Ingredients
□ Pie crust, refrigerated or a homemade one (for this recipe, I used a pre-made one.)
□ 4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
□ 2½ cups heavy whipping cream
□ 1 cup unpacked light brown sugar
□ ⅓ cup cornstarch, sifted
□ ½ tsp salt
□ ½ cup honey
□ 2 tsp vanilla extract
□ Sea salt, optional

Directions
Step 1
Prepare the pie crust in a deep dish eight-inch pie pan, or a nine-inch pie pan, and set it in the fridge. Do NOT pre-bake it.

Step 2
Preheat the oven to 375°F

Step 3
Add the egg yolks to a large bowl. Set aside.

Step 4
To make the filling, heat the heavy whipping cream, brown sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan on medium heat until it comes to a rolling boil, stirring regularly. It should start to thicken.

Step 5
Once the mixture comes to a full boil, remove it from the heat.

Step 6
Temper the eggs by adding a little bit of the cream mixture to the eggs and whisking, then adding a little more.

Step 7
Add the remaining cream mixture and stir until combined and smooth. (If you add all of the custard while it’s still hot, you risk scrambling your eggs.)

Step 8
Add the honey and vanilla extract to the custard and stir until well combined.

Step 9
Pour the mixture into the pie crust.

Step 10
Bake the pie for 40-45 minutes. It will bubble up and start to brown on top.

Step 11
Remove the pie from the oven. It will still be pretty jiggly.

Step 12
Set it on the counter to cool until it comes to room temperature. (It will firm up as it sits)

Step 13
Refrigerate the pie until it’s cold and firm.

Step 14
Sprinkle the sea salt onto the pie (or not) and serve.

There Are Many Options
It took me some time after my first swarm catch, which was my introduction to beekeeping, to find reliable sources of information for my beekeeping efforts as I had virtually no knowledge of how to manage a box full of potentially stinging insects. I initially started out by purchasing a book or two and watching YouTube videos. In my second year with bees, I became aware of a local beekeeping club. After about ten years’ experience and assisting several other area new beekeepers, I was asked to teach a beginner beekeeping class as part of a local, after school community enrichment program. Only then did I discover larger scale beginner classes offered by the Southeast Michigan Beekeepers Association (SEMBA). This past year I was invited to become a part of that instructor staff and have since assisted in mentoring beginning beekeepers within that organization. This article is devoted to the advantages of taking a class or joining a club that can provide answers for many of the ‘how to” questions of the newer beekeeper. There are also many books available on the subject and I will point out a few of my favorites near the end of this article.

Take a Beekeeping Class

Tollgate guest speaker Ana Heck.

SEMBA instructors have at least four to five years of beekeeping experience with most in the ten years plus range. With the assistance and support of the Michigan State University (MSU) entomology department, which devotes some of its time to honey bee research, these mentors are able to utilize space on two MSU off campus farm research facilities, Tollgate Farm and Bowers Farm, where beginning beekeepers can keep their first hives throughout the late Spring and Summer. Classes meet in person at each facility on Sunday afternoons, starting once a month in January until July and August when meetings occur twice a month and once a month thereafter until twelve sessions have been completed. Unfortunately, the 2020 and 2021 sessions could only meet virtually due to the COVID restrictions. This greatly diminished any “hands-on” experience that students would otherwise receive. But this past Spring and Summer, around fifty students took advantage of the hands-on benefits of the class with instructors and students split between the two locations. After their first few months of class participation, students are encouraged, but not required, to purchase a nucleus (nuc) hive and the necessary bee equipment from a seller of their choice. Most students purchase nucleus hives from the instructors and then set them up at one of the two farm locations. A few students simply take the class without purchasing a hive to learn before jumping in as an active beekeeper and observe others’ hives for their first year, which is also acceptable. A list of the topics covered in each of the two-hour classes this past year can be found on the internet at “2022 SEMBA Beginner Bee School” under class schedule. One of the unique benefits of the class is that class coordinators bring in well-known guest speakers that have done bee research or have written extensively about beekeeping. This past year’s guest speakers have included Dr. Meghan Milbrath, assistant professor in the department of entomology at MSU, Ana Heck, an apiculture extension educator from MSU and Dewey M. Caron, an emeritus professor of entomology and author of the book, Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping. This book was used as the core class text for outside reading and was included as part the class tuition fee.

Additionally, many of Dr. Meghan Milbrath’s published articles were used as valuable resource information. Both Meghan (at Bowers) and Ana (at Tollgate) gave some hands-on assistance to students during their guest speaker visits at either location. Since the classes at both locations occur at the same time, a Zoom connection allowed the other half to watch their presentations during subsequent class sessions. An interesting aside is that at Meghan’s visit to the Bower site, while she assisted a student with their first hive inspection, they found evidence of European Foulbrood in the hive. This served as an excellent hands-on learning opportunity for all of the Bowers students to actually see and discuss how to handle this disease in real time. The hive was removed shortly thereafter and quarantined with appropriate treatment actions and a replacement provided to the student beekeeper.

The Adventures in Beekeeping
To provide a basis for this article, I interviewed nearly all of the staff of the 2022 SEMBA beginner beekeeping schools. In each interview I asked each staff member three simple questions (or so I thought):
1. What is the most unusual, unique, challenging or exciting thing that has happened to you as a beekeeper?
2. What do you see as the greatest benefit of joining a club or taking a class?
3. What one, most valuable, piece of advice would you give any beekeeper, new or experienced?

The Tollgate Instructors in the beeyard (from left to right): John Dechart, Cecilia Infante, Rich Wieske, Michelle Kinney and Mohammed Cherri

The response to question number two in my interviews was the most consistent and near unanimous. Most instructors cited the vast exchange of ideas, resources, expertise and information that is available in a class setting. Michelle Kinney, who handles all the administrative duties for the SEMBA bee school’s staff stated that, “Networking with others and learning all the different choices and options that are available to make beekeeping work for your own particular situation and environment is crucial to being successful.” She quoted the age-old axiom among beekeepers that, “If you ask ten different beekeepers a question you will get ten different responses or solutions as an answer.” Having a variety of choices is not necessarily a bad thing as each beekeeper will have different environmental constraints and desired outcomes and therefore must choose what works best for them. There are hive style and equipment choices along with many mite treatment options as well as the ability to recognize a myriad of different activities that go on in the hive. Becoming aware of the large number of options and differences will only aid in the new beekeepers’ potential for success. Rich Wieske, president of MBA and the SEMBA bee school director, with twenty-four years of beekeeping experience, went on to say that, “Having the support of other beekeepers as well as being able to ask questions and get relevant answers from those with prior experience is a needed asset in order to be successful.” Mohammed Cherri, a Tollgate instructor, stated that, “Beekeeping seems like an individual endeavor, but it takes a community of knowledge to learn needed skills and to be able to recognize the pitfalls.”

Instructor Preston Zale explaining mite treatments to the Bowers class. Mark Spencer is seated to the farthest right.

While the response to my second question was quite consistent and similar across the entire staff, the responses to my first question had a much greater variety as would be expected. Two of the instructors stated that their first harvest of honey was the most exciting event of their beekeeping careers to date. John Dechart, with a mere five years beekeeping experience among the Tollgate instructors stated such, after jokingly revealing “I have never made any mistakes, haha”. Mark Spencer, a Bowers instructor with eleven beekeeping years, stated his first honey harvest was a big event with about twenty family and friends present to sample his bees’ honey in the very first year of his beekeeping efforts. Lisa Stinson, also with the Bowers instructor staff, stated that her most unique aspect, “Is that I am amazed that I even am a beekeeper,” and that she really appreciated being able to spend time in her hives during the COVID shut-downs when nearly all other activities were curtailed. Preston Zale, the Bowers school coordinator and lead instructor with about ten years’ experience, told about the time he purchased some queens from a dealer in another state. The draw to go out of state was that they came with a thirty day warranty. Going out of state to pick them up involved a day trip and back. He soon learned in his early beekeeping venture that thirty days is not enough to determine any long-term outcome. The hives in which he placed those queens became quite aggressive and none of them made it through the following Winter, even though he took no honey from them, by which time the warranty had long expired. Meanwhile the Tollgate lead instructor, Cecilia Infante, stated that her biggest surprise was that after being stung a few times in her first efforts, her arthritis problems went away for nearly a year. I can also attest to that and although I prefer not to get stung, my own arthritis issues seem to go away for a period of time after receiving a sting.

Bowers students inspecting their hives, some a bit braver than others.

It seems the more one delves into the art of beekeeping, the greater number of medical benefits that can be found with use of hive by-products, as well as the honey. Rich Wieske said his most memorable experience was the first time he pulled a frame from a hive; he thought it was capped honey where it turned out to be capped brood and he hastily returned it to the hive. He also stated that when recently setting up a hive while getting a nuc ready to be moved in, watching bee foragers from another hive checking it out was quite interesting. Another interesting observation occurred while he watched a swarm move into a hive. I also once watched in amazement as a massive bee swarm army that dropped outside the hive, marched across the grass to go into the new hive. I can also say that watching a swarm exit a hive, circle in a thirty-to-fifty-foot area outside the hive, and after only ten to fifteen minutes coagulate into about a five foot diameter circle and fly off causes a flush of conflicting emotions. It was exhilarating and exciting to witness one of nature’s reproduction phenomena and at the same time, disappointing to realize probably half of that hive of mine just flew away as happened in my apiary several years ago. I have learned it is better to split a populous hive early, which seems to negate most of the swarming tendency. Another interesting response to my first question came from Mohammed Cherri, who explained his most unusual experience with bees as follows: doing a check of a hive, he found the queen with intentions to mark her. However, during handling, the queen appeared to be dead, or so he thought. Setting the dead queen aside he bought a new queen to replace her. But upon going to replace the aforementioned comatose queen, she was alive and well, moving around the hive as normal. The explanation being that for some reason, during handling, the queen had fainted and had since recovered. Although this is not a common occurrence, I have found other instances and referenced sources that discuss the phenomena of fainting queens along the same lines as fainting goats. Although fainting queens was an area I had never heard of before, and proved to be an interesting response to my first question, I think Kerry Wysocki, an experienced Bowers instructor, had the most interesting, if not somewhat amusing tale to tell. Kerry related that she had been asked to assist a fellow beekeeper do some hive inspections. The requesting individual had some recent health issues and was moving about in a wheelchair with his dedication to beekeeping unwavering. During a running commentary about the frames in the hives they were inspecting, they realized they had pulled a frame with an emerging queen. They had previously spotted another queen in the hive and knew one or the other would most likely get killed if they were both left in the hive together. Not being totally prepared to find a second emerging queen they had to quickly find a container in which to catch this second queen. A quick search occurred and all they could find was a zip-lock baggie. The second queen was placed in the zip-lock inflated bag to take home to be inserted in a nuc. So while Kerry drove them to the location with the nuc, her friend would open the bag every so often to let in a bit of cooler fresh air from the car’s air conditioning vent with the concern to not overheat or asphyxiate the new queen. Arriving at the home of her friend, a nuc with brood frames was quickly assembled, while she and the wheelchair bound beekeeper listened to his wife berate them on the hazards of becoming overly stressed while working the bees and possibly exacerbating his health condition. All ended well however, with brood and a new queen in a nuc which was then successfully overwintered. I can only imagine what type of explanation would have been given if they had been pulled over by a cop.

These memories and conversations are but a few of the socially driven lessons and experiences I have been witness to with others in a classroom/teaching type setting. They may seem a bit off the target of what the class offers, but more specifics can be learned about our particular school by going to “2022 SEMBA, Beginning Bee School” on an internet website search engine. With the recent uptick interest in beekeeping, there are many agencies available that offer classes in beekeeping.

Join a Club

Club president, Preston Zale, explaining hive elements to Seven Ponds Bee Club members out in the bee club demonstration yard.

According to the Michigan Beekeepers Association (MBA) there are about thirty-two bee clubs in the state of Michigan. I suspect there are like numbers in many of the more bee colony populated states and other countries. Club membership is the first organization where I began to learn much more in-depth knowledge about beekeeping. The cost of becoming a bee club or association member is in most cases a minimal amount per year and well worth the money spent. The MBA, SEMBA or any area club can provide an opportunity to exchange information with other beekeepers with various degrees of experience and knowledge and many organizations have websites that can be found by typing the name or acronym into a search engine. As Kerry Wysocki, current president of the Oakland Beekeepers club states, “It is a great way to exchange ideas and share experiences while learning about beekeeping.” And Seven Ponds board member at large, Lisa Stinson, states “When I got involved with the club my bees started surviving.” I am sure that my own joining of the local Seven Ponds Bee Club had a lot to do with my continuation in beekeeping. In the case of the Seven Ponds Bee Club, meetings are held once a month at a rural county nature center where three to four bee hives are maintained on site for teaching purposes.

When weather permits, club members can arrive early on meeting nights to go through hive inspections with the club hive maintainers, in our case club president, Preston Zale, or club vice president, Mark Spencer. Yearly membership dues are kept at a nominal $10.00 per year by way of holding a quick raffle prior to each meeting. Members donate bee related items, tickets are purchased and just before the meeting starts, a drawing is held to choose winners. The first drawn winning ticket gets to choose any of the evening’s donated items on the table with each subsequent drawn ticket winner choosing from what remains until all items are removed. Enough funding is attained through the raffles such that facility use costs are covered, the club can bring in guest speakers such as those mentioned above for the Tollgate and Bowers classes and the raffles or Summer picnic smoker challenge contest can field prizes as big as nuc hives, queen bees or hive tools such as refractometers or hot knives.

But best of all as Mohammed Cherri states, “Join a club or take a course, nothing beats local knowledge.” I believe that Dawn Gialanella, a SEMBA bee school student and at large board member of the Seven Ponds Bee Club summed it up the best when she stated that, “Bee clubs help you keep bees while bee schools teach you how to keep bees.”

Sage Advice from Experience

At a Sevens Ponds club meeting; board member at large, Dawn Gialanella sits at the raffle table as vice president Mark Spencer pulls the next ticket and president Preston Zale, looks on.

The interviewees had a variety of answers for my third question about providing advice. Several noted the need to stay ahead of varroa mite loads with John Dechart stating, “What you don’t spend in varroa treatment you’ll be spending in replacing your hives.” While Kerry Wysocki put it more bluntly stating, “Have a plan for varroa mites and execute that plan or your bees will die.” Michelle Kinney feels, “It is important to stay on top of bee news and the latest treatment options as the environment of beekeeping is continually changing.” Preston Zale suggests, “Always light your smoker and have it at the ready. When something needs to be done, do it regardless of the weather.” Along those same lines Lisa Stinson stated, “Go with your gut intuition when making decisions on what to do since waiting may only expand the problem.” Rich Wieske however lends a degree of caution saying, “When you get a new idea, try it on only one hive first; and get comfortable opening your hives for checks on a regular basis.” I feel Mark Spencer summed it up by saying, “Enjoy the experience, listen to your bees, it’s a lot of work, but remember why you did it.”

Gordon Wardell, who holds a PhD in entomology from MSU, and a founder of the MegaBee pollen supplement company gives a presentation to the Seven Ponds Bee Club.

Read Some Books, Subscribe to a Magazine (like Bee Culture!)
Lastly, I said I would say a few things about books. I would have to say my favorite book so far is the ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture by A. I. Root because of a bit of nostalgia. The 1929, third edition of this 800-page, hard cover book was owned by my grandfather who for a time kept bees on the family farm. Upon the passing several years ago of a 95-year-old aunt of mine, this book that I never even knew my grandfather had, was inherited by me as the only family member currently interested in beekeeping. I have read this book several times and it surprises me how much nearly one hundred-year-old techniques are still used today while the current edition (the 42nd edition) incorporates many recent changes to the management of bees. (Get it here: https://store.beeculture.com/42nd-edition-of-abc-xyz/)

Another book that has proved most useful and as mentioned before as being used as our class text, is Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping by Dewey M. Caron. This book not only covers many aspects of how to be a successful beekeeper but gets into much of the underlying bee anatomy and why bees are as successful as they are in what they do. Both of the current editions of these books run in the $75.00 price range. If looking for something less expensive that still covers the basics quite well, I would suggest the paperback The New Starting Right with Bees by Kim Flottum and Kathy Summers (Get it here: https://store.beeculture.com/the-new-starting-right-with-bees/)or The Backyard Beekeeper by Kim Flottum (Get it here: https://store.beeculture.com/the-backyard-beekeeper-4th-edition/). Both can be found as used copies for as little as $5.00. To get off on the right foot in beekeeping Cecilia Infante recommends, “Spend your first year learning and reading from everyone before buying bees or any one item of beekeeping gear.” These books and many others would be a good place to start. Naturally there are also monthly beekeeping magazines to which one can subscribe. Of course, I am biased toward “Bee Culture The Magazine of American Beekeeping” which has been publishing my articles this past year. Whichever direction you choose to take with your beekeeping education, there are seemingly unlimited resources available. Choose learning as a partner condition with your beekeeping and I do not think you will be disappointed with the potential rewards of working with this fascinating insect.

Dr. Tracy Farone

Emerging Diseases in Honey Bees
By: Dr. Tracy Farone

As a Pennsylvania girl, I grew up with rabies. Clearly, I do not mean I had the disease rabies, but that this deadly disease was all around me – endemic in our mammalian wildlife population. We, Pennsylvanians, knew how to handle it. We took our dogs and the cats we could catch to the rabies clinic, and at a young age, we were pulled aside for “the talk.” The talk went something like this: “If you see a weird raccoon or groundhog in the yard, do not touch it, but call mom or dad to come shoot it.” End of talk and end of report. You can imagine my surprise (and several of my PA classmates’ surprise) when during our freshmen year in veterinary school, Ohio was freaking out about rabies, like it was a new thing. Well, it was new to them. In the mid-1990’s Ohio had their first reported case of rabies in terrestrial (non-bat) wildlife. Us Pennsylvanians just blinked, shrugged and were like, “Wow, they didn’t have rabies in the State, at all? I suppose they’ll have to learn the talk.” To this day, government programs distribute rabies vaccine baits by throwing them out of airplanes and trucks along the Ohio Pennsylvania border, in hopes of vaccinating rogue raccoons that may enter the State from the Commonwealth. However, rabies is now considered endemic in wildlife populations in Eastern Ohio.

There are countless case studies and lessons about the emergence and spread of different diseases in humans and animals throughout the world over time. Honey bees are no exception. Consider what is currently going on in Australia with emerging parasites, Varroa and the Braula fly. We naturally want to do anything we can do to eradicate diseases from the face of the Earth, however actual eradication is almost never a true reality. In previous Bee Vet articles, I defined emerging diseases and explained three levels of disease management. I provide a couple of summary reviews here, especially since I have seen incorrect use of the words in the literature and news reports.

Braula fly

Review (From BC September 2020 issue, Bee Vet: Tropilaelosis)
“Emerging infectious diseases are infections that have recently and newly appeared in a population of humans or animals. Emerging diseases often arise when they are brought into new geographical ranges and/or species. Some causes of emerging disease may not have been previously known, while others may already be known, and pose a serious threat, if they are able to increase their geographic range… Many emerging diseases often originate from “foreign” or “exotic” diseases (or newly named “transboundary diseases”). Foreign, exotic, or transboundary diseases are diseases that naturally exist in a certain country, continent or areas of the world, but may cross borders, continents and/or oceans to infect new regions. If allowed to move into new geographical areas, foreign diseases can emerge in a population with little natural immunity against the disease agent. Therefore, these diseases can cause high morbidity and/or mortality when introduced to the new population of animals or humans. In our modern world, international trade, migrations and travel often accommodates hitch-hiking diseases and pests.”

(From BC March 2022 issue, Bee Vet: Immunity, Vaccines & Honey Bees: Part 1)
“1. Eradication of disease: This means there is no active disease left in the population on Earth! This is an extremely rare accomplishment, which has only occurred twice in the history of man or beast out of the thousands of known diseases that inflict us… (Smallpox and Rinderpest)
2. Elimination of disease: Elimination means a previously existing disease is no longer present in a population in a certain geographical area, but it’s still present in other parts of the world. Examples of diseases eliminated from the United States include yellow fever, polio and malaria. This does not mean that the disease cannot reemerge in the area if precautionary measures are ignored…
3. Control of disease: Control of a disease means that the disease is still present in a population, but it is reduced and manageable within the health care system, has a relatively low mortality rate, and/or has become endemic. This is the typical expectation and usually what happens with most diseases and vaccine use.”
Now for some new learning…

Considerations in population medicine
Population medicine or herd medicine are terms that we use to describe the concepts of looking at disease management from a group perspective. Sometimes this group is a single herd, yard or flock of animals, sometimes it could be the entire human population of a country or even the world. There are certain fundamental principles that should be applied in population medicine challenges.
1. Understand the methods of spread of the disease: To effectively develop controls for the spread of disease, we must fully understand the way(s) the disease is transmitted. For example: Managing sexually transmitted diseases verses managing aerosol transmitted diseases would demand different protocols and recommendations.
2. Understanding origin and scope: The origin (geography and species) of a disease can clarify the natural epidemiology of the disease, so we may be better able to recognize symptoms, transmission methods and expected morbidity and mortality of the disease. Knowing the existing geographical scope and incidence within human or animal populations is important to evaluate, as managing isolated verses global cases is very different.
3. Understand we are limited by our diagnostics: Surveillance testing is a key component to monitoring possible emerging diseases or changes in diseases’ incidence and is appropriate before and at the beginning of an outbreak. If you do not test for something you will not find it, but if you do test for something you are likely to find it… sooner or later. This can be a double-edged sword. How much information is necessary to switch surveillance to management? “Contact-tracing” may be helpful in the initial stages of an outbreak but over time, the lines on the map just merge into one big blob.
No testing methods are perfect. All diagnostics are subject to sensitivity (positive results are truly positive cases) and specificity (negative results are truly negative cases) percentages. We also know that the “first” positive case we find of a disease in an area is actually an indication that the disease is already there…maybe for a while.

Australia

4. Geography and weather may play a role. In considering geography, islands often have the unique benefit of isolation that can make disease-free areas more possible. Many islands, like Australia and Hawaii, may have very strict biosecurity laws at ports of entry to keep diseases at bay, for good reason. After the land is breeched however, oceans no longer serve as a barrier. With the globalization of our world, natural and man-made geographical barriers to disease are becoming less and less effective in keeping pathogens in-place.
Natural weather patterns can encourage disease emergence or not. For example, many diseases thrive in warm, humid conditions, while cold Winters may limit the scope of a disease.
5. Does it matter? Sometimes finding something may be incidental. Is it worth doing something about it? For example, during my tick studies we identified a tick species that had not been clearly identified (at least in the official literature) in Pennsylvania before. This was an interesting finding but of little significance to our study because the tick we found is not considered a vector of disease in humans.

Varroa mother mite. Photo credit: Alex Wild

6. Is it even possible to eliminate? We know that true “eradication” is almost impossible for diseases in general. Elimination has been achieved before for certain diseases, but it often requires a non or mildly contagious disease with the employment of intense measures, including: isolation of infected populations, culling of (animal) infected populations and highly effective vaccinations. Expecting the disease to become endemic may be the most realistic and best hope. Expecting, equipping and employing “control” measures early within a vulnerable population may lessen the impact of the disease as it moves through a population from an epidemic to endemic stage.
7. Above all else, do no harm. The “cure” should never be worse than the disease. The morbidity (rate of illness) and mortality (rate of death) should be considered when applying disease management protocols and making recommendations. Social, emotional and economic impacts of a disease response should also be weighed in any decision making.

Present Australian emergence examples: Varroa and Braula fly
My heart goes out to Australian beekeepers who are currently attempting to stop the spread of Varroa mites, which were detected on the island continent for the first time at the Port of New Castle, New South Wales in June 2022. Australia has admirable biosecurity guidelines for honey bees and up until this point, have amazingly, enjoyed a Varroa-free industry. However, I am afraid the Australians are about to join the rest of the world and will have to learn to manage Varroa mite infestations within their hives.

Currently, the Australian government is trying to prevent further spread of the mites into the country by issuing lockdowns of hives, restricting sale of honey, tracing possible contacts and euthanizing/burning of all hives within designated and increasing geographical radiuses. The result is the loss of thousands of hives, millions in economic losses in hive, honey and pollination resources, conflict within the industry and a devastating emotional toll on bee farmers, all with the Australian Spring just starting. Despite these efforts, each of the latest news reports I read only convey further spread. Given the facts that Varroa has made landfall in Australia, mites reproduce exponentially, honey bees fly and swarm and the history of Varroa spread around the globe, I do not see elimination as a realistic outcome. (Given that the lead time on BC articles is about two months, I suppose we will see how prophetic this article may or may not become.) Time for the employment of the control and management phase of Varroa mites has come to the continent.

Controls must be employed in the management of Varroa.

In the U.S., we know that Varroa is a major contributor to the 40%-45% annual loss of our hives. However, a closer look at the data will show that commercial beekeepers experience at least half the annual loss of hives compared to the average of all beekeepers. Given that burning hives has a 100% mortality and 100% economic loss, one must consider that accepting Varroa as a portion of a 20-30% annual loss, at some point, becomes a better alternative.

Here’s some good news for Australian beekeepers. The rest of us have been managing Varroa for decades, we have learned a lot and have many tools in the toolbox. It has not been easy, but American and European (largely commercial) beekeepers have maintained our total colony numbers over the last several decades despite Varroa. Our beekeepers and honey bees are still able to support the top agricultural and honey producing countries in the world. We can and should come alongside Australian beekeepers with empathy in learning how to detect, manage and treat Varroa mites within their colonies. I believe the Australian government is aiding beekeepers with financial support for their losses. Mental and emotional health support should also be part of the recovery plan.

Another interesting development is the additional new finding of the Braula fly during surveillance for Varroa mites in Victoria. Remember, when you look for something, you may find it and maybe even find something else. While Braula is certainly less of a threat to honey bees than Varroa, they can damage honey and comb. Because Braula tends to hang out on the queen, this wingless fly could be transmitted through queen trade.

Disease management expectations differ for flying animals. Photo Credit: Alex Wild

What’s next?!
I wish I could tell you there are no more diseases that will emerge in honey bees. The Asian giant hornets, large hive beetles, Tropilaelaps are all on the horizon. My best advice… Do not give up on biosecurity. You may not be able to control what everybody else does or everything the bees do, but you can at least control what you bring in and out of your own yard. And remember, do not play with weird raccoons.

References:
Braula Fly: Honan, Kim. “Exotic bee parasite braula fly detected in NSW as fight against Varroa mite continues.” ABC Rural News. 4 Sept 2022. Accessed 9-7-2022.
Australia Government related information: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/land-management/health-pests-weeds-diseases/pests/invasive-animals/prohibited/Varroa-mite https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/ckan-publications-attachments-prod/resources/ce5ee5c7-afb4-4851-9eca-3151e0652e2d/movement-and-control-order-notice.pdf?ETag=032df6531983fc5e905e7108a6a4892e Accessed 9-7-2022.
Maps of Varroa outbreaks in Australia: https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-Varroa-mite-outbreak-five-more-infestations-detected-inside-port-stephens-newcastle-zone/b002669b-8bb2-447b-8c02-64e56005f01f Accessed 9-7-2022.
Randy Oliver’s take: https://scientificbeekeeping.com/the-Varroa-incursion-in-australia-4-july-2022/ Accessed 7-4-2022.
Australia map: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=tasmania&t=newext&atb=v255-1&ia=web&iaxm=about Accessed 9-7-2022.

Some of Oregon’s major pollination crops include seed crops (vegetable, cover

crop and clover), blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, cranberry, cherry and pear.

While Oregon does not have an official state apiary program or apiary inspector, several organizations are actively involved with the State’s honey bees. All owners of five or more colonies of honey bees within the State must register their hives with the Oregon Department of Agriculture. In 2019, 201 beekeepers registered a total of 75,918 hives. Hive Registration fees are transferred to Oregon State University’s Honey Bee Lab which focuses on honey bee health, nutrition and pollination with the goal of servicing commercial beekeepers, backyard beekeepers, producers and all interested citizens. The lab also provides beekeepers with diagnostic services, including parasite and pathogen levels, colony nutritional status assessments and pesticide analyses. In addition, the lab hosts the Bee Informed Partnership’s PNW Tech Transfer Team that serves commercial beekeepers in the Pacific Northwest by inspecting/sampling their colonies at specified intervals and providing timely test results.

The Oregon Master Beekeeper program (a collaborative effort between OSU and Oregon State Beekeepers Association) provides education and training to new beekeepers and all interested stakeholders in the State.

The APHIS National Honey Bee Survey has historically been conducted as a joint effort between OSU and ODA.

“The Oregon Bee Project” is Oregon’s Pollinator Protection Plan, consisting of ODA, Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and the OSU Extension working together to: 1) decrease pesticide exposure, 2) increase pollinator habitat, 3) reduce honey bee losses to pests and diseases and 4) expand our understanding of the State’s native bee biodiversity. The Oregon Bee Project has a number of initiatives to promote these goals including: training through pesticide recertification, outreach to the public through OSU Master certificate programs (Oregon Master Gardeners, Master Beekeepers and Master Melittologist programs), showcasing land managers who exemplify pollinator protection and a statewide native bee survey (Oregon Bee Atlas).

Requeening
By: Clarence Collison

The honey bee queen, mother of all individuals in the colony, determines the inherited characteristics of the colony. Periodic replacement of old queens by young and high quality ones is an important management practice in the commercial beekeeping industry. Virgin queens’ introduction is independent of weight at emergence and genetic relatedness of their receptor worker bees. A total of 243 queens from three genotypes of Apis mellifera lamarckii, A. m. carnica and A. m. ligustica (81 queens of each genotype) were weighed at emergence and allocated into three groups as: light (110-130 mg) 45 queens, medium (140-160 mg) 68 queens, heavy (over 160 mg) 130 queens and introduced into mating nuclei. The weight at emergence significantly affected the introduction success. Queens with heavy weight at emergence had the highest number of introduction successes with 103 queens (79.23%). The medium weight at emergence of virgin queens has the highest number of failed queens with 26 queens (38.23%). The number of drone laying queens was approximately the same for all groups. Genotype of introduced queens was highly significant and influenced their acceptance success. Introducing A. m. carnica and A. m. lamarckii to nuclei with workers from the same genotype had the highest introduction success (Masry et al., 2015).

The survival of honey bee queens to 14 days and 15 weeks after introduction into an established bee colony increases with increasing age of the queen at introduction. Survival rates increased strongly to high levels for queen bees introduced between seven and 24 days of age and at a slower rate for queens introduced at ages up to 35 days. The survival rates were similar for sister queens introduced into two unrelated apiaries suggesting that apiary site and beekeeper management differences had minimal effect on survival rates. A year effect was found but the response to increasing age was similar for the three years (Rhodes et al., 2004).

In two experiments with queenright honey-producing colonies, 17% (46 of 276) and 31% (nine of 29) of the old queens were replaced by queens emerging from queen cells introduced with little or no isolation from the original queen. Few old queens were replaced by young virgin queens introduced to colonies with either smoke or vanilla-honey-water sprays (Jay, 1981).

When ripe queen cells (nine to 10 days after grafting) were placed into queenright colonies, only 15% (zero to 39%) of the resident queens were replaced by a new queen. New queens reared in the queenless half of a temporarily divided colony replaced 50% of the resident queens when the colonies were reunited. Of the queenless control colonies, 90% were successfully requeened by the queen cell method (Boch and Avitabile, 1979).

Little is known about the development of the overwintering population of honey bee colonies in temperate climates. Colonies were subjected to one of four requeening treatments: requeened in mid-Summer with a mated, virgin or colony-reared queen, or left with the original queen (control). Worker survival in cohorts of newly emerged bees introduced to colonies in late Summer and Fall was followed until all marked bees had died. Winter bees were reared over a relatively similar length of time in all treatments, but they appeared earlier in control colonies compared to requeened colonies. The gradual increase in proportion of Winter bees over time was similar among treatments, but requeened colonies lagged behind control colonies. The bulk of Winter bees appeared much earlier in control colonies than in colonies that were requeened. This response demonstrates that cues within the colony (i.e., differences due to requeening) are perceived by workers as part of the conditions that influence Summer bee or Winter bee status (Mattila et al., 2001).

In a test of replacement of queens in queenright colonies, mature queen cells (within about a day of queen emergence) were introduced into honey supers during the nectar flow. In the period 1977-1979, a queen cell was introduced into each of the 919 colonies. An examination made five days after cell introduction showed that queens had successfully emerged from 70.3% of the cells, while 11.1% of the cells had been destroyed, 5.7% contained dead queens, and 12.9% were not found. In a comparison of overwintered and package colonies in 1978, in overwintered colonies significantly more queens (61% vs 44%) and significantly fewer cells were destroyed (8.9% vs 25%). Of 474 introductions in 1978-1979, only 12.7% resulted in successful requeening, whereas 53% of the resident queens were retained and 24% were replaced by new queens reared in the colonies (Szabo, 1982).

Honey bee colonies were requeened in the last week of July with newly mated queens, mature queen cells or supersedure cells. The effects of requeening on sealed brood, adult worker bee populations and colony population demographics were assessed at twelve-day intervals until early December. Requeening altered brood rearing patterns, adult worker bee populations and colony demographics. Requeened colonies contained populations with higher proportions of young bees. By early December, colony population sizes converged amongst treatments and were not statistically different (Harris, 2008).

Honey bee colonies confined to Winter quarters were monitored from December 5 until March 11 to assess changes in sealed brood production, colony demographics and adult populations during Winter confinement. Small amounts of sealed brood were observed to be continuously present in colonies throughout the Winter. Enough brood was reared during the Winter to produce a small but temporary increase in the adult bee population and to replace most of the adults that died during the Winter. Requeened colonies produced slightly more sealed brood during Winter than colonies that had retained their original package queen. Approximately 34–50% of the adults in colonies in March had been reared during the Winter. In March, the average adult colony was composed of workers that ranged from a few days old to 192 days of age. Average Spring adult populations were 13,274 ± 1,078 (range 5,000 to 20,746) (Harris, 2009).

The effect of late Summer requeening on the subsequent development of honey bee colonies during Autumn (Harris, 2008) and when confined in an indoor wintering facility (Harris, 2009) was extended with observations on sealed brood production, colony size and colony demographics every twelve days from March 11 until August 14 after they were removed from their Winter quarters. Average adult populations declined for the first 48 days, and then recovered over the next 24 to 36 days once adult emergence consistently exceeded worker mortality. Rates of mortality for wintered workers were similar to those recorded for bees emerging in April, May, June, July and most of August. The last surviving bees from worker cohorts marked in September and October 1976 died between June 3 and June 15, 1977. Requeening treatment effects were quite variable and not statistically different. Requeened colonies were, however, generally larger than those headed by older queens when the experiment was terminated on August 14 and these colonies were killed and counted. The nine largest colonies belonged to the requeened treatments and contained on average 8,637 more bees (range 85 to 17,735) than the largest colony that had not been requeened. One of the requeened colonies was estimated to have contained slightly more than 80,000 adult bees at its peak population on July 9 (Harris, 2010).

Forty colonies of Apis mellifera macedonica were established in Greece with naturally-mated sister queens, two frames of sealed brood and two kilograms of bees, and requeened either every year (A), every two years (B), every three years (C) or left to replace their queens through supersedure (D). All colonies were managed in the same way during the seven-year experiment. Brood area was significantly higher in groups A and B than in C or D, except for the first two years. During the first three years, there were no significant differences in honey production between any of the groups, but group D subsequently produced significantly less honey than all other groups. There were generally no significant differences in each year’s honey production between colonies in groups A, B or C, suggesting that requeening every two or three years is adequate (Kostarelou-Damianidou et al., 1995).

Forster (1969) found a highly significant increase in honey production from colonies with first-year queens as opposed to second-year queens, Spring queens as opposed to Autumn queens and queens raised by the colonies themselves as opposed to introduced queens. Furthermore, colonies headed by Spring-raised, first-year queens made no attempt to swarm, so allowing successful management with a minimum of labor and expense.

Two-storied colonies can be successfully requeened by raising the original queen and the brood nest above a division board, rearing a young queen from an introduced cell in the bottom box, and then reuniting both levels when most advantageous. There is no need to find queens, and colony manipulation is reduced to a minimum (Forster, 1972).

These studies were conducted at Beekeeping and Hill Fruits Pests Research Substation, Murrcc, Pakistan during 1998-1999 and 1999-2000. Acceptance and performance or requeening was recorded in honey bee colonies. Four methods of queen introduction were used: standard (with queen introducing cage), standard + perfume, standard + queen killing and standard + vanilla essence, were compared. The highest rate of queen acceptance was observed in standard, yielding 83.33 percent successful introductions. It resulted in better brood rearing, pollen and honey collection activities per hive with 401.81, 101.71 and 183.39 square inch, respectively (Sabir et al., 2002).

The acceptance and survival of queens in honey bee colonies located in a tropical region of Mexico were recorded. Four methods of queen introduction were compared: the traditional (Benton mailing-cage), the traditional plus smearing hexadecane on the cage, the traditional plus rubbing the old queen on the cage screen and the traditional plus smearing vanilla essence on the cage. The highest rate of queen acceptance was obtained with the traditional method, which yielded 80.4% successful introductions. This method differed from the traditional plus hexadecane and from the traditional plus old queen rubbing methods but was not different from the traditional plus vanilla essence method. Of the original experimental queens, 60.8, 39.6 and 28.1% were still in their hives, six, nine and 12 months after being introduced and accepted in colonies. Queen replacement and queen loss increased over time. Six, nine and 12 months after queen introduction, 28.8, 46.2 and 56.5% of the experimental colonies had new queens, whereas in 10.4, 14.2 and 15.4% of them, no queens were found for the same periods, respectively. These results do not support the use of chemicals and queen substances to increase queen acceptance by workers in honey bee colonies. Therefore, it is suggested that beekeepers continue using the traditional methods of queen introduction, until more reliable methods are developed and tested. Results on queen survival suggest that colonies should be requeened every six to nine months in tropical, Africanized regions (Guzmán-Novoa et al., 1998).

Mated European honey bee queens were introduced into Africanized and European colonies to determine if acceptance rates differed. Prior to introduction, volatile compounds emitted by queens were collected. More queens were accepted by European colonies compared with Africanized. The highest supersedure rate occurred in Africanized colonies during Summer introductions. Queen acceptance did not differ between European and Africanized colonies during Spring or Fall introductions. E-ß-ocimene was the only compound consistently detected in queens prior to their introduction and was present in lower amounts in queens that were rejected within the first week of their introduction. The best time to introduce European queens appears to be in the Fall when overall rejection rates are the lowest (DeGrandi-Hoffman et al., 2007).

Honey bee colonies that have become queenless and develop laying workers are considered lost by beekeepers since they can rarely be requeened by introducing an adult queen. Cargel and Rinderer (2006) tested the hypothesis that such colonies could be successfully requeened with queen cells. The results showed that both Russian and Italian colonies could be requeened with queen cells. Overall, about 60% of colonies were successfully requeened with equal success for Russian and Italian colonies.

References
Boch, R. and A. Avitabile 1979. Requeening honey bee colonies without dequeening. J. Apic. Res. 18: 47-51.
Cargel, R.A. and T.E. Rinderer 2006. Queen cell acceptance in laying worker colonies of Russian and Italian honey bees. Am. Bee J. 146: 698-700.
DeGrandi-Hoffman, G., D. Gilley and J. Hooper 2007. The influence of season and volatile compounds on the acceptance of introduced European honey bee (Apis mellifera) queens into European and Africanized colonies. Apidologie 38: 230-237.
Forster, I.W. 1969. Swarm control in honey bee colonies. N.Z. J. Agric. Res. 12: 605-610.
Forster, I.W. 1972. Requeening honey bee colonies without dequeening. N.Z. J. Agric. Res. 15: 413-419.
Guzmán-Novoa, E., R.E. Page Jr. and D. Prieto-Merlos 1998. Queen introduction, acceptance, and survival in honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies of a tropical, Africanized region. J. Econ. Entomol. 91:1290-1294.
Harris, J. L. 2008. Effect of requeening on Fall populations of honey bees on the northern Great Plains of North America. J. Apic. Res. & Bee Wld. 47: 271-280.
Harris, J.L. 2009. Development of honey bee colonies on the northern Great Plains of North America during confinement to Winter quarters. J. Apic. Res. 48: 85-90.
Harris, J.L. 2010. The effect of requeening in late July on honey bee colony development on the northern Great Plains of North America after removal from an indoor Winter storage facility. J. Apic. Res. 49: 159-169.
Jay, S.C. 1981. Requeening queenright honey bee colonies with queen cells or virgin queens. J. Apic. Res. 20: 79-83.
Kostarelou-Damianidou, M., A. Thrasyvoulou, D. Tselios and K. Bladenopoulos 1995. Brood and honey production of honey bee colonies requeened at various frequencies. J. Apic. Res. 34: 9-14.
Masry, S.H.D., T.E. Abd El-Wahab and N.M. Hassona 2015. Origin, weight at emergence of virgin honey bee queens and its effect on acceptance during introduction. Acad. J. Entomol. 8: 174-182.
Matilla, H.R., J,L. Harris and G.W. Otis 2001. Timing of production of Winter bees in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies. Insectes Soc. 48: 88-93.
Rhodes, J.W., D.C. Somerville and S. Harden 2004. Queen honey bee introduction and early survival-effects of queen age at introduction. Apidologie 35: 383-388.
Sabir, A.M., M. Ahmad, M. Saleem and A.H. Bhatti 2002. Requeening- its acceptance and effect on the development of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies. J. Agric. Res. 40: 61-66.
Szabo, T.I. 1982. Requeening honey bee colonies with queen cells. J. Apic. Res. 21: 208-211.

Clarence Collison is an Emeritus Professor of Entomology and Department Head Emeritus of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS.

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Some Simple Questions About Bees that I Can’t Answer

Can you?

By: James E. Tew

I don’t know what I don’t know
Increasingly, as I have aged, I have been forced to realize that I do not know what I do not know. I tend to have some of my opinions and beliefs – for the moment. As I gain insight and experience, maybe some of my opinions and beliefs will need to be updated – or even eliminated.

Lazy drones
In my earliest years, I was taught that drones were laggards. They only ate food stores and did not work for the colony good (It is important for you to know that honey bees were wildly plentiful at the time. There was no concern for mating efficiency). In fact, I was told to destroy drone combs in order to keep my colonies at peak efficiency. That notion had to be updated. Drones are a vital reproductive component of a colony. (But wait, Jim. Shouldn’t I remove drone combs to reduce varroa populations?). Don’t go crazy, but four hundred – six hundred drones in a colony and during the warm season are a good thing. The colony wants a “normal” drone population.

Sleepy bees
During my entomology classes in the 70s and early 80s, I was distinctly told that insects do not sleep. Now, it is commonly accepted that insects – and our beloved honey bees – do routinely take naps (Klein, Barret A. and Thomas Seeley. Work or sleep? Honey bee foragers opportunistically nap during the day when forage is not available https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.03.026). That notion of mine had to be updated.

On and on…
In my high school science classes, I was taught that atoms were the smallest component of all the atomic building blocks – there was nothing smaller. Duh, dummy. What about quarks and leptons? Even the smallest part has smaller parts.

In my third-grade class, my teacher said that we were lucky to live in the gulf areas of the U.S. We would never starve because the ocean had endless supplies of food. Yeah, right. Then later, eggs are bad for you. No, eggs are good for you. Drink coffee. Don’t drink coffee. Jogging is bad for your knees. Well hold on. Maybe jogging is good for you, for your circulatory system. Battery-powered hand tools are a fad. Not anymore. I love them. Latex paint is not as durable as oil paint. I can hardly even buy oil-based paints now. It seems that I am constantly updating and changing. In my old age, I seem to have beliefs and opinions – for the moment.

My beekeeping – for the moment.
Late in my life, my altered perception of my various opinions has affected my beekeeping psyche. So many things – so much science – that at first seemed so solid is now passé. It would seem that there are only a few remaining sure beekeeping havens. For instance, the old me would have boldly said, “Rest assured! You absolutely cannot keep a colony of bees underwater!”

Now, when queried about underwater beekeeping, the current, indecisive version of me would hesitate and ponder. I would probably tell you that this project is going to be very difficult to accomplish, but before I said, “No, you cannot keep bees underwater,” I would now need to know if your hive is watertight, how deep are you considering putting the hive underwater and how long will the colony be underwater? I would be less decisive – but that’s just the new me. (Just to be sure, you do know that I am kidding about underwater beekeeping. Right?)

I don’t know
There’s not a day in the year that I don’t think about bees. After so many years and so many thoughts, I should really have this bee thing down now. Right? No, I do not. If anything, I have gone the other way. I did not realize how much I did not know. What follows are just a few examples of some of my presently unanswered beekeeping questions. Clearly, unanswered questions will always be with me.

Why do a few bees forage for water on cold days?
That whole business about bees clustering at 57°F is probably generally correct, but I can readily tell you I have had a few water foragers at my water source when the temperature is in the upper 30s. These foragers are (seemingly) nearly suicidal. There are only a few of them, so either the tiny amount of water is consummately valuable back at the nest, or they are really bad at foretelling the weather.

The books commonly say that house bees gather in-hive condensed moisture. What if there is none? What if I did a good job of ventilating the hive – as I have been instructed to do? Should we be providing in-hive water for our wintering colonies? I have never read that. Why are these few foraging specialists so crazy for this Winter water? I don’t know, but while I am nearly on the subject, consider the next question.

Why do bees frequently drown in my waterers?
Every day, I find bees drowning in my waterers. Before you tell me, I know that floats would help – I guess. I need to write that bees will still drown even if I have floats present. Even so, I am sure they would help. But what about colonies located near natural bodies of water? Are water foragers drowning in similar numbers at those sources? Some bees seemingly misjudge the water’s surface and plunge in. Over the years, I have saved – probably – several hundred. Is the polarized reflected light from the water? Are the reflective shadows confusing? Do these possibilities even matter?

Figure 1. A water forager that misjudged an amphibious landing.

I have seen this time and again. A bee misjudges and lands in nearly freezing water. They only have a few minutes to get out of that cold water or they quickly become comatose, but interestingly, they can live for hours and hours in that cold water. I have taken them out, warmed them with my breath and sent them on their way. Why are they taking these dangerous foraging trips, and why did they misjudge the landing? I don’t know.

Figure 2. This frost-covered bee must have really been thirsty. There is a thin film of ice on the blue/green water to the right.

Should I whimsically reposition frames?
As beekeepers, we all do it. When we manage our colonies, we move frames to different positions within the hive. Should we? I know a very few of you number your frames and put them precisely back where you got them, but most of us don’t always do that. Colony management is filled with variables. What if it is for the greater colony good?

In natural colonies, combs are built and are never moved. Over time, the brood nest may be moved to different locations within the nest cavity, but individual combs stay in the same position.

How much does it affect the natural organization of a colony to have brood and food frames moved about within the hive? I don’t know. So long as I am not breaking up the brood nest and I’m keeping the honey in (seemingly) proper areas, I will continue to do it. But I will always wonder how much this comb movement disrupts the organization of the colony.

Do foundation inserts affect wintering success?
Roughly measured, the midrib of natural comb may be something like a thin sheet of newspaper or about .004” thick. The midrib of a foundation insert is about .03” or about eight times thicker. Overall, if I include the shallow pre-formed cell walls, a foundation insert is nearer to ⅛” thick.

Wintering bees put their heads in cells within the nest area to generate heat. Other bees that are not in cells surround those heat-producing bees to insulate them and hold the heat in the cluster. Does that significantly increased midrib thickness require wintering bees work harder producing heat?

Figure 3. This is the way the bees like their lives.

I am suggesting that wintering bees with their heads in natural wax cells – remember that their heads are the warmest part of their bodies – are very nearly touching each other – head-to-head. All that separates their two heads is a beeswax film thinner than the thickness of a sheet of newspaper. Yet, I put in a barrier that is eight times thicker to separate the several thousand bee heads and that are now much more separated. I sense that the bees must work harder, but just how much? Beekeepers, does this minuscule point matter in the wintering scheme of things? I don’t know. But that leads the next similar question.

Are nice, straight combs good or bad for the bees?
Straight combs are a fundamental requirement for modern beehive management, but I cannot tell that the bees have ever liked them. Believe me, younger beekeepers, you have no idea how much time was required to assemble wooden frames, install eyelets, wire those frames, install beeswax foundation and then electrically embed the wires into the wax foundation – ergo – I love, just love using foundation inserts.

But what did the bees give up to live in our new, improved concept of what the hive interior should look like? Not only are comb midribs much thicker, but the long straight combs don’t seem to be conducive to housing a tight, efficient Winter cluster. A wintering cluster on straight frames is essentially composed of several smaller, separated wintering clusters. The frames are straight and there is no way for wintering bees to intermingle within the overall cluster – but only their small part of it. Would bees Winter better in a nest of their design with combs weaving and twisting in seemingly random order? I don’t know, but I do know that I like straight combs.

Smoke effects
Smoke effects on you and me
“Smoke may smell good, but it’s not good for you. The biggest health threat from smoke is from fine particles, also called fine particulate matter or PM2.5. These microscopic particles can get into your eyes and respiratory system, where they may cause burning eyes, runny nose and illnesses, such as bronchitis.” (Wood Smoke and Your Health, Environmental Protection Agency https://www.epa.gov/burnwise/wood-smoke-and-your-health#)

I grew up outdoors. Campfires were common. Burning piles of Autumn leaves were the norm. In my earliest years, my great grandparents actually burned most of their trash. Everyone had a burn pile. Fire and smoke were common. If you build a fire, then there will be smoke. That was the beginning and end of that. Smoke smells hanging in the air of my early life were common.

I became a beekeeper and was immediately introduced to the basic tool that is older than the classic hive tool – the bee smoker. I saw nothing novel about that. All I had to do was build a small, smokey fire in a bellows-assisted canister. I was told that smoke forced bees to engorge on honey in preparation for departing their burning hive. At the time, I bought that fairy tale. It was only later that I began to wonder what would happen to the fertile, heavy queen that would be essentially unable to fly with the departing bees.

Things change. Then the reason morphed to the explanation that the smoke masked internal hive pheromonal systems and that bees could not amass an organized defensive response. That’s pretty much where I am now, but that explanation still has holes in it. Why would masking pheromones with smoke make bees engorge on honey? I don’t know.

Smoke effects on the bees
What are the effects of smoke on bees? I don’t know. I do know that it “calms” them or does it just confuse them? I do know that I could not work a testy bee colony without dependable quantities of smoke. So, the use of smoke on bee hives is seemingly not going away any time soon. It’s too valuable as a management tool.

Figure 4. A classic bee smoker – on the job generating smoke.

Honey bees are tropically derived insects. Fire and smoke have long been a part of their natural world. Does that relationship imply that smoke is in any way good for bees? I don’t think so. I suspect that smoke is deleterious to the respiratory system of bees just as it is for my respiratory system. How bad – I don’t know.

Smoker fuels
The list of potential smoker fuels used in this country and around the world is huge. It would seem that nearly any product that can be burned has been used for smoker fuel. Burlap, leaves, wood shavings, cow manure, rolled corrugated paper, cotton cloth, punky wood, sumac pods and wheat straw are examples of fuels that beekeepers have used in their smokers. Is any one of them better (safer?) than any other? I don’t know.

Years ago, I communicated with a respiratory specialist who kept bees. He had invested some intellectual energy in analyzing smoke fuels and felt that smoke from wheat straw had the least amount of byproduct volatiles. I generally use wood shavings in my home yard when applying smoke and pine needles, that are readily available, when I am in my remote yard.

But the use of pine needles as smoker fuel, though used all over the southeastern and Midwestern U.S., is apparently problematic. Csinca wrote to me saying, “We talk, write and read about the compounding multi chemical exposure (including pesticides, pollution and pest control chemicals). Do you want to add something to that with your smoker fuel too? The pine oil itself has more than 23 chemical compounds and combined with the high temperature in the smoker, the outcome will be highly unpredictable, but for sure won’t help the bees.” (Csinca, Tibor. 2015. Personal Communication. Forestry engineer and hobby beekeeper.) Now, I am considering eliminating a common smoker fuel – pine needles – from my common smoker fuel list. Another change?

When I am conscientiously working colonies and expect to be in them for a while, I now wear a respirator to protect my lungs from the smoke. I have the remnants of childhood asthma and I instinctively do not like breathing smoke. However, I have noticed that after a long day in the bee yard, my unprotected eyes are also irritated. Did the smoke do this, too?
In any case, I would suggest using billowing white, cool smoke and only use as much as is needed to subdue the colony. Rather than apply a lot of smoke a few times, I try to use a little bit of smoke frequently. Is this the right thing to do? I don’t know.

It’s not just beekeeping
Believe me, it is not only beekeeping that seems to have endless unanswered questions. I have many, many unanswered questions about topics that are non-bee related. The side effects of medications that I am expected to take, what foods are safe for my general health and am I exercising enough are some quick vague questions to which I do not presently have answers. It would appear that questions, without obvious answers, will always be with us.

Thank you
Thank you for making it this far through this piece. I always appreciate your time and thought.

Dr. James E. Tew
Emeritus Faculty, Entomology
The Ohio State University
tewbee2@gmail.com

Co-Host, Honey Bee Obscura Podcast
www.honeybeeobscura.com

Contact:

Matt Mulica

mmulica@keystone.org

(303)531-5511

Honey Bee Health Coalition Releases 8^th Edition of the Tools for Varroa Management Guide

New Edition includes extensive revisions, treatment tables updates

Keystone, Colo., August 22, 2022— The Honey Bee Health Coalition unveiled the 8^th Edition of the Tools for Varroa Management Guide today. The guide provides information on the latest tools and options for beekeepers in the USA and Canada to keep bees healthy and manage varroa mites, which spread disease within and among honey bee colonies.

“As an Apiculture Extension Educator, I often hear from devastated beekeepers who struggle to keep their honey bee colonies healthy and alive. The successful management of varroa mites is critical to keeping honey bees healthy. This guide provides comprehensive information about management options for one the most serious threats to honey bee health,” said Ana Heck, Apiculture Extension Educator at Michigan State University.

An expert team of beekeepers, entomologists, Extension agents, apiary inspectors and federal regulators spent more than six months editing the document to bring it up-to-date with changes in best practices and treatment options. The guide details new information on varroa control products including new products that have been approved for release since the 7^th edition was released in 2018.

“The Varroa Management Guide is the most valuable tool to include in your varroa management toolbox,” said Dewey Caron, Emeritus Professor of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, and a principal author of the guide. “It has what you need to know in one streamlined and concise package. It should help improve overwintering success by helping you flatten the varroa growth curve and reduce bee colony viral epidemics.”

Varroa mites represents one of the greatest threats to honey bee health, honey production, and pollination services. Untreated or ineffectively treated colonies can fail, causing economic losses to beekeepers, potentially impacting agricultural food production. Colonies infested with varroa are also a potential source of mites and diseases that can spread to other colonies and apiaries.

Effective varroa control will reduce colony losses and avoid potential spread of infectious disease among honey bee colonies. The Tools for Varroa Management Guide explains practical, effective methods that beekeepers can employ to measure varroa infestations in their hives and select appropriate control methods.

The full guide is offered free of charge at the Honey Bee Health Coalition’s Website: https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/resources/varroa-management/

About the Honey Bee Health Coalition

The Honey Bee Health Coalition brings together beekeepers, growers, researchers, government agencies, agribusinesses, conservation groups, manufacturers, brands and other key partners to improve the health of honey bees and other pollinators. Its mission is to collaboratively implement solutions that help achieve a healthy population of honey bees while also supporting populations of native and managed pollinators in the context of productive agricultural systems and thriving ecosystems. The Coalition focuses on accelerating the collective impact of efforts in four key areas: forage and nutrition; hive management; crop pest management; and communications, outreach and education.

The Honey Bee Health Coalition is a project of the Keystone Policy Center, a nationally recognized nonprofit that brings together diverse stakeholders to find collaborative, actionable solutions to public policy challenges.

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Found in Translation

Climate Control

By: Jay Evans, USDA Beltsville Bee Lab

Honey bees control the temperature in the core of their colonies to a degree you can only dream of for your home. By humming muscles (burning sugary carbs) and ventilating, they stabilize both temperature and humidity across a wide range of outside conditions. How they do this and the causes of major shifts from normal hive conditions are topics of great interest for colony health. Running too hot in the Winter can stress the cells of bees, or at least reflect the wasteful use of honey. Running too cold also stresses bees, especially brood, and can put colonies at greater risk from parasites and pathogens (which tend to come from lineages that exploit less hot-blooded insects).

Beekeepers and scientists have developed and adopted numerous technologies for monitoring hive conditions. Superfans can find hours of videos by experts in this realm from the most recent International Bee and Hive Monitoring Conference, held at the University of Montana (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK1L4YyuyoO1WxuH1Dg4sxhM-FOEDYhW_). Highly accurate thermocouples are inexpensive and depend on minimal energy. Similarly, monitors for humidity are readily available, as are monitors for sound. Slightly more complex probes can determine relative levels of oxygen or CO2 in the hive environment. All of these measurements can be reported out to the wider world via antennae aimed at cell phone towers or satellites, joining the cacophony of the ‘Internet of Things’.

Scientists using this technology receive unprecedented insights into how colony conditions, management and hive materials impact the bubble in which colonies live. In total, the results have some bearing on management and diagnoses of when things are going poorly. They also might change how you manage, feed and house your bees. The concept of indoor weather reports from beehives is not new, of course. Hive temperature values gathered by James Simpson for his 1961 paper Nest Climate Regulation in Honey Bee Colonies (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.133.3461.1327) are still accepted as truth for colonies in Winter and Summer and within and outside the cluster of bees. Namely, the cluster itself is HOT, and stable, fluctuating only slightly from 34oC (93oF). This cluster temperature trends lower and becomes a bit less stable in the absence of brood, but Winter bees from Texas to Toronto keep things amazingly hot and stable through the coldest Winter.

So how do beekeepers help their colonies control temperatures efficiently? I have written before about the resurgence in storing colonies in buffered buildings, or underground, during Winter as a means of decreasing stress and honey consumption. What about hive-centered fixes? Working from the outside in, what is it about the hive environment that helps honey bees regulate their inner selves? For any given climate, bees and beekeepers have some say about the building materials and integrity of colony homes. Some beekeepers feel that natural hive cavities and managed hive bodies that most closely match the ancestral homes of honey bees will lead to healthier bees. Groups such as Apis arborea (https://www.apisarborea.org) are leaning into this idea with naturalistic beekeeping. Others have focused on mass-produced and marketed options. My USDA colleagues Mohamed Alburaki and Miguel Corona have compared the well-used wooden Langstroth hive body to one of the available synthetic hive options. Using bee-free boxes and cold stretches of the Maryland Winter, they showed that synthetic boxes absorbed and maintained solar energy more effectively and (counter-intuitively to me) also kept the hive environment at lower humidity at a range of temperatures (Polyurethane honey bee hives provide better Winter insulation than wooden hives, 2022, open-access in Journal of Apicultural Research, https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2021.1999578). These are both desirable traits for a hive structure. Similarly, Daniel Cook and colleagues from Brisbane, Australia, showed in Thermal impacts of apicultural practice and products on the honey bee colony (2021, Journal of Economic Entomology, doi: 10.1093/jee/toab023) that polystyrene hives maintained heat far better than wooden hives, while also showing that stored honey, while costly to heat initially, acted as wonderful insulation for bees trying to keep warm. In prior work, Yasar Erdogran from Turkey did a similar study but with bee-filled colonies (Comparison of colony performances of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) housed in hives made of different materials, 2019, in the obscure but accessible Italian Journal of Science, https://doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2019.1604088). Here, polyurethane colonies had higher brood production and honey yields than wooden hives, but wooden hives with an exterior sandwich of insulation were significantly better than both, even during the Summer.

Other studies suggest that bees themselves, and their behaviors, are predominant in maintaining a cozy home. Using longterm and precise reporting of temperature and levels of CO2, William Meikle and colleagues showed how bees can make different houses work for them in Honey bee colonies maintain CO2 and temperature regimes in spite of change in hive ventilation characteristics, 2022, Apidologie, https://doi.org/ 10.1007/s13592-022-00954-1). Bees showed a narrow core temperature band in both standard hives and hives with a screen bottom board, and strong daily cycles in CO2. Colonies had higher CO2 levels when housed with screen bottom boards but this difference was not as large as the natural daily cycling of CO2. Dashing a good story, colonies did not show any sort of group-level ‘breathing,’ whereby gas levels changed on a cycle from seconds to hours. Building on the complexity and seasonal nature of all this, Ugoline Godeau and French colleagues monitored the temperatures of different parts of dozens of hives for two years (!), giving the best view yet of energy loss and heat production within bee homes. In their 2022 pre-print study Stability in numbers: a positive link between honey bee colony size and thermoregulatory efficiency around the brood (https://ecoevorxiv.org/9mwye/) they reinforce how remarkably stable hive temperatures remain, while showing minor changes with colony size, namely that worker bee population, and not brood numbers, per se, is positively tied to temperature stability. This is only true when brood is present and when probes are in areas containing brood. When brood is absent, as observed 60 years ago by Simpson, hive temperatures fluctuate madly.

So how can this information be used to improve beekeeping? It is evident that hive sensors can help determine optimal bee houses for any given climate, and perhaps these sensors will help beekeepers decide when and how to remove honey and swap out drawn frames for foundation with the least impact on the bubble their bees prefer. It is possible that multiple hive temperature sensors can tell beekeepers when brood is absent or retracting, but bees seem to be quite good at showing heat when even small patches of brood are present. Hive sensors that measure CO2 and other hive gases (oxygen, nitrogen, etc.) are more costly but give unique insights into bee activity, and perhaps the efficient use by bees of incoming energy. How these physical measures mesh with continuous monitoring of hive weight, and sound for that matter, remains to be seen. For now, for most of us, we can get general insights from studies that use accurate and constant probes, but our most useful insights (and satisfaction) will come from lifting hive covers.

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Winter Insulation Revisited

With a Healthy Serving of Crow

By: Ross Conrad

The September 2022 issue of Bee Culture contained an article about Winter insulation where I theorized that the difference in insulation value of the wood making up a hollow tree and a standard Langstroth hive is not so significant that it would make much difference to a colony of bees overwintering inside. Then I read an article published in the August 2022 issue of the American Bee Journal written by Robin Radcliffe and Thomas Seeley titled, Thinking outside the box: Temperature dynamics in a tree cavity, wooden box and Langstroth hives with or without insulation. The article described the results of trials that measured temperature fluctuations inside various cavities observed between November 2019 and May 2021.

Radcliffe and Seeley compared the ambient outside temperature with the temperatures inside a living hollowed out maple tree, and a plain wooden box, both with cavities that matched in size and shape. They also looked at the temperature fluctuations in two Langstroth hives occupied by colonies of bees: one hive protected with a wool blanket that provided an insulation value of R-30 and the other without insulation. Ambient temperatures were taken inside of each hive studied as opposed to the temperatures inside the Winter cluster. The data collected during these trials showed that a cavity in a living tree insulated with 13 inches of wood on both sides, 20 inches in the back and six inches in the front was extremely stable, maintaining a temperature right around freezing during outside temperature fluctuations that ranged between 16°F and 36°F (-9°C to 2°C). The cavity that performed closest to the living tree during the trials was the occupied insulated hive that saw temperatures that ranged from about 39°F to 45°F (4°C to 7°C) during the same 24-hour period. Meanwhile, the temperature range in the uninsulated hive fluctuated between approximately 22°F to 54°F (-5.5°C to 12°C). What I failed to account for when I postulated that the insulation value of a hollow tree would not be much different from a standard Langstroth hive was the thermal mass of the cavity.

Thermal mass refers to the ability of a material to absorb and store heat which provides inertia against temperature fluctuations. For example, as the outside temperature fluctuates throughout the day, the large thermal mass of the concrete floor and walls located within the insulated portion of a house helps to flatten out the daily temperature swings, since the thermal mass absorbs heat when the temperature inside is warm, and releases its stored heat when the temperature drops. While complementary, thermal mass is different from insulation that prevents heat from entering or escaping.

All materials have thermal mass; however, the more dense a material, the greater its thermal mass potential. As a result, concrete and earth have a high thermal mass while air has very little. While wood is considered to have a relatively low thermal mass, relatively dense hardwood will have a slightly greater thermal mass than softwood, and a living tree is going to have a much higher thermal mass than the lumber that makes up a hive due to the moisture content of the wood. It is estimated that water stores three to four times as many BTU’s per pound as rock or masonry. Additionally, the fact that a living tree pulls up relatively warm moisture from deep beneath the ground is likely to further augment the heat storage capacity of a tree compared to a colony living in a dead tree or a hive made of kiln-dried milled lumber.

Comparisons of temperatures inside a pair of occupied Langstroth hives over a 24-hour period on November 17, 2019. One hive (yellow line) was outfitted with a wool hive blanket (Beehive Cozy Cover) and the other hive (green line) was not.
Thanks to the American Bee Journal for the use of this image.

The data collected during the Radcliffe and Seeley study clearly shows that the hives we provide our bees can be made to perform fairly similarly to a colony’s natural home (a hollow living tree) if the hive walls “are built with, or wrapped in, good insulation.” While I was wrong about the difference between the temperatures within a cavity inside a hollow tree compared to a standard hive, I believe the final conclusions of the September Bee Culture article (To Insulate, or not to Insulate) still stand. The fact that thousands of cold climate beekeepers have successfully overwintered bees in standard Langstroth-style hives without the use of insulation of any kind, indicates that the need to insulate colonies during Winter is of secondary importance except perhaps in the most extreme locations.

It is of primary importance for Winter survival to ensure bees are healthy, have plenty of honey and pollen and stay dry. I would amend my original article by acknowledging that in cases where colony health or food stores are marginal, the Radcliffe and Seeley trials suggest that insulation may mean the difference between survival and death.

It is typically believed that colonies of honey bees use the least amount of honey to maintain themselves when temperatures are at or about 40°F (4.5°C). If the amount of honey available to a wintering colony is a little shy, the ability of insulation to keep the internal temperature closer to this temperature sweet spot could allow a colony to survive on honey stores that would otherwise be insufficient without insulation surrounding the hive.

The same is true for a colony that has mite or pathogen issues that have not been adequately addressed by the beekeeper. When colonies are stressed by pest and disease pressure, the increased rate of honey bee population decline can adversely affect that ability of the cluster to maintain adequate temperatures within the brood area. The bees simply don’t have enough bodies to keep themselves warm. If the cavity they are occupying is insulated, such as in the hollow of a living tree, or a well insulated hive, then the moderation of temperature extremes provided by the insulation value of the cavity along with its thermal mass could mean the difference between life and death.

Decisions on apiary management need to be considered in a holistic manner and each beekeeper’s unique situation is going to affect which management decisions are going to be highly beneficial and which are not worth the time and effort. A backyard beekeeper with a few hives and who may not have the knowledge, time or resources to ensure colonies are entirely healthy and well stocked for Winter are likely to benefit from the addition of hive insulation. Meanwhile, those with a couple dozen hives or more are unlikely to want to take on the additional cost, work and required storage space to purchase, install and then during the Summer, store insulation for all their hives. Simply ensuring that good nutrition is plentiful, the bees are healthy and colonies stay dry will result in the desired outcome.

The reality is that all beekeeping is hyper-local and should be holistically based upon each beekeepers management style, goals, hive type, the strain of honey bee being managed and the local climate. This is the reason I am always weary of “Best Management Practices” which attempt to place all beekeepers into a one-size-fits-all mold.

Ross Conrad is the author of Natural Beekeeping: Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition and The Land of Milk and Honey: A history of beekeeping in Vermont.

Work cited:
Robin W. Radcliffe and Thomas D. Seeley (2022) Thinking Outside the Box: Temperature dynamics in a tree cavity, wooden box, and Langstroth hives with or without insulation, American Bee Journal, Vol. 162, No. 8: pp 893-898

Becky Masterman led the UMN Bee Squad
from 2013-2019. Bridget Mendel joined the Bee Squad in 2013 and has led the program since 2020. Photos of Becky (left) and Bridget (right) looking for their respective hives. Please share any thoughts about roadside and ditch flowers or your beekeeping superstitions via email to
mindingyourbeesandcues@gmail.com

The Fascinating World of Ditch Management
By: Becky Masterman & Bridget Mendel

Do you remember Ms. Rumphius, the children’s book by Barbara Cooney? In it, a little girl in Maine is charged by her grandfather to do something to make the world a more beautiful place. Spoiler alert: what she ends up doing is scattering lupine seeds all over her neighborhood, beside roads, in ditches and on hillsides. She becomes known as “that crazy old lady” who rides her bike around the neighborhood throwing handfuls of seeds. In the Spring, the whole town is covered with beautiful blue and purple and rose colored lupines.

An even more popular seed thrower is the legendary Johnny Appleseed (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed), who in folklore traipsed across the country slinging apple seeds (and wearing a tin pot on his head). The real man behind the legend, John Chapman, did in fact plant apples in the early 1800’s, but not strictly helter-skelter. He planted and tended nurseries, introducing apples across North America.

He also apparently sowed dog fennel seeds (Eupatorium capillifolium), which are now considered a noxious invasive weed in some parts of the country.

Roadside managed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. While this strip of land is not planted specifically for pollinators, when nutritional opportunities emerge, bees find them.
Photo Credit: Rebecca Masterman

Which brings us to our thesis: roadsides and the plants that grow in them are complicated; attempts to improve them are usually imperfect and will make someone mad; but efforts are still worth making because they will make a bee happy.

We all know that planting seeds is the number one action we need to take to help pollinators. Because we don’t all have the same access to land on which to put those seeds, planting gets perplexing. Public or publicly-used lands become of interest for many of us, as a significant acreage of potentially pollinator-friendly geography. But of course, not everyone has the same goals when planting for pollinators.

Johnny’s invasive dog fennel has an equivalent in the aggressively-cheery yellow colored birdsfoot trefoil, loved by honey bees but despised by native plant ecologists. Articles such as this one (https://www.honeybeesuite.com/what-is-ethical-beekeeping/) dig (with questionable success) into the ethics of beekeepers throwing clover seed along roadsides that subsequently may require more maintenance (and taxpayer dollars) to control their spread. Since honey bees need food, beekeepers are primo candidates to engage with the roadside authorities-that-be to find ways to add flowers to management plans.

This roadside is planted for pollinators and managed for sight lines.
Photo Credit: Rebecca Masterman

Now and again, one sees a berm of goldenrod or a length of purple asters or joe-pye-weed along a highway, but it’s certainly not consistent. Many competing factors go into roadside management, such as the need for clear sight lines for drivers, and safe spaces to pull over along the roadways. Roadside managers juggle competing (but potentially complementary) environmental concerns as well: erosion control, stormwater management, invasive weed control, and pest control.

Traffic is of course, dangerous for all living things that collide with it, so attracting birds, butterflies and bees to busy roadsides is a double edged sword. In our northern climates, salt, used on ice and snow in Winter, also has an impact on the adjacent habitat. In a fascinating paper (https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1323607111) researcher Emily Snell-Rood discusses the impact that high levels of sodium have on trait selection in monarch and cabbage white butterflies: while there are positive effects for butterflies reared on sodium-rich roadside milkweed, their survivorship levels are significantly lower than non-roadside-reared butterflies.

Your brain brimming with knowledge about the perils of roadside plantings, you might be tempted to give up. But bees can’t be choosy these days, and need every inch of habitat they can get, and roadsides, by definition connective, can help create corridors of connective (if imperfect) habitat.

In our state, the Minnesota Department of Transportation directly manages about 10% of roadways, equaling about 175,000 acres of greenspace along 12,000 miles of Interstate, State and U.S. Highways. One method they use to increase pollinator (and bird) habitat on roadways is to engage external partners: communities can “adopt” a roadway and help to maintain it (https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/roadsidesforwildlife/index.html) or “sponsor” a roadway and fund restoration and maintenance efforts (https://www.dot.state.mn.us/highway-sponsorship/about.html). Why not ask Siri who your local road authorities are, and what they are doing to promote habitat when possible? Then ask yourself what you can do to make your highways more habitable—and the world a more beautiful place.

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Dr. Marla Spivak for helpful edits and suggestions.

Raylynn White

and Wound Care Management
By: Raylynn White

Propolis is a resinous substance with varying colors and consistencies created by the Apis mellifera from several vegetal sources. Salivary enzymes and wax are added to plant exudate to produce the resinous substance. The main sources of this plant exudate are from poplar, willow, birch, elm, alder, beech, conifer and horse chestnut trees (Martinetti, 2015). In this article, I will discuss how propolis benefits bees, how it was discovered and used in ancient society, and lastly how its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and immunomodulatory properties make it an important alternative treatment for wound care management today (Braakhuis, 2019).

Propolis is an important contributor in maintaining a hemostatic environment in the honey bee hive. It is a natural adhesive and resin like substance produced and used by bees to construct and repair their hives (Sarfaroj, 2022). The chemical composition of propolis is highly dependent on the geographical location, vegetation and seasons. Studies have determined that there are over 300 compounds in propolis. Propolis consists of resin, oil, wax, pollen and other chemicals including minerals, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin E and a variety of other components (Braakhuis, 2019). The bioactive components of propolis are polyphenols, terpenes and steroids as well as, sugars and amino acids. The major polyphenols are flavonoids and phenolic acids which make up the pharmacological active constituents in propolis. Propolis serve the honey bees by making their hive stronger structurally, provides insulation, smooths out internal walls, blocks entrances from intruders, for thermal isolation of the hive, covers over carcasses of intruders (avoiding their decomposition) and fills unwanted cracks. Research has also determined that propolis has numerous health benefits to the honey bee. Propolis acts as a bee’s external immune system. It aids honey bees in fighting disease/infection (American Foul Brood, Varroa destructor), the bees use it as an all-purpose cleaning agent, and it also inhibits the growth of any bacteria within the hive (Finstrom-Simone and Spivak, 2010).

Honey bees have been making propolis for millions of years and ancient humans after having learned of its benefits, have been using it for thousands (Bioregulatory Medicine Institute, 2020). The ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romans were aware of the healing properties of propolis and made extensive use of it in medicine (Krol, 2013). The Greek physician Hippocrates (who was considered the father of medicine) recognized the healing properties of propolis.

In more modern times, 1967-1973, Dr. Karl Lund Aaggaard (also known as Dr. Propolis) studied the effects of propolis on over 50,000 patients. He concluded that the propolis can be used for many health aliments such as open wounds, sinus congestion, ulcers, eczema, pneumonia, arthritis, lung disease, stomach virus, headache, circulation deficiencies, warts, conjunctivitis, periodontal disease, intestinal infection, bronchitis, colds, disease of the ears, gout and swelling of the throat (Honey bee propolis, Feb 2020).

For my purposes, I have decided to focus on propolis and how it is used in wound care management. Wound health is a complex phenomenon characterized by a sequence of independent and overlapping events (Noha, 2013). The complicated mechanism of wound healing occurs in four stages homeostasis, inflammation, proliferation and re-modeling (Vohra, 2020). Propolis has many biological and pharmacological properties that aid in all four stages of wound healing. It has been confirmed that propolis has antimicrobials, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, immunomodulatory properties that are beneficial in the four stages of wound care management (Sarfaroj, June 2022).

The first benefit of propolis to wound care management is through its antimicrobial properties (Martinetti and Ranzato, 2015). Antimicrobials share the common interest of reducing the possibility of infection and sepsis in a wound. Antimicrobials can be broken down into several agents such as antibiotics, antiseptics, antivirals, antiparasitics and antifungals (WHO, 2021). Propolis gains its antimicrobial properties due to its high flavonoid content (Grange and Davey, 1990). Honey bee’s collect flavonoids by collecting nectar, pollen and plant resins. Flavonoids are well known as antimicrobial agents which provide defense against a wide range of pathogenic microorganisms. One of the most common wound management tasks is controlling/limiting infections (Wound Source, 2021). A wound may become infected when there is a break in the skin which allows pathogenic microorganisms to enter. Applying propolis to the infected wound would be beneficial due to its antimicrobial properties. The antimicrobial properties of propolis enable it to successfully fight against different microorganisms (bacteria, virus, fungus, parasites). In addition, propolis has also been used on patients’ wounds when the microorganisms become resistant to common medicines (WHO, 2021). This is often referred to as antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Propolis has helped in modulating the antimicrobial resistance of highly resistant bacteria. Propolis can be beneficial in wound management by limiting or inhibiting the growth of pathogenic microorganisms and also by being very potent to these pathogenic organisms which may have grown resistant to “conventional antibiotics” (WHO, 2021).

Dr. Karen Cross MD, PhD, FRCSC (Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon). Dr. Cross uses bee products (honey and propolis) when treating patients wounds.

The anti-inflammatory properties of propolis also make it very effective in treating wounds (Johnson, 2021). The second phase of wound healing is the inflammatory phase. Inflammation is the body’s natural response by which the body repairs damaged tissue. Inflammation has been shown to delay wound healing and may result in increased scarring. Furthermore, chronic inflammation is a hallmark for the non-healing wound (Eming, 2007). Propolis’s anti-inflammatory properties are associated with polyphenols, which would be the flavonoid component (Martinotti and Ranzato, 2015). The flavonoids regulate the enzymes needed to cause inflammation. They reduce the production of these enzymes, this reduces inflammation. By decreasing the inflammation in a wound, it allows it to heal quicker. When using propolis for wound management, it is applied directly to the open wound. Propolis has been shown to reduce the inflammatory response. As a result, the healing process was faster and the level of pain and discomfort to the patient was lessened (Martinotti and Ranzato, 2015).

The third property of propolis that benefits wound management is that it has antioxidant properties. Propolis contains a high percentage of polyphenols (flavonoids and phenolic acids) which provides propolis with its powerful antioxidants (Adham and Hassan, 2022). Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals and chain reactions that may damage cells of organisms (Wikipedia, 2022). Free radicals damage contributes to the etiology of many chronic health problems such as cardiovascular disease, inflammatory disease, cataract cancer and tissue damage (wounds). Wound healing depends on low levels of reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress. A wound over-exposed to oxidative stress leads to impaired wound healing. Antioxidants are postulated to help control wound oxidative stress and thereby accelerate wound healing. The patient can receive the antioxidant benefits by applying propolis (as an ointment or cream) directly to the wound (as a dressing) (Fitmauruce et al., 2011). Propolis can also be taken by mouth (refined capsule) which would also allow the patient to gain antioxidant properties, aid in wound management and increase healing time.

The last medicinal property of propolis that I will discuss in relation to wound care management is its immunomodulatory properties. Immunomodulatory properties mean that propolis can modify the response of the immune system by increasing (immunostimulants) or decreasing (immunosuppressives) which will help the body’s wound healing. Propolis is a complementary and alternative agent that promises to achieve a more effective immune system when the immune response is not sufficient to control a specific infection (Hariri, 2019). Propolis gains this medicinal property due to the flavonoids and some of the phenolic acids. In summary, the healing process of the immunomodulatory in propolis is that it can assist in healing by either empowering or suppressing the actual immune system. As a result, the wound heals faster. A healthy immune system is important for good wound healing.

In closing, the use of propolis is slowly gaining popularity in the medical system. Unfortunately, there are some misbelievers. I interviewed a dermatologist/surgeon from St. Michaels Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. She explained “the use of propolis for wound care is real. People laughed at me when I started using it, until wounds healed and the patients stopped complaining of pain.” The other benefits of using propolis in wound care management is that it is less expensive to our medical system, there are no known severe or serious interactions with other drugs, it is safe for most people to use (with no known severe interaction with other drugs), it is readily available, has very few side effects and a person cannot overdose on it. With more education for the general public and our medical community, propolis could be used more frequently in wound care management.

References
Adham, Eithar., Hassan Amal., Evaluating the role of propolis and bee venom on the oxidative stress. Scientif reports., 2022, 02-16,
Braakhuis, Andrea. Evidence on the Health benefits of supplemental Propolis. Nutrients 2019, Nov:11 (11)
Bioregulatory Medicine Institute. Honey Bee Propolis. Supporting the Science of Self–Healing. February 7, 2020.
Eming A Sabine et al J Invest Dermatol., Inflammation in wound repair; molecular and cellular mechanisms Pub Med., 2007., March.
Finstrom Simone Michael and Spivak Marka. Propolis and bee health: the natural history and significance of resin use by honey bees., Apiology., 2019 June Volume 41, Number 3
Fitzmaurice., SD., Sivamani.RK., Isseroff RR. Antioxidant therapies for wound healing Skin Pharmacol Physiol 2011
Grange TM. and Davey RW. Antibacterial properties of propolis (Bee glue)., Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.,
Hariri Mohammed., Immune boosting agent: Immunomodulation potentials of propolis., Journal of family and Community Medicine 2019 January-April
Johnson, Jon., What are the benefits of Propolis?., Medical news today., 2021-03-10
Khan, Sarfaroj. Propolis. PGD Health Operations. 2022-06-22
Krol Wojciech. Propolis: properties, application, and it potential., Hindawi., 2013-05-05
Martinotti, Simona and Ranzato Eliz. Propolis: a new frontier for healing?. Burns Trauma. 2015;2:9
Noha, Ibrahim. Evaluation of the effect of bee propolis cream on wound healing in experimentally induced type I Diabetes Mellitus. The Egyptian Journal of Histology. 2013- Volume 35 Issue 4
WHO., Antimicrobial resistant., World Health Organization, 2021-11-17
Wound Physicians. The four stages of Wound healing., Vohra., 2020-6-4
Wound Source., Surgical Wound Complications., Wound Source practice accelerator’s blog., 2021-11-29
Wikipedia, Encyclopedia., 2022- 09-11

Author Bio
Raylynn White is from Torbay, Newfoundland, Canada, and her passion in bees blossomed three years ago. By profession she is a social worker, but in her spare time you can find her working away in her apiary. Raylynn recently graduated from the University of Montana’s Masters of Beekeeping program. She intends on using her knowledge to educate people about the importance of the honey bee.