friendshillapiary

Mouse Nest in Hives

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I had recently spent some time talking with and going over some of the negatives of beekeeping with a future beekeeper. I’m an honest soul, so I let people truthfully know that it’s not always about honey and sweetness. If you’ve been a beekeeper, you know exactly what I mean when I say that there is nothing more sticky than propolis on your kitchen floor, on your gloves, or in your hair. You know what it means to pray for the rain to stop so a decent nectar flow can finally begin. You also know that ants can find any spilled drips of honey. You know that you should do a split, but before you know it, your best hive swarms and lands too high up in a tree for you to be able to capture them. You know that wearing a full suit while doing any apiary work in the summer heat, can get pretty miserable. You also, unfortunately know how devastating and discouraging it is to lose hives in the wintertime.

There’s a lot to beekeeping that isn’t always taught in beginning beekeeper’s classes. For “new-bees”, aka “new-beeks”, you should always be willing to learn, because you will, whether you want to or not. (Most new-bees we’ve met are usually receptive to learning and are just as inquisitive as we were when we first stepped into this amazing venture).

Pests are a real obstacle, and can include quite a number of species. Hive beetles, varroa mites, ants, and yes mice! Here is a photo of the remainder of a mouse nest that we pulled out from the bottom of a hive this spring. She obviously tried to over winter and rear her young inside the warmth of the hive. We have found dead mice completely mummified with propolis before and other times, just a skeleton.

Above this mouse nest were 2 frames that the bees didn’t draw any wax out or use at all. They hate mice as much as we do. After cleaning it out, we replaced the old frames with fresh new frames and we could tell almost immediately that they were happier.

Honey bees are super smart. They will chase pests into corners, sting them, carry them out and dispose of them and guard their hives with their lives against them. We, as beekeepers, work very hard to help protect the hives and offer as much assistance as we are capable to make certain that our honey bees stay healthy, happy, and strong.

No Raw Honey for Infants

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We get asked quite often, why babies under the age of one year are not suppose to eat raw honey, so I’d like to include some important information on this subject.

First: Honey in it’s raw state is un-pasteurized and has not been dissolved of its all-natural properties. In most cases, these otherwise beneficial properties include vitamins, minerals, good carbs, and antioxidants. Not to mention it is anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, anti-fungal, and the list goes on. As we grow and develop, our bodies become more resilient or immune to certain invaders that have the potential to harm us. Infants, especially under the age of one year, do not have the ability in their digestive tracts to combat any of the hazards found in raw foods. Clostridium botulinum (C. botulinum) spores are what is found in honey.

Second: Please always do your own research on any matters pertaining to yours or your family’s health. Let your research involve your children so that they can learn as well. Make being healthy, fun!

Here are a few links for you to check out…

Mayo Clinic

Healthline

KidsHealth

Honey Bee Stings

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Why they Sting, Prevention, Allergies and Potential Anecdotes, Remedies & Relief.

As Beekeepers, we feel that educating others, is imperative to our attempt of helping to keep our beneficial pollinators thriving. Teaching is a huge part of what Friends Hill Apiary does, and some of the not-so-pleasant realities have to be explained as well.

None of what you are about to read is ever meant to diagnose, treat or cure any health condition, and as ALWAYS, discuss your own health concerns with your primary provider or professional medical personnel before trying anything that may have worked for others. Never assume what works for one person, will work for you or yours.

QUICK TIP: a honey bee’s stinger has a venom sac attached to it. The venom will continue to pump into the sting-sight. Both the venom sac and the stinger NEEDS TO BE REMOVED ASAP. Take your fingernail, hive tool, credit card or something to scrape across your skin and remove that stinger. Then you can treat the sight if you are near any of your choice remedies.

In the Defense of the Honey Bees: A honey bee will die if she stings you, so we do not believe it is something that they necessarily want to do! Her barbed stinger is inserted into your flesh and when she pulls away or is swatted away, her stinger stays put. Attached to the stinger and venom sac, are her guts. Hence, pulling her insides, out. Photo at the bottom of this page.

            A few reasons why a honey bee might sting:

  • Defending its colony and/or the queen
  • Dearth (the season when there is short supply of nectar & pollen available) they will be more defensive and on guard
  • They feel threatened, such as you stepping on them or picking a flower that they were on.
  • They crawled inside your suit and can’t get out

Preventative Measures

WEAR PROTECTION: if you are a fellow beekeeper, don’t get all cocky and think that you are immune to developing an allergy. That is exactly why I am writing about this! In 16 years, we’ve met a lot of fellow beekeepers and have heard the stories of some who previously had just that attitude, only to learn a very humbling lesson. Some kind of veil, long sleeves, light-colored clothing, binder-twine around your pants at the ankles and a pair of gloves are easily attainable and doesn’t have to be elaborate nor costly. There are a lot of great bee-suits out there though and it will save your “good clothes” from getting propolis, wax, smoker scent and many other indescribable filth on them. Our advice is; if you’re planning on keeping more than two or three hives, invest in a complete suit.

Avoid wearing perfumes; some perfumes irritate them or can attracted honey bees to you.

Let your loved ones know when and where you will be working near or with your hives.

Have your cell phone charged and with you when working near or with your hives.

Learn and discuss with your loved ones how to use your Epi pen if you have one.

A smoker as well as peppermint essential oil can be used to help mask the defense pheromone dispersed with the sting.

A Few Types of Reactions to Honey Bee Stings:

The following may be just some of the reactions a person may experience. There may be other reactions, and every individual may even experience various reactions at different times in their lives, as well as different levels of severities. NEVER assume you will react the same way every time you get stung by a honey bee. ALWAYS use caution when you are near honey bee hives and apiaries.

            Mild Reaction, Normal Reaction, Localized Reaction, Moderate Reaction:

                        May include, but not limited to:

                        Pain

                        Redness

                        Swelling

                        Itching

                        Feels Hot        

            *Anaphylactic Shock Reaction – SEEK IMMEDIATE MEDICAL TREATMENT!

                        Considered a “Severe Reaction”

                        Difficulty Breathing

                        Trouble Swallowing

                        Swelling of Face, Throat, Tongue or Mouth

                        Hives or Itchy Rash

                        Rapid Pulse

                        Paleness

                        Dizziness or Drop in Blood Pressure

                        Nausea, Stomach Cramps or Diarrhea

                        Loss of Consciousness

*Seeking medical treatment immediately is top priority if you or someone you know has any of these or other severe reactions to a honey bee sting! Call 911

Treatments: Here are just a few of the treatments or products that are used, today. Not all will work for everyone or may not be available to everyone. Talk with your primary physician if you believe you have any questionable reactions to honey bee stings. There are many more options than is listed here to choose from.

Prescriptions needed for:

Epinephrine aka Epi Pen (pay attention to the expiration dates)

Immunotherapy (Allergist monitored injections to build up a tolerance)

Over the Counter:

Hydrocortisone

Calamine Lotion

Antihistamines

Herbal & Home Remedies:

There are a super abundance of herbal and home remedies for mild to moderate reactions and some of us do have complete confidence in some of them. With that said, I still want to express that what works for us, does not mean that it will also work for you! You MUST do your own research, skin patch-tests, and use good judgment!

  • Honey (Yes, honey for honey bee stings) many beneficial properties.
  • Some of our favorite herbs are; Plantain, Dandelion, Calendula, Comfrey, Jewelweed, Lavender, Thyme, Peppermint… (herbs each have their own benefits so do your research), we use fresh herbs by picking, then crushing to extract some of the oils and then placing directly onto the sight.
  • We’ve also use particular purchased essential oils with great results. Ex: Tea Tree is a good one.
  • A thick paste of Baking Soda & water
  • Apply a wet tea bag
  • Vinegar; it helps neutralize the venom
  • Ice; mostly for the swelling and if there’s any heat at the sight.

Usually, these herbal & home remedies need to be reapplied several times a day until our comfort level has been reached. Listed is only a few options for those who may choose alternative comfort for topical relief other than what is mass produced by companies who we don’t even know what goes into or where they get their ingredients.

There are millions of remedies, methods and information about alternative treatments for honey bee stings for you to find, but for this, I just wanted to mention at least a few. Also, most of these are readily available to zones 5-6, and should be sought to establish around the homestead for various reasons as well as for honey bee stings.

We hope this article helps give comfort to those, who like us, want to continue in your beekeeping or homesteading endeavors. They are such sweet creatures who fill our world with nourishment, abundance, and color! Without them, we will not have our health.

Thank you for supporting all of your local Beekeepers! They truly need it.

Honey Harvests

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  • Red Pollen
  • Spring Forager on Wild Cherry
  • Honey Frame

Beekeeping is about 98% fulfilling and 2%… well… not-so-much.

2% are those 100 degree days when it’s your ONLY day off and you have to inspect or harvest because it may be another week or a month until you have another chance. Soak a bandana for your neck & have all your tools ready before suiting up. Have plenty of drinking water nearby and like most things in life, once you get started and you find that because you’re amongst your beloved honey bees, it’s really not so bad.

Tim & I have developed a system that works well for us. He usually pulls the frames and brushes off most of the bees. I take the frame and finish clearing the bees and then put the frames into an empty super and cover it with a cloth. The empty super is on the back of the truck so the height is comfortable for me. Once that super is full, I can push it back & start filling another, stacking the boxes as needed. We do all this methodically until we’ve gone through each hive. Once we’ve closed the hives back up, we can drive the truck to the extracting room where they can sit until we are ready to extract.

TIP: Always check your partner’s back for any stowaway bees before entering the house!

TOOLS: The tools we use for extracting are pretty simple… maybe even primitive. 1. A large tote with a thin board attached and across the top edge with a screw facing up driven through the center of it. The screw is for resting a honey frame on while removing the wax capping. 2. A very long thin knife for skimming off the wax. An uncapping scratcher, (this can be a fork). 3. Empty bee boxes (with an inverted lid underneath to catch drips), to put the extracted frames back into.4. The extractor; ours is a hand crank, two-frame extractor that our generous kids gave to us for Christmas. Prior to that, we borrowed our local club extractor and prior to that was a home-made bucket extractor that required an electric drill to spin. 5. Lots of clean lint-free dish cloths, and washing water. 5. Rubber gloves. 6. A strainer. 7. Empty food grade buckets with lids. 8. A refractometer to measure the moisture content in the honey. You want it to read below 18% so there’s no potential for fermentation.

Once the honey has been extracted from the super frames, we take those frames away from any high foot-traffic areas and leave them for the bees to clean. They will clean every drop of honey from the frames as well as from the extractor or anything else that may have gotten sticky honey on. This makes the bees very happy for a few days.

We usually strain the majority of wax chunks and debris before letting the honey rest and settle before we bottle it. We call it lightly filtered as it may still have bee debris, wax and pollen. It’s certainly All-Natural and that is what our customers expect.

Last, but not least (for now), I save a sample bottle each time we extract and through the years have a collection of all the varieties that our Beeautiful Friends Hill Apiary Honey Bees have produced! The bottles are SO pretty!

What is a Honey Bee Swarm?

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A honey bee swarm is both a noun and a verb.

A swarm of honey bees is a large group or mass, clumped together outside of a hive.

When honey bees swarm, they are moving from one location to another.

So when a queen decides that it’s time to split her colony into two separate colonies because she either wants to expand her lineage or possibly because the hive is becoming just too crowded, she will communicate her intent to her workers. Naturally, some of the workers secrete a rich substance called royal jelly to place into several cells. This royal jelly is a highly nutritious cream and they know when and how to produce the perfect amount to insure that a select amount of eggs needed, will hatch into healthy larvae and pupae worthy of becoming the colony’s new queen. Once these queen cells are developing and capped, arrangements have already begun for a swarm journey.

Usually about 3 days before the new queen is due to hatch, the queen and about half of the honey bees will begin “humming” and gathering out in front of the existing hive. They will begin flying in large circles. Eventually flying up and away from the hive, they are swarming. Usually they will land fairly close, in a tree or on a fence post or on whatever object they choose. This spot just becomes their resting place. While the queen and most of the bees are resting, she stays deep within the mass of honey bees to keep warm and protected. A handful of scout bees will venture out to look for a potential new hive location and then fly back to the swarm to communicate where that location is. Once a consensus is made that the new hive location will become the new home the resting period will end and the swarm will move to the new location and they will begin building their new colony.

Please do not harm these swarms.

There are plenty of Beekeepers who will safely remove honey bee swarms from your property. Most states and counties have Beekeepers nearby who can be contacted through local organizations, please do your best to contact someone that will relocate them to a safe location. Honey bees are some of the most prolific pollinators on earth. We depend immensely on all pollinators for the foods we eat and they deserve protection and care.

For swarms in the Quincy, Illinois and surrounding areas you may call:

Friends Hill Apiary at 217/257+2704 or 217/257+5061