19-Jan-19

1

SUCCESS IN THE FIRST YEAR: COLONY ESTABLISHMENT

Meghan Milbrath

2018

BE A GOOD BEEKEEPER

•You know what your bees need, and can understand what they are telling you.

•You make management decisions with confidence, knowing it is the best action

•Your bees are alive and healthy from year to year.

COMMON MYTHS SUSTAINABLE BEEKEEPING

Photo by Zeke Cappon

BEES HAVE BEEN DOING THEIR THING FOR 1000S OF YEARS, SO THEY KNOW WHAT THEY NEED.

Map by Alex Wild http://scienceblogs.com/myrmecos/2010/06/09/

honey-bees-causing-blogging-co/

19-Jan-19

2

WHAT DO ANIMALS NEED?

Water

Shelter

Food

Medical care when sick

Love

WE WILL ONLY BECOME GOOD BEEKEEPERS WHEN WE LEARN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY NEED.

THE BEES NEEDS.

What do our bees need?

How can we recognize if these needs are being met by the environment?

If their needs aren’t met, what can we do to help?

WHAT DO ANIMALS NEED?

Water

Shelter

Food

Medical care when sick

Love

WATER

A strong hive can use over 1 quart of water/day

WATER – WHAT YOU NEED TO BUYMaybe Nothing! Pond / stream nearby

Bird bath

Poultry waterer

Tub with corks/straw

19-Jan-19

3

SHELTER

COMMON MISTAKE – TOO SMALL

SHELTER – GET A HIVE

Make it easy on yourself.

19-Jan-19

4

REPRODUCTION

www.beginningbeekeeping.com

WHERE TO PUT YOUR HIVE? WHERE TO PUT YOUR HIVE?

FOOD MYTH: HONEY BEE COLONIES SHOULDN’T NEED TO BE FED / FEEDING MAKES BEES LAZY

Honey bees will ALWAYSget food from the environment when they can

BEES CAN GET FOOD FROM THE ENVIRONMENT IF….

1. There is sufficient food available1. Right type of blooms2. In their flight range3. Putting out nectar

2. They have the workers to get it3. They have the weather to work

IN ORDER FOR YOU BEES TO GET ALL THE FOOD THEY NEED WITHOUT YOUR HELP, THEY MUST

• be a sufficiently large

colony

• in a location with flowers

in constant bloom,

• with good weather to

promote nectar and

foraging.

19-Jan-19

5

EVEN A SHORT TIME WITHOUT SUFFICIENT FOOD CAN BE DEVASTATING

Boardman Feeder

Mason Jar Top Feeder

BaggieYOU MUST FEED A NEW COLONY

ALL COLONIES NEED FOOD TO SURVIVE, BUT A NEW COLONY ALSO NEEDS FOOD FOR GROWTH. Growing kids need food – growing colonies do too!

Most beekeepers underestimate the amount of food that a new colony needs.

You have a small animal under your care – it is 3 lbs, and you need it to grow to 15-20 lbs.

MEDICAL CARE

LEARN HOW TO RECOGNIZE SIGNS OF DISEASE, AND DEAL WITH IT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.

19-Jan-19

6

LEARN AMERICAN FOUL BROOD (AFB)

A FIRST YEAR COLONY CAN SUCCUMB TO VARROA.

1. Learn how to monitor.

MANAGE VARROA AT LEAST 2 TIMES/YEAR

Nucs or packages –

½ treatment of Mite away quick strips (MAQS) in Mid June – Mid July

1. When you first introduce them

- Packages -

Use oxalic acid or powdered sugar 1-2 weeks after installation.

SUCCESS: YOUR NUC OR PACKAGE LIVES THROUGH WINTER, AND IS STRONG ENOUGH TO SPLIT INTO TWO HIVES IN SPRING.

By Fall – Two deeps (3 mediums) that are

1) Fully drawn

2) Full of honey

3) Free from disease

BEES HAVE BASIC NEEDS, BUT THEY ARE VARIABLE OVER TIME.

19-Jan-19

7

Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Jun Jul Aug

No Food Available

Raise winter bees

Rearrange stores

Prep for winter

• Hive should be ready –

upper entrance,

moisture, wrapped.

• Make equipment • Read

Winter Cluster

In cluster, moving

up through hive

• Ensure bees have

sufficient food

protein + 100lbs

honey

Da

nd

elio

ns!

Ma

ple

s/Willo

ws

Go

lde

nro

d/A

sters

First h

ard

frost

2nd

Flow

Main

Honey

Flow

Spring Build Up

Raising young

• Ensure sufficient

food – Carbs near

cluster, protein

• Ensure space • Treat for mites

• Ensure

space

• Monitor

mites

Re

pro

du

ce

(Sw

arm

s)

Honey Flow

Store food for

winter

• Prevent

robbing

• Remove

honey• Treat for

mitesBeekeepers

Bees

Bring food

if

available/

eat stores

Dearth

En

d o

f Ba

sswo

od

Litt le Food

Available

CONCLUSIONS

•You are choosing to keep an animal outside of its native range, in a time of great environmental stress.

•Bees have the same basic needs as other animals, but they are variable over time.

•They need water and a good enough place to live, and then you will check to make sure they have enough food and space throughout the season.

•You can learn everything you need from reading the bees.

• This takes time in the hive.

FIRST YEAR MANAGEMENT GOALS

1. Be able to identify everything in the hive.

2. Spend enough time with your bees to be comfortable with them.

3. Learn to recognize healthy/ normal

4. Have a plan for dealing with varroa

5. Be able to tell if they have enough food and space.

by Fire-Horse-101

HONEY BEES ARE NOT ANNUALS

19-Jan-19

8

PERENNIALS NEED TIME TO BECOME ESTABLISHED

PROBLEM 1: NEW COLONIES ARE DIFFERENT FROM ALREADY ESTABLISHED COLONIES (BUT PEOPLE TREAT THEM THE SAME)Established colony

•Has survived a winter with a queen and a cluster of bees

•Will swarm in the spring

•Has sufficient comb

•Has enough bees to ensure survival in a favorable environment

•Can grow very quickly

•Can produce a honey crop

Sarah Scott

A NEW COLONY IS LIKE A BABY PUPPY. DON’T EXPECT YOUR NEW COLONY TO ACT LIKE A FULL GROWN HIVE.

MYTH 1: PACKAGES AND NUCS DO NOT NEED SUPPORT.

One of the biggest mistakes that beekeepers make is to not give their colonies help to get established.

MYTH 2: A NUC OR PACKAGE SHOULD AUTOMATICALLY ‘TAKE OFF’

19-Jan-19

9

COLONY GROWTH ISN’T MAGIC, AND IT ISN’T AUTOMATIC. IT ONLY OCCURS IF CERTAIN CONDITIONS ARE MET.

1. Food

2. Wax / Space to lay eggs

3. Warmth (Warm Space)

4. Time

5. Freedom from Disease

A WELL FED, DISEASE-FREE STARTER COLONY IN WARM WEATHER CAN ‘TAKE OFF’

Photo by Randy Oliver

BUT IT STILL TAKES TIMEIt takes 21 days for a newly laid egg to emerge as a bee.

This means that with a package, it will be three weeks before you will see growth, and your colony will actually get smaller (as old bees die) for the first few weeks.

THE BEES WILL BE EXPENDING A LOT OF ENERGY ON WAX PRODUCTION IF THEY AREN’T ON DRAWN COMB, AND THEY WILL BE PUTTING A LOT OF ENERGY INTO RAISING MORE LARVAE.

IN ORDER FOR YOU BEES TO GET ALL THE FOOD THEY NEED WITHOUT YOUR HELP, THEY MUST

• be a sufficiently large

colony

• in a location with flowers

in constant bloom,

• with good weather to

promote nectar and

foraging.

YOU MAY FEED A LOT YOUR FIRST YEAR

You may not have to feed that much.

19-Jan-19

10

CONTINUE FEEDING SUGAR SYRUP 1:1 UNTIL 1 OF 2 CONDITIONS ARE MET:

1. THE BEES STOP TAKING IT

2. THEY HAVE BUILT ENOUGH*

WAXEverything that a colony does happens on the comb. If a colony is put in a new hive without sufficient comb, then they have to first draw out (build) the comb BEFORE anything else can happen.

STRUCTURE OF THE HIVE

Brood Nest(Bees’ Home)

Honey Supers(Excess)

COPYRIGHT -

MEGHAN M

ILBRATH2017

58

The colony will establish itself first, and then store excess honey – the colony

size and the honey stores will vary depending on the time of year.

For the bees (Brood Nest)

Food Frame

Empty Frame Brood Frame

ESTABLISHED COLONY IN PRODUCTION

Drawn Comb

For us(Excess Honey)

Ideal arrangement of colony in late summer.

The bees have their part full, and well arranged.

Initial placement of nuc/package in hive

Cold Weather

Initial placement of nuc/package in hive

Warm Weather

Feeder Food Frame

Empty Frame

Brood Frame

INSTALLATION The bees want to build upwards immediately, but if it is cold, the

cluster must be able to reach the feed. Once it is warm (60s), you can move the feed away from the

cluster.

19-Jan-19

11

Feeder

Food Frame

Empty Frame

Brood Frame

COMB / WAX PRODUCTION BEGINS

Drawn Comb

The bees build wax above and

immediately next to the cluster first.

Feeder

Food FrameEmpty Frame Brood Frame

COMB / WAX PRODUCTION CONTINUES

Drawn Comb

Continue to feed as the brood nest expands and the colony grows to

draw out and cover more frames.

What if they don’t move up?

Managed

ESTABLISHED COLONY IN PRODUCTION

Unmanaged

If you continue to add new boxes, the bees will continue to fill above

the brood nest and move up, often ignoring the frames to the side. The bees will not be likely to draw

out the comb on the outsides of the bottom boxes.

You do not want empty space in your colony in winter – the bees can cluster on an empty frame and

starve. Your goal is to have the bottom boxes full like the hive on

the left.

Feeder

Food Frame

EmptyFrame

Brood Frame

MANAGING FOR WAX PRODUCTION

Drawn Comb

Honey frames down to outside Drawn comb to lower box Wax production continues

To optimize wax production, move frames that are drawn, or full of honey and nectar

down and/or to the outside. Note that the brood frames remain untouched.

BROOD NEST SUFFICIENTLY FILLED

Growth after arrangement Brood nest sufficiently filled Remove feed, add honey super

Feeder

Food Frame

EmptyFrame

Brood Frame

Drawn Comb

The feeder stays on the colony until the bottom boxes are sufficiently

filled out, or the bees stop taking the feed, whatever happens first.

19-Jan-19

12

Continued growth into honey supers

Food Frame

Empty Frame

Brood Frame

ESTABLISHED COLONY IN PRODUCTION

Drawn Comb

Once the bottom boxes that make up the brood nest are

filled, you can focus on supers for honey production. You want to make sure that these are

filled with honey and not sugar water, so you don’t feed while

honey supers are on the colony. Continue to add supers while the colony is growing.

It may take the whole season to fill the bottom boxes, and you

may not have honey this year.

For the bees (Brood Nest)

Food Frame

Empty Frame

Brood Frame

IDEAL ARRANGEMENT IN FALLDrawn Comb

For us(Excess Honey)

If the honey is capped, the extra boxes can be removed and the

honey extracted. As the weather cools, the bees will slow / stop raising young, and the bees will

backfill the broodnest with honey. By winter, most of the bottom

boxes should be filled, and the boxes that you are leaving for winter should be heavy.

PRINCIPLES OF GROWING A NEW HIVE

•Where in the hive is wax most likely to be drawn? •Above the brood nest, and directly next to brood

• If you don’t manage for wax production, what would the colony look like? • It will either swarm, or be right up the middle.

•What can we do to ensure that the colony is fully drawn? •Move honey frames down and to the outside.

DON’T OVER THINK IT

1. You do not have to manipulate every time. You can do it once, or they may be working slow enough that you don’t have to do anything.

2. Just don’t move the brood around. Move only honey/ empty frames, and you can’t mess it up that bad.

3. Remember your goal – get the part for the bees (2 deeps or 3 mediums) filled out

WHEN DO YOU STOP FEEDING? SUCCESS: YOUR NUC OR PACKAGE LIVES THROUGH WINTER, AND IS STRONG ENOUGH TO SPLIT INTO TWO HIVES IN SPRING.

By Fall – Two deeps (3 mediums) that are

1) Fully drawn

2) Full of honey

3) Free from disease

19-Jan-19

13

IN LATE SUMMER (END OF JULY/BEGINNING OF AUGUST)

1. Use formic acid if honey on and or temperature is too high

Or

2. Use thymol after taking honey off (Apilife var, Apiguard)

OR DO SPLITS, OR DRONE BROOD REMOVAL, OR REQUEEN IF YOU KNOW HOW.

WINTER BEES ARE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT BEES – PROTECT THEM.

1. FEED YOUR NUC UNTIL IT DOESN’T WANT IT, OR UNTIL YOU ARE PUTTING HONEY SUPERS ON.

2. FOCUS ON GETTING THE SPACE FOR BEES DRAWN AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.

3. GET VARROA UNDER CONTROL BY AUGUST (AND KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL)

sandhillbees@gmail.comwww.Sandhillbees.comwww.northernbeenetwork.orgwww.pollinators.msu.edu

www.scientificbeekeeping.comwww.honeybeesuite.com

Michigan Beekeepers Meeting – March 9-10

BEEKEEPING IS GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmidwest/5324223167

Photo by Joel Trick/USFWS

Karl Thomas Moore

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicken_Coop_I.jpg