Beekeeping at Five Apple

Show notes and links to come.

Can you have too many new queens? Yes! But who can refuse the challenge to give it a try? Not me. Alternative title: Why my post office knows me by name....

European foulbrood is a bummer to discover in a hive. It could be worse though. Talking through some options.

Finally, a way to do a cut down split WITHOUT finding the queen! Thanks to Tina Sebasteyan in the May 2019 American Bee Journal.

Sorry about the poor sound quality on this one...   If you would rather just read this interesting article it's here:  https://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/darwinian-beekeeping   Seeley interviewed on Science Friday. This is great! https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/beekeeping-tips-from-bees/  

Show notes to come.

———————————————————————————————————— Links mentioned in Episode 16: Mites. If you want live bees, you will need a plan to deal with mites. It does not have to be chemical if you are willing to develop other skills (and actually use them). But being aware and knowledgeable about the organic treatments may be what you need to know one day to save your hive (so that you can requeen with more disease resistant stock). Say hello at the Facebook page — Five Apple Farmhttps://www.facebook.com/5applefarm/ I’m now a super-fan of Dr. Meghan Milbrath of Sand Hill Bees (Michigan). When I eventually figure out how to do recorded interviews on this podcast she is on my short list to interview. Read/Watch/Listen to her presentations for some of the most understandable, science-based rationale on moving toward treatment-free beekeeping out there — well seasoned with reality. That last part is what makes her work really stand out imo. I probably could have skipped this whole podcast and just shared the links below with a bunch of exclamation points. ;-) https://tinyurl.com/y6fbvwtdPDF of her article YOUR BEES DON’T HAVE TO DIE: HOW CAN WE BECOME TREATMENT-FREE WITHOUT KILLING OUR COLONIES? http://www.sandhillbees.com/educationCollection of Milbrath’s articles, presentations at her apiary website. Keep Bees Alive http://keepbeesalive.org( https://pollinators.msu.edu/keep-bees-alive/ )A treasure trove of information to keep your bees healthy. Really great resource. THIS!!!! The best (imo) educational webinar in this collection. Please watch this! (also works well as audio-only). Making a plan for varroa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km541EtCjbY The printed version of above is here: https://tinyurl.com/yxbms5pe All three webinars by Milbrath are here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD7AYI-MRu_3mp3oRW1kWVw (Episode numbering adjusted. Will call this episode 16-17 and next will be 18. This will correct a numbering error in an early episode.) ———————————————————————————————————

This is a ‘radio reader’ episode of an online article “Requeening” by master beekeeper, queen breeder and author Larry Connor. More articles and his (excellent) books available at www.wicwas.com Link to this article: https://www.beeculture.com/requeening/ Clarification from last week (Thanks Chris!) This is the Bush bees I was referring to...link below. Tons of good info on his website and even though I’d read a lot of it there over the years, when I received his book “The Practical Beekeeper” as a Christmas gift I found myself reading it cover to cover and really enjoying it. http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm

Dealing with a hive that appears queenless / Figuring out if it is really queenless / Bush’s Panacea Cure / Queen cells from micro-breeders becoming more available. ( Mostly beginner but with intermediate bits too) About the podcast: Leigh started with bees in 2010 and keeps around a dozen hives at 3000' in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, fully chemical free and without buying replacement bees since starting. When I mention Michael Bush in this and other episodes, this is the website which is a treasure trove of bee reading: http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm (Thanks Chris!)

Preventing swarming after splits. Listener question: What advice would you now give your first year beekeeper self.

Today I read selections of Sue Cobey’s classic article on Cloake board queen rearing. Skilled intermediate and up. Full article here (with illustration): https://www.delta-business.com/CalgaryBeekeepers/Bee-Club-Library/Queens%20and%20Nucs/Cloake%20Board%20Method%20of%20Queen%20Rearing%20and%20Banking%20Sue%20Cobey.pdf

Without moving anything smaller than a frame (no grafting, that is) you can make a few to several good queens off your favorite hive. References mentioned (some in reference to next episode): http://www.bushfarms.com/beessplits.htm#cutdown Generates a calendar for your queens (use with splits by using your split date as the graft date) https://thebeeyard.org/queen-rearing-calendar/ http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/queenraise.html http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/benhardenmethod.html https://www.theapiarist.org/vertical-splits-making-increase/ https://www.theapiarist.org/cloake-board-queen-rearing/ https://www.theapiarist.org/ben-harden-queen-rearing-intro/   About the podcast: Leigh Knott started with bees in 2010 and keeps around a dozen hives at 3000' in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, fully chemical free and without buying replacement bees since starting.

Aspects to getting quality queens from your own yard. Part one of several. Intermediate level. Bryan Fisher’s YouTube on Summer Splits: https://youtu.be/qkVGLJWaO80 Michael Bush slides on basic queen rearing: http://www.bushfarms.com/QueenRearing.ppt