Beekeeping Best Practices (Conversations with Commercial Beekeepers) Mell Wallace Master Beekeeper Laurens, SC

Transcription

1 Beekeeping Best Practices (Conversations with Commercial Beekeepers) Mell Wallace Master Beekeeper Laurens, SC

2 Hacks (Life Hacks) a quick solution that solves a problem save time/money

3 Beekeeping Hacks

4 Feeding Many different methods In Hive Community

5 In Hive Two Frame Feeder Push Pin in side of hive or Mark to identify which side (or Always on Right or Left) Advantage food is inside the Hive Disadvantage have to open Hive to feed

6 Community Feeding Typically pan or bucket Advantage - Allows fast feeding of multiple hives Disadvantage Bees have to leave hive to gather sugar water

7 Interesting Bucket Feeder

8 Two gallon bucket

9 Drill small holes around rim roughly 1 apart

10 Add sugar water, lid, and invert *HINT: use tape *HINT: Must be level

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13 Open-top Bucket Float

14 Cost of Feeding? Sugar Water / Syrup = $$ Additives = $$$$ Honey B Healthy = $100/gallon

15 Homemade Honey B Healthy -Recipe makes a large amount, more than most individuals would need -Could be a good project for a club at a late Summer meeting -Make 2-3 gallons, then split the cost

16 2 oz. Spearmint Oil

17 2 oz. Lemongrass Oil

18 4 oz. Liquid Lecithin

19 4 oz. Honey

20 ½ Gallon of Water

21 Warm Lecithin, Water, and Honey together first, then add the Oils and blend. Lecithin is an emulsifier and will help the oils blend together with the water. Recipe makes approx. ½ gallon is easy to double.

22 32 oz Lecithin - $ oz Spearmint Oil - $ oz Lemongrass Oil - $ gallon homemade Honey B Healthy - $21.00 Purchase 1 gallon Honey B Healthy = $100.00

23 Use 16 oz water bottles for the water, then refill them with the Honey B Healthy. Each person gets 16 oz H B H for roughly $5.

24 Varroa Mite Control

25 Mix 2 oz Tea Tree Oil And one pint Canola Oil

26 Soak heavy folded paper towel, cardboard drink coaster, or absorbent pad of some kind Place on top of inner cover

27 Remember that breaking the Brood Cycle Can delay the need for treatment. Swarms, supercedures, splits, & new hives from packages all break brood cycle.

28 Wax Moth Control To protect drawn comb supers, after extracting and cleaning, freeze them for 2 weeks to kill any wax moth eggs. Stack them in an upturned telescoping top and top the stack off with screen wire. Check occasionally for wax moth activity.

29 Hive Inspections

30 Easy to use a notebook or electronic device for a few hives, but keeping track of several hives becomes difficult. Develop some system to keep a visual record of what is going on in each hive.

31 In addition to marking queens, use a color coded push pin in the front of the hive to denote year.

32 Some beekeepers use bricks on top of hive to Tell them what they found inside. Others use color coded push pins Brick or pin position and orientation means different things. Queen right, queen cell, queenless Treatment applied Need super Need feeding Whatever method you choose, KEEP RECORDS!!

33 Honey Extraction & Bottling

34 Filtering Paint Strainers Cheap ($6.00 / 12)

35 Bottling for Competition } } Lighter particles Butter Zone } Heavier Particles

36 Quick Tips

37 Making Pollen Substitute Patties? -Add Wintergreen Oil to keep SHB from laying in them

38 Use Drone Comb Removal for Non-Chemical Varroa Control

39 Each Spring, put Grub Killer on the ground underneath your hives for SHB control

40 For extended sessions in the apiary or apiaries, use a Camp Shower to cool off and wash hands and equipment. Fill with cool water and keep in a cooler to help prevent overheating.

41 Use a ceramic tile to protect your truck bed liner from circular burns on tailgate from a lit smoker.

42 Push pins can be used to prop up the telescoping top for ventilation.

43 Keep Clorox wipes in your equipment box to wipe down tools and gloves regularly.

44 Use an old mailbox mounted in your apiary to hold hive tools, staples, smoker, smoker fuel, hammer. Great for outyards. Padlock if necessary.

45 Use Tea Tree Oil to keep Fire Ant bites from itching.

46 When prying boxes apart, pry on the sides of the boxes, not the front or back. Front and back panels are rabbeted for frame rests, so there isn t as much wood to pry against.

47 Use a small copy paper box as a swarm Trap. 1-2 deep frames will fit diagonally, Then add a few drops of Lemongrass Oil. Add an opening, and place anywhere Out of the rain.

48 ATTENTION You are now entering A breeding facility for Wax Moths, Varroa Mites, And Small Hive Beetles. Any Honey Bees encountered are purely coincidental.

49 Have Fun, Enjoy your Hobby (or Job), Make Friends, Share your Knowledge.

50 Special Thanks: Eric Mills Tim Christian Henry Campbell