Strengthening Our Hives: Beekeepers Rising to the Challenge

A hot topic in the beekeeping industry—widely discussed on YouTube, social media, and other media outlets—is the massive bee losses commercial beekeepers are experiencing. It's being referred to as the "Bee Collapse." But is it really that bad?

It is. Most of us who have been on a beekeeping journey for some time are in a state of unbelief over the astronomical colony losses our colleagues are experiencing. Losses range from 50% to 100%—well over and above the average loss rate of 45%.

Is this bee collapse like colony collapse disorder (CCD) was in 2006–2007?

It really is—with the same characteristics: large healthy colonies over a period of weeks dwindling down to no bees at all or a very small knot of bees with a queen. They have plenty of honey available and no major Varroa mite issues.

A percentage of the hives surviving are weak, with four to seven frames of bees when they normally have 12 or more. Although this sounds bleak, there is hope among the industry. Many that lived through the previous event believe very strongly that, like before, adjustments will have to be made, but the results will prove effective. Check out this article about "Colony Collapse Disorder" 

What’s really going on?

At the time of this article, everything being said is merely speculation. As a beekeeper I certainly have my thoughts. Beyond speculation, reality will likely point to a combination of issues such as pesticides (that includes insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and rodenticides) and pathogens (including viruses and parasites); therefore, I’ll refrain from conjecture. It is, however, super important for beekeepers to increase our diligence in how we manage our bees. Our environmental and beekeeping management practices will make a difference!

What can you do for your bees?

It almost goes without saying that developing better management practices will help the overall health of our colonies. There’s more to that than just feeding bees. Here are some crucial points that we should be covering:

·       Maintain low to no Varroa mite loads. This does not mean treating your bees with chemicals (synthetic or organic) just because “all bees have mites.” It does, however, mean that everyone must test before they treat. In the hobby beekeeper world, it has become commonplace to simply treat without knowing what your mite load actually is. Do not be that person. Beekeeping involves animal husbandry—that’s just a fancy word for taking good care of your bees. “Taking good care” is making sure you aren’t overdosing your bees with mite treatments if they don’t need them, including dosing properly. More is not better! Follow the directions to the letter on every treatment every time.

·       Replace and rotate comb. This practice doesn’t get enough attention. Honeycomb is like a sponge—super absorbent. Therefore, everything our bees are exposed to is absorbed into the comb. Consider that—a single bee may be damaged or die from foraging on a plant that has been sprayed with a pesticide, but not before she comes back into the hive and walks across the comb, spreading the chemical. It’s not likely to kill the other bees because they weren’t in direct contact with the substance, but over time the buildup can’t possibly be good for our bees! See below for how to rotate out or change out your comb.

·       Enhance colony health using supplementation. I am a firm believer in an all-natural product called Bee Cleanse, developed to “clean” your bees inside and out with all-natural organic ingredients in a spray or drench. The moment you apply it to your hive, the bees begin cleaning one another. Not only does the product induce this hygienic behavior, but while cleaning one another the bees ingest it, in turn fortifying their digestive systems. Other all-natural products that should be used include Complete (contains Bee Cleanse as well) and Apis-Biologix Bio Control. Both of these products are mixed with sugar syrup but not necessarily at the same time. Apis Biologix Bio Control is my choice for spring management, although Complete is a year-round food supplement. Read our website descriptions associated with the product to determine which works best for your application.

·       Be mindful when using pesticides in your own yards or farms. This is a real sticking point for me. Most of us are faced with having to use pesticides for one reason or another. The key factor is when we use them—keeping in mind that bees go home at night. If you need to treat your yard for ticks or fleas, do it in the late evening (just barely light enough to see). Same with weed control. Honestly, in my opinion, this is the number-one culprit in hive poisoning. We live in such a “beautiful, manicured” world with picture-perfect lawns—mine is no exception. But, unlike some, we treat only with granular lawn-and-garden feed and only late in the day. Granular pesticides are often the safest option for protecting pollinators compared to dusts or sprays. They are less likely to drift and come into direct contact with bees, reducing the risk of exposure.  In the case of flowerbeds, we use a Hula Hoe instead of just spraying the weeds. If you don’t know what that is, Google it. It’s a super easy-to-use tool that makes weeding a bed quick and easy. If you need to use something to kill weeds other than a little muscle, try mixing vinegar, salt, and dish soap (surfactant). It works beautifully. You may have to repeat it more often than you would using Roundup, but our homemade version won’t kill our bees!

Rotating out or replacing comb

I’m going to give my friend Bob Binnie credit for this one. He and I had a very in-depth conversation about the benefits of “recombing” a hive. I made that word up, so if you use it again it’ll become a real word... No need to give me credit.

He told me about a friend of his who was suffering from the unknown issues plaguing our bees right now. If I remember correctly, this was late last summer. His friend had 1,000 struggling hives experiencing unexplainable losses. In an effort to save them, he made the drastic decision to completely recomb every hive, throwing out all the old frames and starting fresh. It was an expensive solution—but not nearly as costly as losing hundreds of hives.

This beekeeper shook all of his bees out onto new foundation (treating them as if they were package bees - shaking each frame of bees off into a box with new frames), fed them heavily, and waited. Within just a couple of months, his colonies were all doing remarkably better. Is this a legitimate fix? Who knows? But I will say that, if comb is more than two or three years old, I can see where it would benefit a hive to have new foundation. Take this for what it’s worth.

For a much less dramatic approach, rotating frames out is relatively easy. Simply start moving brood frames farther and farther out toward the outside of a box. As the brood emerges, the bees will stop using it for brood. They may start using it to store honey, but that can easily be pulled out, put out away from your hives to be robbed out, then thrown away.

Moving forward, we aren’t likely to get a concrete answer to the current phenomenon of bee collapse for quite some time, if ever. As a community of beekeepers, it’s up to us to recruit others into the wonderful world of beekeeping, not to shy away from this disaster. Instead, rally in support of commercial beekeepers and the entities that are working toward finding answers to not only this problem but also to the parasites that plague our bugs! In the years after CCD, hobby beekeepers made a huge impact on the resurgence of honey bees - More beekeepers - More bees!