Solo [The Orchard] Lessons From The Real Beekeeper (Pt 6)

[Kavala]

Timestamp: 74th of Fall, 512 AV

Continued from: [The Sanctuary] Even The Bees (Pt 5)

Kavala knew the split had gone well, so she stood proudly by as Collin nodded his approval and then launched right into his next lecture. “If you remember all of this, I’ll be amazed, but it sounds as if you got a copy of my book from the library and have already read it. So go back and reference that. Everything I told you about these queens in there is true. They are amazing creatures, but moreso than that they are vital to the hive. Without the queen laying, all we’ll have in the world is Drones and that won’t keep the hive supported. A lot of beekeepers obsess over their queens. They name them, mark them, and set them to the highest standards. As a beekeeper when you are off doing whatever it is in your life that you do… horse breeding for you right?... the queen is minding her hive, giving directions and expanding your profits. She’s the one in charge, though really shes just a slave to her circumstances. So I like to say that while we keep the bees, the Queen is the real beekeeper. If the hive fails, its on her shoulders. If its successful, its all about her.” Collin said, smiling proudly and patting the new split they just preformed.

“Don’t make the mistake, Kavala, of getting too attached. Many beekeepers do. They don’t replace their queens yearly and their hive suffers. Honey production is down, mites can infest them, and they can’t do as many splits. Queens wear out. That’s the cold hard truth to be world of bees. Requeening a hive takes time and can be expensive if you are getting queens from someone like me. Not a lot of people have coin laying around in this day and age to spend on purchasing whats in essence an insect from someone else.” Collin pointed out.

Kavala nodded, following him closely. She leaned in, listening, this part something that had interested her since almost the moment she read about queens in the book.

“You need to requeen every year. Don’t consider it. Just do it. You’ll be far happier in the long run, you really well. A lot of new beekeepers seem reluctant to requeen. I’m not sure if that’s because they just don’t want to open the hive, find the queen, and kill her… or if they just have gotten attached. Don’t name her, for Caiyha’s sake.” Collin said, laughing slightly.

Kavala looked momentarily uncomfortable. She tended to name EVERYTHING around The Sanctuary. Finally, reluctantly, she nodded. Kavala would follow Collin’s advice. He was the expert after all.

“Requeening is easy, Kavala. And you must do it. All you need to do is find the old queen if the hive has one. Many times you need to requeen because your hive doesn’t have a queen or she’s accidentally been killed, died, or got injured. All you have to do is remove the queen if she’s there, and introduce a new queen. That’s all there is too it, Kavala. It’s simple, usually, unless it’s not.” He added, chuckling slightly.

Kavala raised an eyebrow. “When would it be complicated? It sounded really easy in the book.” She added, shifting her weight from where she was standing and glancing around looking intrigued at the vista of beehives and how Collin would know how each and every one was doing. It was almost like magic to the Konti.

“I’ll get too the complications and when its complicated. But first, lets discuss when. You requeen in the late summer early fall, well before the hive goes into winter and at the peak of honey production. You want the young queen to be well established with her hive prior to the onset of winter. You want her to be laying a good brood of winter bees for the sole reason that the winter bees live a month or two longer than the summer bees because they don’t have to work themselves to death in the winter. They simply cluster over the brood to keep it warm as there is no pollen or nectar to gather. And since they will live longer, you’ll have twice the amount of gatherers in the spring when the nectar does slowly start to form. That’s when the hive can starve so you need these extra workers.. so requeen late summer early fall.” He added.

Kavala nodded, making a mental note. “So whats the complications?” She asked again, and Collin simply smiled.

“The bees might not accept her. New queens smell different. The new queens can also have issues as well. Maybe they won’t lay. Maybe they are inferior in their healthy. If you don’t have a queen in late summer, you have no winter bees. She could die, be attacked, and just flat out not work out for reasons the Gods only know.” Collin said, chuckling.

“So… do you know how to find a queen? I saw you spot her earlier, and that was great, but I want to make sure you know some of the signs. And that you did your reading carefully, Kavala.” Collin said.

The Konti chuckled. “Well, she could be anywhere in the hive. And not only does she look different, but the easiest way to spot her is by watching the behavior of the bees. They get out of her way, don’t they? And she has helpers around her that encircle her and kinda point to her, ready to clean, feed, groom, or sooth her right?” Kavala said, indicating with her hand a group of bees all circling around another one dancing in attendance. “After watching them, I can see why she’s called The Queen.” Kavala added, laughing lightly.

“Very good.” Collin replied.

He looked thoughtful then began to speak again. “So, once you find her, grab her with your fingers gently. She won’t sting. She has one, but she just doesn’t tend to use it. If you are removing her, you don’t want to use her in a core or another hive. If your requeening you are usually doing it because of her age. So… dispose of her how you will, Kavala. Just let her hang out or kill her quickly. I tend to kill them quickly. She won’t survive outside alone and she might return to the hive if shes able and you release her.” He added.

“Now, whatever you do, don’t requeen before you have a replacement on hand. Seriously… you just need to have her replacement ready. When the hive looses a queen, they tend to get very irritable. So I tend to let them settle down by waiting twenty four bells or even two full day, then I will reintroduce my new queen.” He said, taking a breath and leaning back to stretch. The lesson this afternoon had been getting longer and longer.

“Won’t they start raising their own queen?” Kavala asked, and Collin nodded. “Certainly, but you can harvest those for cores too, so let them. But… your loosing time that way because you might have to wait three or four weeks before your new queen emerges and is ready to mate and lay eggs. If you want the characteristics of the previous Queen, this is the way to go. But always have a queen on hand. I sometimes requeen after two days, let them start raising their own queen, and then just before I’m certain the queen is going to hatch, I’ll remove the requeened queen , transfer the queen I initially used to requeen to a core hive, and then let the new queen hatch and emerge a few days later. The hive will rejoice and accept her easily.” Collin said.

Kavala agreed, understanding the logic in this.

[Kavala]

Kavala was really enjoying the hands on lessons. It was nice to be able to pick the brain of a real honest beekeeper with the real bees all around her and being able to crack open a hive and really look to have her questions answered. She could already tell that Collin and herself were going to be lifelong friends linked over the common enthusiasm of Beekeeping.

“So introducing a queen is either easy … or its not.” Collin said, chuckling. Kavala looked confused, waiting for him to elaborate further. He did. It wasn’t his way to keep anyone in suspense nor was it his way to tease.

“What I mean is there are many ways to introduce a queen. Basically all these ways can be boiled down to two methods. The first is direct release and the second is indirect release. Don’t direct release. What normally happens is the workers will scent the queen, form a huge ball around her, and then kill her. The only way a direct release is successful, and I’ve done it, is if you cover the queen with honey and set her near the entrance. Sometimes the worker bees will come out, clean the honey off the queen, and usually she will just waltz right into the hive like she owns the place once she is cleaned up and happy once more. You can also spray down the hive with sugar water and add a few drops of a strong mint oil into it, perhaps even peppermint, and that will confuse their scent. If you don’t do any of these steps, they will cover her and kill her. This is refereed to as ‘balling’. There’s something about the scent or look of a new queen that makes them attack. What you need to do instead is indirectly release her. You need a way for the bees in the existing hive to get used to her before she’s put in with them so they can’t hurt her.” Collin said and then gestured with his hands to emphasize his sorrow at this happening.

“You want to indirect release, Kavala. It always allows the entire hive to get used to her. You need to do this by getting her in the hive, where they can smell her, but where the bees that would otherwise kill her would get used to her but cant reach her to kill her.” He said, digging into his pocket and pulling out a small wire mesh cage. It was finely woven wire with a plug at one end. Then he pulled a second one out that was only partially enclosed. One side was open completely.

“These are queen cages, and they come in very very handy. This first one is all the type you can hang from anywhere in the super. The second one you need to press into the honeycomb and leave it stuck there. The first one has a plug you can fill with bee candy that the bees will eat until there is enough room for the Queen to escape through the hole. The second method you need to release her when you are ready unless the workers eat through all the wax. Be ready before they can do that.” Collin said, handing both devices over to Kavala.

“If you use the pressed into wax method, make sure she’s alone in the cage when you press it into the beeswax. Anyone in here with her could really hurt her… especially other bees.” He said as Kavala examined the devices carefully. She could see the benefits of both of them and nodded to his words.

“How long does it take the bees to eat out the candy plug?” She asked, holding up the complete little cage.

“Two days tops. But you’ll need to take a needle or a straight pin, and pierce the candy in the middle. Don’t poke the queen with whatever you use. But that will help the bees notice the candy and begin to eat it.” He said, nodding at the appropriateness of the question.

“Hang the cage between the frames. If you place the candy plug up, the queen can always climb up and out of the opening. If you place the plug down, the bees that sometimes eat their way through might fall, might die, and I’ve seen attendants get in before the queen has decided to leave, and die. Then laying on the floor of the cage, block the way out. So you always need to check after about three days to make sure the queen has escaped the cage and is out and about in the hive doing her duty.” The beekeeper added.

“So how do I k now she’s successful? Inspect in maybe seven to tend says and if there’s a lot of new brood frame and fresh eggs shes adapted well?” Collin smiled at Kavala’s assumptions. She was spot on.

“Now your getting it.” He added, proud of his new charge.

“So, if I need a queen and my hive won’t raise one, I come see you. But I can also capture wild stock as well. Got it. I just have to make a decision fast and stick to it so the hive doesn’t go for a long period without a queen. Because then those workers can start laying and drones are born…. In the book you said it was the last desperate act of a hive.” Collin nodded. “It is. A hive without a queen for long is in a very bad situation. If they don’t have any fresh eggs to turn into queens, then they have huge problems. In a pinch if there was no spare queen, you could almost split a frame of fresh brood into the hive and hope the workers create a new queen from there. It’s something that I’ve bee successful with in the past, for sure. And always gather wild bees, add them to your supply just like you would a split, only put parchment paper between them and old frames… until much like the queen gets her scent accepted in the hive, they will too. Don’t be afraid, like when you join swarms to your existing hives, to add survivor stock queens as well. You can find them in trees, barns, and even old buildings and logs. These queens are hardy and have already proven themselves. Take their daughters as spares too and raise them for core care… then sell the cores. It all works out. The Gods gave us these bees to use. And that’s what both of us are doing.” Collin said, nodding as they began walking again. He carried the smoker and she her pack.

It seemed he had even more to show her.

“What’s next?” She asked, still fascinated and not even the least bit tired from her field trip away from The Sanctuary. It was in fact a refreshing break to get out of the fortress walls and be doing something that was just going to add to the value of her home later.

“Well, I thought I’d talk about what you are really interested in, Kavala. While bees are fascinating, you know as well as I do that we are in it for the honey and the beeswax. There is a great deal to honey production, how its made, and what the bees go through to get it. I have even been lucky enough to learn how to get the most honey from a new hive. I’m willing to teach you. So lets go to where we process honey and I’ll show you a few things, okay?” He asked.

The Konti smiled. “Can we sample some too?” The beekeeper laughed.

“Of course!” Collin said, matching the Konti’s smile and showing her the way to a shed that looked like it doubled as a candlemaking and herbalism shop as well.

[Kavala]

Kavala followed Collin into the honey processing shed and sat down at a table that was there for that exact purpose. It was definitely time for a break and he poured each of them some tea that sat very well after their long morning of playing with the bees and learning. She sipped the cup gratefully and smiled in pleasure at its deep rich berry flavor sweetened with honey. "We need to talk about honey now. I know your concerned about the bees and that's great, but its also good to learn about how the honey is produced and what that means for the hive." Collin said.

Kavala nodded.

"I've been curiously, but I must confess I never read that far in your book. I only got to the bee lifecycles and the seasonal progression of the hive.. where it should be each season and what its health looks like. I sometimes take a more scientific approach to things than a practical one. I think the greedy consumer would have looked into honey production first." Kavala flushed slightly, though it was true she was more interested in the bees once she started the process than she was interested in the actual honey. The honey, to her, was just a byproduct they could really use around The Sanctuary.

"Well, then lets talk about it. You know the workers create the honey and us beekeepers only extract from the hive what the bees can spare. Thats why its important to figure out what makes a healthy hive and what you can do for your hive to increase your honey production. Happy bees means an overflow of honey. And more honey means more profit. So we need to talk about how honey is produced in the hive." Collin said, looking over at Kavala and wondering if she had any clue at all. "So how do you think it happens?" He asked.

"Honestly, I have no idea." The Konti confessed. "Is it something they make from maybe their saliva?" She guessed.

Collin shook his head. "No, its actually just nectar from various sources that has been reduced and the water taken out by the bees. Get this, Kavala. They fan their wings over the comb to dry out the moisture from the nectar. They keep tasting it, sampling it, and when its reduced to about 17% of its initial moisture, then its ready to be food." Kavala blinked in surprise.

"So when we are eating honey, we are actually just eating plant nectar?" Kavala asked, surprised.

Collin laughed. "Crazy isn't it? That's not the only crazy thing though. I've ran the math. A single bee can produce about a half teaspoon of honey for the whole of their life, at least if they are a worker, that is. The drones do nothing and the queen of course isn't responsible for any of it. Think of the average lifespan of a bee... fifteen to forty days roughly, though in the winter they can live up to a hundred and forty days because they are not working. If you think of an average hive having around 50,000 bees give or take ten thousand, then you can get as much as a gallon or a gallon and a half of honey from a hive annually. And... not only that but it takes two million visits to flowers to make one pound of honey. And out on a trip, I've counted, bees can visit between fifty and a hundred flowers. They gather nectar by the drops... one trip one drop. So if they make one to twenty four trips a day as worker foragers, then its taking a tremendous resource in order to get the hive flowing with honey." Collin added, laughing.

Kavala shook her head and took another sip of her tea. One hive would produce a gallon? They needed far more than that. Would ten hives be enough? Sure. Collin had already talked about the splitting of hives. In two years she was going to have a fantastic number of hives if she did it right. Kavala nodded.

"So how much does a super of honey, one of the shallow types, produce?" She asked curiously.

Collin nodded at her question. "Easily they can produce anywhere from twenty to thirty pounds of honey or about two to two and half gallons. A medium one will go anywhere from thirty five to forty pounds. That's about three to four gallons. But of course you can't take it all. The bees need to eat as well. A full super, the big kind, can produce anywhere d.from sixty to seventy pounds... five or six gallons. It's a little less than a pound a gallon, Kavala. The result of your efforts and the way you care take your bees will always depend on how many frames you have and how you extract and one final thing.... the age of the comb." He added.

"What do you mean the age of the comb?" She asked, curious.

"Well, some yields depend on how the honey is harvested. If you screen drain the capped honey, you'll get more yield. And you can leave the cappings out near the hive and the bees will feed on them all over again... " Collin said, glancing at Kavala to see if she understood. Apparently she didn't.

Her look was utterly confused. "Oh, you don't know how honey is harvested do you?" She shook her head at his question.

"Easily solved. You just pull the honey frames off the hive, scrape the caps to the honey chambers off using a heated knife or even just a really sharp one, and you then drain the honey out of the cells. If you drain the scrapings.. the cappings through screens as well, you increase your yeild. Some beekeepers use the force of the world and spin their frames getting the honey out that way. Its fairly easy." He said.

"Ahhh.. I'm following you now." She said, looking thoughtful. Kavala finished off her tea and set the cup down.

"Can you tell me what goes on inside the hive when the bees are collecting nectar? I know its not that important, but I'm curious." Kavala asked.

Collin nodded. "Sure. Basically after the worker gets her wings inside the hive, she goes out and becomes a forager. She waits until it grows light outside then she slides out and starts flittering from flower to flower collecting nectar. The nectar she gets has high water content. So she gets the drop, comes back to the hive, and then transfers her load of either pollen or nectar to another bee which we call house bees. That's one of those workers who hasn't earned her wings yet but has gone beyond where she is caring for the brood." He added,

Kavala nodded.

"Then the house bee will transport the nectar to a cell where it will be placed so it can ripen. Then that's where the house bees fan it like I told you, reducing the moisture level with the air movement from their wings. Once its down to about seventeen percent of its original moisture, they seal it off with wax. We call that capping. Wax cappings, once scrapped off by the beekeeper, can hold like ten percent or higher of the honey crop. Screening drains the capping of honey so you increase your yield by another ten percent. Depending on how many hives you have, that's a considerable amount. Then go ahead and after you screen your cappings, leave them outside for bees to feed on." He said, smiling.

Kavala nodded, grinned, and added. "I see. That makes more sense now. You had lost me at the capping and cappings and draining... I see why your draining them.. waste not want not." She quoted. Collin agreed.

[Kavala]

Kavala finished her tea and watched Collin curiously. "So can you tell me about honey production? I've been spending so much time fascinated with these bees, but I think I honestly need to take more time and learn more about the honey aspect of beekeeping. For example, how do you get the best yields? Do you have an tricks for getting a hive to produce the first year? I know some of the folks at The Sanctuary might be interested in making honey mead if we have excess. With the hives I have planned, I suspect there will be enough. But with careful planning on the part of a beekeeper it seems you can control what you do have and what you don't have fairly well." She said looking thoughtful.

Kavala smiled apologetically, hoping she wasn't piling too many questions on him. Up until now she'd been fairly quiet and just listening. Now, really, was the time to ask some tougher questions.

Collin nodded. "I was waiting for you to ask some of these questions, Kavala. In terms of beekeepers there's two types of honey production. There's pure honey and then there's honey comb production. In your case, you are going to be wanting to master both techniques, as we have here, in order to have the products from the bees available you want to have available for your medical practice. But if your going for pure honey as well for cooking or brewing then you'll want to know how to make more honey, less honeycomb and more honeycomb less honey so you can have your balance well thought out ahead of time based on your changing needs." He said, to which Kavala nodded.

"We'll get to that in a moment. What I need to actually tell you about before we get more into the technical aspect is how to manage new hives to produce the most honey. Once we talk about that, I'll go through how to manage established hives to get the most honey. Both processes are different. So what works when your hive is new will definitely not work once your hive has been established. Now don't be disappointed if these techniques don't always work. Bees are still independent minded. We simply can't control them. We can try, and for the most part our techniques work, but there still will be failures and special circumstances beyond a beekeepers control. " Collin said.

Kavala nodded. "Should I take notes?" She asked, not sure how complex this task was.

Collin shook his head. "No, its fairly clear cut. Now, if you are starting with a fresh group of bees, no hive, no core... you should be grateful and happy if the bees only produce enough honey to feed themselves and nothing more. That is a success in and of itself. Now, you can work on your new hives so they can produce honey for you the first year. Most of them will be successful doing this. Now how you do this is by placing your hive on drawn comb. Remember, that's frames that already have cells in them. This is your best friend, Kavala. That's why I'm going to sell you cores and not just bees. Some people by bees and call it good, but the truth is the bees need to spend all their time building or drawing their combs rather than just gathering food and making honey and other bees. You want to eliminate this excess work. Comb building, seriously, takes a monumental effort. They need to make enough for brood, for pollen and nectar storage, and for honey storage. They even use some for water storage. I know it sounds crazy with water so abundant around here, but its instinctual for them and they do store it. Now, bees need a lot of nectar to make a lot of wax. In fact, by isolating bees and keeping track of how much nectar they've used, I would guess it takes about eight or so pounds of nectar to make a pound of wax. A pound of wax in a hive will not go very far at all. " Collin said.

Kavala agreed, her eyes going slightly rounded at the thought of how much effort it took to transfer pollen to wax. "I know you're telling the truth, but it just seems so monumental. I think they are amazing, really, with what they can do. We have hands and feet and advanced brains, and we still can't do as good of a job as they do. The gathering alone would defeat us." Kavala added.

Collin agreed.

"Now, think about this too. A full hive is about forty to eighty thousand bees. Now when I give you bees, you'll have somewhere around ten thousand. That means they need to double their numbers then quadruple them in order to have a well maintained hive. So the problem with getting bees, and just bees, is that before they can produce those foragers they need to feed that growing population, a lot of the spring nectar or like in your case because its fall, will have been flowing and is now gone. That's why its so hard for a new hive to produce honey. You want the bees out gathering as soon as possible. You want the incoming nectar to go to making honey rather than making wax. That's why we sell the cores." Collin said.

[Kavala]

In this Kavala thought he was sounding a tad bit salespitchy, but watching his face, she realized he was sincere and just trying to make her understand why cores were so much better than just getting the packaged bees.

"I completely understand. Its all about effort expended and about what they are foraging for or rather whom. If we have foragers ready to hatch for them, freeing up the workers to get their wings and go hunt, then we are well ahead of the game." Collin nodded, agreeing with her statement.

"So.. you need a core with the drawn foundations intact. That's four or five frames, half the hive, and a frame or two of brood ready to hatch sot hey are replacing fallen workers immediately because they'll all be hatching regularly." Collin said.

Kavala nodded.

"Now there's one thing you really do have to understand about drawn comb. It has disadvantages too. And I'd be remiss in telling you to get drawn comb unless you understood this. If the bees that drew the comb had pests, disease, or anything.. its in the comb as well. Its thoroughly carried on. So sometimes you can't get drawn comb or you don't want too get drawn comb. Parasites that prey on bees and most of them use the beehive as a home. Mites for example reproduce in the brood and honey cells. So be careful that you inspect frames and bees carefully, and if they have drawn comb and pests, do not put them into your hives." Collin warned.

Kavala nodded.

"So I have a question..." She added. "In all this talk of crowding, drawn combs, undrawn combs, etc... when do you know the bees need more room. I mean say you start with a core, and they start filling your ten frames.. when is it too soon to add another super or when its it not soon enough?" She asked, not really on topic but it related to the theme in hand.

Collin nodded. "Good question." He said, looking thoughtful. "I always wait until there are at least five to seven frames drawn in the first deep. Then I add a second deep, unless I'm thinning a hive and borrow a few frames for a core like I will with yours to slow them down. Though, truthfully a five to seven frame hive is just getting started. Cores should come from ten to thirty frame hives." Collin said. "But there's one other thing too. Keep your hives tight. That's a term for really making them have the minimum space without being overcrowded. You want them to work productively and not be lazy. In my experience each hive is different. But if you give them too much space, they tend to slow down, not work as hard, and your honey production could drop dramatically." Collin said, causing Kavala to frown.

She thought that one over pretty hard and nodded finally. "It sounds like an art. Running the thin blue line between enough space, not enough space and productivity and sloth." The Konti said, enjoying once more being a student.

The time was getting late though... and Kavala knew she'd have to be getting back to The Sanctuary soon.

"Is this a good place to stop for now?" She asked, curious. "I need to be back in time to feed horses. And since your changing my order.. I know I've gotten the equipment and a couple hives delivered, I'd like to actually have you bring out cores and just packages of bees so I can do both and see how each fare since we have so many hives to fill from yours. Anything else you could do to teach me would be amazing too. I really do want to learn all I can about bees as quickly as possible." The Konti said, rising.

Collin nodded. "I'll bring half and half... five cores and five packages of bees with ten queens. And if I happen to do any bee extractions in the area, I'll talk about that too. We should be able to have you fairly competent at handling these bees after tomorrow. But please remember, I'll definitely be here if you have any questions." Kavala nodded, rose, and shook Collin's hand.

She bid him farewell and told him she'd expect him tomorrow whenever he had the time to make the delivery. The Konti was excited. They were getting bees at the Sanctuary and just in time for winter.

Continued with ---> [The Sanctuary] It's For The Bees (PT 7)

[Shadow Cast]

Thread Rewards!

Kavala:

XP- Beekeeping 5.

Lore- A Hive Thrives on its Queen; Don’t get Attached to Queen Bees; Hive: Requeen Once a Year; Requeen in Late Summer; Bees: New Queens have New Scents; Tools: Queen Cages Protect the Queen; Happier Bees Mean More Honey; Hives: Produce About One Gallon of Honey Annually; Draining Caps Means More Honey; Types of Honey Production: Pure Honey and Comb Production; Bees: Be Wary of Parasites.

Comments: Another brilliant bee thread! Seems like you've got this pretty much down! I cringe at the amount of research you must be doing. Keep up the magnificence!