Learning the basics bee keeping

[Black Comb]

Look at the Beebase website which now has quite a few good information leaflets you can download for free.

https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?pageid=167

 

[oliver90owner]

TB,

I am glad you didn't capital H on however!

Regards, RAB

 

[Nellie]

I think that nothing that is classed as a pest (of that type) can be totally harmless. However, even tho everybody says it kills bees, who on here can definately say that their bees died or absconded because of it? and that is the second if not third time I have said that in different threads,,,,,

again, if a colony absconds .... how do you know why????

Seen a lot of very sick bees this year, it could be entirely co-incidence that these bees were deliberately not treated for varroa and hence all had very high mite counts. It might be completely unsubstantiated rumour that the varroa is linked to the signs of viral infection such as Deformed Wing that were clearly being exhibited in these colonies. It's possible that the Bee inspector and ex Bee Inspector I was working with going through these hives are, in fact, both idiots when they claimed that the varroa and the clear signs of viral disease were related to each other and that the piles and piles of literature, studies, handouts and books I have that all say that varroa, left untreated is a problem for the vast majority of colonies are all engaged in some kind of organised deception.

When I started beekeeping, I was left under no illusion that not treating for varroa was an immediate death sentence for my colonies. I do however think that while this might not be a lie that perhaps the timescales involved were not spelled out clearly enough. I don't think it's a case of just me getting my facts mixed up as a plenty of new beekeepers seem to be under the impression that the varroa will kill a colony pretty quickly and that I don't believe is necessarily the case. I do think that this is leading to a lot of people getting hold of bees, deciding that they aren't going to treat and after a season when they find they've still got bees triumphantly declaring that they've got bees that cope with varroa just fine and then go mysteriously quiet a season or two down the line when their bees stop "coping" with varroa after all.

I accept that there are people who're claiming that they haven't treated colonies for varroa, in some cases for getting on a decade, and I don't think that they're lying either but again, once you start to look into the details of how they reached that point there does seem to be an awful lot of dead colonies behind those stocks that are now not being treated. When a Nuc is costing £150+ at the moment, I'm not gambling that I've got the holy grail of varroa tolerant bees sat in my hives right now. I try to treat as minimally as possible but you'd better believe they all got a course of thymol once the honey came off this year.

 

[oliver90owner]

Nellie,

Well set out. You missed one point, I believe. Quite an important one.

Regular checking for varroa, by whatever means, should give adequate warning of whether the colony is relatively varroa free, with some infestation, or likely to need remedial treatment in the near future.

Getting to the point of colony collapse must be so very obvious from all the signs, symptoms and checks for experienced beeks.

New beeks may not be quite so adept at recognising the warning signs and that can be expensive in both time and cost - maybe enough to dampen enthusiasm to continue.

Regards, RAB

 

[Nellie]

Fair point. I use drone brood uncapping to monitor varroa as my experience with natural mite drop counting is that in my hives at least it tends to underestimate quite considerably the actual mite count within the colony itself. A couple of forkfuls of drone brood though gives a much more reliable indication of the mite levels.

 

[psafloyd]

join your local beekeepers association is the best advice I can give, theres always somebody to help you out.

I am a newbie myself and signed up last year for this course in spring.

Although I have five or six books which i have been through several times, nothing can provide you with confidence you will get from the experience of handling the bees.

I would recommend all those considering taking it up to follow throught the course for the benefit of themselves or the bees.

 

[psafloyd]

Most associations do a free course for beginners, and may also assign mentors.
Books are good, but there's nothing like hands on imho.

:i agree

 

[psafloyd]

"Bees at the bootom of the garden" is a really good guide to a first year in beekeeping.


Ben P

Agreed, but I had gone throught this a dozen times months before I started my practical course with my local BKA.

I have since gone through many others, including Ted Hooper's (the updated version) and found them far more useful for the kind of information i needed once I got on the course. It meant I had covered much of the basic theory stuff (not all), and could concentrate on the practical stuff which is completely new, no matter how much you read it about it.

 

[psafloyd]

As already said -
1. Join local association
2. Find a mentor
3. Book - Guide to Bees and Honey by Ted Hooper - I doubt you'd need another for a while.
4. Haunt this forum
5. Take a look at Dave Cushman's website

Dave Cushman's website is great, if VERY busy.

 

[Rosti]

Fair point. I use drone brood uncapping to monitor varroa as my experience with natural mite drop counting is that in my hives at least it tends to underestimate quite considerably the actual mite count within the colony itself. A couple of forkfuls of drone brood though gives a much more reliable indication of the mite levels.

Nellie I agree with your post, in that drone brood monitoring is as good a way as any for monitoring and combined with sacraficial drone brood culling can provide some contribution in holding down varroa numbers between major treatments. That said it's not full proof. The main infestation I had this year (based on Apiguard drop numbers) was in a hive that showed little evidence during drone brood inspection. No substitute for an integrated planned approach through the year IMO. R

 

[Nellie]

Nellie I agree with your post, in that drone brood monitoring is as good a way as any for monitoring and combined with sacraficial drone brood culling can provide some contribution in holding down varroa numbers between major treatments. That said it's not full proof. The main infestation I had this year (based on Apiguard drop numbers) was in a hive that showed little evidence during drone brood inspection. No substitute for an integrated planned approach through the year IMO. R

Drone brood uncapping should give you more accurate numbers if it's done correctly. 200 larvae is the figure I've been given that you should uncap in order to get an accurate number although personally I don't uncap this much very often.

Don't get me wrong, I use everything I can think of to manage varroa whilst also trying to treat minimally. Drone brood uncapping forms only a part of my IPM but it was what I tend to fall back on when I stop believing mite drops. I never actually culled drone brood thus season over and above what was removed for uncapping but rather than just lob it in a solar extractor or feed it to chickens I tend to go through the whole thing. It's a bit gruesome for sure but you can look for more than just varroa and take as long as you want over it.

(written on a phone so apologies fir the numerous typos that must have slipped through.)