Zip Lock bag or baggie bee feeding

So you read or heard about using zip lock style bags for feeding your bees.  By now you also have found out that additional information on the subject is hard to come by.  Well here are some tips and tricks that can make it easier, prevent some problems and help you.

You will need some type of spacer to raise the lid (cover) to give you the space needed to place the baggie on the top of the frames in most hive designs.  If you are going to the trouble of making a spacer, consider making it do double duty.  Why not build an Imire shim and use it? How about a spacer with a entrance?  Get the idea? Plans are available in the DIY section.

Here's the tip list I promised:

1. Use quality bags.  Freezer bags have thicker plastic. Cheap bags have cheap seals and will leak many times.
2. Remove all the air you can before sealing the bag.
3. Only make one or two razor slots about 3 inches or LESS long, small bags use smaller cuts.
4. Use a new sharp razor.  Single edge or a utility knife.
5. Don't make the slots near the edge.
6. Place baggies with the seal end toward the side of the box.  If they open, the syrup will run down the side and not the core of the hive.
7. Use large bags or multiple bags.  This reduces how many times you have to come back and open the hive.
8. Don't reuse the bags.  Dried syrup in the seal will cause them to leak.
9. Have extra bags with you when placing in the hive.  If you have a leaker or puncture the baggie you can save the syrup and your time.
10. Make sure your spacer is tall enough.  You need some bee space on top of the bag.  Place a baggie on a counter top with your spacer and check you have the room.
11. Smoke the bees off the frames as you lay the bag down.  Replace new bags quickly to avoid the bees being squashed.
12. Don't forget to cut the slits in the bags.  Cut slots at the hive not before.
13. If you use medicated syrups, a drop of food coloring will help you identify the mix.
14. Place pollen patties or grease patties in at the same time and save your time.
15. Lay bags flat before placing on hive to test the seal.
16. Keep records so you can see how long each size of bag lasts.

Small Hive Beetle (SHB) ID and Control

Small, fast, alarming and disruptive could describe this pest of the hive.  Like having children the Small Hive Beetle (SHB) will change your life forever.  As the beetle makes its way to a hive near you, its no longer a question of if you have them, it's more of a question as to when you will have them.

The SHB is here to stay in the USA and is spreading nation wide.  Maybe you have them?  Photos are usually the best way to confirm the Small Hive Beetle.  You can find a lot of good photos on the entire life cycle HERE.

Many beekeepers do not prepare for the SHB for various reasons.  When asked they shrug their shoulders, sport a dumb look and then casually say no or something to the effect that's it not in their area.  Maybe so.  But I also believe that some do not want to admit they have them or that the number they have are insignificant.

There are sites on the internet that will tell you all the "details" about the beetle.  Look HERE for a good quick overview without a lot of reading.  Don't get bogged down by what country the article(s) is from.  That does not matter.  It is the same bug and the same info.

So now what?  If you are reading this post you are preparing for them or you think or know you have them.  So what is your next step?  Below are my suggestions.  Also on this site there are MANY different traps, baits and info for you.  Stop by the do-it-yourself (DIY) section or check the alpha list.

PREPARING FOR THE SHB - You do not have them now.

1. Read up.  Take the time now to understand your enemy.  You are preparing for battle.  You will find multiple opinions on the Small Hive Beetle and what works best. You can watch some videos on Youtube also.
2. Clean up.  If your apiary looks like either a junk yard or a overgrown pasture clean it up.  Don't give aid and comfort to your enemy.  Weeds keep birds and sunlight from your hives, helping the beetle to survive and making your apiary a nice place to visit.  Clean the bottom board of debris, they love hive debris.
3. Fix it.  The SHB lays eggs in cracks, debris, open cells and in seal cells (they pierce the cover).  Fix any hive components that are broken, have holes or seam cracks.  Caulk works and so does simple glue.  Just fill in the voids.  Result - one less place to lay eggs.  Look for places where the beetle can hide from the bees.  If your hive looks like an ink well, they will be harder to see as they are black.  Paint solid bottom boards a light color both inside and out.  Paint the hive, your out there anyway, the buggers will hide under peeling paint.  Get rid of black combs.  Level your hives as required.
4. Install control measures now.  Order or make your traps, baits and new components now and install them.  If you wait till you see the Small Hive Beetle you lose the advantage.  Some traps and baits after installing them you will not like. Weed them out now.  Some will take away a frame or two from you.  Others can be messy if used wrong.
5. Replace equipment.  That old screened bottom board with big holes that worked well for Varrora is like an open door for the SHB.  The holes are to big and they just fly in.  Keep them closed up with the tray and a rear door.  If the top cover is wrapped get a new one. See item two above and if the equipment is to far gone buy new. 
6. Place tar paper or other barrier under the hive.  This keeps the weeds down and allows you to see other problems as well sometimes.
7. Move the hives to sun.  Hives in shaded areas seem to have more trouble.
8. Keep your eyes and ears open.  Always look for them in your hives.  One is to many, there are more hiding.  Ask other Beeks in your area if they have them, this should be a standard question at the beginning of every meeting.

CONTROLLING THE SHB - You have them now.

1. Read and do all of the above.
2. Install multiple traps.  Use more than one type.  Some will work for you and some will not.
3. Treat your soil and the area under your hives.  Cut the grass short, really short.  Dry hot soil is better than nothing.  Short grass invites birds for a quick lunch. Add bird feeders to your apiary.  
4. Kill on site.  Smash away.
5. Combine weak hives.
6. Remove landing boards.  This just gives a running start at the entrance.
7. Consider chemical or other intervention.
8. If you use "Roach Bait" don't place on the bottom board unless you are positive that water will not collect there.  If it does, you create a poison pool and your hive WILL DIE.
9. If you see what looks like wax moth larva, it's to late.  Do an artfical swarm and salvage the frames as you can.
10. Use a propane torch to test your numbers of beetles.  Get something like a trash can lid.  While holding the frame (bee free) over the lid, lightly wave the soft tip of the frame over the comb without melting the wax (yes this can be done).  Any SHB hiding in the comb will fall to the lid (burn them quickly or they will fly away) and you can get a better idea how many are in your combs.  Use the same torch to "sanitize" hiding places.
11. Ask other Beeks for what they use and compare notes.
12. For your honey house, create a barrier about 1 1/2 high at the doors to stop the larva from crawling out.  Kill as you see fit.
13. Harvest honey without delay.  Don't leave frames sitting around the honey house.
14. Consider removing pollen patties and grease patties from hives.

THE FAR SIDE OF CONTROL

1. Go into the quail business.  Raise your hives and install quail cages under/around your hives. They eat the larva and beetles and you make extra money.
2. Install water drainages tubes that "dump" into a pit or a chicken/quail cage at the honey house.
3. Make moots/lakes under your hives.  SHB larva can't swim.  They do this in the tropics for ant control.
4. Change to a different hive design. 
5. If you use the Freeman trap (my favorite) use RV pink antifreeze instead of oil.  Then you can use it year round.  This stuff is non toxic, cheap (<$4.00 a gallon), readily available and not near as messy.

Maybe more another day.

Ant Pro Station

AntPro Bait Station

The AntPro® Ant Control System, kills and destroys entire ant colonies, not just individual foraging ants. Its patented round-the-clock, feed-on-demand, liquid bait delivery capability is proven effective against carpenter ants, imported fire ants, Argentine ants, white footed ants, crazy ants, as well as, numerous other ant and insect species. The most important fact to keep in mind is that AntPro accomplishes its task without broadcasting pesticides that sacrifice your health and our environment. Our bait system is organic listed and has a low toxicity rating by the EPA.

AntPro Ant Bait Dispenser

AntPro is a high-volume, weather-tolerant, heavy duty polypropylene, liquid ant bait dispenser designed to deliver low-toxic ant bait solutions which are a combination of insect attractant and slow acting toxicant. Use in conjuction with an integrated approach to ant management.

Ant Bait Station Placement

One of the first considerations when using ant bait stations is where to locate them and how many are required to do the job. Whether you are eliminating insects entering a home or office complex; invading a lawn or garden area; or infesting commercial buildings, there are basic guidelines to follow: Remember the worker ants of most ant species are charged with the responsibility of finding and providing food for the colony by randomly foraging. Most important is that once they have found an adequate food source, they create a pheromone trail, a chemically marked highway, to and from the ant nest. This means that more ant bait stations are not necessarily the answer, but strategic placement is what is important:

Around home and other structures:

Basically, put at least one AntPro ant bait station on each side of the structure, giving consideration to it's size and number of different structure walls. The following are additional important considerations:

Key areas are by acute angles where insects converge from more than one direction to a common corner.

Place a unit, when possible, by the A/C condenser water overflow outlet. Water is always a primary attractant.

North-side with high shade and moist areas.

Where ants are seen trailing.

Most important, do not put bait stations directly over ant nests; do not disturb ant nests; and do not spray the area around them with insecticides.

Avoid locations where substantial water run-off will occur.

Guideline to placement around structures such as homes:

0 - 2,000 square feet, use 4 units

2,000 - 3,000 square feet, use 6 units

3,000 - 5,000 square feet, use 8 units

Lawn, garden and balance of property:

For full property protection, place additional ant bait stations spaced around perimeter of lot. Locate units where ants are most active and preferably in shrub or tree belts so as not to interfere with lawn maintenance. Avoid locations where substantial water run-off will occur.

Guideline to placement around property:

Up to two acre lot size, use a minimum of 4 units (1)

Greater than two acres, use 2 units for each added acre (2)

Agricultural Acreage:

The number of ant bait stations required depends on the targeted specie (Argentine Ant, White-footed Ant, etc.); the degree of infestation; and the acreage involved and whether it is contiguous acreage.

Guideline to placement: - Contact us for more information.

Operating Instructions

General:

The AntPro ant bait station, used with our low-toxic, liquid ant bait provides an environmentally friendly, weather resistant system that is designed to kill ant colonies,not just ants. The foraging ants carry back this bait solution to the nest to feed the queen and the other workers, and this feeding, slowly, over a period of a few weeks, kills off the entire colony. Once the colony is eliminated, the AntPro's sustained liquid delivery system continues its ant control by providing a barrier to new infestations.

How to operate:

To fill the AntPro station, unscrew the bait reservoir (bulb) from the base, and pour up to 20 ounces of the liquid ant bait into the reservoir. A minimum of 12 ounces is recommended. While the reservoir is still inverted, reattach it to the base, fully; and turn down the screw to lock the assembly in place so that the unit can be moved safely without leaking.

Choose a level surface, if possible, away from areas where flooding may occur.

Make a small pilot hole in the ground with a screwdriver. Attach the stake to the dispenser using firm pressure until it locks in place.

Insert the dispenser's stake into the pilot hole you made. Press the unit into the ground as level as possible.

Activate the dispenser by loosening the locking screw on the stem of the reservoir. Turn the reservoir counter-clockwise 180 degrees so the arrow points to the activated position (indicated by mark).

To lock in place, re-tighten the locking screw until the top is secure. This restricts unauthorized access to the unit

The AntPro ant bait station will hold and deliver bait for extended periods depending on ant activity and weather conditions (wind, humidity, etc.), but should be emptied, flushed out and refilled with fresh bait, periodically. Ant bait refills are sold separately.

Caution:

Always read the product label, and the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) before opening and using products.

Be sure not to tilt or jar the AntPro bait station, when activated, so as not to disturb the metering action and cause the liquid to spill out of the unit.

Ant control baiting systems are recommended for exterior application, only, so that insects are not attracted into the house or other structure.

While using the AntPro liquid bait system, do not use insecticides that, although they kill ants quickly, serve to alert the colony to relocate and increase in population.

Brother Adam Insider Secrets

Comments from and about The Brother Adam System of Beekeeping

On Mating nucs:

Owing to the particular climatic situation, we had a difficult problem to solve in the design of our mating nucleus hive. We made numerous experiments to find the type best suited to our purposes. The first trial was made with half-British standard size frames, helped in boxes accommodating four nuclei, each of three-size frames. These proved to be very good for summer use, but they were too small for overwintering. In the end, the half-frame Dadant proved to be the only suitable one for our needs, consequently we built our mating boxes to accommodate half Dadant 16 frames, dividing a box into two (crosswise) to take them. Another division (lengthwise), by means of moveable division boards, gives four compartments each holding four half-frames queen. These mating nuclei can support themselves in a normal summer, and are strong enough to overwinter the fertile, on the other hand they are small enough to prevent the breeding of drones. (Note: each frame is 8 1/4" x 11 1/4" deep or 210 x 286mm, Editor)

Our feeders are designed to suit this type of hive, and they depend on the same principles as those used in our honey producing hives. All the four nuclei have simultaneous access to the syrup. At present we have 500 mating nuclei, which enable us to overwinter approximately 400 fertile queens in the mating apiary. BROTHER ADAM.

On His Hive:

I use boards as frameworks for all my hives, and all my hives are modified Dadant 12 frames, single-walled. But I would be sad if I gave you any impression that I consider Dadant modified single-walled as the ideal type of hive. The Buckfast Abbey hive is similar to the Modified Dadant, helped but accommodates twelve frames instead of eleven. The honey supers are as deep as the brood boxes, ie 15.2 cm (6 in.), and a full super contains about 25 kg (55 lb.). of honey. We have also made several important changes in the design of our hives and equipment to facilitate rapid and comfortable operation, and to simplify transport to the moors. BROTHER ADAM

On Swarming Control:

After removal of the queen, I maintain the hive to the orphan status for 10 days and, after destroying all the cells of a queen, I give the hive a young mated queen, I saves me a lot of work and fatigue and - more importantly - get a crop far more abundant on white clover, which is not the case otherwise. Upon acceptance of the queen and brood presence of non-capped, any people rushing to work and working to harvest with a zeal that can not be compared to that which leads a swarm. This method of preventing swarming has also other important advantages: interruption of brood production for nearly two weeks, resulting in some disease prevention brood - the disastrous AFB exception - provided that diseases of adult bees And thanks to this ruling of the brood, we get a decrease in population since the end of the harvest, just when a surplus of bees is disadvantageous. BROTHER ADAM

On Preparing for Winter:

September 7, all increases, whether filled or empty, are placed on the shelf-hunting bees and removed after two days. Each colony receives the same day 6 liters of syrup; the feeding is administered to all the hives without taking into account the amount of honey they may still contain. The 6-liter syrup supra, stored by bees in the center of the nest of brood, will be consumed primarily in during the winter. Thus the danger of dysentery will be largely excluded, although there is still some risk. So after that first feeding, all hives were weighed and all those who do not reach an average weight identified, receive an extra syrup corresponding to their weight deficit.

Finished feeding, it remains to make a final check specifically for the presence of the queen in each hive. The number of frames is reduced to ten. After 1 October, no hive will be opened.
At home some winters are harsh, with temperatures from -20 ° C, no special measures to protect beehives are taken. Experience has shown that even the coldest days do nothing to harm bees, but rather their are advantageous because the consumption of reserves is lower and the population growth, less spring is even better. We do not specifically protect our hives against the cold, but we strive to accommodate the wind. BROTHER ADAM

Building a beehive Part 3

MODIFACTIONS:

1. To inside cover, add an additional bee escape hole to one side. This allows more ventilation and you can then use the center bee escape hole for a feeder should you need it. NOTE: If you are going to use a gallon plastic feeder over the center hole, make sure your new added hole is not covered by the feeder.

2. The main entrance size varies. The summer standard ¾” hole is too large in my opinion for most locations. Consider using the winter side (3/8”) of the bottom board always unless you are in a HOT climate. This makes it easier for the bees to defend the hive.

3. Do not add upper entrances. If you feel that you must add them, use no landing board and make them about ½” to ¾” in size.

4. Additional air vents are fine, but they should be covered with fine screen. Otherwise, pests will enter here especially at night. A few bees fanning are fine. If you see large numbers of bees fanning adjust #2, #3 or #4 as needed.

5. Add insulation to top cover or cover it with something for shade. Touch it in the summer and you will know why. All that heat radiants down on the inside cover.

RECOMMENDED BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT:

1. Smoker. Generally the larger the better. 4 x 10 is the large size. If you have small hands or only one or two hives the smaller ones will be fine. Prices vary greatly, SHOP AROUND and check eBay. Copper looks pretty, but they are HOT. Get one with a cage.

2. Hive tool. Quality varies. Get spring steel. You can also use a small pry bar from your local hardware store many times.

3. Knife. General use. A thin long blade like a fish fillet knife or a long boning knife. You will use this to harvest queen cells and at other times. Wait till you find one for free.

4. Hooded jacket. Some buy suits. If you have many hives, get the suit. A jacket style with attached hood will work for about 80% of everyone. Except to pay about $50 for one. Buy a veil for guests, it fits almost everyone.

5. Sweat band. If you sweat a lot get one. You can’t wipe your head with that hooded jacket on.

6. Gloves. Don’t buy expensive beekeeping gloves to start. If you want to use gloves, try a good fitting pair first and “wash” them in the smoke from your smoker before using them so they smell smokey. Then make your decision.

7. Feeders. Buy or make one for each hive. Types vary.

8. Two 5 gallon buckets with lids. One for junk comb and scrapings, the other to store your sugar in.

9. SHB control. Use something of your choice from day ONE. If you don’t you’re a fool.

10. Queen excluder. Plastic works fine. One for each hive. Ignore the people that say you don’t need one, if you don’t use one you will always be “looking” for the queen as you work the hive, later you can use it for queen rearing.

11. Warning sign. A good idea, especially if your hives are not in your yard. Prices vary greatly.

12. 4” soft NEW paint brush or a bee brush.

13. IPM board. It’s up to you. I have gone both ways, with and without. The current thinking is to use one. If you are going to use one, consider the Freeman unit that includes SHB control.

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