HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

It may be a spooky night, but for us as beekeepers, the real spooky thing is VARROA MITES!

A hive with lots of mites in the Fall, is often a dead hive by Spring.

If you have not even tested for mites, or say “I don’t see mites so they’re not there”, you may regret your decision in the Spring.

This is the time of year when you need to get bees ready for winter. What to do?

Lets Talk About Oxalic Acid

Oxalic Acid is commonly used as a Fall treatment - after all of the brood has emerged.  It can be used at quite low temperatures, and the die-off from treatment is minimal.  It is important to note that vaporization should be done at the right temperature to be effective (between 315 °F (157 °C) and 370 °F (189 °C)).

Health Cards

We have developed health cards for our Bee Health Plan, working with the suppliers of bee health products. We have decided to make these available to everyone! Laminated, in easy to read large print, and informed by the suppliers, these are nice to take right out to the beehives.  

ProtectaBEE & Winter Set-Up

Stephen From Ontario Backwoods Apiary has changed to his winter inserts: solid on one side, and small insert (keeps out mice!) on the other side.

We don’t recommend the cones (top right) as the bees cannot clean out as easily with lots of dead bees over winter.

Did you see us in the news over the last few weeks? It’s been fun, with lots of interviews around the world for our Silver Medal in Bee Innovation in the World!

You can read more at Bee Culture Magazine!

Wishing you a wonderful Fall! We are still doing SO many talks for beekeeping groups about Big Bee Data. Reach out to us if you want Dr. Erica to chat online with your beekeeping group about Beekeeping for the Future - our interactive talk where beekeepers can help beekeepers around the world.

Bee well,

Erica

Dr. Erica chats with beekeepers at the Pacific Northwest Beekeeping conference put on by WASBA in Olympia, Washington.