An Inspector Calls (title borrowed from the book by J.B. Priestley)

Did you know that there are people employed to inspect and monitor bee hives? I'm not sure if every state has an apiarist but NJ has one and he is terrific. Tim Schuler  is a font of bee knowledge and is also a really nice guy. This past week he was in northeastern NJ to visit beekeepers and their hives so he stopped at my house.



 
Tim and his helpers talked to my husband about our hive and any problems we might be having. Then he opened the hive and checked things out. Tim did a test for varroa mites using the alcohol wash method-

Alcohol Wash Method

This method is simple, quick and quite accurate when applied to a larger number of colonies in the apiary. It doesn't require a second visit after 24 hours. The test is carried out as follows:

• Use a wide-mouth glass jar and scoop about 300 bees (~1 cup) from the brood area. Make sure that the queen is NOT included!
• Add 50 ml (~ 2 oz) of windshield wiper fluid (or diluted methyl hydrate, or rubbing alcohol) to the jar and shake for several minutes.
• Remove lid and pour contents into a container covered with light metal wire-mesh screen (8 mesh/in) or a coarse sieve. Repeat.
• Pour alcohol solution into a second container covered with cheesecloth or fine sieve. Count number of mites.  (explaination from http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/apiculture/factsheets/222_vardetect.htm)

Varroa mites are a bee hive's worst enemy and have been since 1986. while the test may seem extreme because some bees die, a serious hive infestation can lead to the loss of the entire hive. The test can tell you just how bad your varroa problem is. Test results showed that my have has mites but just a few. Tim says every hive has mites it is just a matter of how many and how the beekeeper handles the problem. You can learn more about varroa mites, testing and treating here- http://www2.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef608.asp

Anyway, back to the inspection. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be home for this event so my husband had to be the point person and remember to ask all the questions we had talked about. Tim gave my hive a good grade, told us what to do to help it survive the winter and put a sticker on the hive marking it as a NJ State inspected bee hive. The girls really liked the sticker!



Recently on some beekeeping Face Book page, that I follow there was a long thread about whether to register hives with the state. Some people choose not to register citing government intervention and big brother monitoring. Others argue that registering gives them piece of mind because registering provides the state with good statistics and other data that can result in positive honeybee legislation and early notification of trouble. Being registered cal also help when there is a complaint about your bees or when your local municipality changes the rules about having bee hives.

So, the same way that I registered my dog with the town and I have my kids vaccinated when they were babies, my bees are registered with the state. I know that I can contact Tim's office to get help any time I have a need. I know that my club (Northeast New Jersey Beekeepers Association) will invite Tim to speak and to visit hives every year. this is a good thing for my hive and for my fellow beeks' hives.