Articles

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