See links above for beekeeping articles, PowerPoint presentations, & websites.
Below: links to forms & site pages to help you set up an apiary & choose beekeeping equipment; hive package bees; inspect your bees; test for diseases & parasites; remove honey supers without harming bees; extract honey; address fall management issues; over-winter your bees; protect your bees from yellow jackets; register your hives; monitor bees for tracheal mites; use WSU's diagnostic lab service; and more.
Getting Started with Bees: click here for tips on apiary set-up & needed equipment.
Hiving Package Bees: click here for a step-by-step hiving process.
Feeding Bees: Many beekeepers feed bees a sugar/water mix in fall and in spring to help strengthen colonies during times of nectar dearth. For a how-to on making sugar/water mix and adding medications, click here. For a table of volume measures for bee feeding, click here.
Conducting Hive Inspections: click here. Click here to view former LCBA VP Dave Gaston's helpful colony management record form.
Testing your bees for parasites & diseases: for tips, click here. To learn how to send a sample of your bees to WSU's APIS Testing Lab, click WSU Sample Testing Form Directions
For scientific information about Varroa mites, Nosema, & tracheal mites, click here to visit our Bees in the News pages. For additional information about Tracheal Mites, click on these handouts (courtesy of Renzy Davenport): Tracheal Mites Life Cycle & Tracheal Mite Treatments
Removing Honey Supers: for an overview of the 4 major methods for removing supers with minimal harm to your bees, click here.
Extracting Honey: for an overview of uncapping, spinning, draining & filtering raw honey, click here. To find local honey for sale, click here.
Protecting Honey Bees Against Yellowjackets: click here for a WSU PDF that explains methods for trapping yellow jackets, including a design for making your own traps.
Fall Management of Bees: for an overview of things to do in fall to help your bees prepare for winter, click here.
OVER-WINTERING BEES: click here for an overview & slideshow.
Click here for a very helpful article about over-wintering from the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research & Extension Consortium.
BEEKEEPING BASICS:
Click here to download a PDF file of MAAREC's excellent handbook, Beekeeping Basics.
2016 WSDA APIARY REGISTRATION FORM:
For a PDF file of this form, click here, or visit the URL below. The late Jim Bach, former Washington State apiarist, noted that the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s Apiary Advisory Committee annually recommends funding specific research into honey bee health from hive registration fees. Jim urged that “[t]his is one way that beekeepers across the state can voluntarily contribute to bee research and can feel they are getting something for their fees. Bee registration is required by state statute but is not enforced, giving beekeepers the choice to support their interests and industry by paying the fees.”
https://agr.wa.gov/plantsinsects/Apiary/
2017 rates:
1-5 colonies $ 5.00
6-25 colonies 10.00
26-100 colonies 25.00
101-300 colonies 50.00
Over 300: see the URL above.
