2014
August-September
October-November
December
Fall Beekeeping
Author: David MacFawn SC Master Beekeeper Craftsman
Phone: 803-957-8897 Email: [email protected]
SC Beekeeping
Beekeeping in SC during
the fall season takes
preparation. There are
chores to be done as
outlined in this
document that will help
you build a strong
colony for a strong
colony in spring.
Contents
August
September
October
November
DavidsCorner
Autumn Feeding
Queen Breeders
Beekeeper chores
include splits, combining
weak hives, requeen,
pulling off queen
excluders after honey
flow, cleaning &
repairing equipment,
feeding applying meds,
weighing your hive,
checking for SHB and
mites and always look
for diseases. Super
Storage is critical so
your supers will also
make it to the Early
Spring without rodents,
spiders and wax moth
damage.
Let this guide help you
August Beekeeping
New Colonies
Season. You want to
Splits / NUCs, which you
replace queens hives
made in the spring,
that did not perform
Repairing Storage
need special attention.
well.
Diseases
You need to make sure
Weak Hives
the splits have enough
A weak hive can be
carbohydrates / honey
placed on top of a
and just as important
strong hive with a
enough pollen to get
queen excluder to
the brood rearing
separate them.
Mite Counts
About Author
keep focused on
building strong healthy
colonies that produce
maximum amounts of
honey and hive
products.
started in December
until the Maples pop the
end of January / first of
February.
Obtaining Queens
Before it is too late in
Robbing
It can happen anytime.
Be proactive and reduce
the entrance if you are
feeding. During the Fall
Flow it can opened up.
Gauging Pollen
Stores
One cell will feed a
young bee until it
emerges. It takes
about two deep frames
with pollen on
both sides to raise
enough bees to get
from December until the
end of January / first of
February when the
Maples bloom. This is
about 16,000 cells total.
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David’s Corner
I often run a two queen
hives thru the winter if I
cannot get a queen to
requeen the weak hive.
You typically need to
feed heavily to make
sure the two queen hive
has enough food.
Combine weak hives
with strong hives and
you will most likely get
another stronger hive.
Combining two weak
hives will most likely
result in another weak
hive. I typically do this
in the September /
October time period and
feed the combined hive
to simulate a flow. I
have found that if there
is a flow, either real or
feed, you do not have
to use a newspaper to
combine. I have not
used newspapers in
over 35 years. I
typically do not find the
queens since the
“strong” queen usually
wins out over the
“weak” queen. A lot of
beekeepers do find and
kill the “weak” queen
prior to combining. I
just set the weak hive
on top of the strong
hive.
Feeding Honey Bees in Autumn
If they do not have
enough pollen, you
need to feed a pollen
substitute in the
autumn. However,
antidotal evidence
indicates bees raised
with pollen substitutes
do not live as long a
bees that collected
pollen from plants.
Usually most parts of
South Carolina have
enough pollen
throughout the year
that feeding a pollen
substitute is not
necessary. When you
examine your colony,
there should be a band
of pollen above the
brood with honey in the
corners of the brood
frame. The second and
9th frames should
typically be pollen in a
fully drawn ten frame
hive. If you feed a
pollen / pollen
substitute, place a small
quantity above the
brood nest so the bees
will consume it quickly
and the pollen / pollen
substitute will not
attract Small Hive
Beetles (SHB). Repeat
as necessary.
Taking Time In October
Make progress on your beekeeping chores but do take time to make frames, build
supers. This is a month you will want to relax and enjoy the bees frolicking in the
warm sunshine. Maybe catch a football game, travel to the mountains to see fall
or maybe to enjoy slower pace. Challenge yourself to sell your honey at a Farmers
Market. See how a new beeswax candle would look on your coffee table. Make
yourself available to make a presentation on honeybee education. Go visit an old
timer beekeeper and take in his perspective on it all.
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3
September - Feeding
A Common question among new beekeepers and
old timers is when to feed. Start feeding 2:1 in
September. Watch bee numbers in August and
feed 1:1 if they are low to help build up the
numbers to get the bees thru the winter then
switch over to 2:1 in September. You need 6-7
frames of bees in September in addition to “honey”
to get a colony thru the winter. In mid-September
thru October bees will begin storing the syrup
strategically where it needs to be in the hive to get
them thru the winter. Later on they will just leave
the syrup in the feeders Bees will huddle under the
pail feeder. It will probably work either way,
September or October; the bees will dry out the
What do
Queen
Breeders Do?
The queen breeders/commercial guys do something
different and feed in the spring so they can split early
and raise queens or pollinate. Sometimes I do this
also. I believe the best thing is not to rob the
bees down too much in the June, etc. time frame so
they have honey to eat rather than syrup. However,
some of the commercial guys rob down their hives and
feed syrup since honey is worth more than the
syrup. There is more than one way to manage your
colonies depending on what you are interested in.
Your Yearly Strategy
This gets back to the yearly strategy. Feed in the
autumn in force rather than waiting until the
spring. Feeding in the spring causes excessive
swarming if you are not careful. Syrup located
strategically in the hive from autumn feeding will help
minimize swarming in early spring. The bees are
syrup to suit their needs. The big thing is to
feed if necessary. Feeding is typically by
weight but as long as you are simulating
nectar flow with 1:1 (50% or more water)
and honey that is dried out, 1 ½ to 2:1 you
should be OK.
SC Fall Honey Flow
In South Carolina we typically have a weak
fall flow from the Goldenrods and Asters.
Hence, you need to watch your honey
quantities carefully in the September and
October time frame.
better able to tune into the spring weather build up
cycle. However, some years and some hives you will
have to feed in the spring.
Feeding
Methods are
Not Created
Equal
A feeder, pail, hive top, etc., inside the hive is better.
Don’t use Boardman feeders that fit onto the front of the
hive if you are going to feed sugar syrup rather than just
water. Boardman feeders sometimes will cause robbing.
In addition, the bees cannot get to syrup in a Boardman
feeder on the front of the hive when it gets cold. This is
also true of division board / frame feeders placed in the
hive usually.
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Repairing and Storage
November
When you have time, begin repairing and painting
old equipment and assembling and painting new
equipment.
Now is the time to be
thinking about where
you want to be with
your bees next spring.
You need to be thinking
about what you want to
produce, honey / pollen
/ pollination / etc., and
the necessary
equipment to
implement your
strategy. If you need
additional out yards,
Storing drawn frames is divided into two parts.
Brood frames will be affected by wax moths. Hence,
to store brood frames place them in a plastic bag and
freeze them several days. The wax moths are after
the dark brood section of the comb. Clear white
super frames are typically left alone by wax moths.
Frames with foundation are rarely affected by wax
moths. I stack supers with drawn comb at 90
degrees so that light and cold weather gets to the
frames. Extra equipment should typically be
removed from the hive due to Small Hive Beetles
(SHB), especially if it is a weak colony; however, if it
is a weak colony you should be considering
combining it with a strong colony. Wax moth larvae
are killed when it gets to freezing temperatures,
especially if they are outside of the cluster.
In November you should also consider using Oxalic
Acid for Varroa control. Oxalic does not penetrate
the cappings which is why you should consider using
it in November since this is typically the minimum
amount of brood in the colony.
you need to be finding
land owners who will let
you place your hives on
their land. Usually a
quart or so of honey is
what I give the land
owner for use of their
land. In addition, if the
land owner has a
garden, etc. they will be
getting free pollination.
Be Proactive
Implement a strategy
for Spring. Line up
necessary queens and
packages that you will
need next Spring.
Assess colonies this
autumn for splitting in
mind and how many
queens you will need.
Splitting and frame
removal are excellent
ways to control
swarming and increase
your numbers. In
addition, splitting
simulates the bees
natural swarming of one
swarm a year from a
strong colony. Splitting
also implements a
brood break which
helps minimize your
Varroa count.
Always on the Hunt for Diseases
Always look for
diseases. From you
beginner course, you
should have an idea of
what a normal healthy
colony looks like.
Anything divergent from
“normal” you need to
address. This is
especially true of
American Foulbrood
(AFB). You should be
assessing Varroa counts
in August and treating if
necessary. Varroa
issues may result in
early death of a colony
in February of later in
the spring. Treating
and controlling Varroa is
very important!
Books in the Fall
Fall is a good time to
read beekeeping
materials and research
specific skills.
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5
Updating Your Thinking
Conservative Counting
Thresholds Counts From a
Conservative Perspective
Checking for Varroa Mite Counts
Due to their huge variability, any single sticky board count is
nearly meaningless.
The best assessment by far is an alcohol wash or sugar shake of
1/2 cup (about 315) bees. I'm currently collecting data to see
whether it's better to take the sample from the brood nest or
honey frames (higher counts on brood frames, but perhaps
more consistent from honey frames). For alcohol wash, I've
tested isopropyl alcohol down to 35%--any concentration works
well.
At less than 2 mites per 100 bees (6 in an alcohol wash), virus
transmission by mites is not a major issue. At 5 per 100 (16 in
a wash), some viruses begin to go epidemic. At 15/100,
colonies generally start to go into a death spiral.
The most important time to sample is between August 15 and
the onset of winter using the Alcohol or detergent wash.
Exert from Randy Oliver’s material-reprinted with permission
Spring
Jar - 1 to 3 mites
24 Sticky Board - 3 to 5 mites
Summer
Jar – 4 to 5 mites (3 Mites)
24 Sticky Board – 10 to 25 mites (10 mites)
Fall
Jar – 5 to 20 mites (3 Mites)
Sticky Board - Not recommended
Numbers represented in parenthesis is a conservative number
Data From Randy Oliver
reprinted with Permission
Scientific Beekeeping
The Best Jar Sample
One Final Note:
 Keep records of each colonies progress
and issues. New Beekeepers can relay
these activities to their mentors as they
seek counsel.
 Keep records of what blooms when.
This helps to know the seasons of your
hive. There are several online
resources that relay bloom rates for our
area.
 Weigh your hive by manually lifting from
the back. Use a hand scale to lift the
front and back, add the two numbers
together to get the weight of the hive.
The Cadillac jar sample is the alcohol or detergent wash. It gets
all the mites off the bees. For a detergent wash, cut a piece of
1/8” screen to fit into the lid of a 1 quart Mason jar. Shake 300
bees from the brood nest into the jar and fill the jar halfway with
water with ¼ teaspoon of granular automatic dishwasher
detergent added (hand washing dish liquid makes too much
foam!). A strong detergent solution works better than a weak
one. Tip: premix your solution in a gallon milk jug – 5-6
teaspoons detergent per gallon (the solution should feel
slippery). Swirl / shake the jar sample vigorously for a full
minute to dislodge the mites (they will sink). Then dump the
liquid through the screened lid into a reusable coffee filter (any
cloth or fine screen will work. Add more liquid to the jar and
repeat until no more mites come out. Count the mites on the
filter. For an alcohol wash, use 70% alcohol (rubbing alcohol is
fine).
Exert from Randy Oliver’s material-reprinted with permission
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TITLEAuthor
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About
--Additional from Author and Written Permissions
Editor: Cynthia Robinson
David Elgie MacFawn: David has kept bees in Maryland (Dark
German bees), Virginia (Italian), North Carolina (Italian), Colorado
Cynthia Ann Robinson: Cynthia
(Russian), and South Carolina (Italian and Russian Hybrid). He is a
has kept bees for 9 years in
North Carolina Master Craftsman Beekeeper, Co-Founded the South
York County. Cynthia
Carolina Master Beekeeping Program, awarded South Carolina
achieved her Basic
Beekeeper of the Year, assisted Dr. Fell at Virginia Tech in the Virginia
Certification in 2007 and
Master Beekeeping Program, Incorporated the South Carolina
Journeyman in 2011. Currently
Beekeepers Association as a 501 C 3 Non Profit Corporation, and
Cynthia has 8 hives and is
published several (over five) articles in the American Bee Journal.
involved with pollination.
David is a beekeeper and has co-authored a book, "Getting the Best
Cynthia has spoken at Clubs
From Your Bees", for the practicing beekeeper. He also developed,
and Garden Clubs as well as
marketed, and supported spreadsheets analyzing financial aspects
substituted for The Bee Ladies.
of the honey and pollination businesses, and beeswax candle
Cynthia is skilled in creating
production and sales. David has a BS in Electrical Engineering and a
many forms of media and uses
Masters in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and
it to make bees famous.
Operations Research. David was in the computer business for over 30
years and was a Customer Service director responsible for worldwide
support planning, training/education, logistics, call center support,
and professional services at Sun Microsystems and a subset of this at
NCR. David was also a Federal Systems Product Manager responsible
for new DOD system definition and development at Data
General. David resides in the Columbia, South Carolina, USA area
and is an active sideline beekeeper.
Copyright David E. MacFawn 2015; SCBA and SC Local Associations have permission to use
material for educational purposes.
Author: David MacFawn
Edited By Cynthia Robinson – Beekeeper On Duty
This publication was designed and provided for Honey Bee Education
for South Carolina Beekeepers Association
www.scstatebeekeepers.org
[email protected]
This information is solely David MacFawn’s intellectual property. It
reflects his results of research, study and observation. It may not
always reflect exactly what is taught in SCBA Master Beekeeper
Program.
Send emails or call if
you have any
questions.
Author: David MacFawn
Phone: 803-957-8897 Email:
[email protected]
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