Growing bees

Tonight is a holiday here in Israel (Shavuot – Pentecost) and we are off work today. We had a busy morning and thought of the expressions the Marines use “We do more before breakfast than most people do all day.” We dropped the car off for the annual fitness  test (AKA excuse to fleece drivers), walked Kelly down the street for her rabies shot (rabies is a serious problem in Israel because the neighboring countries are not careful about the issue and animals cross the borders freely), picked up ice cream at the Feldman ice cream factory and bought some treats for Kelly.

We went on to Beit Gamliel and Zoe and I checked on hive #1. It was the one with the super on it and we wanted to make sure the bees found their way upstairs and started to draw comb. They did and we were very happy with what we saw. Several frames had 1/3 ready comb and the rest of the frame was being built up.

Zoe was not afraid at all. She handled the frame and was a great assistant. If we decide to add more hives in the spring, each of the girls will get their own hive to color and take care of. Zoe is so into the bee thing that when I ask her what the four most common problems of the honey bee are, she prattles off  “American Foul Brood, European Foul Brood, Varroa, and Nosema”. I think she is serious about being a vet.

Kelly watching as I fill the car up with gas

We drove over to Yashresh to check on hive # 2.  We needed to get gas and stopped in Rehovot to fill up. It is  a real pain taking off the veil on these suits so I just turned up the air conditioner and left the veil on. I know that in the many years I lived in Canada I never saw a man with a bee suit filling up his car with gas. The woman who too my cash didn’t blink when I approached her with the cash. She thought my English was more interesting and asked me about how to say hanacha (discount) in English. We drove off, me still dressed in white from head to toe. We stopped at a light and there was a young Ethiopian couple in the car next to us. They laughed politely and I rolled down my window and asked if tonight was the start of Purim.

I went across to the hive myself because Zoe and Maayan were more interested in playing with another dog who was trying to fend us off from the owner’s land. This hive was a concern to us because when Alison and I went to see it last Friday, it looked weak with very few bees. Doron thought it might be the weather, time of day or maybe they were sprayed. Our concerns were unfounded because there were lots of bees and they were drawing comb and it was looking good. I gave them 2 litres of sugar syrup and we were on our way. I don’t know if we will get any honey from this hive this summer but our first hive should produce at least enough for us for Rosh Hashanah.

Family outing to exclude queens

Epstein Family - Beekeepers

This afternoon we all drove out to visit our hive at Beit Gamliel. It is our forst hove and doing well. It needs another level so I prepared the frames and foundation last night and we installed it today. We decided to put a super on for honey which means that we are locking th equeen out of the penthouse suite. She can continue to lay eggs in the lower brood box and the worker bees can store honey in the upper super.

Adding another storey

I took the girls out to our 1st hive this evening, and I was surprised at how fast these guys are moving. I pulled the end frame, which is usually the last to be filled, and it was one quarter filled with capped honey and the rest of the frame was full of uncapped honey. I pulled other frames and found it packed with brood.

I was not expecting to need another super for at least a few weeks, so I was pleasantly surprised. Tomorrow I was planning on feeding the other colony but these guys need a super right away. I don’t know if it is the sugar water I give them every week or if it is the Israeli sun and the excellent location – these guys are flying.

The girls had a great time, it was Zoe’s first time out with her bee suit. They were not afraid and were great assistants. They will be ready for their own hoves next year.

Beekeeping in Israel

Quick stats for beekeeping in Israel

• 450 beekeers in Israel
• 3,600 tons of honey are consumed annually in Israel
• 73% of hives are kept by beekeeprs in apiaries of up to 150 hives
• 17% of hives are kept by beekeeprs in apiaries of up to 500 hives
• 10% of hives are kept by beekeeprs in apiaries of over 500 hives
• 20-30 kg is the average yield per hive for small-scale beekeepers
• 50-60 kg is the average yield per hive for large-scale beekeepers

More details available from the Israel Ministry of Agriculture.

Checking the 2nd hive

Alison smoking the hive

We sent the girls off to school this morning and headed out to Yashresh to check on the new hive I installed last night. We got the smoker going, gave the bees a healthy dose of smoke and opened the roof and crown board. We pulled frames and started inspecting the bees. As we gain confidence and knowledge of what to look for, we spend more time observing how the bees behave and what they are up to. I brought my camera and took some close ups of the bees.

We pulled a frame and started looking for the queen. Alison spotted her, moving to the edge of the frame, moving quickly to the other side. There is a method of pulling a frame, then turning it 90 degrees while holding it in the same hands, then twisting the frame to the other side, holding the corners from the bottom corners instead of the top.

Queen among workers

When we got to the second frame, Alison spotted the queen. Alison has this unbelievable ability to spot living things wherever she is. We can be barreling down a highway (in Canada) at 100 km/h and Alison will say “hey, look at the deer”.  Again today, she said “there she is” except since she was holding  the frame with both hands and was unable to point to her. Some people mark the queen with Whiteout or some sort of marker. We left her alone but will look into the various methods of marking queens. The people who do mark queens, use colors to represent the year. She moves quickly and must know her importance because when we look for her she always tries to skirt around to the back of the frame.

Bees build their hives from the middle frame outwards. You can encourage them to fill out frames by taking empty frames and moving them 2nd from the outside. We did this and then placed the feeder box on top. The feeder box is filled with sugar water and gives them something extra so that they will have the extra energy these days, when they have to build their comb.

We also pulled some of the new frames with clean foundation. We were amazed at how fast they started building up the comb on the new frames. You could see the cells being formed and they were only exposed to these new frames for about 12 hours. These guys work fast.

Alison inspecting a new frame

Our second hive

We received our second nuc this evening. Our empty hive has been sitting and waiting for a colony but the beekeeper who was going to sell us a nuc was too busy. We decided to use the bees from Doron, the first person who sold us bees. It is not that we weren’t happy with his nuc, we were,  but we wanted to try bees from another bee breeder to see if there were any differences. Also, I find that many beekeepers are very busy here and the more contact we have with more beekeepers, the more we learn. Each time I speak with a beekeeper I ask the questions that I have been thinking about between visits. Learning from text books is great but sometimes you need to ask the experienced beekeeper.

When I got home Maayan said right away ” I want to go with you to get the bees”. She has completely overcome her fear and is actually enjoying it now. So, Maayan and I brought our hive to the beekeeper and he inserted the five frames into our hive. We put our five empty frames (with foundation) into our hive and were ready to roll. I spent a few minutes talking with Doron about beekeeping and when we should plan our next hive. He was pessimistic about beekeeping in Israel. He explained that there is a five hive limit per person without being required to have a license. Since licenses are not available you can only buy them from people who want to sell them. Selling a license means that you can no longer have as many hives. The only chance is to try and find someone who is getting out of the business and buy their licenses. They go for around 1,000 shekel, which is about $250.00 per hive.

We drove the bees in our car (with a special screen over the opening) and Maayan wearing her bee suit, complete with veil.

When we got to the moshav near Rehovot we had to take the hive, which is pretty heavy, and the other gear across a field that is overgrown with weeds. At that point it was dark and I was barely able to find my way. Luckily, there was an old wreck of a car about halfway there that I was able to use as a resting place for the hive (and my back). We finally made made our way to the edge of the field and was able to put the hive down on the ground. Just before reaching the edge of the field I felt a sharp pain in my hand. I looked sown and realized that my hand was holding the hive with part of my palm resting against the screen. I was stung by an angry bee. As you know, bees usually lose their lives when they sting so she must have been pretty pissed off with me lugging their house across a bumpy field. I was able to continue, put the hive down and the do some polite cursing.

When we got to the place I decided to park the hive, I gave them a few puffs of smoke, unscrewed the special travel opening, and then we made our way back across the field. At one poin I felt something against my leg. It felt like Kelly, our dog, when she brushes up against me. The only problem is that I did not bring Kelly and I have no idea what went bump in the night.

Tomorrow, Alison and I will go and feed the bees in daylight.

Urban beekeeping at hotels & restaurants

Last month, my friend Martin sent me an article about Fortnum & Mason using honey they gather from their own bee hives. Then a few weeks later, he sent another article about the Fairmount Royal York Hotel in Toronto installing bee hives on their roof. Today he sent another link to Paris-based Pullman Hotels & Resorts and their bee related activities.

I found a few articles about the beehives on the 13th floor roof of Toronto’s Fairmount Royal York hotel. The Toronto Star writes:

The Fairmont Royal York hotel is abuzz with excitement.

It has to do with the opening of the new Honey Moon Suite. But don’t go looking for Italian linens or extra-deep bathtubs. This suite is a very small box with holes in its walls, and it’s also prone to regular visits by insects.

Bees, that is. The Honey Moon Suite – a cute name for one of three new beehives in the hotel’s rooftop garden – is now home to more than 10,000 buzzing bugs.

The hives were installed this week and will provide honey for the hotel’s restaurants starting this summer.

“I’d noticed how many insects fly into this garden

Maayan & I visit the hive

Maayan at the hive

After I took Maayan kicking and screaming (not really) to the hive, she really had a great time. We approached the hive, got the smoker going and started warning the bees that we had arrived. I find using the smoker easier now that I empty the contents every time I start and build a small fire in it before I add the leaves. I have a plastic bag with pine needles and eucalyptus leaves which I use for the fire/smoke. It has a nice smell and even when I get home I can smell the smoke on my hands and clothes and when it doesn’t remind me of Laphroig or Lagavulin single malt scotch (flashback to the Berman Scotch Club with Pinchas), it reminds me of the hive and honey.

The hive is doing great, lots of new brood and fair amount of honey. I did not go through the hive, frame by frame, but did manage to pull frames on either end, the second to last frames and a centre frame that came with the nuc and is very heavy.

New and old Langstroth frames

 It was a real chore getting it out. I first use a “J” hive tool and pull the edge of the frame up. Then I take the other hive tool and use it block the edge of the frame from slipping back into the hive. Then I take the hive tool and pry at the other end of the frame. With two side loosened and a few inches over the top of the other frames, I use my fingers to pull the frame straight up. Sometimes I wonder if I should invest in a frame grip, a small device that allows you to pull the frame up from the centre of the frame.

Fresh comb

I found the frame on the far side to be built up with comb. The base foundation that I saw a week ago is almost all covered by comb at this point. When I replaced the frame I actually put in  last slot, allowing the bees to start working on it before they get to the frame that already has a fair amount of comb. Take a look at the photo of the darkened frame. It weighs a lot more than the other frames because it came from the nuc and it is loaded with good stuff.

By this point Maayan joined me and quickly overcame her fear of bees. In a matter of minutes she started playing with one of the bees at the edge of a frame, using the hive tool I had given her to hold. I had visions of a squashed bee, sending out signals to her sister bees to attack us, so I suggested to Maayan that she be a little more gentle with the bee. I put the frames back in their hive, notices some small ants on the bottom board as well as some fine dark droppings. Is this the dreaded Varroa mites leaving their mark? Next time, when Alison comes with me, I will remove more frames and photograph the bottom of the hive.  I put the feeder back on and gave them another gallon of sugar water, placed the crown board on and said goodbye  to our noisy friends.

Chicken eggs in an incubator

We then headed over to Sue and Harry’s. Sue had emailed  me to tell me that two chicks had hatched and the girls could come see them. Maayan insisted on removing her bee suit, having already proved to anyone watching that she was a big girl and not afraid of bees. She is a little fashion expert and I think that now that she was not doing the bee thing on the farm, she should switch back to her elegant city clothes, suitable for visiting newborn chicks.

There were a whole lot of eggs sitting in plastic incubator. Sue explained that two had already hatched they were in a box with a hanging light bulb to keep them warm. They were adorable and Sue allowed Maayan (fearless at this point) to hold the chicks.

Maayan holding a chick on a moshav near Rehovot, Israel

The girls in their new bee suits

They love the idea of being junior beekeepers and rushed home from school to try their new suits on. Maayan, realizing that this white armor was meant to protect her from harm, quickly lost interest in visiting the bees. In fact, she complained that the wrist elastic was too tight and started to cry. We understood the theatrics, reasoned with her and told her that she did not have a choice, she was going to visit the bees but she did not have to stand very close. Zoe had a violin lesson so she wasn’t able to go. Maayan wimpered all the way to the car but when we arrived she was enthusiastic, came close and even started playing with a bee or two with the hive tool. I had to tell her to be a little more gentle. She lost all fear (not good) and is really looking forward to going back again.

Kids’ bee suits arrived

We ordered extra small bee suits for the girls so they will be able to
join in on the beekeeping. We received a notice from the post office
that the suits arrived yesterday. Alison will pick them up and hopefully
we will be able to let them have their first visit to the hive (up
close) this evening.

Stay tuned for pictures…

Effect of Propolis on Fat Accumulation/Lipid Metabolism?

Propolis in a Beehive

Propolis is a resinous mixture that honey bees collect from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources. It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the hive. Propolis is used for small gaps (approximately 6.35 millimeters (0.3 in) or less), while larger spaces are usually filled with beeswax. Its color varies depending on its botanical source, the most common being dark brown. Propolis is sticky at and above room temperature. At lower temperatures it becomes hard and very brittle.

For centuries, beekeepers assumed that bees sealed the beehive with propolis to protect the colony from the elements, such as rain and cold winter drafts. However, 20th century research has revealed that bees not only survive, but also thrive, with increased ventilation during the winter months throughout most temperate regions of the world.

Propolis is now believed to:

• Reinforce the structural stability of the hive
• Reduce vibration
• Make the hive more defensible by sealing alternate entrances
• Prevent diseases and parasites from entering the hive
• Prevent putrefaction within the hive. Bees usually carry waste out of and away from the hive. However if a small lizard or mouse, for example, found its way into the hive and died there, bees may be unable to carry it out through the hive entrance. In that case, they would attempt instead to seal the carcass in propolis, essentially mummifying it and making it odorless and harmless.

An interesting study has just been published in the Journal of Food Science on the beneficial effect of propolis on fat accummulation and lipid metabolism in rats.

You can read an abstract below and follow the link to the article.

The Beneficial Effect of Propolis on Fat Accumulation and Lipid Metabolism in Rats Fed a High-Fat Diet

Comments Requested

This photo is one of the new frames from our colony. The five frames from the nuc were added to our empty hive five days earlier.

Can someone tell me if the bottom cells are brood or uncapped honey? I know the top whiteish cells are capped honey. The bees seem to be drawing out the comb at an excellent pace. I wonder how soon I should be adding a super and if I need to add it for the brood or honey and if I should use a queen excluder.

Any advice would be appreciated!

A new frame after five days

New bee report – Beekeeping in Israel

Stevy with a Smoker

Today is Friday, Israel’s Sunday and a perfect day to visit our new hive. We dropped the kids off at school and drove over to the moshav near Rehovot to check on our first hive. We installed the hive this past Sunday and gave them almost a gallon of sugar/water syrup. The bee breeder told us to return in two weeks and give them another gallon. We took two litres of sugar syrup just in case the bees needed a top-off. This was just a quick trip because Alison has some work to do today so she did not suit up but took some great pictures with my camera.

Bees send out signals in two ways – dance and scent. The dance, is a way of telling fellow bees where the good nectar is and where it can be found. Some people use their hands when they talk, bees do a dance. The other way of communicating, the scent, is the one beekeepers have to be careful of if they don’t want to get stung.

Adding Fuel to a Bee Smoker

If the guard bees at the entrance to the hive think that the hive is being threatened, they release pheromones that alert the other bees to go into protect mode. Even if you are wearing a bee suit, you can be stung if the bees are determined enough. Besides, you don’t want to piss off these little guys, you are there to help them make their honey. Just remember the saying ” If a bee comes to your house, give her beer, you might visit her house one day.”

The way beekeepers disarm the guard bees is to send some smoke into the hive. The smoke does two things, it masks the pheromones that are released by the guard bees and also sends a signal to the bees that their tree that houses their hive might be on fire. The bees react by slurping up some honey into their honey tummies in case there really is a fire and they have to escape to a new hive with their precious honey. Their system is one of survival and they know that they need the honey for tomorrow. Alison and I have asked each other on occasion what we would take if we had to quickly leave our apartment. It wouldn’t be food. The bee smoker is one of the most important tools that a beekeeper uses and we are still getting used to making it work for us. The key is to use the right fuel and adding enough to last your entire session with the bees. You don’t want to turn to the smoker and find that the fire went out because you put too much wood in it. We, being bee newbies, bought a package of smoker pellets.

Stevy with a Bee Smoker and Hive Tools

They are not viable for a commercial operation but for hobby farmers like us, they seemed perfect They look like they are extruded from the same type of machine that makes rabbit food and perhaps rabbit food would have been a more effective fuel for our smoker than the pellets. We gave up earlier in the week with the pellets and switched to eucalyptus leaves, twigs and paper. I have heard of some beekeepers who make a little package of fuel for the smoker and insert it, wrapped in a sheet of newspaper, into a cardboard toilet paper tube. It makes one simple solution to looking for the right leaves and twigs.

I got the smoker really smoking this morning and gave the entrance a healthy dose of smoke. You are supposed to wait at least 30 seconds to get those little bees diving into to their stores of honey. Once they do, they are like couch potatoes sitting and drinking beer, eating pizza and watching TV.

When they are full of honey they are not likely to sting anyone unless you REALLY piss them off. Stepping on members of the family will do that so the key is being gentle and watching where you step.

Next, I took off the roof and checked the crown board underneath. The crown board is like a ceiling to the hive. Bees will glue anything thay can with wax and propolis. If you don’t use a crown board (andmany beekeepers don’t) you stand the chance of having to pry off the roof with your hive tool (2nd most important tool). The crown board also acts as a layer below the roof and provides insulation, both in the summer and the winter. The crown board sits either on the hive or on top of a feeder if you have one installed. We do have a feeder for this new colony and it was totally empty. The bees had polished off a gallon of sugar syrup. I took off the feeder (they reach it via a slot in the feeder) and finally saw the 10 frames.

A Frame with New Foundation

I was able to tell which frames were part of the nucleus not only from the fact that the wood had gone brown, but from the bulging sides of the original frames. They were packed with comb, indicating that there may not have been the correct spacing in the nuc when the bees built the comb. I started by pulling the frame closest to me and saw that they had already started building the comb.

The next frame I pulled had fresh comb filled with drops of glistening honey. The bees take the nectar from the field with their mouths and store it in their honey sacs in their bodies. Their saliva contains enzymes that help change the nectar into honey. The honey is still full of water (80%) and needs to be reduced to about 14-18%. The bees do that by flapping their little wings. Their “air conditioning” also keeps the hive cool in the summer.

A Frame with lots of Bees

We were very happy with the progress, the bees seemed to have a good temperament and they were drawing out the comb at a good pace. Alison and I decided t o return in a week with a super and a queen excluder. This will allow the bees to build a 2nd story without having the queen lay eggs in the area we ant reserved for honey.

Inspecting a Frame

For those that have never experienced it, opening a full bee hive is a real thrill, especially when you hear the loud sound of thousands of bees buzzing around. Although I felt very safe, having followed all the instructions, smoked the bees and wore a complete bee suit, I was not comfortable when a bee landed in front of my eye. I was unsure if the bee was on the outside of the veil or on the inside. I assumed it was on the outside and if it was on the inside, this was not a great time to stop and figure it out. I put the frames back in, poured another two litres of sugar syrup into the feeder and said goodbye to our first colony.

An Open Bee Hive

We Got Bees

We drove up with our empty hive to the queen-maker on a nearby moshav. He had a nucleus of bees that we had ordered and would transfer five frames containing the queen, brood and bees into our hive. We were all prepared with our newly painted hive, clean white bee suits and smoker ready to fire up. He saw the girls and informed us that he could not in good conscience sell us the bees because even though we had sealed the hive, the hive could pop open if we were involved in an accident. I was happy that our bee breeder would pass up a sale for the good of our kids.

We quickly arranged for a babysitter and returned, fully dressed in our bee suits.

A normal hive in Israel consists of 10 frames in a box. The hive system is designed to be a box without a floor and without a roof/lid. The hive sits on a wooden floor with a small opening that allows the bees to come and go as they please. When the colony starts to grow, the roof is removed and another bottomless, roofless hive is put on top, also containing 10 frames. The roof is then put on top of the 2nd story.

The frames inside the hive are designed to fill the inside of the hive, leaving the bees the exact amount of space they need to make their comb. To help them start their task, each frame has a sheet of beeswax stuck to wires that are strung across the frame. The wax is has a very delicate impression of a cell pattern. The bees recognize this pattern and use this “foundation” to start their own comb.

Alison with a Smoker

When the bees have increased their brood and you are ready to add another layer, you can insert a queen excluder board containing a wire mesh or screen that has openings that are large enough to allow the worker bees to travel back and forth between the two sections but prevents the queen, who is larger, from laying eggs in the upper section. This allows you to have a section that can be accessed by the regular worker bees who will create comb and use it to store their honey but will be off limits to the queen and her eggs.

Living in Rehovot means living close to nature. I walk to work every morning passing through some city streets till I reach the edge of the city. From there I walk through a field where the site of horses, camels andherds of sheep are not uncommon. We had to find a place to put our new hives so a few weeks ago I started contacting people I know who live on moshavim in the area. Two years ago I did an internship at Comverse in Tel Aviv and worked with Sue, who lives on Beit Gamliel, a moshav about 5-7 kilometres away from Rehovot. She and her husband Harry have been planting lots of exotic fruits as well as the standard Israeli crops of pomegranate, grapes and vegetables.

Harry & Sue

Their son is also starting to grow bees and they were kind enough to let us place a hive in their fields. More about beekeeping in Israel later….

That’s not what a hive looks like

Early forms of honey collecting entailed the destruction of the entire colony when the honey was harvested. The wild hive was crudely broken into, using smoke to suppress the bees, the honeycombs were torn out and smashed up — along with the eggs, larvae and honey they contained. The liquid honey from the destroyed brood nest was crudely strained through a sieve or basket. This was destructive and unhygienic, but for hunter-gatherer societies this did not matter, since the honey was generally consumed immediately and there were always more wild colonies to exploit. However, in settled societies, the destruction of the bee colony meant the loss of a valuable resource; this drawback persisted until the 19th Century, which made beekeeping both inefficient and something of a “stop and start” activity. There could be no continuity of production and no possibility of selective breeding, since each bee colony was destroyed at harvest time, along with its precious queen. During the medieval period abbeys and monasteries were centers of beekeeping, since beeswax was highly prized for candles and fermented honey was used to make alcoholic mead in areas of Europe where vines would not grow.

Lorenzo Langstroth (1810-1895)

The 19th Century saw a revolution in beekeeping practice through the invention and perfection of the movable comb hive by Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth, a descendant of Yorkshire farmers who emigrated to the United States. Langstroth was the first person to make practical use of Huber’s earlier discovery that there was a specific spatial measurement between the wax combs, later called “the bee space”, which bees would not block with wax, but kept as a free passage. Having determined this “bee space” (between 5 and 8 mm, or 1/4 to 3/8″), Langstroth then designed a series of wooden frames within a rectangular hive box, carefully maintaining the correct space between successive frames, and found that the bees would build parallel honeycombs in the box without bonding them to each other or to the hive walls. This enables the beekeeper to slide any frame out of the hive for inspection, without harming the bees or the comb, protecting the eggs, larvae and pupae contained within the cells. It also meant that combs containing honey could be gently removed and the honey extracted without destroying the comb. The emptied honey combs could then be returned to the bees intact for refilling. Langstroth’s classic book, The Hive and Honey-bee, published in 1853, described his rediscovery of the bee space and the development of his patent movable comb hive.

The invention of the movable-comb-hive fostered the growth of commercial honey production on a large scale in both Europe and the USA.

From Wikipedia