As a small time hobby beekeeper, I have resisted the urge to let me apiary grow to more than five or six hives. Well, it seems the fates have decided otherwise this year. I went into the winter with six hives and lost two. A thirty percent loss is not what I would call success but I know why one hive died and that situation will not arise again.The other, I am at a loss as to why they died.
Nonetheless, things are looking up at the farm. I ordered what I thought was two nucs back in November 2014. That would have made a perfect replacement pair for the colonies I lost. Apparently I said three, not two. So, no sweat now I have seven colonies. That is only one more that I expected.
Well, I got a call from a friend who I left a hive with and she informed me that she is probably moving and will not be able to take care of the bees. Fortunately, my wife went down to work on the old house days after I received this news.
This story was supposed to be about the perils and missteps my wife took to bring the bees home while I am off in training for work. The odd thing is everything went well. Suspiciously well. So there is really nothing to write about on that front. She headed out to the hive Saturday evening, closed it off with paper towels and duct tape and between her and my 17 year old shoved it in the truck. Today they got home about four in the afternoon and placed it on an empty spot on one of the stands. They opened it up and let the bees do what they want. No spilling of the bees, no dropping the hive, no boxes shifting during the drive. I guess that is good but admittedly does not make for good story telling.
Of course this means that I am currently sitting at eight colonies. I am not sure I have that kind of equipment laying around and the Mann-Lake March Madness sale is over. Guess I will have to get by however I can. On top of this, I still plan to put out swarm traps and do some splits of the three strong hives I have.
I guess next time I will write about setting up swarm traps. I have had a good deal of success with them in the past. Honestly, if you have the wood laying around and are halfway decent at carpentry there is no need to purchase woodenware. So catching swarms is a relatively easy and cost efficient way to get your first colony of bees. Of course you have no idea where they came from or what kind they are. But I think that is for the best. I am more about keeping the bees than getting honey from them so the type of queen does not really concern me as much (as long as they are not African stock).
So, with that in mind, until next time.
Bees
Bee on my privet
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Monday, March 23, 2015
Why do I do this to myself every year?
Hello bee keeping friends(or just friends or perhaps bee interested friends). I hope the rapidly approaching spring finds you better prepared than I am. Another story!! Yay!
Cast your minds back a few posts ago when I was suddenly and violently relocated. Not only was I relocated, I was moved to another division. Not so bad in itself but we do different things...differently. Of course to learn the new and...different...things I have to go to school. On the plus side school is provided by work. On the negative side it takes up a lot of time out of town in big chunks.
Thus I am currently sitting in hotel in New England instead of in my shop building hive bodies and collecting my soon to arrive nucleus hives. My wife, bless her sweet heart, has agreed to bring thousands of stinging insects home for me and pay my supplier. In addition she is setting up a hive stand for them so they don't have to live on the grass till I get home. I picked a good one (the wife not hives..well maybe both but definitely the wife).
Nonetheless, spring is here as of a few days ago. What is significant about spring, you ask? (You guys ask the best questions). I am glad you asked. Right about the winter equinox, the queen started slowly building up the numbers in the hive. Now that the warm weather is nearly here, she will redouble, nay triple or better her efforts. Sounds great, huh? Lots of fun buzzing happy bees. Well, it is but there is also a danger involved. Too much too soon and they could starve. But it is spring!, you say. True but the weather is unpredictable. Maybe there will be a nice early supply of pollen and nectar. But most likely there will be slim pickings. Now is the time to check for food stores. As it warms switch to 1:1 syrup if you are feeding syrup. Bees tend to stop taking syrup when enough nectar is available. Also, those pollen patties that I have never mentioned before? Get them out and place them in the hive. "What the heck are the "pollen patties""? you ask wisely. Pollen patties are well, patties with pollen or pollen substitute in them. The are sandwiched between wax paper sheets and generally set right on the top of the frames. The bees eat them in as they go. The bees use them to help feed the upcoming larvae ( I knew you would ask why they need them) in place of freshly harvested pollen.
Spring is another good time to treat for mites. The overall population is low, there are minimal capped larvae and the temperatures are getting warm enough to get into the hives. Some mite treatments do not allow collecting honey during treatment and sometime after treatment is over. Some of these products must remain in the hive for up to 6 weeks. Plan accordingly.
Or course you need more hive bodies, bottom boards, cover, and hive stands for the splits you are about to do. You do split your hives, right?
Well when I get home I will be splitting. Sounds like another fascination episode in the making.
Make a note when you go out what flowers are blooming when, track when your bees start bringing in pollen when they start bringing in nectar.
Do you requeen every year? I might every two years. I kind of watch and see how spring build up is going. The bees tend to requeen themselves before I do. If you do, order them now. I recommend the later queens as sometimes the drone population is not high enough for the early queens and I worry there might not be enough genetic diversity or enough fertilized eggs.
Well, I might have one more second hand adventure to post before I get home so stay tuned!!
Cast your minds back a few posts ago when I was suddenly and violently relocated. Not only was I relocated, I was moved to another division. Not so bad in itself but we do different things...differently. Of course to learn the new and...different...things I have to go to school. On the plus side school is provided by work. On the negative side it takes up a lot of time out of town in big chunks.
Thus I am currently sitting in hotel in New England instead of in my shop building hive bodies and collecting my soon to arrive nucleus hives. My wife, bless her sweet heart, has agreed to bring thousands of stinging insects home for me and pay my supplier. In addition she is setting up a hive stand for them so they don't have to live on the grass till I get home. I picked a good one (the wife not hives..well maybe both but definitely the wife).
Nonetheless, spring is here as of a few days ago. What is significant about spring, you ask? (You guys ask the best questions). I am glad you asked. Right about the winter equinox, the queen started slowly building up the numbers in the hive. Now that the warm weather is nearly here, she will redouble, nay triple or better her efforts. Sounds great, huh? Lots of fun buzzing happy bees. Well, it is but there is also a danger involved. Too much too soon and they could starve. But it is spring!, you say. True but the weather is unpredictable. Maybe there will be a nice early supply of pollen and nectar. But most likely there will be slim pickings. Now is the time to check for food stores. As it warms switch to 1:1 syrup if you are feeding syrup. Bees tend to stop taking syrup when enough nectar is available. Also, those pollen patties that I have never mentioned before? Get them out and place them in the hive. "What the heck are the "pollen patties""? you ask wisely. Pollen patties are well, patties with pollen or pollen substitute in them. The are sandwiched between wax paper sheets and generally set right on the top of the frames. The bees eat them in as they go. The bees use them to help feed the upcoming larvae ( I knew you would ask why they need them) in place of freshly harvested pollen.
Spring is another good time to treat for mites. The overall population is low, there are minimal capped larvae and the temperatures are getting warm enough to get into the hives. Some mite treatments do not allow collecting honey during treatment and sometime after treatment is over. Some of these products must remain in the hive for up to 6 weeks. Plan accordingly.
Or course you need more hive bodies, bottom boards, cover, and hive stands for the splits you are about to do. You do split your hives, right?
Well when I get home I will be splitting. Sounds like another fascination episode in the making.
Make a note when you go out what flowers are blooming when, track when your bees start bringing in pollen when they start bringing in nectar.
Do you requeen every year? I might every two years. I kind of watch and see how spring build up is going. The bees tend to requeen themselves before I do. If you do, order them now. I recommend the later queens as sometimes the drone population is not high enough for the early queens and I worry there might not be enough genetic diversity or enough fertilized eggs.
Well, I might have one more second hand adventure to post before I get home so stay tuned!!
Wintering the hives
Well, for those of you who have followed my somewhat intermittent blog, you know I recently moved north about 260 miles. I went from nice flat warm to very hilly and snow in the winter. I have never had to deal with snow before. Most of the places I lived see 0.1 inches of snow as a full scale emergency. Now I live in a place that apparently can amass several inches of snow in one day. Exciting times.
Bees (see I got to the bees) are very good at overwintering. They form a cluster in the hive and slowly move around in a bunch eating the honey as they need it. Cold usually does not kill bees. Bees (just for reference, when I say "bees" I am referring to European honey bees unless otherwise stated) die from hunger, mites, and moisture to name a few things.
Hunger I addressed on a previous blog. Mites. I hate mites. We had bees on out family's farm when I was a kid. The bees took care of themselves and thrived. Varroa mites have changed that. You HAVE to treat for mites. There are people who say they don't. People who say they are breeding resistant bees. I can kind of understand that but mites WILL kill a hive. You have to do something. Honey bees are not native to North America. They were brought over by settlers. They are not really wild and are considered livestock. I have never heard of someone letting their cow herd die off so they can breed resistant cows. Natural or chemical, please treat your bees for mites. You will be happier and your bees will definitely be happier. Rotate your treatments so the mites do not become resistant. I will cover more on this later when I get into honey bee pests and diseases.
That leaves moisture. As I said, cold does not usually kills bees, but a cold wet bee will die. But you have a lid on your hive, how would they get wet? In the same way you breathing on a cold mirror causes condensation, bees breathing in their hive causes condensation on inside of the cover. There are several ways to combat this. My favorite is a moisture quit. This technology is borrowed from the warre hive guys. Basically, you take a 1x3 and make a really short super. Staple #4 hardware cloth covered on one side with canvas to the bottom of it and fill it with wood chips. Unfortunately, I am not home right now to take pictures. I will add them in a few weeks when I get back. I will try to explain it in a little more detail. Imagine a stack, on the bottom is untreated unbleached canvas (I buy painters drop clothes for this at my local hardware store) on top of this is a piece of number 4 hardware cloth (1/4" squares) on top of that is a pile of wood shavings. I also drill two 3/4" holes on each long side of the box and screen them for ventilation.
This device takes care of two issues. One, it absorbs any excess moisture and two, it provides slow ventilation as the wood chips keep the air from flowing directly up through the hive. I leave my screened bottom boards on all year.
Another way is to lean your hive slightly to the rear. This is supposed to cause the drops that form to roll to the back of the hive and drip down the wall harmlessly...except for maybe some mold.
Insulation can also be added to the inside of the top cover to help keep it at a closer temperature to the cluster. I have doubts about the effectiveness of this. The cluster can be pretty far from the top cover in early winter. Not that insulating your hive is bad I just don't know how well it addresses the moisture issue.
Another issue you may encounter is rodent invasion. Sounds like a cheap drive in, huh? Well in this case a mouse moves in to your hive and generally makes a mess out if it. They make mouse guards for this. You can also staple #4 hardware cloth over the entrance.
I usually have my entrances about one bee sized at this time anyhow to help reduce mouse entry and robbing as food runs short and spring arrives.
A final note. If your hives are in direct path of the prevailing wind, build a wind break of some type. Hay bales, privacy fence, a tar paper wrap. Just something to help the bees a little to keep warm.
Now, get your wallet and or tools out. Spring is coming and it is time to get the new boxes built and frames assembled.
Bees (see I got to the bees) are very good at overwintering. They form a cluster in the hive and slowly move around in a bunch eating the honey as they need it. Cold usually does not kill bees. Bees (just for reference, when I say "bees" I am referring to European honey bees unless otherwise stated) die from hunger, mites, and moisture to name a few things.
Hunger I addressed on a previous blog. Mites. I hate mites. We had bees on out family's farm when I was a kid. The bees took care of themselves and thrived. Varroa mites have changed that. You HAVE to treat for mites. There are people who say they don't. People who say they are breeding resistant bees. I can kind of understand that but mites WILL kill a hive. You have to do something. Honey bees are not native to North America. They were brought over by settlers. They are not really wild and are considered livestock. I have never heard of someone letting their cow herd die off so they can breed resistant cows. Natural or chemical, please treat your bees for mites. You will be happier and your bees will definitely be happier. Rotate your treatments so the mites do not become resistant. I will cover more on this later when I get into honey bee pests and diseases.
That leaves moisture. As I said, cold does not usually kills bees, but a cold wet bee will die. But you have a lid on your hive, how would they get wet? In the same way you breathing on a cold mirror causes condensation, bees breathing in their hive causes condensation on inside of the cover. There are several ways to combat this. My favorite is a moisture quit. This technology is borrowed from the warre hive guys. Basically, you take a 1x3 and make a really short super. Staple #4 hardware cloth covered on one side with canvas to the bottom of it and fill it with wood chips. Unfortunately, I am not home right now to take pictures. I will add them in a few weeks when I get back. I will try to explain it in a little more detail. Imagine a stack, on the bottom is untreated unbleached canvas (I buy painters drop clothes for this at my local hardware store) on top of this is a piece of number 4 hardware cloth (1/4" squares) on top of that is a pile of wood shavings. I also drill two 3/4" holes on each long side of the box and screen them for ventilation.
This device takes care of two issues. One, it absorbs any excess moisture and two, it provides slow ventilation as the wood chips keep the air from flowing directly up through the hive. I leave my screened bottom boards on all year.
Another way is to lean your hive slightly to the rear. This is supposed to cause the drops that form to roll to the back of the hive and drip down the wall harmlessly...except for maybe some mold.
Insulation can also be added to the inside of the top cover to help keep it at a closer temperature to the cluster. I have doubts about the effectiveness of this. The cluster can be pretty far from the top cover in early winter. Not that insulating your hive is bad I just don't know how well it addresses the moisture issue.
Another issue you may encounter is rodent invasion. Sounds like a cheap drive in, huh? Well in this case a mouse moves in to your hive and generally makes a mess out if it. They make mouse guards for this. You can also staple #4 hardware cloth over the entrance.
I usually have my entrances about one bee sized at this time anyhow to help reduce mouse entry and robbing as food runs short and spring arrives.
A final note. If your hives are in direct path of the prevailing wind, build a wind break of some type. Hay bales, privacy fence, a tar paper wrap. Just something to help the bees a little to keep warm.
Now, get your wallet and or tools out. Spring is coming and it is time to get the new boxes built and frames assembled.
The move or what not to do when work relocates you
So I said I was going to talk about getting the hives ready for winter in this issue. I lied. Of course when i said that I did not anticipate work telling me to pack up and drag all my worldly good seven hours north. Don't get too upset, this is valuable information as well. Plus, I will talk about winter prep next time.
I really wish I would have taken a load of pictures to help illustrate this. At the same time that is like wishing you had video of your failed bank robbery. As it stands all the incriminating evidence will have to be written.
Moving bees is done all the time, literally ALL THE TIME. Just not by me, Thank goodness because nothing would get pollinated.
Again this little adventure began with work informing me that I can move or find employment elsewhere. This was actually a harder decision that you would think. Aside from bees I have kids and a wife. None of them wanted to move. I didn't either. I think the lure (precog pun) of good trout fishing may have had something to do with the final decision but don't tell me wife. To my wife: "Theses are not the droids you are looking for".
As it stood, I realized I would have to haul my bees with me. They are kind of like family albeit sometimes really crabby and painful family (Like that aunt who keeps asking when you are going to get a real job). I am sure you have gathered by this point that this is new territory for me. But I figured all I have to do is keep them in their hose for a day shove them on the truck and I am home free.
All my assumptions about moving a hive are false.
Assumption one: The bees will never get past this screen ---- FALSE
They evaded it like little Hudinis
Assumption two: Propolis is sticky enough. All I need is a cargo strap---FALSE
The hives separated like Moses was there waving his staff at them.
Assumption three: It will be quick and easy to get the bees in the hive at night---FASLE!
Apparently the warm snap was an invitation to an all hive porch party.
Assumption four: This will be easy---FASLE!
walking the Gobi with no shoes and one water bottle full of mud would have been easier.
So, what went wrong, you ask? What didn't might be a shorter story but here we go.
1: When sealing the hive, I will use a full length wooden entrance block duct taped or even screwed into place. I have even though of replacing the bottom board with one made with a PVC entrance and just capping it off. I have heard this might help with small hive beetles too but I have not researched it much.(More on that later)
2: Propolis is sticky...amazingly sticky but not sticky enough apparently. Next time I will use four angle iron pieces on all four vertical corners and at least one ratchet strap around them as well as one going around the top and bottom of the hive.
3: This is a timing thing. If I had more time I would have waited for a cooler night when the would go back in on their own. I did not think of smoking them and wonder if it would have worked. I might give that a shot next time.
4: It was hard, heavy work. I am actually surprised I had any bees left after I was done. I left bees at every gas station, restaurant and rest stop we paused at. I hated it that I lost all those bees. Every time I stopped I tried to stop up the hives but somehow they just kept getting out.
What I did right; I had screened bottom boards on for ventilation. I moved them in the late afternoon and night to minimize them moving around or flying. I might should have waited till later but sever hours is a long haul. I had my sites setup and ready for the bees when I got home so I did not have to relocate them when they got to their new home.
Take it from me, if you are moving your hives, make sure you have plenty of ventilation (but keep the vents out of direct wind when driving), Make the hive escape proof. Don't do this sloppily, you will loose bees. Ensure your hive is going to stay together. You might have to hit the brakes or hit a big pot hole. Again, don't stint. Finally, get help if you can. I am sure I could have asked some of the members of my bee club to help me but I hate to impose. Don't be like me. Your bees may be at stake.
So, I leave you with these lessons learned. I have one more hive to move and I will follow my own hard learned lessons. Hopefully I will be able to report success in the future.
Till next time...
I really wish I would have taken a load of pictures to help illustrate this. At the same time that is like wishing you had video of your failed bank robbery. As it stands all the incriminating evidence will have to be written.
Moving bees is done all the time, literally ALL THE TIME. Just not by me, Thank goodness because nothing would get pollinated.
Again this little adventure began with work informing me that I can move or find employment elsewhere. This was actually a harder decision that you would think. Aside from bees I have kids and a wife. None of them wanted to move. I didn't either. I think the lure (precog pun) of good trout fishing may have had something to do with the final decision but don't tell me wife. To my wife: "Theses are not the droids you are looking for".
As it stood, I realized I would have to haul my bees with me. They are kind of like family albeit sometimes really crabby and painful family (Like that aunt who keeps asking when you are going to get a real job). I am sure you have gathered by this point that this is new territory for me. But I figured all I have to do is keep them in their hose for a day shove them on the truck and I am home free.
All my assumptions about moving a hive are false.
Assumption one: The bees will never get past this screen ---- FALSE
They evaded it like little Hudinis
Assumption two: Propolis is sticky enough. All I need is a cargo strap---FALSE
The hives separated like Moses was there waving his staff at them.
Assumption three: It will be quick and easy to get the bees in the hive at night---FASLE!
Apparently the warm snap was an invitation to an all hive porch party.
Assumption four: This will be easy---FASLE!
walking the Gobi with no shoes and one water bottle full of mud would have been easier.
So, what went wrong, you ask? What didn't might be a shorter story but here we go.
1: When sealing the hive, I will use a full length wooden entrance block duct taped or even screwed into place. I have even though of replacing the bottom board with one made with a PVC entrance and just capping it off. I have heard this might help with small hive beetles too but I have not researched it much.(More on that later)
2: Propolis is sticky...amazingly sticky but not sticky enough apparently. Next time I will use four angle iron pieces on all four vertical corners and at least one ratchet strap around them as well as one going around the top and bottom of the hive.
3: This is a timing thing. If I had more time I would have waited for a cooler night when the would go back in on their own. I did not think of smoking them and wonder if it would have worked. I might give that a shot next time.
4: It was hard, heavy work. I am actually surprised I had any bees left after I was done. I left bees at every gas station, restaurant and rest stop we paused at. I hated it that I lost all those bees. Every time I stopped I tried to stop up the hives but somehow they just kept getting out.
What I did right; I had screened bottom boards on for ventilation. I moved them in the late afternoon and night to minimize them moving around or flying. I might should have waited till later but sever hours is a long haul. I had my sites setup and ready for the bees when I got home so I did not have to relocate them when they got to their new home.
Take it from me, if you are moving your hives, make sure you have plenty of ventilation (but keep the vents out of direct wind when driving), Make the hive escape proof. Don't do this sloppily, you will loose bees. Ensure your hive is going to stay together. You might have to hit the brakes or hit a big pot hole. Again, don't stint. Finally, get help if you can. I am sure I could have asked some of the members of my bee club to help me but I hate to impose. Don't be like me. Your bees may be at stake.
So, I leave you with these lessons learned. I have one more hive to move and I will follow my own hard learned lessons. Hopefully I will be able to report success in the future.
Till next time...
Bring on the chill
Today's episode starts with a cool wind blowing across the hives in the apiary. Looks like it's finally cooling down here in Louisiana.
Unfortunately I have kind of gotten more in tune with the bees and the stories just are not as entertaining.
So as the cold descends upon us, the bees will begin to huddle in their hives.
The winters are short here in Louisiana but the weather is very unpredictable. Odd thing about bees, if it gets cold and stays cold they generally do not eat as much honey over the winter. "Why?" you ask. Good question. Well, when it is cold, the bees stay inside and huddle in a ball keeping the core warm. They rotate in and out of the cluster so everyone stays warm. They vibrate their wings to heat up and everyone stays nice and toasty.
However, if the temperatures start getting into the upper forty's,especially if the hive is in full sun, they will fly out, go to the bathroom and if it is warm enough, fly around looking for pollen and nectar. Sounds like reasonable bee behavior so far. The caveat is that in the winter there is no pollen or nectar for them to bring home. In essence, they fly around and waste energy that they have to regain by eating the honey in the hive. See how this work now?
It is a shame I can't control the weather. What I can do is try to make sure they have enough honey for the winter while figuring in the crazy weather here. Failing that, give them extra food.
Bees like honey kind of like a Sonny likes Coco Puffs. So I try to keep extra frames of honey in the freezer for emergencies. Failing that, table sugar (in several forms) is an adequate substitute.
To feed bees during the winter I have found that sugar right out of the bag seems to work pretty good. I spray it a bit with water to make it into a kind of solid pancake thing, let it dry out and plop that right on top of the frames. Actually "plop" is too strong a word. I suppose if I actually "plopped" it, it would make a huge mess. Let's say I gently lay it on the frames. I have also heard of people usinf frame feeders full of sugar from the bag. I have not tried it but it seems reasonable.
You can liquid feed if the weather is consistently warm as well. I kind of like filling gallon zip locks half way with 1:2 (one water to two sugar) sugar syrup. This is not an exact science. One gallon water to two gallons water, ten pounds water to twenty pounds sugar, whatever the bees don"t care. Fill the ziploc bags and place them directly on the top frames and make two to three slits on the top of the bag...the part that is flat toward the middle, If you cut toward the edges where the bag starts to curve you are going to have a mess, trust me on this one. Again, this is for when the weather stays over 45 to 50. Otherwise it will be too cold for the bees to drink. The down side is you can't really move the bags after slitting them o refill them. Maybe packing tape could seal them enough to move them. I have never tried. If you do let me know how it worked out for you.
I have added anise or lemongrass oils to the syrup to attract the bees to it but honestly, if you dump an extra jar of honey in there the bees seem to some running to it, I would not do this in spring though as the honey smell might induce robbing in the bee yard.
So that breaks down the food part of overwintering. Next I will talk about getting the hive itself ready.
Stay tuned.
Unfortunately I have kind of gotten more in tune with the bees and the stories just are not as entertaining.
So as the cold descends upon us, the bees will begin to huddle in their hives.
The winters are short here in Louisiana but the weather is very unpredictable. Odd thing about bees, if it gets cold and stays cold they generally do not eat as much honey over the winter. "Why?" you ask. Good question. Well, when it is cold, the bees stay inside and huddle in a ball keeping the core warm. They rotate in and out of the cluster so everyone stays warm. They vibrate their wings to heat up and everyone stays nice and toasty.
However, if the temperatures start getting into the upper forty's,especially if the hive is in full sun, they will fly out, go to the bathroom and if it is warm enough, fly around looking for pollen and nectar. Sounds like reasonable bee behavior so far. The caveat is that in the winter there is no pollen or nectar for them to bring home. In essence, they fly around and waste energy that they have to regain by eating the honey in the hive. See how this work now?
It is a shame I can't control the weather. What I can do is try to make sure they have enough honey for the winter while figuring in the crazy weather here. Failing that, give them extra food.
Bees like honey kind of like a Sonny likes Coco Puffs. So I try to keep extra frames of honey in the freezer for emergencies. Failing that, table sugar (in several forms) is an adequate substitute.
To feed bees during the winter I have found that sugar right out of the bag seems to work pretty good. I spray it a bit with water to make it into a kind of solid pancake thing, let it dry out and plop that right on top of the frames. Actually "plop" is too strong a word. I suppose if I actually "plopped" it, it would make a huge mess. Let's say I gently lay it on the frames. I have also heard of people usinf frame feeders full of sugar from the bag. I have not tried it but it seems reasonable.
You can liquid feed if the weather is consistently warm as well. I kind of like filling gallon zip locks half way with 1:2 (one water to two sugar) sugar syrup. This is not an exact science. One gallon water to two gallons water, ten pounds water to twenty pounds sugar, whatever the bees don"t care. Fill the ziploc bags and place them directly on the top frames and make two to three slits on the top of the bag...the part that is flat toward the middle, If you cut toward the edges where the bag starts to curve you are going to have a mess, trust me on this one. Again, this is for when the weather stays over 45 to 50. Otherwise it will be too cold for the bees to drink. The down side is you can't really move the bags after slitting them o refill them. Maybe packing tape could seal them enough to move them. I have never tried. If you do let me know how it worked out for you.
I have added anise or lemongrass oils to the syrup to attract the bees to it but honestly, if you dump an extra jar of honey in there the bees seem to some running to it, I would not do this in spring though as the honey smell might induce robbing in the bee yard.
So that breaks down the food part of overwintering. Next I will talk about getting the hive itself ready.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Zombees
No, this is not a horror film on late night Syfi channel. Though I bet they will make one eventually.
Zombees are bees that have been parasitized by the Zombie Fly, Apocephalus borealis. The fly injects it's eggs into the abdomen of the honey bee where they develop over the next 5-14 days then the maggots crawl out of the hapless bee's body. Fun, huh?
www.zombeewatch.org is a great place for information on these gruesomely fascinating creatures. If you have bees set up a trap and do some samples. It's fun and educational and creepy.
-Robert
These are not pictures of Zombees. These are pictures I just needed a link to lol.
The bee with the amber liquid appears to have harvested some propolis and then got told to go fan the front door.
The second picture is arguably one of the coolest I have taken as you can see the pattern the wins follow by looking at the shadow of the bee.
Zombees are bees that have been parasitized by the Zombie Fly, Apocephalus borealis. The fly injects it's eggs into the abdomen of the honey bee where they develop over the next 5-14 days then the maggots crawl out of the hapless bee's body. Fun, huh?
www.zombeewatch.org is a great place for information on these gruesomely fascinating creatures. If you have bees set up a trap and do some samples. It's fun and educational and creepy.
-Robert
These are not pictures of Zombees. These are pictures I just needed a link to lol.
The bee with the amber liquid appears to have harvested some propolis and then got told to go fan the front door.
The second picture is arguably one of the coolest I have taken as you can see the pattern the wins follow by looking at the shadow of the bee.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Swarms in July
A few days ago I received a call from a friend. His lawn care guy said there was a tree down in the yard at one of his houses. He goes to check it out and sure enough, half of a huge willow is laying in the back yard on the ground. He proceeds to chop it up with his chain saw until he gets close to the fence. As he get close to the fence he notices a bunch of bees flying around and calls it quits. This is where I come in.
Glen calls me and tells me he thinks there is a honey bee hive in the downed tree in his yard. I gather my bee things and a chainsaw and head over to take a look. After a brief inspection of the premises, my wife finds the colony. We pack up and tell Glen that they are indeed honey bees and that I will remove them the next day.
Early the next morning, I clear vines and small shrubs from the area where the bees are and start making the log shorter. I get to the colony and screen the end. I wait till after dark and toss the whole log in the truck.
When I get home I lay the log on the hive support where I am going to make their home and cover the entrance with leaves and such so they will reorient when they head out the next morning. I was not sure if I moved them a sufficient distance to ensure they would not head back to where the log used to be. Better safe than beeless.
About mid-day I go and check on them and notice a large glob of hive beetle larvae in the end of the log. I figure now is as good time as any and proceed to cracking the log open. Wow. I cannot even begin to explain this poor devastated hive. How they managed to keep going is beyond me. Apparently, when the branch fell, all the comb compacted into a heap on what is now the floor of the hive. I am guessing the queen died in there somewhere because I never found her and there were no eggs, just honey. There was also very little usable comb. The small hive beetle infestation was so overwhelming that I just burned the log after I coaxed the bees into a langtroth. No useable honey or anything.
To add insult to injury, after I got the bees into the langstroth hive, the bees that live in the pole on the other side of the shed began robbing them of the syrup I just fed them. To combat this, I blocked their entrance and moved the hive about 50 feet and them placed an empty 5 frame nucleus hive in it's place for any bees that were out to get into.
I left for several hours........
When I came back pandemonium was well under way. The sequestered bees decided they did not like being kept inside and removed the plug on the hive entrance. They then flew to where their hive used to be and for whatever reason, two colonies of bees were beating each other up over an empty box. Bees are apparently not as smart as I gave them credit for.
I took the 5 frame apart and shook the bees out. It was getting pretty close to dark so everyone started heading home. I then moved the hive back to it's original location so the bees could get back in. I then made a screen tunnel about 6 inches long that leads up from the entrance hole to help prevent further robbing. I figured everything would return to normal at this point. I was wrong.
At the crack of dawn (for me, around 8:30) I headed out back to check out the continuing craziness. I was not disappointed. There were bees everywhere! Oddly there were thousands on the empty five frame nuc hive. I had the front blocked off so they were just covering it. I cracked the screen a little and they started pouring in. At this point I am clueless. What the heck is going on? There are still bees all over the place in the air.
I start walking around and notice there is a big wad of bees on the ground about 15 feet from the hives. Looks suspiciously like a swarm. So I poke at it with a stick. Sure enough there is a queen in that ball of bees. I grab another empty nuc and lay it next to the swarm and herd the queen in the
hive. This was not as easy as it sounds. I then ran and made a queen cage. Upon returning I could not find the queen till she comes waltzing our of the nuc like she owns it. I try to get her in the cage and she flies off. Grrrrrr. Why do I keep bees? Why will they not bend to my will?
I go check the other nuc that I now figure is a primary swarm and there on top of it, is the queen I was trying to catch. After chasing her around for a bit I finally get her into the cage. I put her in the nuc where I want her and set it up on a ladder where the bees can find her easier.
After all that is settled, I open the hive that was robbed last night. there are dead bees all over the place. I smash a few obligatory small hive beetles and begin to sweep up the bees on the baggy feeder. Apparently a few of them were not dead and I get stung three times on two fingers. Good thing I am left handed. There appear to be enough bees left to make a go at it so I add a frame of brood from the other bee yard and close it up. I will probably add the queen I caught today to this colony as the swarm is small and they need a queen anyhow.
Glen calls me and tells me he thinks there is a honey bee hive in the downed tree in his yard. I gather my bee things and a chainsaw and head over to take a look. After a brief inspection of the premises, my wife finds the colony. We pack up and tell Glen that they are indeed honey bees and that I will remove them the next day.
Early the next morning, I clear vines and small shrubs from the area where the bees are and start making the log shorter. I get to the colony and screen the end. I wait till after dark and toss the whole log in the truck.
When I get home I lay the log on the hive support where I am going to make their home and cover the entrance with leaves and such so they will reorient when they head out the next morning. I was not sure if I moved them a sufficient distance to ensure they would not head back to where the log used to be. Better safe than beeless.
About mid-day I go and check on them and notice a large glob of hive beetle larvae in the end of the log. I figure now is as good time as any and proceed to cracking the log open. Wow. I cannot even begin to explain this poor devastated hive. How they managed to keep going is beyond me. Apparently, when the branch fell, all the comb compacted into a heap on what is now the floor of the hive. I am guessing the queen died in there somewhere because I never found her and there were no eggs, just honey. There was also very little usable comb. The small hive beetle infestation was so overwhelming that I just burned the log after I coaxed the bees into a langtroth. No useable honey or anything.
To add insult to injury, after I got the bees into the langstroth hive, the bees that live in the pole on the other side of the shed began robbing them of the syrup I just fed them. To combat this, I blocked their entrance and moved the hive about 50 feet and them placed an empty 5 frame nucleus hive in it's place for any bees that were out to get into.
I left for several hours........
When I came back pandemonium was well under way. The sequestered bees decided they did not like being kept inside and removed the plug on the hive entrance. They then flew to where their hive used to be and for whatever reason, two colonies of bees were beating each other up over an empty box. Bees are apparently not as smart as I gave them credit for.
I took the 5 frame apart and shook the bees out. It was getting pretty close to dark so everyone started heading home. I then moved the hive back to it's original location so the bees could get back in. I then made a screen tunnel about 6 inches long that leads up from the entrance hole to help prevent further robbing. I figured everything would return to normal at this point. I was wrong.
At the crack of dawn (for me, around 8:30) I headed out back to check out the continuing craziness. I was not disappointed. There were bees everywhere! Oddly there were thousands on the empty five frame nuc hive. I had the front blocked off so they were just covering it. I cracked the screen a little and they started pouring in. At this point I am clueless. What the heck is going on? There are still bees all over the place in the air.
I start walking around and notice there is a big wad of bees on the ground about 15 feet from the hives. Looks suspiciously like a swarm. So I poke at it with a stick. Sure enough there is a queen in that ball of bees. I grab another empty nuc and lay it next to the swarm and herd the queen in the
hive. This was not as easy as it sounds. I then ran and made a queen cage. Upon returning I could not find the queen till she comes waltzing our of the nuc like she owns it. I try to get her in the cage and she flies off. Grrrrrr. Why do I keep bees? Why will they not bend to my will?
I go check the other nuc that I now figure is a primary swarm and there on top of it, is the queen I was trying to catch. After chasing her around for a bit I finally get her into the cage. I put her in the nuc where I want her and set it up on a ladder where the bees can find her easier.
After all that is settled, I open the hive that was robbed last night. there are dead bees all over the place. I smash a few obligatory small hive beetles and begin to sweep up the bees on the baggy feeder. Apparently a few of them were not dead and I get stung three times on two fingers. Good thing I am left handed. There appear to be enough bees left to make a go at it so I add a frame of brood from the other bee yard and close it up. I will probably add the queen I caught today to this colony as the swarm is small and they need a queen anyhow.
The ball of bees I found on the ground.
The elusive queen. Trust me, she is in there.
Nuc waiting for bees to fly in.
See the bees fanning on the porch? They are fanning queen pheremone to bring in everyone.
The logs bees' new home.
The log. Notice the smashed comb.
The entire log was just filled with larvae and beetles. I ended up burning it.
That's all till next time where hopefully I will finish my Zombee blog.
-Robert
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Bees in a Pole - the sequel
Let me tell you a story. A story of desperation, hard work and perseverance.
I begins in a wooded lot on the other side of town (not your town, mine). If you read my last post then you have a pretty good idea of what is going on here. I sometimes do silly things like for instance post things in Craigslist like "Will remove bees, swarms and hives for free.". While this generally does not lead to any real difficulties, there is always that one time.
This, is that one time.
I post the afore mentioned post on Craigslist. A few days later I get a call. A guy wants me to remove a hive of bees. Now as a beekeeper, a hive is a box where the bees live. He tells me it is a thriving colony. Great, I say to myself, some nice easy free bees and they come in a hive! After speaking with him a few minutes, I realize this is not going to be as easy as it seems. So I head to the site (You know, the wooded lot mentioned earlier) and size it up.
I arrive and check it out. Sure enough there is an old steel gate post full of bees. I think to myself, this should not be to hard and tell the guy I will get them out as soon as I can.
Several scenarios entered my mind on how to successfully remove this colony. None of them ended up being the final conclusion to this epic rehoming saga.
Here is how it went down.
A few weeks ago I show up with plans to take the bees home. The bees wanted none of this and refused to go in the pipe so I could close it off. We went home empty handed.
The night before last I head out there with some proper bee equipment (smoker and such) and smoke them. They grudgingly go into the pole and I screen it up.
Now imagine this if you will. I have my truck, an inverter (a doohickey that converts 12 volt car electricity to 115volt household electricity), and finally a recently purchased 7" angle grinder with metal cutoff wheels. Also the angle grinder was bought at Harbor Freight. Those of you who have used Harbor Freight tools probably know what is going to happen here shortly.
I did test this setup at the house prior to heading to the site. It errrr worked-ish. So at the "hive" I hook up said equipment and head over tot he post and get to cutting. Hmmm seems that when I get into it a bit it draws too much power for the inverter to handle. After turning the inverter off and on like 25 times, we give it up open up the hive and head home.
Last night we return again we screen the entrances. But this time I have a 5kw generator. Hehehe Should be no sweat, right? Wrong. After getting about 4 inches around what is a 30" circumference post the angle grinder gives up the ghost. Ahh Harbor Freight power tools. So I leave the bees screened in and head home.
This morning I arrive with the sun at Harbor Freight and trade my non functioning angle grinder in for a fresh new one. Again, we head over to the bees. Again I get to cutting. Poor bees. This time, however, everything goes according to plan and I manage to cut all the way around the post. At this point I realize the wall thickness on this thing is 1/2". No wonder it took so long to cut it. I would guess it took at least 45 minutes to cut all the way around the post. 45 long chigger and spark filled minutes. I also took breaks to allow the pole to cool so the bees would not overheat.
While I am cutting it, I slide shims in the crack to keep the post level while I am cutting and to prevent the blade from pinching. After I get it cut off, I figure I will pick it up a little and have my son slide a piece of screen under it to keep the bees in. Lets just say that the pole probably outweighed me and it did not budge.
Time to bring out the heavy stuff. I have a roll around A frame that has a 6' I-beam at the top that I can roll a chain hoist on. We drag it out of the truck and assemble it like a giant Erector Set. Now again let me set the stage here. I am on a "paved" road and the post is about 10 feet into the woods. My crane has 6" solid tires. It did not exactly roll into place but we got it. I wrap the chain fall chain around the post and clip it to itself. I begin to hoist it up. Here is where, in hindsight, I could have saved myself a load of issues. Instead of leaving it just clipped to itself, I should have tied I rope to the other side of the chain to balance the load. I didn't and pandemonium ensued. I started up with the hoist and as the last bit of uncut metal separated, the entire post quickly and violently came off the base and skewed at a 30 degree angle. There is now a nine inch hole out of which thousands of very excited bees rapidly exited. We didn't stick around to watch.
After the bees kind of calmed down, I went back in and attached a screen to the bottom of the post.
Now, I have to say, these bees are taking all this very well. I have not been stung or really harassed this whole time except once at the very start of this. I am working in shorts and a t-shirt with no veil.
Getting the gantry in the woods was hard, getting it back out with several hundred pounds of steel and bees was a miracle. Especially with a whole load of bees buzzing all over the place. I would like to take time out to thank my wife for helping get this out of the woods and on to what passes for a road in that place.
It gets easier now. We hoist it into the truck and tie it down and drive it home. After we get it home I hoist it back out and on to the ground. Unfortunately some comb was damaged and honey leaked out into the truck bed. I kind of muscle it into its temporary place (till I figure out how to get them to move into a lighter and more accessible hive) and open all the screens. They are currently repairing the damage I caused and out collecting nectar and pollen. I am glad they are finally here. I can't stop watching them. They are such a busy hive.
I begins in a wooded lot on the other side of town (not your town, mine). If you read my last post then you have a pretty good idea of what is going on here. I sometimes do silly things like for instance post things in Craigslist like "Will remove bees, swarms and hives for free.". While this generally does not lead to any real difficulties, there is always that one time.
This, is that one time.
I post the afore mentioned post on Craigslist. A few days later I get a call. A guy wants me to remove a hive of bees. Now as a beekeeper, a hive is a box where the bees live. He tells me it is a thriving colony. Great, I say to myself, some nice easy free bees and they come in a hive! After speaking with him a few minutes, I realize this is not going to be as easy as it seems. So I head to the site (You know, the wooded lot mentioned earlier) and size it up.
I arrive and check it out. Sure enough there is an old steel gate post full of bees. I think to myself, this should not be to hard and tell the guy I will get them out as soon as I can.
Several scenarios entered my mind on how to successfully remove this colony. None of them ended up being the final conclusion to this epic rehoming saga.
Here is how it went down.
A few weeks ago I show up with plans to take the bees home. The bees wanted none of this and refused to go in the pipe so I could close it off. We went home empty handed.
The night before last I head out there with some proper bee equipment (smoker and such) and smoke them. They grudgingly go into the pole and I screen it up.
Now imagine this if you will. I have my truck, an inverter (a doohickey that converts 12 volt car electricity to 115volt household electricity), and finally a recently purchased 7" angle grinder with metal cutoff wheels. Also the angle grinder was bought at Harbor Freight. Those of you who have used Harbor Freight tools probably know what is going to happen here shortly.
I did test this setup at the house prior to heading to the site. It errrr worked-ish. So at the "hive" I hook up said equipment and head over tot he post and get to cutting. Hmmm seems that when I get into it a bit it draws too much power for the inverter to handle. After turning the inverter off and on like 25 times, we give it up open up the hive and head home.
Last night we return again we screen the entrances. But this time I have a 5kw generator. Hehehe Should be no sweat, right? Wrong. After getting about 4 inches around what is a 30" circumference post the angle grinder gives up the ghost. Ahh Harbor Freight power tools. So I leave the bees screened in and head home.
This morning I arrive with the sun at Harbor Freight and trade my non functioning angle grinder in for a fresh new one. Again, we head over to the bees. Again I get to cutting. Poor bees. This time, however, everything goes according to plan and I manage to cut all the way around the post. At this point I realize the wall thickness on this thing is 1/2". No wonder it took so long to cut it. I would guess it took at least 45 minutes to cut all the way around the post. 45 long chigger and spark filled minutes. I also took breaks to allow the pole to cool so the bees would not overheat.
While I am cutting it, I slide shims in the crack to keep the post level while I am cutting and to prevent the blade from pinching. After I get it cut off, I figure I will pick it up a little and have my son slide a piece of screen under it to keep the bees in. Lets just say that the pole probably outweighed me and it did not budge.
Time to bring out the heavy stuff. I have a roll around A frame that has a 6' I-beam at the top that I can roll a chain hoist on. We drag it out of the truck and assemble it like a giant Erector Set. Now again let me set the stage here. I am on a "paved" road and the post is about 10 feet into the woods. My crane has 6" solid tires. It did not exactly roll into place but we got it. I wrap the chain fall chain around the post and clip it to itself. I begin to hoist it up. Here is where, in hindsight, I could have saved myself a load of issues. Instead of leaving it just clipped to itself, I should have tied I rope to the other side of the chain to balance the load. I didn't and pandemonium ensued. I started up with the hoist and as the last bit of uncut metal separated, the entire post quickly and violently came off the base and skewed at a 30 degree angle. There is now a nine inch hole out of which thousands of very excited bees rapidly exited. We didn't stick around to watch.
After the bees kind of calmed down, I went back in and attached a screen to the bottom of the post.
Now, I have to say, these bees are taking all this very well. I have not been stung or really harassed this whole time except once at the very start of this. I am working in shorts and a t-shirt with no veil.
Getting the gantry in the woods was hard, getting it back out with several hundred pounds of steel and bees was a miracle. Especially with a whole load of bees buzzing all over the place. I would like to take time out to thank my wife for helping get this out of the woods and on to what passes for a road in that place.
It gets easier now. We hoist it into the truck and tie it down and drive it home. After we get it home I hoist it back out and on to the ground. Unfortunately some comb was damaged and honey leaked out into the truck bed. I kind of muscle it into its temporary place (till I figure out how to get them to move into a lighter and more accessible hive) and open all the screens. They are currently repairing the damage I caused and out collecting nectar and pollen. I am glad they are finally here. I can't stop watching them. They are such a busy hive.
Here they are heavily bearding as the sun hits the post.
A close up of the beard.
A temporary resting place. I should probably level it out.
Bees!
Here they are still strapped down in the truck.
A really big gate post.
The A-frame. The chain fall is in the bucket.
Look at how thick this steel is!!
The obligatory SHBs lurking in the bottom.
Well, this is where it's at till I figure out what to do with them next.
-Robert
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Pole Bees
I got a call a couple of weeks ago about some bees in a fence post. Actually I was told I could come get a hive of bees. I was thinking "Great! A hive of bees free for the taking". After talking to the guy I begin to realize that it is not going to be so easy after all.
Apparently they are beginning construction on this land soon for a youth athletics park. Just inside the fence is an old gate. A gate the likes of which they do not make anymore. Why don't they make them anymore? Because they don't need to. The ones they made are all still in service. Even the one with the bees in it still works. I think it was for a rail road bed but I am not sure. None the less, this is the heartiest gate post I have ever witnessed.
Behold
Apparently they are beginning construction on this land soon for a youth athletics park. Just inside the fence is an old gate. A gate the likes of which they do not make anymore. Why don't they make them anymore? Because they don't need to. The ones they made are all still in service. Even the one with the bees in it still works. I think it was for a rail road bed but I am not sure. None the less, this is the heartiest gate post I have ever witnessed.
Behold
As you can plainly see, this is not your average gate post. It harkens to the great gate posts of yore.
I went out one night a few weeks ago to size this thing up. There are tons of bees in it. It is a thriving colony. It is also surrounded by Chinese tallow and all kinds of wild trees and plants.
My first thought was to cover all the holes then connect a box to the top hole with a short length of hose and slowly fill the post with water and then just take the bees. I am not sure if would even work honestly. I then thought of a bee vac. Again due to the nature of the hive, I did not think it was going to work. A trap out might work but I am pretty sure more bees would move in next spring(As a matter of fact, I might see if I can put traps out there next spring.) plus I would then need a frame of brood and such to get that colony going.
So then I hatch a plan, a crazy plan, that involved some really big tools. I would cut it off and just take the whole thing home and work from there.
Last night I traveled to the site. I figured I would just screen the openings and cut the gate off. At that point I would start cutting the pole off at the base and just leave a couple of places to hold up the pole and I would slide screen in there and then finish off the cut. Well when we got there I swear the post grew like 40% or more. I don't remember it being so big. I started clearing around the post waiting for dark to fall so the bees would go in the post and I could screen it over. Well either it is just too hot for the bees or that pole is really full. They would not leave the outside of the pole. They were bearding heavily and also looked like they were washboarding. I think they were laughing at me personally.
As it got darker we started questioning whether or not we would even be able to get the post in the truck without mechanical help. After I finally got stung once ( I was wearing shorts and a t shirt, my usual bee keeping outfit) as I kept hitting the post with the shovel and I had a very bright headlamp on. I suppose I would have been aggravated as well. I decided that maybe I should have brought some bee keeping hardware.
We head home beeless. After sitting pondering how to move this thing, I get a few ideas. I have a gurney that I can roll around with a chain fall on it. It has decent size wheels on it but not off road stuff. I figure I could set it up over the hive on some boards and when I have the hive lifted we could just make a plank roadway to the truck. That would require some intensive manual labor and a lot of tree chopping and a few logs needed to be clear.
As I was pondering this, I notice a name on my Facebook list. Hmmmmmm This guy has a track hoe. I wonder if he feels like going on a bee crusade? I hit him up and sure enough for a nominal fee (he has to pay a driver to get the machine out there) he would gladly load it in my truck with the track hoe. Yay! Hydraulics!
So aside from some really detailed scouting and a little clearing around the hive I did not accomplish much last night. Well my doctor might argue that all the exercise did me good. Personally Louisiana humidity is pretty rough and I would have rather had the kids do all the digging.
As soon as I get a schedule together, I will make a new post hopefully detailing the successful transplant of this very active colony.
Till that fateful day,
Robert
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
A little bit of honey
I purchased my bees a few months ago, just as everything around here was starting to flower. As I mentioned I purchased a couple of nuc packages. The great thing about them is that the hive is already established and has brood and egg laying, the whole nine yards. It is just in a smaller hive. Fortunately, the time I installed my nucs into their normal hives coincided with normal growth for a colony. One of my colonies is doing great and I am about to add another deep super to it. The other is doing better and I will check on it this weekend.
I have been watching the strong hive. It has been storing a lot of honey. Most of the honey is either mixed with brood or pollen or both. However, in the top box, the outside frames looked like all honey. When I went in there last weekend, I found they had capped one side of the frame. When they have caped the comb, it means the honey is ready. Oddly the other side of the comb was not even drawn out. Feeling a bit guilty, I took the frame of honey home.
I have been watching the strong hive. It has been storing a lot of honey. Most of the honey is either mixed with brood or pollen or both. However, in the top box, the outside frames looked like all honey. When I went in there last weekend, I found they had capped one side of the frame. When they have caped the comb, it means the honey is ready. Oddly the other side of the comb was not even drawn out. Feeling a bit guilty, I took the frame of honey home.
Isn't it pretty?
Unfortunately, this is a plastic foundation. So I had to scrape the comb off and crush it up a bit and let it drain overnight. To do this I took a battering bowl I have that has a rack for whatever you are battering that sits above the batter. I laid a cheese cloth on the rack then put the crushed comb on top of it. I let it filter overnight and the squeezed the remaining honey out the next day.
I managed to get about 15oz of honey from that half frame. I am pretty sure they have more now. I might add another box and pull some more in a few weeks if the weather holds up.
So here it is...my first jar of honey. Thank you bees. : )
A nice jar of honey. Wish I could share.
Robert
Monday, May 27, 2013
The Benifits of Good Photography.
As I told you in my last post, I combined my colonies to ensure the weaker one will at least supplement the stronger colony. As I was checking the colonies my photographer, my 15 year old son, was taking pictures. As a new beekeeper, I am not as familiar with what brood looks like as I should be. However, after checking the pictures he took when I got home, I realized I made a mistake.
I ran back out the next morning and separated the boxes. I then went back through the weak hive and found the queen. Whew! I was worried that they already comingled and that one of the queens were dead. Everything turned out ok. It looked like there was a decent amount of brood, not as much as I would like but not bad and the queen was laying eggs. I am hoping the bees that hatch out will expand the brood nest and increase the colony strength considerably before the end of the summer. Fortunately we have fairly long summers here so they should have plenty of time.
Here is one of the pics that changed my mind. All the open cells appear to have brood in them as well. I am pretty happy about that. I will keep an eye on this hive and keep my fingers crossed.
Till next week,
-Robert
I ran back out the next morning and separated the boxes. I then went back through the weak hive and found the queen. Whew! I was worried that they already comingled and that one of the queens were dead. Everything turned out ok. It looked like there was a decent amount of brood, not as much as I would like but not bad and the queen was laying eggs. I am hoping the bees that hatch out will expand the brood nest and increase the colony strength considerably before the end of the summer. Fortunately we have fairly long summers here so they should have plenty of time.
Till next week,
-Robert
Friday, May 24, 2013
Colony Failure
I went out today with the intention of putting the screened bottom boards on. However, things were not looking good.
Well, I tried over and over again to get my weak colony to flourish. I thought for sure what I did last week was going to work. It did not. I don't seem to have a queen. There are no eggs, no brood and no new bees. The brood I put in last week are all hatched out and they were building what looked like an emergency queen cup.
At this point, I just gave up. I combined the two hives. To combine them, I just removed the top cover from the healthy colony, stuck a sheet of news paper down and placed the two boxes of the weaker colony on top.
I am fairly certain that they will thrive now. Hopefully the increase in population will get the colony to a nice healthy level.
Unfortunately that brings my colony count to one. That means I have no fall back if something else goes wrong. I really need to catch a few swarms. I even set up a full ten frame hive as a trap out back. I should probably move some of them out of my yard and into the local woods.
Not a lot of good pics for this. But here are some pics for the sake of something to look at.
Well, I tried over and over again to get my weak colony to flourish. I thought for sure what I did last week was going to work. It did not. I don't seem to have a queen. There are no eggs, no brood and no new bees. The brood I put in last week are all hatched out and they were building what looked like an emergency queen cup.
At this point, I just gave up. I combined the two hives. To combine them, I just removed the top cover from the healthy colony, stuck a sheet of news paper down and placed the two boxes of the weaker colony on top.
I am fairly certain that they will thrive now. Hopefully the increase in population will get the colony to a nice healthy level.
Unfortunately that brings my colony count to one. That means I have no fall back if something else goes wrong. I really need to catch a few swarms. I even set up a full ten frame hive as a trap out back. I should probably move some of them out of my yard and into the local woods.
Not a lot of good pics for this. But here are some pics for the sake of something to look at.
The healthy colony
Bees a buzzing
Can't tell if this is empty comb or maybe pollen?
I little bit of brood but not enough in my opinion
A very uneven pattern.
Crystal clear honey.
What appears to be an emergency queen cup.
A bee eruption from the big colony
A dead bee on the bottom board.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Some Bee Ventalation
As promised here are some pictures of the completed screened bottom boards. Bear in mind that all my stuff is made at home with the exception of frames. There is no way I am going to make those when I can get them so cheap.
None the less, feast you eyes on this...
None the less, feast you eyes on this...
Here is a nice top view of the screened bottom board.
Notice the slot under the screen for a mite sticky board.
Here you can see the whole slot for the mite sticky board.
I sure hope the bees like it.
-Robert
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Grapes of Endurance
While not about bees, this saga happened in my back yard and thus bears telling.
Several yeas ago, four, I believe. I figured I needed some grapes. Not that I planned to get them or anything. They just looked cool at Sam's Club. A box of four but for whatever reason, only three varieties. Still, I imagined the vast amounts of raisins and wine that would soon be in my future. My own vineyard. What could be better?
I purchased my grapes and proceeded to plant them about 20 feet from the back fence. Plenty of room for them to grow and me to mow and hopefully harvest my bounty. I left the tags on the grapes so I knew where the varieties were so I could anticipate my fruit. At this time I had no clue how to grow grapes. I just knew the were a vine and the source of, as I stated earlier, raisins and wine.
Apparently I picked a really bad time to start a vineyard. That summer was the beginning of a bad dry spell for the area. I tried to keep everything watered but lost two vines that first year. The next year it was even worse. I lost two dogwoods, four blueberry bushes (I likely would have lost more but I only had four) a good bit of my privet hedges and what appeared to be my last two grapes. My wife also mowed over my son's blackberries in an unrelated incident.
I figured it was all over and the whole vineyard thing was a write off. So I pretty much just planted nothing the following year. Surprisingly, as I wandered my non fruit bearing yard, I saw something coming up from one of the holes where the grapes was growing. At first I thought it was a weed but it ended up being one of the grape vines! well I tried to water it kind of half heartedly and it grew about three fee but died off about half way through the summer. I figured that was a wrap and I was done. It was stupidly hot and no rain in sight. No way it could survive.
Unbelievably the next spring, it came up again! Well, I figured since it was trying so hard, maybe I should put a little effort into it. I began watering it daily. I placed fertilizer stakes around it. I also figured I needed some grape growing know how and hit the internet. I put up a trellis and attached it to the trellis. I was doing really well at this point. Shockingly well. I managed to get the vine trained down the bottom wire of the trellis and got the top started. I have it shaped like a "T" with the trunk in the middle and vines going left and right away from it. I also had another vine going up to a higher wire and it is also "T" shaped. The lower vine reached about 20 feet before winter set in and the top vine was about 8 feet. I was worried that because the vines were so thin, the ends were almost like little toothpicks, that they would freeze and die again. I just hoped for the best.
Spring came and it budded all along the vine. Even to the very tips! This vine was determined to make something of itself. Well apparently to get grapes, you have to have a main vine that you grow one year and the following year the little branch vines that grow off that produce grapes. My little vine is currently so full of grapes that it is making my cheap PVC trellis posts bow.
I have no idea what kind of grape it is, the label was lost the first time I thought it died. Hopefully the fruit will ripen and then I will know.
I am just glad it did not give up as easily as me. It's really cool seeing all those bunches of grapes out there.
Several yeas ago, four, I believe. I figured I needed some grapes. Not that I planned to get them or anything. They just looked cool at Sam's Club. A box of four but for whatever reason, only three varieties. Still, I imagined the vast amounts of raisins and wine that would soon be in my future. My own vineyard. What could be better?
I purchased my grapes and proceeded to plant them about 20 feet from the back fence. Plenty of room for them to grow and me to mow and hopefully harvest my bounty. I left the tags on the grapes so I knew where the varieties were so I could anticipate my fruit. At this time I had no clue how to grow grapes. I just knew the were a vine and the source of, as I stated earlier, raisins and wine.
Apparently I picked a really bad time to start a vineyard. That summer was the beginning of a bad dry spell for the area. I tried to keep everything watered but lost two vines that first year. The next year it was even worse. I lost two dogwoods, four blueberry bushes (I likely would have lost more but I only had four) a good bit of my privet hedges and what appeared to be my last two grapes. My wife also mowed over my son's blackberries in an unrelated incident.
I figured it was all over and the whole vineyard thing was a write off. So I pretty much just planted nothing the following year. Surprisingly, as I wandered my non fruit bearing yard, I saw something coming up from one of the holes where the grapes was growing. At first I thought it was a weed but it ended up being one of the grape vines! well I tried to water it kind of half heartedly and it grew about three fee but died off about half way through the summer. I figured that was a wrap and I was done. It was stupidly hot and no rain in sight. No way it could survive.
Unbelievably the next spring, it came up again! Well, I figured since it was trying so hard, maybe I should put a little effort into it. I began watering it daily. I placed fertilizer stakes around it. I also figured I needed some grape growing know how and hit the internet. I put up a trellis and attached it to the trellis. I was doing really well at this point. Shockingly well. I managed to get the vine trained down the bottom wire of the trellis and got the top started. I have it shaped like a "T" with the trunk in the middle and vines going left and right away from it. I also had another vine going up to a higher wire and it is also "T" shaped. The lower vine reached about 20 feet before winter set in and the top vine was about 8 feet. I was worried that because the vines were so thin, the ends were almost like little toothpicks, that they would freeze and die again. I just hoped for the best.
Spring came and it budded all along the vine. Even to the very tips! This vine was determined to make something of itself. Well apparently to get grapes, you have to have a main vine that you grow one year and the following year the little branch vines that grow off that produce grapes. My little vine is currently so full of grapes that it is making my cheap PVC trellis posts bow.
I have no idea what kind of grape it is, the label was lost the first time I thought it died. Hopefully the fruit will ripen and then I will know.
I am just glad it did not give up as easily as me. It's really cool seeing all those bunches of grapes out there.
The CD is to keep the birds off my grapes.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Failing Hive
Well, I was trying not to make this an educational blog, but I am going to have to lay some groundwork for this one. I ran into a bad situation at the hives today. I was out to check on my weak hive to see how it was doing. I opened it up and much to my dismay, it appeared that I had (say this in a dramatic voice to yourself) "Laying Workers". Some of you in the bee business know what a laying worker and what the prospects for the colony are. Those of you who do not know what a laying worker is, well prepare for some education.
When a queen dies or is failing, after two to maybe three weeks, the hive, in an attempt to boost population or just some kind of innate need to have a queen, produce what is called a laying worker. This is a worker bee that does not have the reproductive parts a queen does and therefore cannot mate. All of her offspring will be drones because they only require half the genetic information thus no need for fertilization. Drones are not a good thing to have in excess in a weak colony. They are consumers only, they do not gather or do colony chores. It then becomes a self inflating problem till the colony dies off. This is NOT what I want to happen to one of my only two colonies.
There are limited ways to combat this. You pretty much have to remove the laying workers and requeen the hive. My issue is that there was a queen in the hive and she was happy as a bug in a well hive, I guess. I am wondering if the laying worker's pheromones may have over powered the queen's.
So here is what I did. Who knows if this will work?
First, I caught the queen and put her in a box, all alone.
Second, I moved all the hive parts 50 yards away.
Third I shook, or blew ALL the bees off ALL of the hive bodies, comb, foundation, bottoms and tops. I removed EVERY bee from the hive.
Fourth, I removed a nice comb of brood from my healthy colony and placed it in the weak hive.
Fifth, I rebuilt the weak hive and let everything settle down for a minute.
Finally, I released the queen back into the hive.
I will go check on them next Friday.
The reason for moving the hive away and getting all the bees off is to try to get rid of the laying worker(s). Supposedly they are too heavy to fly so they just die there in the grass.
I placed some good brood in the weak colony to help bolster the population. The bees in there are approaching a month old since I last saw brood. Hopefully the infusion of new bees will get things going again.
Now the fun part of this whole episode was retrieving the brood from the active colony. As usual, the colony built bridge comb from the bottom box frames to the top box frames. They then filled this comb with honey. To get at the brood, I had to get in the bottom box. I have failed to mention that until I went into this hive to get the brood, I was wearing a polo shirt and khaki pants. No gloves, no smoker, no veil. Well as soon as I broke that honey comb, the bees got angry. I swear they were Africanized! They were chasing me around, digging in my hair basically trying to sting me repeatedly. At this point, I left their hive in two pieces and went and got my smoker and veil. I finally managed to subdue them enough to get what I needed from them and to teach them a lesson, I scraped off the bridge comb....again.
I will let you know next week how they are fairing. And hopefully I will have some screened bottom boards and some ventilation ekes made that I can share with you.
Till next time.
-Robert
When a queen dies or is failing, after two to maybe three weeks, the hive, in an attempt to boost population or just some kind of innate need to have a queen, produce what is called a laying worker. This is a worker bee that does not have the reproductive parts a queen does and therefore cannot mate. All of her offspring will be drones because they only require half the genetic information thus no need for fertilization. Drones are not a good thing to have in excess in a weak colony. They are consumers only, they do not gather or do colony chores. It then becomes a self inflating problem till the colony dies off. This is NOT what I want to happen to one of my only two colonies.
There are limited ways to combat this. You pretty much have to remove the laying workers and requeen the hive. My issue is that there was a queen in the hive and she was happy as a bug in a well hive, I guess. I am wondering if the laying worker's pheromones may have over powered the queen's.
So here is what I did. Who knows if this will work?
First, I caught the queen and put her in a box, all alone.
Second, I moved all the hive parts 50 yards away.
Third I shook, or blew ALL the bees off ALL of the hive bodies, comb, foundation, bottoms and tops. I removed EVERY bee from the hive.
Fourth, I removed a nice comb of brood from my healthy colony and placed it in the weak hive.
Fifth, I rebuilt the weak hive and let everything settle down for a minute.
Finally, I released the queen back into the hive.
I will go check on them next Friday.
The reason for moving the hive away and getting all the bees off is to try to get rid of the laying worker(s). Supposedly they are too heavy to fly so they just die there in the grass.
I placed some good brood in the weak colony to help bolster the population. The bees in there are approaching a month old since I last saw brood. Hopefully the infusion of new bees will get things going again.
Now the fun part of this whole episode was retrieving the brood from the active colony. As usual, the colony built bridge comb from the bottom box frames to the top box frames. They then filled this comb with honey. To get at the brood, I had to get in the bottom box. I have failed to mention that until I went into this hive to get the brood, I was wearing a polo shirt and khaki pants. No gloves, no smoker, no veil. Well as soon as I broke that honey comb, the bees got angry. I swear they were Africanized! They were chasing me around, digging in my hair basically trying to sting me repeatedly. At this point, I left their hive in two pieces and went and got my smoker and veil. I finally managed to subdue them enough to get what I needed from them and to teach them a lesson, I scraped off the bridge comb....again.
I will let you know next week how they are fairing. And hopefully I will have some screened bottom boards and some ventilation ekes made that I can share with you.
Till next time.
-Robert
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Swarm Traps
There are several commercially available swarm traps. There are also plans online. I just built a couple of five frame nucleus hives so I decided to bait them.
From what I understand, trapping a swarm is the purest of luck. However, they seem to swarm in the same place year after year. At the bee club meeting last night, one of the big apiary owners says he has captured seven swarms at the same church this year. The church has had bees in the walls several times. I suppose that is a good lure. He also noted that he has two nucs set up. One at the north end of the church facing north and one on the south end facing south. Both nucs have attracted bees but he says he has had the bees in the north facing hive leave after a short time. He now has both hive entrances facing south. In each nuc he placed one frame of old comb and four empty frames. For a scent lure he is using a few drops of lemon grass oil placed on the top of the frames. Hopefully he will report on his success next meeting.
I have had a couple of five frame nucs out hoping to trap a swarm. In my Nucs there were five frames of wax coated plastic foundation and some wax from my active colony with a little honey mixed in. So far, I have attracted ants.
Today, I decided to mimic his setup as closely as possible. I visited the health food store and purchased lemon grass oil. I then pulled all the frames out of the hives except one each. I took a sheet of foundation and cut it in one inch strips. I then fitted the strips into the tops of the frames and painted the bare ends with heated bees wax I harvested from my active hive (remember the burr comb sticking to my screened inner cover?). I then moved the stand and hives to the south side of the shed so they will face south. I think I am going to put a roof over the stand. The tops are just painted quarter inch plywood and are beginning to delaminate in the rain.
Now they are reassembled and ready to attract bees by the thousands. Hopefully the pictures will help illustrate what I have done.
From what I understand, trapping a swarm is the purest of luck. However, they seem to swarm in the same place year after year. At the bee club meeting last night, one of the big apiary owners says he has captured seven swarms at the same church this year. The church has had bees in the walls several times. I suppose that is a good lure. He also noted that he has two nucs set up. One at the north end of the church facing north and one on the south end facing south. Both nucs have attracted bees but he says he has had the bees in the north facing hive leave after a short time. He now has both hive entrances facing south. In each nuc he placed one frame of old comb and four empty frames. For a scent lure he is using a few drops of lemon grass oil placed on the top of the frames. Hopefully he will report on his success next meeting.
I have had a couple of five frame nucs out hoping to trap a swarm. In my Nucs there were five frames of wax coated plastic foundation and some wax from my active colony with a little honey mixed in. So far, I have attracted ants.
Today, I decided to mimic his setup as closely as possible. I visited the health food store and purchased lemon grass oil. I then pulled all the frames out of the hives except one each. I took a sheet of foundation and cut it in one inch strips. I then fitted the strips into the tops of the frames and painted the bare ends with heated bees wax I harvested from my active hive (remember the burr comb sticking to my screened inner cover?). I then moved the stand and hives to the south side of the shed so they will face south. I think I am going to put a roof over the stand. The tops are just painted quarter inch plywood and are beginning to delaminate in the rain.
Now they are reassembled and ready to attract bees by the thousands. Hopefully the pictures will help illustrate what I have done.
Wax painted on the bottom of the starter strip
Starter strip in place. You can see the full foundation frame under this one.
My traps aka my nucs.
Inside the hive. An old queen box in the back to help with pheromone lure.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Number 8
"Number 8", you say. "What the heck is that?". Well, it is the size of the hardware cloth you need to keep bees in their hive and mice and other things out. I had a very difficult time locating it. Number 8 hardware cloth has square holes in it that are approximately 1/8" in width and height. You would figure it would be at any local (ugh local...more on that in a minute) hardware store. You know, just laying there glistening in the sun with the chicken wire and such.
I am here to tell you that is NOT the way it is. I started my search so I can start making screened bottom boards and inner covers for my hives. It gets very hot here in Northwest Louisiana so the bees need all the help they can get.
Of course, the first place I looked was the big box stores. Then a feed store, and then a farm supply store or two and finally another hardware store. I finally resigned to just ordering it online. There are several places to get it online but oddly the shipping is more than the screen itself. I figured I would put it off for a while and see if maybe someone has a sale or something.
Of course, every time I stopped at a place that did not have it, I said to myself "Self, You really need to check the hardware store down the street from the house, I bet he might have some.". I drive by this little store daily, likely 3 or 4 times daily. Not directly in front of it, mind you, but a block away from it. Every day....three or four times a day. Not stopping, just driving by.
Well, today I had to drop off my scout leader uniform (both my boys are in Boy Scouts) to have some patches sewed on. Conveniently, the hardware store is next to the tailor.
I walk in, expecting disappointment again. The hardware store owner, who is always there, asks if he can help me find anything. I say number 8 hardware cloth, you know 1/8" squares. He replies "I have a whole roll of it, how much do you need?".
I was flabbergasted, flummoxed and excited all at the same time. However I did retain the mental faculties to ask for some. I ended up with a five foot by three foot section. Plenty to do what I need for now.
Just goes to show you, start close before heading out into the wild oh, and support local stores.
I will post up some pictures when I start making the ventilation parts.
Robert
I am here to tell you that is NOT the way it is. I started my search so I can start making screened bottom boards and inner covers for my hives. It gets very hot here in Northwest Louisiana so the bees need all the help they can get.
Of course, the first place I looked was the big box stores. Then a feed store, and then a farm supply store or two and finally another hardware store. I finally resigned to just ordering it online. There are several places to get it online but oddly the shipping is more than the screen itself. I figured I would put it off for a while and see if maybe someone has a sale or something.
Of course, every time I stopped at a place that did not have it, I said to myself "Self, You really need to check the hardware store down the street from the house, I bet he might have some.". I drive by this little store daily, likely 3 or 4 times daily. Not directly in front of it, mind you, but a block away from it. Every day....three or four times a day. Not stopping, just driving by.
Well, today I had to drop off my scout leader uniform (both my boys are in Boy Scouts) to have some patches sewed on. Conveniently, the hardware store is next to the tailor.
I walk in, expecting disappointment again. The hardware store owner, who is always there, asks if he can help me find anything. I say number 8 hardware cloth, you know 1/8" squares. He replies "I have a whole roll of it, how much do you need?".
I was flabbergasted, flummoxed and excited all at the same time. However I did retain the mental faculties to ask for some. I ended up with a five foot by three foot section. Plenty to do what I need for now.
Just goes to show you, start close before heading out into the wild oh, and support local stores.
I will post up some pictures when I start making the ventilation parts.
Robert
Monday, May 6, 2013
Requeening My Hive.
As I was purchasing the new frames to fill the deep boxes I planned to add to my hives last weekend, I mentioned to the apiary owner that I might have lost a queen. He says, no problem, look behind you. There on a filing cabinet was a freshly arrived postal box chock full of queen boxes.
A queen box is just as it states, a box with a queen in it. The box is enclosed on three sides and has screen on the fourth so workers can feed her, I presume. In one end of the box, is a plastic tube. In the tube is sugar candy. The theory is that by the time the workers eat enough candy to meet the queen, who is also eating candy, they should be on friendly terms and the new queen should have the run of the house.
As you found out in my last post, I was pretty sure my hive was without a queen. Monday morning bright and early, I headed back to the local apiary to obtain a new queen. The interesting thing is, I have no idea if this queen has mated or not. I really need to call and ask. I just assumed it was a virgin queen. I am not sure if they sell laying queens. I will definitely look that one up.
When I purchased the queen, the guy who sold it to me did not seem to know how to put her in properly. He said just pull out the tube of candy and let her go. I just nodded my head, took the queen and left.
I arrived at the hives and was worried that the queen would not have anywhere to lay with all the frames being filled with honey so I added the second deep box to the hive but mixed it up a bit to try to keep everyone happy.
I took the honey filled box and removed one frame from it and replaced that with an empty frame. I then took the honey frame and added it near the center of the new box. So I have 9 empty frames and one with honey. I place the queen box at the top of this frame and place that box on the bottom of the hive. I then put the honey filled box on top of the hive. I sure hope I didn't mess things up too much. I was just worried that the queen would not have laying room and I figured the bees would need all that honey. I will keep an eye on them and let you know how they are getting along.
Thursday I will head out there and see if the queen is out. If it looks like this hive is going to fail, as last resort I will combine it with my other hive.
At the same time, I am putting my name out there for catching swarms. I have two extra nucs that need bees in them. Hopefully, I will get a call soon from someone with a swarm that needs removed.
A queen box is just as it states, a box with a queen in it. The box is enclosed on three sides and has screen on the fourth so workers can feed her, I presume. In one end of the box, is a plastic tube. In the tube is sugar candy. The theory is that by the time the workers eat enough candy to meet the queen, who is also eating candy, they should be on friendly terms and the new queen should have the run of the house.
As you found out in my last post, I was pretty sure my hive was without a queen. Monday morning bright and early, I headed back to the local apiary to obtain a new queen. The interesting thing is, I have no idea if this queen has mated or not. I really need to call and ask. I just assumed it was a virgin queen. I am not sure if they sell laying queens. I will definitely look that one up.
When I purchased the queen, the guy who sold it to me did not seem to know how to put her in properly. He said just pull out the tube of candy and let her go. I just nodded my head, took the queen and left.
I arrived at the hives and was worried that the queen would not have anywhere to lay with all the frames being filled with honey so I added the second deep box to the hive but mixed it up a bit to try to keep everyone happy.
I took the honey filled box and removed one frame from it and replaced that with an empty frame. I then took the honey frame and added it near the center of the new box. So I have 9 empty frames and one with honey. I place the queen box at the top of this frame and place that box on the bottom of the hive. I then put the honey filled box on top of the hive. I sure hope I didn't mess things up too much. I was just worried that the queen would not have laying room and I figured the bees would need all that honey. I will keep an eye on them and let you know how they are getting along.
Thursday I will head out there and see if the queen is out. If it looks like this hive is going to fail, as last resort I will combine it with my other hive.
At the same time, I am putting my name out there for catching swarms. I have two extra nucs that need bees in them. Hopefully, I will get a call soon from someone with a swarm that needs removed.
Adding to the Hives
Sunday, I inspected my hives with the intention of adding another deep box to each if they needed it. I was trying to get to the bees with lots of daylight left so the foragers would all be too busy to attack me. No such luck. I got there about 30 minutes before sundown and it was getting cool fast.
So I gear up...no wait, I just ran out there in a t-shirt and figured "This'll only take a second, I don't need any of that silly bee gear.". Lets just say beekeeping is an eye opener.
The car, smoker, jacket, hive tool, wife, and friends are about 100 yards away. The latter two eyeing me with what appeared to be a mix or suspicion and hope. Likely hope that I get stung so they can laugh at me. Well, it was their lucky night.
I approached the first hive with confidence. I opened the outer telescoping cover to get a good look at the screened inner covers I made last week. Remember those? Well, lets just say this particular one was not bee proof. There inside the attic of my (well I suppose it is "their") hive were five or six bees. As I watched another one came out the single hole where due to variations in the cloth, one hole nearly lined up between the two sheets of hardware cloth. Not to mention, the were out of room in the hive and started building a considerable amount of burr comb on top of the frames and filing it with honey. This is when the trouble starts.
To add the new deep box, I have to take off the inner cover. If I do that I am going to break a lot of burr comb. I figured the bees loved me and started the operation sans protection and smoke. The bees did not see things my way. As a matter of fact, they were quite upset with me when I popped off the inner cover and broke all that comb then proceeded to try to scrape some off. I got stung here, so the spectators were appreciative.
At this point I tried just setting the new box on top of it. Nope, it was built up too high. I was going to have to scrape it off. Time to go to the car and get the tools I should have had in the first place. I also got a bowl for the scraped comb.
Lighting a smoker is one of the arts of beekeeping that eludes me. In my hands it is either a flame thrower or a cold pit of ashes. After several attempts, I finally get a meager stream of smoke to come out. I put on my veil and arm myself with my hive tool. I give the bees a little smoke to get them off the burr comb and commence to scraping.
Incidentally, smoking bees is a good way to get them out of your way. I am not sure "calm" describes it. I am pretty sure they smell the smoke and then raid the hive eagerly consuming whatever honey they can shove down their gullets. They are not gentle with the combs or caps. I don't really like smoking the bees.
So I get the comb scraped off, I am happy with the progress the hive is making and put it all back together, escapable screened inner cover and all.
I did have a nice bowl of what could arguably be called my first honey. Blackberry blossom honey, as a matter of fact. Unfortunately there were bees stuck in it.
On to the second hive. The hive I am worried about. As I inspect each and every frame, I see no sign of the queen I had hoped would hatch. Every frame that had comb drawn on it was filled with nothing but honey and pollen. No eggs, no drones, no larvae. Now I am worried if I have enough time to add a queen before all the workers die off.
I have a quick internal debate on whether I should combine the hives or add a queen. As I would hate to try to carry only one hive through the winter, I opted for getting a new queen.
I closed up the hive and told them to hang on, I will be back tomorrow with a new queen for them.
I carried the honey covered hive tool, lighter, and bowl of comb back to the waiting crowd. After we picked the bees out we got to enjoy our first taste of honey from the new hive. It was wonderful. I wish I had enough to bottle or an entire frame to make some comb honey from. Next year I will plan ahead and try to get a frame or two of blackberry honey.
So I gear up...no wait, I just ran out there in a t-shirt and figured "This'll only take a second, I don't need any of that silly bee gear.". Lets just say beekeeping is an eye opener.
The car, smoker, jacket, hive tool, wife, and friends are about 100 yards away. The latter two eyeing me with what appeared to be a mix or suspicion and hope. Likely hope that I get stung so they can laugh at me. Well, it was their lucky night.
I approached the first hive with confidence. I opened the outer telescoping cover to get a good look at the screened inner covers I made last week. Remember those? Well, lets just say this particular one was not bee proof. There inside the attic of my (well I suppose it is "their") hive were five or six bees. As I watched another one came out the single hole where due to variations in the cloth, one hole nearly lined up between the two sheets of hardware cloth. Not to mention, the were out of room in the hive and started building a considerable amount of burr comb on top of the frames and filing it with honey. This is when the trouble starts.
To add the new deep box, I have to take off the inner cover. If I do that I am going to break a lot of burr comb. I figured the bees loved me and started the operation sans protection and smoke. The bees did not see things my way. As a matter of fact, they were quite upset with me when I popped off the inner cover and broke all that comb then proceeded to try to scrape some off. I got stung here, so the spectators were appreciative.
At this point I tried just setting the new box on top of it. Nope, it was built up too high. I was going to have to scrape it off. Time to go to the car and get the tools I should have had in the first place. I also got a bowl for the scraped comb.
Lighting a smoker is one of the arts of beekeeping that eludes me. In my hands it is either a flame thrower or a cold pit of ashes. After several attempts, I finally get a meager stream of smoke to come out. I put on my veil and arm myself with my hive tool. I give the bees a little smoke to get them off the burr comb and commence to scraping.
Incidentally, smoking bees is a good way to get them out of your way. I am not sure "calm" describes it. I am pretty sure they smell the smoke and then raid the hive eagerly consuming whatever honey they can shove down their gullets. They are not gentle with the combs or caps. I don't really like smoking the bees.
So I get the comb scraped off, I am happy with the progress the hive is making and put it all back together, escapable screened inner cover and all.
I did have a nice bowl of what could arguably be called my first honey. Blackberry blossom honey, as a matter of fact. Unfortunately there were bees stuck in it.
On to the second hive. The hive I am worried about. As I inspect each and every frame, I see no sign of the queen I had hoped would hatch. Every frame that had comb drawn on it was filled with nothing but honey and pollen. No eggs, no drones, no larvae. Now I am worried if I have enough time to add a queen before all the workers die off.
I have a quick internal debate on whether I should combine the hives or add a queen. As I would hate to try to carry only one hive through the winter, I opted for getting a new queen.
I closed up the hive and told them to hang on, I will be back tomorrow with a new queen for them.
I carried the honey covered hive tool, lighter, and bowl of comb back to the waiting crowd. After we picked the bees out we got to enjoy our first taste of honey from the new hive. It was wonderful. I wish I had enough to bottle or an entire frame to make some comb honey from. Next year I will plan ahead and try to get a frame or two of blackberry honey.
Here they are with two deep brood boxes each.
-Robert
1/4 + 1/4 Is Not Always 1/8
As I live in the south, the heat and humidity come at you pretty fast. It was getting warm and I started worrying about my bees and their ability to regulate hive temperatures. I figured I would install some screened inner covers. How hard could it be to make them? I have a full woodshop and well lots of wood laying around. Should not be a problem, right? Of course not. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Sure knocking up a couple of wood frames went without a hitch but try finding some #8 hardware cloth. Number eight is 1/8" squares. Too small for bees to move though but plenty big enough for say air and mites to get through.
Figuring the deal was pretty much sealed, I headed to the local Wal-Mart on the off chance that they had some. They didn't but no big deal the hardware stores are right down the street. So I hit the two local big box stores in a row. Guess what? Everyone has 1/4" but nothing smaller. So I figure I'll hit Tractor Supply. They HAVE to have it. Well, no, they don't. I am pretty desperate by this point and my wife says "get the 1/4 inch and shift it up and over a half square and like magic you'll have your 1/8" cloth. At this point I had nothing to lose so I ran with it.
Ok, cutting one piece of this stuff is hard enough but trying to cut the next one exactly on half square over and up is all but impossible. I figured I would cut it a bit small to give me some wiggle room. Finally after wrestling with this stuff for a good 45 minutes I get it all stapled down. Hmmmm sure seems to be a lot of space between the top and bottom piece. I bet there is enough a bee could wander through both pieces. To combat this I use stainless wire to tie the top and bottom sheets together. Looks good! Whew, thought I would never finish that. I sure hope I can fine some #8 before I start making bottom boards.
The moral of this story (which continues in the next blog) is that two sheets of quarter inch hardware cloth do not make eighth inch hardware cloth. Remember this well and you will be a happier bee keeper.
Figuring the deal was pretty much sealed, I headed to the local Wal-Mart on the off chance that they had some. They didn't but no big deal the hardware stores are right down the street. So I hit the two local big box stores in a row. Guess what? Everyone has 1/4" but nothing smaller. So I figure I'll hit Tractor Supply. They HAVE to have it. Well, no, they don't. I am pretty desperate by this point and my wife says "get the 1/4 inch and shift it up and over a half square and like magic you'll have your 1/8" cloth. At this point I had nothing to lose so I ran with it.
Ok, cutting one piece of this stuff is hard enough but trying to cut the next one exactly on half square over and up is all but impossible. I figured I would cut it a bit small to give me some wiggle room. Finally after wrestling with this stuff for a good 45 minutes I get it all stapled down. Hmmmm sure seems to be a lot of space between the top and bottom piece. I bet there is enough a bee could wander through both pieces. To combat this I use stainless wire to tie the top and bottom sheets together. Looks good! Whew, thought I would never finish that. I sure hope I can fine some #8 before I start making bottom boards.
The moral of this story (which continues in the next blog) is that two sheets of quarter inch hardware cloth do not make eighth inch hardware cloth. Remember this well and you will be a happier bee keeper.
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