The meeting centered on mid-summer hive management, with most members reporting reduced nectar flow and the need to begin or continue feeding. Key discussions covered mite control, queen genetics, ant management, swarm activity, and hive inspection techniques. Members also coordinated upcoming apiary visits and celebrated a member’s bilingual children’s book about beekeeping.
Please check out Arthur’s July Guide!
Announcements
- Saturday Apiary Meeting: Open meeting at the apiary at 9:00 AM Saturday; Bruce and Rourke serving as tour guides; gates open at 9:00 AM, donuts expected at 8:59 AM.
- New Apiary Equipment: A full tote of syrup (new, plumbed and ready to dispense) and a new picnic table (donated from an Open Space Authority preserve remodel) are now available at the apiary.
- Homeschool Group Visit: Curt confirmed attendance Thursday to be present when the homeschool group visits.
- Community Garden Bee Education: Arthur and Steve will be teaching community gardeners about bees on Saturday at the Morgan Hill community garden on Railroad Avenue, behind Johnson’s Lumber area, at the end of Butterfield.
- Irma’s Bilingual Children’s Book: Member Irma published a bilingual (English/Spanish) children’s book about beekeeping aimed at ages kindergarten through 8, featuring her grandson and herself capturing a swarm; available in hardcover ($22) and softcover ($10), also listed on Amazon and Walmart.
- County Fair Book Opportunity: Rourke invited Irma to display her book at the Santa Cruz County Fair, September 16–20; Thursday September 17 is Education/Kids’ Day with school groups — suggested as a prime opportunity for exposure.
- Library & School Outreach: Arthur suggested local library summer children’s programs (e.g., Morgan Hill Library); Liz suggested the UCSC Life Lab summer program as another venue for Irma’s book.
- GVA Facebook Listing: 200 hives with a pollination contract listed on the GBA Facebook page — mentioned humorously as a temptation to avoid.
Hive Health & Feeding
General Feeding Status
- Nectar flow has been inconsistent for at least two months in most members’ areas; feeding is broadly recommended for hives with fewer than 3 frames of capped nectar/honey.
- Steve feeds approximately every 10 days to avoid overfeeding (“don’t want chubby bees”).
- Arthur confirmed feeding is necessary for large populations consuming reserves quickly.
- Rourke has not yet started feeding, preferring to pull remaining honey first before switching to heavy feeding post-extraction.
- Curt plans to inspect hives, remove full honey supers, and begin feeding soon; notes that pollen is still coming in from neighborhood gardens, so nectar flow has not fully stopped for him.
- Victoria and Carolyn (4 hives in West Gilroy) have begun feeding one hive with low reserves; confirmed this is not too early given current conditions.
- Mike (Hollister/Salinas area) reported bees are doing well on both pollen and food — not currently feeding — attributed to favorable local conditions.
- Stefanie (neighborhood location) reported hives filling up flow hive frames with nectar; Arthur attributed this to her favorable neighborhood location with consistent garden forage.
Apiary Syrup System
- Old tote: Near-empty with a thin residual layer; Rourke asked whether to use it before tapping the new tote — Steve confirmed it’s fine to use the remainder, but plans to take it home to clean in August.
- New tote: Plumbed with braces on 3 of 4 corners; features a 4-foot pipe making direct bottle-filling impractical — Steve’s solution is to fill a gray bucket with a spout from the spigot, then carry it to hives for faster feeding.
- OA (Oxalic Acid): Steve made a fresh batch; available for members attending Saturday’s apiary meeting; remainder to be stored in the storage container.
Mite Control
- Arthur emphasized that now is the time to check mite loads before hot weather compounds stress on colonies.
- Drone frame trapping in a medium frame within a deep box used to cull capped drone frames as a mite management strategy during summer; typically discontinued end of August/September when drone production naturally drops.
- OA pads are Arthur’s primary mite control method; drone trapping used as a supplemental summer strategy.
- High mite counts combined with heat stress significantly increase colony mortality risk heading into fall.
Swarm Activity
- Overall swarm activity has been notably low and slower than usual this season.
- Arthur’s last swarm call (handled by Rourke) was in April; Chris Gold also reported a very slow swarm season.
- Steve observed one hive that appeared calmer than usual with 3–4 open queen cells on the side of the frame (not bottom), suggesting a possible supersedure rather than swarm preparation; brood and larvae were still present.
- Mike (Salinas area): Fewer and smaller swarms overall, but was surprised by the number of empty hives that became naturally populated by incoming swarms from nearby areas.
- Stefanie suspects one hive may have swarmed but did not witness it; noted heavy bearding on one hive but not the adjacent one despite similar population density.
Seasonal Patterns & Unusual Weather
- Rourke noted the entire season has been anomalous: January heat wave followed by unusual rains disrupted normal bee development cycles.
- Several hives are ramping up population now in July — typically a mid-May/late-May phenomenon — suggesting a delayed season rather than a failing one.
- General advice: take a “backseat” approach and observe behavioral adaptation to unusual weather patterns rather than intervening aggressively.
Queen Management & Genetics
- Arthur reported a first-year noticeable difference in honey production from queens bred specifically for honey traits over multiple generations — recommended sourcing queens from reputable breeders if honey production is a priority.
- Queen genetics explained: Different bee races (e.g., Italians vs. Carniolans) carry genetic predispositions — Italians are noted for balanced brood production and honey production; genetics from the queen are passed to workers, influencing foraging and honey storage behavior.
- Practical recommendation: if a queen performs exceptionally well, make a split to propagate her traits through daughter queens.
- If a hive shows undesirable traits (excessive defensiveness, slow build-up), it is not too late in the season to requeen.
Comb Drawing & Checkerboarding
- Steve’s observation: Inserting a bare (no-comb) frame in the middle of a hive during checkerboarding consistently produces wonky/irregular comb; he now plans to place new frames at the ends of boxes to allow slower but straighter comb development.
- Curt’s fix: Rubbing extra wax onto foundation before inserting it in the middle reduces wonky comb significantly.
- Arthur: Feeding bees heavily when adding empty frames during checkerboarding largely prevents the problem; lack of incoming food is the primary driver of irregular comb.
- Mike: Confirmed that healthy, well-populated hives generally draw out new center frames well; noted a genetic component — some hives are predisposed to build comb irregularly regardless of conditions.
- Curt’s warning: Foundation left in direct sunlight can cause wax to melt to the bottom of the frame, leaving almost no wax for bees to build on — store foundation out of the sun.
- Wax production cost: Approximately 16 pounds of honey are consumed to produce 1 pound of wax, making feeding critical when drawing new comb.
Ant Control Methods
Multiple approaches discussed:
| Method | Notes |
| Grease/tuna can under legs | Steve’s preferred method at the apiary; prevents ants from climbing legs |
| Vegetable or motor oil | Alternative leg barrier |
| Home Defense spray (Home Depot) | Curt’s method; spray bottom 4 inches of hive legs pointing downward; reapply every 6–8 weeks; no observed bee harm |
| Taro liquid bait (Terro) | Rourke uses successfully by placing a small dot near ant trails and covering with a stone; bees cannot access the small opening; ants carry bait back to nest within 4–5 days |
| Ant Can’t product | Liz ordered this (~$30–35 on Amazon); adhesive tape + non-toxic spray applied to legs; ants slip off |
| Diatomaceous earth | Curt noted it loses effectiveness once dew forms a crust — ants walk across it freely |
| Chimney ash | Irma tried this; provided temporary relief but ants cleared a path through it |
| Wire cage around bait | Suggested to allow ant access while preventing bees from reaching toxic bait |
- Liz’s cautionary experience: Placed Terro bait near back legs of hives on concrete; experienced mass bee die-off over 5–6 days that stopped after removing the bait; exact mechanism unclear — possibly ants carrying bait into the hive, or coincidental event.
- Steve noted he uses Terro at the apiary (also on concrete legs) without observed losses, suggesting placement distance or method may be a factor.
Member Hive Issues & Advice
Liz — Queenless Hive Recovery
- Suspected ant bait caused colony losses and possible queen failure; one hive showed no brood and appeared queenless.
- Action taken: Transferred 1–2 frames with brood, larvae, and hopefully eggs from the healthy hive into the queenless hive to allow emergency queen rearing.
- Inspection timing: Safe to inspect after 2 weeks — queen cell is close to hatching (16–18 days), making it robust enough to handle carefully.
- Frame removal technique: Remove the outermost frame first to create clearance; peer down to check if queen cell is attached to adjacent frames before separating; if queen cell is in the center of the frame (where young larvae were), exercise extreme caution pulling frames apart.
- Box rearrangement suggestion: Arthur recommended inverting the box stack — placing the brood box on top and honey boxes below — so rising heat supports brood temperature regulation; cold honey on top would otherwise chill the cluster.
- Liz’s setup: 4 × 8-frame medium boxes; bees concentrated in the bottom box with some in the second; honey in upper boxes.
Curt — Feeding-Resistant Hive
- One hive has refused sugar syrup for 6 weeks despite attempts including dripping syrup down the inside of the feeder to create a scent trail.
- No resolution identified; situation noted as unusual.
Stefanie — Split Hive & Possible Swarm
- Split from a highly productive hive; the split hive has been very active, possibly swarmed (not directly observed), with heavy bearding but adequate space inside.
- Second hive (original) appeared queenless; Stefanie added brood frames to stimulate population and queen rearing; plans to inspect this weekend.
- Flow hive queen excluder incident: Forgot to replace the queen excluder on a flow hive; result was drones being raised in the flow frames — a cautionary reminder for flow hive users.
- Solid bottom boards: Switched from screened bottom boards after battling wax moth; now runs solid bottoms, freezes equipment in spring, and swaps out bottom boards seasonally.
- Curt noted that screened bottom boards with the insert removed can reduce bearding by improving airflow and cooling the hive.
Irma — Ant Problem at Scale
- Managing ~30 hives; ants are a persistent issue across multiple hives.
- Tried green tube bait stations — ants simply rerouted to another leg; would need one per leg (8 per hive × 30 hives = impractical).
- Now testing Home Defense spray on the bottom 2 inches of legs.
Website & Member Communication
- Forum status: The GBA website forum was turned off by Jamie due to lack of use to reduce site weight; can be re-enabled if members commit to using it.
- New “Advice” feature: Jamie added an Advice section to the main website menu where members can post questions and receive community responses; currently open/public.
- Privacy concern: Stefanie prefers a members-only or anonymous space to avoid publicly disclosing hive locations or personal details.
- Proposed solution: Jamie can create a GBA email alias (e.g., a forwarding address) for members who want to post anonymously; forwards to personal email; identity not visible in posts.
- Arthur encouraged members to use the help request system, noting the club exists precisely for peer support.
Action Items
- Bruce & Rourke: Lead Saturday apiary meeting at 9:00 AM; handle feeding, hive checks, and member tours.
- Arthur & Steve: Teach community gardeners about bees Saturday at Morgan Hill community garden on Railroad Avenue.
- Rourke: Pull remaining honey from personal hives before switching to heavy feeding post-extraction.
- Curt: Inspect hives this week; remove honey supers; begin feeding preparation.
- Liz: Wait ~2 weeks then carefully inspect queenless hive for queen cell; consider rearranging box stack with brood on top.
- Stefanie: Inspect both hives this weekend; confirm queen status in previously queenless hive; check split hive for swarm evidence.
- Irma: Follow up with Rourke about Santa Cruz County Fair (Sept 16–20) book display; investigate UCSC Life Lab and local library programs for book outreach.
- Jamie: Evaluate re-enabling the member forum or setting up a GBA email alias for anonymous posting on the Advice section.
- All members attending Saturday: Use the gray bucket with spout to draw syrup from the new tote; check if old tote residual can be used first.
Pending Confirmation
- Whether the GBA website forum will be re-enabled or replaced with the anonymous email alias approach.
- Irma to confirm participation and logistics for the Santa Cruz County Fair book display.
- Liz’s queenless hive outcome — whether emergency queen cell was successfully built and will hatch.
- Curt’s feeding-resistant hive — no resolution identified; ongoing monitoring needed.
| Method | Notes |
| Home Defense spray (Home Depot) | Apply 4-inch band on lower legs; reapply every 6–8 weeks |
| Terro liquid bait | Effective when placed away from hive with a stone cover; bees unlikely to access small opening |
| Grease/vegetable oil in tuna can | Place under hive legs to block ant trail |
| Ant Can’t tape + spray | ~$30–35 on Amazon; ants slip off treated surface |
| Diatomaceous earth | Loses effectiveness when wet; ants crust over it |