Maine Beekeeper Survey 2019

Maine Honey Bee Survey April 2018 - April 2019

Thank you for taking part in the Maine Honey Bee Survey. Data collected will be used to summarize beekeeping practices and losses in the State of Maine for the 2018/2019 beekeeping season. All responses are confidential. This survey should take about 15 minutes and we ask that you please provide information about honey bee colonies that you owned from April 2018 - April 2019.

A summary of the survey can be found on the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Apiary website mid July 2018 and will be presented at the 2018 Maine State Beekeepers Annual Meeting. Thank you!

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* 1. In what county do you live?

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* 2. In what town do you live?

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* 3. What type of beekeeper are you?

Backyard/Hobby (<30 hives)

Sideliner (30-300 hives)

Commercial - migratory (>300 hives)

Commercial - stationary(>300 hives)

Other (please specify)

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* 4. Why do you keep bees? Please check all that apply.

Apitherapy

Enjoyment/hobby

Help bee population

Help environment

Honey/pollen/propolis/wax production for sale

Honey/pollen/propolis/wax production for personal use

Nuc production

Package production

Pollination (commercial)

Pollination (personal/backyard)

Queen production

Research

Teaching/education

Other (please specify)

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* 5. How many years have you been keeping bees?

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* 6. Are you a member of a beekeeping organization? If yes, which one(s)?

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* 7. Are your apiary/apiaries currently registered with the State of Maine?

Yes

Other (please specify)

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* 8. In what Maine town(s) are your apiary/apiaries located?

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* 9. What best describes the 5 miles surrounding your apiaries? Please check all that apply.

Industrial

Urban/suburban

Agricultural

Natural (i.e. forest, wetlands, meadows, etc.)

Other (please specify)

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* 10. Do your hives spend part of the year outside of Maine? If yes, in which state(s)?

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* 11. Were any of your hives used for pollination of agricultural crops?

Yes

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* 12. How much honey did you harvest in 2018 (in pounds)?

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* 13. On average, how many full frames of honey stores did your leave per colony for overwintering (October 2018 - April 2019)?

None

1-4 frames

5-10 frames

11-15 frames

More than 15 frames

Other (please specify)

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* 14. What do you do to prepare your hives for winter (other than feeding)? Please check all that apply.

Nothing.

I provided an upper entrance.

I used an entrance reducer (wood or plastic).

I used mouse guards (metal).

I moved my hives to a southern location.

I equalized colony strength.

I wrapped my colonies with insulation.

I wrapped my colonies with tar paper.

I wrapped my colonies with commercially available wraps.

I used a moisture absorbing inner cover.

I used a super filled with moisture absorbing materials above the inner cover.

I used extra insulation on top of my colonies.

I used windbreaks.

I secured my outer covers (using rocks, tie downs, etc).

I moved my hives into a covered shelter.

Other (please specify)

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* 15. Did you provide supplemental feed (i.e. sugar syrup, pollen patties, commercial products, etc) to your colonies? If yes, what did you provide? Include trade name if available.

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* 16. How many total living colonies did you have on April 1, 2018?

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* 17. How many total living colonies did you add between April 2018 and October 2018 (Summer)?

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* 18. How many total living colonies did you lose (deadouts) between April 2018 and October 2018 (Summer)?

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* 19. What do you think caused your summer colony losses? Please check all that apply.

American Foulbrood

Chalkbrood

Environmental Factors (i.e. drought, heat, cold, etc.)

European Foulbrood

Mammal Predators (bears, mice, skunks, etc)

Natural Disaster (i.e. tornadoes, flood, etc)

Nosema

Pesticides

Queen loss/failure

Sacbrood

Small Hive Beetles

Starvation

Tracheal Mites

Varroa Mites

Viruses

I don't know

I did not have any losses

Other (please specify)

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* 20. How many total living colonies did you lose (deadouts) between October 2018 and April 2019 (Winter)?

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* 21. What do you think caused your winter colony losses? Please check all that apply.

American Foulbrood

Chalkbrood

Environmental Factors (i.e. drought, heat, cold, etc.)

European Foulbrood

Mammal Predators (bears, mice, skunks, etc.)

Moisture

Natural Disaster (i.e. tornadoes, flood, etc)

Nosema

Pesticides

Queen loss/failure/issue

Small Hive Beetles

Starvation

Tracheal Mites

Varroa Mites

Viruses

I don't know

I did not have any losses

Other (please specify)

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* 22. How many total living hives did you have on April 1, 2019?

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* 23. How were your most recent colonies started? Please check all that apply.

Nucleus hives (nuc)

Package

Split from another hive

Swarm

Other (please specify)

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* 24. If you started a colony from a package, where did you get it and were you happy with it?

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* 25. If you started a colony from a nuc, where did you get it and were you happy with it?

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* 26. If you re-queened last year (2018), where did you get your queen from?

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* 27. What type of hive equipment do you use? Please check all that apply.

Langstroth - 4 or 5 frame (nuc box)

Langstroth - 8 frame

Langstroth - 10 frame

Top bar

Other (please specify)

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* 28. Did you do mite counts in 2018?

Yes

Other (please specify)

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* 29. What type of mite count procedure(s) do you use? Please check all that apply.

None

Alcohol wash

Drone brood survey

Ether roll

Sugar shake

Sticky board

Other (please specify)

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* 30. What mite treatment(s) did you apply between April 2018 and April 2019? Please check all that apply.

None

Apiguard (thymol)

Api Life Var (thymol)

Apistan (fluvalinate)

Apivar (amitraz)

Brood cycle disruption (i.e. split, caging queens, etc.)

CheckMite+ (coumaphos)

Drone brood trapping/removal

Formic Pro (formic acid)

Hopguard II (hop oil)

MAQS: Mite-Away Quick Strips (formic acid)

Oxalic acid dribble

Oxalic acid vaporization

Powder sugar dusting

Screened bottom board

Other (please specify)

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* 31. If you treated for varroa mites, please provide a brief explanation of your treatment (when you treated, products used, etc.).

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* 32. What other medication(s) did you apply between April 2018 and April 2019? Please check all that apply.

None

Fumagilin-B

Terramycin

Tylan/Tylosin

Other (please specify)

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* 1. In what county do you live?

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* 2. In what town do you live?

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* 3. What type of beekeeper are you?

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* 4. Why do you keep bees? Please check all that apply.

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* 5. How many years have you been keeping bees?

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* 6. Are you a member of a beekeeping organization? If yes, which one(s)?

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* 7. Are your apiary/apiaries currently registered with the State of Maine?

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* 8. In what Maine town(s) are your apiary/apiaries located?

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* 9. What best describes the 5 miles surrounding your apiaries? Please check all that apply.

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* 10. Do your hives spend part of the year outside of Maine? If yes, in which state(s)?

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* 11. Were any of your hives used for pollination of agricultural crops?

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* 12. How much honey did you harvest in 2018 (in pounds)?

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* 13. On average, how many full frames of honey stores did your leave per colony for overwintering (October 2018 - April 2019)?

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* 14. What do you do to prepare your hives for winter (other than feeding)? Please check all that apply.

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* 15. Did you provide supplemental feed (i.e. sugar syrup, pollen patties, commercial products, etc) to your colonies? If yes, what did you provide? Include trade name if available.

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* 16. How many total living colonies did you have on April 1, 2018?

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* 17. How many total living colonies did you add between April 2018 and October 2018 (Summer)?

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* 18. How many total living colonies did you lose (deadouts) between April 2018 and October 2018 (Summer)?

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* 19. What do you think caused your summer colony losses? Please check all that apply.

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* 20. How many total living colonies did you lose (deadouts) between October 2018 and April 2019 (Winter)?

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* 21. What do you think caused your winter colony losses? Please check all that apply.

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* 22. How many total living hives did you have on April 1, 2019?

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* 23. How were your most recent colonies started? Please check all that apply.

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* 24. If you started a colony from a package, where did you get it and were you happy with it?

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* 25. If you started a colony from a nuc, where did you get it and were you happy with it?

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* 26. If you re-queened last year (2018), where did you get your queen from?

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* 27. What type of hive equipment do you use? Please check all that apply.

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* 28. Did you do mite counts in 2018?

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* 29. What type of mite count procedure(s) do you use? Please check all that apply.

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* 30. What mite treatment(s) did you apply between April 2018 and April 2019? Please check all that apply.

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* 31. If you treated for varroa mites, please provide a brief explanation of your treatment (when you treated, products used, etc.).

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* 32. What other medication(s) did you apply between April 2018 and April 2019? Please check all that apply.

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* 33. Did you use the services of the Maine State Apiarist between April 2018 and April 2019? If you did, was it helpful?

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* 34. Please leave any other comments below.