Varroa mite counting, round 3.

On 6/20/2013 (this makes this post somewhat out of order), I removed the sticky board from beneath each hive.  The boards had been in for about 4 days.  Unfortunately, I lost track of when I placed the boards, but I did note that I removed them on 6/20/2013 at 1750.

Hive A had only 1 mite on the board.  Hive B had 10 mites on the board.  On 6/16/2013, Hive A had a population of about 9,375 bees (7.5 frames full of bees x 1,250 bees per full frame).  On the same date, Hive B had a population of about 12,500 bees (10 frames full of bees x 1,250 bees per full frame).  Again, we are going to say that this is over 4 days of collection.

• Hive A:  1 mite per 9,375 bees per 4 days = 1/(9,375 x 4) = 0.03 mites per 1,000 bees per day.
• Hive B:  10 mites per 12.5k bees per 4 days = (1/12,500 x 4) = 0.2 mites per 1,000 bees per day.

So, from the numbers above, I feel that I am comfortable not treating for mites at this time.  The quote that I am following, you might recall, is the following:  "If your sticky board count shows more than 2 mites per thousand bees per day in mid-August or more than 4 mites per thousand bees per day in September, you should find a way to reduce the mite population."

Even if the boards were only in for one day--and thus the mite numbers would be 0.12 and 0.8 mites per thousand bees per day--there would not be a clear indication to treat.

After this mite count, I did not get to a mite count for over a month.  I did an about 2.5-day mite count that ended on 8/3/2013.  There were significantly more mites, but there were also significantly more bees.  I'm hoping to do an inspection over the weekend of 8/3/2013 so that I can get a good estimate of numbers of bees.

Adding a box and brief inspection, on July 7, 2013.

Fifth inspection of Hive A and Hive B, Sunday, 7/7/13:

This was day 64 for the two hives, with the packages having been installed Saturday the 4th of May, 2013.  The main goals for this inspection were:

1. Enlarge each hive's entrance by moving the entrance reducer to the larger of its two settings; and,
2. Add a third box to each hive.

The hives before inspection and adding third box.

In the picture above, you see that there are three boxes.  Recall that A3 and B3 are empty of frames and only hold the syrup pail.  Only A1/A2 and B1/B2 are full of frames, bees, and comb.

Regarding the entrance reducer...  If I was using deep hive bodies, I would open up the entrance more when I added the 2nd of 3 total boxes.  So, I figured that I would do that step when I added my 3rd of 5 total boxes.  I think that I could have removed the entrance reducer completely.  This may have helped the bees keep their hive cooler.  However, since the would also have uncorked holes in the 1st and the 2nd boxes of each hive, I opted to leave the entrance reducer in place but to the more open setting.

Anyway, we could have done a full inspection today, but it was pretty darn hot...  Three factors weighed heavily on my mind and kept me moving quickly:

1. The bees were hot and jumpy.  I wanted to bother them as little as possible.
2. The heat was oppressive.  The beekeeping suits only worsened our sweaty plight.
3. My videographer was being attacked by mosquitos.  She was throwing off palpable waves of anger that assaulted me much more forcefully than the heat was...

As with the other videos, YouTube is the home for Video 13.

For this inspection, I was worried that I had let too much time pass between inspections.  I was most concerned that I would find that the bees had filled all available space and I was wasting their time and resources by not providing them enough space.  The boxes were quite full, but not completely full; the bees still had room to expand.  But, I would not have wanted to wait much longer to add the 3rd box.

Flowers and bees on flowers.

Our prairie and homesite has many flowers for the bees...

Common Milkweed in bloom

Large patch of Blackeyed Susans

Honeybee on Blackeyed Susan

Honeybee on Blackeyed Susan, closer

Purple Prairie Clover

Purple Prairie Clover, closer

Prairie False Indigo in bloom

Prairie False Indigo in fruit

Closer view of Prairie False Indigo fruit

Blue Vervain or Hoary Vervain, not sure which...

First inspection with two boxes on each hive, part 2.

Fourth inspection of Hive A and Hive B, Sunday, 6/16/13:

[Note:  This is follow-up to the July 7, 2013 post, with video links below.]

To recap, this was day 43 for the hives, with the packages having been installed Saturday the 4th of May, 2013.  We were able to do a full inspection today, as the weather was in the mid-70's.  The inspection started at about 1820.  There were two boxes on each hive, and I felt a bit more rushed for time.  But, overall it went well.  Inspection ended at 1850.

The videos (part 1 and part 2) tell most of the tale.  It was fun to see the bees moving into their second box and drawing out more comb.  With how much wax they were making (and how little syrup they were taking in), they were clearly finding a great deal of nectar in the wild.