Tuesday, December 24, 2013

The bees have been flying

We had a freakishly warm weekend and the girls took the opportunity to stretch their wings.  On Friday, it barely made it into the 50s (F) and they were already active.  Saturday it made it to 60 and Sunday it made it to 70.

I also took the opportunity to check on their stores.  I had put a few pounds of fondant in the hive this fall and they had been making their way through it.  I went ahead and put a couple more pounds in there for insurance.

The cluster seems to still be pretty healthy.  Through my observation window, I can see that the cluster is between four rows of comb, but I can't see how far into the row the cluster goes. Hopefully, I don't get an awful surprise down the road, and they are just on the edge of the comb.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Cold outside, but warm inside

It's winter now in Maryland, by the weather, not by the calendar, and the bees are doing okay so far.  A couple weeks ago we had a few nights where the temperature was down in the teens, much like tonight, but then the wind was blowing at about 30 miles per hour.

One of my favorite features of my top bar hive is my observation window.  After the cold spell around Thanksgiving, I took a peek through the window and noted that there were a few dozen bees on the screen at the bottom of the hive.  They may have been from the cold spell, but from what I hear, several of the bees die off around December so the colony doesn't need to use as much of the food stores.

Whatever the reason, after it warmed up above 55 F the other bees cleaned up the hive and went back to their business.  Looking through the window, the cluster doesn't seem really big, but it spans about four or five bars of comb.  Considering that the top bars are about 18 inches long at the top and the comb is probably 8 to 10 inches wide at the bottom, that is still a lot of bees.

I had added about 4 pounds of fondant to the hive, just in case.  There is still about 2 and half pounds of fondant left.  I just leaned the fondant cakes between the side of the hive and the comb on either side next to the cluster.  I also moved the hive about 10 feet so that the house would block the North wind.  Hopefully, the next sunny day will make it warm enough in the hive for the bees to get to the fondant.  The hive is painted dark green, so that should absorb some heat too.

Some people have wondered whether screened bottom boards would not provide enough insulation for the bees.  I did have a few bees die, and that may have been from the cold, but as a whole, it didn't seem to affect the colony very much.  To me, it seems to be worth using the screened bottom board to help with the varroa mite problem.

I'll let you know again this weekend how the bees are doing.  It didn't get above freezing today, but this weekend it should be a little warmer.  I'll take a peek at the bees then.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Fondant

Today I tried my hand at making fondant for the first time.  I used 4 cups of sugar, 1 cup of water, and 1/2 teaspoon of cider vinegar.  It turned out pretty good--at least it looks like it did.


Since it made it up to 64 degrees F today, I went ahead and put the fondant in the hive after it had cooled.  The brood nest has contracted away from the follower board, so I laid the fondant against one side of the hive as close to the brood nest as I could get it.  The temperature forecast looks like a roller coaster for the next week and a half.  Hopefully they make their way to the fondant on the warmer days.  The hive has morning and mid-afternoon sun, too, so that may keep them active a little longer as well.

The recipe I used was from this website.  It's a "prepper" website, which may turn some people off, but those types of sites have a lot of good DIY tips.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

New queen?

I've been really stressed lately about the bees.  I combined the two hives, but they didn't seem to be very friendly to each other.  I did a quick check a few days ago and I didn't see my old queen, which was marked.  From what I could tell, not only did the combine not go well, but my old queen was dead.

I checked the hive again tonight and, to my amazement, I found brood--lots of brood.  I went through and checked every piece of comb for the queen, but I couldn't find her.  Either a new queen just hadn't started laying yet when I checked before, or the bees killed my old queen when I did the combine and made their own.  In any case, there is a lot of brood with a honey dome around them and the bees seemed a lot happier.  Now that the combine is done, I'll start feeding them again to make sure they have enough for the winter.  Here's a picture of what I found when I opened the hive.


Now if I could just find a way to have Congress pass a budget . . .

Monday, September 23, 2013

Had to combine the hives

The new queen didn't get mated, so I had to recombine the hives.  The original hive doesn't have a queen anymore and the new hive with the queen doesn't have a lot of foragers.

Last night I used wet newspaper to create a barrier wall in the original hive.  With the original colony on one side, I put the bars from the new hive on the other side of the newspaper.  The idea is that they chew through the newspaper and by the time they get through the two colonies are acquainted and accept each other.

Today I checked on them and there are a lot of bees fighting.  I don't know if the bees found an opening along the side of the paper, or if they just went outside and came back in the other opening.  Hopefully, they get together and make peace soon, or I will be starting all over next spring.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

New queens are tooting

So last night I went out to the main hive to check on the bees and started hearing a noise.  After looking around I realized it was coming from the hive.  It seems the new queens are emerging from there cells and are tooting.

I had heard about tooting before but I wasn't really familiar with it.  After googling it, it's really an interesting communication method the new queens use.  Tooting is a form of "piping".  The other form is called quacking.  Newly emerged queens toot and queens about to emerge from their cells quack, which has a different frequency and pattern.

The queens pipe by moving their flying structures without moving their wings.  The vibrations travel through the thorax and into the comb that it's thorax is pressed against.  It's thought that the queens make this noise to search for other new queens.

The first queen to emerge will travel around the hive killing other queens it finds whether they have emerged or not.  Of course, a battle ensues if the other queen has emerged.  Generally, when a new queen starts tooting, the queens still in the cells will start quacking.

The worker bees will go to a few of the quacking queens and prevent the newly emerged queen from killing them.  The workers will then keep the new queens in their cells and feed them through a slit in the top of the cell.  The workers will then release a new queen one at a time and let the new queens fight.  Sometimes both queens die in the fight, so this process helps to prevent the colony from going queenless.

I managed to record the tooting with my phone.  It's not the best recording, but you can search YouTube for some good recordings.


Sunday, August 25, 2013

Completed a split

It's been a stressful few days for this new beekeeper.  I few days ago, I noticed the bees were making a queen cell, and a few weeks ago they were making drone comb.  All in preparation for them to swarm.  They don't know it, but now is not a good time of year for them to be swarming.  They would split the population in two and it's possible that neither half would survive.  Here's the picture of the queen cell.


Once I found the queen cells, the best thing to do was to take my good queen and move her to another box.  The only problem is that I didn't have another box.  Yesterday, my brother helped me put together a couple top bar "nucleus" boxes.  These are top bar hives that are about a foot long--enough for about eight bars of comb. 


These are screened on the bottom like my full size hive to try to keep the varroa might population down.


Today I got into the hive to look for the queen.  Thankfully she is marked, especially since I am so near-sighted.  So, while I was looking for her, I also needed to find comb without any swarm cells to move to the new hive with her.  What I found was very few combs without swarm cells.  It also turns out that the original swarm cell I found out was one of the newest ones.  I found one that was nearly ready to be capped.  That's also the time when the old queen would swarm.


Oh, and while I had the hive open, I hornet flew into the hive.  The bees got on it right away and pulled her out of the hive.


I finally got both hives put back together.  We'll see what happens next.






Thursday, August 22, 2013

Queen Cell?

So here's a question for you veteran beekeepers out there.  Is this a queen cell?


It's pointed down, on the edge of the frame, it's bigger than the a worker cell, and it has an egg it in.  The next question would be, what do I do?  If the colony wants to swarm, it will swarm.  Whatever's left may not be strong enough to make it through the winter.  I am thinking about pulling the frame and trying to make a nucleus colony out of it.  Any thoughts?  I guess maybe the hive was doing too well.


Monday, August 19, 2013

Changed the feeder

Yeah, the good news is the hive has really built up.  The bad news is the hive is really built up.  The quart chick waterer I was using is being emptied every day now.  I really don't want to be bothering the bees more than I need to.  Also, they are getting a little crabby with me now that the flowers are pretty much drying up.  (I got stung twice this weekend.  Once when I just lifted the lid off the hive.)

I decided to get a gallon jug from the store and try putting holes in the top.  Yeah, this never has worked right for me.  I always end up making the holes too big, or cracking the lid.


This eventually stopped dripping, but it would make a huge mess if I put syrup in it.  Next, I tried the gallon ziplock bag method.  This didn't work well for me either, so I just put it out for the bees, ants, and anything else that came along to finish off.


I finally cut the top off the gallon jug, asked my brother to drill some holes in a block of wood (my drill stopped working long ago), and just floated the block of wood in the jug with syrup.  This will be a lot simpler and I won't have to open the hive as often.

Last weekend, I moved all the plastic frames to the end of the brood nest.  Next year, I'll move them all the way to the back of the hive so that they can be used for honey stores and the bees will be using all new comb for the brood.  There are 12 to 13 bars/frames now that I inserted two blank bars in the middle of the brood nest.  I'll probably wait until next month and then make sure all the brood is arranged at the front of the hive and the stores at the end of the hive.  After that, I don't want to be messing with the bars as the bees will be setting things up for the winter.  They are also doing a really good job of spreading the propolis around and sealing the hive up tight.


The four bars on the right don't have any comb on them yet.  I set the feeder beneath them.

It's August now, and I should be switching from 1:1 syrup to 2:1 syrup pretty soon.  I have a beekeepers association this week, so I'll check with the old-tymers to see what they think.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Lots of bees

Wow!  Tonight I refilled the feeder for the bees, and the hive was so full of bees that I kept knocking them off the comb and the sides of the hive as I lifted the feeder and set it back down in the hive.  When I took the cover off the hive, one bar was almost completely covered with bees sealing the edges of the bar with propolis (would that be propolising/propolizing?).  Next time I feed them, I'm going to have to move the follower board.  It doesn't have a good fit (amateur carpentry), but since I have the other end of the hive plugged, it really shouldn't matter.

I think when I move the follower board, I'll insert a couple more blank bars in case they feel like building more comb.  Whenever they start on a new bar, you want the new bar to be between two other bars of drawn comb.  That way they build it straight and you don't get cross comb.

On another note, there are some trees in Olney on Georgia Ave. that look like they are getting a second bloom.  They usually bloom in April, but they have blossoms again.  I thought that maybe it was fruit or nuts maturing, but there were petals on the ground under the trees.  I'll have to look them up to try to identify them.


Sunday, August 4, 2013

Hive inspection 8/4/2013

I opened up the hive this afternoon, and the bees are doing great.  There were eggs, larvae, capped brood, capped honey, and I saw the queen.  I also saw for the first time what I think is drone brood.


I want to work the original cut plastic frames out of the hive, so I rearranged the brood nest to put them farthest from the front of the hive.  Since there are two frames/bars with nectar and capped honey in them at the very back, that's as far as I could move the plastic frames.  I also had a partially drawn bar that the bees started working on, so I put that between the plastic frames so the bees would draw it out straight.

When they finish drawing out the new bar and the partially drawn bar, there will be eleven bars of comb.  I'd like them to have a couple more before the winter, and with all the bees in the hive now, they should be able to build them out easily, as long as I keep feeding them.

Nuisance

The past two mornings, I have been greeted with the sight of the cover askew on my hive.

This week two stray dogs tore a hole in my chicken coop and killed three out of four hens that we keep for eggs and as pets.  Now this.

I had a rock on top and the cover does has some weight by itself.  I put a strap on the hive, so it should be safe, but now it will be a slight hassle to get in and out of the hive.






Thursday, August 1, 2013

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.


Thursday, July 25, 2013

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/

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

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.


Monday, July 22, 2013

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.


Sunday, July 21, 2013

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!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

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.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

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.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Queen is still doing great

Checked out the hive yesterday, and the bees are doing great.  There are larvae all over the place, and one bar was full of the syrup that I have been feeding them.  I'm going to move that bar to the end of the brood nest so they can keep building up.  I don't want the queen to run into a wall and not have anywhere to lay.  Looks like she likes the new comb!




Thursday, July 4, 2013

The bees have drawn their first complete bar of comb

Well, at least from a top bar.  They were in a Langstroth temporarily after Larry caught the swarm.  When I cut down the frames so they would fit into my top bar hive, I left two empty bars between the frames, alternating the cut frames with top bars.  They really went to town on the top bar that was in the middle of the brood nest, and now they are really making progress on the other gap.

Beyond the last cut frame, I have the three bars that the package bees had started.  They aren't really looking at them at all yet.  Once the second gap is filled, I might swap these into the middle of the nest so that they keep filling these out.  With me feeding them all the time, I don't want them to get the idea that they need to swarm.  I also want to make sure that they have at least twelve frames before winter and can get some food stored so they don't starve.

Speaking of food, today was my first try at invert sugar.  Different forums have polar opposite views on the use of invert sugar.  Some forums even go as far as to say that it is toxic.  Others say that it is as good or better than feeding them honey.  From the different articles, what I can glean is this:  invert sugar syrup is good and probably even better than plain sugar syrup, but whatever you do, don't let it caramelize when you are making it.  It is at this point that it can become toxic.

You should really have a candy thermometer when you are making invert sugar syrup.  Some recipes call for it to come to a rolling boil for 20 minutes stirring constantly.  Other recipes call for it to cook to 248 degrees F.  I would probably stick with the recipe that said to take it to 235 degrees to be sure it doesn't caramelize.  But definitely stir constantly too so the mixture stays at a consistent temperature.

I don't have a candy thermometer so I brought the water to a boil, added the sugar and vinegar, and then brought it to a rolling boil while stirring constantly.  Then I turned it off.  The mixture probably didn't have time to react completely, but at least I didn't have any burned sugar in there to kill the bees.

The #8 screen I added to the bottom of the hive seems to be working well.  There were a lot of bees under the hive, and I bet many of them were interlopers hoping for another helping of my bees' sugar syrup.  There wasn't any fighting going on at the entrance either, so I am breathing a tentative sigh of relief.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

I have a confession to make

I think I made a huge mistake when I built my top bar hive.  I was doing some reading today on Mike Bush's site and started thinking about when I put my hive together.  One of the features of the design that I used was the screened bottom board.  I was taking a beekeeping course at the time and we spent some time discussing the varroa mite problems.  When I read that people were having luck with screened bottom boards as an integrated pest management solution, I was excited to find a design that incorporated it.

The design that I used was David Bench's (http://www.wasatchbeekeepers.com/top-bar-hive-plans-david-bench/).  It is very detailed and easy to read and specifies the use of #8 hardware cloth for the bottom screen.  I read it several times and made my materials list.  Somehow when I came back from the hardware store, I had #4 hardware cloth and that is what went onto my hive.

For those of you who have used hardware cloth to restrict bee movement, you are probably saying a collective "Oh no" to yourselves.  Yes, when I came to the same realization today, I said the same thing.  For those of you who don't know, some worker bees may even make it through #7 hardware cloth if there are a couple loose wires.  #4 hardware cloth will keep out mice, but is an open door for bees.  I have a restricted front opening, but the entire bottom of the hive was basically wide open.

Now italian bees are known for robbing in the first place, but I have been feeding my bees like crazy--both the swarm side and the package side (before the package side absconded).  What do you think foreign bees were doing with the bottom of the hive wide open.  Could this have been a factor in my package bees absconding?  Well you learn from your mistakes, so I must be getting pretty smart.


The bees that were out foraging have to figure out where the front door is.  Notice the bee with its pollen basket full.  There was another one flying around with a pollen ball as big as its abdomen.


This little girl crawled out when I lifted a top bar to check the feeder.  It stood over the crevice between two top bars and kept fanning.  These top bars are upside down sitting on the cut down Langstroth frames that I first received.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Moved the partially drawn out comb

I moved the comb left behind by the package bees over to the colony from the swarm.  I'm feeding them every day too, so they should be able to finish drawing it out pretty well.  It's also been moderate for this time of year so that shouldn't stop them either.  There are at least six frames full of bees so it looks like they are still doing well.  Next weekend I'll do a hive inspection to see how things are going.  Hopefully, no more awful surprises this year.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Missing--a queen and her 10,000 workers

Yes, the bees from the package decided they did not like the neighborhood and moved away.  I checked the bushes and trees and they were nowhere to be found.  They left behind partially drawn comb on three bars.


I'm thinking that if I get another package, I'll put some already drawn comb in there so the queen has a place to start laying right away.  At least I still have bees on the other side of the hive.  I'm going to move the comb over to that side to give them a boost.

Friday, June 28, 2013

The first colony took the hint

I checked the swarm side of the hive and they have started building comb on the bar between the two Langstroth frames that I cut down.  Way to go!  Now we'll have to see which side builds it out faster.  Truthfully, the package side has the advantage since there are more bees on that side and they are not raising brood yet, so they can focus all their attention on building comb.

The package side has been going through 16 oz. of sugar syrup in a day, which is not surprising since they are trying to build out all that comb.  I'll just have to check it every day because my feeder only holds 16 oz.  The feeder is sitting inside the hive, so it can't be too big.  A quart mason jar would probably work, too.  That's something I will have to check on later.


These bees got curious when I lifted the top bar and got left outside when I put it back. Hopefully they remember where the front door is.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

My bee package is making comb!

Today I took out the can of syrup that came with the package.  I picked up a cheap hummingbird feeder from the store after I found one where I could remove the feeding ports.  Now it is just an upside down jar with a sloped pool at the bottom.  I dissolved some granulated sugar in an equal amount of boiling water and then filled the feeder.  The can of syrup was still pretty heavy, but the syrup was coming out when I picked it up.  So, I know the holes weren't clogged or anything.

There were a lot of dead bees in the package when I installed it.  The bees haven't quite gotten around to giving their comrades the proper send off.  But, that is probably because they are busy building--wait for it--COMB!  I peaked under the bars near and on the edge of the cluster and didn't see anything, except for a lot of bees.  Then, I finally picked up the bar right over the middle of the cluster and I saw the beautiful yellow comb peaking through between the bees.  It was at least an inch or two long, but that's all the farther I lifted the bar.  I didn't want to disturb their work when I knew they were concentrating.

Now, I just need to keep them fed and let them do their thing.  Hopefully, the bees on the swarm side get in the spirit of competition and decide that they really need to start building too.  They may have already built some.  I'll check this weekend when it isn't so rainy.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Find yourself a rock or a couple bricks

Not much to report today, except make sure you find a heavy rock to put on your beehive cover.  I remembered mine last night right before the thunderstorm hit.  I ran outside and put the rock on top and a few minutes later the thunderstorm with 60+ mph winds hit.  The top for my hive is pretty heavy, but if the wind happened to catch the lid, it would have at least shifted.

The bees are doing okay, and it looks like the bees are trying to fill in the space that I left them in the brood nest.  I put the feeder with sugar water in the swarm side to give them extra food to start building their comb.  I'm not going to disturb that side again for a couple days.

The package side is still in their cluster.  It's pretty cool how they are all hanging together from each other.  It's unbelievable if you try to imagine humans trying to do that.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Cut frames and the queen is free!


Since the swarm colony didn't seem to be thriving and wasn't expanding, I took Anna's advice and cut down the Langstroth frames so that they would sit along the top bars.  Borrowing her queen catcher, I secured the queen before starting.  The queen is at the bottom of the catcher with the pink dot.


When I took the first frame out of the hive, I noticed a new bee emerging as I was removing it.  May not be as cute as a puppy, but you have to admit it looks pretty cute up close.


I just cut off the corners so that the frames could fit into the hive.


After I cut down the frames, I put them back into the hive.  I also spaced the last two frames.  You can tell the frames that I cut down; I put the top bars upside down on top.  With the blank top bars between the other frames, the bees should draw out straight comb.



Side view shot of the cut frames through the window.


I also went into the package side of the hive.  I was about to release the queen, but she was already out.  The can from the package is still in there, so I'll have to check it again in a couple days.  Let's hope they start building comb.  With them hanging from the top bars like that, their wax-producing glands should be stimulated so they can get started.


Monday, June 24, 2013

Bees, bees, and more bees

Great news.  The package that I ordered finally came in.  Originally, it was scheduled to be delivered on April 13.  Because of the unusually cool and wet spring, the supplier's source of bees (in Georgia, USA) was unable to put packages together until now.

I picked up the package yesterday, and with some help from Anna of the Carroll County Beekeepers Association, it was installed in my hive.  I hadn't planned on two colonies at this point, so I installed the package on the other side of the divider board from the swarm that I installed earlier.  Thankfully, Anna noticed that there was too large of a gap between the follower board and the hive body and was able to doctor it until the gap was closed (good use of popsicle sticks).

We also checked on the swarm to see how it was doing.  I received the swarm with four Langstroth frames laid lengthwise in the hive.  They haven't been building comb, and I was afraid that I had killed the queen on accident, but Anna found the queen and was able to see eggs and larvae in the comb.  Anna suggested that I just cut the frames to fit into the hive, so I will probably do that tomorrow night.  Hopefully at that point, they will get the hint and start building out comb on the top bars.

The bees on the package side may be building comb already, but I wouldn't be able to tell.  They are all in one big cluster around the queen cage.  I'm going to go into that side of the hive in a couple days to let the queen out, so I'll be able to tell then if they are building comb.  They better be, or the colony will be in trouble.  Here are a couple pictures of the cluster around the queen.



Monday, June 17, 2013

Still doing okay--I think.

I opened up the hive yesterday to see what is going on.  They still haven't started building comb, which is concerning me.  Also, about two-thirds of the capped brood has emerged as well.  I didn't see any eggs laid, but that may be just me (newbie with bad eyesight).  The bees seemed really calm when I went into the hive, and although I didn't see the queen, I'm hoping she is still in there somewhere.  The weather keeps going back and forth between hot and sunny to cold and rainy.  If I were the bees, I'd be a little confused too on what I should be doing this time of year.

Here are some pictures of the hive when I opened it.


Tuesday, June 11, 2013

I left the bees to themselves for a couple days so they could settle into their new home.  They are doing well and seem to be growing in numbers, thankfully.  I've been dreading looking into the hive, because I was afraid that I didn't leave enough space between the frames when I set them in the hive.  I wanted to give the bees a little more beespace so I set a couple sticks between each of the frames so they are not leaning against each other.  Hopefully, that will make them happier.

They still haven't started building any more comb, but I'm hoping that eventually they will fill up the frames and they will figure out that they need to start building again.  A couple of the frames were not entirely drawn out yet, so I suppose that they will finish those first.

The bees are still pretty calm, so I'm guessing the queen is still doing well.  It was interesting because to move the frames and insert the sticks I had to pull a lot of top bars off.  As I pulled more top bars off, you could hear the buzz of the hive increase while they started becoming more tense.  Then they got more calm as I put more bars back on.  Let's hope they start building by the next time I check.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Well the bees are still there.

I checked yesterday and the bees are still in the hive and didn't abscond.  My greatest fear is that I may have squashed the queen when I was laying the frames in the hive.  I didn't see her afterwards but I'm hoping she was hiding in a corner.  No new comb yet either.  I'm going to have to learn some patience and let the bees do their thing.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

I have bees!

Thanks to Larry with the Carroll County Beekeepers Association, I am now a beekeeper--or at least a beehaver.  We'll see how things work out.  Larry had the bees in a Langstroth hive and was kind enough to give me some broodcomb and some nectar along with the queen and a good amount of attendants.  I'm hoping that the frames he gave me will work with my hive.

I brought the frames home, prepped my feeder with sugar syrup, rounded up some smoker fuel, and got my tools.  My son who has always protested that he hates bees decided to help me document installing the bees in my hive.

My biggest issue with the installation was trying to light my smoker.  I wasn't expecting to get bees today, so I didn't collect my smoker fuel ahead of time.  My neighbor has pine trees adjacent to our property that provide plenty of pine needles for fuel.  Unfortunately, post-tropical cyclone Andrea went through here last night and the needles were pretty damp.  I had to throw a little paper into the smoker to get the fire going well enough to start the pine needles and keep them smoking.  I grabbed a lot of extra needles so that they can dry out before I need them again.

I removed seven or eight top bars towards the front of the hive and stood up the Langstroth frames lengthwise inside the hive.  With the frames leaning against each other, I tried to leave some beespace between the frames.  I tried to put the frames in there gently, but I'm sure I smashed a few.  I didn't see the queen, so I'm hoping she was just hiding for now.

After all the bees were in, I set up the feeder inside the hive, added the follower board and replaced the rest of the top bars.  I let the bees settle for a little while and then I took a picture through the observation window.





One frame is leaning against the window.  The other frames are leaning against the other side of the hive.  You can see a lot of the bees in the corner.  The nurse bees are still on the broodcomb.  You may also notice the cleats on the bottom of the top bars.  Hopefully, the bees take the hint and build their comb from the cleats.

My son has the rest of the pictures on his phone.  Hopefully, I'll get those up this weekend.


Friday, May 31, 2013

Still no bees

Well, it is now the end of May, and still no bees.  I emailed my supplier this morning, but I haven't heard back from him yet.  His first shipment of bees was delivered, but since I ordered late, my bees are in the second shipment.  His website doesn't give any forecast for the delivery of the second shipment.

I've been procrastinating since I don't have a deadline for when my bees will come.  I still need to test out different fuels for my smoker to see what works best for me, and I still need to practice lighting it so it's not too hot and smokes well.  I also need to put together my feeder.  I plan to use a chick feeder, but I need to put some screening around it so the bees don't try to go up into the container and drown.

Speaking of drowning, I know there are some other bee hives around as I saw a bee floating in the chicken waterer.  The waterer is a plastic bucket with spigots on the bottom that the chickens peck and a drop of water comes out.  I may try putting some screening in the bucket that the bees can use as a ladder to get a drink.  Then I won't have to come up with a separate water source for my bees.  We'll see how that works out.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The bees are coming.

Well my bee supplier finally has a pickup date for his first shipment.  Unfortunately, my order will be in the second shipment for which he does not have a pickup date yet.  I'm hoping it is before June.  I want the critters to have plenty of time to draw out comb before everything dries up.

Monday, May 13, 2013

I may have bees coming finally.

My package pickup day was supposed to be April 13, but the weather has been so cool that the supplier hasn't been able to shake packages.  Well the supplier started shaking again and the weather is forecast to be warmer, so let's hope the weather holds until my bed come in.