One time checklist :

1. Liquid food should be off/out of the hive. If a hive is underweight - use sugar or fondant bricks / AP23 patties.

2. Provide a windbreak for hives that are at risk for high winds.

3. Remove robbing screens - at this point in the year robbing is minimal and they interfere with removal of dead...

Jenna, a Daisy in one of our local Girl Scout troops, has been using our Resources page to work toward her Flower Garden Badge as part of the Life Skills Journey for her troop.  She's found our linked resources to be beneficial and has recommended this additional link as a good resource to understand our global relationship with bees.  Thank you, Jenna!

Why Bees and Pollination Are So Important

At our online meeting in April, we discussed pros and cons of various Spring build up and swarm management techniques to keep our hives productive and healthy....and to KEEP our hives!  

One technique discussed was the "Rose Hive" technique.  While the slide show presented at this meeting is no longer available online, there are several good Youtube videos that explain the Rosehive technique.  Several club members have used Rosehive brood space techniques with positive results in preventing Spring swarms.   For convenience, Youtube links to Tim Rowe's "Rose Hive" instructional videos follow:

How to Use the Rose Hive Method - Part 1

Tallest and Strongest Beehives in the World - Using Rose Hive Method - Part 2

How to Make Lots of Bees - Using Rose Hive Method - Part 3 

If you are troubled by wax moths, these tips and resources could help you keep these "pests" out of your hives:

Wax Moth - The Outyard                XenTari Brochure

Following are some useful resources and guides to help with your native landscape planning:

Plant Nova Natives                                  Gardening for Honeybees

Gardening for Bees                                  Native Plants 

At our July 12th (rescheduled) meeting, Nate Muller presented a step-by-step instruction in queen rearing.  We've all been there - either a sudden need to requeen or a driving need to expand our apiaries.  Learning to develop and maintain an inventory of new queens is an important skill we should all learn.  We can't post Nate's presentation (yet!), but here is a link that will walk you through the same process he uses.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWsWUSCFIxY&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR26owZck1GO1kvws8jEciwxI5kMOGEFi4thJGPPYjS-RAnc2mGqJk0ejQE

There are also reference books in our club library (check out the "inventory" located left panel of our "Resources" page.  Nate highly recommends the book that accompanies Martha Spivak's queen rearing short course (Successful Queen Rearing: Short Course (Revised 2006 Edition), By Marla Spivak and Gary Reuter).  

Our February speaker was Parks Talley, a 7-year beekeeper who lives in a city environment and has a lot to share about swarming.  He provided practical insights into "Managing a Hive the Warm Way" and how to use a Snelgrove Board.  He brought equipment to demonstrate this technique.  For those who missed this discussion, we provide links to an explanatory video and a printable step-by-step guide to using Snelgrove Board to manage swarms while preserving colony strength for honey production.

The Honey Bee Health Coalition published its 7th edition of the HBHC Tools for Varroa Management guide in June 2018.  This guide is a comprehensive look at varroa mites and hive management tools to combat this destructive agent.  What is particularly excellent about this guide is that it provides seasonal advice on mite control methods and a separate data sheet with timing, method, and efffectiveness of treatment tools comprising Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques at the beekeeper's disposal.

HBHC Tools for Varroa Management

This is a general guide to the process for managing a new nuc in a beekeeper's first year in the mid atlantic region. 

The dates and operations are estimations. Weather, types of bees, local forage, disease, and many other factors can change these dates, but the general process of feeding, inspecting, and preparing for winter will remain the same.

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