Candy Boards - Feeding Bees

Candy boards are a great way to feed the bees in your hives without feeding all of the bees in the neighborhood.    The above video from Brush Mountain uses cooked fondant, which is what we have been doing successfully for two years now -- we just poured the fondant into paper plates and placed those on top of the frames.  We had pollen patties in the fridge, not pollen substitute in powder form, and experimented with putting pieces of that in with the fondant, but the bees never seemed interested in eating that.   We were hesitant to leave the remaining pollen in the hive as pollen patties have a reputation for attracting small hive beetles.   While we don't have much of a problem with SHB in the city, but we do in our out-yards.   Some of the blogs I've read about them attracting SHB state that they simply provide another place for the critters to hide.  

Fondant is all well and good when cooking for a small number of hives, but when I don't have time to cook for us, I certainly don't have time to cook for our winged friends.   Hubby cut down some of the shallow hive bodies that we had and has started making candy boards as described in the video below.

 

The thing we like about this kind of candy board is, of course, not having to spend 30 minutes boiling syrup followed by another 30 minutes cleaning the kitchen.   The wire bottom also allows more bees to feed at one time.  We also know that every batch of fondant turns out differently -- see previous blogs -- and I've had one batch turn to rock while my back was turned and another batch turn into a gooey mess while sitting in the fridge.   Softer fondants are easier for the bees to digest but are also hygroscopic -- hence the mess in the fridge.  With the humidity we have here in the south, we are concerned about sticky goo damaging the wood and trapping bees if we use the method in the first video.   We'll let you know how these wire-bottom boards work out.  

We'll add some pollen to the candy board to get some brood started in our bee engines - our city hives.   The bees in the city and out-yards bring pollen in throughout winter, but they may need a little more to start producing brood.   With our crazy weather, it's hard to know when to do this.  We don't want to start too early as brood gives the bees one more thing to keep warm when temperatures drop, but we don't want to wait too long either.   We really want to build up our numbers this spring and maybe have some queens to sell to offset some of the costs of starting up our apiary.   We're going to use a Nicot System to get some queen cells started and hopefully save some time on getting new Nucs started as well as adding a revenue stream.  

It's still winter, but it feels like spring, and this is always a time of year that I find it almost impossible to be patient.   The daffodils are pushing up in the city and even some day lilies are sprouting new leaves.  It was below 20 degrees two weekends ago, over 70 degrees last weekend, and stormy this weekend.  Planting seeds this early is usually pointless, but I'll probably do it anyway.  I usually do.  When the sun is shining like it is right now, I just want to hurry spring along and get those home-grown tomatoes started!   I'll try, once again, to temper enthusiasm with some common sense and not bring more harm than help to the bees and trees in our care!

Hubby learns the true value Of Patience

Hubby here:
Patience? We all use the word directed at others when we want them to slow or wait for something. We also like to describe ourselves as being patient. Me personally, I have now added the word "patience" to my project design and time analysis over the last year. I've also directly related patience to time. Over the last year as we have grown in our skills and knowledge on the farm I personally, and very humbly, have come to realize if you analyze your project or task and determine for example that putting up barbed wire fencing will only take about 1 1/2 to 2 days... triple that or even quadruple that time!! Then figure out if it will be 100 plus degrees during the day or will the infamous biting ladybugs drive you to distraction. And worst, when you feel your age, exhaustion and that durn picket post-pounder has mysteriously gained 40 pounds by the end of the day that maybe you really do need to add a few more days to the project. "Patience"... my new word for the day.

Well house and other projects

One coat of stain

Two coats of stain

This time last year we were cold, miserable, and damp!  In contrast, today I was able to apply the final coat of stain to the well-house door well before lunch while wearing a tank top instead of several layers of flannel!  I'm torn between the look with one coat of stain and that with two coats.  I think somewhere in between would be perfect, but I suspect (hope) the wood grain will show through better by tomorrow.

Finished Door

The stain (Minwax White Pickling Stain) is easy to apply and clean up.  We've been able to keep the rustic look of the boards while having the door white enough to tie in with the trim.  I did not use the pre-stain treatment as one of the things it does it stop the wood fibers from curling up.  We'd want that on a kitchen cabinet, but not on this project.  We still have some trim work left, but the well house is almost done.  One more thing off the to-do list.

We spent most of the rest of the morning gathering rocks from around the property to build up the area below the old clay culvert that runs under an old road bed built around the early 1900s.  We cleared out some more brush around the area yesterday, and I planted some more daffodils and a weeping willow tree behind the bench.   Even though the Stratford-upon-Avon council cut down the willow trees  decades ago, I will always associate weeping willows with the banks of the River Avon.    Although the willow is still shorter than I am, our memory-bench is already the perfect place to sit and think about family members.   If the blue bells and daffodils flourish, it will almost be a little piece of England.  

Clay culvert

Some of the stacked stone around the culvert has crumbled away and there was a deep erosion hole below the culvert.   In order to minimize additional damage,  we've raised the level in the hole by about 2 feet and cleared the stream bed to facilitate drainage.  Eventually we plan to have rock all the way to the small pool that naturally forms 90% of the year.  I hear hubby throwing rocks in the cart now, but I don't plan on picking up even one more today.  We pulled some moss up from another part of the property and packed that around some of the stones further down than this picture shows, and I transplanted some ferns along the edge of the dry-stream.  We'll throw some wild-flower seeds out in spring and make the place as inviting to humans and bees as possible.

Talking of bees -- they too are enjoying a very warm Christmas day and the way the clover is growing bodes well for spring honey.    We'll soon plant fruit and Sourwood trees for them (and us) -- hubby used the auger on the Bobcat to make planting those a little easier once we manage to get the trees down here.  Even if the holes he dug collapse a little, digging them back out will be easier than digging hard-packed clay by hand.

So our non-traditional Christmas Day is drawing to a close.   The sky is turning shades of pale yellow and blue as the sun sinks behind the pines, and we couldn't be happier.   We've had a low-stress day puttering around the farm and supper is bubbling away in the Crockpot.  When I think back to all the Christmases I was unhappy because I didn't get the gift I wanted, I wish I learned earlier to look for happiness in other places.    Other than wishing we had enough money to retire now, everything we want is right here -- and not being able to retire now gives us time to actually build a house!

Small Hive Beetles

Small hive beetles are much like vampires in that they hate sunlight, which is probably why I saw no evidence of beetles in my English hive which sits in the middle of a sunny spot, but huge numbers of beetles in our hives in a relatively shady area.   Adjacent hives even have different levels of infestation, with the strongest hives having lower numbers of beetles.   While I can't turn a weaker hive into prize fighters overnight, I can do something about the sunshine, which is why I spent much of yesterday shifting the brush line further back from Bee Lane.   Hives that were in the shade at 10:00 a.m. yesterday were in full sunlight this morning. We hope that helps somewhat.   We have mineral oil traps (Beetle Blaster) in the hives, but our schedules haven't allowed us to maintain them and let them do their job -- which they do very well!

One thing the beetles have managed to do is get me beyond being squeamish about squishing bugs!   When I lived alone, my preferred bug disposal method was a vacuum cleaner stretched out at arms' length and a can of Raid.  (Sometimes the whole can, according to Hubby's version of certain stories.) Teaching got me to the point of being able to chase a cockroach down with a broom and dustpan so as not to let my students see how much doing that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up!   Beekeeping now has me using my hive tool to squish beetles and moths and even using it to kill a roach yesterday.    Sadly for Hubby, none of that translates into me taking care of bugs in the house,  as there is no rational reason to be scared of creepy crawlies in the first place, I'm not even going to try to figure out why outdoor-me and indoor-me have such contradictory attitudes towards some things at times!

Other projects in the works this week are staining the door to the well house with Minwax White Pickling Stain, clearing the area around the beautiful old culvert, planting trees, planting the remaining daffodil bulbs, fencing, and weed eating.    More about those later. 

Maggie

Maggie continues to enjoy the farm, and expends enough energy to power a small city while running in circles like a grey hound and digging holes in which to bury her bones.   Her favorite toys when we are here are a tennis ball and empty diet Coke bottles.   She is the first dog either of us has had that actually fetches sticks -- it just has be the "right" stick.   She also loves racing the four-wheeler and can keep up with Hubby when he's driving over 15 m.p.h.   She travels better now, which is good as she spits out motion sickness pills even when they are wrapped up in pill pockets.    We love having a dog again.  We love being here at the farm.  We even love our tiny house on wheels.   Life is good.

Well, well, well.....

Well house

Well, it's been a little over a year now since we purchased the farm, and it's amazing to look back at photographs and Google Earth and realize just how much has changed.  Like so many other areas in life, we tend to focus on what we have left to do and thereby lose sight of what we have accomplished.   Then we think back to last winter break: the torrential rain, the leaky RV and getting stuck in the mud!   Now we have a driveway, the RV no longer leaks, we have indoor plumbing, and we are able to live on the land. 

Now that we are heading back into winter, we have to protect the progress we've made.   One of our first projects is protecting the well.  Hubby and BIL framed the well-house in October, and we were able to get it dried in a couple of weekends ago.   We made it a little bigger than necessary so that we'd actually have room to work in there as the need arises!   BIL had to have the pump replaced on his well, so we were able to take his experience and plan for the possibility of needing to cut a hole in the roof!   Eventually we'll place a cupola on the roof to allow for ventilation and for access to the pump from above, but that probably won't happen until next summer. 

Well house - enclosed

The cupola will be the finishing touch on what will be my little red schoolhouse.   Hubby was originally going to build a full sized shed in the style of a school house, but now that we've gone with the less costly and more secure shipping container, I get to downsize my decorating.   We already have the siding and the red paint, so maybe that step will be done by the end of Thanksgiving break.   After that, I'll buy some of the curlicue decorative stuff from Lowes and jazz it up a little.

We'd seen Ondura roofing on HGTV some time ago, and had considered it for the house.   We decided to try it on the well-house first.  It was easy to install and we love the vibrant color.   However, we bumped into the end of one sheet with the ladder and damaged it.   It withstands pressure from above well, but we worry about how much would end up damaged during installation of a full roof.   The ridge cap is also a little wavy.    The sheets cut well with a circular saw.   Ondura is supposed to be resistant to hail damage, and I believe it will be because of its flexibility.   It's a good product and attractive, but we think we'll go with a metal roof when we build the house.

R & R at the farm

English Hive

We went down to the farm last weekend and had a time of relaxation and appreciation.  We have been working so hard all summer, but this time we spent very little time working and a whole lot of time sitting in lawn chairs envisioning the future.  It was time to sit back and look at all we have accomplished and to daydream about future changes.  

BIL came by early afternoon on Saturday, and we all just sat around a caught up on news while the dogs played and got rid of maybe 10 percent of their energy!   Maggie enjoys being able to explore without a leash now, although we try to keep her within sight as she has a propensity of heading toward the road.    Sage and Maggie did sneak off into the woods for a while, and I suspect they tried to visit the creek.   When we put the travel harness on Maggie Sunday afternoon, she pouted and refused to come near the car, so she clearly prefers farm life to city life.

Other than BIL, we had no visitors, and, much as I love being surrounded by friends and family, it was really nice to sit alone with hubby and eat supper by a campfire.   (BIL brought us rocks for a fire ring last trip, and evenings are now cool enough for a fire.  We love it!)   

Despite a lack of rain, most of the lavender, rosemary, and magnolia plants are doing well.   We have sprinklers running on timers by the new magnolias, but the lavender and rosemary are somehow hanging in there without any help.   We run sprinklers to soak the soil when we are there, but it's still amazing that the plants can survive the current drought.   One of the gardenia "bushes" was a 3 inch twig with two leaves when I planted it and has grown to a nine inch, healthy plant.   The Buddleja bushes are about 18 inches tall and full of flowers.   

We talked about letting one of the logging trails return to nature and clearing the trail that follows the old road bed as a new access to the fire break at the property boundary.   We fought our way through the briars to find the spot where the road bed crosses a drainage culvert that we want to keep visible.   We have not stood there for a while, and we had forgotten the beautiful views all around.  We decided to clear a path down there next trip so that we can plant my weeping willow there and put a bench under it.  It is the perfect spot to sit quietly and look out over what will eventually be a pond, then look over to where the house will be,  and just reflect on life in general.   When I lived in Stratford-upon-Avon, there were weeping willows all along the river bank, so the willow will be a reminder of loved ones, especially my father.   Next weekend would have been my father's 90th birthday, so that would be a really nice time to set that area up.  

Wipe Out

Last week, Dorchester County, SC decided to combat mosquitoes with an aerial application of pesticide.  One apiary alone lost 46 hives in just a few hours.    To an outsider, that may look like an equable loss, given the severe impacts of the Zika virus, but to a beekeeper it represents the loss of years of hard work and the likely loss of income until next spring when they can start their business from scratch.   The pesticide didn't just kill the bees that were foraging -- it killed the bees and the larvae in the hives.  Total destruction.   Any honey in the hives is also non-marketable now that it is contaminated with pesticides. 

Dead bees under hive

On a smaller scale, we are dealing with the same problem at our house in the city.   Our neighbor has her yard sprayed monthly as her son is very allergic to mosquito bites.  That is her right.   However, the EPA requires that citizens be notified in advance before toxic chemicals that can drift from one yard to another are sprayed in the air.  The EPA also requires that pesticide companies ensure their products do not drift from the intended application site to other people's properties.   After calling the company, we now sometimes get a phone call 30 minutes before the technician arrives, during the day, while we are at work.  But not this past weekend. A phone call or email the day before would allow us to protect our bees and honey.

In addition, the company told us that the spray was not toxic to bees, and left no residue.   Wrong and wrong again.   The chemical they are using, CYZMIC CS, is highly toxic to bees, is a skin and respiratory-tract irritant for humans and remains on any flowers it comes into contact with.   

When we returned from Labor Day weekend at the farm, the ground around one of our Nuc splits was littered with dead bees and, on opening the hive, we found a 75% bee loss.  Over the next few days, more bees died and the surviving bees pulled the contaminated larvae out of the frames.  The state regulatory investigator from Clemson University confirmed that the hive loss was a result of pesticide application.  They took the hive with them so that they can try to determine which pesticide was used, and we are waiting to hear back.  Even if they had not taken the hive, we would have had to destroy it as the chemicals are clearly ingrained in the wood and frames.   The second Nuc from our recent split has less damage, and we are hoping the queen cell and larvae in there are viable. 

UPDATE: January 2017 -- Clemson University confirmed that the bee loss was due to pesticide application, and we lost the second Nuc.   The mosquito-spray company was not responsible, but a neighbor told us that she saw someone go into our backyard Labor Day weekend, so it seems like someone intentionally killed our bees.  We have heard of that happening to other bee keepers, and that is the main reason we have moved most of our hives to the country.   

Dead bees at the bottom of the hive

What to do?   It is possible to kill mosquitoes while minimizing bee loss by administering chemicals very early morning before the bees are out and about.  There will still be some bee loss, but not total destruction of colonies.    Informing beekeepers in advance gives them time to trap the bees in the hive at night and keep them "indoors" until it's relatively safe.   Even giving beekeepers enough advance warning to let them throw sheets over hives is better than nothing.

Beekeepers also have to be proactive.   Register your apiary's!   In South Carolina this is done through Clemson University.   Companies that administer pesticides are required to review the database of apiary locations before applying chemicals that can harm bees.   Beekeepers also need to report losses to the EPA.  The Honey Bee Health Coalition has a wonderful incident reporting guide.  It won't get the bees back, but it may reduce future losses.

We got into this business when we figured out that no bees = no tomatoes + no zucchini in our garden.  And that's just the tip of the pollination iceberg.   There's more at stake here than some annoying insects that sting.

The good news (let's end this on a positive note) is that the master beekeeper who investigated our hives as  part of the regulatory team said that our other hives are very healthy and clearly well maintained.  He told hubby that we should keep doing what we are doing because it is clearly working.  It was good to have our apiary practices classified as professional and to hear that the bee loss was in no way-shape-or-from a result of anything that we could have done or prevented.