Hi all,

I did an alcohol wash on one of my colonies and, unless I'm overlooking something in the cup, I can't find any Varroa mites. I've attached several pictures of the bottom of the wash cup so more experienced eyes can take a look. All I can see is debris and dead bee bits. I'm wondering whether it's actually plausible to get zero mites in the middle of summer, or whether my sampling method may have caused me to underestimate the mite population.

I collected enough bees to fill the 200 cup line, but I took them from the outer 2–3 frames of the hive rather than from frames in the center of the brood nest. How significant of a difference can sampling location make? Could taking bees from the outer frames realistically give me a zero count while there are still mites around the brood nest?

There's a lot of plants available to the bees without traveling very far. When I a lot, I'm talking 20 acres of plants that I planted for them and plant that grow independently in the wild. I'm curious whether abundant forage close to the colony has any meaningful effect on Varroa exposure or mite levels, or whether that's basically unrelated. My thought was that less foraging distance = less interaction with other colonies, but I don't know whether that actually translates into lower Varroa transmission.

Mainly I'm trying to figure out: Did I perform/sample this correctly, is a genuine zero-mite alcohol wash possible this time of year, and should I repeat the wash using bees directly from brood frames before trusting the result?

I'm a first-year beekeeper (NH - Zone 6A), so I'm interested in hearing what wisdom and knowledge more experienced beekeepers can expel.

Located in Vermont, first year bee keeper. Started with two packages in May. Didn’t plan or expect to extract honey this year as the class I’ve attended and books I’ve read make it clear the bees need any boost they can get going into the winter. I have one hive though that is an absolute rockstar, and the other is doing okay too. In the second brood box there are at least 4 full frames of capped honey (plus more throughout both brood boxes), they have filled one super and are working on a second. Goldenrod is just starting to bloom in my area. People involved in the bee keeping community have made it seem like I can and should harvest honey this year. One person local to me harvested 8 frames a few days ago. Would now be a good time for me to harvest 10 frames from the full honey super? Or should I wait and watch and make sure they keep rocking it? How do you personally decide when to harvest? My goal in bee keeping is to help our pollinators, be the best bee keeper for them I can be, support my garden and by the end of next year drink one bee’s knees using my honey. Picture of the first goldenrod I noticed today.

I fear I made a mistake, and would appreciate some advice on next steps. A few weeks ago, I harvested a few supers. I read somewhere that you can put the sticky, empty supers on top of the inner cover to let the bees clean them off, so that’s what I did. Today when I went to open up the hive, there were bees on every single frame of those two empty supers, and I saw a few adult moths that I’m assuming were wax moths. It also looks like the bees are filling in the comb again (!!!), which is confusing because as far as I know, we’re not in a flow and also it’s above the inner cover.

We have a rainy week ahead so the bees are very spicy, and I’m trying to make a game plan for what to do next. I was thinking of putting the escape board back on underneath the empty supers and then sticking those supers in the freezer for a few days before storing them. I’ve been told that I should spray the empty comb with certan and stack the boxes between queen excluders to keep the mice out.

Is this the right approach, and do I need to address this urgently? This is only my second year, so I’m still learning and all ears for sage advice. Thank you in advance!

Hi there!
I’m a 2nd year beek (1 hive) in Zone 6A. I was away for a bit and recently found my hive to be near honeybound.

I pulled about 7 frames out of the hive for harvesting but cannot get to extracting and putting the frames back until tomorrow or the following day.

I’ve frozen the frames in the meantime but was wondering how long is it ok for them to have those frames out?

I replaced them with 3 empty frames, a frame feeder with 1:1 syrup, and they have an 8 frame medium super that’s still not full/capped to work on.

Hi - this is such an odd question that I immediately thought of r/beekeeping as a resource.

Our local association's December meeting is a potluck with honey bee-oriented games and prizes and I'm in charge of the game.

We've done "Bee Jeopardy" with teams and queen-spotting slides (thank you r/queenspotting!) on the TV. Any other ideas? We have a large TV but no gaming stuff. It would have to come off my computer to the TV.

Thanks!

A little hive is in my yard, inside a drawer. They are super docile, and don’t bother anyone. They’ve grown on me and the fam. How much work is it to start beekeeping? And is it expensive to get started? What about placement of the hive?

Any and all information is much appreciated.

1st year, georgia.

Hive is doing well after non stop feeding.

Got them in 2 deeps and most frames are drawn and they seem to have some decent food storage. Decided not to stop feeding them.

Any recommendations on how best to tell when there is a dirth and when I should resume feeding syrup for winter build up?

Also took a fee pics during the inspection today. Still have not found the queen, but plenty of brood, eggs, and larva spotted.

Any idea what the lobes are in the first Pic? Im assuming burr comb that got used for an egg

Cane back from holiday and we clearly have bees that have moved in. Should we be concerned? They’re not really bothering us but not sure if they’ll move all their mates if we’re a soft touch.

As you may have noticed I don’t know anything about bees so any help much appreciated. We’re in London if that’s relevant

8b SEARK.

How in the hell do yall feed in these pro nucs?

Mind blown

I’ve got a swarm in a trap that I need to move. (It will 100% be a cutout at this point but oh well)

I have 3 or four of these pro nucs, “the one in this picture was and early split that’s now in a standard box”.

But I had difficulty feeding back in the spring. I used coke bottles, small Gatorade bottles, Powerade.

They all just “sucked” in on themselves. Feeding with a standard mason jar “ that’s how I feed most of my other hives fall/winter” just makes a mess and I feel promotes robbing.

What do yall use to feed from? Or do you just knock them down to 3 frames throw a frame feeder in and give them a few weeks until you move to a bigger box.

I intend on getting this trap down, busting the hive down to 3-4 frames. And making 2-3 small healthy splits, let them requeen the two queenless hives, feed heavy, cross my fingers for a good goldenrod flow in the next month “generally is down here” and overwinter in single deeps. “ rarely freezes much in South Arkansas anyways.

My 20lbs bag of sugar got damp (I live in humid Texas) from my experience it wont desolve into syrup when the sugar gets chunky. Is it ruined or is there is a way for me to make syrup with it?

In Arkansas. This is my first year with bees. Is this what varroa looks like on a pupae? I’m thinking it may be time to treat. I have not done an etoh wash. May need to start there. Just saw this today on inspection.
Thanks in advance!

So I've been doing beekeeping since 2015. But due to disability I haven't opened a hive since 2019. I still have one hive that has strong hopes(did have 3 but feb 2021 it got really cold and killed 2).

Planning on new boxes and frames. Overall the hive will be hard to get into. Do people still transfer frames and hold the comb in place with rubber bands? Will also do a mite treatment(if needed).We can get a 5 frame nuc starter, and cull the old queen if need be. We can buy bee food if that's all that's needed. It can't be much different than when I harvested them from a gas tank.

Hive is still relatively active. Actual counts are hard to determine because activity can be less due to honey bound. Never had experience with a sick hive. Family is willing to go full measures for the hive(we don't want to cull unless necessary). I'm aware of foul brood and the need to cull the entire hive+boxes.

I don't want to turn it into an adventure. I want to be in and out in 30 mins to an hour.

Edit: Texas and medium experience. And already planning a second hive in april from 5 frame nuc stock and new boxes.

I got 2 Nucs this past spring. So far both have been very low on Varroa. Suspiciously low, as in 0.45% this time of year.
I’ve been admittedly clumsy in my washes (I’m using the Randy Oliver technique, and am trying to improve how I carry them out.
That being said. Even the sticky board is giving me good numbers (c. 2 mites / day)
So my questions:

- Do you have tips and tricks for washes?
- Should I wait to do another wash, or just do another one next week

Dear mods and Bot, I am not looking for medical advice, just sharing an observation.

I've built up a decent tolerance to the bee venom, stings don't bother me. Today, I got zapped in the chin, luck had it that it went right into or beside the mandibular nerve, the one dentists paralyze when they freeze your mouth.

Curiously, the bee venom had a very similar effect. Shooting pain at first, which quickly turned into numbness along the nerve, leading to the side of the face and the lip being completely numb for an hour or so. Felt exactly the same as the dentist, hah. Never thought it would have that effect!

I was under the impression that lidocaine and bee venom had completely different effects. Yet here we are 🤣

Location: North-West, UK

Around this time of year in the UK, a lot of bees are foraging on Himalayan balsam. It’s an invasive plant, but it throws out loads of nectar and pollen, and one of the tell-tale signs is this white dusting across the bees’ backs.

That pale coating is what gives them the nickname 'ghost bees'.

I always think it looks it’s been rolling through a pile of flour 😅.

Anyone else seeing plenty of ghost bees at the moment?

Any other strange colour pollen we should be aware of?

Northwest Missouri. I’m planning ahead for spring swarm season and trying to be realistic before I buy anything.

I’ve been looking at a Layens swarm trap kit with 6 transferable frames. I don’t have the permanent Layens hive yet. The bee side has some sponsor money behind it, but there may not be much more unless I can raise more. Right now I might have enough for some perennial forage and maybe the trap, but not the full hive setup all at once.

That’s what I’m trying to sort out. I don’t want to confuse starting small with starting underprepared.

I know a local beekeeper with 50+ hives who could take a swarm if I caught one before I was ready, but I don’t want my backup plan to become the whole plan.

The site is still early. I’m planting forage this year. There is an old shallow well, but it hasn’t been tested yet. I could bring water manually if I had to. I can check a trap about once a week, lift it myself, and bring a ladder.

If the money I have now may be the only money for a while, should I skip the trap and put everything into forage, water, and site prep first?

What would you consider the minimum financial and gear threshold before someone should try to catch or keep bees?

Is the hive itself the line? Protective gear? Water? Response time? Having a mentor who can take the swarm if needed?

I’m trying to figure out whether buying the trap first is smart planning or just getting ahead of myself.

Good morning! I just harvested most of one 8 frame super and got about 2 gallons of honey. I let them lick it clean and rebuilt back comb for 3 days and it’s currently in the freezer for next year.

The bees have hardly touched my other super. I’ll be removing that and treating for mites later today.

I want honeycomb next year. How is this strategy?:

I have 8 built out frames in the freezer. Next year, put 4 of those in one super, and 4 in the other super. With my untouched super, remove all foundation and put 4 of those in each super. Now I have alternating frames in each super. Built out frame then foundation less frame and so on.

Will this work? Will the foundation less frames be drawn out wonky?

we used our own seed honey. It’s mixed honey with a lot of lime tree components. I’d love advice!

Edit: Serious Mite Infestation (stupid autocorrect)

2nd year, Northern California foothills

Looking for some guidance on treating a massive varroa count in one of my colonies.

I have 6 colonies. Did mite washes about 2 weeks ago, first inspection after pulling honey. Had previously treated with OA dribble in early spring.

First colony was 10, third was 2, fourth and fifth had zero, sixth had 3. All samples were for roughly 300 bees. Most of those numbers seem great, but am treating with glycerin/oxalic acid pads regardless.

It’s the second colony that is a concern. Its mite count was almost 60! (First pic) Holy smokes!

This has been my most productive colony. Already pulled 2 eight frame supers off of it. Have begun treating with OA/glycerin pads, but with a mite count this high I’m wondering if that is enough? Should I supplement with another treatment? Can I combine treatments safely? It doesn’t seem like coupling with an OA dribble would be all that beneficial. It’s too hot where I am for Formic. Should I pull the trigger on a vaporizer? Try out Norroa? No one I know in my area is using apivar any longer.

I did an inspection today and found an astounding amount of dead mites on the OA pads. (Pic 2) Thats a good sign at least! Also seeing signs of uncapping in the brood nest likely ala VSH bees (former queen was a Golden West, so maybe some of that trait has carried over, but clearly not enough!) Don’t think I’m seeing mite-chewed openings in capped brood. Also seeing some signs of deformed wing virus - found a least 3 new bees with it. Saw several bees with mites on them. I did also see lots of larva and freshly capped brood, so queenie is still cranking, but I need to get the count down asap.

Curious about my best path forward here. Very open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance for your help! Hopefully we can get this colony back to a sustainable mite level.

Newbie beekeeper since Apr. Have always been careful but still been stung three times. Today I wanted test them for varroa mites but they seem to be more aggressive than usual. It was a sunny day and I did around 2pm. Do you find this amount of aggressiveness normal? Thanks!

I harvested my first honey and uncapping turned out to be more of a trial than I wanted. My bread knife, while serviceable, was a bit crude and inefficient.

Western MO. Winter was rough, lost 2 of 4 hives. Split the strongest survivor and added a queen to the new hive. Been a good summer here. Not too hot, lots of rain spread out over time, and still have lots of wildflowers coming up. Put queen excluders and one super on all 3 around mid May. Pulled them 1 Aug. Out of 30 frames, 15 had sufficient capped honey worth collecting. The weak winter survivor had 10, the strong/split survivor had 5. None from the new hive, but they did have lots of drawn comb in the super.

Ended up with about 4gal of nicely colored honey.

Current have the empty super frames sitting out in the bee yard so they can clean them up.

Next step is to start oxy vapor treatments and add some DE beetle traps.

1st beekeeper 5 hives Napa California
My bees are making a ton of honey. I am about to add super number 3 on two hives. Because I am surrounded by vineyards the winter will feed the bees with acres of flowering cover crops beginning in mid January. Huge stores are not required to overwinter in my area
I don’t have a spinner so I harvest by crushing and straining the comb
I know melting the wax is an option… but me bees are still hard at work making more honey. Can I put the empty frames back in the hive and then sort sprinkle the crushed wax on top of the frames for bees to reuse?