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Author Topic: I have some strange looking honey  (Read 9087 times)

Offline FlexMedia.tv

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #40 on: April 09, 2019, 11:57:12 am »
I have screened bottoms.

wax moths get to be a problem with too little bees in too much room.

summer is not the problem. (early) spring and (late) fall is.

If I have stronger hives, they shouldn?t be a problem even if they nest on the underside
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Offline billdean

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #41 on: April 09, 2019, 08:43:48 pm »
Flex??..Take a cup of bees and some comb and send to the below address. They will tell you what problems may exist in your hives if any. Takes about a week and it's FREE.

https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md-barc/beltsville-agricultural-research-center/bee-research-laboratory/docs/how-to-submit-samples/ 

Bee Disease Diagnosis
Bee Research Laboratory
10300 Baltimore Ave. BARC-East
Bldg. 306 Room 316
Beltsville Agricultural Research Center - East
Beltsville, MD 20705

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #42 on: April 09, 2019, 09:04:38 pm »
Flex??..Take a cup of bees and some comb and send to the below address. They will tell you what problems may exist in your hives if any. Takes about a week and it's FREE.

Bill!
There you are...How have you been? Bees dead or alive? They are already in the trash, comb and all but I can take them out if that?s ok
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Offline billdean

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #43 on: April 09, 2019, 10:51:58 pm »
Dead..the link will tell you how and every thing you need to know. I have been doing good.

https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md-barc/beltsville-agricultural-research-center/bee-research-laboratory/docs/how-to-submit-samples/

I would not throw my comb away until I have heard from Beltsville!

Offline van from Arkansas

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #44 on: April 09, 2019, 11:26:32 pm »

the idea of swarming as a cause of hive death seems absurd to me. swarming is a natural thing to happen. the parent hive will easily build up again. that is the way mother nature has set it up for the bees.
swarming happens in spring.
if it might be understood: swarming will not kill all hives 6 years in a row. thats plain ridiculous.

Must be different in the mother land...
Swarming can occur through out the whole flying season right up until the end of golden rod.  A swarm in the fall is suicide but still happens to managed hives.  Mother nature is cruel.  Swarming can kill a parent hive very easily if it dwindles the hive late in the season or during a dearth.  This can happen if the beekeeper is creating a false flow with sugar.  Bees are not pets.  You can't take care of them like a dog or a cat.

Ace, a swarm in the Fall is most likely an abscond, not a typical swarm.
I have been around bees a long time, since birth.  I am a hobbyist so my answers often reflect this fact.  I concentrate on genetics, raise my own queens by wet graft, nicot, with natural or II breeding.  I do not sell queens, I will give queens  for free but no shipping.

Offline blackforest beekeeper

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #45 on: April 10, 2019, 02:21:34 am »
Comb from diseased hives - or any crashed hive - should be melted, the wax boiled in a special gadget for hours (the manufactureres of foundation can do this) to be able to reuse it.
If this is not done, they ought to be burned or buried deep.
otherwise diseases might spread as bees will jumb onto anything that smells of bees and carry the disease back to sound hives. NOt necessarily yours, but this is a matter of courtesy.

Offline Acebird

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #46 on: April 10, 2019, 09:13:27 am »
Ace, a swarm in the Fall is most likely an abscond, not a typical swarm.
Not if halve of the hive is still there.
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Offline FlexMedia.tv

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #47 on: April 10, 2019, 11:47:26 am »
Dead..the link will tell you how and every thing you need to know. I have been doing good

Great!
Thanks fort the tip. That?s what I will do

Art
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Offline billdean

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #48 on: April 10, 2019, 02:02:37 pm »
You will get 2 reports. One for the bees, looking for mites and nosema. The other for the comb looking for AFB, EFB. That is your starting point. If all comes back ok reuse the frames of comb. They will build quickly if they are not drawing comb.

 Do an inspection once a week until you start to figure things out. Check the hive bottoms for charged queen cups starting around the 15th of May or sooner if the weather starts warming. Check for back filling of the brood nest, and excesses amount of brood where the queen has no place to lay. Put your supers on early in anticipation of the flow. May 1 is not too early. Don't use a queen excluder between the supers and the hive bodies. That way she will always have room to move up if she needs to. Don't worry about the lake. Michigan is all swamp land and lakes with 100% humidity daily, and we have successful colonies year after year.

Looking at the one picture of the feed tray on the top of your box I think I see wax paper under the sugar. I would not do that. You are creating a vapor barrier above the bees or a moisture problem. You want the the sugar to absorb the moisture not transfer it back on the bees. Preferably don't even put sugar or winter patties on until you know they may need them. There are warmer days in January , February and March to check on food supply. If lite feed.
« Last Edit: April 11, 2019, 11:43:37 am by billdean »

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #49 on: April 12, 2019, 11:41:19 am »
You will get 2 reports. One for the bees, looking for mites and nosema. The other for the comb looking for AFB, EFB. That is your starting point. If all comes back ok reuse the frames of comb. They will build quickly if they are not drawing comb.

 Do an inspection once a week until you start to figure things out. Check the hive bottoms for charged queen cups starting around the 15th of May or sooner if the weather starts warming. Check for back filling of the brood nest, and excesses amount of brood where the queen has no place to lay. Put your supers on early in anticipation of the flow. May 1 is not too early.

My package bees come May 5, 2019. I?ll be a little behind as usual. I?m only going with one this year but I will put out a few swarm traps and treat if I catch any. 6 years ago before I started I would watch bees swarm to that same tree in the pic every year. Can?t explain it but every year since, my bees swarm to that tree and swarms from other areas swarm there.

Looking at the one picture of the feed tray on the top of your box I think I see wax paper under the sugar. I would not do that.

Yup. I used wax paper just as the example told me too. Won?t do that again. Wonder if that contributed to the small amount of honey I had being fermented? I think I fed them right when I closed for the year, November.

I?m mailing my sample out tomorrow. I think I?ll learn a lot from this. I?ll let you know!

Thanks!
Art
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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #50 on: April 29, 2019, 10:28:38 pm »
Thanks to Bill for the Lab tip. I sent 100 bees and a slice of comb from both my Purple Hive and Yellow Hive.

According to the lab, my Purple hive died due to:
Nosema disease 17.75 Million nosema spores per bee
Varroa mite 5.6 Varroa present per 100 bees
NO Foul Brood

According to the lab my Yellow hive died due to:
Varroa mite 2.7 present per 100 bees
NO Nosema disease
NO Foul Brood

I am going to research on line (and the 10 bee books I've purchased over the years) to learn how to properly treat for Nosema and Varroa mites. I don't have any Nosema control on hand so I'll have to get some. I have Oxalic Acid Dihydrate, Mite away quick strips, and Apivar for Varroa that I didn't use from last year. I need to find out what it best.

I have one package bee set coming May 5th and that's all I'm going to start with. I have one swarm catcher out now and if I catch one, I'll treat it and keep it. Once I get a handle on the treatment, I'll control the swarm and I think I'll be ok! Still open for suggestions if you have the time.
Thanks!
Art
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Offline Acebird

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #51 on: April 30, 2019, 09:00:09 am »
Michigan is all swamp land and lakes with 100% humidity daily,

Never knew Michigan was a jungle.
I agree with billdean, stop the feed.  I would also avoid putting on a winter blanket box.  Instead provide ventilation.  Try to locate the hive in as much sun as you can get.
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Offline billdean

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #52 on: April 30, 2019, 09:08:01 am »
Flex?..I am glad you got your report back from Beltsville. Sound like now you know what you have to do. As far as Nosema I am not sure what to do. I have little knowledge of it,  never run into it myself. I am sure people like Micheal bush and Palmer and some others may be able to steer you in the right direction. I am not sure if a bleach and water solution on the frames would kill this or not. If it would, it would be great to reuse your already drawn frames of comb. Maybe some more experienced will chime in shortly. You have to keep after those mites. On the package install I would use the Oxalic Acid vapor treatment on about day 4 or 5 of your install. Then treat them at a sign of build up through the summer and again after you take any honey off by late July or early august. The good thing is no AFB or EFB! Good luck

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #53 on: May 01, 2019, 12:31:26 am »
Michigan is all swamp land and lakes with 100% humidity daily,

Never knew Michigan was a jungle.
I agree with billdean, stop the feed.  I would also avoid putting on a winter blanket box.  Instead provide ventilation

I didn't know it was a jungle either, Acebird. Yeah, no more feeding or blankets. I think that had something to do with Noesma spores. I don't think I've had those before but I think 17.75 million per bee is a lot
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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #54 on: May 01, 2019, 12:42:44 am »
Flex?..I am glad you got your report back from Beltsville. Sound like now you know what you have to do. As far as Nosema I am not sure what to do. I have little knowledge of it,  never run into it myself.

I am not sure if a bleach and water solution on the frames would kill this or not.

On the package install I would use the Oxalic Acid vapor treatment on about day 4 or 5 of your install. Then treat them at a sign of build up through the summer and again after you take any honey off by late July or early august. The good thing is no AFB or EFB! Good luck

I already bleached both hives just in case. My package bee ship date has been moved back due to the weather. May 10th. I have my treatments ready! (Really have to study up on the Nosema attack and hope it never happen again. That was nasty!)

Thanks for the help!
Art

Hopefully Bush and Palmer will chime in!
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Offline blackforest beekeeper

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #55 on: May 01, 2019, 01:45:11 am »
Nosema came probably just in the wake of the mite. Just my innocent notion.
I would melt down the combs and start with foundation. You can use the wax for foundation again. There are companies will make the foundation out of the wax for you.

Offline TheHoneyPump

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #56 on: May 01, 2019, 02:22:28 am »
Anyone wanting to understand nosema, start here:

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/nosema-ceranae/nosema-summaries-updates/
« Last Edit: May 01, 2019, 02:34:15 am by TheHoneyPump »
When the lid goes back on, the bees will spend the next 3 days undoing most of what the beekeeper just did to them.

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #57 on: May 01, 2019, 08:47:23 am »
Nosema came probably just in the wake of the mite. Just my innocent notion.
I would melt down the combs and start with foundation. You can use the wax for foundation again. There are companies will make the foundation out of the wax for you.

Blackforest,
That would have been a good idea but I burned all the frames and bleached the boxes to be sure. There were wax moths too.

Art
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Offline Michael Bush

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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #58 on: May 01, 2019, 09:27:21 am »
The only reason to burn equipment is AFB.  AFB spores are very difficult to kill.  Everything else is relatively easy to kill.
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Re: I have some strange looking honey
« Reply #59 on: May 01, 2019, 11:05:10 am »
The only reason to burn equipment is AFB.  AFB spores are very difficult to kill.  Everything else is relatively easy to kill.

I wasn?t sure. Thanks for that info!
Art
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