Out at the Bee yard it was 88º , light wind and clear skies.
Alpha Hive
I did not open the hive or honey super.
Beta Hive
I removed the honey super to look through the top hive body. I was looking for the queen or signs of her on each frame. I found plenty of fresh eggs but I did not see the queen in the top hive body. I removed burr comb and stuff like that while examining each frame. I noticed that on each frame a lot of honey storage was happening. I found one frame that was all honey storage with half already capped. I didn't see signs of hive beetles or other pests.
SIDENOTE:
The buildup of bees underneath Beta hive may have been due to a feral swarm taking up temporary residence!!!!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
April 24, 2009 - 4 pm
Went out to the Bee Yard, it was 85º, clear skies, very little wind.
Alpha Hive
Looked busy, a lot of bees coming and going. Since it has a honey super I removed the top cover to see what was being done in it. So far nothing is being stored in the honey super!
I removed the honey super to take a look inside the top hive body. The cluster is about 7 frames wide in the top hive body. Where ever there is drawn comb, there is honey/pollen being stored. I found the queen after pulling the third frame! So I put that frame in and pulled a couple of frames out that were no where near her. There were young larva and capped brood on those frames. Didn't see any hive beetles or other pests. Put all the frames back and put the excluder and honey super back on top.
Beta Hive
Didn't seem as busy as it usually does...
It has a honey super so I removed the top cover to peek inside. The girls are not doing anything in the honey super. I removed the honey super and excluder to look inside the hive but I didn't move any frames. There seemed to be so many bees packed in the frames. I left them as is and put all the stuff back in order. Tomorrow I think I will take a closer look and inspect frames in the hive.
Last week there were a lot of busy gathering outside and underneath the hive. This week there were only 20 or so gathered under the bottom board. I did find that there was two inch diameter chunk of comb that the bees had drawn out on the bottom outside of the bottom board where so many had gathered last week. I scraped it off and found that it was loaded with curing nectar! I am hoping that all those bees were not part of a swarm and that they went inside to start working.
Alpha Hive
Looked busy, a lot of bees coming and going. Since it has a honey super I removed the top cover to see what was being done in it. So far nothing is being stored in the honey super!
I removed the honey super to take a look inside the top hive body. The cluster is about 7 frames wide in the top hive body. Where ever there is drawn comb, there is honey/pollen being stored. I found the queen after pulling the third frame! So I put that frame in and pulled a couple of frames out that were no where near her. There were young larva and capped brood on those frames. Didn't see any hive beetles or other pests. Put all the frames back and put the excluder and honey super back on top.
Beta Hive
Didn't seem as busy as it usually does...
It has a honey super so I removed the top cover to peek inside. The girls are not doing anything in the honey super. I removed the honey super and excluder to look inside the hive but I didn't move any frames. There seemed to be so many bees packed in the frames. I left them as is and put all the stuff back in order. Tomorrow I think I will take a closer look and inspect frames in the hive.
Last week there were a lot of busy gathering outside and underneath the hive. This week there were only 20 or so gathered under the bottom board. I did find that there was two inch diameter chunk of comb that the bees had drawn out on the bottom outside of the bottom board where so many had gathered last week. I scraped it off and found that it was loaded with curing nectar! I am hoping that all those bees were not part of a swarm and that they went inside to start working.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
April 18, 2009 - 4pm
At the bee yard it was about 78º, no wind, clear skies.
Alpha Hive
Didn't open it to inspect brood supers, but I did open up the honey super. The bees are not doing anything in the honey super. Outside the hive and at the entrance the bees look as busy as they usually do.
Beta hive
There was a lot of outside activity all around the hive and at the entrance. The outside activity revealed that hundred of bees have gathered underneath the screened bottom board. There are so many bees under the hive!! I peeked under the hive and saw a lot of drones in the bees. I tried to look for a queen but did not find one. She could be there, there are just so many bees its hard to pick her out. I took several photos and I will look through them to see if I can spot a queen. It looks to me that this is the beginning of a swarm!!!
The top brood super has about 7-8 frames of bees. I also checked the bottom brood super and it too has about 7-8 frames of bees. I went ahead and put a honey super on the hive.
These two photos show what it looked like at around 4:30 this evening under the hive!!!
This is what it looked like at around 7 pm this evening, looks like the bees went back into the hive for the night.
Alpha Hive
Didn't open it to inspect brood supers, but I did open up the honey super. The bees are not doing anything in the honey super. Outside the hive and at the entrance the bees look as busy as they usually do.
Beta hive
There was a lot of outside activity all around the hive and at the entrance. The outside activity revealed that hundred of bees have gathered underneath the screened bottom board. There are so many bees under the hive!! I peeked under the hive and saw a lot of drones in the bees. I tried to look for a queen but did not find one. She could be there, there are just so many bees its hard to pick her out. I took several photos and I will look through them to see if I can spot a queen. It looks to me that this is the beginning of a swarm!!!
The top brood super has about 7-8 frames of bees. I also checked the bottom brood super and it too has about 7-8 frames of bees. I went ahead and put a honey super on the hive.
These two photos show what it looked like at around 4:30 this evening under the hive!!!
This is what it looked like at around 7 pm this evening, looks like the bees went back into the hive for the night.
Monday, April 13, 2009
April 12, 2009 - 3pm
This Sunday I thought I would check the progress of the girls.
It was 78º and there was a light breeze, no clouds.
Alpha Hive
The outside activity of the hive looked okay, bees coming and going, very few milling about in front on the landing board. I still have an entrance reducer in place and using the largest opening for access.
Opened up the hive. Since this hive has a honey super I looked through it for signs of honey storage. I didn't find any bees in this super. They just aren't going into the super. They are busy in the top brood super. There are eggs, larva and many more capped cells. I think next week end I will swap the brood supers. I will still keep the honey super on but I will remove the queen excluder and see if that is what is keeping the bees out. I did not see any signs of hive beetles or wax moth or any other pests.
Alpha Hive Photos
This photo has the Queen in it...she is almost in the middle of the photo
Beta Hive
The outside of the hive was very busy. There were so many bees they were "flowing" over each other to get in and out of the entrance. The entrance reducer is still in place with the smallest opening.
Inside the hive the bees were busy drawing comb. They were clinging together in such numbers. At this time they are working on six frames and five of them are drawn comb. The queen has been laying eggs in these frames. I also found that they are storing pollen and nectar in these frames as well. Next weekend, weather permitting I will add a honey super. I am considering swapping the brood supers. I didn't see any signs of hive beetles or wax moth.
Beta Hive Photos
It was 78º and there was a light breeze, no clouds.
Alpha Hive
The outside activity of the hive looked okay, bees coming and going, very few milling about in front on the landing board. I still have an entrance reducer in place and using the largest opening for access.
Opened up the hive. Since this hive has a honey super I looked through it for signs of honey storage. I didn't find any bees in this super. They just aren't going into the super. They are busy in the top brood super. There are eggs, larva and many more capped cells. I think next week end I will swap the brood supers. I will still keep the honey super on but I will remove the queen excluder and see if that is what is keeping the bees out. I did not see any signs of hive beetles or wax moth or any other pests.
Alpha Hive Photos
This photo has the Queen in it...she is almost in the middle of the photo
Beta Hive
The outside of the hive was very busy. There were so many bees they were "flowing" over each other to get in and out of the entrance. The entrance reducer is still in place with the smallest opening.
Inside the hive the bees were busy drawing comb. They were clinging together in such numbers. At this time they are working on six frames and five of them are drawn comb. The queen has been laying eggs in these frames. I also found that they are storing pollen and nectar in these frames as well. Next weekend, weather permitting I will add a honey super. I am considering swapping the brood supers. I didn't see any signs of hive beetles or wax moth.
Beta Hive Photos
Saturday, April 4, 2009
April 04, 2009 - 4 pm
At the bee yard it was 73º and no breeze.
Alpha Hive
At the entrance the Alpha hive looked busy. I checked on the hive top feeder and found that the bees have not been doing much with it. I removed it. I looked inside the hive and there were bees in there but they were not very active. The main cluster of bees were on the south side of the hive. They covered about five frames. The other five frames had bees milling about but not many. Of those five frames two were being filled with honey. I did not remove any frames where the main cluster was located. I didn't notice any hive beetles or other pests inside. I put the queen excluder back on and a honey super and closed up the hive. I did not see any ants or other pests on the outside of the hive.
Beta Hive
There was alot of activity at the entrance to the hive. Within the 10 minutes or so of watching them, there were so many bees that they appeared to be flowing in and out of the entrance!!! The entrance reducer is still in place and with the smallest opening. I opened up the hive to peek inside and found that the bees have moved up to the top hive body and are busy drawing comb on three frames! I did not do a detailed inspection, I just moved a couple of frames to see what they were doing. I didn't see any signs of hive beetles or other pests. I put things back in place and closed the hive. I didn't see any ants or other pests on the outside of the hive.
Alpha Hive
At the entrance the Alpha hive looked busy. I checked on the hive top feeder and found that the bees have not been doing much with it. I removed it. I looked inside the hive and there were bees in there but they were not very active. The main cluster of bees were on the south side of the hive. They covered about five frames. The other five frames had bees milling about but not many. Of those five frames two were being filled with honey. I did not remove any frames where the main cluster was located. I didn't notice any hive beetles or other pests inside. I put the queen excluder back on and a honey super and closed up the hive. I did not see any ants or other pests on the outside of the hive.
Beta Hive
There was alot of activity at the entrance to the hive. Within the 10 minutes or so of watching them, there were so many bees that they appeared to be flowing in and out of the entrance!!! The entrance reducer is still in place and with the smallest opening. I opened up the hive to peek inside and found that the bees have moved up to the top hive body and are busy drawing comb on three frames! I did not do a detailed inspection, I just moved a couple of frames to see what they were doing. I didn't see any signs of hive beetles or other pests. I put things back in place and closed the hive. I didn't see any ants or other pests on the outside of the hive.
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