Apiary Field Day

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Hello Beekeepers, 

Make plans now to join us at the apiary on Sunday, August 22nd at 1 pm for a bit of summer beekeeping activities. 

Because the work we will be doing will not allow for complete social distancing, masks will be required for both vaccinated and unvaccinated members.

If you are a new beekeeper who wants to join the group, but you do not yet have your own personal protective gear, please reach out to me at 919-289-6603 to discuss sizes and I'll bring, from our club stash, what you will need for the afternoon. 

Activity: August is typically the month where mite loads in our colonies is at the highest so it is time to get out in the bee yard and take on the job of mite counting.

To make a proper plan for how you will help your bees manage the mite load they are dealing with, you will need to know how many mites are in the colony.

We make that determination by taking 1/2 cup of bees (approximately 300 bees) and essentially wash them vigorously to dislodge the mites from their bodies and count the number of mites to make a determination as to whether or not our bees need a supporting treatment.

Because, it is the mites that are biting our bees today that are vectoring the viruses that slowly make our bees sick and die over the winter months leaving many new beekeepers to believe it was the cold winter months that killed their bees.  When you open a dead out hive in the spring and resources (food) are still available,  the most likely cause of your bee loss would be mite viruses.

Back to mite counts.....Once you know how many mites are in the colony, you need to determine your course of treatment and we will discuss a number of options - natural and product based. 

So, please take a few minutes to read and review the information in the links below.  These resources will help make our conversation about the various mite treatments make a bit more sense when we are all together.  

As you review the information, you will note that there are a number of considerations the beekeeper will need to take into account when determining next steps. For example: product type/ingredients,  size of colony, and daytime temperatures throughout the treatment period. 

Until Sunday,  happy reading......🙃

Terry

Mites and mite treatment information:  

https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/

Information on the Mite-A-Thon.  

https://www.pollinator.org/miteathon

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