I wrote this post for our 2017 eclipse and thought with our approaching April 8th eclipse a repost would be appropriate.
With a solar eclipse scheduled for tomorrow morning (beginning at 9:10 am, reaching it's maximum at 10:21 and ending at 11:37am in Vancouver - 2017) and the obvious concern for eye safety I wondered how bees and other critters coped with this phenomena. It appears that unlike stupid humans animals generally don't stare at the sun so don't suffer from the damaging effects of the sun on eyesight.
As for honey bees, studies like the one above from HOBOS honey bee research in 2015 show that foraging bee activity is decreased during an eclipse as it would be at the normal setting of the sun. "The reduction in flight activity commenced as soon as the brightness was lower than 400 watts/m2. Only as the re-emerging sun reached a brightness of 400 watts/m2 did the bees’ flight activities begin to increase once
more. The bees also reduced their flying ventures in the evening when the brightness level
falls below the 400 watts/m2 mark."
On Tuesday night we had a fire at our community garden (Cottonwood) in Vancouver. Unfortunately the fire consumed our greenhouse and beekeeping/tool shed. Arson is suspected. We lost everything including ladders, pruners, construction tools, weed eater, irrigation supplies and all of our beekeeping equipment which we had accumulated over many years (including my favourite 40 year old smoker). This also includes our community honey extractor and honey harvesting equipment which we lent out to the public and the protective clothing we used for our beekeeping classes.
No AFB there
Our honey extractor
It is difficult to remain optimistic in the face of continuous vandalism and theft at the garden but it is a reality of gardening and beekeeping in a public space. It is important to remember that 99% of the folks that come to our garden love and appreciate it and we can't let the acts of a few dictate the future of our beautiful garden.
Cottonwood Community Garden today. Built on a former dump site 25 years ago by a group of guerrilla gardeners this 4 acre oasis is a home to birds, bees, skunks, raccoons, squirrels, coyotes, frogs and over a hundred humans. The city has proposed construction of a freeway through the middle of the garden. Friends of the garden have proposed alternative sites for the freeway. The future of the garden is in jeopardy but we are hopeful. This video was taken on the 20th anniversary.
We will rebuild and we will persevere.
Remembering the good times.
Extracting honey in the bee shed
* We have started a fundraiser to rebuild and restock our greenhouse and bee/tool shed. Any donation no matter how small is appreciated. To donate by credit card go to "Cottonwood Fire" or you can donate by credit card or paypal on the top of the page on the sidebar. You can receive a tax receipt with a donation of $25 or more. Thank you.
The last few years I have observed an abundance of bad bee nucs for sale in the Vancouver area. Last year a number of beekeepers in our beekeeping coop bought nucs from a local retailer, all of which contained swarm cells. As a result all of the nucs swarmed within the first week creating smaller nucs and very small swarms. The owner of the company explained that the nucs were made by inexperienced workers who improperly made the nucs with swarm cells and newly introduced queens.
This week a few nucs were bought by beekeepers in our organization from another beekeeping supply retailer. The nuc boxes had scotch tape on the entrance (half attached), the lids were not attached, the brood comb was black (old) and the nuc boxes were older. The nucs contained 2 frames of old, spotty brood, 2 wet frames, a queen cage and no laying queen. Both of these retailers are good, knowledgeable beekeeping suppliers and the criticism is directed more towards the lack of long term bee breeders not the bee retailers (though the argument could be made that you are responsible for what you are selling).
The bottom line is that we have a very poor, unsustainable honey bee population in greater Vancouver with most of the bees produced done so for a quick dollar rather than creating a legacy of strong, survivor stock. Mark Winston, an SFU professor, biologist and beekeeper produced a study 30 years ago that suggested it was economically feasible to produce honey bee nucs and packages in the Fraser Valley (Package and Nucleus production in the Fraser Valley). This potential has not been realized and instead we have become dependent on imported packages and poorly created nucs. Good breeders in our area produce relatively few nucs and queens that don't begin to match the demand. Part of the reason is the extreme property values that make beekeeping not economically feasible in the Greater Vancouver area.
Beekeepers ask me constantly if I can recommend a good bee nuc or queen source and I can't because the good sources are sold out before the bees are ready. If anyone knows of a good source of bees let us know. Bad nuc rant over.
The La Nina weather pattern is cooler than average sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean (3-5 degrees C.) resulting in colder temperatures and above average precipitation for us in Vancouver. We have experienced these conditions through the winter with record snowfall in the local mountains and this weather pattern has continued through the early part of spring.
As beekeepers we are always acutely aware of the temperature and rainfall and it's effects on our bees foraging particularly in the early spring. This is a time of great potential brood development with the fruit trees in blossom (pollen) but because of the wet, cool spring both brood development and fruit production will suffer this year. Although our bees will collect pollen and nectar at colder temperatures we don't get major colony foraging until it's 12 C. (53 F.) and sunny. In Vancouver we have positive and negative honey bee food accumulation months. This will vary on your specific location but for our urban apiary the positive months are April 1 through to October 1 with March and October dependent on weather conditions. This year both March and April were negative.
How does this effect spring beekeeping management? For those who supplement their bees' diet feeding of both carbohydrates (sugar) and protein or protein supplement (to stimulate brood development) will be more important. Keep in mind that below about 12 C. (54 fahrenheit) the bees won't take a liquid syrup as they are unable to process it (Feeding Bees in Winter).
In order to carry out spring management we must assess the health of our hives. Many sources (mostly southern) will insist you cannot inspect your frames until 15 C. (60 fahrenheit) for fear of chilling the brood. Some northern beekeepers would have to wait til well into May for this. Bees are hardier than most people think. Peeking briefly into a hive during winter on a non snowy day to assess the food supply is fine as is inspecting the brood at 10 C. (50 fahrenheit). Use common sense and minimize exposure. This from the Huron City Bee Company in Michigan,
"How cold is too cold to inspect my hive?"
I hear this question quite often at this time of year. Let me just say, I was late one year and needed inspection papers to transport my hives. So, one January morning, at 28 degrees, the state inspector and I opened the hives and inspected brood frames VERY quickly. The result was no detectable loss of brood. We didn't stand around, and we didn't chat while the hives were open. We worked smoothly, so as to disturb the cluster as little as possible. And we closed them up as quickly as we could.
On the other hand, I've helped with inspections on a 70 degree day, where the beekeeper took out a frame of brood, stood it up and chatted for 20 minutes about what they found. Then later complained about chilled brood. See where I'm going with this? Go in, do what you need to do, and then get out quickly. However, I want to temper this advice with another question. If you DO find something wrong, what's your plan? Here in Michigan, it's 42 degrees right now. I wouldn't hesitate to pop open the hives. But, to what end? It's too late to replace a queen if I find one failing. The only thing I can do at this point is combine, and even then, they may remain clustered instead of merging. The take away message is not to be afraid of opening the hives. But, if you have no courses of action if you find something wrong, why bother?" I think this is a good year-round philosophy. I go into my hives with a specific purpose and only when required for responsible colony management.
For us in Vancouver that means we should be able to do a full inspection by March to assess the queen performance (brood pattern), presence of disease (continued excessive bee poop on hive) or mites (small hive beetle has arrived - Honey Bee Diseases and Parasites) and food supply (B.C. Government Spring Management). Some of the spring beekeeping chores are: The cluster should be in the upper super so reverse the brood boxes; maintain a reduced entrance to prevent robbing or mice visits; optionally equalize the colonies by adding frames of bees of a strong colony to a weaker colony (Equalization of bee colony strength); cull your old foundation if you do so (Replacing brood comb); swarm prevention (checkerboarding, splits ... ) ; maintain good ventilation and empty your bottom board of dead bees and debris. In this article Randy Oliver and Dr. Medhat Nasr (Alberta Provincial Apiculturist) discuss the benefits of early season mite control through the formation of nucs with queen cells and the treatment of those nucs (Early Season Mite Management).
I have been warned of the presence of nosema in some of this year's New Zealand packages. Whether that is true or an attempt to boost the sales of fumagillin it's always a good idea to watch for signs of nosema (difficulty digesting food). Nosema is difficult to diagnose without laboratory equipment (Nosema Assessment). Some suggest a nosema infected midgut will become swollen, whitish and lose it's visible constrictions (a healthy midgut is tan with visible constrictions) but that is also true of other causes of dysentery. Symptoms that may suggest the presence of nosema are the lack of population buildup as nosema infected bees tend to skip the nurse bee phase and become young foragers, dying at a young age. Desperate they will forage at cooler temperatures and will not take syrup if fed. This from Randy Oliver, "Perhaps the most noticeable effect of N. ceranae infection is the lack of population buildup of infected colonies, due to the premature death of infected foragers. Of interest is that nosema-infected bees tend to forage at cooler temperatures. Woyciechowski (1998) suggests that infected bees may engage in more risky foraging behavior, perhaps sensing that they do not have long to live. Additionally, infected bees may simply fly off to die, exhibiting an “altruistic suicide” to help prevent the infection of nestmates (Kralj 2006). Another symptom, reported by several, and described by Bob Harrison on Bee-L, is that of bees not taking syrup, and then massively drowning in division board feeders. Bob feels that the symptom of going “off feed” is a good indicator for N. ceranae infection, which can be reversed with a drench of fumagillin syrup. The drowning behavior may have an explanation in a recent paper by Chris Mayak (2009), in which he found that “N. ceranae imposes an energetic stress on infected bees, revealed in their elevated appetite and hunger level…. infected bees attempt to compensate for the imposed energetic stress by feeding more…” Mayak suggests that such hungry, nutritionally stressed bees, exhibiting risky foraging behavior, might play a role in the depopulation of infected colonies."
Due to the cool, wet La Nina weather plant development (blossoming) and our swarm season will be delayed by a few weeks. Other aspects of beekeeping like split creation and queen and local nuc availability will also be delayed. Also, it appears the price of nucs has risen this year to $225-$250. The delayed blossoming of plants may create a stronger late season September-October food supply for our bees. The Weather Network predicts a cool, wet spring and a warmer summer than last year. "Some years there are strong signals in the global pattern that allow for higher confidence in a seasonal forecast, but unfortunately this is not one of those years. During the next few months, one of the keys to our final summer forecast will be the strength of the developing El Niño and whether the warmest water remains just west of South America or whether the warmest water shifts west into the central Pacific." The La Nina weather pattern can last for a few years but hopefully it will be replaced soon by the warmer El Nino phase. We'll keep our wings crossed.
Bees and beekeeping have held a great importance to many cultures through history particularly prior to the arrival of sugar cane to colder areas of the world. A European tradition that was held by some beekeepers was referred to as "Telling the Bees". This involved informing the bees of any important family events like birth, marriage or death. Beekeepers would often leave small offerings like wedding cake or small sweets for a birth and drape the hives with black cloth or turn the hives away from the house upon death. It was said that the bees would either die or leave the hives if not told of the death of their keeper. This tradition was brought to the Americas by immigrants in the 19th century.
In Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn he wrote:
“And he said if a man owned a beehive and that man died, the bees must be told about
it before sun-up next morning, or else the bees would all weaken down and quit
work and die. Jim said bees wouldn't sting idiots; but I didn't believe that,
because I had tried them lots of times myself, and they wouldn't sting me.”
Another example of "Telling the Bees" is in England in 1840, a woman upon the death of their keeper leaving an offering of sweets and reciting the poem:
Your master J.A. has passed away.
But his wife now begs you will freely stay,
and still gather honey for many a day.
Bonny bees, Bonny bees, hear what I say.
The process is described in 1901 work of Samuel Adams Drake A book of New England legends and folk lore in prose and poetry:
...goodwife of the house to go and hang the stand of hives with black, the usual symbol of mourning, she at the same time softly humming some doleful tune to herself. (Wikipedia)
This video is of a Dutch beekeeper in l926 telling the bees of a death. A black cloth is draped over one of the hives and he taps on each of the hives to get there attention to deliver the news. In Holland it was customary to use a pipe as a smoker to calm the bees. (Historical Honeybee Articles)
Here is a poem written by John Greenleaf Whittier about "Telling the Bees" of their keepers passing.
Telling
the Bees
(The
traditional telling the bees
of a recent beekeeper passing)
Here
is the place; right over the hill
Runs
the path I took;
You
can see the gap in the old wall still,
And
the stepping-stones in the shallow brook.
There
is the house, with the gate red-barred,
And
the poplars tall;
And
the barn's brown length, and the cattle-yard,
And
the white horns tossing above the wall.
There
are the beehives ranged in the sun;
And
down by the brink
Of
the brook are her poor flowers, weed-o'errun,
Pansy
and daffodil, rose and pink.
A
year has gone, as the tortoise goes,
Heavy
and slow;
And
the same rose blows, and the same sun glows,
And
the same brook sings of a year ago.
There's
the same sweet clover-smell in the breeze;
Here is a musical rendition (live) of the poem "The Bee-Boy's Song" by Rudyard Kipling which depicts the practice of "Telling the Bees" sung by Rosie Hodgson.
Bees! Bees! Hark to your bees!
"Hide from your neigbours as much as you please,
But all that has happened, to us you must tell,
Or else we will give you no honey to sell!"
A maiden in her glory,
Upon her wedding - day,
Must tell her Bees the story,
Or else they'll fly away.
Fly away -- die away --
Dwindle down and leave you!
But if you don't deceive your Bees,
Your Bees will not deceive you.
Marriage, birth or buryin',
News across the seas,
All you're sad or merry in,
You must tell the Bees.
Tell 'em coming in an' out,
Where the Fanners fan,
'Cause the Bees are just about
As curious as a man!
Don't you wait where the trees are,
When the lightnings play,
Nor don't you hate where Bees are,
Or else they'll pine away.
Pine away -- dwine away --
Anything to leave you!
But if you never grieve your Bees,
Your Bees'll never grieve you.
by Rudyard Kipling
There is also a tradition called "Asking the Bees" where a new beekeeper "Asks the Bees" to accept them as their keeper and to impart their wisdom to them.
Emily sent me a wonderful story of the prayers read at the funeral of Clive Watson, a much loved leader and supporter of the beekeeping community. These are the prayers that were read to his hives (Telling the Bees).
With the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II, John Chapple, the Palace beekeeper had the sad task of informing the royal bees of their master's passing (Telling the Bees from Bee Culture). He placed black ribbons around the hives and explained that King Charles III is their new master. “You knock on each hive and say, ‘The mistress is dead, but don’t you go. Your master will be a good master to you.’”
I hope that upon my passing someone informs my bees. This is a film about a son informing the bees of his father's passing and deciding their future.
Whether to buy a bee nuc or package depends like a lot of things on your location and needs.
Nucs
A nuc (nucleus of a colony) consists of 4-5 frames of bees in a half sized Langstroth deep box which should include a laying queen, 2 frames of brood, 2 frames of honey and/or pollen and possibly a fifth frame of drawn comb. Local nucs for us are usually available starting in mid May. The reason for this is the queen requires temperatures 15-20 C. (60-70 F.) to mate and the formation of drone congregation zones. In some locations there is a supply of overwintered nucs which are made in August. The benefits of using a nucleus over a package are that you have a fully functioning colony with a laying queen and brood pattern you can see. You also have bees in all stages of development from egg to forager.
Good brood pattern
Unless it is an overwintered nuc produced in the late summer the queen should be a new queen (born this spring). The queen is established (brood pattern visible) and the worker bees in a nucleus colony know their roles so there are nurse bees and foragers and the foundation is set (drawn comb) which will put them at least a few weeks ahead of an imported package. Because there are foragers and at least 2 frames of honey and pollen the nucleus will not require as much feeding. Also, with local nucs there is no climatic and forage stress. A negative aspect of nucs is they are available for us l.5-2 months later than packages and may come on old, dark colored frames and nuc boxes that may contain diseases.
Honey frame
Packages
A typical package consists of 2-3 pounds of bees, a can of syrup and a queen. A 3 lb package is optimum for most as a 2 lb will be underpopulated and a 4 lb may experience some die off with less accessibility to the syrup can. Normally the package bees are from production hives where they shake out bees into the package box til the required weight is reached. A mated queen is then placed in the package, protected in a queen cage. There is usually a container of syrup in the package to feed the bees for the few days of travel before they are transferred to a hive. The bees generally fair well for up to a week in a package. A package is usually put together a few days before sold and in the case of cold weather beekeepers in spring comes from a warmer location to the south. In our case because of government restrictions (No U.S. Bees to Canada) this means thousands of miles south from New Zealand, Australia or Chile. Many backyard beekeepers will not have drawn frames to install their packages on to so a lot of energy and feeding will be required to produce the wax to draw out the frames. With a package close attention needs to spent on the survival and performance of the new queen.
A lot of energy and feeding is required to draw out the comb
The video below shows the process of creating a package of bees.
The main advantage of the package is that in cold weather areas they are available a few months before local nucs which allows beekeepers to take advantage of spring fruit blossoms and to lengthen the beekeeping season.
Packages are a necessity in some areas because of the lack of nucs
available. They are usually cheaper, have less pests and diseases (no comb) and can be
installed into any type of hive. Unlike the nuc you don't have bees in all stages of development and if queen acceptance and performance goes well it will take 3 weeks for new brood to be born and several weeks for the population to reach that of a 5 frame nuc. Despite the added challenges most beekeepers have some success with packages.
In most areas the packages come from a
warmer climate so winter survival may be less likely as proven in a good,
small scale study carried out in New England by master beekeeper Erin
MacGregor-Forbes (Comparison of colony strength and survivability between nucs and packages).
This single study is certainly not conclusive evidence but suggests a problem with imported warm weather packages and a
need for more projects like this. Erin found a significant difference
in winter survival between the
southern package and nucleus (the nucs had twice the survival rate) but also found that a southern package with
a replaced local queen performed as well as the nucleus.
In our situation bee packages come from a similar climate but the opposite hemisphere so they leave the southern hemisphere in late summer and arrive in Canada a few days later in early Spring where it can be freezing temperatures and snowing (I have experienced this). This obviously can be hard on the bees. Erin also found in her study that the packages outperformed the nucs in terms of honey
production which she attributed to a high rate of swarming by the
nucleus colonies. I don't know if she
took measures to prevent swarming but this has not been my experience . I've not had exceptional problems
with nucs swarming but have used swarm prevention methods like
checkerboarding and splits (Check out the "Swarms" section in our Beekeepers' Library).
The Prince William Regional Beekeepers Association in Virginia carried out a study which compared hives started from packages to those started from nucs which found a higher survival rate in nuc started hives, particularly evident in the second year (Promoting Sustainable Beekeeping Practices Through Local Production of Nucs and Local Honeybee Queens). One aspect of their study was the importation of Africanized bee genetics and small hive beetles. Importation of diseases and pests is perhaps the biggest challenge for beekeepers presently. A survey by the Beekeepers Assocition of North Virginia to determine if the source of queens effected colony winter survival found significant differences between southern imported queens (23%) and local queens (87%). While this is an extreme example I thinks it supports the theory of the benefits of local nucs over imported southern packages.
Biologist and author Mark Winston (Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive) suggests we need to wean ourselves off of this dependence on imported bees. In l985 he wrote "it is estimated that, at present colony densities, BC has the potential to produce 75,520 spring packages each year, and increased colony density and a higher level of commercial beekeeping could elevate this figure. Continued and increased package and nucleus production, coupled with increased wintering and queen production, could result in a high degree of Canadian self-sufficiency within the next few years (l989 Study on package and nuc production in B.C.)." That self-sufficiency was never realized. Large scale package and nuc production was never developed and with current 25-30% winter colony losses our dependence on imported packages will continue. The solution may be in the lowering of the winter loss rate through the development of a strong local, survivor stock with hygienic behavior and supporting the development of a large scale, local bee colony production industry. Government initiative, leadership and support may be essential for this to be realized.
In the video below Michael Palmer describes some of the difficulties associated with starting a bee hive from scratch using package bees including the lack of nurse bees for the new brood.
In l995 wolves from Canada were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park after a 70 year absence. They had been exterminated by ranchers wanting to protect their livestock and by trophy hunters. The reintroduction of wolves led to something called a "trophic cascade". This phenomena occurs when predators in a food web suppress the abundance or alter the behavior of their prey, thereby releasing the next lower trophic level from predation (or herbivory if the intermediate trophic level is a herbivore). Without wolves the population of deer and elk escalated which led to extreme overgrazing. Reintroduction of the wolves led to a myriad of beneficial consequences to a variety of species which the video below explains. One of the benefits to native bees is the increase in aspen and willow (great early season pollen) and the many varieties of fruit bushes and wildflowers (Wildflowers of Yellowstone) which had been overgrazed by the unchecked population of deer and elk. The video "How Wolves Change Rivers" describes how trophic cascade or removing the top predator, the wolf from Yellowstone effected the entire ecosystem and how the return of the wolf had remarkable beneficial effects.
A biological survey (Bioblitz) held on August 28-29th, 2009 in the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park identified 46 species of native bees. Biologists estimate that there are between 400-500 species of native bees in Yellowstone.
My first experience with wolves was about 45 years ago when as a young man working on the railway in the Rocky Mountains I met my first wolf. I was alone in a blizzard, five miles from camp carrying about 80 lbs of equipment with the task of switching the rails. As a young greenhorn, unable to see because of the whiteout conditions, I felt my way along the tracks thinking for sure this was my last day on earth. The snow let up briefly enough for me to see a wolf come out of the woods. Spotting me the wolf froze about 10 meters from me and growled. In my anger and desperation I growled back wielding an 8 foot long iron pry bar. We starred at each other for what seemed like an eternity (probably 30 seconds), he turned and disappeared back into the woods. Since that moment I have always held a special love and admiration for wolves.
For many backyard beekeepers the thought of grafting queen cells sounds similar to performing brain surgery or rocket science. While there are many methods of making queens (Advanced Beekeeping) Randy Oliver has produced a great powerpoint presentation that provides an easy and understandable step-by-step tutorial on grafting queen cells. The advantages of creating your own queens are numerous. They include cost savings as queens in our area sell for about $60. Also time savings as allowing a split nuc to create their own queen takes about 30 days to produce a laying queen. This means the building of your colony and honey production are delayed 30 days. Maybe most important of all, grafting your own queens from your strongest colony allows you to control some of the future genetics of your colonies (not the drones). This allows you to participate in creating your own disease resistant, hygienic, local, survivor stock which may be the most important aspect of the future of beekeeping.
While the grafting process can be performed at any time mating is possible your local swarm season is best. All that is required is a frame of pollen, a frame of young brood and lots of nurse bees. The tools required are a grafting tool, plastic cell cups and a damp towel. A magnifying jeweler's headlamp is optional. Queens emerge 10-12 days after grafting. To check out Randy's detailed powerpoint on grafting view and/or download Queens for Pennies in Pdf format or Queens for Pennies in powerpoint format from our Beekeepers' Library or go to ScientificBeekeeping.com.
The Varroa mite is a small mite (approximately 1mm in diameter) native to
Asia and the Asian honey bee (Apis Cerana) which has developed a
resistance to the mite enabling it to cope with it's presence. In the early part of the
twentieth century Russian beekeepers brought the European honey bee to the
Korean Peninsula via the Trans Siberian Railroad where it became the first
European honey bee (Apis Mellifera) infested with the Varroa. There are two types of Varroa mite, Japanese
and Korean of which the former Japanese has not as of yet spread to other parts
of the world. The Korean Varroa mite
mutated and adapted to the European honey bee which has no defense to it's
presence. Over the last 50 plus years
the Varroa has spread from country to country having reached North America
about 30 years ago. However, it did not
establish a stronghold until the last decade when it's presence became a
serious threat to the bees (both native and honey) in North America. The Varroa displays vampire like behavior
(blood sucking), is a carrier of 18 identified viruses (Including
Sacbrood, Acute Bee Paralysis, Deformed Wing Virus and Israel Acute Paralysis)
and is considered a major contributing factor along with pesticides in Colony Collapse Disorder.
The Varroa was named after Marcus Terentius Varro, a Roman scholar who was also a beekeeper (I expect he wouldn't be too happy about that).
Worldwide spread of the Varroa Mite
Australia remains the only beekeeping nation free of the Varroa destructor mite (Australia still Varroa free). In Canada the island portion of Newfoundland remains Varroa free.
There are many methods of treating your hives for mites such as the pesticides Apistan and Checkmite. As with all pesticides, the pests may adapt and therefore it is suggested that treatments be changed each year to prevent adaptation. Traces of the chemicals may remain and accumulate in the wax. This can weaken the bees immune system and makes them more susceptible to pathogens and pests.
There are also a number of organic mite treatments like drone brood removal, brood breaks (through natural splits), heating (see below), screened bottom boards, Formic (Mite Away Quick Strips) or Oxalic acid (Powerpoint by Randy Oliver), mineral oils (including thymol as crystals or Apiguard) and sugar dusting (Study by Randy Oliver). It is suggested that you use a combination of control measures.
While there are many proposed forms of bio control of Varroa (i.e. Metarhizium anisopliae, Beauveria bassiana ...) the predatory mites used to control Varroa are a species of Stratiolaelaps mites (Hypoaspis) which have been used for biological control in horticulture for over 15 years (Stratiolaelaps). This predator mite attacks the phoretic (adult) stages of the Varroa mite. The idea is that they can keep the Varroa population at a low level which does not significantly effect the colony. Unlike some chemicals Stratiolaelaps (Stratiolaelaps) can be used throughout the year (during the nectar season), there is no accumulation in the hive wax and presumably no adaptation by the Varroa.
The results from the early stages of testing of the use of Stratiolaelaps have been mixed. The "Niagara Beeway" in southern Ontario have reported positive results.
As part of the Bee Informed survey Brookfield Farm in northwest Washington State found Strateolaelaps did not reduce the population of Varroa in the bee colonies. Here is a post by Brookfield Farm detailing the methods and results of predatory mite usage (Mites that might eat mites). The issues regarding the use of Stratiolaelaps are that they only works on adult bees (not the larvae where mite reproduction take place), do not work on heavily infested hives, are expensive and they leave the hive for their natural environment in the soil. An updated video from the Niagara Beeway contradicts some of these findings suggesting that there were no mites in the drone brood and Stratiolaelaps were breeding in the hive. I've not seen any studies since to support this. They also suggest that they may provide a solution for the small hive beetle. In the video Ham SS refers to Stratiolaelaps.
Phil Chandler, the "Barefoot Beekeeper" proposes the use of an "Eco Floor" in a Top Bar Hive in this case to provide a natural environment for predatory mites. The Eco Floor can be adapted to any style of hive.
"A simple modification to the floor of the horizontal (Kenyan-style) top
bar hive improves insulation, reduces air exchange at floor level and
creates an enclosed ecosystem designed to provide habitat for earwigs,
wood lice, moulds, fungi and myriad other flora and fauna that may be
found inside the average hollow log - the natural habitat of the
honeybee."
"No creature on Earth lives in isolation from all others.
All sorts of relationships develop between different species, many of
them mutually beneficial. Yet honeybees are usually housed in sterile,
wooden boxes with little opportunity to come into contact with the
myriad other bugs, beetles and bacteria found in their natural habitat:
hollow trees. Little is known about the effects on bees of other
organisms, but it seems reasonable to suppose that because they have
co-evolved with a whole range of other species over tens of millions of
years, they will have developed mutually beneficial relationships with
some of them." Phil Chandler
In this video Phil Chandler shows how the deep floor is made and how it can be
retro-fitted to any top bar hive.
As of yet Phil has not done any studies on long term resident population of Strateolaelaps in the hive (Eco Floor). The problems with the "Eco Floor" are the hive is generally warmer than the natural environment of Strateolaelaps (soil), there is no light in the hive to allow for plant growth (part of Strateolaelaps diet) and there is no evidence that Strateolaelaps will leave the soil and travel upwards through the frames to feed on Varroa.
In New Zealand there are preliminary studies being carried out on the use of Pseudoscorpions as predators of Varroa (Pseudoscorpion Study). There are also preliminry studies from the University of Warwick (England) (Varroa killing Fungi) on naturally occurring fungi that kill the varroa mite. They have narrowed the field down to four potential lethal fungi and are determining the method of delivery (i.e. foot bath, spray..). In addition mycological researcher Paul Stamets has found that mushrooms offer many benefits to bees including detoxification, immunity booster and disease control, and increased longevity of worker bees. It has been suggested by some that this is due to the natural presence of oxalic acid which is relatively low (Oxalic acid presence in mushrooms).
These graphs show the effects of mycelium fungi increasing bee survival rate and longevity
Further studies are being carried out and the product may be available to the market in the near future (Fungus and bee health). Meanwhile watch for your bees feeding on fungi and consider planting some mushrooms in your apiary. In this video Paul Stamets explains the connection between mushrooms and bee health.
In Germany they are studying the use of mite sex pheremone to disrupt male sex activity and have found a significant reduction in mite reproduction.
For many years researchers have been studying the effects of heat on Varroa. At temperatures above 39 celsius (102 fahrenheit) mites suffer irreparable damage while bees can manage temeratures up to 45 celsius (113 fahrenheit).
There have been many marketed hive heaters from the inexpensive Mite Zapper , to the under hive mounted Hive Sauna to the Thermosolar Hive above ($650 U.S. plus shipping). To enable exacting heat control so as not to harm the bees expensive sophistication appears paramount. There is also the issue of honey deterioration at high temperatures. Heating honey to 37 celsius (98 fahrenheit) reduces nutritional value.
On a unrelated note a BYU undergraduate is working on a biocontrol of American Foulbrood. Phages (microscopic bugs) are used to kill the AFB bacteria.
“Phages are the most abundant life form on the planet and each phage has
a unique bacteria that it will attack,” said Sandra Burnett, BYU
professor of microbiology and molecular biology. “This makes phage an
ideal treatment for bacterial disease because it can target specific
bacteria while leaving all other cells alone.”
The trick is identifying the right phage. They have narrowed it down to 5 phages (Research article).
I believe the future of dealing with Varroa will be breeding for Varroa Sensitive Hygienic behavior (Breeding for Hygienic Behavior by Marla Spivak and Gary Reuter). Many believe that the VSH behavior traits
are passed both genetically and through observed learning. In hives
with VSH behavior bees, bee pupae infected with mites are detected and
removed. Other VSH behavior traits include: more effective self
grooming; group grooming; guard bees removing mites from bees entering
the hive (either killing the mites or chasing them from the hive) and
bees using their mandibles to kill the mites. Decreased drone production
(most mite reproduction takes place in drone brood) and a higher
resistance to diseases (the diseases passed by the mites kill the bees
not the mites themselves) are also desirable breeding traits. While there are very positive results of breeding queens for VSH behavior the long term problem is the inability to flood the area breeding population (drones as well) with bees possessing VSH traits. It is important to remember that Asian
honey bees (Apis cerana), African honey bees (Apis mellifera
scutellata), Africanized honey bees (hybrid European and African) and a
strain of Russian honey bees have developed an effective resistance to
the varroa mite. Some believe that the unnaturally increased size of Apis Mellifera (carried out 100 years ago to increase honey production) hinders their attempts to remove the mites and the enlarged areas between body segments allows for mite penetration. If true this would support the beliefs of natural, small-cell beekeepers who also support the practice of non treatment. To this point there is no scientific, conclusive proof of this theory (some natural beekeepers would argue this). The video below shows bees displaying VSH behavior by removing mites (removal at the 2 minute point of the video).
For further information on hygienic behavior in honey bees go to the Hygienic Behavior section of our Beekeepers' Library.
While I don't profess to know the perfect solution this year I am using Mite Away Quick Strips (naturally occurring formic acid) to control the Varroa population. I'm treating usuallly at least twice per season based on what has worked for me (once in early summer May-June and once in late summer, September). This method is open to change as needed or not. I test regularly but not so much to derive a specific number but to compare the health of the colony with the mite population to observe any possible developing coping mechanisms. For more information on Varroa Mites and mite treatment go to the Varroa Mite section of our Beekeepers' Library. I hope that whatever method of mite defense you employ is successful and that you and your bees are healthy and happy.
"There is no other field of animal husbandry like
beekeeping. It has the appeal to the scientist, the nature lover, and even (or
especially) the philosopher. It is a chance to work with some of the most
fascinating of God's creatures, to spend time and do work in the great
outdoors, to challenge my abilities and continue to learn. My hope is that I
never become so frail with old age that I cannot spend my days among the bees.
It gives credence to the old saw that "the best things in life are free".
I thank God daily for the opportunity and privilege to be a beekeeper."
