Category: Uncategorized

 

Whew! Whirlwind summer!

First off, I must apologize for missing the summer edition of this newsletter and being late in getting this one out. The good news is that it was due to a very busy and productive summer. We were able to accomplish our goals for this year, and I am excited to see where our program is headed. Of course, the work continues, but I will try to make up for the missed edition here.

I was able to hire a summer technician, which helped tremendously. Many of you met Byrnes Britton at the summer conference. Byrnes expressed to me how friendly and fun all of you are and that he really enjoyed the job. Byrnes has returned to studying business at The Citadel. While he does not have a background or experience with beekeeping or agriculture, he told me that because of his experience in this position, he is interested in focusing on ag business. Thanks for being a positive influence in his professional development.

Speaking of the summer conference, it was so good to see all of you that attended! I had the pleasure of helping coordinate speakers for the conference, which turned out to be a real challenge. Larry Connor, well known beekeeping author, was scheduled to be one of our keynotes, but early in the summer suffered from a health issue that prevented him from travelling this summer. I want to personally thank Dr. Lewis Bartlett of the University of Georgia for stepping-in on short notice. I have since learned that Larry Connor has recovered from surgery and plans to be in SC this fall. Also, a huge Thank You to all of the vendors, volunteers, sponsors, and speakers that contributed. This year’s conference brought two new training options including a youth program and a half-day intro to beekeeping workshop. It was my pleasure to work with Danny Cannon to offer a working bee yard again with lots of demonstrations. Special thanks go to Doug Vinson (NCSBA president) and Robert Smith (NCSBA Master Beekeeping Program co-chair) for joining us at the conference and helping us in the bee yard. While it is a lot of work to set up the yard and schedule the demos, it is something I thoroughly enjoy and look forward to offering again next year. Also, we had the opportunity to engage about fifteen young folks along with their parents at the first ever youth program. I had a great time helping with that as well.

I am super excited about the pollinator plots at the Pee Dee Research Station. Timely rains have made for exceptional growing conditions, and the plots look FANTASTIC! We are collecting data now on percent germination, cover, and insect diversity. Also, we are testing a few annual crops for summer forage, including buckwheat, phacelia, yellow sweetclover, hyssops, and zinnias. I had the pleasure of showing nearly 200 farmers and landowners the new plots and discussing the benefits of providing pollinator habitat at the Fall field day on September 1^st.

The next phase of work has begun on the Master Beekeeping Program to continue updating the training materials. We plan to update the certified training study guide to have it match the new curriculum and be more user friendly. The plan is to make this more of a workbook that coincides with the new presentations and includes a glossary of terms commonly used by beekeepers. We also are working on the journeyman level materials. We would like to standardize the journeyman curriculum and presentations to make sure that all aspiring journeymen are receiving the same level of training. This is a delicate balance between increasing the intensity of training without overwhelming the students. Becoming a journeyman requires a very thorough coverage of all apicultural topics, but the amount and detail of material covered is a very serious step up from the certified level trainings. This really requires a training format that allows the student more time to complete the reading assignments and conduct independent study in preparation for the exam, so we are considering developing a modular training which allows the student to review the material on their schedule and ensures that all participants receive the same degree of instruction.

Let me address some questions I received regarding the Basics of Beekeeping Hybrid Course that was scheduled for back in May. I had to postpone the course due to a family health issue that pulled my wife away for several weeks, preventing me from conducting the field days as planned. I rescheduled it for September which turned-out to be an excellent shift. The hybrid course provides a virtual learning opportunity for the underserved parts of the state and to respond to the numerous requests our extension offices receive for introductory beekeeper training.  This training program is not intended to replace the beginner trainings that local clubs offer. We continue to send inquiries to the local clubs that offer training, especially if they use the training materials developed for the Master Beekeeping Program. I feel much more comfortable doing this now that the certified level training presentations were updated earlier this year. I know that these beginner trainings are important for generating membership to the local associations, so I have intentionally limited the scope of this hybrid training program. Rather than replicate the training model of our neighboring states which provide pre-recorded and on-demand trainings, I offer the training once per year, deliver the lectures live, and limit registration to 40 participants statewide. Also, I firmly believe that successful beekeeping requires mentorship and a lifelong pursuit of knowledge. Both of which are well served by local associations, the SC Beekeepers Association, and the SC Master Beekeeping Program. Throughout the training I emphasize the importance of joining local clubs and the State Association for ongoing support and growth. While I admitted 40 students into the course, I received over 100 requests. Those additional requests were directed to their local associations, and the admitted registrants were encouraged to join their local association and to become certified. All ships rise with the tide, and it is the mission of the Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program to develop dynamic training options that raise the “watermark” of beekeeping statewide. This means providing instruction at all levels. The hybrid course is the best way to offer entry level instruction that supports local associations. We plan to make the Basics of Beekeeping Hybrid Course an annual program to be offered in September.

Add to these projects a flood of calls, emails, and apiary visits, and this has been an extremely productive and busy year. Thanks to all of you for your support of our efforts to build a solid apiculture education program at Clemson University. Delivering a statewide apiculture program requires cooperation with many stakeholders, and teamwork is essential if we are to advance our trade within and beyond South Carolina. Thanks to all of you that have given of your time and talents this summer to make all of this happen. Let’s continue to help beekeepers help bees.

Kindest regards,
Ben Powell
Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program Coordinator

 

 

 

 

           Corpus Politicum, The Body Politic

Ancient Greek philosophers often debated what form of governance would lead to prosperity for all members of society, their question… “How should civilization be structured to ensure that a community should prosper?” Another way of asking this question is “What assurances are there to prevent one member of a community from disaffecting another?” They often discussed cities and communities as if each is a living organism, the Body Politic, a collective of individuals with different roles that through their personal actions either support the body in its endeavor to grow and prosper or, conversely, infest it as an ailment that causes sickness and decline. The head equated to the administrative state and the hands and feet to the working classes, and the debaters understood that there must be balance among the different parts of the body. Strong mind but weak arms and legs, and the body is stifled. Strong body and weak mind, and the body is unruly, and its members compete for dominance. The metaphor continues to this day.

As beekeepers, we should be quite familiar with this concept. After all, the creature that we adore, the honey bee, displays a level of coordination and collective reasoning that exemplifies the Body Politic. Of course, we use the term “superorganism,” but the philosophical concept is similar. The queen puts forth signals through her pheromones and production of brood that drive the colony to collect resources and grow, and the workforce regulates the queen’s behavior as they assess the economy of the environment and the condition of the nest. This system of inherent communication among the members of the body maintains balance, and balance leads to prosperity.

Unfortunately, no community is without its malevolent constituents. Prosperity attracts those that would feed off it, selfishly focused on their own interests while contributing nothing to the growth of the community. In the case of the honey bee, the most malicious parasite is the Varroa mite. It takes advantage of the most prosperous honey bee colonies, the ones that have been most successful at finding resources and growing the workforce. As it infiltrates these colonies it sows deceit and maliciousness, aka viruses. These viruses corrupt the normal and healthy pathways of communication in the colony, which leads to decline of the colony’s “body politic.”

This is where many of us find our bees in the fall of the year, especially if we have done little to prevent Varroa mites from infesting our colonies. Over the last few weeks, I have fielded numerous emails and Facebook posts about “abandoned hives” and inexplicably queenless colonies. Almost all of these inquiries claimed the colonies to be very strong just weeks prior to the losses. Many callers made unproven claims that pesticides were at fault, but in most cases, the losses were attributed to Varroa mites and the rampant spread of viruses through the colony.

The question then is, what can be done now? If you haven’t taken steps to control Varroa mites, is it too late? I would say the answer is “better late than never,” but there may be colonies that have developed virus loads that are so high that they may not recover in time for winter. A recent study of Deformed Wing Virus transmission (Locke et al. 2017, see ) demonstrated that simply treating to reduce Varroa in heavily infected colonies does not remove the virus because other modes of transmission exist. Even after Varroa mites were removed, the virus persisted at high levels. Also, current DWV research has shown that the new DWV-B variant is more virulent and deadly and has largely replaced the original DWV-A variant (Paxton et al. 2022, see “Science Review” below). This shows why it is so critical to keep Varroa mite levels low throughout the year, not just in the lead up to winter.

That being said, now is a very critical period of time for your colonies for a variety of reasons. We have already mentioned Varroa mites and the viruses they exacerbate, but I must emphasize how important it is to have colonies producing healthy winter bees right now. Keeping mite percentages below 2% is essential for that to happen. Just as important as mite control, the beekeeper should take initiative to make sure the bees are well fed and ready for winter. This is a time of natural constriction both in the availability of food and the growth of the colony.

The fall nectar flow, which consists mainly of goldenrods, asters, and a few other perennial flowers and annual crops, is underway, but it produces less honey than the spring. Depending on your location, the bees may or may not add any honey stores to supply their winter needs, so the beekeeper may need to feed. After Hurricane Ian passed through, we abruptly entered fall with very cool nights in the low 50s F and moderate daytime temperatures in the 70s F. While the bees may be bringing in fall nectar, they probably are consuming it quickly to generate heat for the still large brood areas. The demonstration colonies at the Pee Dee Research Station are maintaining weight, but not adding any new honey stores. Even though goldenrods and some crops are still blooming, colonies are consuming the food as fast as it comes in.

In most of South Carolina, our first frosts do not begin until the first or second week of November. This gives the bees about one more brood cycle before nectar sources will abruptly end, so a 1:1 syrup is sufficient through October. After frost, feed should be switched to either 2:1 syrup or candy/dried sugar feeds which do not require drying and stimulate brood production less. It is not recommended to add pollen at this point because brood production will decline sharply in the next few weeks, and unused pollen will attract undesirable pests such as small hive beetles.

As incoming food declines in the fall, bees are quick to rob when given the opportunity. Beekeepers should be careful when conducting inspections and refrain from keeping colonies open for long periods. The smell of drying nectar coming from open colonies will attract potential robbers. Weaker colonies need to be combined to help them fend off robbers and pests. Also, it is important to begin restricting entrances and closing screened bottom boards. This will help not only with reducing robbing and pressure from other pests such as yellow jackets and mice but also make it easier to maintain more constant temperature in the brood area. These are standard winterizing practices that you can do to reduce stress on colonies.

Another important activity is to reduce unused space in the colonies. If you have supers on but the bees are not actually adding honey to them, then it is best to remove them and store them for winter. This reduces the amount of comb the bees have to defend from pests and heat loss to empty space above the brood area. If your supers have a frame or two of honey, then you might consider placing the supers away from the bees for them to clean-out the honey and transport it back into their overwintering configuration.

Remember, the condition of bee colonies going into winter will largely determine their condition coming out of it. The good news is that our winters are relatively mild, and well fed and defended colonies with low Varroa mite counts typically do quite well the following spring.

 

 

“To faction an end, to wealth increase”

Many years ago I participated in voice competitions. No, this was not like American Idol or The Voice. These were recitals of classical works intended to demonstrate range and technical proficiency of the singer. My voice instructor, Dr. Bill Hobbins, helped me select songs and prepare for the recitals. One song Dr. Hobbins suggested was an old English drinking song from the 1700s, not exactly what most would categorize as a classical work, but “Down Among the Dead Men” is both challenging and fun and did a great job of capturing the judges’ attentions. The song opens jubilantly with the lofty proclamation, “Here’s a health to the king and a lasting peace, to faction an end, to wealth increase.” Apparently, the merrymakers gathered in those English pubs recognized that fracturing of a community into “factions” and focusing on the minute differences among groups over the overwhelming commonalities of the community will lead to the destruction of the community. Here I go again, harkening back to the Body Politic.

The beekeeping community is no different, and it seems that this group of people who share a strong common interest continuously focus on each other’s differences. I suppose that is going to happen anywhere there is passion for one’s trade, but the problem is that new beekeepers find this confusing and the conflicts off-putting. Many beekeepers turn away and avoid beekeeper organizations all together, turning to resources like “YouTube” and other sources of information online. Some beekeepers do try to get involved, and they ask me questions like: “What organizations should I join?”, “Where do I get the best information?”, “Who should I believe?”, “Whose side should I be on?”, and “Who is right?” It seems like I get just as many questions about other beekeepers as I do about the bees themselves, so I thought I might take a moment to discuss some of the various beekeeper organizations.

First off, let’s start locally. You may have heard the adage that “all beekeeping is local.” Well, whoever coined the term is spot-on. The performance of colonies is directly determined by the surrounding landscape, climate, and biological stressors such as predators, pests and diseases, and beekeepers are affected by local markets, laws, and activities of other beekeepers in their community. No matter where you keep your bees, their health and your profitability will be affected by local conditions, so it makes perfect sense for local beekeepers to gather and communicate with each other regularly. I argue that every beekeeper should participate in their local beekeeper organization(s), even if you do not agree with its leadership and have personality conflicts with other members. There is no better place to learn and share information that directly affects your colonies and operation. Also, local associations are uniquely important for new beekeeper onboarding and mentoring, which is important for preventing pests and diseases across the region and maintaining consumer confidence in beekeepers and their services. One other important role local associations serve is to be an advocate for beekeepers. When counties or municipalities consider laws, ordinances, regulations, development and public health activities that can affect beekeepers, the Association can be a voice to help officials make informed decisions. In South Carolina there are at least two dozen local beekeeper associations that are actively meeting and involved in their communities, so most of you have a group within a short drive of your location. https://scstatebeekeepers.com/about/local-associations/

State and regional associations also influence beekeeping at the local level. Most states have a state beekeepers association, and South Carolina is no different. The South Carolina Beekeepers Association (SCBA) is a non-profit organization consisting entirely of volunteers who provide educational resources to beekeepers across the state, support local beekeeper associations, and advocate on behalf of beekeepers at the state level. To accomplish its mission, the SCBA offers two annual conferences which include trainings and invited speakers that address timely topics in apiculture. The SCBA also manages the state’s Master Beekeeping Program, a training and certification program for ambitious beekeepers. The Association offers financial support through grants for clubs that offer youth programs and for beekeepers who conduct research. There are many services that the State Association can offer that most local clubs cannot. I would argue that the most important aspect of participating in your state Association is to fellowship with a large audience of people with common interests and goals as you, and the flow of information that happens at SCBA events is certainly worth the investment of time and money. https://scstatebeekeepers.com/about/local-associations/ Our neighboring states conduct similar activities through their state associations, and many SC beekeepers also attend meetings and trainings in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, and beyond. For beekeepers seeking a broader scope, there also are three regional beekeeper societies in the U.S.: the Western Apicultural Society, the Heartland Apicultural Society, and the Eastern Apicultural Society. Each covers a section of the country with delegates and members from various states. South Carolina is covered by the Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS), which operates much like the SCBA but with a broader geographic scope. The EAS offers an annual conference which moves each year to various locations across the eastern US, and the Society manages its own master beekeeper program and grant program. https://easternapiculture.org

Then there are the national organizations, which differ largely in their target audience and advocacy platform. The national association that most suits you is mostly determined by your reason for keeping bees and the goals for your operation. Let’s discuss your options.

The American Beekeeping Federation (ABF) is the largest organization with the broadest scope in North America. Beekeepers of all scales and intents join the ABF which provides an annual professional development conference and legislative advocacy programs at the federal level. The ABF conference offers presentations and workshops by industry experts that cover current research, best practices, legislative updates and keynote presentations. The conference has the largest tradeshow in North America, a massive honey show, silent auction, and youth programs. One tradition that sets ABF apart is the coronation of the annual “Honey Queen,” which is a rising female beekeeper who is elected to be the official spokesperson for beekeepers and the beekeeping industry in North America. https://www.abfnet.org/page/about

The American Honey Producers Association (AHPA) is another large organization, but it’s focus is directed more at advocating for commercial honey producers and processors. The AHPA offers an annual conference which features presentations on honey bee health, honey markets, business economics, legislative and regulatory updates, and the trade show features equipment for honey producers of all scales. The AHPA is much more involved in policy and legislative matters and has been the primary driver for investigating honey fraud and interference in international honey markets. For instance, the AHPA was integral in the recent honey dumping investigation by certain other countries that is suppressing honey prices in the US. https://www.ahpanet.com/about-ahpa

The National Honey Board (NHB) is a collaborative effort between large scale honey packagers and importers and the US government to improve honey markets nationwide. The Board was a result of the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 and was established under the rules and regulations of the Honey Packers and Importers Research, Promotion, Consumer Education and Industry Information Order, effective May 2008. The Board consist of representatives from honey processors with oversight from the Agricultural Marketing Service of the US Department of Agriculture. The purpose of the Board is to promote honey usage in the US through advertising, promotion, consumer education, development and marketing research for honey and honey products. The Board self-assesses the first handlers (packers and importers) 1.5 cents per pound to be used for research and promotion projects designed to maintain and expand the market for honey and honey products in the United States and abroad. This revenue also is used to support honey bee research. One of the most useful things the Board does for all beekeepers is to provide recipes and information about honey and its various uses to help beekeepers market their products. https://honey.com

The American Association of Professional Apiculturists (AAPA) is primarily made of researchers and extension specialists from the Nation’s universities and federal agencies. Members must have a research and education component to their job descriptions, so this group is not open to practicing beekeepers. The AAPA members typically publish in peer reviewed journals. The AAPA hosts the American Bee Research Conference (ABRC) which meets jointly with the American Beekeeping Federation at their annual conference in January, which means that most of the academic researchers working with honey bees in North America also attend the American Bee Federation conference and present on the most recent results of their research and extension projects. https://aapa.cyberbee.net

North America has been a leader in the beekeeping trade and honey bee research since the Langstroth hive system was developed nearly 200 years ago, but we by no means are the center of beekeeping in the world. Beekeepers from every continent are contributing to the wealth of knowledge we have of this remarkable insect. As an attempt to pool that knowledge and help beekeepers solve the most critical problems the industry faces there are two international organizations that have formed.

The International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations, also known as Apimondia (https://www.apimondia.org/about.html), represents the beekeeping community at the international level. They operate much like the American Bee Federation does but on a global scale, offering a biannual conference that moves among the continents to expose participants to the cultural and practical influences on apiculture in all parts of the world. The trade show is the largest of its kind, represented by products from all over the world, and the conference consists of the brightest minds and researchers in all aspects of apiculture and honey markets. If any of you are looking for a good excuse to visit Chile, you might think about attending Apimondia in Santiago next year.

There also is an organization known as COLOSS (https://coloss.org), that operates at an international level much like the American Association of Professional Apiculturists does here. The organization gets its name because it is focused largely on the “prevention of COlony LOSSes.” Like the AAPA, its members are researchers and extension educators from universities and research labs across the world, comprised of more than 1,600 members representing 106 countries. The most important role COLOSS plays is to establish accepted scientific methods for conducting various aspects of apiculture and honey research, so that results are vetted and more widely accepted among the scientific and beekeeping community. These methods are published in the COLOSS Beebook: Standard Methods for Apis Mellifera Research.

In summary, your level of involvement in beekeeper organizations is likely determined by the intensity of your operation. If bees are a source of income for you, then you probably need to be involved at the national or international level. All beekeepers, no matter how invested they are in the trade, should participate at the state and local level, even if it’s just to learn from others and share your knowledge. While commercial and sideliner beekeepers manage the vast majority of colonies, it is the hobbyists that are widely distributed across the state and have the greatest impact on their neighboring beekeepers. If you are not involved with your state and local associations, you probably are missing out on critical information that affects your operation, and you are missing the opportunity to be a positive influence on your fellow beekeepers and community as a whole.

 

 

In the Balm of Your Hand

They go by many common names, including horsemint and bergamot, but the common name I like the most for the plants in the genus Monarda is “Bee Balm.” Just as the name suggests, this group of plants is highly attractive to all types of bees and other pollinators and is a fantastic addition to any pollinator garden, providing an attractive flower display and nectar through the hot summer months.

Monarda is a genus of plants endemic to North America. As members of the family Lamiaceae, also known as the mint family, these plants share many common traits with other more familiar mints, including stems that are square in cross section, leaves that are arranged opposite of each other, and flowers clustered at the tips of the branches. Species in the tribe Mentheae, which is the largest tribe of mints, have distinctively aromatic odors which make them favorites for use in cooking, scented candles, potpourri, and even for medicinal purposes. The bee balms also belong to the Mentheae and have been used in teas to ease sore throats and digestive issues along with other ailments.

There are about two dozen species of bee balms across North America, most of which occur in the south-central part of the continent. Texas is actually home to the greatest diversity, but there are five species common to the eastern US and the Carolinas. The most common and widespread is the lavender-colored Monarda fistulosa, also known as “wild bergamot.” The two northern species are aptly named for the colors of their flowers, scarlet bee balm, M. didyma, and purple bergamot, M. media. The fourth species is lemon bee balm, M. citriodora, named for its distinctly citrus odor. The fifth species is spotted bee balm, M. punctata. While spotted bee balm is probably the best adapted for South Carolina’s hot summers, it is not planted as commonly as the other species because its flowers are not as vibrantly colored. I would argue that it is more interesting than the other species because of its unique texture and that the leaves around the flower clusters are colored lavender.

Another advantage of the spotted bee balm is that it is the only eastern species that is attractive to western honey bees. While all of the bee balms are exceptional nectar producers that are visited by numerous species of bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, and hummingbirds, the flowers of most bee balms are too long and narrow for honey bees to access the nectaries. The spotted bee balm has shorter and wider flowers that honey bees can access. The pollinator test plots at the Pee Dee Research Station include spotted bee balm, and I have observed honey bees using them through the late summer and fall. They started blooming in mid summer and continue to be productive even as this newsletter is published. I have been very impressed with how long they have bloomed, their tolerance for the hot, sandy site, and the diversity of pollinators that they have attracted.

The spotted bee balm is still blooming at the Pee Dee station, but bee balms in general are mid-summer bloomers. You might ask why I would discuss them in the fall if they bloom in the summer. Well, I’m glad you asked. Bee balms are perennial plants, and perennials are best planted in the fall of the year. You can plant them now either by seed or by seedlings. If you plant by seed, be patient. They will not germinate until next spring. If you are considering adding bee balms to your yard, or better yet, to field borders and firebreaks at the farm, then now is the time to get them in the ground. Find a sunny location, eliminate competing vegetation, and keep the soil moist after planting, and you will get to enjoy bee balms next summer.

 

 

 

Evidence is mounting that honey bee viruses, especially deformed wing virus, are critical factors in colony decline and losses. A thorough study of deformed wing virus and its new variant, DWV-B, has shown that the old variant (DWV-A) has largely been replaced by the new variant. This is concerning because the new variant appears to be more virulent and deadly.

Paxton, R J, M Schäfer, F Nazzi, V Zanni, D Annoscia, F Marroni, D Bigot, E R Laws-Quinn, D Panziera, C Jenkins, H Shafiey. 2022. Epidemiology of a major honey bee pathogen, deformed wing virus: potential worldwide replacement of genotype A by genotype B.” International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 18: 157-171.

Deformed Wing Virus, variant B, appears to be able to replicate in Varroa desctructor, something variant A could not, which may be a primary reason for why it is more virulent and pathogenic in honey bee colonies. Promiscuous feeding by Varroa mites infected with DWV-B may explain the significant spike in prevalence of DWV-B in honey bee colonies world wide.

Gisder S, Genersch E. 2021. Direct evidence for infection of Varroa destructor mites with the bee-pathogenic deformed wing virus variant b, but not variant a, via fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. J Virol  95:e01786-20. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01786-20

Varroa Sensitive Hygiene traits have been selected for with a variety of honey bee breeding programs. The trait involves a behavior where workers sense and remove infected brood. The cannibalization of brood infected with Deformed wing virus can serve as an alternate mode of virus transmission even after Varroa mites have been removed from a colony.

Posada-Florez, F., Z S Lamas, D J Hawthorne, Y Chen, J D Evans, E V Ryabov (2021). Pupal cannibalism by worker honey bees contributes to the spread of deformed wing virus. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 1-12.

A recent study of Deformed Wing Virus transmission demonstrated that simply treating to reduce Varroa in heavily infected colonies does not remove the virus because other modes of transmission exist. Even after Varroa mites were removed, the virus persisted at high levels. This shows why it is so critical to keep Varroa mite levels low throughout the year, not just in the lead up to winter.

Locke, B., et al. “Persistence of subclinical deformed wing virus infections in honeybees following Varroa mite removal and a bee population turnover.” PloS one 12.7 (2017): e0180910.

 

Research on small hive beetles is ongoing, so efficient methods for raising significant numbers of healthy, disease-free beetles outside of bee hives are needed. The USDA Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology developed a simple and inexpensive system for raising small hive beetles outside of the hive, which raises the question, “Do small hive beetles have to have bee hives to reproduce?”

Charles J. Stuhl (2022) A novel method in small hive beetle rearing, Journal of Apicultural Research,DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2022.2130596

 

 

Check the SC Master Beekeeper Program website for a certified course near you. Many courses occur during the winter season. https://scstatebeekeepers.com/master-beekeeper-program/

Feb 24^–25, 2023          Spring meeting of the SC Beekeepers Association. This year’s spring meeting will be expanded to two days. The theme will focus on honey production, marketing and health benefits.  https://scstatebeekeepers.com.

We are working on advanced trainings for next spring.  Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

 

2022 is off to a raging start, and so are we!

Here it is nearly the end of March, and I am just now finding time to write this edition of CAPPings. I guess being busy is a good thing, because it means that we are working our way past the COVID-19 restrictions and that we are largely back to “business as usual,” or at least something close to it. It is hard to believe that it was this month two years ago that the first COVID restrictions went into effect and that many places in our great nation are still bound by those rules surrounding this horrible virus. Last week was the Sportsmans’ Expo in my home town of Conway, and it was the first community gathering in two years where nobody was wearing a mask. It appears that most folks are moving on.

Along that theme, the SC Beekeepers Association held its annual spring meeting in Spartanburg, and it was so encouraging to see so many of you there in person and enjoying each other’s company. Including vendors, there were nearly 300 people there, which is a great turnout for a Spring meeting. I was honored to help line up speakers for the event, and our speakers did not disappoint. I received many compliments about the theme of the event and the content provided by the speakers, so kudos to everyone that spoke at the event and to all of the folks working diligently in the background to make it happen. I look forward to the Summer meeting in Columbia, July 21-23.

After nearly two whole years of largely meeting virtually, the Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program is making a concerted effort in 2022 to get back out to the local associations to teach and to enjoy the company of beekeepers across the state, especially our colleagues in the upstate. In the past two months I have visited with the Lake Wylie, Fort Mill, Pickens, Lakelands, Chesterfield, York, Pee Dee, Edisto, and Blackwater.

I also had the pleasure of speaking to the West Piedmont District meeting of the Garden Clubs of America, which was an energetic group of gardening and landscape enthusiasts. Their focus this year is on protecting pollinators, especially bees, and we gave them some things to consider as they go back to share their passion with their communities. Garden Club members are very active in their communities providing service projects and education to their neighbors, much like our Master Beekeeper Program participants do. The good news is that I will be presenting to several other similar service groups through the spring.

We will be training staff at the Commission for the Blind this month. The Commission has a program to help visually impaired South Carolinians learn trades to help them be productive and self-sustaining, and they have a wood shop where they teach clients how to form and assemble furniture. We will be teaching them how to assemble bee packages and hive components (hive bodies and frames). We have several large honey bee producers that must assemble package boxes and nucs each year for their bee sales. We envision that graduates of this program could provide hive assembly services for these beekeepers and for our hive equipment retailers around the state. Stay tuned.

If you had not seen it yet, you might see me on TV this month and next. Our gardening program on SCETV, “Making it Grow,” featured bees this month during its stewardship drive, and yours truly had the pleasure of speaking about honey bees and their importance to South Carolinians. I made every effort to encourage would-be beekeepers and pollinator conservationists to engage their local beekeeper associations to “think globally but act locally.”

For those of you contributing to the Honey Bee Forage Phenology Project, thanks again for your contributions, and please keep taking and submitting pictures of flowering plants to the iNaturalist project. https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/clemson-honey-bee-forage-phenology-project

We are now in the process of planning our spring and summer trainings. First on the docket will be a hybrid beginners course in April/May which will include a series of evening lectures using Zoom combined with field days in the Clemson apiaries. The course will cover the certified level material for the Master Beekeeper Program, and the field days will be informal trainings located strategically around the state to make it easy for beekeepers to participate. The field days will offer opportunities for new beekeepers to interact with experienced beekeepers as we perform critical beekeeping tasks. Later in the summer we hope to hold “honey days” when we begin harvesting honey from the demonstration colonies. This will give new beekeepers a chance to learn how to harvest and extract honey and process other hive products such as wax and propolis.

We also are working on the summer conference speaker lineup. We tentatively have a theme of “Growing Your Beekeeper Operation,” which will focus on three aspects of a successful beekeeping operation: making increases, marketing, and business planning. Of course, these are subject to change, but this is the general direction we are considering for the summer conference, which will be held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center July 21 – 23. This convention center is the best in the state. It is an excellent venue with plenty of space and wonderful amenities nearby to encourage social interaction and fellowship. We will again have a bee yard at the event, and the facility has an amazing terraced court yard where the bees will be placed for the event. We look forward to seeing everyone there.

One final note… Dr. Hood has recovered well from his heart surgery in January and is back in the Clemson bee yard. I have spoken with him frequently over the past few weeks. His spirits are high, and he is feeling pretty good. He wanted me to tell everyone “Thank You” for the prayers and support during this time.

Kindest regards,
Ben Powell
Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program Coordinator

 

 

 

 

                           False start…

I love the Winter Olympics! As an avid snow skier, I find few pleasures more exhilarating than sliding down a sheet of ice at an exceptionally high rate of speed, teetering on the edge of disaster. One event that I really enjoyed watching at this year’s Olympics in Beijing was the short track speed skating. It feels like watching a NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The racing is fast and furious, and wipeouts are common. There is one thing about short track speed skating that drives me nuts, and that is the false starts. Invariably, someone jumps the gun in just about every race, breaking everyone’s rhythm and forcing them to reset.

That’s how I feel about beekeeping this spring. In the last newsletter, I talked about the unseasonably warm weather we had after Christmas and how the Clemson bee colonies began spring build-up much earlier than expected. Large areas of brood and even drones were present in January, conditions normally reserved for March. Well, that trend continued with strong brood production through February, and the stage was set for an early and active swarm season.

Outside of the hive, similar things were occurring. In fact, after our spring meeting (Feb 25-26), a warm spell triggered most of our early spring nectar trees to begin flowering. By the first week in March, most of South Carolina was experiencing the start of our spring nectar flow. Trees such as wild plums (Prunus spp.), redbuds (Cercis canadensis), willows (Salix spp.), and even some hollies (Ilex spp.) started their bloom cycle well before their normal time. Farms and forests all across the state began flushing with spring color, and the Clemson colonies began adding weight, until the evening of March 12^th.

Like a false start, a flash freeze on the evening of March 12^th dropped most areas in South Carolina into the low to mid 20s (F). Many of the trees with open flowers suffered freeze damage, and the nectar flow that was just beginning came to an abrupt halt. Our colonies began losing weight again, and in the week following the freeze, almost all of the nectar that had been collected was consumed, rendering the colonies strapped for food.

I very seriously considered feeding the bees, but my schedule required me to travel to the upstate for several days each week during that time. I was concerned about swarming and not being present to intervene if swarm cells were started. All of the colonies had drones and new queen cups, and most were very congested. Conditions were good for swarming, but one swarming pre-requisite had not yet occurred, and that was the rapid influx of food. I was concerned that feeding might actually stimulate the colonies to swarm while I was away, so I opted to not feed.

It appears the decision paid-off. Either the frost bitten-trees rebounded rapidly or there were enough sources that survived the cold to supply food for our congested colonies. Hive weights are not increasing, but they are not declining either. There appears to be just enough food to sustain them for the time being, and the limited food supply has staved-off the swarming process. That being said, the nectar flow is looming, and a jolt of food is all the colonies need to begin the swarming process.

As most of you know, we usually are not free of frost or freezes until after Easter, which is very late this year (April 17). While cold nights will hold the nectar flow at bay, rest assured that the last trigger for swarming, the influx of food during the spring nectar flow, is imminent, and colonies across the state are on the cusp of swarming if they have not done so already.

By the time you read this, swarm season will already be underway. In fact, I heard of swarms as early as February this year. If your goal is to prevent swarming, then you need to be taking steps to prevent it now. Supers should be added. Monitor colonies for swarm cell development. Consider splitting colonies with developing swarm cells, or harvest swarm cells for making splits. If you are looking to catch swarms, now is the time to get your traps placed and baited, and keep cluster catching equipment with you for convenience.

For those of you that raise queens, it is go time. Pollen has been plentiful for several weeks, and most colonies have already built sufficiently to begin making starters, finishers, and mating nucs. Colonies are growing rapidly and drones are at peak production right now. The next few weeks will provide the best conditions for finding food, drawing queen cells, and getting virgin queens mated.

Good news folks! It’s spring time in the Carolinas, and for beekeepers it is a marvelously busy time of year. Go forth, and enjoy your bees!

 

Better than par for the course

The first time I walked past the tall hedges that separate the Augusta National from the rest of the world, I felt like I was stepping onto another planet, one where trees and grass were the landlords, and humans were only allowed to visit for a few hours at a time. As if I was visiting someone else’s house for the first time, I wasn’t sure if I should take off my shoes first. Of course, I’m biased. I grew up in Augusta, Georgia, home of The Masters Golf Tournament – the premier golf tournament in the world, and I, like many of my childhood friends, developed an almost religious affection for the course.

You can best describe my status as a golfer as a weekend warrior. Though I was competitive on my high school golf team, I could never “hack it” as a professional golfer. I thoroughly enjoy time on the course, away from the demands of the office and family-life. Now, as I think back to when we attended the Masters tournament, one memory dominates… how quiet it was. Thousands of people were packed tightly together, yet the rustling of the trees and the singing of birds were the most prominent sounds, broken only by occasional waves of applause that seemed to pass through the pines on the wind.

The experience inside the Augusta National is in stark contrast to its surroundings. Washington Rd., one of the busiest roads in Augusta, lies just outside the hedges, and the course is bordered on all sides by condominiums and dense residential neighborhoods. Somehow, the fence and hedges protect the soft interior of the course from the harshness of its developed surroundings. It almost appears natural.

Despite its appearance, a golf course is anything but natural. From the slope of the grounds to the plants selected, every part of a golf course is meticulously designed to permit play and create visual effect, and maintaining the course requires a herculean effort. Irrigation, weed control, fertilizers, insect management, mowing, top-dressing, aerating, and renovating are ongoing tasks necessary to keep areas of turf grass from turning back into forests. All of the tools of turf management are employed on a golf course, and many of these practices are performed to prevent undesirable plants from affecting the course design.

Unfortunately, the field of play on a golf course is not exactly pollinator or honey bee friendly, but golf courses are not just fairways, tees, greens and bunkers. There are areas that are out-of-play that are less contrived and more naturalized. It is in these areas between holes, along water hazards, behind tees and greens, around buildings, and beyond the rough that are now attracting the attention of golf course superintendents and maintenance crews. The conversation about honey bee challenges and pollinator decline have reached them, and many see opportunities to make a difference.

Seizing on the opportunity, Syngenta, a chemical and crop management company, is partnering with golf course superintendents to launch “Operation Pollinator,” an initiative to “successfully establish and manage attractive wildflower habitat for bumblebees and other pollinators” at golf courses worldwide. Syngenta, which manufactures technologies and useful compounds including pesticides, understands that it is in its company’s best interest to support pollinator conservation efforts. They developed Operation Pollinator to provide technical guidance for installing habitat and to deliver educational and marketing materials to help golf courses share their accomplishments with golfers and the community. Operation Pollinator started in Europe about ten years ago, but now is gaining traction in North America, and has even reached South Carolina. Thanks to the popularity of golf courses in SC, especially around our coastal communities, this initiative could provide real benefits for sustainable communities and for beekeepers. https://www.greencastonline.com/operationpollinator/

One such course is Eagles Nest in North Myrtle Beach. Eagle’s Nest is one of the older and more popular courses along the Grand Strand, an area that was once deemed “the golf capitol of the world” for its proclivity towards golf courses. Eagles Nest has installed pollinator habitat, but they took their dedication a step further. They reached out to Patricia King of Carolina Bays Apiaries to install honey bee colonies on the course. Her story and successes and Operation Pollinator were recently featured on the local news. https://www.wmbfnews.com/2022/03/22/little-river-golf-course-raises-awareness-about-honeybees-new-global-initiative/

Golf courses see the program as a win-win. By installing wildflowers and other pollinator forages and improve how it uses pesticides, the course can improve its sustainability goals, beautify the course, market its uniqueness, and attract clientele that are tuned into conservation issues. Increasing pollinator habitat is one way the course can demonstrate its dedication to providing therapeutic green spaces for people but also make real improvements for honey bees and other pollinators.

I know that some of the beekeepers reading this newsletter also are golfers. As a partaker in both activities you have a unique appreciation for the benefits of a round with your friends. Now you can enjoy the challenge of chasing a little white ball across a field while also supporting your bees. Perhaps you would like to patronize the courses that are putting forth a little extra effort to help our bees. I am aware of a few courses near Greenville (The Reserve at Verdae Green, The Cliffs Mountain Park, and the Greenville GC) and Eagles Nest in Little River (near North Myrtle Beach). I do know that the Walker Course at Clemson is planning to join the program and has reached out to me for guidance. Perhaps there are others. If you find any, let me know. I’d love to book a tee time there this summer when the pollinator plots are in full bloom.

 

Don’t blink. You might miss it.

Springtime always seems to be exceptionally busy! Bees are gearing up, and there is no shortage of tasks for the beekeeper. Add a slough of other job responsibilities, family, friends, festivals, and it seems like every spring zips by in a flash.

One particular insect can definitely relate. The azalea mining bee, Andrena cornelli, lives a brief, high-intensity life when she emerges from her subterranean home next month. As with all other mining bees (Andrenidae), the azalea mining bee is a solitary bee that nests in the soil. Each female performs all of the tasks necessary to keep the population going, all except for mating. She does need a male for that task.

Each female mining bee makes a nesting site by burrowing into the soil and excavating chambers that she will provision with bee bread (pollen and nectar combined). Once fully provisioned, she will lay an egg, then move on to make a new chamber. Each burrow can have several larval chambers. One interesting trait of many mining bee species is that they are communal. While each bee lives a solitary life, mining bee females will use each others’ burrows and nest together in large aggregations. For this reason, when you see one nesting mining bee, you usually see hundreds more using the same area. This behavior and their general appearance often causes people to confuse them for honey bees. One behavioral trait that helps distinguish them from honey bees is that they tend to fly very close to the ground, especially near their nesting sites.

Mining bees emerge collectively when their food plants are blooming, which for the azalea mining bee is now through June. I usually start receiving calls this time of year when people are startled about large numbers of bees zooming around their yards. This large number of bees in one area sometimes makes residents think they are swarming, but actually the lucky person has stumbled onto a communal nesting site. Unlike social bees, they are not defensive of their nests. Yes, they can sting, but they don’t do it in defense of the nest.

Mining bees tend to use the same nesting areas year after year, and they tend to live their entire lives in an area no larger than a few acres, depending on the species. This means that they are particularly susceptible to land disturbances such as construction and development.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most mining bees are not generalists like honey bees. Instead, they are oligolectic (restricted to small groups of plants). For instance, the azalea mining bee forages on plants in the genus Rhododendron, which includes our native giant and mountain laurels (R. maximum and R. catawbiense) in the Blue Ridge mountains and the deciduous azaleas in the piedmont and coastal plain (R. arborescense and others). This also includes the exotic azaleas (R. indica and others) that are so common in landscaping across South Carolina. This plant genus is known for producing toxins in its tissues, even its nectar and pollen. These toxins restrict the insects that can pollinate them, which means that the azalea mining bee is one of only a few pollinators capable of pollinating some of our most iconic plant species.

Local populations of mining bees seem to come and go with the passing of their flowers. Across most of South Carolina, they coincide with the azaleas which are blooming as we speak. Climb a couple thousand feet above sea level, and you can enjoy them working the mountain laurels in June. No matter where they exist, they have a narrow window to make the next generation of bees while their host plants are blooming. If you happen to see them, relish in the experience, because they probably will be gone in a week or two until next year when they arise when the Azaleas signal the onset of spring.

 

 

 

Acaricides in royal jelly? A recent study suggests that residues of a common acaricide used to control Varroa mites in bee colonies can be transferred from wax into royal jelly well after the treatment has been removed.

Emmanuel Karazafiris, Dimitrios Kanelis, Chrysoula Tananaki, Georgios Goras, Urania Menkissoglu-Spiroudi, Maria-Anna Rodopoulou, Vasilios Liolios, Nikolia Argena & Andreas Thrasyvoulou (2022) Assessment of synthetic acaricide residues in Royal Jelly, Journal of Apicultural Research, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2022.2048948

 

Nosema ceranae is problematic gut parasite of western honey bees (Apis mellifera) worldwide, but the disease has minimal effects on the original host, the eastern honey bee (A. ceranae). What would happen if you fed gut microbes from the eastern honey bee to western honey bees? Would the microbes help western honey bees fight the parasite? There is some evidence that it might.

Wu, Z.,  X. Wei, L. Zhang, Z. Zeng, W. Yan & Q. Huang (2022) Impacts of Apis cerana gut microbes on Nosema ceranae proliferation in Apis mellifera, Journal of Apicultural Research, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2022.2047422

The smell of sex. They said it, not me! Insects use olfactory cues to recognize mates, and a recent study identified specific compounds produced by small hive beetles that distinguish males from females and virgins from mated females. This discovery could play a role in control of these hive pests by disruption of mating cues.

Papach, A., R. Balusu, G. R. Williams, H. Y. Fadamiro & P. Neumann (2022) The smell of sex: cuticular hydrocarbons of adult small hive beetles, Aethina tumida (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), Journal of Apicultural Research, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.2015057

 

 

Check the SC Master Beekeeper Program website for a certified course near you. Many courses occur during the winter season. https://scstatebeekeepers.com/master-beekeeper-program/

Apr. 19, 2022. 6 PM   Basics of Beekeeping Hybrid Course – entry level beekeeper training using live Zoom lectures and a series of field days in May. Register now. https://calendar.clemson.edu/event/basics_of_beekeeping_-_hybrid_course#.Yksgui-B1pR

June 2022  “Honey days” join us for the honey harvest when we begin pulling supers in June. Dates and times TBA.

Jul. 21-23, 2022  SCBA Summer Conference, Columbia, SC https://scstatebeekeepers.com 

Aug. 1-4, 2022 Eastern Apiculture Society summer meeting, Ithaca, NY https://easternapiculture.org/conference/ 

 

 

 

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

 

Happy New Year!!!

First, I must apologize for the delay in getting this edition published. Streptococcus ravaged our household after the new year, fractioning my productivity. Thankfully, I am on the mend and back to work.

We at the Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program are excited for what this year will hold. While there has been a recent uptick in COVID cases, the State and Clemson University have given no indication that they will restrict in-person programs and trainings. CAPP is moving forward with scheduling our spring and summer trainings. Our plan is to offer a series of spring and summer field days at our demonstration apiaries (Clemson, Florence, and Charleston), and we will host a virtual beginner course later in the spring for students who may have missed the classes already underway.

Our pollinator test plots at Pee Dee REC are coming along nicely. As to be expected, a flush of volunteer henbit took advantage of the freshly disturbed soil, and the demonstration colonies have been taking full advantage of it, collecting the distinctively pink pollen henbit produces. We are waiting with anticipation for warmer days to assess germination of the intentionally planted species, but we are pleased to see how the bees are benefiting from the new forages already present in the plots.

The Honey Bee Forage Phenology Project is underway as well. As a quick reminder, this is a project using iNaturalist to track bloom cycles of important honey bee plants across South Carolina through 2022. Beekeepers across the state can submit images of plants in flower to help us track bloom cycles. Just three weeks into the project and participants have already submitted 800 observations. If the data continues to be entered at this rate, we will have a tremendous data set to use for updating our bloom charts. Thanks to everyone that has contributed so far. Anyone interested in contributing can visit https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/clemson-honey-bee-forage-phenology-project to read about and join the project. Also, we will hold another informational web meeting on February 15th for anyone that would like to participate. You can join us for that meeting at https://clemson.zoom.us/j/98402881341?pwd=SWw2bHZER2hBTDNWU0JUeTdxRktHdz09.

We are looking forward to the SC Beekeepers Association’s spring conference in Spartanburg on February 25-26. It will be a two-day event with Master Beekeeping Program classes and instructional demonstrations on Friday, followed by a full schedule of presentations on Saturday. We are pleased to host Dr. Juliana Rangel-Posada from Texas A&M University and Dr. Wyatt Mangum of Mary Washington University. Both are engaging speakers and carry impressive resumés dedicated to apiculture. Registration is open now, so we encourage everyone to renew your membership and sign-up for the conference so that we can enjoy your company at the event. Early bird registration will close on February 4th.

I am excited to announce that we have funding for a temporary summer technician. Sorting through the forage project data, tending to the pollinator plots, managing the demonstration apiaries, and compiling survey data will keep this person quite busy through the summer. We will be looking for a motivated person in the Florence area that possesses computing skills and is willing to work outside. Perhaps you know of a college student that would like to work with our program over their summer break. We have not begun the hiring process but hope to do so soon.

Last, we wanted to let everyone know that Dr. Wm. Michael (Mike) Hood, retired apiculturist at Clemson University, underwent heart surgery on January 18^th. We are happy to report that he is recovering and has returned home. Gifts and cards can be sent to us at 2200 Pocket Rd., Florence, SC 29506, and we will make sure Dr. Hood receives it.

Kindest regards,
Ben Powell
Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program Coordinator

 

 

 

 

Not so fast…

Is there such a thing as a typical year in beekeeping?  If so, then this year is off to an inauspicious start. Perhaps there are years when our predictions align with how the bees actually behave, and we fondly label them “normal.” Then there are other years when our anticipations and the bees’ do not necessarily jive. Perhaps “normal” is a human construct. Despite our best attempts, we perceive the world differently than they do. Honey bees are living organisms that sense, react, and adapt to the finite stimuli around them, and, being colonial by nature, honey bees respond even more dynamically than most other organisms. Not only do individual bees respond to their environment, but their individual reactions influence the behaviors of their nest mates, which influences the behavior of the entire colony.  Case in point… the winter of 2021-2022.

The typical winter pattern for honey bees in South Carolina is to produce diutinus (winter) bees in the fall in preparation for the cold, lean months of winter. As temperatures decline, the winter bees reduce brood production and begin clustering tightly in the hive. They generate heat by consuming stored honey and vibrating their flight muscles, maintaining the temperature necessary for brood development (92° F). On warm days when temperatures rise into the 50s (F), they will become active, taking purging flights and foraging for whatever may be available, but that activity is mainly reserved for mid day. From evening through morning are clustered inside the hive keeping the small area of brood warm. This pattern normally begins in late November and continues into February. Generating heat to maintain brood is a serious metabolic strain on the colony, so during the winter, colonies minimize brood production, which helps the bees conserve their food stores.

This year has not followed that pattern. November proceeded as expected. Brood area shrank, and bees began clustering. December, in turn, was not typical. Warm temperatures in excess of 70 degrees (F) persisted through December. There were several days where record high temperatures were recorded, and the colonies in the Clemson apiaries responded by increasing brood production at a rate normally observed in March in the build-up prior to the spring nectar flow. Colonies that normally have only a frame or two of brood expanded to cover three or four times the normal winter brood area (six to eight frames of brood). This has created two very serious challenges that we must address: 1. starvation and 2. Varroa mites. Increased brood production correlates to increased food consumption and increased Varroa mite populations.

Starvation is always a concern during winter, but it tends to be most common in late winter (Feb-Mar) when food stores are dwindling and brood production is increasing. Nectar is in short supply this time of year, so colonies must rely on the honey they have stored from the previous growing season to get them through the winter dearth. They typically extend the life of their winter stores by reducing brood production, which reduces food demand; however, the early increases in brood production we observed in December has increased the rate of honey consumption significantly and created ideal conditions for winter starvation. The take home message… check your colonies and feed them if they are getting light. Sugar syrup at a 2:1 ratio or candy are suitable for winter feeding, and I suggest in-hive or hive top feeders. These feeders allow the heat generated by the bees to also warm the feed and are more effective during winter months.

In December, I was focused intently on updating the certified training presentations to have them ready for the new year. I also injured my leg thanks to some holiday frolicking, and I was unable to tend to the bees for about three weeks over the holidays. Coincidentally, my absence from the bee yard occurred exactly while the warm spell triggered increased brood production, and two colonies succumbed to starvation. There are few things more gut-wrenching than finding a starved bee colony, but at least it gave me a chance to collect images of quintessential starvation symptoms: piles of dead bees on the bottom board and dead workers face-down in comb cells dead from struggling to stay warm without food.

Another symptom of increased winter brood production and dwindling food stored is “chilled brood.: Under the current conditions, workers may be unable to cover and heat all of the brood during prolonged cold spells, and the uncovered brood may succumb to the cold. Workers will remove the dead brood and deposit it outside the hive entrance. This is not necessarily a problem for the colony, but it can startle a beekeeper to see larvae and pupae being discarded by the colony. Chilled brood is a natural way of the colony “self-regulating” brood production. While it does represent a metabolic cost, it is not a major threat to the survival of the colony as a whole. It might actually save the colony from complete starvation later by reducing the food demand of the colony.

The other problem that coincides with increased brood production is the increase in Varroa mite loads. Winter normally provides a brief respite from worrying about Varroa mites. Beekeepers that controlled Varroa mites in the previous growing season can normally trust that their efforts to keep Varroa pressure low in the fall will extend into the following spring because Varroa only increase when colonies are raising brood. In winter there is normally little brood production, so Varroa numbers tend to remain low. The increase in brood production we observed in December may result in increased mite pressure this spring. I wish I had numbers to share with you, but I was out sick the last two weeks, and this week is too cold to enter hives. Rest assured, the next warm day we get when temps rise above 55° F, I will be in the bee yard conducting mite washes. I hope that I am wrong, but I suspect that mite loads will be abnormally high for this time of year due to early increases in brood production. The good news is that treating for mites this early in the season allows for more options than most other times of the year. Temperature dependent products such as Thymol and Formic Acid just might provide the necessary control of mites needed in this “odd” year. Stay tuned to the Clemson Apiculture Facebook page. I will post my results there. https://www.facebook.com/ClemsonApiculture

 

 

Beirniad sioe fêl – Judge of Honey Shows

Several years ago, my mother began tracing our ancestry, mainly to determine which of our ancestors were the first to come to the United States. What she learned was quite interesting. One side can trace its American roots to the pre-revolutionary period, and that she likely qualifies as a Daughter of the Revolution. That is pretty cool (in my opinion), but it’s the other side that intrigues me even more, and that is the lineage of my grandfather George Merle Powell.

The surname “Powell” is derived from “ap Hywel,” which means “son of Hywel” in the Welsh language, Cymraeg (pronounced “kəm ra ig”). We were able to trace our lineage back to medieval Wales. “Son of Hywel” refers to Hywel Dda, a benevolent and well-respected ruler in late 9^thcentury Britain. He unified the territories known today as Wales and established the well-respected Welsh Law, much of which remains codified today. His name is translated as Hywel the Good, and he was known for compassion, the recognition of women’s rights, and the right of the people to self-govern. Hywel Dda was a diplomat that found balance in feudalistic Britain by cooperating with English monarchy while maintaining a unique Welsh identity.

The Welsh have long been known for their independence. During the Norman Conquest (ca. 1066), which resulted in the absolute demolition of English nobility, Welsh rebels staged uprisings, such that William the Conqueror never had complete control over the region. William’s solution was to erect magnificent castles with heavy fortifications in the Welsh territory, architectural icons that still stand today. After the Norman dynasty waned in Britain, King Edward I was determined to unify Britain and force his authority over Scotland and Wales. He hammered the rebellious Scotts, killing their iconic leader, William Wallace (anyone remember the movie “Braveheart”). To subjugate the fiercely independent Welsh, he named his first-born son “The Prince of Wales,” a tradition of the English monarchy that continues today.

You might ask, “What does this have to do with beekeeping?” Well, even though King Edward I may have forced English rule on the Welsh, he may have inadvertently laid the groundwork for establishing the tradition of honey judging in Britain. About 700 years ago, Edward I codified in the charter of the town of Conwy in North Wales that the 13^th of September shall be the annual honey fair. The town was to open its gates to the honey producers of the region so that they could sell their goods free of charge. This annual event continues today along with many others just like it across the British Isles.

This is not to say that Conwy and the English can lay claim to the first honey festival. Assuredly honey festivals and shows have been happening anywhere honey is produced, especially across Europe, the Mediterranean, and, more recently, in the Americas and Asia.  Anywhere fine foods are present, rest assured that critics will follow, and the same goes for honey. After all, honey producers need methods for showing their customers that they sell the highest quality honey. The result was that honey shows and methods for judging honey products were developed to help producers market their products as authentic, safe, and reliable.

Honey judging is a time-honored tradition, and most beekeeper associations around the world offer “honey shows” where honey producers submit samples of their products for judgement. To avoid bias, judges have developed systems for objectively critiquing honey submissions.  I found it interesting to learn that there are many different systems for judging honey. To quote Nancy Simpson, one of South Carolina’s certified honey judges, “The honey judge systems remind me of karate institutes. There are different “schools” with different “Masters.” Having binged on the new Netflix show “Cobra Kai” with my boys, I think I understand what she means. While there are different approaches to teaching karate (or judging honey), the goal is to culture the highest quality students (or honey) through education and constructive criticism and to recognize achievements with awards through friendly competition.

The South Carolina Beekeeper Association follows the Welsh Honey Judging (WHJ) system. At first, I thought, ”AHA!” Perhaps there is a historical link to medieval Wales and the tradition of honey shows that started there. Maybe it is clandestine that my Welsh roots would lead me down the path to beekeeping. So, I took the queen-line jar that said “drink me,” and dove down the rabbit hole.

What I learned was that the WHJ system is based off of the British Honey Judging system and has been used by the Welsh Beekeepers Association for its honey shows. This is why Welsh honey judges adorn a badge that bears the red dragon of the Welsh flag and the motto Beirniad sioe fêl, which means “Judge of Honey Shows” in the Welsh language. The WHJ system closely resembles the standards of the British Honey Show, which is known to be one of the most rigorous and respectable systems in the world.

With the help of Dr. Keith Delaplane of the University of Georgia, Michael Young, apiculturist at the University of Belfast in Northern Ireland and senior honey judge at the British Honey Show, brought the WHJ system to the United States in 2001 at the Beekeeping Institute at Young Harris College. Since then, training of Welsh Honey Judges has been a part of the Institute. The number of certified Welsh Honey Judges has grown in the US, and the WHJ system has spread beyond Georgia, adopted by Florida, Alabama, Maryland, Ohio, and South Carolina.

South Carolina established the Welsh Honey Judge Academy in 2019. Since that time, there have been at least eight judges trained. Aided by the experience of senior judge, Steve Genta, South Carolina’s Welsh honey judges are diligently working to improve South Carolina’s honey shows and provide education about honey bee products. In fact, the spring meeting of the SC Beekeepers Association is themed “From Flowers to Fare” and will offer a special opportunity for beekeepers to learn how to diversify the products they offer to consumers. In addition to an expanded honey show that will include an artisan show, a special training session on Friday the 25^th will be dedicated to “Notions, Lotions, and Potions.” It will include demonstrations of how to make balms, lotions, tinctures, and an array of other products from honey, beeswax, and propolis.  Also, the honey judge team offers training through the academy for other aspiring honey judges. Perhaps you are interested in helping to improve the quality of South Carolina’s honey bee products and maintain the integrity of the honey produced here. To learn more about SCBA’s honey judging system visit https://scstatebeekeepers.com/sc-welsh-honey-judging-academy-2/.

While honey judging is an important method for beekeepers to self-regulate and protect the integrity of the products they produce, It is not the only way the South Carolina honey producers are protected. Honey production and sales are regulated by the SC Department of Agriculture (SCDA). Laws are in place to ensure that honey brought to market is safe for consumption and authentic, and the Food Safety Compliance division of the SCDA is charged with enforcing the honey law. All SC honey producers, no matter what scale, need to familiarize themselves with the honey law and regulations, even if they harvest small quantities for themselves, friends and family. The good news is that this will also be addressed at the spring conference. Maddison McKenna, regional inspector with the SCDA, will give a presentation on what is required for honey producers to bring their products to market.

 

 

 

Henbit deadnettle… sorry, this is not a character from a Harry Potter novel

Fields, roadsides, and yards across South Carolina are soon to be blanketed in pink as a prolific winter plant begins flowering this month. Lamium amplexicaule, more commonly known as henbit deadnettle (henbit for short), is a very common winter annual plant that thrives in disturbed soils statewide. Although it most likely originated in the Mediterranean region of Europe, it has spread worldwide to every continent except Antarctica. Though it is exotic to North America, it is often considered to be a relatively beneficial plant because it grows when other plants are dormant, and it provides food for pollinators and grazing animals.

Henbit is easily identified by its short stature (<18 “ tall), sprawling growth habit, lobed leaves that are clustered at the tips of square stems, and distinctive pink, tubular flowers. A member of the mint family (Lamiaceae), henbit shares the bright aroma common to other members of the family which includes plants such as peppermint, catnip, and basil. Henbit is edible raw, cooked, or in a tea, and there are claims that it provides medicinal benefits. Henbit also is an excellent forage for livestock and actually gets its name from the observation chickens pecking at it. Despite its exotic origin and ability to spread, it is generally considered to be a beneficial plant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is definitely a beneficial plant for honey bees. While it has been reported to provide nectar that is used by long-tongued bees and hummingbirds, the real benefit to honey bees is the ample pollen it produces during a time of year when honey bees are increasing brood production and need a source of protein-rich pollen. A vivid red or bright pink, the pollen is very distinctive, and it is usually quite easy to determine if your colonies are collecting henbit pollen by watching entrance activity or inspecting frames of bee bread.

Henbit is considered a weed in certain situations. It can be aggressive in lawns, and it competes with other winter crops such as wheat, oats, and canola. Broadleaf herbicides are often used to control it. These compounds are not normally a problem for honey bees so long as they are not applied while bees are actively in the field. The good news is that foraging tends to be restricted to the middle of the day thanks to cool morning and evening temperatures, so we recommend for herbicide applications to be done in early morning or late evening while the bees are still in the hive. Once the herbicides are dried on the surface of the plants, they are not easily pick-up by bees. Usually shortly after an herbicide application, henbit stops producing pollen and nectar and is no longer attractive to the bees.

 

 

Queen reproductive failure has been reported as a contributing factor to honey bee decline. Understanding the microscopic structure (histology) of the queen’s reproductive system is essential to understanding why and how the organs and tissues involved in egg production fail. A recent investigation using photomicrographs provides some of the most detailed images of the queen’s reproductive organs of to date.

Ivanna V. Kozii, Sarah C. Wood, Roman V. Koziy & Elemir Simko (2022) Histomorphological description of the reproductive system in mated honey bee queens, Journal of Apicultural Research, 61:1, 114-126, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1900636

 

Sodium butyrate, a compound common in legumes (beans/peas), has been shown to reduce or reverse the adverse effects caused by infection of deformed wing virus in honey bees.

Tang et al., Real-time monitoring of deformed wing virus- infected bee foraging behavior following histone deacetylase inhibitor treatment. iScience 24, 103056
October 22, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.isci.2021.103056

 

Hygienic behavior where worker bees remove larvae that are infected with deformed wing virus is thought to be an important methods for bees to control colony decline, but assessment of how the virus is spread has determined that removal of infected larvae may actually spread DWV.

Posada-Florez, F., Lamas, Z.S., Hawthorne, D.J. et al. Pupal cannibalism by worker honey bees contributes to the spread of deformed wing virus. Sci Rep 11, 8989 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88649-y

 

Check the SC Master Beekeeper Program website for a certified course near you. Many courses occur during the winter season. https://scstatebeekeepers.com/master-beekeeper-program/

Feb. 8, 2022. 6 PM     We have revised the SC Master Beekeeping Program’s certified level training presentations and will offer a web meeting to introduce instructors to the new schedule and slide set.  If you are an instructor that would like to offer the certified level training this year, we encourage you to attend this web meeting to learn about the new format and presentations.  Please preregister to attend this web meeting at https://clemson.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMvcOisrTIvE9Rk3793_0ggD3pMCofCjlBL

Feb. 15, 2022. 6 PM   Web meeting for the Clemson Honey Bee Forage Phenology Project.
We have launched a project using iNaturalist to track blooming of honey bee forage plants in SC. This informational web meeting will discuss the project and how to submit photos of plants in bloom to the project to help us update our bloom charts. The meeting is open to anyone at https://clemson.zoom.us/j/98402881341?pwd=SWw2bHZER2hBTDNWU0JUeTdxRktHdz09

Feb 25^–26, 2022          Spring meeting of the SC Beekeepers Association. This year’s spring meeting will be expanded to two days. The theme will be “From Flowers to Fare” and will include hands-on demonstrations of lotions/potions and planting for honey bees as well as keynote speakers and other presentations covering honey bee nutrition. Early bird registration ends on February 4^th, so register now at  https://scstatebeekeepers.com.

April, 2022                  Introduction to Beekeeping virtual training and field days at the Clemson apiaries. More information will be provided on the Clemson Apiculture facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ClemsonApiculture and at your county Extension office.

 

 

 

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

 

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and our plate is full!

There are so many good things happening with beekeeping in South Carolina, and we are blessed to be a part of it. Here are a few things we are trying to accomplish over the next few months.

We are pleased to help the SC Master Beekeeper Program revise the certified level training. We are rethinking how this course is taught and the organization of the curriculum. The intent is to place more emphasis on basic honey bee biology so that new beekeepers can learn to read their bees better and infer management. We also want to place more emphasis on varroa mites and managing Parasitic Mite Syndrome.  We want to emphasize the pests and diseases that need immediate attention for beginning beekeepers in their first few years, rather than covering all of the pests, diseases, and maladies that beekeepers may encounter. We will reserve the more comprehensive discussion of pests and diseases to the journeyman course. The new training materials should be available after the new year. Also, the SC MBP is arranging for testing to be available online to make the certification process much easier for local beekeeper associations and SC Beekeepers Association members.

We installed the pollinator habitat test plots at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center in Florence and are monitoring germination. Some timely rain and mild temperatures have helped. We look forward to next spring when we can begin field demonstrations.

We are lining up speakers for the spring meeting of the SCBA. The theme will be “From Flower to Fair” and talks will focus on nutrition as speakers cover topics related to planting forages for bees, understanding honey bee nutrition, and ensuring high quality hive products for the consumer. Our keynote speakers will be Dr. Juliana Rangel from Texas A&M University, who is a respected researcher that investigates honey bee nutrition, and Dr. Wyatt Mangum, who is an author well known for his experience with top bar hives. We are also looking for SC beekeepers to present at the meeting. While our primary focus is on honey bee forages, nutrition, and products, we always welcome speakers to share information about management, pests/diseases, tools and equipment. If you are interested in speaking at the spring meeting, please contact Ben Powell (BPOWEL2@Clemson.edu). Consider this a “call for proposals” for presentations at the spring meeting.

Who is ready for some field days in the spring of 2022? Using the apiaries in Clemson, Florence, and Charleston, we hope to offer informal trainings for aspiring beekeepers. Come shadow experienced beekeepers as they work colonies, and get your hands sticky too! Be on the look-out for the announcement for the field day closest to you.

Have you heard about the Clemson Honey Bee Forage Phenology Project? Well, if not, here is a brief description. One of the most common topics of discussion among beekeepers is “what is blooming” and “what is different this year from in the past.” Understandably, this is a very important topic, because it directly affects bee behavior and health and determines productivity of a beekeeping operation. The challenge is that bloom cycles are affected by so many variables. The weather, local climates, development, changes in land uses, and an array of other factors influence what is blooming and when it blooms. The good news is that modern technology offers beekeepers a way to capture real data about bloom cycles of important honey bee forages. We have developed a project through iNaturalist which will provide a central place for SC Beekeepers to submit pictures of flowering plants. The magic of iNaturalist is that beekeepers do not have to know what plant they are photographing. The application will suggest an identification for each flower captured, and it captures the date and location as well. If enough beekeepers are photographing flowers across the state, then we will be able to track in real time what plants are blooming in each region of the state. Plus, we can compare it to bloom cycles from previous years to determine how climate and land uses might be affecting flower phenology of important honey bee forage plants.  Beekeepers that are interested in submitting photos should contact Ben Powell (BPOWEL2@Clemson.edu). A training for interested participants will occur in December.

We at the Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program are excited and eager to assist beekeepers in South Carolina. We hope that these projects will help beekeepers improve and advance beekeeping statewide. Of course, your input is always welcome, so please do not hesitate to contact me with suggestions or questions, especially if there is something that you think needs to be in the newsletter.

Kindest regards,
Ben Powell
Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program Coordinator

 

 

 

 

Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking…

Does anyone else feel like summer was just too short? Nevertheless, here we are knocking on winter’s door, the time of year when I am most nervous. Are my colonies strong enough to last the coming winter? Have I combined all of the weaker colonies to give them a better chance of overwintering? Have I done what is necessary to control varroa mites and parasitic mite syndrome? Do the colonies have enough food? Have I done everything I can to prevent robbing? Have I replaced the weak or older queens so that they will build quickly in the spring before new queens are available? What about black bears??? Preparing for winter often puts me on edge.

Most colonies across the state have settled into their typical winter pattern. Brood rearing has slowed considerably. The strongest hives in the Clemson demonstration apiaries have reduced the brood area down to just a few frames. The queens continue to lay, but they are mainly backfilling their brood areas and not expanding. Foragers continue to bring pollen into the hives, but there does not appear to be anymore increase in honey stores. Some areas in the upstate have experienced frost already, but we are running behind schedule for our first frost in the coastal plain. It looks as though next week (Nov 14-21) will have night temperatures in the 30’s, so any remaining nectar sources are likely to come to a halt.

This is an important time to check food stores and to consider feeding colonies that are light. Question is “how much honey or syrup does a colony need going into winter.” Well, the answer is not straight-forward. It depends on the size of the colony, the amount of brood production, conditions in the apiary, weather, and availability of winter forages. Some colonies will consume their winter stores faster than others, so there is no standard weight or volume of honey to ensure all colonies are well fed. Rather, the beekeeper should practice the art of “hefting,” which is simply judging the relative weight of a colony by tipping it and feeling how difficult it is to lift. Because hefting is a subjective measurement, it can be wrought with errors, but a skilled beekeeper can judge the relative weights of colonies and determine which are lightest. Using this pre-screening method, the beekeeper knows which colonies to investigate for food stores rather than opening all the hives in the apiary and inviting robbing. There is a way to make hefting more objective and give the beekeeper a method for monitoring colonies through the season. That is to use a scale to measure weight. There are specialty scales that can be placed under Langstroth hives, but these scales are expensive (approx. $200). Another option is to use a handheld luggage or fish scale which usually cost less than $50 and can be simply hooked under one end of the hive to measure the weight when hefting. The major advantage of using a scale is that it quantifies the weight and gives you a number that you can use to compare among hives and to monitor weight change of a single hive through the winter. Through good record keeping, a beekeeper can track food consumption and feeding needs through the winter without opening the colony.

The logical next question is “what should you feed.” Well, in South Carolina, we never freeze deeply enough to preclude the use of syrup. While it is often recommended to increase the syrup concentration to 2:1 (sugar:water), bees will make good use of 1:1 syrup. The major disadvantages of 1:1 syrup are that it takes twice as much volume to feed the same amount of carbohydrates as 2:1 and the increase of moisture in the colonies could lead to increased condensation inside the hive body. One good advantage of feeding syrup is that bees will relocate it into cells above the brood area where it helps moderate temperature fluctuations in the hive. Bees also will consume dry sugar, fondant or candy in the winter months. This provides the most concentrated source of carbohydrates and is very simple to feed to bees. Bees must acquire water to reconstitute dry sugar feeds, and the beekeeper must install a shim or board above the brood area to accommodate the feed. A problem that both syrups and dry sugar feeds have is that they do not provide the full array of nutrients that bees get from natural nectar sources. For this reason, beekeepers might consider adding nutrient supplements to winter feeds. If you want to learn more about the nutrients and supplements, I strongly encourage you to attend the spring meeting of the SC Beekeepers Association. This is one of the primary topics to be discussed.

Last, how should you feed bees in winter? Most importantly, bees should not be fed openly this time of year (or anytime in my humble opinion) because it invites pests, incites robbing, and is only accessible on warmer days. Sugar-based feeds should be applied directly to the hives needing to be fed. Dry feeds are pretty simple. They can be placed on parchment paper above the brood area frames, in candy boards, or on top of inner covers. Syrups require a little more thought. External feeders such as boardman or pail feeders are exposed to the environment outside of the hive and can fluctuate in temperature or even freeze. If the syrup gets very cold, the bees will not consume it. If a beekeeper chooses to use a pail feeder, they can protect it from the elements using an empty hive body. A better feeder is the top feeder which fits like a super on top of the hive. This feeder type is exposed to the heat generated by the bees and can moderate temperature fluctuations in the hive, but bees have to leave the confines of the winter cluster to access the feed. In South Carolina, that is not as big of a challenge as in more northern climates. Last, and arguably the best winter feeder is the division board feeder. This feeder is placed into the brood box in the place of a couple of frames making it protected from the elements where it is easily accessible to the winter cluster and where it receives some heat generated by the bees. The only disadvantage is that the hive must be opened to fill the feeder. Simply minimize disturbance and chilling by sliding the lid or super over enough to access the feeder without completely opening the hive.

Of course, this section would not be complete if I did not discuss pests. I promised to be concise at the beginning of the newsletter, so I will attempt to cover winter pest issues here briefly. First, and most important, you should have been controlling Varroa mites in the lead up to the winter to ensure your winter bees are robust and prepared to face the stresses of winter. However, there is a chance that mite loads remain elevated. If that is the case, then now is the time to do something about it. Mite control now will result in productive colonies in the spring. The good news is that the reduction of brood production and cooler temperatures means that almost all of the Varroa treatment options will work well, most notable is oxalic acid. The “dribble” method of applying oxalic acid works especially well this time of year. Without going into too much detail, I will direct you to a website hosted by BetterBee that discusses how to mix and apply oxalic acid via the dribble method (https://www.betterbee.com/instructions-and-resources/how-to-do-an-oxalic-acid-dribble-treatment.asp). Another aggravating pest is the small hive beetle. Adult SHBs will reside in the winter cluster with the bees only venturing out to feed on bee bread on warmer days. This makes them more difficult to trap in winter months. One thing that you can do is to treat the soil for SHB larvae and pupae, especially under hives that were infested earlier in the year. GuardStar is the only product labelled for controlling hive beetles in the soil under bee hives. Last, this is the time of year when mice are most likely to enter bee colonies. Reducing the entrance to the smallest notch, usually takes care of that problem.

Although I would like to move-on, we really need to discuss off-season tasks this year. If you have not already looked at product costs, you are likely in for some sticker shock. Last year a case of 5 unassembled deep boxes cost me $78.75. That same product this year will cost $124.75. If I am doing my math correctly, that is a 58.4% increase in price from just one year ago.  Thankfully the supplier is running a sale in the lead up to black Friday with the amazing deal (sense my sarcasm?) of $111.03, which is still a 41% increase over last year’s price. While this is disturbing enough, the problem is that there appears to be no end in sight for the increases in costs. Inflation coupled with supply chain problems due to COVID-19 restrictions has created a severe increase in material costs. My point is that you probably should not hold off for prices to decline because they probably never will, or, if they do, it will not be until well after you need it for next year’s season. And…, I will just stop right there before I say something that I likely will regret.

 

Not like any social I’ve ever attended!

It is very easy to get upset with social media. I do it on a daily basis. It seems there are no limits to people’s willingness to show the world how little they know and how hateful they can be. My father once taught me an adage about opinions… something about how everybody’s got one and how most of them stink. It truly seems like courtesy and respect are largely non-existent in people’s interactions online, and that is unfortunate, because social media has tremendous influence over our daily lives.

That being said, there is good in this world, even online, especially among the beekeeping community. There is tremendous potential for learning, sharing, improving, and solving problems using social media platforms. To think, with a click of a button or tap of your screen, you can learn a beekeeping technique from someone half-way around the world or interact directly with a university conducting bee research and extension, something that was only possible through periodic journals or conferences just 20 years ago. The world is at our fingertips in real time, and it is up to us to determine how we use it. Dad also taught me another bit of wisdom when I was younger, and that is “you are what you gaze upon.” You will become that which you seek. The question is, “what do you seek when using social media?”

I am quite impressed with the impact that South Carolina beekeepers are having through their social media platforms. The state and almost every local beekeeper association has a social media account to interact with membership and the public, reaching thousands of current and would-be beekeepers. In fact, Facebook is becoming the primary way the public engages beekeepers for swarm removals, honey bee products, and questions about stinging insects. Hardly a day passes without someone engaging our program through our Facebook page. Some of the social media accounts set-up by SC beekeepers have become very popular. The new Lowcountry Bee Nerds page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/164459154881847) was recently formed and gained membership quickly, engaging beekeepers across the coastal areas of SC. One of our most prominent social media accounts is “Beekeeping Hacks” (https://www.facebook.com/groups/591466204364439). Managed by master beekeeper Larry Coble, it now has more than 40 thousand members posting about innovative and helpful “tricks of the trade.” Even our humble Clemson Apiculture page (https://www.facebook.com/ClemsonApiculture/) is up to 1,350 followers, which includes many beekeepers that do not regularly attend local association meetings.

That is not to say that Facebook is the end-all, be-all of social media platforms, although their rebranding to “META” might suggest they see something over the horizon. Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are used more extensively by younger folks and offer tremendous potential for sharing the beauty of beekeeping with audiences that are not participating in many of our traditional outreach platforms. Add Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube to the mix, and the job of maintaining a social media presence becomes excessively complicated, so complicated that many large companies have teams of people working specifically to update and monitor social media accounts. One helpful hint if you use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter predominantly is to link your accounts and post through Instagram which automatically posts to the Facebook and Twitter pages.

We even have social media that is intended for more scientific endeavors. While iNaturalist is thought of mainly as a smartphone app that helps you identify living things, it really is a social media platform to facilitate interaction among observers of the natural world. Through their system, the innovators of iNaturalist developed a way for people to capture data about Nature and make it available to others and to receive feedback from experienced biologists. While most folks simply use iNaturalist to identify living things, the platform is extremely powerful and can be used for scientific projects, especially regarding ecology and phenology. Phenology is the study of the timing and sequence of natural events, such as when deciduous trees turn colors in the fall or bird migrations. Whether they realize it or not, casual observers using iNaturalist are creating a real-time log of where organisms exist and when they exhibit certain traits or behaviors, which provides a data set that we can use as practitioners of apiculture.

The Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program is calling on beekeepers, gardeners, and naturalists statewide to help with a project in 2022. We are calling it the Clemson Honey Bee Forage Phenology Project. Using iNaturalist, participants will capture the bloom periods of the most important honey bee forage plants in South Carolina by simply taking pictures of flowers with their mobile devices or digital cameras. When a photo is taken with a smartphone, the date, time and location of the image are saved. If that image is loaded to this iNaturalist project, we will be able to track exactly when honey bee nectar and pollen plants are blooming and where they are commonly found in the state. If we have enough observers statewide, we will also be able to track differences among the regions (coastal vs. piedmont vs. mountains). Also, you can upload old photos of flowers that you may have stored on your phone which will allow us to compare bloom times to previous years.

We will offer a virtual training on December 7^th for anyone interested in participating in the project. At the training we will make sure that each participant has an active account with iNaturalist. We will get users loaded into the project and show participants how to upload images. While we will be targeting certain known honey bee plants, we welcome participants to submit images of unknown flowers too, especially if honey bees are observed foraging on the flowers. Participants will not even need to know the identification of the flowers they are photographing. We can sort through the data for particular plant species and by locations, which will be used to update our bloom charts and make them more regionally specific. There also are long term possibilities for the project. It has been suggested that land use change and climate will change honey bee foods in our beautiful state, and this project could help determine if that is indeed happening and how.

 

An Acer Up Your Sleeve

As I write this, drifts of leaves are beginning to pile-up around the yard, and the sky is ever more visible through the woods out back. Fall is giving way to winter, and it will be months before the next nectar flow begins. From now through January, deciduous forests across the state will fade to gray, and they will lay in that state until springtime.

One tree in the eastern US insists upon “getting out of bed early,” and, like a defiant toddler, it doesn’t do it

quietly. As if clanging after a bowl of cereal, the Red Maple (Acer rubrum L.) announces its presence loudly with splashes of brilliant pinks and reds that rip through the grayness of leafless forests. Starting in late winter, typically January in South Carolina’s lowcountry, the red maple is the first and most notable large tree to begin blooming each growing season.

I used to think that red maples were flowering when you see them turn red, but I learned later that red maples actually finish flowering by the time you notice them from the road. When the trees turn red, you are actually seeing the wings of the developing seeds, known as samaras, which do not form until after the flower is pollinated. The flowers of red maples are usually less conspicuous, and they come and go by the time most folks notice them. That maple you usually notice in February likely started flowering at least two weeks earlier.

Red maples are common statewide both as wild trees and cultivated landscape trees. They are well adapted to most soils and climates in South Carolina, but they are most common in low areas where soils remain very moist. The red maple is a dominant tree in the forested wetlands of the coastal plain, and it is common in valleys and slopes across the piedmont and Blue Ridge Mountains. Red maples are both monecious (having male and female flowers on the same tree) and diecious (each tree has either male or female flowers), which explains why some trees appear to produce more seeds than others. Red maples produce both nectar and pollen and serve as the first major food source of the new year for honey bees. It is thought that the red maple provides critical nutrition to honey bees as they begin to build and increase brood production in the lead up to the spring nectar flow.

Red maple is not the only species of maple in South Carolina. All species of maples are valuable food sources for honey bees, although some are thought to be wind pollinated. Of the six species of maples in the Carolinas, only the boxelder maple (Acer negundo L.) rivals the red maple in distribution. Though they are mostly lacking from the Pee Dee region of the state, boxelders are common in the piedmont and present in forested wetlands of the SC lowcountry. Striped maples (Acer pensylvanicum L.) and mountain maples (A. spicatum Lam.) are only found at higher elevations above the Blue Ridge escarpment, so they are more common in the mountains of North Carolina than in South Carolina. Two other maples naturally occur in SC, the silver maple (A. saccharinum L.) and the sugar maple (A. saccharum Marshall), but they are much less common than the red maple or boxelder. Silver maples are valued as excellent shade trees and have been planted in locations outside of their normal range. They can be found randomly around the state, often in urban landscapes, but they naturally occur in bottoms where soils are very well drained but moist, such as in the sand hills and flood plains of the piedmont. While most maple species bloom after red maples, the silver maple actually blooms at the same time or even slightly before red maples. Sugar maples also have been planted outside of their normal range because of their value as both shade trees and as a source of sweet syrup. In an attempt to increase maple syrup production in the south, several heat-tolerant varieties of sugar maple have been bred, and some of these can be found across the piedmont and down the Savannah River floodplain.

While red maples are typically considered low maintenance trees, one problem has developed for them recently. In 2019, South Carolina discovered an established population of Asian longhorned beetles (Anoplophora glabripennis(Motschulsky)) near the Charleston area. This invasive beetle bores into living trees killing them slowly as the beetle larvae eat the nutrient rich cambium under the bark. While this beetle can infest several different species of trees, they most commonly attack maples. In response, the SC Department of Plant Industry established a quarantine in the area near Hollywood to prevent the spread of this invasive beetle. Also, tree removal programs are underway to eliminate infected trees and destroy developing larvae, but the fact that red maples largely reside in wetlands makes the work challenging. So far, the quarantine and removal programs have halted the spread of this beetle. Also on our radar is the new spotted lanternfly (Licorma deliculata (White)), which is a piercing-sucking insect introduced into the region around

Philadelphia, PA. Unlike the Asian longhorned beetle which reproduces and spreads slowly, the spotted lanternfly spreads rapidly and has become a severe nuisance in the northeast. While maples are not their primary host, they are among the trees that lanternflies will attack. Thankfully, lanternflies have not been found in SC yet, but they are just one car-ride from being brought here.

As for now, beekeepers across the state benefit from maples, and can rely on them as an early jolt of nutrition for honey bee colonies building for spring. Of course, if you ever notice something odd with trees in your area, such as diseases or pests, your county Extension office and agents are at your disposal to determine the problem and advise on solutions. Hopefully, maples, especially red maples, will remain common and productive all across SC and continue to announce that winter will soon give way to spring each year.

 

 

One of the greatest challenges of a honey bee research project is not necessarily the research or funding. It often is making it relevant to practical beekeeping and relatable to beekeepers. In an attempt to improve communication between researchers in COLOSS (the researcher association for the Prevention of Honey Bee COlony LOSSes) and practicing beekeepers, the Association established B-RAP, the “Bridging Research and Practice core project with independent leadership. This essentially equates to the formation of a formal Extension-style initiative for the COLOSS research group.

Lotta Fabricius Kristiansen, Preben Kristiansen, Flemming Vejsnæs & Linde Morawetz (2021) Is COLOSS an Ivory Tower of Beekeeping Science? Efforts to Bridge Research and Practice (B-RAP), Bee World, DOI: 10.1080/0005772X.2021.1993612

 

The Journal of Apicultural Research publishes its 60^th volume, and authors provide an excellent review of apiculture research since the onset of Colony Collapse Disorder and into the future.

Maria Bouga, Melanie Parejo, Adriana M. Alippi, Otilia Bobis, Robert Brodschneider, Panuwan Chantawannakul, Vanessa Corby-Harris, Bjørn Dahle, Maria Dimou, Anna Gajda, Dora Henriques, Irfan Kandemir, Robert Pickard, Juliana Rangel, Victoria Soroker & Jevrosima Stevanovic (2021) The 60^th volume of the Journal of Apicultural Research – a look into the past and future, Journal of Apicultural Research, 60:5, 639-643, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1973187

 

Honey bees tend to consume bee bread quickly, yet we have all seen colonies pack-in excessive pollen stores. What is going on there?

Ivo Roessink & Jozef J. M. van der Steen (2021) Beebread consumption by honey bees is fast: results of a six-week field study, Journal of Apicultural Research, 60:5, 659-664, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1915612

 

A new use for propolis? Should you consider feeding extracted propolis back to your bees as a form of antimicrobial medication, possibly in place of medicated feeds such as Fumagilin-B? This study suggests positive benefits of refeeding propolis to bees.

Sanchai Naree, James D. Ellis, Mark E. Benbow & Guntima Suwannapong (2021) The use of propolis for preventing and treating Nosema ceranae infection in western honey bee (Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1787) workers, Journal of Apicultural Research, 60:5, 686-696, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1905374

 

As a compliment to the previous article, here is a review on methods for extracting propolis.

Vassya Bankova, Boryana Trusheva & Milena Popova (2021) Propolis extraction methods: a review,Journal of Apicultural Research, 60:5, 734-743, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1901426

 

 

 

 

Check the SC Master Beekeeper Program website for a certified course near you. Many courses occur during the winter season.

https://scstatebeekeepers.com/master-beekeeper-program/

 

7 Dec. @ 6 PM          Clemson Honey Bee Forage Phenology Project Training – participants that are interested in contributing to this bloom timing project should register for this training at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clemson-honey-bee-forage-phenology-project-tickets-211871261647

 

 

Feb 25^–26, 2022          Spring meeting of the SC Beekeepers Association. This year’s spring meeting will be expanded to two days and will include hands-on demonstrations regarding honey bee feeds and feeders, lotions & Potions, and planting for honey bees.

 

April, 2022                  Spring Field Days at the Clemson Apiaries. Join us for a fun and informative day in the bee yard with Clemson’s Apiculturist and SC Master Beekeepers.

 

 

 

 

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

 

 

Well, perhaps I spoke too soon. In the last edition I remarked how it felt like things were returning to some sense of normalcy. Chock it up to wishful thinking or sheer naivety, but that feeling has since exited, stage door left. Knowing what I know of airborne respiratory viruses, I quietly expected virus numbers to rise after a summer of “normalcy,” but what is surprising is how rapidly COVID positive cases have risen even with more than half of the population vaccinated. This suggests that the vaccinations may reduce hospitalizations but are doing little to slow the spread of the virus.

Thus is the challenge of the world in which we live. We know so little but have to make decisions that affect the wellbeing of our colleagues and neighbors. Most folks error on the side of caution, but for a program such as the Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator program which is a public education program, planning trainings and outreach in the current environment is challenging to say the least.

Clemson has modified its operations to ensure the safety of our clients and staff. Thankfully county offices remain open, and we are still offering in-person trainings and programs. We have postponed some of our larger events such as the fall field days that occur at the research stations across the state. That is unfortunate because I was looking forward to giving a field presentation on what to consider when setting up an apiary, especially in an agricultural setting and discussing the pollinator test plots. We were planning to use the demonstration apiary at Pee Dee REC to show hundreds of farmers and landowners what beekeepers must consider when setting up apiaries and migrating to new locations and what to consider when planning conservation pollinator plots.

All Clemson employees are now required to get tested for COVID every 14 days regardless of vaccination status. Perhaps this is a better and more tolerable approach than mandating vaccinations. Hopefully, this will keep us open and able to continue with in-person trainings.

We are moving forward with programming this fall. We are working with the SC Master Beekeeper Program to offer a journeyman level course in Conway towards the end of October. Check the “Events” section for more details. We also are working with the Master Beekeeping Program committee to update the certified level teaching materials. Stay tuned for the new presentations and content that should be available for your trainings next year.

I also am excited to be breaking ground on the pollinator habitat test plots at Pee Dee REC. The plots are marked, and the farm crews will begin site preparations in the next couple of weeks. I look forward to documenting the process with photos and videos. Keep an eye on the Clemson Apiculture Facebook page for updates.

Of course we will continue working on the website and publications, but there is another project that I hope to roll-out next year that will require your assistance. We would like to begin documenting honey bee forage bloom periods across South Carolina. Using a digital platform called iNaturalist, we will ask beekeepers, gardeners, and conservationists to use their mobile devices to capture pictures of plants in bloom to track the bloom periods of critical honey bee forages and other important pollinator plants across the various ecoregions of South Carolina.  This will be a simple citizen science project where you, SC beekeepers, can help us collect critical data to ascertain when honey bee forages become available.  This also will help us track the effects of land use changes across the state. We are planning trainings and presentations for anyone interested in participating in the project, so stay tuned.

Last, much thanks to the SC Beekeepers Association for including the Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program in the summer meeting. Attendance was good, all things considered, and we were so pleased to be able to offer bee yard activities as part of the conference program. Brad Cavin, Apiary Inspection Program, and I look forward to supporting the Association with bee yards and other trainings in the future.

Kindest regards,
Ben Powell
Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program Coordinator

 

 

 

 

 

The Dearth Days of Summer

After a very productive spring, our demonstration apiaries located in the Pee Dee region experienced a very severe dearth that started in June and persisted through July. Weights of most hives declined through that time as did the number of drones. Honey stores were depleted, and the amount of incoming pollen was just enough to supply brood production. To ensure that the colonies would survive the trip to the bee yard at the SC Beekeepers Association summer meeting at the end of July, I chose to feed them. Thankfully, they quickly found pollen sources in the urban environment around Trident Tech, and the bees returned home with surplus bee bread as a result of the trip, although honey stores remained critically low. Both the southern magnolias and crape myrtles planted around campus were the likely sources of pollen, but these plants also produce little nectar.

I share this information because it illustrates two important principles of beekeeping in South Carolina. First, most of the southern states experience a summer dearth which can be very intense depending on rainfall and local plant communities. Beekeepers must consider how to overcome the gap between the spring nectar flow and the onset of blooming crops and fall forages. Second, beekeepers should not be afraid either to feed bees or move them to better food sources to overcome the lean months of summer, especially if honey was harvested. The good news is that there are forages available to bees almost all year long in South Carolina if the beekeeper is willing to move colonies.

During this critical time, upstate beekeepers may enjoy a continued nectar flow containing sourwood, devils walking stick, and sumac which usually bloom in the June through July timeframe. In the low country Chinese tallow begins blooming in June, and around the ACE Basin saw palmettos and cabbage palms will bloom through the middle of the summer. In the middle section of the state, perennial white clovers will continue to bloom into the summer, but it is usually closer to the end of July before nectar comes in from crops such as cotton or soybeans. Many of South Carolina’s experienced beekeepers have learned to move bees to these regions to take advantage of these various nectar sources.

Many beekeepers find the prospect of migrating hives to better food to be unreasonable. Who can blame them? Travelling further distances to check on outyards takes away from the pleasure of beekeeping, and finding landowners willing to allow access is yet another challenge. For these and other reasons, many beekeepers are reluctant to migrate bee colonies to better food. Many are also unwilling to feed bees, and there are arguments that can be made both for feeding and not feeding. The reality of beekeeping in the south is that there are periods during the growing season when food is limited, exacerbated by drought or excessive rain, which requires the beekeeper to intervene either by providing alternative food sources or by moving bees towhere the food is.

While honey bees have naturalized in South Carolina and feral colonies do persist, the practice of beekeeping is as much a livestock practice as it is cultivating a wild animal. We as beekeepers choose where the bee colonies reside, not the bees. We select the traits and genetics to use and augment, not the bees, and we set the management goals for each colony, not the bees. This is why I usually recommend to approach beekeeping with a similar mindset as a cattleman tending to his herd. To maintain a productive operation, buy and cultivate the best genetics you can for your goals. Provide adequate shelter. Move the herd to the most productive pastures for the season. Plant better forages and supplementally feed when necessary. Last, protect your investment by controlling diseases and parasites.

Which leads me to my next point of discussion, pest management and preparing for winter. We are about to enter a critical time of the year for beekeeping in South Carolina. Depending on where you live, the fall nectar flow is either underway or soon to get started. Goldenrods and asters have begun blooming, and their brilliant yellow flowers will intensify over the next month. This final flush of food is critical for supplying the nutrition that colonies will need to sustain the winter. Sure, bees will be busy packing away nectar and bee bread, but the nutrition they gain now also is important for raising “the right kind of bees” to last through the winter.

Winter bees are different from summer bees. Living for only 30-40 days on average, spring and summer workers are short lived compared to their winter sisters, which may live for up to six months. We refer to these long-lived winter bees as “diutinus” bees, and they have several critical characteristics that make them different from their summer sisters. First, diutinus bees live longer. Second, winter bees can withstand stress factors and toxins better than summer bees, and they express better cellular immunity to pathogens, presumably a primary reason they are able to live longer than summer bees. Anatomically speaking, diutinus bees tend to have larger fat bodies and weigh slightly more than summer bees. They also behave differently, expressing a lower tendency to forage and greater tendency to perform house bee activities (cleaning cells, building comb, tending to brood, etc.).

So, how is it that workers produced in the fall of the year can be so remarkably different from their sisters produced in the spring and summer. After all, workers contain essentially the same genetics regardless of season. The difference comes from how their genes are expressed, especially as it relates to the production of a critical protein called vitellogenin.

I’m not going to go into a tremendous amount of detail about vitellogenin except to say that it is present at much higher levels in winter bees than in summer foraging bees and has been proven to be critical to increasing the length of life of winter bees and ensuring their survival.

“But Ben, I thought you were segueing into discussing pest management and preparing for winter. What does vitellogenin have to do with honey bee pests?” To answer this question, I’d like to first ask the readers a question. What tissues in the honey bee body produce vitellogenin? Answer: the fat bodies. Let me also ask this, “What part of the honey bee body do varroa mites target?” Answer: the fat bodies.

Hopefully you can now infer why pest management is a critical component of preparing for winter. The generations of workers that will be produced later this fall will be the winter bees that need well developed fat bodies to produce the vitellogenin necessary to sustain them through the winter. If your varroa mite numbers are high during this critical period of worker development then it is likely that your winter bees will have damaged or depleted fat bodies insufficient to last them through the winter. Also, the pollen that bees bring in over the next month will supply the critical amino acids needed to develop vitellogenin and well developed fat bodies.

In short, preparing your bees for winter starts now by lowering mite counts to below 2% before your colonies begin raising winter bees. Also, check your colonies for brood production and incoming pollen. We want to see strong brood production last into October with ample pollen stores. If brood production is weak, then consider replacing the queen as soon as possible or combining colonies and eliminating the weaker queen. Enhancing brood production will stimulate the bees to forage more intensely for pollen, which should support well developed winter bees in the coming months.

 

 

Do you know where your honey originates?

Conserving honey bees has as much to do with beekeeping as it does with learning to manage their natural foods. I have yet to meet a good cattleman that does not understand how to grow a pasture. In fact managing cows is as much about managing the plants they eat as it is about managing the animals themselves. While we cannot confine honey bees into fenced feed lots or pastures, I would argue that a good beekeeper not only knows what plants the bees are using for food but also studies and intentionally manages plant communities to feed honey bees.

Principle investigator and master beekeeper, David MacFawn has proposed a project to help beekeepers learn more about the plants that honey bees in South Carolina are using for nectar. His honey pollen analysis endeavors to identify the nectar sources by identifying the pollen contained in the honey samples. To make the project relevant statewide, David is seeking assistance from beekeepers across South Carolina. Beekeepers will submit honey samples weekly to palynology (study of pollen) labs for pollen identification, a well-established method for identifying nectar sources. Samples will be taken through the entire 2022 growing season starting in January when the red maples begin blooming.  The project design includes 20 sampling sites distributed across the state which will be very informative not only for local beekeepers but also across the state’s four distinct ecoregions. We expect this information also will be useful for beekeepers in our neighboring states which share the same ecoregions and plant communities as South Carolina. Be sure to attend your local association meetings this fall to learn more about the project, especially if you are interested in participating and learning more about the nectar sources your honey bees are using.

To complement this investigation, the Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator program would like to enlist beekeepers and citizen scientists in collecting data about plants that are in bloom through the year. We will use a platform called iNaturalist to develop a project for participants to submit images of plants in bloom. This project will automatically collect date and location information which will help us develop a data set of when and where critical nectar plants are blooming, and we will be able to compare this data with the information David is collecting in the Honey Pollen Analysis. Participants will not need to be able to identify plants or be technologically savvy. The application largely does that for the user. Participants simply need to be able to open the app and take a picture. I will be visiting with local beekeeper associations this fall to introduce the project and recruit participants. We also will host a training later this fall for anyone interested in being a part of this citizen science project.

 

 

The Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program also will be breaking ground on pollinator habitat test plots at the Pee Dee Research Station this month. Programs supported by the USDA and the South Carolina Solar Habitat Project as well as various conservation projects such as utility and highway pollinator habitat projects are seeking to increase the amount of habitat available to pollinators and other flower visiting insects. There remain lingering questions about how to make these habitats successful and productive; after all, they are not a well investigated agricultural practice. What equipment and methods are best for planting? How should they be maintained to maximize diversity and productivity? How do we conduct weed control in a plant community that includes species that are traditionally thought of as weeds in other land uses? What is the real impact to the pollinator community after habitat is installed, and who is actually visiting the plots? How do honey bees and native pollinators interact in these habitats? These are just a few of the questions we plan to investigate by the establishment of these plots.

Speaking of USDA, the Natural Resources Conservation Service just put out a quick guide to the programs they offer to help beekeepers and pollinator habitat. If you are a beekeeper, especially a honey producer, or a farm or forest landowner interested in pollinator conservation, you should visit https://www.farmers.gov/sites/default/files/documents/usda-honeybeebrochure-august2021.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3VEQaJvk3K5ETjx9Yt8y7iUPkTC60ZdJJp7q5eadAzC9OzFqaQImjR7dY

 

 

Asterology… sorry Pisces. This section isn’t about you.

In just a few short weeks every ditch line, powerline right-of-way, field edge and pond bank in South Carolina will burst forth in a flash of color largely due to one family of plants, the Asteraceae. In ancient Greek “aster” means star, and it is easy to see how this family of plants earned their name. All Asteraceae flowers are composite flowers containing a group of small disc flowers outlined by a row of ray flowers with petals that extend out like the rays of the sun. Probably the most recognizable Asteraceae are the sunflowers, (Helianthus spp.).

The composite flowers of the Asteraceae are perfect for bees. If you take the time to look closely at a sunflower as it matures, you will find that it is not actually a single flower, hence why they are sometimes called “composites.” It is a cluster of small flowers that continuously mature over time. When an asteraceae first opens, the outer ray flowers are the first to be exposed, and over the next few days or weeks the inner disc flowers open gradually. This means that a single flower head continues to produce pollen and nectar over a long period of time and can be revisited by numerous pollinators. Also, by clustering flowers into a large inflorescence (flower head), Asteraceae flowers are visually striking and difficult to miss because of their sheer size, making them very efficient at attracting pollinators, and the broad flowerhead provides a very stable landing platform for pollinators.

The flower design and other adaptations of the Asteraceae have been very successful. With over 2,500 species, the Asteraceae is the largest family of plants in North America and tends to be the most speciose group of plants in temperate parts of the globe. In South Carolina, there are both obscure and easily recognizable species. While there are many Asteraceae that bloom in spring and early summer, like dandelions (Taraxacum spp.) and wild lettuce (Lactuca spp.), it is the fall when most of the most recognizable species flower. In the coastal plain, the swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolia) will erupt from just about every ditch and wetland edge this month. Likewise, various tickseeds (Bidensspp.) and goldenrods (Solidago spp.) will riddle forest edges, roadsides and utility rights-of-way. In gardens, the white and purple flowers of bonesets (Eupatorium spp.), ironweeds (Vernonia spp.), asters (Symphiotrichum spp.), mist flowers (Conoclinum spp.) will add a bit of diversity to the fall color palette. And for those of us near the coast, the dazzling display of the groundsel tree (Baccharis halimifolia), one of the only Asteraceae that is a tree, will be impossible to ignore because of the droning hum of insects visiting it while it is in bloom.

The Asteraceae is an important family of plants for beekeepers to learn, but it also can be daunting considering the number of species in the family. There are a number of very important nectar and pollen plants in the group, and the diversity of the family is important for pollinator conservation in general. I suggest looking through a copy of “Garden Plants for Honey Bees” by Peter Lindtner or “American Honey Plants” by Frank Pellen as a starting point for learning about this amazing group of productive pollinator plants.

 

 

Have you ever noticed bees foraging on something unexpected, like corn grain dust? Investigators determined that corn dust supplies adequate nutrition to sustain bees under dearth conditions.

Kathryn Thompson & Bryan T. Drew (2021) Supplemental feeds and foraged corn grain dust: a comparison of the number of days survived in vitro by young adult honey bees (Apis mellifera), Journal of Apicultural Research, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1962113

 

Has a once calm colony become more defensive over time? Perhaps increasing mite loads are to blame.

Alvaro De la Mora, Nuria Morfin, Laura G. Espinosa-Montaño, Carlos Aurelio Medina-Flores & Ernesto Guzman-Novoa (2021) The mite Varroa destructor lowers the stinging response threshold of honey bees (Apis mellifera), Journal of Apicultural Research, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1959754

 

It is generally thought that nightshade plants such as tomatoes are pollenated best by bees that perform “buzz” pollination and that honey bees provide little pollination service to this crop. An investigation in open field tests showed that western honey bees increase seed production in tomatoes by 20% over flowers where pollinators were excluded. The investigators explain this by the observation of a “licking” behavior displayed by honey bees when visiting tomato flowers.

Bruno Ferreira Bartelli, Bárbara Matos da Cunha Guimarães, Nicole Cristina Machado Borges & Fernanda Helena Nogueira-Ferreira (2021) Not all about the buzz: licking, a new foraging behavior of bees in tomato flowers, Journal of Apicultural Research, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1954810

 

 

Oct. 22,23                    SC Master Beekeeper Program – fall Journeyman Course Conway, SC

Information and registration at https://scstatebeekeepers.com/fall-2021-journeyman-course-registration-now-open/

 

Check the SC Master Beekeeper Program website for a certified course near you 

https://scstatebeekeepers.com/master-beekeeper-program/

 

6 Nov.                           Annual Field Day at the USDA Honey Bee Lab in Baton Rouge, LA

https://americanbeejournal.com/events/25th-annual-field-day-at-the-usda-honey-bee-lab-in-baton-rouge/

 

November (tba)          iNaturalist training webinar for honey plant phenology project

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

 

 

Back to business

It feels like things are starting to return to some sense of normalcy. My family treated me to a fine Fathers Day dinner this weekend, and, for the first time in forever, not a single person in the restaurant was wearing a mask. Maybe that should be concerning, or maybe it shouldn’t. At least it indicates that the general public is moving past the fear and angst that gripped us this time last year.

As for the Apiculture and Pollinator Program, we are moving on, and nothing says it like running two programs simultaneously. Both programs will include in-person field days for the first time in more than a year (HOORAY!). We are just wrapping-up our lectures for the first in-service beekeeping training for Extension personnel. We have scheduled field days in July to help the agents practice what they have learned thus far. I am super excited about that, because it will be the first time I have seen many of my coworkers and friends face-to-face in more than a year. Hopefully, this training will be the first step in developing agents that more willing to engage their local beekeepers and local associations.

We also are laying the foundation for engaging community volunteers in invertebrate conservation, especially with regard to pollinator protection. With the assistance of Entomology faculty on campus, we are piloting a Basics of Entomology course to introduce Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists to the amazing diversity of arthropods and the techniques for collecting, photographing, and identifying these critical little creatures. The course continues through July and we are scheduling field days for the students. This training will be developed into an online training that will be repeated every year and hopefully help us build a volunteer network to assist with our pollinator conservation projects.

We also are excitedly preparing for the SC Beekeepers Association Summer Conference. In addition to giving a few lectures, the Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program has been tasked with coordinating bee yard activities as part of the summer meeting agenda. We hope that you are planning to attend and will join us in the bee yard. Check the conference website for more details. https://scstatebeekeepers.com/scba-summer-conference-2021

I would love to get back to speaking for local beekeeper associations. I already have a few scheduled for this fall, but there is room for more. We no longer have restrictions on attending meetings, so feel free to reach-out to me. Another important task for this this fall is to begin developing a fact sheet series covering honey bee management topics. These will include 1-2 page quick guides on various apiculture topics such as introducing queens, installing packages, making splits, feeds and feeders, honey house regulations, controlling robbing and much more. There is a lot of material to cover, so we will add to the series as we develop new fact sheets. Also, this fall we will begin preparations for installing the pollinator habitat plots.

If you didn’t hear, IT’S POLLINATOR WEEK! While the uncertainty of COVID restrictions prevented us from coordinating any in-person events this year, we still want you to take part in pollinator conservation. There is great information and fun activities listed on the Pollinator Partnership’s website. You should especially check out the toolkit https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator-week/toolkit. Maybe your business or bee club could host an event this week or at least post some information to your social media pages about the importance of pollinators.

Thanks for tuning-in. I hope to see you at the summer meeting and at your local club meetings this fall.

Kindest regards,
Ben Powell
Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program Coordinator

 

 

 

 

 

Mmm, the sweet smell of honey.

Anecdotally speaking, the 2021 spring nectar flow was productive statewide, making for a much better honey crop than last year at this time. Soil moisture was high early in the spring but storms were few and far between which meant plenty of days to forage. Most of the beekeepers that I have asked have reported a much better year compared to last, but they also shared the sentiment that the prolonged dry period that lasted through May made the spring nectar flow taper-off quickly. Personally, my water bills due to irrigation were higher in the last two months than they have been since I moved into this house five years ago. While sunny days are great for foraging behavior, drought reduces the amount of nectar plants can produce over time.

We have now entered into the summer dearth where nectar is in limited supply. This has made finding food difficult, especially for colonies started this spring which have used most of the early nectar to produce wax comb and feed the colony. All of the early season splits and newly installed packages at the Clemson apiaries were running very low on stored nectar/honey, so I have spent much of the last week setting and refilling feeders. The newly installed packages have been consuming close to one gallon of 1:1 sugar syrup each day. One word to the wise, just because the bees are taking the syrup does not mean that you should be continuously feeding them for long periods. Be careful not to have them back-fill the drawn comb with syrup to the extent that there is limited space for egg laying and brood production. Excessive feeding could prompt swarming behavior. This can be a balancing act where the beekeeper wants to stimulate comb production but needs to allow for space for brood production too.

I said it last edition, but I will reiterate it here. This is a critical period for interrupting Varroa mite population growth and the spread of viruses through the colony. I strongly urge every South Carolina beekeeper to conduct mite checks this time of year. There are several methods for doing this. The quickest and most precise method is the ether or alcohol roll. Alternatively, some beekeepers choose to use the powdered sugar roll with the assumption that the bees will not killed in the process. While admirable, the powdered sugar roll often results in mortality of the bees due to suffocation. Either way the rolls or washes can produce relatively quick assessment while in the bee yard. To perform the roll or wash the beekeeper collects approximately 300 bees (100 mL or just shy of ½ cup) and rinses them in the solvent or sugar for at least one minute, dislodging the mites and providing a small sample of the mite population. From these samples we can estimate the mite population in the colony and determine if we need to intervene.

Another method for assessing mite counts is the mite drop method. As mites are dislodged occasionally by bees, a small percentage fall to the hive floor. By collecting these fallen mites on a sticky surface, we can monitor mite loads without opening hives, sacrificing workers or running the risk of damaging the queen. This requires a removable sticky board and a screened bottom board. The major disadvantage of this method is that it does not account for the size of the colony or other conditions that might affect the mite drop rates. There can be high variability among hives due to multiple dynamic factors such as colony size, bee behavior, internal hive environment, etc., so you cannot compare mite drop rates among hives as you can with the wash methods. This is why there is not an established treatment threshold for the mite drop method as has been determined for the wash methods. However, might drop sampling can be used to track each hive’s unique trends, and significant increases in mite drop counts without a significant increase in colony population size can indicate an increasing mite population. The other disadvantage of the mite drop method is that it requires a three-day sampling period, so the results are not instantaneous as with the wash methods.

A method I like to use to monitor mites is examining capped drone brood. Drone brood takes longer to develop (24 days) than other castes in the colony. For this reason, Varroa tend to infest drone larvae at a higher rate. By removing capped drone brood, I can assess the number of developing mites (adults and nymphs) per 10 drone cells. If the number of infested drone cells increases or the number of mites per cell increases, then I know I have an increasing mite population. I have yet to determine a treatment threshold for this method, but I am working on correlating it to the wash methods. The advantage of this method is that I get a very accurate count of all life stages of the mites regardless of the colony size. I also do not run the risk of accidentally running my queen through an alcohol wash. The disadvantage is that I have to open the colony and carefully inspect individual cells for mites which can be a little difficult in the bee yard. I often do this while I am grafting queens and have magnification to help. I often will scrape burr comb containing capped drones to collect my samples and can process them later when I return to the office where I have better light and magnification.

Anyway, the point is this. No matter the size of your operation one hive or one thousand, it behooves you to check your mite loads in at least some portion of the hives in each apiary, preferably every hive if possible. Monitoring mites may seem tedious if you are already planning to treat them, but there is a chance you could avoid having to treat and can save a little money. More importantly, you can truly determine if your investments in time and money controlling mites is having a positive or negative impact on the colony. Treating without monitoring is like hunting without sights. How will you know if you hit your target?

 

 

The summer conference put on by the South Carolina Beekeepers Association is an important part of conserving honey bees and the trade of beekeeping in our beautiful state. There are several critical programs that the state beekeepers association provides to beekeepers of the state, but arguably the most important is the summer conference. Drawing speakers from all across the nation and beyond, the summer conference provides a local event where SC beekeepers can learn from and interact with apiculture specialists and talented beekeepers from far and wide. It provides an important way for beekeepers to learn from vendors and innovators of beekeeping equipment. Personally, I benefit most from the fellowship with fellow fans of the honey bee, something that has been incredibly difficult through the past year of COVID restrictions. The summer meeting is a crockpot of innovative beekeeping ideas, and I am thankful that we can again gather, enjoy each other’s company, and share tricks of the trade.

This year’s meeting will be in Charleston at Trident Technical College which provides excellent meeting facilities. The meeting will return to a more familiar and much needed in-person program with a series of lectures from apiculture specialists, a vendors area, a honey competition, and testing for the Master Beekeeper Program. A new addition for this year, the conference will have a bee yard with a series of field demonstrations and lectures hosted by Brad Cavin, the state apiary inspector, and yours truly, along with several knowledgeable beekeepers from the region. There will be a lot of talent at this year’s meeting, and every beekeeper that attends will benefit in ways they might not expect. A small piece of knowledge gained can lead to a revolution in a beekeeper’s operation, and those seemingly inconsequential moments can make the difference between success and failure. I suggest immersing yourselves in the beekeeping knowledge that will be present at this year’s summer meeting.

We are social organisms, and we have much in common with honey bees. We are stronger when we work together, and our productivity is greatly increased when we combine for a common purpose. The summer conference is the venue where we make and renew the relationships that advance our individual operations but also the trade of beekeeping in South Carolina for practitioners at every scale. If you plan to attend, then “Excellent!” I look forward to seeing you there. If you haven’t been in many years or possibly never, then this summer’s meeting will be a good one to attend

Learn more and register at https://scstatebeekeepers.com.

 

 

 

The wood might be sour, but the nectar is OH SO SWEET!

Actually, I have no idea if the wood of the sourwood tree is actually sour. I’ve never chewed it, but I definitely have tasted sourwood honey. In my opinion, it is one of the best honeys in the world.

From what I have read, the “sour” in sourwood actually comes from bitterness in the leaves. A truly North American species, the sourwood tree, Oxydendrum arboretum, is native to Appalachia through the southeast and into deep south. It is a member of the Ericaceae family of plants which are known to be well adapted to acidic, low-fertility soils. Other plants in this family include the familiar blueberries, cranberries, huckleberries, Rhododendrons, and Azaleas as well as many heaths and heathers. The sourwood is the only species in its genus, and the genus is home to North America where it exists on well-drained sloping soils from Pennsylvania to Louisiana. In South Carolina, the sourwood is common on the southern slopes of the piedmont hills and Appalachian Mountains. It does well in droughty, acidic soils that are difficult for other trees to tolerate, and sourwoods can be quite common in the right conditions. It often is found in association with oak/hickory forests, where it exists as a mid-story tree growing to about 30 feet tall.

The sourwood is a fairly inconspicuous tree most of the year. It has a rather generically shaped elliptical leaf, and the fruits are small blue-black berries that mature late in the season just before the first frosts. It’s bark and its fall leaf color are the key features I look for when searching for sourwood. As sourwoods age they develop a distinctly dark bark that is thick and cork-like with very deep ridges running up and down the trunk. Also, sourwood is one of the first trees to change color in the fall, and it is usually a vibrant red that stands out against most other trees in the forest. The flowers are unique too. They look like strands of pale white bells extending out from branch tips. Once you get the search image for sourwood, you will find that it is pretty easy to recognize.

 

For southern beekeepers, the sourwood has earned a reputation as one of the most important honey plants. It produces a light, fragrant honey that is well recognized by consumers. It can be collected as essentially a monocultural honey, because it blooms after most spring nectar sources have finished (June-July), and many migratory beekeepers move to the piedmont and foothills this time of year to capture the flow.

 

Thankfully, sourwood is still fairly common in the Carolina’s, but rapid development in the upstate especially along the I-85 corridor may eventually impact the sourwood crop, at least locally. Because sourwood is not considered a highly desirable landscape or shade tree, it is not usually available at most garden centers, which makes preserving wild stands of sourwood even more important. Sourwood trees are available at some of the larger nurseries in the southeast, so you may be able to order them online or get your garden center to order them. Perhaps your county horticulture extension agent could point you to garden centers that carry this unique and special tree.

 

 

Microbe wars, the battle between “good” and “evil” being waged inside the gut of a honey bee. Nope, I’m not talking about this summer’s blockbuster Marvel Comics movie. Researchers have determined a unique lineage of enterococcus bacteria that appears to have probiotic properties and inhibits Paenibacillus larvae, the causative agent of American Foul Brood.

Gyurova, A.,  A. Vladimirova, S. Peykov, M. Dimitrov, T. Strateva & S. G. Dimov (2021) Characterization of Enterococcus duransEDD2, a strain from beehives with inhibitory activity against Paenibacillus larvae,Journal of Apicultural Research, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1936915

 

One of the most thorough literature reviews I have read yet on Melissococcus plutonius, the causative agent of European Foul Brood.

Ponce de León-Door, A., Pérez-Ordóñez, G., Romo-Chacón, A., Rios-Velasco, C., Órnelas-Paz, J.,D.J., Zamudio-Flores, P., & Acosta-Muñiz, C.,H. (2020). Pathogenesis, epidemiology and variants of 0RW1S34RfeSDcfkexd09rT2melissococcus plutonius1RW1S34RfeSDcfkexd09rT2 (0RW1S34RfeSDcfkexd09rT2ex1RW1S34RfeSDcfkexd09rT2 white), the causal agent of european foulbrood. Journal of Apicultural Science, 64(2), 173-188. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.clemson.edu/10.2478/jas-2020-0030

 

Tooting, quacking, piping… what is she trying to say? Here is a good review of studies that investigated queen piping and the differences that occur between Apis mellifera and A. ceranae.

Yamamoto, T., Sugahara, M., Okada, R. et al. Differences between queen piping temporal structures of two honeybee species, Apis cerana and Apis mellifera. Apidologie 52, 524–534 (2021). https://doi-org.libproxy.clemson.edu/10.1007/s13592-021-00840-2

 

 

 

 

POLLINATOR WEEK!!! – June 21-27, 2021

https://www.pollinator.org

 

South Carolina Beekeepers Association Summer Meeting – 22-24 July. 2021 – REGISTER NOW!

SCBA Summer Conference 2021

Eastern Apiculture Society Annual Conference 11-13 Aug. 2021

https://www.easternapiculture.org

 

 

 

 

 

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

 

 

I need to keep this message short and sweet, well, because the nectar flow is underway as is programming for the Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program.

First of all, I need to announce that I have moved my base of operations. My office is now located at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center in Florence, SC. This is a good move for many reasons. Baruch (in Georgetown), where I was located, will be hiring new researchers and is feeling growing pains, so I volunteered to move to provide space for the incoming hires. Pee Dee REC is a more agriculturally focused research station which will provide CAPP with more opportunities to collaborate with peers working with cropping systems that rely on insect pollinators and with other entomologists. Juang Chong (JC), the extension horticultural entomologist, Francis Reay-Jones, our Integrated Pest Management Program coordinator, and Matt Smith, the coordinator of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program are all located there, and this move will facilitate more synergy among our programs. Also, there are plans to hire a vegetable entomologist and house that person at Pee Dee. I have already established a demonstration apiary there and have plans to install pollinator habitat research and demonstration plots at the facility. I also think that most of you (the beekeepers and pollinator conservationists) will find Florence to be a bit more accessible than Georgetown.

As for program updates, we have a number of things cooking at the moment. First, I will be conducting an in-service beekeeping training for Extension agents starting this month. This is a program that is long overdue and essential to the development of better beekeeping education programs statewide. Extension agents are phenomenal educators that work with a vast array of clients from homeowners to massive farming and forestry operations, from youth to retirees, and people working in almost every occupation and discipline. Improving the beekeeping knowledge of our agents builds capacity for our programs to reach beekeepers and the general public statewide to hopefully facilitate growing the beekeeping industry in SC and improve the general public’s awareness about the importance of beekeepers, honey bees, and pollinators in general. When I polled my colleagues about their interest in receiving apiculture training I was pleasantly surprised to receive a large response. This training involves 45 agents from across the state working in 4H, horticulture, agriculture, forestry/natural resources, and some administrative staff. This excites me as to the possibilities of growing and improving how we assist beekeepers statewide. For my military friends out there, I look at this program as being the first force multiplier in improving the effectiveness of the Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program.

We also just announced the first ever offering of a Basics of Entomology training for Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists. This seven-session training, which begins in June, will teach entomology fundamentals to the two groups of Extension volunteers that have the greatest impacts statewide. Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists serve as surrogates for Extension and log thousands of service hours every year as they conduct plant clinics at farmers markets, talks to garden clubs and civic groups, outdoor educational events, booths at fairs and festivals, and even some citizen science projects. By improving their understanding of insects and how to study and identify them, we hope to improve their ability to engage their communities in efforts such as pollinator conservation, proper pest control through integrated pest management, and appreciation for biodiversity and the ecosystem services insects provide. I knew that the training would be popular. Afterall, nothing is cooler than insects, but we were enthused when the training was filled in just hours after registration opened. Thankfully, we are already making plans to develop an ongoing entomology training program for both our Master Naturalists and Master Gardeners. Stay tuned if you are interested. We hope to expand the training beyond just the Master Gardener and Master Naturalist programs.

Last, we (Brad Cavin and I) are pleased to be able to assist the SC State Beekeepers Association with its return to in-person training at the summer conference in Charleston this July!!! We have been asked to set-up a bee yard at the conference to provide some hands-on field trainings as part of the conference agenda. We are working-out the details right now, but we look forward to providing opportunities for beekeepers at all experience levels to learn while in the bee yard. Some of the stations will feature Varroa mite biology and control, conducting inspections and reading frames, controlling small hive beetles, alternative hive systems, taking disease samples, queen rearing techniques, and more. The bee yard schedule will be posted with the conference agenda, so we hope everyone will come join us in the bee yard this July!

Kindest regards,
Ben Powell
Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program Coordinator

 

 

 

 

 

Well, as my generation might say, “It’s on like Donkey Kong!”

I can’t speak for everyone, but just about every beekeeper that I have talked to that has been at it for more than a few years has said the same thing. This year’s nectar flow has been one of the best we can remember. A mild, wet winter followed by a cool, dry spring with few interruptions by storms have created ideal conditions for nectar production and for honey bee foraging behavior.  Of course, many factors affect honey hoarding, so not every bee colony will experience the same amount of honey production. Forage availability, strength of colonies, weather, apiary conditions, pest and disease pressure, and other factors will affect the ability of a colony to store surplus honey, but statewide conditions have been favorable for a productive honey crop this spring. Let’s hope it continues.

Although most of us are busy checking for swarm cells and adding supers, now is the time to start thinking very seriously about pest control. I was grafting queens last week. While I had the brood frames on the stand I decided to check the capped drone cells that were in the lower corners of the frame. I like to do this to get a feel for the Varroa mite reproduction rates in my colonies. Drone brood tends to facilitate mite reproduction better than worker brood because the drone takes longer to develop, which allows for more time for the mites to reproduce while protected under the cell capping. Of the 20 drone cells I checked, 8 had active mites reproducing in them with an average of 4 nymphs and two adults per drone cell. I then counted the remainder of the capped drone cells on the frame which was 53. So, from the 73 drone cells on the frame, there were possibly 175 mites about to emerge when the drones chewed out of their cells in the next few days.

That was just from the drone cells. These frames were more than 90% in active brood (capped or uncapped), which means that every 21-30 days, these frames will be producing up to 6,500 new bees. Now the worker brood will not produce as many mites as drone brood, but even if it is 50% of what the drone is producing, that means that there is a potential for this frame to produce more than 3,000 mites in the next month based upon the 40% infestation rate I saw in the drones. The funny thing (or actually not so funny at all) is that these are considered hygienic bees. I tell you this because, now is the time to be thinking seriously about how to interrupt mite production in your colonies, which will peak over the next two months.

There are treatments that can be done to control mites during the nectar flow, but they all can cause adverse effects.  Formic acid is a viable option as long as the ambient air temperature remains below 84º F, but those days will be few and far between very soon. Oxalic acid has been released for use during the nectar flow, but it does not penetrate cappings and is likely to have little effect on mites unless treatments are applied in series over several weeks. The third option is Hopguard II which contains acids derived from hops. It, like oxalic acid, is most effective when there is little capped brood, but one advantage of Hopguard II is that it remains active for about a week after the strips are applied, which allows for more residual control. There is no temperature limit as with formic, and it is considered an organic treatment because it is derived from a plant. Of course, chemical treatments, either natural or synthetic, are only partially effective, so it is critical for beekeepers to consider other non-treatment control methods. In other words, I’m talking about cultural control methods that involve how we as beekeepers manage colonies. These non-treatment control methods include:

1. discarding or freezing drone brood, something that is aided by installing a frame of drone-sized foundation,
2. installing screened bottom boards, and
3. creating a brood break either by removing the queen for a week or making splits.

Now is also the time to be on the look-out for small hive beetles (SHB). While SHB are secondary invaders of declining bee colonies, severe pressure from infestations can actually cause an otherwise strong colony to decline and abscond. Soil temperatures are rising this month, spurring the emergence of SHB that pupated in the soil over the winter. These beetles will be attracted to strong colonies, especially ones with strong pollen stores and brood production, although there sometimes seems to be no rhyme or reason why one colony attracts large numbers of beetles while other colonies in the same apiary appear to have very few. The congregation of beetles is a factor of the volatile aromas given-off of the hive as well as aggregation pheromones produced by the beetles (Stuhl and Teal, pre-print 2020). Considering that pheromones may play a role in aggregating beetles, then the more beetles a hive has, the more likely it is to attract more. While strong colonies usually corral beetles and remove their larvae, there is a chance that a peripheral frame that is not well guarded could harbor developing larvae. The larvae exude a slime as they move and feed. If they are allowed to slime the comb, then the bees will avoid it, which then allows the beetles to further expand their ranks and spread. The trick to beetle control is to prevent larvae from fouling the comb. This can be done by tcontrolling adults with traps or catch pads, but more importantly preventing beetle larvae from sliming comb is about minimizing un-patrolled comb and about placing the hive in a dry sunny location that is less hospitable to the beetles. All too often I see bee hives placed in the shade on the assumption that cooler conditions will help the bees. Quite the contrary, placing hives in shady locations may be the single greatest contributing factor to exacerbating SHB infestations.

Last, I have received a number of calls this month from non-beekeepers or neighbors of beekeepers. I have had my ear chewed several times because honey bees are making it difficult for residents with livestock watering systems, swimming pools, bird baths, and even planters on porches because honey bees are visiting these water sources to collect water. To be good neighbors, we as beekeepers must acknowledge that we are keeping livestock and that those managed animals require water just like any other managed animal. This has been a very dry spring, and bees are searching for water. Many of the ditches and tree holes where they normally collect water have gone dry, so they may be concentrated on other available water sources. They typically will use the closest source available which will be in your neighbor’s yard if you do not provide a source in yours. Understand that most counties and cities have nuisance ordinances that allow the municipality to provide enforcement when the activities of one resident affect the quality of life of neighbors. Do due diligence and provide water for your bees on-site. A plant saucer or small plastic swimming pool with rocks or bricks in it is a great way to water your bees. If you have an air conditioning unit, consider putting the dish or pool under the condensation drip line to keep it supplied with water. There also are automatic water dispensers that you can hook to a hose which are triggered by a float. These should be available at most feed and livestock suppliers. Supplying water should not be difficult, but it is important for reducing conflicts with your neighbors.

 

 

 

The Honey Bee Health Coalition https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org

In the past I have referenced the Honey Bee Health Coalition for information about Varroa mite management and treatments, and it remains one of the best repositories for information about integrated management of Varroa. Did you know that the Coalition has so much more to offer than just Varroa control information?

Formed in 2014 in response to unprecedented honey bee colony losses, the Coalition is “a cross-sector effort to promote collaborative solutions to honey bee health challenges. The diverse Coalition brings together beekeepers, growers, researchers, government agencies, agribusinesses, conservation groups, manufacturers and brands, and other key partners dedicated to improve the health of honey bees and other pollinators. The Coalition’s mission is to collaboratively implement solutions that will help to achieve a healthy population of honey bees while also supporting healthy populations of native and managed pollinators in the context of productive agricultural systems and thriving ecosystems.”

While Varroa deservingly receives preeminent attention, the Coalition acknowledges that the health of honey bees and other pollinators is affected by many factors. The Coalition focusses its educational strategy on four fronts: 1) honey bee pests and diseases, 2) forages and nutrition, 3) pesticide exposure, and 4) hive management. Of course, the Coalition serves beekeepers by providing educational resources for factors beekeepers can influence such as Varroa control, colony management, and nutrition, but Coalition members also understand that growers and land managers are stakeholders in protecting pollinator health as well. The strategies used in several crop systems such as corn, soybeans, and canola affect pollinator health, especially the pest management activities in these crop systems, so the Coalition has developed best management practices to help beekeepers and growers collaborate. Because honey bees and other critical pollinators traverse the landscapes that are managed by people of varying interests and backgrounds, any effort to protect their health must engage audiences of every kind.

I hope you will visit the Honey Bee Health Coalition website, especially as you begin preparations for monitoring and controlling Varroa mites this summer. While you are there, take some time to peruse the other resources they provide. There are guides, articles and videos that are very useful for any beekeeper. For the bee clubs that are looking to provide training to members, the Coalition provides a presentation and pre-recorded video on Varroa biology and control. Perhaps this training will help your club begin an open and honest discussion about Varroa mite management.

 

 

 

Long live long leaf

I’m not sure how many of you have ever visited the Francis Marion National Forest, but, for those that have, you probably will recognize the longleaf pine savannahs that are the property’s claim to fame. Managed intensively with prescribed fire, these open forest systems are known to harbor some of the most diverse plant communities you can find anywhere in the world. More than 900 plant species are associated with this ecosystem, and some studies have found as many as 20 plant species in a single square meter of forest floor.

The longleaf pine system also harbors many of the most threatened and endangered species in South Carolina. Gopher tortoises, red-cockaded woodpeckers, and indigo snakes are a few of the critical animals that call the system home, and about 30 endangered plants are unique to the longleaf pine savannahs.

Why is this system so diverse? Well, it has to do with the frequency of disturbance. While there is some debate about the true origins of the longleaf ecosystem, whether it was an entirely natural system or it was heavily altered by thousands of years of human influence, it is well known that fire and large grazing animals are important factors in controlling the density of trees and allowing the understory to diversify. Naturally, lightning derived fire would burn unimpeded over tens of thousands of acres, and Native Americans would intentionally set fires for purposes of hunting and managing bison herds. These herds would devour and trample vegetation which further disturbed the soil, and, later, wild grazing of cattle by European settlers replaced the effects the bison once had.

Prior to European settlement, longleaf pine forests covered more than 90 million acres across the southeast, and there were longleaf pine trees large enough to rival the great redwoods out west. Excessive harvesting has since removed the longleaf giants, and the longleaf forest system was reduced to fewer than 2 million acres. Thanks to conservation efforts both in the public sector and among private landowners, this ecosystem is expanding and now covers about 3.5 million acres.

 

For beekeepers, this is an important system as well. Of course, the tremendous diversity of plants found in longleaf pine savannahs supports a diverse insect pollinator community, and many of the plant species that support native pollinators also support honey bees. An array of composites (sunflower family) such as Coreopsis and Solidago, legumes such as partridge pea, wild indigo and lespedeza, and numerous showy flowering plants like Liatris, orchids, and Eupatoriums can be found blooming throughout the year in these meadowland habitats. One plant in this system, which is rather inconspicuous but is of major importance to beekeepers is the gallberry or inkberry holly, Ilex glabra. This spindly little holly,

which is known mostly for its black berries, exists in vast fields where fire is common and soils are moist and sandy. Known as a prolific nectar producer, the gallberry produces large volumes of highly valuable honey towards the end of the spring nectar flow. If you venture to the longleaf pine stands of the coastal plain, you will find gallberries blooming this month.

While most of the managed longleaf savannahs occur on state or national land where access by beekeepers is limited, there are a number of private landowners that have invested heavily in re-establishing this ecosystem. Aided by the Longleaf Alliance, the Nature Conservancy and USDA cost-share programs, forest landowners are replacing loblolly pine forests with longleaf and are returning the disturbances that support plant diversity.This reversion is a benefit to honey bees and to pollinators and insect biodiversity in general.

 

 

 

Terminating old comb after 3 to 4 years has been recommended for a variety of reasons, especially for managing pests and diseases. As it turns out, keeping bees on old comb too long may also reduce the colony’s intrinsic ability to grow and survive. This study introduced bees to various ages of comb and tracked factors such as brood production, worker weight, worker survival, and performance and found that younger comb (less than 3 years old) supported more productive hives.

Mohammad Abd Al-Wahab Abd Al-Fattah, Yasser Yehia Ibrahim & Marwa Ibrahim Haggag (2021) Some biological aspects of honey bee colonies in relation to the age of beeswax combs, Journal of Apicultural Research, 60:3, 405-413, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1899657

 

Is the current maximum application rate (1g/brood chamber) for vaporizing hives with oxalic acid sufficient to achieve desired control? This study suggests it may not be statistically different from negative controls. Of course, 1g/brood chamber is the maximum label rate, so it is not advised for beekeepers to treat hives at rates above the legally allowed rate. Perhaps this study will get the EPA to review the label.

Cameron J. Jack, Edzard van Santen & James D. Ellis (2021) Determining the dose of oxalic acid applied via vaporization needed for the control of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) pest Varroa destructor, Journal of Apicultural Research, 60:3, 414-420, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1877447

 

A study of Amitraz (Apivar) and its metabolites in honey and beeswax suggest that it does not remain detectible beyond 42 days, which is quite different from other acaricides such as coumaphos and tau-fluvalinate whose residues may remain detectible for months or even years after treatment. Also, even dosing that is 5 or 10 times the current maximum allowable rate did not produce residues that exceed the established maximum residue limits. Again, it is not recommended for beekeepers to exceed the maximum label application rates.

Veeranan Chaimanee, Josephine Johnson & Jeffery S. Pettis (2021) Determination of amitraz and its metabolites residue in honey and beeswax after Apivar^® treatment in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies, Journal of Apicultural Research, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2021.1918943

 

 

 

Basics of Entomology – Master Gardener/Master Naturalist training – course is full. Were are developing an online course that should be available later this summer.

 

South Carolina Beekeepers Association Summer Meeting  – 22-24 July. 2021
https://scstatebeekeepers.com

 

Eastern Apiculture Society Annual Conference 11-13 Aug. 2021 https://www.easternapiculture.org

 

 

 

 

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

I feel like I am in the scene where Dorothy first opens the door to see the land of Oz in all its technicolor splendor. A golden ball is coursing the sky, the fields and forests are dappled with vivid colors, and little things are awake and zooming about me. AH, SPRING!

After what seems like ages of gloom and despair, trapped in a place I would normally call home, I see a glimmer of hope. COVID virus cases are declining in most SC counties, and nearly half have entered the “green” phase which has allowed Extension offices to begin reopening. Professors and agents alike are returning to their offices and trying to resume standard services, cautiously. Our return-to-work plan still requires modifications to our operations and limits public access, but at least we are moving in a positive direction. In January, administration instated a 90-day modified work directive which restricts in-person programming, and we remain in that operational mode. We are nearing the end of the period, at which time administration will re-evaluate our procedures. While the world around us appears to be emerging from the gloom, our operational plan remains cautious for the protection of our staff and clients. Hopefully, the trends will continue, and we will be able to resume traditional programming this summer. **Fingers crossed**

I am planning toward that end. I have submitted a request to conduct an in-service training to build beekeeping knowledge within the extension service. This training will commence in May, and I am hopeful we will be able to hold field days in June. Also in the works is a basic entomology training for Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists in May. It will still be virtual, but it will be the first step in building volunteers that can assist with the annual bee census and floral phenology systems that we hope to begin next year.

I am also excited to hear that the SC Beekeepers Association is working diligently to return to an in-person summer meeting in July. Let’s hope that planning for the meeting runs smoothly, and that the meeting will be a triumphant return to some sense of normalcy.

As with most of you, I have been busy in the bee yard. I have established a demonstration apiary at the Pee Dee Rec in Florence and checked on the apiary in Clemson which Dr. Hood is still tending. Both will be expanded this spring. I just completed queen mating nucs and am about ready to begin making increases. I’ll share the plans later in this edition.

I also have permission to establish pollinator habitats in several locations. These will be used for teaching and testing to help inform the installation and maintenance practices that are most successful for producing productive pollinator habitat. Installation of pollinator habitat takes time, and I hope to begin later this summer in preparation for the fall.

We also are developing a basic entomology course for Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists to help them learn about the amazing diversity of arthropods we have in South Carolina.

I am excited for what this spring and summer will bring.

Kindest regards,
Ben Powell
Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program Coordinator

 

 

 

 

 

“Finally!”

This winter was as wet and gloomy as any I can remember. Rivers across the state remained in flood stage through January and February, and the skies stayed overcast for most of the season. Add to it that most of us were largely bound to our homes as COVID cases spiked following the new year, and it was difficult to remain optimistic. I suspect that each of you was just like me when I heard that Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter… “Nooooo!”

Finally, spring is here, and there is no shortage of work to do in the bee yard. Of course, now is “go time” for honey bees, and hopefully the preparations you made last fall and through the winter have your colonies healthy and building. The most important pollen sources have begun blooming (such as willows, wild plum, dewberry/blackberry, etc.),

and I can report that coastal bees are packing pollen in as fast as they can, which means that brood production is at its peak. Most of the Clemson colonies are adding weight now too as nectar sources become more available this month. The spring nectar flow is now under way.

The rapid influx of food is the final trigger that leads to honey bee swarming behavior, and, according to reports by beekeepers all across the state, swarm season has begun. All of the Clemson hives have been filled rapidly with pollen in the last two weeks and new queen cups have been built, indicating the first preparations for swarming. If your intention is to delay or prevent swarming you should provide additional boxes/frames to allow for more space as the boxes are filled with brood

and food. Queens are filling cells with eggs rapidly, and large volumes of food are coming into the hives, two conditions that encourage queens to lay eggs in the queen cups. It is critical to monitor hives weekly for swarm cells. The honey producers in the audience may choose to destroy queen cells during weekly inspections to prevent the initiation of swarming while maintaining a large workforce that encourages nectar hoarding and greater honey production. If you opt to use queen excluders to prevent brood production in your honey supers, now is the time to install them.

For the beekeepers looking to grow their apiaries, conditions are now perfect for making increases. Remember, there are important reasons why bee colonies swarm and divide this time of year and why spring swarms are more successful than summer or fall swarms. As with most other organisms, bee colonies time reproduction for when food is readily available and easy to gather, so biologically speaking, bees are “in the mood” to increase their colony numbers. As you perform your inspections, you may consider removing frames with developing swarm cells or cutting out swarm cells to transfer them to finishing nucs, which not only controls swarming in the parent colony but also provides a method for developing new colonies similar to walk-away splits. Because swarm cells are formed under ideal conditions, queens born of swarm cells tend to be better fed and more vigorous than queens born of emergency or supercedure cells. Be careful with swarm cells if you intend to use them to raise new queens. Shaking, jarring, or simply laying them on their sides can roll or dislodge the developing queen larva, effectively killing it by drowning it in royal jelly. Swarm cells or the frames they are on should be handled carefully and upright to prevent damage to the developing queen larvae. They also need to remain warm. If your intent is to make increases this year, then there are a number of publications that I have found to be helpful. “Increase Essentials, 2^nd Edition (Connor 2006)” provides a thorough and stepwise approach to explaining how to increase the number of colonies. Although it is geared more specifically to raising queen honey bees, “Rearing Queen Honey Bees, 2^nd Edition (Morse 1994)” gives a comprehensive discussion of the bees’ natural methods for colony reproduction and techniques beekeepers can use to enhance queen production. Both books are very informative for beekeepers seeking to grow their apiaries, which, in my opinion, should be every beekeeper because if you are not growing, then you likely are not overcoming losses due to pests and diseases. Mated queens will become more available this month and next, so if you are planning to split with purchased queens, now is the time to place your orders.

For the larger scale beekeepers in the crowd, now is an excellent time to begin grafting queens or initiating whichever alternate queen rearing method you prefer (Miller, Alley, Nicot, etc.). There are large volumes of capped brood and freshly emerged nurse bees for creating your starter colony(ies), and 1^st day larvae should be abundant. You also can assess the success of the overwintered colonies at this time and select from productive lineages. I often refer back to Dr. Morse’s “Rearing Queen Honey Bees, 2^nd Edition” as an excellent publication for learning grafting and other queen rearing techniques. For anyone looking to learn grafting, Penn State provides a nice fact sheet (https://extension.psu.edu/queen-cell-production-grafting-and-graft-free-methods) which provides a quick overview of the subject and links to other resources, one of which is an article for Bee Culture that Dr. Grozinger (PSU) wrote about a method for making grafting faster and easier for beginning grafters. This method requires plastic foundation, and basically involves cutting away the walls of the comb cells to expose the 1^st day larvae laying in the depression of the plastic foundation. You can read more about this method here (https://www.beeculture.com/grafting/). Please don’t think that I am saying this is the best method, but perhaps this method will help folks learn to graft by making the larvae easier to see and access. One thing I learned about this method – it is much easier to apply to freshly drawn comb than to older brood comb. Once bees have constructed a cocoon in the cell, it is much more difficult to cut the cell walls away without rolling or damaging the larvae.

One critical component of raising queens is to have enough nucs to use for mating the freshly emerged queens. I endeavored to design mating nucs for this year, but quickly got sticker shock when I went to purchase wood. If you haven’t been to the hardware store recently, you need to know that wood has skyrocketed in price. Plywood is sporting a price tag that is nearly three times what it was this time last year. This got me rethinking my design, so I am beginning an experiment. I developed a design using 3/8” plywood, which allows me to construct 6 three-frame mating nucs from a single 4’ x 8’ sheet. In case you are interested, here are the specifications.

Each nuc is constructed with…

• 2 ends (5 ½” x 9 ¾”)
• 2 top/bottom (20” x 5 ½”)
• 2 sides (19 ¼” x 9 ¾”)
• 2 rails (1 ¾” x 4 ¾”)
• Top end caps (2 ½” x 5 ½”)
• Scrap for raised top feeder (5 ½” x 5 ½

The ends, bottom and sides are glued (wood glue) and stapled (1/4” x 1 ¼” crown staples) flush to the edges. The rails are glued and stapled inside the ends at 5/8” from the top of the end. The lid is made by gluing and stapling the end caps to the ends of the top, allowing for 3/8” overhang above the top. If you have scraps, it helps to glue the scrap pieces to the center of the top to raise the feeder so that it fits snuggly into the top. Drill a 1” hole for an entrance in one end and a 2 ¾” hole in the top for the feeder. Paint the entire outside of the nuc and top. Do not paint underside of top or inside of nuc. Also, do not use pressure treated wood. If this design works, I will produce a more formal publication later. I am concerned that the thin plywood will warp in the humidity and not seal well, but that remains to be determined. One advantage to this design is that two pieces of plywood can be cut at the same time, allowing for quick preparation for 12 mating nucs.

 

Otherwise, now is a time of plenty, and I hope that you can enjoy being outside with your bees.

 

Chinese Tallow: Boon or Bane?

There has been much buzz about the Chinese tallow tree (Triadica sebifera) in the beekeeping community recently because of a USDA program that is investigating insects that may be released to control it. It has become such a stir that the American Honey Producers Association has developed a petition for beekeepers to sign in an attempt to halt the USDA’s program.

An exotic tree from southeast Asia, the Chinese tallow has naturalized and spread across the southeastern states and is especially common in the gulf states (TX, LA, MS, AL, FL). Also known as the Popcorn tree because it produces a fleshy white coating over its developing seeds, this tree was introduced to the colonial south in an attempt to develop a seed oil industry. The fatty seed coating was used by Asian cultures to produce soaps and candles, but the industry never took-off in the US, although the plant most definitely made itself at home.

 

Beekeepers have long valued the tallow as an important nectar plant that flowers in late spring when the nectar flow is winding down. A prolific nectar producer, the Chinese tallow attracts many species of native pollinators and honey bees. Its nectar produces a highly valued monocultural honey, and it provides a much-needed source of nutrition at a time when many commercial beekeepers are splitting colonies, raising queens, and recovering from migrating to pollination contracts. It has been rumored that beekeepers played a significant role in establishing Chinese tallow in Texas and beyond.

 

 

 

Tallow has a dark side, though. It is rated as a tier one invasive plant, with the likes of kudzu, hydrilla, and Chinese privet. As with all top tier invasive plants it is capable of reproducing itself at alarming rates and displacing native species. Chinese tallow is a type-r adapted plant which is characterized as having a fast growth rate, compact size, and high fecundity (reproductive success), which are all adaptations for thriving in unstable or frequently disturbed ecosystems. Each mature tree (approx. 20 years old) produces up to 100,000 seeds annually, and the seeds remain viable for up to seven years. Tallow thrives where forests are disturbed and uses its adaptations to out-compete native trees and understory plants. In forestry operations, germinating tallow greatly impedes reforestation after thinnings and harvests. It also dominates areas where forests have been destroyed by wildfire and wind storms. For example, while tallow is common across much of Louisiana, it was often a background tree in established forests. It occurred as an understory tree along with hornbeam and American holly. When Hurricane Katrina decimated forests in eastern LA, it released the seed bank that tallow had built over many years. Once released the tallow became the dominant tree over thousands of acres of forest land, and its density (stems per acre) is so great that the diversity of native plants was decreased dramatically and recruitment of native trees back into the disturbed area was stopped or delayed (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305824534_Delayed_tree_mortality_and_Chinese_tallow_Triadica_sebifera_population_explosion_in_a_Louisiana_bottomland_hardwood_forest_following_Hurricane_Katrina). This characteristic can make its invasiveness deceiving. It can occur for long periods in mixed forests with seemingly benign affects, but disturbance of the established overstory allows this tree to demonstrate its sinister traits.

Due to its invasiveness, most states where it exists have control programs, South Carolina included. Florida has one of the most comprehensive management plans (https://www.fleppc.org/Manage_Plans/Tallow_Plan.pdf). These management plans usually address control of this plant in the horticulture industry, forestry operations, and on public lands such as state and federal lands, all in an attempt to limit its expansion. Many plans identify herbicides and mechanical control measures, but these methods are expensive, difficult to implement at large scales, and temporary at best. In an attempt to achieve widespread suppression and reduce control costs, various researchers and the USDA have explored developing biological control programs to slow the expansion of Chinese tallow.

Two insects, a flea beetle (Bikasha collaris) and a moth (Gadirtha fusca), have passed testing in quarantine to determine that they control tallow and that they feed specifically on tallow and not on native plants. The flea beetle attacks both the roots and leaves of Chinese tallow, and the moth attacks leaves. In laboratory settings, these insects reduce growth of tallow. Now the USDA is considering releasing these insects to aid in suppressing Chinese tallow across the entire range in the US.

I have been called by several beekeepers in SC asking my thoughts on this program and the control of Chinese tallow, especially the proposal to release these two biological control insects, so I thought I should share my response with the whole beekeeping community. While Chinese tallow is not as prolific in SC as in the other southern states, it has definitely demonstrated its invasiveness in isolated areas (https://www.srs.fs.fed.us/pubs/ja/2017/ja_2017_walker_001.pdf)

In SC it is limited to the coastal plain, and it has really only a dominant tree in isolated parts of the lowcountry (lower third of the state around the ACE Basin). In that part of the state, it is used by migratory and resident beekeepers as an important nectar source and honey producing plant. Although I don’t have exact numbers, it is safe to say that hundreds, possibly a few thousand hives are moved into the lowcountry each May-June to capture the tallow flow. While tallow is not as prolific in SC as our neighbors to the west, I fear that we are one major hurricane away from seeing a rapid and widespread expansion of this invasive tree.

Will the release of biological control insects decimate the populations of tallow in SC? Well, that remains to be determined, but I suggest we look at other biological control programs for insight. Biological control programs almost never eliminate the target species. If you think about it, that makes sense, because if these insects completely remove their only host plant, then they will not survive. In most cases, biological control agents only slow the expansion of the target species and do very little to eliminate targets that are already established. A good example to illustrate this would be the waterhyacinth weevils I investigated for my master’s degree research. These weevils, like the tallow flea beetle feed both on the leaves as adults and on the roots and stems as larvae. They were released long ago and are present in almost every single raft of waterhyacinth plants present in SC, yet they provide minimal control, and the state still has to spray herbicides to prevent waterhyacinth from clogging rivers and lakes. One other piece of evidence is that the tallow leaf roller (Caloptilia triadicae), a caterpillar that feeds specifically on the leaves of chinese tallow, was unknowingly introduced from Asia in 2013. It has spread but does not appear to have any significant impact on tallow expansion.

Should beekeepers be in support of tallow control efforts? While tallow is helpful for migratory honey producers and resident beekeepers, expansion of tallow and displacement of other forage plants could create nutritional problems for bees. Many of the plants that tallow displaces are also critical sources of honey bee nutrition, and it is well established that honey bees are generalists and need a variety of food sources to remain healthy and productive. Trees such as red maples, black willows, American hollies, and gallberries are some of the critical forage plants that compete directly with tallow, and these plants provide nutrition over a long period of time starting in January and running through June.Tallow also overshadows understory plants that provide critical summertime nutrition. I am concerned that proliferation of tallow will result in reducing diversity of season-long forages and replace them with a species that provides nutrition for only a few weeks.

If the biological control program for tallow progresses the same way other biological control programs have, then perhaps it will allow for the best scenario: slowing but not eliminating tallow in the landscape while preserving floral biodiversity by reducing tallow’s competitive edge over native plants.

 

Dig-dug, its time for mining bees

I have received several calls this week about honey bees coming out of the ground. Of course, that claim is cause for investigation, because honey bees do not normally nest underground. Thankfully, all of the calls have turned out to be mining bees!

It is easy to see how folks might confuse mining bees with honey bees. Most mining bees we see this time of year are about the same size as honey bees, they both are fuzzy with golden setae, and both seem driven to work as hard as possible, taking very little time to rest long enough to get a good look at them. That, however, is where the similarities stop.

Mining bees are actually not just a single species but are a whole family of native bees. In the southeast there are a couple hundred species representing at least five genera, but the greatest diversity occurs in the arid southwest, which makes sense for an insect that prefers to nest in ground with little vegetative cover. Each species has its own preferred nest site conditions and forage plants. About half of the species (Andreninae) are generalists (oligolectic), feeding on a large number of plant species in multiple families. The other half (Panurginae) are specialists on plants from just a single genus or just a few closely related species. For this reason, mining bees are not distributed evenly across the landscape. The activity of specialist species is closely tied to the bloom period of their host plants. You will not find mining bees everywhere, but when you find them, you often find lots of them working vigorously.

Mining bees are solitary bees, which means that each individual female takes care of all of the daily tasks. She digs the burrow and nuptial chambers, collects the larval food, and lays the egg. She does not tend to the larvae, rather she provisions enough bee bread (pollen and nectar) for the larva to eat through its entire development. Once enough food is provided, she caps the chamber then moves on to create another nuptial chamber. Although all mining bees are solitary, some species display communal behavior. They will aggregate together in the same area for nesting and even use the same burrow entrances as other mining bees. Still, they construct separate nuptial chambers and do not divide tasks like social bees do.

People who encounter active mining bees often are alarmed at the large numbers of bees in the area. They even describe the activity as “swarming,” but close examination will show that the bees stay relatively low to the ground and never come together as a cluster. They also are not defensive, and people describe walking through active mining bees without being stung. Typically, defensive behavior near the nesting site is reserved to social bees and wasps, and solitary bees rarely sting unless they are injured or trapped.

As with many native bees, mining bees suffer severely from land disturbances. Tillage of farm fields, development and impervious surfaces, soil compaction, turf insecticides, flooding and drought, and elimination of their host plants all contribute to restricting where they can survive. The fact that each species has particular requirements for its nest sites makes conservation projects exceedingly difficult. The best I can recommend is that if you find a site where mining bees are active, inform the property owner that they are not a threat and protect the site from disturbance, because there may not be many other suitable nest sites in the area. Also, maintain plant diversity, especially native plants to which the bees have adapted, is critical for conserving pollinator diversity, especially for specialist bees such as the panurgine mining bees.

 

 

 

Have you ever thought of producing “powdered” honey? Perhaps it will provide a unique market, but processing might alter the quality of the final product.

Mauricio Donders, Belen Labra, Jorge Chávez, Jorge Tapia-Merino & Orlando Muñoz (2021) Spray-Dried Honey Powder as a Sweetener: Sensory Characterization, Bee World, DOI: 10.1080/0005772X.2021.1892998

 

An investigation into the influence brood ester pheromone has on colony structure determined that it plays a significant role in acceptance of new queens and the rate of supersedure.

David R. Tarpy, Eric Talley & Bradley N. Metz (2021) Influence of brood pheromone on honey bee colony establishment and queen replacement, Journal of Apicultural Research, 60:2, 220-228, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2020.1867336

 

It has been determined that multiple factors have contributed to declines of wild honey bee colonies both in their native range and outside of it. Some investigations have observed that feral colonies in the US do not survive more than a few seasons. A study of wild colonies in Ireland has determined that native colonies of Apis mellifera mellifera are widely established in the region and that they are genetically distinct from domesticated stocks of honey bees, which consist mostly of hybridized subspecies. This shows promise that wild bees can overcome challenges and remain distinct from domesticated stocks.

Keith A. Browne, Jack Hassett, Michael Geary, Elizabeth Moore, Dora Henriques, Gabriele Soland-Reckeweg, Roberto Ferrari, Eoin Mac Loughlin, Elizabeth O’Brien, Saoirse O’Driscoll, Philip Young, M. Alice Pinto & Grace P McCormack (2021) Investigation of free-living honey bee colonies in Ireland, Journal of Apicultural Research,60:2, 229-240, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2020.1837530

 

 

 

Master Beekeeping Program Testing at various locations around the state – April 2021
https://scstatebeekeepers.com/announcing-2021-certified-level-classes/

 

South Carolina Beekeepers Association Summer Meeting  – 22-24 July. 2021
Save the date!!! More details TBA

 

Eastern Apiculture Society Annual Conference 11-13 Aug. 2021 https://www.easternapiculture.org

 

 

 

 

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! WELCOME TO 2021!

A lot has changed, and even more hasn’t.

Who would have thought that we would be entering our twelfth month of modified programming and restrictions on in-person trainings? Yet, here we are, entering February and the dark cloud of COVID-19 still looms. Many of the conversations I have had with beekeepers over the holidays have been about the growing frustration with our current situation. Trust me when I say that I want to return to more traditional trainings and extension style programs. I believe that everyone learns better when they can interact directly with teachers, and teachers teach better when they can sense the needs and intentions of their students. So much can be shared and learned in the interstitial moments between lectures when time spent around the coffee pot leads to open and free discussion, and this is a form of education that virtual programming will never be able to duplicate. I also am a firm believer that hands-on education is critical to gaining confidence and comfort when working in and around bees.

I also urge beekeepers to remain patient and considerate of the impacts this virus is having on people. As I write this, I am putting on a tie to attend the funeral of a friend and fellow church member whose teenage daughters were in the youth group a helped lead. At just over 50 years old and without any underlying medical conditions, he succumbed to COVID-19 over the weekend. He is a well-respected member of our community and has served on the school board for many years. His passing is an immediate reminder that this virus is affecting all of us in different ways, some more dramatically than others. We will return to more traditional extension trainings as soon as we are allowed to do so, and I am making preparations for re-instating those trainings. That being said, Extension Administration has placed a three-month continuance on the current modified operating procedures in response to rising COVID-19 cases statewide and to allow time for the vaccine roll-out.  It will be summertime before we can assess our situation and revisit plans for in-person trainings.  Hopefully, the demonstration apiaries that I will be installing in Florence and Georgetown this spring will be accessible later this summer.

Beekeeper education marches on despite the modified operations. As mentioned, I am installing apiaries at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center which is one of Clemson’s premier agricultural research facilities. I also will be moving many of my personal hives to the Baruch Institute for Coastal Ecology and Forest Science at Hobcaw Barony in Georgetown where I can observe the effects of keeping bees at the immediate coast and compare the impacts of agricultural versus forested land uses on colonies. I also have plans to install pollinator habitat test plots this season at both Pee Dee REC and Baruch.

I have had the pleasure of speaking with several local associations recently and have plans to virtually visit several more over the next few months. An open invitation stands for any clubs or associations looking for a speaker.  I can host a virtual meeting, or I can stream-in live if you have an internet connection and A/V equipment at your meeting place. I continue to work with the SC Master Beekeeping Program to assess needs and plan future trainings. The great news is that we are aware that several clubs have proceeded with beginner courses which are already underway or soon to begin. If you are seeking a beginner course, please check the SC MBP website (https://scstatebeekeepers.com/master-beekeeper-program/) for a list of locations.

The Spring meeting of the South Carolina Beekeepers Association is set for launch, but it will be virtual this year. Mark your calendars for February 27^th, and visit the Association’s website to register. (https://scstatebeekeepers.com) Clemson is proud to help sponsor and facilitate the meeting by providing technical support and hosting the virtual meeting for the Association this year. The agenda features a number of excellent speakers including Dr. David Tarpy of NC State University, Dr. Jeff Harris of Mississippi State University, Dr. Juang Chong of Clemson University, David MacFawn and yours truly. I am excited to be returning to the state association meeting format, and I am sure that anyone willing to try this virtual meeting will be more than pleased with it (even if it doesn’t allow us a lot of time to mull around the coffee pots). Please consider joining the state association and attending this meeting. You will not be disappointed!

Last, let me extend a huge THANK YOU to all of you subscribed to this newsletter and supporting the Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program. This first year of the program has proved to be extremely challenging with the advent of the pandemic. Your encouragement through this process has been very helpful. Cheers to 2021! I look forward to seeing you at future trainings.

Kindest regards,
Ben Powell
Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program Coordinator

 

 

 

 

Do I have to go out?

Brrr! My 80 lb Labrador (Pepper) was sitting at the back door in her customary fashion to tell me that she needed to “powder her nose,” so I obliged and opened the door for her.  She took one step and stopped, raised her head, and gave me a look that said “I don’t want to go out there; it’s too cold and wet.”  I encouraged her on, so she quickly trotted to the edge of the patio, took one step into the grass, and did her business.  She then ran quickly back into house. I must say that I don’t blame her.  It was about 20 degrees F that night.

We are in the depths of winter now. Honey bees are hemmed-up in their hives, clustered tightly most nights, and they typically only emerge to take cleansing flights. Days with temperatures exceeding 55 degrees F are few and far between and conditions have been mostly overcast or rainy, so very little foraging is occurring. On those rare days that temperatures rise to allow for extended flight, some foraging will occur, but it is typically limited to finding water and pollen. This means that colonies are living almost entirely off of the provisions they have stored in their combs. This makes for a tenuous situation because strong colonies also will be increasing their workforce rapidly this month and next, which means more mouths to feed and more heat to generate.  The amount of stored honey declines as the number of bees increases and the prospect of starvation becomes ever more pressing as we enter February and peaks in March. While there may not be much for a beekeeper to do in the hives this month, it is important to be checking the weight of each colony to determine the consumption of stored honey. Although borrowed from the UK, the following graph posted by Arnia Remote Hive Monitoring gives a general indication of hive weight change entering March here in South Carolina. Notice the decline in weight in the weeks leading up to the spring nectar flow when the colony begins adding weight due to incoming nectar.

Another interesting point to make about this graph is that a brief decline in weight occurs following a rain event on March 24^th even though the nectar flow begins around March 18^th.

Arnia Remote Hive Monitoring https://www.arnia.co.uk/monitoring-early-season-bee-activity-and-the-first-nectar-flow/

Many of you may harken back to the spring of 2020 when South Carolina experienced two tropical storms in May that created a period of two weeks of rainy overcast conditions statewide that interrupted the spring nectar flow. The effect it had on last year’s honey harvest was significant. Such conditions can seal the fate of a colony that is on the brink of starvation. That is why now is an important time to ensure that your bees have adequate honey or sugar feed and pollen to persist until the nectar flow begins, which in the lower half of the state typically commences by the end of March and in the upstate begins in April.

If you choose to feed this time of year, it is best to consider dry sugar feeds or fondant. Even 2:1 sugar syrup requires drying and can increase moisture levels in the hive and increase metabolic demand needed for drying. Another option is to buy or make pollen patties which can supply both the sugar and pollen needed to sustain bees this time of year. Our colleagues over at Carolina Honey Bees have a succinct article that provides insights into making and feeding pollen patties this time of year. Check it out here https://carolinahoneybees.com/pollen-patties-for-bees/. Please remember, no endorsement is intended by the mention of vendors or products named in the article.

A few pollen sources will be available this month, most of which are winter annuals such as henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) which has a distinctly pink pollen and dandelions (Taraxacum spp.) with their vibrant yellow pollen. You also may notice the red maples (Acer rubrum) blooming this month and bees bringing in a pale brown or khaki-colored pollen. Often times we miss the red maple bloom because the flowers are so small and inconspicuous, and we don’t notice them until the bright red seed pods begin to form, turning the trees red while most other trees remain dormant. Once we progress into March, many more forages will begin to bloom.

Now is the time to be making your swarm preparations, whether they be building and placing swarm traps or taking preventative measures to discourage swarming. Strong colonies coming through the winter will be increasing brood production and space will become limited as the brood area grows. Towards the end of February, brood production will accelerate and will likely fill the top box in two box hives. Switching the empty lower box with the filled upper box will provide more space for brood production and storage above the brood area. For single box hives or hives where both boxes are being filled, it will be important to begin adding supers this month. When doing this be careful not to separate the brood area from food stores. Honey and pollen need to be immediately available to the cluster, especially on cold nights when the cluster remains tight around the brood area. Most days in February will be too cold to enter hives, but if daytime temperatures rise into the 60s, then you may want to lift boxes and check for swarm cells along the bottom edge of the frames. For more details on swarms and their prevention, take a look at the University of Florida’s fact sheet.

 

 

Keeping honey bees in developed areas

According to the most recent census, South Carolina is the 6^th fastest growing state in the nation based on population, and most of us can attest to that fact. Areas such as Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Florence, and Myrtle Beach have experienced a significant increase in development and population growth over the last couple decades. Add COVID-19 and a tenuous political climate in many large cities, and the rate at which people are moving to South Carolina has accelerated dramatically. South Carolina currently is home to more than 5 million residents, up more than 500,000 from the 2010 census, which is an 11.3% population increase, a much faster growth rate than the 8.5% increase originally projected (US Census Bureau).

The massive influx of people is changing the landscape. Areas that were rural farm and forestland are being converted to housing developments, and almost every county in the state is experiencing growth (figure 3). This is creating land use challenges for county and municipal governments as they seek methods to manage this growth. Some land uses are in conflict with each other such as residential and industrial land uses or agricultural and urban land uses. For this reason, most counties and municipalities develop zoning ordinances, which establish a system for the local government to control where certain land uses occur in order to minimize conflicts and organize infrastructure. Only a few counties in South Carolina are without zoning ordinances at this point, and a few of these are in the process of developing them.

Zoning ordinances are interesting things. Essentially, they provide a method for the local government to organize what goes where in their jurisdiction. Without them, development proceeds without organization, and the result could be that a paper plant gets constructed upwind of a historically residential neighborhood or a confined animal feed lot opens-up next to outdoor restaurants. To provide organization, zoning ordinances establish categories for the various types of privately-owned parcels. These categories usually include designations for forest and agricultural land, variously sized residential properties, commercial lots, industrial spaces and municipal facilities often with various subcategories for each parcel type. The ordinance goes further to describe what land uses are permitted or prohibited in each category. For example, forest and agriculture lots are the least restricted and allow the property to be used for a wide range of uses. Residential zones have more restrictions to limit nuisance conditions that affect property values and quality of life, such as activities that are noisy, smelly, potential health threats, contribute to traffic or require special infrastructure. Commercial and industrial zones have the most restrictions because of the impacts on traffic, living conditions, and infrastructure needs.

Zoning ordinances are not static, and the planning process is on-going. They allow for constant amendment and updating to adapt to changing needs of the community. In most cases, the zoning ordinance establishes a planning department which is a municipal division that manages permitting and enforcement. The ordinance also establishes a planning commission which is a panel of community members and elected officials which review rezoning requests and provide recommendations to the city or county council for amendments to the ordinance which may either tighten or loosen restrictions in a particular category. In some cases, the planning commission is a cooperative among two or more municipalities such as a county, a township and/or a city with overlapping interests. Anyone that is interested in understanding the zoning process and how planning and zoning ordinances are developed in South Carolina should review the Guide to Land Use Planning for South Carolina developed by the SC Association of Counties. It is the document local governments use when developing and implementing zoning ordinances.

While the instatement of a zoning ordinance may seem to be a method for a local government to increase restrictions on residents, a case can also be made that a well-developed and implemented zoning ordinance can preserve the character of a community and the activities it traditionally values by codifying certain activities. Hilton Head is a good example because they used their ordinances to keep trees and set commercial business back to maintain the “natural forested” character of the island. Likewise, Charleston has instated strict ordinances in downtown to maintain the historic nature of the city. Still other communities value their agricultural heritage and have ordinances to preserve those activities in or near town.

Urban agriculture is receiving renewed interest in cities worldwide. Over recent decades there has developed growing interest in bringing agriculture back into urban settings, especially in large cities where the average citizen has very little direct contact with the practice of agriculture or the producers of their food and fiber. Years of restrictive zoning ordinances have slowly pushed agriculture out of residential and urban communities. As a result, many urban communities have lost their character and identity, and city residents are unaware of how their food is grown or processed. Constituents are seeking ways to reconnect people with the land and the growers who work it, so cities and counties across the nation are rewriting current zoning ordinances to allow for some agricultural practices in residential and urban zones, including apiculture, which is a largely agreeable practice with limited off-site impacts.

So where does beekeeping fall in the zoning ordinance discussion? Well, apiculture is definitely an agricultural land use, and it most closely resembles livestock uses because honey bees are animals kept in a managed enclosure for the production of food. As with any livestock operation there are potential off-site impacts. With livestock operations there are smells, noises, pest insects, and run-off issues that can affect neighboring properties, so typically livestock uses are prohibited in residential and commercial zones. While beekeeping is a livestock activity, the offsite impacts of beekeeping are not nearly as severe. Of course, there is the potential for a neighbor to be stung, but this potential also exists from a variety of wild insects such as wasps, yellowjackets, and ants that frequent residential yards. The big concern with honey bees is the potential for the colony to be disturbed which elicits a defense response that results in multiple stings to a neighbor or their pet. For this reason, beekeeping is often prohibited in residential zones with some allowances for larger lots that allow sufficient distance from the neighbor to buffer from a defensive colony.

Because the offsite impacts of honey bees are not as severe as other livestock and the pollination they provide is beneficial to residential gardens and ornamental landscapes, many communities choose to allow beekeeping in residential zones with specific parameters to minimize the potential for conflicts between neighbors. The municipalities that have developed honey bee ordinances usually 1) restrict the number colonies that can be kept on small residential lots, 2) define setbacks or placement to allow for enough distance between neighbors, 3) require fencing or some form of barrier that separates the colony from neighbors and forces bees to fly above human pathways, and 4) require water to be provided on-site to discourage bees from visiting the neighbors’ pools or bird baths. Each community approaches this differently, ranging from complete prohibition of honey bees in residential zones to almost complete allowance of the practice, but most communities fall somewhere in between the two, usually placing restrictions on beekeeping activities especially on smaller lot sizes.

The question then is, “How can beekeepers work with planning officials to preserve beekeeping in as many areas as feasible?” Having worked with officials and municipal staff on a variety of projects, I can tell you the first and most important thing is to begin your conversation with mutual respect and understanding. Planning officials are bombarded with requests from their entire constituency, each person having their own personal interests in mind. Planning staff and commission have the daunting task of balancing conflicting interests for the mutual benefit of the entire community, often with limited knowledge of the activities in question. Next, it is best to inform planning staff and elected officials of how beekeeping is “of mutual benefit to the entire community” and that any perceived problems are 1) minimal and 2) manageable. It is good to provide model ordinances adopted by other communities to allow beekeeping in more heavily developed areas. Several state beekeeping associations have developed model ordinances, of which Ohio and Pennsylvania come to mind, and several cities have adopted apiculture language into their ordinances including New York City and Boston. It is also important to know that zoning ordinances always contain language to allow for exceptions. There are typically special use permits or exemptions that can be issued to a property regardless of its zone. These special use permits allow for land uses not explicitly allowed in the zoning ordinance, which provides officials some flexibility on a case-by-case scenario. This is often how they “grandfather-in” existing activities that otherwise would be prohibited when zoning changes, and this is how some urban agricultural operations have moved back into developed areas. Last, it is important for local and state beekeepers associations to show municipalities that beekeepers take care of their own. Adopting urban beekeeping “best practices,” providing beekeeper trainings and certification, developing mentoring/apprenticeship programs and following state laws pertaining to honey bees are all critical for showing the municipality in good faith that professional development and self-policing are part of the local beekeeper culture. Poor beekeeping practices by a single beekeeper can harm other bee colonies in the area, and local associations are in place to help improve communication among and training for beekeepers in the area. This is a system of cooperation and professional development that few other agricultural practices have developed.

Last and something we as beekeepers often don’t want to admit, sometimes it is not best for the bees to keep them in our own backyards. Have you thought about what forages are available to bees in dense residential and urban settings? How much “dumpster diving” will your bees be doing? What toxins, pathogens, pesticides are distributed across urban landscapes? How many other bee colonies are nearby creating competition or pest pressure on your bees? What about the potential for theft or vandalism? Sure, backyard beekeeping is convenient and saves time and gas money, but is it best for the bees? As your community develops and increases in density, perhaps the best thing for the bees is to move them to a more suitable location for their needs. Finding rural landowners willing to allow you to keep bees on their properties can be difficult, but they do exist. Many counties have farmer or landowner associations with members that may be open to allowing you to keep bees on their land. Perhaps joining the landowner association will help you develop contacts. Also, most counties have foresters or forestry firms that are managing large tracts of forest and farmland. You also can consult with your county’s USDA and Clemson Extension offices to link-up with growers or landowners, and you might find a grower in need of pollination services. There are also the civic clubs like Kiwanis and Rotary which have members that own rural land. Giving a presentation on beekeeping may help you develop a mutually beneficial relationship with a rural landowner. Also, engaging schools and youth groups like Future Farmers of America, 4H, and Boy/Girl Scouts will help you develop landowner relationships. Another idea is to do something like the Charleston Community Bee Gardens, a place like a community garden where city dwellers can collectively keep bees.

The good news about development in SC is that the expanding urban-rural interface provides an opportunity to introduce people to the importance of agriculture especially the practice of keeping bees and pollinator conservation. Of course, development strains natural resources, and unmanaged growth can cause long term problems both for the developing community and the natural resources that define it. While zoning and planning seams to be an imposing force, try to imagine what your community will look like in 20 years without it. In the planning process, silence is perceived as approval, and this is why beekeepers and other agricultural producers should remain engaged and not simply retreat as cities expand.

 

 

Monarchs, an American Icon

Its name means “the lone ruler,” and it is as recognizable to most Americans as just about any other insect species. The Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, has large brightly colored wings that make it easy to spot, and it is a keystone for biological sciences. Most people that grow up in the U.S. are introduced to it in school as an example of insect metamorphosis, mimicry, ecology and evolution. It is widespread, calling southern Canada and the contiguous 48 states its home, and it migrates each year over vast distances south to the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico and to Southern California. This migratory nature makes it unique among insects and highly visible throughout the nation. While the U.S. has not designated a national insect, I would argue that no insect is more deserving of such a distinction as the Monarch butterfly.

The future of Monarchs is in question. As with other native pollinators, the abundance and distribution of monarchs has declined over several decades. MonarchWatch.org reports significant declines in the number of butterflies overwintering in Mexico, and the Xerces Society reports an even more dramatic decline of western Monarchs overwintering in California. The most startling report came this past winter when the Xerces Annual Thanksgiving Monarch Count reported fewer than 2,000 monarchs overwintering in their normal wintering grounds in southern California, a dramatic 99.9% decline from the original population counts back in the 1980s. It is suspected that the western monarch population is on the brink of collapse.

   

The alarming decline of Monarchs has served as a catalyst for a number of conservation efforts. Local programs in California, state and federal agency programs, and several conservation organizations are working to restore habitat for these iconic insects. A simple internet search turns up a wealth of information for anyone interested in preserving this species. People can get involved with monitoring programs, milkweed restoration projects, and other community initiatives to create and preserve the habitat this species needs to thrive. Both the Xerces Society and the Pollinator Partnership have developed guides and programs for citizens to use in their monarch conservation efforts. Also, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and non-governmental groups such as the Monarch Joint Venture offer a wealth of information and ways to get involved at every level from in your own backyard to your community or national projects such as the MonarchWatch tagging program. I would love to discuss what citizens can do to help Monarchs, but I have limited space here, and most of that is covered in better detail by the various conservation programs I’ve listed. I strongly urge everyone reading this letter to visit these sites and learn about the plight of the Monarch. Of course, anyone that is looking for information about what we can do in South Carolina to help Monarchs is encouraged to contact me or any of our capable extension horticulture agents across the state.

Last year, the USFWS was asked to review Monarchs for listing as an endangered species. In December 2020 they denied that request stating that the eastern populations, while declining, are not yet close to collapse, but USFWS stated it will continue to monitor the population trends and may reconsider in the future. While this may seem disconcerting to the various conservation programs that have been advocating for more protections, it shows that the agency acknowledges the situation and is paying attention. Personally, I think the federal government should consider adopting the Monarch as the national insect just as it did with the Bald Eagle. This would instate protections regardless of its population trends and hopefully would preserve this iconic species for generations to come.

There is some possible good news for Monarchs. Although the general population trend is in decline, the lowest overwintering numbers for the eastern monarchs occurred in 2014-2015. Since then there have been slight increases in the population counts, but it is too early to say with statistical confidence that the population is rebounding. At least anecdotally, the attention Monarchs have received and the conservation efforts underway may have changed the downward trajectory. Only time will tell.

 

 

 

There has been a lot of concern internationally about the adulteration of honey with inferior sugars and the effects it has on honey quality and markets, but are you aware that adulteration of beeswax also occurs? Any beekeeper that has rendered and processed beeswax understands the value of beeswax in its raw form and the amount of effort required to make it marketable, so adulteration of beeswax has the potential to undermine the value of true pure beeswax. Researchers in Prague, Czech Republic, developed a method using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify beeswax that has been adulterated with paraffin with very high confidence. They also looked at chemical changes that occur in beeswax during the repeated heating and cooling cycles typical for rendering and purifying beeswax and determined that the process does not reduce quality of beeswax.

Alexandra Špaldoňová, Martina Havelcová, Ladislav Lapčák, Vladimír Machovič & Dalibor Titěra (2021) Analysis of beeswax adulteration with paraffin using GC/MS, FTIR-ATR and Raman spectroscopy, Journal of Apicultural Research, 60:1, 73-83, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2020.1774152

 

There are limited options for controlling American Foulbrood and European Foulbrood. Korean researchers investigated several naturally derived compounds derived from common plants in east Asia to determine their antimicrobial activity on Paenibacillus larvae (AFB) and Melissococcus plutonius (EFB) and discovered four compounds that produced promising results. These compounds have not been tested around honey bees, but they might serve as novel, naturally-derived treatments for foulbroods.

Sangchul Park, JaeGoo Kim, Yu-Kyong Shin & Ki-Young Kim (2021) Antimicrobial activity of 4-hydroxyderricin, sophoraflavanone G, acetylshikonin, and kurarinone against the bee pathogenic bacteria Paenibacillus larvaeand Melissococcus plutonius, Journal of Apicultural Research, 60:1, 118-122, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2020.1746018

 

It is generally accepted that providing protein feeds helps with worker development in honey bees, but is more protein better? Brazilian investigators tested feeds with varying protein contents and measured the development of mandibular glands in worker honey bees. Through regression, they determined that feeds with higher protein content did not result in maximum development of mandibular glands, rather that 22.5% crude protein is ideal for maximum mandibular gland development.

Marcelo P Camilli, Daniel C B de Barros, Luis A Justulin, Marcos L P Tse & Ricardo de Oliveira Orsi (2021) Protein feed stimulates the development of mandibular glands of honey bees (Apis mellifera), Journal of Apicultural Research, 60:1, 165-171, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2020.1778922

 

 

 

South Carolina Beekeepers Association Spring Meeting (Virtual) – 27 Feb. 2021 – REGISTER NOW!
https://scstatebeekeepers.com/2021-scba-virtual-spring-conference/

 

Eastern Apiculture Society Annual Conference 11-13 Aug. 2021 https://www.easternapiculture.org

 

The Wild World of Bees – lecture series on native bees hosted by Oregon State Extension https://extension.oregonstate.edu/bee-atlas/wild-world-bees

 

 

 

 

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Clemson’s Apiculture and Pollinator Program is steadily moving forward, even while uncertainty looms. South Carolina has slowly moved towards reopening, and citizens are growing tired of virus restrictions. Meanwhile, the Corona virus that has altered our way of life for the last eight months lingers and has been resurging in recent weeks. Conversations about further restrictions make the future uncertain, so planning traditional trainings at least through the spring of next year has become tenuous at best.

Clemson University is underway with fall classes, albeit mostly virtually, and I have had the pleasure of teaching students in both horticulture and biological sciences about apiculture and pollinator conservation. Many of the students expressed interest in a field day in the spring where they can learn more about keeping honey bees, so perhaps we will draw some new recruits into the ranks. We have a tentative plan to hold field days in the Clemson apiary next spring.

I had the great pleasure of working with the SC Master Beekeeper Program committee to offer a virtual Journeyman Prep Course in October. It involved many late nights, but we feel it was a resounding success considering the limitations on offering the traditional in-person style trainings to which we have grown accustomed. Sixty-three students registered for the program, many of which are undergoing journeyman testing in the upcoming weeks. We hope that this program laid the foundation for a new cohort of advanced beekeepers to help the whole of South Carolina’s beekeepers move the trade and industry forward.  Good luck to all of beekeepers that are testing.  We appreciate your desire to develop yourselves professionally and be the leaders for our next generation of beekeepers!

It has been eight months of working remotely, and I am longing to return to the normal social activities and in-person programs that make Extension work so rewarding.  Engaging new people, finding ways to help them, sharing knowledge and building relationships are the hallmark components of a successful cooperative extension program, yet these seemingly simple tasks become exponentially more difficult during an epidemic. I have taken time to reflect on the apiculture program and its focus, and one striking observation keeps jumping up and down demanding attention. “It takes a village!” I cannot overemphasize how important our local, state and regional beekeeper associations are to the advancement of apiculture and the protection of pollinators, which by its very practice involves the overall protection of productive ecosystems, to which we are intangibly linked. Kudos to the beekeepers associations that have found creative ways to stay linked together and continue meeting during this time of uncertainty. We need cooperative groups of beekeepers to build the future of apiculture in South Carolina, and we all should show tremendous appreciation for the men and women that volunteer their time to serve their fellow beekeepers in leadership roles locally, at the state level, and regionally.

The South Carolina Beekeepers Association has been meeting regularly to discuss and plan for the future. At the top of the list are planning for the spring and summer meetings in 2021 and updating the bylaws. The shift to virtual meetings because of virus restrictions and public building closures has made doing the business of the Association difficult, and bylaw revisions are needed to allow the executive board to maintain operations. State association members should reach out to your district director and club representatives to learn more about proposed changes. Information about your representatives is housed at the SCBA website https://scstatebeekeepers.com/about/. Also, planning for next year’s meetings is underway. The venues have not yet been chosen because it has been difficult to find locations that are large enough to accommodate the membership while maintaining social distancing plus provide the other amenities needed. The search is narrowing, and the Association expects to announce the meetings in the near future.

The Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program has been steadily delivering public education. I made another appearance on Making It Grow to discuss what pollinators do in the Winter and the importance of nesting habitat to their survival.  We’ve built a few more presentations and have been presenting them to garden clubs and local beekeeper associations. We have several more fact sheets in the works, and the website will have more content added soon.  Also, stay tuned to Florida’s Two Bees in a Podcast where yours truly was interviewed recently and discussed the controversial topic of pesticides and honey bees. Last, the pollinator focus group met recently to catch-up and discuss planning programs for the near future.  We will be adding content to the pollinator conservation side of the website, planning spring field days, and compiling the resources and procedures we already have in place for pollinator protections in South Carolina.  The spring should be blooming with new pollinator information from our program.  Stay tuned!

Kindest regards,
Ben Powell
Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Program Coordinator

 

 

 

 

“You’re hot, then your cold.  You’re yes, then you’re no.  You’re in, then you’re out.  You’re up, then you’re down.”  Listening to those lyrics, you might think the Katy Perry must have experience as a South Carolina beekeeper in November.

November is THE major transition month in South Carolina.  Days of summer-like warmth can be punctuated abruptly by cold fronts, and our first intense frosts usually occur this month.  The bees have been preparing for this all season long, taking advantage of food resources and packing them away for the lean months of winter.  There are still some floral resources available, but the surpluses of the growing season are gone.  Bees will take advantage of warm spells in November to forage, but they are usually not bringing in more than they are consuming at this point.  For this reason, it is critical for beekeepers to check food stores.  There are three lean months ahead of us, and the food they have stocked away now will be what they use to survive the winter and build-up before next spring’s nectar flow.  We usually have a few warm spells left this month, which affords the beekeeper some final opportunities to inspect colonies and to feed those that may be a little light on stores.

In South Carolina, honey bee queens tend to continue laying eggs all the way through the winter, but November and December are the months with the lowest brood rearing rate.  Pollen consumption is low, but sugar/honey consumption remains high because the workers consume honey to generate the heat needed to maintain the brood temperature. For this reason it may make sense to feed colonies a 2:1 sugar syrup that can both be consumed and stored for future use. As winter deepens, a solid sugar feed such as fondant or candy will be more suitable.

It is time to help the bees maintain warmth inside the hive. For those of you that use screened bottom boards, now is the time to insert the solid bottom partitions, sometimes called the “IPM boards.” It also is best to reduce entrances.  If weather remains relatively warm, the wider opening (second stage) of reducers can be used, but after the first deep frosts, it is wise to flip reducers to the smallest opening (first stage) to help keep-out pests such as mice and minimize drafts through the hive. The hive still needs to be able to vent moisture, so do not close top vents.  If you do, you will begin to notice mildew developing on the inner cover.

It is very important to avoid disturbing the brood chamber at this time.  Bees will begin forming a loose cluster below 60 Fº to maintain warmth in the brood area.  Although foragers may be observed coming and going, the house bees are hard at work maintaining the 93-95 Fº needed for rearing the brood.  Disturbing them creates stress and increases metabolic costs. To inspect if the hive needs to be fed, beekeepers can check the weight of the hive or can pop the cover to check for food reserves, but it is not advised to enter the brood chamber at this time unless daytime temperatures exceed 65 Fº.

Now is the time to begin spring preparations.  If you plan to make increases, you should be placing your orders for woodenware and bees now.  Perhaps you plan to build swarm traps. Now is the time to draw plans and begin building them.  I plan to graft and rear about 30 queens next spring, so I will be building mating nucs this winter. I will share the designs in next month’s newsletter.

 

Bringing Life to Solar Farms (and Other Industrial Sites)

Under the authority of the Solar Habitat Act, which was signed into law by Governor Henry McMaster in 2018, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), with support from stakeholders including other state agencies, nonprofit conservation organizations, utilities and solar developers, established Technical Guidance for the Development of Wildlife and Pollinator Habitat at Solar Farms. Working with Clemson Cooperative Extension, Clemson’s Department of Fertilizer Regulation and Certification Services and Audubon South Carolina, the SCDNR has developed the S.C. Certified Solar Habitat Program.

Although renewable energy development is positive progress towards environmentally-friendly energy production, the increase in solar generation means the expansion of a land use on South Carolina’s landscape that competes with the needs of natural resources. Solar farms can adversely affect valuable natural resources if they are not properly planned and constructed. Through the newly developed S.C. Certified Solar Habitat Program, solar developers have an opportunity to provide increased benefits to the state’s natural resources by siting and developing their solar sites wisely and managing them to create habitat suitable for a wide variety of wildlife. The guidance developed provides for the planning, establishment and management of pollinator-friendly habitat at solar sites in South Carolina.

Spurred from an initiative by Audubon South Carolina with the support of SCDNR, the South Carolina Solar Habitat Act (S.C. Code of Laws §50-4-10) provides a voluntary framework to encourage owners of ground-mounted commercial solar energy generation sites to follow voluntary site management practices that provide native perennial vegetation and foraging habitats beneficial to gamebirds, songbirds and pollinators and reduce stormwater runoff and erosion at the solar generation site.

A self-paced online training is now available for landowners, solar developers, utilities, county planners, zoning administrators and others who are interested in solar habitat development. The online training and all the information regarding the S.C. Solar Habitat Program may be found online at www.dnr.sc.gov/solar.

Solar sites are not the only industrial sites where pollinator habitat can be created.  Grounds around industrial facilities, buffer zones and utility rights-of-way such as power and gas lines provide suitable sites for installing pollinator habitat. Many states are developing guidance for planting pollinator friendly landscapes at these types of sites. To assist this effort, the Pollinator Partnership has created regional planting guides that offer lists of plants that are ecoregion specific. For South Carolina, there is a guide for mixed forests of the southeast and another for the outer coastal plain.  These and many more pollinator habitat publications can be found at https://www.pollinator.org/guides.

 

 

Well, Dustin Johnson finally earned his first green jacket for winning The Masters golf tournament! (I must admit.  I am partial because I grew up in Augusta, GA, and now I live where Dustin grew up near Myrtle Beach). But, this really isn’t the season of the green jacket. It’s the season of the yellowjackets!

Whether you are an avid entomologist or just a casual observer, it is nearly impossible to overlook the presence of yellowjackets in the fall. They patrol trash cans at fairgrounds and schoolyards, they cruise our gardens, and they have the gall to invade our tailgate parties with utter disregard for our fear of being stung. Yellowjackets seem driven to invade our lives each fall.

Yellowjackets (Vespula spp.) are social wasps that actually have two common species in the southeastern US, the southern yellowjacket (V. squamosa) and the eastern yellowjacket (V. maculifrons).  The two species can be differentiated by color patterns, but they essentially have the same biology.  Yellowjackets are mainly ground-nesting wasps that construct papier-mâche combs for rearing larvae. Occasionally, they will select a nest site in a cavity above ground, but they tend to be attracted to abandoned rodent burrows or hollow stumps.  This is why people sometimes call them “ground hornets” or “ground wasps.”  They build their comb by chewing bits of bark and wood from dead trees and mix it with saliva to form a paper paste, and they use the paste to form a series of horizontal brood combs surrounded by an elliptical envelope. Although usually well hidden below ground, a yellowjacket nest looks much like the familiar baldfaced hornet nest, a football-sized nest often found hanging from tree branches this time of year.

No discussion of yellowjackets is complete without also including the baldfaced hornets (Dolichovespula maculata). The name, baldfaced hornet, is an unfortunate misnomer for this insect, because it is not a hornet at all.  It actually is a yellowjacket that constructs its nest exposed on tree branches rather than in the ground. Behaviorally and anatomically, the baldfaced hornet is more similar to yellowjackets than to true hornets (Vespa spp.). Early settlers called it a hornet because its nest resembled the nest built by European hornets (Vespa crabro) which were common in their European countries of origin, but baldfaced hornets and their closest kin, the yellowjackets, are much smaller than true hornets.

Most of the social wasps, such as yellowjackets and paper wasps, share a similar life cycle.  The colony grows through the summer, reaching maximum size in the fall of the year, at which point they produce numerous queens.  These queens disperse to mate and find winter hiding places; meanwhile, the parent colony dies.  In the spring of the year, the queens will become active and find new locations to start new colonies.  At first, the queen builds the initial nest, lays eggs, collects insects to feed her larvae, and tends to the brood.  She begins producing daughters which will serve as workers that later will take-over the nest construction and foraging duties, leaving the queen to focus on laying eggs and tending to brood.  By late summer, the colony begins to increase in size rapidly and produces drones (males).  As the colony enters fall, it reaches peak size with the maximum number of workers.  This is why yellowjackets, as well as red wasps and hornets, seem to be most common this time of year.  These stinging insects also are most defensive of their colonies this time of year.  Recently, researchers have observed the southern yellowjacket (Vespula squamosa) actually establishing perennial colonies that maintain workers and laying queens through the winter months. There is some concern that perennial yellowjacket colonies will increase in number in a warming climate which will increase their prevalence in the spring.

Yellowjackets can be problematic.  Of course, they can sting and will defend their nest if it is disturbed. They do not normally sting while foraging, but many of us have experienced the unfortunate sting on the lip when drinking from a soda can that was left unguarded at a picnic or tailgate party. They also will invade weak honeybee colonies, attracted to the smell of honey and the lure of potentially unguarded honey bee brood. Thankfully, strong honey bee colonies with reduced hive entrances have little problem defending against marauding yellowjackets.

Several traps have been developed to catch foraging yellowjackets. These usually require a meat or sugar-based lure.  Traps rarely provide adequate control of yellowjackets, especially in the fall when large numbers of workers are actively foraging. Trapping in the spring can target queens as they are just starting their new colonies and can reduce potential problems that may develop later in the year.  In the fall, the only truly effective way of controlling yellowjackets is to locate and eradicate the nest. Because yellowjackets may forage over a very wide area, locating nests can be difficult and may not control pest yellowjackets that are coming from natural areas or neighboring properties.

While having a large colony of stinging insects in the home landscape can be disconcerting, yellowjackets do provide several services and are worth protecting if they do not pose an immediate threat to people or pets. Yellowjackets can pollinate flowers, although they are not nearly as efficient as bees. Yellowjackets are predators that target soft bodied larvae of other insects, such as caterpillars and beetle larvae, which can be pests of yards and gardens. Yellowjackets are scavengers that will consume the flesh of dead animal carcasses, (which explains why they flock to my fish cleaning station) helping to recycle nutrients, and they are eaten by several wild animals, especially insectivorous birds.

 

 

 

Polymerase Chain Reaction tests are not just for diagnosing COVID-19 in humans. Mexican researchers developed a method for identifying Nosema sporidians in honey bees, and the tests are precise enough to distinguish Nosema apis from N. ceranae. In a survey of bees in northern Mexico, Nosema was found in the vast majority of colonies tested, and most of them were infected with N. apis rather than N. ceranae. 

Sergio Arturo Cueto González, Gilberto López Valencia, Carolina Orozco Cabrera, Sergio Daniel Gómez Gómez, Kattya Moreno Torres, Kelvin Orlando Espinoza Blandón, José Guadalupe Guerrero Velázquez, Laura Elena Silva Paz, Enrique Trasviña Muñoz & Francisco Javier Monge Navarro (2020) Prevalence and geographical distribution of Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae in apiaries of Northwest Mexico using a duplex real-time PCR with melting-curve analysis, Journal of Apicultural Research, 59:2, 195-203, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2019.1676999

From abating allergies to dressing wounds, beekeepers have long touted the medical benefits and uses of honey. Compared to most naturally derived animal products, honey is exceptionally safe for use and consumption in its natural state, but it can contain impurities and foreign objects that can degrade its use in medical treatments. Researchers have now defined standards for honey to be used for medical purposes to ensure standardization of quality.

Renée Hermanns, Cristina Mateescu, Andreas Thrasyvoulou, Chrysoula Tananaki, Frank A.D.T.G. Wagener & Niels A.J. Cremers (2020) Defining the standards for medical grade honey, Journal of Apicultural Research,59:2, 125-135, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2019.1693713

Essential oils from plants are secondary metabolites that plants produce either to deter pests or attract beneficial organisms.  Some oils are known to have insecticidal/acaricidal properties.  Researchers investigated 11 common essential oils for their effects on Varroa mites and honey bees, and they found that Rosewood, Fennel, and, to a lesser degree, mint seem to be are effective on mites and pose minimal risks to honey bees.  This has implications for possible use in mite treatments.

Zheguang Lin, Xiaoling Su, Shuai Wang, Ting Ji, Fu-Liang Hu & Huo-Qing Zheng (2020) Fumigant toxicity of eleven Chinese herbal essential oils against an ectoparasitic mite (Varroa destructor) of the honey bee (Apis mellifera), Journal of Apicultural Research, 59:2, 204-210, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2019.1688493

 

 

 

SC Master Beekeeper Program testing, four locations – Nov. 14 – Dec 12, 2020
https://scstatebeekeepers.com/mbp-fall-testing-opportunities/

Spring Meeting of the South Carolina Beekeepers Association – 26,27 Feb, 2021
Location to be announced

 

 

 

 

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.