The New York Times has an awesome story about bees in Brooklyn, NY that have been puzzling beekeepers by storing a bright red liquid, which is reported to taste like cough syrup, instead of honey. It turns out that the bees have been foraging at the local maraschino cherry factory, and the nectar they were storing was full of Red Dye #40.
You can read the story here.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
More Results
Will a hive that has a mite count of 70 do better than a hive with only one mite? Will the hive with fewer mites be the only one to survive the winter?
I'll know the answers to these questions next spring.
After turning my hives into gas chambers with formic acid, I did a mite count to determine the current levels of infestation. Droogie 1, always the over-achiever, had one mite on its sticky board after 24 hours. Droogie 2, however, had 70. I think the difference is due to the number of boxes on each hive when I treated them. Droogie 1 only had two medium hive bodies, while Droogie 2 had three medium hive bodies. I think the formic acid may not have been sufficiently concentrated to be effective in Droogie 2 due to the increased volume of the hive.
So I'm encouraged by the numbers in Droogie 1, have learned an important lesson (only treat with two mediums on the hive) and will be able to see how the bees do with the rainy season and cooler temperatures now upon us.
This brings my first amazing season of beekeeping to a close. Wintertime is good for ordering and assembling new beekeeping supplies, and I plan to take advantage of a rainy weekend to make candles with the wax Ellie and I have in our freezer left over from the honey harvest. I'll definitely post some pictures when we've made them.
I'll know the answers to these questions next spring.
After turning my hives into gas chambers with formic acid, I did a mite count to determine the current levels of infestation. Droogie 1, always the over-achiever, had one mite on its sticky board after 24 hours. Droogie 2, however, had 70. I think the difference is due to the number of boxes on each hive when I treated them. Droogie 1 only had two medium hive bodies, while Droogie 2 had three medium hive bodies. I think the formic acid may not have been sufficiently concentrated to be effective in Droogie 2 due to the increased volume of the hive.
So I'm encouraged by the numbers in Droogie 1, have learned an important lesson (only treat with two mediums on the hive) and will be able to see how the bees do with the rainy season and cooler temperatures now upon us.
This brings my first amazing season of beekeeping to a close. Wintertime is good for ordering and assembling new beekeeping supplies, and I plan to take advantage of a rainy weekend to make candles with the wax Ellie and I have in our freezer left over from the honey harvest. I'll definitely post some pictures when we've made them.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
How 'bout them mites?
It's been quite a while since I've posted anything about my bees, but lately I haven't been seeing much of them. That's because I decided to treat them with formic acid for the mite problem and the treatment requires them to be undisturbed for three weeks. I was very fortunate to get some pads for free from a beekeeper who shares the beeyard. He also let me borrow the extra woodenware that is needed to place the pads on top of the hive. Thanks!
So they've been treated and I removed the formic acid pads last Friday. I'm going to do a mite count this week to see how it worked. When I visited them today, there was lots of activity at the entrance of each hive, more activity than the neighboring hives, which leads me to believe they are doing well.
So they've been treated and I removed the formic acid pads last Friday. I'm going to do a mite count this week to see how it worked. When I visited them today, there was lots of activity at the entrance of each hive, more activity than the neighboring hives, which leads me to believe they are doing well.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Bee math
I am teaching a general biology course right now, and one of my students asked about why he sees so many dead bees on campus. Is this because of colony collapse disorder (CCD)? Or all the radiation from cell phones or the hospital?
Good question! And I really don't know the answer. I don't think our hives have been suffering from CCD or are dying more than average. Here is what I came up with, making a few assumptions and using a few facts about honey bee biology:
There are about 50 hives tucked into the corner of campus and in the summer each hive probably contains about 50,000 bees.
That is about 2.5 million bees! Since bees are working so hard in the summer, they have an average life-span of only about 6 weeks.
So if 2.5 million bees are dying every six weeks, that means 59,523 die every day, 2,480 die every hour, or a bee flies off to bee heaven once every 1.5 seconds.
I think the most likely explanation for the dead bees he's observed on campus is that there is a larger than average bee population here and thus more dead bees around.
What do you think?
Good question! And I really don't know the answer. I don't think our hives have been suffering from CCD or are dying more than average. Here is what I came up with, making a few assumptions and using a few facts about honey bee biology:
There are about 50 hives tucked into the corner of campus and in the summer each hive probably contains about 50,000 bees.
That is about 2.5 million bees! Since bees are working so hard in the summer, they have an average life-span of only about 6 weeks.
So if 2.5 million bees are dying every six weeks, that means 59,523 die every day, 2,480 die every hour, or a bee flies off to bee heaven once every 1.5 seconds.
I think the most likely explanation for the dead bees he's observed on campus is that there is a larger than average bee population here and thus more dead bees around.
What do you think?
Monday, October 18, 2010
Results
Powdered sugar is great. For donuts. Not so much for bees.
After a month of diligently dusting the bees every 3-4 days, I was finally able to measure the mite loads on Friday.
The results are not good: 100 per day for Droogie 1, 60 per day for Droogie 2. This huge increase in mites from the numbers that I counted in September is despite having fewer bees in each hive.
Here is a close-up picture of the sticky board that I put under the hive to do the mite count. I've put an arrow by several of the mites; many more are not marked.
This makes me sad. I haven't decided if I'll treat the bees or not- there is a small chance that they will survive the winter if I do nothing. But I'll probably order some formic acid pads and see if I can save them.
After a month of diligently dusting the bees every 3-4 days, I was finally able to measure the mite loads on Friday.
The results are not good: 100 per day for Droogie 1, 60 per day for Droogie 2. This huge increase in mites from the numbers that I counted in September is despite having fewer bees in each hive.
Here is a close-up picture of the sticky board that I put under the hive to do the mite count. I've put an arrow by several of the mites; many more are not marked.
This makes me sad. I haven't decided if I'll treat the bees or not- there is a small chance that they will survive the winter if I do nothing. But I'll probably order some formic acid pads and see if I can save them.
Friday, October 1, 2010
French bees
This is a great photo of the beehives in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris sent to me by a colleague. Apparently, the beehives have been at this site since 1856.
I wonder if French bees get more holiday than their American counterparts. Do they go on strike? Does the honey taste better because it is French?
They certainly have better hive covers.
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