Telling the Bees

Tags

beekeeping, beekeeping customs, beekeeping history, beekeeping lore, customs, death, funeral, Halloween, John Greenleaf Whittier, poetry, telling the bees

Charles Napier Hemy (1841-1917) – Telling the Bees

Telling the Bees

The telling of the bees is a traditional English custom, in which bees would be told of important events in their keeper’s lives, such as births, marriages, or departures and returns in the household. The bees were most commonly told of deaths in their master’s family.

To inform the bees of a death their hive might be hung with a black cloth, while a “doleful tune” is sung. Another method of “telling the bees” would be for their master to approach the hive and knock gently upon it. The house key might also be used to knock on the hive. When the master of the house had the attention of the bees they would tell the bees the name of the person that had died.

Food and drink from a beekeeper’s funeral would also be left by the hive for the bees, including the funeral biscuits and wine. The hive would also be lifted a few inches and put down again at the same time as the coffin. The hive might also be rotated to face the funeral procession, and draped with mourning cloth.

A section from John Greenleaf Whittier‘s poem “Home Ballads” describes the practice:

Before them, under the garden wall,
Forward and back
Went, drearily singing, the chore-girl small,
Draping each hive with a shred of black.

Trembling, I listened; the summer sun
Had the chill of snow;
For I knew she was telling the bees of one
Gone on the journey we all must go!

“Stay at home, pretty bees, fly not hence!
Mistress Mary is dead and gone!”

Source and to read more: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telling_the_bees

Video animation of John Greenleaf Whittier via YouTube posted by poetryreincarnations

Video of Holland beekeeper telling the bees via Youtube posted by Historical Honeybee Articles

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Many Uses of Beeswax

Tags

beekeeping, beeswax

For the young lady who came up to me at last night’s farmer’s market and purchased two bars of beeswax. I asked what your plans were and you said you didn’t know yet. We discussed some things that came to the top of my mind but as I drove home I remembered lots more uses which I wish I had shared. I hope you see this post which, actually, is just the beginning. An internet search on any of these items adding in the term “recipe” should get you more detailed information on homemade applications.

To start, a good article titled “25 Uses of Beeswax” by Paleomama can be found here:

http://thepaleomama.com/2015/11/25-ways-to-use-beeswax/

and for a quick list of brainstormed uses here are some quick ideas:

101 Uses for Beeswax

Thank you Crafting Montana for coming up with this great list

1) lubricant for very old furniture joints.

2) Smooth movement for doors and windows.

3) Component for mustache creams.

4) Prevents bronze items from tarnishing.

5) Use as a rest prevention.

6) Furniture polish when mixed with linseed oil and mineral spirits in equal parts.

7) covering cheeses and preservatives to protect from spoilage.

8) Conditioner for wood bowls and cutting boards.

9) Coat nails and screws to prevent wood from splintering.

10) Used by NASA with an enzyme to mop up oceanic oil spills.

11) Cake guitar bodies to boost longevity.

12) Coat tambourine surfaces for thumb roll playing technique.

13) Coat reeds for woodwinds to get a tight fit.

14) Egg painting in a Ukraine folk art of Pysanky.

15) An essential ingredient in Indian art of fabric dyeing called Batik printing.

16) Candles that don’t drip and have no smoke.

17) In candy like gummy bears, worms and jelly beans.

18) To water proof leather.

19) Molten beeswax to polish granite counter tops.

20) To make crayons.

21) With palm oil for soap.  The palm oil reduces scars and the wax a natural moisturizer.

22) Mix with palm wax for a natural hair remover.

23) To reduce bow string friction.

24) on whips to water proof.

25) in bullets.

26) With comfery and chick weed powder to alleviate itching.

27) Wire pulling.

28) Sewing to strengthen the thread and prevent snagging.

29) To fill seams between pieces of slate when setting up a pool table.

29) Plucking the feathers from fowl.

30) As a flexible mold for a variety of mediums.

31) Jewelry.

32) Clean your clothes Iron.

33) In glass Etching.

34) Encausting Painting.

35) To make earplugs.

36) Ear Candling.

37) When fashioning Dreadlocks.

38) To make Dental floss.

39) For cracked animal hooves.

40) When making cosmetics.

41) When making chocolates.

42) Copper sinks.

43) Removing previous waxes.

44) In Blacksmithing.

45) Basketry.

46) To coat Baking pans for smooth exit of goods.

47) To coat the hemp strings on Bag Pipes.

48) To make balms.

49) Barbeque preparation.

50) When making healing salves, creams and ointments.

51) Use in pharmaceuticals.

53) In manufacturing of electronic components and CDs.

54) As a polish for shoes and floors.

56) To unsticking drawers.

57) Keep zippers moving smoothly.

58) To water proof boots and saddles.

59) To coat hand tools to prevent rust.

60) To lower cholesterol, ulcers, diarrhea and hiccups.

69) To relief pain, swelling (inflammation)

70) In beverages.

71) In manufacturing as a thickener or emulsifier.

72) In fragrances in perfumes.

73) To seal documents.

74) An ingredient in surgical bone wax.

75) Blended with pine rosin to serve as an adhesive.

77) A metal injection molding binder component.

76) In the embalming process.

78) As a stabilizer in the military explosive Torpex.

79) To coat hemp strends – an alternative use to lighters.

80) A natural Air purifier (when used in candles).

81) Glazing of fruits and vegetables.

82) Chewing beeswax can help quit the habit of smoking.

83) As a hair pomade.

84) Grafting plants.

85) In the restoration of pictures.

86) Wax fly fishing lines so they float.

87) To keep saws sharp.

88) Grinding and polishing of optical lenses.

89) Used in crafting of dentures and other dental equipment.

90) To seal and polish smoke fired pottery.

91) Used on snow skis for a good glide.

92) Used for base ring for toilets (in the past).

93) Use3d to cover a broken wire on braces until you get to your orthodontist.

95) To prevent stretch marks.

96) Saturate cardboard with beeswax and use as a fuel for a backpackers fuel for stove.

97) Beeswax candle as emergency heat when trapped in a car or small space.

98) Temporary filling until you can see your dentist.

99) To seal stick matches to stay dry when boating, fishing or skiing.

100) To prevent slippage for belts in vacuums and sewing machines.

101) As a wood filler

read more Crafting Montana

 

 

No-bake Honey and Peanut Butter Mummy Sticks for Halloween by Rowse Honey

This recipe from Rowse Honey is perfect. It doesn’t involve any actual baking, just lots of mixing and hands on fun for the kids.

You’ll need to get your hands on some lollipop sticks to attach them to but you can easily find them online.

The recipe uses white candy melts but white chocolate is a good alternative if you can’t find those.

They take a little work but will keep your children occupied for hours.

• Ingredients:
• 150g honey
• 150g smooth peanut butter
• 200g puffed rice cereal
• 2 bags white candy melts
• 1 box of candy eyes

Method: Pre-line a 9×9 silicone square baking tray with cling film. Warm the honey in a pan until it thins and begins to bubble. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter until thoroughly mixed together. Add the puffed rice cereal and make sure every bit is coated in the mixture. Tumble the mixture out onto the pre-lined baking tray. Wet your hands and press the mixture down really hard to ensure there are no air gaps. This is really important. Allow to set for up to 2 hours in the freezer. Once set remove from freezer and allow to thaw slightly before cutting into 16 equal rectangles, place back in the freezer for a further 30 minutes. Warm the candy melts in the microwave in a mug, one bag at a time. You’ll need to do this in 30-second bursts, stir then repeat until it’s ready to be used. Pre-line a 32cmx22cmx5cm baking tray with baking parchment. Dip the bottom of the lollipop in melted chocolate then insert into the shortest length of the puffed rice cereal, then cover the base with chocolate, repeat this step with all the treats then place in the fridge to set for 10minutes. After the sticks have adhered to the treats, you need to immerse the entire rice krispie treat into the mug of melted candy melt to cover the entire treat, repeat this step with all the treats then place back into the fridge to set. Now with the remaining melted chocolate place this into a piping bag (or you can use a sandwich bag if you don’t have one to hand) and snip the end. Remove the treats from fridge then using the piping bag place 2 dots in the middle in order to stick on the eyes. Then going left to right go back and forth with the piping bag to get the mummy effect on the body of the treats so you end up with layers to represent the mummies bandages. Place back in the fridge to set for a further 10 minutes. Once set, remove from the fridge and place centre stage on your Halloween table for everyone to enjoy!

Shared from Laura Abernethy: https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/21/how-to-make-no-bake-honey-and-peanut-butter-mummy-sticks-for-halloween-13456139/?ito=cbshare

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

The Bee-Boys Song by Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

The Bee-Boy’s Song

" 'Dymchurch Flit' " -- Puck of Pook's Hill.

Bees! Bees! Hark to your bees!
"Hide from your neigbours as much as you please,
But all that has happened, to us you must tell,
Or else we will give you no honey to sell!"

            A maiden in her glory,
                Upon her wedding - day,
            Must tell her Bees the story,
               Or else they'll fly away.
                      Fly away -- die away --
                            Dwindle down and leave you!
                      But if you don't deceive your Bees,
                             Your Bees will not deceive you.

             Marriage, birth or buryin',
                 News across the seas,
             All you're sad or merry in,
                 You must tell the Bees.
                       Tell 'em coming in an' out,
                               Where the Fanners fan,
                       'Cause the Bees are just about
                                As curious as a man!

             Don't you wait where the trees are,
                    When the lightnings play,
            Nor don't you hate where Bees are,
                    Or else they'll pine away.
                          Pine away -- dwine away --
                                 Anything to leave you!
                          But if you never grieve your Bees,
                                 Your Bees'll never grieve you.

The Bees do Most of the Work by sassafrasbeefarm

Tags

beekeeping, Fiona Apple, honey judging, honey shows

On presenting honey for judging:

What are we except packers of the bees’ hard work? I don’t select the flowers to visit. Nor do I cure the nectar into honey; nor combat pests or robbers.  I do nothing as a member of their society. Aside from caring for the bees to enable them to do their work as they choose, I am merely the packer of their efforts. And so, I will do it with reverence and effort respectful of the work they gave to me. If that effort results in a ribbon then I’ve done my job to take what they gave and present it to others at its best. Yes, it’s fluff and not reflective of the best beekeeper out there. It’s extra for those that look for yet another activity related to their beekeeping. Hopefully my effort sparks some interest in others to look at the miracle the bees provide.

Miracles by Walt Whitman

Tags

honey bees, Miracles, poetry, Walt Whitman

Miracles

Why, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the
water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night
with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer
forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so
quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;
These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the
same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.

To me the sea is a continual miracle,
The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the
ships with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?

Walt Whitman, 1856

“Miracles” was first published in Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (Fowler & Wells, 1856) as “Poem of Perfect Miracles.”

Walter “Walt” Whitman, May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality.

Born in Huntington on Long Island, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, a government clerk, and—in addition to publishing his poetry—was a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War. Early in his career, he also produced a temperance novel, Franklin Evans (1842). Whitman’s major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money. The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common person with an American epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. After a stroke towards the end of his life, he moved to Camden, New Jersey, where his health further declined. When he died at age 72, his funeral became a public spectacle. ~Wikipedia

Video Music Credit: Comfort Zone by General Fuzz

 

It Always Starts with Assessment by sassafrasbeefarm

Tags

assessment, beekeeping, colony assessment, hive assessment, honey bees, management

Ever wonder why beekeepers are either reluctant to give advice OR you end up with multiple suggestions in response to the same question?

One reason is because seldom does the beekeeper being asked have a full picture of the issue being discussed. The problem and visual is clear enough in the mind of the person asking the question but usually their assessment isn’t clearly presented to the mentor or bee buddy. So what often happens is the mentor steers clear of guessing to avoid giving bad advice OR they venture a guess based on inadequate data. Since it is inadequate data it isn’t too difficult to wonder why multiple answers are sometimes suggested.

Good assessment data increases the odds of getting accurate suggestions.

So, as above, it always starts with Assessment.

APIE – Assessment, Planning, Implimentation, Evaluation

I worked in a hospital setting much of my work career. When it came to people’s lives I didn’t guess before administering treatments, care, medications, or interventions. I either was assured of my initial assessment or I stopped and re-assessed before proceeding further.

Measure twice; cut once! Well, sort of…

Of course beekeeping doesn’t quite have the same level of accountability and errors are not as devastating as in healthcare. However, the same methods can be applied which, if followed, should result in better outcomes for the bees and beekeeper. Until one Assesses how can they make a suitable Plan? And how do I decide on the proper Implimentation until a Plan is developed? And if I am to learn anything at all in this process I must Evaluate my results. Otherwise I make the same mistakes over and over, year after year, never understanding why.

But, again, it all starts with Assessment.

A Google search will yield many assessment sheets and data collection tools. Use them especially when first starting with bees. At some point it’s likely they will become second nature. And by second nature I mean you’ll do them without the need for prompting with a piece of paper. Let’s look a some things you may want to consider with regard to Assessment:

It’s easy – look, listen, smell! Touch and taste – not so much…

Approaching the hive:
Are they flying? Is the temperature such that they should be flying? Are they guarding the entrance? If not ask yourself, why not? Is the exterior of the hive marked up with bee poop? Are there dead larvae on the landing board? Dead bees? If so, was there a cold snap or is it appropriate cleansing, chilled brood, drone evictions? Are some hives flying and others not? Are there bees circling any hives looking for entrances? Are there bees fighting on the landing board? Are the foraging bees launching themselves into the air on departure? Are bees coming back to the hive heavy or with pollen? Are there yellow jackets, flies, or other pests hanging around the entrance? Do I have an appropriate entrance guard on based on the bees ability to guard? Any signs of dead bees in front of the hive? Any signs of wax cappings under the hive? Any moth or spider webs? Isn’t this easy – you haven’t even suited up yet!

Entering the hive:
What’s your idea on weight when you lift the hive from the rear? Is the number of boxes as expected for the time of year and history of the colony? What is the reaction to a puff of smoke at the entrance? What is the reaction to removing the inner cover? What does the hive smell like? Are there SHB inside the inner cover? Any sign of other pests? Is either the bottom or top box empty of bees? Do the bees run down between the frames when you give them a gentle puff of smoke or fly away? Are they unusually testy? Does what you are seeing, smelling, hearing correspond correctly with the season and temperatures? Does the top bars of the uppermost box have an appropriate amount of bees on them? Is there burr comb on the inner cover?

Frame examination:
Is there a well defined brood area? Where is it located within the hive (upper boxes? bottom boxes? chimney?) Is the capped brood density appropriate or spotty? Any cappings perforated? Appropriate worker brood to drone ratio? Is there a band of pollen over the brood and honey above that? Can you locate the queen either by sight or based on brood area? Is she where you want her? As you work, is the colony tolerating you? Are they giving you a roar to leave? Any signs of pests? If so how bad is the pest level? Any signs of PMS? Is the size of the colony in bee population appropriate for the number of boxes you have? What is your impression of the bee density and the number of frames covered with bees? Can they guard the amount of comb space you have given them to guard? Is there adequate stores? white wax? good brood pattern? Is the open larvae swimming in food? Is the hive functioning as a fine tuned machine?

And always, the follow-up question to the unexpected is, “Why?”

And so it goes with many many more questions that sometimes have different answers based on temperature, weather, seasons, bloom, dearth, and so forth. But it costs you nothing to ask these questions of yourself. Ask away and take note of your answers. And when the answers don’t add up to what you expect, are out of sync with season, or other hives, or just not what you expect look further for more questions to ask. Be the detective. Re-interview the witnesses and suspects. Get to know them well enough to spot the odd response or presentation.

If you think this is going to take years, you may be right. But I do think we get a little better every year. Keep asking questions of yourself and the bees until you see patterns and you know what follows various presentations.

 

The Fall Four

Tags

apiculture, beekeeping, fall management, humidity, management, starvation, varroa

I find myself digging ever deeper into the void of my beekeeping knowledge. It seems the more you think you know, the more you realize you don’t know enough. That said, I’m forced into at least assessing the current state of affairs in the bee yard and make decisions based on my ever increasing level of uncertainty about these things.

It seems that I keep reading here and there that the two biggest killers of honey bees are mites and starvation. More recently I saw a third reason suggested, that being winter moisture in the hive. And then let’s not forget about problems resulting from excessive internal hive space. Let’s call these threats to beekeeping the Fall Four. So, with these things in mind, let’s visit the bee yard and see what’s happening.

It’s now October and crunch time for assessing the Fall Four. Hopefully you survived the summer dearth period. Some of my friends fed their bees through the dearth and others allowed their bees to eat their stores – either method works. But now is the time to take on the Fall Four and look at each item and make it right prior to the coming cooler weather. Remember, honey bees are cold blooded animals and anything less than ideal brood nest temperature, in the low nineties, is likely to be stressing. And although the cool weather will soon start, we’ve still got a long way to go as well as times we can’t enter the hives or use certain interventions. So, this time of year we’re all beekeeping preppers.

Item #1 is Mites. I’ve lost one colony to mites this year. It crashed with a mighty thud. Within three to four weeks it went from absolutely thriving to a handful of struggling bees. The weather was warmer then so I continued to see bees coming and going. If a mite crash was to happen now, with these cooler days, I’d probably see no bee traffic as it would take all of the sickly remaining bees to heat the brood area, queen, and cluster. Luckily I’m currently seeing traffic by late mornings on all my hives. A friend of mine told me the other day that he considers a colony dying by mites to be similar to the flu running through a dormitory – one day all are fine, but within days everyone is bedridden. It’s not the mite itself that kills but the viri it spreads. Just like the flu, when the right virus coincides with the right opportunity it’s off to the races. So, pardon my rambling, but have you checked for mites lately? That doesn’t mean look at your bees and try to find mites. It means place a sticky board underneath, ether roll, or sugar shake and count mites and treat accordingly. Recently I’ve been reading about the need to treat all hives when mites levels are high in any hive in an apiary. It seems a failing colony getting robbed out is itself a vector for transmission of mites within an apiary. Personally, I’ve decided this year to treat using Oxalic Acid. Given it is an organic acid and apparently works by eroding the mites finer anatomical parts, the mites are not able to build a tolerance or immunity over time. With all colonies looking healthy right now, my plan is to wait until the broodless period around Thanksgiving and treat all of my colonies simultaneously.

Item #2 is Starvation. I placed my colonies on a maintenance level of feeding when dearth started. More recently, I got into my hives and noted it was time to step up my feeding program. My current goal is to get the hives heavy as soon as possible. That’s going to mean switching to a 2:1 sugar syrup, doubling the number of calories per feeding, to encourage storage. This year the late pollen flow of goldenrod has recently increased brood production, so I’m sure the bees will also be using the syrup to rear winter bees. Doesn’t matter what they use the syrup for,  my response is the same – feed ’em up good now. Now is the time to learn to heft your hives from behind to determine their weight. That way, during the dead of winter you can assess stores without opening them.

Item #3 is Moisture. I’ve heard and read many times that moisture kills bees before cold temperatures kill bees. I’ve watched the YouTube videos showing beekeepers in the mountains of Virginia, upstate New York, and Vermont with snow piled high around their hives – and their bees survive just fine. I think that is proof enough that bees can survive the temperatures of a South Carolina winter. But moisture, that’s a different matter. Almost every winter I see moisture inside the outer covers on chilly days. If not controlled that condensation starts to mold – not good. The old books talk about installing your hives tilted forward so condensation will run forward and not drip down directly onto the bees and chill them. That’s good but I really want to do more. For one, reducing the syrup to a 2:1 mix this time of year also helps to start reducing the amount of moisture within the hive. A little later in the Fall, I’ll remove all liquid feed and place a feeding shim with dry sugar on top. Some people simply pour dry sugar on top of a piece of paper placed on the top bars or on the inner cover (Mountain Camp Feeding). The sugar acts as a desiccant and absorbs the humidity. The bees feed on any sugar that the condensation liquifies. It’s a two birds with one stone situation. But the best method to solving the moisture problem is adequate ventilation. My inner covers have an upper entrance cut into them. If the colony’s population is robust I just leave the upper entrance open as during summer. If the bees have decreased in numbers I may flip the slot so that it is on the top of the inner cover, or screen it, to prevent intruders while still providing ventilation. I don’t worry so much about the low temperatures unless it’s also really windy for extended periods; I do worry about that wet, damp chill that comes with too much moisture in the hive.

Item #4 is Internal Hive Space. Now is certainly a good time to assess hive (i.e hive bodies) volume. Most colonies grow throughout the nectar flow. If you were lucky you had the pleasure of stacking boxes on top of boxes – the uppermost boxes filled and capped with hoarded stores of honey. After the great flood, I was surprised to see that the bees had eaten a good bit of their stores. Other colonies had decided to eat some frames and leave others capped and untouched. Also, some colonies started their reduction in colony size early and are now down to half of the numbers of bees they had during the flow. Either way, they simply do not need the extra space any longer. My mentors have told me that here in the Midlands a hive with a 10 frame deep and a 10 frame medium, well provisioned, is all that is needed to get through winter until about late February. (two deeps or three mediums are also okay and represent about the same volume.) So, I look to consolidate remaining honey frames into as perfect of a second box as possible giving the bees a well stocked pantry above their brood area. Any extra full frames are placed in the freezer for possible use in late winter/early spring during buildup. I take a similar approach with regard to colonies that have reduced their numbers. I give them just enough room to be cozy and remove extra boxes (remember extra boxes are invitations to pests and require patrolling by your bees). The idea is to turn hives into efficient and compact units going into late fall and winter.

As already stated, I know more and more that I know less and less about bees. I’m sure that the way I am approaching this can be done a thousand different ways. That’s the intrigue of beekeeping. It’s an art and your methods are equally as valid. What works for you may be superior to what works for me. So take my observations and methods as incentive to explore, experiment, and tweak to your own situation. It’s all an adventure.

Let’s Talk about Moisture in the Bee Hive

Tags

apiculture, bee hive, beekeeping, condensation, fall management, moisture

Soon we will be heading into cooler weather. The concern here in the South Carolina Midlands isn’t the cold. It doesn’t get too cold here for the bees. They will cluster and as long as they have 1) honey, 2) enough bees, and 3) a dry cavity they are fine. With these three conditions present they will make their own heat and do well. The concern is moisture within the hive. The moisture is deadly as it will drip on the bees and wick away the heat, chill them, and they will die. If you don’t believe in the power of moisture to wick away the heat I encourage you to get out tomorrow morning and wash your car. What seems like a beautiful fall morning will chill you to the bone. If that fails to convince you try it again when the temperature falls to freezing.

I got the following from over on the Bee-L discussion list. It’s something to think about as temperatures drop and moisture in the hive condenses and becomes dangerous. The information below did not come with a named author.

Here’s some math on 100lbs of honey with 20% moisture… nice round numbers to keep the math simple:  20% moisture on 100lbs (45.4kg) of honey is 9.08kg of water which at 1L per kg is 9.08kg of water.
Now for the rest of the honey:
This quantity of honey is 80% (80lbs) of fructose. Molar mass of fructose (C6H12O6) = 180.72g/mol

6 Carbon -> 12.01g/mol x 6 = 72.60g/mol
12 Hydrogen -> 1.01g/mol x 12 = 12.12g/mol
6 Oxygen -> 16.00g/mol x 6 = 96.00g/mol
Total = 72.60g/mol + 12.12g/mol + 96.00g/mol

80lbs of fructose = 36287g
36287g of fructose / 180.72g/mol = 201 mol of fructose.
For future ease, lets round this to 200 mol of fructose.

Fructose is consumed by the bees and burnt with the oxygen they consume to release carbon dioxide and water. Here’s the balanced formula:

C6H12O6 + 6O2 -> 6CO2 +6H2O

Since 80lbs of fructose is roughly 200mol of fructose we need 1200 mol of oxygen to produce 1200mol of carbon dioxide and 1200mol of water.

200[C6H12O6] + 1200[O2] -> 1200[CO2] +1200[H2O]

Water as a molar mass of 18.02g/mol.

So 1200mol of water x 18.02g/mol = 21.6kg of water.
At 1L per kg we get 21.6kg of water released in the consumption of 80lbs of fructose.

So the total water in 100lbs of honey at 20% moisture is 9.08L + 21.6L = 30.68 liters of water.

If getting over 30L of water off of 31.5L (110lbs) of honey still sounds crazy, realize that the bees will have to consume 38.4kg of oxygen to metabolize the honey. So 45.4kg of honey and 38.4kg of oxygen combine – through the wonders of cellular respiration – to release 30.7 liters of water inside the hive.

The best and cheapest method of lowering the moisture problem is 1) providing adequate ventilation. My inner covers have an upper entrance cut into them. If the colony’s population is robust I just leave the upper entrance open as during summer. If the bees have decreased in numbers I may flip the slot so that it is on the top of the inner cover, or screen it, to prevent intruders while still providing ventilation. 2) Reducing the water in syrup to a 2:1 mix this time of year also helps to start reducing the amount of moisture within the hive. 3) As it gets colder, I have also tried removing all liquid feed and place a feeding shim with dry sugar on top Some people simply pour dry sugar on top of a piece of paper placed on the top bars or on the inner cover (Mountain Camp Feeding). The sugar acts as a desiccant and absorbs the humidity. The bees feed on any sugar that the condensation liquifies. It’s a two birds with one stone situation. 4) My first year I placed an extra box on top of the inner cover and inside I placed an old quilt. I was surprised at how damp/wet it got with condensation. 5) I have a friend that has some sort of fiber board that absorbs moisture. He places them over the bees (top box) and it wicks away the moisture keeping it from dripping on the bees. For people with money, they are available precut from the bee supply stores and in building supply stores under the name Homasote.

Start inspecting underneath your inner and outer covers for signs of condensation or mold. If it’s staying wet, dripping, etc increase ventilation or use other means to help them stay dry.

Happy Birthday Jay J. Smith

Born October 13th 1871, Tampico, Illinois

Died: October 30th 1926, Vincennes, Indiana

Jay Smith was an active writer in the bee journals of his day and wrote two of the most loved and used of the queen rearing books still being used and followed by many today. He is most famous for his other book, Queen Rearing Simplified, but his second book, Better Queens, written 25 years later is the culmination of his work in queen rearing.

From Michael Bush’s website where both of Mr. Smith’s books may be read in their entirety:

“I wanted this book available because I think Jay Smith was one of the great beekeepers of all time and one of the great queen breeders of all time. There are many queen breeding books by scientists or small-scale breeders, but this is by a beekeeper who raised thousands of queens every year. I think that is much more applicable to practical queen rearing. It is also a method that does not require grafting, good for those of us who can’t see well enough to graft, and does not require the purchase of special equipment, good for those of us lacking in the funds to buy one of the graftless systems on the market.” Michael Bush

Click on photos below to read the books.

Queen Rearing Simplified

From the Find a Grave Website:

Better Queens

Jay J. “The Bee King” Smith (1877-1926) – Find A Grave Memorial

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Caramelized Korean Beef with Kimchi Fried Rice by GloryBee

Tags

food, honey, honey recipe, Korean Beef, oriental recipe, recipe

Buckwheat Honey is our central ingredient for this recipe. While some may question our choice of honey on this recipe, we picked it because Buckwheat Honey is known for its depth of flavor. You can use Buckwheat Honey for all sorts of savory recipes and we think this is a great fit! Enjoy!

Read the full recipe here:  Caramelized Korean Beef with Kimchi Fried Rice — GloryBee