The joys of buckwheat, part 4: Langstroth’s take on buckwheat

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A Practical Treatise on the Hive and Honey-bee, beekeeping, bees, buckwheat, honey, Lorenzo Langstroth

Lorenzo Langstroth, father of modern beekeeping, recognized the value of buckwheat to his honeybees.

Buckwheat furnishes an excellent Fall feed for bees.

As those of you who follow this blog regularly will know, I am a huge advocate of growing buckwheat to supplement the natural diet for honeybees. (See the previous posts: here, here, and here.)

Father Langstroth was, too.

In his book, A Practical Treatise on the Hive and  Honey-bee, published in 1857, here’s what Langstroth had to say about buckwheat:

Buckwheat furnishes an excellent Fall feed for bees; and often enables them to fill their hives with a generous supply against Winter, The honey being gathered either in the early part of the day, or when the atmosphere is moist, is often quite thin; the bees sweat out a large portion of its moisture, but still they do not exhaust the whole, and in wet seasons, it is somewhat liable to sour in the cells- Honey gathered in a dry season, is always thicker, and of course more valuable than that gathered in a wet one, as it contains much less water. Buckwheat is uncertain in its honey-bearing qualities; in some seasons, it yields next to none, and hardly a bee will be seen upon a large field, while in others, it furnishes an extraordinary supply* The most practical and scientific agriculturists agree that so far from being an impoverishing crop, it is on many soils, one of the most profitable that can be raised. Every bee-keeper should have, some in the vicinity of his hives.

The following facts respecting the cultivation of buckwheat, were communicated to me by Mr. A. Wells, of Greenfield, Mass. He had a piece of land so exhausted by successive crops of corn and rye, that it would produce nothing but buckwheat, which he cultivated upon it for twelve or thirteen successive years. At the end of this time the land had recovered sufficiently to produce good corn! Each year, the weeds and self-sown buckwheat, which grew upon it, were plowed under, in seeding for the new crop, and the result proves, how erroneous are the common notions respecting the exhausting effects on the land, of this grain.

Dzierzon says: “In the stubble of winter grain, buckwheat might be sown, whereby ample forage would be secured, to the beesr late in the season, and a remunerating crop of grain garnered besides . This plant, growing so rapidly and maturing so soon, so productive in favorable seasons, and so well adapted to cleanse the land, certainly deserves more attention from farmers than it receives; and its more frequent and general culture would greatly enhance the profits of bee-keeping. Its long continued and frequently renewed blossoms, yield honey so abundantly, that a populous colony may easily collect fifty pounds in two weeks if the weather is favorable.”

Key words: Lorenzo Langstroth, buckwheat, honey, bees, beekeeping, A Practical Treatise on the Hive and Honey-bee

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With bee boxes, only one size is necessary — and simpler

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bee boxes, beehives, beekeeping, bees, brood boxes, brood patterns, harvesting honey, Illinois supers, simplicity in beekeeping, small bee boxes, supers

When I was exploring getting into beekeeping, I was standing in the barn of a friend who had kept bees for more than 30 years. The barn was full of “bee equipment,” and my friend was trying to explain some of it to me.

I remember one thing he said.

“If I had to start all over again, I would use only mediums.”

Beehives build with just one size of bee boxes.

What he meant, of course, was medium-sized boxes, or Illinois supers. What he said — even though I did not completely understand it at the time — made sense to me, and it translates into a larger principle: the simpler the better.

As most beekeepers know, there are three sizes of bee boxes for the hive: deeps, mediums, and smalls. Each size has its uses, and some beekeepers use all three.

The argument for using deep boxes is that they are for brood (sometimes they are called “brood boxes”), and beekeepers say these boxes allow the queen to develop a good brood pattern. The small boxes weigh less, particularly when they are filled with honey, and if you are harvesting honey by the box, that’s what you should placing on top of your hives.

For my money, the medium is the one-size-that-fits-all box. Medium boxes allow the queen sufficient room to develop a brood pattern. They can get heavy if they are filled with honey, but removing a frame or two can lighten them quickly if that’s a consideration.

If you use only one size of box, you never have to worry about having the wrong size of frames for the boxes you have. That becomes a huge consideration when you are changing boxes and frames at any time of the year.

The arguments for using only one size of box seem to me to far outweigh the arguments for using three sizes.

Besides, I’m pretty certain the bees don’t really care.

 

Key words: beekeeping, beehives, bees, bee boxes, supers, Illinois supers, brood boxes, small bee boxes, brood patterns, harvesting honey, simplicity in beekeeping

 

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Bee bacteria could sub for commonly used antibiotics

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apitherapy, bacteria, bees, combatting infections, healing powers of honey, honey, honey used to fight infections, honeybees, lactic acids in honey, Lund University, raw honey

Scientists are Lund University in Sweden are finding that 13 lactic acid bacteria found in raw honey are possibly powerful agents in combatting infections, particularly those infections that have grown resistant to commonly used antibiotics.

People have known about the healing power of honey on open wounds for hundreds of years, but just why it works has not been clear.

According to the American Bee Journal:

While the effect on human bacteria has only been tested in a lab environment thus far, the lactic acid bacteria has been applied directly to horses with persistent wounds. The LAB was mixed with honey and applied to ten horses; where the owners had tried several other methods to no avail. All of the horses’ wounds were healed by the mixture.

The researchers believe the secret to the strong results lie in the broad spectrum of active substances involved. (quoted)

Here’s a video about the research produced by Lund University.

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Key words: honey, healing powers of honey, lactic acids in honey, raw honey, Lund University, honey used to fight infections, bacteria, bees, honeybees, apitherapy, combatting infections

New thoughts about old comb

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Alabama Cooperative extension, beehives, bees, bees' use of old comb, best beekeeping practices, Blount County Beekeepers Association, comb, comb absorbing toxins, feral bees, honeybees, honeycomb, Jim Tew, Ohio State University, removing old comb from a hive, toxins in the hive, wild bees

If you look at most any list of “best beekeeping practices,” you will probably find this item:

Remove old comb from the hive and replace it on a regular basis.

It’s one of those items that gives people like us — who are trying to be good beekeepers — a guilty conscience. We may remove old comb, but it’s not likely that we do it regularly or have any system about it.

But it could be that in not being aggressive about removing old comb, we have been doing the right thing all along.

My thinking has been directed this way as I have been considering the presentation that Jim Tew made to the Blount County Beekeepers Association in August. Tew is a retired beekeeping expert for Ohio State University and is now working with the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service.

In one of this presentations to the BCBA, Tew talked about what he had found over the years in feral hives. The bees would often build long combs, the lower part of which was dark and apparently unused — just like the old combs that we have in our hives. We’re not sure what this “old” comb is used for, he said, but it could be storage or it could be that this wax absorbs toxins and allows other parts of the hive to stay clear and clean.

The joys of goldenrod

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beekeeping, bees, fall flowering, goldenrod, goldenrod as a herb, goldenrod for medicinal purposes, goldenrod honey, pollen and nectar from goldenrod

Honeybees on goldenrod

To most Americans, goldenrod is a weed.

To Europeans, however, goldenrod is a much-prized plant that gardeners go out of their way to cultivate.

To many people in ancient times and a growing number in the 21st century, goldenrod is a medicinal herb that has many uses.

To honeybees, goldenrod is a major source of nectar and pollen in the fall and a source of much-needed winter stores.

And to East Tennesseans this year (the folks in my area), goldenrod is an abundant, showy yellow flower that is filling up our fields, roadside areas and pastures. And our bees are taking to it in droves.

The bees will take both pollen and nectar from goldenrod, and they make a distinctive honey from it. Some beekeepers have harvested this honey, and with its abundance this year, beekeepers in this area might be tempted to do just that. The wiser course for beekeepers might be to let the bees have what they make and to save themselves from some of the efforts of winter feeding.

Goldenrod, in addition to its medicinal uses, is also thought to have some magical powers. Some believe it has the power to bring good luck. The bees who find a good patch of goldenrod probably consider themselves pretty luck.

One of the myths about goldenrod is that it causes allergic reactions, but that’s probably not the case. Those reactions are more likely due to goldenrod’s companion ragweed, which blooms at the same time.

(More pictures below.)

Jim Tew’s video on bees finding water

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beehives, beekeepers providing water for their bees, bees, bees and water, bees need water, foraging for water, Jim Tew, Ohio State University

We recently posted a short piece on the fact that bees need water, and it’s up to the beekeeper to make sure they have it.

This is a good follow-up to that post — especially since it reminds us that bees need water, no matter what season of the year.

The video below has our friend Jim Tew commenting on a short video he took of bees foraging for water, and he asks the question we don’t often ask (probably because it seems to obvious), “What are the bees doing when they forage for water?”

A couple of his comments:

• You notice the abdomen of the bee pulsing when they are at the water. Are they somehow pumping the water in?
• Are they getting more than water? Some have speculated that bees are also picking up trace amounts of minerals and natural salts they need.
• They said near the water rather than in the water, it is thought, so as not to get their wings wet.

 

Water Foragers from osba on Vimeo.

 

Key words: bees and water, bees need water, beekeepers providing water for their bees, foraging for water, Jim Tew, Ohio State University, bees, beehives

Don’t forget to water the bees, especially now

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beekeeping, bees, cooling the hive with water, shallow water evaporates easily, water for the bees

Bees need water just about all year long — especially in these final hot, dry days of summer.

Putting a birdbath near your hives is a convenient way to provide water for the bees.

Water is vital for a number of functions the bee must perform, particularly cooling the hive, so it’s up to the beekeeper to make sure the bees have a good source of clean, fresh water close to the hive.

Many beekeepers place a birdbath or some other container near their hives, and they fill it on a daily basis. Filling it is necessary because the water should be shallow enough so there is plenty of surface for the bees to stand while drinking it. Bees cannot swim. So if you use a birdbath or wading pool, puts some bricks, rocks or pieces of wood in it so the bees will have something to stand on.

And check it daily. Shallow water will evaporate quickly on a hot day.

If you live in a neighborhood with swimming pools, the bees’ need for water can be a problem. The heavily-chlorinated water of a poll is probably not the best thing for the bees. And the neighbors will likely consider bees flocking to the small puddles of water beside a swimming pool to be pests, and they tend to read for the spray can.

Even if the area you’re living in has had abundant rain, think “water for the bees” on a daily basis and make sure they have it.

 

Key words: bees, beekeeping, water for the bees, shallow water evaporates easily, cooling the hive with water