It looks like my first batch of bees will arrive on April 13. That is a Monday.

Erica does not want to be left alone to handle the bees. I will try to coordinate to be there, but if I can’t, I’ll try to talk the guy into dropping the frames into my hives. The alternative is to just leave the nuc boxes on the walk and I’ll transfer them as soon as I get home. The nuc boxes cost $5 each so I would rather not have to pay for cardboard boxes.

I started beekeeping this spring and have yet to actually have any bees. Still, learning about and preparing fo my bees is taking up a lot of my brain energy. I dream almost every night about bees.

I check my automated digest site: Beekeeping Digest regularly. I noticed an article on Top Bar Hives. The website is one of those wonderful amateur websites, Top Bar Hive Beekeeping, without the slick design, but so rich in information that you want to read every word.

Bees in the wild will find a hollow tree or a hole in a cliff face or a sheltered place under a tree limb. They will attach their combs to the ceiling an the comb is drawn downwards. They will not attach comb to slanted sides, usually.

The Top Bar Hive takes advantage of this by making a hive with top bars and slanted sides. The bees naturally build their comb down from the bars and the bars a easily lifted to inspect. It is more economical than a Langstroth hive to build and there are no critical measurements so they can be built from scrap lumber in a variety of sizes.

Since they don’t have supers the hives don’t produce as much honey and it is more difficult to keep the bees from swarming.

Top Bar Hives are a fun alternative to commercial style beekeeping. The hives are smaller, much prettier (they look like bird houses) and more cheaper to make and maintain.

I had heard that there was money in the stimulus package for beekeepers. It turns out that this was a one of those weird interpolations by politicians who are against the stimulus package. Whether you agree or disagree with the way the administration is implementing the stimulus package, rest assured that there is no money in the package for bees.

As important as beekeeping is, it would be a stretch that somehow supporting beekeepers through direct aid or hive insurance would be a good fit in an economic stimulus plan.

Once again: No bees in the stimulus package. Anyone who says otherwise is mistaken or a liar. Unfortunately there are politicians who don’t care about the truth or bees and are trying to attack the stimulus package by depreciating the importance of beekeeping.

No Stimulus For Beekeepers

Michelle Obama is planting a garden on the White House lawn. This will be the first garden planted by a first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt planted her “Victory Garden”.
The Garden will include a beehive – some reports say three beehives.

There is a great deal of criticism of this. Some people seem to think that this is an ingenuous act and that the president’s wife should not be out hoeing the garden.

Politics aside, raising vegetables is a very rewarding activity and I think people should find other things to talk about.

As for the bees, it is an interesting part of this project and can only help beekeepers everywhere, by at least drawing attention to the art of keeping bees.

First lady breaks ground on White House veggie garden

The starter kit deals at the various mail order houses are a good deal. You get nearly $300 worth of stuff for about $150. Here is my first hive waiting for the bees. I painted it dark brown because I am putting it in the wooded area behind my house and I don’t want the neighbors to know it’s there.

First the Base with the mite board. You cover this with Vaseline if you start getting mites and the mites stick to it.

This is the divider board.

This is the Hive box and the empty Frames. I have the foundation, but I am not putting it in the frames just yet. The bees won’t bee here for another three weeks.

This is the box with the aluminum covered top.

These are some of the other knic-knacs that you get. There’s a feeder, an entrance reducer, a hive tool, a brush, gloves and a smoker. I also have fuel for the smoker.

Here is a jerk modeling the bee hat thing.

In addition to this you get a book, which I have talked about and a video on DVD from 1991 that is sometimes very good and many times very funny.

I was very upset to read that bee colonies have very real problems with disease. Apart from killing the bees outright by mismanagement, bees suffer from a variety of health problems. In fact, almost 40% of all bee colonies die during the year. Many of them die over the winter, but disease, mismanagement and pests can threaten a beehive all year round.

Here are the things to watch for.

Varroa Mites

Probably the one problem that is bothering all beekeepers is Varroa mites. These mites attach themselves to bees, larva and pupa and weaken them. It is not an issue of whether or not you have these pests, but if they are enough to threaten the colony. Just about all hives have Varroa mite.

From the University of Kentucky Entomology web page:

Early detection of low levels of mite infestations is key to its successful management. While they can be spotted during colony inspection if present in high numbers, this tends to only identify larger infestations. There is a product available, Apistan, that will kill the mites and cause the mites to drop from the bees. Two strips should be hung in the brood nest area of the colony for approximately 4 weeks. This is to be used with sticky paper and a fine-mesh screen on the bottom board of a colony to capture any mites that may have been present. A considerable amount of cell cappings and other debris will also collect on the sticky paper, so it is best to inspect the sticky paper carefully for mites after removal. This method is able to detect low level infestations. Apistan strips are available from most of the large beekeeping suppliers and can be used both for detection and treatment of varroa infestations.

If a colony is found to be infested, all colonies at the site should be treated for mites with Apistan strips in the same manner. These strips contain the miticide fluvalinate and are not to be used during honey flow, or when there is surplus honey present in the colony that may be removed for human consumption at a later date. Therefore, late fall, after removal of surplus honey, or early spring, prior to honey flow, are the best times to treat for varroa mites.

Acarine (Tracheal) mites

Tracheal mites get into the throat of bees and choke them to death. This pretty much killed every bee in England, and it took a while before the British beekeepers could recover. The mite entered the U.S. in 1984 and is still spreading. Brother Adam at the Buckfast Abbey create a hybrid called the Buckfast Bee that is resistant to these deadly mites.

The mites are hard to detect without a microscope, but is treatable with a special grease patty made of vegetable oil and sugar. Sometimes menthol is added to the patty and it disrupts the mites.

Nosema

Nosema is bee parasite that causes dysentery. It affects stressed bees, I am told, so it is important to treat bees that have been shipped to you as Bee Packages. It sometimes affects bees that are feeding on sugar water instead of honey.

The treatment is a shot of Fumigilin-B when you get the bees and once more in the fall to help the bees make it through the winter. A bottle with enough medicine to make 6 gallons is about $25.

Small Hive Beetle

The small hive beetle is a pest that gets into the hive and grows in the comb, killing the young brrod and eating the honey. They will drive the bees out of the hive in search of clean living quarters.

The treatment is to put barriers around the hive to prevent it from entering. Pesticides can be used in a device that lets the small beetles get at the poison, but does not let in the bees.

Wax moths

Wax moths don’t attack the bees, but eat the honeycombs. They like wax. This disrupts the honey and kills larva and pupa. The bees themselves usually kill the moths, but a sick colony may not be able to. Lots of wax moths is an indication that there is something wrong with the hive.

There are lots of treatments for Wax moths. Since they usually attack in the winter on parts of the comb where there are no bees, one thing is to remove the infected frame and let it freeze, exposed to the weather for 24 hours. The moths live in the warn hive, but die if frozen.

American foulbrood (AFB)

AFB is a nasty disease caused by a bacteria. It is one of the most common colony killers. The bacteria is present in most hives, but it usually only affects a weakened colony. Beekepers can smell the disease and there is a test you can do with a toothpick on dead larva – they have a ropey appearance.

There are some antibiotics that beekeepers can use as a prophylactic such as oxytetracyclene, but it is not recommended that the colony be treated until the beekeeper is sure that the hive is infected.

The treatment is to burn the hive and frames. The disease is known to stay in an unused hive for 40 years.

European foulbrood (EFB)

EFB is less deadly than AFB and is associated with a stressed hive. The hive usually recovers. Antibiotics can be used on a sick hive, but the antibiotics get into the honey so it can’t be used.

Chalkbrood

Chalkbrood is fungal disease that cause the brood to starve. The larva die and appear chalky white. It is a problem where humidity is high and the cure is to ventilate the hive.

Stonebrood

Stonebrood is another fungal disease. It causes mummification of the brood. It is also deadly to humans and other mammals.

Luckily a good hive will clean out the victims quickly and control the spread of the disease.

Bee viruses

There are a number of bee viruses including Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) or (APV) that are associated with Colony Collapse Disorder. These Dicistroviridae viruses have many forms. The actual connection to Colony Collapse disorder is not quite confirmed at this time although there is some evidence that there is a connection.

There’s not much you can do about a virus. Either colony dies or it doesn’t.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)

Colony Collapse Disorder is a mysterious disorder. It is not classified as disease because the causal nature of the disorder is not proven, yet. It is a reference to the drastic increase in the number of colonies that just disappear. In a matter of weeks, sometimes a few days, the entire hive just wanders off and is presumed dead. The queen and some brood remain, but not enough to support the hive. The colony dies. There are no dead bees around the colony so it is hard to say what happened.

The disorder is associate with Varroa Mites, Nosema and other diseases, and is especially associated with a Dicistroviridae viruses. There have been some rumors that CCD is caused by a Dicistroviridae virus, but the final decision has not been verified, at least not officially.

Bee colonies are at a tremendous risk, especially to CCD. This is one reason why it is important for novice beekeepers like myself get into this on a hobby basis. The world needs its beehives. Professional beekeepers need all the backup they can get. Being an amateur pours money into the bee industry as the demand for bees goes up. We are helping to keep the bee infrastructure going while increasing the number of colonies.

I just hope my bees make it through the first months and I have something to be proud of this time next year.

Mail Order Beekeeping Supplies

I’ve been buying my woodware from mail order houses. There are no retail bee stores within easy driving distance. I would much rather touch the stuff that I am going to buy, but I can’t so I have to make do with a brief description and a fuzzy picture.

The main problem with buying hives and supers via mail order is that they are heavy. The shipping costs are nasty. I’ve been paying upwards to $60 every time I make a big order.

I decided to spend a few minutes Googling for beekeeper supplies and make a list of websites, their locations and the cost of three items so you can compare. It is better, however to buy from a nearby location than the cheapest place. The shipping price can triple to send heavy boxes across the country.

I want to compare the price of 1) a 10 frame hive kit with top and bottom board and frames. 2) a medium super unassembled. And 3) a cheap bee feeder.

The list is quite short. I only chose websites that were high on the Google list and I only chose websites that had the products that I wanted to compare. There is a deep hive kit that consists of a hive and super that goes for around $100 at Dadant, but Dadant.com did not have the single hive body kit. The deep hive is good deal, but it would not compare well here. I was also amazed at the range in cost of the beginner’s complete kits. They went from cheap to expensive, but I don’t have the time to figure out why.

Some stores don’t have ecommerce stores and you have to fill out an order form and mail it in. I even found one place that had good price stuff that didn’t accept credit cards. I could set them up with a paypal store in a few hours.

The List:

HoneyFlowerFarm has a very nice resources page that lists these and others. Many, however, have broken links or do not have ecommerce set up.

Please email me with your favorite online store and the prices you found. These are all east or west coast, what happened to the middle? Where is Canada, Australia and England?

The wooden beehive parts are called woodware. A Langstroth hive is very simple to make. The hives use rabbet joints which are interlocking wood joints that make the box strong and stable. If you are have the right stuff you can make dovetail joints. If, like me, you just aren’t good at carpentry, you can just use screws and butt joints, which are probably just fine.

A precut and unassembled hive with an assembled bottom board, divider board and telescoping top covered with stainless steel, costs about $60 at most of the online shops. It weighs 57 pounds and shipping is about $25. This includes frames.
Making your own hive costs about $30-$40 worth of lumber and two or three hours of time.

It’s the time that gets you. You have to drive to the lumber yard and get an 8 foot length of 1x12x8 shelving that is relatively free of bad knots. You need a half sheet of 3/4 inch sheathing (5/8 will do just fine), and a half sheet of 1/4 inch plywood. You need as piece of sheet metal, or sanded tar paper for the cover to keep the rain off. The trip will kill an hour and cost something for gas.

You need to rip the lumber down to 9-5/8 (and probably go back to the lumber store when you screw it up). You need to chop the sides and then cut the rabbets. You have to cut the top and bottom sidepieces and the plywood parts. You need either a dado blade on a table saw or a router to cut the grooves in the bottom and top sidepieces and the shelf for the frames.

You need to assemble and glue the top and bottom. You need to cut and attach the sheet metal to the top.

All this should take more than an hour to set up and get right. To be safe I am saying that it takes two hours with restarts and beer breaks.

Pay yourself $7 an hour and add about $20 to the cost of the project. You are probably worth more than this, but I am paying you MacDonald’s wages for even thinking that this is going to come out well.

The hive kits include the unassembled frames. You have to pay about $15 to get these shipped to your house, and you have to buy the foundation anyway.

Let’s total it up:
$35 in lumber + $20 labor + $15 frames =Total $70

If you bought the unassembled kit for $60 plus $25 shipping, you’d pay $85.
So you saved about $15, more or less.

You also spent 3 hours on a Saturday morning risking your fingers on the table saw and producing a product inferior to the mass produced ones. You could have been out at a game, or sleeping late, or having a good time doing almost anything else.

If you are still interested, www.Beesource.com has Hive Plans.

Obviously, if you are reading this, you are thinking about keeping bees. There are any number of positive reasons for keeping bees, but I think we might consider some of the negatives. Here are some reasons why you might decide not to keep bees.

First, bees sting. Honey bees give you little love stings that smart a little and bother you a little, but aren’t like wasp stings and in fact are not much more annoying than a mosquito bite. If you don’t want to be stung, don’t keep bees. If the prospects of feeling a little pain are too frightening, then you will not be happy keeping bees. Sure, you can wear bee suits and full body bee armor, but you will be stung and you probably will be stung every time you open your hive, even with a bee suit.

If there is anyone nearby who is allergic to bee stings then don’t raise bees. Honey bees don’t bother most people, but that bratty neighbor kid is going to go into anaphylactic shock if he gets stung and the best way to do that is tell him to stay away from the bees. If you are a member of your family is allergic don’t do it. If a neighbor finds you have bees and a child is stung by a wasp you will be blamed anyway and probably sued. Bees work best when there are no people around to drag them into court. If you live in a crowded neighborhood keep your bees secret.

Some people don’t like bees and don’t want bees around. They will claim to be allergic or they will find some health department rule to keep you from keeping bees. You hives should be well hidden from neighbors. If you live in the midst of nasty people, consider some other hobby.

You have to have a good place to put the hive. It should be 100 feet from your doorway, driveway and front walk. The bees probably won’t bother you, but if the hive is close, you could get into problems. Bees like the smell of perfume and you great aunt who drenches herself in Obsession will find some bee friends that are very interested in her as she waits for you at the front door. It is hardly ever an issue, but it is best if the bees don’t live too close. You can keep bees on a 1/8 acre lot, but it is best if you have a little room.

You need a secluded place where young boys won’t be tempted to tip the hive or throw rocks at it. You need a place where raccoons and bears and even the occasional deer will not bother the hive. It needs a nice sunny exposure, especially in the winter, but it should be out of the wind.

If you keep bees you can’t use insecticides on your lawn, shrubs or trees. The insecticides will kill the bees. If you live in a neighborhood where everyone wants to pour toxic chemicals on their lawns, you bees will not thrive. Your lawn should contain wild flowers and clover. Don’t treat it with chemicals. Don’t mow it very often. You want a flowery meadow when you have bees, not a well manicured lawn.

You have to understand that it is against the law to sell honey without a permit from the board of health and regular inspections. You can sell a few jars at garage sales and flea markets and you can give honey as presents, but as soon as you start selling enough to make a good profit you will be fined for not following very stringent health and food quality laws. You will not get rich easily from raising bees in your back yard.

Bees aren’t cheap. You can get started for about $250. You may never get that much back selling honey at the church bazaar. You have to spend money on bee medicine and you probably will get more wood ware as the hive grows. You may want to split your hive and have to buy more equipment. You should expect to make back your investment in satisfaction rather than a concrete return on investment.

Bees are a hefty investment in time. Mostly the bees raise themselves, but you have to check them almost every day. You have to feed them, medicate them, and monitor their progress. You have to be aware that the hive could die very quickly, and they could also grow very quickly causing swarms which will not go over big with your neighbors. You have to harvest the honey, but not leave the bees destitute or the hive will die. You have to feed them in the winter so they won’t starve.

Bees require an investment in education. You have to read books and search web pages and ask a lot of questions. You have to be a hive expert and you need to get this expertise before your hive dies. You have to be armed with lots of knowledge even before you get your first 3 pound box of bees. If you don’t think that you need much mental effort and you can breeze through this, then don’t get started.

Beekeeping is a continuing project. It is not something that you start and then give up on. The hive is alive and you have a responsibility to maintain the hive or find someone else to take it. The bees learn to recognize the beekeeper and, although they are not like pets, the beekeeper and the bees will have a bond. It was once believed that if the beekeeper died the bees would miss the person and the hive would fail. The poem Telling The Bees by John Greenleaf Whittier is about telling the hive that their mistress has died. Be prepared to commit yourself to your hive. You must give it name and talk to her so the bees know you.

If you have read all of this and you still want to raise bees, then good for you. Bees are very cool.

When I got my hive delivered, Erica and I decided that it should be camouflaged so that the neighbors would not notice it and complain. I bought a dark brown semi-gloss house paint. After I painted it, I began to worry about the color. After all, almost all beehives are white. Was I wrong to paint it a dark color? It was a very dark brown and nothing like any beehive I’ve ever seen.

Well, bees naturally live in holes in trees and logs and other dark protected areas. In the wild their houses are always dark brown. Brown might be a better color than white.

After research, I have found that white is used because it is a clean color and stands out. It is easy for the beekeeper to see. In reality, beekeepers paint their hive with the cheapest paint around and only paint them to protect the wood. The inside of the box should not be painted. Wood preservatives may harm the bees. Latex paint is better than oil based just because the oils may vaporize and harm the bees.

There is a school of thought that says you should decorate the beehive with big bold designs so that the bees will recognize it. This will help them find the hive.

This link: Palazzo Rospo: Beautimous Bee Hives, has some nice creative work on a beehive.