By: Ben Carpenter
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2019 issue of BEEKeeping Your First Three Years
Photo by: Ryan Williamson, Messenger Post Media
Far too often, we see black and white answers given to other beekeepers when they are asking for advice. As a response to “is it too early to…?” or “can I feed…?” you’ll read, “No you can’t.” Many times these replies have some reason to back it up, and sometimes those reasons are valid scientific facts. However, when in beekeeping do we see black and white answers? Can you tell me an exact date that colony in your area swarm every year? Or can you tell me an exact date that a local honey flow, such as Black Locust, in my area, will start? Sure you can guess, and sure you might have years of supporting data, but the fact of the matter is no, you can’t. You can’t tell me with 100% certainty that the first swarm is going to happen on May 2. What you can say, it’s the first swarm COULD happen on May 2. This article is not about answer these questions, but rather how we answer these questions. I am hoping to stir your brain and get you to think outside the box.
Now these examples might not be the best at what I am trying to get to. But they make the point. There are very little times you can give a black and white, yes or no answer in beekeeping. I am not talking about science or biology fact. I am talking about a question like, “Is it too early to move an overwinters nuc into a 10-frame hive body?” which was a question posed to a Facebook group in Upstate NY on March 28. Many of the answers were good. Most of them said yes it’s too early and to wait. Some (like I mentioned earlier) justified their answer with sound reasoning. And for the record, I commented and said that I would probably wait in doing so. BUT, what I asked before giving the reply was, “depends, what you are trying to accomplish?”
Let’s think about this question for a second. “What are you trying to accomplish?” It’s a simple question but it will give you a lot more information. In my sales training and experience, we would call this an “open-ended question “, that requires a response that is not a simple yes or no. To answer this question, a full explanation is required. You gain a lot more information which will help you answer the first initial question. In the example I shared in the previous paragraph, the answer I got was “There are four seems (gaps between the frames) of bees and seems crowded, however, I have not pulled any frames yet.” Ok, so now we know why they are asking the question, why they are thinking of doing what they asked and we found out more about the status of the colony in question, right? I also would like to point out, the beekeeper acknowledged that they don’t know the full status of the hive because they have not pulled frames yet.
So, armed with this information, on this example, what would your answer be? Would you stick to the seemingly classic answer of, “yes it’s too early.” Or would you now think about the scenario that is in front of you, and reply differently? in front of you, and reply differently? Now that I knew this information, I referred back to two questions I ask that applies to most beekeeping situations. The first, we already asked, but I asked myself it again, “what are we trying to accomplish?” In this case, we have a colony that seems full. We want to allow them to build up in this important pre-season time. Hopefully by doing so, we will quell any swarming. So the goal here is, allow colony growth and reduce the swarming likelihood.
The second question I refer back to is “what time of year is it?” As stated it’s late March and in upstate NY. Why ask this question? I see many times people just ask “at what temperature can I do…?” But simply the temperature does not give you enough information to answer the question. “What time of year is it?” gives you much more. It gives you temperature, weather pattern and condition and what nectar or pollen source is current happening. But more importantly, it also gives you what is the colony doing this time of year and what is coming up? What will the colony be doing now, next week and in four weeks? What nectar and pollen sources will be coming up, next weeks, the following week and in four weeks? Furthermore, it also allows you to apply a biology and scientific fact. In a little bit, I’ll add something further you can ask to help with gaining your solution.
Now you have a complete picture of what goal we have for the colony and what the current and future factors are that will impact the colony. Now you can apply what you know to give an answer. So in the example, couldn’t the beekeeper, move the colony into a hive body on a nice day (which would also tell him more about the colony, perhaps finding it really does need space or maybe it does not and stop the process), add a frame or two of drawn comb and feed a liquid feed directly to the cluster (through inner cover hole) also adding a pollen patty (or whatever your preferred method is to provide a protein source within the hive) and call it a day?
How did I come to this conclusion? First we know that the goal is to allow colony growth and reduce the swarming likelihood. So by moving them into a larger box and providing instant space by adding a frame or two of drawn comb, this allows the colony the extra room it needs and the extra space the queen may need to lay additional eggs during, as we learned off the second question, what we know is an important build up time for the colony. Furthermore, by providing a food source directly to the cluster, we insure they have what they need to feed themselves but also have a food source they can reach within the hive (a similar concept to installing a package of bees in March or April, which contrary to popular belief is done and done successfully in our area, and has been done for decades) during a cold snap that we are still likely to get during this time of year. Lastly, providing a protein source the colony needs to have a balanced diet and the required feed to the growing larva within the hive, during a time, they may not be able to get out and find a natural source. It goes without saying that this is not a guaranteed solution, as no beekeeping solution is. We could still get a cold snap, in which the colony will not have enough bees to keep all the brood warm and you could end up with chilled brood. But in that case you wouldn’t be likely to lose the colony over it nor would you be setting them back past the point they were at when you first did the move.
Lastly, I said I would add something that might help you, especially if you’re new to many techniques within the bee management realm, is to add one last question when applying what you know from the first 2 questions. I saved this for after I already covered it in the above explanation. It’s simply a question designed to have you think outside the box. Here it is: “Are there similar parallels?” What do I mean? If you remember reading in the above paragraph about feeding direct to the cluster? After it, I drew a contrasted to how installing a package of bees in March or April is done. All the question is asking is are there situations that are different but there solutions are based on similar answers to questions one and two? Let me explain. In installing a package of bees, in colder weather, for us like in March or April, it’s important to feed directly to the cluster, as the bees won’t be able to leave the cluster for that needed food. But the goal for the package at this point, is expansion, right? Similar to the goal on the example I have been using. Also the time of year is the same. So, we can deduct from having the similar goal and similar factors to question two, this is a technique we may be able to apply to answer our example scenario.
Again, this article is not about answering the example that I used throughout this piece. Rather, it was an example of how to think, like a beekeeper. By asking yourself two questions, “What am I trying to accomplish?”(Question 1) and “What time of year is it?”(Question 2) As explained throughout this article, these two questions will give you a goal (Question 1) and then give you the important factors that will dictate how you achieve your goal (Question 2). These questions work under most situations you’ll find yourself or others in, like “What do I feed?” or even for treating for mites, as in what treatment to use. Try to think outside the box and think of similar parallels that will help you answer the question. So the next time you see someone asking a question or the next time you have a question, break it down by asking the two questions I shared with you today and you’ll arrive at an educated beekeeper answer.
About the author: Ben Carpenter and his wife, Kimberly, are Certified Master Beekeepers through the Eastern Apiculture Society. Both are heavily involved with their local bee clubs and New York State’s Bee Association, The Empire State Honey Producers Association, Inc. They run a small commercial bee operation as well as a beekeeping supply business called Hungry Bear Farms, where in addition to bee supplies they sell nucs, packages, queens and offer many training workshops for beekeepers. A few years ago, they purchased Ross Rounds and the Sundance Pollen Trap business and now are also growing that business, as evidence in many other local bee suppliers and bee supply catalogs. Visit them at www.HungryBearFarms.com, www.RossRounds.com or www.SundancePollenTrap.com.
