Chemical Free Beekeeping

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Chemical Free Beekeeping

• Kristal Domenico
• Danielle Hosler
• NCBA meeting Feb 17, 2009

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Chemical Free vs Organic

• Beekeepers cant control what the bees bring in
• Pesticides
• Herbicides
• Etc
• Beekeepers can control what they put in the hive
• Chemical treatments including feed
• Natural
• Synthesized

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Presenters at Nebraska Conf.

• Dee Lusby
• Back to biological beekeeping
• Regression to small cell
• Michael Palmer
• How I raise my queens
• Colony Management for Honey Production
• Successful Over-wintering of Nucs
• Laura Tyler
• Sister Bee video

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Presenters at Nebraska Conf. continued

• Laurie Ramona Herboldsheimer
• Pathogens or Beneficial Microbes?
• Dean Stiglitz
• Treatment Free beekeeping challenges and
  difficulties
• Michael Bush
• Natural Cell Size and its implications to
  beekeeping and Varroa mites
• Top Bar Hive
• Small Cell Management

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Overall highlights

• All presenters seemed to feel the most important
  considerations were
• Small cell foundation/comb
• Use locally adapted survivor stock
• Strong hives
• Swarms
• Breed local queens and open mate for genetic
  diversity
• Avoid treatments of any kind
• Bees have natural defenses- Bee Patient

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Small Cell Foundation and Comb
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Small Cell Foundation and Comb

• What is it?
• Range from 4.4mm-5.1mm cell width
• Standard foundation 5.0-6.0mm
• 3 dimensions (cubic) highlights-differences
• Standard foundation 5.4 cubed 157.464
• Small cell foundation 4.9 cubed 117.649
• Natural comb avg 4.6 cubed 97.336

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Small Cell Foundation and Comb

• Pros
• Varroa management, Trachea
• Bees travel further to forage
• Forage greater variety of flowers
• More bees to cover brood
• Cons
• Mistaken for Africanized bees due to size
• Less honey?
• Varies by beekeeper

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Small Cell Foundation and Comb

• Regression
• Multi step process - typical
• Step down size of cell in 2-3 stages
• Bees build the comb on small cell foundation or
  foundationless
• Cull larger cells

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Small Cell Foundation and Comb

• One step regression
• Small Cell comb
• Honey Supercell- all plastic, full cell combs
• Other foundations made for small cell
• Packages with foundationless 5.1mm

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The Hive Super-organism. . . Remember the Microbes
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The Hive Super-organism

• Microbes as agents of transformation of organic
  matter
• One microbes waste is anothers food
• Honey Bee Nutrition
• Bee bread from pollen
• Honey from nectar
• Antenna to determine feed needs for larvae

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The Hive Super-organism

• Health and balance
• Yeast, mold, bacteria, virus
• i.e. Chalkbrood fungus preventing EFB stonebrood
  fungus preventing Nosema and Yeasts and bacteria
  helping to digest the pollen.
• Heritability of colony cultures

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Chemical Free Management
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Chemical Free Management

• Chemical
• Synthetic vs. natural
• Chemical Free
• Manual manipulation vs. nothing
• Pyramid Up
• Top Entrance
• Drone Reduction
• Breed Selection

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Other Management Practices applicable to any
hive
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Other Management Practices

• Foundationless
• Of note observations that it takes a hive less
  time to draw their own comb than to draw out
  foundation of any kind.
• Contamination of wax
• Top Bar Hive

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Other Management Practices

• Locally adapted Survivor stock
• Raising queens
• ABJ Kirk Webster Queen rearing calendar
• Collecting Swarms

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Other Management Practices

• Overwintering Nucs
• Creating nucs from weakest colonies
• Keep on top of production colonies
• Feed them
• Contact feeder to allow for feed with minimal
  break in cluster
• Double nuc made from 10 frame hive body with
  feeder as divider

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Must See Movie

• Sister Bee by Laura Tyler
• DVD www.sisterbee.com

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In the End.
Everything works if you let it Michael
Bush Bushfarms.com
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Upcoming Treatment Free Workshops

• Southeast - Oracle AZ - Feb 27-Mar 1
• Northeast - Leominster, MA July 31-Aug 2
• Links to workshops under www.BeeUntoOthers.com
• http//pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Organicbeekeepe
  rs/
• http//www.beesource.com/forums/index.php