A clean, healthy, pest-free, and productive beehive is essential for successful beekeeping. Best practices include regular inspections, providing adequate space, and swift attention to addressing signs of infestation. Hives should be inspected once a week during flow periods to ensure the bees are healthy and well-fed. Feed the bees a pure, clean source of food and water. Regularly change the feed to prevent contamination. Maintain hive structure by fixing broken frames and replacing old combs with fresh ones to promote hive health and encourage honey production. Important signs of disease include varroa mites, wax moths, hive beetles, fungi and other potential problems. Hives that are over-crowed or honeycombs that are too full may induce swarming. Swarming is the natural process by which colonies reproduce to form new colonies.
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Varroa mites spread from Apis Cerana to Apis Melifera in the 1970’s. Apis Cerana developed individual and colony hygienic habits that kept mite populations low in its Asian habitats. An optimum balance between the mites and the bees was achieved. The European honeybee appears not to have the hygienic habits that kept mite populations low in Apis Cerana. Apis Melifera became the dominant bee in America and varroa destructor mites first arrived in Florida in 1987.
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Honeybee populations around the world are facing declining populations, primarily due to varroa destructor mite. The notoriety of this parasite has escalated in the western hemisphere over the past 100 years. This invasive parasite spread throughout North America within a decade, destroying nearly 100% of the feral bee population and a very high percentage of the managed bees in the United States.
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A beehive free of these parasites sets the honeybees up to get through any harsh winter conditions. Not removing honey stores from the hive improves the chances that bees will survive the cold months of the year when pollen and nectar resources become scarce.
My first beekeeping test came two weeks into beekeeping. I found larvae on the sticky board at the bottom of the beehive. These larvae were small but numerous. How could I have a pest problem only two weeks into beekeeping? I was jolted, it seemed far too early to me for pest problems to start. I addressed the problem by changing my beehive configuration so that fewer pests could enter the hive. Later I realized that placing the hive in a shady area was not the greatest of ideas. Full sun reduces these pest pressures. The next test was my first bee swarm. The optimistic plan was to conduct a split and double the number of beehives I managed in my first year of beekeeping. This plan went out the window only a few months into beekeeping. A swarm cuts your bee population in half and reduces the workforce by approximately seventy percent.
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Gone with the bee swarm was the opportunity to expand the apiary in the first year, and possibly even get some honey. New beekeeping in the American Southeast works best when the focus is getting first year hives through the winter and into the next season. This approach acclimates the bees to the local area and the beekeeper to the changing needs of bees throughout the year. Not getting honey in the first year was probably a blessing in disguise since honey collection is a major operation that requires a sizable investment in honey production equipment and supplies.
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I focused on management practices geared towards keeping the bees healthy, instead of taking the steps required for honey collection. This included precision feeding, scheduled cleaning of hive beetles and wax moths; and various varroa detection strategies.