Modern Beekeeping. Kelley Bee News ISSUE 35 MAY A-Bee-Cs 21 One Thing Two Experts Wish New-bees Knew

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1 ISSUE 35 MAY 2013 Kelley Bee News Modern Beekeeping Palm trees and bees. Photo courtesy of Charlotte Hubbard. 2 The Buzz 4 Bee Thinking About 4 For May, Healthy Bees 6 Making Increase 8 Split Insights 10 Postal Claims and Your Package Bees 11 Why You Need a Double Screen 13 Biological Control of the Small Hive Beetle 14 Bee-Havior 14 Honeycomb Built in the Jar 16 Installation of Package Bees 18 Bee-Yond & Bee-Hind the Hives 18 Women & Beekeeping, a Follow-Up 21 A-Bee-Cs 21 One Thing Two Experts Wish New-bees Knew 23 BeeCause 23 American Beekeeping Federation 24 FAQs 26 Kelley s Annual Field Day 27 Foraging for Fun 28 Recipes 29 Sweet as Honey 32 Dronings from a Queen Bee 32 Hive Colors, and Bears Scan the code below with your smartphone to go to our website

2 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 The Buzz The following letter is from Jane Burgess, former CEO of the Walter T. Kelley Company. Jane s dedication, professionalism and love of beekeeping contributed greatly to Walter T. Kelly s success over the last six years. She is loved and appreciated by the Walter T. Kelley family and the beekeeping community. For the past six years, the Walter T. Kelley Company has been my home. In April of 2013, a split was done, and the Kelley s hive is under different top management. Those years were such a remarkable, relationship-building time in my life, leading me to meet and make so many exceptional friends, that I didn t want to part without some closure. I ll start this by discussing the Walter T Kelley Company what a wonderful history it has, and it is full of wonderful, loving people. REAL people, the kind who know a good day s work, about breaking a sweat, getting their hands dirty, caring deeply about what they do and represent. Many, many times I drove through the gates to head home whether it was 6 p.m. or 4 a.m., feeling so blessed that I was able to be touched by a business that was so easy to love. Due to that deep love and the wonder it stirred inside of me, I immersed myself so deeply and thoroughly I was sure at times that was all there was to me, everything was Kelley s. Soon I realized that the job that I had set out to complete (my 5-year plan) was finished. Kelley s had been brought out of the 70s and to the 21st century. It now had a strong, sincere, capable staff and they were constantly questioning and making changes for improvement. It was time for me to give it back to the great employees that kept the company strong for those 20 years while it remained in a trust; they had all the tools they needed to be confident in decisions and take the company to a larger level in the community where it was born and the industry it services. Thus, it was it time for me to return to my family and friends who were so patient, awaiting for me to focus on them primarily, and to enjoy the many wonderful relationships that came about because of Kelley s. So what does my life after Kelley s hold?!?! I m not sure I want or have to figure that out yet. I do know I feel a real sense of happiness, something in my heart tells me it is time for rethinking what is important in life and to find what passions drive that happiness. Caring for others and things, and the nagging need to make something better will always be a part of my personality, but patience is a new part that tells my brain to watch and listen and give time to things that need it. I do have a list of my favorite things and am re-immersing myself into them. Even though you may not have asked, they are: *Keeping Bees Through this wonderful journey we have learned and loved bees and now have about 400 hives spread between KY and MS. The bees are in my blood to stay. We are forever intertwined and they have taught me much about life. *Great Friends The kindness and consideration I was consistently exposed to spawned happiness: Continually blessed by loving persons who treated me like family, friends I will have for many, many years to come. Easy laughter and great conversations that warmed my heart right down to deep in my soul, touching my life in a way that left fond memories of the interactions. 2

3 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company I had always been very selective about whom I get close with; I always worried. That all changed as my beekeeping family continued to let me into their hearts and treated me with such wonderful kindness. I hold you all in my heart and wish that all the kindness and love you have poured out returns to you 50 million times!! *Gardening Oh, to watch spring unfold and the plants I have knelt down to put in the ground return and add beauty to my life. If I had a dream come true it would be to have the beauty of the flowers and plants cover the sides of the paths of my life and bees shining out of every corner of the world. Let s not forget the gardening and the ability to walk out the door and have fresh, delicious, chemical-free food there for the picking. My mouth waters at the thought. *Learning To sit in silence and ponder about the world around me and want to know more. Immersing myself in information, soaking it in, and trying out things in wonder. I m curious about what will be next on my list; there is so much to learn and enjoy! *Family Always the most important--growing, living, loving, sharing, laughing, crying...enjoying all the accomplishments. Being there with kind words and hugs for the let-downs. Watching the happiness of family when they gather the children in wonderment the adults for renewal all being close and loving each other. Loving the fact the family is blood as well as new extended family, as it used to be when I grew up in a rural community. Therefore, I am truly blessed for all the opportunities that have been in my path, allowing me to be renewed in humanity and the beauty of the world. Every time I have had the opportunity to reinvent myself--learning and experiencing new, incredible things, doing the best that I was capable of, watching things especially people grow and change in amazing ways I learned so much and love all of it. Thanks to the Lord for letting my eyes see all the wonder of the world and bringing me to a place where I now need to pursue new things and frolic in happiness until I m led to my next adventure. I wonder what will end up on the list next. I love and cherish all the friends, advice, strength, and love you have all shown me. I will be seeing you all soon at the next bee meeting somewhere I am sure!! Jane Burgess, former CEO Walter T. Kelley Company Bee on Oregeno. Photo courtesy of Jane Burgess. 3

4 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 Bee Thinking About For May, 2013 Not only could it be 90 in Virginia and 30 in Minnesota in May, with this weird weather, it could also be 30 in Virginia and 90 in Minnesota. Thus, when you read this, remember that it is in general terms because of the vast climate differences of our readers. What you need to do with your hives this time of year also varies by your management philosophy, apiary goals, current weather, likely weather, and condition of your colonies. Also please remember that it is a super busy and buzzy time in the apiary. If you need equipment and supplies, order now to ensure we have what you need and can get it to you before you need it. So, what should you be considering for your apiary in May? No matter where you re located, coming to Kelley s Field Day in June is a key thing to consider. See our website for more information. But also Keep the area around your hives closely mowed to discourage pests. Concurrently, let the dandelions grow elsewhere; bees love them. Ready for honey flow? Check that you have the frames, foundation and boxes that you need, and the containers. Ventilation: they need it; heat may build up quickly in a booming hive. Kelley s has some great ventilation supers. Vented Super, Catalog # 12-VS Swarms: it s happening. Expand your colonies as they need room; split if that s part of your management plan. As beekeeper Stephan L. shared When your bees swarm due to no room in the brood box, there is not much you can do to prevent them from swarming. You should have added another brood box three weeks ago. The bees swarming are just following through with their plan to leave their old home taking your old queen and head out to the blue yonder to find a new home in a hollow tree. Enjoy! As Dennis Brown 1, regular contributor to this publication, shares: This is the time of year that most beekeepers enjoy the most. Spring is magical. Spring is the time of year when life awakens from a deep sleep. It is a time when the skeletal remains of the bushes and trees begin to show signs of life. Migrating birds start their long journey back to their spring and summer retreats. It is a new dawn, a new day, a new season and the air is filled with renewed vitality. This is spring. Live and enjoy your bees. 1 Dennis Brown Author of Beekeeping: A Personal Journey, available from Kelley s. 4

5 In The South 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company Mites: Continue to assess mite populations before they overrun your larvae. If medications are part of your plan, Apiguard and Apivar are good choices, they do not leave residue in the wax like other mite treatments. Requeen: if you have struggling hives, now is a great time to ensure their future with a vigorous young queen. Beetles: assess, trap, treat depending upon your management plan and how many of the critters you see. In the North Be on swarm standby. Vigilantly stay ahead of spring build-up by adding boxes. Pests watch for mites, beetles, other critters. See South items. As always, your comments and contributions welcome, KelleyBeesEditor@gmail.com or visit kelleybees.com/blog. One type of beetle trap available from Kelley s are Beetle Blasters, Catalog # 56-B 5

6 Healthy Bees Making Increase By Don Lam Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 Editor s Note: Don and his wife Jean have been keeping bees for a quartercentury, providing pollination services as well as package bees and nucs. (They are sold out for 2013.) Learn more at If you are like most beekeepers, you have often said to yourself, I really ought to have just two or three more colonies and raise a few queens besides. I think we all have. And why not? There are a couple of questions you should ask before you start. The first is the why question. Why do you want to increase the number of colonies you have? Is it only for fun to see if you can do it? Do you perhaps need more colonies to fill a pollination contract? Were you short of honey last season or are covering winter losses this spring? How many do you need and how many can you handle? Once you have answered the why question, and have come up with real needs and numbers, you can ask the next question: how do I get there? Part of the how answer can be easy. You can buy a package or a nuc, or catch a swarm. But raising your own bees (and saving money) is not that difficult. It s involves splits, planning, schedules, and queen introductions. More complicated but very rewarding. Dragonfly, er, honeybee swarm, of Kelley s Russian hybrids. Photo courtesy of Stephen Lester. If only all swarms were this easy to retrieve! This issue contains two very helpful articles on splits, written by two very experienced beekeepers. Their insights into how and why to split varies a bit but beekeepers shouldn t be surprised. Sometimes it seems like there are as many differing opinions as there are beekeepers. One thing both these experts agree on however is make splits! It s interesting, it helps honeybees, and it is incredibly rewarding. The easiest way to increase your colonies is to split the ones you have into smaller nucs. There are several approaches to these, all of which can work. Walkaway Split The first is the Walkaway Split. The beekeeper takes a frame of eggs, two frames of emerging brood and two frames of pollen and honey covered with nurse bees, puts them into a fiveframe nuc box and then walks away. Check back four weeks later to see if the new queen is laying. Typical Split The second is the Typical Split, the same as the Walkaway, except that the beekeeper is much more proactive and introduces a queen cell or queen to the new split, or nuc. This action puts the nuc three weeks ahead of the Walkaway Split. One approach is to divide the bees evenly between two colonies, face them porch to porch, and let the returning bees select one or the other. In a day or two take the queenless hive offsite and add a queen. 6

7 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company A sweet frame of eggs and worker brood, about to go to a nuc. Photo courtesy of Becca S. Swarm Control Split The third is the Swarm Control Split. Ideally, a beekeeper tries to prevent swarms and not have to split. In this case, to decrease the overpopulation, the beekeeper removes every frame that has a queen cell and puts it into a nuc of its own along with appropriate frames of brood and honey. Putting more than one frame with queen cells into a nuc increases the chances of success. Mite Control Nuc A master beekeeper from Michigan has been creating splits as a way of controlling mites with significant success. Mel Disselkoen times his splits to interrupt the mite s own brood cycle and often overwinters at 80% or more. His method incorporates a timed broodless period while the bees make their own queen. For more details go to In order to survive, an ideal split should have 2-3 frames of eggs and sealed and emerging brood covered with nurse bees, plus two frames of honey and pollen. A shake or two of additional bees at startup time adds needed foragers and bees to keep the eggs and brood warm. A beekeeper can add a new queen or let the bees raise their own at this point. Since most of the nuc bees are nurse bees who haven t flown yet, moving the nuc offsite is not always necessary. Moving the parent colony offsite and putting the nuc in the original parent location will build it up with the returning foragers. When is the best time to start a nuc? Although splits can be done at different times during the season, usually late spring/early summer works the best for most beekeepers. The parent hive must be strong enough to be divided without undue stress on either the parent or the nuc. The weather must be warm enough day and night for the cluster to maintain proper brood temperatures. Commercial queens must be available, or if the bees are to raise their own queen, drones must be available for complete mating. And enough season must be left to permit both the parent and the nuc to build up in numbers and food stores. What about the queens? Is there a best approach to requeening? Here are some interesting numbers: your method will reflect the season, purpose, and budget. Using the existing queen Introducing a mated, laying queen Using a virgin queen Queen cells will produce brood A queen from brood brood in 21 days with no interruptions brood in about 26 days brood in about 29 days in about 32 days takes about 41 days One final reminder. New colonies and often the parent need all the help they can get. You will need to feed, feed, feed to be successful. Good luck and enjoy! Questions or comments about this article? Please go to kelleybees.com/blog. 7

8 Split Insights By Cleo Hogan I would never let my hives swarm and attempt to catch swarms for a variety of reasons. First, the parent hive will very nearly split evenly, leaving as many bees behind as leaves. This gives you two even hives, but, one has an old queen most often at the end of her productive life, not a good situation, and the other hive has no queen, only queen cells waiting to hatch, not a good situation. Both bad options. Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 A far better hive management solution is to make a split, even if you do a bad job. This opens up the brood nest for the queen to lay more eggs, reduces the urge to swarm, (because there are fewer bees in the hive), and leaves a good strong hive to produce honey. When not beekeeping, Cleo enjoys landing these. For the record, Cleo is the one in the blue shirt. Photo courtesy of Cleo. I like to move the old queen with the split, that way, she and the bees are already familiar (the bees are all her daughters and sons), she is already actively laying, (so there isn t a lot of delay in the buildup of the split), and any urge to swarm is gone because the split is too small to swarm. I highly recommend placing a new, bred, queen in the parent hive, because you lose days at the parent hive if you let them make a queen to replace the one you moved with the split. At the end of this cycle your hive has been reduced and has to build back up. Normally a new, bred, queen will start replacement in days not Don t be alarmed if you see queen cells in the parent colony after the introduction of a new queen. The bees will recognize very quickly that they are queenless after you make your split. The parent hive should still be very strong, and they will attempt to make a queen quickly, because, they have limited time to start making a queen, (they need a viable egg, normally less than five days old), and the new queen is still in a cage, (not able to lay eggs), and they need a queen to survive. Yes, Kelley s sells queens. Shown are queens temporarily posing as office workers until they re either picked up by or mailed to their beekeeper. Order your queens now. 8

9 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company How do you know if they like their new queen? This photo shows the queen cage, containing a live queen, positioned inside an otherwise queenless hive. They are all over her, and rightfully so. She s imperative to their future. If the new queen gets out of the cage, and if the bees plan to keep her, they will destroy the queen cells, or kill any virgin queens. It is not uncommon for the bees to replace a new queen, (which costs you money) but, it is more risky to chance just letting the hive make their own new queen, and lose days in the middle of a honey flow when they need to be making honey for you. One additional benefit of a split is its effect on mite control. Mite control is an ongoing battle. Make your mite counts and take action as required. Making a split is one way to help with mite control; Oxalic Acid (OA), miticides, (several brand names), powdered sugar, are others. Some highly respected beekeepers tout the effectiveness of screen bottom boards, but recent data casts some doubt as to the effectiveness of screen bottom boards and mite control. There is nothing magic about a split. Simply: 1. Find the queen. 2. Take her and a couple of frames of chocolate colored brood, (this brood will hatch quickly, building the split rapidly.) The brood cap darkens with age; chocolate-colored brood is closer to hatching than freshly capped brood. Making a split is one way to help with mite control. 3. Insert a new queen in the parent colony, or leave new brood for the hive to make a queen. 4. Add 2-4 frames containing bees and some honey. 5. Feed the split until it has built back to 7-9 frames. 6. Manage the parent colony to ensure that the new queen is laying, or they have replaced her. Most important aspect of the parent hive management is, don t let that hive become queenless. Questions or comments about this article? Please go to kelleybees.com/blog. 9

10 By Stacy Hill, Kelley Employee and Beekeeper Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 Postal Claims and Your Package Bees Editor's Note: Yes, we ran this article last month. It is package bee season, and we want to make it easy for our customers who have problems to know how to quickly solve them. If you have ordered package bees and are in postal zones 1-4, your packages will be insured against certain damage during shipment. The USPS has very specific instructions on how to file a postal claim to receive reimbursement for any damage incurred during shipment. Depending on your receiving post office, your package bees will either deliver directly to your shipping address or they will hold them at the post office and contact you to pick them up. It is strongly recommended that you speak with your post office to make arrangements for them to hold the package bees for pick up. Before leaving your post office with your bees, inspect the package for any damage. If they arrive with more than 1-1 ½ of dead bees in the bottom of the package, we suggest filing a claim. Make sure your post master or clerk fills out the Domestic Claim Form (PS Form 1000) and also insist that they fill out a Damage Report (PS Form 2856). The damage report is very important and if one is not filled out at the time the claim is filed, you will receive a letter from the claims department within a few weeks asking you to return to your local post office with the damaged items for inspection. Unaware that the package consisted of Live animals and the dead bees have already been Thanks Jimmy, for your photo of package bees. discarded of due to health and safety issues, your claim will be denied when you are unable to produce the package for inspection. Make sure to get copies of all paperwork before leaving the post office. You must reorder with us to receive new packages and any reimbursement for the damaged packages will come from the United States Postal Service. All claims must be filed within 60 days from the date of shipment. A properly completed and supported claim is usually paid within days after the postal service s Accounting Service receives your claim. If the package was lost or all of its contents were a total loss, you may include the postage paid in your claim. Insurance fees are not reimbursed, however. If you have not received any communication within 20 days from the date you filed your claim, please call the USPS toll free number at If the claim is not filed within the defined time limits or all required forms have not been completed, your claim will be denied. You will receive a letter of denial in the mail explaining the postal service s decision. If your claim is denied, you have the option to appeal the USPS s decision. The USPS allows you to appeal any denial twice. You must send a copy of the denial letter and a written appeal focused on the basis of the denial within 60 days from the date of the denial letter to the USPS Accounting Services. Questions or comments about this article? Please go to kelleybees.com/blog. 10

11 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company Why You Need a Double Screen By Sean Burgess, Kentucky State Apiarist What is a double screen? A double screen is just what its name implies, two screens divided with a wooden frame in between. Double screens are useful for swarm prevention and creating a cell building unit above a queen-right hive when raising queens. A double screen has three closable openings to allow bees above it access to the outside world. Two nucleus colonies can be placed above it or one 10-frame box. The openings will allow this option. Swarm Prevention If you see signs of swarming activity, indicated by the construction of queen cells positioned on the bottom parts of brood frames, the freshening of queen cups with new white wax visible on the their outer parts, a pollen and or honeybound brood nest, and/or a reduction in foraging activity, your colony is probably going to swarm. The double screen can be helpful in this situation. If your colony has gone into swarm mode Photo of the cell of a well-fed queen. Set a hive body next to your colony; remove the frame with the newly constructed queen cells. Examine the cells to determine if they contain larvae. If capped queen cells are present, remove all but the two best looking cells. (The other cells may be used if needed in other boxes or splits.) The best looking cells will be the largest, with the most stippling 1 on their surface, probably indicating they had the best food and care prior to being capped over. Be sure to do a close examination of this frame and make sure your queen is not on the frame. If she is, either cage her temporarily (hair clip queen catchers work good for this) or move her to another frame. Move this frame to the center of the box that will go on top of the double screen. Queen Catcher, Catalog # a pattern of differing densities and resultant color variations Select two other frames containing brood in various stages (with clinging nurse bees) and place these in the box as well. Next move two more frames with pollen and honey and place these on the outsides of the other frames. Finish filling this box with frames of drawn comb if available, blank foundation if not. Select some frames with clinging nurse bees and shake these into the new box as well. You want a high ratio of nurse bees in this box. This box will need to be fed as you will not have foraging bees present. This can be done with a division board feeder placed in the box on the wall, 11

12 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 or with the addition of some kind of top feeder. Replace the frames in the box you took the resources from with either blanks or drawn comb. If you confined your queen during these manipulations, release your queen back into the box she came from. Place the double screen on top of the queen right colony below and set your newly constructed box on top of the double screen. Open the entrance on the double screen that is 180 degrees opposite the box below. Any foraging bees you have moved to the top box will return to the colony below and the nurse bees will stay with the brood and queen cells. The first queen to emerge from the cell will kill the other queen that has not emerged. She will harden over the next couple of days and then take one or more orientation flights. Finally, she will fly to a drone congregation area to mate with drones. She may take mating flights on successive days depending on weather conditions and her success in mating. When she returns to the hive she will begin to lay eggs. This colony is now ready to move to its own bottom board. Now you have a new colony without having had to chase it when it would have swarmed. You have also tricked the parent colony into thinking that they have swarmed. If something happens to the virgin in the top box and she does not return from her mating flight you can simply remove the double screen and recombine the colony, while still having prevented the swarm. Double Screens for Cell Builders If you graft queens you will need a place to put the cells so that nurse bees will feed and care for them. A double screen can be used to create a cell building unit over a queen-right colony. The box over the double screen is stocked much in the same way you do it for swarm prevention, but without the addition of naturally occurring queen cells. To be safe you should not stock this unit with eggs or young larvae either. The reason being; if the bees decide to construct an additional queen cell on a frame below your grafted cells, and this queen emerges before you remove your grafted cells, she could kill your whole graft. This unit also needs to be stuffed with nurse bees and fed heavily. You may also consider not opening the door to the cell building unit for two days. Grafts are introduced 24 hours after construction of this unit. As you can see, double screens can be a good piece of equipment to have around. Cypress Double Screen, Catalog # 60-R Questions or comments about this article? Please go to kelleybees.com/blog. 12

13 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company Biological Control of the Small Hive Beetle By Ol Drone Among the many diseases and parasites that pose health problems for honeybees, the small hive beetle (SHB) is unique and presents control challenges. Most other pests can be treated while they are residing and breeding within the hive, however this beetle reproduces outside the hive and worse yet has the ability to fly. Possessing a sharp sense of smell they can seek out honeybee colonies at quite a distance and if none are found, they can survive winter by finding food such as rotting fruit or veggies. The best way to avoid damage from this pest is to keep the colony strong and vigorous. A native from Africa, it was found in Florida in 1998, has become well established in the Southern states and is gradually spreading North. Adult beetles lay hundreds of eggs within crevices in the hive and the larva feed on pollen, honey and brood. Larva can turn an entire colony into a slimy, stinking mess in a short time. The larva then crawl out of the hive and dig in the soil where they pupate. Upon emerging from the soil they can fly five miles to find a colony of honeybees. At first it was thought that they could not winter over in Northern states but that theory was proven wrong as live beetles were soon wintering over in Minnesota. Many devices have been developed to control by trapping adult beetles in the hive, since the beetle hides from bees within small crevices around the frames. These traps attract the beetles and some traps contain a pesticide to kill them. Other traps expose the pests to oil to immobilize them. Also plastic sheets with cut-out slots are used. An insecticide drench solution can be soaked in the soil near the hive entrance to discourage larva from pupating. The best way to avoid damage from this pest is to keep the colony strong and vigorous. The worker bees do chase and kill the beetles if they find them in their hive. Bees also corral groups of beetles immobilizing them to prevent them from spreading eggs in the hive. A weak hive cannot fight and if beetles invade they usually lose the fight. Nematodes are microscopic and small wiry worms. Hundreds of species are found in soil and many varieties are beneficial. (One type is used to control Japanese beetles). Garden centers and catalogs sell nematodes for various types of pest control. It has been found that if they are spread in the soil and if the SHB attempts to burrow for the winter, the nematodes will attack them. They quickly infect the beetle larva with bacteria and then proceed to consume the larva bodies. In the mountain area where we live there is little or no problems with the SHB but just 30 miles south, the beekeepers consider the beetle a serious pest. Two theories have been identified for this geographic difference in beetle problem. Sandy soil makes it easy for the larva to burrow and winter over. By contrast, our local soil is not sandy but very rocky. Also the beetle has been found more prevalent in a 10 mile corridor including interstate highways. Remember that this pest is able to fly and could escape from the migratory pollinators flat-bed trucks, using interstate roads delivering bee hives. Baitable Beetle Jails, Catalog # 56-JA Questions or comments about this article? Please go to kelleybees.com/blog. 13

14 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 Bee-Havior Honeycomb Built in the Jar By Bryan Immink Editor s Note: Bryan is Vice President of the legendary Holland Area Beekeepers Association, in Holland, Michigan. He, along with wife Connie and children Gracie and Grant began beekeeping the spring of They have high hopes to go into winter this year with strong hives. While flipping through some newly acquired antique beekeeping books, I came across the intriguing idea of coaxing the bees to build the comb directly in jars. My family and I enjoy comb honey, plus I thought it would be a unique item to market with our other honey products. So we gave it a try and were pleased with our first attempt. All photos courtesy of Bryan Immink. Below, Gracie and Grant Immink display the plywood base for the bottles. I started with a piece of ¾ thick plywood and cut it down to hive body dimensions. In our case we run 10-frame equipment so I cut it to 16 ¼ x 19 7 /8. I placed an empty hive body over the board to give me an outline to avoid placing jars too close to the edge and interfere with the empty hive body surrounding the jars when it is placed on the colony. I then positioned the jars on the board and marked the layout for subsequent drilling. Any mix of jars can be used, you are only limited by the different sizes of hole saws you would need to purchase to accommodate the jars openings. For drilling, pick a hole saw slightly smaller than the jar mouth and drill the holes. Now you are ready to move on to melting some starter comb in the jars. Melting starter comb into jars may not be necessary if the bees drive to store nectar is great enough, but it definitely helps get the bees started drawing inside the jars. I say this because in one jar the starter comb detached and this was the last one the bees got into. I melt starter pieces by placing the jars near the wood stove and allowing them to heat up just enough to attach a small piece of white burr comb. Use long forceps or pliers to hold the comb when attaching to the jar bottom. I use only a small piece of burr comb so as to allow the bees the free will to build the comb as they see fit. In the future I plan to try some patterns of attaching burr comb to see how this impacts the final comb shape. I would also imagine strips or small pieces of foundation would work as starting points for the bees in the jars. Next is preparing your hive for the jars, preparation will be akin to preparing a hive to produce regular comb honey. You will need to crowd your bees as they do not readily use the jars to draw comb and store nectar. We used an existing hive with a new queen to try and quell the bees desire to swarm when crowded. As a general rule crowding two deep hive bodies down to one deep and one medium would be a good starting point. 14

15 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company With this above work complete you are now ready to install the board with drilled holes directly over the brood chamber of your hive. We don t typically use queen excluders and have had no issues with the queen laying up in the jars, I expect a queen excluder would just be another obstacle making it more difficult to get the bees to draw in the jars. Once the board is installed, place your jars over their respective holes. We used a variety of jar sizes and left the screw-on ring in place. This made it easy to remove and clean at harvest time if the bees had propolized the jar to the board for a good seal in the hive. Place an empty hive body around the jars to keep them from being knocked over and to let the bees work in their natural darkened state. Cover with your standard hive cover. It s important to place the jars on just prior to a nectar flow. Duration of the flow, strength of the hive, and weather will determine how quickly the bees fill the jars. It s easy to keep track of the progress just crack the hive cover and look, no worries of the bees flying in your face as they are contained in the jars. Now we are to the final step, harvest. Harvest in stages as all the jars aren t capped at once. When a handful was fully capped, I placed a bee escape between the jars and the brood chamber overnight. Completed jars can be replaced with empty jars. I suspect if the jars are left on too long there would be staining just as on regular comb honey. Freeze the jars for a day or two to destroy any wax moth larvae. All that remains prior to completion is to fill the jar with liquid honey and install the lid. For any jars just partially filled at the season s end, just freeze a couple days for wax moth control, cover jars for storage, and install back on the hive the following spring. Enjoy and good luck. Questions or comments about this article? Please go to kelleybees.com/blog. MAY 2013 EVENTS Young Harris Beekeeping Institute May 10 11th Young Harris, GA More details to come... Alabama Beekeepers Beekeeping Picnic May 18 Cullman County Fairgrounds in Cullman, AL Call Bonnie Funderburg at or at funder@otelco.net JUNE 2013 EVENTS Walter T. Kelley Annual Field Day June 1 Contact Kelley's for more info. You must pre-register for this event. kelleybees.com/education/resources/2013-field-day.pdf ISBA Summer Meeting June Holiday Inn Convention Center, Gurnee, IL Upcoming Events JULY 2013 EVENT Heartland Apicultural Society Annual Conference July Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN SEPTEMBER 2013 EVENTS WAS Conference September Santa Fe, NM Alabama Beekeepers Association Annual meeting September Taylor Road Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL More details to come. We d love to share news of your upcoming events. Please send the event name, date, website and/or contact information to me by the 10th of each month for inclusion in the following month s issue. KelleyBeesEditor@gmail.com You can save shipping costs by meeting us at industry meetings. We note on our website which meetings we ll be attending, and we d love to meet you there to hand-off your equipment.

16 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 Installation of Package Bees By Stacy Hill, Kelley employee and beekeeper Editor's Note: Yes, we ran this article last month. It is package bee season. If you are an established beekeeper and can use drawn comb on which to install your package you should do so. If you can just give them two or three drawn frames it is a big advantage. This allows the bees to get to work without having to draw comb from the foundation first. Installation of Packages Install the package late in the afternoon. This helps prevent drifting. It is good to mist a little syrup on the screen of the cage 15 minutes before you are ready to move them to the hive for installation. This quiets them down and they will be better natured. There are several ways of installing a package of bees. We recommend the following methods. Method 1: Please also see the March 2013 newsletter article, "Thinking About Keeping Bees?" Part 4, for the care of bees until you get them installed. All past newsletters are available on our website. Remove one frame from your hive. Store the frame in a dry cool place. This frame will be put back into your hive several days later. Tap the cage lightly a few times on the ground to jar all the bees to the bottom of the cage. Do not let the queen cage slip down into the cage. With a firm grip on the can, remove it, pull the queen cage out of the package and immediately return the square lid to the hole of the cage. This prevents the bees from getting out. Now that the queen cage is removed, inspect your queen to make sure she is alive and in good condition. Carefully remove the cork from the candy end of the queen cage. The bees will release the queen from the cage by eating the candy (it usually takes a few days for them to do this). You may choose to take a small nail and make a hole through the candy. This will help release the queen sooner. Place the queen cage, screen side facing up, between frames 5 and 6 in the hive body. Again, tap the package lightly a few times on the ground to jar all the bees to the bottom of the cage. Remove the square lid and begin to gently shake the bees from the package over the tops of the frames and the queen cage. Once you have shaken the bees from the package, place the inner cover over the hive upside down. You can now close up your hive with the top cover. Once you have shaken the bees from the package and closed up the hive, place the A couple newbees install their bees via the shake method. package on the ground in front of the hive so that the few remaining bees can fly out and into the hive. You will need to feed your bees on a regular basis. We suggest using a Boardman entrance feeder with package bees to prevent drowning. You can open the can of syrup that came with the package and use the remaining syrup to feed. 16

17 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company In about three days, you will want to go into the hive to make sure the queen has been released and is alive. If she is still inside the cage, you can choose to leave her there a day or two longer or release her yourself. To do this, hold the queen cage down inside the hive body and carefully pull back the screen to release her. Remove the queen cage and place the frame you removed before installation back inside the hive body box and return the inner and outer cover. Method 2: While New-bee Pete struggles to remove the cork, the worker bees investigate their new home & caretakers. Bees don't typically get this excited during an install, but these ladies were! It was probably due to a combo of warm humid weather & a long ride from Kentucky. With this method, you do not have to shake the bees from the package. Follow the same procedures as Method 1, except remove five frames from your hive. Place the queen cage, screen side facing up, between frames 2 & 3 in the hive body. Again, tap the cage lightly a few times on the ground to jar all the bees to the bottom of the cage. Remove the square lid and place the package down inside the hive body in the space of the frames you have removed. In about three days, make sure the queen has been released and is alive. Remove the queen cage and package and place the five frames you removed before installation back inside the hive body box and return the inner and outer cover. Four Important Points 1. Feed package bees heavily until the colony is well established. Sugar and water mixed in a ratio of 1 part water to 1 part sugar, or high fructose corn syrup works well for spring feeding. 2. Keep entrances reduced to a small size. This prevents robbing and conserves heat. 3. Do not add supers or a second hive body until the bees draw out 7 of the 10 frames. 4. Do hive inspections to check the condition of the new hive, on a weekly basis, until the hive is well established Questions or comments about this article? Please go to kelleybees.com/blog. Stacy shipping your package bees! 17

18 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 Bee-Yond & Bee-Hind the Hives Women & Beekeeping, a Follow-Up By Charlotte Hubbard In March, I facilitated a discussion on this topic at the State of Michigan bee conference and used much of the feedback we received from our request for more information in an earlier newsletter. Thanks everyone! If you have further comments or insights, please share them via KelleyBeesEditor@gmail.com; we ll keep this topic going if there s interest. The discussion was with some great women beekeepers, and three brave, helpful male beekeepers who I think just happened to wander in, perhaps accidentally. I started the presentation with the goals of both the presentation and this topic in the newsletter. The goals are 1. Explore likely gender-based differences. Teenage Taylor searches for the queen. 2. Identify ways to help each and all beekeepers. After all, there may be some things women do differently that we can share with others. There may be things women shouldn t be doing where we can identify workaround. The last thing we want to do is exclude or offend anyone. The world needs as many beekeepers as possible. Through the discussions at the conference and with others, and through the s we received, it appears there are many reasons folks keep bees differently. They include: Who was the mentor? We tend to do what we re taught. Our practices likely don t vary much if our instructor was of a different gender, but rather, vary by instructor. Why are bees being kept? Commercial beekeepers are more prone to requeen at the first signs of possible failure while folks with just a few hives approach beekeeping differently. They generally have more of an emotional investment, instead of a financial one. What s the beekeeper s age? It seems that women are more likely to keep bees chemical-free, but so are the folks who are just becoming beekeepers. Women, one of the fastest growing segments of beekeepers, are possibly more likely to keep bees chemical-free not because we re women, but because that s a growing trend and we re entering the field in record numbers. A woman and her dog. And her bees. 18

19 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company In answer to the question, Do women keep bees differently than men?, the input at the session and from readers included: Yes, of course, and they should! Women also use the bathroom differently, and keep house differently. As I (constantly) tell my wife about how I load the dishwasher, just because I do it different doesn t mean I do it wrong. Male beekeeper Women keep neater apiaries, cleaner tools, and smell better. I like all of that. Male beekeeper Women tend to wear much more clothing; they don t like being stung. Guys would rather take a few stings and be cooler than wear protective gear. Female beekeeper/instructor Women are extremely gentle, slow and deliberate. This is not necessarily a good thing. You need to get in and out of the hive. Female beekeeper/instructor Women smell better. Female beekeeper I heard that response about women smelling better more than a handful of times. Does that really matter? To fellow beekeepers yes! But to bees? Sure, bees have an acute sense of smell, but does what smells bad to a human smell bad to them? Women are more holistic thinkers. They know from experience that you don t feed kids all sugar; thus they knew instinctively not to do that to a colony where men tend to want proof of why replacing honey with sugar is bad. Female beekeeper Men focus on sight; women use all senses, especially smell and sound, because we don t have the physical strength men have. Female beekeeper Men are less patient. We put in the effort, show us the money er, honey! We want results and don t worry about smashing bees when we put the cover back on. Male beekeeper/instructor I wish I had the wood-working knowledge and tools to do what guys do so easily. I know I can learn, but there s enough to learn about bees without also having to learn about joists, wood glue, and nail sizes. Female beekeeper A request a reader made really drove this point home. See the sidebar, the sidebar with the cute bunny picture. (We try to have fun where we can.) I ve found the males in my bee club as nice as can be, but maybe I m shy or they are. They don t seem to want to help much. Or they are overwhelmed by how much I don t know. Female beekeeper I am very uncomfortable when women get emotional around bees. Bees will die. It is part of it. You will also kill bees, sometimes intentionally. Deal with it and stop crying. Male beekeeper Amber was interested from a young age in honeybees, and works bees every summer at her Grandpa s farm. 19

20 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 Cindy W. of North Carolina, commented: As a female trying to learn beekeeping, I find that deep brood boxes are impossible to lift. I cannot even budge them. I would love some info on converting a hive from deeps to mediums. For example, step by step info (for dummies) on how to do that. Cindy, we asked a male beekeeper, who said, It s easy to convert a deep box to a medium. Just saw the box down to the size you want. That answer, from a very kind, very approachable, very helpful beekeeper drives home the point about the challenge of beekeeping if you don t have much knowledge about woodworking, or the right tools. Is it best to use a handsaw? Chain saw? Band saw? Table saw? When we asked for more information (recommendation: circular saw with a guide, or a table saw), we were also advised Just don t cut the side where the rabbet is. Unless you re a woodworker, beekeeper with some experience, or a furniture person, you likely don t know the difference between rabbet and rabbit. Helpful Hints New Women s Powder Blue Cotton Overalls. From left to right: Catalog # S054, S052 and S055 There were some great hints people shared that may help some of the issues of beekeeping, many of them often encountered by women. They include: 1. Use 8-frame, all medium equipment. 2. Work in teams great for the heavy lifting, and two pair of eyes are always better than one. 3. Wear clothing that fits. You don t want to get tangled up in extra-long or too-wide suits while carrying a box of honey. (By the way, Kelley s carries protective wear tailored to a smaller shape.) Other things? Please us at KelleyBeesEditor@gmail.com. We ll be happy to share your thoughts and suggestions. Questions or comments about this article? Please go to kelleybees.com/blog. By the way, that s a deep box the rabbit is sitting in. That s a mighty large rabbit, isn t it? 20

21 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company A-Bee-Cs One Thing Two Experts Wish New-bees Knew By Camilla Bee, Editor On the eve before Kelley s Field Day in 2012, I had the privilege of hanging outside the hive with Michael Bush. For any new-bees unfamiliar with his name, he s one of the leading voices for natural, practical beekeeping widely published and quoted. 1 We ve featured articles from him in this publication as well. I asked Bush if there was one thing he wished that new-bees understood; is there a single question that comes up repeatedly when he speaks about honeybees? Turns out there were actually about four things. And, as he explained them, he thought of two more, and then a few more, and, well, there s really about eight things. Or maybe ten. That there are about ten things this expert wishes new beekeepers understood (or maybe it s twelve?) isn t because Bush can t prioritize. It s likely because there s so much that s so helpful to understand in the beginning. The good news is, that s one of the many reasons people love beekeeping the constant education and opportunity to learn. The bad news is, that learning curve can be overwhelming. But there s good news about that as well! Beekeepers are generally a sharing sort of people; we love to chat about bees and offer our opinions. And, there are things like this section of the newsletter, to address specifics that may be helpful to new-bees. One of the items Bush recommends bee-ginners understand is the development cycle of honeybees. The next day I posed the same question to Cleo Hogan, who was also speaking at Field Day last year. (By the way, the very engaging, very knowledgeable Cleo is speaking again at Field Day this June. Have you made your reservation?) Cleo also wished beginners understood the stages and timing of development. Bee eggs in cells. Photo source: MAAREC- Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium. While this key information is scattered across the internet and in many bee books, following is a summary. (We like to be one of the main places you go for bee information and bee equipment!) Honeybee Stages and Development Larvae Stage 1, eggs: Eggs are challenging to see. Look for a very small structure that looks like a grain of rice at the back of the cell. Eggs grow for three days before they become larva. If you find eggs, big sigh of relief. You have someone laying. Stage 2, larva: The egg hatches into a practically microscopic white, gleaming, curved-like-the-letter-c worm. Tough to see initially, they become more obvious with growth. WALTER T. KELLEY RECOMMENDATION Key progress check: If you couldn t find eggs (and don t feel bad if you cannot, it is challenging), finding larva assures you that you have someone laying eggs. (Hopefully that s a queen, not a laying worker. More on that in a bit.)

22 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 A couple of fun facts: Larva receive 10,000 meals during this stage. 2 All are fed royal jelly for the first two days. After that, only those destined to become royalty continue to receive royal jelly. Worker bees are fed honey, pollen, water, etc. How quickly larvae turn into pupa depending upon their destiny: 5.5 days for queens (fertile females) 6 days for workers (sterile females), and 6.5 days for drones (fertile males) 3 Stage 3, pupa: This is the transformative stage where bees go from wormlike to bee-like, with three distinct body regions. We can t witness this as this growth occurs under the wax cap. An excellent resource for photos is Key progress check: You ll want to see brood, and it should be predominantly flat (worker) brood. There are a few things you can do about this situation, consult with a mentor or research further to decide what you want to do, but you must do something. If you purchased the queen from Kelley s, and she s not laying within 7-10 days, Kelley s will replace her. WALTER T. KELLEY RECOMMENDATION Lots of lovely worker brood, aged. It is called flat because the caps are all of the same, smooth height (should you rotate this frame so you were looking at the bottom across to the top). It is the chocolate color described by Cleo Hogan in his Splits article. How long it takes to go from larva to pupa again varies by the type of bee the organism is destined to, well, bee-come: 7.5 days for queens 12 days for workers and 14.5 days for drones (fertile males) 4 Stage 4, adult: If you re closely enjoying your honeybees, you will, many times, see bees emerging from their capped cells. It is an exciting observation to spot an antenna or leg waving out of the chewed hole in the cap, followed by usually within minutes the entire new bee working its way out to see a different world through lots of eyes. So, along with ensuring progress of a new package, why else is knowing (and applying) this information important? Some situations include: If you do a walk-away split, keep in mind the long length of time it will take for an egg to become a queen, and the queen to begin laying, and those eggs to turn into worker bees. Are there enough bees in that Drone brood is irregularly capped, and typically with gaps. Some drones are necessary. If there is no worker bee brood, or not much, consider requeening. walk-away split to service the process and maintain the hive? If you re raising bees for honey, are you OK with this production slow-down/pause If you moved a queen cell to a nuc, how long until you should check to see if she s productive? If you re using drone comb as a natural mite reducer, when should you remove it? If you ve got several frames of wall-to-wall worker brood, how long until that hive explodes? (Or in other words, how much time do you have to get the next box on?) In conclusion, know the timing of honeybee development. Not only can you dazzle people at parties with this information, but it ll help you better keep bees Jean-Prost, Jean-Prost, 1994 Questions or comments about this article? Please go to kelleybees.com/blog. 22

23 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company BeeCause American Beekeeping Federation Kelley s supports a variety of charitable endeavors that support beekeeping and future beekeepers. One way that we do that is through donating to organizations like the American Beekeeping Federation, or ABF. ABF acts on behalf of the beekeeping industry on issues affecting the interests and the economic viability of the various sectors of the industry. In February, at the 2013 Honey Show at with the North American Beekeeping Conference and Tradeshow, in Pennsylvania, we sponsored the Comb Section Honey Class. The Honey Show is an amazing event, featuring hive products such as round comb honey, cut comb honey, creamed honey, beeswax block, white honey, etc. Ever consider comb honey? This is the time of year to get going. There s great information in our February and March, 2012 newsletters, and of course, Kelley s has everything you need to get started. A few of the products we carry are featured here. Comb Honey Kit, Catalog # 22-Kit RV Plastic Cut Comb Trays with Lids, Catalog # 216-RV Comb Honey Super with Fixtures, Catalog # 30 Questions or comments about this article? Please go to kelleybees.com/blog. Beek Hint To light a smoker, crumple a handful of (preferably all-natural) fuel, stuff it loosely in the bottom of the smoker, light it. Puff the bellows to fuel the flames and, when the fuel is good and hot, add more fuel, gently puffing all the time. Always be sure there is nothing flammable around you before starting the smoker (like is your hair tucked away? Bee suit not in the way?) 23

24 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 FAQs Editor s Note: Because if you ask ten beekeepers the same question, you may get at least ten different answers, we re sometimes walking on controversial ground with this regular feature. Our recommendation is to read, research, and discuss to figure out what s best for you and your bees. There are few black and whites in beekeeping. Q: I enjoy the blog very much, thank you. I m building a top bar hive (TBH) and I have a question I ve never seen addressed. Some designs have screened bottoms, some solid. A screen strikes me as a bad idea, any advice? Thanks in advance. Steve A: Screened bottom boards are helpful for at least two things: ventilation and mite control. However, comb construction differs in TBHs. Honeybees get to do whatever they want to do and are not guided by frames and foundation. Q: Q: We talked with Jessica Steller, of Steller Apiaries 1, where all they keep are TBHs. They do not use screens, noting that they find TBH-kept honeybees are healthier and thus more able to combat mites and other pests. Also, that the free-form comb construction allows bees to build comb the way they think is best for airflow and handling temperature fluctuations. Kelley s TBHs do not have screened bottoms. What s a normal sized cluster? How big or small can overwinter? Jim D., Georgia A: It depends upon the breed, the colony s health, and geographic location. Breeds like Carniolan and Russians winter in a much smaller cluster (softball size); Italian will have a much larger cluster almost like basketball size. A small cluster will winter on significantly less food stores than the larger cluster. Adverse weather conditions (drought of 2012) may have caused your clusters to be much smaller because of a lack of stores. Please analyze the photo and advise. Thanks, Jim A: To us, it looks like typical post-winter debris chewed off cappings, maybe a beetle or two, some bee parts because they dried up and fell apart, or possibly were maimed during a raid. Without knowing the circumstances (when found, colony alive, etc.), nothing looks too abnormal. Readers? Top Bar Hive Catalog #

25 Q: 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company Last year I had small-cell bees in a TBH; it died. I want to install bees in the TBH again, but am getting normal bees (not small cell.) Do I need to destroy that comb? Kelly, Indiana A: We ve received a variety of answers to this question. We asked Trevor Qualls 2, an expert on small cell bees. Trevor noted that the queen wouldn t like it but as small-cell comb was available and drawn out, the likelihood that bees could or would change the cell size would be small. The queen would lay in the small cell comb and then the size of the bee would be small cell size eventually. (By the way, Trevor is speaking at Kelley s Field Day. Have you signed up yet?) We asked two more very seasoned beekeepers. (Not) surprisingly, their answers were different. One noted that the big bees probably wouldn t like it; the queen might have trouble laying in the smaller cell and the entire colony may move on. The other said bees will rebuild the comb to be what they need, so not to worry about it, they may ignore the small comb if they don t like it and build new to their expectations, or rework it to fit their needs. Q: Q: Q: Readers, what are your experiences with this? Thanks. Is there a recommended checklist/ inspection sheet to help the beekeeper (me) remember everything he/she needs to check for when routinely inspecting a hive? Also for keeping track purposes? Thank you in advance. I will be very happy to obtain such a checklist sheet. D. Ganit, via the internet A: The recommended one is the one that works for you the one that you ll actually use. That might be something electronic, a small note pad that fits in your pocket, a comprehensive checklist, or something primitive but easy-to-use, like a varying number of pebbles on the top cover to indicate various issues. There are a couple really helpful articles and one grand checklist on this very topic. Please see our March and May 2012 issues. Those free back issues are available at We are first-time beekeepers and are excited about the bees in our 10-frame hive. When do we add the next box? Thanks for getting us going with bees. T. Miller A: When there are generally 8-9 frames involved with bees, add another box. Involved with bees means drawn comb, or efforts well underway, and more than just the bees patrolling the frame in other words, lots of bees. When 6-7 of the frames in your second box are involved with bees, time to add a super. Should I use a queen excluder? Brian P. Wood-Bound Queen Excluder, Catalog # 19-WA Metal-Bound Queen Excluder, Catalog # 19-M Plastic Queen Excluder, Catalog # 19-P Economy Metal-Bound Queen Excluder, Catalog # 19-ME Queen Grafting Excluder Frame, Catalog # 19-LM A: That s an individual preference. Sure, it keeps the queen from laying in the honey frames, but others feel it slows down bees from easily working those frames, and call it a honey excluder. To minimize that, one recommendation is that you allow the bees to draw out the honey frames prior to using the separator, and then install it. Once the comb is drawn, the bees will be more inclined to travel through the excluder. Keep in mind however, bees read different books than beekeepers do. 2 Questions or comments about this article? Please go to kelleybees.com/blog. 25

26 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 Kelley s Annual Field Day Once again, beekeepers, bee enthusiasts, and bee experts from all over will be swarming to Clarkson, Kentucky for a day of discussing our favorite insect. Please join us on June 1; register at You ll need to register before May 29. This year s keynote speaker is the esteemed Dr. Dewey Caron, retired Professor of Entomology and Apiculture, from the University of Maryland and the University of Delaware. A popular speaker, he s also authored several leading books on honeybees, including one of our favorites, Observation Hives, available from Kelley s. Following the keynote speaker, you ll be conflicted to figure out which presentations to attend next from multiple, on-going sessions. Topics range from candle making to cooking with honey to small cell bees, top bar hives, pollen collection and live demonstrations on nucs and splits, and much more. You can find our ever-evolving list on our website. Cleo Hogan supervises brood evaluation during a hands-on session on splits While there are plenty of bee meetings to attend, we ve been told the atmosphere and ambiance of Kelley s Field Day is especially appealing. We re unique in that Field Day is held at our headquarters, and it is a beautiful, relaxed venue. You ll have the chance to see where things are made, and meet the people behind our American-made products. With welcoming shade trees and chairs scattered about, you can sit down with old (or new) friends. Lunch is included in your registration fee, and is guaranteed tummy-pleasing. Your fee covers the full day of activities, food, and support of a non-profit bee organization. You ll also be able to shop for new equipment, or pick-up your pre-ordered equipment that we ll have ready for you. Join the swarm! We hope to see you at Field Day. 26

27 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company Foraging for Fun The local elementary school Hat Parade is an annual feature of Clarkson Honeyfest. Talk about creativity! We thought we d share these photos as Derby Day in Kentucky is coming up; these future beekeepers (hopefully!) fit right in. 27

28 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 Recipes Waffle Bee Little ones will buzz with delight when they taste this waffle topped with ice cream, mango, plum and cookies. Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes Servings: 1 Ingredients 1 Kellogg s Eggo Thick & Fluffy Original waffles 1 scoop (3 tbsp.) Breyers French Vanilla Ice Cream 1 scoop (2 tbsp.) Breyers French Vanilla Ice Cream 3 slices fresh mango 2 slices fresh plum 2 Keebler Grasshopper cookies 1 dark chocolate candy drop 2 candy-coated chocolate pieces String licorice Directions 1. Prepare Eggo Thick & Fluffy Original waffle according to package directions. Cool for 10 minutes. 2. Place waffle on small serving plate. Top with the 3 tablespoons scoop of ice cream for bee body. Place the 2 tablespoons scoop of ice cream on waffle for bee head. Alternately place mango and plum slices on bee body. Press Keebler Grasshopper cookies into bee body for wings and chocolate drop into bee body for stinger. Place chocolate pieces on bee head for eyes. Press licorice pieces into bee head for antennae. Serve immediately. Thank you, Kellogg's for sharing this recipe and image with us! Bumble Bee Candies Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes Yield: Makes 6 Bumble Bees Ingredients 1 Snickers Brand Eggs 6-Pack 12 pieces M&M S Brand Chocolate Candies 1 tube decorative yellow icing Yellow construction paper Directions 1. Cut 6 hearts from the construction paper for the bumble bee s wings. 2. Unwrap the Snickers Brand Eggs and place both halves flat on a counter. 3. With the decorative icing, pipe lines over the eggs. Dot the lines with the M&M S Brand Chocolate Candies. 4. Dot each wing with icing, and then press it underneath an egg, with one wing on either side of each egg. 28

29 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company Sweet as Honey We appreciate it when customers take time to drop us s like this one We are enjoying our coffee mugs! It s been a pleasure doing business with you and we are looking forward to Kelley s Field Day. On my way back home, I stopped at the gas station and a young man asked me what I was doing with all the wood in the back of the truck. I informed him of our beekeeping hobby and gave him a copy of the 2013 catalog. He was concerned of the cost(s) associated with beekeeping, but I reassured him it was in his reach and the benefits of keeping these neat little creatures would pay off in many ways both to the environment and our taste buds. If you could, keep an extra catalog handy for me and I promise to keep spreading the good word about bees and where to get the best equipment in the world! Thanks again for your friendly service and the highest quality beekeeping supplies. Mike This situation (pictured at the right) probably wasn t sweet as honey for Jeff Y., who is NOT a beekeeper (yet), and found bees hanging out in his hot tub. Salute to Jeff for doing the right thing: calling a beekeeper who came out and moved the hive to a less aquatic location. Photos courtesy of Jeff Y. We also appreciate it when beekeepers share helpful hints, like this one: Good day to all our beekeeping families. I just finished the newsletter and thought I would share some of my experiences. I live in rural Missouri and have been admiring my everworking bees for six years now. I have used several methods to feed and have settled down to one. My apiary sets at the edge of my neighbor s 180 acre soybean farm; I have been told soy beans promote small hive beetles, which on my second season destroyed our entire apiary in less than a month s time. Now we have a method that actually has stopped the SHB from getting to our honey frames. I take a clear plastic tray, about 1½ deep and large enough to place a 1 gallon plastic bag of sugar water and a brood patty. I place the tray on top of the frames, add a 2 extension (for space needed for tray), and under the queen excluder (if honey supers or on top), insert sugar water bag, poke several holes so bees can drink and add patty. 29

30 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 The SHB go straight to the tray and for some reason do not leave the tray. When I inspect the hive they can be removed effectively and managed. We still see them but not on comb or in cells and this is now a big part of our apiary Integrated Pest Management (IPM). My neighbor has given me five acres (in the area directly in front of the apiary) to plant crops for the bees. We planted crimson clover and our honey has a light red tint and is awesome (last year we harvested five gallons of crimson honey from one hive) I hope this helps my friends in beekeeping in our quest to assist our sweet honey makers. Ron Velasco Beekeepers might like to read A Book of Bees written by Sue Hubbell, who had 300 hives in the Ozarks. The book goes through the beekeeping year, giving all her routines and reasons. She did it all on her own, except for a strong young helper in the summertime. She fixed her own truck and drove to New York City to deliver honey. Sue is an inspiration to go ahead and DO things. (Before homesteading, she was a college librarian and writes so clearly. Interested in all of nature and wrote books about other insects and sea creatures. She lives in Maine now.) Obviously I m a fan. C. James Several readers let us know about this horrifying account of the domestic honeybee situation. If you haven t yet seen it, you may want to take a deep breath and watch Dan Rather Reports Buzzkill, You know you re a beekeeper when you read a headline like Pentagon Discusses Further Drone Use and you think that ll be tough, it s early in the season and there just aren t that many drones yet J.F., Virginia I am a bit behind on my reading and just got through with the February 2013 issue. You d asked for links to good resources. Here are a few links I usually recommend to new beekeepers or those who are interested in beekeeping. I always recommend they read as much as they can FIRST, join a local association and get a mentor to work with and THEN begin to gather the equipment and THEN get bees. Mike Bush s website: Ohio Beekeeping Program: (I am in TN, but really like this program. Plus, it was done by Dr. Jim Tew, for whom I have much respect. I also highly recommend Dr. Tew s annual beekeeping symposium at Auburn University: Two online forums with much good info for new beekeepers: and forum.beemaster.com And, let s not forget my very own website with my hippie beekeeping philosophies : I hope these are of help. J. Wagner 30

31 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company We re sharing the following because, while sarcastically sad, it is a reminder that bee losses happen to all of us, and having a sense of humor about it helps. Some people like deer antlers or stuffed northern pike that grin, with varnished menace, from above the fireplace. Me? I like dead bees thousands of them. They re lighter and I can stuff them myself, no taxidermist required. Anyway, I ve lost all three hives this winter, so am downsizing to two hives this year. If I keep my apiary small, then I ll keep my losses low, and can still make enough money from honey sales to cover my costs. That said, I m glad that I ve had better survivability rates with kids than furry insects. Cats, too they ll apparently live forever whether we like it or not. T. Springer Several readers commented on Jane Burgess inclusion of the following last month: To everything turn, turn, turn There is a season turn, turn, turn And a time for every purpose under heaven A time to be born, a time to die A time to plant, a time to reap A time to kill, a time to heal A time to laugh, a time to weep I like this 3rd chapter of Ecclesiastes God bless you and yours Owen L. Thanks for your beekeeping advice. The song you referenced is based upon the Holy Scriptures Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Wonderful reading. D. Moore Wonderfully, there are plenty of bees still alive. Stephen Lester shared this picture of his Kelley Russian Hybrids hard at work. Thanks Stephen! One of the beautiful things about beekeeping to me is it can be an art for the hobbyist and a business for the person with thousands of colonies. The above comment is from Dr. Jamie Ellis, as quoted in (This is the newsletter of the Center for Honeybee Research in Asheville, NC, which Kelley s has long supported.) 31

32 Kelley Bees News: Modern Beekeeping Issue 35, May 2013 Dronings from a Queen Bee Hive Colors, and Bears By Charlotte Hubbard Recently, as I put paint on my hands, jeans, shoes, dog and oh, occasionally a hive body, I thought of a question new-bees often ask, which is: How do you decide what color to paint your hives? After I answer that question for them, a second one will quickly follow: But aren t hives supposed to be white? Folks, I will answer the second question first. No, hives aren t supposed to be or required to be white. I do understand, though, why many non-beekeepers are confused that there are non-white hives. I once also thought bees were always kept in white hive boxes. In the children s literature I devoured through my thick glasses, with a flashlight under the covers at night, the hives pictured were always white. Decades later I read different story books to my children. In those, the hives were also always white. If you ever see a bear in striped pants, guard your honey. Of course, in the story books, the always-merry beekeepers were happily surrounded by only two or three equally smiley bees, instead of hundreds of crazed insects like I occasionally experience. There also are no mites in those cheery stories, but there are other threats, like bears in striped pants on their way to rob hives. Now then, that first question, about how do I decide what color to paint my hives When my late husband Tom began keeping bees, he read that light, pastel colors were preferred. He painted one of his first two hives a subtle lilac, the other a warm, golden honey color. Coincidentally, those are about the colors of our local school system. In what I now know is truly miraculous, my late husband did nothing to those hives after he installed the packages (including never removing the top feeders), and the bees overwintered just fine. Thinking this beekeeping thing this was super-easy, he ordered three more packages for the following spring, and thus had three more hives to paint. He selected two colors representing where our two oldest kids were going to college, which added orange and light blue to the apiary, along with a pink. People couldn t help notice our apiary disguised as a tropical fishing village, and became curious. Tom jokingly explained we were painting hives to match the kids college colors (plus pink), in the hopes that maybe someday, when the apiary became famous, the colleges would pay a small fee to have their logo painted on the side of their hive. We knew the colleges had money; we were steadily writing checks to them. Speaking of colors, the next year was the one marked bright red in our family budget. Due to poor family planning, it was the year when two of three kids would be in college at the same time with the oldest child having moved on to bank-account-draining grad school. With our baby entering college, we felt the need to have bees in a hive of her collegiate colors, like we did for her older siblings. But, with our baby entering college, we didn t have many extra dollars for bees and a hive. Luckily she chose to go to the University of Michigan like her big brother did. I say luckily because that meant we already a hive painted the appropriate color (Go Blue!) 32

33 2013 Walter T. Kelley Company And such luck! Not only did we save money by not getting another package of bees and a hive, but being able to send both their tuition payments with just one stamp really diminished the financial burden of them both attending the Harvard of the Midwest. (Yes folks, there s sarcasm dripping all over that. You can decide where I meant to put it.) So, as I tell new-bees, that s how we decided what colors to paint our hives. My new hives this year are a cherry red, a honey gold, and hunter orange. If you d like to see those colors, feel free to stop by my apiary, or look at my shoes, my watch band, or my dog. Surprising how hard it is to get paint off of from where you don t want it. As I tell new-bees, seemingly the only rule about hive colors is the same rule our son uses for his laundry: designs, fluorescents, darks, pastels, patterns anything goes and it can all go together. (Guess they don t teach laundry at U of M.) If you want hives of many colors, you may have them. You re only restrained by the number of colors. By the way, there is no limit to the number of colors. Color, or symbols, or numbers some means of identification for each hive is helpful. Bees like to be able to readily distinguish their hive from others when coming in to land, overloaded with pollen. Readily identifiable hives are also helpful to us two-legged critters, so we know where to record the information about them in the excellent logbooks we all keep. Right beekeepers? Because our hives were largely painted collegiate colors, we called them The Michigan Hive, or The Oregon State Hive. We could ve called those honeybees The Wolverines or The Beavers, but that would be, well, bee-littling to the winged insects. Bring on any sport s mascot tigers, lions, cowboys, bears. Enraged honeybees will always win. Unless, of course, they re dealing with bears in striped pants. 33