Etienne will continue his Northern Beekeeping series (free) on Wednesday 4/28 at 8pm MST. Please see the original page for more details:

Etienne Tardif of the Yukon Beekeepers will be doing a series of free online presentations starting Thursday, April 15 at 8pm MST.

Wednesday April 28th – 8pm (MST)– TALK 2: BEE TOOLS/EQUIPMENT AND TIME COMMITMENTS/LOCAL RULES(Very cold climate focus – Yukon , NWT and Alaska)(30-45 minute presentation + 30 minute Q&A) Format Zoom

Register here to get notice: https://forms.gle/d6JdFiT84Q8hM4g66

The talks will follow my PDF Northern Beekeeping Guide (currently 160 pages)

Talk 3: Bee Biology /Beekeeping is Local

Talk 4: Bee Nutrition

Talk 5: Disease and Pest Management

Talk 6: Year 1 Spring to Summer

Talk 7: Year 1 Fall and Winter

Talk 8: Second Year Challenges

Talks will be free (On scheduled day) and will be recorded. To get access to unlisted videos and PDF Guide I will ask for a minimum of $20. This will help me pay for my Zoom account and continue my bee studies. My aim is to host a talk every 1-2 weeks.

I’ve been feeding my bees protein supplement (not exactly with pre-purchased pollen patties, but with pollen powder substitute mixed with sugar and a bit of water to create a “Krabby Patty”). But this morning I found my bees foraging for protein in the crushed chicken feed. Clearly their instinct to go forage for pollen is greater than the convenience of it already being in the hive. So I took some of the powder and placed it out in a shallow dish near some dead out honey frames they had been foraging from. Within 10 minutes of setting it out there was a very loud buzz in the air as sisters told sisters about the powder and they started emptying out of their hives to come collect the protein.

But what does pollen supplementation really do right now? In my Master Beekeeping course at U of MT and my extensive reading, it is postulated that winter bees and young nurse bees eat this protein themselves to replenish the protein stores in their bodies—vitellogenin—that are waning from the long winter trying to keep warm. So this protein can buy you more time by keeping the bees healthy and fed until the pollen flow in the North. If they have started brood, they convert this protein into Royal Jelly to feed the very young also. But do bees actually use pollen substitute to directly feed to the young larvae that have graduated past royal jelly?

A study I recently stumbled across done in Florida discovered that ALL the pollen substitute provided to the hives (dyed blue) was only consumed by the nurse bees and not fed to the larvae. But in early spring in Florida, real pollen is available. And it’s possible the bees prefer real pollen for larvae when present. But what about in the North where no pollen is available yet? Will bees reluctantly feed the sub to the young? Is the long standing rumor that pollen patties make bees start rearing brood a problem simply because they get to day 4 just fine feeding royal jelly as a result of extra protein for themselves, but then there’s no real pollen to rear brood and that’s when Montana bees fall apart? Dozens of beekeepers on the Facebook forums seem to be successfully getting their bees to true spring using pollen patties but they all have pollen flows before us. The Flathead Valley seems to be one of the last counties in beekeeping circles to get pollen. Is it possible that if you bees have not stored real pollen in their hives in the fall that no amount of nursing your bees in early spring will help?

I plan on studying and finding an answer to these questions bouncing around in my brain this week and posting a Part 2 of this article. In the meantime, I am feeding all my hives this protein to hopefully keep the winter bees alive just a bit longer to true spring. As of today, March 16th, there were still several canisters of BeePro powder at the South Murdochs. I’d get you at least one and set it out for your bees!

Lane County (Oregon) Beekeepers is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: LCBA March Monthly Meeting

Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Early Class: Installing Package Bees & Nucs

Log in 6:45pm for Q&A session

Class starts promptly at 7:15pm.

General Meeting: “Free Bees! The Art & Magic of Swarm Catching & Bait Hives” with Fonta Molyneaux

Log in at 8:00pm

Announcements & Presentation begins at 8:15pm

You may attend one or both presentations. Stay logged in if attending both.

Join Zoom Meeting by clicking on link below: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89856989259…

Meeting ID: 898 5698 9259

Passcode: 472440

One tap mobile+12532158782,,89856989259#,,,,*472440# US (Tacoma)+13462487799,,89856989259#,,,,*472440# US (Houston)

Dial by your location +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)

Meeting ID: 898 5698 9259 Passcode: 472440

Find your local number:https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdbixnCF1x

From the Rodale Institute Website about their Online Beekeeping Course:

Learn from the experts at Rodale Institute, the global leader in regenerative organic agriculture. Rodale Institute has been putting science behind regenerative organic farming for over 70 years. Now, Rodale Institute’s decades of research is right at your fingertips!

This course is for:

• Beginning beekeepers
• Beekeepers looking for no-treatment alternatives to their practices
• Anyone interested in learning more about honeybees and their place in our ecosystem

In this course, you will:

• Learn about honeybee biology
• Understand the complex behavior of different members of the honeybee colony
• Identify specialized beekeeping equipment and how to use it
• Develop a clear understanding of management of the hive throughout seasons
• Learn about management of pests and diseases of the honeybee

To enroll, visit their website here

We will meet this Tuesday, January 26th at 6:30 pm as usual but we have lost access to the Health Department during COVID. We will meet at the Northridge Lutheran Church at 323 Northridge Dr in Kalispell. Here is the a link to the meeting details. See you then!

Monthly Beekeeping meetings are on a break until after the New Year in 2021. We do not have a meeting place and since the bees have all gone to bed, we could all use a rest! However, please feel free to ask questions here or call Angela or Ingvar Ingvarsson with any questions or concerns. In January we will start talking about late winter/spring Preparations and planning for next year. Thank you all for another great year of beekeeping!

As many of you know, I was requested to conduct a research experiment and write a paper on it for my Master Beekeeping certification with the University of Montana. I received high marks on my paper and I thought I would share it with you all as it may effect your decisions as you decide how to winter your bees.