Don’t Select A Bad Location for Bees
A
t a recent meeting, a beekeeperconsidering setting up bees in his backyard outlined a long list of rea- sons why he didn’t think the bees would do very well. He clearly wanted me to give him permission to keep bees in his back- yard in spite of all the challenges. Without being too tough on the guy, I gently sug- gested he look at somewhere else to locate his colonies. He had many reasons why his bees would fail in his backyard, and had the good sense to realize that, having done some homework in advance.
For starters, he was a Midwest-based EHHNHHSHU VXUURXQGHG E\ ¿HOG FRUQ DQG soybeans. He was not in an area of the country (often more southern locations) where soybeans are known to yield nectar, and the corn posed the potential of expo- sure to insecticides from seed treatments— a serious situation that has not been re- VROYHG7KHXVHRIKHUELFLGHVRQPDQ\¿HOG FURSVKDVUHGXFHGWKHVXPPHUDQGIDOOÀRUD that ordinarily grow as weeds in the corn DQGEHDQ¿HOGV&URSVDUHSODQWHGµHGJHWR edge’ from the edge of one road to the edge of the next, with no unplanted fencerows where a few trees producing nectar and pol- len might grow. It is a pretty desolate place for man and bee.
His home was on the edge of town, which is often a good thing because town JDUGHQV VKUXEV DQG WUHHV DOO LQFUHDVH ÀR- ral diversity, but he had a large golf course literally across the road from his home. There are some unproven concerns about golf courses due to all the chemicals they use and the potential use of growth regula- tors for many insects, especially to control mosquito larvae development. Golfers like to swat at golf balls, not at pesky mosqui-
toes! Bees are attracted to golf courses be- cause there are water hazards that provide a source of water. Of course, the beekeeper should consider offering water in a rock ¿OOHG FKLOGUHQ¶V VZLPPLQJ SRRO EOXH FRO- ored works best) when there are no children around who will be tempted to play in them. Kids and bees don’t always mix either.
Of course, there are other potential rea- sons not to keep bees in an area. There may be someone who will complain—a family member, a neighbor, the prized hunting dog, RUWKHWRZQ]RQLQJRI¿FHUZKRLVIROORZLQJ the letter of the law. Anyone with integrity will avoid potential problems, especially if there is a pretty good chance that the prob- lem will develop into a full-blown issue.
Select a location with diverse forage, minimal presence of pesticides, a fresh wa- ter supply, and no human hazards. If any of these are not possible, put the word out that you are looking for a good location. Perhaps you can rent or barter a location for a gallon or two of honey every year. Then you need to develop a relationship with a trusted landlord. This should be someone who will support you and your beekeeping efforts, and whose employees will do the same. Otherwise avoid the location. It is not always easy.
Few beekeepers have written arrange- ments with their landlords, and perhaps they should, just in case something goes wrong. Having an agreement about calling before spraying, sealing the bees in with irrigation equipment, or letting cattle run free around the colonies are all items the beekeeper must consider before moving into a leased loca- tion. Road or farm path access to the bees is needed 12 months out of the year. You may need to use a snowmobile or snowshoes in the winter, but there is no reason why you should not be able to check your bees during certain times of the year, and many reasons why you should. The location should also not be somewhere that will be subject to vandalism because it is too close or too far from civilization.
If all goes well, remember to thank the landowner with a rent check, cases of honey or whatever will be appropriate for the lo- cation. If the owner does not want honey, donate the honey to a local food kitchen in both of your names.
Chemicals You Add to the Colony
North American beekeepers have a long tradition of adding chemicals to their hives rather than using one of the many non-
Swarms rest as their scout bees search for a new home away from the parent hive (Repasky photo).
American Bee Journal
472
chemical options for pest control. Now there is a strong nutrient and supplement market that is like the similar market for humans, operating and promoting products without any government supervision or guidelines unless a human dies. Dead bees do not count in getting government regula- tion of supplements and nutrients.
I have written about IPM programs in the past, but I want to review some of the basics of the IPM pyramid that show the relation- ships of the components of contemporary pest control. These were Cultural (the base), with Physical-Mechanical second, Bio- logical Control third and Chemical Control fourth. Beekeepers are asked to sample a pest’s level in a hive PRIOR TO chemical treatment.
When we look at these parts of the pyra- mid, we start with Cultural Control in the bee colony. Two of the biggest cultural con- trol methods for mite management include apiary location and genetic stock. Both of
these methods focus on prevention of mite buildup at zero or nearly zero toxicity to the bees. I have considered cultural control of mite pests to be the best and ultimately the only means of controlling tracheal mites, varroa and potential future pests like Tropi-
laelaps clareae and T. koenigerum. The lat-
ter are not yet found in North America, but as natives to Asia, they have spread from their original host, the giant honey bee (Apis
dorsata), to the European honey bee (Apis mellifera). If prior practice is followed,
when Tropilaelaps arrives in the United 6WDWHVWKHUHZLOOEHDUXVKWR¿QGDFKHPL- cal that will control it (some of the varroa controls chemicals are reported to work in that regard).
Apiary location impacts the temperature and ventilation of a hive. With the appear- ance of varroa mites, it was discovered that colonies in full sun generally had a lower varroa mite population growth, apparently because the mites themselves were more
sensitive to very warm temperatures. Today many beekeepers keep their colonies in the full sun, without shade. Where Small Hive Beetles (SHB) are a problem, it has been shown that the beetles also do not reproduce as quickly in hot, dry conditions.
The second slice of the Pyramid of Con- trol is the Physical and Mechanical meth- odology many beekeepers employ. I am not aware of any successful varroa traps, functioning like the many small hive beetle traps that have been shown to be success- ful in reducing beetle numbers by drawing the beetles into them. But the growing use of screened-bottom boards has been useful in all sized beekeeping operations. These screens work in several ways, but the most obvious is the elimination of mites as they fall or are groomed from the worker bees and fall to the bottom of the hive and through the hardware cloth screen. Many beekeepers leave their screened bottom boards open year-around, while others in- sert a tray on the bottom during the fall and leave them there for winter. One useful as- pect of the tray in the screened bottom board is to give the beekeeper the ability to sample mite numbers as well as initiate a low-level control of the mites via repeated powdered sugar treatments.
The third slice of the IPM pyramid is the use of biological control agents to control pests. There we have a long way to go be- fore we have a bio control agent that con- trols varroa mite numbers and does not in- crease the mortality of the bees themselves. As Dr. Dewey Caron states in the revised edition of Honey Bee Biology and Beekeep-
ing, beekeepers lack a Lady Beetle-type
organism for bio control of varroa mites in WKHEHHKLYH$WWHPSWVWR¿QGFRQWURODJHQWV have focused on fungi and other microbes that must kill mites and not negatively im- pact bees.
The fourth slice is for Chemical con-
trol of mites. We will divide these into two
groups: the miticides and a general group of lower-risk materials that includes the es- sential oils, powdered sugar, repellants and desiccants. Here there is a trade off between prevention and various levels of toxicity. The miticides are often considered the most toxic, but this does not necessarily follow true with all chemicals. Theoretically, there could be a chemical miticide that controls only varroa mites, but does not have a nega- tive impact on the bees or leave residues in- side the hive, the honey, beeswax or propo- lis. Unfortunately, that miticide has not been found.
Resistance develops against many chem- icals when the mites are subjected to the molecules for a long period of treatment. Eventually, the small percentage of mites that are not controlled by the chemical re- produce and grow in numbers, leading to the eventual replacement of susceptible mites with chemically resistant ones. Cer- tain miticides have had high levels of re- sistance develop to them. One solution is to use these chemicals in rotation so that different molecules are used in alternative
^ǁĂƌŵŝŶŐŵĂLJďĞĨƵŶĨŽƌƚŚĞďĞĞŬĞĞƉĞƌ͕ďƵƚŝŶĞĸĐŝĞŶƚĨŽƌƚŚĞƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĂďůĞĂƉŝ- ĂƌLJ͘dŚŝƐƐǁĂƌŵŝŶĂďŝƌĚŚŽƵƐĞŚĂƐŶŽĐŽŵŵĞƌĐŝĂůǀĂůƵĞƚŽƚŚĞďĞĞŬĞĞƉĞƌƵŶ- less removed.
tŚĞŶ ƚŚĞ ƐLJƌƵƉ ŝŶƚĞŶĚĞĚ ĨŽƌ ĐŽůŽŶLJ ďƵŝůĚƵƉ ŝƐ ƐƚŽƌĞĚ ďLJ ƚŚĞ ďĞĞƐ ŝŶ ŚŽŶĞLJ ĐŽŵď͕ƚŚĞƌĞŝƐĂƉŽƚĞŶƟĂůĨŽƌĐŽŶƚĂŵŝŶĂƚĞĚŚŽŶĞLJ͕ĂŬĂĨƵŶŶLJŚŽŶĞLJ͘
WĞŶŶ^ƚĂƚĞ/WDƚƌŝĂŶŐůĞƐƵŐŐĞƐƚƐŵŝŶŝŵĂůĐŚĞŵŝĐĂůƚƌĞĂƚŵĞŶƚŝŶĂďĞĞŬĞĞƉŝŶŐ ŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶƌƵŶǁŝƚŚŝŶƚĞŐƌŝƚLJ͘
Honey found in and around the brood nest may be stored sugar syrup, honey ŽƌĂŵŝdžƚƵƌĞŽĨďŽƚŚ͘&ĞĞĚŝŶŐƌĞĐŽƌĚƐ ŵƵƐƚďĞĐŚĞĐŬĞĚĂŐĂŝŶƐƚŽďƐĞƌǀĂƟŽŶƐ of honey storage.
treatments. As long as the miticides are not closely related chemically, different popula- tions of mites are controlled and die with each treatment, prolonging the use of the chemical in an operation.
Certain miticides have been shown to contaminate combs, pollen, propolis and even honey. This has led to the routine re- placement of comb by many beekeepers. Recent studies have shown that miticides in combination with other agricultural chemicals, like fungicides, increase the risk to colony health through a synergistic reaction, where 1 plus 1 produces a result greater than 2.
Most beekeepers who actually do sample seem to prefer the use of powdered sugar in a shaker jar as a means of sampling mites without killing the bees. Systems
XVLQJ HWKHU ZLQGVKLHOG ÀXLG RU DOFRKRO and other methods kill the bees. The lethal methods are great for collecting a sample of bees—about 1/2 cup or 300 worker bees from brood combs—so that the bees may be further sampled to see how effective the sampling technique really is. But this is a research focus.
For most beekeepers, a sample of 300 bees from the brood nest bees (where the feeding or phoretic mites accumulate when WKH\HPHUJHIURPWKHFHOOV VKDNHQIRU¿YH minutes with a few tablespoons of confec- tionary (powdered) sugar following a stan- dard technique should provide a successful comparison of mite population trends for that one colony, the trend for the entire api- ary or operation, and the response to the mite level following any of a number of management manipulations: Replacing the queen; removing three frames of bees and two frames of brood to make a new nucleus or increase colony; a biological pesticide treatment such as powdered sugar dusting (entire colony); or an essential oil applica- tion (entire colony) or other manipulation.
For any IPM process to work, sampling is essential. The sole use of one component, such as screened bottom boards or resis- WDQWEHHVWRFNPD\SURYLGHEHQH¿WVWRWKH colony and the entire operation, but without data, how do you really know? If you are attempting to keep and manage bee colonies with integrity, it is important that you try to do your best.
Bee-sentials: A Field Guide is Dr. Con-
nor’s introductory book that recom- mends the keeping of more than one hive RIEHHVWKH¿UVW\HDURIEHHNHHSLQJ,WDOVR UHFRPPHQGV WKDW ¿UVW\HDU EHHNHHSHUV set up a nucleus colony to ensure a re- placement queen is ready to take over a failed hive. Check out www.wicwas.com.
Need honey containers?
www.dadant.com 1-888-922-1293