5/30/09: LBCA Field Day and 3rd inspection

LBCA Field Day at Queen Right Colonies in Spencer, OH:
Conditions: Sunny, 70F
Present: About 80 experienced and novice beekeepers from the Lorain County Beekeepers Association and I
Equipment: QRC apiary
Activities: I showed up at around 1:15 pm.
1) Inspected lower deep (brood chamber) or a mature colony (not started, split, or swarmed this year).
2) Observed equipment from a colony that had collapsed from American Foul Brood (AFB).
3) Observed hives from an experiment to determine comb-building affinity for different types of foundation.
Observations:
1) The mature hive was interesting. All frames were completely built out. The wall frames were all capped honey with brood located in inner frames. We observed a good brood pattern and discussed signs of weak brood patterns that would require re-queening. Saw some supercedure cells that indicated the workers have some ideas regarding replacing their queen.
2) The AFB colony was supposed to be a live colony kept for educational purposes so new beekeepers could see (and smell) a diseased colony. Experienced beekeepers present questioned the wisdom of keeping this hive and equipment present in a working apiary with dozens of uninfected colonies. The owner has dealt with infected colonies and felt he had an adequate understanding of the disease and could prevent infection of other colonies. All the bees were dead and there was a musty, mildewy smell to the hive. A very spotty brood pattern was evident with sunken caps. The bacterial disease kills and multiplies in the larvae, producing spores which transfer by contact (especially on gloves and hive tools) and are very difficult to kill. Equipment from infected colonies must be burned or dipped in hot parafin (~350F).
3) The foundation comparison study was very interesting. Newly established colonies of packaged bees were set up this season (~5 weeks prior) with different foundations to determine if bees will build out comb faster on some foundations than others. Wired wax, yellow plastic, and black plastic in wooden frames were compared, as well as one-piece plastic frames and foundation. The preliminary results were the bees, all Italians, showed no preference and built all out to about the same extent! Each hive had about 6 full frames built out on both sides after 5 weeks. The LBCA members involved intend to publish a paper with the formal results.Based on this, I'm not sad I went with plastic foundation, but I would have preferred black to yellow to make the eggs easier to spot.

3rd Home Apiary Inspection:
Conditions: Sunny, 70F
Present: Mohammad D. and I
Equipment: Removed entrance reducers on the Italian hive.
Activities: Smoked hives about 5:00pm. Inspected all frames.
Observations: Observed the Italian queen. The Italian hive was docile, lots of bees and new comb. Removed the entrance reducer at the recommendation of a local beekeeper due to warm temperatures and current honey flow. Will probably add the first super during the next inspection. Running out of smoke when we got to the Russians. At one point they came boiling out of the hive and were aggressively bumping me and followed me while I backed off. My fault, next time I'll bring more smoker fuel with me. Mohammad declined the use of a spare veil and got a worker bee up his nose. He was stung on the underside of his nose when the she discovered she was not welcome to probe his left nostril. When I looked over, she was about halfway in and Mohammad was obviously dismayed. Next time he will be wearing a veil.