What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

[Terri Yaki]

I did find dead mites on the bottom board after I used the drip the last time. And I'm guessing that I pull the honey boxes off and dribble right onto the bees?

[jimineycricket]

 I agree with  beesnweeds.
 Any solution that is not on your bees is wasted. Check out:  https://scientificbeekeeping.com/

[Terri Yaki]

I agree with  beesnweeds.
 Any solution that is not on your bees is wasted. Check out:  https://scientificbeekeeping.com/

I am under the impression that an oxalic dribble will have no negative affect on the bees. Accordingly, I agree with you. Now, if I am wrong and it does harm the bees somehow, that could be a different story.

[Michael Bush]

Oxalic acid dribble damages the malpighian tubules (essentially the kidneys) of the bees.  Doing it shortens the lives of the bees.

[Terri Yaki]

That's good to know, MB, thanks. And what about oxalic vape?

[The15thMember]

I got all my colonies winterized today.  I do have a few more last minute inspections to do, but it's going to be pretty cold for the next few days, before warming up again over the weekend. 

[jimineycricket]

I am under the impression that an oxalic dribble will have no negative affect on the bees. Accordingly, I agree with you. Now, if I am wrong and it does harm the bees somehow, that could be a different story.

It is recommended that you only dribble once a year.  Because it does do some damage to the bees.  But, the bees being short-lived don't matter, but your queen is another story.

[Terri Yaki]

I am under the impression that an oxalic dribble will have no negative affect on the bees. Accordingly, I agree with you. Now, if I am wrong and it does harm the bees somehow, that could be a different story.

It is recommended that you only dribble once a year.  Because it does do some damage to the bees.  But, the bees being short-lived don't matter, but your queen is another story.

Thanks for pointing that out, as I hadn't thought about the life of the queen for some reason (I had a biden moment). I'll have to snoop the web and see what I can learn about this. The dribble affects them but a vape does not? Could I quarantine the queen in a cage away from the masses and dribble them? What other steps can I take to address the mites? Again, I do not feel like right now would be a good time to sacrifice them for a check but if I'm wrong, feel free to wise me up.

[Michael Bush]

>That's good to know, MB, thanks. And what about oxalic vape?

As far as I can find it does not shorten their lives any significant amount.  It does disrupt the ecology of the hive by killing off most bacteria and yeasts that are necessary for a healthy colony, but so does the dribble.  The only advantage I see to the dribble is no risk of inhaling the fumes.

>Because it does do some damage to the bees.  But, the bees being short-lived don't matter, but your queen is another story.

But I need them to be long lived to make it to spring.  It matters a lot when you have a long winter.

[The15thMember]

I stopped into Blue Ridge Honey Company for some inner covers today.  We were down in Georgia visiting Tallulah Gorge, so it was a good opportunity to pop in there.   

[The15thMember]

I might have another colony down.  I just went up to the apiary and all the hives have a lot of orienting traffic, and this colony, nothing.    I blocked the entrance to prevent any robbing, but the sugar ants have a 2 line highway going through a crack, which is probably confirmation of my suspicions.  I don't have time to deal with it right now, but I'll break the hive down tomorrow and see what I find, if anything, inside. 

[Ben Framed]

Yep, it?s probably a goner.  At least you have more to sustain.

[Terri Yaki]

Sorry to hear that.

[The15thMember]

Yep, they were goners alright.  Only a few handfuls of bees left in the colony, all dead.  I initially thought they might have absconded it was so empty, but the queen was there and most of the dead bees were on the bottom board.  I'm guessing their population was dropping rapidly due to mites, and then our freezing lows early this week did them in.  I buried the bees in the compost pile and put all the comb in the freezer. 

I removed the FormicPro from the first colony I treated, and things are looking much better in there.  I didn't see the queen, but they surprisingly had a lot of brood and the pattern looked great, and all the bees in there are looking fluffy, happy, and healthy.  I inspected them and another colony and traded out some drawn blanks for honey frames in both colonies.  I didn't do a sugar roll in the colony coming off the treatment because I had some robbing starting, but the other colony came up with 14%.  What I'm thinking about doing is hitting everyone who wasn't treated with FormicPro with OAV next week after I finalize my inspections, and then hitting them again at my usual Thanksgiving time.  It just seems like everyone's counts have skyrocketed, and I'm worried some colonies won't make it until late November without knocking some of the mites down.       

[Terri Yaki]

Full inspection of my hive today and to me, it all looks very good. Brood box has one frame with capped brood and some larvae on it. A frame or two of empty comb and all the rest are full of honey. And that is a deep box. Next box up is deep also and has inconsistent comb and honey in it. I moved the honey stores to the center of the box and empties to the outside. I'm thinking that the cluster will be in the center of the box. Top is a medium super and it has about 8 frames full and two not. I moved those empties to the outside as well. Inner cover is has an entrance too and it is turned up for ventilation. I had syrup on but they are not taking it and it was leaking so I pulled it. I'm thinking that as it warms during the day and pressure builds inside the jar, they leak if the bees aren't pulling it. I did see some suspicious looking bees when I started so I remained vigilant and covered up and moved as quickly as I could. There are robbers out there now but the hive is tight and the guards are hot and heavy out on the porch. Robbers are trying to get in the crevices but that's not going to happen.

If any of that sounds wrong, let me know. And thanks for the help.

I don't know why but my camera battery was dead so I couldn't film it.

[The15thMember]

That all sounds good to me.  Your theory about the leaking syrup is likely correct, and if they aren't taking it, then no point to have it in there.  It sounds like they are probably as ready at they are going to be.  Just remember to keep your lid pushed forward so that ventilation hole is open.  Moisture is a killer in the winter.  Are you planning on inspecting them again or is this it for the season?

[Terri Yaki]

I don?t know if I should inspect them again or not. I have some styrofoam insulation that I plan on putting on top. With the attempted robbing, I pushed the cover back but I will change that. Does it ever leave them vulnerable to robbing?

[The15thMember]

With the attempted robbing, I pushed the cover back but I will change that. Does it ever leave them vulnerable to robbing?

You probably want to keep that top entrance shut for now, since you are seeing robbers around, but don't forget to open it when it gets cold.  In my area at least, that little gap could literally be the difference between life and death for a colony.   

I don?t know if I should inspect them again or not.

 
At this point in the season especially, don't just inspect them for no reason, or just to check and see how they are doing.  If you think they are set for winter, leave them closed up.  Nothing is going to be much different from here on out, and you are just destroying their propolis seals and exposing them to robbers and temperature too cold for the brood.  You especially don't want to break all their propolis seals and then immediately have it get cold, as they won't be able to repair them, and the hive will be drafty.  If you feel there is something else you need to check, then fine, but at this point, I don't personally see a reason to break the whole hive down frame by frame again.     

Something that would probably be a good idea for you to do at this point, is gently lift the back end of the hive, like with one hand, and make a mental note about how heavy it feels.  This will be your reference point for hefting the hive throughout the winter, and will help you to judge if the colony feels light on stores later.  Your colony may be too heavy to really lift, since you have almost a full deep and medium on, but "too heavy to lift" is also a baseline.  Just empty comb, woodenware, and bees is lighter than you'd think, and with a little practice, you'll be able to identify a light hive relatively easily.     

[Lesgold]

Split a nuc off a strong hive six days ago. I put four foundationless frames into the double brood box. When the hive was inspected yesterday, all frames were nearly fully drawn but as drone comb. As it was a double brood box, the queen must have been spending some time in the bottom box. It was interesting to see that she had moved up and was starting to lay into the new comb. The new combs were moved above a queen excluder into the super and some stickies were inserted in their place. I wish I had a bunch of hives in this location as the flow is starting to ramp up. My main yard is just slowly chugging along. It will be a few weeks before things ramp up.

[The15thMember]

Did my last inspections of the season today.  The other colony that had a super high mite count must have absconded, because their hive was completely empty today.  I've been mistaking robbers for normal traffic for probably a day or two, given the amount of beetle damage on the comb.  So I'm down to 7 colonies.  This isn't exactly what people mean by "take your losses in the fall", but oh well.  This also means I've got another super or two to crush and strain, since I've already distributed the extra honey from the other two deadouts to the rest of the colonies, so everyone is jam packed already. 

So the final actual inspection was my tiny mean colony, which was meaner than ever today, probably due to partially the robbing pressure they have surely been experiencing since they were next to the empty colony.  They are already broodless for the winter, but their population actually looked really good.  Man, they were difficult to work though; bees flying everywhere, my suit probably took 20 stings, and I went back to the apiary suitless to get something I left up there and took a sting to the knee for my trouble.  They are definitely being requeened first thing next spring.

So, that's the end of inspection season for me.  I'm probably going to hit everyone with OAV here in the next week due to all these collapsing colonies, and of course I've got plenty of equipment to clean and store, so not quite done with the bee work yet, but I hopefully won't see the inside of a hive now until March or April.