Checked on the hive today.
Even though it was late in the day and cooling off quickly I still checked the feeder jar.
The bees only consumed a 1/4 of the full jar since 28 Dec.
Since the temperature was so low there were not any bees to be seen.
The "north" side of the hive has some mildew. I guess I will have to touch it up with some Killz paint very soon.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Dec 28, 2008 - 10:30 am
Its been eight days since I visited the hive.
I replaced the jar of sugar water with a fresh jar. I will check back in 3 days, weather permitting, to see how quickly the bees consume the food. The mixture is 1:1, water to sugar.
With the temperatures in the mid seventies, the bees were very active today.
I didn't see any signs of ants so I didn't put down any insecticide.
I decided to take photos and a couple of movies.
I replaced the jar of sugar water with a fresh jar. I will check back in 3 days, weather permitting, to see how quickly the bees consume the food. The mixture is 1:1, water to sugar.
With the temperatures in the mid seventies, the bees were very active today.
I didn't see any signs of ants so I didn't put down any insecticide.
I decided to take photos and a couple of movies.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Dec 20, 2008 - 3 PM
Last visit to the hive was 27 Nov.
Today I put down insecticide with a watering can.
Opened up the hive and removed four frames from the top brood box. The bees seemed okay to me. The bees were very active in the hive as well as around it. I did not see any signs of hive beetle or wax moth or ants. Again I only looked through the four frames of the top brood box.
Closed up the hive and put a quart jar of 1:1 sugar water in the feeder slot.
At the front of the hive there was a lot of activity. I saw bees bringing in a lot of pollen. I did take some photos but they didn't turn out too well.
Today I put down insecticide with a watering can.
Opened up the hive and removed four frames from the top brood box. The bees seemed okay to me. The bees were very active in the hive as well as around it. I did not see any signs of hive beetle or wax moth or ants. Again I only looked through the four frames of the top brood box.
Closed up the hive and put a quart jar of 1:1 sugar water in the feeder slot.
At the front of the hive there was a lot of activity. I saw bees bringing in a lot of pollen. I did take some photos but they didn't turn out too well.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
27 Nov, 2008 - 11 am
It has been about three weeks since I visited the hive. Today it was warm enough to open up the hive and look inside. Since the colony has two brood supers I only opened the top one.
I didn't see any wax moth or hive beetles. The hive smell seemed okay, not decaying or anything like that, so hopefully that means the bottom super is doing okay too. I didn't have a smoker so I only removed a couple of frames.
The entrance reducer has been installed for three weeks now. The bees seem to be doing okay with it.
There was a lot of activity at the entrance, the bees were bringing in a lot of pollen.
I went ahead and used a watering can to put down some insecticide around the outside of the hive to deal with any bugs, hive beetles and such.
I didn't take very good pictures today, so theres nothing to post of today's tasks.
I didn't see any wax moth or hive beetles. The hive smell seemed okay, not decaying or anything like that, so hopefully that means the bottom super is doing okay too. I didn't have a smoker so I only removed a couple of frames.
The entrance reducer has been installed for three weeks now. The bees seem to be doing okay with it.
There was a lot of activity at the entrance, the bees were bringing in a lot of pollen.
I went ahead and used a watering can to put down some insecticide around the outside of the hive to deal with any bugs, hive beetles and such.
I didn't take very good pictures today, so theres nothing to post of today's tasks.
Monday, October 27, 2008
27 Oct, 2008 - 11pm
Although I have visited the hive several times since the last post this is the first time I took the time to post an entry.
The weather here has been very cool for this time of the year. Its been in the 40s at night and now this week a day or so in the 30s at night.
Todo List:
* install entrance reducer this week or next.
* Medicate bees( fumigilin-B & terramyacin)
* dunno yet, but there must be more stuff
My daughter created a variety of labels to use for the honey jars that were recently filled. My favorite is the one in the lower right corner.
The weather here has been very cool for this time of the year. Its been in the 40s at night and now this week a day or so in the 30s at night.
Todo List:
* install entrance reducer this week or next.
* Medicate bees( fumigilin-B & terramyacin)
* dunno yet, but there must be more stuff
My daughter created a variety of labels to use for the honey jars that were recently filled. My favorite is the one in the lower right corner.
Monday, October 13, 2008
13 October, 2008 - 6 AM
On 9 October I went ahead and pulled two frames from the top brood super so that I could "rob" some honey! The frames had nothing but honey. After extracting the honey, those two frames provided six eight ounce jars of honey.
Since I have taken that honey I can begin medicating the bees in preparation for fall/winter.
I will be putting Apigard VAR in the hive to deal with the varroa mites. I will also continue to use powdered sugar for varroa mites as well.
Since I have taken that honey I can begin medicating the bees in preparation for fall/winter.
I will be putting Apigard VAR in the hive to deal with the varroa mites. I will also continue to use powdered sugar for varroa mites as well.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
1 Oct, 2008 - 10:00 am
Checked on the hive to see what they were doing with the honey super. Looks like they were not doing anything in it. So I removed it. Now there are two brood boxes. I will leave the hive like that until next year.
I removed frames from the top brood super. I wanted to see what was going on in there. Looks like there are 3 full frames of honey!! The rest of the frames have brood and honey/pollen. No signs of wax moth, but I did find about 6 hive beetles in the honey super that I removed. I found the queen in this brood super, she was in the middle of the box doing what she does...
There were 4 frames that had about 75% brood and the rest honey/pollen. About 3 frames with 40% brood and the rest uncapped honey/pollen. And 3 frames with all honey
I had to removed the top brood super to check the bottom super. The top super must weigh over 50 pounds.
I put that box back together and opened up the bottom brood super. There are alot of bees but no where near the numbers found in the top super. This bottom super has some honey and pollen and about 3-4 frames of brood, but not very much brood. It seems that the hive has shifted to the top brood super. There were no pests that I could find.
Once I had the hive back together I dusted the bees with powdered sugar.
I went ahead and put down some pesticide.
BTW, I am still only using a spray bottle of sugar water instead of a smoker. So far so good. I noticed I must handle the frames/bees more delicately.
I removed frames from the top brood super. I wanted to see what was going on in there. Looks like there are 3 full frames of honey!! The rest of the frames have brood and honey/pollen. No signs of wax moth, but I did find about 6 hive beetles in the honey super that I removed. I found the queen in this brood super, she was in the middle of the box doing what she does...
There were 4 frames that had about 75% brood and the rest honey/pollen. About 3 frames with 40% brood and the rest uncapped honey/pollen. And 3 frames with all honey
I had to removed the top brood super to check the bottom super. The top super must weigh over 50 pounds.
I put that box back together and opened up the bottom brood super. There are alot of bees but no where near the numbers found in the top super. This bottom super has some honey and pollen and about 3-4 frames of brood, but not very much brood. It seems that the hive has shifted to the top brood super. There were no pests that I could find.
Once I had the hive back together I dusted the bees with powdered sugar.
I went ahead and put down some pesticide.
BTW, I am still only using a spray bottle of sugar water instead of a smoker. So far so good. I noticed I must handle the frames/bees more delicately.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
September 10, 2008 - 9:30am
Visited the hive today. Checked the outside of hive and stand for pests. Didn't see any signs of ants!
Since I removed the honey super a few days ago there have been more bees hanging out at the front entrance during the morning hours and evening hours.
The bees are bringing in alot of pollen.
So I put the honey super back on but left out the queen excluder. So hopefully that will give the bees something to do.
Since I removed the honey super a few days ago there have been more bees hanging out at the front entrance during the morning hours and evening hours.
The bees are bringing in alot of pollen.
So I put the honey super back on but left out the queen excluder. So hopefully that will give the bees something to do.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
September 6, 2008
Forgot to post yesterdays visit.
On the 5th of September 2008.
Removed the honey super since the bees did not draw any comb on the frames. So the little trick of giving the bees sugar water to encourage them to draw comb didn't work this time around.
I used a watering can to put down some pesticides to kill ants and hive beetles.
Today's visit - 6th September, 2008
I thought I would see what the bees were up to as night approached.
There were quite a few bees on the outside of the hive and entrance area. I took a few photos and captured some video footage. Otherwise not much else to write about.
On the 5th of September 2008.
Removed the honey super since the bees did not draw any comb on the frames. So the little trick of giving the bees sugar water to encourage them to draw comb didn't work this time around.
I used a watering can to put down some pesticides to kill ants and hive beetles.
Today's visit - 6th September, 2008
I thought I would see what the bees were up to as night approached.
There were quite a few bees on the outside of the hive and entrance area. I took a few photos and captured some video footage. Otherwise not much else to write about.
Friday, August 29, 2008
August 29, 2008 - 10:30am
Its been a week since I started the bees back on a 1:1 sugar/water mix to see if that would encourage them to draw comb in the honey super. Well, I can report that, that little trick didn't work. The bees are not drawing comb at all in the honey super. I am going to continue to feed the bees with a 1:1 sugar/water mix for another week and see what happens.
I removed the honey super to see how things are going in the top brood super. I took four frames out to look for pests, and other stuff. The bees have quite a bit of honey and pollen stored in this upper brood box. There are still alot of capped brood scattered amongst the frames. I didn't see any wax moth, or hive beetles. So since I didn't see any signs of pests in this brood box and it smelled of honey I didn't bother checking the bottom brood box. I did check the bottom one a week ago and things looked very good.
The outside of the hive didn't have any ants or other pests.
I filled up the pvc moats with water, as well as the water troughs around the bottom board.
The grass is growing very well around the hive stand. I think I will use roundup to take care of that...
I removed the honey super to see how things are going in the top brood super. I took four frames out to look for pests, and other stuff. The bees have quite a bit of honey and pollen stored in this upper brood box. There are still alot of capped brood scattered amongst the frames. I didn't see any wax moth, or hive beetles. So since I didn't see any signs of pests in this brood box and it smelled of honey I didn't bother checking the bottom brood box. I did check the bottom one a week ago and things looked very good.
The outside of the hive didn't have any ants or other pests.
I filled up the pvc moats with water, as well as the water troughs around the bottom board.
The grass is growing very well around the hive stand. I think I will use roundup to take care of that...
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Augst 26, 2008 - 9:30am
Checked on the bees. The feeder jar that I filled with 1:1 sugar/water and installed on the 22nd of August was emptied sometime between then and now. So I installed another full jar today. If the weather is good tomorrow I will check it to see how much they are consuming.
There were alot of bees flying around the front of the hive and alot of them flying into and out of the hive.
I checked for ants and did not see any on the outside of the hive or hive stand.
There were alot of bees flying around the front of the hive and alot of them flying into and out of the hive.
I checked for ants and did not see any on the outside of the hive or hive stand.
Friday, August 22, 2008
August 22, 2008
Its been a few weeks since I was on site.
I opened up the hive and looked in the honey super. There was still nothing being done in the super. So I removed it to see what was going on in the two brood chambers.
The top brood chamber has alot of honey. It weighs about 50 or so pounds!!! I found that in this box that every frame has alot of stored honey and pollen and not much room for brood. It looks like once the brood has hatched that the cells are being used for honey/pollen storage.
I didn't see any signs of wax moth or hive beetles in this box. But there were a lot of ants on the outside of the whole hive.
There were many more bees since the last visit and I saw quite a few new hatchlings. I also saw brood that were ready to be capped and capped brood, in the top box.
Once I checked each of the frames of the top box I put everything back together in it and removed it so I could access the bottom box.
The bottom box was very light. This is where I found the queen. She has moved down from the top box to the bottom box to lay more eggs. Each of the frames has honey and pollen but nothing like the top box frames.
I went through all of the frames and did not see any wax moth or hive beetles!!! Once I finished with the bottom box I put the hive back together and left the honey super installed with the queen excluder.
I talked with a local bee keeper and told him about what was going on in the honey super. He advised me to use a feeder jar of 1:1 sugar water to get the bees to draw comb in the honey supers. I did that today so I will see what the girls do with that in a week.
I put down some insecticide to take care of the ants. I also used a weedeater to clean up the grass and plant growth around the hive stand. Bee fertilizer seems to do wonders to the grass!
The hive, over all seems healthy to me. They are storing quite a bit of honey right now. They have stored so much honey in the upper brood box that I was very tempted to sample that honey...
My Dad took several photos with his Sony MVC=CD300, here they are...
I opened up the hive and looked in the honey super. There was still nothing being done in the super. So I removed it to see what was going on in the two brood chambers.
The top brood chamber has alot of honey. It weighs about 50 or so pounds!!! I found that in this box that every frame has alot of stored honey and pollen and not much room for brood. It looks like once the brood has hatched that the cells are being used for honey/pollen storage.
I didn't see any signs of wax moth or hive beetles in this box. But there were a lot of ants on the outside of the whole hive.
There were many more bees since the last visit and I saw quite a few new hatchlings. I also saw brood that were ready to be capped and capped brood, in the top box.
Once I checked each of the frames of the top box I put everything back together in it and removed it so I could access the bottom box.
The bottom box was very light. This is where I found the queen. She has moved down from the top box to the bottom box to lay more eggs. Each of the frames has honey and pollen but nothing like the top box frames.
I went through all of the frames and did not see any wax moth or hive beetles!!! Once I finished with the bottom box I put the hive back together and left the honey super installed with the queen excluder.
I talked with a local bee keeper and told him about what was going on in the honey super. He advised me to use a feeder jar of 1:1 sugar water to get the bees to draw comb in the honey supers. I did that today so I will see what the girls do with that in a week.
I put down some insecticide to take care of the ants. I also used a weedeater to clean up the grass and plant growth around the hive stand. Bee fertilizer seems to do wonders to the grass!
The hive, over all seems healthy to me. They are storing quite a bit of honey right now. They have stored so much honey in the upper brood box that I was very tempted to sample that honey...
My Dad took several photos with his Sony MVC=CD300, here they are...
Monday, August 4, 2008
August 3, 2008 - 11 am
I went on site to see how the bees were doing with the honey super. I opened up the honey super and found that the bees were not drawing any comb on the frames. But there were a lot of bees on the inside of the top cover and a lot of bees on the excluder. As I was going through the honey super frames I found what looked like a very small hive beetle. So I decided to look a little closer at the top brood super.
I noticed that there is a lot more honey storage happening in the brood supers. So maybe the bees will start working on the honey super.
While looking through the top super I didn't find any more hive beetles. I didn't see any other pests either. I did find the queen!
She seems to be spending a lot of time in the upper brood super. I need to look into when/if I should swap the brood supers to get the queen to work the brood supers better.
I noticed that there is a lot more honey storage happening in the brood supers. So maybe the bees will start working on the honey super.
While looking through the top super I didn't find any more hive beetles. I didn't see any other pests either. I did find the queen!
She seems to be spending a lot of time in the upper brood super. I need to look into when/if I should swap the brood supers to get the queen to work the brood supers better.
Monday, July 28, 2008
July 28, 2008 - 1:30pm
Took a look at the outside area of the hive. Didn't see any ants or other bugs.
Cleaned up the pvc moats and refilled them with clean water.
This Friday I will take a look inside the honey super to see if any comb has been drawn.
Cleaned up the pvc moats and refilled them with clean water.
This Friday I will take a look inside the honey super to see if any comb has been drawn.
Friday, July 25, 2008
July 25, 2008 - 11 am
Its been just under seven days since the queen excluder was installed. I went on site to see what the bees were doing. I only took the top cover off and looked between the honey super frames to see what kind of bee activity was taking place. There are alot of bees above the excluder milling around on it. There were not many bees on the honey super frames. I hope they are not planning on sealing up the excluder...
So far the bees have not drawn any comb in the honey super...
I didn't see any ants on the hive or hive stand.
The pvc moats need to be cleaned up a bit. And I think I will finally fix the leaks that the smaller pvc moat has so its more useful.
While I was looking around the front of the hive I noticed that the bees have been cleaning house. There were about five dead larval?! drones and about 30-40 dead workers.
So far the bees have not drawn any comb in the honey super...
I didn't see any ants on the hive or hive stand.
The pvc moats need to be cleaned up a bit. And I think I will finally fix the leaks that the smaller pvc moat has so its more useful.
While I was looking around the front of the hive I noticed that the bees have been cleaning house. There were about five dead larval?! drones and about 30-40 dead workers.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
July 19, 2008 - 10 am and 5:30pm
10 am visit
I installed the queen excluder.
There were about a hundred or so bees scattered amongst the ten frames in the honey super. They look like they are sizing up what the honey super is and they look like they are going to start drawing comb! I will wait a week before I open the hive to see what they do. Hopefully the bees don't propolize the queen excluder to the point where they can't get to the honey super...
5:30 pm visit
Thought I'd take a look at the hive. I didn't open it, I just took a look around the outside of the hive. I saw several hundred bees clustered around the opening of the hive. I took a closer look and saw hundreds of ants trying to get into the entrance and into any open areas. Adding the queen excluder seems to have attracted more ants than I have ever seen. The ants were all around the gap that the queen excluder creates when placed between supers. I mixed up a batch of insecticide and used a watering can to put it on the hive stand legs and on the ground around the hive.
I checked the hive an hour after putting down the insecticide and that seems to have significantly reduced the ant problem. That seemed to have stopped ants from getting to the hive, and the bees kept working on the ants that were trapped.
I installed the queen excluder.
There were about a hundred or so bees scattered amongst the ten frames in the honey super. They look like they are sizing up what the honey super is and they look like they are going to start drawing comb! I will wait a week before I open the hive to see what they do. Hopefully the bees don't propolize the queen excluder to the point where they can't get to the honey super...
5:30 pm visit
Thought I'd take a look at the hive. I didn't open it, I just took a look around the outside of the hive. I saw several hundred bees clustered around the opening of the hive. I took a closer look and saw hundreds of ants trying to get into the entrance and into any open areas. Adding the queen excluder seems to have attracted more ants than I have ever seen. The ants were all around the gap that the queen excluder creates when placed between supers. I mixed up a batch of insecticide and used a watering can to put it on the hive stand legs and on the ground around the hive.
I checked the hive an hour after putting down the insecticide and that seems to have significantly reduced the ant problem. That seemed to have stopped ants from getting to the hive, and the bees kept working on the ants that were trapped.
Friday, July 18, 2008
July 18, 2008 - 10 pm
The queen excluder arrived today! Tomorrow I will install it. I originally ordered a metal excluder but it was on back order for some time. So I opted for a plastic version.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
July 16, 2008 - 10:30am
After reviewing the pictures and talking with a local Bee keeper, I put a shallow super on the hive today.
So since there is so much activity in the hive at this time, maybe the bees can have this super filled by september or so.
I looked for signs of ants on the exterior of the hive but none were to be found.
I need to repair one of the pvc moats, it no longer holds water. Seems like a weekend project to me.
Oh yeah, my bee keeper friend mentioned it might be a good idea to swap the brood chambers top to bottom since the queen is spending so much time in the top brood chamber. I think I will try that but for a week or so I will wait. My thinking is this, since the queen is now working the top brood box that will draw more workers up into the new honey super I just installed. So I have to keep a close watch on their foundation progress and if it looks good, swap the brood chambers and then add a queen excluder.
So since there is so much activity in the hive at this time, maybe the bees can have this super filled by september or so.
I looked for signs of ants on the exterior of the hive but none were to be found.
I need to repair one of the pvc moats, it no longer holds water. Seems like a weekend project to me.
Oh yeah, my bee keeper friend mentioned it might be a good idea to swap the brood chambers top to bottom since the queen is spending so much time in the top brood chamber. I think I will try that but for a week or so I will wait. My thinking is this, since the queen is now working the top brood box that will draw more workers up into the new honey super I just installed. So I have to keep a close watch on their foundation progress and if it looks good, swap the brood chambers and then add a queen excluder.
Photos from today's visit...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
