Inspected 2 hives and a nuc today and found no eggs. This was after a neighbor (Linda) stated brood was spotty in her main hive and her nuc had no eggs, though a queen should have hatched and mated by now (same timeline as the main hive). I spotted the queen in her nuc and confirmed no eggs on 7/23/13. Saw a queen in my nuc and no eggs. What do these ladies know? Preparing for a dearth?
8/3/13 UPDATE: Found eggs in all hives except H2 (unknown if H2 has a queen who will resume laying shortly or if they need to raise a new queen). The weather has been unseasonably cool for Late July/Early August with highs in the low to mid 70s and lows in the low 60s. We have had moderate rain and everything is growing like crazy.
8/10/13 UPDATE: All queens laying. The H2 queen was just a bit later than the others to restart. H3 new queen is laying well.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
2013 spring honey extraction
Extracted honey on 7/14/13 (fresh spring honey) and 7/15/13 (fall honey stored in comb, some slightly crystallized). We had 3 spring supers, 6 deep frames, and 2 fall supers.
We yielded probably 120 pounds of spring honey and another 75 pounds of honey from deep frames, cappings, and fall supers.
We yielded probably 120 pounds of spring honey and another 75 pounds of honey from deep frames, cappings, and fall supers.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Dumb mistake 7/2/13
Like a dummy I decided to try to pull a cultivator attachment through the future orchard area where I keep my bees. They apparently did not like how close I got with the tractor. I took about a dozen stings before I ran to the porch. I regrouped, put on my bee suit, and tried to drive the tractor out of the orchard. The tractor was slipping and sticking so I shut it down and gave up for now. And there the tractor sits...
I began to have a moderate reaction to the stings and I monitored it closely to determine if it would lead anaphylaxis. Thankfully not. I did feel feverish, got lightheaded, and had some strange sensations like the tops of my feet itching and my tongue tingling (not swelling). All my stings were on the forearms, finger, ear, and behind the ear. I took off my wedding ring before the sting on the finger became too swollen.
OK, girls, I get it. That's your area and I play there at my own risk.
I began to have a moderate reaction to the stings and I monitored it closely to determine if it would lead anaphylaxis. Thankfully not. I did feel feverish, got lightheaded, and had some strange sensations like the tops of my feet itching and my tongue tingling (not swelling). All my stings were on the forearms, finger, ear, and behind the ear. I took off my wedding ring before the sting on the finger became too swollen.
OK, girls, I get it. That's your area and I play there at my own risk.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
2013 Nuc 2
Hive status: New nuc 2013
Hive origin: Nuc formed from 1 frame of 2013 Hive 1 (found capped supercedure cell 6/10/13) and 2 frames from 2013 Hive 2
Queen type: Pending new from 2013
6/10/13: Created this nuc when I found a capped supercedure cell in 2013 Hive 1 which had a relatively new queen. I removed this frame to a nuc in case she just needs a bit more time to pick up laying. Added two frames of nurse bees with a bit of brood from H2. Two remaining frames are one undrawn and one of drawn comb. A tiny nuc just to raise this queen opportunistically.
6/15/13: Still small, queen cell open, queen not seen and no eggs. Perhaps on mating flight? Same as Nuc 1.
6/21/13: Still no queen spotted, no eggs, this time there was another capped queen cell. That egg must have come from the new queen, but they are not happy with her?
6/28/13: Saw the new queen that hatched out, she is not yet laying. Small nuc.
7/5/13: Small nuc, new eggs, spotted queen. OK in nuc for now.
7/23/13: Queen spotted, not laying. No queens were laying at this time.
8/3/13: Eggs and queen spotted. Low on honey, could soon go in to a deep with some frames of honey. Ditto for 8/10/13.
8/17/13: Spotted eggs and queen. Small nuc, no food. Added a frame of honey and 20 minutes later there was a swarm of bees raiding this nuc through a crack between the lid and the nuc box. I changed the lid to one that did not leave a gap and stuffed most of the entrance with grass to prevent robbing.
8/25/13: Eggs spotted, ok on food and space. Not robbed out.
9/11/13: Perfect nuc! Food, brood, eggs, not too big or growing too fast for the space. Has honey, pollen, and is drying nectar.
9/28/13: Still perfect.
Hive origin: Nuc formed from 1 frame of 2013 Hive 1 (found capped supercedure cell 6/10/13) and 2 frames from 2013 Hive 2
Queen type: Pending new from 2013
6/10/13: Created this nuc when I found a capped supercedure cell in 2013 Hive 1 which had a relatively new queen. I removed this frame to a nuc in case she just needs a bit more time to pick up laying. Added two frames of nurse bees with a bit of brood from H2. Two remaining frames are one undrawn and one of drawn comb. A tiny nuc just to raise this queen opportunistically.
6/15/13: Still small, queen cell open, queen not seen and no eggs. Perhaps on mating flight? Same as Nuc 1.
6/21/13: Still no queen spotted, no eggs, this time there was another capped queen cell. That egg must have come from the new queen, but they are not happy with her?
6/28/13: Saw the new queen that hatched out, she is not yet laying. Small nuc.
7/5/13: Small nuc, new eggs, spotted queen. OK in nuc for now.
7/23/13: Queen spotted, not laying. No queens were laying at this time.
8/3/13: Eggs and queen spotted. Low on honey, could soon go in to a deep with some frames of honey. Ditto for 8/10/13.
8/17/13: Spotted eggs and queen. Small nuc, no food. Added a frame of honey and 20 minutes later there was a swarm of bees raiding this nuc through a crack between the lid and the nuc box. I changed the lid to one that did not leave a gap and stuffed most of the entrance with grass to prevent robbing.
8/25/13: Eggs spotted, ok on food and space. Not robbed out.
9/11/13: Perfect nuc! Food, brood, eggs, not too big or growing too fast for the space. Has honey, pollen, and is drying nectar.
9/28/13: Still perfect.
12/22/13: Nuc is nearly frozen to death, starved, down to a couple of
hundred bees (200?) and the queen was hanging on. This hive will likely freeze in a cold
snap. Replaced an empty frame with a
frame full of honey in the center of the nuc.
Monday, May 20, 2013
2013 Hive 5 (formerly 2013 Nuc 1)
Hive status: New nuc 2013
Hive origin: Nuc formed from 1 frame of 2013 Hive 1 and 2 frames from 2013 Hive 2
Queen type: New from 2013 (superceded swarm queen from 2012)
5/19/13: Created this nuc when I found what I think was 2 queens in the same hive (2013 Hive 1) which is doing very poorly. The larger queen which apparently has deformed wings was moved to this nuc to be able to monitor her laying and potentially replace her. I also placed 2 frames containing eggs and bees in this nuc from 2013 Hive 2 to provide enough bees as well as eggs if the workers would prefer to supersede the current queen.
5/27/13: Queen present, spotted about half a dozen eggs total. Tiny nuc. One egg was being raised into a queen, maybe day 6 or so? Added more eggs from H2.
6/2/13: Queen removed. The queen was small and had wing deformities in addition to laying almost no eggs. Practiced handling a live queen with her prior to squashing. Single queen cell present, 3/4 of the way to capped, so they were superseding her already. Not sure if this cell is still viable or not (did not seem much further along from 5/27/13 inspection), so added a frame of brood with eggs from H2. The frame of eggs and larvae from 5/27/13 probably no longer viable. They look undeveloped with no new capping. Must have gotten chilled when nights were in the low 40s and there were not enough bees.
6/10/13: Still a small nuc. 3 capped queen cells, 1 full size and 2 that seemed desperate.
6/15/13: Still small, queen cell open, queen not seen and no eggs. Perhaps on mating flight? Same as Nuc 2.
6/28/13: Spotted the queen and she is laying. There was 1 frame of eggs/larvae, good dense pattern where she has laid. The nuc has achieved medium size, not yet ready to move to a deep, but perhaps soon.
7/5/13: Large nuc, ready to move to a deep, eggs and queen spotted.
7/23/13: Queen spotted, not laying. No queens were laying at this time.
8/3/13: Eggs spotted. Could probably add another deep in a week.
8/10/13: Full of bees, low on food. Added 2 deeps of honey/pollen I had set aside. Eggs.
8/17/13: Eggs and lots of young brood present, some nectar. Added a second deep with two frames of honey in it. This hive is growing and ready for a population boost for the fall flow.
8/25/13: Eggs spotted, ok on food and space.
9/11/13: Some deeps undrawn (problem frames?), but otherwise full. Unsure if I should super or not. Saw 4 day old larvae, almost eggs, did not inspect many frames and was satisfied queen is laying.
9/28/13: Very little larvae, eggs on two frames only. Not drawing comb but have some honey, nectar. Not filling their 2 deeps, candidate for combine (with nuc?)
Hive origin: Nuc formed from 1 frame of 2013 Hive 1 and 2 frames from 2013 Hive 2
Queen type: New from 2013 (superceded swarm queen from 2012)
5/19/13: Created this nuc when I found what I think was 2 queens in the same hive (2013 Hive 1) which is doing very poorly. The larger queen which apparently has deformed wings was moved to this nuc to be able to monitor her laying and potentially replace her. I also placed 2 frames containing eggs and bees in this nuc from 2013 Hive 2 to provide enough bees as well as eggs if the workers would prefer to supersede the current queen.
5/27/13: Queen present, spotted about half a dozen eggs total. Tiny nuc. One egg was being raised into a queen, maybe day 6 or so? Added more eggs from H2.
6/2/13: Queen removed. The queen was small and had wing deformities in addition to laying almost no eggs. Practiced handling a live queen with her prior to squashing. Single queen cell present, 3/4 of the way to capped, so they were superseding her already. Not sure if this cell is still viable or not (did not seem much further along from 5/27/13 inspection), so added a frame of brood with eggs from H2. The frame of eggs and larvae from 5/27/13 probably no longer viable. They look undeveloped with no new capping. Must have gotten chilled when nights were in the low 40s and there were not enough bees.
6/10/13: Still a small nuc. 3 capped queen cells, 1 full size and 2 that seemed desperate.
6/15/13: Still small, queen cell open, queen not seen and no eggs. Perhaps on mating flight? Same as Nuc 2.
6/28/13: Spotted the queen and she is laying. There was 1 frame of eggs/larvae, good dense pattern where she has laid. The nuc has achieved medium size, not yet ready to move to a deep, but perhaps soon.
7/5/13: Large nuc, ready to move to a deep, eggs and queen spotted.
7/23/13: Queen spotted, not laying. No queens were laying at this time.
8/3/13: Eggs spotted. Could probably add another deep in a week.
8/10/13: Full of bees, low on food. Added 2 deeps of honey/pollen I had set aside. Eggs.
8/17/13: Eggs and lots of young brood present, some nectar. Added a second deep with two frames of honey in it. This hive is growing and ready for a population boost for the fall flow.
8/25/13: Eggs spotted, ok on food and space.
9/11/13: Some deeps undrawn (problem frames?), but otherwise full. Unsure if I should super or not. Saw 4 day old larvae, almost eggs, did not inspect many frames and was satisfied queen is laying.
9/28/13: Very little larvae, eggs on two frames only. Not drawing comb but have some honey, nectar. Not filling their 2 deeps, candidate for combine (with nuc?)
12/22/13: 5 Frames of bees in the upper deep. Saw queen and 1 egg. Moved some lower frames with honey up to the
upper deep.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Drew the beekeeper
In February we gave Drew a bee suit and bee gloves. Ever since he has been dying to use them, occasionally playing beekeeper. His first chance came with installation of packages in 2013.
He was calm and curious. The many bees buzzing around him did not scare him.
After the two installations, Drew got down close to the hive and let the bees land on him, especially his gloves. He then asked, "Is this a worker bee?" for each bee that landed on him and said, "Hi little bee." to many of them. No stings and a very successful intro to beekeeping.
He was calm and curious. The many bees buzzing around him did not scare him.
After the two installations, Drew got down close to the hive and let the bees land on him, especially his gloves. He then asked, "Is this a worker bee?" for each bee that landed on him and said, "Hi little bee." to many of them. No stings and a very successful intro to beekeeping.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
2013 Hive 1
Hive status: Overwintered from 2012 (Hive 6 then)
Hive origin: Swarm caught by Alan 2012, was a new nuc in 2012
Queen type: Swarm queen from 2012
Significant events/observations:
This hive is the only overwintered hive from 2012, formerly tracked as 2012 Hive 6. A smallish cluster is still alive as of 3/29/13. I placed a pollen patty under the inner cover and a feeder on top in early March. We have had a fairly cold March, good maple weather with freezing nights and just above freezing days. The cluster is under the pollen patty and when warm enough takes syrup from the feeder. About half of the sugar syrup was gone by 3/29/13. Evidence of dysentery is on the front of the hive, so concerned for nosema.
Early April I re-filled the feeder with sugar syrup plus Fumagilin B based on the amount of bee crap on the front of the hive.
4/29/13: Inspected and found two frames of bees left, small patch of brood on two frames with a combined size of a dollar bill. There was still remaining syrup on top and half of the pollen patty. Workers were bringing in bright yellow pollen. I cleaned off all propalis and moved to a single deep, cleaned out the dead bees, and moved the hive from a rickety perch on a tree stump (that turned out to have an ant's nest in it) to a cinder block based stand. I will add the upper deep once there are more bees or the lower deep is full of eggs/brood.
5/4/13: Spotted the queen again, hive has not grown much yet, but she is laying. They are foraging as well as taking sugar syrup and pollen patty. Left them in a single deep with entrance reducer in.
5/19/13: This hive is in bad shape, no bigger than it was in March, though some brood and eggs were still present. I think I found 2 queens (very confusing), so I removed the larger one (older?) on a single frame to a new Nuc (along with 2 frames from H2) and placed a frame of eggs and brood in this hive from H2. This queen appeared to have deformed wings. Either the small queen (new?) will start laying or (hopefully) the workers will use the eggs to raise a new queen. This hive is too week to keep ants out.
5/27/13: This hive is queenless now, added a frame of eggs from H2.
6/2/13: Thought this hive was queenless after being uncertain if I really did find 2 queens on 5/19 and not seeing a queen on 5/27/13. The small hive was also agitated during inspection, but I found the small queen and she is laying. Perhaps she was out on a mating flight when I last inspected. The hive is starting to build and now fills 2/3rds of the lower deep. Probably ready to add the second deep in a week or two.
6/10/13: Found queen, not laying well yet but some eggs present. Removed frame with capped queen cell (supercedure) to start 2013 Nuc 2 in case she just needs more time.
6/15/13: Queen spotted, not much brood/eggs, but some. More bees than earlier. Added second deep and got a fresh feeder of sugar syrup from Linda. Her one hive was totally full and needed a honey super, so I got free syrup.
6/28/13: Inspected upper deep only. Brood on one frame only, supercedure cell started and not yet capped. Letting it go. This is still a small hive for 2 deeps.
7/5/13: Nearly filling 2 deeps, but not overcrowded. Perhaps 1 week until super needed. Spotted eggs.
7/23/13: No eggs. No queens were laying at this time.
8/3/13: Eggs spotted. Laying pattern is very scattered, lots of chalk brood bits on bottom board screen. Added queen excluder and honey super of drawn comb as the hive was quite full.
8/10/13: Eggs. Hive is growing, nothing in the honey super yet. Still chalk broody, probably the cause of spotty brood pattern. Lots of drones, too. Varroa.
8/17/13: Hive growing, but not in great health. Eggs spotted, though not many, still chalk broody. Running out of food, may be the reason for low number of eggs. Must be an inefficient way to build up a colony with 10-20% of larvae not viable. Dumped chalk brood from bottom board and added two deep frames of honey.
8/25/13: Eggs spotted, ok on food and space. Very little chalkbrood on bottom board, situation improving.
9/11/13: Queen laying ok, eggs spotted, pattern is still a bit spotty though a LOT of brood was present. Did not inspect bottom board for chalkbrood, but probably still the cause of spotty pattern. Saw some queen cups on the bottom, but no swarm cells had eggs or royal jelly. Spotted some supercedure cells in the upper deep, one was damaged and two more seemed fine. They are young, but had lots of royal jelly. I will allow the hive to supercede the queen and hope for the best. Nuc is insurance policy if they cannot raise a viable queen.
9/28/13: Chalkbroody, eggs spotted. Very little honey in super but bringing it in to deeps.
Hive origin: Swarm caught by Alan 2012, was a new nuc in 2012
Queen type: Swarm queen from 2012
Significant events/observations:
This hive is the only overwintered hive from 2012, formerly tracked as 2012 Hive 6. A smallish cluster is still alive as of 3/29/13. I placed a pollen patty under the inner cover and a feeder on top in early March. We have had a fairly cold March, good maple weather with freezing nights and just above freezing days. The cluster is under the pollen patty and when warm enough takes syrup from the feeder. About half of the sugar syrup was gone by 3/29/13. Evidence of dysentery is on the front of the hive, so concerned for nosema.
Early April I re-filled the feeder with sugar syrup plus Fumagilin B based on the amount of bee crap on the front of the hive.
4/29/13: Inspected and found two frames of bees left, small patch of brood on two frames with a combined size of a dollar bill. There was still remaining syrup on top and half of the pollen patty. Workers were bringing in bright yellow pollen. I cleaned off all propalis and moved to a single deep, cleaned out the dead bees, and moved the hive from a rickety perch on a tree stump (that turned out to have an ant's nest in it) to a cinder block based stand. I will add the upper deep once there are more bees or the lower deep is full of eggs/brood.
5/4/13: Spotted the queen again, hive has not grown much yet, but she is laying. They are foraging as well as taking sugar syrup and pollen patty. Left them in a single deep with entrance reducer in.
5/19/13: This hive is in bad shape, no bigger than it was in March, though some brood and eggs were still present. I think I found 2 queens (very confusing), so I removed the larger one (older?) on a single frame to a new Nuc (along with 2 frames from H2) and placed a frame of eggs and brood in this hive from H2. This queen appeared to have deformed wings. Either the small queen (new?) will start laying or (hopefully) the workers will use the eggs to raise a new queen. This hive is too week to keep ants out.
5/27/13: This hive is queenless now, added a frame of eggs from H2.
6/2/13: Thought this hive was queenless after being uncertain if I really did find 2 queens on 5/19 and not seeing a queen on 5/27/13. The small hive was also agitated during inspection, but I found the small queen and she is laying. Perhaps she was out on a mating flight when I last inspected. The hive is starting to build and now fills 2/3rds of the lower deep. Probably ready to add the second deep in a week or two.
6/10/13: Found queen, not laying well yet but some eggs present. Removed frame with capped queen cell (supercedure) to start 2013 Nuc 2 in case she just needs more time.
6/15/13: Queen spotted, not much brood/eggs, but some. More bees than earlier. Added second deep and got a fresh feeder of sugar syrup from Linda. Her one hive was totally full and needed a honey super, so I got free syrup.
6/28/13: Inspected upper deep only. Brood on one frame only, supercedure cell started and not yet capped. Letting it go. This is still a small hive for 2 deeps.
7/5/13: Nearly filling 2 deeps, but not overcrowded. Perhaps 1 week until super needed. Spotted eggs.
7/23/13: No eggs. No queens were laying at this time.
8/3/13: Eggs spotted. Laying pattern is very scattered, lots of chalk brood bits on bottom board screen. Added queen excluder and honey super of drawn comb as the hive was quite full.
8/10/13: Eggs. Hive is growing, nothing in the honey super yet. Still chalk broody, probably the cause of spotty brood pattern. Lots of drones, too. Varroa.
8/17/13: Hive growing, but not in great health. Eggs spotted, though not many, still chalk broody. Running out of food, may be the reason for low number of eggs. Must be an inefficient way to build up a colony with 10-20% of larvae not viable. Dumped chalk brood from bottom board and added two deep frames of honey.
8/25/13: Eggs spotted, ok on food and space. Very little chalkbrood on bottom board, situation improving.
9/11/13: Queen laying ok, eggs spotted, pattern is still a bit spotty though a LOT of brood was present. Did not inspect bottom board for chalkbrood, but probably still the cause of spotty pattern. Saw some queen cups on the bottom, but no swarm cells had eggs or royal jelly. Spotted some supercedure cells in the upper deep, one was damaged and two more seemed fine. They are young, but had lots of royal jelly. I will allow the hive to supercede the queen and hope for the best. Nuc is insurance policy if they cannot raise a viable queen.
9/28/13: Chalkbroody, eggs spotted. Very little honey in super but bringing it in to deeps.
12/22/13: 5+ frames of bees, good amount of honey but near top of
hive.
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