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

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

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

Beekeeping Hacks

Feeding Many different methods In Hive Community

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

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

Interesting Bucket Feeder

Two gallon bucket

Drill small holes around rim roughly 1 apart

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

Open-top Bucket Float

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

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

2 oz. Spearmint Oil

2 oz. Lemongrass Oil

4 oz. Liquid Lecithin

4 oz. Honey

½ Gallon of Water

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.

32 oz Lecithin - $7.00 4 oz Spearmint Oil - $10.00 4 oz Lemongrass Oil - $10.00 1 gallon homemade Honey B Healthy - $21.00 Purchase 1 gallon Honey B Healthy = $100.00

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.

Varroa Mite Control

Mix 2 oz Tea Tree Oil And one pint Canola Oil

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

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

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.

Hive Inspections

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.

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

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!!

Honey Extraction & Bottling

Filtering Paint Strainers Cheap ($6.00 / 12)

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

Quick Tips

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

Use Drone Comb Removal for Non-Chemical Varroa Control

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

Special Thanks: Eric Mills Tim Christian Henry Campbell