In my apairy there are currently:
:: Three new nucs (N5,6,7)
:: Three strong hives with healthy queens (H3,4,5)
:: One hive with declining queen (H1)
:: One hive raising a new queen (H6)
:: Eight honey supers
I also recently assembled and painted additional equipment including 5 deeps (to cover pail feeders) and three shallow supers. I will be ordering more deep frames, shallow frames, shallow foundation and wax foundation pins for the fall flow.
Sign at the street says "Local Raw Honey". =)
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
2012 Nuc #7
Hive status: Raising a new queen (I hope)
Hive origin: New Nuc in August 2012
Queen type: Raised in 2012 from eggs from overwintered Hive #6 (Italian)
Significant events/observations:
8/11/12: Nuc created from 3 frames from Hive #6 (eggs, brood, food). Not sure if there were enough eggs, will have to check and perhaps grab a new frame of eggs.
8/25/12: Nuc still together but no queen cells. Added eggs from Hive #5.
9/29/12: Nuc empty and robbed out. Moved queen and two frames of brood from Hive #4 (robbed out) to this nuc and started newspaper combine with Nuc #5.
Hive origin: New Nuc in August 2012
Queen type: Raised in 2012 from eggs from overwintered Hive #6 (Italian)
Significant events/observations:
8/11/12: Nuc created from 3 frames from Hive #6 (eggs, brood, food). Not sure if there were enough eggs, will have to check and perhaps grab a new frame of eggs.
8/25/12: Nuc still together but no queen cells. Added eggs from Hive #5.
9/29/12: Nuc empty and robbed out. Moved queen and two frames of brood from Hive #4 (robbed out) to this nuc and started newspaper combine with Nuc #5.
2012 Nuc #6
Hive status: Raising a new queen (I hope)
Hive origin: New Nuc in August 2012
Queen type: Raised in 2012 from eggs from overwintered Hive #4 (Italian from CA package)
Significant events/observations:
8/11/12: Nuc created from 3 frames from Hive #4 (eggs, brood, food)
8/25/12: Nuc died and was robbed out. Moved frame with approx. 10 queen cells on it from Hive #6 over with bees and brood. Some of the cells were a tad smushed, so hopefully one healthy queen emerges. This nuc should have a head start on the N5 and N7, which just received eggs. Added entrance reducer to prevent robbing.
9/29/12: Nuc was empty and robbed out.
Hive origin: New Nuc in August 2012
Queen type: Raised in 2012 from eggs from overwintered Hive #4 (Italian from CA package)
Significant events/observations:
8/11/12: Nuc created from 3 frames from Hive #4 (eggs, brood, food)
8/25/12: Nuc died and was robbed out. Moved frame with approx. 10 queen cells on it from Hive #6 over with bees and brood. Some of the cells were a tad smushed, so hopefully one healthy queen emerges. This nuc should have a head start on the N5 and N7, which just received eggs. Added entrance reducer to prevent robbing.
9/29/12: Nuc was empty and robbed out.
2012 Nuc #5
Hive status: Raising a new queen (I hope)
Hive origin: New Nuc in August 2012
Queen type: Raised in 2012 from eggs from overwintered Hive #4 (Italian from CA package)
Significant events/observations:
8/11/12: Nuc created from 3 frames from Hive #4 (eggs, brood, food)
8/25/12: Nuc died and was robbed out. Moved 2 frames of eggs from Hive #3 and added entrance reducer to prevent robbing.
9/29/12: Small colony, no queen. Added queen and two frames of brood from Hive #4 (robbed out) to Nuc #7 and started newspaper combine with this nuc.
Hive origin: New Nuc in August 2012
Queen type: Raised in 2012 from eggs from overwintered Hive #4 (Italian from CA package)
Significant events/observations:
8/11/12: Nuc created from 3 frames from Hive #4 (eggs, brood, food)
8/25/12: Nuc died and was robbed out. Moved 2 frames of eggs from Hive #3 and added entrance reducer to prevent robbing.
9/29/12: Small colony, no queen. Added queen and two frames of brood from Hive #4 (robbed out) to Nuc #7 and started newspaper combine with this nuc.
Monday, July 30, 2012
2012 Hive #6
Hive status: New nuc in 2012
Hive origin: Swarm caught by Alan 2012, combined with 2012 Nuc 2.
Queen type: Swarmed 2012
Significant events/observations:
5/28/12: Originally given this colony by Alan. I got to keep the colony and return the nuc box to him. I cleared out the nuc in two stages over the weekend:
6/2/12: Combined with 2012 Nuc 2 which had no laying queen and was in a single deep. Used a single sheet of newspaper with tiny holes punch in it between the separate colonies each in their own single deep. Hive #6 was left in place and Nuc 2 placed on top.
6/5/12: Hives had combined by chewing a hole in the newspaper, I removed the excess paper and saw the live queen.
6/22/12: Excellent brood pattern noted and nearly honeybound. Saw eggs so the queen is there. This hive needs a super!
6/28/12: Supered with 6 frames with foundation and 4 frames of capped honey from Hive #4 (to give that hive a bit of space). Added queen exluder beneath lone super.
7/8/12: Getting honey bound, queen only laying on 1 center frame of upper deep and in the lower deep. No new comb built on frames of wax foundation in the lone super. Swapped two deeps of honey with Hive #5 to allow more space for laying.
7/30/12: Queen cups noted in the upper deep, no eggs present. Queen is ok based on eggs/young larvae and brood pattern. Workers are bringing in nectar and building comb in the lone super. Some sunken caps noted - possible small amount of foulbrood?
8/13/12: Pulled 3 frames to a new nuc 7. Added a super of wax foundation. No sunken caps noted.
8/25/12: No eggs, no queen spotted. Capped queen cells present on two frames. One moved to Nuc #6, other frame with two capped queen cells left to requeen this hive. No new comb on foundation in super. With requeen, probably just need to pull that off and move it to a hive that needs it.
9/29/12: Brood spotty and chalky or foul brood. Poor queen, hive health suffering. Workers are bringing in nectar.
Hive origin: Swarm caught by Alan 2012, combined with 2012 Nuc 2.
Queen type: Swarmed 2012
Significant events/observations:
5/28/12: Originally given this colony by Alan. I got to keep the colony and return the nuc box to him. I cleared out the nuc in two stages over the weekend:
- On 5/27/12 I transferred the 4 frames that were in there into a 10 frame deep, inspected for the queen (did not see her, though eggs were present), and left near the entrance the nuc with one frame-sized comb attached to the wall. I added a "trap" frame that the queen could move to next to that comb in the nuc in case the queen was still in there and hopefully she'd move to the new frame for easy transfer to the new hive. I was just scared to crush the queen when trying to cut out that comb!
- On 5/28/12 I inspected the deep and found the first new eggs on a frame that wasn't in the nuc, then spotted the queen. She's a fat one! Now that I knew the queen was safe in the new hive I smoked all the bees out of the nuc and cut out that comb. It was half honey, half eggs or early larvae. I cut up the honey to eat as fresh cut comb honey and am sharing it today with coworkers.
6/2/12: Combined with 2012 Nuc 2 which had no laying queen and was in a single deep. Used a single sheet of newspaper with tiny holes punch in it between the separate colonies each in their own single deep. Hive #6 was left in place and Nuc 2 placed on top.
6/5/12: Hives had combined by chewing a hole in the newspaper, I removed the excess paper and saw the live queen.
6/22/12: Excellent brood pattern noted and nearly honeybound. Saw eggs so the queen is there. This hive needs a super!
6/28/12: Supered with 6 frames with foundation and 4 frames of capped honey from Hive #4 (to give that hive a bit of space). Added queen exluder beneath lone super.
7/8/12: Getting honey bound, queen only laying on 1 center frame of upper deep and in the lower deep. No new comb built on frames of wax foundation in the lone super. Swapped two deeps of honey with Hive #5 to allow more space for laying.
7/30/12: Queen cups noted in the upper deep, no eggs present. Queen is ok based on eggs/young larvae and brood pattern. Workers are bringing in nectar and building comb in the lone super. Some sunken caps noted - possible small amount of foulbrood?
8/13/12: Pulled 3 frames to a new nuc 7. Added a super of wax foundation. No sunken caps noted.
8/25/12: No eggs, no queen spotted. Capped queen cells present on two frames. One moved to Nuc #6, other frame with two capped queen cells left to requeen this hive. No new comb on foundation in super. With requeen, probably just need to pull that off and move it to a hive that needs it.
9/29/12: Brood spotty and chalky or foul brood. Poor queen, hive health suffering. Workers are bringing in nectar.
2012 Hive #5 (formerly Nuc #1)
Hive status: New nuc in 2012, Upgraded to single deep 5/20/12
Hive origin: Split from H4 2012, Combined with 2012 Hive 2
Queen type: 2012 Italian (from eggs from H4)
3/14/12: During an attempted laying worker fix for Hive #3 I found the year old queen who had stopped laying. I pulled her out and 2 frames of bees (frames with laying worker eggs) to start nuc N1, just in case she should resume laying (longshot!). I added some candy and pollen substitute.
4/15/12: Found the queen and no eggs/brood. She had failed and the bees failed to supercede her. I dispatched her and replaced two empty frames with two frames of brood containing eggs from hive #1.
4/29/12: Found a new queen, which was good news. The bad news was there was a varroa mite on her! I bothered the mite until it left. Hopefully she doesn't get a virus or bacterial infection from some mite bite. No eggs, probably not mated yet. There are tons of drones out now.
5/13/12: The new queen is laying! Brood on two frames, from eggs to larvae to recently capped. I must have missed seeing eggs that were there on 5/8/12. Soon I'll move them to a deep hive.
5/20/12: Moved to a single deep to give them more room. 3 and a half frames were brood, one was food, and only half of frame was empty.
6/2/12: Combined with 2012 Hive 2 which had no laying queen and was in a single deep. Used a single sheet of newspaper with tiny holes punch in it between the separate colonies each in their own single deep. Hive #2 was left in place and Hive #5 placed on top.
6/5/12: Hives had combined by chewing a hole in the newspaper, I removed the excess paper and saw the live queen in the upper deep. As the lower deep (formerly Hive #2) had more honey and little room for brood, I reversed the deeps.
6/22/12: Solid brood pattern, saw eggs so the queen is there. Could use a super in another week or so.
7/8/12: Good brood, eggs, very little honey - watch for starvation
7/30/12: Bringing in nectar - no longer a risk for starving. Did not inspect deeps.
8/25/12: Queen and eggs spotted. Frame of eggs moved to Nuc #7.
9/29/12: Room in single super. Nectar and honey in upper deep, did not inspect lower deep. Bees were mad, took 2 stings through gloves in 5 minutes. Did not see brood, but gave up due to aggression.
Hive origin: Split from H4 2012, Combined with 2012 Hive 2
Queen type: 2012 Italian (from eggs from H4)
3/14/12: During an attempted laying worker fix for Hive #3 I found the year old queen who had stopped laying. I pulled her out and 2 frames of bees (frames with laying worker eggs) to start nuc N1, just in case she should resume laying (longshot!). I added some candy and pollen substitute.
4/15/12: Found the queen and no eggs/brood. She had failed and the bees failed to supercede her. I dispatched her and replaced two empty frames with two frames of brood containing eggs from hive #1.
4/29/12: Found a new queen, which was good news. The bad news was there was a varroa mite on her! I bothered the mite until it left. Hopefully she doesn't get a virus or bacterial infection from some mite bite. No eggs, probably not mated yet. There are tons of drones out now.
5/13/12: The new queen is laying! Brood on two frames, from eggs to larvae to recently capped. I must have missed seeing eggs that were there on 5/8/12. Soon I'll move them to a deep hive.
5/20/12: Moved to a single deep to give them more room. 3 and a half frames were brood, one was food, and only half of frame was empty.
6/2/12: Combined with 2012 Hive 2 which had no laying queen and was in a single deep. Used a single sheet of newspaper with tiny holes punch in it between the separate colonies each in their own single deep. Hive #2 was left in place and Hive #5 placed on top.
6/5/12: Hives had combined by chewing a hole in the newspaper, I removed the excess paper and saw the live queen in the upper deep. As the lower deep (formerly Hive #2) had more honey and little room for brood, I reversed the deeps.
6/22/12: Solid brood pattern, saw eggs so the queen is there. Could use a super in another week or so.
7/8/12: Good brood, eggs, very little honey - watch for starvation
7/30/12: Bringing in nectar - no longer a risk for starving. Did not inspect deeps.
8/25/12: Queen and eggs spotted. Frame of eggs moved to Nuc #7.
9/29/12: Room in single super. Nectar and honey in upper deep, did not inspect lower deep. Bees were mad, took 2 stings through gloves in 5 minutes. Did not see brood, but gave up due to aggression.
2012 Hive #4
Hive status: Overwintered from 2011
Hive origin: Package in 2011
Queen type: Italian (from CA via Queen Right Colonies)
Significant events/observations:
3/11/12: The hive had a relatively large brood nest with eggs observed. This colony has sufficient bees and the most remaining honey and pollen after winter. It is a candidate for an early split to prevent swarming.
3/14/12: I removed two frames containing bees, brood, and eggs and placed them in Hive #3 to encourage that hive to raise a new queen during an attempted laying worker fix. I found the queen on another frame so I am sure she remained in H4.
3/21/12: Reversed deeps and removed entrance reducer. Added first honey super of the season and removed feeder.
4/15/12: Bees, bees, bees! This hive looks great, drawing comb, surplus honey and pollen, and no signs of swarming. Spotted the queen in the upper deep, so I added a queen excluder between the upper deep and the existing super, which she had been laying in. Once those bees emerge there will only be honey in the supers. I removed a shallow frame of capped drone comb and placed it in the freezer, which will hopefully help with mite control. I also added an empty honey super on top of that. Two frames of brood and eggs were moved into H3 just in case the new queen there is AWOL.
5/6/12: Lots of bees, starting to get crowded. Added a third honey super. One uncapped queen cell noted with royal jelly and larvae in it, at risk of swarming. I did not have time to go through both deeps so I'll have to followup soon and maybe split off some nucs if there are capped queen cells to try to prevent swarming.
5/8/12: Removed approx 8 queen cups from lower portion of deep frames in the upper deep, 2 of which contained eggs. The hive is trying to prepare to swarm, but the queen is still laying. Split off 3 frames of brood/eggs and 1 frame of food to create nuc N2 2012 to provide more space to reduce the urge to swarm.
5/21/12: Added a fourth honey super as there was no room left in the top (3rd) super. Went through entire hive and found one queen cell uncapped, maybe 5 or 6 days old. Removed it to Hive #3 along with a frame of food.
6/5/12: Spotted queen in upper deep. No signs of swarming. Added a 5th honey super and moved the lower super up into the middle of the supers as it had some brood. One frame of eggs was removed to 2012 Hive #3 which is queenless.
6/28/12: Replaced four frames of capped honey in one super with frames of wax foundation to give them a bit more space. Frames of honey went into a super on Hive #6. Added queen excluder.
7/1/12: Extracted 3 frames of capped honey. Returned two supers of drawn comb to the hive after extraction.
7/8/12: Bringing in honey, not drawing comb.
7/30/12: 3.5 supers of honey, drawing comb - doing great! Did not inspect deeps.
8/13/12: Filling lower deep with bee bread, restricting laying space. Removed 6 deep frames to start Nuc 5 and Nuc 6. Hopefully new queens will be good and I can requeen hives 1 and 3.
9/29/12: Hive was nearly robbed to death, not sure if it was week first. All four supers empty. So sorry I removed so many deeps to other nucs, which all failed. Lots of dead bees and yellow jackets seen in and around the hive. Witnessed robbing ongoing. Queen and tiny amount of brood found on two frames and relocated to Nuc #7 for combining with Nuc 5. Sealed off hive to protect comb from wax moths.
Hive origin: Package in 2011
Queen type: Italian (from CA via Queen Right Colonies)
Significant events/observations:
3/11/12: The hive had a relatively large brood nest with eggs observed. This colony has sufficient bees and the most remaining honey and pollen after winter. It is a candidate for an early split to prevent swarming.
3/14/12: I removed two frames containing bees, brood, and eggs and placed them in Hive #3 to encourage that hive to raise a new queen during an attempted laying worker fix. I found the queen on another frame so I am sure she remained in H4.
3/21/12: Reversed deeps and removed entrance reducer. Added first honey super of the season and removed feeder.
4/15/12: Bees, bees, bees! This hive looks great, drawing comb, surplus honey and pollen, and no signs of swarming. Spotted the queen in the upper deep, so I added a queen excluder between the upper deep and the existing super, which she had been laying in. Once those bees emerge there will only be honey in the supers. I removed a shallow frame of capped drone comb and placed it in the freezer, which will hopefully help with mite control. I also added an empty honey super on top of that. Two frames of brood and eggs were moved into H3 just in case the new queen there is AWOL.
5/6/12: Lots of bees, starting to get crowded. Added a third honey super. One uncapped queen cell noted with royal jelly and larvae in it, at risk of swarming. I did not have time to go through both deeps so I'll have to followup soon and maybe split off some nucs if there are capped queen cells to try to prevent swarming.
5/8/12: Removed approx 8 queen cups from lower portion of deep frames in the upper deep, 2 of which contained eggs. The hive is trying to prepare to swarm, but the queen is still laying. Split off 3 frames of brood/eggs and 1 frame of food to create nuc N2 2012 to provide more space to reduce the urge to swarm.
5/21/12: Added a fourth honey super as there was no room left in the top (3rd) super. Went through entire hive and found one queen cell uncapped, maybe 5 or 6 days old. Removed it to Hive #3 along with a frame of food.
6/5/12: Spotted queen in upper deep. No signs of swarming. Added a 5th honey super and moved the lower super up into the middle of the supers as it had some brood. One frame of eggs was removed to 2012 Hive #3 which is queenless.
6/28/12: Replaced four frames of capped honey in one super with frames of wax foundation to give them a bit more space. Frames of honey went into a super on Hive #6. Added queen excluder.
7/1/12: Extracted 3 frames of capped honey. Returned two supers of drawn comb to the hive after extraction.
7/8/12: Bringing in honey, not drawing comb.
7/30/12: 3.5 supers of honey, drawing comb - doing great! Did not inspect deeps.
8/13/12: Filling lower deep with bee bread, restricting laying space. Removed 6 deep frames to start Nuc 5 and Nuc 6. Hopefully new queens will be good and I can requeen hives 1 and 3.
9/29/12: Hive was nearly robbed to death, not sure if it was week first. All four supers empty. So sorry I removed so many deeps to other nucs, which all failed. Lots of dead bees and yellow jackets seen in and around the hive. Witnessed robbing ongoing. Queen and tiny amount of brood found on two frames and relocated to Nuc #7 for combining with Nuc 5. Sealed off hive to protect comb from wax moths.
2012 Hive #3
Hive status: Overwintered from 2011
Hive origin: Package in 2011
Queen type: Raised in 2012 from eggs from overwintered Hive #4 (Italian from CA package)
Significant events/observations:
3/11/12: Laying workers: The hive had a no brood and 1-3 day old eggs on a single frame. They were from laying workers as eggs were not at the bottom of the frame and were sometimes present in pairs. The hive is obviously not queen-right and was irritated during inspection with many more bees flying compared queen-right hives.
3/14/12: Attempted laying worker fix. On a sunny, dry, warm (68 F) afternoon I dumped every last bee out of the hive 25 yards from it's original location. The laying workers are young nurse bees oriented to the hive, so they should not be able to find their way back while the adult foragers just fly home to an empty hive. I added two frames of eggs from Hive #4 so they can hopefully raise up a new queen, which is tricky this early as there are not yet drones for her to mate with. Maybe in 16-20 days there will be? I cannot get a mated queen until mid-april and that might be too late. During the process I was surprised to find the old queen. I pulled her out and 2 frames of bees (frames with laying worker eggs) to start nuc N1, just in case she should resume laying (longshot!).
3/21/12: Added a second deep hive body on top with drawn comb and removed entrance reducer. It was too dark to inspect for queen cells on the two frames of eggs added.
4/1/12: Found a new queen, some remaining capped brood and no eggs. Hopefully she will find some drones and mate. The hive was much more tame and well behaved as it is now queen right.
4/15/12: No eggs yet, did not spot the queen. Hopefully she has mated and will begin laying soon. Still lots of bees in both deeps with plenty of room for the queen to lay. The bees are well-behaved, probably still queen-right. Just in case I swapped two empty frames for two frames with eggs and brood from hive #4.
4/29/12: The early queen must have failed, perhaps not enough drones to get mated. I found 3 queen cells nearly capped on one frame, one on another. Moved the frame with 1 queen cell into H2 which was newly queenless. Astounding quantity of bees for being queenless again.
5/6/12: The saga continues. Spotted 4 capped queen cells. Could they be new or the ones from 4/29 have not hatched out?
5/22/12: The hive is dying. No queen spotted, though 3 early stage supercedure cells were observed. Did a new queen lay 3 eggs each on a different frame and disappear? I combined the deeps into a single deep and added a frame with an almost capped queen cell plus one frame of food from Hive #4. Perhaps now they'll get a decent queen? This will be a candidate for further boosts/combines.
6/5/12: Still not queen right, no queen or eggs spotted. Moved ANOTHER frame of eggs from H4 over to try to get a queen in place.
6/14/12: About 4 queen cells present on the brood frame, all capped or nearly capped.
6/22/12: One capped queen cell present, others torn down. I'm surprised the queen has not emerged yet. If this one does not work out and Nuc #3 gets a laying queen, I'll combine them.
7/8/12: Tiny brood patch and queen removed to N4, combined with N3
7/30/12: After combining with N3 the upper deep is all honey. The queen is not doing well with spotty brood limited to only 4 or 5 frames in the lower deep. Need to re-queen.
8/25/12: Found this hive queen right and the queen laying fine, which was a surprise. Actually moved 2 frames of eggs to Nuc #5 and loosened the entrance reducer. Lots of bees in the two deeps, may actually finally get a super on this for the fall flow.
9/29/12: No comb drawn in single super. Queen laying well in upper deep, did not inspect lower deep.
Hive origin: Package in 2011
Queen type: Raised in 2012 from eggs from overwintered Hive #4 (Italian from CA package)
Significant events/observations:
3/11/12: Laying workers: The hive had a no brood and 1-3 day old eggs on a single frame. They were from laying workers as eggs were not at the bottom of the frame and were sometimes present in pairs. The hive is obviously not queen-right and was irritated during inspection with many more bees flying compared queen-right hives.
3/14/12: Attempted laying worker fix. On a sunny, dry, warm (68 F) afternoon I dumped every last bee out of the hive 25 yards from it's original location. The laying workers are young nurse bees oriented to the hive, so they should not be able to find their way back while the adult foragers just fly home to an empty hive. I added two frames of eggs from Hive #4 so they can hopefully raise up a new queen, which is tricky this early as there are not yet drones for her to mate with. Maybe in 16-20 days there will be? I cannot get a mated queen until mid-april and that might be too late. During the process I was surprised to find the old queen. I pulled her out and 2 frames of bees (frames with laying worker eggs) to start nuc N1, just in case she should resume laying (longshot!).
3/21/12: Added a second deep hive body on top with drawn comb and removed entrance reducer. It was too dark to inspect for queen cells on the two frames of eggs added.
4/1/12: Found a new queen, some remaining capped brood and no eggs. Hopefully she will find some drones and mate. The hive was much more tame and well behaved as it is now queen right.
4/15/12: No eggs yet, did not spot the queen. Hopefully she has mated and will begin laying soon. Still lots of bees in both deeps with plenty of room for the queen to lay. The bees are well-behaved, probably still queen-right. Just in case I swapped two empty frames for two frames with eggs and brood from hive #4.
4/29/12: The early queen must have failed, perhaps not enough drones to get mated. I found 3 queen cells nearly capped on one frame, one on another. Moved the frame with 1 queen cell into H2 which was newly queenless. Astounding quantity of bees for being queenless again.
5/6/12: The saga continues. Spotted 4 capped queen cells. Could they be new or the ones from 4/29 have not hatched out?
5/22/12: The hive is dying. No queen spotted, though 3 early stage supercedure cells were observed. Did a new queen lay 3 eggs each on a different frame and disappear? I combined the deeps into a single deep and added a frame with an almost capped queen cell plus one frame of food from Hive #4. Perhaps now they'll get a decent queen? This will be a candidate for further boosts/combines.
6/5/12: Still not queen right, no queen or eggs spotted. Moved ANOTHER frame of eggs from H4 over to try to get a queen in place.
6/14/12: About 4 queen cells present on the brood frame, all capped or nearly capped.
6/22/12: One capped queen cell present, others torn down. I'm surprised the queen has not emerged yet. If this one does not work out and Nuc #3 gets a laying queen, I'll combine them.
7/8/12: Tiny brood patch and queen removed to N4, combined with N3
7/30/12: After combining with N3 the upper deep is all honey. The queen is not doing well with spotty brood limited to only 4 or 5 frames in the lower deep. Need to re-queen.
8/25/12: Found this hive queen right and the queen laying fine, which was a surprise. Actually moved 2 frames of eggs to Nuc #5 and loosened the entrance reducer. Lots of bees in the two deeps, may actually finally get a super on this for the fall flow.
9/29/12: No comb drawn in single super. Queen laying well in upper deep, did not inspect lower deep.
2012 Hive #1
Hive status: Overwintered from 2011
Hive origin: Package in 2011
Queen type: Italian (from CA via Queen Right Colonies)
Significant events/observations:
3/11/12: The hive had a small brood nest with eggs and queen observed.
3/21/12: Reversed deeps and removed entrance reducer. Bees crowded and queen cups for swarm cells present. Added first honey super of the season and removed feeder.
4/15/12: Pulled two frames of brood with eggs for nuc #1 and replaced with empty drawn comb. A healthy hive, spring drones have arrived. Saw some varroa on bees.
5/6/12: Some queen cups removed, but no queen cells spotted. Brood on 4 center frames of the super. Added a second super. I don't have a spare queen excluder to add below the supers.
5/21/12: Went through 15 of 20 deep frames and both supers, not enough daylight to check the last 5 deeps. No sign of swarming, although the queen was laying in the first super, even in two foundationless wall frames, so tons of drones were emerging. I removed two frames of drone comb and replaced them with frames of plastic foundation. Added queen excluder between first super and upper deep, hopefully she is down below. The brood patterns on the deep frames were wall to wall! A very good laying queen. I'll need more supers soon.
5/22/12: Supered with partially full super from H2, which had more than enough space in their 2 deeps.
6/2/12: Verified queen is in lower deeps below queen excluder. Supers are filling nicely.
6/22/12: I had supered with 10 frames that had no foundation to give them more room. I checked that super for any comb for the second time (checked about a week ago) and there is still no comb drawn. I have ordered was foundation to fill several supers.
6/28/12: Replaced foundationless frames in top super with frames that have wax foundation. They would not draw out the foundationless frames.
7/1/12: Removed and extracted two supers of capped honey. Returned a single super of drawn comb to the hive post-extraction.
7/8/12: Not drawing new comb, filing empty supers of drawn comb nicely. Swapped a super of wax foundation with drawn comb.
7/30/12: New comb being drawn, 2 supers full of honey, some capped. Did not inspect deeps.
8/13/12: This hive is declining. I did not spot the queen or any eggs, the population is decreasing as the bees no longer seem crowded. Will need a new queen.
8/25/12: Queen spotted and laying a tiny bit, spotty brood pattern. Decision to requeen stands. Hopefully nucs 5-7 take so a combine can be done in Sept.
9/29/12: 1.5 of 3 supers are full of honey. Bees angry, still some room in the deeps. Spotted 6-7 day old larvae. Hopefully queen is ok. Did not requeen yet. Possibility for combining over the winter.
Hive origin: Package in 2011
Queen type: Italian (from CA via Queen Right Colonies)
Significant events/observations:
3/11/12: The hive had a small brood nest with eggs and queen observed.
3/21/12: Reversed deeps and removed entrance reducer. Bees crowded and queen cups for swarm cells present. Added first honey super of the season and removed feeder.
4/15/12: Pulled two frames of brood with eggs for nuc #1 and replaced with empty drawn comb. A healthy hive, spring drones have arrived. Saw some varroa on bees.
5/6/12: Some queen cups removed, but no queen cells spotted. Brood on 4 center frames of the super. Added a second super. I don't have a spare queen excluder to add below the supers.
5/21/12: Went through 15 of 20 deep frames and both supers, not enough daylight to check the last 5 deeps. No sign of swarming, although the queen was laying in the first super, even in two foundationless wall frames, so tons of drones were emerging. I removed two frames of drone comb and replaced them with frames of plastic foundation. Added queen excluder between first super and upper deep, hopefully she is down below. The brood patterns on the deep frames were wall to wall! A very good laying queen. I'll need more supers soon.
5/22/12: Supered with partially full super from H2, which had more than enough space in their 2 deeps.
6/2/12: Verified queen is in lower deeps below queen excluder. Supers are filling nicely.
6/22/12: I had supered with 10 frames that had no foundation to give them more room. I checked that super for any comb for the second time (checked about a week ago) and there is still no comb drawn. I have ordered was foundation to fill several supers.
6/28/12: Replaced foundationless frames in top super with frames that have wax foundation. They would not draw out the foundationless frames.
7/1/12: Removed and extracted two supers of capped honey. Returned a single super of drawn comb to the hive post-extraction.
7/8/12: Not drawing new comb, filing empty supers of drawn comb nicely. Swapped a super of wax foundation with drawn comb.
7/30/12: New comb being drawn, 2 supers full of honey, some capped. Did not inspect deeps.
8/13/12: This hive is declining. I did not spot the queen or any eggs, the population is decreasing as the bees no longer seem crowded. Will need a new queen.
8/25/12: Queen spotted and laying a tiny bit, spotty brood pattern. Decision to requeen stands. Hopefully nucs 5-7 take so a combine can be done in Sept.
9/29/12: 1.5 of 3 supers are full of honey. Bees angry, still some room in the deeps. Spotted 6-7 day old larvae. Hopefully queen is ok. Did not requeen yet. Possibility for combining over the winter.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
2012 Nuc #4
7/8/12: Removed Queen from Hive 3 with a handful of bees and placed into this new nuc. She was failing and this was done to facilitate a combine of Hive 3 with N3.
7/30/12: The queen did fail and was not in the hive. No eggs, no brood, maybe 30-50 bees. Dead.
7/30/12: The queen did fail and was not in the hive. No eggs, no brood, maybe 30-50 bees. Dead.
2012 Nuc #3
6/5/12: Started a new Nuc #3 with a frame of eggs from Hive #4 and two frames of bees from recently combined hive 3. Originally it had the old queen from hive #3 in it but she was not laying and was not found after relocating to the nuc, so I moved the eggs over.
6/14/12: I combined this Nuc with some "found" bees into a single deep, still calling this Nuc #3. (A note about the "found" bees: I found what was supposed to be an empty single deep hive actually had 2-3 frames of bees in it! I tried to seal up this empty hive from any returning foragers after a combine by closing the entrance, but they found a small gap due to a knot-hole in the entrance reducer. Returning foragers found no queen, but plenty of comb and space and never sought out the relocated hive with their queen.) There were about 5 capped queen cells on the frame of brood.
6/22/12: Queen cells uncapped and torn down, no eggs. I did not spot the queen, who is hopefully mating. Will look for eggs in July.
7/8/12: Combined with Hive #3.
6/14/12: I combined this Nuc with some "found" bees into a single deep, still calling this Nuc #3. (A note about the "found" bees: I found what was supposed to be an empty single deep hive actually had 2-3 frames of bees in it! I tried to seal up this empty hive from any returning foragers after a combine by closing the entrance, but they found a small gap due to a knot-hole in the entrance reducer. Returning foragers found no queen, but plenty of comb and space and never sought out the relocated hive with their queen.) There were about 5 capped queen cells on the frame of brood.
6/22/12: Queen cells uncapped and torn down, no eggs. I did not spot the queen, who is hopefully mating. Will look for eggs in July.
7/8/12: Combined with Hive #3.
Monday, July 2, 2012
7/1/12: Spring Extraction
On 6/30/12 pulled 5 supers to extract, leaving a full super on each of the two hives that I pulled from. 3 supers came from Hive #4 and 2 from Hive #1.
On 7/1/12 I extracted with Drew, Garrett, and Ed, a local farmer and first year beekeeper. We got over 100 lbs of honey, I'll have a better idea once I bottle. It is beautiful to behold. And now I have empty supers of drawn comb for the ladies to refill.
On 7/1/12 I extracted with Drew, Garrett, and Ed, a local farmer and first year beekeeper. We got over 100 lbs of honey, I'll have a better idea once I bottle. It is beautiful to behold. And now I have empty supers of drawn comb for the ladies to refill.
Monday, June 18, 2012
County Inspector Visit 6/16/12
Summit County Bee Inspector Laura Durban called ahead Friday evening (very courteous) to announce her availability and intent to inspect my apiary Saturday 6/16/12. I asked that she not inspect hives actively rearing queens (denoted with bricks on top of hives, queen right hives have rocks weighing down the telescoping outer covers). I accidentally had a brick on top of Hive 6, so it was not inspected even though it is queen right.
She came after I had left for Father's Day related adventures, so I was not present of the inspection. She left the following report:
We went last year with an AWOL county inspector and therefore no inspection. Welcome, Laura!
She came after I had left for Father's Day related adventures, so I was not present of the inspection. She left the following report:
We went last year with an AWOL county inspector and therefore no inspection. Welcome, Laura!
Monday, May 14, 2012
First Swarm Call
I'm not on any swarm call list and I don't have a truck or a cell phone. I'm not a prime candidate for scoring lots of swarms. I did get a call on 5/13/12 from a neighbor on Alger Rd. who we know vaguely since our kids attend the same school. They called to say a swarm was atop a tree in the middle of their circle driveway and while they were leaving, I could come and try to catch it if I wished.
The tree was a 35' tall ornamental pear and there were bees at the very top. I set up my 20' tall folding ladder and tied it to the tree. While standing in the tree just above where the ladder reached, I was able to cut down 4' long sections of branches that had bees on them. None of them was a tight cluster of bees that might contain a queen, though. They must have left already. What remained was about 100-200 bees that were high enough to make me think the swarm might still be up there. When the neighbors returned they confirmed it was a big mass of bees when they called, about the size of a basketball. They had seen some on the brick face of a peak of their house under an eave. There were still a few dozen bees there and I climbed up to make sure there was no queen. I brushed them off and they came right back. The did not seem inclined to try to go up and in the gap between the house and the soffit.
I left a single deep hive there in case any of the scouts thought it a better home than where ever they flew to, though I think that unlikely. Good luck to you, wild little swarm!
The tree was a 35' tall ornamental pear and there were bees at the very top. I set up my 20' tall folding ladder and tied it to the tree. While standing in the tree just above where the ladder reached, I was able to cut down 4' long sections of branches that had bees on them. None of them was a tight cluster of bees that might contain a queen, though. They must have left already. What remained was about 100-200 bees that were high enough to make me think the swarm might still be up there. When the neighbors returned they confirmed it was a big mass of bees when they called, about the size of a basketball. They had seen some on the brick face of a peak of their house under an eave. There were still a few dozen bees there and I climbed up to make sure there was no queen. I brushed them off and they came right back. The did not seem inclined to try to go up and in the gap between the house and the soffit.
I left a single deep hive there in case any of the scouts thought it a better home than where ever they flew to, though I think that unlikely. Good luck to you, wild little swarm!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
2012 Nuc #2 (ended 6/2/12 with combine to Hive 6)
Hive status: New nuc in 2012
Hive origin: Split from H4 2012
Queen type: None yet, eggs from H4 2012
Significant events/observations:
5/8/12: Started this hive to prevent swarming of H4. Consists of 3 frames of brood and eggs and one frame of food, each with bees. The Queen from H4 was found during the split and placed back in H4, so this is a nuc that is certainly queenless. With no nuc boxes, it is in a deep with 4 frames that have no drawn comb and 2 frames with a small amount of drawn comb.
5/13/12: 3 uncapped queen cells present, perhaps 6 or 7 days old. They must have realized they were without a queen with enough time to use the eggs from 5/8/12. If a healthy queen emerges she should be mated and perhaps even laying by the end of the month.
5/21/12: I checked in on this hive in case there were queen cells on more than one frame to try to start another nuc. All 3 queen cells were capped on the same frame, so I let them bee. The queens will likely hatch out tomorrow.
6/2/12: Combined with 2012 Hive 6. Refer to that post for additional info.
Hive origin: Split from H4 2012
Queen type: None yet, eggs from H4 2012
Significant events/observations:
5/8/12: Started this hive to prevent swarming of H4. Consists of 3 frames of brood and eggs and one frame of food, each with bees. The Queen from H4 was found during the split and placed back in H4, so this is a nuc that is certainly queenless. With no nuc boxes, it is in a deep with 4 frames that have no drawn comb and 2 frames with a small amount of drawn comb.
5/13/12: 3 uncapped queen cells present, perhaps 6 or 7 days old. They must have realized they were without a queen with enough time to use the eggs from 5/8/12. If a healthy queen emerges she should be mated and perhaps even laying by the end of the month.
5/21/12: I checked in on this hive in case there were queen cells on more than one frame to try to start another nuc. All 3 queen cells were capped on the same frame, so I let them bee. The queens will likely hatch out tomorrow.
6/2/12: Combined with 2012 Hive 6. Refer to that post for additional info.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
2012 Hive #2 (ended 6/2/12 with combine to Hive 5)
Hive status: Overwintered from 2011
Hive origin: Nucleus in 2011, combined with 2012 Hive 5
Queen type: 2012 Italian from H#4 eggs.
Significant events/observations:
2/24/12: Installed a candy board with pollen patty embedded in it (experiment). Overwintered with a deep and shallow super only.
3/11/12: The hive had a small brood nest with eggs observed.
3/21/12: Reversed hive bodies (shallow on bottom, deep on top) and removed entrance reducer. Added a new deep hive body with drawn comb on top and replaced candy board on top of that. It is probably 80% consumed.
4/15/12: Smallish brood nest for this time of year with slower population build, but eggs spotted. Spring drones present. This hive overwintered with a shallow and a deep which were reversed in March. The queen has not started laying in the upper deep yet, which is largely empty. Will keep an eye on this hive as a potential need for population boost from a thriving hive.
4/29/12: Newly queenless on this inspection, no eggs and very little capped brood. Moved one frame with a nearly capped queen cell from H3. As a backup I also moved 2 frames from H4 in that had some eggs in case the one queen cell is not viable as it was moved at a sensitive time in the queen larvae's development. This is a setback.
5/6/12: No new queen spotted. 2 capped queen cells noted, generated from eggs moved over on 4/29/12.
5/22/12: New queen spotted! She's laying just a little on one frame so far, oldest larvae are about 5 days old. One supercedure (threat?) cell was noted and left. They'll likely tear it down if she proves to be a good layer. Moved extra super to H1 so they can focus on filling their 2 deeps.
6/2/12: Queen present but not laying. She was removed to a new nuc, 2012 Nuc 4 with one frame of bees and the rest combined with 2012 Hive 5. Refer to that post for additional info.
Hive origin: Nucleus in 2011, combined with 2012 Hive 5
Queen type: 2012 Italian from H#4 eggs.
Significant events/observations:
2/24/12: Installed a candy board with pollen patty embedded in it (experiment). Overwintered with a deep and shallow super only.
3/11/12: The hive had a small brood nest with eggs observed.
3/21/12: Reversed hive bodies (shallow on bottom, deep on top) and removed entrance reducer. Added a new deep hive body with drawn comb on top and replaced candy board on top of that. It is probably 80% consumed.
4/15/12: Smallish brood nest for this time of year with slower population build, but eggs spotted. Spring drones present. This hive overwintered with a shallow and a deep which were reversed in March. The queen has not started laying in the upper deep yet, which is largely empty. Will keep an eye on this hive as a potential need for population boost from a thriving hive.
4/29/12: Newly queenless on this inspection, no eggs and very little capped brood. Moved one frame with a nearly capped queen cell from H3. As a backup I also moved 2 frames from H4 in that had some eggs in case the one queen cell is not viable as it was moved at a sensitive time in the queen larvae's development. This is a setback.
5/6/12: No new queen spotted. 2 capped queen cells noted, generated from eggs moved over on 4/29/12.
5/22/12: New queen spotted! She's laying just a little on one frame so far, oldest larvae are about 5 days old. One supercedure (threat?) cell was noted and left. They'll likely tear it down if she proves to be a good layer. Moved extra super to H1 so they can focus on filling their 2 deeps.
6/2/12: Queen present but not laying. She was removed to a new nuc, 2012 Nuc 4 with one frame of bees and the rest combined with 2012 Hive 5. Refer to that post for additional info.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Spring weather - freeze warning 3/26/12
It is the warmest spring on record and everything is in bloom from flowering pears to wild cherries. Low of 26 tonight. I wonder if the bees will have forage come tomorrow! Spring dearth? I hope not.
Update 4/15/12: We've had a few snows and there have been some trees that have suffered (the magnolias look terrible) but things are blooming and the bees are bringing in nectar and pollen. I did not have to resume feeding.
Update 4/15/12: We've had a few snows and there have been some trees that have suffered (the magnolias look terrible) but things are blooming and the bees are bringing in nectar and pollen. I did not have to resume feeding.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Format change to blog
In 2009 and 2010 with 2 hives I generated a blog post for each inspection. I intended to do the same in 2011 with 5 hives, but my records were poor and sporadic. However, it clearly would have been difficult to track the progress of a particular hive through many different posts. This year I'll be trying a single post per hive. Significant issues/changes will be documented in the post body via an update. Minor inspections, feedings, and observations will be documented as comments. Hopefully this will allow the tracking of individual colonies. The dates on the main posts will not be relevant and the "labels" cumulative, but the comment dates will remain relevant. Not sure what to do with photos as bulking up the posts too much will make it hard to read.
6/5/12 update: I had to figure out how handle combines given the current posting format. I decided that I would keep the hive number of the hive that is queen-right during the combine and continue the updates for that hive. The non-queen right hive will be updated with a link to new hive and state that the hive ended on the combine date and that hive #/year combo retired.
For example, Hive 2 (not queen right) was combined with Hive 5 (queen right) to create Hive 5. The original post for Hive 2 was shut down and linked to Hive 5, which will continue.
6/5/12 update: I had to figure out how handle combines given the current posting format. I decided that I would keep the hive number of the hive that is queen-right during the combine and continue the updates for that hive. The non-queen right hive will be updated with a link to new hive and state that the hive ended on the combine date and that hive #/year combo retired.
For example, Hive 2 (not queen right) was combined with Hive 5 (queen right) to create Hive 5. The original post for Hive 2 was shut down and linked to Hive 5, which will continue.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Overwintering: Early spring 2012 Update
Of the 5 hives going into the winter, 1 starved out by late December. I inspected on a day above 55 at the end of December and that hive was dead, the one that had so many bees and had produced so much honey in 2011. I suppose I pulled off too much honey in the fall, even though I left a full super on top of the two deeps. It's too bad as that queen laid like crazy. Despite moving some bees from this hive to boost others there were too many bees going into the winter. They might have lived if I harvested NO honey.
The winter was unusually warm. I think I shoveled the driveway only 3 times. Seemed like everytime it snowed it was followed with weather warm enough to melt it. The bees fared well. The remaining 4 colonies have decent sized clusters and did not starve. 3 of 4 overwintered in two deeps and I began feeding pollen patties on Feb 24, 2012 and sugar syrup on March 7,2012. 1 of 4 overwintered with a deep and a shallow (started 2011 as a nuc) and I began feeding on Feb24 with pollen patty embedded in candy board.
Candy board was a new thing for me, courtesy of Allan T. For candy I used 10lbs of sugar in 2 cups water with 1 tsp vinegar and 2 tbsp Honey Bee Healthy. Once heated to a uniform slurry, I poured it into a frame that had hardware cloth on the back which I lined with wax paper. I embedded pollen patty in the candy and allowed it to cool and solidfy. The entire board went on top the super and under the inner cover.
Fingers crossed for the best bee and honey year yet.
The winter was unusually warm. I think I shoveled the driveway only 3 times. Seemed like everytime it snowed it was followed with weather warm enough to melt it. The bees fared well. The remaining 4 colonies have decent sized clusters and did not starve. 3 of 4 overwintered in two deeps and I began feeding pollen patties on Feb 24, 2012 and sugar syrup on March 7,2012. 1 of 4 overwintered with a deep and a shallow (started 2011 as a nuc) and I began feeding on Feb24 with pollen patty embedded in candy board.
Candy board was a new thing for me, courtesy of Allan T. For candy I used 10lbs of sugar in 2 cups water with 1 tsp vinegar and 2 tbsp Honey Bee Healthy. Once heated to a uniform slurry, I poured it into a frame that had hardware cloth on the back which I lined with wax paper. I embedded pollen patty in the candy and allowed it to cool and solidfy. The entire board went on top the super and under the inner cover.
Fingers crossed for the best bee and honey year yet.
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