Replacing Old Honeycombs

Beekeepers build hives for bees, and the bees build their nest inside the hives from beeswax, a substance that the bees produce. Young bees secrete beeswax from glands on the lower side of their abdomen. Beeswax makes a strong and lightweight nest to hold the developing bee brood as well as a storage area for bee food. The individual cells of the bee nest are used repeatedly to house bees developing from egg to larva to pupa to adult. As the bee brood changes from larva to pupa, the workers cap each cell with reused beeswax from the hive. However, workers use freshly secreted beeswax to cover the cells of ripened honey. Honey bees are attracted to the odor of old honeycombs, but old comb is a potential problem for bee health. Beeswax absorbs chemical toxins from the environment, making the hive increasingly toxic. Old honeycombs also hold the reproductive spores of a number of pathogens, namely American foulbrood, chalkbrood, and Nosema disease.

Periodically replacing old beeswax combs is a key element in Peace Bee Farm’s integrated pest management plan. Honeycomb replacement has a similar effect as changing the engine oil in a beekeeper’s truck; the impurities are removed. In today’s photo, I am using a high-pressure power washer to remove the old beeswax comb and hive materials from frames of plastic foundation. The stream of water removes pollen deposits, old bee larvae cocoons, wax moth webbing and cocoons, and small hive beetle “slime,” the waste deposits of the larvae of these hive scavengers. Once the old comb is removed from the frames, I will coat the plastic foundation with fresh beeswax, capping wax saved from harvesting honey. The bees will rapidly form this beeswax with their mouthparts into smooth sheets of comb. During a strong nectar flow, young worker bees will secrete additional beeswax to complete the honeycombs. The colonies will rear brood in clean, chemical-free beeswax cells. Providing a clean brood nest helps ensure a healthy bee colony.

--Richard

Bee Hive Ventilation

For good bee health, it is important to have a free flow of air around the bee hive. Honey bees are capable of regulating the temperature and humidity of their hive to maintain a healthy environment for brood development. The modern bee hive provides for adequate ventilation in most circumstances. Screened bottom boards and telescoping covers with vented inner covers offer effective ventilation. The bees regulate the atmosphere inside the hive by clustering tightly together in cold weather and spreading out in hot weather. When conditions are extremely hot, bees exit the hive and rest on the outside surface of the hive or festoon from the landing board of the entrance. Moving a number of bees out of the hive makes for greater circulation of air. The bees can usually control the hive’s internal atmosphere by fanning their wings to circulate air. If cooling of the hive is needed, worker bees fan air across a droplet of water carried in their honey gut. Honey bees don’t store water in the hive. The bees themselves serve as a reservoir, holding water in their bodies in their honey gut.

The set-up of the bee yard helps determine how the bees regulate the hive’s internal atmosphere. Air needs to be able to flow around the bee hives. In flat land of the Arkansas Delta, we place bee hives on stands to raise them above the damp ground. While I try to keep foliage away from my bee hives, this year’s more than frequent rains let some get overgrown. I found one covered with fast-growing milkweed vines, possibly blocking air flow around the hive. Inspecting the hive, I found some chalkbrood disease, a fungal condition. Click on the photo of the brood. Fungus-infected larvae appear as white pieces of chalk in the cells. Chalkbrood is usually not a serious bee infection. After removing the vine, and with some dry weather, the colony had removed the infected larva mummies and returned to health.
--Richard