from the April 2007 American Bee Journal

Recently, I was able to attend and participate in the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists (CAPA), the Canadian Honey Producers (CHP) and the Canadian Honey Council (CHC) meetings in Langley, BC, Canada. These groups, meeting separately and together, were some of the best beekeeping meetings that I have been privileged to attend. Canadian beekeepers have similar pests, predators, diseases and marketing, import, export and perception challenges. They struggle like us with ignorance by the public and strangely with agriculture about the value of honey bees as honey producers and pollinators. The meetings I attended were very well organized. CAPA is a leader in apiculture research. The provincial apiarists are well respected as regulatory agents and extension leaders. CHC is reinventing itself and is working very hard to make Canadian honey an asked-for No. 1 product. The CHP works well with its members to increase the stability of the industry. This was a very inclusive meeting. Nobody is left out and everyone has a voice. Very refreshing. We in the US have no lock on honey bee research, marketing or organization and probably can learn from these groups. Canadians keep honey bees for the same reasons we do. They do it, except on the West Coast, in a much harsher environment. Siberia of North America in the interior of Canada is not an exaggeration. In this Siberia they have learned how to overwinter and produce queens that lead colonies to produce 200-300 pound averages of high quality, export valuable honey. Go to www.honeycouncil.ca and see what they are doing in Canada.

Q Toxic Honey... “Say It Ain’t So!”

Jerry, please review the comments about bees making toxic honey. I have seen articles about Carolina Jessamine being toxic to bees and they try to avoid the flowers. What do you know about “toxic honey” from Jessamine?

Michael Shreves

Carolina or Yellow Jessamine can be toxic to honey bees. Many times, if the colony is foraging on a limited number of these flowers, some may die and the beekeeper may never even notice it. If there are large numbers of these flowers to forage on, the noticeable and significant colony impact may be noted. This is generally not a big problem for us because there is no vast acreage of this plant.

Summer Titi is another plant that produces toxic nectar and pollen in Florida. There is more acreage of this plant and its toxic qualities results in a condition called purple brood. This brood is killed from the nurse bees feeding them food produced from its nectar and pollen. If there is surplus nectar and pollen (bee bread) stored, the bees will continue to use this as a colony resource and you may see more bee mortality for weeks or even months. Moving colonies out of these areas is the only method to respond to this problem.

Other plants that honey bees forage on that produce a toxic nectar and or pollen are, Mountain Laurel (Kalmia), Tansy Ragwort, Egyptian Henbane, Rhododendrons, and some other plants in Europe and Asia that we do not have to worry about.

Honey bees are the ones generally affected by the toxic nectar and pollen. It is certainly possible under the right conditions that a surplus of honey could be stored from one of these sources. Because there is not extensive planting of these toxic plants, the chance of getting pure honey from these sources is slim. In fact, there have been no reported cases of “toxic honey” in the United States in 25 years or so that I know about.

Here are a couple of interesting things in this talk of toxic plants. There are two examples of toxic plant products that may be familiar to you. The toxic phytohaemagglutinin is found in red kidney beans. Cooking red kidney beans lowers the level of this toxin significantly. Eating kidney beans raw or uncooked can give you an upset stomach and if in high amounts, could kill you. Did you know that apple seeds have a chemical in them called amygdalin, which degrades into Hydrogen Cyanide? The apple seed covering is so thick, and you would have to eat and chew up so many apple seeds that this isn’t a big problem. Now you know what took out Sleeping Beauty.

All of this said to make the point that our world is filled with natural and man-made toxins. Most of us are adapted to handle these in the small amounts that nature offers. Some hypersensitive individuals are at risk, but the general population is okay.

Q A Less Painful Way?

Hi Jerry, I have about 40 colonies that I started taking down to almonds. I am thinking about growing into a bona fide sideliner, but I have always come home from the valley with a few problems. Last year was my first case of American foulbrood. I have read with interest about autoclave treatment and radiation treatment to sterilize empty colonies of harmful spores. I was thinking about using the no medication method used in other countries to treat my AFB colonies (shaking the colony onto completely new equipment and destroying the infected equipment without losing the whole colony). What about sterilization of the recently vacated hives instead of burning? I use all medium boxes with screened bottoms and plastic frames, so burning would cause its own set of problems with smoke and other waste. Recent articles in the ABJ have led me to believe that AFB spores are very plentiful in the environment, so I was wondering about sterilization of all used equipment before hiving new colonies. How would I locate a radiation facility close by? How much would it cost? I should think this would have the potential of saving the bee industry a lot of money, while at the same time reducing the use of mediation and improving the hive environment for our “girls”. Thanks, I always value your answers in the Classroom.

Boyd Taylor

Alturas, CA

Boyd, I wish you the very best in your goal of growing your “bee” business. An autoclave will not work to sterilize honeycomb because it melts the wax under high temperature and pressure. That won’t work. We burn colonies in Florida for the control of AFB as it is the ultimate cure from a regulatory standpoint. But, we are having some beekeepers use a radiation facility that is used primarily to irradiate fruits and vegetables to extend shelf life. It uses gamma radiation and the managers of the facility have calculated the mass and density of a pallet of boxes, frames and combs to apply the correct dosage. They are charging in the range of $4.00 to $6.00 per box per pallet, depending on quantity of pallets to sterilize this equipment. Some beekeepers have been using this procedure even when they do not have any identified diseases to “clean up” their equipment from viruses, molds, fungus, even chemical residues. I have seen bees installed on what was old black icky comb after irradiation. It still looked old, black and icky, but the bees just jumped on the comb and the colony exploded and looked wonderful. And, no disease! Locating a commercial irradiation facility in your area may be problematical and the facility may not be ready or willing to accommodate beekeeping equipment. This is something you will have to investigate by checking with your state apiarist and extension office. If you live close to a large city or university, there may be an irradiation facility near you.

In pollination situations with other colonies around bees will drift from colony to colony, even if they are not right next to each other. This drifting allows pests and diseases to be spread all around. Because of this disease spread between and among colonies, your colonies can still get AFB, EFB, Varroa, Tracheal mites, PMS, Chalkbrood, and everything else. But, they will not break down as quickly if the disease load is nonexistent in sterilized equipment. Just remember that irradiation is no guarantee, but it sure seems to help.

The USDA Lab in Logan Utah, under the leadership of Dr. Rosalind James, has produced some preliminary data that using various concentrations of ozone to sterilize comb in a similar fashion as some vegetable crop packers use it to lengthen storage life of their product works well. Stay tuned on this one as it looks promising and may be more readily available than irradiation facilities.

Q Infants and Honey, Granulation and Swarming Revisited

Three questions, please. 1. Is it true that honey should not be fed to human infants? If so, why not? 2. What is the change that is brought about in honey by heating? In other words, why does honey not granulate after it has been heated? 3. The official word seems to be that when swarming occurs, it is the old queen that leaves the hive with the swarm. However, I keep running into references saying that, to the contrary, it is a new queen who takes off with the swarm. I found an example of this most recently in the novel, McKay’s Bees, by Thomas McMahon, a book that seems otherwise very well grounded in bee science. So, is it an uncontested fact that it is the old queen that leaves? Thanks much for your entertaining and informative column in the American Bee Journal. When each issue of the magazine arrives, it is your column that I turn to first.

Carl Krumhardt

Carl, 1. Folks go down this road once every few years. (For a good fact sheet on this subject done by the National Honey Board go to: http://www.honey.com/downloads/infantbotulism.pdf) Years ago there was tragic incident that involved a baby, who was constipated, and the mother fed the baby honey as a folk remedy for relieving this problem in the infant. Constipation in an adult or a baby means that there is fecal material lodged in the intestines in an anaerobic (nonoxygen) situation. Only certain bacteria thrive in a condition lacking oxygen. Many times these bacteria produce toxins (poisons) as their by-product of living off the fecal material in a constipation situation. One of the most dangerous of these organisms that lives without oxygen is Clostridium botulinum that causes botulism. The term botulism comes from the Latin for ‘sausage’ that was the cause of this food poisoning and potential death many years ago. The botulism bacteria forms an almost indestructible life stage called a spore when its food runs out or it comes in contact with oxygen.

These spores are almost everywhere. Most adults have developed some degree of immunity to low levels of the botulinum spores in their environment and the bacteria that can emerge from them under the right conditions of no oxygen/anaerobic. These spores are everywhere, as I stated, such as the doorknob you just touched, handshakes, pop can, just about any surface including fruits, vegetables, etc. They are very common in outdoor situations where food products have been exposed to dust. Because honey is an unprocessed agricultural product, botulinum spores can sometimes be found in it, just as they sometimes can be found in other unpasteurized agricultural products.

Babies, who do not have an immunity to botulism, and who are constipated because they are eating imperfect foods and not mother’s milk, can be in jeopardy, not only from honey, but from any other non-baby approved foods. Honey has never been directly implicated in some of these cases, but there is strong anecdotal evidence that it and other non-baby foods be restricted until approximately one year of age. In fact, I just read of a warning about feeding babies fermented soy products like tofu because of the same potential problem.

2. Heat destroys many of the enzymes honey bees add to nectar to make it honey, as well as neutralizing some of the aromatic oils that give fresh honey its wonderful floral scent. It can also darken the color of your honey or even give it an off flavor if temperatures are too high for long periods of time. However, heat also melts minute sugar crystals that hasten the general crystal-forming behavior of some honeys that have particular sugar ratios. That is why many commercially sold liquid honeys have been heated to some degree to retard crystallization and/or reduce moisture levels in the honey. However, most pure honeys will eventually crystallize since crystallization is the stable condition of a super-saturated solution like honey. If crystallization of your honey is a big problem and you do not want to heat your product, you might want to try producing creamed (finely crystallized) honey.

3. Nothing is ever sure in honey bees. They are survivors and anything goes in a survival situation. The older, original queen, stops laying, slims down and generally leaves with the first swarm. But, and there is always a but, if she can’t leave because of clipped or damaged wings, many times this will not stop swarming. Ultimately multiple virgins will be produced and a “queen” will leave with the swarm. Life finds a way.

Q Very Carefully?

Just how does one mark a queen? I hived my first swarm (and first bees) this past spring. They’re doing fine here in the San Francisco area -- I pulled 30 pounds of honey off of them in late summer and they still have quite a bit left. I can see the queen when I go through the hive, but I have to look. So, does one mark a queen with a paintbrush with a dab of acrylic paint, or superglue on a dot (Heaven forbid)? I am looking forward to your answer. I read the classroom every time I get a new ABJ.

Stefani Leto

A marked queen is more easily seen in a large colony. But, if you are finding her now, maybe you are doing better than you think. Marking a queen properly is sometimes tricky and it can result in the workers rejecting her at times. All that said, if you still want to try this, check out your bee supply catalog or go to the hobby section of your local mega store and get a bottle of Testors model paint. The queen paint markers sold by many bee supply companies are much easier to use than a small bottle of paint. Yellow is the color for 2007. A small paintbrush or stick to dab a bit of paint on is needed. And, one must know that the target is the thorax, which is the round, black structure behind the head and in front of the abdomen. If you get the paint on her head/eyes, you have a problem, as she is probably now blind. Or, if you slop some paint on her abdomen/wings, you may have a problem because the workers may “decide” she is now defective and supersede her. Put a small but significant dab of paint on her thorax, give it a minute or so to thoroughly dry and then release her back into the hive. You should pull the paint stick or brush through a small hole in the paint lid, so that excess paint on the sides has been removed. We haven't talked about how to pick her up or pin her down with a queen-marking device, so I'll let you research that yourself : ).

Q Lost As A Bee?

Jerry, enjoy your intelligent views. What effect does Imidacloprid soil insecticide have on bees? Is the insecticide banned in 17 countries?

HO in California

According to studies in France, it affects the honey bee's short-term memory. They leave the hive and can't remember how to get home--not a good thing for honey bees! That is why two countries that I know of, Italy and Spain, have banned it. Research is not conclusive, however, on what effects, if any, this systemic soil-applied insecticide has on honey bees that might ingest minute amounts of it from the nectar and pollen they gather. Researchers have theorized that Imidaclopril could be a reason for some of the recent U.S. Colony Collapse Disorder. I wonder what it does to humans who eat the food with it in it? Who did you say you were? I can’t remember:).

Q Where To Start

Hello Jerry, I am a beginner beekeeper with a question in mind. All the discussion about Russian bees doing well with mites and cold weather is interesting. Would this be a good choice for starting out some hives? Thanks for your time.

Dan Chambers

Dan, I think using IPM (Integrated Pest Management) with chemically reduced beekeeping as a goal is the way to go. Using a “hygienic” queen is part of this multi-technique strategy. Couple this with screened bottom boards, powdered sugar varroa control, drone trapping and, of course, sample, sample, sample for mites. Learning a good IPM strategy is an excellent way to start your beekeeping experience.


	The Classroom by Jerry Hayes Please send your questions to Jerry Hayes, 17505 NW Hwy 335, Williston, FL 32696 Email: gwhayes54@yahoo.com

		from the April 2007 American Bee Journal Recently, I was able to attend and participate in the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists (CAPA), the Canadian Honey Producers (CHP) and the Canadian Honey Council (CHC) meetings in Langley, BC, Canada. These groups, meeting separately and together, were some of the best beekeeping meetings that I have been privileged to attend. Canadian beekeepers have similar pests, predators, diseases and marketing, import, export and perception challenges. They struggle like us with ignorance by the public and strangely with agriculture about the value of honey bees as honey producers and pollinators. The meetings I attended were very well organized. CAPA is a leader in apiculture research. The provincial apiarists are well respected as regulatory agents and extension leaders. CHC is reinventing itself and is working very hard to make Canadian honey an asked-for No. 1 product. The CHP works well with its members to increase the stability of the industry. This was a very inclusive meeting. Nobody is left out and everyone has a voice. Very refreshing. We in the US have no lock on honey bee research, marketing or organization and probably can learn from these groups. Canadians keep honey bees for the same reasons we do. They do it, except on the West Coast, in a much harsher environment. Siberia of North America in the interior of Canada is not an exaggeration. In this Siberia they have learned how to overwinter and produce queens that lead colonies to produce 200-300 pound averages of high quality, export valuable honey. Go to www.honeycouncil.ca and see what they are doing in Canada. Q Toxic Honey... “Say It Ain’t So!” Jerry, please review the comments about bees making toxic honey. I have seen articles about Carolina Jessamine being toxic to bees and they try to avoid the flowers. What do you know about “toxic honey” from Jessamine? Michael Shreves A Carolina or Yellow Jessamine can be toxic to honey bees. Many times, if the colony is foraging on a limited number of these flowers, some may die and the beekeeper may never even notice it. If there are large numbers of these flowers to forage on, the noticeable and significant colony impact may be noted. This is generally not a big problem for us because there is no vast acreage of this plant. Summer Titi is another plant that produces toxic nectar and pollen in Florida. There is more acreage of this plant and its toxic qualities results in a condition called purple brood. This brood is killed from the nurse bees feeding them food produced from its nectar and pollen. If there is surplus nectar and pollen (bee bread) stored, the bees will continue to use this as a colony resource and you may see more bee mortality for weeks or even months. Moving colonies out of these areas is the only method to respond to this problem. Other plants that honey bees forage on that produce a toxic nectar and or pollen are, Mountain Laurel (Kalmia), Tansy Ragwort, Egyptian Henbane, Rhododendrons, and some other plants in Europe and Asia that we do not have to worry about. Honey bees are the ones generally affected by the toxic nectar and pollen. It is certainly possible under the right conditions that a surplus of honey could be stored from one of these sources. Because there is not extensive planting of these toxic plants, the chance of getting pure honey from these sources is slim. In fact, there have been no reported cases of “toxic honey” in the United States in 25 years or so that I know about. Here are a couple of interesting things in this talk of toxic plants. There are two examples of toxic plant products that may be familiar to you. The toxic phytohaemagglutinin is found in red kidney beans. Cooking red kidney beans lowers the level of this toxin significantly. Eating kidney beans raw or uncooked can give you an upset stomach and if in high amounts, could kill you. Did you know that apple seeds have a chemical in them called amygdalin, which degrades into Hydrogen Cyanide? The apple seed covering is so thick, and you would have to eat and chew up so many apple seeds that this isn’t a big problem. Now you know what took out Sleeping Beauty. All of this said to make the point that our world is filled with natural and man-made toxins. Most of us are adapted to handle these in the small amounts that nature offers. Some hypersensitive individuals are at risk, but the general population is okay. Q A Less Painful Way? Hi Jerry, I have about 40 colonies that I started taking down to almonds. I am thinking about growing into a bona fide sideliner, but I have always come home from the valley with a few problems. Last year was my first case of American foulbrood. I have read with interest about autoclave treatment and radiation treatment to sterilize empty colonies of harmful spores. I was thinking about using the no medication method used in other countries to treat my AFB colonies (shaking the colony onto completely new equipment and destroying the infected equipment without losing the whole colony). What about sterilization of the recently vacated hives instead of burning? I use all medium boxes with screened bottoms and plastic frames, so burning would cause its own set of problems with smoke and other waste. Recent articles in the ABJ have led me to believe that AFB spores are very plentiful in the environment, so I was wondering about sterilization of all used equipment before hiving new colonies. How would I locate a radiation facility close by? How much would it cost? I should think this would have the potential of saving the bee industry a lot of money, while at the same time reducing the use of mediation and improving the hive environment for our “girls”. Thanks, I always value your answers in the Classroom. Boyd Taylor Alturas, CA A Boyd, I wish you the very best in your goal of growing your “bee” business. An autoclave will not work to sterilize honeycomb because it melts the wax under high temperature and pressure. That won’t work. We burn colonies in Florida for the control of AFB as it is the ultimate cure from a regulatory standpoint. But, we are having some beekeepers use a radiation facility that is used primarily to irradiate fruits and vegetables to extend shelf life. It uses gamma radiation and the managers of the facility have calculated the mass and density of a pallet of boxes, frames and combs to apply the correct dosage. They are charging in the range of $4.00 to $6.00 per box per pallet, depending on quantity of pallets to sterilize this equipment. Some beekeepers have been using this procedure even when they do not have any identified diseases to “clean up” their equipment from viruses, molds, fungus, even chemical residues. I have seen bees installed on what was old black icky comb after irradiation. It still looked old, black and icky, but the bees just jumped on the comb and the colony exploded and looked wonderful. And, no disease! Locating a commercial irradiation facility in your area may be problematical and the facility may not be ready or willing to accommodate beekeeping equipment. This is something you will have to investigate by checking with your state apiarist and extension office. If you live close to a large city or university, there may be an irradiation facility near you. In pollination situations with other colonies around bees will drift from colony to colony, even if they are not right next to each other. This drifting allows pests and diseases to be spread all around. Because of this disease spread between and among colonies, your colonies can still get AFB, EFB, Varroa, Tracheal mites, PMS, Chalkbrood, and everything else. But, they will not break down as quickly if the disease load is nonexistent in sterilized equipment. Just remember that irradiation is no guarantee, but it sure seems to help. The USDA Lab in Logan Utah, under the leadership of Dr. Rosalind James, has produced some preliminary data that using various concentrations of ozone to sterilize comb in a similar fashion as some vegetable crop packers use it to lengthen storage life of their product works well. Stay tuned on this one as it looks promising and may be more readily available than irradiation facilities. Q Infants and Honey, Granulation and Swarming Revisited Three questions, please. 1. Is it true that honey should not be fed to human infants? If so, why not? 2. What is the change that is brought about in honey by heating? In other words, why does honey not granulate after it has been heated? 3. The official word seems to be that when swarming occurs, it is the old queen that leaves the hive with the swarm. However, I keep running into references saying that, to the contrary, it is a new queen who takes off with the swarm. I found an example of this most recently in the novel, McKay’s Bees, by Thomas McMahon, a book that seems otherwise very well grounded in bee science. So, is it an uncontested fact that it is the old queen that leaves? Thanks much for your entertaining and informative column in the American Bee Journal. When each issue of the magazine arrives, it is your column that I turn to first. Carl Krumhardt A Carl, 1. Folks go down this road once every few years. (For a good fact sheet on this subject done by the National Honey Board go to: http://www.honey.com/downloads/infantbotulism.pdf) Years ago there was tragic incident that involved a baby, who was constipated, and the mother fed the baby honey as a folk remedy for relieving this problem in the infant. Constipation in an adult or a baby means that there is fecal material lodged in the intestines in an anaerobic (nonoxygen) situation. Only certain bacteria thrive in a condition lacking oxygen. Many times these bacteria produce toxins (poisons) as their by-product of living off the fecal material in a constipation situation. One of the most dangerous of these organisms that lives without oxygen is Clostridium botulinum that causes botulism. The term botulism comes from the Latin for ‘sausage’ that was the cause of this food poisoning and potential death many years ago. The botulism bacteria forms an almost indestructible life stage called a spore when its food runs out or it comes in contact with oxygen. These spores are almost everywhere. Most adults have developed some degree of immunity to low levels of the botulinum spores in their environment and the bacteria that can emerge from them under the right conditions of no oxygen/anaerobic. These spores are everywhere, as I stated, such as the doorknob you just touched, handshakes, pop can, just about any surface including fruits, vegetables, etc. They are very common in outdoor situations where food products have been exposed to dust. Because honey is an unprocessed agricultural product, botulinum spores can sometimes be found in it, just as they sometimes can be found in other unpasteurized agricultural products. Babies, who do not have an immunity to botulism, and who are constipated because they are eating imperfect foods and not mother’s milk, can be in jeopardy, not only from honey, but from any other non-baby approved foods. Honey has never been directly implicated in some of these cases, but there is strong anecdotal evidence that it and other non-baby foods be restricted until approximately one year of age. In fact, I just read of a warning about feeding babies fermented soy products like tofu because of the same potential problem. 2. Heat destroys many of the enzymes honey bees add to nectar to make it honey, as well as neutralizing some of the aromatic oils that give fresh honey its wonderful floral scent. It can also darken the color of your honey or even give it an off flavor if temperatures are too high for long periods of time. However, heat also melts minute sugar crystals that hasten the general crystal-forming behavior of some honeys that have particular sugar ratios. That is why many commercially sold liquid honeys have been heated to some degree to retard crystallization and/or reduce moisture levels in the honey. However, most pure honeys will eventually crystallize since crystallization is the stable condition of a super-saturated solution like honey. If crystallization of your honey is a big problem and you do not want to heat your product, you might want to try producing creamed (finely crystallized) honey. 3. Nothing is ever sure in honey bees. They are survivors and anything goes in a survival situation. The older, original queen, stops laying, slims down and generally leaves with the first swarm. But, and there is always a but, if she can’t leave because of clipped or damaged wings, many times this will not stop swarming. Ultimately multiple virgins will be produced and a “queen” will leave with the swarm. Life finds a way. Q Very Carefully? Just how does one mark a queen? I hived my first swarm (and first bees) this past spring. They’re doing fine here in the San Francisco area -- I pulled 30 pounds of honey off of them in late summer and they still have quite a bit left. I can see the queen when I go through the hive, but I have to look. So, does one mark a queen with a paintbrush with a dab of acrylic paint, or superglue on a dot (Heaven forbid)? I am looking forward to your answer. I read the classroom every time I get a new ABJ. Stefani Leto A A marked queen is more easily seen in a large colony. But, if you are finding her now, maybe you are doing better than you think. Marking a queen properly is sometimes tricky and it can result in the workers rejecting her at times. All that said, if you still want to try this, check out your bee supply catalog or go to the hobby section of your local mega store and get a bottle of Testors model paint. The queen paint markers sold by many bee supply companies are much easier to use than a small bottle of paint. Yellow is the color for 2007. A small paintbrush or stick to dab a bit of paint on is needed. And, one must know that the target is the thorax, which is the round, black structure behind the head and in front of the abdomen. If you get the paint on her head/eyes, you have a problem, as she is probably now blind. Or, if you slop some paint on her abdomen/wings, you may have a problem because the workers may “decide” she is now defective and supersede her. Put a small but significant dab of paint on her thorax, give it a minute or so to thoroughly dry and then release her back into the hive. You should pull the paint stick or brush through a small hole in the paint lid, so that excess paint on the sides has been removed. We haven't talked about how to pick her up or pin her down with a queen-marking device, so I'll let you research that yourself : ). Q Lost As A Bee? Jerry, enjoy your intelligent views. What effect does Imidacloprid soil insecticide have on bees? Is the insecticide banned in 17 countries? HO in California A According to studies in France, it affects the honey bee's short-term memory. They leave the hive and can't remember how to get home--not a good thing for honey bees! That is why two countries that I know of, Italy and Spain, have banned it. Research is not conclusive, however, on what effects, if any, this systemic soil-applied insecticide has on honey bees that might ingest minute amounts of it from the nectar and pollen they gather. Researchers have theorized that Imidaclopril could be a reason for some of the recent U.S. Colony Collapse Disorder. I wonder what it does to humans who eat the food with it in it? Who did you say you were? I can’t remember:). Q Where To Start Hello Jerry, I am a beginner beekeeper with a question in mind. All the discussion about Russian bees doing well with mites and cold weather is interesting. Would this be a good choice for starting out some hives? Thanks for your time. Dan Chambers A Dan, I think using IPM (Integrated Pest Management) with chemically reduced beekeeping as a goal is the way to go. Using a “hygienic” queen is part of this multi-technique strategy. Couple this with screened bottom boards, powdered sugar varroa control, drone trapping and, of course, sample, sample, sample for mites. Learning a good IPM strategy is an excellent way to start your beekeeping experience.

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