A beekeeper needs to learn
certain tricks of the trade to work with Africanized bees. Their defensiveness
can make them difficult. It’s taken me a good number of years to sort of figure
them out (and there is always something new to learn when bees are involved!).
In general, there really is not
much difference between an Africanized honey bee and a European honey bee. Both
raise brood in the same way. They collect nectar and pollen in the same way.
They produce wax and build their combs in the same way. The difference is that
one is normally more ornery than the other. And this forces the beekeeper to
change tactics to be able to manage them.
This is the third installment
in my trilogy about beekeeping with Africanized bees. It’s a continuation on my
two previous posts, “Musings about Beekeeping with Africanized Bees” and “More
Musings about Beekeeping with Africanized Bees.” I don’t consider
myself to be an expert on Africanized bees (much less on beekeeping in
general). Over the years, as I mentioned, I’ve learned a thing or two in order
to manage and take advantage of the bees in Honduras while taking into
consideration my own personal circumstances that affect my beekeeping.
I don’t like to give exact
numbers for the amount of honey a hive of Africanized bees can make. I don’t do
intensive beekeeping—my time doesn’t permit it because of my teaching job. The
bees give me what they want and I’m grateful for it. There are also a lot of
other circumstances that affect the amount of honey produced, such as the
nectar sources, climate, and management styles.
A strong colony, however, can
easily fill their box with brood and honey. My top bar hives are generally
about four feet long—between 30 and 35 top bars. The coffee zone in the
mountains is normally the most productive honey area. The bees will fill their
boxes from one end to the other and at least half of it can be honey. My top
bar hives are 12 inches deep which makes one complete comb of honey to be the
equivalent one a deep frame. It is not uncommon for the hive to yield a
five-gallon bucket of honeycomb—50 to 60 pounds if filled completely.
Africanized bees can produce good amounts of honey and
offer a person a nice secondary (or even primary) income if managed correctly.
The taste of the honey is no different from that produced by European bees.
Like all honey, the taste depends on the nectar source.
Equipment for Africanized beekeeping
Veil and gloves are always
necessary. It is just about impossible to work without gloves--even the small
hives. They may not get into a full uproar but I am almost assured of at least
getting several stings on the hands. (I can handle them but I don’t like
them—avoid if possible.)
Sometimes I can get by without
the full suit (just two heavy shirts) if it is light intervention, like just
moving trap hives or even harvesting only two or three hives (depending on the
apiary) A beekeeper gets to know his or her hives and what to expect in terms
of temperament.
Any major intervention, such as
harvesting a complete apiary, requires the full battle gear. This means an
extra heavy shirt under the suit. A zip on veil is much better than a tie-on
veil to prevent bees from crawling under the elastic. Boots need to go up past
the ankles for better protection there. I also wrap some elastic bands around
the bottom of the suit’s pants legs to seal them off from any crawlers.
Armored plated and ready to do battle with the bees. I
need to be suited up really well when the bee work involves major intervention
into the hives, such as harvesting.
I mentioned in one of the
previous posts about the thick gloves I use. I like using the insulated leather
gloves designed for winter. The extra padding keeps my hands from getting those
“half stings” that sometimes pass through leather. Other times I will use cloth
garden gloves—but three pairs. I like them because they are easy to wash and
don’t harden like the leather gloves do over time. In both cases, my wife sews
a sleeve on them. I have also seen that it’s common for people to use thick
rubber gloves.
Finally I’ll put a small towel
over my head that drapes down the back of my neck—to avoid stings through the
veil there. It stays on with my sweat band. The wind and normal movement help
to plaster the veil against my neck, giving the bees the opportunity to sting
me there.
I get hot dressed like this. I
keep lots of water on hand. Everything is done in slow motion. Breaks are
frequent, especially during the hot, dry season in the valley. In the end, you
just getting used to working when dressed in this manner.
During any major intervention
into the hives I also break out the “beast,” my big oversized smoker that
requires two hands to operate. These big smokers are normal for working Africanized
bees. You usually need lots of smoke. This one not only holds a good amount of
fuel (wood shavings from the neighborhood carpentry shop), but it also can pump
out nice clouds of smoke--literally bathing the hive in a cloud of it if I want
or bathing myself if I need some relief from the bees.
The normal recommendation is
that you don’t work by yourself with Africanized bees. Major intervention means
that one person is always on hand to pump smoke.
A friend holding the “beast.” These big smokers require
two hands to operate it but are common when Africanized bees are involved. Lots
of smoke is necessary. Greg’s first beekeeping experience was also with
Africanized bees while he was in Honduras working at the school with me. He got
stung good by this activity and now keeps bee hives back in Michigan.
Top Bar Hives vs. Langstroth Hives
I’ve used both types of boxes
for Africanized bees. Presently all of my colonies are in top bar hives. In the
beginning of my own beekeeping, I had just about half of my hives in Langstroth
boxes. The melon grower I worked with for a while also had all the bees in
Langstroth boxes.
The Langstroth box wins for
honey production. It is designed to optimize the amount of honey a beekeeper
obtains. But when it comes to managing a defensive hive, it loses. When the
hive is opened, ten frames of bees are exposed. When the top box is removed to
check the situation down below, the hive is opened up even more. It makes
keeping the bees under control much more difficult.
The top bar hive is much more
suitable for dealing with defensive bees. The Africanized bee can still get out
of hand in a top bar hive, but its design definitely helps to manage their
behavior. You actually only need to keep a space of two bars opened when
working and checking the combs. The combs and bars just get shuffled backwards
as you go through the box. There should only be this small space and the
entrance to smoke.
Also, when you begin checking
one end of the hive, many of the bees tend to run towards the opposite side
instead of flying out. This means that I sometimes do honey harvest in two
parts. I will go into the back ends the first time around, letting the bees
group at the opposite end. I will then come back the next weekend and do the
front end. Less disturbance.
Top bar
hives are a closed system that helps the beekeeper control the defensive
Africanized bees. Only a space of two or three bars is needed to work the hive,
reducing the area from where bees can leave and the space that needs smoke. The
bees generally move to the other end of the box that remains closed.
Swarms
Africanized bees do like to
swarm. I need to make sure the bees always have room to work in order to
minimize the chance they will swarm and affect the honey production. Ideally I
need to be feeding empty bars into the outer sections of the brood area and in the
honey area of my top bar hives.
Swarms are common and an easy
way to get new hives. In fact, it’s my preferred way of increasing my bees. I
usually use bait boxes or swarm traps--small boxes that I hang in the trees for
the bees to start their new colony. For each swarm trap I hang, I am almost
assured to get one swarm. While some boxes are never filled, others can catch
two or even three swarms during the season. If the bees enter my box on their
own, they stay.
It is much more difficult to
keep that swarm that I physically dump into the box when I find it hanging on
tree limb. It is easy enough to get them to initially enter the box but many
times they will not stay, even if I give them a couple combs with brood. The
next day they leave. You can’t force them to stay.
This is why I prefer trap
hives. It works much better if they come and enter on their own when looking
for a new nesting site.
I could split the hive also,
making nucleus colonies. This implies getting right into the middle of the
brood area, which Africanized bees especially do no like. It also means that I
probably want to find the queen. Africanized queens like to move fast and it
can be difficult to have the patience to find her when bees are stinging you at
the same time.
My wife with a big swarm of Africanized bees. Swarms
are gentle and normally don’t sting. It’s just them with nothing to protect—no
brood, no honey, no comb. I will put on a
veil and gloves, however, when shaking them into a box—to avoid getting
stung from squashing a bee.
Africanized bee swarms behave
similarly to those of the European honey bee. They are not defensive, basically
because they have nothing to defend—no brood, no comb, and no honey. Normally I
would hang a swarm trap in the mango tree that I had right behind my former
house—maybe 25 feet from the back door. Several times I was lying in the
hammock taking it easy when I heard the swarm arriving. Wearing just shorts and
flip flops I would go outside to watch them enter the box, basically getting
right in the middle of them. Bees would be all around me but no stings (but I
wasn’t swatting at them like a crazy person either). They were just interested
in entering the trap hive.
Apiary site
Much consideration
needs to be taken when choosing the apiary site. I cannot place the hives close
to a house—people are sure to get stung when I decide to work them. You are
asking for a tragedy to happen when keeping hives in the back yard. You never
know what might set them off and create a major stinging incident. You have to
act like the hive will one day get in an uproar even if it normally seems very
calm. You can’t trust them.
I have kept
some newly caught swarms in my back yard until I have time to take them to the
apiary. They have stayed in the back yard for as much as a month. The back yard
had a wall around it and the colonies can’t get too big in the trap hives—not
enough room. They get moved to an apiary as soon as I can. A permanent apiary
has to be outside of town (no urban beekeeping here!)
I’ll keep some newly caught
Africanized swarms temporarily in my back yard until I can move them to one of
the apiaries. They are small so they generally cause no problems as long as I
don’t bother them. If I do need to do some work near them, I just need to put a
bit of smoke on them.
One
consideration for an apiary is that I have a route when I leave the hives that
doesn’t make me drag bees back to where people are or where I parked. Sometimes
this means taking a longer roundabout way through the pastures and coffee patches
when leaving. Coffee is actually good for getting rid of the bees. The branches
make it difficult for the bees to stay right on me.
Sometimes I
will go maybe half way and then find a comfortable place to sit for 15 to 30
minutes, occasionally pumping smoke on myself. I’ll be out of sight of the
apiary. When I see that most of the bees have stopped buzzing me I get up and
go the rest of the way. The sooner I can take off my suit, the better. It is a
big attractant.
The problem is
that an Africanized bee usually just doesn’t stop bothering you. Maybe only one
or two bees finally come back with you to the truck but they will continually be
buzzing around your head. They just won’t leave. I can handle it but normally
not the coffee pickers who have to jump in the back of the truck with me. I
don’t want other people getting stung by my bees.
Transporting bees
Transporting Africanized bees
can be tricky. They are going to come out of the box if they can. Even if it is
just one bee that escapes, it is almost a sure thing that she will try to sting
you.
I build my trap hives so they
are bee tight—they get a good check and repairs are made before being hung in
trees. The idea is that I only need to stuff a piece of sponge in the entrance
and seal the bees inside. But if there is a little space in one of the corners,
the bees will come out and they will sting me if they can. For extra insurance and
ease of mind, I put the trap hives inside a feed sack for transporting. If bees
escape, they are inside the bag and I don’t have to worry about them. My wife
sews a bag and a half together so they are large enough.
Bees in a bag. Moving hives of Africanized bees is
tricky because the bees will try to get out and they will try to sting you. I
need to seal the hive really well. When moving trap hives, I also put them in a
bag so if some do happen to escape they are trapped inside.
Moving full hives of Africanized
bees in a Langstroth box is even trickier. There is some migratory beekeeping
in Honduras. There are also those large melon farms that move the hives from
one field to the next. First you want good equipment that isn’t deteriorated.
Before everything is moved, the hives are checked for holes. Pieces of plastic
bags can be stuffed into any spaces from which you think the bees may escape.
Give the bees time to propolize the boxes together so there is less chance of
shifting during travel.
Bottoms should be attached to
the boxes in some way—nailed together with a cleat or a small strip of wood. I
also like to tie the boxes together as extra insurance. When working with the
hives used for pollination on the melon farm in the southern part of Honduras we
would use the plastic strapping strips that would normally get put on the boxes
of melons being exported. They can be tightened down to the point where they
bite into the wood. Everything stays together.
The entrances need to be sealed
up. We are in the tropics here, the weather doesn’t get cold enough to keep
them inside on their own. If the trip is particularly long (several hours) a
ventilation cover can be put on them.
My biggest problem with Africanized bees
The biggest
problem I have with Africanized bees is a side issue related to their
defensiveness. I can deal with their temperament—I know how to suit up well and
work them. But for the sake of everyone else, they can’t be in the back yard.
They have to be in an out yard, outside of town, and then at least 100 yards
from a house or road.
Having to have
the apiary far from a house means that anyone can enter it to steal honey. This
is the biggest problem I have with beekeeping in Honduras. There is a distinct
lack of respect for the property of others. Unfortunately it is perceived that
anything unattended has no owner and is free for the taking. Most people do not
want anything to do with bees, but there is always someone who knows enough and
without scruples who will rob you.
Twice I have
lost complete apiaries—of Africanized bees. They went into the yard and pushed
all the hives over—probably as a way to get rid of the bees and get at the
honey. Everything was strewn all over the apiary as a way of getting rid of the
bees. One of these yards had about 30 hives and the other about 50. This theft
also seems to generally occur at night. I could see where the thieves started a
fire. I always like to think that the bees can protect themselves but that
unfortunately isn’t the truth.
The bees are
what they are—I can’t change how they behave. I just deal with their behavior
and manage them as best I can. But people supposedly know right from wrong are
another issue.
Theft and vandalism are my
biggest problems having to keep Africanized bees. The hives have to be kept
outside of town in an area away from houses and people. This makes them fair
game to theft, even though the bees are Africanized. Most people don’t want
anything to do with them but there is always some dishonest person who knows a
little something about dealing with bees.
---Tom
Read the two
previous post in this trilogy: “Musings about Beekeeping with Africanized Bees” and “More
Musings about Beekeeping with Africanized Bees.”
Also see my
companion blog in Spanish, “Reflexiones Sobre
Apicultura.”
