February Beekeeping Jobs

February Beekeeping Chores

Time to give bee hives some personality with paint. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

February Beekeeping Chores

Whether you are a new beekeeper or one with a few years under your bee suit, February continues to be a surprisingly busy month.

With bees clustered inside hives consuming their hard-earned honey, beekeepers need to be updating their knowledge by attending classes and lectures.

This is also a good time to inventory beekeeping equipment, order what is missing and get those hives painted.

Bees are clustered inside hives staying warm and eating honey or sugar cakes. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

I’m going to make more sugar cakes in case my girls eat through what they currently have as supplemental food in case they run out of stored honey.

And should you have honey, this is a good month to play with recipes using honey.

I also have a pile of books and magazines to read.

If you are starting your beekeeping journey, pick up a copy of "A Beekeeper's Diary Self-Guide to Keeping Bees 2nd Edition." It’s an excellent reference and guide regardless of what classes you are taking and will help if you can’t get to one.

For more beekeeping, gardening, cooking and easy home decor tips, subscribe to Garden Notes.

Charlotte

February Beekeeping Jobs

February Beekeeping Chores

Time to give bee hives some personality with paint. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

February Beekeeping Chores

Whether you are a new beekeeper or one with a few years under your bee suit, February continues to be a surprisingly busy month.

With bees clustered inside hives consuming their hard-earned honey, beekeepers need to be updating their knowledge by attending classes and lectures. And teaching them. If you are in the Rolla, Missouri area we have one opening left for each of our beginning beekeeping class February 25, 2023 and the Second Year Beekeeping class March 25, 2023. Register here.

This is a good time to inventory beekeeping equipment, order what is missing and get those hives painted.

Bees are clustered inside hives staying warm and eating honey or sugar cakes. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

I’m going to make more sugar cakes in case my girls eat through what they currently have as supplemental food in case they run out of stored honey.

Besides teaching beekeeping classes, this is a good month to attend lectures. There are a good number offered online since COVID.

And should you have honey, this is a good month to play with recipes using honey.

I also have a pile of books and magazines to read.

If you are starting your beekeeping journey, pick up a copy of "A Beekeeper's Diary Self-Guide to Keeping Bees 2nd Edition." It’s an excellent reference and guide regardless of what classes you are taking and will help if you can’t get to one.

What Bees Are Doing

As days get longer, the queen bees will start to lay more eggs getting ready for the busy time, the nectar flow.

Bees are also staying warm clustered together keeping the queen cozy.

Bees will consume about 25 pounds of stored honey this month.

Charlotte

July Beekeeping Jobs

Hot weather means keeping bird baths refreshed so bees have easy access to water. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

July Beekeeping Jobs

We finally got some rain last week but it was too late to keep the nectar flowing. A heat dome cooked the midwest with record hot temperatures, pushing most plants into survival mode. That means they stopped making nectar to attract pollinators to move pollen from one plant to the next.

This year we’ve had an early nectar flow so at least bees should have nectar stored for food through the rest of summer if not the coming winter.

Other July chores include:

Monitoring for Varroa mite levels. I use powdered sugar to monitor the mite numbers to help me decide how to manage them.

I also just split a colony but it didn’t go well. The early dearth meant the split was robbed out. I put the remaining bee frames back on the original colony.

Hive maintenance is good to do this time of year as well. It gives me time to make, or buy, what I need and cuts down on what I have to do later. I’m inspecting my colonies anyway this time of year so I plan upgrades as needed.

Good month to also plan on when to extract honey and to have all supplies on hand.

As I do every year, I also consider what else I can plant to give my bees food this time of year. I do have some trees in pots I will plant this fall but it’s never enough!

Charlotte

June Beekeeping Chores

Frames this time of year should have new wax like the bottom frame. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

June Beekeeping Chores

It’s been a long nectar flow so far this year, a time when plants entice pollinators with nectar so the pollinators move pollen from one plant to the next. A good nectar flow means bees will be making wax and bringing in a lot of nectar; so much so that the foragers can take over all of the hive space and leave the queen bee short of space to lay.

Nectar to bees is flight fuel; they collect it this time of year and dehydrate it to have food over winter. Pollen is baby food, it’s what nurse bees mix with royal jelly to feed larvae.

Here are some of the June beekeeping chores for mid-Missouri:

1. Are your colonies queen right? If not, add open brood from another colony so bees can raise their own queen.

2. Do your existing queen bees have room in the brood box to lay? Move nectar-full and pollen-full frames to give the queen room to lay. Move those frames to an upper box.

3. When adding a super, add it over the brood box.

4. Monitor how much nectar bees are bringing in. The nectar flow ends when temperatures are over 86F.

5. This time of year, check colonies every 7-10 days. Look at the bottom of frames for swarm cells.

6. If you haven’t monitored for Varroa mite levels, do it now as you inspect colonies so you have a benchmark for how colonies are doing.

7. Make sure your bees have access to water near their hives. I have bird baths close to their hives as well as a deck rug they seem to like as well. Keeping water sources close by will reduce their interest in visiting your neighbor’s swimming pool.

8. Note what plants are blooming within 2 miles of your colonies.Plan on planting trees and shrubs that will provide them with more nectar and pollen. It takes 2 million flowers to make one pound of honey.

9. Here’s a quick video of my inspecting one of my colonies yesterday.

Charlotte

Vandalized Hives

One of my bee hives knocked over during the night. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Vandalized Hives

The leading suspect is a bear. They have been reported in the last few days west of where I live, sighted along a county road that runs parallel to my hillside.

Black bears used to be native to Missouri and have been re-introduced. I’ve heard of a few sightings over the last couple of years but this is the first time I have been concerned for the safety of my bee colonies because of bears.

Three of my colonies were tipped over, two occupied and one a “rental.” According to friends who used to work for our state conservation department, these are the signs of a bear vandalizing a hive:

1. Paw prints in wet soil

2. Destroyed brood comb; bears are after the protein.

3. Destroyed honey comb; bears also have a sweet tooth.

4. Frames and hive bodies in pieces.

   I don’t have any of those signs and three empty frames are gone from the empty hive. I have scoured my property to find the frames.

Option 2. This was vandalism by a human who chose the colonies farthest from the house and took three frames as trophies.

It will be a few days before I can determine whether the colonies are ok. I will be checking for eggs to make sure the queen bee wasn’t killed.

The hives have been secured again. '

The police took my report and came by to look at the area. The officer said it looked to her like this was damage by a person, not a bear. Maybe this got whatever was bugging them out of their system.

Charlotte

Nectar-bound Colony

The frame spaces where the queen should lay are now filled with nectar. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Nectar-bound Colony

We’ve had a long spring in 2022 including bouts of rain - EF1 tornadoes last week - which means bees have had extra time to store flower nectar. Bees use nectar for winter food once they dehydrate it 18% into honey.

This year, rain has delayed getting into the colonies and they have become full of nectar. So much nectar that the queen bee doesn’t have room to lay so the colony decides to swarm.

Here’s a video peek at one of my nectar-bound colonies and how to give bees more room.

Charlotte

Pros and Cons of Pollen Substitute

The darker sugar pieces have pollen substitute as one of the options to safely feed bees. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Pros and Cons of Pollen Substitute

Mid-February in mid-Missouri we usually have a break in winter with sunny days in the 60s. Those warm days prompt bees to be out scouting for pollen, the protein nurse bees consume to produce baby food, or royal jelly.

When I first started keeping bees, open feeding pollen substitute was a regular practice during these warm days. Not any more. Open feeding is now highly discouraged.

So should you feed your bees pollen substitute during these warm February days and if so, how do you do it in the safest way?

The bottom line is you don’t want to get your bees ahead of nature’s schedule so best to go slow.

Bees this time of year will look for pollen even in bird feeders. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

And if you don’t want to feed your bees pollen substitute, it doesn’t mean they won’t go looking for some. I can count on seeing my bees rummaging through bird food in my bird feeders with cracked corn in the mix. That’s a sure sign the queen bees in my apiaries are starting to lay eggs.

Charlotte

February Beekeeping Chores

February Beekeeping Chores

Time to give bee hives some personality with paint. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

February Beekeeping Chores

Whether you are a new beekeeper or one with a few years under your bee suit, February continues to be a busy month.

With bees clustered inside hives consuming their hard-earned honey, beekeepers need to be updating their knowledge by attending classes and lectures. And teaching them. If you are in the Rolla, Missouri area we have one opening left for each of our beginning beekeeping class February 26, 2022 and the Second Year Beekeeping class March 26, 2022. Register here.

This is a good time to inventory beekeeping equipment, order what is missing and get those hives painted.

Bees are clustered inside hives staying warm and eating honey or sugar cakes. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

I’m going to make more sugar cakes in case my girls eat through what they currently have as supplemental food in case they run out of stored honey.

Besides teaching beekeeping classes, this is a good month to attend lectures. There are a good number offered online.

And should you have honey, this is a good month to play with recipes using honey.

I also have a pile of books and magazines to read.

If you are starting your beekeeping journey, pick up a copy of "A Beekeeper's Diary Self-Guide to Keeping Bees 2nd Edition." It’s an excellent reference and guide regardless of what classes you are taking and will help if you can’t get to one.

What Bees Are Doing

As days get longer, the queen bees will start to lay more eggs getting ready for the busy time, the nectar flow.

Bees are also staying warm clustered together keeping the queen cozy.

Bees will consume about 25 pounds of stored honey this month.

Charlotte

Merging Colonies

Merging two colonies, one with a laying queen, into one winter colony. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Merging Colonies

There are many steps beekeepers take this time of year to get their bees ready for winter. One that I am finally trying this year is merging my smaller colonies so they have a better chance to survive winter.

Each colony has a unique queen with a unique pheromone. To successfully merge two colonies, one queen has to be removed and the pheromone of the colonies mixed so the worker bees are loyal to the remaining pheromone.

To combine colonies, I use one sheet of newspaper with slits to help the pheromones mingle between hive boxes and bees. The bees themselves will remove newspaper pieces, speeding up the pheromone mixing.

After a couple of days, the newspaper between the boxes has been removed by the bees, thereby mixing the two bee colonies.

Newspapers with slits are used to combine pheromones of two colonies. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

I escorted a few bees on the newspaper back to the entrance of the bottom hive. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

This year, I am merging two smaller colonies who have queens with larger colonies that are queenless. In this example, I moved the remaining newspaper to the front of the colony so the attached bees could move back into their home.

Feeding the now combined bee colonies so they can store sugar water for winter food. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

This is the new combined colony, now mixing worker bees from both colonies so they can cluster together and stay warm through winter.

Since their honey stores were low, I am also feeding them 2 parts sugar to one part water so they can have food to eat and not consume what stored honey they still have.

Next spring, if all goes well, I will split the colony back into two separate ones and let the queenless colony grow a new queen. This helps keep the Varroa mite levels low, one of several steps to manage that invasive pest. For other options, see A Beekeeper’s Diary Self-Guide to Beekeeping.

Charlotte

September Beekeeping Chores

Look for totes that will store medium supers on top of each other. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

September Beekeeping Chores

It’s Labor Day weekend in the US and at this writing we have had 4 inches of rain — that’s a lot of rain here in a little more than 12 hours. The rain means no time with bees in the bee garden but time to get organized for fall storage.

One of the biggest challenges is how to store frames in the least amount of room. After some testing, I found that there are totes that have a couple more inches in height that allow for two rows of medium frames to be stored. I use ParaMoth crystals to discourage wax moths so that I can use these again next year, giving my bees a little head start. Just a reminder we need to air the frames for several days before using or the crystals will kill all insects that get in contact with them, including bees.

Here are some other September beekeeping chores where I live:

Checking each colony for their honey stores. Equalizing the stored honey across all colonies.

Check colonies for Varroa mite levels. Anyone with more than 3 Varroa mites per 300 bees, I will treat them with a natural product to knock the mite levels back.

I will also be refreshing small hive beetle traps and moving them from the corners to the center of the hive.

If you are starting to keep bees, I have a handy monthly calendar of beekeeping chores in A Beekeeper’s Diary, Self-Guide to Beekeeping as well as handy guides for all of the decisions you will need to make to get started.

What else will you be doing with your bees?

Charlotte

Propolis Entrance Reducer

Bees built a propolis wall along the front entrance of this hive. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Propolis Entrance Reducer

When I first started beekeeping in 2010, more experienced beekeepers advised to remove as much of the sticky, glue-like propolis as possible because it got in the way of the beekeeper. I didn’t take that advice. I figured if the bees were collecting and making it, they had a good reason.

Since then, research has confirmed propolis has a protective role in a colony; it helps keep them healthy.

In nature, or bee trees, bees line the tree cavity with propolis. Propolis is a resin-like material collected from the buds of poplar and cone-bearing trees. If you’re a beekeeper, you will know it as a caramel-colored glue-like substance found in between hive bodies, keeping frames secured to boxes and filling up open spaces.

In this example, I found the bees had used propolis to reduce the front of the hive, or as I called it, built themselves an entrance reducer. You bet I left it there, looks like they figured out how to get that part of the hive protecting the arriving and departing bees.

Because current wooden bee hives are built with smooth walls, it is harder for bees to add propolis on the walls to create a protective envelope around the colony. Research at the University of Minnesota Bee Lab is focusing on how to rough up the inside of a hive so bees can line it with propolis.

In the meantime, we as beekeepers just need to learn to work around the bee glue and keep our hive tools off of scraping that stuff off the hives.

Charlotte

July Beekeeping Chores

This new colony just got a new bottom board to replace the rotting one. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

July Beekeeping Chores

Where I keep bees in mid-Missouri, July beekeeping chores depend a lot on the weather.

If we’ve had a hot summer with temperatures over 86F, the plants are shutting down nectar and pollen production. That means to me that I can extract honey once bees are finishing putting the wax caps on dehydrated flower nectar.

This year, though, we’ve had an early nectar flow as well as two weeks of rain so the plants may be producing more nectar and pollen. You would think that’s good news only I may be running out of hive parts to give the bees the extra room they need.

Other July chores include:

Monitoring for Varroa mite levels. I use formic acid products to knock Varroa mite levels down if needed.

I also just split several colonies. Keeping the colony size smaller helps to keep Varroa mite levels low.

Hive maintenance is good to do this time of year as well. It gives me time to make, or buy, what I need and cuts down on what I have to do later. I’m inspecting my colonies anyway this time of year so I plan upgrades as needed.

Good month to also plan on when to extract and to have all supplies on hand.

Charlotte

June Beekeeping Chores

June is when beekeepers try to keep up with their bees nectar and pollen collecting. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

June Beekeeping Chores

If you’ve tried to see a beekeeping friend this month, or even talk to them, don’t take it personally if they don’t respond. June is a very busy month for beekeepers keeping up with the quick growth of their colonies.

It’s quick growth if the colonies are healthy, have a good queen bee and the bees have access to plants to collect nectar and pollen. Nectar to bees is flight fuel; they collect it this time of year and dehydrate it to have food over winter. Pollen is baby food, it’s what nurse bees mix with royal jelly to feed larvae.

If a colony is not healthy, beekeepers are managing the colony to get it there before the food source stops.

Here are some of the June beekeeping chores for mid-Missouri:

1. Are your colonies queen right? If not, add open brood from another colony so bees can raise their own queen.

2. Do your existing queen bees have room in the brood box to lay? Remove nectar-full and pollen-full frames to give the queen room to lay. Move those frames to an upper box.

3. Monitor how much nectar they are bringing in. The nectar flow ends when temperatures are over 86F.

4. This time of year, check colonies every 7-10 days. Look at the bottom of frames for swarm cells.

5. If you haven’t monitored for Varroa mite levels, do it now as you inspect colonies so you have a benchmark for how colonies are doing.

6. Make sure your bees have access to water near their hives. I have bird baths close to their hives as well as a deck rug they seem to like as well. Keeping water sources close by will reduce their interest in visiting your neighbor’s swimming pool.

7. Note what plants are blooming within 2 miles of your colonies.Plan on planting trees and shrubs that will provide them with more nectar and pollen. It takes 2 million flowers to make one pound of honey.

Charlotte

Dead Bees on Frame

Beekeepers learn from live, as well as dead, bees. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Dead Bees On Frame

It’s the time of year many beekeepers both dread, and hope, will turn out well. It’s almost spring. Beekeepers at this stage start discovering whether their bees made it through winter.

The national statistics are that on average, 40% of honey bee colonies don’t make it through winter. Usually the average is lower for hobby beekeepers compared to commercial operations. Regardless, the death of one colony is upsetting to me, even if it’s something I can’t prevent.

In the case of this frame, the bees made a choice. Between getting food and keeping the baby bees or brood warm, they decided to keep the babies warm. And as the end of winter rolls around, there were less and less and less bees available to keep the colony warm. With less bees, the cluster of bees couldn’t reach both the brood of baby bees and reaching nearby honey. Honey needs to be warmed up first for the bees to access it.

Even though it is disturbing to find a dead colony, it’s a good time for beekeepers to learn more about their colonies and what it takes for them to survive winter.

Charlotte

February Beekeeping Chores

Time to get my beekeeping equipment inventoried and order what I will need for this year. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

February Beekeeping Chores

One of my recent orders was for one of our buzzing bee toys, an item so anticipated that the Dad called me today to ask when would it ship. He said “my son can hardly wait to get it!”

I know the feeling. Even as a beekeeper for 11 years, I also anxiously await for the arrival of my new beekeeping equipment. First, though, I have to figure out what I need. This is actually a chore I try to get done in January but since I’m behind, I’m keeping it on my February list.

1. Check my colonies for where the clusters are located. Add sugar cakes for supplemental food.

2. Inventory all existing beekeeping equipment. Separate items that need repairs. Make a list of items I expect I will need.

3. Place my beekeeping equipment order.

4. Repair those items that need repairs.

5. Organize my equipment so I have all similar items together.

6. Replace used foundation with new foundation.

7. Order queens bees. I want to add Varroa Sensitive Saskatraz queen bees to my apiary gene pool so I have those on order. They should be shipping in April, when, weather permitting, I plan to make splits.

8. Paint my woodenware. I didn’t get around to painting my nucs last year so this should be their lucky year.

9. Scope out garden locations for temporary housing of nucs and hives from swarms. Last year I ran out of space and was scrambling.

10. Catch up on reading; I’m behind there, too.

    Charlotte

It's a Sign!

My new Bluebird Gardens apiary signs. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

It’s a Sign!

Delivery trucks are regular visitors to my house. Most know that my driveway is not a U turn; it’s not designed to carry heavy vans and it’s located uphill from one of my apiaries.

This particular delivery van driver was new but not so new that he had been told not to drive down my gravel driveway. He also did so when I was working the closest hive so bees were actively flying around the area.

I found the driver at a neighbor’s house claiming he had been stung several times. When I asked to see where he had been stung he pointed to one area on his ear lobe. There was no sting there but I treated it anyway and reminded him he should not be driving his heavy van down my small gravel driveway.

So after I maneuvered his van out of my driveway, I decided it was time to put up more signs. I live on a dead end street and all of my neighbors know me as the “bee lady.” Nevertheless, I thought it was time I put up signs that honor the work bees are doing without being scary, a gentle reminder of sorts that I am a bee lover and there are honey bees on the property.

Most of the available signs are directive and include “no trespassing.” Since I was going to be the one looking at these signs most of the time, I chose a more friendly route. Here is one of the first signs I put up in my apiary many years ago.

This is a more typical sign noting bees in the area. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

After a brief search, I found the “Honey Bees at Work” signs that now mark my two apiaries. The signs are bright and easy to see and honor the work bees do. And I like seeing them!

My new apiary signs honor the bees without being threatening. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins0

To make sure the clear path was obvious, I added a garden flag that reminded visitors there are bees on the property and that this was a safe path to use.

Garden flags can also be an easy way to sign bees in the area. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

So far the new signs and garden flag seem to be working.

And yes, I have been repeatedly told I should not have driven the van out of my driveway but I was only too glad to get it out of the way.

Oh. And he did drop off the packages he was initially delivering but he left them at the top of the driveway.

Charlotte

Storing Bee Equipment

The space beneath a deck that has now become my beekeeping storage space. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Storing Bee Equipment

If you are new to beekeeping the one thing that can easily sneak up on you is storage. Or to be more precise, storage space.

It’s not apparent spring through summer when bees are using most, if not all, of your equipment. By fall, though, it becomes apparent that your garage can either hold your cars or your beekeeping equipment but not both.

I was facing this dilemma when earlier this year an unexpected option opened up under a deck area. With a little creativity, we closed in the area, gave it a dry ceiling and arranged it for extra space.. The area already had my water totes so with a little of reorganizing it now holds my extra beekeeping equipment including suits and hive bodies.

Another storage area winters over extra beekeeping equipment. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

The storage area - not a he shed, or she shed but a bee shed - is close to one of my apiaries. I now have “easy to move doors” and can use a shoulder to nudge the opening wider.

Beekeeping equipment is now readily accessible to my apiary. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

I added a grapevine wreath with some dried flowers last week, a traditional welcome to my outside garden rooms. You can’t see it well but I have a little yellow bee skep on the right side. Skeps, or woven baskets, are a popular symbol to represent beekeeping, it even appears on garden quilts.

Fun to add another grapevine wreath to my bee shed door. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

It’s wonderful to have most of my beekeeping equipment now all in one place. I can now do a better job of ordering whatever I need for next year; make repairs and, if all goes well, even extract honey in this space.

As I was leaving the area, I noticed one of the sure challenges beekeepers have, keeping track of their hive tools. See where I left this one?

Not the best place to store a hive tool. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

The hive tool is now safely back in the bee shed, waiting for the next time I need to use it.

Charlotte