What a Healthy Colony Looks Like

There is a strong temptation for new beekeepers to worry that their hive has every bee disease known to humans and then some. The truth of the matter is that honey bees are usually pretty healthy. You are likely to encounter the Varroa mite, so we encourage you to know about them and their life cycle; American Foul Brood is a contagious and reportable bee disease, so you should 1) know that it exists, and 2) know a bit about the symptoms, and 3) know that most beekeepers have never seen it. If you are starting with bees, it is far more essential to know what healthy brood and bees look like. If you think something is off, review the pests and diseases listed here - we’ve tried to include most and provide Maine-specific information where applicable.

Honey bees are an insect used in agriculture for plant pollination AND producing honey and other crops. In other words, beekeepers are farmers.

IWhen a colony is started with a 3lb package, it has a little over 10,000 bees. If everything goes right, it will increase in population to just over 50,000 by summer’s end, and decline in population over the fall and winter to about 15,000.

If a colony is started without drawn comb or with no foundation, it has no food stores. Beekeeper feeding of sugar syrup (a carbohydrate) is reasonable to establish the colony and provide continuous feed, with the ultimate goal of having the colony collect its food. Generally in Maine, there is plenty of natural pollen availability with the bees seasonally able to collect adequate amounts. Pollen (or pollen substitute) is an appropriate feed ONLY when you want the bees to do something they wouldn’t do naturally, or on a different schedule.

Randy Oliver, Scientific Beekeeping

MAINE BEE WELLNESS