CONNECTICUT

BEEKEEPING
#1 STARTING WITH BEES

This Publication is a
Cooperative Project of the
Connecticut Beekeepers Association
and the
State Entomologist's Office
New Haven, CT. 06504
 and a full suit, it is highly suggested for beginners. Also, if
STARTING BEEKEEPING problems occur you can be fully protected. Even experienced
beekeepers keep a full set of protective gear for emergencies.
GETTING BEES Optional and desirable equipment includes: queen excluders, bee
escapes, and feeder equipment.

Introduction - Your first bees can be purchased from bee breeders who supply
packages and nucs or obtained as a wild swarm. It should be kept
This series contains two types of instruction, basic beekeeping in mind that both wild and purchased bees can have parasites and/
practices (pamphlet #1) to get you started, and detailed instruction or diseases so preventive measures should be taken. Also, there
on parasites and diseases (pamphlet #2). The reasoning behind the may be quarantines in place you should be aware of. Check with
strategy is as follows. We want to have a pamphlet to get the the State Entomologist’s Office for the current regulations and any
beginning beekeeper started with his or her bees, but one is other problems you should be aware of. Also, your beekeeper
expected to have no success if there is no knowledge on how to association can be a good source for information.
control mite infestations. Tracheal mites first appeared in Con-
necticut in the fall of 1989. Varroa mites appeared almost exactly
a year later (fall 1990). We are still learning how to best deal with
INSTALLING YOUR BEES
the mites, and as yet, there is almost nothing published in books to
help the new beekeeper learn how to control them. In fact it may Installing packages -
be some time yet before the best methods of managing with mites
become apparent for Connecticut Beekeeping. A package of bees consists of a screened box of bees with a tin
can feeder and a queen in a separate cage. It is not unusual to find
Honey bees, like house pets and farm animals, need our care to up to an inch of dead bees in the bottom of the package. Often they
do well and produce a surplus honey crop. The relationship have spent 2 to 4 days in transit and the older bees have expired.
between human beings and honey bees goes back many thousands
of years. During that time, the honey bee, unlike most domestic 1.) Set up the hive in its permanent location. This should be where
farm animals, has changed very little. It is superbly adapted for the there is good air drainage and protection from the harsh north winds
task of gathering nectar to produce honey, and gathering pollen for of winter. The hive entrance should face south or east to catch the
protein to raise new bees. Often people who have no intention of morning sun and also to protect the entrance in the winter.
becoming beekeepers will watch a colony of bees at their labors for
hours. As an experienced beekeeper, you will be able to watch their
labors at close hand and reap the profit of golden honey made by
YOUR bees, from flowers in your neighborhood.

Needed Equipment -

As a novice beekeeper, you will

need the following equipment to
get started:
1.) Hive, consisting of a bottom
board, brood chamber, 10 frames
with foundation installed, inner
cover, and telescoping cover. Dur-
ing the first year you will have to
add another brood chamber with
frames and foundation, and pos-
A Package of Bees
sibly a honey super with frames 2.) Put your bee suit on, take the bees, smoker, and hive tool to
and foundation. the hive. If early in the spring, prepare some sugar syrup to feed the
2.) Smoker bees since it may a few days before they can get out to forage should
3.) Hive tool the weather turn cold.
4.) Bee veil 3.) Light your smoker and get a good fire in it so that it will be
5.) Bee gloves ready for use later. Lift the cover on the package using your hive
6.) Bee suit tool. This will expose the tin can of sugar syrup which fed the bees
in transit and the queen cage. Now, soundly hit the package on the
Although experienced beekeep- ground to settle the bees to the bottom of the package so that the
ers may not always use gloves queen cage can be removed without many bees escaping. Immedi-
ately after removing the queen cage put the cover on the package

CONNECTICUT BEEKEEPING PAGE 1

so the bees do not escape. The best way of doing this is to put the
cover on the package upside down. The object is to prevent the bees
from coming out of the hole where the queen cage was removed.
EXAMINING THE COLONY
4.) Push aside any bees clinging to the queen cage to examine it
for the queen. Be sure she is alive. If not, seek out a replacement Use of the smoker -
queen before installing the package. The exception to this is when
it will be several days before a replacement queen can be obtained. Fuel: Some of the commonly
Remove the cork from the queen cage at the CANDY END. The used fuels for smokers are tree
purpose of the candy is to restrict the queen from escaping for 3 - bark, twigs, pine needles, bur-
4 days while the bees continue getting used to the new queen and lap, and untreated baler twine.
their new home. Next, install the queen cage with the CANDY Beekeepers have used many
END UP between the 5th and 6th frames near the top and center of different materials in their
the frames. A small string or piece of wire can be used to hold the smokers through the years, do
cage in place. The screen on the queen cage should NOT be facing not use a material which may pro-
the foundation; it should face the entrance of the hive so that the duce a toxic material in the smoke (plastics and materials with
bees have access to the queen to feed her. pesticides or rodent repellents, for example). Your fuel should be
5.) Now, a couple of handfuls of bees can be dumped on top of dry enough that the smoker doesn’t go out when put down for a
the frames in the hive above the queen, and the inner cover gently period of time and yet not burn so fast that flames come out the
placed on top so as not to crush any bees. Your smoker can be used nozzle. A cool smoke should come out of the smoker so that the
to persuade the bees to move down around the queen before putting bees are not burned. Hold your hand in front of the smoker nozzle
on the inner cover. Once the inner cover is on put on the telescoping while squeezing the bellows to test the smoke.
cover.
6.) Finally, dump as many of the bees, as can be shaken out, in The smoker is used for bee control. The bee’s reaction to the
front of the hive as close to the entrance as possible. Soon, the bees smoke is fear and disorientation. This allows the beekeeper time
will start to march into the hive. The package should be left close to manipulate the hive before the bees get reorganized. The
to the entrance with the opening up. After a couple of hours the smoke also can be used to move bees out of an area in the hive
remaining bees will enter the hive. because the bees will walk away from it. Before opening a hive,
7.) It is always advisable to put a feeder for sugar syrup on a new 5 or 6 good puffs of smoke at the entrance are usually sufficient.
hive. Early in the spring, when bees may not forage for a few days, Too much will make the bees angry again. A couple of puffs of
it is mandatory. If possible, pollen or pollen substitute is also smoke under the inner cover as it is lifted is also useful.
beneficial. (See Feeding Bees)
The Hive Tool -
Installing Nucs -

Installing nucs is far simpler than installing packages. This can

make the purchase of a nuc a wise investment for the beginning
beekeeper. A nuc has a mated queen with a frame or two of her
brood and a couple of frames of honey and pollen to feed on if the
weather turns foul for a few days after installation. The quality of
a nuc can vary with the supplier but gets going faster than a package
since new bees start hatching right away. Since a nuc comes with The standard hive tool is a flat piece of metal curved at one end.
4 or 5 drawn combs this also helps get the colony going faster. This It is used as a scraper and a pry bar. Bees gather propolis from
is in contrast to a package of bees where population decreases for plants which they use to glue everything together in the hive. It
21 days or more until new bees start hatching. then becomes a problem to separate frames and supers. To lift a
super, the straight end of the tool is usually jammed into the
1.) Set up the hive as with package bees. corner of the supers and lifted for separation. The same technique
2.) Suit up and light your smoker. is used to lift the inner cover from the hive. The hooked end is
3.) Transfer the frames from the nuc to your hive being careful not normally used to scrape excess propolis from the hive and
to injure the queen. frames. It can also be used to help start the first frame out of the
4.) Gently smoke the bees down into the frames and install the hive.
inner and telescoping covers.
5.) Dump any remaining bees, from the nuc, in front of the hive Removing and Replacing Frames, What to
as close to the entrance as possible. Look for -
6.) Install a feeder and pollen substitute as insurance, although it
is not always necessary since the nucleus colony already has stores Most beekeepers start examining a hive by removing one of the
in the frames. (See Feeding Bees) outermost frames while standing at the side of the hive. There are

CONNECTICUT BEEKEEPING PAGE 2

 it above them and naturally move the brood nest down as fall
comes. This may not occur if fall honey flows are light. Should this
happen, fall feeding may be advised to get the honey stores up.

FEEDING BEES
fewer bees there and the queen is least likely to be there and become Honey bee colonies may require feeding at any time of the year.
injured while removing the frame. After starting the frame out with Most often feeding is needed in the spring when winter honey stores
the hive tool, the frame is grasped by the uppermost corners. The are used up and no nectar flow is in progress. When the temperature
first frame is removed from the hive, examined, and set down on rises to about 50 °F and it's sunny, a quick inspection of the colony
edge leaning against the rear of the hive. Now the exposed face of can be made to check for honey and pollen stores. To make this kind
the 2nd frame can be examined while removing it. Also the newly of inspection, only a few frames just outside the cluster area need
exposed 3rd. frame can be checked for the queen before turning the be removed. Honey bees require two kinds of food for proper
2nd frame to examine the back side. After examining the 2nd, nutrition, pollen and sugar. The pollen is their protein source and
frame it can be reinstalled in the hive where the 1st. one came out the sugar their carbohydrate source.
leaving room to remove the 3rd. frame. The frames can be removed
in sequence in this manner examining each on both sides. In Honey would be an excellent food for bees, however, store
general, it is not wise to change the relative position of frames in bought honey may contain disease spores harmless to humans but
a hive so that the “bee space” is not disturbed. The exception to this deadly to honey bees. The same can be true of pollen bought in
rule is when the frame order needs to be changed for purposes of health food stores. A frame of honey from your own apiary, a
management. known disease free colony, can be a good source of food for a
colony short of stores.
As the frames are inspected, a judgement is made as to necessary
management manipulations which may be required. As experience
develops, beekeepers tend to be less thorough in their inspections.
It is fairly well accepted that disturbing the colony less during
inspections improves their productivity. It takes several hours for
a colony to recover a thorough inspection and get back to normal
behavior. Novice beekeepers need to be more thorough in their
inspections to be sure not to miss early clues of a problem in a hive
such as lack of brood production, diseases or parasites. It is
generally recommended that a novice beekeeper start two hives. In
this way one hive, lagging behind in development, commands
attention so that potential problems are recognized early.

New Colony Manipulations -

One of the first things which may happen to a colony is that it

becomes honey bound. If this has occurred you will find that there
are full frames of honey on the outside of the brood nest and almost
every cell in the center is filled with brood, honey, or pollen. The
solution is to move one or both of the honey frames out one space,
and insert one or two new frames or frames of drawn comb, if
available, on the outside of the brood frames. This allows a new
space for the queen to lay eggs. Be careful not to expand the brood Sugar syrup -
nest too fast for there must be enough bees to cover the frames to
keep the brood warm if it should turn cold.
Feeder jar turned upside-down
over center hole in inner cover
Generally, when 8 frames of the first brood chamber are filled, it
is time to put on the 2nd brood chamber. To over winter well in The most common way to mix sugar syrup is 2:1 ratio. Com-
Connecticut, the bees need to be in two full deep hive bodies. In the monly, this is accomplished by mixing 5 lbs. of sugar in a gallon
upper hive body as summer progresses you also may have to jar of warm water. This same gallon jar can be used as a demand
expand the brood nest. Your goal by the end of the first year is to feeder by putting a dozen or more small holes (approximately 1/16
have the upper hive body full of honey for the winter, and the small inch) in the cover and inverting it over the hole in the inner cover
brood nest just below it. As the honey comes in, the bees will store of the hive. The jar needs to be placed on twigs approximately 1/
4 inch in diameter to allow room for the bees to move around

CONNECTICUT BEEKEEPING PAGE 3

underneath it. The syrup will not run out, but will be held in the jar insects, such as praying mantises, is not significant. Also, some-
by the vacuum created in the top of the jar. The bees will be able times plants snare bees unintentionally - most notorious for this is
to suck the syrup out through the holes as needed. To protect the the milkweed plant. The flowers are very attractive to honey bees,
feeder, an empty deep hive body can be put over it with the but are constructed such that sometimes the bee's leg gets caught
telescoping cover on top. If a gallon jar is not available, several in the petal. Although a bee is occasionally lost to a milkweed plant,
quart jars can be placed around the inner cover hole as close as these losses are not significant to the colony.
possible. Again, they need to be raised far enough for the bees to
move about under the jar to obtain the syrup. Skunks -

Many beekeeping supply companies sell a “Boardman Feeder” Skunks range throughout the state. They come out at night and
with their starter kit. This type of feeder has several disadvantages scratch at the hive entrance to get the bees to come out so the skunk
in Connecticut. (A.) The feeder is a long distance from the cluster. can catch them for a meal. Skunk predation is indicated when the
In cold weather, the bees will not be able to leave the cluster to get grass in front of a hive is laid down flat radiating out from the hive
to the feeder. (B.) The feeder tends to stimulate robbing because entrance. Although skunk guards are available, a simpler, more
access is easy from the outside of the colony. This is especially expedient solution is to elevate the hive. This may have two
important if other colonies are close by. (C.) Typically, they advantages, it reduces skunk predation, and also reduces the strain
contain only one quart of syrup, often only one day’s supply. on the beekeeper's back when inspecting the hive.

Feeding Pollen Substitute - Black Bear -

In the spring, honey bees may be short of pollen stores in the hive. This is a new predator in Connecticut. The black bear has been
When short, brood production is limited due to lack of protein absent from Connecticut until recently. In the early 1980's, sight-
availability. An established beekeeper can collect pollen from bees ings were made in the NW corner of the state. By the late 1980's,
during the summer as a hedge against shortages in the following bee hive losses became significant. Losses approaching 25% of the
spring. Freezing is the best way of storing the pollen to prevent hives in towns such as Goshen started occurring. Currently, the
mold. Drying pollen for storage may be satisfactory, but at this time only available protection is an electric fence. Fortunately, the
we do not yet know if there are nutritional aspects of the pollen construction of such fences is facilitated by the recent introduction
which may be removed in the drying process. When natural pollen of solar fence chargers which don't need battery changes, run 24
is unavailable there are substitutes. The basic formula consists of hrs. a day, and can be put in remote locations.
pollen substitute or pollen, if available, mixed with 2:1 sugar syrup.
This can be rolled out into a patty between two sheets of wax paper. Black bear predation generally occurs in the spring and fall when
the bear is either hungry from winter hibernation or trying to fatten
The finished patty is placed on top of the frames in the hive above up for the coming winter. Once a bear starts to work hives in an
the brood nest. Keep the mix dry enough to keep the material from outyard, it will not stop until all of the bees and honey are
running down between the frames. Some recent preparations consumed. The only way to stop these animals is to move the
contain some vegetable oil (3 - 5%). The vegetable oil is intended remaining hives to a new location. If you are located in bear
to help keep the patty moist, but may also help control the country, proximity to dwellings is no protection either. They have
population growth of tracheal mites. been known to enter houses in search of food, they fear nothing.
Ask other beekeepers in your town whether protection from bears
Pollen patties which are made from substitute may be enhanced is desirable.
by the addition of natural pollen. To prevent the spread of disease,
you could gather pollen from your own colonies for this purpose.
10% natural pollen in a patty has been shown to be as attractive to
SUPERING
bees as natural pollen in most formulations.
Putting on Brood Chambers -
Pollen substitute manufacturers often show pictures of honey
bees working an open box or bag of their food. This is not an Most beekeepers in Connecticut keep their hives in two deep hive
effective feeding method since foul weather and night time both bodies. There are two important reasons for this. One, the colony
interfere with the bees getting to the substitute. is maintained large enough to properly survive the winter months.
Two, reversing the hives in the spring becomes easier. When a new
colony has filled 7 to 8 frames in the first brood chamber, it is time
to put on the second brood chamber.
PREDATORS
Birds, plants and insect predators - Putting on Honey Supers -

It is agreed that the numbers of honey bees eaten by birds and A honey super is a box of frames dedicated to the collection of

CONNECTICUT BEEKEEPING PAGE 4

honey from a colony. Since a full deep hive body weighs approxi- By no means are winter covers universally used. Some of the
mately 90 lbs. when full of honey, most beekeepers choose shallow more common covers are tar paper, various types of cardboard or
hive bodies for honey supers. A shallow super weighs about 35 lbs. plastic covers and plastic film placed around the hive, far enough
This is an important consideration when a hive is producing a away to create a greenhouse affect. Those that use covers claim that
bumper crop and supers have to be taken from a hive which is head there is reduced honey consumption and faster buildup in the
high. Also, when extracting shallow supers, two frames fit in the spring. Whether they are cost effective or not remains a topic of
space where one deep frame would fit in most extractors. There are discussion. The object in all of the systems is to stabilize rapid
also medium deep supers available from most suppliers, although temperature changes within the hive and keep the overall tempera-
they are not a popular size. ture average a few degrees higher, by insulating the hive and
warming it up earlier in the spring.
Use of Queen Excluders -
Tar Paper: Since it is black, it absorbs the sun's radiation and
A queen excluder is an apparatus to prevent the queen from warms the hive in the spring. Also, it has some insulation value and
entering the honey super. Most current models are made of wire helps seal extra cracks in the hive.
spaced so that the workers can pass through and not the queen. This
prevents her from laying eggs in frames you will want to extract Cardboard Covers: These have been produced in black, brown
honey from later. Should the queen lay eggs in a honey super, the and clear plastic. All tout various advantages of reducing wind
bees will also deposit pollen there. If you are able to eventually chill, insulation, and solar heating value. What remains true for all
move the brood out of the supers, the remaining pollen from the the systems is that they cost money and reduce honey consumption
brood rearing will make your extracted honey less clear. to some extent.

There is much discussion among beekeepers as to the desirability Plastic Green House Type: This is perhaps the most sophisticated
of queen excluders. It is generally agreed that the bees do not like system available. It consists of clear plastic, about four feet high,
to go through it. Therefore, beekeepers who use excluders often let mounted around the hive at a space of about one foot from the hive.
the bees start depositing honey in the super before installing the The plastic is left open at the top allowing the bees to leave the
excluder. Those who do not use excluders sometimes have to deal enclosure as soon as weather permits. The system not only reduces
with queens who lay eggs in every super from the bottom to the top. the wind chill factor in the winter, but also increases the solar
This leads to having to sort and select frames for extraction from increment of heat into the hive. This system is labor intensive, and
several supers. Use of queen excluders remains a matter of personal costly. However, there can be a high return on investment in terms
preference. of honey production.

WINTER MANAGEMENT SPRING MANAGEMENT,

SECOND YEAR
Entrance Reducers -

Most starter kits come with entrance reducers. The purpose is two
Inspecting and cleaning -
fold. First, it reduces the air flow through the entrance of the hive.
This helps maintain the interior temperatures of the hive in the When the weather gets warm enough to thoroughly inspect a hive
winter. Second, the hole should be small enough to stop mice from (60 °F and sunny), two things need to be done. Excess propolis
entering the hive for the winter. They can do considerable damage needs to be removed from the end bars of the frames. Propolis is a
to the comb on the lower part of the frames. resin collected from plants by the bees. It serves in the colony to
help sterilize the inside and seal the hive from drafts. Although
excess propolis removal can be done at any time, it is convenient
Top Ventilation - in the spring when the bees may be totally out of one super. This
will restore the original space which was between the frames and
Some manufacturers of bee equipment provide a hole in the edge the end wall in the hive making removal and inspection of frames
of the inner cover for top ventilation. You can provide one or easier in the coming summer.
simply lift the inner cover on sticks just enough so that the bees can
crawl through. This provides an escape for the bees should the snow This is also the opportunity to pick up the bottom board, check for
become deep, and also an escape for the moisture produced by the rot, and clean it. Scrape off all the dead bees, wax flakes and
bees as they consume the honey. There are some beekeepers who propolis accumulation. Level it up, if necessary for the next season.
prefer to put a hole in the front of their hive bodies for this purpose.
Once again this is a matter of personal preference.
Reversing Brood Chambers -
Winter Covers - As honey bees consume their stores through the winter, they
move from the lower brood chamber to the upper one. As spring

CONNECTICUT BEEKEEPING PAGE 5

pollen and nectar sources develop, the bees will store the excess you see one. They are made of readily available materials, screen-
honey and pollen above the brood nest. A situation can develop ing and wood, and can be made with simple hand carpentry tools.
where nectar flows are strong enough that the bees begin to store These escapes are used in the same way as the Porter Escapes, they
honey around and below the brood nest while waiting for the brood are placed below the honey super.
to hatch from the pupal stage. The colony is now considered “honey
bound”. To prevent this from happening and help accelerate the Extracting and Filtering -
colony’s development, the brood chambers are reversed; the lower
brood chamber is put on top. This allows the queen to move up into A frame of honey is considered ready to extract when about 7/8
the empty brood chamber and load several frames with eggs, ths of the cells of honey are capped. A honey extractor is a
greatly accelerating the colony’s development. centrifuge type device. The wax caps on the cells of honey in the
frame are cut off using a hot knife or are broken using a scratcher.
What to do with a weak colony - The frames are then inserted into the extractor and spun to remove
the honey. In Connecticut, there are bee equipment dealers who
First determine the cause, and treat appropriately for disease or will extract your honey for a fee should you find the investment of
parasites. The colony can be united with another weak colony to an extractor too high. Also, groups of beekeepers often coopera-
make a stronger one or bees may be purchased to augment the tively purchase an extractor which they share.
colony strength. In both of these cases, the newspaper method of
uniting the bees is the simplest. In this method, a single sheet of The honey will come out of the extractor with a lot of wax
newspaper is placed between the colonies of bees. The newspaper particles and a few bee parts. All of this material needs to be
is cut a few times near the center to give the bees an edge to grab filtered. Most beekeepers do this in stages, filtering the honey
and chew on to open a passage through. In this way the bees are through finer and finer mesh screens. If the honey is extracted in a
slowly introduced to each other and very little fighting occurs. In warm room and kept warm, the filtering proceeds at a faster rate.
a week's time a strong colony will remove almost all of the Once filtered, the honey can be put in jars for storage. No further
newspaper from the interior of the hive. preparation is needed, even for long term storage. Should a jar of
honey granulate, it is not spoiled. Heat it up in a pot of warm water
Another method of strengthening a weak colony involves switch- until it becomes liquid again, and it is ready for the table once more.
ing hive stands with a strong colony. Bees carry a strong imprint of Of course, some people prefer granulated honey. If this is your
their hive location. The foraging bees, full of nectar, from the preference, simply store it in a cellar as close to 57 °F. as possible.
strong colony will return to the stand on which now stands the weak This is the temperature at which honey granulates the fastest.
colony. The imprinting is so strong they will fail to find their own
hive only a few feet away. These foragers will generally be
accepted into the new colony without much difficulty since during
BIBLIOGRAPHY
their flight some of the pheromone which they carry from their The Beekeeper's Handbook, Diana Sammataro & Alphonse
queen has dissipated and they have a stomach full of fresh nectar Avitabile 1985, 148 pages ~ $18.95. A common text used in
to offer the new colony. beginning beekeeping courses across the nation. It presents many
different management techniques from which to choose. This book
was written by Connecticut people.
ABC & XYZ in Bee Culture, A.I. Root Co. 600+ pages ~ $25.00
EXTRACTING This is the oldest reference work in existence, originally published
in 1877 and continuously updated.
Getting Bees Out of the Super - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Beekeeping, 1985 R. Morse & T.
Hooper, 430 pages ~ $45.00. This is a new reference work on the
To remove the bees from a super, a bee escape is used. The most market.
common type is the Porter Bee Escape. It is inexpensive and fits in The Connor Letter, Wicwas Press, This is a catalog of all
the standard hole in the inner cover. The inner cover, with the bee available beekeeping literature and slide presentations. New au-
escape fitted, is placed below the super about one full day before dio-visual material is constantly being added to the available
the super is to be removed. The bees can move down through the material. All of the above material is available from BES. BES -
escape but are blocked from returning by a spring loaded gate. At Wicwas Press, P.O. Box 817, Cheshire, CT. 06410-0817.
best, this type of escape allows only two bees through at one time.

Another type of escape uses the bees instinct to take the most
direct route to get somewhere. One is commonly known as the
PERIODICAL LIST
Canadian or ARTB type escape, and the other is known as the cone
type of escape. These escapes work much faster since they are American Bee Journal
designed so that 20 or more bees can move through them at one C/O Dadant & Sons, Inc.
time. They do cost substantially more than the Porter Bee Escape Hamilton, IL. 62341
when purchased, but they also are not difficult to construct once

CONNECTICUT BEEKEEPING PAGE 6

 Middletown, CT. 06457
Gleanings in Bee Culture Contact: Deputy State Entomologist, Agricultural Experiment
C/O A.I. Root Co. Station, 123 Huntington Street, New Haven, CT. 06104 for the
623 W. Liberty Street most current information. Phone: (203) 789-7236.
Medina, OH. 44256

Speedy Bee
P.O. Box 998
Jessup, GA. 31545

Bee Science
C/O Wicwas Press
P.O. Box 817
Cheshire, CT. 06410-0817

Connecticut Honey Bee

C/O Treasurer, CT. Beekeepers Assn.
Isabelle Muzikevik
226 Charter Oak Street
Manchester, CT. 06040
- or -
Chuck Howe (Editor)
5 ½ Mile Road
Goshen, CT. 06756
(203) 491-2338

CONNECTICUT
BEEKEEPING
ORGANIZATIONS
CT. Beekeepers Assn.
C/O Treasurer CT. Beekeepers Assn.
Isabelle Muzikevik
226 Charter Oak Street
Manchester, CT. 06040
- or -
Chuck Howe (Editor)
5 ½ Mile Road
Goshen, CT. 06756
(203) 491-2338

Western CT. Beekeepers Assn.

C/O Fairfield County Ext. Office
67 Stony Hill Road
Bethel, CT. 06801

Eastern CT. Beekeepers Assn.

C/O Timothy Grilley, Secretary
P.O. Box 571
East Lyme, CT. 06333

Middlesex County Beekeepers Assn.

C/O Earl Roberts, Jr.
785 Bow Lane

CONNECTICUT BEEKEEPING PAGE 7

 Inspecting and cleaning 5
Index Installing 1
Installing Nucs 2

Agricultural Experiment Station 7 Manipulation 3

BEE DISEASES 4 newspaper method 6

BEE ESCAPE, CANADIAN 6 nuc 2
bee escapes 1, 6
Bee gloves 1 ORGANIZATIONS 7
Bee suit 1 over winter 3
Bee veil 1
Boardman Feeder 4 packages 1
bottom board 1, 5 patties 4
brood chamber 1, 4, 6 PERIODICAL LIST 6
plastic covers 5
Cardboard Covers 5 Pollen patties 4
cover, cardboard 5 Pollen substitute 4
cover, plastic green house 5 Porter Bee Escape 6
cover, tar paper 5 propolis 2, 5
cover, telescoping 1
Covers 5 quarantines 1
queen cage 2
demand feeder 3 Queen Excluders 5
queen excluders 1
Entrance Reducers 5
Equipment 1 ready to extract 6
ESCAPE, ARTB 6 regulations 1
ESCAPE, PORTER 6 Reversing 5
examining a hive 2
Extracting 6 scratcher 6
extractor 6 shallow super 5
smoker 1, 2
feeder 1, 3; BOARDMAN FEEDER. See also BOARDMAN SPRING MANAGEMENT 5
FEEDER storage, honey 6
Feeding 4 Sugar syrup 3
FEEDING BEES 3 SUPERING 4
Filtering 6 switching hive stands 6
foundation 1
frames 1, 2 Tar Paper 5
fuels for smokers 2 telescoping cover 1
Top Ventilation 5
granulate 6
granulated honey 6 uniting 6

Hive, 1 ventilation 5
Hive Tool 2
Hive tool 1 weak colony 6
honey bound 6 Winter Covers 5
honey super 1 WINTER MANAGEMENT 5
Honey Supers 4

imprinting 6
inner cover 1

CONNECTICUT BEEKEEPING PAGE 8

 6 EXTRACTING
Contents 6 Getting Bees Out of the Super -
6 Extracting and Filtering -
1 GETTING BEES 6 BIBLIOGRAPHY
1 Introduction - 6 PERIODICAL LIST
1
1 Needed Equipment - 7 CONNECTICUT BEEKEEP-
1 INSTALLING YOUR BEES ING ORGANIZATIONS
1 Installing packages -
1 A Package of Bees 8 Index
2 Installing Nucs -
2 EXAMINING THE COLONY
2 Use of the smoker -
2 The Hive Tool -
2 Removing and Replacing Frames, What to Look
for -
3 New Colony Manipulations -
3 FEEDING BEES
3 Sugar syrup -
3 Feeder jar turned upside-down
3 over center hole in inner cover
4 Feeding Pollen Substitute -
4 PREDATORS
4 Birds, plants and insect eating insects -
4 Skunks -
4 Black Bear -
4 SUPERING
4 Putting on Brood Chambers -
4 Putting on Honey Supers -
5 Use of Queen Excluders -
5 WINTER MANAGEMENT
5 Entrance Reducers -
5 Top Ventilation -
5 Winter Covers -
5
5 SPRING MANAGEMENT,
SECOND YEAR
5 Inspecting and cleaning -
5 Reversing Brood Chambers -
6 What to do with a weak colony -
6
CONNECTICUT BEEKEEPING PAGE 9