My Bees are Famous!

They've only been here a month, but my bees are already famous!  I saw a post of facebook about some hives that had been seized in Illinois, with a photo of a rather familiar looking queen.  I double checked, and sure enough, it was one of my photos.

Illinois Seizes Bees Resistant to Roundup

We're Famous

Newbees

As promised, here's a picture of the of the newbies.

1. is a young bee.  They are slightly smaller and fuzzier.  They also seem a little bit grey to me.

2. is two tiny holes in the capping that a baby bee is chewing through to get out.

3. is a bee that has just chewed through her whole cap and is emerging into the hive.

So awesome to see!  It's exciting and brand new for me each time I open the hive.

Adding a second hive body

I also added my second hive body today.  The bees have filled out 8 of their frames, so I decided it was time to go ahead and double their space.

Grey & Black Mold inside the Outer Cover. (Notice the condensation from the Inner Cover)

I'm also going to try to deal with the mold today.  This can't be good for the bees.  The top feeder I'm using has caused a great deal of evaporation.  The water then condenses on the hive lid, and being in such close proximity to the sugar water, it's been growing mold on the sides of the feeding and the lid.  I've cleaned the feeder, and left the lid out to dry for a while, but the mold has persisted.  So today I'm going to scrub the lid and bleach it to hopefully kill the mold.  Then I'm going to paint it.  This way if I do get mold again, it will at least be easy to wipe off.

Hopefully this will not become a health issue for my colony.

Babies!!

I did a hive inspection today and noticed there were NEW BEES!!!  The babies are hatching!  I first noticed them on a frame because they looked a bit smaller and a bit grey.  Bees lose hair as they age, so the babies are definitely fuzzier.  To confirm that what I was seeing was actually new bees, I looked closely at the comb to see if I could see any cells that looked like they had been recently uncapped.  I was very surprised to see a young bee actually chewing her way out!!  It was really exciting to see one being born, and then another and another!

It's really amazing to see the life cycle of these tiny creatures.

I'll try to get pictures next time I'm out there.  I had chicken on the BBQ so I was trying to hurry . . . and not get stung ;)

The Sting at 72 hours

Bee Sting at 72 hours

I woke up this morning, 72 hours after being stung and could barely walk.  The swelling had gotten worse again overnight and the aching was terrible.  We had to get to The Studio for preregistration, so I limped around the house and got some ibuprophen and got ready to go.  We took an ice pack too, and I sat with it elevated and kept the ice on it.  This really helped the swelling and with the swelling went the ache.  Then it started itching!!!  This was the first of the itch . . . much akin to having your extremities rewarm after being out in the cold too long.

So it would seem that I'm perhaps moderately allergic to bee venom.  I'm very grateful it's nothing like real anaphylaxis.  That would be terrifying.

So the moral of the story is:  Don't approach the hive from the front wearing shorts.  Doh!

I got STUNG!!

Bee Sting in the first hour

It was only a matter of time, but I got my first sting from one of my days today.  I was walking up to the hive, wearing shorts and sandals, when one came barreling out of the entrance and ran right into my leg.  She stuck to my ankle and I quickly tried to brush her off, but she was still stuck. Before I could get her off she had stung me.  I moved away from the hive as quickly as possible and had the stinger removed in a matter of seconds.

The sting really wasn't that bad, but by evening it was swelling and aching as if I'd been hit with a hammer.  A half dollar size welt/bruise seems to be pretty normal for a bee sting reaction, but my swelling and redness was in the softball size realm.

Bee Sting at 24 hours

It seems that the swelling is causing most of the pain.  This is the ankle that took a serious shot in a bike wreck a few months ago, which makes me wonder if perhaps the effects of the sting are being amplified.  In either case, the sting really wasn't so bad, it's the swelling induced aching and stiffness that's been miserable.  I'll keep you posted.

Queen Sighting

Chillin' on the smoker

After having read more from the NCBA's Mentor Blogs, I decided I should probably check the bees sooner rather than later.  They burned through 8 cups of sugar water in less than 48hours.  Knowing that they don't have a lot of comb built, I wanted to check to be sure the girls aren't crowding the queen out by hoarding syrup.

Newly capped brood & pollen

Inside the hive I found more and deeper comb that I'd seen last weekend.  And as you can see above, a lot of the brood has been capped.  If you look closely you can still see a few larvae.  This was exciting for me to see, as I've been waiting for it to happen.  It also means I'll have my first new bees in the hive soon!

I also wanted to find the queen, if for no other reason just to get a look at her.  I'd been advised that I'd see her by the behavior of the bees around her.  I inspected frames and saw new eggs and new honey.  I am even pretty sure I saw a drone.  Then on my second to last frame, THERE SHE WAS!!

Carniolan Queen Bee in the hive

And I thought, "Oh yeah, how could I miss her.  She's the big black one that all the others get out of the way for."  After I had spotted her it was easy to see how the other bees tried to keep out of her way.

Apis Mellifera Carnica Queen inspecting comb

I could tell she was inspecting the comb for empty cells to lay more eggs in.  She wasn't having much luck, so I'll probably wait a few days before I give them any more syrup.  Hopefully this will slow their storage, and give them time to keep building comb.  It was a huge relief to spot her and a I feel confident I could find her again.

Carniolan Queen Bee

Her big black body made me think of the Xenomorph's in "Alien".

NBC Nightly News - Bee Shortage

NBC News had a story on last night about Colony Collapse Disorder and how the Bee Shortage Threatens Farmland.

First inspection . . . EVER!!

Carniolan Worker Bee with Pollen

 

I'm so happy to see significant activity at the hive entrance.  The bees are bringing back loads of pollen.  It's really interesting to see how some of it is really orange and some of the pollen is a much more pale yellow.

I stand and watch the hive from about 5 feet away at the edge of our lilacs, and it feels like you're in the airspace of a busy airport as the bees lumber right past your ears.

I was finally able to get my veils and my smoker came, so I've been anxiously awaiting a warm dry day that I'd be able to do my first hive inspection.  I smoked the entrance and the feeder, then cracked open the hive and gave it a few puffs before closing it again.  They reacted angrily, but I think it was really more to the disturbance of air, than they actually recognized me as a threat.

I was thrilled with what I found in the hive.  None of the frames were completely filled out, but the girls had made a good start on 6 of the 10.  I'd say they probably have 4 completely full if you could consolidate them all.  Pretty impressive considering these are all still package bees.  They won't have reinforcements for at least another week and a half.

Larvae in the comb

It's really important that you can confirm that the queen is laying eggs and the colony is off to a good start.  In this picture (click it for a larger view) you can actually see larvae growing (lower left half)!  This was a huge relief for me just to know things are going well so far.

The bees were super tolerant and even though my smoker died, I was able to pull out each frame and inspect it without any guard bees getting angry.  And I took the time to take pictures.

Eggs, Pollen, and New Honey

In this picture you can see orange pollen in the comb (in the middle).  Below the pollen you can see the shine of new uncapped honey.  They bees will wait for it to dehydrate before capping it off to preserve it.  If you look closely above the pollen, you can see eggs in comb!  This is another great indicator that the queen is doing well.  In fact, that might be her at the top left three bees down.  Carniolan queens are notoriously hard to spot because they have slightly darker bodies and are nearly the same size as the worker bees.  When I first saw her in her package my first thought was "Really?! I'll never be able to find her again."

I'm sure as I'm able to spend more time with them, she'll reveal herself either in photos or in the behavior of the bees.  I try to work quickly to keep from stressing them, but I do check them every day, mostly because I'm excited about them.

Springtime in the Rockies

I feel bad for the girls.  They are getting a proper introduction to springtime in the Rocky Mountains as we've gotten nearly another foot of snow (the bee package came from CA).  It's melting fast, and there are ice crystals in their feeder.  I've seen noticeable dead loss at the entrance. I think the bees are pushing out their frozen sisters.

I peeked under the feeder and they were still moving, but definitely looked cold and miserable.  I think the snow will be gone in the next 24 hours, so hopefully it will warm up quickly.

Red Helper "Bee"

I got flowers at home depot and got them all potted and a few outside to help feed the bees, but they are all in the airlock now, to keep them from freezing as well.  Rocket doesn't mind, she likes playing in the snow.

Springtime

Here's he freshly painted and assembled adirondack chairs.  At least I got the garden tilled again before it got wet.