RECALL – the real KEY! Winter spring summer fall Help bees survive Assist colony buildup Reduce swarming Super colonies Consolidate

Bee’s work and raise brood in a Nest  sheltered, darkened cavity  small, defensible entrance  size ~ 40 l (in European bee) Tom Seeley Photo

UnNatural Nests  On occasion nests built in building or  inside discarded (between joists) structures (old nail keg ) They make mistakes – in temperate areas combs (note parallel) seldom survive overwinter

Beeswax - the major Nest ingredient R. Morse Photo Hexagonal beeswax cells Parallel combs + Organize the nest – brood/food separate

Beeswax comb cells  Bees build horizontal worker and drone cells  Worker cells smaller (1/5 th inch diameter) and drone cells larger (1/4 th inch diameter)  Also construct queen cups that hang vertically and when used yield peanut-shaped queen cells.  Most comb worker cells (to rear brood and store honey) with up to 15% drone cells (usually at periphery) and a small number of queen cups at bottom comb margin From Sammataro & Avitabile Built as Parallel comb

The Natural Nest  Bees separate food (honey) - above from brood – below Pollen between Honey Brood

We MUST INSIST - parallel comb More or less parallel comb Parallel but not removable Feral comb nest in underground utility box Rustic box hive – bees didn’t follow beekeeper design

The Langstroth Hive Brushy Mountain Bee Supply MEANS - Applying bee biology – anticipating not reacting – managing bee population ALL POSSIBLE Adding supers above Queen excluder supers Brood Box Usually need 2

Basic comb organization L. Connor Photo Capped worker cells capped drone cells Capped honey cells

And in Closing ……. A bit of advice