Beekeeping

WILLAMETTE VALLEY BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION 2023 Bee School What: The WVBA is offering an introduction to beekeeping course in February 2023. We will cover equipment needed, where to obtain bees, how to “work” bees, pests and diseases, and much more. When: Monday evenings February 6, 13, 20, and 27 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm. Plus in April we host a “bee day” where we actually inspect colonies of bees. Place and time TBD. Where: Salem Evangelical Church, 455 Locust St, NE, Salem. R

Well winter finally caught up to us after milder than normal summer and fall months. Our bees were winding down but it became serious business for them after mid-October now into November rain and colder nighttime temperatures. We should now shut down for any further manipulations with a couple of exceptions. We can still arrange to put winter “emergency” feed on our colonies. That would be a sugar brick, fondant sugar or dry sugar. These should be fed at the top of the co

August was definitely NOT  a month for much hive examining. Temperatures were hot and hives full of bees (and maybe supers had some honey).  September is a critical juncture in our annual mite fight - take samples NOW. A nice resource is the August BetterBEE Buzz (a bee supply newsletter) “Winter Bees and Varroa Mites”. As you watch bees coming and going, do you see bees coming in with balls of pollen on their hind legs? This is good. It means the bees are foraging well. C

We typically think of honey bee foraging as gathering pollen and nectar from flowers. However, they also forge for propolis and water. As the bee nutrition studies at OSU by Ramesh Sagili and postdoc Priya Charkrabarti demonstrate, the nutritional requirements of honey bees are quite complex. It turns out that maybe nectar and pollen doesn’t supply everything bees need - water might also be important. See Flickr photo. PhD studies by Dr. Rachael Bonoan, at Tufts University

Spring is the busiest time of the year for the beekeeper. Bee populations develop rapidly and changes happen very quickly in the beehive.  It is a challenge for the beekeeper to stay ahead — to anticipate, not merely re-act.  We often have to make decisions based on relatively little information. It is probably  the toughest management season during the year. Timing is everything. This is the opening for my March 2022 Beekeeping Basics column for the American Bee Journal (pa

The PNW honey bee survey is now open, extending to end of April. Survey can be completed in only 5-10 minutes. Go to: https://pnwhoneybeesurvey.com/survey  To examine past survey results look for WVBA survey report on same site under survey results. I ASK WVBA members to complete a survey again this year. Last year, the 22 WVBA survey respondents (168 fall colonies) reported a  29% loss, second best survival of all the bee clubs; statewide average loss was 35%.  The level i

Dr Marla Spivek in October American Bee Journal discussed  some examples of “double-edged swords” beekeepers are facing. One was the conundrum of individuals starting beekeeping to save the bees  but then they don’t properly  care for their bees. New beekeepers don’t initially know how to care for their bees but also some individuals who start a bee hive have the mistaken belief by not treating or feeding colonies their bees will be more hardy by building resistance to mites/

The more I study beekeeping, the less I know, until, finally, I arrived – I know pretty much nothing. But, even though I know nothing, I still have plenty to unlearn. Okay, as one or two of my beekeeping friends might remember (and facebook  reminded you), I share a December 25 th birthday with L.L. Langstroth (1810). So, for a chuckle, I decided to answer to, and identify myself as, “Lorenzo” to spam callers, Jersey Mike’s calls- about the only place I eat out – love their

Conventional wisdom has been that beekeepers should avoid the accumulation of moisture at the colony top during winter. We need prevent droplets of condensate moisture accumulating at top of the colony. This can rain back down on the bee cluster creating a cycle of bees getting wet, the bees then needing to move to dry off, resulting in yet more warm air rising, more droplets forming at top and even more moisture raining back on the bees. Like bees in bee tress or us in our h

Twenty -two WVBA PNWhoneybeesurvey respondents supplied information about some managements they utilize for the PNW loss survey www.pnwhoneybeesurvey.com Respondents could select multiple options and there was always a none and other selection possible. One of the 22 survey respondents had over 20 colonies and had a heavy loss (68%) and as an outlier was removed from the analysis. This reduced average loss to 22% for analysis. Feeding The remaining 21 checked 59 feeding op

In August a beekeeping word that comes to mind is robbing. If not already done, we might rob our bees in August,  when we harvest surplus honey. If we take too much, colonies might not survive winter. Other robbers are out there too - bees from other colonies might rob a colony. Skunks and/or yellow jackets might rob our bees and weaken colonies not allowing for overwintering. Perhaps a male bear, seeking to fatten up for hibernation, might destroy our colony to fest on brood

Rich had asked that I speak at the WVBA June picnic before it was cancelled due to the heat wave. I was going to discuss two new reports. Here is that information. New HBHC report on treating varroa mites The Guide to Varroa Mite Controls for Commercial Beekeeping Operations lays out a vision that addresses the risks of mite resistance created by off-label pesticide use. The threat of widespread resistance to useful miticides, like amitraz, poses a serious threat to the lo

WVBA members were encouraged to complete a web-based survey document in a continuing effort to define overwintering losses/successes of backyard beekeepers in Oregon. This was the 12 th year of such survey activity. I received 368 responses from OR backyarders, keeping anywhere from 1 to 40 colonies; Willamette Valley members sent in 22 surveys, 6 more than last year, reporting on 168 fall colonies. Overwintering losses of WVBA respondents =29 %, the 2 nd best record of OR

The PNW honey bee survey is now open extending to end of April. WVBA members had been consistently participating but last year only 16 individuals reported on 88 fall hives. But those 16 had great news to report – the WVBA club report had the greatest survival of all the bee clubs with only a 19% loss.  I ASK PLEASE complete a survey again this year. Survey can be completed in only 5-10 minutes. Go to https://pnwhoneybeesurvey.com/survey To examine past survey results look f

Some WVBA beekeepers may remember Emily (Cross) Painter. She served as Secretary of WVBA for a couple of years, 2014-2016 while a West Salem High student. She left then to spend a gap year in England and for last four years has been an undergraduate student at the University of Vermont. You may be interested in her introduction to beekeeping, what she has given back at still a young age and where she is now. Emily Painter began with bees on the family farm outside of Dallas i

January is not a month for bee colony inspection. But that does not keep us from worrying about them. So what can we do with our bees this month (besides just worrying)? It is possible to roughly group our overwintered colonies into two groups per our last fall judgement/inspection. We sought to have mostly strong colonies with abundant honey stores. However, were the populations too large and our bees have already eaten most of their winter stores? Unfortunately, we likely a

PARASITIC MITE SYNDROME (PMS) Parasitic Mite Syndrome is a condition, not a specific disease whereby a honey bee colony dies rapidly in the fall months. The initial PMS field symptoms include reduced adult population and spotty brood pattern with dying larvae. These symptoms intensify over a short time as the colony gets close to dying.  Confusingly the symptoms may be independent of how heavy the Varroa mite infestation is in the colony. A similar syndrome is CCD, Colony Col

Doesn't this just say fall? Monarch Butterfly and Honey Bee on Sunflower Photo by Kathy Garvey