Hello from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms and welcome to another beekeeping lesson! We are David & Sheri Burns and we are passionate about helping people become beekeepers. Here at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, we love keeping bees, even though it can be a real challenge at times.

We can’t tell you how relieved we are that we got hundreds of packages shipped off! It took two postal trucks and 1 UPS trailer, but we did it!

Sheri and I babysat the UPS trailer until the driver hooked up to haul it away. Though it was a nice cool day, we hooked up a fan and blew air on the bees. We want our bees to reach the customer more than the customer does, so we went the extra mile. In fact, me and my daughter Karee missed a whole night’s sleep getting labels on and the boxes ready for shipment. Every year we tell ourselves we will never ship bees again, and we’ll only do local pick up. But we still ship year after year. It’s a bit treacherous shipping bees and so few of providers do it. Most prefer local pickup only but we realize so many live far way.  We will ship if you also buy hives.


When I see pictures from our customers like young James full of excitement as a young beekeeper about to install his first package, it makes me want to ship bees again next year. Way to go James!

Our package bee pickup day was a huge success. We brought in hundreds of packages and customers from 8 different states arrive to pick up packages.
Enough about the past, let me tell you about what’s coming up soon, and then I’ll teach on how to build up a strong colony.


LESSON 73: HOW TO BUILD A STRONG COLONY
The success of your colony will depend mostly upon their overall strength. The stronger your hive is the less likely they will be to develop a disease or be overtaken by pests.
A new colony, whether it is a nuc or a package, can benefit from these 5 growth tips:
1) Feed the colony 1:1 sugar water & pollen patties.
2) Only give them more boxes of frames as they need.
3) Keep all frames tight together and keep the hive level.
4) Use beetle traps if you live in an area that has small hive beetles.
5) Every 14 days, inspect your hive and make sure there is a good brood pattern and that you can see eggs. If not, you must replace your queen immediately or the hive will not become strong and may even perish within 40 days. Let me give more details.
First, feed you hive. When they are new, they do not have any food inside the hive. They need pollen and honey. And most new colonies are placed on undrawn foundation, meaning they do not have any drawn out comb in which to place incoming nectar or for the queen to lay in. Feeding them 1:1 sugar water can assist the younger bees in producing wax and thus they will be able to draw out their combs faster. This is not essential because spring usually provides more than enough incoming nectar that feeding is not necessary. But, spring can also provide several days in a row of cool, rainy weather. Then, the bees can run out of food and fail to build comb. This is why many beekeepers experience a slow build up of their hives. Entrance feeders are what we recommend.

How long to feed? Anywhere from not at all to several weeks. Most people will feed their bees until they have down out comb in both deep hive bodies.
Division board or frame feeders are the second best feeders, pail and top feeders last. Top feeders have always been very problematic for beekeepers. They can crack, leak, mold and generally allow bees in the reservoir and die. We sell them though they are not our preferred type of feeder. You just can beat the long tested and used entrance feeder. So feed your bees.
Feed your bees pollen patties. They need pollen. There is always plenty of pollen in the spring. Last year some of our hives were pollen bound, meaning there was so much pollen in the comb that the queen ran out of room to lay. Again, if the weather is cool and rainy then they will lack pollen and not be able to build up their population as fast. So feed your bees pollen patties for about 1 month after installation. Remember, you usually do not have to, but if you really want to ensure they become strong, feed.
Secondly, keep your new colony tight. Do not give them too much space. For example, only give them 1 deep hive body to start with. If you give them two, it can discourage them from building comb. And, the extra space gives room for pests to hide and grow, pests like mice, small hive beetle and wax moths. But, if you keep the bees tight then they can better grow their hive and defend it against intruders. Wait until your deep hive body has 7 frames that are drawn out and full of bees then you can add the second hive body. Do the same before you place on the super above the second hive body too.
I actually have a technique that works well for me. I install packages in a 5 frame nuc box, allow it to become completely filled, then transfer the frames over to a deep hive body. Bees work better when they are crowded. Will being crowded make them want to swarm? No, not a new set of bees. Bees are social insects which work better crowded. It is only when they become congested that they can swarm. Congested means they do not have any drawn comb for the queen to lay eggs in, or for the forages to bring in nectar or pollen. Congestion is not the same as being crowded. Crowd your new package but make sure they do not become congested.
3) Keep your frames tight together and your hive level. Bees are sensitive in how they draw comb on frames. If you leave too much space between frames, they will draw out odd shaped columns on the frame or they will build out a comb without attaching it to the foundation. So keep all frames tight against each other. Keep the hive level. Bees build comb straight down so if it is tilting slightly to the right or left, straight down will mean the comb will be slightly off the frame.
4) Use some sort of beetle trap to prevent the spread of small hive beetle. The best trap we’ve seen and one that we sell is the Better Beetle Blaster. We sell it with a syringe so you can easily fill it with your own vegetable oil. Watch our video below on how to use this trap.

Finally, you must inspect your hives every 14 days to ensure your queen is healthy and laying well. The queen lays about 2000 eggs a day. This allows the colony the ability to grow fast and have enough foragers to bring in lots of nectar. When you inspect, make sure you can see a good brood pattern and eggs. If the pattern of brood is spotty or looks to be drone brood only, replace the queen immediately. We raise our own queens and sell them all around the US. Please call us if you  need a new queen. 217-427-2678
We are working on another fun-filled Studio Bee Live podcast, so keep an eye out.
We have a new hive that we cannot keep in stock. It is a beautiful 8 Frame garden hive. We have these for sale now, so order yours today! Please allow 14 days for shipment. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON OUR GARDEN HIVES.

If you need beekeeping hives or other equipment, remember we always appreciate your business! Here’s how you can contact us:
WEBSITE: www.honeybeesonline.com
Email: david@honeybeesonline.com
Phone: 217-427-2678
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Hi, I'm David Burns, and thank you for joining me today for lesson sixteen of our online beekeeping lessons. Our family loves the bee business. My wife, Sheri, handles some of the administration details, produces parts for our frames and hives and oversees our honey bottling process. Our children all work in various areas of the operation too. It's a blast! My father-in-law, Bill Henness is retired and helps keeps our operation going smoothly too, by volunteering his time working the bees, building hives, building our bee-vacs and selling honey.

I've had a busy beekeeping week. Saturday I attended the Illinois State Beekeepers Association in Springfield, Illinois. A few days prior to that, on Thursday, I visited with Gene Killion. Anyone who has been in beekeeping for a while knows the name of Carl and Gene Killion. He holds the world record for the most comb honey produced from a single hive. In the glory days of his work, he had over 1,000 hives with 8 supers on each hive! The Killion family was recently featured in the American Bee Journal. The Killion's have had remarkable success in beekeeping!

While visiting with Gene, he showed me around his place where they processed comb honey and prepared their supers for the next year. Not only that, but he gave me one of his famous 8 frame comb honey supers that he and his dad made and used.
Lots of our customers request comb honey. Some customers are convinced that comb honey helps their arthritis, citing the Bible verse that says, "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones" (Proverbs 16:24). So this Spring, we are gearing up now to produce much more comb honey, which is almost a lost and dying art among beekeepers. It's not easy to do, and some have concluded it is not worth the bother. Liquid honey sells just fine, so many beekeepers no longer produce comb honey.
When I talk to other beekeepers, they too tell me that more and more people are turning to pure, raw honey including honey comb. We find it impossible to produce enough honey to keep up with the demand from our customers. Our comb honey sells out within a few weeks after we harvest it, and our honey sells out in the fall. So, we are constantly considering how to produce more honey.
It is a great joy to any beekeeper to place frames full of honey into the extractor and watch the honey start flowing out. Take a look at the video below and you'll hear our excitement!


Honey bees produce honey and in a good year, they produce lots of it, more than they will need, so the beekeeper can remove the excess. This is why most of us keep bees--for the honey. Although, truth be told, we just love keeping bees!
Let me share with you, two things: First, how to manage a new hive to produce the most honey, and secondly, how to manage established hives to produce the most honey. Also, let me say that sometimes, even after all the right management techniques are followed, bees are insects, and might disappoint you in doing something contrary to what you want them to do. However, bee management is effective for the most part.
HOW TO PRODUCE THE MOST HONEY FROM A NEW HIVE
If you are starting with a package of bees, then you should be happy if the bees only produce enough honey for themselves. This is good and par for the course. However, I always work my packages to produce honey for me my first year, and most do. My success comes from placing my packaged hives on drawn comb. In my opinion drawn comb is the beekeeper's third best friend! The hive tool is first, and a bee-vac is second.
Obviously, a new package or nuc will have to build up their hive. This means they will need to produce a huge amount of new comb on the frames. They need ample amounts of comb for the queen to lay eggs and for the workers to store nectar and pollen. Comb building requires a huge amount of consumed nectar. The bees need a large amount of incoming nectar for their glands to produce wax. In fact, it takes 8 pounds of nectar for the bees to produce 1 pound of wax.
Not only must they produce a significant amount of wax to build their new hive, they also need to increase their population. Typically a package contains 3 pounds of bees, which is roughly estimated to be about 10,000 bees. An established hive will usually have between 40,000-80,000 bees. The difficulty with packages and nucs is that before they develop a large number of foraging bees, some key nectar flows may have come and gone. This is why it can be difficult for a new hive to produce extra honey. They are using the incoming nectar to build comb and feed their growing population and they do not have enough bees of foraging age to get the job done.
To accelerate a package hive, drawn foundation is a huge push. Less wax production is needed and more nectar can be immediately stored. However, rarely does a beginning beekeeper have access to drawn comb. And special care must be taken to ensure that drawn comb is free of any disease, especially American Foul Brood. AFB spores can live in comb for more than 50 years. So, just because a retiring beekeeper gave you all of his equipment, including drawn comb, doesn't mean that you've got usable draw comb. If you have access to clean drawn comb, this is one way to help your package produce honey their first year.
Another way to produce honey from a new hive is to capture swarms and add the bees to the hive. Again, you must be sure that the bees you are adding are free of pests and disease. You will need to lay down newspaper between the two groups so that they can become familiar with one another and not fight. Many beekeepers capture swarms for the single purpose of using them to draw comb. Then, the drawn comb is placed into new hives. Swarms are geared to build comb.
If drawn comb isn't an option, and no one calls you to remove a swarm, what else can be done on a first year hive to produce excess honey to be taken off? Crowd! This is the opposite of what most people will tell you, because crowded and congested hives are more likely to swarm. And, if you are not an experienced beekeeper, purposely crowding a hive can backfire. In the Spring of 2006 I took a brand new 3 pound package of bees and installed them into a 10 frame deep hive body. Accidentally, I failed to monitor the hive as often as I should have--about every two weeks. A month later, I noticed some unusual signs that the hive was crowded, so I inspected. When I did, I noticed that all 10 frames were completely pulled out and excess comb was being built on the top of the inner cover, which is always a sign that you've waited too long. However, in my case, this seemed to work to my advantage. I placed a second deep with foundation on at this time, and it too was drawn out in record time, as if the bees were desperate for the extra space. I waited until the second deep was as packed as the first, then I started placing on supers. They began filling up supers.
Traditionally, and rightfully so, we are told to place the second deep on when about 5-7 frames are drawn out on the first deep. This does prevent overcrowding and swarming. Yet, I have found that if I can keep the hive VERY TIGHT, the bees seem to expand faster and work more productively. I'm not sure why. I suspect that since bees are social, that they are more efficient in tighter quarters. Perhaps the queen's presence and pheromone is more saturable. This was not just a one hive deal. As I practiced it this Spring again, I had the same results. Always better production by keeping the first deep hive packed before adding the second.
In doing this, I did have one package swarm on me, so again, there is a thin line between running at full capacity and for the congestion to produce a swarm.
PRODUCING THE MOST HONEY FROM OVERWINTERED HIVES
TIMING! HEALTHY BEES! A GOOD QUEEN! SUPERS!
It takes 40 days from when an egg is laid for that bee to emerge from her cell, serve in her housekeeping role and finally be old enough to fly out and forage for nectar. Just because you have lots of bees does not mean you have lots of foragers. To gather nectar you need to have a full squadron of foraging age bees PRIOR to the nectar flow. Therefore, beekeepers could produce more honey if they simply counted 40 days backward from when the nectar flow starts, and begin to prepare ahead of time for that flow. Most beekeepers do very little to prepare for the flow other than make sure their bees are alive.
Here in Central Illinois, weather permitting, I usually have a nectar flow as early as May 10th. This means that for me to take advantage of this early flow, I must have a huge number of foragers, 19 days or older, ready to fly out and bring in that flow. Therefore, I need lots of eggs to be laid before April 1st. This means that I need my queens to lay heavily in March. My challenge is that March is still a cold month for me, and my bees are still mostly clustering over very little brood that is being laid. The older workers decide how much the queen should be fed to stimulate her to lay eggs. If these older workers do not see enough nectar or pollen in the hive they hold the queen back from laying.
During the month of February, I will do two things. First, I place pollen patties just above the cluster, usually on the inner cover since the cluster is up high coming out of winter. And I place sugar water just above the cluster as well, one part water, one part sugar. These two food sources are just enough to prove to the older workers that a steady flow of nectar and pollen are available, so that they will stimulate the queen into laying more than she normally would at this time of the year. This helps the hive overall as well, because most hives that starve do so in February and March. The idea is to expand the population of nurse bees so that more eggs can be laid and cared for than what is normally found this time of the year, thus increasing the amount of foragers prior to May 10th.
This is a "common sense" technique. Farmers know when their crops will need harvested, and they prepare in advance to have all of their equipment and workers ready. Beekeepers do this very poorly. Beekeepers must prepare their workers (the foragers) to bring in the harvest! A terrible mistake beekeepers make is that they do not monitor the various ages of their bees. They view all of their bees as foragers. But they are not. Only one fifth of the bees in an entire hive are at foraging age.
You must also make sure your bees are healthy. They need nutrition. They need fattened up so they can remain strong and fight off various diseases. Mite control is essential in keeping healthy bees. The healthier the hive, the better the honey production.
Having a good queen is important as well. It is optimal to replace your queen every couple of years. You certainly don't have to, and often the hive will replace a faltering queen. However, for maximum honey production, you should replace your queen in September. Then, by the time you start stimulating the hive in February with sugar water and pollen patties, this new, young queen can really begin laying. You must see your honey production season as starting in September!

Finally, you need lots of supers! Research has shown that bees with plenty of supers on the hive at one time do better than supering a hive as needed. I always have at least 3 medium supers on all my hives prior to the nectar flow. If some of those supers have been saved from the previous year and have drawn comb, then you're that much closer to an excellent honey producing year.
One final note on honey production. Monitor the location of the queen. Keep the queen down. She moves up as she lays. Therefore, you may have to reverse your brood bodies many times in the Spring. However, be careful while it is still cold in the Spring not to divide the brood nest when rotating the bottom two deeps. But, they will need rotated. Get her down, so that she will see plenty of open cells to lay in. This will help prevent swarming as well.
In our next lesson, my wife Sheri will be sharing about selling honey. I can't wait for her to share her ideas with you. I'll see if I can have her share about the other products she makes from the hive too, such as soaps, candles, lip balm and more.
Be sure to get all of your equipment ready before Spring, and check out our website and our ebay store and auctions for great pricing on beekeeping equipment. You'll see links to our sites on the right hand side of this blog.

See you next time and BEE-Have yourself!

David & Sheri Burns
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