To
BEE-L:
>
Are
you only feeding patties to your hives? No syrup at
all?
Yes.
The patties do contain sugar, but I'm going to have
to feed syrup, I know, since they are building up
fast.
All
the syrup I have on hand is HFCS from 2002 and I was
thinking that it is no good, so I sent a sample to
the University for testing. I won't hear back for a
few weeks. In the meantime, I will have to borrow
some syrup from friends, I think. I've had the flu
and been too tired to do much. I want to get all my
old honey feed frames used up, but also do not wish
to risk starvation. Syrup is superior in its
availability compared to granulated frames and also
good syrup dilutes the HMF that develops in older
honey. Some of the frames may contain honey that is
six or more years old, and I seem to recall, having
learned on BEE-L, that by that age, the HMF is
usually getting up there.
Slapping on patties is easy and the consumption is
around 0.15 lbs per day per colony, so now I have to
keep going. I can't believe how many beekeepers just
order a few patties per hive. It stuns me.
I have
to figure one patty per hive per week on average.
That means six patties per hive just to get from now
to the reliable pollen flows in late April and May.
Moreover, last year I proved to myself that quitting
then is not necessarily optimal.
My
best hives already inhaled four pounds of these
Globals in eleven days and all that is left is a few
scraps of paper and a tiny corner or two.
Most
of my hives still have enough weight for the
present, and I don't want to stimulate the hives yet
any more than I can help, but a few are light.
I
added frames of honey to them a few days back and
yesterday I went through and noticed one of those
hives had all eggs and no brood, but otherwise
looked fine, so I gather that the previous brood all
hatched and that they were near starving until I
moved the feed in and they were able to mobilize it.
I've
been experimenting with let-alone beekeeping. Last
year I fed no syrup, did not medicating, and put on
patties in April. The bees did well, but I ran into
some AFB. I may write an article...
Anyhow, this year, encouraged by a good year last
year, I decided to be more active. Usually I don't
like to put on patties early, but when I saw the
brood underway already, and some small bees, I
figured I had better assist, so I slapped on patties
and now have slabs of brood. It is still almost
exactly a month to reliable pollen comes in. They
are going to eat me out of house and home, but they
should be ready to swarm or split by May 10th, and I
plan to split, then split again.
There
are pictures in my current diary.
>Might
you speculate how patty consumption will progress
after reliable pollen and forage weather arrives
(roughly a month away in these parts)? Do you
anticipate the bees will continue to "inhale" once
natural pollen and pleasant weather arrives? I fed
my first patties on 3/14-15 and checked again this
past weekend. I was surprised to find that at least
half of my hives were in need of another pattie. I
don't expect I'll be splitting until the third week
in April and am wondering how to budget my
provisions.
Well,
the pictures on yesterday's diary explain best what
I am seeing, but here is a summary and a wild
guess...
A few
hives ate less than one whole patty, but I was
expecting to be going away for a month and I had put
four or five patties on the best ones to make sure
they did not run out.
I
did not go away as expected -- something came up --
and I checked back yesterday. On several of the best
hives -- eleven days after putting patties on -- all
that remained of the four or five pounds was an
ounce or so at two outer corners, and a little
paper.
Now, I
have seen hives slurp up syrup in outside feeders in
March, then taper back in April as the populations
changed over, so just extrapolating the current
consumption is risky, but that is my best guess --
that the current trend will continue.
Thus,
I'm guessing an average consumption of a pound a
week per hive, average as long as I feed the patties
I
figure that is pretty safe bet, even if pollen
starts coming in.
Last
summer, my splits averaged a pound of patty a week
all August, even in the midst of a honey flow.
Granted, they were on alfalfa, though, and perhaps a
little pollen short, but they kept on eating even
with pollen coming in.
My
policy is to always keep one more patty on each hive
than they seem to need. It does not go bad, and
actually softens up a bit -- and I am often
surprised at what part of the patties gets eaten. I
expect the consumption to be directly above the
brood, but it can be hard to guess where the brood
will be an a week or two.
Personally, I don't conserve the patties. I feed all
they will take plus some and then just go for more.
Patties are so much cheaper than buying nucs and
packages, and splitting strong hives of healthy bees
is more certain to work out than relying on bee
suppliers who may run into problems delivering
quality stock on time.
The
money I save on buying bees I plan to spend on
buying premium queens, although I may have to raise
some queens, too.
Let me
add, too, that the best place to store the extra
patties is on the top bars of the brood chamber,
close to the brood. That way the bees can get them
if they need them.
I know
beekeepers who keep supers back in the honey house
during the early flows, saving them for later and
waiting to see if the bees will need them. By the
time it is obvious, it is too late IMO. Bees --
unless they are going nuts on a super flow when the
usual rules don't apply -- adjust their activities
to suit the space they had last week and often are
slow to respond to new space.
I
always put on every super I own for the main flow,
except one truckload which I save back to use as
replacements when pulling honey. Later in the
season, I am more conservative, but always give them
at least one extra box until all hope of a flow has
past.
People
think they are being conservative and since the bees
may not use it all the space, all the food,
whatever, they are saving effort and resources.
The
joke is on the beekeeper, though. The bees 'think'
the same way and they often hold back, too as they
reach the limits, and nobody will ever know how much
honey the beekeeper could have had if only all the
supers were on.
In
the same vein, nobody will know how much patty the
bees will eat if the bees are always on the verge of
running out. Not only that, letting the bees ruin
out of patty is a sure way to sabotage their build
up. They underfeed brood or tear it out if they run
short of protein and also scant their own bodies to
try to keep going.
I had
no intention of feeding patties this early or
feeding syrup, either. Last year I started a month
later with patties and did not feed syrup at all,
but this year, the bees insisted. I looked into the
hives and what I saw said, "Feed Now!".
They
are now loaded down with patties, I have more on
order, and syrup is on the way. My bosses have
spoken. Their wish is my command.
>
Allen, what are your current temps? Here in Maine we
had a long warm spell - generally in the 50s and
was up to 70F on Saturday. But we will see some
low temps this next week and weekend, low 40s and
30s during the day. Nights in the teens or
lower... Last time this sort of thing happened in
Maine, some beekeepers lost their bees to starvation
because bees were keeping brood warm and did not
venture a few inches to honey. Which is when I
learned all about candy.
The
temperatures are shown graphically at
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/images/2009/ac20.h6.jpg
And,
you are very right. A cold snap could be bad for
hives on the edge.
One
thing about the patties is that they have both sugar
and protein. They are not candy, but act a bit like
it in that the sugar is slow-release and very
close-by. The difference is that the sugar is bound
up with the protein food, so they have to take both
-- or neither. That has always been something I have
wondered about. Personally I don't think that
protein food is a stimulant so much as it allows the
bees to actually successfully raise the brood they
are always trying to raise, but which is either
stunted or eaten when proteins in the colony runs
short.
The
most vulnerable stage in the spring is when there is
a large amount of open brood and the bees are most
exposed to sudden changes in the environment. After
they have laid all the brood their population allows
and are sitting on sealed brood, they are much less
vulnerable, so long as the adult bees do not start
to die off too quickly leaving the brood exposed.
With
my hives' total average weight loss currently
running at about 0.4 pounds a day (see the URL) a
few patties in the cluster provide some insurance
against quick starvation, but starvation is always a
possibility if the combs are nearly empty,
granulated and far away and the patties run out.
It is
for this very reason that I plan to get some syrup
into them tomorrow -- my friends are bringing a drum
of 2/1 sucrose over -- and I have already moved feed
closer to some which were short.
The
syrup, assuming that there are a few good days to
allow access, will be moved quickly into position
near brood by the bees and then they should be good
for a cold spell, but you are very right: I am a
little worried, and appreciate your concern. I have
seen this movie before but am working for a better
outcome. The hives are still well-wrapped.
Good
clusters of healthy bees are much less likely to starve,
since such bees have some reserve energy, and good
bees can increase metabolism greatly when necessary,
but the weakest hives are vulnerable.
I have
always figured that good hives do not starve if
there is still feed in the top box, and that such
starvation is usually or maybe always a sign of bees
which are somehow deficient or just plain worn out.
>
Allen, have you check your nosema levels / spore
counts? do you know which is your sporulation curve?
Be careful of a rainy spring and a nosema build up.
Call
me crazy, but nosema has not been a problem for me.
Years ago, I initiated a nosema project on the web,
but was embarrassed when I had to borrow bees to
verify that I had none after doing many smears and
starting to doubt myself.
When I
quit, I gave away two big bottles of Fumagillin that
were getting stale-dated because I had no use for
it. I hate to feed drugs unnecessarily.
So
far, we have no rainy spring. In fact, we had no
run-off from snow melt for the first time in years.
I have the scope and haemacytometer at the ready and
I actually had some samples for the one hive I
wondered about, but it seems to have cleared up so I
did not get around to it.
The
crazy thing is that I go around checking for nosema
in others' hives and advising the use of Apivar and
Fumigillan-B and use neither myself.
Maybe
some time soon my insouciance will catch up to me,
especially since I plan to manage the bees more
intensively this °year and also scrape frames. I
suspect scraping frames <put on tin hat> liberates a
lot of disease. To compensate, I plan to hunt down
some superior stock and upgrade my bee genetics.
Good
points, guys. Thanks. Keep 'em coming.
Tuesday
March 23rd, 2010
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Coolish weather is predicted for the next few days,
hovering around freezing then warming considerably.
Our normals are Max: 6°C and Min: -6°C, so we are
right in the zone. The historical
extremes can be seen on the chart below. Minus
thirty has been experienced at least once on this
date, as has plus 22 degrees C.
Minus thirty with strong winds could be very hard on
hives which have just started new brood, and
that is why wrapping and shelter which did not
matter so much in winter will really pay off right
about now. These events happen unexpectedly,
and that is why we wrap. Even though in what
we are experiencing so far is not a
challenge, a sudden change could spell disaster.
The
weather station data I use is from Three Hills
weather station at 51° 42.000' N
113° 13.800' W Elevation: 915.00 m, 10.15 miles NNE
of us.
The
climate chart is from a Trochu station which is
19.1 miles NNE from here. This distance
matters, since we are on the upper edge of the
Chinook zone and there can be a difference of
several degrees in our favour at any given time.
Micro-climates matter, and are a prime
consideration in choosing a bee yard location.
In winter, being a few degrees warmer, drier, and
having shelter from prevailing winds can make a
large difference in survival and condition. MY
current spot on the south of the quonset spares the
hives the nasty NNW winds which tear through here
periodically at up to 100 KPH.
These killer winds always seem to come from the same
point on the compass. We sometimes get
cold strong SE winds, but I have found that shelter
from one or the other is better than no shelter at
all. That being said, I have had sites on top
of a bald hill which did very well.
>
Agree. The problem usually encountered is they have
moved up and are near the top but have plenty of
weight. If you do not look but assume they are fine
by weight, they eat everything above them and then
the cold hits. They will not move the few inches in
any direction to get stores because of the brood and
cold.
Yes, I
understood the point you made, and I still submit
that bees that cannot or will not expand enough to
get feed off to one side are either exhausted, too
few in number, on new white comb, already partly
starved due to the condition of the stores
(granulated?), badly wrapped, or diseased. Szabo
showed that healthy bees can expand their cluster at
any temperature to get to food, but prolific bees
with lots of early brood may be already fully
extended.
For
that reason, I wonder about the more conservative
strains and how they manage. They have less brood,
but also fewer bees at this time of year.
That
being said, many otherwise good hives are in that
weakened or compromised condition come spring and
they would otherwise survive, so a bit of fondant
above can make a huge difference. Once they begin to
starve for whatever reason, they are weakened, so
there is a feedback loop. They cannot get to food
because they have not got enough food in them to
generate the necessary heat. Medhat will probably
step in here and mention tracheal mites, the unseen
cause of limited metabolism response in old bees.
Syrup
supplied in a manner they can get to it, dry sugar
above or simply good combs of feed moved closer to
the cluster can achieve the same job, but not as
handily.
Your
earlier comments got me thinking, so I wrote an
illustrated article in today's diary which I will
summarize here by saying that the coldest
temperature recorded for this day is minus thirty
degrees C. The normals are plus 6° and minus 6°. The
record high is in the twenties, and we have been
running right around freezing (0°C) lately with
expected temps into the teens coming soon and no
cold snap in sight. That is according to the weather
guessers and they are as often wrong as right except
when they are looking out the window.
Minus
thirty, especially with a wind right now would wreak
havoc on unwrapped and unprotected hives and
certainly not do any good for those well-wrapped and
sheltered.
No
matter what the small details, you are very right
Bill. Colonies which should survive in normal
weather can and will be killed this spring if we get
a cold snap.
People
put a few patties on their hives, then they quit
feeding patties. The bees have patties and get
going, then they run out and tear out larvae,
sometimes more than once. I decided to write
pamphlet, call "Don't Stop Now", included below.
Don't Stop
Now!
We're just getting started.
During build-up and brood raising periods, a good hive
needs almost a half a pound a day
of honey and pollen! A few pounds of protein fed one or twice is
just not enough.
Here is a hive loaded
with patties on
March 10 , 2010
Here is the same hive
eleven days later
Some hives, the best
ones, eat even more.
This one had four patties only eleven days ago |
|
In spring, honey and pollen
are converted into
brood and young bees to replace the old, overwintered adults
which are quickly nearing the end of their lives.
This brood is the future of the colony
and the surviving adult bees invest everything they have
into that brood, including -- if they must -- using up the
protein from their own bodies.
If these new young bees receive adequate
nourishment, they will be
healthy and well-nourished and the colony will build up
fully and quickly.
Each developing bee needs a constant protein
supply for almost six weeks in order to develop
properly. The developing larvae
receive protein in their jelly feed for 6 days. Then,12 days
later when
they emerge as adults they must eat protein
during the next 18 days to complete their growth into strong
adults -- and to feed more larvae.
If protein is available when needed, your
bees
will be strong and long-lived and
raise good brood, but if protein is lacking at any point
during that six weeks, some brood will either fail to develop or
become weaker, stunted adults. If they suffer from mite predation, the
outlook is even worse.
In a protein-starved colony we see eggs
and some small larvae, but that
brood is torn out again and again because it is underfed,
leaving only small
amounts of patchy sealed brood. When protein is provided, we
soon see a good brood pattern.
Feeding a patty or two and then stopping
before natural pollen is available in the field every day
means taking big chances with the future of the colony. It
makes a promise that is not kept and can weaken your bees by
making them invest in new brood that needs feeding.
The best plan is to put on more
patties than the bees will need immediately, and make sure the
bees never come even close to running out until the flowers are
blooming and the weather is settled -- and you see an arc of
fresh pollen around each patch of brood.
Check queens the easy way, without pulling frames
and examining brood!
Simply smoke the bees
down lightly and place
patties in the centre of the cluster, within two
inches of the brood. A week or
more later, the amount of patty which has been eaten
is a good indication of how much brood is being
raised & colony condition! |
|
|
Feeding your bees generously is the cheapest, most reliable way to
be sure of having enough bees and good bees. Why go through
the worries of buying package bees or nucs as replacements when you
could be splitting your own bees? Feeding does not cost. It pays off
in more bees and healthier bees. Too many hives? Just
double up the extra colonies in fall. The resulting hives
winter really well.
Tests show that bees continue
to eat Global patties and benefit even after natural pollen is available.
On cold, rainy and windy days and at night bees still need their
protein.
~
Visit www.globalpatties.com
for more information and ideas ~ |
Open just the above article in a new window for
printing
My friends dropped by
twice today, once on the way to
Global in
Airdrie to pick up some patties, and again on the
way home again to drop off some supplies Mike sent
me. I have a few feeding ideas and plan to
work on them this week. I'll report back.
They
also dropped off a drum of syrup, so I went out and
fed. I still have a frame feeder in every
brood box, so I just took a pail and poured. I
had to put a feeder into several hives, though,
since they had somehow gotten pulled, and although I
wore no veil, the bees were OK. I left one of
the scale hives without a feeder for now since I did
not have a veil and the hives are quite tall. I set
up one drum as an open feeder with dry grass inside
as a float and some brood combs thrown in as bait.
I
don't see as much patty consumption as I had
expected, but the tunneling is always invisible at first with
new patties, since the bees eat on the bottom and
the patties look like new until they are half-eaten
or more. This can fool one into thinking
nothing is happening until suddenly they disappear.
In fact, I saw no change in the hive weights today.
Why? I do not know. Did they gather
water or rob honey from supers in the shed?
The syrup I added to the three feeders weighed 21
lbs. That is around 7 lbs. per feeder.
Each feeder should hold a US gallon or around 10
lbs., but my feeders have comb in them and some of
the plastic ones are collapsed a bit.
The
skunk is back and we are going to have a
confrontation about who own the hives.
So, at
this point, I'm feeding gung-ho, just like I said I
wouldn't. Why? It just feels right.
Here's hoping we don't have a cold, windy April.
What am I feeding? Global 15% and 4% patties,
(and no, I have not marked them) plus 67% sucrose
syrup, plus honey in frames.
Right now, I think
that we need a good fondant in a commercial form
that beekeepers can buy by the pallet and just drop
onto hives. I'm working on the idea right now.
Also, I think that
we need to standardize on a quilt (pillow) design
and mass-produce them. I am very happy
with my pillows, nut notice another beekeeper
adapted the idea and uses a slightly larger design
which is sewed out of tarp material. The
larger quilt allows for less careful placement and
when the telescoping lid is forced down over it,
there is a friction fit that helps keep the lid on.
There can be an inch of patties and fondant on the
top bars, and yet we have a good seal. A good
seal is important in cold, windy southern Alberta in
March and April.
Wednesday
March 24th, 2010
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> When I got there,
one of the workers told me that just about every
other year or so a swarm would move in to the
night deposit box. This time the call was made
prior to the swarm's arrival. However, there were
from fifty to one hundred scout bees flying in and
out of the mail slot.
I
don't know if you wish to eliminate an excellent
magnet for free bees, but if so, it would make sense
to suggest that the city should install a flap with
a spring on the slot to keep it closed when nobody
is using it. These are readily available AFAIK. I
have several nice brass ones in a junk drawer off
doors from old buildings.
It
will be interesting to see if the bees switch their
attention to the hive you moved in. I suspect they
may not. Bees make decisions over time, and it seems
that moving in bait hives any later than two weeks
before the actual swarming is not very successful.
That may even be a bit late.
Beekeepers wanting to bait swarms should get their
bait hives out early, and preferably with a little
old comb and a little honey or syrup for surrounding
hives to discover and rob. One or at most two
standards with some combs is ideal.
Does
anyone know if filling the bait hives with frames of
foundation increases or reduces the attraction? I
have had bees swarm into equipment stacks often, but
never in my recollection into boxes of foundation in
the same storage.
Please
keep us informed.
My
understanding is that bees conserve protein by
various methods, one of which is the consumption
(eating) of larvae which turn out to develop
unsuccessfully for various reasons including
malnutrition.
This
idea seems to be pretty well accepted by beekeepers.
What I am wondering is if it is true, and what is
known about the process -- and its efficiency.
When
hives are starved for protein, but would otherwise
be brood rearing, they will often have eggs and some
small larvae, but little older brood. I am assuming
that the developing brood simply could not be fed
and were aborted, and in the process, eaten. The
same colony, when given adequate protein will then
develop a normal brood pattern.
So, I
am wondering if the protein in the cannibalized
larvae is actually conserved, and if so, how
efficiently? We often see pupae thrown out the door,
so apparently there are limits.
This
is of interest to me since my belief is that the
reason we see less brood in protein-short colonies
is that they are constantly trying to raise brood,
failing and repeating the process and that protein
feeding merely allows attempted brood rearing to
proceed to completion, rather than initiating
increased attempts.
The
nutritional state of the queen is also likely to
affect the number and quantity of eggs laid,
methinks, so I suspect there is some additional
stimulation fro having adequate protein in the hive,
but I wonder how much of the increased brood
observed is due to increased starts and how much is
merely increased success of an already occurring
activity.
Does
anyone have any further information or references on
this topic?
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Hi
Allen,
Bees
will cannibalize eggs and larvae during protein
deficits.
First
to go are eggs, then young larvae and drone
larvae/pupae. They will save older worker larvae.
Brood
protein is recycled into jelly, and they are able to
rear brood entirely on jelly produced from recycled
brood (carnivorous diet!). Don't have figure of
efficacy of feed conversion.
And
yes, a vigorous queen, given adequate jelly, will
continue to lay eggs, only to have them eaten by the
nurses if there is not enough protein available.
Best
ref is likely Schmickel and Crailsheim (on
my site, Fat Bees articles). Also,
Moritz, RFA (1994) Nourishment and sociality in
honeybees. Pp 345-390 in Hunt, JH and CA Nalepa,
eds. *Nourishment and Evolution in Insect Societies.
* Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
Randy
Oliver
>
Why worry? In spite of the likely higher pesticide
residue levels in > California's Central Valley,
vertebrate animals continue to be abundant > even
within the pesticide treated crops.
Although question this may stray from bees and
beekeeping, there is a commonality.
The
problem is that we know these pesticide compounds
are novel, or as some would say simplistically,
'unnatural'. As such, we have no idea of the
long-term effects on life or if they are steering
evolution.
Mere
abundance of surviving life is only one
consideration, albeit a reassuring one. How the
various organisms, including bees and man, may have
been altered and how evolution may have been
affected and 'steered' may seem today to be a rather
obscure and distant worries, but the fact remains
that all we have are guesses.
The
effects of novel compounds, or even 'unnatural'
concentrations of 'natural' ones, as we are now
finding out now, may be delayed generations and be
so subtle that they puzzle observers and elude
strong proofs of cause and effect.
The
hormone-like behaviour of some 'harmless' common
industrial and domestic chemicals has recently come
to light as have the potential and real effects of
their widespread distribution.
These
pesticides, on the other hand are not, 'harmless',
compounds intended to be beneficial or at least
neutral in their effects on life, but rather
compounds specifically designed to eliminate or
pervert important biological processes, some of
which all life -- including the esteemed members of
this list -- hold in common.
I've
been playing with new feeding ideas. My inside
(frame) feeders have always served me well, except
perhaps in really cold weather or when clusters were
tiny. They don't really work well until the
bees have had them a few years and they look ugly by
our standards, but very nice to a bee. I
suppose it is like anything else in beekeeping: we
don't know much until the bees teach us.
Anyhow,
I have been trying to dream up a good winter feeding
method that does not involve dry sugar (messy, lossy
and too dry) or fondant (expensive and hard), so I
have been playing with bags of sugar with some water
added. I was hoping to get something fairly
firm to handle with the same water concentration as
honey and which could be stabbed with a knife and
placed over the cluster without seeping or running
out. So far, I have various bags of sugar with
various degrees of floppiness which would be hard to
handle. They would be OK for a hobbyist, but I
would like something that could be boxed or
palletized. Maybe there is no way around using
candying techniques to get a fudge-like consistency
that will hold up and be easy to handle by both
humans and bees.
I
walked over to the scale and weighed the hives this
afternoon. The day was supposed to be nicer
than it turned out. We had snow in the morning
and cool breezes and overcast all day. While
there, I took a shot down into the open feeder.
Yes, that is a little snow in there and that is not
brood; it is capped honey in the frame.
I also pulled back a
hive-top pillow to show the bees lined up around the
frame feeder inside. In the process of peeling
it back, several fell in as well as a little debris.
As you can see, bees float well on the thick syrup
and will get back out. Thin syrup, however
requires floats and even then will drown bees.
You can also see comb down inside the feeder under
the syrup. If the hives get at all crowded,
they build there. I usually do not bother to
clean it out unless I am reconditioning the brood
box. Yes, it reduces the volume, but if it is
full of syrup or honey, well, that is feed, isn't
it? If not, it is a good ladder.
I
notice that the weight loss shot away up today.
I suppose that is to be expected, since the hives
now have patties and syrup. Not only
does that combination have to be stimulating, it
takes heat to expand the cluster to get to the feed,
and energy to move and process the syrup, since it
is sucrose and also higher moisture than bees like
in stores.
I have now put one
foot on a treadmill. I can't stop feeding
either now until the weather settles. I made a
decision that led me here by accident when I went
inspecting last fall and threw on some boxes at the
last minute since the flow was still on. I
stuck in some foundation for space insurance -- one
sheet of foundation can keep a lot of bees busy for
a while --and although some was drawn, some was not
and by Halloween I decided the boxes had to come
off. I hate to pull top boxes that late, since
it disrupts the wintering plans and preparations the
bees made earlier with no time left to re-do before
cold weather sets in. Most hives were OK,
since they had plenty of feed, but a few turned out
to be short, so here I am feeding syrup.
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9
more months until Christmas!
Today Cloudy with sunny
periods. Clearing near noon.
Wind south 30 km/h. High 10. UV
index 3 or moderate.
Tonight Increasing cloudiness near
midnight.
Wind south 30 km/h becoming light
this evening. Low minus 3.
|
>
You mentioned on your blog recently,
that you had put some thought into
pillows. I was wondering what you
considered the appropriate amount of
batting for them (R4-16)?
One or
two layers of Kodel. Might add up to
R10. I use several, stacked in winter
and am now down to two per hive. One in
the lid and one on the frames.
> I
was wondering if it would be better to
make them with Inland's tarping material
instead of 6 mil black plastic.
Yes, a
big beekeeper has started doing that and
making them bigger. I think we may need
to consider if any plastic we use might
be toxic and look for food-approved
material if it is not expensive. The
white plastic used for tarping silage
would probably work. I wonder if black
is better, though.
If they
are too thick and bigger than the hive,
then there could be a problem putting
the lid on. Perhaps just padding
the middle or doubling only the middle
20" x 16" area and having only a
skirt or single thickness extend might
be an idea.
Another
thought i to cut off the corners.
The tabs would make for a friction fit
that would help hold the telescoping
lids on.
> I am interested because I need to
make some. Do you plan on manufacturing?
It has
crossed my mind to either manufacture or
pool orders.
How
many do you need?
(See
below, too for update) |
The weather has
turned cooler and windy, and we are getting
wind from the one direction from which my apiary
is unsheltered
Here I am,
still at home. I still plan to visit my
Mom soon, but I have almost forgotten about
Florida and California since the weather has
been so nice here.
My wife's fall
changed my plans abruptly, as have the planning
meetings for the San Juan Islands cruise
upcoming in late May and consideration of my
inspection duties starting in late April and
extending into May.
The flu also
figures into my being home-bound. I have
been under the weather and not too ambitious.
I did some work around the place the other day,
but my back started acting up. I suspect
that the episode has to do with the virus.
Usually my back does not give me grief, but it
locked up and was so painful that I could hardly
straighten up without assistance from a sitting
position or stoop at all. Such incidents
really help me appreciate good health.
We are promised
good weather later this week and I have to get
some work done on the brood chambers and other
equipment before I travel too much, so that I am
ready to split without days of preparation when
the time comes.
One thing I
would like to do at some point is alter my floor
pallets so that there is enough room under the
brood chambers for drop boards. This is
not pressing, but would make monitoring easier.
My current floors are sloped from zero clearance
at back to an inch at the front. I figure
to just add a 3/4" strip under the three sides.
My pallets are
also four-hive pallets with bees facing two
directions. I tend to think that facing
south is best, but notice that the ones facing
north do just as well. I have thought of
cutting them in half, so all can face south but
have not decided.
I also need to
select the lids I am using. I have some with
inner rims and some without. Pillows work
best when the telescoping lid has a 1" rim
around the inside that rides on the edges of the
pillow, forcing it down for a good seal.
The raised centre allows for quite a bit of
patty and/or fondant. These lids also can
be used for the Mite-Away II treatments or
formic or...
> Bob, I am
very happy with the incubators that I have build
from salvaged upright freezers. Use a salvaged
mercury wall thermostat, a simple Radio Shack
low-voltage relay, a thrift store warming tray
as a heat source, and a salvaged computer fan.
Cheap and extremely accurate.
A bar fridge
would work well, too. Maybe even those coolers
that warm or cool. I've used a chicken egg
incubator which are for sale anywhere you buy
hatching eggs.
If you build
one, the thing is that you do not want to have
too strong an element that heats up fast then
overshoots from inertia.
The ideal is to
have just enough heater power that it runs about
half the time. That way, the swings are minimal.
Just because the thermostat cuts off the power
does not mean that some heaters will not still
give off heat. Personally, I used rough service
light bulbs painted black, two in fact to ensure
against failure of one.
All this is
assuming the room where you keep the incubator
is stable at a constant temperature and does not
get over 90 degrees.
If it isn't,
that will affect your regulation of the
incubator.
For example, if
the incubator is in an outside shed that goes
form freezing to 110 degrees, you will have big
problems.
For one thing,
heating the incubator will be only half your
problem, obviously. Keeping from over heating
will be a bigger problem.
Get a high/low
recording thermometer and run the incubator a
while before you commit cells to it. If it
ranges more than a degree total after
stabilizing, IMO, it won't do.
I fed the two
soupier bags of sugar. The drier one, I
added a little more water to and kept.
We'll see how this feeding works. It does
not hold much promise from the bulk handling
point of view, since the bags are floppy and
cannot be stacked. I suppose they could be
made up on the spot, but in a commercial
operation, time in the field is expensive.
To
get work done in the bee yards, a beekeeper
pays employees to drive typically around
three hours a day to and between sites --
after they have spent an hour or two in the
shop or home yard loading, so the time they
actually are doing the jobs on site costs
twice what their time in the shop is worth.
Moreover, the actual bee yard time may only
amount to four hours in an eight-hour day.
Therefore everything should be ready ahead
of time to maximize the effect of the yard
time, and preparatory jobs should not be
done in the yard if it can be done by
cheaper labour elsewhere, like the shop, or
even a factory. That is one reason why
pre-made patties are popular. Another
is the convenience and lack of mess and
waste.
Above, I am
placing a sugar bag over the pollen patties. The
sugar is wetted to the point where it will not
run out of the bag easily (dry), but not to the point
where it runs out of the bag easily (syrup). I
used a honey-house pallet as a lid to allow for
the raised height of the patties under the
quilt. Many of my wooden lids have outer
rims, but this is a styrofoam hive and they do
not fit.
My
goal has been to find something
better, easier, and less simulative
than a baggie feeder using syrup,
which requires the bees to climb up
top and for the top to be exposed.
Ideally the product could be
prepared ahead and stacked and
handles easily. So far what I
have is not very transportable or
easy to handle in bulk.
Fondant is ideal, but it is hard to
get, and expensive. Making bee
candy involves heat and serious
intent.
So
far, I have concluded that, while
this idea is not perfect yet, 2000
ml sugar plus 200 ml water in a
gallon Ziploc bag, stored a day or
so to soak or kneaded to get the
water distributed makes an
acceptable feeder. It is not
as simulative as syrup or as messy
as dry sugar if you want to move it
around to inspect or work the hive.
It is cheaper and more available than fondant.
Some use a kilo paper retail package
of sugar soaked in water until it is
soaked through then punctured and
placed on the top bars. That
can work, but if it is cold, the
area around it must be packed/sealed with
burlap or a plastic sheet should be
tucked around it to keep the heat
down in the cluster so the bees will not have to
cluster tightly. Open space
above them at this time of year can
be deadly to marginal colonies and
will handicap the strong ones.
The
other alternative is a sheet of
newspaper with white sugar poured on
it and a hole or two made for bee
access. A little water can be
sprinkled on, too to keep the sugar
in place. As with any of these
methods, the problem is not putting
the feed on, but rather it is:
1.) sealing the top of
the hive after so the bees are warm
enough to use it,
and then
2.) dealing with any feed that is not eaten when you want to
open the hive.
I
keep coming back to using quilts and
telescoping lids with a
three-quarter inch-wide rim at least
one inch deep, around the inside top
edge to make a seal an hold the lid
up off the feed as the secret to
being able to do many tricks.
In the south, this approach would be
unnecessary, but in the north, good
heat conservation can be a matter of
life and death for a colony in
spring.
The
quilt, pillow or blanket -- whatever
it is called -- when shaped down
over the patties and other items on
top, provides that very important
seal. If an upper entrance is
desired, some have a slit in the
quilt and other use auger holes or
fold back a corner of the quilt.
I have done all those things, and
they all work.
I
have no use for wooden inner covers
at this time of year. They
simply are too cold and do not seal.
A mere 1/16" gap all around under a
lid is equal to a hole 2 inches square , and it is all around so the
wind blows right through, rather
than just venting like a chimney.
1/16"
x (20" + 16") x 2 = 4.5 square
inches |
I updated my
tracheal mite
page today after hearing from Jose and
getting some recent data from his presentation
in 2008.
I
got into a wrangle here (BEE-L) a
few years back when I reported that
there has been no improvement in
resistance to tracheal mites in US
commercial stocks over the past
decade. This was in the context of
the campaign against importing
Australian stock. The argument was
being made about how the US stock
had developed resistance to various
things (including tracheal mites)
and how could offshore bees from a
protected environment be expected to
measure up?
I
said, "Hold on there, the evidence
is to the contrary. Baton Rouge has
been tracking this characteristic",
and then I came under some
considerable calumny -- to the
extent that I left the list for a
year or so.
Again, recently, I mentioned this
same observation in a similar
context and immediately received
some supporting evidence which I
present in detail at
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/articles/tracheal.htm
. (See "March 2010" at the bottom).
Shame! On average, to my eye, things
are worse, not better than in 1999
and much worse than 2002.
For
those who just want the cartoon
version, just click here -->
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/articles/images/trache1.gif
|
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Friday
March 26th, 2010
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It occurs to me that a
lot of my focus these days is south, to the US.
Perhaps I should focus more on Canada? I know
more about the US and US beekeeping in many ways
that I do about Canadian beekeeping. Odd.
Not only is my
beekeeping focus south, but I have been spending
time in the US. I spent at least a week each
in California, Florida, and New York State this past
year.
>Those
beekeepers using Apiguard for varroa
are also getting some protection for
tracheal... I hear of more and more
beekeepers using thymol in syrup for
preventative varroa treatment. This
more recent study below gives some
credence to this practice. While the
study did not look at tracheal one
could infer from the apiguard claims
that feeding thymol in syrup may
also be beneficial to prevent
tracheal infestations.
Interesting points.
In private discussion with a noted
researcher, I am told,
"...tracheal mites have become
rather rare here, even in
documented highly susceptible
colonies. The reason for this
rarity is a bit puzzling. Some
of us think that the use of
amitraz (and to a lesser degree
oxalic and formic acid) for
varroa may have something to do
with it. I still think I can
generate a good infection if I
have exposure to mites,
miticide-free equipment,
susceptible bees and favorable
(formites) climate and weather."
>These
treatments though would just prolong
the susceptible lines and I like
Mike Palmers approach of grafting
from survivors as a better solution.
Yes. That is true and is a an
excellent option where it is
practical, but that option is
dependant on location, skill, and
other factors.
However, where bees are in
commercial service and will be
requeened regularly from commercial
stocks produced elsewhere -- which
is the case for the vast majority of
hives -- the only benefit of
forgoing treatment would be to
neighbours, if any, who are
attempting to raise their own stock.
On the other hand the consequences
of forgoing treatments can be
immediate and negative for the owner
of the bees and the resulting
ballooning of pest populations can
also be a nuisance to neighbours as
well.
Some might argue against the
movement of bees or commercial
beekeeping, but that is not going to
happen soon. We have to deal with
reality however it may happen to be.
Although many beekeepers, including
some of the very largest, do raise
some or all their own stock, this is
not the rule, and often stock is
purchased on the spur of the moment,
so the best solution for that case
is to make sure the mass queen
producers are paying attention to
the need for resistance to multiple
problems.
Apparently -- for whatever reasons
-- many are not. |
Ellen & I went to
Drumheller this afternoon to get groceries and
for the doctor to look at my head. He
concluded I should continue the treatment for
two more weeks.
The recording
thermometer shows a max of 11 degrees C (51.8
Degrees F) at home today, but the bees were
active in the feed drum when we got home from
Drum around 5:30
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Saturday
March 27th, 2010
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I started off with
some phone calls, then reserved a flight to
Ontario. It is definite. I am headed
east for a while in April.
It's a beautiful
day, too beautiful to spend inside. More
good weather is coming. I have a bag of
sugar I plan to try feeding, so I have it
soaking in water.
Ooops!
Should have re-read the following first. A
few minutes and the bags come unglued and the
paper falls apart. A few moments is all it
takes, I guess. This obviously is not
something you do at home then deliver to the
bees. You take a bucket of water and your
bags of sugar to the hives and dunk them a few
moments before putting them on. Now I have 4 kg of soggy
sugar.
>
I have dug around looking in the
listserv about ways for a small
hobby >beekeeper to feed his bees in
the winter.
Feeding fondant is as easy as
falling off a log and i would
recommend that first.
However, if you must use granulated
the long established method is
thus:-
Take your bag(s) of sugar (paper
type bag) and place them, still
sealed and closed as you bought them
in the shop, into a bucket of water.
Watch them floating there, and at
the moment they start to sink they
have absorbed enough water.
Quickly remove and place them, still
closed, on the top bars immediately
over the cluster. Use enough bags to
allow all seams of bees to have
contact with the underside of the
bags. Cover them up and go away.
They eat in through the bottom of
the bags and in time empty the bags
out completely. 2lb/1kg is not a lot
of feed to keep them going and you
can find you need to replenish them
quite frequently. |
The brakes
faded out on the forklift the last time I
used it. I guess the brake fluid
leaked out a bit over winter and needs
refilling. I should have acted as soon
as I noticed the problem, since I knocked
two hives off their pallets before deciding
enough is enough. I miss my Swinger
forklifts.
So, that is
job one this afternoon: fix the brakes!
OK. They
are fixed, for now. I like to say they
are self-flushing. What that means is
that the rubbers in the wheel cylinders leak
a bit, so I have to add fluid once in a
while. Fortunately they are
self-bleeding by the same action.
The activity
in the feed drum has heated up and the bees
are really toting feed. On left is s
shot down into the drum, then a shot of the
hives, flying freely from several holes.
Next is a shot down into an empty frame
feeder,. A few bees are licking out
the bottom. On right is the same hive,
showing the patty consumption this week.
I moved some
hives and junk around and restacked some
pallets of bricks to get the yard ready for
the season.
The scale
hives are off the chart, literally, having
gained 7 lbs total or almost two pounds each
from the open feeder. In fact, they
gained two pounds on the slider in the two
hours I was out there.
I notice one
hive shows some dysentery and is not eating
its syrup. Nosema? I was going
to get some samples, but my back is acting
up again and it was suppertime. Maybe
later.
I went out
after supper for a while. The scale
had added
another 3 lb. That goes on
tomorrow's measurement, though, since I try
to weigh at the same time each day.
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Sunday
March 28th, 2010
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We had
visitors this morning. A beekeeper
came by to get some empty supers.
We had a good
visit. The day was dull and breezy,
culminating in strong gusts in late
afternoon. I notice that the bees were
flying, but the hives were not gaining.
In fact they lost a bit since last night,
but netted a gain of one pound from the same
time in the afternoon, yesterday.
Well, here I
am again, jumping the gun. I'm feeding
both patties and syrup, and I know better.
Last year, I did not start until a month
later. OF course, this year everything
appears to be three weeks early, and last
year it was the opposite: everything was
late. We'll see.
John and Mavis
came for supper. Everyone else seemed
to be busy or unreachable, but sometimes it
is nice to have a small group for supper.
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Monday
March 29th, 2010
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This morning,
I got a break in my
pillow project. Folkert called me
back and told me a supplier who makes wraps
and pillows. I called here up and she
was glad to tell me what she does.
Here it is.
Joan Durand near Onoway, Alberta,
makes pillows sized
22-3/4" x 19" (approx).
They are sewn together using tarp
material, black on one side
and silver on the other, with
a single layer of bonded
poly (Kodel) batting which
ranges from 1/2 to 1" thick
for $3.25 each.
The stitching is in 1/4"
from the edge, then another
round of stitching is in 1/4"
from the first. The batting is
loose, but does not move,
since it is only slightly
smaller than the stitching.
Apparently if it is sewn in,
then the pillow does not
flex and putting on lids is
difficult. She will
make double layers or any
other design on special
order.
She also
makes wraps, sized 7'6" square to wrap 4
hives and they cost $57.65 each.
You can
reach her at 1-780-967-5984 or fax to
1-780-0380. Her email is unreliable
she says.
I've seen
the pillows and they seem to me to be pretty
good. They are larger than mine, but
also tougher and should take heavy use
quite well. They extend about an inch and a
half beyond the box on each end and on each
side.
Why use
pillows, also called quilts, instead of
inner covers, etc?
-
They seal well against
wind
-
They insulate well and can be
doubled or tripled for
winter
-
They are neither warm or
cold, since thin plastic
has little thermal mass
-
They are flexible
-
They crush fewer bees
than wood
-
The bees like them
-
They can be lifted
slightly to inspect
without 'cracking' the
seal
-
They can be pulled back
or folded to provide a
top entrance
-
They do not get glued
down the same way as
wood
-
They can accommodate
patties or fondant
underneath and still
seal well
-
They are easy to stack
and handle
-
They are inexpensive and
long-lasting
A lid with an
inner rim.
A 3/4" wide rim
is sufficient to
seal. This one
is 1" wide.
Height should be
at least an inch |
Pillows are best used with
telescoping lids equipped
with a 1 to 1-1/2" high rim
of wood mailed inside the
top edge to press down on
the quilt at the outer edge
while allowing the pillow to
lift in the middle if there
are patties underneath.
These lids, if made deep
enough, will work fine with
a Mite-Away II or similar
mite treatment if the
pillows are left off for the
treatment duration,
eliminating the need for
separate 'rims' which are a
huge PITA.
When adding
a 1 or 1-1/2" lift to many
telescoping lids already in
service, though, there is
likely to be very little
'lip' since many such lids
are only 2" or so deep.
I suppose a strip could be
added to deepen them,
though. |
It's noon and
I'm dying to get outside, but the wind is
gusting out there, but from the west,
thankfully, not the north. Maybe it won't be
as bad as it sounds, but the wind is very
tiring.
I wound up
staying in due to the wind and various
things coming up.
Finally I did
go outside and I found it most refreshing.
There is something about being inside on a
windy day that is tiring. Going
outside woke me right up, and the wind was
not actually that bad.
There are about
400 useable boxes here (above) |
These are
close-ups of the above stack |
This a pile of
mostly unsorted boxes |
The rest of the pile of unsorted
boxes |
The bee yard
is actually somehow out of the wind and the
bees are flying. They had only gained
a 1/4 lb each, though and when I looked I
could see why. The sugar syrup has
crusted over (Above picture). That
happens when it is really dry. I
poured a few cups of water in and imagine
that should get them back to work.
I should
mention that there is an opposite problem
that happens when it rains heavily and the
syrup is in the open. If there is more
than a little precipitation, since water is
lighter than syrup it will sit on top.
Unless the bees want water, they may then
ignore the syrup. I should also
mention that HFCS does not crust when
open-fed.
I mentioned
that I sold some boxes the other day and
today my phone rang. A beekeeper read
that and is wondering about the rest, so I
promised some pictures. Here they are.
I have about 400 boxes which are in good
shape and which were just tossed outside
when we broke frames extracting. They
are not the best, but will hold frames.
The dimensions and the condition may be a
bit variable.
The bottom two
pictures are of those ones. Then there are 500 or more
along the building. (Last two pictures).
I think they
are somewhat unsorted and vary from new to
firewood as I recall.
This not the
fanciest woodenware, but it will make money
for someone and that is why I kept it
around. Somebody will put it to good
use. The bees don't care about paint
or dimensions.
I
started a new chart as of March 21st for
spring scale hive performance. Seeing
as I am now feeding, the weight loss data is
being overwhelmed by the weight gains from
feeding.
The old chart
continues from the same data and I suppose I
will post it here from time time to time as
well. For the sake of completeness,
here is the final version to date on the
right.
(Regular
readers will know to click on all images to
enlarge them There are, of course,
exceptions).
We
are discussing essential oils
again on BEE-L. I have
been somewhat of a skeptic,
especially in early years when
the weak effects of the oils
were insufficient to overcome
the mites. Recently I
received a copy of a study on
the effects of thymol on nosema
from a reader and I enquired
further.
Yes, I use thymol crystals
in all my sugar syrup. This
will be my 3 rd year. I have
tried various dosages,. up
to one gram per gallon
,usually .5 or 3/4 gram per
gallon.
Certainly think it helps
with nosema and mite levels,
of course it is only legal
for mould in syrup, I have
done no studies on thymol's
affects on mites or nosema
but my winter losses are
getting lower, only 7% THIS
SPRING. Mite counts taken
last sept were less than 3%
and mostly lower, we did
have to treat 100 nucs
bought from BC in spring of
09, they were 5-10%
We also feed fumidil-B and
from previous experience we
were getting mixed results
with year to year
comparisons, since the
thymol we seem to be more
consistent results with
wintering and spring build
up.
Nice to see your diary
running again, I read it
often
|
This
afternoon, I checked the bag of sugar I
placed on the hives a few days back on the
25th. I lifted it a little and looked under.
So far the bees seem to have ignored it.
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Tuesday
March 30th, 2010
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2004,
2003,
2002,
2001,
2000,
1999
My back is
still acting up and I am wondering if it
somehow is related to the
Aldera
(more)
I have
been using to treat and hopefully cure
actinic keratosis, pre-cancerous spots,
on my head. Beekeepers spend time in
the sun and must be aware of the risks and
watch for skin problems.
Aldara seems
to be doing a good job. At first, when
the treatment began, there were angry red
spots on my head that looked really awful
and crusted over. Lately they have healed
and don't seem to flare up much, but my back
is killing me and my gut was feeling weird.
I have been putting the cream on at night
lately and I will switch to daytime -- and
be sure to wash it off before the night.
I was a bit casual about that at first, but
have learned what a powerful drug it is.
From
Wikipedia: "Other side effects include
headaches, back pain, muscle aches,
tiredness, flu-like symptoms, swollen
lymph nodes, diarrhea, and fungal
infections".
I have been
experiencing some of these and others listed
on the drug side-effect sites
1
2. Having had the actual flu at
the same time exacerbated and confused the
issue, too. Ellen had the same flu and was
sick enough she passed out on the stairs and
hit her head. She was not taking the Aldera
treatment, obviously, so we assume that the
flu was pretty bad by itself, without a drug
side-effect added on.
At any rate,
my back is worst after I lie down -- I can
hardly get up after a few hours -- and then
gets better as the day wears on and so I got
outside and moved some things around the
yard, tidying up in the afternoon.
That reminds
me that my back used to act up after I drove
the forklift a lot sometimes. I
suspect it has as much to do with stepping
off the forklift as driving it. There
can be a jolt stepping down.
The bees lost
weight again today. The combination of
crusting on the feed drum, and the cooler
and windy weather are my prime suspects for
that. We are expecting warm weather,
but nothing like the hot day I lucked onto
when I first opened the drum.
Open feeding
is a real crapshoot. If the timing is
lucky, the bees will take the syrup right
away. Miss by a day or two and the
drum will sit there and either crust over or
accumulate rain water. I prefer HFCS
for spring feeding because it does not
crust. Our best year ever was the year
we fed HFCS in the spring.
Ruth came for
supper. She is driving back and forth to
Calgary for treatment these days and comes
by often. We don't get a lot of
company and enjoy what company we do get.
Look us up if you are going by. We are
10 miles south of Three Hills, off highway
21.
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Wednesday
March 31st, 2010
March past:
2009,
2005,
2004,
2003,
2002,
2001,
2000,
1999
I have been a
skeptic when it comes to "Essential oils",
but am starting to think differently.
My complaint has been that there are too
many uncontrolled and anecdotal accounts and
people indiscriminately adding all sorts of
things to beehives. Beehives are food
factories, and I am reluctant to add
anything that is not food-approved or not to
have a distinct purpose for which it has
been proven effective.
Various
studies have been made over the years and
most of the emphasis has been mite control.
Recently, though, a reader send me the
following and a copy of a study showing
efficacy against nosema apis.
Yes, I use thymol crystals
crystals in all my sugar syrup.
This will be my 3rd year.
I have tried various dosages,up
to one gram per gallon, usually
0.5 or 3/4 gram per gallon.
Certainly think it helps with
nosema and mite levels, of
course it is only legal for
mould in syrup, I have done no
studies on thymol's affects on
mites or nosema but my winter
losses are getting lower, only
7% THIS SPRING.
Mite counts taken last sept were
less than 3% and mostly lower,
we did have to treat 100 nucs
bought from BC in spring of 09,
they were 5-10%.
We also feed fumidil-B and from
previous experience we were
getting mixed results with year
to year comparisons, since the
thymol we seem to be more
consistent results with
wintering and spring build up.
Nice to see your diary running
again, I read it often
I buy 10 lbs at a time. Another
study below. This is maybe
how it works,
From: PAKISTAN
JOURNAL OF
BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES
Abstract:
The aim of this
study was to
determine the
natural
occurrence of
Nosema apis in
honey bee
colonies and
evaluated of N.
apis presence in
colonies after
medical
treatment with
fumagillin and
thymol in
consecutive 3
years period.
For this
purpose, 208
honey bee
colonies
randomly
selected for
detection of N.
apis infection
from Aegean
ecotype of Apis
mellifera
anatolica, 1
years old queen
in April, 2002.
The colony
development
performances and
honey yields
were evaluated
through the
years from 2002
to 2004.
Yücel, B. and
D.L. Muhsin,
2005. The impact
of Nosema apis
Z. infestation
of honey bee (Apis
mellifera L.)
colonies after
using different
treatment
methods and
their effects on
the population
levels of
workers and
honey production
on consecutive
years. Pak. J.
Biol. Sci., 8:
1142-1145.
DOI:
10.3923/pjbs.2005.1142.1145
URL:
http://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=pjbs.2005.1142.1145
Summary of results.
Click to enlarge.
Be sure to read the
whole study.
[Abstract]
[Fulltext
PDF]
That works out to me
(Allen) to be 0.25
grams of crystals
per U.S. gallon
0.000066g x 1000mL/L
x 3.78 L/Gal = 0.25
g/Gal
or 0.3 g per
Imperial Gallon |
I am definitely not a scientist
only a beekeeper who wants
healthy bees.............maybe I
am selecting for thymol
resistant mites
Thymol crystals are dissolved in
isopropyl alcohol,99%, THEN
ADDED TO SYRUP AND MIXED
(Randy
discusses mixing on his
site)
More...
----- Original Message -----
From: "kurt" <allerslev@GMAIL.COM>
To: <BEE-L@listserv.albany.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, September
17, 2008 8:54 AM
Subject: [BEE-L] β-Cyclodextrins
as Carriers of Monoterpenes
for v arroa IPM
β-Cyclodextrins as Carriers
of Monoterpenes into the
Hemolymph of the
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
for Integrated Pest
Management
Blaise W. LeBlanc, Stephen
Boué, Gloria De-Grandi
Hoffman, Thomas
Deeby, Holly McCready, and
Kevin Loeffelmann
Carl Hayden Bee Research
Center, USDA ARS, 2000 East
Allen Road,
Tucson, Arizona 85719;
Southern Regional Research
Center, USDA ARS,
New Orleans, Louisiana
70179; and Southwest
Watershed Research, USDA
ARS, 2000 East Allen Road,
Tucson, Arizona 85719
J. Agric. Food Chem., 56
(18), 8565–8573, 2008.
http://dx.doi.org/
10.1021/jf801607c
from the abstract: The
Varroa mite (Varroa
destructor) is becoming
ubiquitous worldwide and is
a serious threat to honey
bees. The cultivation of
certain food crops are at
risk. The most noted
acaricides against Varroa
mites are tau-fluvaninate
and coumaphos, but the mites
are showing resistance.
Since these insecticides are
used in the proximity of
honey, it is desirable to
use natural alternatives.
Monoterpenoids such as
thymol and carvacrol, that
are constituents of oil of
thyme and oil of origanum,
show promise as acaricides
against the Varroa mite
(Varroa destructor), but the
delivery of these compounds
remains a challenge due to
the low water solubility and
uncontrolled release into
the colony. β-cyclodextrin
(β-CD) inclusion complexes
of thymol, oil of origanum,
and carvacrol were prepared
on a preparative scale. ...
The toxicity of β-CD and the
prepared complexes in
enriched sucrose syrup was
studied by conducting caged
honey bee (Apis mellifera)
feeding trials. After the
first and second weeks of
feeding, hemolymph and gut
tissue samples were acquired
from the caged bee study.
The levels of thymol and
carvacrol were quantified by
solid-phase microextraction
gas chromatography mass
spectroscopy, using an
optimized procedure we
developed. High (mM) levels
of thymol and carvacrol were
detected in bee tissues
without any imposed toxicity
to the bees, in an effort to
deter Varroa mites from
feeding on honey bee
hemolymph.
****************************************************
* General Information About
BEE-L is available at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm
*
|
From
Beesource (Same guy as
above)
I use
alcohol, the higher strength
stuff purchased at a vet
clinic. I'm mixing 750
grams of thymol crystals in
appox 1/2 gallon alcohol ,
to dissolve all the crystals
and to put in 1000 gallons
of syrup ( 3/4 gram per
gallon)
I would be
cautious at first on feeding
anything to bees, There
seems to be lots of
variables involved in
everything ones does with
bees, maybe trying on only a
few colonies at first, and
not all of them and maybe a
smaller dosage.
I notice I
get a build up of thymol in
my syrup tank, maybe from
several years usage in the
same tank, never completely
emptying the tank and not
washing out my tank, It does
seem to precipitate out over
several weeks by floating on
top of the syrup, depending
on concentration and
temperature and remixing
does dissolve it again,
We have a by pass on our
pump that re-circulates
while pumping, so mixes as
well as pumps.
Noticed in
June on a warm day while
feeder pails were on with
thymol syrup and dosage was
one gram per gallon, bees
were hanging on the outside.
Other than that no other bad
side effects.
It does
seem to help in controlling
my mite population, I have
not done any studies on
this, it does definitely
prevent syrup fermentation.
I have seen a European study
showing thymol fed over 3
years with fumidil-B showed
there was no nosema spores
present after 3 years, while
those colonies just fed
fumidil B still had spores
after 3 years.
Have not
see this study duplicated
anywhere. Haven't tested my
bees for nosema levels
lately ,but feed fumidil-B,
sometimes both spring and
fall |
More
resources:
Dave Cushman's Site
Screening of natural compounds for the
control of nosema disease in honeybees
(Apis mellifera)
Thymol Properties:
Appearance: Small colorless
granules.
Odor: Thyme-like odor.
Solubility: 0.1g/100g water.
Specific Gravity: 0.97 @ 25C/4C
pH: No information found.
% Volatiles by volume @ 21C (70F): 0
Boiling Point: 233C (451F )
Melting Point: 48 - 51C (118 - 124F)
Vapor Density (Air=1): No
information found.
Vapor Pressure (mm Hg): 1 @ 64C
(147F)
Evaporation Rate (BuAc=1): No
information found.
Subject: Effect of thymol
and resveratrol
From: Peter L Borst
Reply-To: Informed
Discussion of Beekeeping
Issues and Bee Biology
Date: Sun, 14 Feb 2010
13:53:18 -0500
This is new
> The presence of thymol or
resveratrol in syrup caused
nosema-infected bees to live
significantly longer than
control bees or bees fed
with treated candies. In the
case of thymol, higher
survival might be related to
the lower spore load,
whereas in the case of
resveratrol (where spore
loads were not different
from control bees), higher
survival might be explained
by specific life-prolonging
antioxidant properties of
this substance.
Effect of thymol and
resveratrol administered
with candy or syrup on the
development of Nosema
ceranae (Apis mellifera)
artificially infected honey
bees Cecilia Cost1, Marco
Lodesani, Lara Maistrello |
Ingmar
Fries said, at Niagara Falls, that the
thymol taste threshold in honey is 2ppm
(parts per million). Dogs smell down to
500 ppt (parts per trillion) and bees
down to 5 ppt!
Thymomite™
Strips
There is
much more discussion in the BEE-L
Archives. Go to
the BEE-L website
and type "thymol" into the search box.
The geese
are back. I think they expected
water, bit the pond is still frozen.
They stood around a bit, honked a few
times and flew on.
Tomorrow
is April 1st. It has been a long
March. Most years we have been in
Victoria for two weeks about now.
This year we decided to skip it. Maybe
next year.
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