newbie questions

[Rchel]

Hello.
I'm new to bees and know almost nothing.
I have serveral questions I hope serveral beekeepers can respond to.
First. What are the best bees for twenty to forty below F? Are "Beeweaver" good bees? (Beeweaver, is an apiary down in TX)
second. When I was cleaning frames, I found two things. On the wax there was something that looked the color of mildew. What is it? And in the holes (comb) there was a substance that looks like itty bitty pieces of sawdust. What are these?
   One more thing. How can you tell if the frames carry bad things. (foul brood, chalk brook...).
   Thanks all,
   I luv bees

[Jerrymac]

Where about do you live

[michelleb]

I don't have an immediate answer for the debris in or on your comb, but I do agree that you should put your location (state, province) in your profile. Your location makes a big difference on what kind of choices you should make.

Can you post photos of your comb? This might be helpful. Also, how old is it? Did you buy established hives, or start your colonies from swarms/packages on new foundation? Some folks believe you should rotate comb out to reduce accumulated pesticides, fungus spores, bacteria, etc; others have kept the same comb for decades. With all due respect to the latter, I'd opt for the former.

As for strain of bees, you should find queens and bees from somebody closer to you--at least in your same latitude. I have no experience with -40 temps, but I'm guessing that queens bred in Texas don't, either.

Welcome to the board! I'm pretty new at this, too, and there's a wealth of information on this site and others to learn from.

Michelle

[Michael Bush]

>First. What are the best bees for twenty to forty below F?

Northern bees.  :)  Seriously if you can find a breeder in the North you'll be better off.  Any breed can survive that.  The Carniolans are more frugal than the Italians, but they will all do fine.

>Are "Beeweaver" good bees? (Beeweaver, is an apiary down in TX)

I bought bees from them for decades (from back when they were just "Weaver") and they always treated me well and the bees were always nice up until about 2001 when they went psycho on me.

>second. When I was cleaning frames, I found two things. On the wax there was something that looked the color of mildew. What is it?

Mildew.

> And in the holes (comb) there was a substance that looks like itty bitty pieces of sawdust. What are these?

Cappings.

>  One more thing. How can you tell if the frames carry bad things. (foul brood, chalk brook...).

Chalk brood isn't such a big deal.  AFB (American Foulbrood) is.  You look for scale in the bottom of old dry comb.  You do the rope test on fresh gooey sunken brood.

You can do the Holst milk test on the scale or the goo:
Holts milk test:
The Hive and The Honey Bee. "Extensively Revised in 1975" edition. Page 623.

"The Holst milk test: The Holst milk test was designed to identify enzymes produced by B. larvae when speculating (Host 1946). A scale or toothpick smear is swirled gently into a tube containing 3-4 milliliters of 1 per cent powdered skim milk and incubated at body temperature. If the spores of B. larvae are present, the cloudy suspension will clear in 10-20 minutes. Scales from EFB or sacbrood are negative in this test."

(Note: the name of B. larvae has now been changed by the taxonomists to Paenbacillus larvae.  You'll find many references under both names.)

Discussion of Holts Milk Test:
http://www.beesource.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=004299#000000

Or buy a test kit
Test kits:
http://www.beeequipment.com/products.asp?pcode=315
http://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=716&osCsid=fca1d9d269ea1eab911d6db7cf289bb9

Or send a sample to the lab
Beltsville Lab:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=7473

[Rchel]

Hello,
I live northern ND.
Thanks for all the info. I'll get my frames and take a look.
I got most of my bee hives from a beekeeper who quite.  I don't have a clue how old they are.
I've only done this one year, and another beekeeper get my bees. I had three hives. Almost all flopped.
This year, I want to try it on my own.
Thank you,
I luv bees

Maybe I should just buy new frames.

[Michael Bush]

>Maybe I should just buy new frames.

Bees move into old hives all the time.  They clean things up fine as long as it's not AFB infested.  Make sure it's not, then the main thing is to figure out what the cause was of the mildew (lack of ventilation usually).  If you clear up the cause, the bees will clean up the results.  I assume they were that way when you got them, so I wouldn't worry about it at all.

[TwT]

here's some pictures of the diseases,,     
http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/pest&disease/pppdIndex.html

[Rchel]

Hello,
Okay, I need bees from the north. Does anyone know where there's a northern apiary? If not, what should I type in to look for one?
Thank you,
I luv bees

[Mici]

once you clean up the hive, burn them...stop, no, not burn them, just burn round them or give them a nice warm lye bath, this has been discussed recently, checkh the forum for lye bath or something. this is the best way to (no, not eleminate) minimize chances of getting disease.

the sawdust looking thing, i'd say you saw some pollen.

[Michael Bush]

If you have no reason to suspect AFB I wouldn't burn them. But that's me.  I'd just use them.

I raise Northern queens, but I won't have any nucs available (I usually only have them for pickup) this year because I'm expanding and buying nucs instead.  I should have some queens available in the summer.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueens.htm

I used to buy queens from www.beeworks.com in Canada, but the import regulations have put him out of the queen business. :(

[Rchel]

Hello!
Well, here are some more questions for all of you.
First: Can I put 'old' honey into my new beehive this year?(When I get them.) What I mean by old is, honey that is still in the super from last year.
Second: Michael Bush said to look for scale on the bottom of dry comb. Scale? What do you mean. Could you possibly describe this? What it should look like.
My last hive died. oops. Oh well, try again I guess. :) I just have to learn from my mistakes and carry on...with a new bunch of bees.
But, so I DON'T make the same mistake. What is the 'best' possible thing for wraping hives... and making sure that you have ventilation.
Thank you all!
I luv bees

[Mici]

ventilation, same as home, but usually our rezidences don't have proper ventilation either :-D

two entrances! on the same side perferably on the south of course, a lower and upper one, so you get a "pile" ventilation. by pile i mean the ventilation occurs only on one side of the hive so bees can push as much air to that "pile" of up-going air as they need to withouth the danger of windchill.

for wraping? wouldn't know

[Rchel]

Hello,
I did have three entrances... they all got covered with snow. I put my hive in a BAD location. Next winter I will not put it there again. Learned the hard way.
Thank you,
I luv bees

[Billy The Beekeeper]

Well i know www.Kelleybees.com raise Italian Queens and Russians and it is Located in Clarkson, Kentucky. I just ordered myself a 3lb package of bee's and a Russian Queen from there, but ive only been doin beekeeping, well im guessin this is goin on my 3rd year :) but if that helps u any im glad to hear that :)         :mrgreen:   Oh yea u should get this Book called: Beekeeping for Dummies. Its a really good publication and explains basically everything from becomin a beekeeper to all the stuff about takin care of diseases, robbing, swarming, Etc. Im sure u can find it in a book store somewhere or atleast order one they r only like $20 not to shabby for a great book :D

[Michael Bush]

>First: Can I put 'old' honey into my new beehive this year?

Yes.

>Scale? What do you mean. Could you possibly describe this? What it should look like.

http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/pest&disease/slide13.htm

What is the 'best' possible thing for wraping hives... and making sure that you have ventilation.

I've used nothing for all but one of the last 34 years.  I've lived where 40 below F is not unheard of.  The times I lose bees to cold are when the weather fools them into rearing brood.  I've had them her (Greewood, NE) and Western, Nebraska and Brighton Colorado and Laramie WY (7200 feet up in the Rockies).

The one time I did wrap it was black roofing felt and the condensation on the hives was bad.  I think it would rot the hives in a short time to use it all the time.

[Billy The Beekeeper]

Yea i dont wrap my hives and they seem to do fine if they have the right amount of honey stored for the winter :)           :mrgreen:           

[Rchel]

Hello,
So... I can leave the hive without any wrapping? Even when it's COLD? That's nice!
It sure would save work. This year I wrapped my one hive in bales... it didn't work at all.
Thank you,
I luv bees

Oh, thanks for the info. on where to get bees. I'll take a look. : )

[Kathyp]

you might want to be prepared to wrap.  i had no intention of wrapping until the temp dropped into the teens and the wind blew at 30 miles an hour.  because it was dry, i was able to wrap with some cardboard from our christmas stuff.  snow is an insulator, so it shouldn't be a problem as long as you allow for ventilation.  ice is the same except that the conditions that lead to an ice storm can be severe.

it's going to be one of those things that will depend on your micro-climate and the strength of your hives.