Backyard Beekeeping II starts Tonight in Eden Prairie!

                                         EDEN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY EDUCATION

                                                             8040 Mitchell Road

                                                         Eden Prairie, MN 55344

                                      To register call:  952-975-6940

              OR visit the website: https://edenprairie.thatscommunityed.com

Backyard Beekeeping II

Tuesdays, March 10,17, and 24 2015 From 6:30-8:30pm

Education Center in E.P. Room # 319

Cost: $35

Looking to take your backyard beekeeping skills to the next level? Part 2 of our Backyard Beekeeping series, you will learn all about seasonal colony management like fall harvest and processing. We will also discuss bee health and what you can do to keep your hive healthy. At the end of this class series, you will have the knowledge necessary to create, cultivate and grow a thriving beehive!

Pollen Patties Recipes

Homemade Pollen

Here are 2 recipes for pollen patties for honey bees.

Homemade bee pollen substitute patties recipe (no pollen):

1.5 cups (8oz.) fat-free soy flour

1.5 cups (12oz.) granulated sugar 

0.5 cup (1oz.) Brewer’s yeast 

1.5 cups (12oz.) Sugar Syrup (2:1) or your honey 

NOTE: You can also use regular soy flour. Add water as needed to mix. In very warm climates it may be necessary to add an oil to prevent drying.

Mix dry ingredients together.  Then add dry mix slowly to syrup/honey until mixture is like stiff bread dough. Press between wax paper. Place bee patty over cluster with wax paper up.

Homemade bee pollen patties recipe (with pollen)

To make 6 (1 lb.) patties:

 0.8 cup  pollen

 2.6 cups hot water

 5.6 cups sugar

 6.3 cups brewer's yeast

March: Feeding Pollen Patties

Pollen Patties

March 8, 2015

March in Minnesota can be challenging for the bees as well as for the backyard beekeeper. It is a month of transition, winter will be officially over in 12 days! And March 20 will be the start of spring. However, we can still have a last snap of cold temperatures, and some healthy amount of snow.

Honeybees like birds, squirrels and other animals are instinctively aware of the warmer days ahead. Therefore they have already started the process of increasing the size of their colony. The nurse bees have to prepare the cells in order for the Queen to start laying her eggs. The trigger is the consumption of pollen by the nurse bees. They will take the pollen, or pollen patty which they will mix with enzymes, a bit of honey and good gut bacteria and make what is called : bee bread (fermented pollen). This rich protein diet allows them to secrete royal jelly that is fed to very young larvae. When the larvae are 3 days old, they will be fed bee bread and honey! To be clear: eggs don't eat pollen, pupae don't eat pollen, and adult bees don't eat pollen; only very young larvae eat it. This is why natural pollen, or pollen patties are so important. It increases the brood production.

 

I usually feed pollen patties 8-9 weeks before the first nectar flow (around May 10) depending on the weather and store availability in the hive.

Once I start giving them pollen, I cannot stop until there is natural pollen for them to forage. Therefore, I will be checking my colonies about every 10 days to see if I need to add some pollen.

The patty has to be  placed right where the cluster of bees is located in the hive. Right now my bees are all in the top box, and the patty is on the top of the frames under the inner cover and moisture board.

If your bees are somewhere else in the hive, put your patty where your bees are located. This is very important because if there is a cold day/night the bees will cluster, and will cover the brood to protect it from freezing. If the food is too far away, they will not be able to access it.

Pollen patties not only promote strong, healthy bees , and bee development; it builds up the bee population as a whole so in late May I will be able to divide my strongest colonies.

One more thing!

A pollen patty is about one pound.

A colony may need up to 4 patties before natural pollen is available

Purchased pollen substitute patties have no pollen in them

Purchased pollen supplement patties have pollen

Feeding sugar syrup 1:1 will come a little later...Early April!

In my next post, I will give a couple of recipes to make your own pollen patties at home.

Still Winter-land in Minnesota!

This colony is dead...see snow on top

It is March, soon spring will be here!  However, it is a bit discouraging when it snows 3-4 inches and then it is barely above 0F! (-1F, -18F) as I write.

However there is always hope in Minnesota... we should rebound and be in the 40's, and maybe a 50 could manifests itself,  in a few days. The long term forecast calls for a beautiful warming next week...almost like spring! That would be more than welcoming for our honey bees.

The queen will start laying her eggs as the temperatures climb. The workers will be busy warming the brood, and making sure the "left over" food form fall is still available. 

I will check my colonies, probably Monday (it is supposed to be 47F , 8C) and sunny. I will give them a pollen patty.

March is always a difficult month for bees and beekeepers; we have to help the bees just enough to close the gap between the end of winter and the beginning of spring. So, think about this for a minute: calculated feeding is necessary here in our part of the world. Pollen and nectar will be making an appearance, we will then  be able to  breath a big sigh of relieve; we would have done it.

Happy Beekeeping!

Sign up: Backyard Beekeeping II, in Eden Prairie MN

The bees are venturing outside!

                                         EDEN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY EDUCATION

                                                             8040 Mitchell Road

                                                         Eden Prairie, MN 55344

                                      To register call:  952-975-6940

              OR visit the website: https://edenprairie.thatscommunityed.com

Backyard Beekeeping II

Tuesdays, March 10,17, and 24 2015 From 6:30-8:30pm

Education Center in E.P. Room # 319

Cost: $35

Looking to take your backyard beekeeping skills to the next level? Part 2 of our Backyard Beekeeping series, you will learn all about seasonal colony management like fall harvest and processing. We will also discuss bee health and what you can do to keep your hive healthy. At the end of this class series, you will have the knowledge necessary to create, cultivate and grow a thriving beehive!

February 2015: Feeding Winter Patties

The colony on the right: A lot of yellow and brown specks can be seen in the snow.This is a n indication that the bees have some sort of dysentery. I am not too worry, because it is all in the snow, not on the hive. They were cleansing (pooping) that's all...maybe more than the others!

  February 7, 2015

We left our house it was 36F and had a little sunshine, after 15 minutes the sun disappeared and the temperature had fallen quickly....to 33F.

This is one of the  reason why colonies are very vulnerable, the sudden change and the wide range, from -3F at night to 36F during the day in a week. Obviously when it is colder the bees eat more, so they can keep warm. In addition the queen is getting closer to lay her eggs, and the workers will have to keep the newly brood very warm 90F (32C)...they will eat a lot. First the  honey that they made and stored during summer and fall. But then, before our first dandelions bloom, around April 15, if we are lucky; they will have eaten all their precious food.

Bees on top box. The frames have honey.

 To help them through this difficult period, end of winter and beginning of spring; Ben and I gave each  colony a "winter" patty. We slid it under the moisture board, right on top of the frames, where the bees greeted us!

Patty placed right where the bees are!

These patties are called winter patties because they are high in carbohydrates and have only 3% of proteins. This is essentially the fuel that keep the bees alive. They eat the patty, and this give them plenty of energy to rapidly contract their wing muscles , keeping them and the coming brood warm.

I will be checking their food availability,  and I will add a winter patty as needed, every couple of week until something is blooming!

Hope spring is coming sooner than later, this year......

Happy Beekeeping!

New Class in Eden Prairie: Beekeeping in MN: The First Year

Hives in Deep Snow!

Just a Reminder: This class (series of 2) is coming up soon. Check it out! Right in Eden Prairie, MN

                                EDEN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY EDUCATION

                                          8040 Mitchell Road

                                       Eden Prairie, MN 55344

                                      To register call:  952-975-6940

              OR visit the website: https://edenprairie.thatscommunityed.com

NEW CLASS Beekeeping in Minnesota: The First Year

2- Wednesdays February 25 & March 4, 2015
Time: 6:30-8:30pm
Education Center in E.P. Room # 201
Cost: $25

This class will teach you what you need to know to be a good beekeeper, keeping honey bees in Minnesota. From the time you get your bees, to the tasks that need to be done in your bee yard to be successful throughout your first year. I will teach you the techniques necessary to keep healthy bees and to be a happy beekeeper.
Prerequisite: Exploring Beekeeping