The New Bees in Chanhassen

In Chanhassen, Minnesota:

 April 14, 2014 -- I hived 4 honey bee packages of Italians
 April 21, 2014--  I hived 2 honey bee packages of Russians

They must still be wondering why it is so cold and rainy. Let's not forget that the Italian bees come from California, and the Russian bees from Kentucky!

I visited them few days after I installed them, the Italian queens were already laying eggs after only 5 days in the new homes.

The Russian queens are a bit more finicky about the weather and if it is cool, and/or rainy they will just wait until better warmer days! They have a bit of eggs and capped brood but not as much as the prolific Italians.

Russian Colonies

Italian Colonies

See the eggs! 

Beekeeping Class in Eden Prairie

The classroom looked like this one!

Thank you to all who came to the beekeeping class: Exploring Beekeeping. I know the chairs and tables were a bit small and not that comfortable, you were very patient sitting there for 2 hours.

I hope you learned a few things, it is difficult to cover the whole topic of beekeeping in such short amount of time but I hope that I piqued your interest.

Big thank you to Michael who manned the presentation remote control, you were very helpful :)

The next class will be in the fall, probably starting in October 2014. There will be 7, 2h-hour classes, each week will be a different topic of interest. It will be given at a school in Eden Prairie. I will keep you posted.

Enjoy spring!

Where is Spring?

I was just wondering where spring was in the world...because it is not in Minnesota yet! We still have low temperatures in the thirties in the morning. I bet you don't like that, well bees either.

I have installed my packages: 4 April 12 and 2 April 21. What a welcome for my bees coming from Sunny California and Georgia! They must wonder on what planet they have landed!

I will tell you their story.

In order for us in Minnesota to  obtain honey bees in the spring, they have to winter in warm places like California, Texas and Arizona. Therefore many commercial beekeepers move their hives on long bed trucks in October and November to Southern States.

Once the colonies arrive in warmer weather, they are fed carbohydrate (sugar syrup: to stimulate brood production) and protein (pollen patties: make "bee bread" nutritious food).

The beekeeper will feed his bees until each hive has 6-9 frames of brood. After about 4 months, mid-February most beekeepers put their populous hives on trucks to pollinate the Californian almond groves. This pollination not only help the almond business which is value at $4.3 billion, but it helps the colonies to expand.

Then when the almond pollination is done about 2 weeks later, the hives will go back on the trucks and moved North, following the next bloom: citrus, peaches, plums and then apples.

Now the hives are full of bees and ready to swarm. This is when the beekeepers divide their colonies creating packages or nuts to sell. You can see that the package bee business in the U.S has been build from pollination, following the different blooming fruit trees in many states.

Warmer states like Georgia, or Florida for instance don't need to move their colonies anywhere. They provide pollination in their own state, feeding their bees when needed (droughts, or "cooler" winters), then dividing their hives to be ready for April Northern beekeepers like us.

From populous colonies, bees are taken and put into packages. 

Packages are waiting to be loaded on trucks.

Packages loaded, almost ready to go! 

Exploring Beekeeping Class in Eden Prairie

Teaching Beekeeping!

I will be teaching a beekeeping class this spring in Eden Prairie.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014 from 6:30-8:30pm   ($15)
Here's the link below:

https://edenprairie.thatscommunityed.com/course/spring-summer-adult-2014/exploring-beekeeping

Exploring Beekeeping

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This two-hour course offers an introduction and brief overview of beekeeping. It will cover: city ordinances, equipment, time and financial requirements, races of honey bees, beehives location, obtaining and installing your new bees, honey plants and bee food needs, pollination, pesticides, as well as helping your honey bees to stay healthy. If you are interested in keeping honey bees, but not yet sure how to start, this class is for you. After taking this course, you will be able to make a well-informed decision about keeping bees in your backyard. And, if you would like to pursue beekeeping, Eden Prairie Community Education will offer a full seven-week beekeeping course as part of our Fall course offerings.

5160-01

Add to Cart 

Karine Pouliquen

Central Middle School : Room 312

Tuesday, Apr 29
6:30 - 8:30 PM

Price:

$15.00

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Varroa Gene Silencing: Is there Hope?

Varroa mite ( brown oval on thorax) on honey bee

As you know  honey bees have a very difficult time surviving. At 30% death rate year after year is not sustainable. Many scientists around the world are on a quest to find a "cure" to help and save the bees.

As it is understood around the world, the Varroa mite, this "blood sucker vampire" is the honey bee parasite that cause the most economic impact on the beekeeping industry. It can cripple and ruin an operation in few seasons. This mite can only reproduce in a honeybee colony, attaching itself to a honey bee, weakening her and at the same time transmitting many viruses, thus making it impossible for the bee to recover such a devastating plague.

In 2010, researchers at Aberdeen University have been able to "silence" natural functions in the mites' gene. Dr. Alan Bowman explains that "introducing harmless genetic material encourages the mites' own immune response to prevent their genes from expressing natural functions. This could make them self destruct."

This approach is very specific and targets the mites only without harming the bees. This development comes from the Nobel-Prize Winning theory 'RNA interference', which controls the flow of genetic information.

Gene silencing is the ability of a cell to prevent the expression of a certain  gene. This method is now used to combat cancers and infectious diseases. It also means that the genes are decreased not eliminated, not completely erased.

In that optic, a team composed of Garbian Y, Maori E, Kalev H, Shafir S, Sela I.  from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Rehovot, Israel, discovered that when the bees were fed some double stranded RNA (ds Rna) with a sequence of genes similar to the Israeli acute paralysis virus, they were protected against the deadly virus! 
In their new study, they show that dsRNA eaten by the honey bees, is transferred to the Varroa mite, and then passed on to an already parasitized bee. This exchange of dsRNA between bee and mite, created a gene silencing in the mite. This resulted in a decreased of 60% in the mite population!


This transfer of gene silencing triggering molecules between the honey bee and this parasite could lead to a brand new approach to Varroa control.

(Bidirectional Transfer of RNAi between Honey Bee and Varroa destructor: Varroa Gene Silencing Reduces Varroa Population.

PLoS Pathog. 2012 Dec;8(12):e1003035)

Always something new to learn!

Eden Prairie: Hive Registration 2014

Enough snow yet?

Now that Eden Prairie, MN has passed the city ordinance allowing beekeeping on city lots. We can  register our hives with the E.P. Police Department. 

I have copied the link where you can find the registration documents, and a copy of the ordinance.

http://www.edenprairie.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=3060

Happy Beekeeping!

Honey Bees Coping with Minnesotan Winter!

Wind in Minnesota

This morning the thermometer indicated-15F (-26C). That is darn cold (excuse my French!!!), I just went outside all bundled up to get the newspaper, and the cold air hurt my lungs...Now I know why bears hibernate and stay cozy and warm all winter!

So what about the bees? First they are not warm blooded like us or the bears! They are insects as you know. However they have a special way to keep warm. Unlike most insects who produce a chemical called glycerol or other chemicals which act as a natural antifreeze and keep them from freezing to death. And unlike others which find shelters, in soil, under the bark of trees or decide to come inside your own home for warmth. And unlike some insects that are even smarter and migrate south to a warmer climate like the Monarch butterflies! 

Honey bees are special and don't go dormant either; they stay active in their hives days and nights during winters to survive. Unlike us, honey bees don't heat their homes to keep warm. Temperature of a healthy colony never goes below 63F (17C) when outside temperature falls to -20F (-28C). 

This what happens right now when our temperatures are so cold.
All the bees stay in a tight cluster around the Queen, usually in the center of the hive. 

 Infra red picture of a bee cluster

Bees on the outside of the "ball" of bees insulate the bees and the Queen that are in the center. See the picture, the outside is darker in color (colder),  and inside, bright yellow (warmer). 
The bees of course alternate their position from insulating, outside cluster  (heat producer) to the inner cluster generating heat with their bodies (heat retainer). It is remarkable! We cannot do that!

Honey bees generate heat with their tiny bodies by "shivering" their unhinged flight muscles. To keep and  maintain a good inside cluster temperature of about 93F (33C) the bees have to consume a lot of honey which is then converted into energy. However, when the outside temperatures are very cold like now in Minnesota and prolongated over many days, this enormous effort tend to sap the bees from their strengths and vitality making them vulnerable.

How can we help our little darlings, then? We have to be careful, we don't want to insulate the boxes so much that they "overheat" and generate too much moisture and die of freezing.

Instead, it is recommended to  make a natural windbreaker around the hives from the prevailing winds in late fall. Because without one, it becomes more difficult for the cluster to maintain a normal temperature.



 Wrapping our hives in black roofing paper, or a black waxed cardboard liners is also important.

Giving an upper entrance, for the moisture to escape is an excellent way to ventilate the hives, preventing condensation which would eventually fall onto the insulated layer of bees producing a frozen ball of bees.
Studies show "that moisture-laden air is often more detrimental to honey bee colonies in winter than cold temperatures."

Ukrainian hives

Still, I think about my bees a lot these days. Especially knowing that I already lost 50% of my hives so far. But I have to be patient...

I think I will make myself a  cup of cocoa, and read a good book by the fireplace and wait for a warm up!