Feeding the bees

Someone asked me how I feed the bees in a top bar hive.  Usually, the rule of thumb is to not feed them unless you have to.  My colony got a late start and now there isn't much of a nectar flow, so I need to feed the colony to make sure it is populated enough and has enough food stored for the winter.

So this is how I do it.  First I take the cover off.

The cover isn't really part of the hive.  It just keeps the top of the hive safe from the elements.  The top bars themselves make up the top of the hive.

Since I started with plastic frames, I laid the top bars that were in their place upside down on top of them.  Langstroth frames aren't made to touch each other and leave beespace between them, so the upside down bars cover up some of the space.  If you look closely you can see the bees putting propolis in the gaps to try to seal them up.

I know since I've been feeding them that they haven't started building on bars 12-15 yet, so I can remove them and lay them to the side.  The "F" bar is the follower board.

Some people use an upside down mason jar to feed their bees.  Since we started some chickens from day-old chicks, I had a chick waterer that I could use.

So far I haven't had to use any gear when I refill the jar.  Some people think the bees are calmer since I am only exposing part of the hive at once instead of taking off the lid right over the frames with a Langstroth hive.  I expect that is probably true since you can see there aren't many bees at this end of the hive.  You can see below that there really are a lot of bees in the hive.  That's through the observation window.

After I take the jar out of the hive, I dump out the sticks and knock off any bees that are still hanging around.  Then I refill it and put the base back on.

I put sticks in the base because the first time I used it, a couple bees drowned.  None have died since I started using the sticks.

The last thing to do is to put it back in the hive and close it up.  I set it right on the screened bottom.

I've been using three cups of water and three cups of sugar (1:1) with 3/4 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.  The vinegar is supposed to lower the pH of the solution (Nosema spores like a higher pH) and the acid in the vinegar breaks the sucrose down into fructose and glucose, more like nectar.  The bees are still pulling in a lot of pollen so I know they have a good protein source, too.

Well, that's all there is to it.  This amount lasts about two days.  They are never through with it in one day and they are always through with it in two days.

Study confirms many of our suspicions

Article describing a study done by the Maryland Department of Agriculture and the USDA.  It is pretty much confirming what everyone has been suspecting.

http://qz.com/107970/scientists-discover-whats-killing-the-bees-and-its-worse-than-you-thought/

What can happen if a newly mated queen returns to the wrong hive

This video is incredible.  A newly mated queen returns to the wrong hive and the bees ball her.  The beekeeper found the ball outside the hive and was able to record it.

Bee AC

You can't really see it's wings, but this bee is really moving them and so are a lot of her friends.  There are several bees on the other side of the hive doing the same thing.  This picture is through the observation window and the bee is sitting on the window, not going any where.  This is helping to ventilate the hive.  With all those bees on the comb it could get really hot in there.  The bees maintain the temperature between 93-95 degrees pretty much year round.

Ow!

I got my first sting today since I started keeping bees in June.  It was entirely my fault, but I was wanting to get a sting sooner rather than later.  With bee sting allergies, you can develop an allergy if you are around them a lot and never get stung.  This really happens when the bees try to sting you, but your bee jacket and/or veil prevents the sting and venom is left on the surface.  The venom becomes airborne and after you inhale it, you develop the allergy.

Thankfully, I am not allergic as I can attest after today.  After refilling the feeder, I decided to rearrange some bars.  Because they seem to build comb a lot faster if it is towards the middle of the brood nest instead of towards the outside, I took a bar that was partially drawn and moved it to the center of the brood nest.  To do this, I had to pull a couple empty bars, slide some others down, move the bar I wanted to move, slide the other bars back and then replace the bars that I removed.  Well, all that is difficult to do without smooshing a bee or two.  After I had everything back in place, I notice a half of a bee lying on top of the bars.  As I moved to brush it off the bars, another bee promptly payed me back by stinging me on my thumb.

Now I do have all the necessary protective gear, but I generally don't like to use it when it is above 75 degrees outside--which is pretty much the weather when you are working with the bees.  The bees have been very docile, and I was really only planning to refill the feeder.  But then, I remembered that I wanted to move the bar of partially drawn comb.  That was where my plan fell apart.  I should have at least had my smoker, and a spray bottle of sugar water would have been great too.  Next time, I'll have at least one or the other before I start moving bars.

Oh, I did see the queen, too.  She still seems to be doing well.  She seems to prefer the newer comb, as that is where she is whenever I see her.  It could be a coincidence, but I would like to think that she prefers her nursery to be fresh and clean.  The population seems to be building really well and they are almost up to the minimum number of combs to get them through the winter.  Let's hope!

Bees still doing well

I've been feeding them a quart of 1:1 sugar syrup every other day.  I want to make sure they are doing well, but I also want them to get some of their food elsewhere so they get more complete nutrients.  The foragers keep bringing in lots of pollen so I know they have plenty of protein.  They haven't really been working on new bars lately, but they have been filling out the existing bars until there is just bee space between the comb and the sides.  Their numbers look like they have been building up, which makes me feel a little more comfortable.  They have about 8 bars of comb now and two partial bars filled out.  If they finish out those and maybe a couple more bars, hopefully they will be ready for the winter.

Moved some bars

I swapped the bar that was full of nectar/syrup with a partially drawn bar of comb, moving the full bar of comb further to the outside of the brood nest.  I'm hoping this will encourage the queen to lay more and increase the size of the hive.  They seem to have really taken to the new bar and are all over the comb.  I'm still feeding and will probably feed for a while yet.

My goal is to have at least ten to twelve bars of comb going into the winter.  They are really building comb so I am starting to feel more comfortable, and the new mesh on the bottom seems to have helped.