Posts tagged ‘Bees’
Chalkbrood
We did (bee) hive inspections over the weekend and found weird stuff on the bottom boards of each of our hives. The (very) strange material didn’t look quite like either mouse or bird droppings – we were perplexed. We had put newspaper around the bottom of each of the hives to help with winter insulation – we thought, perhaps, the bees had chewed some of this up, processed it a bit, and then deposited it.
We consulted one of the local bee gurus who diagnosed the material as evidence of Chalkbrood, which results from infection by the fungus Ascosphaera apis. What you see in the photo are the mummified bodies of bee larvae that became infected and then consumed (in part) by the fungus – these were then cast off as a result of hygienic behavior by the hive.
Apparently, fungal infestation of this sort may occur as a response to stress, and I think I might have been the culprit! As I indicated earlier, we plugged air spaces at the bottom of each of our hives with newspaper. I think I might have removed this extra insulation a bit early. We hadn’t noticed anything amiss with the hives over winter. It wasn’t until several weeks ago that I began to notice what I thought were perhaps mouse droppings in front of each hive. Anyway, I think I may have cold-stressed the hives when I removed the insulation. Under these conditions the larvae would have become susceptible to infestation by the fungus. Some have indicated that Chalkbrood may occur when hive ventilation is inadequate.
In any event, all of last week’s hive inspections were otherwise fine – the queens were producing brood (larvae) and good stores of honey were already accumulating in several supers. We’re going to assume that this episode of Chalkbrood has been self-limiting and is now over. Let’s hope.
More than just a pretty flower
We have been watching the Crocuses open, ever so slowly, over the last week or so. We have also been watching the bees take their first hesitant forays into the woods, meadows, and surround gardens. Today was the first glorious day that both activities became (quite literally) coincident. The gallery below includes photos of this most welcome of co-occurances. Clicking any of the images will take you to a carousel view; you may move forward and back on your own. ESC will bring you back to this post.
To (feed) bees, or not to (feed) bees
We mentioned in our Daily Journal the other day that we have been listening to the bee hives several times a week for some time. None of our bees overwintered last year and we have been anxious about the new colonies we established last spring. Bee hives overwinter with honey resources they are able to produce, accumulate, and store during the late summer and fall. Once they hold up come winter they are on their own until nectar flows begin in spring. People that tend bees are of diverse opinion when it comes to feeding their charges. Some supplement as the season descents into winter, some feed throughout the coldest winter months, many provide supplemental feed in early spring, and some do nothing at all. We’ve been discussing whether it is too early to begin providing supplementary feed as the hives become more active with the increasing number of warm days. We made some sugar syrup a week ago and the weather then turned colder. It was warm over the recent weekend so we put the syrup out and a few individuals found it. It has turned colder once more so I think we’ll hold off on supplementation until the warmer days become a bit more predictable. As of this past weekend I can report that all the hives were buzzing with activity.
After talking with some very experienced people and looking closely at the hives that we lost last year we concluded that our bees had fallen prey to infestation by the Varroa mite. Varroa is thought to be a contributing factor to CCD or colony collapse disorder. In any event, once that determination had been made we were up against a very difficult management decision. Without years of selective breeding for mite resistance and for hygienic behavior our only option was to treat with chemical miticide. After much research we decided to go with a 25% thymol paste. Thymol is a natural product extracted from common thyme as well as from a number of other plants; it is a rapidly degrading pesticide and has no withdrawal period for honey. Fall treatment of the hives consisted of two 10-day applications and, as far as we could determine, there were no ill effects on the bees.
World and U.S. honey markets have experienced recent, and significant, upheaval. A federal grand jury in Detroit returned a 19-count indictment against a honey processing firm, charging that it blended corn syrup with honey and sold the mixture as USDA Grade A, pure, product. Moreover honey imports from China to the U.K. were pulled from store shelves when samples tested positive for both streptomycin and chloramphenicol.
Raising bees may have its ups and downs, but we are glad to know where our honey comes from.
