Extracting Honey - Spring 2014

I pulled whole supers of mostly capped honey off of hives 2, 3, 4, and 5.

D, G, and I extracted it on July 5.  They boys are 7 now and were quite a big help, G uncapping on his own, D spinning the extractor, removing and stacking empty frames on his own.

Yield was not yet weighed, but is all of 6 gallons and probably is about 75 pounds.  I could have pulled more honey if I went frame by frame and may have gotten an additional 1 or 2 supers, but did not have time and needed to extract some to give the bees more room to store honey.

And it is tasty.  The three of us dirtied about 15 spoons sampling it.  I think I only used one of them.

Update 8/3/14:
Extracted again 8/2 and 8/3 due to the long spring flow.  Got about 40 more pounds (a full 4 gallon bucket).  Total spring extraction about 115 lbs.

Most hives still have 2 honey supers on in case of dearth.  It was an unsually cool July after a hot June.  So far August is shaping up to be moderate, highs in low 80s with rains 1/week.

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2014 Hive 7 (Swarm caught 6/17/14)

Hive status:  New swarm caught 2014
Hive origin: Swarm from Linda Wood's smaller hive
Queen type: 2013 Italian (package from QRC)

Significant events/observations:
This hive was set as a 10 frame deep used as a swarm trap. I covered the screen bottom board with plastic, had 10 frames of drawn comb, and placed a piece of gauze containing 5 drops of lemongrass essential oil inside a plastic baggie with pinholes poked through to slowly allow the scent to be released. I also had an entrance reducer in as I have read swarms like small entrances. After two ant infestations, the trap caught a swarm on June 17.  This is the email that Linda sent:

We are having a swarm!!! Right now!!!  They are going into the swarm trap !!! which happens to be sitting on our back porch awaiting me to find another place to put it after the ant invasion.

I picked the hive up late that night, taping entrances and securing the top outer cover to the hive and bottom board with a ratchet strap. I placed the hive in the apiary, removed the tape, and left them alone.

6/22/14: Spotted eggs, no larvae. So the old queen resumed laying less than 3 days before the inspection. I suspected she would need a few days to fatten up after her diet and subsequent flight. There were plenty of bees in the single deep and some were out foraging when I inspected. I added an upper deep with 5 frames of undrawn foundation to see if they will draw them out quickly. Also removed the entrance reducer. Good start, and very pleased this worked. I also placed a nuc swarm trap at Linda's in case there are any afterswarms which would have a new queen.

7/14/15:  Spotted eggs.  Swarm not drawing out much comb in the upper deep.  I removed burr comb between the two deeps.  Top deep is 3/4 empty.  Considering killing the old queen, then combining with Hive 6 (new nuc 2014).

8/2/14: Spotted queen and eggs.  This hive has started drawing out partial frames, but most bees were in the upper deep, not filling both.  Split hive to combine upper deep with Hive 6 which needed room.  Moved queen on one frame to lower deep so I know she’s still in Hive 7.

8/15/14: Eggs and larvae on one frame.  Ok on space, low on food.

2014 Hive 6 (new nuc 5/10/14)

Hive status: New nuc split from 2014 Hive 3 on 5/10/14
Hive origin: Split from 2014 package
Queen type: None right now, from Italian package queen

Significant events/observations:

5/10/14:  Split from 2014 Hive 3 when I found a single capped swarm cell on a lower deep frame, only 1 present in the hive.  Not sure if it was damaged during frame removal, it was on the first frame I pulled.  I pulled two other deeps with some bees and brood on them and added an empty frame of drawn comb and an empty frame of undrawn foundation.  There are probably eggs there if the queen cell is not viable.  I did not see the queen still in Hive 3 after the split, but did not see her on the frames I moved over.  Good luck, ladies!

5/19/14:  No sign of eggs, did not see a queen.  >8 queen cells present, some ruined during inspection, >/= 4 queen cells remain capped and ready for the first to emerge.  Very little food in this hive.  Not sure if they are foraging much with all the nurse bees there.  There was some liquid food.   Not sure if it was nectar they brought in and will soon have surplus  or honey that was on an old frame that they uncapped and will soon run out.  I’ll see if I can move some honey over sometime soon.

5/25/14:  Spotted newly emerged queen, who is still a bit small.  No eggs yet, perhaps she is taking mating flights.  Rearranged deep frames to encourage larger brood nest.  They are building up a supply of nectar, not at risk of starvation.

5/31/14: Some older larvae present, which is weird as I saw no eggs.  Spotted the young queen.  Will add eggs if none in 1 week.

6/10/14:  Queen spotted, saw eggs, larvae, and a small amount of capped brood.  Moved from a 5 frame nuc to a 10 frame deep.  Ready to take off.

6/22/14:  Eggs spotted, Ok on space.  No need for a new deep.  They have drawn out some partial frames and the brood nest is expanding.  Smaller than Hive 7 (swarm caught 6/17/14)

7/14/15:  Spotted eggs.  This hive has exploded, tons of eggs, out of space.  Considering combining with Hive 7 (swarm caught 2014) due to space constraints and probably wanting to requeen that hive anyway.  I'd keep this new queen.  Great brood pattern.

8/2/14: So many bees!  Busting out of the lone deep.  Eggs spotted.  Needed space so did newspaper combine with upper deep from Hive 7 (swarm) which was not filling two deeps.  The upper deep has 5 frames that were only partially drawn, so this will give them room to grow.

8/15/14:  Combine went fine, bees filling both deeps.  Added empty super.  Eggs spotted.

2014 Hive 5 (new package)

Hive status:  New 3lb package 2014
Hive origin: Package from Waldo Apiaries
Queen type: 2014 Italian (Buckeye Belle were not produced in time)

Significant events/observations:
I picked up this package on April 16, 2014 in Ashley, OH, near Columbus, OH.  Installed by me on 4/16/14 in the afternoon, 47 degrees and sunny.  Pail feeder placed on top.

4/21/14:  Queen had been released and eggs spotted.  Feeder nearly empty.

5/10/14:  Removed an ant nest from the deep which housed the sugar syrup.  Did not have enough light to open up and look for eggs or swarm cells.  Removed sugar syrup and entrance reducer.  Added first honey super.  Need to re-inspect.

5/19/14:  Eggs spotted, no signs of swarming, ok on space.

5/25/14:  Eggs spotted.  Rearranged deep frames to encourage wider brood nest.  Removed propolis from upper deep.

5/31/14:  Added new honey super and off-set entrance between top deep and lowest super.

6/10/14:  Eggs spotted Looks good.  Still room in second super, lots of honey in upper deep, most of the brood is in the lower deep.

6/22/14:  Eggs spotted, found many swarm cups, some with eggs and no royal jelly.  Added third super.

7/15/14:  Eggs spotted, space remaining in top (3rd) super.  Feisty bees!

8/2/14: Larvae spotted 5-6 days old, did not see eggs but did not look extensively (out of smoke and starting to rain).  Pulled capped honey frame by frame until down to 2 supers on hive.

2014 Hive 4 (new package)

Hive status:  New 3lb package 2014
Hive origin: Package from Waldo Apiaries
Queen type: 2014 Italian (Buckeye Belle were not produced in time)

Significant events/observations:
I picked up this package on April 16, 2014 in Ashley, OH, near Columbus, OH.  Installed by Garrett and I on 4/16/14 in the afternoon, 47 degrees and sunny.  Pail feeder placed on top.

4/21/14:  Queen had been released and eggs spotted.  Feeder still half full.

5/10/14:  Spotted eggs.  Bees were angry and I got stung twice.  Had to cut out some comb between bottom frames on the upper deep and top of frames on the lower deep.  Removed sugar syrup and entrance reducer.  Added first honey super.

5/19/14:  Eggs spotted, no signs of swarming, ok on space.

5/25/14:  Eggs spotted.  Rearranged deep frames to encourage wider brood nest.  Removed propolis from upper deep.

5/31/14:  Added new honey super and off-set entrance between upper deep and lowest super.

6/10/14:  Eggs.  Looks good.  Will need an new super in several days.

6/22/14:  Eggs.  Found many swarm cell cups, some with eggs and no royal jelly.  Only the center 4 frames were full of honey in both supers, so I moved the 4 wall frames to the middle of each super.  Will need another super soon.

7/15/14:  Eggs.  Space remaining in top (2nd) super.  Spotty brood pattern, something to watch.

8/2/14:  Eggs spotted.  Pulled capped honey frame by frame until down to 2 supers on hive.  Spotty brood, which may just be seasonal slowing.  Defensive!  Not much honey pulled.

2014 Hive 3 (new package)

Hive status:  New 3lb package 2014
Hive origin: Package from Waldo Apiaries
Queen type: 2014 Italian (Buckeye Belle were not produced in time)

Significant events/observations:
I picked up this package on April 16, 2014 in Ashley, OH, near Columbus, OH.  Installed by Drew and I on 4/16/14 in the afternoon, 47 degrees and sunny.  Pail feeder placed on top.

4/21/14:  Queen had been released and eggs spotted.  Feeder empty.

5/10/14:  Eggs spotted.  Found one swarm cell, capped, on bottom of a center frame in lower deep.  Split this out with two other frames into a new nuc, 2014 Hive 6, and replaced 3 deep frames.  Removed sugar syrup andentrance reducer.  Added first super.

5/19/14:  Eggs spotted, no signs of swarming, ok on space.

5/25/14:  Eggs spotted.  Rearranged deep frames to encourage wider brood nest.  Removed propolis from upper deep.

5/31/14:  Ok on space with 1 honey super.

6/10/14:  Eggs spotted.  Added second honey super and off-set entrance between upper deep and lowest super.  Drawing out foundation well.

6/22/14:  Eggs spotted, needs a 3rd super soon.  Have the bees cleaning some that will go on this hive.

6/28/14:  Added that third super.  Had some crystals in the comb the bees did not clean up  Will be interesting to see if the bees clear it out first or just put honey in on top of it.  May leave this for bees to overwinter with so it does not cause premature crystallization of extracted honey.

7/15/14:  Spotted 8 day old larvae at dusk, insufficient light to spot eggs.  Lots of queen cups in lowest super.  Removed a mega-frame of honey from this super, leaving only 8 frames.  Room remaining in top (3rd) super.

8/2/14:  Eggs spotted.  Pulled capped honey frame by frame until down to 2 supers on hive.

8/15/14:  Saw 6 day old larvae in bad light.  Added empty super.

2014 Hive 2 (overwintered)

Hive status:  Overwintered from 2013 (2013 Hive 4 then)
Hive origin: Nuc that Alan made from a cut-out he did that had swarm cells present
Queen type: 2013 Unknown, hopefully survivor stock

Significant events/observations:
This hive overwintered in 2013 which was a brutally cold winter.  Fed pollen patty about March 10.

4/8/14: Changed hive body configuration around April 8.  Good size colony in upper deep, honey in shallow super above it.  Removed an empty deep hive body (down to a shallow and deep, shallow on top).  These bees are active on warm days.

4/16/14:  Bees are foraging, feeder added 4/17/14 using remaining sugar solution from 3 packages and spray bottle.

5/10/14:  Spotted queen and eggs.  Removed sugar syrup and entrance reducer.  Swapped shallow super full of brood (from middle to the top) with upper deep to encourage laying in upper deep.  Queen had stayed mostly in the shallow super laying and other bees built lots of comb between the bottom of the shallow and the top of the frames in the lower deep.  Was a mess to remove this goopy slop from everything.

5/19/14:  Eggs spotted, starting to fill in middle deep.  Lots of queen cups at lower edge of shallow super removed.  Needs a new super soon.

5/25/14:  Eggs spotted.  Added a second super.  Rearranged deep frames to encourage wider brood nest.  Removed propolis from upper deep.

5/31/14:  Ok on space with 2 honey supers.

6/10/14:  Eggs spotted.  Looks good.  Added 3rd honey super, could have gone a few more days, but I had one ready.

6/22/14:  OK on space, did not inspect deeps.

7/15/14:  Eggs.  Small bit of room in top (3rd) super.  Needs more room.  Oh my goodness, so many bees!!!  Huge colony.

8/2/14:  Eggs spotted.  Pulled capped honey frame by frame until down to 2 supers on hive + 3 frames above inner cover.

8/15/14:  Saw 6 day old larvae in bad light.  Added 7 frames to fill out super.

2014 Hive 1 (died out early april)

Hive status:  Overwintered from 2013 (2013 Hive 1 then)
Hive origin:  2012 Swarm from Alan
Queen type: 2013 Queen raised from eggs from swarm queen from 2012

Significant events/observations:
This hive overwintered in 2013 which was a brutally cold winter.  Fed pollen patty about March 10.

4/8/14: Reversed hive bodies around April 8.  Bees were all on 3 frames in the shallow, very small colony.  Put an empty deep hive body above it, and removed an empty deep hive body (down to a shallow and deep, shallow on bottom).

4/16/14:  This hive died out in early April.  Too small, I guess.

Late March snow 2014

Seven inches of heavy, wet snow fell on March 28, 2014.  We had to drive our new car in it and it was a mess.  Hoping the bees are safe and happy.

2013 Post Mortem

As of 3/17/14 I have two surviving hives.  It was a long winter, and very cold.  The lowest temps and most snow we've had in decades.  Lots of schools cancelled 10-15 days when they are allowed only 5 cancellations.

The nuc had no chance and the weakest colonies failed.  Surprisingly, so did the strongest colony I had as rated on Dec 1 2013.

I ordered 3 each 3lb packages from Waldo Apiaries.  This is my first time trying Waldo, I went with them because I could get a 4/16/14 pickup and they offered "Buckeye Belle" queens, supposedly from Ohio survivor stock.  This article from OSBA on 1/11/14:

Dana Stahlman is announcing the sale this year of OHIO BUCKEYE BELLE QUEENS. I will be going to Georgia in January to begin the process of building nuc’s for the production of Ohio queen stock that was described in the Walter T. Kelley Newsletter published in June, July and August of 2013. 

The queen stock has been further enhanced with Artificial Insemination with selected drone semen. The mother queen survived in an abandoned bee yard (a hive that had not been managed for a number of years) and upon examination, the hive during the period it was not managed did not have wax moth or a long interruption in bee population which would have been indicated by rebuilt comb in the hive. In July the bees were inspected by the Ohio Department of Agriculture with both bee and comb samples sent to USDA for inspection and report. The report from USDA found no disease or mites. 

If you are interested in purchasing queens or wanting to sell some of these queens, email me at: stahlmanapiaries@aol.com. Buckeye Belle and Buckeye Reb queens were produced by me during the 1990’s and early 2004. I am bringing them back into production.

I am hopeful that this queen stock will do well for me.  I have had repeated mass deaths of Italians and Carniolans.  The hives that overwintered for me in 2013 all came from swarms or cutouts and may be related to survivor stock.   Also hoping I don't get small hive beetles in my bee packages, which will come from Georgia.

UPDATE 4/16/14:
No Buckeye Belle queens were available from Waldo Apiaries.  Reportedly the breeder experienced bad weather when queens should have taken mating flights, so there were no mated queens available at the time of package production.  If I get small hive beetle from GA bees I will be PISSED since the reason I got GA bees was for the survivor stock queens.  Instead I got more Italian queens.

2014 nearing winter's end

2/20/14:  Had a warm spell the past two days that will change to cold soon.  I had a small amount of time to check in the hives quickly before dark.  It was 46 degrees F and cloudy, about 6pm, had rained earlier in the day.

Of the 5 hives alive on 12/22/13, 2 are still alive.

2013 Hives 1 and 4 had approximately soccer ball sized clusters near the top of the hives.  Hives 2, 3, and 5 had frozen.  I moved nearly full honey supers from hives 2 and 3 and placed them on hives 1 and 4 to give them more food for the coming cold spell.  Fingers crossed they will make it through.  Plan to order 3 packages.

Interesting that none of the surviving colonies were packages with either a known Italian or known Carniolan queen.  They were both from Alan Travers, one a nuc from a cutout that may have been survivor stock and one a swarm he captured.