Im sorry for my loss

[Doesil]

The marked queen from the summer project didnt make it thru the winter. That means I have potentially one hive left. I wont be able to check till the snow melts down and I can get a ladder up to look.  That queen isnt marked but was an upopened queen from The project as well.

Anyone else?

Kathleen

 

 All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are.  Humility gives it its power.  

 tao te ching

[Charlie Vorisek]

I got around to everything the last couple days.  10 locations, 130 hives.  30% loss at this point.  Survivor queens 35%loss vs southern 50% loss.  Purdue 58% loss....however some started late.  Everything was treated for mites in August except Purdue.  The treatment, thymol (ApiGard), was just intended to be quick and knock down phoretic mites.   Mites within capped brood could become a problem later, especially with extended brood rearing.

Worst yard was at home. 60%loss.  Against my better judgement, I consolidated all the hives to a tight location by the barn and fenced it for wind.  Normally, they don't get to fly so much in Nov-Dec.  I feel many of the forage bees either got disoriented or got teased into my stack of wet supers and didn't make it home.   This resulted in clusters too small to keep warm.  It was the only yard I saw that bad.

Several yards with very low losses....10-20%.

Most losses were dwindled colonies or starvation. 

 Dwindle likely due to either mites and/or loss of older bees too soon because of warm weather.  Often a tiny cluster, with small amount of capped brood (capped brood indication there were enough bees when the eggs were laid) and ample honey.

Starvation in some was because they used everything within reach for brood production.  Some were dead on one side, with full frames on the other side... they don't like to move sideways.

Many of the live hives are full with bees, but low on spare food.  Added boxes of honey from dead-outs.

I did not break frames loose... no need to break the clusters any more than to take inner cover off and just add to the top.   Yes, a little smoke helps to keep them from flying too much.  

I'd recommend feeding very heavy syrup or candy boards if extra honey is not available.  

Charlie V

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[lmoo...@aol.com]

so far , fair , checked the girls on tue. 6 out of 9  are very strong , large clusters on top and consuming the winter patties, the other 3 , no bees on top , but still activity down inside, the queen from the summer project is one of the week ones. no sign of dead bees on any of them ,  leroy

[Rsem1]

I hate to jinx myself, but my 4 little hives ;) are still viable. They were out buzzing around on Wednesday during that beautiful spring weather. Also, I made that candy board recipe you posted, Charlie. I packed the sugar onto some ventilated inner covers that I use in the summer. I packed it in so that all the mesh was covered to mitigate too much airflow. I ended up putting @5 lbs onto each hive. I'm planning to check on them during the next mild day, but when I opened the one hive to place the sugar board, the cluster was right there and I'm sure they they were wondering what they did to deserve such a bonanza!  Hopefully it will give them a little boost for the next couple of months. I'll let you know how it goes!

~Lynne Miller

[Doesil]

 Put me down for one deff.  

Im mentoring a newbee. Ive found when they make an investment it a commitment. 

Kathleen Denman

Should I bring an empty nuc box to put them in? Where are they from? yours? Local stock thats over wintered?

Thanks

[Charlie Vorisek]

Kathy,

These are 5-frame starter 'nucs', with new laying queen, workers, brood, honey and frame for expansion.  

  These are started in Florida and shipped to a Pa location, from which we transfer to our Linesville location. 

Cost is $150 each, which must be paid in advance to hold each order.  Send a check made to my business name.  I'm not setup for online payments.   My April list is filled.  Tentative pickup for remaining nucs is May 7th.  They can be transferred to your nuc box or borrow mine.  Some will be in hard boxes, others in waxed cardboard.

Queen genetics are mixture of breeder queens and proven stock.  In fairness, I did not requeen the 70 nucs I kept last season.  I wanted to see temperament, production and survivability.  At this point they are 50% survivors.  My survivor queens are about 70% good.  I will make an effort to requeen all my nucs to survivor stock this season.

Any other questions, please ask,

Charlie Vorisek

Vorisek's Backyard Bee Farm
15834 Linesville Rd
Linesville, Pa. 16424

[anna kosenko]

Charlie,  My son came across an article about an Illinois beekeeper who developed bees resistant to round-up.

              His bees were then illegally seized by the dept of agriculture;

                    www.healthmagazine365.com/illinois-illegally-seizes-bees-resistant-to-monsantos-roundup-kills-remaining-queens/

 

                       more at  www.pacc-news.com

AnnaK

[Charlie Vorisek]

That story is a bit old.  I heard about this before, but never saw the video.  I've never heard anything of it since.  I see it's gotten new life.   Having watched the video, there is no mention of Monsanto, only the state dept of ag.   The story always puzzled me because round-up doesn't kill bees anyway.  He said he lost bees to round-up in 1996.  More likely mites or something else.  I clearly recall those years of the '90's and loosing ALL our bees to mites.  What he says about not needing to treat for mites is not true.  The mite cycle can sometimes take a couple years to overwhelm.  The more hives in a location, the higher the risk.  It's just fact.  I've attended enough study reviews, talked to enough researchers and had enough experience to understand this.   He never states that his bees were round-up resistant....but that he 'hoped' to breed resistant queens.  My question is how he tested for that.  He refers to "they" often, but I understand it to be the dept of Ag.  I want to assume that all bee inspectors know what they're doing, but I know that's not always the case.  One of our 90's inspectors took the summer job after taking a college Apiary class and had never worked bees before.  

 A few years ago at the Western Pa Seminar, Craig Cella told a story.  (Craig is an older fella from central Pa.  He's a former bee inspector and helped with Penn State studies.  I know him personally )  Each year before he installs package bees into a hive, he sprays them with sugar water.  This settles them and helps relieve some stress from travel.  So, this particular year, he grabs his pump sprayer and sprays his bees.  Then he realizes it was his sprayer of round-up.  Nothing happened.  The bees didn't die.  He re-sprayed with sugar water and finished the installation.  It's not an insecticide, it's an herbicide.  

I might have to run that experiment myself.

Charlie

[Kim]

Hi Charlie, 

  This is Kim Vogel from Wattsburg , Pa.   I would like two nucs from the May order, if I could put me in for them.  I will send you a check tomorrow for those. My phone number is 460-1751. And I would also like to pay my dues for NWPBA for this year and where to send and how much.  Thanks Charlie.  

Sent from my iPhone

[Charlie Vorisek]

Kim, I will put you down for two nucs.   

Follow the link for instructions for membership.  http://www.nwpabeekeepers.com/membership.html  You can download the brochure and send it in.

take care,

Charlie Vorisek

Vorisek's Backyard Bee Farm

15834 Linesville Rd

Linesville, Pa. 16424

vbee...@windstream.net

[dus...@windstream.net]

Charlie,
Add our name to the May nuc order for 2 boxes. I will send a check to cover the cost and hold our order.
Thanks,
Dusty and Patsy Rhodes

[Charlie Vorisek]

No problem. I was able to secure another 20 nucs for the May delivery.
Charlie V