Posts Tagged ‘Bees’

Honey bees have been in Europe and Asia for hundreds of thousands of years. Honey has been found in the tombs of ancient Egyptian Pharos. Men harvesting honey have been found painted on the walls of caves by prehistoric man.

Honey is being rediscovered as a natural source of energy that also offers a unique combination of nutritional benefits. It is an instant energy-building food containing all the essential minerals necessary for life, all of the B complex group, amino acids, enzymes, and other vital factors. Honey is also virtually free of bacteria and rarely spoils. It is best kept at room temperature.

Honey is a natural sweetener and can be used in many recipes as a replacement for sugar. It is one of the easiest foods to digest. Honey also contains hormones, and anti microbial and antibacterial factors. It has been used to combat depression, fatigue, insomnia, nervous disorders, urine retention, cramps, headaches, and high blood pressure. Honey also has been known to beautify and soothe the skin. It is said that honey can clear many skin disorders. Honey has a laxative, sedative, antitoxic, and antiseptic effect. It can also act as an anti-irritant, making it suitable for sensitive skin and baby care products. Honey could soon be marketed as a way to combat the effects of ageing.  Honey has been used for centuries to treat coughing and other effects of infections in the upper respiratory system and is known to combat bacteria as well as having a soothing effect.

Honey bees are the only insects that make food for us. Honey is a sweet, thick sugary solution made by bees. Bees make honey from the nectar of flowers. They will travel as far as 40,000 miles and can visit over 2 million flowers to produce one pound of honey. Honey bees are responsible for about 80% of all fruit, vegetable and seed crops in the United States. Honey comes in all types of colors and flavors from nearly colorless to dark brown and its flavor varies from delectably mild to distinctively bold, depending on where the honey bees buzzed. Pollen analysis is a valuable tool for honey identification, however it should be pointed out that this is always used in conjunction with other information before a final determination is made.

Varietal honeys like wild crafted raspberry honey, wild crafted blackberry honey, orange blossom honey, California chestnut honey, wild crafted star thistle honey, not to mention the occasional rare variety like meadow foam honey are some of the fine honeys. Comb honey is the most natural honey of all. Honey vary’s in color and flavor, because there are so many different kinds of nectar-producing flowers.  Varietal honey is rarely 100% of any one type of flower nectar but a blend from bee yards with a predominance of one type of flower forage.  Honey is a reflection of the place from which it is harvested, even more so than wine.  Honey is produced in every state, but depending on the floral source location, certain types of honey are produced only in a few regions.  Honey is also produced in most countries of the world. Honey is unlike any other ingredient in nature. It is a safe and wholesome food for children and adults alike.

Commercially produced honey is filtered and pasteurized (sometimes even diluted with syrup), so the amount of bee pollen in it is probably low, hence the belief that allergy cases related to the consumption of honey are rare.  Various ingredients of honey have helped it to become not only a sweet liquid but also a natural product with high nutritional and medicinal value.

The substance, which is secreted by the honeybees to construct their honeycombs, is nothing but the natural wax. The Beeswax is generally produced by the by the young worker bees. The worker bee has eight wax mirror producing glands in the body. The newly produced wax scales are colorless and glass clear.

The worker bees masticate the wax making it opaque. The new honeycomb has wax, which is nearly white but gradually turns into yellow or brown due to the addition of propolis and pollen oils. But the wax in the brood comb (a place in the hive where the queen bee lay its eggs) is darker as the impurities get easily collected in the brood comb.

The wax, which is to be used, is to be heated first in the water and is ready for use either to make candles or as a lubrication for drawers and windows. It gives wonderful results when used as wood polish. The uses of bee wax varied and very effective and are being used since ages. Now many synthetic waxes have come up but the process of making candle was initiated with the help of the honey wax and is still used. The candles made of beeswax differ from those of paraffin. The flame of the beeswax candle is warmer and more yellow than that of paraffin. The color of the flame depends on the season the wax was harvested.

The Eastern orthodox churches prefer Beeswax candle the most for they burn very cleanly, with very little smoke and with little or no drippings. The beeswax candle (Easter candle) forms the integral part of prayer in the liturgy of Roman Catholic Churches. This is not all; beeswax is also used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. It is used as polishing material like the shoe-polish. It is very commonly used during the assembly of pool tables where it is used to fill in the screws and the seams between the slates.

The people, who make accordions, make use of beeswax as an adhesive. It is blended with pine rosin, to attach reed plates to the structure inside an accordion. It also worked as one of the ingredients in deadlock wax and moustache wax to manufacture cylinders used by the earliest phonographs. Beeswax when used as food additives is known as E901 (glazing agent). It is used as a coating for cheese. Some have replaced it with plastic but some still use beeswax to avoid any unpleasant flavors due to plastic. The coating of beeswax protects the food when it ages.

Now a days Beeswax is commercially used for skin care products, soap, the coatings of sweets and pills, batik art, furniture polish, for better quality candles and in quilting and heavy sewing. The beeswax helps the thread to pass through the tough material smoothly.

Here are some amazing Beeswax Products:

Goodson Oil Gallery Beeswax Stick as shown above
For Musicians get Warwick Beeswax : Apply Warwick Beeswax to the body of any oil-finished Guitar or Bass Guitar as a protective coating. Beeswax helps the wood feed, breathe, and stay in top condition. All natural.

Wax w/ Coconut Oil And Beeswax For All Woodenware (WAX) by Jonathan Spoons

This Wax with Coconut Oil And Beeswax For All Woodenware (WAX) by Jonathan Spoons is one of the best products on the market to preserve the beauty of your wooden cutting boards, utensils, and serveware. The combination of organic coconut oil blended with pure beeswax makes it easy to spread over the surface of the wood. Periodic use of this wax will help to keep your boards, spoons, spatulas, and serveware looking like new while extending their use for generations to come.

Be kind to your wooden serving pieces and they will last a lifetime! We recommend that you clean them with a Scotchbrite pad using a gentle soap and warm water. Occasionally oil them when you want them to look their best  natural coconut oil or mineral oil work well. We do not recommend using a dishwasher for any wood, as the drying cycle dehydrates wood too rapidly and can cause it to crack, while cleaning agents may prematurely age the surface of the wood.

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The soft drone of bees drifting lazily from flower to flower seems an innocuous part of the summer landscape. But when surprised or provoked, these usually beneficial insects can attack and turn deadly. 

The experiences of a Miami Beach apartment owner provide a cautionary tale for business and property owners. A swarm of bees attacked the property manager while she was checking vacant apartments, sending her to the emergency room with multiple stings. Maintenance workers located a massive beehive in the wall of an empty apartment. Honey had permeated the wallboard and dripped through the ceiling onto a staircase. Before cleanup procedures could be started, a tenant slipped on the honey and fell down the stairs, seriously injuring himself and requiring extensive surgery. By the time all the lawsuits and medical bills were settled, bees wound up costing the property owner $1.4 million.

Bees and wasps are beneficial insects. They pollinate flowers and farm crops and prey on harmful insects. Only a few of the 35,000 species of bees and wasps present a problem to humans. Most bees and wasps live a solitary lifestyle, but many stinging species, including honeybees, bumblebees, paper wasps, yellowjackets and hornets live together in large colonies. Their painful sting is used to paralyze insect prey and protect the hive from attack. Generally, bees and wasps don’t bother humans unless provoked. In fact, according to a risk analysis by the Harvard School of Public Health, your chance of being stung by a bee is about 6 million to one. You’re twice as likely to be struck by lightening. Despite the low risk, stinging insects send 500,000 people to U.S. hospitals every year.

As summer wanes and colonies forage for food to sustain their queens over the winter, bees and wasps become increasingly aggressive. Wasps, which include paper wasps, hornets and yellowjackets, are more aggressive than bees and, unlike honeybees, can sting multiple times. When provoked, bees and wasps swarm and attack. As the stinger penetrates the victim, toxin is injected accompanied by the release of alarm pheromones that attract hive mates to the attack. The attack will not end until the victim flees to an impenetrable shelter or is killed. Bee and wasp stings are generally classed as a nuisance, though they can be quite painful, causing swelling and itching. However, to those who are allergic, a single sting can be fatal. Allergic reactions to bee stings include hives, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, slurred speech, drop in blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, swelling in the throat that interferes with breathing, and unconsciousness. “Usually the throat closes up and blood vessels dilate so much that you go into shock,” explained Ohio allergist Dr. Garry Rupp. Antitoxin must be delivered within 15 minutes or death can occur. An estimated 2.5 million Americans are allergic to bee stings which cause between 50 and 100 deaths each year.

Bees, wasps and ants are closely related, being of the biological order Hymenoptera which means “membrane wing.” All have chewing mouthparts, six legs and four transparent or translucent wings. Depending on species, they range in size from approximately 1/2 to one inch and go through a complete metamorphosis with egg, larva, pupa and adult stages. Predominately female, only a few males are produced each year to fertilize the queens. 

Colonies, which can number in the hundreds, live in complex hive structures. Bees use wax to build hives while wasps produce a paper-like substance from partially chewed wood. Hives may built on tree limbs, under the eaves of homes, under siding, inside garages and storage sheds, in attics or in enclosed spaces such as underground burrows, hollow trees and logs, wall voids, empty boxes, even old tires. Except for the queens who hide deep in the hive, the entire colony dies during the winter. The exception is honeybees who survive the winter by eating stored honey. 

The sting from bees and wasps can be financial as well as physical. These stinging pests present a serious problem for business and property owners, endangering and driving away customers and tenants. Bees and wasps are attracted by perfume, bright colors, sweets and proteins. Highly aggressive yellowjackets which feed on sweets and proteins can be especially dangerous to patrons of outdoor picnics, patio restaurants, swimming pools, amusement parks and other popular summer events. You’ll find these menacing pests buzzing around food and drink tables, crawling into soda cans, frightening children holding ice cream cones, and hovering around garbage cans and recycling bins. Their presence can send customers fleeing and spoil even the best-planned event. 

Don’t get “stung” this summer. If you are experiencing a problem with bees or wasps, consult a pest control expert before anyone gets hurt. Due to the aggressive and potentially dangerous nature of these pests, removal should be handled by a pest control expert.

Once upon a time there was a flourishing abundance of Honey Bees in the wild.   Until one October day of 1852, a fellow named Lorenzo Langstroth appeared not only to patent his “Langstroth” hive but was considered to be the “Father of American Beekeeping”  later on.    He was very into researching all kinds of insects and ants to observe their culture.   Honey bees where his favorite pastime.   With the hives, the bees where able to produce massive colonies with an over abundance of Honey in as little as a few months !    Just about 70 years later,  something started to happen to Honey Bees and they have been diminishing at an alarming rate since the 1970′s.   For those who aren’t aware of this seriousness, let it be known that 1/3 of our food source  is pollinated by Honey Bees.    What are we going to do about it ?    Can we do anything to help ?
CCD (colony collapse disorder) is the blame for most of our hives troubles these days.  Back in 1896 was the first ever recorded CCD incident.   Nothing was thought of it and was left nearly untouched for 80 years.  In 1972,  there began the most dramatic reduction in Honey Bee population through 2006.  Literally millions of bees where disappearing from North America in the Western region along with Western & Central Europe.  Why ?  Research is still being conducted to this day and some glimmer of hope is on the horizon.   
Recent studies have shown that the Varroa mite is the prime culprit for CCD.   Where are these mites getting their diseases from ?    Like most diseases and virus strains, they adapt and overcome the pesticides given to eradicate them, resulting a stronger mite.    Over the past few decades their resistance to a product called Apistan (Varroa Mite pesticide) has rendered it just about useless.   Reading the label on this chemical states that is “Toxic to Bees and Fish”.    I, for one am Pro-Organic when it comes to treating these ailments.   Let nature defend itself !    Our bodies fight new strains of infection and virus constantly to keep us healthy,  insects are the same,  they persevere.   In further studies of CCD, it was diagnosed that the Varroa mite was a carrier of a virus that attacks the bees Ribosomes.  Ribosomes are part of the DNA structure called RNA and produce proteins to interact with DNA.   Once the Ribosomes are altered by the virus, sends mixed signals to the DNA and compromises the bees immune system resulting in sort of a hemorrhaging action until death.   
There is still a promosing outlook.   Since diagnosis,  it appears that the bees immune system are adapting to the threat.     Up to around 80% of wild bees and domestic where wiped out due to this and they’re fighting back.   Hope is in the air.   Ever heard the term, “Life finds a Way ?”    It’s in our best interest and our futures interest that we help and aid the cause to repopulate Honey Bees.    Our little friends do a lot of work in their short life spans,  let’s help them by planting Purple (Russian Sage),  White (Flowering Fruit Trees), or Yellow Goldenrod flowers, and by using natural or organic pesticide methods. Did you know that a weed called “Queen Anne’s Lace” will deter ants ?     Another race of Honey Bee has entered into the picture in America  that’s pretty much Varroa Mite resistant.  The Russian Honey Bee.  Very docile and easy to work with,  much less high producers of HONEY !    Let’s give some applause to our “Nature’s Heroines”.   Clap, Clap, Clap !!!
For more information regarding Russian Honey Bees, Visit: http://GreenAnything.net/honey-bees.php
OR
Visit us for discussion at :   http://www.beesource.com/forums  .  Sign up and I’ll see you there…….SwedeBee1970

The cell builder colony is another important step in raising queen bees. The aim of this procedure is to create a situation under which bees will carefully nurture the young, developing queens. You will want to select a cell builder colony that is a strong colony that fully occupies a large hive. A 3-story hive will work to your best advantage, by reducing the available space to two hives.  Confine the queen to the bottom box. This brood chamber should be equipped with an equal amount of brood and empty drawn cells for the queen to lay eggs. Two combs of very young larvae should be placed in the center of the super (the hive body) and fill in the remaining space with combs of honey and pollen.  It is necessary to place the combs of unsealed honey and pollen along side of the combs of unsealed larvae. This makes it look like a natural brood nest. With the queen being confined, it will prevent her from entering into the super. Recruited nurse bees will feed the unsealed larvae in the super. The bees will soon become aware the queen is not occupying the nest. This begins the impulse of the nurse bees taking the steps to rear a new queen. This is the type of environment you will want to place newly grafted or started cells to be introduced for rearing. You will want to leave the cell building colony for 24 hours before inserting the newly grafted or started cells. You will want to leave a space between the two brood combs in the super. The space needs to be wide enough to fit a cell bar. A cell bar is a wooden strip that holds queen cups for rearing queens. If possible it is best not to rear queen during a heavy honey flow. A light nectar flow with ample pollen, preferably a mixture of pollens, is the best condition for rearing queens. If supplementary feeding becomes necessary, always use a mixture of 2 parts sugar to 1 part water for sugar syrup to simulate nectar. Never use diluted honey. Grafting is the process of removing worker larvae from its cell and placing it into an artificial queen cup for rearing the larvae into a queen. You start the grafting process by preparing the bars of cells by sticking 20 plastic cups onto a wax covered board. The bar must be placed into a hive for at least 24 hours before grafting. During this time the bees will clean and condition the cell cups.  You will need a grafting tool to transfer larvae. Each larva is floating on a little raft of royal jelly and must be placed undisturbed into the bottom of the conditioned cups. The grafting tool must be able to follow the curve of the bottom of the cup to allow it to be inserted under the back of the tiny floating larva without touching it. The best conditions to graft in is cool temperatures and well fed larvae, the priming of the cell cups with diluted royal jelly should not be necessary. Do not graft in very hot weather or in low humidity. The larvae could potential be damaged by dehydration. Only graft larvae that are under 24 hours of age from hatching and are floating on a good amount of royal jelly. Never expose the larvae to direct sunlight and work as quickly as possible. The grafted larvae should be placed into an abundance of nurse bees that are far enough away from a queen that they will attempt rear all the cells. The age of the nurse bees range from 9 days to 12 days after they have emerged from a cell. It is always important to have a large number of replacement young bees available to the colony in order to provide nurse bees. The production of royal jelly depends on an ample supply of pollen or pollen substitutes. Lack of pollens leads to smaller, less well-fed larvae and queens. Also the nurse bees will lose their body reserves of stored nutrients and become susceptible to disease.  It is very important to record the day the cells were grafted and the day the queens are due to emerge. A queen will emerge 16 days after the egg was laid, or 13 days after the egg hatches into a larva. Since the larva was grafted at 24 hours old, the queen will emerge 12 days later. If one of the queens emerge early, she will kill all the remaining cells. It is best if the cells are left until the day before they are due to emerge, it is then possible to move the cells from the cell build colony to the nuclei.  When you are transporting the cells to the nuclei, the cells must be handled gently to avoid damage to the immature queens. Make the transition to the mating yard. Do not shake or jar the combs or bars with cells, and avoid turning the cells from the natural position. Do not allow them to be exposed to direct sunlight, and because the queen nymph is susceptible to cold do not allow the cells out of the hive too long, or exposed to cold winds or a chilly atmosphere. Cells should be distributed to the mating yard as soon as possible after the nucleus colony has set up. You do not want too much time to lapse or the bees in the nucleus will start building cells. It will be necessary to destroy all of these cells before inserting the raised cells into the nuclei. Only one cell is given to a nucleus. A wet, sharp knife can be used to separate adjoining cells on the cell bar. Each cell must be carefully removed from the bar and placed into the nucleus hive. First a side comb is removed from the nucleus to allow room for manipulation. A small depression is pressed into the face of the center brood comb and t he plastic base of the cell gently pressed into it. Mark every nucleus with a date the young queen is due to emerge and the mother queen she was bred from should be noted. A virgin queen will mate and start laying about 10 days after she has emerged from the cell. In the fall this period can continue longer than the normal time. Do not open or move the nucleus during the mating period. It is important that the virgin queen start mating. The mating takes place while she is flying in the open and not in the hive.  The mating does not begin until the queen is sexually mature. This takes place 5 to 6 days after emerging. The queen must mate within 20 days, if not she will remain infertile. Most of the queen rears will destroy all the queens that fail to lay on time, except in the fall when mating and expected laying time can be extended because of cooler weather.

Varroa mites were first discovered in the United States in 1987, and then the mites were detected in North Carolina three years later. The mites have since spread throughout the rest of the country. They are considered to be the most serious pest of honeybees worldwide. Infested colonies will die within 1 to 2 years unless the beekeeper takes the necessary actions to rid the colony of the mites. The Varroa mites are external parasites of the drone and worker bees. They prefer drones, but will infect the workers also. Varroa mites are visible with the naked eye and look somewhat like a tick. The mated female moves into a brood cell with older bee larvae. Mites will feed on the larvae food or puncture the larval body and feed on the bee’s blood. The mated female mite will lay an egg every 36 hours on the side of the cell. The first egg will be unfertilized and develop into a male. The other eggs are fertilized will hatch into females. The young mites feed on the developing pupa. The young females will then mate with the male and emerge from the cell when the bee emerges. The female mites will then enter another cell or attach themselves to an adult bee to feed on. The Varroa mites are transported from colony to colony by drifting or robbing bees. There are visible symptoms of the damage from the mites on the newly emerged bees, which is due to the mites feeding on the immature bee in the cell. The newly emerged bee will be smaller than normal, have crumpled or disjointed wings, and shortened abdomens. The life span of the infected bee is also shortened. Severe infestations from the mite within the cell, which is several mated adult female mites in one cell, can cause death to the pupa. Other symptoms of mite infestations are the rapid decline of the colony, reduced adult bee population, evacuation of the hive by crawling bees, queen’s lack of performance, spotty brood, and abnormal brood. Detection is the first step to control. There are methods used to detect the presence of the Varroa mites as follows: Extract drone brood when present and visually examine larvae and cells for mites. There are visible against a light colored background. Fill a quart jar about 1/4 full of live bees. Cover and insert a 2-second blast from an aerosol ether-based engine starter fluid or aerosol oil cooking spray. Shake the jar for 20 seconds. Turn the jar on its side and rotate slowly and look for mites clinging to the sides of the jar. If you do not spot any mites, remove the bees and rinse in alcohol. Shake and remove the bees so you can examine the alcohol. The best and most reliable method is to use Apistan@ (fluvalinate) strips or US: Check Mite+ strips.. Place a piece of waxed or white paper sprayed with aerosol oil cooking spray and covered with 8-8 squares/inch of mesh wire on the bottom board. Insert strips according to label directions. Check the paper in one hour. If there are no mites, check again the next day. You can request a free inspection from you local NCDA bee inspector. Never treat during a nectar flow because the chemicals can contaminate the honey and never leave strips in hives after the recommended time this can cause sublethal doses of the chemical. However, if mites are detected, you may need to treat to save your colony. In recent years mite have become resistant to Apistan strips and has become a problem throughout the world. Therefore, rotating chemical, delaying treatment and using cultural control are recommended to manage mites in a more bearable fashion. Delaying treatment can be accomplished if you monitor the level of Varroa mite infestation in your colonies. There are ways to check the colony for the number of mites present. Knowing the level of infestation in your colonies will help you determining whether treat is required immediately or if it can wait until after the nectar flow season has passed.

Marketing honey in today’s market is going to pose a bit of a challenge since you have so many commercial level sellers doing this with the resources to promote and market the product since not all places will purchase and carry your product. This is why many small businesses who do this sell to lower end stores and mom and pop places because when they get people buying that’s how many of them end up in large scale stores like Whole Foods Market and other stores that carry name brand organic food. Part of the marketing strategy is to be able to utilize the internet as well since people can open up online stores to sell their products, but you also have to have an effective system in place to pack and ship items all over the world because you will have customers who will be buying your product as far away as England or even Japan. Your business should reflect handling online orders or you can sub-contract a company to pack and ship your items and take the guesswork out of your hands so you’re not stuck having to deal with lost or misdirected packages. Starting at the bottom for marketing helps you to learn little things that will make your business successful and can thrive in years to come when you know what it takes to make it work. Promotion isn’t a skill placed on auto-pilot you have to spend time working it every single day because a business doesn’t run itself it takes a good deal of persistence and effort to make it work and to make it where you want it to be. It’s easier for people who have prior experience in running a business to be able to effectively carry out a sure-fire way to market a single product and still gain revenue. It’s just that when you market products you have to know what is actually the demand for that particular product in question. Selling honey is always a product that people will buy and is in demand, but it’s the companies that make it are the ones who are having to deal with a lot of competition since many small end businesses are extending themselves to the outside world and relying on larger companies to do the larger scale selling. Websites are effective because this is how many co-ops are formed because many food production companies try to find cost effective ways to produce a product through sub-contracting farms and contractors to handle the mass production of honey making and making products out of beeswax. This is why so many small businesses are reaching out to bigger companies, but it’s helpful to give small businesses the tools needed to increase their exposure for business and even clients with farmers and suppliers. Beekeeping is more than just a hobby it’s a full time job and business. It may look difficult because it requires you to be in all kinds of weather wearing a puncture and sting proof body suit with a face net just to put that sweetener you use for your biscuits and toast in the morning or that cup of hot chamomile tea, remember the beekeepers who endured that to make it possible to have that sticky sweet indulgence you put in your food and drinks.

You will find the adult and larvae of the small hive beetle are found in active beehives and stored bee equipment where they feed on pollen and honey. The small hive beetle is native to Africa where it requires 38-81 days to develop from egg to adult. Beetle larvae on not spin webs or cocoons in the beehive but rather pupate in the ground outside the hive. This first record of this beetle in the Western Hemisphere was determined from a commercial apiary in Florida in May 1998. The small hive beetle behaved as a scavenger of weakened colonies in Africa. They were relegated to secondary pest status. Here in Florida it has not been the case. The apiaries suffered extensive damage and colony loss. Beetle larvae tunneled through combs, killing bee brood and ruining combs. Bees in Florid have abandoned combs and entire colonies once they are infested. The beetles would defecate in the honey causing it to ferment, producing a frothy mess in supers and honey houses. Honey contaminated can no longer be sold and cannot be used as bee feed.  In heavily infested apiaries in Florida, larvae could be seen crawling out of the colony entrances or across honey house floors by the thousands trying to reach soil to dig in and complete their development. It has been cause for some concern regarding the beetles behavior in Florida compared to its behavior in Africa. The following precautions are suggested to help maintain control of the beetle. Make sure the area around the honey house is clean. Extract honey from filled supers as soon as possible rather than let them stand too long. Leaving the cappings exposed for too long is another bad idea. Beetles can multiple rapidly in stored honey, because the honey is away from the protective bees. Avoid stacking infested supers in strong colonies. Notice when *supering colonies are making splits, exchanging combs or use of *Porter bee escapes can spread the beetles or provide room for beetles to become established away from the cluster of protective bees. Watch colonies for sanitary behavior, such as bees showing the ability of ridding themselves of the larvae and adult small hive beetle. Breed queen lines found to be beetle resistant. See if it is possible to trap the beetle larvae as they make the trek to reach the soil. Moving colonies might be useful in keeping a beetle population from growing. The beetle may be adverse to certain soils. In this case fire ants may be a predator for the beetle larvae as they are pupating. Bees will not normally clean-up equipment or supers full of beetle-fermented honey. Bees, however, will finish the job after the beekeeper fist washes out as much honey as possible with a high-pressure hose. By treating the soil in front of the affected hive with a soil insecticide the larvae may not reach adult stage. Treat colonies with Check Mite+ beehive pest control strip according to label instructions. supering the filling of the supers with excess honey Porter bee escape originally designed to clear bees from supers that were to be extracted.

In order to get honey from your beehive you have to be able to extract the honey from the honey comb. In order to do this you have to have to have a honey extractor. There are manufactured honey extractors available on the market, they typically cost approximately $200 to $300, the average cost of starting a new hive of honey bees. If there is a group of beekeepers in an area they will sometimes pool their money together to purchase a honey extractor that they share. If you are not in a large beekeeping environment and do not want to spend a few hundred dollars on a manufactured honey extractor you might want to make your own. The materials you will need to build a honey extractor include; a metal rod that is at least one meter long and is thickly threaded, two bicycle wheel rims, two pieces of wood, one meter of 2-3mm fencing wire, a large metal drum, ten bolts for the metal rod, four 400mm sections of 8mm threaded rod, a self centering bearing, six coach screws, and one pillow block bearing. When choosing a large metal drum for your homemade honey extractor make sure that is was never used to store potentially toxic materials. The tools you will need for constructing your honey extractor include; an electric drill, a welding machine (and preferably some welding experience), a socket set, and a hack saw. The first thing your going to do is remove the end of the drum that does not have two pouring holes, the newly opened end will be the top of your honey extractor. Use the coach screws to attach one of the pieces of wood across the bottom of the drum. Once the wood is in place use coach screws to secure the pillow block. After inserting the threaded rod through the center of the first bicycle rim, securely bolt the rim to the rod approximately ten centimeters from the end of the rod. At the opposite end of the rod you will want to thread a but for the other wheel, the second wheel will rest on this nut. When both of the wheel rims are in place you will want to drill holes in four spots around each wheel, when this task is complete you use the 8mm rods to lock the wheel rims together. Use two nuts onto the rod. Make sure that two cm of rod protrude. When this is complete you are going to cut a slit that is10mm deep and 3mm wide into the end of the rod. After this thread the lock the nuts together at the end of the rod. After you think the nuts are in place use the welding machine to permanently lock them into place. Fasten the wire to the the spokes of the bottom wheel rim, approximately 5-8cm from the rim. You have now successfully made the basket of your honey extractor. Take your newly crafted extractor basket and place it into the drum, settling it on the pillow bearing. Now you’re going to want to bolt a second piece of wood to the sides of the drum and the self centering bearing. After drilling a screwdriver bit into the chuck, place the chuck into the slit into the slot in the top of the threaded rod.

Nosema is the most widespread of the adult honey bee diseases. A single celled animal named Nosema apis, a small, unicellular parasite specific to the honeybee, causes it. Nosema cannot exist in a laboratory culture, as with most bacteria and fungi. It will only thrive and multiply in the epithelial cells of the honey bee ventriculus which causes dysentery.  Queens, drones and workers are all susceptible to Nosema. The spores of the Nosema must be ingested for the bee to be infected. The spore takes root in the midgut, where they will penetrate a midgut cell and grow by absorbing nutrients from that cell. The parasite will increase in size until it is large enough to divide in half. Each new parasite will continue to feed on the nutrients of the cell until they are depleted. In a matter of time, about 6 to 10 days, 100 new spores are formed in the infected cell. The infected cell when depleted of all the nutrients ruptures releasing all the newly formed spores into the midgut to start the process again. The damaged intestinal tissue is susceptible to secondary diseases. Dysentery is a common symptom of this disease.  You will be able to spot the dysentery on the outside of the hive by the little brown spots, but the diseased bees will also defecate inside the hive. contaminating combs with millions of infectious spores. The disease is spread to other colony members through fecal matter. Nosema having infected one bee will be spread to others in the colony. The disease lowers the life span of the bees. If you have a colony of bees infected with Nosema in late fall, come spring it is likely that most of the colony will have died off. Nosema is a difficult disease to diganose without using laboratory equipment. Decapitating a bee and pulling out the last abdominal segments usually will remove the intestinal tract while still intact. An infected midgut will become swollen, whitish and lose its visible constrictions. However, other causes of dysentery, such as ingesting honeydew, fermented syrups, etc. can result in similar intestinal changes. Treatment for Nosema is based on the most appropriate times to prevent comb contamination and to prevent the development of disease in bees that clean up fecal deposits from combs while they are still trying to expand the brood nest. A few bees are always infected, but the diseased late season bees are the only one of any concern. If they develop high levels of infection, they defecate on the combs in October, November, and December, and then they die. The use of fumagillin has been field tested by some beekeepers with acceptable results. When treating use the manufacturer’s instructions.