What is Killing Your Bees?
Are you killing your bees? I know it is a tough question to be asked but one that should be asked. There has been a lot talk about the various causes for the plight of the honey bee particularly in North America. This graphic by Capital News Service captures most of the causes usually discussed. But misses one key cause.
And that is you! The novice beekeeper. The question is; “Are you killing your bees?” There are many causes of bee deaths but are you killing your bees?
Is the issue geographic?
There have been some recent news articles somewhat related to this tropic. The Indiana Gazette recently published a post titled; “Novices Pose Biggest Threat to Honeybees Local Keepers Say.” The author suggests one cause for losses of colonies in the Pennsylvania area is due to where novice beekeepers source their bees. The theory is that buying packaged bees from the south and bringing them north to Pennsylvania is dooming the colonies to certain failure. This outcome is not the intent of the novice beekeeper, but a result of the packaged bee business model in their area. But is the change in weather conditions really the cause of colony failures?
Many here in the Pacific Northwest source their packaged bees and nucs from California. Weather conditions in California I would suggest are much different from the cool wet Pacific Northwest. So we should see similar results as those in Pennsylvania. But have we seen similar issues? Based on my personal experience and that of other beekeepers I know, I am not sure there is enough evidence for this sort of claim. I have had pretty good success with overwintering bees in western Washington. And those bees were originally sourced from California. Several of the packages of bees and even the few nucs I have purchased from California have performed well. Several other local beekeepers have seen similar results. This is not to say I, as have others, not had my share of colony failures. But were those due to the weather?
How are beekeepers killing their bees?
A variety of factors most likely are contributing to the death of honeybee colonies. But the one not included on this graphic is the beekeeper, especially the novice one. Poor placement of apiaries, removing too much honey or honey too late, lack of management, etc. can all lead to a poor outcome for a hive. Placement of hives in exposed or wet locations, here in western Washington can lead to moisture problems in the hive, decreasing internal hive temperatures and requiring greater honey stores to survive the winter. Adding insulation to hives can work but needs to be done carefully not to increase the moisture issues. Pulling too much honey or taking it too late for the hive to rebuild its stores can lead to starvation in the winter months. There are emergency measure for this situation such as adding sugar candy, but adequate honey stores is best.
And lack of management by the beekeeper can be a contributing factor to bee deaths. Lack of management can be a variety of things. Failure to inspect hives after pulling honey to assure adequate stores for the winter months. Not taking action in an emergency by adding/feeding sugar or sugar syrup when honey stores are running low. Not checking hives during the spring for indications of swarming, diseases, or robbing that might weaken a hive. Lack of monitoring for attacks on hives by ants, wasps, or yellow jackets can also result in the failure of a hive. And lastly not monitoring your hives for some of the “causes” listed on the graphic can be harmful to the long-term survival of your bees.
A little effort and good bee stocks.
While we can mitigate for things such as American Foulbrood, mites, wax moths, etc., we can control our actions as beekeepers. Make sure you are doing what you can to control your influence on the survival of your bees. I do recommend sourcing your bees from local stocks. Intuitively, bees from similar weather should do better. My most successful and long-lasting colonies have been swarms from feral colonies in the local area. But that is a story for another day.