OTSMEETINGS:2016SEASONSUMMARY

Sincethewri+ngofmybook,"OTSQueenRearing:ASurvivalGuideforBeekeepersWorldwide,"thedemand

forbeekeeperstoappren+cewithmeinmybeeyardswasoverwhelmingandunscheduled.TheonlywayI

couldsa+sfythedemandwastohavebeekeeperscometooneofmyapiariesfromMaythroughAuguston

Saturdayfromnoonto2o'clock.ThisgaveallOTSnetworkbeekeepersahands-onopportunitytoseehowI

carryouttheOTSprocedureswithasmallsetofhivesthroughtheen+reseason(acopyoftheOTSchartof

proceduresisatthebackofthisreport).

The2016seasonwasverysuccessful.Istartedwiththe4(outof5)July2015startsthathadsuccessfully

overwinteredinthisapiaryfrom2015.Imoved2ofthosestartstoanotheryardandthenmade19startsout

ofthe2remaininghives.Ofthe19newstarts,2werelosttolayingworkers.Thisisnormalaswheneveryou

matequeensyouareboundtohavesomefailures.Infact,inthe2016edi+onoftheOTSbook,Iexpandedthe

instruc+onsforhowtobestdealwithlayingworkerhives.Thisinvolvesplacingtwofounda+onframesina

boxontheoriginalloca+onthatthelayingworkerorientatedfromandshakingallthebeesintothisboxto

confinehertothatloca+on.Thisreducesallriskofherenteringanotherhiveandkillingthereigningqueen.

Remember,queensneveraRackworkersbutworkerscanaRackqueens.Thequeendoesnothaveachance

becausethelayingworkerissmallerandmorephysicallyfittofight.ASershakingthebeesintotheisolated

hive,Idistributeallthevaluabledrawncomb(withoutthebees)fromthatlayingworkerhivetostronghivesto

protect.Oncethelayingworkerhiveisisolatedonfounda+onframesintheoriginalloca+on,Iletitpollinate

anddrawcombun+litfadesout.ThisreducesthethreatofSmallHiveBeetle(SHB)destroyingthecomb.

OTScreatesgreatincreaseandthemathcanquicklygetawayfromyou,especiallyifyouhavemanyyards.

Forexample,toviewmy2016seasonalincreaseacrossallofmyyards,Ilookatitlikethis:Myfiscalyear

beginsinJulyandasofJuly1,2015Ihad10ar+ficialswarmsfromwhichImade40starts.Ioverwintered20

ofthosestartswhichisa100%increasebecauseIstartedwithonly10ar+ficialswarms.Fromthose20

overwinteredstarts,Ithenmade80startsofwhich20werear+ficialswarmsinMay.Ithenagainmade80

startsgoingintowinterinJuly2016makingatotalof160startsfromwhatwasoriginally20overwintered

hives.Ifyoucanmake$100profitoneachstartthenthisincreasewouldequateto$16,000ifIweretosell

out.

AssummerwindeddownandalloftheJulystartswerematedandmitebroodcyclessuccessfullybroken

leavingfresh,new,mite-freecolonieswithwhichtooverwinterfornextyear’sstock,Ilookedtopreparefor

autumn.ToprotectmyvaluableJuly2016starts,Icoveredthehiveentranceswithrobberscreens,orwhatI

liketocall“IntruderExcluders”.IntruderExcluderspreventdronesfromenteringhivesandre-infes+ng

colonieswithmites.Thisisnowanimportantpartoffallmanagementasitiscommonforcommercial

beekeeperstoleaveforthesouthearlierthantheydidinthepastbecause,understandably,theywantto

avoidthecornandsoybeanharvest.Manyofthemareunder+mepressureandnotabletospendthe+me

tousecatcherhivestopickupalloftheirbeesthatares+lloutinthefield.Asaresult,manyoftheirbees

anddronesareleSbehindtodriSandmanyofthemareinfestedwithmites.Sincedronescanenter

anyhiveuncontested,it’saworthwhileinvestmenttocover

hiveentranceswithrobberscreensstar+nginlatesummer

aheadofthecommercialmigra+onsouth.Thesescreenscan

beremovedaSerthecoloniesexpeltheirdronesforthe

seasonatwhichpointyoucaninstallyourmouseandshrew

guards.

IntruderExcluder

TheOTSchartofproceduresisjustaguidelineformeonthe43rdparallel.Whereveryourapiaryislocated,

thekeydateonwhichtonotchinthespringisthedayyousee6framesofbroodinyourhiveandlivedrones

flyinginyourapiary.Thismeansthatthevirginqueensthatdevelopfromyournotchingthe36-hour-or-

youngerlarvaewillbecomesexuallymatureatthesame+measthedronesinyourcongrega+onalarea

becomesexuallymature.

UsingtheOTSprocedurescorrectly,beekeeperscandeveloptheirqueenstockfreeofcharge.Infact,some

beekeeperssaythatOTScanonlyproduceincreasebutactuallyitcandoalotmore.Byuni+ngstarts,OTScan

beleveragedtocreatepowerfulhoneyhives.Forexample,ifyouunitethe3MaystartsinJulyonthe

Michiganhoneyflowyouwillhave15-18framesofbroodandmostqueenswillnothavethatmuchbroodby

July1st.Therefore,thisOTShiveisaspowerfulormoreasanyproducinghivethatcommercialbeekeepers

have.

Likeallfarmersdo,Iamrearinghealthylivestockfornextyear.AllproceduresfordoingtheOTS(onthespot)

queenrearingareexplainedinmybook.OTSsavesandexpandshoneybeecoloniesandweneedmore

honeybeesthanever.Iurgeyoutopurchaseacopyofmybooksothatyoucannotonlysaveyourbeesbut

alsokeepthemhealthy,thriving,andgrowing.Youwillbeamazedattheresults.

AspecialthankyoutotheallofthebeekeepersthataRended,manytravelingforlongdistancesandfrom

manydifferentstates.Iappreciatethe+meandeffortyouallspenttolearnhowtokeephoneybeesalive

andthriving.Ienjoyedmee+ngandworkingbeeswithyouandIwishyouallasuccessfuloverwintering.

MayyoucomeoutstronginthespringwithmanyhoneybeestartswithwhichtostarttheOTScycleagain.

Kindestregardsandbestwishestoallofyou,

Mel

Autumn2016

REMINDERS

•  Provideallstartswithplentyofhoneyandextrafeed

•  Keepentrancesreducedonallstartsun+ltheybuild-up

•  Neverallowstartstorearqueencells•  Provideplentyofexpansionspacefor

largehoneyhives

Cellbuilder

6framesofbrood

2broodframes+queencell

2broodframes+queencell

2broodframes+queencell

2framesbrood+

2shakesbees+oldqueen

Honeyhive

May1st

May8th(1weeklater)

Torunforstarts

•  SellJune1stwhenqueensarelaying

•  Buildupun+lJuly1st,thendispatchqueens,notch1frame,&uniteforhoneyflow

•  MakemorestartsJuly1stwhentheyhave4-6framesofbroodeach

May1st(Ar+ficialSwarm)

6framesofbrood

Op+onsMayStarts

•  Onlynotch1frameforhoneyproduc+on

•  Bepreparedtoaddsupers

8framesofbrood

July1stDispatchqueen,notchallframes

1week

OTS QUEEN REARING ProceduresForMakingStarts

&HoneyHives

Overwinteredcolony

8framesofbrood

May1st

Notch

7

FiscalYearStartsJuly1

4starts,checkAug1

3starts,checkAug1

2starts,add1-2honeysuperseach,checkAug1

Notch1frameforhoneyproduc+on,add2-3supers,checkAug1

Op+on#1

Op+on#2

Op+on#3

Op+on#4

2framesbrood+queencell

2framesbrood+queencell

2framesbrood+queencell

2framesbrood+queencell

2+framesbrood

+queencell

2+framesbrood

+queencell

2+framesbrood

+queencell

4framesbrood+queencell

4framesbrood+queencell

8framesbrood+queencell

Oneframeofbroodshouldequateto10+lbsofhoneyinagoodflow

8