2010 Annual Report for FNE10-694
A Comparison of Honey Bee Colony Strength and Survivability between Nucleus and Package Started Colonies
Summary
Honey bees are crucial to successful agriculture and environmental health, and the overall decline of honey bee health has become front-page news for the past several years. In recent years, the annual mortality rate of honey bee colonies in Maine has steadily increased due primarily to the parasitic Varroa mite and associated diseases. Additionally, beekeeping costs are increasing due to the increased cost of replacement colonies, queens, specialized equipment, medications and transportation.
Currently most New England beekeepers rely on “package bees” and Southern or West Coast raised queen bees to restart their hives or establish new hives. These are “Italian” race honey bees and they generally come from commercial suppliers in Georgia, Alabama, Texas, or California. These colonies of honey bees are often not well suited for the New England climate and are less effective in honey production and pollination in this area than they are in milder areas. Many hives started with packaged bees do not survive the winter. Packaged bees are, by definition, stressed colonies. They are far more susceptible to downturns in spring weather conditions, disease transmission, and pest and parasite infestation. Unfortunately packaged honey bees are the most widely used and promoted method of starting new colonies across the nation, including in Maine.
Our project addresses the Farmer Grant focus of exploring sustainable and innovative production practices through “on-farm” demonstration during the natural cycle of honey bee colonies in Maine. The project and expected results demonstrate sustainable methods of starting new and rebuilding dead colonies while getting off of the “treadmill” of packaged bees and commercially raised queens. The project is designed to demonstrate the viability and potential superiority of local (Maine and New England) alternatives to packaged bees and commercially raised queens from the South and West Coast.
Objectives/Performance Targets
Many beekeepers feel that the sustainability of beekeeping hinges on new ways of operating that depend on local bee and queen breeders to produce replacement and new starting colonies in their area. However, due to the short queen rearing season in New England, in this part of the country local colonies are often difficult to find and often not available until well after the primary honey flow and pollination seasons are over (Queens are usually not available until Mid-June, long after the Apple and other pollination seasons are over).
Hives started with a locally raised over-wintered nucleus colony, “nucs” have a greater potential to develop into a strong, sustainable colony than a colony started with a package. Over wintered nucs are made up of honey bees in all stages of development as well as food (honey and pollen), a laying locally raised queen bee that has “proven” her abilities through her first winter, and enough nurse, worker, and field bees to build up into a strong full strength colony over the course of the spring and summer. Essentially the nuc is a “micro hive” with an already established organization that allows for rapid expansion. Over-wintered nucs are nucleus colonies that are created from “parent” hives in the prior summer, when the “parent” colony can easily replace the frames of brood and bees used to create the nuc. The Queens also are raised and mated in the previous summer and “prove” their successful mating and development by heading the over-wintered nuc from creation, through winter, until the following spring when they are used as the foundation for the new production colony. Locally raised overwintered nucs are not subjected to the stresses of package bee production, they demand less antibiotic and other chemical use, and they are not subjected to the shock that can be caused by transporting bees from one climate to another. Travel time for transportation to the new location is generally only a few hours so the confinement period for the bees is short and adaptation to the new location nearly immediate.
Unfortunately, overwintered nucleus colonies are technically difficult and expensive (both in sheer dollars and in hive resources) to produce and sell. There are a very limited number of beekeepers producing overwintered nucs and current demand vastly outstrips supply. While the number of overwintered nucs available for sale is increasing, demand for these colonies is increasing at a much higher rate and the beekeepers are unable to keep up. For these reasons it is often difficult or nearly impossible for many beekeepers to utilize overwintered nucs for their replacement or starter colonies.
Our project proposes a compromise option between Overwintered Nucs and Packaged bee colonies. Since all honey bees in the colony with the exception of the queen live for less than two months in the summer, and all offspring of the queen are genetically determined by the queen and her mates when she is less than two weeks old, it is very simple to change the genetic make-up of a colony of Honey Bees. Our strategy will be to re-queen purchased packages with northern raised queens as soon as such queens become available (mid-late June). Once accepted by the colony, the northern raised queens will produce offspring that are better suited to winter over in the New England climate, and by the end of August, our re-queened colonies will be comprised entirely of honey bees which are offspring of northern raised honey bees.
Our project therefore offers two potential alternatives to the traditional treadmill of purchasing commercial packaged bees in the spring and losing the colony over the winter. Our solutions will demonstrate that despite the many threats to Maine honey bee colonies, sustainability is achievable by maintaining healthy colonies of northern raised honey bees that are particularly well adapted to our climatic conditions.
Our method is to use a side-by-side comparison of overwintered nucs, packaged bees with commercial queens, and packaged bees in which the queen has been replaced with a northern raised queen to:
– Increase awareness among Maine beekeepers that there are options for purchasing or repopulating colonies other than purchasing from the traditional southern and western sources.
– Demonstrate that northern raised bees can be obtained and raised in time to provide valuable pollination services, build to sufficient wintering strength, and often collect surplus honey crops, even in their first year.
– Promote sustainable beekeeping practices overall by emphasizing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and reducing chemical/antibiotic beekeeping use throughout our educational and outreach efforts.
Accomplishments/Milestones
The 2010 project’s thirty hives are split into two groups of fifteen, all started in April and May of 2010 (Packages in April, nucs in May). Peiffer manages one group in Hollis, Maine and Forbes manages the other group in Westbrook, Maine. The project colonies are integrated into the current operations to the extent that care for the project honey bees will be folded into the routine of the beekeepers. The project honey bees do not, however share any equipment with current operation hives nor will any honey or pollen stores from existing colonies be given to the project colonies. All project colonies are in excess of three miles of any of the participants’ other colonies, eliminating the risk of drift from non-project colonies. It is important to note that that the project colonies are all started and managed on identical new equipment setups with new “foundation” only in order to objectively compare the progress of the colonies.
The two yards were managed “as a new beekeeper would”, with the goal being to maximize colony strength and health, not necessarily honey harvest. All colonies were fed sugar syrup during the spring build-up period until the entire “nest” area of the hive was 80% full of drawn honeycomb. At that point feeding was discontinued. Colonies were regularly evaluated by the beekeepers and by outside participants. Each time the colonies were opened, detailed notes were taken using the SARE hive evaluation form.
The Maine State Beekeepers Association (MSBA) newsletter and the MSBA website are the primary outlets used to disseminate information regarding progress and results of the project. Erin Forbes writes a semi-monthly article in the MSBA newsletter, The Bee Line describing the latest activities of the project and updating the membership on progress of the colonies. The participants feel that this ongoing communication regarding the project more fully engages the membership in the project than simply by reporting results at the end. Raising awareness of the alternatives and promoting sustainable beekeeping practices and IPM strategies for pest management are key components of the goals of this project. The project participants have received a significant amount of feedback from new and experienced beekeepers alike, expressing support for and interest in the project as a result of the ongoing articles.
As of February 12, 2011, twenty seven of the original thirty colonies were alive and clustered for winter.
The project participants purchased all new hive equipment in March 2010 for the 30 project colonies. Volunteer beekeepers from the Cumberland County Beekeepers Association helped to get complete painting of the hives. The packages were picked up and installed in April 2010 and the nucs were installed in May. All colonies were fed constantly from installation through the end of May when they had substantially built out their “nests” and were able to forage for their own food.
The spring nectar flow and corresponding hive build-up in 2010 was excellent . The colonies were growing dramatically, in the Westbrook yard some of the colonies were literally becoming congested with honey. In mid-June the Hollis Yard was struck by a pesticide exposure. Mr Peiffer noted that there were a significant number of dead bees outside all of the colonies and that surviving bees were showing signs of chemical exposure. The State Apiarist (and technical advisor to the project), Tony Jadczak came to inspect the yard and confirmed that the symptoms exhibited by the colonies were consistent with pesticide exposure. One colony completely succumbed to the damage and the remaining colonies were significantly weakened. At the time of inspection, however the colonies were beginning to recover from the exposure and steps were taken to minimize damage in all of the colonies. Mr. Jadczak advised feeding the colonies and continuing the project as all colonies were equally effected by the exposure.
Southern Maine then began a period of drought through July and August with record-little rainfall. This significantly impacted all honeybee colonies, as plants do not secrete nectar without rain. Record low honey yields were recorded in 2010, but fortunately for honey bees rainfall did increase in late August, just in time for the major fall nectar flows provided by Japanese Knotweed and Aster varieties.
The project participants did re-queen the packages in mid June with Vermont raised queens, and queen acceptance was high in both yards.
The project participants inspected the colonies as scheduled, recorded hive details on a specific evaluation form and gathered data for health and strength evaluations. In addition, samples of bees were collected and tested for nosema and for tracheal mites. Tony Jadczak inspected both yards twice during the summer and the Cumberland County Beginner Bee School also came to the Westbrook yard on two separate dates and participated in the hive inspections and data collection.
In fall 2010 honey was harvested and weighed from those colonies with surplus and all colonies were prepared for winter. Organic Essential oil based Varroa Mite Treatments were done using Apilife Var in September and mite counts were taken pre-treatment, during treatment and post treatments. Screened Bottom Board inserts were re-installed for the mite treatments and were left in for winter. Homasote insulation boards were provided for winter insulation and moisture absorption. The colonies were not wrapped. Most colonies looked “very good” going into winter.
Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes
As of February 12, 2011 the project participants are still compiling the data from the hive inspection sheets and disease test results. The colonies that went into winter are still alive at this time, but the toughest winter months for bees (February-March) are still ahead. Survivability is the number one criteria for evaluation of colony strength in spring and we will not have that information until late April.
On May 8th the project leader, Erin MacGregor-Forbes will present an overview of the SARE FN10-694 project and update on the first year and a half of data to the Prince William Regional Beekeepers in Manassas, VA. (see pwrbeekeepers.com for details). This will be in the form of a Power Point presentation with slides and a preliminary set of data from the hive inspections, ranking the colonies for health and strength as they went into winter. The final project evaluation will be made in May when the bees are “out of the woods” and winter has passed. A full final presentation will be created, with both years’ worth of data compiled and conclusions made. This full version of the project results will be available for presentation by late September, 2011 and will be presented to the Cumberland County Beekeepers Association club meeting in October 2011. This program will be maintained and made available for presentation at other regional and state meetings as requested.
The project has generated an incredible amount of awareness among Maine beekeepers of the alternatives in colony starts. The SARE grant articles in the Bee Line keep the MSBA membership engaged and thinking about the colonies and the management techniques we have been using. Sustainable Beekeeping practices (such as use of the organic Varroa mite treatment) and IPM management practices have been promoted through ongoing discussion in the articles. We have received substantial positive feedback from Maine beekeepers both in person and by email.
Additionally, the project leader has been contacted by a number of interested parties, particularly beekeepers interested in similar work with nucleus colonies and also regional beekeeping organizations interested in performing SARE grant projects seeking information and advice.
We will not have final data as to the health advantages of the colonies until we see the condition of the colonies in the spring 2011. However, at this point we have seen substantially higher instance of bee disease (viral primarily) in the package colonies in both year’s data. The swarming and supercedure (natural colony queen replacement) rates in 2009 and the Hollis pesticide damage may skew our data but we expect to at least be able to show some type of trend in colony health between the two years.
Final Report will be presented to SARE in June after the completion of the final Power Point presentation.
Collaborators:
700 Saco Road
Standish, ME 04008