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that you keep to a reasonable amount. Doing so will ensure that you will be able to continue keeping that apiary well into the future. 13. The Varroa mite is a parasitic mite that gets on the breast of the bee and sucks in essence the bee's blood. It is like a flea or tick on your dog. To equate the relative size of a mite to a bee to a human it would be like having a rat sucking your blood through a 3/4" hole in your chest. The Varroa mite at this point in time is the beekeeper's greatest pest. A hive with only 3% of the bees having mites will very likely die completely as the hive shrinks during a dearth of nectar or going into winter. It is strongly encouraged that Varroa mite counts should be checked on a regular basis and the bees should be treated for Varroa mites before they become a problem. Hives that are left to die become Varroa bombs as neighboring hives rob out the honey left after the hive dies thus spreading this pest to neighboring hives. 14. Disease control — Any hive found to be diseased should be dealt with in the appropriate manner. There are a number of bee diseases and pests. A disease like American Foulbrood has spores which can remain viable for three or more decades and is very contagious. The only recourse with this disease is burning the equipment or placing it in a sealed bag to be taken to a landfill. If the beekeeper finds evidence of disease he or she should treat the hive and or remove the equipment promptly to avoid spreading the disease to neighboring hives. 15. The beekeeper is encouraged to register their hives with the County of Orange Department of Agriculture. By doing so if there is going to be any Vector Control spraying of other pests in the vicinity the beekeeper will be notified in advance allowing them to move or take protective measures to prevent their bees from getting into the pesticides. 16. The city strongly encourages anyone taking up beekeeping that you continue educating yourself and those around you to the wonders of bees and beekeeping. Consider joining a bee club. Find a mentor. Subscribe to American Bee Journal or Bee Culture magazines. Watch videos online. There are also many good quality beekeeping books on the market. A good beekeeper never stops learning. STING INFORMATION 17. How does one avoid getting stung in the first place? There are just some general rules which will aid the beekeeper and those around the hives from getting stung. a. Avoid walking in front of or blocking the bees flight path into the hive. b. Never swat at a bee. This puts the bee on the defensive and she will release alarm pheromone which will put other bees on the defensive. c. If a bee is buzzing around you the best thing to do is quickly move away. If you can go around a corner or duck under a branch most of the time the bee will just lose interest and move on. d. Bees on flowers or water are just grocery shopping or getting water. If you leave them alone they will leave you alone. The bee sacrifices their life when they sting you so it does so as a last resort. 18. Stings and allergies — No one likes being stung (including beekeepers). Bees sting to drive away those they see as a threat and it is pretty effective. A normal reaction to a sting is pain and swelling depending on how much venom gets into your skin. Note: This is not an allergic reaction but rather a normal reaction. The severity of the reaction can range from something similar to a mosquito bite to a lot of pain and swelling. Very few people are actually allergic to bee stings. Those that are go into anaphylactic shock which can lead to the person not being able to breathe. Those that are allergic to bee/wasp and other insect bites in this manner should carry with them an Epinephrine pen. Luckily you are 71 times more likely to die from a lightning strike than you are from a bee sting allergic reaction so the odds are in your favor. 19. What should you do if you do get stung? —When a bee sings you the stinger has a barb on it like a fish hook. When the bee pulls away it tears a venom sack out of its body and falls dead to the ground. That venom sack has muscles on it which continue to pump venom into you. The quicker you get it out of you the less venom, less pain and swelling you will have. To get a stinger out of your skin you should never grab hold and pull the singer as this is like pushing on the end of a hypodermic needle and you will get the maximum pain and swelling as all the venom will be pushed into your skin. The best way to get a stinger out is to scrape it out as quickly as possible from the side with your finger nail or