately 3,500 bees to make a pound. A three-pound package, therefore, contains about 10,000 bees.
Inside a bee package is a can full of a sugar syrup mixture. The bees feed from this during transport. Bee packages can be mailed to you via USPS. Each package also contains its own small wooden box covered on one side by a screen. This tiny box holds the queen and a few worker bees to tend her.
Bees in a package can come from different hives. The bees in a nuc are generally from the same colony. Bee packages also tend to be less expensive than nucs. However, with a package, you’ll need to build the colony by transitioning the bees into your existing hives. This requires a greater education in beekeeping. For that reason, using nucs is typically less stressful than using packages.
Beginners would do well to begin with a 5-frame nuc rather than a 3-pound package of bees. If you are a beginner, starting with an already established colony is going to increase your success rate immediately. Beekeeping has a huge learning curve. Starting with a 3-pound package introduces a whole new set of elements that you have to learn before you start keeping bees.
Not only are you new at this but now your package bees are starting from scratch too. They have no foundation, no comb, no brood, no nectar and no pollen. And although you have a mated queen in a cage, she’s technically not laying because she has nowhere to lay yet. A nuc already comes with all of those elements.
A few things before talking about installing your bees.
Installing a Package into the Hive
A bee nuc (nuc is short for nucleus) is a small colony made up of bees taken from a larger colony. It’s normally sold in a box with five frames standing side by side. A couple of those frames usually already have honey stores.
A bee package is typically sold in wooden frame boxes with screens on two sides. They are sold by the pound, and it takes approximately 3,500 bees to make a pound. A three-pound package, therefore, contains about 10,000 bees.
Inside a bee package is a can full of a sugar syrup mixture. The bees feed from this during transport. Bee packages can be mailed to you via USPS. Each package also contains its own small wooden box covered on one side by a screen. This tiny box holds the queen and a few worker bees to tend her.
Bees in a package can come from different hives. The bees in a nuc are generally from the same colony. Bee packages also tend to be less expensive than nucs. However, with a package, you’ll need to build the colony by transitioning the bees into your existing hives. This requires a greater education in beekeeping. For that reason, using nucs is typically less stressful than using packages.
Beginners would do well to begin with a 5-frame nuc rather than a 3-pound package of bees. If you are a beginner, starting with an already established colony is going to increase your success rate immediately. Beekeeping has a huge learning curve. Starting with a 3-pound package introduces a whole new set of elements that you have to learn before you start keeping bees.
Not only are you new at this but now your package bees are starting from scratch too. They have no foundation, no comb, no brood, no nectar and no pollen. And although you have a mated queen in a cage, she’s technically not laying because she has nowhere to lay yet. A nuc already comes with all of those elements.
The Wisconsin Honey Producers Association announced that Kaelyn Sumner was selected as the 2023 Wisconsin Honey Queen at their annual convention. Kaelyn has been a member of BCBA since 2018 and many will remember her presentation of the results of a honey study while she was in high school. Kaelyn is currently a junior at Kansas State University, majoring in Agricultural Education with minors in Food Science and Entomology.
Kaelyn will spend the rest of this year promoting the beekeeping industry in Wisconsin. She is available to speak with civic groups and to appear at fairs, festivals, and farmers markets. She will also give presentations in schools about honeybees and the beekeeping industry. In January 2024, Kaelyn will represent Wisconsin at the American Honey Queen competition at the American Beekeeping Federation Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Follow Queen Kaelyn’s activities on Facebook at Wisconsin Honey Queen Program. To schedule an appearance or interview with Wisconsin Honey Queen Kaelyn Sumner, contact the Wisconsin Honey Queen Chairperson, Mary Kettlewell, at 414.429.5502 or by email at wihoneyqueenprogram@gmail.com.
The Brown County Beekeepers Association is proud to have Emily Skala as a member of the club. On November 5, 2022 the Wisconsin Honey Producers Association (WHPA) recognized her contributions to beekeeping when they announced she had earned the WHPA 2022 Youth Award.
Emily started beekeeping through the WHPA Youth Scholarship program, joined BCBA in 2020 and has become an advocate for the beekeeping and honey industry. She has been an active member of the Brown County Beekeepers Association, teaching sessions at the Brown County Botanical Gardens Youth Pollinator Program, participating in television interviews about beekeeping, and promoting the WHPA and its many programs to children and adults through numerous outlets. Emily has showcased her honey in the WI State Fair honey competition the last two years, placing each year.
The Brown County Beekeepers Association wishes Emily continued success in her beekeeping journey and look forward to her future contributions educating about bees.
The Brown County Beekeepers Association has been fortunate to have Julie Mazzoleni as our Vice President for the past 6 years. On November 5, 2022 she was recognized for all of her education efforts when she was awarded the Wisconsin Honey Producers Association (WHPA) Education Award at the 2022 Fall Convention.
Julie coordinated the Green Bay Botanical Gardens Children’s Pollinator Camp, where young people spend a day learning about honeybees, including an experience in the hive. She also organized a half-day Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program at UW-Green Bay teaching children about bees and has made numerous visits to local classrooms.
Julie is also a youth mentor in the WHPA Youth Scholarship program.
