FALL PREPARATION OF HONEY BEE HIVES
Examine Your Objectives in Keeping Bees
The single most important item to be considered in your apiary is, MAINTAIN A STRONG HIVE. If you remember only one thing from this presentation, please let it be “Keep Your Hives Strong”, lots of bees, enough stores, and control diseases.
POLLINATORS REQUEEN EVERY YEAR! EVER WONDERED WHY?
1. HAVE A YOUNG AND VIBRANT QUEEN GOING INTO THE SUMMER.
I suggest that if your queen(s) is 3 years or older, consider replacing her NOW, IN JUNE. Remove the queen, leave the hive queen less for 2 weeks, and check for emergency, supercedure, and swarm cells. If any found, remove them. Now, place the new queen in the hive, preferably with the aid of a queen ring. Keep an eye out for queen cells.
Taking this action provides two benefits:
a. The hive will be much stronger with a new queen laying, in preparation for hive expansion prior to the winter months. Most hives are loss due to inadequate bees to keep the colony warm. Many hives have been lost with a full supply of honey. Just not enough bees to keep the hive warm.
b. It also provides a break in the brood cycle, and thus supports the IPM for Varroa Control. (No Brood, No Place for the Varroa to Reproduce.)
2. CHECK FOR FOOD STORES
Make sure you have 6 to 7 frames of honey in the upper brood box. Each shallow frame equates to about 3 pounds of honey. Each deep frame equates to about 6 pounds of honey. If you need to, feed them sugar syrup.
3. CHECK HIVE TO DETERMINE IF REVERSING HIVE IS NECESSARY
If your bees are all in the top brood box, and the bottom brood box is empty, reverse the hives. If you do not, the hive will swarm or abscond.
The queen needs drawn comb in which to lay her eggs. Otherwise, they will either abscond or swarm.
4. DEVELOP A BEE DISEASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.
Bee Keepers, whether they own one or thousands of hives, must develop a Bee disease management program based on periodic colony inspections. Beekeepers must learn to recognize signs of bee diseases and be able to differentiate the serious from the not so serious and must know the corrective actions for each disease.
a. Bacterial Diseases:
American foul brood
European foul brood
b. Fungus Diseases:
Chalk brood Disease
Stone Brood
c. Protozoan diseases
Nosema Apis Zander
Nosema Cerana
Amoeba
d. Virus Diseases
Sacbrood Disease
Bee Paralysis Diseases
Chronic Bee Paralysis
Acute Bee Paralysis
Filamentous Virus disease
e. Noninfectious Diseases
Chilled Brood
Overheated brood
Starved brood
Overheated bees
Lethal genes
f. Parasitic Bee Mites
1. Tracheal Mite Acarpapis woodi
Afflicts only the adult bee. Likely detection best in Fall and Winter. Shows as disjointed wings and distended abdomen, or both. Treatment is 1.8 oz. menthol in bag, placed on top bar <80 deg. F for 20 to 25 days.
2. Varroa Jacobsoni (Destructor)
First found attacking A. mellifera in 1962 by USDA in Beltsville MD from Hong Kong, and in 1963 in the Philippines. Varroa occurs on older larvae and pupae, drone brood preferred. The number being lowest in the spring, increasing in the summer, and highest in the fall. During Spring & Summer most mites are found on the brood (especially drone brood). In late Fall and Winter most mites are attached to adult worker bee.
a. Perform a sugar roll to determine level of infection
b. Install drone comb
c. Check mite infection with sticky board
d. Install screen bottom boards with grease trays
e. Utilize USDA assistance in identification of bee diseases.
f. Apply grease patties to top frames of brood box
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