Game of Drones Apiary

About Game of Drones Apiary

BEEK, BEEK, BEEK

I am beekeeper located in eastern Massachusetts

Keeping with the Game of Drones name my thought is always “Winter is Coming”.

My apiary is in Dover, MA on an organic farm surrounded by a forested park reservation. I have worked as a scientist my entire adult life. I believe that the decisions we make should be based on evidence/ data. This is why I my hives are instrumented. I have scales under most of my hives and temperature and humidity probes in all of them. These measure the status of my hives. I can check this info while I am at the apiary or from any internet connection. This lets me keep track from a distance The value of these devices and the data are most important during times of cold weather as they let me know what is going on inside.

Primary beekeeping goal: improve my overwintering percentage (was 50% last winter).

Secondary goal: work on splitting for increase to become more sustainable.

Why Bees?

Honeybees are in the center of our lives. They touch the food we eat, They are the most facinating creatures that most of us will ever encounter. The way that bees organize their lives, how they cooperate for the greater good of their kin, make them a great model for us to strive to emulate.

This website is a place for me to present info about my experiences with honeybees and my apiary.

Winter is Coming

THE YEAR PLAN FOR GAME OF DRONES APIARY

I plan my year with the thought in mind that I always need to prepare for winter. Keeping with the Game of Drones name my thought is always “Winter is Coming”.

My apiary is Dover, MA on an organic farm surrounded by a forested park reservation. I have scales under 4 of my 8 hives and temperature and humidity probes in all of them. These are most important during times of cold weather as they let me know what is going on inside.

Primary goal: improve my overwintering percentage (was 50% last winter).

Secondary goal: work on splitting for increase.

JANUARY: STAY IN CONTACT WITH WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE HIVES. Monitor the data from the temperature and humidity probes and the scales. Compare the temperatures between the upper and lower probes. This helps track where the cluster is in the hive. Don’t open the hives unless there is warmer weather (above 50 degrees F). Any hive opening should be brief and minimal and should be limited to a quick peek to determine the overall status of the cluster and to add food (winter patty or sugar).

Inventory equipment and start cleaning and fixing it in preparation. for the spring.

Order packages if needed.

There is rarely anything blooming in Middlesex county at this time of the year se bees are dependent on honey stores or added food.

FEBRUARY: CONTINUE MONITORING THE HIVES. This is the time when the cluster may have moved to the upper box. The data from the temp/humidity probes help identifying when this happens. Confirm this visually if needed. When the temp spikes this can indicate that the queen has started increasing her laying

Keep up with the maintenance of apiary gear.

The end of February and beginning of March is when the skunk cabbage starts up and is usually the first pollen available.

Add patties or sugar if needed

MARCH: THIS IS THE TIME FOR HIGH ANXIETY, the time when there is a growing danger of starvation. Keep track of what is going on by continuing with monitoring the data and by watching any bees that may be flying. Brief inspections can occur weather permitting.

Feed if needed.

APRIL:LET THE GAMES BEGIN. This is usually when the maples bloom in our part of Mass. There are moderate amounts of pussy willow in the area surrounding the farm. I will start feeding with syrup (1:1) that has Mega Bee added to it. This has helped to get the colonies off to a quick start.

Put new batteries in all of the temperature and humidity probes and the scales. Make sure all hives have a temperature probe between the bottom and middle box and that they have a temperature/ humidity probe between the middle and top boxes.

If the weather is appropriate, do full inspections.

I will do my first alcohol wash of the season to establish my spring mite loads anything over 2% gets the entire apiary treated. (Formic acid).

If the bees have consumed the stores in the upper box. I remove it. If the bees have moved up out of the bottom box I will reverse the bottom two boxes.

FEED, FEED, FEED

Install any packages. Treat them using OA vaporization. (I do this without the queen in the hive.)

MAY: THE FARM’S EARLIEST CROPS ARE STARTING COME IN. I look for what the bees are bringing in and monitor the weight of the hives using my scales. This gives me an idea of if and how much supplemental feeding I might need to be doing.

I will do alcohol washes on all hives and if any are over the 2% threshold I treat all the hive in the yard.

I monitor the populations in each hive looking for any tendency to swarm as they build up. This is the time when I will split really booming hives. If I find queen cells early enough I move those frames to my queen castle with frames of brood, frames of honey, and extra nurse bees to make a split and to take some pressure off the hives showing signs of swarming.

This is time for increase

Setup baited swarm traps.

JUNE: MID-SEASON AND THE FARM AND FOREST ARE IN BLOOM.

Monitor hive weight and super if needed. Watch out for honey bound hives.

Monitor for mites, treat if over threshold.

Quick Inspections looking for overt problems and signs of swarm preparations.

Check swarm traps

JULY: The local swamp has some purple loose strife starting up.

Monitor hive weight and super if needed. Watch out for honey bound hives.

Monitor for mites, treat if over threshold.

Quick Inspections looking for overt problems and signs of swarm preparations.

Check swarm traps

AUGUST: WINTER PREP STARTS IN EARNEST

GOALS

– LOW MITE LOADS. If the mite infestation rate is >2% in any hive in the apiary treat to knock the mite loads down below the threshold.

-GREAT QUEEN IN EVERY COLONY. look for a solid brood pattern, mite resistance, easy temperament. Honey production is not at the top of my list. The forage near my apiary is somewhat limited.

- GET STORES LEVELS UP. Feed bees if forage is low. Work to get into winter with ~70 lb of honey per hive

Move two hives to the New Hampshire apiary (get them inspected first). The timing of this move depends on when the Japanese Knotweed will be blooming. These hives will stay north through the knotweed flow. This is usually over in the end of September. During this time the prime addition to forage for the Mass yard is Goldenrod.

Put robbing screens on hives

SEPTEMBER: CONTINUE WITH WINTER PREP

Full inspections to make sure hives are healthy going forward.

Continue with feeding if needed.

Reconfigure hives to 3 mediums loaded with bees. Consolidate week hives into other hives to

Monitor for mites, treat if over threshold.

Install mouse guards

When the Knotweed flow is over move the 2 hives in NH back to the Mass yard.

OCTOBER:STORES, INSULATION APPROPRIATE VENTILATION.

Make sure the bees have the best energetic situation going into winter.

Nothing will be in bloom.

Build a wind break for the Mass. Apiary

Insulate all hives.

Keep monitoring hive weight to make sure hives have adequate stores. Feed in needed.

NOVEMBER:

Time to move the hives closer together to take advantage of the wind break.

Monitor the hive data and visit the apiary every week to head off any structural problems (tip overs etc.)

DECEMBER: TIME TO CHILL

Monitor the hive data and visit the apiary every week to head off any structural problems (tip overs etc.)

GAME OF DRONES APIARY IN FEBRUARY