Honeybee Democracy by Thomas Seeley

We were fortunate enough to attend the presentation in Denver given by Cornell University professor and bee researcher, Thomas Seeley.  Seeley has been researching bees for the past several decades and in particular the communication of bees in a swarm. He calls it “swarm intelligence” and

Here is a link to his presentation:

http://multimedia2.geneseo.edu/GreatDayKeyHinted.mov
((he starts his presentation about 1/4 way into the video))
This presentation was not as relaxed as the presentation we saw in Denver as the crowd was asking questions and Selley was telling funny stories along the way. What an inspiration to see such positive enthusiasm towards the bees!

Seeley has written several books we recommend:
Honeybee Democracy – a great read, fun and interesting comparison to human democracy, but also fascinating information about bees communicating in a swarm
The Wisdom of the Hive -this is much deeper read,  really delving into the details of his studies

Here is a great synopsis of his work studying bees swarms:
Thomas Seeley’s work

enjoy!

Actress Ellen Page talks about the importance of honey bees.

Journaling about your hives is a great way to take note of how the hive is doing and a good way to keep track of things that need to be done with the hive as well as a fun way to refer back to what the hive was like during different stages and over several years.

For me, I always think that I’ll remember everything that goes on with the hives but when I don’t journal about it, I sometimes forget those little important details about the hive and then 3 months down the road I notice the hive is doing exceptionally well or maybe they’re not doing as well as they were the year before, than I can refer back to the journal as to weather patterns, what the hive is doing, how the bees seem, what I did with the hive in the past year, etc. It definitely comes in handy and is very informational to be able to refer to each time when going into your hive/s.

I also like to take pictures of the hive through the window before and after going into the hive as another way of observing the bees and overall hive view. Hive journals definitely become very fun and interesting scrapbooks years down the road as well!

Here is a list of some things to include in you bee journal:

~Date bees where placed in the hive (or year of the hive)                                                             ~Overall temperament of the hive and where the bees came from: local swarm, package of bees, nuc, etc. (Include as much information as possible about where the bees came from including hive type and age of hive)
~Date of first pollen coming in and the source if known
~Date of first dandelions blooming

More things to keep in mind and journal about each time visiting your hive:

~ Date, weather, temperature, time of the day, overall mood of bees, clenliness of landing board, drone population and any other observations you notice.

~If opening the hive, it’s helpful to also include reason for opening hive and your observations while working the hive, what you accomplished or hoped to accomplish, note anything that needs to be done in the hive, prospective date and check it off when completed. Any observations about your hive or the local environment and weather.

~ It’s always fun to take before and after pictures as well as photos through the window at different times of year and stages of the hive.

As the days are getting hotter and the hives are all brooding up for the nectar flows, it’s the time of year that you’ll see large clumps of bees hanging on and around the entrance of the hive to keep cool and let more circulation of airflow into the hive. It’s totally normal and occurs when the hives are all brooded up in the spring and summer as the weather gets hotter both night and day.

During this time of year and into the hot summer months, be sure to check that there is adequate airflow around your hives, your hives are well shaded for a good portion of the day and be sure to keep replenishing the source of water for the bees as they can go through a lot of water on those hot summer days!

When bees first swarm they usually collect on a branch or bush to recollect while sending out scouts to search for a new hive. This is a great time to hive a new colony because in addition to having a stronger genetic knowledge of the area (having overwintered in the local area) through the swarming process, they are also determined to find a new home and are on a mission to build up a new hive starting from scratch.

~~~ BackYardHive Offers Free Honeybee Swarm Removal~~

Swarm season is over for 2011

If you have bees in a structure
(soffit of your house, hollow pillar, attic,or anywhere else)
and you want these bees removed

Please call one of these beekeepers!

Michael Lombard
720-596-4055

or email Jo Haugland
jo.haugland7@gmail.com

For bees in a tree that need to be removed

Please call:

Kevin Morris
720-435-6167

~~~

For more info follow this link to the BackYardHive website Read More….

Angels in the blue: Honey Bees

Saturday, March 12, 2011
Scientists working for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reported Thurdsay that the collapse of honey bee colonies is becoming a world wide phenomena and will continue unless humans work to restore habitats for bees. The insects are necessary for pollinating crops and the report calls for profound changes in how humans manage the planet. The decline in managed bee colonies, first noticed in Europe and the U.S., is now seen in China and Japan, and there are signs of colony collapses in Egypt. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, honey-producing colonies in the U.S. have declined from 5.5 million colonies in 1950 to 2.5 million in 2007. A co-author of the report, Peter Neumann, said changes in rural areas during the past 50 years have contributed to decline of wild bees and other pollinators. Additional factors include the declines in flowering plants, the use of harmful chemicals and insecticides, the increase in air pollution and a worldwide trade system that spreads bee pathogens and pests.

The world’s growing population means more bees are needed to pollinate the crops to feed more people. According to the U.N. report, of the 100 crop species that supply 90 percent of the world’s food, bees pollinate more than 70 percent. Noting that humans seem to believe that they can operate independent of nature through technological innovations, Achim Steiner, the executive director of the UNEP said, “Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less dependent on nature’s services in a world of close to 7 billion people.”

The report calls for such measures as incentives for farmers and land owners to encourage them to restore habitats that are friendly to pollinators.

WikiNews

Michael McCarthy “Honey bee decline now global phenomenon” — Independent Online, March 10, 2011

…collapse of honey-bee colonies is becoming a global phenomenon, scientists working for the United Nations have revealed.

Declines in managed bee colonies, seen increasingly in Europe and the US in the past decade, are also now being observed in China and Japan and there are the first signs of African collapses from Egypt, according to the report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

“The way humanity manages or mismanages its nature-based assets, including pollinators, will in part define our collective future in the 21st century,” said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director.

Blue Angel Solo: Honey Bee Pollinating

The Associated Press “World’s bee hives to decline without human changes” — Las Vegas Sun, March 10, 2011

“Human beings have fabricated the illusion that in the 21st century they have the technological prowess to be independent of nature,” said Achim Steiner, the executive director of the U.N.’s environmental program. “Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less dependent on nature’s services in a world of close to 7 billion people.”

The bees are needed to pollinate crops that feed the world’s growing population. Of the 100 crop species that provide 90 percent of the world’s food, more than 70 are pollinated by bees, the U.N. report said.

Where: Boulder Public Library
1000 Canyon Blvd., Boulder, CO 80302

When: Oct 27th -Wednesday

Time: 6pm doors open,
Film Starts: 6:30pm promptly

Cost: $10 donation

Why: Because we LOVE the bees!

http://www.vanishingbees.com/trailer/

http://vanishingbees.co.uk/

All admission fees go directly back to
supporting the honeybees through a public outreach program
to bring awareness to pesticide spraying (residential
and commercial) that is adversely effecting the bees.

The other day… well really June 25th, my phone rang at about 6:00pm just as I was sitting down to dinner. It was Margaret. “Guess what?!” she exclaimed. I took a wild guess: “your little hive bees swarmed?” “Yes!” she said. “Want to go on a swarming adventure and catch them?” so about 10 min later when I had finished eating, I gathered my bee supplies and headed out to catch a late swarm of the season.

It was quite the adventure of the day! David and Simone (Margaret’s son and his partner) were there to watch and take pictures and Billy witnessed the excitement from the kitchen window with his binoculars. There they were, thousands of buzzing bees all clumped up together hanging from the branch of an apple tree. Margaret cut the branch the bees were on while I held it and gently lowered the whole cluster of bees and branch into the box and put on the lid. Hardly a buzz to be heard… it was a very smooth swarm catch!

We secured the box onto the top of the ladder to let all of the bees get in and later that night Margaret closed the box and moved them into a sheltered place under a russian olive tree waiting for us to install them into the hive the following day.

We carried the box over to the new hive location after the evening goat milking. With the false-back just after the 11th top bar toward the front, we removed 9 of the bars leaving on each end to serve as a sort of lip for the bees to get into the hive. “Vhooom!” They were in with a bustle of energy. As the bees crawled up to the top of the hive, we replaced the top bars and sat by the hive, waiting for a bit to make sure they seemed content and satisfied with their new home. Everyone was crowding on the landing board sticking their butts up in the air “fanning” to let the other bees- and the world- know where their new home is. We watched as they all slowly made their way into the hive until only a few bees remained on the landing board. What a late season adventure it was!! Ironically, this very group was the one Margaret and I caught in mid April from one of my hives that had been hers the previous year. Hopefully these girls will be happy in their new home and find lots of nectar to keep them through the winter safe and strong. What a great swarming season it was!! All in all, backyard hive and bee guardians around the area caught about 70 swarms  this season. Whew!!

~Photos courtesy of David Hollander~

OR      

I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about honeybees lately and it makes me wonder about when beekeepers use smoke and the effect it has on the entire hive. We top bar people have it really easy in the way that smoke isn’t at all necessary to use because only one or two combs are exposed at a time in the hive so we’re only aggravating about 1/8th of the bees in the hive at a time and as we file through to the next comb, the last one is closed with the previous one again. It’s a great system in so many ways and for me it’s easy to say “oh, smoke isn’t necessary!” “why stress them out more by causing a fake fire for them and wasting all of that energy they put forth to evacuate and gorge honey when it could be used for cleaning the hive, dealing with pests and collecting food?”"Smoke messes up all of the hive’s pheromone sent and ways for communication… it’s hard to get the smell of smoke out of things after being around a campfire and so on… imagine how much smoke residue would be in a hive if it’s been smoked every week for even just one year!”

While I do agree completely with all of the reasons and questions I ask for not using smoke, maybe I’m missing some crucial point about why Langstroth hive users and especially commercial beekeepers tend to use smoke. It could be that the Langstroth hive is designed for speed and to work the hive by quickly being able to take out frames and both because of this and that taking off the lid exposes so much of the hive. Even the organic beekeepers who use langstroth hives use smoke! I wonder what the theory is behind it because it seems so unnatural and rude to just smoke the bees out so blatantly. It could be too that the smoker is a bit of an emblem for the beekeeper and as Corwin has mentioned, maybe we need a new one. Perhaps the artistic hive tool or a grass brush… Any ideas??

The lemon balm swarm hive (transfer nuc) is doing really well and they’ve already built pearly white comb on several of the bars toward the front of the hive! I’m hoping that they’ll be ready for the Linden tree bloom coming up here. There is a beautiful linden tree about 100′ from this hive and every year the bees go wild with excitement over this mid summer treat.

Mmmhmmm….. I can’t wait to taste the lovely linden flower honey this year! Yummy!!