From MAILER-DAEMON Fri Sep 17 12:52:10 1999 Received: from listserv.albany.edu (listserv.albany.edu [169.226.1.24]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id MAA27271 for ; Fri, 17 Sep 1999 12:52:08 -0400 (EDT) Received: from listserv.albany.edu (listserv.albany.edu [169.226.1.24]) by listserv.albany.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id MAA11071 for ; Fri, 17 Sep 1999 12:52:04 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <199909171652.MAA11071@listserv.albany.edu> Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 12:52:04 -0400 From: "L-Soft list server at University at Albany (1.8d)" Subject: File: "BEE-L LOG9903E" To: adamf@METALAB.UNC.EDU Content-Length: 91813 Lines: 2054 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 00:45:05 +0100 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Computer Software Solutions Ltd Subject: Harvesting extra beeswax Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello All I was recently visited by an American beekeeper who was on holidays in Ireland. We exchanged many ideas and both believe that we learned a lot from each other. One of the points made by my American colleague was that he made more out of selling beeswax based products than he made from selling honey. He advised me to consider selling beeswax products. It occurs to me that the limiting factor in this type of product is the amount of beeswax one can harvest from each hive. Has anybody considered it an advantage to get the bees to build comb for the sake of the beeswax only, say in much the same way as we can get bees to produce propolis for its own sake?. This may be a hairbrained thought but I felt that I should air it and see what transpires. Any comments welcome Sincerely Tom Barrett 49 South Park, Foxrock Dublin 18 Ireland Tel + 353 1 289 5269 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 06:35:57 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Aaron Morris Subject: Change in address... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Last Friday in haste and frustration I wrote: > The most obvious change in this is that the address for BEE-L has > changed to: > BEE-L@listserv@albany.edu > > Furthermore, the address for listserv has also changed to: > LISTSERV@listserv@albany.edu As many have told me and most figured out, the two at signs are not valid. The new address are: BEE-L@listserv.albany.edu and LISTSERV@listserv.albany.edu Of all people I should have gotten it right. Mea culpa. Sincere apologies, Aaron Morris ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 07:31:55 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Aaron Morris Subject: Breeding a better bee (was HIP discussion) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT John Burgess wrote: > Isn't there a saying about fleas with little fleas upon them? >From an old children's song ("There Ain't No Bugs on Me") "Oh, the little bugs have even littler bugs on their tops and bottoms. And the littler bugs have even LITTLER bugs, and so ad infinitum!" (Refrain): "Oh, there ain't no bugs on me, there ain't no bugs on me - There may be bugs on the rest of you mugs But there ain't no bugs on me!" Now, this talk of breeding varroa resistent bees is very promising. I applaud the HIP program, its organizer and participants. There is hope from the breeding programs. In the past 12 months I have heard two instances of possible progress. John Harbo has discovered mites that do not breed well, based on the observation that the "normal" amount of varroa does not emerge on the emerging bee. I thought, "Big deal, faulty mites." But John claims that this poor mite survival is a fixable trait to bees across generations. At EAS in July, Steve Tabor mentioned a bee breeder in Germany who is currently raising bees that aggressively attack varroa mites. He spoke of a guy who uses a mere jeweler's glass to examine dead mites, identifying the wound causing the mites' demise - This mite had a leg torn off, that mite got "crunched", ... Upon closer inspection of the dead mites under better equipment (higher magnification) researchers verified the breeder's diagnosis for the mites' causes of death. This breeder has been able to keep this aggressive to mites behavior across generations. Untimately I believe the best defense for varroa mites will come from bee breeders. Aaron Morris - thinking better bees through better breeding! ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 16:25:51 +0200 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Karl Dehning Subject: GUM Trees Comments: To: bee-l@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; name="cc:Mail" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear Bee-l I have been collecting samples of gum trees around my bee-sites. I'm in Cape Town ( South Africa )- sites in Stellebosh - Paarl - Kalbaskraal. Among these I can now destinguish Eucalyptus cladocalyx (sugar gum ), some redgum, spider gum and river red gum. My problem is at a site where I get a very early, very good crop of straw-coloured ( similar to sugar gum), around December/Jan. These Eucalypts are very abundant there. The fruit looks similar to river red gum. What is this thing? Where, besides The SA bee journal can I get good Eucalyptus referances??? Thanks for listening. Karl Dehning ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 08:08:00 -0600 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Blane White Subject: Re: AFB in supers -Reply -Reply Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Hi everyone, >>> Dr Dave 03/26 8:50 pm >>> Dr. Dave wrote: It is my understanding that ethylene oxide is the chemical used in chemical sterilization in hospitals everywhere. It is hazardous and must be handled as such, but it is much more available than you indicated. If I am not mistaken, my former employer, Union Carbide, is the major supplier. Dave, You are right about ETO being used in hospitals but very few facilities will treat beekeeping equipment. As you mentioned it is also a very hazzardous material and must be handled properly but does allow sterilization of things that cannot be exposed to the high temperatures of an autoclave. blane ************************************* Blane White MN Dept of Agriculture St Paul, MN blane.white@state.mn.us ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 12:42:36 -0500 Reply-To: tvf@umich.edu Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Ted Fischer Organization: ACB Dept., Univ of Michigan Subject: Two queens on one comb Comments: To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit When looking at my colonies this weekend I saw something new, after 25 years among bees. In a rather small but flourishing colony I saw two perfectly good large queens on the same side of a comb, only about three inches apart from each other. I have heard that often when combining two-queen colonies the queens co-exist for a time, and finally I saw proof of this possibility. Both queens were completely calm, as were the workers around them. It was a wonderful sight. Ted Fischer Dexter, Michigan USA ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 20:40:00 -0600 Reply-To: Luis Rommel Beutelspacher Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Luis Rommel Beutelspacher Subject: Beekeeping operation project Comments: To: Bee-L MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Hello all, I am trying to put together a Beekeeping operation project in writing, we need it in order for us to apply for some funds for the projects. We have pretty much all of it figured out (we think), but I was wondering if anyone on the list would have done something similar in the past that could share with us, just to get some kind of comparasion perspective. We are working on two different projects: a Beekeeping operation (honey, pollen and propolis production), and a queen breeding operation. On both projects we are interested on the following numbers: 1) Costs 2) Revenues 3) Equipment and instalations needed 4) Profitability of the operation I will appreciate any help or guidance, and I promise to send back the final project to all our supporters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Luis Rommel Beutelspacher (\ Maya Honey S.A. de C.V. -{|||8- Ticul, Yucatan, Mixico. (/ Tel/Fax (997) 20715 rommel@mayahoney.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 15:57:28 -0500 Reply-To: String & Linda Monteith Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: String & Linda Monteith Subject: Box size Comments: To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I am a relative beginner. (Third year, but still feel like I know nothing) I have a really bad back & even the medium supers are too heavy for my back to work with for more than a few minutes. I have been using 3 medium supers to get the bees through the winter & it worked fine. Can I use all shallows instead? (For brood & honey) How many would I need for brood chambers? Will this even work? I don't want to give up my bees. Linda ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1999 18:44:08 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Pollinator@AOL.COM Subject: Re: Pests in the Hive Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 99-03-27 18:26:36 EST, you write: << My husband, the beekeeper, is away on business for the week. While he was gone I went out to check on our hive. I found the upper super with bees drawing out comb, but when I removed the super to check the top brood, there were about three clumps of propolis covered magot-like creatures. The bees were all over them and evidently trying to get rid of them. They are completely white about 3/4 to 1 inch long and about a 1/4 inch thick. The clusters were on top of the bars. I was unable to get to the frames that they were sitting on. I guess I chickened out after being stung twice. I thought I had better wait for the beekeeper to return! Can anyone identify these pests? I looked in Root's ABC book, but they didn't seem to fit the description of any of the wax moth larvae. >> My guess, without seeing it, is that the bees built some burr comb, and the queen filled with with drone brood. It's quite normal. If all the drone brood comb is removed by the beekeeper, the bees will make it wherever they can, especially in the spring. Sometimes they'll even tear out worker brood comb. But it is quite common for them to fill up the spacing between boxes with drone brood, especially if it's a bit bigger gap than normal "bee space." Dave Green SC USA The Pollination Home Page http://www.pollinator.com The Pollination Scene http://members.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop on the Internet (honey & beeswax candles) http://members.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1999 11:48:48 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Dave Pehling Subject: Re: AFB in supers -Reply Comments: To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology In-Reply-To: <199903271200.HAA16265@listserv.albany.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Fri, 26 Mar 1999 GImasterBK@aol.com wrote: > Dr Dave: > You are correct that ethylene oxide is readily available and in most states > for hospital use. > However, EPA has only issued licenses to Mayland, North Carolina, and Maine ============= Hi all, I'm pretty sure that Washington state has a license, too. I understand that Roy Thurber of WA. was one of the first beekeepers to design and use an ETO fumigator for sterilizing bee equiment. Last I heard, there is a fumigator in operation in Stanwood, WA. Cheers, Dave Pehling ============================================ | W.S.U. COOPERATIVE EXTENSION-SNOHOMISH CO. | | 600 128TH ST. S.E. | | EVERETT, WA. 98208 U.S.A. | | PHONE - (425)338-2400 | | FAX - (425)338-3994 | | EMAIL pehling@wsu.edu | ============================================ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 16:29:00 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: BOGANSRJ@APCI.COM Subject: BeeL's Best Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit With the passing of Andy we have lost one of the best of BeeL's contributors. I joined this list 4 years ago this week. One of the first posts I read was story from the "guy calling himself the Old Drone". It was a long post telling about his early fights, on behalf of beekeeping, with California legislators. He went on to say how he met and became friends with then governor, and later to be President Reagan. I remember printing that story down and giving it to my wife to read. In the years that followed I always enjoyed Andy's posts. I wrote to him on a number of occasions either to ask a question or comment on something he said. He always had a great reply and I told him if I ever got out there I would love to meet him and maybe buy him lunch. He thought that would be fun but the 3000 mile trip never happened and I really regret it. I will sure miss his wit and knowledge and just the way he put things. In closing I want to say one thing. Andy offered much to this list, much more than even he would admit, but we also have a number of other contributors, who maybe don't have the flair that Andy had, but regularly share good information that help us all become better beekeepers. Folks like Allen, Aaron, Dave, Jerry, George, LLoyd, Trevor, Roy...., well, you (and everyone else) know who you are. I want to thank all of you for giving what you give to make this all possible. I am sure Andy agrees with me on this one. Ron Bogansky Kutztown, PA ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 22:43:07 +0200 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: P-O Gustafsson Subject: Re: Two queens on one comb MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ted Fischer wrote: > When looking at my colonies this weekend I saw something new, after 25 > years among bees. In a rather small but flourishing colony I saw two > perfectly good large queens on the same side of a comb, only about three > inches apart from each other. I believe this is more common than we think. What you saw is mother and daughter, often going side by side until the bees finally decide the new queen is good enough and dispose of the old. I have also found two queens that had wintered together early one spring. The reason for not seeing it is probably that we stop looking when we found one queen.... Of course we now and then run into trouble when requeening a hive that's in the process of superseeding and got a virgin running around on the bottom board. But after a number of lost new queens we realize what's going on..... But I have another one that I will be thinking on for a long time; It happened three years ago in the beginning of summer. I was out checking hives, adding supers when needed, and keeping an eye on swarm instinct. That year I had some Carnica queens for testing. Those of you that have seen them know they are dark like the workers and a bit more difficult to spot in the hive when you are used to look for a yellow lady. When checking through the hives I noticed one that was showing signs of being queenless. And when looking in the brood area I found only nervously buzzing workers. No sign of queen, and what was strange, no try to produce a new queen by emergency cells. A few hives away, about 4 meters, I found another hive so full of bees that they already had started making swarm cells. When they were Carnica bees, there was no other way to talk them out of it than making a split with half of the population to reduce the number of bees in the hive. So I wanted to find the queen, to know which part I should give the new cell or queen. Looking through a brood nest full of brood, I found the lady. Clipped and marked as she was It was easy to spot her. I put her in the new hive I was making, and continued going through the old hive to divide up the brood frames equally between them. But what did I see, if not another big nice queen walking around in the same hive! And what's more, she was also marked and clipped! That was the missing queen from the first hive. But how had she got there? Hardly by flying with only one wing.... By walking 4 meters in the grass? And why did she leave her hive? How come she was welcome in the other hive that already got a good laying queen? I'll bee thinking about this one a long time....... -- Regards P-O Gustafsson, Sweden beeman@algonet.se http://www.algonet.se/~beeman/ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 21:51:23 -0500 Reply-To: info@beeworks.com Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: David Eyre Subject: Re: Harvesting extra beeswax Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU In-Reply-To: <199903290640.BAA04624@listserv.albany.edu> On 29 Mar 99, at 0:45, Computer Software Solutions L wrote: > It occurs to me that the limiting factor in this type of product is the > amount of beeswax one can harvest from each hive. Has anybody considered > it an advantage to get the bees to build comb for the sake of the beeswax > only, say in much the same way as we can get bees to produce propolis for > its own sake?. This may be a hairbrained thought but I felt that I should > air it and see what transpires. > I believe that previous discussions on TBH had extra wax as one out come of using them. Only problem I can see is the honey harvest and the mess involved, can't imagine the local health inspector being very happy. ***************************************** The Bee Works, 9 Progress Drive, Unit 2, Orillia, Ontario, Canada.L3V 6H1. Phone (705)326 7171 Fax (705)325 3461 David Eyre, Owner e-mail http://www.beeworks.com This months special:-New style foundation. **************************************** ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 21:53:20 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Roy Subject: Re: Breeding a better bee (was HIP discussion) Comments: To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Aaron Morris wrote: > > Now, this talk of breeding varroa resistent bees is very promising. I > applaud the HIP program, its organizer and participants. > At EAS in July, Steve Tabor mentioned a bee breeder in Germany who is > currently raising bees that aggressively attack varroa mites. Hello all, Was the name of the gentleman Alois Wallner? We had a thread a few years ago about his work. Sue Colby did some posting about his work. He did 12 generations with no loss of the gene or genes that were responsible for the behavior. Nature is wonderful, you seek and you shall find. Our problem is patience and the fact that we can't wait for the bees to come back after we lose 99% of them.But we can support those that are doing the seeking. Through breeding we can get back to clean hives and healthy bees. > Untimately I believe the best defense for varroa mites will come from > bee breeders. > > Aaron Morris - thinking better bees through better breeding! Each beekeeper can do a few things to help him or herself. Don't keep bees that do not keep a clean hive.I would suggest reading, Breeding Super Bees , by Steve Taber. Its not a deep book in genetics, but it does explain some possibilities.Hygienic behavior is a must.We are not that far away, but bee breeding takes time and a lot of stock . Inbreeding is a real problem. Thanks to those that are jumping through hoops for all of us. Best Regards Roy Nettlebeck ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 18:15:54 -0500 Reply-To: Midnitebee Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Midnitebee Subject: Seattle,Wa./bees Comments: To: Discussion of Bee Biology MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings, I received the below message..can someone help Cathy? "Hi there...hoping to find a camp for my 8 year old son this summer in the Seattle area to study bees. He is very concerned about some of them being on the endangered species list and wants to work with them. If you know of anything interesting in this area for kids, I'd love to know. Thanks much, Cathy " CathyHMc@AOL.com Herb Holly-B Apiary P.O.Box 26 Wells,Maine 04090-0026 http://www.cybertours.com/~midnitebee "An educated consumer is YOUR best customer" ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 12:38:19 GMT Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Robert Butcher Organization: Dundee University Subject: varroa/ Apis mellifera Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Hi everyone, I am keen to receive samples of varroa (especially, but any other mites are of interest) and bees from infected colonies around the world, for research purposes. If you are willing to send any, or want to know anymore, please do not hesitate to ask for more details. However basically it would require around 20 mites and a few (3-10) bees (workers are fine) from the infected colony, drowned into absolute ethanol and then transferred into 70% ethanol after a day or so to allow for shipping (absolute ethanol is usually not permitted). I would of course provide the ethanol and vials and reimburse postage. Thanks All the best rob Robert Butcher, Evolutionary and Ecological Entomology Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, Dundee University, Dundee, DD1 4HN, Tayside, Scotland, UK. Work Phone:- 01382-344291 (Office), 01382-344756 (Lab). Fax:- 01382-344864 e-mail:- r.d.j.butcher@dundee.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 19:47:53 +0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: bee club Subject: Re: Two queens on one comb Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >But what did I see, if not another big nice queen walking around >in the same hive! And what's more, she was also marked and >clipped! That was the missing queen from the first hive. But how >had she got there? Hardly by flying with only one wing.... >By walking 4 meters in the grass? And why did she leave her >hive? How come she was welcome in the other hive that >already got a good laying queen? Hi all, I just had a possible idea. Maybe the small hive was going to swarm and when they left the hive, the Queen couldn't fly so eventually she made her way into the other hive. That might explain how she got into the hive but, I don't know how the queens could get along together. If this is correct maybe the small hive did have some queen cells but somehow the queen died. Justin Knight Age 14 Hong Kong ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 19:56:09 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Paul Nicholson Subject: Re: AFB in supers (Ethelyne Oxide) Comments: To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology In-Reply-To: <199903291451.JAA07751@listserv.albany.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 8:08 -0600 3/29/99, Blane White wrote: >You are right about ETO being used in hospitals but very few >facilities will treat beekeeping equipment. As you mentioned it is >also a very hazzardous material and must be handled properly but does >allow sterilization of things that cannot be exposed to the high >temperatures of an autoclave. What about using one of the fumigants that is used for termite control? Will any of these kill spores? Paul Paul Nicholson Electronic Imaging Systems, Inc. TEL 805 532 1068 5148 Commerce Avenue, Unit F FAX 805 532 1065 Moorpark, CA 93021 U.S.A. paul@eisusa.com http://www.eisusa.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 08:08:32 -0500 Reply-To: info@beeworks.com Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: David Eyre Subject: Therapik I try hard not to get involved with 'commercials' in my dealings with Bee- L, but we have just been awarded the sole distributorship of a new product which I think will benefit newbees and wannabees apprehensive of being stung. THERAPIK. It's new, Canadian made, not expensive, has HPB and FDA approval, battery driven, no drugs, to relieve the itch and pain associated with bee, hornet, wasp stings, mosquito and black fly bites. Enough 'commercial'. If you want more information, please, to us direct, let's not annoy the list. Observation. With all the hoopla regarding the Y2K bug, perhaps we should declare our bees none 2000 compliant, then we might sell all our honey stocks, at good prices of course! ***************************************** The Bee Works, 9 Progress Drive, Unit 2, Orillia, Ontario, Canada.L3V 6H1. Phone (705)326 7171 Fax (705)325 3461 David Eyre, Owner e-mail http://www.beeworks.com This months special:-New style foundation. **************************************** ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 08:47:20 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Aaron Morris Subject: Harvesting extra beeswax MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Tom Barrett wrote: > ... he made more out of selling beeswax based products than he made > from selling honey. He advised me to consider selling beeswax > products... Has anybody considered it an advantage to get the bees > to build comb for the sake of the beeswax only .... Well not quite that extreme, I do want SOME honey, but beeswax is easier for me to sell than honey alone and I look to maximize wax harvest as well. Enter plastic foundation! Harvest time gives honey, wet supers get licked dry by the bees. Then the honeycomb can be scraped down to the plastic foundation to harvest the wax and the frames with their plastic foundation are returned to the bees the following spring. With the plastic foundation (I use Permadent in wooden frames) there are no added costs (time and materials) for new foundation every year. And the wax is as nice as cappings wax, no travel or brood stains. Now this opens the age old controversy that the bees will produce less honey because they have to produce more comb, but the young bees are going to produce wax anyway and returning drawn comb to my bees gets me more honey that I can sell at a good price. Harvesting the wax as stated above still doesn't produce all the candles I can sell. So yes, the economics for some beekeepers favor sacrificing honey for wax. Your results may vary. Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee! ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 10:02:22 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "Keeler, Lisa" Subject: Re: Swarm Cells Comments: To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Dave Green wrote: > Remember that queens are programed to swarm in the second year. Queens > a > year or less in age will swarm only if you severely crowd them. > I requeened in mid-July last year. Do I have first year or second year queens? Should I be expecting a strong or a weak swarm drive? Lisa K Zionsville, IN (Just begining my 4th yr with bees) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 12:40:07 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Aaron Morris Subject: CONFIRM BEE-L MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Hi Folks, To date there are still 380 subscribers who have not confirmed their BEE-L subscriptions. Subscription confirmations must be made by 11:59 PM (EST) tomorrow. For those who asked, this annual exercise is designed to clean up the subscription file, updating e-mail address thet have changed and deleting subscribers who no longer exist. If you are in doubt of your subscription status, it can be determined by sending a single line of mail to: LISTSERV@listserv.albany.edu that reads: QUERY BEE-L Listserv will return your subscription settings. If you see a line in your subscription status that reads: N/A Your subscription must be confirmed as soon as possible! you can confirm your subscription by sending a single line of mail to: LISTSERV@listserv.albany.edu that reads: CONFIRM BEE-L Note in both cases the single line of mail must be in the body of the mail, not in the 'Subject:' header. If you do not successfully confirm your subscription by 11:59 PM (EST) on Wednesday, you will be dropped from the list on Thursday. If you are dropped against your wishes you can resubscribe on Thursday by sending a single line of mail to: LISTSERV@listserv.albany.edu that reads: SUBSCRIBE BEE-L 'your full name' Sincerely, Aaron Morris BEE-L Owner/Editor/Slave ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 14:02:38 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Tom Sanford Subject: Re-posting passing of Andy Nachbaur MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Dear Bee-l'ers, My original posting was not delivered to the list. Thus, I am reposting it as recommended by the SYSOP. I, too, was shocked at the precipitous passing of Andy Nachbaur. Only last April on a jaunt to see relatives in California, my mother and I stopped by to see him on a fine spring morning. He bought us lunch at the Chinese restaurant he frequented just at the top of Paradise Lane in Los Banos. He seemed in rare form that day. Not much hint that the Four Horsemen would soon descend as he reported in one of his last posts. I believe I first met Andy in San Diego in the late 1970s at the American Beekeeping Federation. Later, he wrote and distributed what I still think is a classic in bee literature though not formally published, his case for SAD and BAD bees in California . The information on bee nutrition presented in his treatise had great influence on me, and to some extent, was the reason I undertook my Florida feeding study (Sanford, M.T. & W.B. Johnson. 1991. "A Florida Honey-Bee Feeding Study Using the Beltsville Bee Diet," BeeScience, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 72-76.). Since then I have published several papers and articles on the value of providing bees adequate protein as well as carbohydrates. Andy and I got into the Information Age at almost the same time. He and I often referred to each other's work. While I plugged away on a mainframe and then one of the first Zenith desktops here at the University of Florida, he went to computer shows and developed his Wildbees BBS. Gradually he shifted to the World Wide Web , continuing his penchant for keeping up with new things. This brings to mind a question. What will happen to his Web presence? In all probability it will still be there for some time in the future, perhaps the first example of a virtual beekeeper whose body is no longer with us, but whose writings still are. At least they can be read today as this is being written. Like others, I appreciated Andy's wit and straightforward comments, though I didn't always agree with what he said. He was able to provoke further, careful thought on matters, which to me was most important. I was perhaps never so proud than when he, not much of a fan of bee researchers/extensionists alike, wrote the following: Subject: 1st PRIZE Beekeeper Page From: andy.nachbaur@beenet.com (Andy Nachbaur) Date: 1997/08/12 Message-Id: <9708122109592408@beenet.com> Newsgroups: sci.agriculture.beekeeping Oh my gosh with so many very good Beekeepers sites on the internet how can anyone judge them all and come back with a winner without hurting everyone's feeling. Well I have not judged them as it is really an impossible job, but for content I have a WINNER for you all to check out. If you don't want to read more on why set your browser to: http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/letters/aixind.htm Surprise, no fancy graphics, but a diary or series of letters from Dr. TOM SANFORD, from the University of Florida, Beekeeping Extension, father of the internet for beekeepers and a teacher, Doctor of Beekeeping Extension via the Internet for sure. Why you ask do I suggest its worth the time to read these 19 letters, because its is a fast way, (maybe an hour for a careful reader) to get a look into what others, beekeepers, educators, bee regulators, and bee scientist's are doing and thinking TODAY in the Mediterranean region. After a few minutes of reading you will be able to relate to what is or has gone on in the US and how other's are dealing with it. All this is from Dr. Sanford's perspective which I believe to be an open minded one, and slanted maybe toward what Florida's beekeepers or southern states beekeepers could be interested in. Read it because you will find reading them a totally enjoyable experience today that may not repeat itself for many years to come in quality or content, but I believe will be read in the future as classic history for beekeepers interested in beekeepers. ttul, the OLd Drone (c) Permission is granted to freely copy this document in any electronic form, or to print for any personal use. (w)Opinions are not necessarily facts. Use at own risk. There is no question that we will all be left much poorer with AndyNachbaur's departure. Nevertheless, some of us can take comfort in the fact that at least for now his spirit is still with us on the World Wide Web. I think the OLd Drone would have liked the idea of continuing to issue his opinions from the grave using this new technology. Tom Sanford ============================================================================== Dr. Malcolm (Tom) Sanford, Extension Apiculturist, University of Florida Bldg. 970, P.O. Box 110620, Gainesville, FL 32611-0620 Ph. 352/392-1801 ext. 143 Fax 352/392-0190 E-mail: mts@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Publisher of the APIS newsletter: http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/apis.htm To electronically subscribe, send the following to listserv@lists.ufl.edu: subscribe Apis-L First Name Last Name =============================================================================== ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 14:17:33 -0700 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: T'N'T Apiaries Subject: Re: Swarm Cells MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dave Green wrote: > Remember that queens are programed to swarm in the second year. Queens a >year or less in age will swarm only if you severely crowd them. Second year >queens are almost impossible to stop. So regular requeening and splitting are >the two management tools that serious beekeepers use for swarm control. All >else is mostly extra work. This is a pretty big generalization that needs to be addressed. I was right with him till this. His statement is like saying Italians wouldn't overwinter, Carniolians build more wax and on and on. Different strains and lines react differently and carry different traits. In this area, we've all had stock like he discribed, but if we'd kept running it, we'd have half the hives and need twice the crew. The first year theory: I've seen lots of package queens heading for the bush with others from a different supplier (or even same supplier, but different line) quite content to stay put. These queens aren't even 4 months old. Same location, same manager. Some queens can have lots of room, but they are gonzo before, during or after (yes, we've even seen them go after) the flow. I have had those colonies with new queens that you had to split and split to keep home. Great. You end up with three or four units, utilizing extra equipment and time, but the COMBINED end result is less honey than the colony beside it. From that colony you may have removed some brood, but for the most part did nothing but provide the necessities. The second year theory: In our outfit we tag a hive anytime we introduce a queen and we only put in about 25 to 30 % new queens a year. The last few years we have been marking our queens also, so we have a pretty good idea whats going on. If the old girl or her daughter or granddaughter are making the grade we let them be. It's surprising how many colonies haven't been "requeened" by us for five - six years. With the your generalization, yet deducting for our larger, later splits, I should have over a thousand swarms a year. We see or hear about maybe twenty and there are other beekeepers in the area. After discussing this post with other "serious beekeepers" in our area, we agreed "stock selection" is our number one tool for swarm control. The rest is work. Perhaps because we have seen so many different lines (American, New Zealand, Australian and now home grown) in western Canada we have seen just how much diversity there is. It is hard to generalize with bees and this is another example. David Tharle Ardmore, AB P.S. Lisa in Indiana: We would call your girls second year queens. The supplier of your queens "may" be able to tell you what characteristics to expect, but you are far better off to watch what each individual hive is doing as they may not all react the same. Even experienced beekeepers sometimes have trouble judging whether a hive is disposed to swarming or not. DMT ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 22:03:24 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Pollinator@AOL.COM Subject: Re: Swarm Cells Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/30/99 4:49:23 PM Eastern Standard Time, tntapi@INCENTRE.NET writes: > Perhaps because we have seen so many different lines (American, New Zealand, > Australian and now home grown) in western Canada we have seen just how much > diversity there is. It is hard to generalize with bees and this is another > example. Dave, I'll give you the point, seeing as you have experience with other lines. I have tried Carniolans, and they did not do well in the heat of South Carolina, so probably have little trace of them left. My bee breed is what I would describe as mongrelized Italians, and the generalization (first and second year swarming) have worked pretty well for me. Of course, there are exceptions and your mileage may vary; you are certainly in a different environment as well. Every now and then the bees don't read the bee books and follow the rules either. Today I saw two mature queens on opposite sides of the brood frame. They are NOT mother and daughter, and they have to have coexisted, at least since last fall. Pollinator@aol.com Dave Green Hemingway, SC USA Nostalgia just ain't what is used to bee! The Pollination Scene: http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html The Pollination Home Page: http://www.pollinator.com Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles) http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 19:47:49 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Scott Moser Organization: MailCity (http://www.mailcity.lycos.com:80) Subject: Swarm Cells......Again! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings all, The weather is wonderful here in St. Louis, and the bees are flying well! I opened all my hives again today to medicate, and the girls are busy at it. Last weekend, I posted a question about one of my hives wanting to swarm already this year. When I openned it then, I found half a dozen swarm cells in various stages, with 2 being fully capped. It was suggested that I put all brood in the bottom box, and split it with empty drawn comb. I did that, hoping it would slow them enough until I get my queens shipped so I can split the hive. No luck! I got into it again and found several fresh queen cell cups with jelly and larvae in some. I have come to the conclusion, that they wont last 2 weeks till the new queens arrive. Can I split the hive now, and allow the queenless half to raise a queen or place a frame with a nice big swarm cell on it in there, and the queenright half to supercede,or do what it wants to? Will they still swarm either way? I will worry about finding the queens later and requeen then. Thanks all. I appreciate your help. Scott Moser Get your FREE Email at http://mailcity.lycos.com Get your PERSONALIZED START PAGE at http://personal.lycos.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 09:29:24 +0100 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Janko Bozic Subject: International Beekeeping Education Service MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-2 Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Dear Bee-Liners, I would like to represent my ideas how can be organized beekeeping education. I have done some work on that here in Slovene. Slovenian Beekeeping Association have organized education courses for masters of beekeeping based on similar program in Austria. Actually part of those courses will be provided by Austrian Beekeeping School. We are very glad to have their support. I'm also involved in recent education of slovene beekeepers. I had some courses about bee biology and honey sources. I recognized that it is very difficult to prepare good lectures for all beekeeping courses by one person. On the other hand there is a huge knowledge all over the world which could be brought together. But before starting a campaign for collection and creation of beekeeping courses it is necessary to discus actual work of professional beekeepers. Some are calling that analysis of work. I think Bee-L group is a proper place, perhaps the best, to discuss about that. I would like to invite you on special pages created for that purpose. Go to: http://rcul.uni-lj.si/~bfbee/slobeek.html and follow link for Beekeeping education center. I'm representing here the outline of the proposed project, which I would like to be discussed first. ======== Outline of the project This outline is based on our local preparations of educational program for professional beekeepers (more). If we really want to get a good educational program we have to start with analysis of work. This analysis is a foundation for collecting all necessary knowledge in knowledge database. After that it is possible to prepare lectures, which should provide enough information, that students can get all needed knowledge. Some lectures has to be oriented as much practical as possible. Most of the practical manipulations can be shown properly with multimedia lectures. Even though such educational program can not solely be based on study lectures. It still have to provide some practical demonstration and practice at the apiary with the help of experience beekeepers who are masters of beekeeping. Before starting with analysis of work, knowledge database and determination of lectures and actual lecture preparation it would be useful to follow some kind of directives which describe how an educational program has to be built up and executed that the student can obtain also official title like "expert in beekeeping" or "master of beekeeping". In Slovenia we followed austrian educational program which is claimed to fit with Europe Union directives. I hope there are others who can help in following different kind of directives in education. It would be very practical that such education program will be harmonized with most of the educational systems in the world or, at list, it can be adopted to the local standards. This project can be started with A) Formal aspects of beekeeping education I would not spent too much time on that. Most important is that the program can give enough knowledge that student can start managing his own bee colonies and grow up in professional beekeeper. It would be also nice that such program would be accepted by officials that individuals would be able to pass official examinations. I'd like to get information about other countries. B) Analysis of work This part is not difficult, at list for professional beekeepers. I have translated our version of analysis of work (major titles without detailed description, see more). I would like to get corrections and suggestions from professionals. After finishing of this two steps, project can be continued with building of knowledge database (see more) and further with preparation of lectures. I'm counting again on professional beekeepers in building of knowledge database. Lectures have to be prepared by experts in specific fields. It will be nice to find or create lectures for all topics related to bees, beekeeping and bee products. For some more general knowledge, like how to operate small business, can be linked some existed lectures or educational programs. This links can be searched when we will be in the phase of lectures preparation. Some of that can be done also during knowledge database creation. =========== I'm looking for your comments. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 17:32:13 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: CSlade777@AOL.COM Subject: Re: Box size and lateral thinking Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Beekeeping is difficult with a bad back and can often cause a bad back. Many people and books recommend holding the smoker between the knees when working a colony. This may be convenient as you always know where to find it but it reduces mobility and the ability to use the legs to their best advantage to do most of the work in lifting heavy things and leaving more effort for the back which isn't designed for the job. Screw a coat hook to the back of the smoker and hang it on the edge of a super or the belt or pocket. You are working vertically, lifting supers up and lowering them. Think laterally. Make a long hive, either with frames or a top bar hives. Put it on a stand to suit your height and you won't have to bend your back or lift anything heavier than a frame of honey. I hope this helps. Chris Slade ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 17:32:09 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: CSlade777@AOL.COM Subject: Re: two queens on one comb Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit I have only once seen this in one of my hives. It was in the mid April before drones were flying so the mother and daughter had probably been together for about 8 months as drones are usually evicted in the second week of August in this area. Chris Slade ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 17:32:07 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: CSlade777@AOL.COM Subject: Re: Harvesting extra beeswax Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Beeswax is a valuable commodity. There are various ways to increase the harvest. When uncapping do not just take off the caps but run your knife down the side bars thus taking extra wax from each side as well as neatening up the combs. Try using top bar hives. Cut out the best looking portions of honey comb for sale as cut comb at a premium price. Press the honey from the trimmings. You won't get it all out but you can put the pressed wax back in the hive it came from for the bees to fill new combs. When cleaned by the bees you can remove the wax and turn it into candles, polish etc. Chris Slade ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 15:31:34 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: BeeCrofter@AOL.COM Subject: Re: Re-posting passing of Andy Nachbaur Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Remember about a year ago when Andy was referring to using a little bee venom therapy on his "noise" Well melanoma is fast and is a killer. Beekeepers in general get more sun than couch potatos and sunlight with it's ionizing radiation can cause melanoma. So check yourselves over for funny spots and have your quack look em over, lest you meet Andy by the same means. Andy was a tree of great shade and I will miss him greatly. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 08:02:26 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Pollinator@AOL.COM Subject: Re: Swarm Cells......Again! Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/31/99 1:55:14 AM Eastern Standard Time, s_moser@mailcity.com writes: > jelly and larvae in some. I have come to the conclusion, that they > wont last 2 weeks till the new queens arrive. Can I split the hive > now, and allow the queenless half to raise a queen or place a frame > with a nice big swarm cell on it in there, and the queenright half > to supercede,or do what it wants to? Split it in half, or even three, if it is strong and you need three, making sure each new one gets at least one cell. Don't handle the frames roughly, at the stage of forming wings, the l'il babies can't even stand being turned upside down, and it's pretty hard to mate a wingless queen. Don't bother to look for the queen, she'll be very hard to find, as she is already being shrunk down for flight. She's not important anyway; within a couple weeks she'll be replaced by a young 'un regardless of what is done, or not done. >Will they still swarm either > way? Probably not. You have helped them do what they wanted, namely reproduce. >I will worry about finding the queens later and requeen then. Why? To me, a young mated queen, laying with a good pattern is worth more than one in a cage. There is always the risk that the caged queen didn't get mated well, or that she won't be accepted. If there is no problem, I wouldn't try to replace them. Actually, it's early in the season. You might consider instead using your coming queens for a couple more nucs to hold in reserve for one that fails later, or to sell to another beekeeper. Every beekeeper should have a few nuc boxes, and keeping them occupied during the production season is a highly productive concept. If you have a queen that is doing poorly, or one with chalkbrood, or the queen gets accidently killed, you have a nuc to drop in the hive. Instantly they are requeened and boosted back to productivity. My early nucs are built into hives. My later nucs are held for requeening. Think creatively..... keeping in mind the value of a young laying queen. Kill queens, yes, but always for a reason, not just for routine requeening, at least in their first year. I killed one yesterday for chalkbrood. Pollinator@aol.com Dave Green Hemingway, SC USA The Pollination Scene: http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html The Pollination Home Page: http://www.pollinator.com Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles) http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 08:49:51 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Lloyd Spear Subject: FW: First and second year queens MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Re-send failed message. Lloyd Spear Owner, Ross Rounds(tm). The finest in comb honey production. http://www.rossrounds.com -----Original Message----- From: Lloyd Spear [mailto:LloydSpear@email.msn.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 1999 6:45 PM To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues Subject: First and second year queens Lisa asks "I requeened in mid-July last year. Do I have first year or second year queens? Should I be expecting a strong or a weak swarm drive?" Lisa, you have second year queens, or as close to it as you can get. Dave Green did an invaluable service by reminding members of Bee-L that 1st year queens are far less likely to swarm than queens that are older. In fact, most commercial beekeepers feel that it is difficult to get first year queens to swarm. The best study I know of on the effects of queen age on swarming was done in Israel in 1994 (Lensky, The effect of the age of the honey bee queen on worker population, swarming and honey yields...). They considered a queen to be two years old when she started repeating a season. Thus, Lisa's July, 1998 queen would not be "quite" two years old now, but awfully close. In this study, queens two years old were up to four times more likely to swarm than first year queens. For many years I re-queened in the fall, which meant in late August or early September here in upstate NY. Since I have been solely producing comb honey, swarming is a major concern and I saw a significant reduction when I changed from spring re-queening (the spring of the prior year). Last year I experimented on a portion of my hives by re-queening in the spring for current year production, and I was very pleased with the further reduction in swarming tendency. In 1999, I will re-queen 100% of my colonies in early to mid-May. I will use the queens being replaced to head splits or to sell as nucs. In either case the colonies they will head will start without a field work force and if given enough room should get through 1999 without swarming. As far as I know, no detailed study has been done on the effects of queen age on swarming in temperate climates, but studies done in England (1959), New Zealand (1969) and Poland (1981) demonstrated that colonies headed by one year old queens performed better than those headed by two year old queens. A major reason for the improved performance was a substantial reduction in swarming tendency. (I can provide the authors for the above references to any who wish the information.) Lloyd Lloyd Spear Owner, Ross Rounds(tm). The finest in comb honey production. http://www.rossrounds.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 08:49:49 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Lloyd Spear Subject: FW: Shallows and mediums as brood boxes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Re-send failed message. Lloyd Spear Owner, Ross Rounds(tm). The finest in comb honey production. http://www.rossrounds.com -----Original Message----- From: Lloyd Spear [mailto:LloydSpear@email.msn.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 1999 6:45 PM To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues Subject: Shallows and mediums as brood boxes Linda asks "I have been using 3 medium supers to get the bees through the winter & it worked fine. Can I use all shallows instead? (For brood & honey) How many would I need for brood chambers? Will this even work? I don't want to give up my bees. Linda" Someone (George Irmie?) just reported that he gave up on using shallows as brood nests. However, I don't know if he was referring to 4 3/4" shallows or 5 3/4". I know beekeepers who use three 5 3/4" shallows for brood with a great deal of success. Have you tried those? Alternatively, have you tried using a deep (9 1/8") on top of a 5 3/4" or a 6 5/8" (usually called a medium) as a brood nest? You certainly would not want to lift the deep, but this is the system I use and I never routinely lift the deep. I do occasionally tip it forward to look at the bottom of the frames, but that takes no strength or strain. On top of this setup you could be very successful using the 4 3/4" shallows for surplus. (Alternatively, you could use the 4 1/2" supers and produce Ross Rounds(tm). These supers only have about 19 pounds of honey and wax when filled.) :) Lloyd Lloyd Spear Owner, Ross Rounds(tm). The finest in comb honey production. http://www.rossrounds.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 08:36:41 -0500 Reply-To: BobCan@tdpi.com Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Bob Subject: Pollen Comments: To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have noticed that many of my bees are bringing in lots of pollen and that is a good thing. The question I have is I also see bees bringing in sacks of red looking material. I have seen some of this red matter mixed in some of the pollen cells or what I think is some of the red matter. Can anyone tell me what this is? I live in southeastern Ohio just incase it might be some sort of red pollen that someone knows of in this area. Thanks! ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 12:21:32 +0000 Reply-To: jtemp@xs4all.nl Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Jan Tempelman Organization: on trip in Chile Subject: TBH Comments: To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Someone ask my about TBH I ansering: the side is on: http://www.gsu.edu/~biojdsx/main.htm > 2. would you recommend starting with a top bar hive setup? it's hard to see....what do you want with your bees.................................. only a little honey for the family?? , a small business??, education for the childeren???, The TAO of BEES???, The TAO of Nature??, The TAO of LIFE??, getting your circular saw working?? pollination in your fruit-garden??, Organic honey for your own???, Wax- Candles for Christmas??, propolis for hurts??, propolis for your hemorrhoids??, bee sting-vemon for a MS therapy??, nostagic reason of Gandpapa's business??, honey for burning hurts??, royal yelly for the beauty of women??, pollen for all the stuff not in our normal food???, pollen determination to indicate with flowers are blooming??, A top-bar-hive:>>>it is "primitive", BUT IT'S BEE-BASIC...!!!!!! is there more???? ;-)...jan -- Chile op http://www.xs4all.nl/~jtemp/Chili.html -- Rotterdam------ 51.55 N, 4.29 E-------------- San Javier------ 35.36 S, 71.44 W-------Chile- -- http://www.xs4all.nl/~jtemp/index3.html Jan Tempelman mailto:jtemp@xs4all.nl -- ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 10:19:02 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: GImasterBK@AOL.COM Subject: Re: AFB in supers (Ethelyne Oxide) Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Paul: EVERY MAJOR LABORATORY in the entire world has done research to find a way of killing AFB spores without damaging the bees; and in 75 years NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING has been found. Terramycin act on the bees exactly as insulin acts on diabetes in humans. Terramycin will control bees with AFB so they can work and stay alive AS LONG AS THOSE BEES ARE TREATED TWICE EACH YEAR. The Bad thing is the spores have bee PROVEN to live in the wood of hive parts for at least 78 years; and if you have a colony infected with AFB, surely by next year EVERY colony you have will be infected as well as the colonies of any other beekeepers within flight distance. All of what I have written here is exactly the reason the US DEPT. of AGRICULTURE started the official honey bee inspection program so that BY LAW, colonies had to be BURNED UP in order to protect non infected colonies. Commercial beekeepers HAVE to treat with Terramycin because they just risk an entire apiary becoming infected. Some hobbyists do not use Terramycin. In 66 years, even with over 100+ colonies, I have NEVER used Terramycin, because if I got an infected colony, I want to know it quickly, so I can destroy it before my other colonies become infected. AFB infection has come down from about 25%-30% infected in 1922 when inspection from Beltsville Bee Lab was started by my instructor, Dr. James I. Hambleton. The rate of infection now is about 1.5%, so it is not the big worry it once was. Since 1933, when I started keeping bees I have only lost about 10-12 colonies and the last one was about 15 years. Needless to say, I do not believe in using Terramycin, but rather be as well trained as a bee inspector or better, that I quickly see any signs of AFB in any of my 100 colonies. I wish everybody did the same, particularly since so many states have reduced or curtailed bee inspection. George Imirie ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 08:59:16 -0700 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Jerry J Bromenshenk Subject: Returned mail: Service unavailable Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 08:18:56 -0700 Our electronic bee counters revealed something from last summer that we have not seen before. We placed 7 2-story nuc colonies on a peninsula extending into a Bay in Maryland, U.S.A. Each nuc colony was started with 1 1/2 - 2 # of bees in April. Each of the two hive boxes has 5 1/2 length, deep Dadant frames. So, the entire hive is equal to a deep hive body with 5 deep, full-sized frames. The populations fall off in late April and May as the old bees die and new bees just begin to replace the old bees. By June, these were very strong(which was the intent of the experiment). In June several hives swarmed. No surprise to anyone. Most produced a primary swarm. Several thousand bees left with the old queen, and a small number of bees returned later in the day. Some hives produced secondary or after-swarms over a period of days following the initial swarm. Again, no surprise. And in each case, most of the bees that left never returned. One hive did a curious thing. It swarmed early in the month. The colony rapidly regained strength. In late June another swarm emerged. And between late June and mid-July, four swarms departed. Again, no surprise. Now for the catch. In each case, within about an hour of the swarm leaving the hive, they all came back, and they picked up extra bees as they came back. In other words, more bees came back to the hive than left (by several hundred bees). And these were large swarms - thousands of bees, as many as 400 or more raced through our counters every 30 seconds as they left the hive. You may wish to argue my semantics, call this absconding not swarming, whatever. Bottom line, has anyone else observed this behavior? And does anyone have an explanation? Cheers Jerry > > > Jerry J. Bromenshenk, Ph.D. Director, DOE/EPSCoR & Montana Organization for Research in Energy The University of Montana-Missoula Missoula, MT 59812-1002 E-Mail: jjbmail@selway.umt.edu Tel: 406-243-5648 Fax: 406-243-4184 http://www.umt.edu/biology/more http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 19:37:03 +0100 Reply-To: John Burgess Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: John Burgess Subject: International Bee Research Association (IBRA) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit During the Welsh Beekeepers Convention last Saturday, I was able to talk to Richard Jones, the Director of IBRA. As many of you will know, IBRA has recently had to reduce it's staffing levels, and Richard told me that some beekeepers had the impression that this had resulted in the library being closed. He was able to tell me that, on the contrary, the services provided by IBRA will continue in full, despite the difficult circumstances. For those of you not familiar with IBRA, it has the most complete collection of beekeeping literature in the world, and organises many events on bee-related topics world-wide. It produces three regular journals, Bee World, Apicultural Abstracts and the Journal of Apicultural Research. The latest edition of Bee World contains an extensive review of AFB, including 123 references to original work. The library, as has been mentioned in a previous posting, will carry out literature searches and provide photocopies of relevant articles. Books from the library are available for loan by post. These services carry a modest fee, but membership of IBRA gives a reduction, for a mere £35 p.a., including a copy of Bee World. Please excuse the plug for IBRA, but it is important to confirm that the library continues to operate with a full range of services. John Burgess, Editor Gwenynwyr Cymru/The Welsh Beekeeper pencaemawr@bigfoot.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 14:27:38 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Aaron Morris Subject: Environmental Monitoring With Bees (Jerry J Bromenshenk) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT This message was originally submitted by jjbmail@SELWAY.UMT.EDU to the BEE-L list at LISTSERV.ALBANY.EDU. It was edited to correct an URL. ------------------ Original message (ID=27FEC4) (70 lines) -------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 18:53:06 -0700 To: APICULTUREW99@LISTSERV.UOGUELPH.CA From: Jerry J Bromenshenk Subject: Environmental Monitoring With Bees Cc: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Hi: We recently got a new set of requests about our use of honey bees as environmental sentinels. Two recent EPA newsletters cover this topic, are relatively short, and can be accessed via the Internet: 1. EPA's Partners in Progress Newsletter, January 1999 issue, entitled The Buzz on Environmental Monitoring can be found at http://www.epa.gov/swerffrr/doc/pip199.htm The EPA Newsletter is from the Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) group, EPA Publication EPA505-B-99-001 (should be in any library with a federal document repository), Vol. 2, Issue 1, Page 1, 6 and 7. It contains one error that we have found: losses of bees at Millcreek MT, not Milltown MT helped alert officials of an area later found to be hazardous to children's health. 2) EPA's Tech Trends Newsletter, October, 1998 issue. Honeybees and Bluegills Used for Environmental Monitoring. The web address http://clu-in.org/PRODUCTS/NEWSLTRS/TTREND/tt1098.htm will bring you to the top of the October issue. The Newsletter will come up with a lead article on "Inside-Out" Well for Simultaneous Soil Vapor and Ground Water Sampling, followed by our article. Again, you can find the Newsletter in some libraries. EPA Solid Waste and Emergency Response EPA 542-N-08-009, Issue No. 31, pages 2 and 3. Both of these articles were intended for a general audience - hopefully you will find them readable. Cheers Jerry Jerry J. Bromenshenk jjbmail@selway.umt.edu http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 21:49:55 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Pollinator@AOL.COM Subject: Re: Two queens on one comb Comments: To: tvf@umich.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 3/29/99 12:49:35 PM Eastern Standard Time, tvf@umich.edu writes: > When looking at my colonies this weekend I saw something new, after 25 > years among bees. In a rather small but flourishing colony I saw two > perfectly good large queens on the same side of a comb, only about three > inches apart from each other. I have heard that often when combining > two-queen colonies the queens co-exist for a time, and finally I saw > proof of this possibility. Both queens were completely calm, as were > the workers around them. It was a wonderful sight. I saw a similar situation today in a dingaling colony, that I must have combined last fall, though I don't remember it (and that is unusual). The bees had dwindled to three frames of bees, and one frame of brood. The first side I looked at have a big fat queen in the center, and quite a bit of fairly good sealed brood on it. I turned it over, and lo and behold, another fat queen was doing her thing on the opposite side. They were not mother/daughter; both were mature queens. Interestingly the back-side queen had quite a bit of chalkbrood, so I did not hesitate to eliminate her. I've seen very little chalkbrood this spring. There was not a single cell of chalkbrood on the first side. Apparently neither queen had crossed over the frame lately. The best part was that this was the only dingaling colony in the yard. The rest are coming along nicely. There was that nice gentle hiss of the yard that tells me that a flow is on...... Pollinator@aol.com Dave Green Hemingway, SC USA The Pollination Scene: http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html The Pollination Home Page: http://www.pollinator.com Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles) http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 22:19:09 +0200 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: P-O Gustafsson Subject: Re: Swarm Cells Comments: To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit T'N'T Apiaries wrote: > Different strains and lines react > differently and carry different traits. In this area, we've all had stock > like he discribed, but if we'd kept running it, we'd have half the hives and > need twice the crew. Now this is very much my experience too. Nature breeds for survival, which means defensive behaviour and swarming. If we leave it to them we will get just that, mean and swarmy bees. > It's surprising how many colonies haven't been "requeened" by us for five - > six years. This is due to the drones that will have the desired genetics in the area. When there is a stable line of drones around, several generations of superseedure will be possible without loosing the traits. I see the same in my bees. > After discussing this post with other "serious beekeepers" in our area, we > agreed "stock selection" is our number one tool for swarm control. I would say it's the only tool for me..... There is not time enough to visit the hives regularly every 10 days through the swarm season. If I look at it straight economically I will save more time raising my queens and requeen the hives on a regular basis, compared to leave it to the bees. And it's not just the swarming that's the benefit, even if it's the biggest. I get to work with bees that often can be handled without a veil, and I never need to wear any warm gloves. When I work with a hive, it's easier and faster when the bees are gentle and calm. Moving hives when bees are crawling all over isn't all that fun.... The hives are also more even in development, making it simpler when adding supers etc. Yes there is the option to split a lot of the hives early to prevent swarming. But you will need a lot of extra material, and will have to put in labour. And the combined result of the splits is often not as good as if the hive was kept together. (This might not be true in climates where the splits will have time to build up to strong hives before the flow.) But it's not just to buy any odd queens and think it's going to work! As David said; "Different strains and lines react differently and carry different traits." You have to find yourself a queen breeder that has the bees you want, adapted to your climate. And who is producing queens that are EVEN. Or you can raise them yourself if you got the genetic material and enough hives to select from. I have 2-3% swarming now. I don't need to bother about it, and can keep large productive colonies. Now and then there is a hive that is faster to build up than the rest and get so crowded they start making cells. If I give them more room, one or two more supers, they tear down the cells themselves and go back to work again. -- Regards P-O Gustafsson, Sweden beeman@algonet.se http://www.algonet.se/~beeman/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 13:24:49 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Paul Nicholson Subject: Re: AFB in supers (Ethelyne Oxide) Comments: To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology In-Reply-To: <199903311906.OAA23096@listserv.albany.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 10:19 -0500 3/31/99, GImasterBK@aol.com wrote: >All of what I have written here is exactly the reason the US DEPT. of >AGRICULTURE started the official honey bee inspection program so that BY LAW, >colonies had to be BURNED UP in order to protect non infected colonies. >Commercial beekeepers HAVE to treat with Terramycin because they just risk an >entire apiary becoming infected. I think Ethyl Bromide and Vikane gas are used as termite fumigants. I wonder if these will kill spores. Also a few months back I was reading about a radiation sterilizing plant that was built in the Riverside Callifornia area. No doubt this would kill spores and allow the equipment to be salvaged. I wonder what the cost would be. Paul ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 16:45:40 -0500 Reply-To: tvf@umich.edu Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Ted Fischer Organization: ACB Dept., Univ of Michigan Subject: Re: Pollen Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Bob wrote: > I have noticed that many of my bees are bringing in lots of pollen and that > is a good thing. The question I have is I also see bees bringing in sacks > of red looking material. I have seen some of this red matter mixed in some > of the pollen cells or what I think is some of the red matter. Can anyone > tell me what this is? I live in southeastern Ohio just incase it might be > some sort of red pollen that someone knows of in this area. It is pollen. Different pollens have different colors, depending on the genetics of the floral source. When I was collecting pollen commercially, I was amazed at the rainbow hues: green, yellows, pinks, reds, browns, etc.. The worst color, however, was black. There was some pitch black pollen that looked almost like mouse turds. One week every summer this stuff would come in, comprising two thirds of the harvest. I did sell it, however, and no one seemed to be put off. Ted Fischer Dexter, Michigan USA ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Apr 1999 01:06:25 GMT+0200 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Garth Organization: Rhodes University South Africa Subject: A bleat from the Tip of Africa Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Hi All This is just a note to say I am still around - my mailbox had a number of e-mails in it asking where I was. Firstly it is terrible to hear Andy has moved on to the big flow in the sky. He was a great list participator - it is so sad that graveyards become so full of indispensible people. The list will change without his gentle humour, and pointed rambles. Keep well Garth PS - I am of to Lesotho for a week so my mailbox may become full again. Garth Cambray Camdini Apiaries 15 Park Road Grahamstown Apis mellifera capensis 6139 South Africa Time = Honey ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 10:41:11 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Scott Moser Organization: MailCity (http://www.mailcity.lycos.com:80) Subject: Swarm cells revisited Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings all, The weather is wonderful here in St. Louis, and the bees are flying well! I opened all my hives again today to medicate, and the girls are busy at it. Last weekend, I posted a question about one of my hives wanting to swarm already this year. When I openned it then, I found half a dozen swarm cells in various stages, with 2 being fully capped. It was suggested that I put all brood in the bottom box, and split it with empty drawn comb. I did that, hoping it would slow them enough until I get my queens shipped so I can split the hive. No luck! I got into it again and found several fresh queen cell cups with jelly and larvae in some. I have come to the conclusion, that they wont last 2 weeks till the new queens arrive. Can I split the hive now, and allow the queenless half to raise a queen or place a frame with a nice big swarm cell on it in there, and the queenright half to supercede,or do what it wants to? Will they still swarm either way? I will worry about finding the queens later and requeen then. Thanks all. I appreciate your help. Scott Moser Get your FREE Email at http://mailcity.lycos.com Get your PERSONALIZED START PAGE at http://personal.lycos.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 21:48:19 +0000 Reply-To: jtemp@xs4all.nl Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Jan Tempelman Organization: on trip in Chile Subject: Re: Pollen Comments: To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Bob wrote: > The worst color, however, was black. There was some pitch black pollen that > looked almost like mouse turds. I think, must be tulp (nl), Tulipa spp. from Holland????....;-) greeting jant -- Chile op http://www.xs4all.nl/~jtemp/Chili.html -- Rotterdam------ 51.55 N, 4.29 E-------------- San Javier------ 35.36 S, 71.44 W-------Chile- -- http://www.xs4all.nl/~jtemp/index3.html Jan Tempelman mailto:jtemp@xs4all.nl -- ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 20:43:51 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: GImasterBK@AOL.COM Subject: Re: Swarm Cells Comments: To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Lisa: You have a 2nd year queen. She has already laid strongly to establish a strong supply of winter bees, so the spring bees will be her 2nd effort at heavy laying. I was going to write a great deal about this, but now I don't have to; because Dave Green and Lloyd Spear are at the top of the ladder in good knowledge. Perhaps the only thing left out was "What was the race of queen that you put in last July?" I have all Carniolans, switching from Italians 51 years ago. Carniolans "bad point" is they have such a high propensity to swarm, they might swarm on a warm Christmas Day. But they are the BEST race for Maryland's ONLY and very early and short nectar flow of April 15 to June 1st and nothing after that until next year. Hence, I requeen my 100+ colonies every September 1st, so no queen is ever 13 months old, and I have almost no swarms. Good Luck! George Imirie