w.mbyy Geoe - Mecklenburg County Beekeepers Association

1 OmmatidiaMar. 2013 The monthly newsletter of the Mecklenburg County Beekeepers AssociationPresident s buzzz ..by George McAllister It s that time of year again for swarming. Bees in this area typically start swarming in March. However, last year I had my first swarm the last week of February which traveled about 3 blocks to my neighbor and fellow beekeeper s backyard. As the spring progressed my bees swarmed several times. I was not able to capture any of the swarms because they either flew away when I was at work or they clustered 40 feet in a tree where I could not reach them. This year is going to be different. I am going to put bait hives (also called bait boxes or swarm boxes) in my yard. With a bait hive you are trying to get any swarms in the area to come to you. A swarm will travel a mile or more to find a home so any bait hive you hang will attract bees from a good year I placed bait hives in my backyard and on land in Cabarrus County near Mt.

2 Pleasant. Before I started the process, I did some research to make sure I built bait hives designed in such a way to attract swarms. I didn t want to spend a lot of time on this project only to find I built the wrong size bait hives and placed them in undesirable locations. Luckily Dr. Thomas Seeley an entomologist at Cornell University did a study to identify the optimal bait hive design and built 252 plywood boxes and varied the characteristics to see which locations swarming bees selected. He designed bait hives based on nest volume, distance from the ground and entrance opening, direction and location. He distributed the plywood boxes in a County wide area and measured the results for two years. Each year over half of his 252 plywood boxes attracted a swarm. Yes, it s worth repeating; over 50% of his boxes attracted a are Dr. Seeley s recommendations on building the optimal bait hive which I followed: Any type of wood will work.

3 Bees may avoid new lumber until it weathers. Box shape is not important. Inside volume needs to be around cubic feet; about the size of a ten frame deep brood box. To meet the desired cubic feet volume, Seeley built bait hives where the sides measured 14 inches wide by 15 inches tall before assembly. He used 5/8 inch plywood. I made my bait hives this size. I also designed my bait hives so the top and bottom can be removed to get to the bees inside. All the joints need to be tight so moisture and light cannot get in, especially around the top. The entrance needs to be close to the floor of the bait hive. The shape of the opening does not matter but it needs to be to 2 square inches. I cut a diameter hole for the entrance. To keep birds from nesting in the boxes I tacked a nail across the center of the entrance. The color of the bait hive is not important. I painted mine a camouflage pattern so they would blend into the woods.

4 Adding wax foundation and/or a scented bee lure will increase your chances of capturing a swarm. The scented bee lure mimics the pheromones scout bees secrete to see Buzz page 2 March meetingNC Apiary Inspector Nancy Ruppert will be our featured speaker at our March 21 will speak on Swarm Management . She is a great speaker, as we found out last year. Don t miss out. Our monthly meetings are the third Thursday of each month, 7 at Mouzon United Methodist Church, 3100 Selwyn Ave., d from page 1 Buzzmark a desirable home site. However, adding these two items to the bait hive was not part of Seeley s study. He was making this assumption based on other research. Do not put in comb since they will attract wax moths. Instead, put in a small amount of wax foundation or a frame with wax foundation. I placed foundation in all my bait hives and placed scented bee lure in one bait Seeley made the following recommendations concerning the placement of your bait hive: Distance from the parent colony is not an issue.

5 Mount the bait hive securely about 15 feet off the ground in a shaded but visible location preferably with the entrance facing south. Bees prefer a southerly direction but will occupy bait boxes facing other directions. My bait boxes are facing more southwest and read all the details on how to build your own bait hives, Dr. Seeley s publication Bait Hives for Honey Bees is online. The address is: you are not interested in building your own bait hives you can buy them from most of the bee equipment all know the urge to swarm is strong. There are various methods for reducing a colony s tendency to swarm but once the bees leave the hive, they are not coming back. Most people cannot watch their bees all day long to catch swarms as they occur. Even if you could watch your bees every day, the swarm needs to land where you can reach them. Bait hives are a good way of reclaiming your bees when all other swarm reduction methods have failed.

6 It doesn t work all the time but it is better than fun with the bees, -GeorgeWe are now an authorized dealer for Brushy Mountain Bee Farm! Want to avoid shipping charges? Tired of taking a 3-hour round trip to the mountains to pick up equipment and supplies? Place your order through us!!!Convenient delivery schedules with no additional charge to you!For more information contact: Randall York (704) 517-6190 news! in the Piedmont means it s time for honeybee swarms! Sure you can go out and catch swarms but your attention should first be on keeping your own bees at home. Add empty frames, make splits and keep a sharp eye out for swarm cells. Frames of capped brood can be moved from over-populated hives to weaker ones. Or, you can switch the positions of a strong hive and a weak one the foragers will come back to their original location thereby adding bees to the weaker hive.

7 And if you prefer having a Plan B, put up some bait hives in case swarm prevention fails. Bait hives should ideally be about 100 yards from the apiary and about 15 feet off the ground (good luck with that part). Swarms prefer old used combs and you can also add a swarm lure for good measure. Continue monitoring food supplies, and feed thin syrup if food is short or if the queen doesn t seem to be laying heavily. To make a good honey crop, you need maximum foragers in April and therefore you need maximum brood in March. Don t forget the drone combs pull them out when the drone brood is capped, freeze for 48 hours and return to the hive (after thawing). Doing a couple rounds of this in spring helps keep the varroa in check for a few months. Finally, inspect and clean the honey supers and combs. Replace any damaged wax, scrape off the old burr comb and propolis from frames and boxes, maybe even add a coat of paint on boxes that need it.

8 Near the end of the month you may start to see quantities of nectar and white wax that means the nectar flow is on!It s that Timeby Libby MackDandelion Bee SupplyFor all your beekeeping needs!WoodenwareProtective clothing and toolsFondant / Sugar syrupPackage BeesCustom woodenware available upon requestConcord, NCContact:704-796-2972 / We use only Select Quality Hive Wood ware and accessories Available for you assembled and or painted your choice! Charlotte, NC 704 -523 -0147 | *Call or email for current availability* All Trees and Shrubbery are field grown and B&B, and are ready to be transplanted into your landsc ape or Business jobsite! *We also offer Shrubbery Care and Lawn Maintenance Services* *Complete hive: 10 Fram es full of bees, all stages of brood, Queen, honey and pollen. *Italian Nucs: Available Mid Late April, 2013 *Italian Packages and Queens: Available March 25, 2013 *Russian Nucs: Available Late May- Early June, 2013 *Russian Queens: Available May 18, 2013 (Email for current price list and availability!)

9 The firs t honey flow of the New Year. Light color, mild in taste with notes of cool mint. Mid season flow. A bit more refined honey flavor and slightly sweeter. An early summer flow. Much darker color and the old fashion honey flavor an d taste. This is a later summer honey flow. Bronze in color, with a fantastic robust honey flavor and aroma. Email: *Be sure to visit us at the Charlotte/ Mecklenburg Farmer s Market every Saturday Morning! Hollies: From 3ft. to 18ft. in height ranges available |Dwarf Bufordi 3-5 ft.|Needle Point 4-7 ft. | |Wert L Winn 6-10 ft. | Nellie Stevens 6-12 ft. | |Foster 6 -8ft.| Savannah 8-12ft.| Red Hollies: from 3ft. to 12ft. height ranges available |Festive 3-5ft | Robyn 6-8ft. | Patriot 6-10ft. | |Oakleaf 6-12 ft. | Crape Myrtles: From 6 -24 ft in height ranges available |Natchez (white)| Biloxi (lt. pink)| |Tuscarora (med red)| |Carolina Beauty (med red)| |Tonto (dark red)| |Mus kogee (lt.)

10 Lavender)| |Catawba (med purple)| Plus: numerous other Shrubs and Shade- tree selections are available! notes in beekeeping has more importance than we generally give it. We can either learn from the present bees and write down what we do or see, or we can skip the note-taking it and try to remember a few years or more down the road. The people most often mentioned in the beekeeping history books like CC Miller or LL Langstroth were excellent note takers who also reviewed their notes and learned again by reviewing are many ways we can take notes. Some notes are temporary, others more permanent. In the picture of the two hives, for instance, the outer cover can be used to write on. A Sharpie works fine, but only lasts for a week or two. This article will focus on some of the more temporary kinds of hive body itself can be used for notes too. Just write on the hive. I marked mine indicating how much feeding they needed and how much they got last fall.