10/1/09: 11th Inspection and Sugar-Dusting

Conditions: Sunny, 61F
Present: Bud F. and I
Equipment: Removed honey supers (empty). Installed screened bottom board on Russian hive.
Activities: Smoked hives about 4:45pm. Inspected all frames in honey and food supers (directly above the deeps where the brood nests are). Sugar-dusted for varroa control.
Observations: We finally had a break in the cold weather to make some needed equipment changes and check on the bees. It's been cold and wet for many days, and today was a window of 60s and sun, with rain forecast for the next week or so.

The Russian colony had not stored anything or built any comb in the honey super we put on it. It was overly optimistic to get some honey from them in this first year. We removed it and replaced the old plastic bottom board with a screened bottom board for varroa control. We used the bellows to sugar-dust them for the second time (first dusting 8/29/09) to encourage mite-drop through the bottom board. I did spot a live varroa which dropped through the screen bottom board once grooming had started after the dusting. The food super directly above the deep was packed with capped honey, wall to wall. They are taking sugar syrup from the pail top feeder, but not very aggressively. We saw a few drones on the old bottom board when we swapped it out, but much fewer than earlier in the year. They appear to be getting the boot from the ladies, which is typical with the onset of cold weather. Looks like all is well.

The Italian colony had built some small areas of comb in the top honey super on maybe 4 or 5 frames and began to fill it with sugar syrup. Nothing was capped yet. We removed this as another "empty" super and, since it was not cured and not honey from nectar, will allow the bees to clean it up outside the hive and bring it back if they see fit. If they are still flying once the rain stops, that is. This colony also had filled the food super directly above the deep with capped honey. There was some brood up in the center frames of this super, one larvae still being capped, so if the queen has stopped laying, it was within the past week. We thoroughly sugar dusted these gals, too. They previously received a screened bottom board during the first sugar dusting on 8/29/09.

We did not delve into the deeps (brood chambers) of either hive in order to be minimally disruptive on this cool day and therefore not chill any brood. With the food supers filled, we suspect whatever is not currently filled with brood is also capped honey. Both hives are ready to be relocated about 10 miles away to our new home. We have less than 2 weeks to move them, so the next post will be our hive moving adventure. Glad we got in today to take off empty supers and swap out that bottom board!

8/29/09: 10th Inspection and Sugar-Dusting

Conditions: Sunny, 68F
Present: Bud, Mohammad, and I
Equipment: Added screened bottom board to the Italian hive only. (Just had one)
Activities: Smoked hives about 1:45pm. Inspected assorted frames. Sugar-dusted both hives for the first time ever with a sugar-dusting bellows.
Observations: In the Italian hive there was not a lot of honey stored up. This could be due to a population interruption as the queen had stopped laying for a few weeks. The brood was up higher in the frames of the deep and the queen had been laying the the first super. The honey supers we had added almost a month ago had no additional comb built in them. Just bare foundation. I don't think there's been enough nectar available in August to support making that much more wax, and "they aren't going to build it if they don't have anything to store in it" (Bud). We decided to resume feeding the Italians due to the lack of nectar available. We'll check again in three or four weeks to see what's what. A fall flow may allow them to build out something in those honey supers.

When changing out the solid bottom board and installing the screen bottom board we had ample opportunity to inspect Italian workers and drones for varroa. None were noted. Still, with only one screened bottom board, it went to the weaker colony of Italians (since the Russian are supposedly more resistant to varroa).

In the Russian hive we observed more capped honey and nectar than in the Italian. This colony did not have a population interruption. They had build some brace comb between the deep and the first super and laid drone in it, so taking out frames and removing the first super to inspect the deep was a gooey larval-paste mess. We did not have the opportunity to inspect workers closely for mites as they were not very happy. Overall they seem healthy and we are not planning to resume feeding them yet.

Sugar-dusting was interesting. Bud had purchased a bellows at a local beekeeper shop. Dusting the bees with powdered sugar increases grooming activity which results in mite drop, right through the screen bottom board. The bees are not treated with harmful chemicals and they end up with a bonus food source. We figured out how to use the bellows properly at the very end, so the Russians and the Italians did not get a thorough dusting. We'll know the trick for next time. You have to pump it violently and erratically to get enough sugar to drop into the airway path to be blown out the tip. We'll likely pick up another screen bottom board for the Russians and do one more dusting before the winter sets in. "Take care of the bees that will be taking care of the bees that will overwinter." Those future nurse bees are emerging now.

No honey harvest this year, as expected (though we hoped for a really productive year and a little honey for ourselves). Hopefully they will have stored up enough to keep them over the winter.

The apiary may be relocating as I may be moving to a house 15 minutes away. If we sell our house, there will be a future post regarding our adventures in moving bees.