Happy Birthday Brother Adam

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beekeeper birthdays, beekeeping equipment, famous beekeepers

From Wikipedia:

Karl Kehrle OBE (3 August 1898, Mittelbiberach, Germany – 1 September 1996, Buckfast, Devonshire, England, UK), known as Brother Adam, was a Benedictine monk, beekeeper, and an authority on bee breeding, developer of the Buckfast bee.

“He was unsurpassed as a breeder of bees. He talked to them, he stroked them. He brought to the hives a calmness that, according to those who saw him at work, the sensitive bees responded to.” – The Economist, 14 September 1996

Biography

Due to health problems Kehrle was sent by his mother at age 11 from Germany to Buckfast Abbey, where he joined the order (becoming Brother Adam) and in 1915 started his beekeeping activity. Two years before, a parasite, Acarapis woodi that originated on the Isle of Wight had started to extend over the country, devastating all the native bees, and in 1916 it reached the abbey, killing 30 of the 46 bee colonies. Only the Apis mellifera carnica and Apis mellifera ligustica colonies survived.

He travelled to Turkey to find substitutes for the native bees. In 1917 he created the first Buckfast strain, a very productive bee resistant to the parasite. On 1 September 1919 Adam was put in charge of the abbey’s apiary, after the retirement of Brother Columban. In 1925 and after some studies on the disposition of the beehives he installed his famous breeding station in Dartmoor, an isolated model to obtain selected crossings, which still works today. From 1950 and for more than a decade Adam continued his gradual improvement of the Buckfast bee by analysing and crossing bees from places all over Europe, the Near East and North Africa.

In 1964 he was elected member of the Board of the Bee Research Association, which later became the International Bee Research Association. He continued his studies of the Buckfast bee and his travels during the 1970s and received several awards, including appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (1973)^] and the German Bundesverdienstkreuz (1974).

On 2 October 1987 he was appointed Honorary doctor by the Faculty of Agriculture of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences  while in search of a bee on the Kilimanjaro mountains in Tanzania and Kenya, which deeply moved him and he saw as the official recognition of the scientific nature of his research. Two years later he was appointed Honorary doctor by the Exeter University in England.

On 2 February 1992, aged 93, he resigned his post as beekeeper at the Abbey and was permitted to spend some months in his home town Mittelbiberach with his niece, Maria Kehrle. From 1993 onwards, he lived a retired life back at Buckfast Abbey, and became the oldest monk of the English Benedictine Congregation. In 1995, at age 97, he moved to a nearby nursing home where he died on 1 September 1996.

Video series on Brother Adam: The Monk and the Honey Bee Parts 1 – 5

 

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Trapping Honey Bee Swarms

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beekeeping, beekeeping equipment, honey bee swarms, swarm traps, swarms

A proven site.

Swarm Trap in tree

With a mild winter, swarms can come early to the South Carolina Midlands- around February 15th. That sounds like a long time from now but it will get here sooner than you think and swarms are unforgiving with beekeeper tardiness. Building and getting ready for swarm trapping is something that you should consider doing during these off months of winter. Remember, once swarm season starts you’ll probably be caught up in preparing your own hives for the primary nectar flow and have a limited amount of time to prepare traps. However, for those who are prepared there will be free bees. Here are a few sites I recommend:

http://letmbee.com/do-it-yo…/trapping-quick-reference-guide/

http://www.horizontalhive.com/h…/swarm-trap-free-plans.shtml

http://www.biobees.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17189

And multiple videos by outofabluesky:
https://youtu.be/06zYkH7faeA

I promote swarm traps as another part of good beekeeping. Swarm management starts within your own hives and can go a long way to reducing the number of swarms that issue from your apiary. Intensive management can come close to eliminating swarms. However, life happens and you will experience the occasional swarm. Some thoughts on the matter:

1) The swarms you catch in a trap will typically perform better than the ones you knock out of a tree.

2) You’ll lose a portion of the swarms that issue for various reasons like too high in a tree, etc. It’s really nice when that swarm you had to leave in the tree shows up in your trap the next day.

3) Coupled with good swarm management in the hive, and capture of those swarms easy to gather, adding traps is good stewardship. Dr. Lawrence Connor in his book, Increase Essentials, says only 1 in 6 swarms survive their first winter. By capturing them you’re increasing their chances of survival.

4) Swarm captures makes better neighbors. Some neighbors will be as fascinated as you are at the miracle of swarming; others won’t. Capturing your own swarms may prevent you some heartache.

And finally, here’s an excellent, free, eight page article on the biology on swarming and nest selection with excellent advice on swarm trapping: Bait Hives for Honey Bees by Thomas D. Seeley, Roger Morse, and Richard Nowogrodzki

Swarm trapping can be fun. For beekeepers it satisfies the same urge fishing does for fishermen. A lot of care goes into choosing and selecting the equipment and bait in hopes of finding the right combination which will most closely match the criteria the bees are looking for in a new home. Have some fun this year preparing your bait hives and catching a big swarm. You’ll not only get more bees, you’ll have a story to tell. And take a few pictures and send them in to us to share.

Swarm Trap (Bait Hive) Placement Time

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bait hives, beekeeping equipment, swarm traps, swarms

Swarm trapping can be fun. For beekeepers it satisfies the same urge fishing does for fishermen. A lot of care goes into choosing and selecting the equipment and bait in hopes of finding the right combination which will most closely match the criteria the bees are looking for in a new home.

After several years of swarm trapping I think I have my preferred trap design down pat. A double 5 frame nuc, with one old propolised frame and four empty frames with starter strips in the upper box. The bottom box is empty and the bottom board has a small screened drainage hole is attached. A 1 1/4″ entrance hole with bird excluder (nail) and a with closure disk for quickly closing the entrance for moving. The main entrance is blocked (a screw used as handle if it needs to be removed). Finally, a ratchet strap holds it all together. It’s not heavy and easy to transport. I’ll place this now and bait it with my secret recipe scent attractant. Placement of traps are 75 to 200 yards away from the main bee yard and along tree lines. Height is best at 12 – 15 ft. but I’m not keen on lugging ladders through the woods so I keep them at manageable heights. Scout bees will give the swarm trap a thorough inspection with points given for correct cavity size, correct entrance size, odor, dryness, height, and location. The more of these you satisfy the more points you earn and the greater the likelihood they will choose the trap.

Gifts for Beekeepers

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beekeeping, beekeeping equipment, equipment, gifts for beekeepers

http://carolinahoneybees.com/gifts-for-beekeepers/

Overwintering Nuclei Colonies by Larry Connor

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beekeeping, beekeeping equipment, Larry Connor, nucleus hives, overwintering

Some northern beekeepers have success overwintering nuclei-sized colonies. This may be based on a particular stock or genetic trait, and should be tested carefully. More beekeepers are able to overwinter a single, deep hive body by packing the hive out with honey or sugar syrup in the Fall. In addition to food reserves, make sure such colonies are protected from the harsh winds of Winter.

Read the complete article here: Overwintering Nuclei Colonies — BEEKeeping: Your First Three Years

The Evolution of Beehive Covers by Jim Thompson

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beekeeping equipment, beekeeping history

An interesting article on the history and evolution of beehive covers. ~ sassafrasbeefarm

I have found it interesting to look at the types of different beehive covers or tops that have been used over the years. I began my search with the first beehive that was patented in the United States but had a problem because the patent office burned in 1836 and many of the early written patents were destroyed. My records show that there were 1,131 beehives patented up to 2009. Some of these hives were the same hive with improvements to keep the patent in effect. The very first beehive patented was developed by J. Sweet, April 11, 1810, in Bethlehem, MA, but that record was destroyed in the fire. I found patent X 5,872 was granted to Ebenezer Beard in 1830 and most of the written part was recovered from the fire and had a flat attached cover. Sixty eight patented beehives later, in 1853, Lorenzo L. Langstroth was granted a patent for a hive. Reverend Langstroth had actually developed five different models of beehives and most of his hives had flat tops.  However his fifth hive was a glass hive within a hive and the outer top could be tipped forward. So it might be classified as a telescoping cover because it covered an inside hive. During the 23 years in between the Ebenezer Beard hive and the Lorenzo L. Langstroth hive there were 44 flat topped hives that had covers that were hinged, attached or simply rested on the beehive. There were four beehives that had covers sloping in one direction and two telescoping covers. Eleven hives had unusual shaped covers with projections and seven hives had pitched or gable tops. When you stop and think about it, it isn’t really that unusual, as the trend in the early times was to convert a piece of furniture into a beehive and have drawers or a side panel that could be opened.  The lumber in the 1850s was available in wider widths so you could get a single piece that would cover the entire hive. However you would encounter the problem of warping or cupping, allowing the top to have gaps between the bottom side of the cover and the super below. The gaps could be viewed as being good or bad. The gap would provide upper ventilation and an upper entrance to the hive.  However, if you wanted to move the hive there was just another place for the bees to escape from the hive. Thus to eliminate the warping, the boards could be cut in narrower strips, the grain reversed and cross pieces used to hold the boards together. This style of cover is very much like the today’s migratory cover. A problem arose, what do you do with a flat top once it is removed? You can’t just lay it on the ground in the same orientation as it would smash bees.  Your best choice would be to prop it up against something else. Once a bee is smashed, the alarm pheromone is released and the other bees are now on alert. If you reverse the top and lay it on the ground, you can’t use it to stack equipment on it because it may violate bee space and squash bees.

continued… Read the full article with lots more pictures here: The Evolution of Beehive Covers — BEEKeeping: Your First Three Years

Why Smoking Soothes the Stressed-Out Bee Hive by Meredith Swett Walker

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art, bee smoker, beekeeping equipment, defensive behavior, honey bee behavior

Smoke has long been the beekeeper’s secret weapon to avoid getting stung. Ancient Egyptian art dating back over 2,500 years ago depicts beekeepers blowing smoke into hives. But despite the age of this practice and human’s enduring fascination with honey bees, we still haven’t figured out exactly why smoke soothes bees.

Meredith Swett Walker

In research published in August in the Journal of Insect Science, Stephanie Gage, Ph.D., with colleagues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Carl Hayden Bee Research Center and at BetaTec Hop Products, presents a scientific evaluation of smoke on the honey bee’s defensive behavior. The researchers focused on the “sting extension response” and evaluated the effects of two different types of smoke: burlap, which is commonly used by beekeepers, and spent hop pellets—a recycled material made from hop flowers after they have been used to make beer.

Because a honey bee (Apis mellifera) hive contains valuable treasure—sweet honey and protein packed larvae—bees must mount a coordinated defense to protect the hive from the many predators that would love to plunder it. A small number of worker bees serve as “guard bees” that patrol the entrance to the hive and watch for intruders. If a threat is detected, the guard will raise her abdomen and extend her stinger into the air. This behavior is called the sting extension response, and it releases an alarm pheromone, or a chemical signal, to the rest of the colony, mobilizing other workers to prepare to attack an intruder. If the intruder provokes the bees further, stinging commences.

Read the full article here on Entomology Today Why Smoking Soothes the Stressed-Out Bee Hive — Entomology Today

The Quiet Box by sassafrasbeefarm

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beekeeping, beekeeping equipment, beekeeping hacks, quiet box for bees

 

Billy Davis’ Quiet Box for bees.

 

At the Mid State Beekeepers “Bees in the Backyard” event, while inspecting a hive, I had a question about where the best place is to place a removed frame with a queen on it. Would I lean it against the side of the hive? At the time I was not in my bee yard so I just said that the queen would stay on a frame of larvae. In fact I’ve never seen one leave a frame of larvae unless I placed it back into the hive and she went to another frame. But, when in my own bee yard I use a quiet box for such occasions. In fact, I use my quiet box any time I am doing any in depth inspection into the brood nest area. My first frame comes out and, with bees attached, it goes into the quiet box. Should I find the queen on a frame then the she and the frame she is on also go into the quiet box. If I start to find queen cells – quiet box again. One of the biggest advantage I find is that I know where my queen is and fragile cells if I find any. Once the queen is in the quiet box I can pretty much move through the hive at will and concentrate on reading frames. Here’s an excellent video on using a quiet box and how one is constructed.

Brazil’s Beekeeping Donkey – Great Big Story by msamba

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beekeeping equipment, beekeeping humor, the beekeeping donkey

Manuel Juraci Vieira needed a way to transport the honey he would collect from his beehives on his farm back to his home. His solution? His donkey, Boneco. Outfitted in his very own homemade beekeeping suit, Boneco tags alongside Vieira, helping him carry the honey they gather during their hauls. Working together, the unlikely colleagues and friends are able to harvest more of the sweet stuff than possible with Vieira working alone.

via Brazil’s Beekeeping Donkey – Great Big Story — msamba

Smoking The Bees

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bee smoker, beekeeping, beekeeping equipment

Source: World of Beekeeping – Smoking the Bees

April 6, 2012

When I first started beekeeping I never smoked my hives.  Somehow, somewhere I had learned that it was terribly difficult to smoke your hives correctly without burning the bees or some other weird idea.  I had some strange fear that it would be a little like operating a hand held dragon.  I’m not sure how that got into my head but it caused a ton of issues for me and thankfully I eventually started smoking my hives when doing inspections.

While you certainly can operate without smoking your hives it means putting new boxes, lids and other items onto the hives very slowly, pushing each little bee out of the way.  If you don’t you’ll squish a lot of bees and while unlikely, one of those could be the queen.

Eventually I fired up the smoker and realized that it really isn’t difficult to use.  The trick?  Let the fire die down before you start pumping the bellows.  You don’t want burning dragon fire coming from your smoker but it’s easy enough to avoid.

That’s really all there is to it.  If you’re at all paranoid you can simply blow the smoke over your bare hand… if it only feels mildly warm to you it’ll be just fine.

But why do we smoke our bees?

There are several thoughts as to what a smoker causes bees to do.  First many think that bees respond to smoke as they would a forest fire, gorging themselves on honey so they can fly off to a new home should they need to flee the hive.  Second the smoke is said to mask the warning pheromones given off by guard bees, keeping the troops from hearing the battle cry.

So how do you best use the smoke in your hives?

Well first you can use smoke to push bees where you want them to go.  When I first used the smoker this was really helpful when it came to adding new boxes to the tops of my hives… pushing them away from the top of the box meant very few if any were squished when I put on the new box.  The same idea holds true when it comes time to put on the inner cover.

But don’t smoke them too much!

Pushing them around a bit is fine but if you use too much smoke it won’t work for you.  Why?  Because if they are surrounded by smoke they won’t be able to “move away” from the smoke but will instead simply walk around disoriented.  Not what you were hoping for when you lit up the smoker!  So use smoke sparingly and both you and the bees will be happy.

Final thought.  If your beehives aren’t at your home (or even if they are) you have a burning thing you need to transport and/or store.  Make sure the fire is out before you put it anywhere and as an extra added precaution get a metal box with a lid if you need to put your smoker in your car.  We don’t want to see you on the news with a smoking car!

Source: World of Beekeeping – Smoking the Bees