This is, without a doubt, the best part of the year in Virginia. The weather is perfect, as it often is in the fall. Sunny and warm without a trace of humidity. Great weather all around, and particularly good for beekeeping.
Suffolk looks beautiful this time of year since the cotton is blooming, which is always an impressive sight. I love to see that fields stretch as far as you can see. Some cotton always blows off of the plants and there are bits of cotton all along the road. It burns well and is good for a smoker.
Of course, my bees love the cotton plants when they are blooming. It makes a very nice light honey, though it crystallizes very quickly, sometimes in the comb even.
Here is a cotton field:
Here are many huge bales in front of the Suffolk Cotton Gin:
My bees in Suffolk are, as usual, keeping ahead (or, more accurately, apart) from any of my expectations. After a couple of years of chemical free beekeeping the bees that have survived are looking great. I could find no evidence of mites, though the small hive beetle (SHB) populations were absolutely huge. They tend to be very large this time of year. SHB are an invasive species from South Africa, they have been in the US only for a few years, steadily heading north from Florida, where they first arrived. My beeyard in Suffolk was among the first in Virginia to have SHB (a dubious distinction) but I haven't noticed any particular problem for the hives and I do not try to treat for the beetles. They used to really bother me, evil looking little bugs as they are, but then I realized that they don't seem to be causing any damage. Some argue that the SHB carry viruses that damage the bees, but my hives with SHB have not suffered that I have noticed. The bees don't seem to mind the beetles too much, though they chase them around sometimes. I definitely have found that the bees propolize a bit more in SHB hives than in other hives. The major drawback of having the beetles means having to process the honey within 24 hours of pulling it off of the hives to avoid having them ruin it. SHB defecate in honey and will destroy it unless you harvest and extract it quickly.
When I say there are a lot of beetles, I mean dozens per frame and, in some recesses of the hives, it is possible to find a mass of them. This isn't so bad, they are easier to squish en masse. Here are a couple of photos of the inner cover and a frame with beetles:
I did lose two colonies in Suffolk. I don't know why, there were no dead bees anywhere and moths had eaten all of the comb. The total absence of dead bees is curious, but I can only speculate why they died.
One of the hives was filled with wasps, which stung my hands. I get stung by bees all the time and it doesn't bother me, but I'll tell you--wasp stings freaking hurt.
I got the honey supers in my truck, along with the other equipment that needs to be fixed, and of course the bees were happy to come along for the ride trying to get at the honey. It is hard to see them all but listen for the buzz and you'll have a sense how many were in the back of my truck.
Because of the beetles, I need to extract my honey tonight, so I'll post some pictures.
Suffolk looks beautiful this time of year since the cotton is blooming, which is always an impressive sight. I love to see that fields stretch as far as you can see. Some cotton always blows off of the plants and there are bits of cotton all along the road. It burns well and is good for a smoker.
Of course, my bees love the cotton plants when they are blooming. It makes a very nice light honey, though it crystallizes very quickly, sometimes in the comb even.
Here is a cotton field:
Here are many huge bales in front of the Suffolk Cotton Gin:
My bees in Suffolk are, as usual, keeping ahead (or, more accurately, apart) from any of my expectations. After a couple of years of chemical free beekeeping the bees that have survived are looking great. I could find no evidence of mites, though the small hive beetle (SHB) populations were absolutely huge. They tend to be very large this time of year. SHB are an invasive species from South Africa, they have been in the US only for a few years, steadily heading north from Florida, where they first arrived. My beeyard in Suffolk was among the first in Virginia to have SHB (a dubious distinction) but I haven't noticed any particular problem for the hives and I do not try to treat for the beetles. They used to really bother me, evil looking little bugs as they are, but then I realized that they don't seem to be causing any damage. Some argue that the SHB carry viruses that damage the bees, but my hives with SHB have not suffered that I have noticed. The bees don't seem to mind the beetles too much, though they chase them around sometimes. I definitely have found that the bees propolize a bit more in SHB hives than in other hives. The major drawback of having the beetles means having to process the honey within 24 hours of pulling it off of the hives to avoid having them ruin it. SHB defecate in honey and will destroy it unless you harvest and extract it quickly.
When I say there are a lot of beetles, I mean dozens per frame and, in some recesses of the hives, it is possible to find a mass of them. This isn't so bad, they are easier to squish en masse. Here are a couple of photos of the inner cover and a frame with beetles:
I did lose two colonies in Suffolk. I don't know why, there were no dead bees anywhere and moths had eaten all of the comb. The total absence of dead bees is curious, but I can only speculate why they died.
One of the hives was filled with wasps, which stung my hands. I get stung by bees all the time and it doesn't bother me, but I'll tell you--wasp stings freaking hurt.
I got the honey supers in my truck, along with the other equipment that needs to be fixed, and of course the bees were happy to come along for the ride trying to get at the honey. It is hard to see them all but listen for the buzz and you'll have a sense how many were in the back of my truck.
Because of the beetles, I need to extract my honey tonight, so I'll post some pictures.
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