Thursday, July 19, 2012
Weekly Check 7/15/2012
The Happy and Not-So-Happy hives are proceeding as expected. They don't seem to need another box yet. The nuc hive has eggs, larvae and capped brood so even if I can't spot the queen, there must be one in there somewhere. I don't know if it's the heat or just that I get spooked by the number of bees on a frame, but I can't seem to identify any of the queens now. I know I have seen a queen in each hive at one time or another, but I can't seem to do it consistently. I don't even know if it is really worth the trouble to disturb the hives just so I can practice finding the queen, and those boxes are really heavy when they are full! I'm afraid I'll do more damage and squash more bees if I keep digging around. I'm going to try just taking a peek into the top and adding boxes if they need it and see if leaving them alone will work out OK. The nuc hive has just about filled its 2 boxes, but not expanded into the top box yet. I'm not sure why. It's interesting to try and figure out why these 3 hives are all so different.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Weekly Inspection
OK. I made a run to The Honey Exchange in Portland. I needed to get parts for more mediums, but I've been with visiting relatives all week so it was hard to figure out where to go to get stuff.
Fortunately, Phil is running a special where the assembly of a hive kit is free so this was just too good to pass up since I'm so short on time.
The kit has 5 mediums with frames and foundation, an inner cover, a telescoping outer cover, a slatted bottom board, a screened bottom board, and a hive stand with legs. Phil gets his hive parts from another source than Brown's Bee Farm where I got my other hive kits, and the boxes are more square, and the 'fit and finish' appears to be higher quality. I think they are a bit more expensive, but the assembly was a real treat. I don't have a fancy stapler which is what it appears that Phil uses. I'm guessing it's like a nail gun so putting things together is a snap. The only thing that isn't assembled is the foundation into the frames so I'll be doing that tonight so I can put more boxes on the hives.
The nuc hive is still working the 2 original boxes since the old queen swarmed. I see brood and honey so I'm hoping there is a queen in there somewhere.
The Happy hive has pretty much filled 3 boxes so I'll be putting another box on top tomorrow.
The Not-So-Happy hive is making great strides in its 3rd box so I'll be putting another box on top tomorrow.
Since I now have a couple of spare boxes along with a top and bottom and hive stand, I think I'll put out all of my 'spare parts' as an empty hive in case one of the hives decides to swarm. I still don't trust what I'm doing since I lost the old nuc queen. I'm not entirely sure I got rid of the other swarm cells in the hives so this may be a good plan.
Fortunately, Phil is running a special where the assembly of a hive kit is free so this was just too good to pass up since I'm so short on time.
The kit has 5 mediums with frames and foundation, an inner cover, a telescoping outer cover, a slatted bottom board, a screened bottom board, and a hive stand with legs. Phil gets his hive parts from another source than Brown's Bee Farm where I got my other hive kits, and the boxes are more square, and the 'fit and finish' appears to be higher quality. I think they are a bit more expensive, but the assembly was a real treat. I don't have a fancy stapler which is what it appears that Phil uses. I'm guessing it's like a nail gun so putting things together is a snap. The only thing that isn't assembled is the foundation into the frames so I'll be doing that tonight so I can put more boxes on the hives.
The nuc hive is still working the 2 original boxes since the old queen swarmed. I see brood and honey so I'm hoping there is a queen in there somewhere.
The Happy hive has pretty much filled 3 boxes so I'll be putting another box on top tomorrow.
The Not-So-Happy hive is making great strides in its 3rd box so I'll be putting another box on top tomorrow.
Since I now have a couple of spare boxes along with a top and bottom and hive stand, I think I'll put out all of my 'spare parts' as an empty hive in case one of the hives decides to swarm. I still don't trust what I'm doing since I lost the old nuc queen. I'm not entirely sure I got rid of the other swarm cells in the hives so this may be a good plan.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Weekly? Inspection
I checked on the Not-So-Happy hive first thinking there would not be much changed, but as usual with the bees I was wrong. They have finally almost filled 2 medium boxes, but they also have started building swarm cells. I tried discouraging them by removing those cells and adding a third box. We'll see if that settles them.
Next I opened the nuc hive. This hive has 3 medium boxes, but they are not filled up yet since the old marked queen took off. I saw some brood so I hope that means there is a queen in there somewhere. They have lots of honey but not much brood right now.
Then I opened the Happy hive. This hive appears to have filled up 3 boxes. I need to add another box, but I need to make a run to the bee store to get the parts. By the time I opened up this one I was too tired to do more than spot-check, but I don't think they have started any swarm cells. I'm still impressed by how strong this hive is.
Next I opened the nuc hive. This hive has 3 medium boxes, but they are not filled up yet since the old marked queen took off. I saw some brood so I hope that means there is a queen in there somewhere. They have lots of honey but not much brood right now.
Then I opened the Happy hive. This hive appears to have filled up 3 boxes. I need to add another box, but I need to make a run to the bee store to get the parts. By the time I opened up this one I was too tired to do more than spot-check, but I don't think they have started any swarm cells. I'm still impressed by how strong this hive is.
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