Uh Oh...

While preparing to do my winter oxalic acid treatment, I found these dead bees clogging up the bottom of a hive. So I removed the mouse guard and scraped them onto the ground in order to clear the entrance and clean the bottom board. Since the weather was fairly warm, I opened the hive and checked for signs of life with a flashlight. Sure enough, there's still a cluster of bees in the brood chamber. I'm not gonna lie...I'm worried about whether the hive will live until spring. I'm hopeful these were just summer bees that made it into early winter, and that the remaining cluster is still big enough to withstand the next 3 months of cold. I'm bolstered by the fact that I've seen this before, with seemingly large losses of individual honey bees mid-winter; in each case the colony has survived. So I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic until they give me another reason to worry.

Another quick note regarding oxalic acid vaporization. If you use OAV to treat varroa mites, now's a good time to do your winter treatment. In the next couple weeks, as the days in the northern hemisphere start getting longer, our queens will instinctively get broody. Believe it or not, this celestial shift can mean there will be brood in your hives in January--even in cold climates. So it's about your last chance to treat a completely broodless hive, which is the best time to use OAV since none of the mites are hidden in capped cells.

A Rafter of Turkeys

I don't get around to downloading pictures from my game camera very often, but I did it today. Among other interesting photos was this shot of a group of turkeys walking through my bee yard. As I began to type this, I initially wrote a "flock of turkeys." But a little fact-checking revealed a group of turkeys is referred to as a "rafter." I guess it makes sense because when you look up the word "raft" in the dictionary, one of the definitions is a "large amount of something." So I learned a new thing today. And there's a good chance I'll forget it tomorrow.

Cold Fondant

My bees have eaten through most of their fondant, so it was time to make some more yesterday. For the first time, I tried making "cold fondant." Anyone who's made large batches of fondant knows it's a house fire waiting to happen, carefully trying to keep the flammable concoction from overflowing until it hits 240°. It also requires whisking vats of 200° syrup, which makes everything within a few feet a sticky mess. So I tried something new and made it without heat as follows:

For each hive, thoroughly mix 4 lbs of sugar and 1 cup of water. Spread the mixture on wax paper or (for small batches) in a baking sheet. Let it sit for a day to dry out, flipping it with a spatula once to let the bottom dry too.

Viola, you've got "cold fondant." I guess it's not really fondant since it wasn't cooked, but that's what I'm calling it. The finished product is nearly indistinguishable, and I doubt the bees will notice either.

Bee Paralysis Virus and What I'm Doing About It

Whenever someone starts talking about having discolored or black bees, I immediately suspect bee paralysis virus (BPV). There are several flavors of BPV, but the ones you hear thrown around the most here in the US are the acute (ABPV) and chronic (CBPV) types. There's also some disagreement about whether varroa mites are to blame for the spread of these viruses, but from what I can tell the science is pretty firm that at least ABPV is transmitted by mites.

Personally, I've had a couple run-ins with BPV, presumably the acute kind. It showed itself in my hives by causing a small percentage of my bees to become blackened (almost charred looking). They had a greasy, oily appearance and some trembled as though they were having seizures. The other bees appeared to be isolating them on top of the upper-most frames, but it's possible they were isolating themselves. The first couple times I saw this I thought I'd accidentally burned the bees with my smoker. But it didn't take too long to rule that out and look for answers elsewhere.

Symptoms of BPV have been most visible when the varroa mite levels have gotten out of control. That being said, I have one hive that is showing symptoms of BPV this year, even though its mites are well under control. This hive has gone queenless, and I’ve made the decision that I won’t try to save it as we head into the winter. I will continue to manage it for pests, because I don’t want to cause unnecessarily suffering (or mite bombs in my bee yard). It’s a strong hive right now, but I’ll let it dwindle in numbers rather than trying to raise a new queen or combining it with another colony—they should die this coming winter, eliminating the possibility of robbing and, therefore, spreading the BPV, because I’ll be able to clean out the hive before the bees are flying in large numbers. I’ve never lost a colony to bee paralysis virus, but that will sadly change soon.

Bees in a Construction Zone

It's been hectic on our little farm. We're in the process of building a small log cabin that will eventually be our new home. With a few exceptions, it's been cool enough that the bees haven't bothered the carpenters, and I've made sure the bees haven't been bothered in return. This picture shows some of our hives through the notch in a log wall. In the last few weeks, I've also been clearing another area of brush and sticker bushes. Some of this area, as I showed in my last post, is dedicated to a small orchard. Another section is destined to be a bee yard. I've just got to find time to build some hive stands.