Hello everyone! We’re David & Sheri Burns, husband and wife  duo and beekeeping gurus. Where else will you find a better looking couple to help you become a great beekeeper? If good looks aren’t enough, look at how hard we work to put the best bees and best products in your hands. If that’s not enough what about David being one of only two EAS certified master beekeepers in Illinois. Thanks for letting Long Lane Honey Bee Farms be the place that meets all your beekeeping needs.

LESSON 111: EXTRACTING HONEY FROM THE HIVE
So many of our first year customers extracted honey from their hives their first year. This is somewhat unusual. We tell most customers not to expect much their first year because the colony is using a large portion of their incoming nectar to produce wax. It takes 8 pounds of nectar to produce 1 pound of wax. However, their second year, after their comb is built more incoming nectar can be stored in honey supers. But, if all conditions are right, a first year hive can produce a large surplus of honey.
Let me take you step by step through the whole process of taking the honey out of the hive all the way through to putting it in the jar.
MAKE SURE IT IS CAPPED (RIPE)Honey bees ripen nectar by removing the moisture and when the moisture level is to their satisfaction, they seal it off with wax, like putting a lid on a jar. This prevents the honey from drawing any additional moisture. You must be patient and wait for the bees to cap the honey comb before you remove it. If you remove the super of honey prior to it being sealed your moisture level in the honey will be too high and could cause the honey to ferment which will cause your customers to complain and want their money back. So do not remove the honey combs until all frames are completely capped. If you pull out the frames prior to the caps being completely sealed, you can leave the frames in a room with a dehumidifier for a day or two and it will draw out moisture.
REMOVE THE BEES OUT OF THE SUPER
There are several ways this can be accomplished and no single way is better. It’s simply a matter of what fits your style. So here are the most common ways:
a) Brush the bees off each frame.
I did this when I first started with bees. I’d walk out to the hive with 10 frames in a medium super and I’d take two top covers. I would lay the first top cover on the bed of my truck upside down. Then, I would place my empty super into the top cover. Then, I would take out the 10 empty frames and set them aside. I would remove one frame of honey at a time, from the hive and brush the bees off, then place it in the empty super in the truck. I would place my second top cover on the super box to prevent robbing. I would repeat these steps until I had brushed all the bees off all 10 frames. I would then place the new frames where I had removed the frames filled with honey to allow the bees to start drawing out the foundation.

b) Blow the bees out of the super.
As our operation expanded I would load my air compressor into my truck with a generator to run it. I would open up a hive, and set the honey super on top of the hive on it’s front side. Then I would use my air compressor to blow off all the bees. The bees would land out in front of the hive and go back into the hive. This is the method that still works best for me.
You can use a leaf blower if you do not have an air compressor.

c) Use bee escapes which allow the bees to exit but not re-enter. Featured below are the three most common bee escapes, the triangle, conical and Porter escape.
The triangle bee escape board goes under the honey super and bees leave, but find it impossible to go back in through the maze.

 
Conical bee escapes work the same way, as this board goes under the super and the bees exit the small, red conical tubes but can re-enter. The side pictured faces down.

This Porter escape was invented by Mr. Porter in 1891 and fits into the inner cover oval hole. Bees exit but cannot re-enter.
Be aware that once these devices remove all the bees from your supers, the small hive beetle now has free reign throughout your honey supers. If you live in areas where SHB is well established, which is about everywhere now, you may be wise to use escape boards sparingly.
FUME BOARDS
Another common method to get the bees out of your super is to use a fume board. a fume is placed on top of the super with a little chemical poured onto the fabric on the fume board. This chemical has many names, but it’s either Butyric Acid  or Benzaldehyde which is a chemical that the bees do not like nor does any human who hates the smell of vomit. The bees run out of the super to get away from the bad smell and the super is empty within 5 minutes. If the beekeepers spills some on their clothes, they can empty out the nearest coffee shop in 5 minutes too!  Many love this easy method. I'm skeptical of the product being absorbed into the wax or honey and having an overall effect on the hive. However, smarter people than me have reassured me that these chemicals quickly evaporate.
HARVEST FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF HONEY
Honey from specific flowers does have a different taste. I would not begin to describe the difference but believe me it is different. Here's how to harvest specific honey. Essentially you must remove your honey supers after that particular flower stops giving nectar, and place new supers on before the bees change to a different source. This way, the honey will not be mixed from different sources. Of course, some mixing may happen, but you'll get more of the type that had the largest nectar flow.
Here’s a picture of a frame that has a combination of light honey, and dark honey in the same frame. Sometimes a honey super may have contained a small amount of brood, but it appears more in the center in a circle starting at the bottom center of the frame.
Although this frames contains honey from two different sources, the dark honey is too small to extract separately so the two are combined. If you were going to enter your light honey in a contest, you should avoid a frame like this because the darker honey will darken the overall appearance ever so slightly.
HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU FILTER YOUR HONEY?
Here's a picture of Jesse using a hot knife to cut off the cappings. We sell “hot” electric uncapping knives as well as cold uncapping knives. Notice what the sealed area looks like. The capped area is white because the newly made wax is a bright color at first. As it ages through the years it becomes darker. Once the comb is uncapped, the honey can be extracted. If you do not have an extractor, a frame can be left upside down to drip out over night. This method requires a warm/hot room, atleast 80 degrees. Let one side drain, then reverse so that the other side of the frame can drain as well. You can squeeze or crush out the honey from the comb, but this destroys precious drawn comb that you could reuse and it mixes in too much wax with the honey. Once uncapped, place your frames in an extractor and spin the honey out. You can purchase a very simple plastic extractor for just over $100 but a more common extractor is a stainless steel hand crank 2 frame extractor for just over $300. This is our best seller. If you can afford a little more, then a 4 frame extractor does 4 frames at a time. Once the honey is extracted out of the comb it collects in the bottom of the extractor which has a value on the bottom. At this point, you can bottle it, although you'll have pieces of wax, bee legs and wings and other things that came off your frames. So most beekeepers strain their honey. Straining is different than filtering. We use a 400 micron strainer. These might be referred to as filters, but they are really strainers.We sell a lot of these nylon strainers that fit down over a 5 gallon bucket. These strainers are $8 and can be washed and reused over and over again. The honey flows very fast through these strainers and important elements of the honey are allowed to stay within the honey but foreign particles are strained out. Filtering honey usually involves warming the honey and pushing it through very fine commercial filters. Some larger processors heat their honey and filter every grain of pollen from the honey so that the country of origin cannot be traced. In other words, there are some flora sources unique to particular countries, and pollen is often tested from imported honey so that illegally imported honey can be stopped. As a result, a large amount of honey purchased in larger stores has no traces of pollen. This is very unfortunate, which makes many of us suspect that America is still importing illegal honey. Read the entire story… We are okay heating honey to 90-95 because often the internal temperature of the hive is maintained at these temperatures. However, flavor and some nutrients are lost at temperatures above 140 (f)  Honey does not need to be heated to be pasteurized. It is a pure and natural product and the only raw food that never spoils.  It does not need refrigerated and can be kept at room temperature forever without spoiling. We like our honey to be free of air bubbles. So we allow our honey to sit after it has been strained. It sits for at least one week. Then we bottle it. Our settling tank allows all air bubbles to float up to the top. Then we drain from the pure honey at the bottom of the tank. You can do the same in a 5 gallon bucket with a valve on the bottom which we sell too. Most honey will become hard, known as crystallized. This is normal and does not mean the honey is bad. It means it simply crystallized. This can be remedied simply by leaving a jar in warm water or using a mildly heated double boiler. A CLEAN HONEY ROOM
Keep a clean honey room. One drop of honey on the floor soon gets tracked all over the place. It is a messy job, but fortunately honey cleans up easily with water. So, after you are finished harvesting your honey, clean up all your equipment. Since honey is a natural product and all you are doing is bottling it, there are very little guidelines in most states. Check with your state and county for honey preparation. Here in Illinois, we passed legislation in January so that beekeepers can bottle up to 500 gallons of honey without inspections and permits. Since you will be giving away your honey or selling it, here are some common practices you should follow. Wear a hairnet, clean clothes, keep your hands clean and properly wash all equipment including bottles. Use good judgment. BOTTLING HONEYBottles are expensive. We use a combination of glass and plastic bottles. Many of our customers enjoy the small well liked teddy bear bottles. Bottles must be cleaned well and dry, free of any foreign objects and dust. A common bottle for us to sell is the quart jar. Most of our customers buy the one quart size and the traditional canning jar with canning lid is very cost effective. Thanks for joining us for yet another beekeeping lesson. With Thanksgiving just over, you’re probably thinking about Christmas presents. Why not surprise that special someone in your life with getting them started in beekeeping. Or if you want to tell the one buying the gift what to get, have them click on our hive kit link. Here’s our contact information: PHONE AND ORDER LINE: 217-427-2678
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As you prepare to keep bees, several tools will make it much easier. Of course, you could do without the tools and probably get by, but these tools have become the best friend to the beekeeper.

Let me start by sharing what I feel is ABSOLUTELY essential, and then I'll talk about extras that just make the job easier.

ESSENTIAL TOOLS & EQUIPMENT:

1) Hive Tool
2) Smoker
3) Hat & Veil

THE HIVE TOOL

When I first started keeping bees I really didn't understand what the big deal was regarding the hive tool. Beekeepers talked about it like a carpenter talks about a hammer or tape measure. Now, nearly a decade and a half later, my hive tool is my best friend in the apiary.

By the way, APIARY is a fancy word for where you keep your bees. It is pronounced like: a-pea-airy. Our actual business is called Long Lane Apiary, but since many people aren't familiar with what an apiary is, we go by Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. Back to the hive tool.

A hive tool is between 9-10 inches long. I prefer the 9" hive tool. The 10" tool just seems too long and clumsy for me. It looks at first like a small carpenter's pry bar. But, it is a hive tool. You will not find them at the local hardware store or at the local home supply center. You may think you don't need one or that another shop tool will work, but take my advice, get a hive tool! One of my workers preferred to use a screw driver until I realized he was tearing up the hives. You'd better get two or three hive tools if you are like me, and lose them so quickly.

Here's what the hive tool looks like:


The shinny end is mostly used for separating the hive bodies and supers. Bees gather propolis and use it as glue to keep their boxes tightly together. When inspecting your hive, you will need to use this hive tool to separate stuck-together pieces.

The hooked end of the hive tool is used mostly for scraping off the propolis. It is important to scrap off as much excess propolis as you can to prevent build up and to keep a cleaner hive.
Notice the small hole in the hive tool. This is for pulling out nails if needed. Of course, you'll find many more helpful uses for your hive tool, but these are everyday uses.

Next, THE SMOKER


I would not want to keep bees without a smoker. Some brag that they don't smoke their bees, but, to me, this is not practical. Okay, first, why blow smoke in a hive? We do it to calm the bees. The idea is that smoke causes the bees to gorge themselves on honey, which makes them less likely and almost unable to sting. For one, they are busy eating, and they become so full, they are unable to bend and sting. It really does work! Trust me, this is not a tool you'll want to be without.

We'll cover how to enter a hive in a future lesson, but for now, let me give a brief explanation on how to smoke your hive. Use pine needles, burlap or corn cobs as fuel for your smoker. Of course, you can use other items such as wood pellets, large saw dust, dried grass or mulch too. Make sure that whatever you burn has not been treated with chemicals as this could kill your bees. When approaching your hive to open it, blow a couple of puffs of smoke into the front opening and wait at least 3 minutes. Then, remove the top cover and gently blow a few puffs of smoke into the entrance hole on the inner cover. As you begin removing the inner cover, blow a few puffs of smoke under the inner cover and between the frames as you lift off the inner cover. It is a good idea to wait a few minutes after blowing smoke into the hive as this gives the bees time to eat and relax.

Smokers are hot! They are metal, and lots of beekeepers have a perfect impression of a smoker bottom melted into their truck bed liners. I have one! I use an army ammo can now to put my smoker in when I am finished using it. It prevents fires, and prevents me from burning up something like my truck.

When lighting your smoker, do not pack it full, then try to light it. Load it lightly, and add fuel as it starts burning good. Be careful that the flame coming out of the opened smoker does not burn your hand or burn a nice size hole in your protective gear (experience speaking here)!!

Also, do not squeeze the smoker billow hard when smoking your hive. Gentle!! If you squeeze too hard, you may send fire into your hive. This is not good for the bees, and could set your entire hive on fire. Smoke only please!

Smoke does not hurt the bees. And you'll get good enough to know how much to use after a few tries. The smoker is good too, in case you get stung, you should blow smoke around the area of the sting. Bees are attracted to the scent of a stinger as a target, so by smoking the sting area, you neutralize this scent. Don't waste your money on expensive smokers! You're only blowing smoke!! A $30 smoker is all you need and works well.

HAT & VEIL
Okay, I admit, I have worked my bees without a hat or veil. And I also admit I have been stung on the face too. That's one place I don't like to get stung. And you could lose your sight if stung in the eye ball. And, if you get stung on the lip, you will look like Donald Duck for 2 days! Wear a hat and veil at all times.

Hats are usually plastic and are modeled after the popular pith hat. I like real pith hats from Vietnam, so I use real ones. They are a few bucks more than a cheap plastic one, but it is just my preference. Here at LONG LANE HONEY BEE FARMS we offer both plastic and real pith hats. Here's a picture of what we sell in our start up kits.





I wear my pith hat all day. When I'm not working bees, I remove the veil. The pith hat is a great sun blocker. Here I am after working my hives, cooling off in the front swing with my pith hat on.

Both the plastic and real pith hats provide total protection from the bees, not to mention they keep ticks out of your hair if your hives are beneath some trees. (Hives should be placed in direct sunlight at all times!)

An occasional stray bee can sneak in beneath your veil. I wear my veil without tying it off, so I do find a bee inside with me maybe twice a year. What do you do then? First, you do not panic. She is not in there to kill you. She wandered in by accident. I advise those who help me to never take off their veil in the field. The first instinct is to rip off the hat and veil to get the bee out. However, that sudden movement with a now exposed face and head in the middle of an apiary is not a good combination. Here's what I do. I face the sun, tilt my head back. She will move toward the sun on my inside veil, and I simply squeeze her between my fingers. The veil is flexible enough that I usually squeeze from the outside, but you can always slip your hand under your veil inside and squeeze her.

OTHER NONE ESSENTIAL TOOLS

Spray bottle, frame puller, frame holders, gloves, boots, etc. I don't like to wear gloves. I get stung more with gloves than without, because a bee will innocently climb up into my glove and I'll not know it and pinch her enough to get stung. Without gloves, I can better feel the bee and know where they are so as not to pinch one. If I do wear gloves, I use a very thin leather glove. I prefer pig skin gloves. A stinger can get through, but it does provide a lot of protection.

Again, the plan is to work your bees in such a way as to never get stung. I'll cover that in a future lesson too.

Please tell your friends about these online FREE beekeeping lessons. They can easily subscribe and have these emailed to their inbox. Also, if you do subscribe, be sure and allow the pictures
to download in your mail program. Some security is set to disable picture downloads in Email. However, in Microsoft Outlook, you can simply RIGHT CLICK on where a picture is NOT showing, and tell it to allow the pictures to show.
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Here at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, we are committed to help you be a successful beekeeper. David is a certified master beekeeper. You may consider joining us for one of David's beekeeping classes. Click here to see our upcoming classes.

We are a family business, a turn key beekeeping operation. We manufacture the hives ourselves, hand built for you, and we provide you with the bees and all the equipment you need. We appreciate your business and you'll find we won't treat you like a customer, but like a friend. And when you purchase your equipment from us, we're here for you. You can call us with your questions. We won't leave you hanging wondering what to do. Click here to see our complete online beekeeping store. Contact us today, and get started in beekeeping: 217-427-2678

After you obtain your new hive equipment, you will want to order your bees (we will ship bees only if a hive is also purchased; otherwise, we sell packages for pick-up). A common type and amount of bees to order is a 3 pound package with an Italian queen. For a few dollars extra, you can have your queen marked. It is a good idea to have your queen marked. This makes it easier to find your queen when you do hive inspections and allows you to keep track if your queen has been replaced (superseded) by the hive. The superseding queen will not have a mark.

Your bees will be sent to you by UPS. That's right, they arrive in a screened box. This box is equipped with a sugar water or hard candy dispenser and a cage to keep the queen separate from the bees. For faster service packages can be shipped via UPS.

To prepare for the arrival of your bees, you will want to purchase a new spray bottle and mix sugar water, one part water to one part sugar. Do not use old spray bottles that have been used with other chemicals as this could make the bees sick or kill them.

The box is made with a wood frame and screen. Spray an ample supply of sugar water through the screen. Use the mist setting, not the stream. You CANNOT over spray your bees. They have been traveling for several days, and no doubt have been hot and not able to eat much, so the sugar water will really replenish their energy.

If you are traveling elsewhere with your bees, or after you pick them up from us, try to keep the package in a shaded or dark place in the car or truck. If you use a truck, try to avoid excessive wind damage that may occur if you place your bees in the bed of your truck. If you have to travel a long distance at interstate speed, and the bees are in the bed of your truck, place something around them, protecting them from the wind, while also providing sufficient air flow. Bees must have air to breathe just like us!

Sometimes, the weather might be too wet or cold to install your bees the same day they arrive. In this case, simply keep them in a cool basement or dark room and spray them with sugar water 3-4 times a day. They will usually be fine for a few days if you have to wait. Some dead bees on the bottom of their package is common. An inch or two of dead bees might be a problem, indicating they did not withstand the trip well. Call your supplier and report the findings.

If you see a few bees on the outside of your package, do not panic. It does not usually mean there is a leak. It usually means that a few bees have been clinging to the outside of the package for thousands of miles. But do check to make sure the box is sealed well.

Will the bees in the package sting you? Honeybees can always sting. However, you will find that by spraying them with sugar water, they are very calm. And, since they do not have any brood or honey to protect, they are not trying to defend their hive. Technically they don't have a queen either. Their morale is low, so they are not nearly as aggressive. When I install packages, I do not wear gloves or hat and veil. I would not recommend it to you, because you don't want a bad experience on your first installation, but you will find the bees to be very gentle. Work with confidence!

Now, here's how you can effectively install your bees in your new hive. Choose a good time of the day, when it is sunny, warm and not too windy. Mid to late afternoon works well. Be sure and take all your equipment to where you will install your package. You will need the following items:

1) Spray bottle with sugar water (1:1 ratio, one part water, one part sugar)

2) Hive tool

3) A wood screw (for removing queen cage cork)

4) A comfortable amount of protective clothing

Be sure your new hive equipment is where you want your hive to be. At this point, you will only need your bottom board, 1 deep hive body, 10 frames and foundation, inner and top cover. Remove 4 of the center frames from the new hive body. This is where you will shake your bees into. Spray all 10 frames, both sides, with the 1:1 sugar water mixture. This will attract the bees to the foundation and give them a warm welcome to their new home. Bees love sugar!

Also, before you install your package, you'll want to insert your entrance feeder and entrance reducer. Bees need fed when first installed because they are not an operational hive just yet. They have no incoming food. So feed them for a couple of weeks the same mixture of 1:1 sugar water. It is easier to place the entrance feeder in the front of the hive when there are no bees inside.

If you purchased your hive equipment from us, then your hive came with an entrance reducer which you will want to insert before installing your bees. This will keep the bees snug in their new home, and alleviate any tendency for the new bees to fly away. Yet, it does leave enough space for them to fly in and out as they become acquainted with their new home.

Position your entrance reducer cleat in the front of your hive as shown in the picture. Notice part of it is hanging off the edge. This configuration provides restriction, yet allows a sufficient opening. After 3-4 days, you can remove it entirely until fall. This step is important because occasionally packages can fly away (Abscond) after you install them. This restriction will help tremendously. While the chance of your new hive flying away is VERY RARE, but the possibility does exists. The reducer will help. They will stay put better than you would think. Do not fear that they are flying away because you see lots of bees flying around. This is normal. They need to stretch and go to the bathroom after traveling so far. Bees do not defecate inside their hive. They are very clean.

Now, spray the package thoroughly on both sides of the screen, front and back. This will calm the bees, keep them well nourished and keep them from flying about so much during the installation process. Remember, you cannot over spray. Be prepared for sticky hands and fingers.

Now, you will want to begin opening your package. Do not be afraid. Millions of bees are not going to rush out at you. Work with confidence and enjoy the activity.

To open the package, first remove the top panel. It is stapled on to the box. Staples are sharp, so don't cut yourself on the staples once the panel is removed. Use your hive tool to pry open the panel. But, be careful with your hive tool. The end is very sharp too, and if the tool should slip, it can poke or cut you.

Once you remove the top panel, NO bees will come out yet. This panel simply holds the feeding container in place as well as the white strap that has the queen cage on the opposite end, inside the package.

The bees may become noisy which is normal. Spray them again if you need to calm them. They are becoming loud not because you are making them mad, but simply because of the the sunlight and air. They are ready to do what bees do. Make a hive and gather nectar. Stay calm and confident!

Now you see the top of the tin can of sugar as well as the white queen cage strap. The queen cage strap is also stapled to the top of the box. Free this strap, but do not let it fall into the package of bees.

Gently tip the package of bees over the new hive, positioning it over the center where the 4 frames have been removed. Slide the sugar tin can out a little so you can get an easier grip on it. Sometimes the can comes out easily, and sometimes it is very tight and has to be wiggled out with considerable effort. It will come out.

Once you are ready, pull the can all the way out. At this point, the bees will have access to the great outdoors, specifically, their new hive. They will be attracted to the beeswax and sugar coated foundation awaiting them. Set the can of sugar water aside, holes facing up so it doesn't leak.

You will need to pull out the queen cage now, prior to shaking the bees or else it will fall into the hive. If it does, no problem. The queen is okay, just remove the cage and place it on top of the hive off to the side from where you'll be pouring your bees.

Now begin shaking your bees out of the package and into the new hive. Shake as hard as you want and you'll start seeing them pour into the new hive. You may also want to firmly strike the side of the package with the palm of your hand to free bees that are hanging on to the screen. However, be sure not to strike a bee when striking the side of the box or you might smash a bee just enough to get stung. Notice in the picture, I take advantage of the remaining sugar water in the tin can by placing if over the entrance feeder. I usually poke a few more holes with a nail so the bees will consume it more quickly. After it is finished, I replace it with a mason jar with holes in the lid.

Now you must install your queen. Slow release method is the best. These are not her bees, and she is not the queen they are used to YET! So, you must let them get to know her before she can roam freely among her new hive. Here's how. The queen cage has a screen on top and through the screen you can identify a white candy substance at one end. This is the end that you will HAVE TO remove the cork. DO NOT REMOVE THE CORK AT THE OPPOSITE END OF THE CANDY. Only remove the cork from the candy end of the cage. A hive tool doesn't work well, but screwing in a small screw then pulling it out works well. Once the cork is out, you will see that the hole is still plugged with the white candy. GOOD! Do not disturb that candy plug. As the bees eat through the candy, they will become familiar with their new queen. Then, once the candy has bee eaten, she will emerge from her cage as queen of the hive and be readily accepted by her new workers. After all, they are ready for a queen themselves!

Once you've removed the cork, you will want to place the cage between the frames in the center of the hives from the top. Notice how I use the pressure of the hive frames to hold the cage between the frames. I hang my queen cage with the candy side down. Some say to hang it with the candy up, in case her attendant bees within her cage die, they do not block her exit. However, bees are good about moving dead bees out of the way, and I want her to exit out onto the foundation.

PLAY CLOSE ATTENTION. YOU MUST REPLACE ALL 10 FRAMES!! If you don't, the bees will quickly make comb in place where your frames should have gone. This will be a mess. And they will attach their comb to your top cover and if you wait long enough, you will not be able to open your hive. SO YOU MUST REPLACE ALL 10 FRAMES before replacing the inner and top cover.

Do not place any other boxes on the hive just yet. You only need the one deep box. Let them draw out the comb, usually 6-8 frames, then you can place your second hive body on top. Once 6-8 frames of your second deep have been drawn out, you can start placing your supers on.

Great Job! You Did It!! Place the package box near the front of the hive because it will still have some bees that you were unable to shake out of it. These will find their way into the hive in a day or two.

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After learning about the woodenware that the bees live in, now we are ready to learn about the actual bees themselves. Honeybee can be spelt as one word or two. Both are correct. It never ceases to amaze me at the number of beekeepers who actually know very little about honeybees. So let's start simple.

There are three caste to a honeybee hive: The queen, the drones and the workers. A honeybee hive has only one queen per hive. The hive must have a queen in order to grow and survive. Without the queen they will perish. The queen is the only bee in the hive that lays eggs producing the next generation of bees. She lays between 1,000-3,000 eggs per day...yes, per day!

The queen is noticeably different in size and shape. She is longer than the worker bee and has longer legs, so she can back into a cell and lay an egg on the bottom. Once you become familiar with her appearance, she is more easily spotted when examining the hive. It is good to examine your hives every two weeks to be sure the queen is alive and healthy. However, it is very time consuming and sometimes impossible to see the queen. So one way you can be sure she is in good health is to look for newly laid eggs. These are tiny white specks at the bottom of the cells. This tells you that she is alive and laying. The queen usually lives significantly longer than workers and drones, sometimes up to 3-4 years or longer.

The queen does have a stinger, but it is not a barbed stinger. She rarely uses her stinger, and usually only in fighting other queens that may emerge in her hive as virgin queens. It is very rare for the beekeeper to be stung when handling a queen. I am constantly picking up queens and have never been stung.

Here is one of my queens. The white dot on her back is paint that I put there to help me easily identify her. The other bees have been trying to clean it off. Notice how the attendant bees circle the queen. This is called retinue. This is another helpful hint in trying to locate the queen. Rather than trying to spot her, try looking for the circle of bees around her, or observe the frame. The queen stays on the move and the other bees get our of her way.

Next, we have the drones which are the male bees. Their only objective is to mate with a virgin queen. They differ in size and shape from the worker bee in that they are stockier, have larger eyes, usually appear slightly darker in color and do not have stingers. The will not and CANNOT sting you. They eat and wander around looking for a virgin queen. They are the only bee allowed to travel from hive to hive. They are important to have so that virgin queens can mate and begin laying eggs. Once the queen has mated with several drones during her mating flight, she will be able to lay eggs the rest of her life and will never mate again.

Drones live around 90 days. In the fall, in colder climates, the worker bees will begin to kill the drones. They are no longer needed for winter, and they simply become a costly liability to the wintering hive. So, they are not allowed to winter in the hive, and die outside. In the fall, some beekeepers become concerned about the increased numbers of dead bees outside the hive entrance. A closer examination reveals these are the perishing drones who are no longer needed.

Finally, the worker bee. Worker bees are all female and they do not lay eggs. If a hive becomes queenless for 3-4 weeks, a worker bee might begin laying unfertilized eggs as a result of the absence of the queen's pheromone. However, this only produces more drones and will not help a dying hive. It is believed that this is one of the last things a dying hive can do, produce drones to mate with other queens. It is easy to spot eggs laid by a worker. There is usually more than one egg per cell, and they are seldom at the bottom of the cell since the worker bee is shorter than the queen and cannot drop the egg on the bottom.

The worker bee will work in the hive until she is around 21 days old. Then, she is rewarded her wings and begins foraging for nectar, water, pollen and propolis. In the summer, she will work herself to death, usually only living 35-45 days.

As a new beekeeper, become familiar with the difference between the queen, the worker and the drone honeybee.

Next, we will examine how long it takes the drone, queen and worker to hatch and what they do in the hive.

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When I moved from Ohio to Illinois in 1995, I brought my bees with me. They did well for a while, but then I noticed they were weakening. Eventually, the hive was filled with wax moths. They make a mess! They spin their webbing throughout the hive and the larvae burrow into wood and comb. Left untreated, the hive will abscond. Beekeepers like to use the word abscond. It is just a fancy word for saying "the bees left".

Wax worms make moths, specifically called Galleria mellonella L. or Greater Wax Moth. Or there is the Lesser Wax moth Achroia Grisella which is probably more common.

They usually only take over weak hives, hives that are stressed or have gone queenless or have mites really bad. As a general rule, strong hives are the best defense against wax moth. If you have wax moths, you need to see if you can find out why the hive became weak enough for the wax moths to take over. Some suggest that most hives have a few inside, but they are kept in check.

Just like we keep bees, some folks actually raise wax worms and even buy starter kits. Fishermen use them for bait, and some people even eat them for protein. Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile, in their popular book, THE BEEKEEPER'S HANDBOOK, have a whole section on wax worm rearing (appendix H).

What does a beekeeper do when wax moths are out of control? Freezing frames works well. A deep freeze will kill all stages of the wax moth, including the eggs. Here is the formula: 4.5 hours at 20 degrees F, 3 hours at 10 degrees F, 2 hours at 5 degrees F. Measure your deep freezer temp and decide how long.

Next, crowd the bees by removing unused frames and boxes and freeze those frames. If possible, and depending on the size of the hive, shake all the bees into one deep brood box with comb, then freeze the beeless and broodless frames. If the amount of bees is too large to fit into a single hive body, shake them into a deep and medium super. Crowding the bees will cause them to chase out the moths and reduce the empty space for moths to hide. Reduce the crowding after frames have been frozen by putting the clean frames back in the hive.

You may have to freeze your hive bodies/super bodies too as the moths do attach eggs in cracks in the wood. Blowing smoke into the hive with a smoker, two or three times a day, will stir up the bees and help run out pests too. Keep the hive in solid sunlight...no shade.Strong hives, sunlight, freeze comb, crowd the bees and smoke 'em. A non-chemical approach to gettng rid of wax moths!
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Even though it is September, we continue to sell hives and supplies! Our shop is humming to the sound of saws, routers and staple guns. The bees are doing what bees do in September. They seem to know that winter is imminent. They are trying to build up their final honey stores before the first hard frost that will kill the flowers and end the nectar flow.

Here are some bees on our hyssop. It's a beautiful plant and the bees love it! In the morning, the bees gather pollen from ragweed. Ragweed is of the genus Ambrosia and has small, greenish, unisexual flower heads. It grows at the ends of the corn fields around our house. It produces an abundance of pollen. Ragweed pollen in the air is one of the chief causes of hay fever. However, eating local honey with traces of flower pollen such as ragweed can help build your immunity up against these types of allergies.

I notice that early in the morning, the ragweed sounds like a swarm, it is so full of bees. Watch this short video and see if you can see two female workers coming in with yellow ragweed pollen in the pouches on their back legs.

I have crossed the halfway mark in the honey room on dry wall completion. It is looking good.

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