Category Archives: Q & A

“…mite control has no effect on survival!”

I’ve tried several different methods of mite control, feeding etc. and it has no effect on survival!

RESPONSE: Mites are a really tough pest to control.  You should be monitoring and use more than one control option. We have to mix up our options. Sorry you have not found the formula of what works best for you yet. Check out the Tools for Varroa Control on the Honey Bee Health Coalition websitewww.honeybeehealthcoaltion.org/varroa

“honey left for the bees to overwinter on”

I think another question you might put on is asking how much honey the beekeeper left for the bees to overwinter on.

RESPONSE: I do not believe most beekeepers KNOW how much honey they are leaving on their colonies. Only a few beekeepers weigh hives – most estimate the amount (from hive hefting – and I have used hive hefting as a field day activity and you would not believe how much variation occurs in the answers (like guessing how many candies are in a jar). And if we wanted to add it to our survey what date would be appropriate for this determination? I appreciate the suggestion but I do not believe we would get meaningful responses that would then help us understand overwintering losses.

?? “mite bomb” ??

I treated only 1 hive with oxalic acid. They absconded 2 weeks later. The others had very high mite levels and lots of DWV. 2 queens from — heading splits died with their colonies during cold snap in Dec. with lots of food on the next bar (both TBH). Langstroth hive from a nuc from —– died between Jan and Feb. The only hive that survived well was headed by a swarm queen from another beekeeper. The other surviving hive is alive but puny.

RESPONSE: I am unsure that the Oxalic acid or the high mite numbers caused the bees to abscond in your hive. Oxalic acid ONLY kills mites on the adult bee bodies – if there was a lot of brood when you used the oxalic, all those mites would have survived since it does not penetrate cell cappings. Splits (see report from last year) have heavy losses – depends on the time of year the splits were taken and what was done to try to get them up to speed to survive winter.  It is a good idea to try different stocks. You may have had a colony that was a “mite bomb,” a colony with lots of mites and they spread to your other colonies and thus you did not have good survival, despite the different stocks.   I hope you small survivor colony is progressing well.

“The survey asks questions that make it look as though I lost colonies when in fact I combined colonies”

My single biggest success factor in winter survival was insulating my outer covers with 3/4 inch rigid insulation. Went from 3/1 survival rate to 5/5 using this method. The survey asks questions that make it look as though I lost colonies when in fact I combined colonies, and rescued gas tank colonies over winter. Additionally, I had a queen fail after repeated splits/swarms. I had laying workers in a hive that I was able to make queen right by introducing a collected swarm. Although it was my hives that were swarming. More aggressive swarm management and less feeding in preparation for nectar flow are my plans to fix it this year.

RESPONSE: I am concerned that our survey overestimates losses (as you suggest). I want it to be a fair representation of what is going on.  It is normal beekeeping management to unite and consolidate. I appreciate your comment – we will need to see what we can do so such management does not mean they are losses and losses become exaggerated. In most instances beekeepers are combining before Oct (our fall point) and not doing such management between Oct and April so we I ask how many colonies did you have in the fall and how many in the spring the combining, consolidating is not a factor. It is not immediately evident to all beekeepers that their management of feeding MAY lead to more serious problems with swarming – and certainly more aggressive swarm control can help reduce (but not eliminate entirely) the swarming incidence. It is a worthwhile goal for the next season – good luck with it.

Ending comment section purposes & beekeeping education

The survey doesn’t give an option for “I would like to…” in the question about what things have helped us. As it’s only April and we’re just starting beekeeping this year, we’re still trying to find beekeeping mentors, classes that actually fit our schedules, and other local resources, so would love to be able to indicate interest in those things 😉

RESPONSE: The last open section is exactly for your adding something like “I would like to….” Please consider adding that information. Most short courses/classes on bees are in Feb and March – there will be very few for rest of the year….and those that will be offered are often for more advance beekeepers (such as courses on queen rearing, our Journey courses in the OR Master Beekeeper program). Courses are offered early in the year so beekeepers can start this year. What is still available however are the monthly meetings of the bee associations. Many have an open Q&A session so you can ask an expert – some have a meeting before the meeting to get questions answered. Check out the OR State beekeepers site orsba.org for the nearest local group to where you live.

“Russians is the way to go”

All natural top bar hive with Russians is the way to go. A thriving overwintered hive for this beginner.

RESPONSE: Glad you like them. THEY are HOWEVER NOT the best hive for everyone, nor are Russian bees the best honey bee for most beekeepers in the US

Hands off

I pretty much leave my top bar hive alone and they are doing beautifully!

RESPONSE: Top bar hives are not meant to be manipulated – they quickly become a cross comb hive and very difficult to remove frames to look at them. Our PNW honey bee loss survey loss respondents reported twice as heavy losses last year in our survey – so they don’t all do ‘beautifully’ – but good to hear yours are doing well.

“how we obtained bees”

Question relating to how we obtained bees did not provide an option for buying a hive from another bee keeper (it wasn’t a package or a Nuc). Thank you for your interest in bee keeping.

RESPONSE Question 4 has several options for your response – including the last line other – you could have entered your data on that line.

Confusing sanitation question

I don’t understand the sanitation question (maybe the 3rd or 4th)

RESPONSE: thank you for your comment. Apiary site selection means we can reduce drifting and help our bees stay in their proper hives by how we site our hives in the apiary. I am working on further explanation to help better explain – I think we do too little on basic sanitation with our bees and that makes mites stronger and more of an issue in our high colony losses.

Screened bottom boards

I do use screened bottom boards but for the screen portion and always the bottom in place. The question Sec. 6b “Do you use screened bottom boards assumes that the screens are open some or all year” my response does not fit the options.

RESPONSE: So if unsure how to respond leave the question blank and put a comment like this under the comments. It sounds like the responses are YES use screen bottom boards but No do not leave them open.