ADVENTURES IN THE APIARY

 By Susan EMERSON NUTTER

 LISBON, Ohio – It is that time of year where beekeepers have to determine what works best for them to manage the honey stores in their hives. The nectar flow in my area of northeastern Ohio has been great so far. Yes, we had a period of 19 days where it did not rain, and yes, that affected the nectar flow, but the month or so prior to that non-rain period was stellar, and once it rained, the flow started right back up.

Because we had such a good flow in the early spring, I found hives at the end of May with supers filled with 10 frames of capped honey. It actually took me by surprise. Normally, if my equipment stash permits, I would have popped on another super when I saw the bees had frames drawn but not yet capped. Since the frames were capped, I have instead begun taking those capped frames, spinning out the honey and returning the “sticky” frames to the hives for the bees to clean up and refill.

For me this is usually the norm. I try to spin out honey all season long and return frames to be refilled. I do this for several reasons. I do not want my hives to become skyscrapers of honey supers. I will add another box if need be, but I’d rather open a hive, find the top two supers with several frames of capped honey; spin those out and return the frames.

I usually put several totally blank frames back in the super in a checkerboard fashion – frame with partially drawn comb, blank frame, a sticky frame, etc., to give the bees several options – to keep drawing new comb; to clean up the sticky frame and refill, or to keep drying out and capping off frames already filled with nectar/honey.

It’s all about making it so the hive gives the bees options for staying busy. By providing the options listed above, I am hopefully making it so the foragers have space to deal with the nectar they are bringing in so they do not use the brood nest to store honey. Keeping the brood nest open for the queen to lay eggs and new bees to be created makes it so the hive does not feel the need to swarm.

Bees need to smell the pheromone of their queen as well as the pheromone of newly laid eggs in order to feel their hive is viable. The queen not being able to lay eggs triggers the hive to thinking they are out of space and need to swarm.

I do not mind spring swarms. That’s just how bees pro-create and keep their species viable. Spring swarms are perfectly capable of becoming a strong hive by the fall. I do not care for summer or fall swarms. Believe it or not, the bees are currently preparing for winter. They are stocking their hives with food stores. Any swarms that take place after mid-July have to work pretty hard to get their hives heavy enough to survive a normal Ohio winter.

My goal as a beekeeper from now until the first snow flies is to help the bees manage their honey stores via removal of the excess honey but leaving them enough so my average four medium hive box high colonies are about 120 pounds in weight going into winter.

Some would say, “Just keep adding hive boxes.” Yes, but the average cost of a 10 frames medium hive box (honey super) is around $23; not-assembled. Then add in the cost for 10 frames for that hive box at say $3 each. For every additional “box” the cost is more than $50. That can get expensive especially when an apiary includes more than 50 hives.

Also know bees do not draw or create new comb all summer long. Usually by the end of July, they are pretty much done making new comb. My putting a new hive box on with 10 blank frames after mid July usually will not result in the bees drawing out new comb to fill that box.

And (last one) those extra boxes added on will need removed prior to winter, the honey will need spun out, the sticky frames will need stored (usually wrapped in plastic in a deep freezer), and those extra boxes will also need stored somewhere.

Beekeepers need barns!

It is a fine dance beekeepers do in order to manage the honey produced by their bees. The example I’ve given is what works for me. Some keepers sell their capped frames of honey to honey producers at seasons end. Some take their frames to companies who, for a fee, spin out the honey for them, returning the sticky frames and honey in five-gallon buckets. Some have the space to pull all the honey supers at one time and store them in a building until the honey is needed.

Honey is a lot of work. Support your local beekeepers by purchasing their honey and don’t begrudge the price on the bottle. It reflects the great deal of work the beekeepers and the bees have put into making that honey.