Robber Bees

handmade robbing screens work well to protect colonies from uninvited guest bees. (charlotte ekker wiggins photo)

Robber Bees

It’s the end of June in mid-Missouri with record hot temperatures - again - so plants are ending the nectar flow and heading into survival mode. So are bees.

We had a mild winter and early spring. Almost two months early so bees had early access to nectar and pollen. They store pollen to feed nurse bees to produce royal jelly to feed baby bees. Nectar is flight fuel for foragers and, once dehydrated to 18% and capped, becomes stored honey for winter food.

The larger the bee colony, the more food they can collect and store. As temperatures soar, the larger colonies also need more food to feed themselves so they will “rob” from smaller colonies.

For a beekeeper this time of year is tricky in terms of inspecting colonies. You don’t want to keep the hive open for very long because the lovely smell of honey beckons bees and is an invitation for robbing. And yet some days you don’t dare open hives, especially small ones, because they will be easy targets for the larger colonies.

Robber bees are female foragers - that’s right, not male bees - detecting a preferred food source - honey, at a time when other food sources in nature are not available. Bees will communicate to the robbing colony the location and move into the smaller hive, most often killing the queen and stealing all resources - honey and pollen. Flecks of wax they’ve torn off the stored honey will be found piled up at the bottom of the robbed hive.

I had one colony robbed in August several years ago. I saved them by throwing a wet cotton sheet over the hive and keeping it wet with a hose spray. Wet bees can’t fly so hosing them down every few minutes kept them from moving very far. I was lucky; sometimes water works for only so long.

The other tool I prefer to use is robbing screens on the front of my hives. These “porches” installed at night trains residents to come in and out up the side of the hive. Robbers approach the hive straight into the screen and can’t get in. I’m still working on how to make robbing screens myself. The ones I have were made by a friend now passed.

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Charlotte

Swarm Season

One of three swarms picked up on the same day. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Swarm Season

Mother’s Day weekend in Missouri usually kicks off the honeybee swarming season. Swarming is the honeybees way to reproduce and is not something to be feared. In most cases, a swarm is at its most docile, worker bees full of honey as scout bees go looking for a new home.

To beekeepers, the swarming season is either something to look forward to or something they try to avoid. Some experienced beekeepers prefer to make their own “swarms” by splitting colonies, which ensures the new colonies have room to grow and are not prompted to split.

Other beekeepers like the excitement of a swarm call and “catch.” Although I split some of my colonies earlier I also enjoy the periodic swarm call, it’s a great opportunity to talk to non-beekeepers about what the bees are doing. And we usually manage to snag a potential new beekeeper or two.

This particular day I had three swarm calls. I passed one on and took two of them, one literally at dusk and this one late in the afternoon. Swarms tend to be on the move as they look for a new home so the call has to be answered quickly if you want to find the bees in the first spot.

The bees in the first call were 5 feet off the ground hanging from a tree branch so it was easy to move them into a hive box.

I had the hive box half full of sugar syrup-coated wax frames in case they were hungry. To entice them to stay. I left the branch in the open space until they settled back in my apiary. One can tell if they are settling in by the sound they are making inside the hive box.

Sneak peek at the inside of the hive box where the bees are settling in. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

These are the bees later that same evening, apparently accepting their new home.

The next morning I found the bees doing orientation flights in front of their temporary home so that’s a good sign they like their new accommodations.

I also removed the tree branch and added two more sugar syrup-infused wax frames in the empty space. To make sure they were making the transition, I draped the branch over the top hive entrance.

Once the queen starts laying the swarm will move into the yellow bee hive. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Swarms have a 5-day lifespan to find a new home. In the process, they’ve left their original home full of honey and are ready to build new wax. The tree branch I cut down was covered in pristine white wax, made while the worker bees waited for scout bees to come back with possible new home locations.

Loaded up with honey, swarm worker bees like to build wax. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Swarms have their own management challenges. The queen bee is usually the old queen so it may need a new queen before the season is over. Varroa mites and small hive beetles also travel with the colony so they are not pest free. And no one knows the genetic background of the bees.

In addition, more than half of all swarms don’t make it through their first winter in a hive so they need extra attention to make sure they are strong going into winter with adequate stored honey.

The basics of catching a swarm are in A Beekeeper’s Diary, Self-Guide to Beekeeping.

Although splitting colonies is easier, there’s still a thrill about going out on a swarm call. I hope I never tire of doing it!

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.

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

April Beekeeping Jobs

A hive lifter, and a second set of hands, makes moving a hive easier. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo

April Beekeeping Tasks

Depending on weather, April can be an anxious time for beekeepers in USDA Hardiness Zone 6b where I live. Bees got an early start in February and aren’t waiting on beekeepers.

There are many traditional spring beekeeping chores including moving hives. The colonies are small so they are easier to relocate than later when there are significant higher numbers of bees. To safely relocate hives, beekeepers can use a hive lifter. It does take a second set of hands but saves the beekeeper’s back.

If you are interested in keeping bees, this is a good time to start, you may be able to find beekeepers who could use a hand and that’s the best way to learn. Start by reading a book such as A Beekeeper’s Diary Self-Guide to Beekeeping to get the terms down and understand the biology basics.

Some of the other typical April beekeeping jobs include:

1. Inspect colonies. Add small hive beetle traps with fresh lure in hive body corners opposite of each other. Then switch corners in the next box.

2. Pull together swarm-catching equipment.

3. Prepare nucleus colonies before getting new queens. Use these smaller hives to house your old queen in case the new queen is not accepted.

4. Have new boxes with frames ready to add to existing colonies.

5. Monitor weather for best conditions to split. If you want honey, split after the honey flow.

6. Blooming blackberry plants mark the beginning of the spring nectar flow. Do you have enough woodenware and frames on hand to add space?

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

   Charlotte

March Beekeeping Jobs

Check under the supplemental sugar patties, bees will core them out. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

March Beekeeping Chores

One of the biggest jobs beekeepers do in March is - well, get excited. Where I live in USDA Hardiness zone 6b, the weather is starting to warm up. It’s not a reliable progression, though. It can be 69F one day and a high of 17F the next, tough on plants and bees.

On the warm days, bees are busy visiting bird baths and scouting for food. Not busy enough, though, to qualify for full hive inspections so as beekeeper we have to wait for the right conditions; consistently warm temperatures preferable over 70F.

Some of the other things beekeepers can do in March:

1. Air out wax frames stored in plastic containers with Para-Moth crystals before they are placed in a hive.

2. Add sticks and rocks to “bee bar” birdbaths to make sure bees have easy access to water within a quarter mile of their home hives. Training your bees to find what they need close to home will reduce their tendency to look for water in your neighbor’s swimming pool.

3. Monitor colonies for supplemental food needs; feed as necessary.

4. Order extra queens if planning to split colonies later. When to split? When you start seeing drones so the new queens can breed.

5. If you want to catch swarms, register on swarm-catching lists.

6. And put on your roller skates because next month should be even busier!

   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

January Beekeeping Jobs

Plastic wrap keeps wind out of my USDA Hardiness zone 5 hillside bee hives. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

January Beekeeping Chores

We’ve had 2 inches of rain in the last 24 hours; ice and snow are in the forecast as temperatures in this USDA Hardiness zone 5 garden continue to drop. My bees are warm inside their hives, clustering to keep warm and eating their stored honey. For the bees, the beekeeping year starts with the winter solstice, when daylight starts to get longer and the queen bee starts very slowly to start to lay.

Well wait, for bees the beekeeping year starts in August. That’s when winter bees, different than summer bees, are born and take the colony through winter.

Although the bees are not around the garden, I have a lot to do this month to get ready for a new beekeeping season.

1. Review my notes from last year. What worked, what didn’t, what do I need to learn more about this winter.

2. Research, take online classes, read - this is the time to learn more about what didn’t go well last year,

3. Catch up on current beekeeping research. Reliable clubs now offer meetings online so its easier to stay on top of the latest developments.

4. When temperatures are between 30-40 F, it’s a good time to give my broodless colonies oxalic acid vapor treatment. Temperatures this winter have been record warm so there have been few days when the temperatures were at optimum vapor application. Applying oxalic acid vapor is one of the many options to try to manage Varroa mites.

5. Check food stores in the hives. I placed supplemental sugar cakes on top of all of my colonies a week ago prior to the latest snow storm. I will check them in another week by peeking under the lid; I want to make sure they are not running out of food.

6. This is also the month I should do an inventory of my existing beekeeping equipment and order what I am missing. Once the growing season has started, there usually is very little time to place an order and get what I need before I need it. I prefer to be prepared.

7. Once I have the equipment inventory done, it will be time to get it all organized so I can easily find it.

8. I have some hives I need to paint sitting in my garage from last year. Those need to get finished this winter.

9. While I have the paint out, I also need to paint my nucs, I didn’t get to those last year, either. Bees didn’t care but I do.

10. I plan to split some colonies this spring. I will be ordering queens to make sure I can successfully get new bee colonies established.

11. Wash my bee suits and gloves.

12. Enjoy honey in hot tea!

Charlotte

Do bees hibernate?

bluebird gardens apiary south, with bees in the hives wrapped in black. (Charlotte Ekker wiggins photo)

Do Bees Hibernate?

Do bees hibernate is the most-asked question I get from non-beekeepers. Although it makes sense to think those tiny creatures would conserve energy over winter by hibernating…well, let’s take a look under a hive cover and see what is happening.

Bees can’t fly when temperatures are 40F and below. Their wing muscles can’t move at those temperatures so if they fly out of the hive at 40F or below, they literally fall to the ground and die of exposure.

On the other hand if the winter is mild, they are consuming large quantities of honey to fuel them as they fly around looking for something to do.

The best temperature for bees ranges around 45-50F when they stay in a cluster ball and consume honey only to keep tthem warm and alive until temperatures get warmer.

Charlotte

Merry Christmas!

bee ornaments, including a handmade one, were added this year. (charlotte ekker wiggins photo)

Merry Christmas!

Bees are settled into their hives with a supply of honey they worked so hard to collect earlier this year.

Although beekeeping equipment is a popular Christmas gift, I’m an advocate on giving beekeepers bee ornaments. They are not easy to find so they are a welcome addition to any Christmas decor.

From our hives to yours, Merry Christmas!

Charlotte

Decaying Hive Bottom Boards

Decaying Hive Bottom Boards

Wooden products left out in elements can decay. (charlotte ekker wiggins photo)

Decaying Hive Bottom Boards

I’m starting to take inventory of what equipment I need to fix and/or replace next year. Top of the list are bottom boards, the foundation piece under a hive.

Even though my bottom boards are painted white, they seem to take the brunt of our four seasons and challenging elements. And not just the bottom board. Some of the hive bodies are also starting to show wear and tear.

One of the ways to help reduce damage to the woodenware is to rotate the parts to evenly distribute the wear.

Another suggestion is to make bottom boards out of composite wood, which is designed for outside exposure.

Since I don’t do woodwork, I will have to set up a rotation scheme next year.

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

First Swarm of Season

Bees swarming hang from a tree waiting for scout bees to find a new home. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

First Swarm of Season

According to Missouri Department of Conservation, Mother’s Day weekend is usually the average start of Missouri’s honey bee swarming season. For the last few years, the bees have been ahead of schedule. This year is no exception.

For the first swarm of this season, I joined my bee buddy David Draker to catch a swarm from one of his colonies. To his credit the bees swarmed because he was out of state on vacation or he would have managed their hive space needs.

White sheet helps to see bees, especially the queen. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Bees swarm to ensure their reproduction. They basically separate the mother colony to get new colonies established. In the first swarm, they leave because they are out of laying room for the queen. It’s not a decision they make lightly. They have to slim down the old queen so she can fly with the rest of the bees and they have to raise a new queen they leave behind to keep the colony going. The first swarm queen is usually a mated, established queen. If there are other “after swarms,” those queens are unmated.

Also in the first swarm, usually the old queen leaves with the traveling bees, leaving at least one daughter behind. If for some reason the old queen can’t fly, a daughter will leave with the swarm.

Wouldn’t you know it, this swarm decided to leave in the middle of a thunderstorm and ended up a good 15 feet off the ground in a tree.

To get swarms in trees, David and I have used water cooler jugs we tape to a “long arm” extending pole. A white sheet around the hive box helps spot the queen once they are added to the box.

Here’s a short video of the first scooping of the bees out of the tree. Once David had them in the jug, he lowered the arm for me to catch and guide the bees into the hive. And yes, you will see lighting. We didn’t realize it was lightening until we saw this video. Note to new beekeepers: not a good idea to be wielding a metal pole when it’s lightening.

Once inside the hive, bees get attracted to the frame with wax comb. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Once they land in the hive, it helps to have frames with wax comb to entice them to stay.

If weather conditions had been better, we would have sprayed the wax frames with sugar water as another enticement. And maybe snuck a frame of open brood - baby bee eggs - to get the attention of the traveling nurse bees.

But it was raining - and apparently lightening - so we settled for getting the majority of the bees in the hive and would check on them the next day.

Not all bees make it into the water cooler jug bucket. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

An estimated 50% of bees don’t stay once they are caught. Another 50% don’t make it through their first winter in a hive so maintaining a swarm can be a challenge.

In this case, the bees must have had a new better place they wanted to be and didn’t stay.

Good practice, though. The swarm season is just starting!

Charlotte

May Beekeeping Jobs

Introducing a new queen bee can be among May beekeeping jobs. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

May Beekeeping Jobs

Oh, my, how busy May can be for beekeepers. Usually the month when the nectar flow kicks into high gear, May can also be a very busy month helping bees get ready for the three months of flower nectar collection.

1. Beekeepers should have completed at least one full inspection to determine how well the bees came out of winter; how well the queen is laying and benchmarking Varroa mite levels with either an alcohol or sugar shake.

2. Colonies also need to have added space in the brood both so the queen has room to lay. Lack of space prompts the colony to build swarm cells.

3. Adding hive space is also helpful this time of year. As the colony grows, it will need space not only for brood but for storing pollen and nectar.

4. Wintered-over wax frames need to be checked and aired. Especially frames stored in ParaMoth crystals, those frames should be exposed to sun and air for a good week. ParaMoth crystals deter wax moths but will also kill bees.

5. Frames getting repurposed can be refreshed by replacing the foundation with new foundation.

6. Wax frames in use for more than 3 years should be replaced with fresh frames.

7. Old wax frames can be used in swarm traps to entice colonies looking for a new home.

8. Beekeepers will be doing an inventory of existing equipment to make sure they have enough woodenware for the nectar-collecting season.

9. Varroa mite management plans this time of year may include splitting colonies, removing drone comb and re-queening with varroa sensitive queens.

10. Planting native trees, shrubs and perennials are also added this time of year.

Charlotte

April Beekeeping Jobs

A hive lifter, and a second set of hands, makes moving a hive easier. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo

April Beekeeping Tasks

Depending on weather, April can be an anxious time for beekeepers in USDA Hardiness Zone 5 where I live. Beekeepers are biding their time to determine how soon they can get inside their hives to see how their bees are doing. This year, spring arrived early but I did not jump the gun and get into my colonies yet. I am waiting until daytime temperatures are over 70F and evening temperatures are above 45F.

Good thing I waited. March left us with snow and winter-like temperatures.

There are many traditional spring beekeeping chores including moving hives. The colonies are small so they are easier to relocate than later when there are significant higher numbers of bees. To safely relocate hives, beekeepers can use a hive lifter. It does take a second set of hands but saves the beekeeper’s back.

If you are interested in keeping bees, this is a good time to start, you may be able to find beekeepers who could use a hand and that’s the best way to learn. Start by reading a book such as A Beekeeper’s Diary Self-Guide to Beekeeping to get the terms down and understand the biology basics.

Some of the other typical April beekeeping jobs include:

1. Inspect colonies. Add small hive beetle traps with fresh lure in hive body corners opposite of each other. Then switch corners in the next box.

2. Pull together swarm-catching equipment.

3. Prepare nucleus colonies before getting new queens. Use these smaller hives to house your old queen in case the new queen is not accepted.

4. Have new boxes with frames ready to add to existing colonies.

5. Monitor weather for best conditions to split. If you want honey, split after the honey flow.

6. Blooming blackberry plants mark the beginning of the spring nectar flow. Do you have enough woodenware and frames on hand to add space?

   Charlotte

Problem-Solving with Beginning Beekeepers

David Draker, left, helps me March 26, 2022 set up a class demonstration hive. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Problem-Solving with Beginning Beekeepers

Our local bee club held the last of our winter classes, a Second Year Beekeeping class covering the common mistakes beginning beekeepers make.

How do we know? Why from personal experience, of course!

From how to keep your smoker going for at least one hour to options for managing Varroa mites co-existing with bees, the class covers options as new beekeepers decide how to work with their bees.

The options can be complicated. Considering that most beekeeping questions are answered with “it depends,” the class focused on teaching basic key techniques. It will be up to the beekeepers to decide when they apply what they learned and how it may help their bees.

Learning to keep honey bees is not easy. It can take several years of trying to help bees survive winter before a beginning beekeeper is successful. In our bee club, people starting to learn how to keep bees don’t get to call themselves beekeepers until they successfully work with at least one colony through winter.

To celebrate this accomplishment, we “pinned” 11 beekeepers with their beekeeping pins before class started. Two beekeepers from Kansas, one from Illinois and the rest from Missouri.

Eleven new “beekeepers” in our March 26, 2022 second year beekeeping class. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Look at those happy faces, and for good reason. Learning basic honey bee biology and all of the other things one has to quickly learn to be a successful beekeeper is quite an accomplishment. For several of these beekeepers, it took 3 years before they successfully worked with at least one colony through winter.

So what happened when they lost their bees?

One said the colony ran out of food. Another one said the colony got wet. A third is not sure but suspects it was lack of food. We love celebrating successes but these failures are more important, they are key teaching opportunities.

The learning doesn’t start, and stop, here. This class is one of many classes certified, and available, through the Great Plains Master Beekeeping Program out of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. An education program, as opposed to a certification program, the Great Plains Master Beekeeping Program is focused on teaching beekeepers scientifically-based best management practices.

Military veterans and their families who learn to keep honey bees through the Heroes to Hives program will also be joining Great Plains after their first year of beekeeping. Currently Great Plains Master Beekeeping covers 7 midwest states.

The problem-solving techniques featured in this class are also included in “A Beekeeper’s Diary Self-Guide to Keeping Bees” 2nd edition. The book is used as the classroom guide for my beginning beekeeping classes and stands alone for those who can’t reach a beginning beekeeping class. The book is also approved by Great Plains Master Beekeeping.

Charlotte

Goodbye to a Fellow Beekeeper

Our local bee club planning committee with Tom Miller, second from right.

Goodbye to a Fellow Beekeeper

Our local bee club lost one of its founding members and all around good guy earlier this month. Tom Miller, a Navy veteran, grandfather, gardener and beekeeper died March 9, 2022.

Tom Miller demonstrating how to build a bee hive at a beginning class. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

When one starts an educational non-profit, a group like that depends on volunteers like Tom Miller.. Tom would volunteer to get whatever needed done, from making sample equipment to vacuuming the meeting hall after a class or meeting.

In between, he loved his dogs and cared for grandchildren over summer. He also loved to read, the more obscure gardening and beekeeping books the better.

Demonstrating how to use a refractometer at a honey extracting demo. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

If there was a gadget nearby, he would either know how to use it or figure it out on the spot. And shortly thereafter make one that he would try to improve.

I met Tom in one of my first beginning beekeeping classes. He was very excited to add bees to his lovely hillside garden, across a valley from mine. Once we toured each other’s garden, the race was on. We often would try to beat each other to plant sales and often shared garden bounty.

When I lost my cat Margaret a few years back, it was Tom who was thoughtful enough to make a head stone for her grave. He understood my attachment to my cats; he felt the same about his rescue dogs.

In keeping with Tom’s generous spirit, his family has donated his beekeeping equipment to our club. We’ve already expanded one teaching apiary in southeast Missouri with some of the equipment and are planning to develop a second teaching apiary in Rolla.

We were lucky to know you, Tom. You will be dearly missed.

Charlotte

March Beekeeping Jobs

Check under the supplemental sugar patties, bees will core them out. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

March Beekeeping Chores

One of the biggest jobs beekeepers do in March is - well, get excited. Where I live in USDA Hardiness zone 5, the weather is starting to warm up. It’s not a reliable progression, though. It can be 69F one day and a high of 17F the next, tough on plants and bees.

On the warm days, bees are busy visiting bird baths and scouting for food. Not busy enough, though, to qualify for full hive inspections so as beekeeper we have to wait for the right conditions; consistently warm temperatures preferable over 70F.

Some of the other things beekeepers can do in March:

1. Air out wax frames stored in plastic containers with Para-Moth crystals before they are placed in a hive.

2. Add sticks and rocks to “bee bar” birdbaths to make sure bees have easy access to water within a quarter mile of their home hives. Training your bees to find what they need close to home will reduce their tendency to look for water in your neighbor’s swimming pool.

3. Monitor colonies for supplemental food needs; feed as necessary. I checked my bees yesterday and they had worked through all of their sugar patties from three weeks ago so monitor closely. And check under the sugar patties, they may appear to be full. Bees core out the sugar from underneath so all that may be left is a shell and need to be replaced. There is no need for colonies to die of starvation.

4. Order extra queens if planning to split colonies later. When to split? When you start seeing drones so the new queens can breed.

5. If you want to catch swarms, register on swarm-catching lists.

6. And put on your roller skates because next month should be even busier!

Charlotte