Yesterday's Reverse

Yesterday afternoon I reserved the boxes on the Bee Glad... hive. Before closing up the hive, I left a pollen supplement pattie. Hopefully today, the new packages come.

Sustainable Beekeeping in an Unsustainable World

Every year about this time I make beekeeping resolutions for the coming season. After listening to Marla Spivak's talks at both Saint Mary's and Winona State, and reading Randy Oliver's series of articles in the American Bee Journal, I have decided to recast my apicultural practices somewhat. I would really like to be totally natural in my approach but I must recognize that my bees forage in an un-natural world. They live in a world of suburban development, city ordinances against 'noxious' weeds, conspicuous consumption and leisure, growing monoculture, the casual use of pesticides and herbicides, and globalization. All these social problems impact the nutrition, and health of honeybees. While a 'social apiculturalist' should also be working to fight these economic/political problems, in the present, I need to be concerned about some of my bees' immediate problems. With this is in mind, I resolve to do the following practices this bee season:

1. Culling three year old comb-  Comb retains many of the noxious chemicals and diseases bees come in contact with while foraging. This season I have already removed comb that is three years or older.
2. Supplement Nutrition- I will be more disciplined in supplementing the bees' nutritional needs with pollen supplements when called for. This grates against my 'natural' tendencies but I am convinced now that my neighbor's on the west side of Winona are not providing my bees with a diverse enough diet.
3. Monitor and Manage Varroa Better- I will be monitoring the varroa count of each hive regularly, removing drone comb, and using essential oil based miticides if the mite count calls for it. 
4. Carrying Capacity-  I may have been pushing the number of beehives in the neighborhood to its limits, especially given the rainy and cold spring/summer we had. I will try to stay within a 4 hive limit (with nucs) in the future.

Autumn Assessment

With both hives wrapped up, it's time I did a little assessment (I hate that word!) of what I've learned in my first year of beekeeping. So, here is my list! I reserve the right to add to it as I await spring.

1. I have found that, at least for me, starter strips do not work that well when attempting foundationless frames and bars. My bees chewed up the strips, tore them out, and built comb helter-skelter all over the place. Once I used simple Popsicle sticks as a guide, 99% of my cross-comb problems ended.

2. Related to the above, I learned not to wait for the bees to solve cross-comb "problems" on their own. It will only lead to a more disruptive problem later on when you try to move bars around for the winter.

3. You can learn an awful lot about the health of your bees by simply watching the entrance. You don't need to open them up constantly, as interesting as that might be. I have learned so much about bees simply by sitting in front of the hives and watching the bees leave and return.

4. It really pays to monitor each hives varroa count periodically throughout the season. Had I gotten lazy in August, because my mite counts had been so low throughout the year, I might've missed the rapid population increase that happened in August. I did not want to have to use any miticide, no matter how soft and sustainable the chemical, but the extra high count called from some action, other than the approaches I'd been using. To paraphrase Gary on the biobees forum says, "Dead bees can't adapt to their environment!"

5. If this first season is any indication, you can keep bees in town without annoying your neighbors. All that's needed is a few precautions (e.g. tall fence) and some consideration of those you live with in the community. I still think keeping them in town offers some nutritional advantages for the bees, compared with more monocultural areas just a few miles away.

6. I would urge any beginners to start with two hives and no more. Two hives allow comparisons to be made on the one hand, and doesn't become too much of a burden initially on the other.

Any of you readers want to add any thoughts here? I would greatly appreciate hearing about what you learned this season from your own apicultural practice, especially you beginners out there.