Artificial Swarm Seminar

Last night I went to a seminar given by Erin Forbes about using an Artificial Swarm to strength a hive and break the brood cycle. I paid the extra premium and got a medium nuc box as well. Erin had issues with getting her slides right, but the material was really good, and I liked her style of presentation. It could have been really boring if she had used her slides exclusively, but mostly they were just a supplement to her words. She plugged a British beekeeping journal called Bee Craft that usually has an article each spring dealing with Artificial Swarms as a management technique. See http://www.bee-craft.com/ and http://www.motherearthnews.com/honeybees-beekeeping/performing-an-artificial-swarm.aspx#axzz2Ow3okva4  or http://www.cornwallhoney.co.uk/beepedia/artificial.htm or http://galwaybeekeepers.com/artificial-swarm/

She recommends Apilife Var in the fall, because it is very effective, but says with the Artificial Swarm technique, she does not use any other mite treatments. Also the latest research on sugar dusting shows that it is ineffective against varroa mites and can actually have adverse side effects. A newer treatment that can be used at any temperature and with honey supers is HopGuard which Erin says is messy, but not disruptive like the thymol-based treatments or lethal to brood like the formic-acid treatments. Another tool in the arsenal. I will be using it for my packages when they come in.

Erin is also doing a SARE project that will hopefully lead to the development of nuc producing locally to avoid trucking in packages from down South and spreading bee diseases across the country.

She said in the 70's 18% of hives in Maine had AFB so using old equipment can be a high risk since the AFB spores can last 70 years.

Overall it was an evening well spent, and I'm glad I joined the York County Beekeeping club or I would never have known about it. Some of the emails that circulate are also informative so that was money well spent as well. I should have done it sooner. I will be going to open hive meetings to learn some more. I had thought reading books would be enough, but I was wrong about that. The material in the books is a few years old, and things in beekeeping are changing each year. Books are helpful, but not enough.

Erin also had a picture of a Bee Brief that she said is very helpful. See http://www.hillsidebees.com/Four-Frame-Plastic-Nuc-Box-p/ww-003.htm  OK. Not necessary, but a cool toy.