Bees in Bird Feeders

“Charlotte are these your bees? They are taking over my hummingbird feeders and I don’t know how to make them leave. Will they attack me?” — Robin

Bees in Bird Feeders

Hi Robin, I doubt those bees in your hummingbird feeders are mine, you live more than 20 miles from my house. At their best, bees travel 5 miles from their hives but I understand the challenge of having them taking over your hummingbird feeders.

Here are some ways to keep bees out of hummingbird feeders:

• Use a red hummingbird feeder. Bees are less attracted to the color red than hummingbirds are, so using a red feeder can help to deter bees.

• Get nectar guards. Nectar guards are small screens or disks that fit over the feeding ports of hummingbird feeders. They make the holes too small for bees to get through, but they allow hummingbirds to feed.

• Plug leaks. Bees are attracted to the sweet smell of nectar, so any leaks in your feeder will only attract more bees. Make sure your feeder is leak-proof.

• Keep the feeder in the shade. Bees are less active in the shade, so keeping your feeder in a shady spot can help to deter them.

• Relocate the feeder frequently. Bees will eventually learn where your feeder is located, so relocating it every few days can help to keep them guessing.

• Use a decoy feeder. You can also try using a decoy feeder to attract the bees away from your hummingbird feeder. Fill a shallow bowl with a stronger sugar solution than you would use for hummingbirds, and place it in a sunny spot. The bees will be attracted to the stronger solution, and they will leave your hummingbird feeder alone.

• Use essential oils. Bees are repelled by certain essential oils, such as peppermint and eucalyptus. You can add a few drops of essential oil to the water in your hummingbird feeder, or you can rub the oil on the outside of the feeder.

It is important to note that some of these methods may not be effective for all bees. If you have a particularly persistent problem with bees, you may need to try a combination of methods.

Here are some additional tips to keep bees away from hummingbird feeders:

• Clean your feeder regularly. Bees are attracted to the smell of dirty feeders.

• Use fresh nectar. Old nectar can ferment and attract bees.

• Do not overfeed the hummingbirds. Bees are attracted to the sweet smell of nectar, so overfeeding the hummingbirds will only attract more bees.

• Plant flowers. Hummingbirds need nectar and pollen to survive, so planting flowers in your yard will help to attract them away from your feeder.

Bees turn to hummingbird feeders when they can’t find food in nature so planting plants that bloom in summer will help to keep them fed and away from your hummingbird feeders.

Charlotte

Spring Bee Trees

Missouri’s native Eastern Redbuds in bloom. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

“Charlotte, why are most of the bee trees spring ones? Don’t bees need nectar and pollen the rest of the year?” - Paul

Spring Bee Trees

Hi Paul, the climate - temperature, wind, humidity - determine when our bees in Missouri collect nectar and pollen. In general, it’s when temperatures are between 74F and 86F, a period that is becoming more erratic in spring but used to span mid-April to mid-July.

There are a number of excellent spring trees for bees including Eastern Redbuds (in photo). Some of the first trees to offer bees food include Witch hazel, some willows, maples. black locust - depending on where you are located in Missouri.

If you are new to beekeeping and providing bees food, start with native trees. They will have a better chance of living and thriving in Missouri growing conditions.

Charlotte

Use Same Supplier

Two different suppliers cut woodenware to different sizes. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

”Charlotte, I was given some wooden hives and I want to use them with the ones I already have. In class you said to use the same supplier. Can I still use these donated hives?” - Elsa

Use Same Supplier

Hi Elsa,

How do your donated hives fit on your existing woodenware? If they fit so that bees are not sneaking out of nooks and crannies, you should be fine.

What I say in class is that as you are starting, stick with the same woodenware, or wood hive parts, supplier. Although hive sizes are supposed to be standard sizes, each supplier has their own version of those standard sizes.

For example, in the photo the two hive boxes are from two different suppliers. There is almost a half inch gap on one side and, try as I may, I can’t get the boxes to line up on top of each other. If you like your hives to look nice this will drive you a little buggy and make it difficult to keep boxes neatly stacked.

Worse yet, if the boxes leave room for bees to sneak through, they will fill that opening with propolis making it difficult to part the boxes. They will add propolis anyway but don’t make it harder on yourself trying to keep the boxes on top of each other.

If your boxes don’t fit, you have several options:

First, determine how much of a gap you have and whether the bees can still stay inside them.

Then decide if you can live with the gap between the different boxes. If not, and if you don’t do woodworking, tap your woodworking friends to even out one side of the hive boxes.

If you can’t fix the gap, consider using the boxes for something else. Add a top, paint it and make it into an outside side table. Or store gardening supplies. These days buying wood is a bit pricey. If you can repurpose the ill-fitting wood hive boxes I would. I remember when I tried to get items to fit into my custom bee lover’s gift boxes, it can be frustrating and time-consuming!

The bottom line is when you start with one supplier, stick with ordering hives from that same supplier. You increase your chances of getting hives that fit together nicely doing so.

Charlotte

How to Use Homemade Lure

On left, a mason jar with homemade lure; on right, vegetable oil. In the middle a small hive beetle trap. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

“All I see is a Mason jar wi/ a lid. How do the SHB get in? How to you hang it up? Do you leave it open? I’m confused, obviously.” — Julie

How to Use Homemade Lure

Hi Julie,

That blog entry showed you how to make the small hive beetle (SHB) lure. You use the lure in any one of the currently available SHB traps.

I personally use the reusable plastic traps with a center well where you pour in the lure. On either side of the center well, you fill each side 1/3 full. That’s where the small hive beetles fall in and drown on their way to get to the lure in the center.

As you can see in the photo, the center well is small compared to the wells on either side so you don’t need a lot of homemade lure. I keep mine in the refrigerator to extend its life.

Charlotte

"Honey Wall"

The new popular term for honey on a frame, a “honey wall.” (Photo by Celeste)

“Charlotte I saw a photo from the Kardashians Thanksgiving meal featuring what they called a honey wall. I know you’re a beekeeper do you happen to know what that is?’ Thanks for your help, enjoy your blog.” — Celeste

“Honey Wall”

Hi Celeste,

Glad you enjoy the blog. Why yes, I know what a “honey wall” is, that’s a fancy name for a frame of capped honey.

Bees store flower nectar they dehydrate and cap with wax for winter food. It takes 2 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey. That medium frame of honey weighs 3-5 lbs so that could represent the nectar of 10 million flowers.

When I travelled through Europe a few years ago, hotels where we stayed had a frame of honey like this one on their breakfast bar.

In this country, our local bee club sometimes has a frame of honey available for sampling during their honey tasting contest. Both the honey and wax capping can be consumed on toast, bagels and biscuits.

i did a search for the term and didn’t see “honey wall” being a frame of served honey so this may be a new fancy term.

Charlotte

Escorting Bees

Honeybees hanging out in my garage after dark. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

“Charlotte I extracted my first frames of honey yesterday and now I have bees hanging around my garage. How can I make them leave?” - Dan

Escorting Bees

Hi Dan, honeybees are following the honey scent. I have the same thing happening in my garage since I have honey frames I pulled stored in totes there

If you notice, the bees will fly towards light so turn off all of the lights in the garage. The next morning during daylight, open a garage door to encourage them to leave.

Opening the door encourages the bees to leave during daylight. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

I use a turkey feather to gently guide them towards the door opening to get them to leave.

I also moved the totes with honey temporarily into my house to discourage them from hanging around. If you keep the frames in totes in your garage, they will be tempted to hang around.

By the way, congratulations on your first honey extraction!

Charlotte

Small Pollen Patty Pieces

My honeybees enjoying a 1x2 inch piece of pollen substitute. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

“…why can’t I just leave a slab of pollen substitute on the top of my frames? You keep saying it has to be a small piece and that means a lot of visits back to the hives….” — Sarah

Small Pollen Patty Pieces

Hi Sarah, small hive beetles love pollen substitute, they use it to lay their eggs and feed their larvae.

If you leave a huge piece of pollen substitute, you are basically setting up a small hive beetle nursery.

By placing only small pieces in the hives, the bees can quickly consume it before small hive beetles lay their eggs.

If you look at the photo, you will also see Lesser Wax Moth cocoons on the side of the pollen substitute. That’s another reason why we say store the pollen substitute in a refrigerator or freezer, you don’t want to be raising anything more than honey bees with the pollen patties.

Charlotte

Getting an August Honey Bee Nuc

Honey bees at the entrance of one of my late summer nucs. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

“Hi, I’m getting my first bee colony this August, it’s a nuc and I am SO EXCITED! What advice do you have for getting them ready for winter?” — Sammy

Getting an August Honey Bee Nuc

Hi Sammy, congratulations and welcome to the adventure that is beekeeping!

Your first goal is going to be to grow this colony so they can fend for themselves over winter:

1. If not all of the frames have wax pulled and bees working on them, that will be your first goal to get them expanded enough so they can move into larger accommodations.

   To get them to pull wax, feed them 2 parts water to one part sugar with a dab of food grade lemongrass. That will simulate plant nectar that triggers their wax glands to pull wax.

2. Once they have wax pulled on all 5 frames, move them to a larger box, which is usually either an 8-frame or 10-frame hive. In mid-Missouri many beekeepers have the brood box in deep boxes topped with a medium or three mediums. The smaller sizes are easier on the beekeeper’s back.

3. Once in the larger hive, feed them a second sugar mixture of 2 parts sugar to one part water with a product like Honey Bee Healthy, which provides additional vitamins.

4. Since you are starting so late in the season, monitor the colony growth. If we have a good fall nectar flow they may be able to collect, store and dehydrate enough nectar to have winter food. If not, sugar patties will come in handy to help supplement feed them.

5. Starting a nuc this late in the growing season will mean you may have to feed them through winter but then come spring, the little colony should rapidly grow.

   To make any of the sugar syrups, mix sugar cane sugar with hot water, stir and allow to stand until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemongrass or Honey Bee Healthy and allow to cool before pouring into jars or feeders.

   I use glass jars on Boardman feeders inside the hive to cut down on robbing.

   Good luck and let me know how you’re doing with your new tenants!

Charlotte

How to Entice Bees to Move Up

Placing frames of empty wax comb on top box may encourage bees to move up. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

“Hi Charlotte! I acquired my bees last spring and they are thriving right now. They have filled the bottom portion of the hive with comb and honey. I have placed a new super on the hive several weeks ago and they don't seem interested in building in it. Is there something that I can do to encourage them to move into it?” - Shayne

How to Entice Bees to Move Up

Hi Shaye, where are you located?

In mid-Missouri where I am, the nectar flow is over so the bees wax glands are not being stimulated to pull wax or do much storing. If you want to encourage them to pull wax, feed them 2 parts sugar to one part water in jars/feeders inside the hive to reduce robbing.

You can also check the bottom box and move the outside frames, which should have drawn wax comb, bee bread and honey, and move those to the top box to encourage bees to move up. However, without drawn wax, they probably won't be very interested unless you feed them to get their wax glands going.

If you feed, remember you can't harvest the stored sugar water for your use, you want honey made from dehydrated flower nectar.

Hope this helps. Let me know what works for you.
Yours, in bees,

Charlotte

When is the best time to make a split?

One of my honeybee hives building up the colony this spring. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

“I want to split two of my honeybee hives this year but I don’t know when I should do it. I still would like to get some honey so when is a best time to make a split?” — Lily

When Is The Best Time to Make A Split

Hi Lily,

The answer to your question is actually in your question. You said you want to split two of your honeybee hives but you also want to get honey this year so the best time for you to split is after the nectar flow.

If you want honey this year, you want your bee colonies to be strong so they can collect enough flower nectar to dehydrated into honey for their winter use as well as extra for you. To do that, they need lots of foragers taking advantage of temperatures between 75F and 85F, when flowers produce nectar to attract pollinators.

If you split now during the nectar flow, your bee colonies will have less bees to forage for flower nectar, which means you will need to monitor them to make sure they have enough honey stored to make it through winter. Usually split colonies do not have enough bees to make extra honey.

Once the nectar flow is over, you can then split the colonies and continue feeding them a nectar-like sugar water mixture. The sugar water mixture will keep their wax glands stimulated so they build wax on the new frames and also have ready sugar water they can dehydrate and store for winter. You don’t want to harvest this stored sugar water for your use because it is not honey.

Hope this helps you as you decide how to manage your honeybees!

Charlotte

When Are You a "Beekeeper"

One way to celebrate officially becoming a beekeeper! (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

“…I took one of your beekeeping classes a couple of years but still can’t keep a hive alive….don’t call myself a beekeeper but my friends do…When is someone a beekeeper???” — Name Withheld by request

When Are You a Beekeeper

Hi, at your request I am withholding your name. Your question is an important one and deserves some context.

First, this may be one of the more challenging times in beekeeping history to keep bees. Pathogens spread by the varroa mite, loss of habitat and poor nutrition challenge honeybees as well as our native pollinators. The good news is that if we do something for one group we will help the rest.

Secondly, no two years of beekeeping are alike so learning to be a beekeeper is constantly evolving and challenging. A good beekeeper is amateur biologist tinkering in genetics; a gardener; a pet owner and in larger quantities, a farmer specializing in animal husbandry practices. If one is running a business from the bees, then add all of those specialties associated with a business. It’s no wonder keeping honeybees is not for everyone.

That’s why you will find Missouri now has 45 local bee clubs, up from the 5 local bee clubs that were around 10 years ago. Attending bee club meetings is a good way to learn the terminology, pick up on suggestions, meet other beekeepers and, if you look closely enough, find a bee buddy who will share the adventure with you.

There’s also a new tool for those beginning to keep bees. Kim Flotum, senior editor with Bee Culture Magazine, has also started a quarterly magazine designed to help beginning beekeepers. BEEkeeping is $20/year and covers those initial overwhelming topics.

Back to your original question. Rolla Bee Club has a simple answer to that question, we say you can call yourself a beekeeper after you pull a colony through winter. It can take beginning beekeepers a couple of years to do that since the learning curve can be steep but we are not governing the bees, we are working with them to support them. That means we have to learn their world and their way of doing things.

I know you well enough to say don’t give up, you have a lovely garden and a caring spirit. Learn from your mistakes. Ask questions about what went wrong, what you can do differently and try again.

In my humble opinion after 9 years of lessons with my bees, they are more than worth it!

Charlotte

"Would you bring your hives to my property...."

One of my hives, this one at the end of the vegetable garden before I fixed the concrete blocks.

"Would you bring your hives to my property?"

Periodically I am asked to either bring my honeybee hives to someone's property or to find beekeepers who would be willing to bring their hives to someone's property to pollinate their - blueberry, elderberry or whatever crops - for free. In a couple of emails, the property owners wanted to charge the beekeepers for rent to bring the hives to their land so let's go over a few basics here.

First, beekeepers have invested tens of thousands of dollars in equipment, bees, education and time by the time they have sustainable bee colonies. Yes, beekeeping is expensive, even if you build your own hives and catch swarms.

Secondly, beekeepers that do provide pollination services do have bees they can bring but they also charge for those services, sometimes a monthly fee or a charge per crop being pollinated. Most crops that require pollination have short windows where they need pollination services, which is why the major beekeeping companies spend 6 months on the road moving colonies all around the country. The pollination services season starts with pollinating almond fields in February, one if not the largest movement of bee colonies nationwide with a good 60% of North American bees going west.

A recent study February 2019 found that bees in California almond fields were dying not only because the blooming almond trees were sprayed when in bloom but they were mixing herbicides and fungicides that impacted the bees.

In addition to the stress of moving, honeybees can also get exposed to toxic chemicals applied within a 5 mile radius of where the hives are located. There is no antidote to pesticide, herbicide and fungicide exposure. The beekeeper takes that risk when they move a colony into a new area, not the property owner.

That's not to say there aren't beekeepers who would be willing to bring hives onto someone's property but the property has to have excellent bee forage plants to make it worthwhile, and those lands are few and far between. Most Missouri land has been overgrazed and over-farmed so unless the property owner is working to restore the soil conditions and planting crops to provide a continuous flower source through the growing season, most property doesn't provide bees with nutritious pollen.

A friend of mine has moved several of his hives to friend’s property only to have them die out for lack of food.

In some areas, like St. Louis, there are now "Adopt a Hive" programs where beekeepers either bring in a hive to someone's property for a fee, and then provide some honey at the end of the season provided there is extra honey. I understand there are some issues with this program because some of the hives are not properly maintained, bees disappear and property owners end up without honey even if bees pull through the season. It's not uncommon for a colony not to have extra honey after the first year at a new site but non-beekeepers still expect to get honey out of a hive.

The best arrangement was one I heard about a couple of years ago where the property owner and beekeeper split the cost of the hives and bees. The beekeeper set up the hives on the property and managed them, then at the end of the season the property owner and the beekeeper worked together to extract and split the honey. The arrangement worked so well the bees were left on the property to winter over until the next year.

So would I bring my hives to someone's property? Sorry no, I like having my girls close by where I can keep an eye on them. I started keeping bees for pollination myself and I enjoy seeing my bees visiting my flowers throughout the season. It also gives me a great excuse to keep planting and developing my one-acre hillside garden, not that I need another reason to buy flowers on sale!

Have you been asked to bring hives to someone's property for free?

Charlotte

Christmas Beekeeping Book

Two of Sue Hubbell books that would make wonderful Christmas gifts.

"...love your stories about beekeeping, you remind me of Sue Hubbell. Have you read her books? Would you recommend them? Looking for a Christmas gift idea for my wife, she's a beekeeper...." - Paul

Christmas Beekeeping Book

Hi Paul, 

What a lovely compliment, thank you, you've made my day. A friend introduced me to Sue Hubbell before I was a beekeeper. She was first a librarian, which explains her rich literary references but it's her willingness to be honest about life's challenges that appealed to me in her writing.

Hubbell has authored a number of books but the one I would recommend as a Christmas gift for a beekeeper is her "A Book of Bees." This book describes her caring for 300 hives in "the Ozarks," a place yet to be identified although some say it was around the Doniphan, Missouri area.

Some of the information is out of date but her description of spending days in bee yards having her lunch on a sunny hillside listening to the hives humming is something every beekeeper will related to, regardless.

Another book, if you want to give a second one, is "A Country Year," which covers her living in the Ozarks and the lessons she learned trying to be self-sustaining. There are life lessons in this one, too that have little to do with actually farming the land.

Amazon offered these books in "used" condition the last time I checked, and if you can't get them here by Christmas you can give a card that says these books are on their way.

One of the few illustrations in Sue Hubbell's "A Book of Bees"

My grandmother gave us books at Christmas growing up and to this day I like having a special book to enjoy for Christmas. No surprise then that I think your idea of giving her one, or both of these books, is a lovely idea.

Merry Christmas, Paul!

Charlotte

Top Beekeeping Gift Idea

Leather gloves are important beekeeping safety equipment, these have been well worn.

"If you had one beekeeping gift idea, what would it be?" -- Cheryl

Top Beekeeping Gift Idea

Hi Cheryl, my top beekeeping gift idea is a good pair of goat leather beekeeping gloves. You can find them at most farm and home centers that carry basic beekeeping equipment. If they don't have goat skin, then cow leather will work, the idea is you want gloves made from something that will make it hard for a bee to sting through it.

You certainly can give bee hives and tools but a pair of gloves is not only special but personal. Every beekeeper should have a pair of these heavy duty leather beekeeping gloves as part of their safety equipment. Not all beekeepers use them all of the time but when they are needed, there is no other substitute.

Local Honey Jar

If you want to add a little something more, or looking for something for a stocking, how about a jar of honey from one of your local beekeepers. 

A hive tool is another basic beekeeper's tool, no beekeeper ever has too many.

Beekeeper Hive Tool

Another gift option is to add a beekeeper's "hive tool," the basic metal shaped tool to open hives and move frames. Every beekeeper needs at least 2 because inevitably one is left in the garden, or worse yet, inside a hive, and we really can't do much without one.

If you are buying for someone starting out, you can't go wrong with picking one that fits your gift budget. 

Ship Overnight after December 10

Some suppliers may also be able to get you a pair shipped in time for Christmas. After December 10, I recommend shipping overnight since shipping carriers are very busy with orders and they can't guarantee delivery by Christmas after December 10.

And no, a good pair of gardening gloves will not work well for beekeeping, trust me.

Merry Christmas!

Charlotte