I shoot a picture of an Apis Cerana a local honeybee carrying a basket of pollen on a hummingbird tree commonly called "Katuray" with a scientific name Sesbania grandiflora this afternoon, my father got a seed from Pangasinan and planted it here in our vacant lot, it is a fast-growing tree, leaves are regular and rounded and the flowers are white or red in color according to its species. The fruits look like flat, long and thin green beans. The tree thrives under full exposure to sunshine and is extremely frost sensitive, the bees love to forage in it's flowers and is a good source of pollen which was a protein source for the bees, it grows where there is good soil and hot humid temperature and is a tropical plant. I also saw Apis Mellifera foraging in this tree, Apis Mellifera were the bees that I keep. The flowers of S. grandiflora are eaten as a vegetable commonly in Southeast Asia, the green pods are eaten by humans and livestock. The young leaves are 36% crude protein, also eaten by man and livestock, and reportedly increase the milk production of cattle. The leaves are made into leaf meal for feeds. Fresh flowers are used in cooking stews and in salads.
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Just a quick queen rearing sessions with Jezrael Vergara at Allan Defensor's Apiary, we were scheduled to go there and graft those day old Larvae. from the moment the queen lay an egg it will take 3 days for it to be hatched and became a larvae on it's fourth day, identifying the 1 day old larvae is the key factor in grafting queens, and of course a good light and a good eyesight in identifying those day old larvae these are the beekeeping tools needed in grafting queens grafting tool, cell cups, cell bars and frame, grafting is simply the process of transferring larva from the worker cell of the breeder's hive to an artificial queen cell. The shape of the cell, along with the queenless condition of the hive receiving the newly grafted cells stimulates the workers to feed them a diet which make them develop into queens. Jezrael brought 2 types grafting tools one which he made out of cotton buds and was the most comfortable grafting tool that he used in grafting and the second was the chinese grafting pen which was given to him by a fellow beekeeper Clarisse Tan. According to him we have to move fast in transferring the larvae because it might dry them if it took too long for the grafting process and the larvae might die if it went dry, we brought 2 brood combs from their breeder hive which has a queen that was imported here from Hawaii, the cell builder which was at Allan's Apiary was ready and the grafted cells was placed at the center of the brood nest of the cell builder it should be check if the cells are accepted the bees will make a queen cell on it, hope our grafted queen will succeed. Build up period for the bees is here, when resources of both pollen and nectar are plentiful, the colony is stimulated to raise more brood and thus the colony population increases. when resources are low, brood-rearing decreases, and the colony population decreases. Dearth period was really a tough period for the beekeepers and the bees because during those times the resources of pollen and nectar for the bees decreases, and when it decreases brood rearing also decreases and the population decreases, mites were also the biggest problem we've had during the dearth period but in my case I have 2 colonies that I could say were strong I didn't even treat them with apistan and didn't feed them during the dearth period but still they manage to maintain a healthy colony. Early in the morning as I visited the apiary I already smell the scent of honey, so I guess it is the season for the bees to build up the colony that is why it is called the build up period, it was during this time that the pollen and nectar resources increase thus the increase in brood rearing and increase in population. Build up period is a time when bee plants start flowering and bees start to bring in pollen and nectar, during this period all the stores are used for comb building, egg laying and brood rearing, at this time, there should not be less than two top bars full of honey so that the queen may lay eggs to maximum capacity and brood rearing may not drop, any colony that runs short of food must be fed, the more stores of honey, the greater the number of foraging bees that would be available to collect the crop thus the bigger the harvest. Just this afternoon a friend visited the apiary with companions who were organizers of a running event they would like to have an advocacy on helping other people through their events, they happened to visit the apiary so I had that quick orientation with them to share a little bit of what I know in beekeeping, I show them the brood with capped and uncapped larvae and luckily I found the queen and show it to them, I'm happy to share the importance of bees in our lives as of what they always say “If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” Just this afternoon as I was observing the entrance I saw something unusual, I saw a white worm crawling at the entrance of the hive due to my curiousness I opened up the hive and saw numbers of them but they were still few in numbers, I have had watch some hives that are infested in youtube and have already suspected that these are wax worms for I have seen some moths flying around the area and have eliminated some. Beekeppers always want to have their combs free of these wax moth larvae because it is a very destructive insect pest in the beehive. As a beekeeper in the Philippines we have small information about how to treat this but thanks to the help of technology beekeepers nowadays can share thoughts and ideas on the internet. The adult moth is a heavy bodied small moth about ½” to ¾” long, wings vary in color from grayish to brown and the underside is light gray. The mated females will fly into a colony 1 to 3 hours after dark and lay their eggs and then leave before daylight. The eggs are laid in masses and are light in color. Immediate action needs to be taken if a web has already been spun, larvae is described to be fat, pointed at both ends with a brown head and can get up to 1" in length, stay in the larvae state from 18 days to 3 months, prefer darker comb and will chew out oval depressions throughout your hive, destroy the comb and wooden ware, begin spinning a cocoon that can cover your frames. While these wax moth larvae are in the hive there are no chemicals approved to kill them, but if the combs are in storage they use "moth crystals" to kill the larvae but I still would want a safe control rather than chemical control, the only sure way to keep this from becoming a problem in the hive is to keep the bees strong and healthy so they can manage them successfully on their own. Depending on the extent of the problem there are several options: remove the infected super and add it to a very strong colony that will clean it up, place the comb inside a plastic bag and place in a freezer for 2 days. In my case it is still a minor infestation so what I did was I pulled out any larvae I can see and clean out all webs as of what I said earlier that there are only a few numbers of larvae, I was just too lucky to have detected it early. A honey bee queen is a chosen one, they are chosen by the worker honey bees when the colony is in need of a new queen, the making of a queen is triggered usually by a combination of conditions such as congestion in the hive and lack of egg laying space. When the first virgin queen leaves her cell two things can now occur, either the first virgin queen leads a smaller swarm from the hive (called a cast) or she locates the other queen cells and kills the other virgin queen bee inside the queen cells by stinging through the wax wall of their cells. Just today I saw a queen cell opened up by some workers and the virgin queen's head emerge, I was happy to saw that scenery but I still had those fear of loosing the virgin queen bee, for the first 5 days of the virgin queen was critical, I lost some queen bee that emerge during the rainy days maybe because when they had their first flight the weather might not be good. A virgin queen as I describe it has a short abdomen and not engorged with sperm glands from male bees. Virgin queens appear to have little queen pheromone and often do not appear to be recognized as queens by the workers. A virgin queen in her first few hours after emergence can be placed into the entrance of any queenless hive or nuc and acceptance is usually very good. I am producing queens using the split type method, it is not easy to split a hive and there is no guarantee, for a new queen might not emerge, might not mate and of course the first mating flight was so critical. I am always hopeful that the first flight of the virgin queen bee will be successful because it is never guaranteed there is always that fear in me that she might not make it on her first flight or she might be killed. As of the splits that I have made in 4 Nuc boxes I already have 1 mated queen, 2 virgin queens and 1 queenless . October is fast approaching and I'm getting ready for their build-up period, dearth period was not an easy stage for the beekeeper and the bees but we are almost at the end of it for this year. Just attended the "First Visayas-Mindanao BEES Forum" which was held at Redemptoristine Nuns Monastery. happy to have met those beekeepers that came particularly from Mindanao, Bohol, and different parts of Cebu, some are into farming particularly "Cacao" wherein they raise bees for pollination and some are raising different species of bees. It was also a day of electing the leader for on that day we organized an association for beekeepers and here are the officers: President: Clarita Vergara Vice President: Edu Pantino Secretary: Jessica Mahusay Treasurer: Alex Bautista Auditor: Beth Tamboboy P.R.O.: Allan Defensor, Clarice Tan, Jay Dilan Consultant: Stephen Bastida, Alberto Bartolata Spiritual Adviser: Sister Alice Laurente Agosto It was a day of the bees and beekeepers, of great minds and great deeds to have a goal and be with each other, truly there is strength in numbers and this organization that we made is simply just taking the first step. Life is full of surprises just like what Forrest Gump always say "Life is like a box of chocolate you'll never know what you'll gonna get" and this colony of "Apis Cerana" a local honeybee surprise me today inside our well in our vacant lot, it was already an established colony of bees. Apis Cerana is smaller than the one I am keeping which is the "Apis Mellifera" or the European honeybee, Apis Cerana is the important pollinating agents for coconut palms. These are less aggressive than any wild bees and also less swarming behavior and can be easily used for beekeeping, so I decided to transfer them to a nucbox as we saw the colony, I smoke them gently with a smoker and put the box ready to catch them and as the hive fall into the box they became aggressive so I quickly put the top cover of the box and set it aside at the top of the well so they could enter at the entrance of the box I was sure that the queen was inside and when the queen was inside they could easily scent the pheromone of their queen I set it aside until 5pm and when most of the bees were in the box I already transfer the box to a new location where it would stay and will reorient themselves as they forage in the morning. I got stung 3 times but was still happy and excited as well to keep a local honeybee and I discovered new thing The sting of Apis Mellifera was much painful compare to the Apis Cerana. I haven't decided yet what type of box hive would I use for the Apis Cerana what I had in mind since Apis Cerana was smaller I'll make a box smaller than the box I'm using in keeping the Apis Mellifera, hope I could decide soon. I saw a documentary where a beekeeper said that bees choose their keeper and I guess with what happened today I'm starting to believe it. "Local raw honey is the best honey" was a quote that I've always heard in beekeeping industry. Buying local honey supports the beekeeping industry, an integral part of agriculture currently facing lots of challenges. It’s best to buy locally grown, organic, raw honey because the honey was produced by the bees in or near the environment you live, consuming foods from the area you live is beneficial as they contain the immune stimulating properties needed for your body to adapt to its environment. Fresh, raw honey will also be tastier, and more potent. When you buy from local beekepers you help your local economy. Imagine the bee pollinating the flowers of the plants and trees in your environment, we might take for granted those little bees but they are beneficial for the flowers to pollinate and we depend on them in order for us to eat those vegetables and fruits, 90% of the world food comes from 100 crop species 71 are pollinated by bees. Bees in the yard of a local beekeeper visit flowers within an 8 kilometer radius around where the hive is, they are intricately connected to the environment and benefit your local ecosystem. I always recommend those who are inquiring honey to find the nearest beekeeper in their area, for those beekeepers are the one who are taking care of the bees who are pollinating the flowers of the plants and trees in his/her area. Supporting the local independent beekeepers and helping them to stay in business is good for them and for the economy. here's a map of my apiary in Lapu-Lapu City: During a visit in my apiary I saw some bees on the ground with deformed wings, it was during my weekly inspection that I saw a young Varroa Mite on a brood and an adult Varroa Mite on a bee this confirmed that a colony was infested by Varroa Mites. Varroa mites are external honeybee parasites that attack both the adults and the brood, with a distinct preference for drone brood. They suck the blood from both the adults and the developing brood, weakening and shortening the life span of the ones on which they feed. Emerging brood may be deformed with missing legs or wings. Untreated infestations of varroa mites that are allowed to increase will kill honeybee colonies. Losses due to these parasitic mites are often confused with causes such as rainyday mortality and queenlessness if the colonies are not examined for mites. Varroa Mites start to attack during the dearth period where there is a scarcity of of food for the bees, Varroa can easily overwhelm a colony, there are two types of Varroa Mites: The Varroa Jacobsoni and the Varroa Destructor which are both serious pest of honey bee colonies worldwide. Treatments that is widely used to control Varroa Mites was the "Apistan" which fight mites through contact, the ratio is 1:5 which is 1 strip of apistan is to 5 Frames in the colony and will be hanged on colony for 6-8weeks. Apistan strips contain the miticide fluvalinate and are not to be used during honey flow, or when there is surplus honey present in the colony that may be removed for human consumption at a later date. Therefore, during the start of dearth period, after removal of surplus honey or prior to honey flow, are the best times to treat for varroa mites. I already had those Apistan strips with me and are ready to treat the colony that is affected by the mites. Honey flow was over and rainy days are here we call this period "Dearth Period" because during this period there is scarcity of food for the bees, one of the problems that occur during this periods for the bee keeper is the sudden aggressiveness of bees. Due to scarcity of food some bees may rob food from other colonies, thus the aggressiveness of bees take part, bees being robbed become aggressive defenders of their stores. This often results in a cloud of bees around a hive, just experienced a colony that I have to be so aggressive, it was my first time to handle the bees that aggressive even the smoker that I have didn't work I was afraid that they may be queenless because of their aggressiveness but lately I was wrong, due to the sudden change of weather a colony of bees that I have produced too many drones and I guess the abrupt change of weather was a factor for it, and the rainy weather, especially when it comes with heat and high humidity, makes bees cranky as well. During the “dog days of summer” no amount of fanning helps evaporate the nectar or cool the hive. It is already July and rainy season start early and though the bees still do have nectar sources it has slowed down dramatically. The bees are in defensive mode to protect their food source from any predator and also from the bees who may also rob their food. Things to do during rainy season is to put an entrance reducer if there is some fighting and some weird activities that you see in the entrance, and always have your smoker light up during inspection in case they really become really aggressive, but the last time I did my inspection I didn't use smoker at all, for the last time I used smoker they became aggressive some fellow beekeeper's advice if you use a smoker during inspection just lightly smoke them, two puffs of smoke at the entrance and then two puffs at the top after you have cracked the cover just enough to get the smoke in, and as of my last inspection I saw the queen and still have to observe in days to come, everyday is a learning experience and it is always good to know the bees. I am always thankful for them for it was a wonderful honey season they spent with me this year. Beekeeping is LOVE! |
Dilan's Apiary
Address: Kagudoy Road, Basak, Lapu-Lapu City Archives
June 2022
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