I went to the annual Maine State Beekeepers Association meeting on October 19. It was interesting. Lots of good stuff on sale and in the raffles. The speakers were pretty good. The food was reasonable. The weather was great so we were all thinking we should be outside checking the bees, not inside. I didn't win anything in the raffles, bummer:) Learned some things. Spent some money on candy boards. Talked about Foyle's War and Doctor Who:)
I pulled the empty syrup bucket off of the Italian hive about 10 days (maybe longer) ago.
I pulled the syrup bucket off of the hybrid Russian hive at the beginning of this week before we got some very frosty weather. It still had some syrup in it.
I wasn't sure about whether to keep the buckets off or not so I emailed the YCBA googlegroup. The advice I got was to pull the buckets since the moisture is not a good thing in cold weather, and the bees can't take cleansing flights to get rid of waste products from the syrup.
Yesterday and today the temperatures are in the 60s so the bees can fly!
Listening to the boxes, they both seem to be OK.
I am going to set up the candy boards and put them on and wrap the hives around Thanksgiving.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Moving day!
I moved 15 frames from the Russian hive into 3 nuc boxes. They hadn't started drawing comb on 5 of their 20 frames so they won't miss them. Now the frames that they ARE working are stacked vertically with the 2 frames of brood in the middle of the middle box. I did the move on Thursday, Oct 10, and gave them a new bucket of syrup, too. I think this is the best I can do for this hive.
I didn't check the Italian hive since they seem to be doing well. I'll check their bucket of syrup this weekend.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
More Syrup!
I put another bucket of syrup on the Italian hive yesterday, Oct 8.
I will put another bucket of syrup on the Russian hybrid hive tomorrow, Oct 10.
All done with fall medications.
I will put another bucket of syrup on the Russian hybrid hive tomorrow, Oct 10.
All done with fall medications.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Last Medications
On Thursday Oct 3 I took a look in the hives.
I checked the Apiguard trays, and they were not empty yet so I put what was left back into the hives. I moved the feeding shim to the top of the hive with the syrup bucket and put the Apiguard tray on top of the inner cover so the bees can walk across it when they go to get syrup. I removed the top boxes from both hives since the bees were not making any significant inroads into filling those boxes. They were just empty space which will not help them stay warm this winter.
The Italian hive has pollen in the bottom box and a little brood. Lots of space left to fill so they did not need the top box. The middle box has brood, honey and pollen and is mostly full. The top box has a little brood, but mostly honey. This hive looks strong, but when I put the syrup bucket on top I think I see robbers hovering around so I blocked all entrances except the bottom one. Today I noticed the bees have worked to open all of the entrances again so maybe I'm just paranoid.
The Russian hybrid has pollen in the bottom box and lots of space so they did not need the top box. The other box has a little brood (really not much, I think the queen is stopping), pollen and honey. This box is almost full. If the hive can survive the winter on two boxes I think this hive is OK. I have been debating whether to put them into the nuc box or not. Is a vertical stack of 15 frames better than 20 frames organized into 2 horizontal sets of 10 frames?
I checked the Apiguard trays, and they were not empty yet so I put what was left back into the hives. I moved the feeding shim to the top of the hive with the syrup bucket and put the Apiguard tray on top of the inner cover so the bees can walk across it when they go to get syrup. I removed the top boxes from both hives since the bees were not making any significant inroads into filling those boxes. They were just empty space which will not help them stay warm this winter.
The Italian hive has pollen in the bottom box and a little brood. Lots of space left to fill so they did not need the top box. The middle box has brood, honey and pollen and is mostly full. The top box has a little brood, but mostly honey. This hive looks strong, but when I put the syrup bucket on top I think I see robbers hovering around so I blocked all entrances except the bottom one. Today I noticed the bees have worked to open all of the entrances again so maybe I'm just paranoid.
The Russian hybrid has pollen in the bottom box and lots of space so they did not need the top box. The other box has a little brood (really not much, I think the queen is stopping), pollen and honey. This box is almost full. If the hive can survive the winter on two boxes I think this hive is OK. I have been debating whether to put them into the nuc box or not. Is a vertical stack of 15 frames better than 20 frames organized into 2 horizontal sets of 10 frames?
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Fall Prep
I opened up the hives today to give them their 3rd dose of mite treatment.
I used Apiguard this time since The Honey Exchange did not carry ApiVar Life.
I used the feeding shim above the brood boxes so I could fit the tray of Apiguard, and I put a piece of sheet over the feeding buckets to fill in the spaces around the top of the feed buckets.
I put 2:1 syrup in the buckets with the first Fumagilin dose.
I did not see either queen, but I think they are both still OK. I saw uncapped larvae and capped brood in both hives. I'm pretty sure I saw eggs in the Italian hive, and probably in the Russian hybrid, but it was harder to see in that one.
There are lots of bees in the Italian hive. The 3rd box is well on its way to being filled with honey. The first box had some capped brood and pollen. The second box had some capped brood, uncapped larvae, and eggs (I think) along with some honey and pollen. The bees are also starting to put some nectar and continuing to draw comb in the 4th box. I did not see any evidence of damage from robbing even though I did have to close up some of the entrances to prevent some robbing earlier in the week.
The Russian hybrid is not as full of bees. The bottom box has about 5 frames of brood and nectar. The outermost frames are still empty. The second box has some brood (capped and uncapped and maybe even a few eggs) along with honey, nectar and pollen. They really aren't working on the 3rd box yet. I wish they would and hope they will if I keep feeding them. I do see a fair number of bees bringing in pollen, and they are working to put in stores. There was nothing in the bottom of the hive to indicate either lots of mites or robbing so I think they are doing OK. I think this hive is just going to be more frugal with food and bees.
I just hope they have a big enough cluster to get through the cold weather.
I used Apiguard this time since The Honey Exchange did not carry ApiVar Life.
I used the feeding shim above the brood boxes so I could fit the tray of Apiguard, and I put a piece of sheet over the feeding buckets to fill in the spaces around the top of the feed buckets.
I put 2:1 syrup in the buckets with the first Fumagilin dose.
I did not see either queen, but I think they are both still OK. I saw uncapped larvae and capped brood in both hives. I'm pretty sure I saw eggs in the Italian hive, and probably in the Russian hybrid, but it was harder to see in that one.
There are lots of bees in the Italian hive. The 3rd box is well on its way to being filled with honey. The first box had some capped brood and pollen. The second box had some capped brood, uncapped larvae, and eggs (I think) along with some honey and pollen. The bees are also starting to put some nectar and continuing to draw comb in the 4th box. I did not see any evidence of damage from robbing even though I did have to close up some of the entrances to prevent some robbing earlier in the week.
The Russian hybrid is not as full of bees. The bottom box has about 5 frames of brood and nectar. The outermost frames are still empty. The second box has some brood (capped and uncapped and maybe even a few eggs) along with honey, nectar and pollen. They really aren't working on the 3rd box yet. I wish they would and hope they will if I keep feeding them. I do see a fair number of bees bringing in pollen, and they are working to put in stores. There was nothing in the bottom of the hive to indicate either lots of mites or robbing so I think they are doing OK. I think this hive is just going to be more frugal with food and bees.
I just hope they have a big enough cluster to get through the cold weather.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Feeding, Feeding, Medication
During the week, Tom got me worried that the hive stand for one of the hives was leaning so I went out and set up a new more level and sturdy hive stand, took apart the leaning hive and moved all of the boxes to the new hive stand. While I was doing that I took off the 4th box since I had gotten an email reply to some questions saying the bees would fill up a box better if they had less space, not too much emptiness. That was one of the few days it didn't rain last week. It was hot with lots of thunderstorms.
I did not inspect the hives this weekend. I just put in the latest ApiLife Var dose and new buckets of syrup with some pollen substitute. I want to get the medications done and feed them so they fill in their boxes for the winter.
The email did say that Russian hybrids and Italians are very different so I shouldn't judge them by comparing them.
The Russian hybrid does operate with fewer bees. I am leaving the medium on top for food stores although I don't know if they will fill it. When I went to put in the new dose of thymol I found that they had completely covered the previous dose with propolis. I scraped it out and put in the new wafers. I put a syrup bucket and pollen substitute on top of the 3 medium boxes.
When I opened the Italian hive it was chock full of bees so I ran off to light my smoker. I put on the new dose of ApiLife Var on top of the 3rd box since during my last inspection I found brood in the 3rd box. I also put back the 4th box since they had been putting in nectar and drawing comb. I figure if they are working the box I should leave it on.
I tried to disturb them as little as possible yesterday. They have both been doing OK and do not show signs of a heavy mite load. It was a little cooler so I tried to move fast.
I did not inspect the hives this weekend. I just put in the latest ApiLife Var dose and new buckets of syrup with some pollen substitute. I want to get the medications done and feed them so they fill in their boxes for the winter.
The email did say that Russian hybrids and Italians are very different so I shouldn't judge them by comparing them.
The Russian hybrid does operate with fewer bees. I am leaving the medium on top for food stores although I don't know if they will fill it. When I went to put in the new dose of thymol I found that they had completely covered the previous dose with propolis. I scraped it out and put in the new wafers. I put a syrup bucket and pollen substitute on top of the 3 medium boxes.
When I opened the Italian hive it was chock full of bees so I ran off to light my smoker. I put on the new dose of ApiLife Var on top of the 3rd box since during my last inspection I found brood in the 3rd box. I also put back the 4th box since they had been putting in nectar and drawing comb. I figure if they are working the box I should leave it on.
I tried to disturb them as little as possible yesterday. They have both been doing OK and do not show signs of a heavy mite load. It was a little cooler so I tried to move fast.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Latest
I checked the hives today.
I did see the hybrid queen, but not the Italian. I did see eggs, larvae and capped brood in both hives so the queens are both doing their jobs.
The Italian hive has lots of bees. The bottom box has some brood, and they appear to be putting pollen in this box. The second box has more brood, some honey, nectar and pollen. The third box used to be all honey, but now has brood as well as honey and some pollen. They have not yet started putting any stores in the fourth box. I am not currently feeding this hive. They are noisier than the other hive, and I was stung twice. Maybe this is just a function of working around lots of bees.
The hybrid hive does not have as many bees. The bottom box has maybe 4 frames of brood. The frames on the outside are still empty.The second box has about 6 frames of brood with honey and pollen in the outer frames. The bees are drawing out the comb in the 3rd box, but so far no significant stores for winter in this box. I am feeding this hive with 1:1 syrup with a couple of tablespoons of vinegar in the bucket and some pollen substitute on the inner cover. They don't seem to care about the pollen substitute since they are bringing in their own.
Both hives have their first doses of ApiVar Life. I need to keep up with the 3 doses and add in the other medications, but at least it's a start.
I did see the hybrid queen, but not the Italian. I did see eggs, larvae and capped brood in both hives so the queens are both doing their jobs.
The Italian hive has lots of bees. The bottom box has some brood, and they appear to be putting pollen in this box. The second box has more brood, some honey, nectar and pollen. The third box used to be all honey, but now has brood as well as honey and some pollen. They have not yet started putting any stores in the fourth box. I am not currently feeding this hive. They are noisier than the other hive, and I was stung twice. Maybe this is just a function of working around lots of bees.
The hybrid hive does not have as many bees. The bottom box has maybe 4 frames of brood. The frames on the outside are still empty.The second box has about 6 frames of brood with honey and pollen in the outer frames. The bees are drawing out the comb in the 3rd box, but so far no significant stores for winter in this box. I am feeding this hive with 1:1 syrup with a couple of tablespoons of vinegar in the bucket and some pollen substitute on the inner cover. They don't seem to care about the pollen substitute since they are bringing in their own.
Both hives have their first doses of ApiVar Life. I need to keep up with the 3 doses and add in the other medications, but at least it's a start.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Weekend Status
I checked the hives this past weekend.
I did not see the hybrid queen, but did see signs of her presence. The 2 boxes are still not full, but there was some started queen cups so I decided maybe the queen is waiting for more room (?) . Additionally I looked up the difference between Italian and hybrid Russian queens and there are differences so this could be just the way this variety of queen works. She is working maybe 4 frames in each of the 2 boxes. I put another bucket of syrup on top and added some pollen substitute in the hopes that will support the hive putting in more winter stores.
I did see the Italian queen. The third box was almost full of honey. No sign of queen cups, but to avoid any crowding I added a fourth box to the hive. She is working about 6 frames in each box. The bottom box has lots of pollen. This hive looks great. If they both looked this good, I would not be worried. Scratch that. I would be worrying about something else:)
We have had a lot of rain the last few days so things have been quiet around the hives.
I am looking forward to checking on them this weekend to see if anything has changed. I am going to look more carefully for the hybrid queen since I am still worried about that hive.
I did not see the hybrid queen, but did see signs of her presence. The 2 boxes are still not full, but there was some started queen cups so I decided maybe the queen is waiting for more room (?) . Additionally I looked up the difference between Italian and hybrid Russian queens and there are differences so this could be just the way this variety of queen works. She is working maybe 4 frames in each of the 2 boxes. I put another bucket of syrup on top and added some pollen substitute in the hopes that will support the hive putting in more winter stores.
I did see the Italian queen. The third box was almost full of honey. No sign of queen cups, but to avoid any crowding I added a fourth box to the hive. She is working about 6 frames in each box. The bottom box has lots of pollen. This hive looks great. If they both looked this good, I would not be worried. Scratch that. I would be worrying about something else:)
We have had a lot of rain the last few days so things have been quiet around the hives.
I am looking forward to checking on them this weekend to see if anything has changed. I am going to look more carefully for the hybrid queen since I am still worried about that hive.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Status Update
I checked the hives yesterday. Both hives had finished their buckets. I saw both queens.
The Italian hive looks very healthy. The bottom box has some brood, some empty frames and lots of pollen. The middle box has brood, nectar and pollen as does the top box. Not all the frames are full, but I gave them an extra box so they don't feel crowded. They now have 4 boxes to work with.
The hybrid hive is still struggling. I did not find dead bees this time, but the queen has still not filled in 2 boxes. I put a robbing screen on the hive just in case. I saw a frame of what looked to be honey that had been stripped bare. While I was watching the hive today I saw lots of pollen going in so I'm still hopeful. Both hives are bringing in goldenrod if I understand the smell correctly. I want to get another box on this hive before winter so I'll be putting buckets on again.
I think I'll dose them with fumagilin and ApiLife Var in preparation for winter. 3 doses of ApiLife Var--4 pieces every 7-10 days (daytime average temperature between 68 and 86). Less effective when temp is below 54. Can cause bee kill when temp is over 90. Close up screened bottom board and beware robbing. 2 gallons fumagilin in the Fall. 1 rounded teaspoon == 5 grams + 1/2 gallon water + 8 lbs sugar for feeding.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Latest Status--so far so good
I looked into the Italian hive today. I did not see the queen, but I did see evidence of her. The bottom box had mostly empty cells (looks some bees hatched very recently), capped and uncapped larvae. About 4 frames of brood nest. The middle box had another 4 frames or so of eggs, uncapped larvae and capped brood along with some nectar and honey. The top box had about 4 frames of nectar and pollen. Overall I think this hive is doing very well. There seem to be a lot of bees, and they finished off the bucket of syrup so I gave them another bucket. The weather has been unstable, and I think it's the dearth so they probably need the syrup. Unfortunately I think when their bucket ran out they may have tried raiding the other hive.
I looked into the hybrid hive today. I did see the queen! I found about 2 dozen dead bees on the bottom screen and from the sprinkling of wax under the hive I think they died fighting off some raiders. I'm hoping that the bucket of syrup on the other hive will keep them from preying on this hive. The bottom box has about 4 frames of brood and the top box has another 4 frames of eggs, uncapped larvae and capped brood. They are also putting honey/nectar and pollen into the frames around the brood and in some of the other frames, but they have not filled in the two boxes yet. I wish that this hive was building up faster, but I guess this queen is a little slower. I'll just keep pushing the syrup and keep my fingers crossed. I've got to start thinking about fall medications.
I looked into the hybrid hive today. I did see the queen! I found about 2 dozen dead bees on the bottom screen and from the sprinkling of wax under the hive I think they died fighting off some raiders. I'm hoping that the bucket of syrup on the other hive will keep them from preying on this hive. The bottom box has about 4 frames of brood and the top box has another 4 frames of eggs, uncapped larvae and capped brood. They are also putting honey/nectar and pollen into the frames around the brood and in some of the other frames, but they have not filled in the two boxes yet. I wish that this hive was building up faster, but I guess this queen is a little slower. I'll just keep pushing the syrup and keep my fingers crossed. I've got to start thinking about fall medications.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Italian hive
Beautiful day today so I inspected the hive with the Italian queen.
The bottom box had lots of empty comb, a little honey and several frames of capped brood.
The middle box had nectar, honey, several frames of capped brood and the queen!
The top box had a little nectar/honey on a couple of frames
.
I think the dearth might be occurring now and that might be why the bottom box has more space in it. The queen is still laying eggs and there are more bees in this hive than in the other one so I think it is still expanding. I put a new bucket of syrup on top of the 3 boxes to support continuing growth.
Both hives appear to be healthy right now, but I'm going to start thinking about a mite treatment before the cold weather comes.
The bottom box had lots of empty comb, a little honey and several frames of capped brood.
The middle box had nectar, honey, several frames of capped brood and the queen!
The top box had a little nectar/honey on a couple of frames
.
I think the dearth might be occurring now and that might be why the bottom box has more space in it. The queen is still laying eggs and there are more bees in this hive than in the other one so I think it is still expanding. I put a new bucket of syrup on top of the 3 boxes to support continuing growth.
Both hives appear to be healthy right now, but I'm going to start thinking about a mite treatment before the cold weather comes.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
She's in there!
Before I left on my trip (starting July 10) I did make sure that both hives had buckets of syrup and extra space. I did not see the hybrid queen so I started to worry.
I returned home on July 22 (delayed from the 21st) and did a quick check of syrup buckets. The bucket for the hybrid queen is still mostly full. The bucket for the Italian queen is empty. I put my ear to each of the hive boxes to see if I could ascertain how the bees are doing in a general way. The hive with the Italian queen sounds much bigger than the hybrid queen's hive so I continued to worry about that hive.
It poured on the 23rd so I did not do anything with either hive.
Today I checked on the hybrid queen's hive. I pulled all the boxes off to take a quick look at the screened bottom board--just to see if there were lots of dead bees or anything else odd looking--and there was the queen! I'm guessing that during my previous inspections she scurried for the darkest part of the hive under the bottom box and that's why I was unable to see her. The bees are working on one side of the bottom box and the frames on the opposite end are empty. The next time I go in I may try moving all of the brood frames to the middle and putting some of the empty frames on the outside to see if the bees will fill the bottom box more evenly. They have 3 or 4 frames of capped brood in the bottom box, and the queen is starting to lay eggs in the second box on a couple of frames. The second box still has plenty of space so I'm pulling off the third box since it just adds distance between the bees and the syrup bucket. Anyhow this hive is several weeks behind the Italian queen's hive, but I guess that's to be expected given she was starting later with fewer workers and too many drones.
I got stung on my toe walking through the clover on the way to the hives:) One of the hazards of wearing sandals. No stings while doing the inspection.
I'll check on the Italian queen's hive tomorrow--weather permitting.
I returned home on July 22 (delayed from the 21st) and did a quick check of syrup buckets. The bucket for the hybrid queen is still mostly full. The bucket for the Italian queen is empty. I put my ear to each of the hive boxes to see if I could ascertain how the bees are doing in a general way. The hive with the Italian queen sounds much bigger than the hybrid queen's hive so I continued to worry about that hive.
It poured on the 23rd so I did not do anything with either hive.
Today I checked on the hybrid queen's hive. I pulled all the boxes off to take a quick look at the screened bottom board--just to see if there were lots of dead bees or anything else odd looking--and there was the queen! I'm guessing that during my previous inspections she scurried for the darkest part of the hive under the bottom box and that's why I was unable to see her. The bees are working on one side of the bottom box and the frames on the opposite end are empty. The next time I go in I may try moving all of the brood frames to the middle and putting some of the empty frames on the outside to see if the bees will fill the bottom box more evenly. They have 3 or 4 frames of capped brood in the bottom box, and the queen is starting to lay eggs in the second box on a couple of frames. The second box still has plenty of space so I'm pulling off the third box since it just adds distance between the bees and the syrup bucket. Anyhow this hive is several weeks behind the Italian queen's hive, but I guess that's to be expected given she was starting later with fewer workers and too many drones.
I got stung on my toe walking through the clover on the way to the hives:) One of the hazards of wearing sandals. No stings while doing the inspection.
I'll check on the Italian queen's hive tomorrow--weather permitting.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Happy Fourth of July!
I looked in on the hives today. Both had finished off their syrup buckets.
I found the Italian queen in the lower box. She is doing great! Both boxes have frames of brood as well as uncapped larvae and eggs and frames of nectar and pollen. I added another box to the hive with a couple of frames of honey from last year's hives for food. I will probably still put a bucket of syrup on top since we will be coming up on the summer dearth soon and if the rainy weather returns I want the hive to keep building.
I did not find the hybrid (marked) queen today, but I did see evidence that she is in there somewhere. Frames with eggs, uncapped larvae and capped brood show she is in there somewhere. It's possible she walked between frames while I was watching a couple of baby bees starting to emerge on one of the frames. She isn't doing as well as the other queen, but she has had to deal with too many drones from the dud queen. As long as there are still eggs and the hive continues to get stronger I guess that's a win. I added a box to the hive although they probably don't need it yet. I also added a few frames of honey from last year. My hope is if they have enough food they will concentrate on expanding the population. I will also put another bucket of syrup on top with the second dose of fumagillin to make sure nosema is not a problem.
Since I'm going out of town for a week or so I want to make sure things are in order before I go. I'll be checking them again, but I wanted to get most of the work out of the way today since I don't know what the weather will be:)
I found the Italian queen in the lower box. She is doing great! Both boxes have frames of brood as well as uncapped larvae and eggs and frames of nectar and pollen. I added another box to the hive with a couple of frames of honey from last year's hives for food. I will probably still put a bucket of syrup on top since we will be coming up on the summer dearth soon and if the rainy weather returns I want the hive to keep building.
I did not find the hybrid (marked) queen today, but I did see evidence that she is in there somewhere. Frames with eggs, uncapped larvae and capped brood show she is in there somewhere. It's possible she walked between frames while I was watching a couple of baby bees starting to emerge on one of the frames. She isn't doing as well as the other queen, but she has had to deal with too many drones from the dud queen. As long as there are still eggs and the hive continues to get stronger I guess that's a win. I added a box to the hive although they probably don't need it yet. I also added a few frames of honey from last year. My hope is if they have enough food they will concentrate on expanding the population. I will also put another bucket of syrup on top with the second dose of fumagillin to make sure nosema is not a problem.
Since I'm going out of town for a week or so I want to make sure things are in order before I go. I'll be checking them again, but I wanted to get most of the work out of the way today since I don't know what the weather will be:)
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Status 6/29/13
I checked on the hybrid queen's hive. I found her and evidence that she has been laying. Everything looks good so I gave her another box to work in so she has 2 mediums.
I looked in on the Italian queen. I only looked into the upper box, and I did not see her, but I did see eggs so she is working hard. Both medium boxes have some empty frames so I think things are Ok.
Both hives still had some syrup so I left things as they are. I decided with this lousy weather I would leave syrup buckets on the hives until they have at least 3 medium boxes each. At the current rate I'm hoping that will be by the end of July.
I'm hoping that the manufacturer that sells HopGuard will start selling in smaller quantities. I like the idea of a food-grade mite treatment that can be used anytime at any temperature. After last year I'm a bit paranoid about mites and viruses. I don't want to medicate if I don't have to, but I'd like to get the bees through one year.
So far the no gloves experiment is going well. I've been stung less than last year--only once so far.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Latest status
I was able to find the red marked hybrid queen. She has apparently been laying a lot since there are lots of uncapped larvae. There are also lots of drones left over from the old queen. The new queen is working on about 5 frames. There is still syrup in the bucket so I am going to leave her alone until next week I think.
I was able to find the unmarked Italian queen laying eggs in the upper box. The bees are working 2-3 frames in the upper box. The lower box has about 6 frames of brood: capped, uncapped and eggs and some honey and pollen around the edges of the brood. Overall this queen is looking really good. Again there is still syrup in the bucket so I think I can leave her alone until next weekend.
The temperature today is about 80 degrees so I don't think my inspection disturbed the larvae too much. We'll see how things look next weekend.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Checking in again
Since I'll be gone for a week I figured I should check in on my 2 hives. The hybrid queen was walking around looking healthy so I can leave her to get started. The Italian queen has 4 frames of brood going and is still laying eggs. I put another box on top so she won't get crowded while I'm gone. She'll also get a new bucket of syrup before I leave.
I like working without gloves. I find I get stung less often since I can feel the bee before crushing it. Working with just the veil is cooler as well.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Another check on Sunday June 9
I checked on the hybrid queen. She was still in her cage, but they were working on releasing her. I let her out since they should be ready for her now.
I also checked on the queen in the other package. She is doing a great job. At least 3 frames of brood with a nice even pattern. By comparison the other Italian queen is a real dud. I'm glad that I replaced her.
I think in a couple of days I'll add another box to the Italian package. I'll wait a bit longer to do anything with the Russian hybrid, I think.
I also checked on the queen in the other package. She is doing a great job. At least 3 frames of brood with a nice even pattern. By comparison the other Italian queen is a real dud. I'm glad that I replaced her.
I think in a couple of days I'll add another box to the Italian package. I'll wait a bit longer to do anything with the Russian hybrid, I think.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Requeening
I removed the queen from the hive on Wednesday and replaced her with a Russian hybrid from the Honey Exchange on Thursday. It's supposed to rain for a couple of days so I'll check on the hive when the weather improves.
I gave both hives syrup with fumigilin just to be on the safe side.
Just for a laugh--when I looked into the hives last it looked like there was mold growing! There was gray stuff in some cells. Then I noticed some of the pollen baskets on the bees were gray. I looked it up. Blackberries yield gray pollen so I should see a lot of that.
I need to find a source for Hop Guard that doesn't sell it in 50 units.
I gave both hives syrup with fumigilin just to be on the safe side.
Just for a laugh--when I looked into the hives last it looked like there was mold growing! There was gray stuff in some cells. Then I noticed some of the pollen baskets on the bees were gray. I looked it up. Blackberries yield gray pollen so I should see a lot of that.
I need to find a source for Hop Guard that doesn't sell it in 50 units.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Two Queens
I went looking for queens in both hives today and found them!
I didn't think there was a queen in my first package, but I saw her today, and it's too soon for it to be a supersedure so she is probably the one that came with the package on 5/18. I don't think she's doing a very good job though.
I think the queen from the other package is producing more eggs in a better pattern. I got her on 5/23, and she has more frames working.
I'll check them again next week and see if I should think about replacing her.
I didn't think there was a queen in my first package, but I saw her today, and it's too soon for it to be a supersedure so she is probably the one that came with the package on 5/18. I don't think she's doing a very good job though.
I think the queen from the other package is producing more eggs in a better pattern. I got her on 5/23, and she has more frames working.
I'll check them again next week and see if I should think about replacing her.
Friday, May 24, 2013
New Packages
I picked up a package from Erin Forbes last Saturday. It is from Rossman Apiaries and looked really good. Very few dead bees in the bottom. I brought them home and installed them in a medium box. Strangely the cork in the end opposite the candy was crooked and had no candy plug so I wound up taking the cork out of the other end and making a small hole in the candy on that end.
I opened the hive up on Monday to see if the queen was out yet, but she was not so I put her back. Otherwise everything looked normal.
Yesterday (Thursday) I opened the hive up and found the queen cage empty. I looked through several frames before I found some eggs. Yay! The bees were drawing comb and putting in nectar.
They also had started a queen cup 1/3 of the way from the top of the frame--not a swarm cell, apparently a supersedure cell. I guess they are not happy with their new queen? I'm going to leave them alone for now. The weather has been too rainy and cool to do much besides feed them
Yesterday I picked up a package from Brown's Bee Farm. Also Georgia bees, but not from Rossman. I should copy over the information from the box. There were some dead bees on the bottom of the package, but not a huge amount. A good cluster formed around the queen cage.
Again the cork opposite the candy was crooked and had no candy plug. The queen also seemed to have a lot of attendants. I don't know if that means anything or not. I did the same thing with this queen cage and pulled the cork on the end with the candy and dug out some of the candy so the bees should have an easier time freeing her. It's supposed to rain all weekend so I won't be able to look in on them until Monday.
Both hives have buckets of 1:1 syrup with a feeding supplement. One medium box with screened bottom and telescoping top.
I have been trying out the uniform that I noticed the master beekeepers wore at the Open Hive at the beginning of May--a veil, but no gloves. It is actually easier not to squish a bee if you can feel it before closing your fingers on it. The only thing is they had their veils attached to jackets/shirts so no bees in the armpits:) That's the thought that freaks me out when I'm working with the veil. I can keep the bees out of my face and hair, but I'm usually wearing a t-shirt if it's warm and getting stung in the armpit seems like such an awful thought. Maybe it has to happen so I can get over it. No stings so far this year so I'm doing better than last year.
I opened the hive up on Monday to see if the queen was out yet, but she was not so I put her back. Otherwise everything looked normal.
Yesterday (Thursday) I opened the hive up and found the queen cage empty. I looked through several frames before I found some eggs. Yay! The bees were drawing comb and putting in nectar.
They also had started a queen cup 1/3 of the way from the top of the frame--not a swarm cell, apparently a supersedure cell. I guess they are not happy with their new queen? I'm going to leave them alone for now. The weather has been too rainy and cool to do much besides feed them
Yesterday I picked up a package from Brown's Bee Farm. Also Georgia bees, but not from Rossman. I should copy over the information from the box. There were some dead bees on the bottom of the package, but not a huge amount. A good cluster formed around the queen cage.
Again the cork opposite the candy was crooked and had no candy plug. The queen also seemed to have a lot of attendants. I don't know if that means anything or not. I did the same thing with this queen cage and pulled the cork on the end with the candy and dug out some of the candy so the bees should have an easier time freeing her. It's supposed to rain all weekend so I won't be able to look in on them until Monday.
Both hives have buckets of 1:1 syrup with a feeding supplement. One medium box with screened bottom and telescoping top.
I have been trying out the uniform that I noticed the master beekeepers wore at the Open Hive at the beginning of May--a veil, but no gloves. It is actually easier not to squish a bee if you can feel it before closing your fingers on it. The only thing is they had their veils attached to jackets/shirts so no bees in the armpits:) That's the thought that freaks me out when I'm working with the veil. I can keep the bees out of my face and hair, but I'm usually wearing a t-shirt if it's warm and getting stung in the armpit seems like such an awful thought. Maybe it has to happen so I can get over it. No stings so far this year so I'm doing better than last year.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Artificial Swarm Seminar
Last night I went to a seminar given by Erin Forbes about using an Artificial Swarm to strength a hive and break the brood cycle. I paid the extra premium and got a medium nuc box as well. Erin had issues with getting her slides right, but the material was really good, and I liked her style of presentation. It could have been really boring if she had used her slides exclusively, but mostly they were just a supplement to her words. She plugged a British beekeeping journal called Bee Craft that usually has an article each spring dealing with Artificial Swarms as a management technique. See http://www.bee-craft.com/ and http://www.motherearthnews.com/honeybees-beekeeping/performing-an-artificial-swarm.aspx#axzz2Ow3okva4 or http://www.cornwallhoney.co.uk/beepedia/artificial.htm or http://galwaybeekeepers.com/artificial-swarm/
She recommends Apilife Var in the fall, because it is very effective, but says with the Artificial Swarm technique, she does not use any other mite treatments. Also the latest research on sugar dusting shows that it is ineffective against varroa mites and can actually have adverse side effects. A newer treatment that can be used at any temperature and with honey supers is HopGuard which Erin says is messy, but not disruptive like the thymol-based treatments or lethal to brood like the formic-acid treatments. Another tool in the arsenal. I will be using it for my packages when they come in.
Erin is also doing a SARE project that will hopefully lead to the development of nuc producing locally to avoid trucking in packages from down South and spreading bee diseases across the country.
She said in the 70's 18% of hives in Maine had AFB so using old equipment can be a high risk since the AFB spores can last 70 years.
Overall it was an evening well spent, and I'm glad I joined the York County Beekeeping club or I would never have known about it. Some of the emails that circulate are also informative so that was money well spent as well. I should have done it sooner. I will be going to open hive meetings to learn some more. I had thought reading books would be enough, but I was wrong about that. The material in the books is a few years old, and things in beekeeping are changing each year. Books are helpful, but not enough.
Erin also had a picture of a Bee Brief that she said is very helpful. See http://www.hillsidebees.com/Four-Frame-Plastic-Nuc-Box-p/ww-003.htm OK. Not necessary, but a cool toy.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
New Links
I tried adding some more links to my list, but I'm getting a form error from Blogger.
Whatever. The links are
http://www.thewarrestore.com/ which has information on Warre hives.
http://www.beethinking.com/ which sells top bar and Warre hives.
http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/varroa/varroa2.htm for more organic treatments for varroa.
http://www.wolfcreekbees.com/Alt_ChemicalBeekeeping.pdf
http://www.wolfcreekbees.com/Organic_Treatments.pdf
http://www.wolfcreekbees.com/Bee_Candy.pdf
Whatever. The links are
http://www.thewarrestore.com/ which has information on Warre hives.
http://www.beethinking.com/ which sells top bar and Warre hives.
http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/varroa/varroa2.htm for more organic treatments for varroa.
http://www.wolfcreekbees.com/Alt_ChemicalBeekeeping.pdf
http://www.wolfcreekbees.com/Organic_Treatments.pdf
http://www.wolfcreekbees.com/Bee_Candy.pdf
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Post Mortem
Sad to say that the hive is dead. I opened it up to find that it is still full of food stores, but the bees inside are dead--still in a cluster in the bottom box.
Now I need to look up how to clean up the hive for the coming season.
Now I need to look up how to clean up the hive for the coming season.
End of Year One
We had a cold snap where the temperature went down to -7. After that there was only silence in the hive. I think the cluster was too small to sustain enough warmth.
I had checked the hive a couple of weeks before to make sure that it had enough food, and it looked as if they had enough stores.
It's really discouraging to see boxes full of honey, but no bees left because of viruses.
I will do a post-mortem today. Perfect spring weather.
I got a robbing screen for Christmas, and I'll make sure to use it when doing the mite treatments. I think that's part of the reason for the small cluster. I'm going to use it as a template for making another one.
I have placed orders for a couple of packages so I can try again this spring. Hopefully I have learned enough to help them fight off the mites and viruses this year.
I had checked the hive a couple of weeks before to make sure that it had enough food, and it looked as if they had enough stores.
It's really discouraging to see boxes full of honey, but no bees left because of viruses.
I will do a post-mortem today. Perfect spring weather.
I got a robbing screen for Christmas, and I'll make sure to use it when doing the mite treatments. I think that's part of the reason for the small cluster. I'm going to use it as a template for making another one.
I have placed orders for a couple of packages so I can try again this spring. Hopefully I have learned enough to help them fight off the mites and viruses this year.
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