Super 2

It turns out that this has been a spectacular year to start beekeeping.  After having added the first super, i was disappointed that the bees didn't seem to be moving up into it.  There was very little wax being put down, and I was afraid that they had slowed down.  But recently there has been steady progress, and then suddenly they had 7 frames drawn out with nectar already in it.  So I put together two more supers and put the second one on today!

I'm so proud of the girls.  It's not even August yet, and they've nearly filled their first super.  We're gonna have honey this year for sure.  I can only imagine how many supers they'd have filled if they hadn't spent so much energy producing all that honeycomb.

They have gotten pretty aggressive because the hive has so much honey in it.  I got stung and swarmed a few days ago trying to clean up all the cross comb.  I didn't realize it, but my sweatshirt had probably 20 stingers in it, which was why i was getting swarmed.  And I had one get up under my veil.  I didn't feel her until she was crawling up my neck onto my  cheek.  I immediately got away from the hive but ended up getting stung right in front of my ear.  Lucky for me, there wasn't much skin there to swell.  So I've learned to keep my veil tighter . . . and smoke the little buggers.

The story of honeybees and their importance in sustaining life

Honeybees in peril.  They're kind of fragile little things . . . if you hadn't already noticed.

http://www.naturalnews.com/041194_honeybees_neonicotinoids_pesticides.html

Reduce No More

Thanks to Carolina for taking a look at the blog.  She noticed that I still had my reducer on and told me that it was more than time to take it off.  I had kind of been thinking that since all the hives I'd visited were missing their reducers.  But the girls have been so busy and I haven't had a day that I was up early enough, or remembered late enough, or dry . . . blah blah blah.  I took the reducer out today.

Reducer removed for summer!

I also took a peek at the frames in the super.  There didn't appear to be any new comb, which is a bit distressing.  So I took them out one by one and there was a bit of new wax.  There was a lot more activity, and i could also even see some nectar already in the half built comb.  This made me feel a lot better.  The hive body seems to be stuffed, so I'm glad the girls have FINALLY moved up and are drawing out the super frames.  Honey for ME!!!  I'm feeling pretty blessed that it's such a great summer for the bees.  I hope mine turns out half as well.

Queen Marking

I was pleased to be able to attend a "Queen Marking" class today with Carolina and Crystal.  I really just wanted to be able to do something with the NCBA and ask some questions of some experienced beekeepers.

The "not-supposed-to-be-irrigated-tick-hive"

As it turned out the "non-irrigated hive" was being irrigated, so we had to walk quite a ways around the field to get to it.  It wasn't long before we found the "Tick Hive", as the "non-irrigated hive" has been dubbed, was aptly named.  Shortly after having opened the hive, Carolina squished a tick that was crawling along one of the frames.  (I found one crawling on my arm later when I was sitting in church)

Inspecting frames

This hive had been recently re-queened, because the package queen wasn't performing very well.  Carolina showed us the shotgun brood pattern that still existed.  She also pointed out eggs and larvae for those who hadn't seen them.  It was also good to see that she noticed a potentially alarming sick larvae.  It was kind of crystallized in the comb, which could be a problem, and something a beekeeper should keep an eye out for.  We didn't see any others, so it's likely just an anomaly.

Crystal, happy to answer "new-bees" questions

Carolina and Crystal are great to work with.  They are both really knowledgeable and so willing to answer questions.  I shot a bunch of video which I hope to have a chance to cut down soon.

Carolina at work

And then we started the queen marking since that's why we'd assembled to begin with.  Part of the reason to mark your queen is to be able to understand who is in your hive.  Marking the queen identifies her by year, and let's the beekeeper know if a new queen is present.

The international color code is:

White:  for years 1 or 6

Yellow:  for years 2 or 7

Red:  for years 3 or 8

Green:  for years 4 or 9

Blue:  for years 5 or 0

Carolina had actually brought green model paint since we would be practicing on worker bees.  With a plastic marking tube she managed to corral the queen.  It simply a matter of gently pushing the foam plunger to the mesh end of the marking tube and carefully trapping her with her back exposed.  Carolina explained the best tool to use to apply the paint is the stick end of a match.  They hold just the right amount of paint which applied directly to her thorax.  I think we waited a minute for the paint to dry before releasing the plunger so she could at least move around the marking tube.

Capturing is the hardest part

Most everyone tried capturing worker bees and marking them.  It was interesting to see how the distressed freshly painted bee, called for help and was attended to by other unpainted workers.  They don't seem to like it, but as long as you don't use too much paint, it's not particularly harmful.

Don't squish her!!

We put the hive back together, and Carolina added a SEVENTH super on top of the rockstar hive next door.  It's a fantastic year for bees and they are flourishing!

A super frame FULL of nectar

Super Seven!

Thanks so much to Carolina and Crystal from the NCBA!  It's been a joy to get to know you and learn from you both!

Super Day

I took the time to get back into the hive today.  I just pulled the top frames to check the brood pattern.  They looked great.  There were lots of larvae on a few frames and a few others had babies emerging.  They seem really healthy!  I was also pleased to see how much comb had been drawn out in the last two weeks.

As I continued pulling frames, I was ecstatic to see two or three frames that were nearly full of capped honey!  I could tell before I even got them out that they were pretty full because they are so heavy!  They are beautiful to hold up in the light and see the bright color. 

I am so pleased with the bees.  They are working so hard and doing so well.  Their spot under the lilacs seems just about perfect as it keeps them shaded, and keeps their flight path in our front yard.  They go right up into the sky in the space between our trees and the lilacs.  Even with 30,000 of them coming and going you really don't notice them.

New super frames being added

I also realized that they only have about three frames to go, so I already need to put on my first super!  And it's not even July yet!  I'm pretty sure we'll have honey to harvest this year!  I went and got the queen excluder and the super frame.  I installed them with 5 small frames.  I'll check the super again before we leave for the Beartooths, and see if they've started on them.  If they have I'll add the rest of the super frames.

A shallow super on top of our growing hive

 

Gulley's Hive Tour

I noticed on Facebook that Gulley's Greenhouse was having a hive tour.  It's a great chance to look into someone else's hive and ask some questions of a more experienced bee keeper.

Traffic at the hive entrace

I took my veil and hard hat and was joined by about five other people.  Everyone suited up and the beekeepers seemed like a really nice husband and wife team.  They had about six hives on the west side of the greenhouse property.  I'm always surprised to see hives in such close proximity.  It seems to me that it's an easy way for disease and parasites to spread.  They had yellow and blue hives, sitting in pairs.  And they had them elevated on cinder blocks.  It was just about bee-thirty, so there was a lot of activity.

It's interesting to watch people who are brand new to bees and their understandable caution.  The older couple and the two young girls stood off a bit.  But already being comfortable, I got right next to the hive so I could see in.

Healthy "bull's eye" brood pattern in a plastic frame

They pulled the super and pried off the queen excluder.  I couldn't believe how dirty it was!!  My hive being brand new is still so clean.  These hives were a sticky dark mess!  I'm sure this is how mine will look eventually, but I was very surprised.  The bees were healthy, happy, and busy.  The comb was very dark, having a lived in look.  They pulled out a frame and it was good to see the bull's eye pattern of brood.  A healthy queen will lay primarily in the center of the frame, and the workers will fill around the corners with honey and pollen.  It was a good reminder that I need to check my kids next time I'm in the hive.

I also noticed that their frames fit really tight.  I almost have enough room to fit an eleventh frame in my hive bodies.  It was also interesting to see that he was using a 10 inch knife instead of a hive tool.  I like how beekeepers are inventive and resourceful caretakers.  I also asked what they use for smoker fuel, but after seeing how poorly the grass and leaves lit and smoked, I might keep buying the commercial pellets.  Even though they don't last very long, they smoke great, and perhaps I can find something to supplement/extend the smoking time.

Dark honey scraped open

When he pulled a second frame from the edge, it scraped on the one next to it opening a lot of honey.  It was dripping down onto the bees before he could even get it out.  It was a really dark honey, unlike mine which is nearly white in comparison.  Of course they were pleased to share and we all had a taste!  It was delicious!  It definitely had a different taste than mine.  It was a deeper rich honey.  Mine is so light and delicate.  I can't wait to be able to harvest more than a taste!

Honey to taste!

It was so great to be able to ask some of the questions that I have now, since we're half way through the first season.  They said that they only leave 4 frames per body for the bees to winter over.  That seems like way too much to take to me, but I am definitely not the experienced beekeeper.  It was also interesting to hear that they lost about 80% of their 15 or so hives last year.  Last year was especially rough for the bees last year because the fires were so intense.  Smoke makes the bees gorge on honey in the hive as they fuel up anticipating having to flee the hive.  But this also makes them a bit lethargic and they don't forage.  It's a definite recipe for colony failure so I'm glad we're starting this year instead of last.

It was also good to hear that they put the bottom board back in and insulate the hives for winter.  There are just so many little things that you begin to wonder about as you go through the year.  Beekeepers seem to be a really friendly bunch and are always willing to share their knowledge. The plight of our pollinators is something everyone is taking seriously and everyone is working towards educating people.

After the tour, I went back into the greenhouse to find some more Salvia and purple stuff.  My bees are on it and the Lavender all the time.  I got a bunch of stuff and some orange things too . . . since it compliments the purple house.  It'll be nice to get it onto the flower beds and see what the bees think!

All of these pictures are from Gulley's Facebook page.  So thanks to them for posting.

The Girls are BUSY

The evening rush at the hive entrance

It's so amazing to see just how hard bees really work.  They are busy expanding into the second hive body.  There is a constant stream of air traffic coming and going from the lilacs.  I took some pictures at "Bee Thirty" which is about 530pm in people time.

They seem to be happy and thriving.  So I'm very pleased with this colony so far.