Mice seem so innocent and so small. What could they possibly do to hurt your bee hive during the winter? Now is the time to take precautions to keep mice out of your hives. Hi, we are David and Sheri Burns from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms located in central Illinois. Thank you for following our beekeeping lessons online.

Now that it is fall, I’d like to share several fall management tips for your hive to have a better chance at surviving our upcoming winter. Yes, I know. No one wants to think about winter yet, but you have to so that you can make sure your colony is strong and healthy.

Before we begin our lesson, I want to share some things going on around Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. I had a great time speaking in Chicago at the Lake County Beekeepers Club. Ann Miller Did a great job hosting the meeting. I spoke on how to raise queens and I did it in 45 minutes!

We’ve also been hosting groups at the honey bee farm. This week we had a group of homeschoolers who came out to learn more about honey bees. They asked some good questions. I think a few families are going to start keeping bees next spring.

Then we had all the local FFA chapters from surrounding schools visit our place. They were fascinated by our large bee tree and how we make queens and woodenware. But I think what really got their attention is when I opened a hive and found the queen on a full frame of bees. I carried it around so that each one could see the queen. The future of honey bees can be greatly increased as the importance of the honey bee is impressed upon these Future Farmers of America!

Be sure and LIKE US on facebook.  

As many of you know Long Lane Honey Bee Farms is a family business and our family is doing great. We have three sons and three daughters between the ages of 31 and 6 years old. And we have seven grandchildren and another one on the way. Many of you have talked to Karee or Jesse on the phone or in person here. They recently had a baby, Jesse David. He is our newest grandson and he was born premature, spending 103 days in the NICU. The good news is he finally came home on Wednesday! Thank you for your prayers.

New to the beekeeping community is our new beekeeping internet and radio program called Hive Talk. My good friend and bee expert Jon Zawislak and I will be hosting this weekly call in beekeeping radio program. Our debut will be this Tuesday night, October 1st at 7pm central time. The success of this program depends largely upon you, callers who will call in and ask beekeeping questions. If you don’t call in with questions, Jon and I will be left to ramble on and make a miserable attempt to be entertaining. Here’s what you do. Around 6:50 p.m. central time on Tuesday, Dial 1-724-7444. A voice recording will ask you to enter you “CALL ID” for our show which is: 129777, then press the # sign. When asked to enter your pin, enter 1 followed by the # sign.  At that point our engineer will chat with you and get you ready to ask us a question. We recommend that you log in to our show 10 minutes prior to 7:00 p.m. central time. Signing in again is simple:

1. Dial: (724) 444-7444
2. Enter: 129777 # (Call ID)
3. Enter: 1 # or your PIN

If you want to just listen from your computer, go to: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/129777

WINTER-BEE-KIND UPDATE

We are heavy into production of our Winter-Bee-Kinds! Years ago, Zach Watts worked for our family mowing and keeping our place cleaned up when he was younger. Over they years, we keep moving him up and now he’s one of our best shop guys. He’s the main builder of our Winter-Bee-Kinds. He’s working for us while going to college. He’s a huge blessing to our business. You should start seeing your Winter-Bee-Kind arrive in a few weeks. If don’t know about our Winter-Bee-Kinds, check out our website at: http://www.honeybeesonline.com

Finally before our lesson today, here are three of our featured products:

Our traditional Langstroth Hive (Above). Completely assembled and painted with frames. Click here for more information.

Our new Langstroth Hive made from Cedar! (Above)  Spruce up your garden or yard with this majestic hive! Click here for more information.

Our popular Winter-Bee-Kind winter feed, ventilation and upper exit candy board. Click here for more information.

When you order from us, we are able to make a living doing what we love. Thank you!

LESSON 140: Protect Your Hives Against Mice & Should You Combine Your Hives For Winter

Mice seem so innocent and so small. Who would think they could be such a pest to the bee hive? In my early days as a new beekeeper I really didn't do much to prevent mice from entering my hives during the fall and winter. I just assumed the mice would stay out. I thought if they did make it in, they would be well behaved on the bottom board and not bother my bees. Nothing could be further from the truth! Mice will destroy a hive during the winter. When the weather turns cooler mice leave the outdoors and find your hive the perfect place for warmth and yes, food---your bees.

It seems like the colony would kill the mice, but during the winter the colony is clustered to stay warm. In the spring and summer the bees are able to move about the hive and chase out or kill mice. But in the winter the mice have free reign since the bees are clustered to stay warm. This is a great place for mice to raise their young. In the spring you can find a whole nest of pink baby mice and a few adults on your bottom board. When you see that, you’ll probably notice your hive is dead. The mice have slowly eaten away at bees and comb for food.

Do something now! First, understand that mice can fit through a hole the size of a ballpoint pen, or about 1/4 inch. So the challenge is to leave an opening large enough for bees but small enough so that mice cannot fit through. Not to mention mice can enter through a damaged corner or ventilation holes in hives. While it is nearly impossible to find the perfect sized mouse guard, most entrance reducers and mouse guards discourage mice from entering. A wide open bottom board is like hanging out a vacancy sign.We sell different types of mouse guards but an entrance reduce is our suggested defense.

This spring I conducted a study on mice and bees. I was startled at the results of my experiment. In 12 colonies I placed a component which had mouse urine, droppings or nest debris on it. I then installed packages into those 12 colonies on drawn comb. All 12 packages absconded within 7 days. I’ve been studying what makes packages abscond. I found that bees installed from packages can still abscond in new hives on new foundation, but the chances are less likely in new equipment. Drawn comb can help reduce absconding but the older the drawn comb is the more likely bees are to abscond. But any sign of mice urine, droppings or debris can cause a new package to abscond. The best thing is to destroy boxes, bottom board and frames that are soiled from mice droppings.

COMBINING HIVES

There is an old beekeeping saying that we should take our winter losses in the fall. This means that small and weak colonies, which will not survive the winter, should be combined with a larger colony that has higher populations and more food in the hive. The most common way to combine hives is to destroy the queen in the weaker colony and wait a few days. Then place newspapers on top of the top deep box in the strong colony. Then, move all the frames in the weak colony into one deep and place it above the newspaper on the strong hive. Cut a few slits in the newspaper so the bees can begin to destroy the newspaper. The theory is that by the time the newspaper is cleaned out, both colonies will be friends and become one.

Another option is to use a double screen board and place the weak colony on top of the strong colony. Both colonies have queens and the double screen keeps the bees and queens from fighting. The heat from the larger hive drifts up through the screen and keeps the smaller colony warmer on top. Keep in mind that cold is not the colony’s worst enemy. The number one concern is the varroa mite. If the colony has a severe infestation of varroa, they are unlikely to survive the winter. Other concerns are viruses and diseases which can cause the hive to die in the winter.

So you may want to take your winter losses now and combine some hives. If the combined hives overwinters well, you can split it in the spring and you’re back to two.

That’s all for now and thank you for joining us for another beekeeping lesson! Please let others know about these lessons and our business. We appreciate you spreading the word! Your donations help us continue our work and research on the honey bee, such as our recent development of our Winter-Bee-Kind. These lessons are free and will provide you with as much if not more information than you would find in a $30 book. So consider making a $30 donation so that we might continue these lessons, CLICK HERE TO DONATE $30 or go to:
http://www.honeybeesonline.com/servlet/Detail?no=144

Thank you in advance.
David and Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
217-427-2678 Website: www.honeybeesonline.com

Thanks for joining us for another beekeeping lesson!

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Hello from David and Sheri Burns at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. It’s November!
We are a unique family business with a passion to help more and more people start keeping bees. We provide beekeeping classes, mentoring, equipment, hives and even the bees and queens.

Our 2013 Classes are online now!

February 9, 2013 Basic Beekeeping
February 23, 2013 Basic Beekeeping
March 9, 2013 Basic Beekeeping
March 23, 2013 Basic Beekeeping
June 17-21, 2013 The Beekeeping Institute
    Day 1- Basic Beekeeping
    Day 2- Practical Beekeeping
    Day 3 - Advance Beekeeping
    Day 4 - Queen Rearing
    Day 5 - Insect Photography
June 29, 2013 Queen Rearing Workshop
July 20, 2013 Advance Beekeeping
October 19, 2013 Basic Beekeeping
The big news for our family is that our son Seth is now a US Marine.  He’s built hives since he was 12 and now he’s grown into a Marine. We flew out to San Diego a few weeks ago and enjoyed participating in his graduation from Marine boot camp. Marines have 13 weeks of boot camp, the hardest of all ending with the infamous crucible, 54 hours of little food or sleep covering 40+ miles on foot while battling through many “battle” stations. We are proud of Seth for his service to protect our country! His platoon was awarded Honor Platoon and Seth earned and is wearing an EXPERT SHOOTER metal in the photo.
In just a few short weeks, the 2013 beekeeping year begins. Beekeepers and prospective beekeepers will begin purchasing equipment and securing bees for the spring. Before it all breaks loose again, we are fine tuning our production equipment, hiring help and modifying our systems for maximum quality production. Lots of work to still be done.
We are also staying busy removing honey bee colonies from buildings. Seems like we are usually pulling out one or two hives a week from homes. We’ve done this for several years, and with the help of our expert carpenter, Roger Faulkner, we’ve really perfected the skill of removing the bees and comb and repairing the structure. Our last job required the use of a lift and we removed the well established colony from the roof top while in a crane bucket.
Removing colonies during the fall can really be a challenge due to robber bees that will instantly attack the exposed combs of delicious honey. We’ve developed many skill sets perfecting the art of this type of removal.
I hope you enjoy today’s lesson, as it is written by my youngest daughter Karee that many of you have spoken to with your beekeeping questions. She is very knowledgeable of honey bees and today she’ll shed some light on winter preparations.
LESSON 125: The Winter-Bee-Kind and Winter Preparations
It’s now November and a lot of you beekeepers are already thinking of the necessary steps for overwintering your bees. It's getting cold! Good for you. Getting bees through the winter can sometimes be a task. This year’s Farmer’s Almanac says most of the US can expect much colder winter temperatures this year, so how can we intervene with our bees for their benefit?
Hi, my name is Karee Marsh and I am the daughter of David and Sheri Burns and (co) General Manager at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. I was the one who eloped to Montana during one of the busiest times of the year (in March). Somehow the rest of the Long Lane employees all managed to steer the ship while we were away. When I was visiting Montana it made me think how a lot of new beekeepers who live in colder areas similar to Montana often worry their bees won’t make it through the winter. But while we were visiting Montana (my husband is a Montanan native), we concluded that bees probably do well in this part of the US during the cold months because its drier during the winter. Two big causes of colony deaths in winter is a lack of food, and condensation. Bees create condensation inside the hive, but a dry climate (like in Montana) is definitely an advantage to the bees.
But here in Illinois, our winters have more moisture. So we try to let our customers know that the cold is rarely what kills a strong overwintering colony. 
A major contributing factor is excessive moisture in the hive and a lack of proper nutrition. In this photo, inside the hive during the winter, we found without proper upper ventilation, condensation freezes on the bottom side of the top cover, which drips down on the bees on a warmer winter day. This photo shows 1/4” of frost on the top cover inside the hive ready to fall on the colony.
Here in central Illinois, our spring was dry and our summer was extremely hot. We actually had a good number of nectar flows, but a lot of you told us that your bees weren’t producing much in the way of food this year. I noticed this in one of my hives as well. My husband Jesse and I live in Champaign, Illinois where we keep two hives in our backyard. One hive has done incredibly well. A quick peek every now and again at the queen, and maybe some beetle blasters here and there to lower the number of small hive beetles is all the tending this hive needs. We have 4 supers stacked on top and are waiting until the end of October to extract all the honey. Our other hive, however, did very poorly.
The number of bees in this colony was very small. When referring to our hives, we call them the “big hive” and the “small hive.” Last year, these names were switched!  Our current “small hive” had the biggest numbers last year, but this year the numbers dwindled. As a queen rearer, I immediately suspected the queen. I was seeing little brood production. This hive has re-queened itself a couple times and it wasn’t long before I noticed the hive had produced two queens who had no problems cohabitating. While the queens looked great, I still saw very little brood production.
Why is the queen laying such a small amount of eggs? I transferred honey frames as well as capped brood frames from the big hive, over to the little hive as I realized the small hive simply did not have enough resources to produce brood. I believe the queen was well-mated as she was large and had eggs literally falling out of her. She was laying; the bees were just eating the eggs!  “Um,” one of the nurse bees might say, “thanks for laying and everything, but yeah, we do not have enough food for us to eat, let alone try and raise more larvae to feed. If you don’t stop, we are just going to eat them.” Tough stuff! Contrary to popular belief, the queen bee does not rule the roost of a bee hive. The bees do! There is no dictatorship in the hive, it’s a democracy. The bees aren't going to desperately try to feed all of the eggs the queens lay. They know their demand for resources and will eat her eggs right out of the cell if need be.
If you are a new beekeeper and had a hive like I did this year, you’re probably asking yourself where you went wrong, and how you should overwinter this hive. I’ve been raising bees for 4 years and have been around them a lot longer than that. These things happen. The question is, what can I do now? If your bees have low honey stores, you need to feed them. They will die out if they can’t get enough food stored up to actually let brood progress to the egg stage. Feed them to get their numbers up! I don’t suggest using an entrance feeder in the fall because it’s robbing season. Your hive does not need that risk. An entrance feeder is fine in the spring and during nectar flows, but in the fall during a dearth it will attract robber bees and you could lose the entire hive. Use a top feeder or frame feeder as long as there are no freezing temperatures where you live.
If you are experiencing freezing temperatures, try our Winter-Bee-Kind candy board! It contains sugar, pollen, insulation and an upper vent for moisture.

There is a difference between liquid candy that has frozen, and hard candy! Liquid sugar goes right through the bee. If you are feeding them liquid, make sure it’s warm enough for your bees to fly. They do not defecate in their hive and they can hold it for while, but if they hold it too long it can make them sick and can kill them. Hard candy, however, does not go through a bee nearly as fast. It’s thick consistency sticks in their gut better, making it possible for them to stay inside the hive longer without much issue.
So feed your bees! A lot of you have asked, “Should I just let them go?” That is up to you, but I’m going to do my best to get my bees through the winter.
The other overwintering issue is condensation. A lot of beekeepers think their hive needs to be air tight in the winter, keeping the heat in, and the cold out. Don’t go through this winter thinking that! We have a few very old bee boxes at Long Lane. Some have huge holes in the sides. We’ve noticed that these hives go through winter the best! I’m not suggesting blowing a hole through your hive this winter, but I do suggest ventilation! Upper entrances are a great way to do this. Not to mention, in the winter it’s easier for bees to exit out of the top since it is closer to the cluster. Even if it’s 2 degrees outside, your bees need air circulation. A screen bottom board is also a great ventilator. Did I mention our Winter-Bee-Kind has an upper ventilation hole? It also has a piece of insulation on the top to prevent most condensation. What moisture may collect helps to break down the hard candy a little, too. The biggest problem with condensation is drops falling down onto the cluster of bees and chilling them. Imagine being out in the cold and having a bucket of water thrown on you. Air circulation prevents this from happening to your bees!
When our customers ask us about wrapping the hives up with insulating paper (roofing paper), we tell them that a wind block is better. If your hive is sitting in the middle of a field in Nebraska with no tree or hill in sight, make your hive a wind block! The constant wind against the hive chills the bees more at 32 degrees than no wind does at 3 degrees. You could find anything to create a wind block. Stacked up hay bales, fencing, etc.
Thank you all so much for the huge number of orders for our Winter-Bee-Kinds! We officially started production on September 17th and are pumping out around 100 a week! So if you're on the waiting list, they are on their way! Please make sure when storing your board, that you keep it laying flat and not on its side (or upside down, for that matter). Also, if bugs or mice are an issue where you are storing the board, we suggest you freeze the Winter-Bee-Kind until you're ready to use it.
My husband and I plan on getting hundreds of pounds of honey off our one hive and selling it! We’re a little late, but we’ve been busy. Recently while checking this hive, we stacked the supers on top of each other on the ground. Somehow one super got completely flipped over on its top. If we had lifted the box, all the frames would have fallen out. Somehow, with the help of a shovel and an inner cover, my husband Jesse got it flipped right side up. Let’s just say we both got a good dose of apitherapy that day. What are some of your embarrassing bee stories? Ever did something silly while working a hive that made you ask yourself what you were thinking? Let us know and we may share your story in an upcoming podcast! E-mail me at karee@honeybeesonline.com.
I hope you enjoyed this blog! Please go feed your bees (if they need it)!! That’s all for now and thank you for joining us for another beekeeping lesson! Please let others know about these lessons and our business. We appreciate you spreading the word! Your donations help us continue our work and research on the honey bee, such as our recent development of our Winter-Bee-Kind. These lessons are free and will provide you with as much if not more information than you would find in a $30 book. So consider making a $30 donation so that we might continue these lessons, CLICK HERE TO DONATE $30 or go to:
http://www.honeybeesonline.com/servlet/Detail?no=144

Thank you in advance.
David and Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
217-427-2678 Website: www.honeybeesonline.com









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I’ve never written a lesson on propolis, that sticky stuff that ruins your nice, new, white bee suit, that stuff that won’t come off your fingers unless you use alcohol. But, propolis plays an important role in the colony’s health. This lesson will be very important for understanding how propolis can improve the health of your bees and be a fun lesson examining where propolis comes from, how the bees use it in the hive, the health benefits to humans and much more. But before we get started let me say...
Hello friends, we are David & Sheri Burns from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in central Illinois. Folks tell us we have the best website, most complete information on beekeeping and the best price on beekeeping equipment. Whether you are just thinking about getting into beekeeping or have kept bees for many years, we are here to help you. When you buy from us, we do not consider you a customer, but a friend!

LESSON 112: The Sticky Subject Of Propolis
(I’d like to thank some of our top bee experts in the country who spent time feeding me great information in preparation to this lesson. I’ve added their names at the end of this lesson.)
When we think of products from the hive we are most familiar with honey, wax and maybe pollen. But two more products from the hive are more obscure to us, royal jelly and propolis. Today, we’ll take an in depth look at propolis. Soon we’ll take a look at royal jelly.
If you have ever opened a hive of honey bees you have encountered propolis. You probably still have some on your bee suit. If you have a hive that produces copious amounts of propolis then you know what it’s like to fight gummed up frames and lids. Caucasians bees are known as excessive propolizers.
Propolis is sticky and it makes hive inspections more challenging. If you work your hives bare handed like I do, then you know what it feels like at the end of the day to have your fingers coated with propolis. All the dislikes aside, I love the appearance and smell of propolis. Each year I scrape off propolis and keep a ball of it handy to use in our queen rearing operation, to help set the cell cups and bars tight in position.
What Is Propolis And Where And How Do Bees Gather It?
Bees gather propolis from plants and trees such as the poplar, alders, birch, willows, and conifers. Trees and plants produce a sticky resin to protect their buds against bacteria and fungus. The makeup of propolis varies depending on the plant source, and therefore varies from region to region and colony to colony.Particular foragers are assigned the task of gathering propolis. Since propolis can only be gathered when it is pliable (between 77 and 113 degrees F), foragers gather it on warm, dry days. They fly out to the plant source, then use their mandibles to scrape off pieces of plant resins.
They pass the propolis from their mandibles to their forelegs, then to the inner surface of the middle leg or basitarsus. Here the propolis is packed into their pollen basket or corbicula on the back leg. When the foragers returns to the hive loaded with propolis, they go to the area of the hive where it is most needed.
Since they are unable to remove the sticky substance themselves, nearby house bees remove the propolis. The propolis foragers may even perform a dance to communicate to other foragers where the propolis is located, including robbing it from old abandoned equipment if it is sticky enough.
How Is It Used In The Hive
Propolis is undeniably the bee’s glue, sealing cracks, smoothing over rough wood and used to encase foreign objects too large to carry out of the hive. Bees have been known to kill mice inside their hive and since they cannot remove the mouse due to its size, they encase it in propolis so that the decaying mouse cannot spread disease. Notice in this photo how the bees have used propolis, here a bright reddish brown color, to smooth out the wood grain on a frame.
Bees coat much of the inside area of their brood nest, especially in more natural habitats such as trees and Warre hives that have rougher surfaces in the hive. When I remove colonies from homes, I always find that the bees have coated all the wood in their colony with a layer of propolis mixed with their own wax. We often find this even in traditional Langstroth’s hives over time, especially frames and lids. Here’s a picture I took showing how the bees have varnished the surroundings of their hive in a house.
Tests are being conducted to see if coating the insides of hive boxes improves the overall health of the colony. Many people are now recommending that we score or scratch the smooth service of the insides of our hives, forcing the bees to add propolis as they would in a natural hive in a tree. Bees also add wax to comb to give it strength. It is believed by some that house bees use propolis to polish brood cells between brood cycles.

It has also recently been discovered that bees will imprison small hive beetles in propolis jails by trapping SHB with walls of propolis. Unfortunately, every time we open a hive we release small hive beetles from their propolis jails, and even if we didn’t, the beetles have learned to rub their antennas with the bee and trick the bees to feed them while in jail.
More than a substance to seal openings and cracks bees need propolis in the hive for the overall well being of the colony. With over 180 different compounds, it is the colony’s chemical warfare against various pathogens. It is antiseptic, antifungal, antibiotic, antibacterial, antiviral, and antimicrobial.  Beyond being used as a medicated sealant there is still much more to learn about propolis and how the bees use it in the hive.
Propolis is from the Greek words pro (before) and polis (city). Ancient beekeepers observed the wall of propolis the bees built at their entrance to protect the “city”, their hive.Last year I noticed how some of my mating nucs were sealing down their openings so small that only one bee at a time could pass through.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, comb honey production was at its peak, and beekeepers did not want comb honey darkened with excessive travel stains from propolis. Queen producers responded by raising queens whose colonies gathered very little propolis. Larger beekeeping operations found propolis to be a bother, slowing down hive inspections and honey harvesting. Yet, recent research reveals this was not a good idea because it has recently been found that bees benefit from propolis in the hive. We may have accidently removed an important part of the colony’s defensive mechanism.
How To Harvest Propolis From The Hive
Propolis can simply be scrapped from frames, lids and hive boxes. When I harvest propolis in this manner, I am careful not to also scrape up bee parts, paint or wood into my propolis. It can be filtered out, but it saves me time gathering the purist of propolis.
Another way propolis is harvested from the hive is by placing a propolis trap inside the hive. The propolis trap is plastic and flexible and placed inside the hive near the top. Since bees like to seal out drafts and light, prop open your top slightly above the propolis trap and this will encourage the bees to place propolis in the trap as a way of sealing off the top opening. Then, once filled, you can remove and freeze the trap, flex it and the frozen, hard propolis will fall off the trap. Propolis is soluble in alcohol. Click here for more info.
I placed a piece of cardboard on the bottom of a top cover to add some insulation to an overwintering colony. I left it on in the spring and summer and the bees plastered it with propolis. The bees did not like that it was corrugated and attempted to smooth it out with propolis. Click on the image to enlarge.
Health Benefits Of Propolis
Propolis is being studied extensively for its health benefits to humans, even with the AIDS virus. The health benefits may date back as far as Old Testament times as Jeremiah 2 may be referring to propolis as the balm of Gilead. Many people give strong testimony as to the health benefits of propolis in helping with colds, sore throats, wounds, pimples, ulcers, burns and even cancer. Some people can be allergic to propolis and too much can be toxic, so always consult your doctor before using propolis. Many health stores sell various propolis  supplements and even Colgate makes a tooth paste with propolis that is said to promote healthier gums.
Acknowledgments:
In preparing this lesson on propolis, I learned so much. Most of the information on propolis was easy to research. But, in one area I hit a wall. I’ve always heard that house bees coat or polish brood cells with propolis between brood cycles. But as I read through books and literature I could not find a definite citation proving bees coat or polish brood cells with propolis. I found several websites that support the idea, but just because a website mentions something does not lend enough support. I contacted my friend and bee expert Jon Zawislak, at the University of Arkansas Extension, a fellow EAS certified master beekeeper and he flooded me with propolis papers and research, but he could not find a solid citation for house bees using propolis to coat brood cell linings. I then contacted David Tarpy, at North Carolina State University. He could not find an answer for me off the top of his head and said he would mention it to the world renown authority on propolis, Mike Simone-Finstrom. Mike was kind enough to flood me with many studies and his own thoughts that there is no studies verifying the use of propolis to coat individual cells between brood cycles. Jim Tew also sent me his extensive thoughts on whether bees add propolis to brood cells as did Diana Sammataro, and Keith Delaplane. Clarence Collison, who writes a column in Bee Culture went out of his way to scan and email me many pages on propolis. Jerry Hayes, the American Bee Culture Classroom answer man also gave me his feedback too. Thank you all!
We all know bees polish cells in preparation for the queen to lay an egg, but is it truly propolis that is used in the polishing stage? I think it is safe to say that it is believed that housecleaning bees coat the insides of their brood cells with propolis between brood cycles.
Thanks for joining us for another beekeeping lesson from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. We appreciate your business, so please give us a call to let us help you enjoy beekeeping to the fullest.

David and Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
Here’s our contact information:
PHONE AND ORDER LINE: 217-427-2678 WEBSITE: www.honeybeesonline.com
STUDIO BEE LIVE PODCASTS: www.honeybeesonline.com/studiobeelive.html
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Hello everyone! And welcome to another beekeeping lesson from David & Sheri Burns at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. We’re glad that you have landed on our site. Where else will you receive such detailed and fun information on keeping bees?
In today’s lesson, I’ll teach about package bees, and share a detailed teaching on wrapping hives for winter along with a video of how to do it.



LESSON 86: PACKAGE BEES & WINTER WRAPPING A HIVE
Tens of thousands of packages of bees are shipped to beekeepers throughout the US every year. Bees have been shipped through the postal service for over 100 years and is very successful. Some speak poorly about the stressed placed on bees shipped through packages and suggest that local nucs are better. I’ve addressed this in previous lessons. Our great country provides us with various climates. The southern climate allows us to get a jump on raising bees and queens for northern beekeepers. This has always been the motivation for providing packages, and northern beekeepers have always been grateful. Packages can be produced in early April in the southern states, but nucs aren’t available in northern states until May-June.
All of the southern package producers that I know work hard to make winter hardy stock queens. I’m also a nuc provider so I understand why some people prefer nucs. However, I love packages! I remember when I received my first 2 packages in the mail. Wow! What an exciting time. I thought it was the coolest thing that the post office delivered my bees to me, and they did great.

NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT WINTER WRAPPING A HIVE
Typically, bees do not need to be wrapped for winter. We are in central Illinois and our hives get along fine with open bottom boards and no wrap. Bees do not heat the inside of their hives like we do our homes. Instead, bees do not heat the inside of their hive, they only keep their cluster warm. Parts of the hive away from the cluster are as cold as it is outside.
Even with your best winter preparations, it will not be enough if your bees have a mite infestation or are lacking stored honey. Make sure your colony is disease free and is not infested with varroa or tracheal mites. Then, make sure your hive has an ample supply of stored honey and pollen. A winter hive wrap is useless if these important things go unchecked.
Something negative happens when a hive is wrapped. The extra wrap can allow the bees to warm the inside of their hive so much that on a very cold day, excessive moisture will accumulate on the inner cover or top cover. This cold water will drip down on the bees, causing them to become too cold and wet, and eventually perish. The excessive moisture in the hive can also cause the growth of mold and bacteria.
Two precautions must be taken when wrapping a hive for winter: 1) The hive must be given an upper entrance. This is especially necessary in regions that receive several feet of snow per year. The upper entrance will allow the bees to take cleansing flights even if the hive is buried in a snow drift. 2) The hive must have upper ventilation. Upper ventilation will help deplete away excess moisture condensation from the top of the hive.
We now make a special spacer that has the upper ventilation and upper entrance all in one. We are selling the winter spacer with black wrap paper for $10 and what is neat is that they also accommodate our winter candy boards. CLICK HERE TO ORDER. In the video below, I will demonstrate how the candy board sits directly on top of the upper vent/entrance spacer. And this spacer can also be used so provide space for pollen patty feedings or bags of sugar water as well. It can also be used when medicating your hives. These spacers have lots of uses! Enjoy the video on wrapping hives.

Winter Wrapping A Hive

For those who may not have been able to play the video, let me walk you through the steps in the pictures below or CLICK HERE to watch the video from our website:
I’ve chosen to use a very common material known as roofing paper or black tar paper available at most home improvement stores. A common width is 36”. I like 36 inches because most hives are two hive bodies deep which means the hive is approximately 22” tall. However if the hive has a super, it makes it about 28 inches tall, and two supers puts it right at about 36 inches tall. So for the purpose of this hive, 36” width is perfect.
Next, cut your piece of roofing paper at around 80-85” long. This will allow you to wrap it around your hive and overlap. Overlapping a few inches is critical, especially in windy places. If the wind starts to pull the paper, it could rip it off over the course of a windy winter.
It is important to insert your front entrance reducer, your top entrance spacer and place your candy board on for added food.
Your bottom entrance reducer should be on its smallest setting. The entrance on the upper spacer can face the front or the back. I place it in the front so that I can work my bees from the back.
Now we are ready to wrap. Start on one side and use a hand stapler to fasten the paper to the hive. If you are concerned about staple holes, you can use duct tape or gorilla glue. Wrap the paper along the side, and around the back, stapling as you go, along the other side and across the front. If the bees are flying, you will disrupt their landing and take off and they might let you know about it. You can also wait until a much colder day when the bees are inside and clustered.
You’ll notice I had to notch a small cutout for the opening in the front, both at the bottom and at the top. Once the paper is stapled or taped down, you can put your top on. It might fit tight, but just make sure you get the paper under the lid to help hold it down tightly in high winds.
You’ll notice the top entrance is just below the lip of the top cover minimizing rain and snow from going directly in. However, small amounts of weather will not bother the bees in this upper placement.
You did it, and it looks nice. You’ve given your bees an upper entrance/exit and you’ve given them a nice upper vent. And you’ve wrapped your hive to help keep out excessive winds that might leak through cracked and broken boxes.
Although we rarely wrap out hives, we do enjoy experimenting to see if wrapping does make a difference. So the hive in the picture/video is one that we’ll follow along all winter to see how it does. The queen in this hive has some very unique characteristics in storing honey and pollen, and so we are anxious to observe her overwintering skills. This hive is a 5 year old survival hive that has not been treated with any medication for the last 5 years. It had mites all year, but no signs of infestation and no apparent negative effect. It does not have tracheal mites going into winter. Currently the cluster is very low in the hive with about 60 pounds of honey on board.

Thanks for joining us for another lesson in beekeeping. Our next lesson will be an extensive lesson on Varroa Mites. See you then.
Here’s our contact information:
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
14556 N. 1020 E. Rd
Fairmount, IL 61841
(217) 427-2678
Email: david@honeybeesonline.com
CHECK OUT OUR PODCAST: www.honeybeesonline.com/studiobeelive.html
See ya next time,
David Burns
EAS Certified Master Beekeeper

2010 Package Bee Work

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