It was 86º, partly cloudy and slightly breezy at the Backyard Hive
Back Yard Bees
The feeder jar had a few ounces left so I replaced it with a full jar.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
29 June, 2010 = 3 pm
81º, cloudy and no breeze at the Backyard Bee Hive
Backyard Bees
I noticed that the feeder jar was empty! It seems the girls are in some sort of feeding frenzy! Their feeding pattern has gone from a jar every two to three days, then to every other day and now a jar every day.
Backyard Bees
I noticed that the feeder jar was empty! It seems the girls are in some sort of feeding frenzy! Their feeding pattern has gone from a jar every two to three days, then to every other day and now a jar every day.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
27 June, 2010 - 2 pm
93º Clear skies and no breeze at the bee yard.
Swarm Hive
I only opened up the honey super. There are four frames with various areas of drawn comb and curing nectar. Finally the girls have moved up into the honey super.
Alpha Hive
This hive has two supers. I only looked through the supers and not the hive bodies. Top super is untouched and there are no bees in it. Bottom super has bees everywhere and three frames full of curing nectar and the rest of the frames are a work in progress.
Beta Hive
This hive has three honey supers. I only looked through honey supers, no hive bodies were checked during this visit. Top honey super is untouched, a few bees scattered throughout frames. Middle super is being worked heavily, the bees are filling all frames with nectar. Bottom honey super, all frames are full of honey, five frames are fully capped the remaining frames are being capped.
Swarm Hive
I only opened up the honey super. There are four frames with various areas of drawn comb and curing nectar. Finally the girls have moved up into the honey super.
Alpha Hive
This hive has two supers. I only looked through the supers and not the hive bodies. Top super is untouched and there are no bees in it. Bottom super has bees everywhere and three frames full of curing nectar and the rest of the frames are a work in progress.
Beta Hive
This hive has three honey supers. I only looked through honey supers, no hive bodies were checked during this visit. Top honey super is untouched, a few bees scattered throughout frames. Middle super is being worked heavily, the bees are filling all frames with nectar. Bottom honey super, all frames are full of honey, five frames are fully capped the remaining frames are being capped.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
26 June, 2010 - 7:30 am
Its 76º at the Backyard Bee hive, no wind and clear skies.
Backyard Bees
The feeder jar was empty, replaced it with a full jar today. There are a lot of bees at the hive entrance and landing area this morning. Could be typical, but I don't usually check.
Backyard Bees
The feeder jar was empty, replaced it with a full jar today. There are a lot of bees at the hive entrance and landing area this morning. Could be typical, but I don't usually check.
Friday, June 25, 2010
June 25, 2010 - 8:30 am
It was 82º at the backyard bee hive.
Backyard Bees
The bees are busy today. There was a lot of activity at the entrance, ten or so bees wandering around the landing board and ten or so in the entrance hanging out.
Opened up the top hive and found a hundred or so bees clustered around the feeder jar area. In the bottom middle three frames of the top hive there is comb being drawn! When I removed the top hive body, the comb that connected the two hive bodies was damaged.
The bottom hive body is looking good. Frames 10 and one now have bees wandering on them with some small areas of comb being drawn.
Frame 9 has a quarter of one side with comb and it contains maturing eggs as well as curing honey.
Frame 8 continues to be drawn out and the eggs/larva and capped brood are maturing.
On all of the frames that have comb, there are eggs that are at least a day old. So the queen is there and working hard.
Most of the frames have new bees hatching!. The bees are storing a lot of pollen on the frames.
Overall the hive is doing quite well.
Backyard Bees
The bees are busy today. There was a lot of activity at the entrance, ten or so bees wandering around the landing board and ten or so in the entrance hanging out.
Opened up the top hive and found a hundred or so bees clustered around the feeder jar area. In the bottom middle three frames of the top hive there is comb being drawn! When I removed the top hive body, the comb that connected the two hive bodies was damaged.
The bottom hive body is looking good. Frames 10 and one now have bees wandering on them with some small areas of comb being drawn.
Frame 9 has a quarter of one side with comb and it contains maturing eggs as well as curing honey.
Frame 8 continues to be drawn out and the eggs/larva and capped brood are maturing.
On all of the frames that have comb, there are eggs that are at least a day old. So the queen is there and working hard.
Most of the frames have new bees hatching!. The bees are storing a lot of pollen on the frames.
Overall the hive is doing quite well.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
24 June, 2010 - 8 am
It was 82º, clear skies and no breeze at the backyard bee hive.
Backyard bees
The feeder jar was empty so I replaced it with a full jar.
There is a lot of entrance activity today. There are about twenty or so bees hanging out on the porch!
Backyard bees
The feeder jar was empty so I replaced it with a full jar.
There is a lot of entrance activity today. There are about twenty or so bees hanging out on the porch!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
20 June, 2010 - 2 pm
It was 94º and slightly breezy at the bee yard.
Swarm Hive
Today I removed the queen excluder that I placed on the bottom most hive body when I first hived this colony. There is now plenty of ventilation for the girls.
On my way home from the bee yard I saw a series of rain storms headed to town. By the time I arrived at home the weather had moved on. Well I decided to take a look at the bees in the back yard and saw that there were hundreds of bees clogging the entrance to get in! It looks like the bees were trying to get into the hive during the rainy weather. I took a few pictures. I am hoping its not the start of a swarm.
Swarm Hive
Today I removed the queen excluder that I placed on the bottom most hive body when I first hived this colony. There is now plenty of ventilation for the girls.
On my way home from the bee yard I saw a series of rain storms headed to town. By the time I arrived at home the weather had moved on. Well I decided to take a look at the bees in the back yard and saw that there were hundreds of bees clogging the entrance to get in! It looks like the bees were trying to get into the hive during the rainy weather. I took a few pictures. I am hoping its not the start of a swarm.
Friday, June 18, 2010
18 June, 2010 - 10 am
It was 90º, clear skies and no breeze at the back yard hive.
Backyard bees
Opened up the hive body and found 7 frames that are being drawn out. I looked at frames 10 and 9 and found some comb being drawn out and it is being used for honey and pollen storage. Frames 8 through 3 have comb drawn out at various stages and are covered with bees tending the eggs/larva and food. Frames 2 and 1 have comb being drawn out in small areas. Although I didn't find the queen I did find eggs and there were quite a few new bees to be seen. I added a second hive body today. I replaced the feeder jar with a fresh jar. The hive looks like its doing very well.
It was 94º at the Bee yard, partly cloudy and slightly breezy.
Swarm Hive
I noticed that on the outside of the hive there were a few ants. I removed the top cover and there numerous ants crawling about. There also many ants inside the one and only honey super. The bees were busy trying to deal with the ants. I buttoned up the hive and used a watering can to put down some insecticide to kill the ants. Because there were so many ants and the bees were in such a frenzy dealing with the ants I did not do a proper inspection this visit.
Alpha Hive
I opened the hive and found that the bees have finally started drawing comb in the inner most honey super! The top honey super is untouched but I left in place because it looks like they need the space. I did not do an inspection of the hive bodies at this time.
Entrance activity was very busy, there were about 50 or so bees on the landing area.
Beta Hive
This hive has 3 honey supers. The top honey super is untouched. The middle super is the one that was recently harvested and the bees have started to store honey in it. The bottom super, the bees are busy storing honey and are capping comb. The bees are very busy working on this super.
At the entrance there are a 100 or so bees hanging out, cleaning and such.
Backyard bees
Opened up the hive body and found 7 frames that are being drawn out. I looked at frames 10 and 9 and found some comb being drawn out and it is being used for honey and pollen storage. Frames 8 through 3 have comb drawn out at various stages and are covered with bees tending the eggs/larva and food. Frames 2 and 1 have comb being drawn out in small areas. Although I didn't find the queen I did find eggs and there were quite a few new bees to be seen. I added a second hive body today. I replaced the feeder jar with a fresh jar. The hive looks like its doing very well.
It was 94º at the Bee yard, partly cloudy and slightly breezy.
Swarm Hive
I noticed that on the outside of the hive there were a few ants. I removed the top cover and there numerous ants crawling about. There also many ants inside the one and only honey super. The bees were busy trying to deal with the ants. I buttoned up the hive and used a watering can to put down some insecticide to kill the ants. Because there were so many ants and the bees were in such a frenzy dealing with the ants I did not do a proper inspection this visit.
Alpha Hive
I opened the hive and found that the bees have finally started drawing comb in the inner most honey super! The top honey super is untouched but I left in place because it looks like they need the space. I did not do an inspection of the hive bodies at this time.
Entrance activity was very busy, there were about 50 or so bees on the landing area.
Beta Hive
This hive has 3 honey supers. The top honey super is untouched. The middle super is the one that was recently harvested and the bees have started to store honey in it. The bottom super, the bees are busy storing honey and are capping comb. The bees are very busy working on this super.
At the entrance there are a 100 or so bees hanging out, cleaning and such.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
12 June, 2010 - 9 am
Today the honey was harvested from the honey super removed from the Beta hive. The total weight was 30 pounds! The harvested honey is settling and after that is done it will be bottled.
Friday, June 11, 2010
11 June, 2010 - 10:30 am & 2 pm
10:30 am
Its 88º at the backyard hive, clear skies and no wind.
Backyard bees
Removed the hive top feeder and installed a migratory cover with a hole so that a quart feeder jar can be used. Installed a full jar today. Didn't inspect the hive.
2 pm
It was 95º at the Bee yard, clear skies and no breeeeze.
Swarm Hive
The bees were very busy at the hive entrance and there were about twenty or so bees on the porch fanning.
Removed the top cover and then the inner cover. The bees completely covered the underside of the inner cover. It could be they were cooling the hive..? In the top hive body they have six frames drawn. I didn't find the queen but I did find eggs. I stopped the inspection at this point and put everything back together and I added a honey super. This honey super has plasticell as the foundation and it is wax coated. I melted some cappings wax I had and brushed it on all ten frames to see if that will encourage the bees to move up and build comb. The overall attitude of the hive was very calm. I did not need to use the smoker while doing the hive inspection.
I went ahead and removed the entrance reducer. This should help with ventilation during all of this hot weather .
Beta Hive
There is quite a bit of entrance activity! There are a hundred or so bees hanging out on the porch!
I opened up the hive to check on the honey supers. The top super is untouched, it is a honey super that does not have any drawn foundation. The middle honey super has a few thousand bees scattered throughout the frames and it is being filled with nectar. This honey super does have drawn foundation. The bottom honey super was filled with frames of capped honey! I decided to remove the super and harvest the honey. So as of now the Beta hive only has two honey supers. Once I extract the honey I will put that honey super on the Beta hive.
Alpha Hive
The bees are very busy at the entrance area. I removed the top cover to check the honey super. So far they are not moving up into the honey super. I put everything back in place for this hive.
-----------------------------------
First honey harvest of the year!
The frames are medium honey super frames, but they are
temporarily sitting in a deep brood box...
Heres a closer look of the bees handiwork
Its 88º at the backyard hive, clear skies and no wind.
Backyard bees
Removed the hive top feeder and installed a migratory cover with a hole so that a quart feeder jar can be used. Installed a full jar today. Didn't inspect the hive.
2 pm
It was 95º at the Bee yard, clear skies and no breeeeze.
Swarm Hive
The bees were very busy at the hive entrance and there were about twenty or so bees on the porch fanning.
Removed the top cover and then the inner cover. The bees completely covered the underside of the inner cover. It could be they were cooling the hive..? In the top hive body they have six frames drawn. I didn't find the queen but I did find eggs. I stopped the inspection at this point and put everything back together and I added a honey super. This honey super has plasticell as the foundation and it is wax coated. I melted some cappings wax I had and brushed it on all ten frames to see if that will encourage the bees to move up and build comb. The overall attitude of the hive was very calm. I did not need to use the smoker while doing the hive inspection.
I went ahead and removed the entrance reducer. This should help with ventilation during all of this hot weather .
Beta Hive
There is quite a bit of entrance activity! There are a hundred or so bees hanging out on the porch!
I opened up the hive to check on the honey supers. The top super is untouched, it is a honey super that does not have any drawn foundation. The middle honey super has a few thousand bees scattered throughout the frames and it is being filled with nectar. This honey super does have drawn foundation. The bottom honey super was filled with frames of capped honey! I decided to remove the super and harvest the honey. So as of now the Beta hive only has two honey supers. Once I extract the honey I will put that honey super on the Beta hive.
Alpha Hive
The bees are very busy at the entrance area. I removed the top cover to check the honey super. So far they are not moving up into the honey super. I put everything back in place for this hive.
-----------------------------------
First honey harvest of the year!
The frames are medium honey super frames, but they are
temporarily sitting in a deep brood box...
Heres a closer look of the bees handiwork
Thursday, June 10, 2010
June 10, 2010 - 8:00 am
It was 74º, clear skies and no breeze at the backyard hive.
Backyard Bees
I opened up the hive top feeder and found that the bees consumed about 2 gallons of the sugar water feed. Tomorrow I will mix up a fresh batch.
I looked at frame 8 and found that the bees have covered 1/4 of the frame and the queen has already put eggs in most of that space and the bees filled the remaining cells with nectar!. I looked at frame 7 and one side of the frame is partially drawn and had eggs and nectar and pollen. It looks like 6 and a half frames are drawn. I'll give them another week and then put another hive body on and that should help them.
Backyard Bees
I opened up the hive top feeder and found that the bees consumed about 2 gallons of the sugar water feed. Tomorrow I will mix up a fresh batch.
I looked at frame 8 and found that the bees have covered 1/4 of the frame and the queen has already put eggs in most of that space and the bees filled the remaining cells with nectar!. I looked at frame 7 and one side of the frame is partially drawn and had eggs and nectar and pollen. It looks like 6 and a half frames are drawn. I'll give them another week and then put another hive body on and that should help them.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
June 6, 2010 - 10:00 am
It was 80º, partly sunny at the bee yard.
Swarm Hive
Lot of activity at entrance of hive. The bees are very active. Opened up the hive and the bees covered the inner cover. There are 5 frames drawn with bees covering them. I checkerboarded two frames of foundation with brood frames in the top hive body. I'll see how they do with that next week and if things look good I'll add a honey super. The cordovan bees are pretty much everywhere now in this hive. While looking through the top hive body frames I found eggs,larva and capped brood. I didn't look for anything else at that point so I put the hive back together and moved on the the other hives. The bees didn't need to be smoked today. They were very calm throughout my entire visit.
Beta Hive
Hundred or so bees on the porch with many bees coming and going. I opened up the hive to look through the honey supers. There are maybe a hundred or so bees in the top honey super. That one is only foundation. The next super down has drawn comb and there are a few thousand in that one and it looks and feels like they are storing more nectar. The bottom most honey super is very heavy and has about 5 frames of that are capped! I removed the queen excluder in the hopes that it will allow more freedom of movement. The bees were agitated today! Several of them fly right at me out of the honey supers and began to sting my suit! At the entrance to the hive the bees didn't pay any attention to me at all! So I'm not certain why the other bees were so agitated.
Alpha Hive
There was so much more entrance activity to this hive than I have seen in a long time. They were more bees coming and going than in the Beta hive! I removed the honey super and found that the bees just aren't moving up there! I put everything back together.
I cut the grass around the hive stand. That grass sure is healthy around the hives.
Swarm Hive
Lot of activity at entrance of hive. The bees are very active. Opened up the hive and the bees covered the inner cover. There are 5 frames drawn with bees covering them. I checkerboarded two frames of foundation with brood frames in the top hive body. I'll see how they do with that next week and if things look good I'll add a honey super. The cordovan bees are pretty much everywhere now in this hive. While looking through the top hive body frames I found eggs,larva and capped brood. I didn't look for anything else at that point so I put the hive back together and moved on the the other hives. The bees didn't need to be smoked today. They were very calm throughout my entire visit.
Beta Hive
Hundred or so bees on the porch with many bees coming and going. I opened up the hive to look through the honey supers. There are maybe a hundred or so bees in the top honey super. That one is only foundation. The next super down has drawn comb and there are a few thousand in that one and it looks and feels like they are storing more nectar. The bottom most honey super is very heavy and has about 5 frames of that are capped! I removed the queen excluder in the hopes that it will allow more freedom of movement. The bees were agitated today! Several of them fly right at me out of the honey supers and began to sting my suit! At the entrance to the hive the bees didn't pay any attention to me at all! So I'm not certain why the other bees were so agitated.
Alpha Hive
There was so much more entrance activity to this hive than I have seen in a long time. They were more bees coming and going than in the Beta hive! I removed the honey super and found that the bees just aren't moving up there! I put everything back together.
I cut the grass around the hive stand. That grass sure is healthy around the hives.
Friday, June 4, 2010
June 4, 2010 - 1:30 pm
It was 88º, cloudy and no breeze at the backyard hive.
Backyard Bees
Today was the day for the second inspection. The hive top feeder was just about empty. While inspecting the feeder I found numerous hive beetle larva!. I removed that feeder and replaced it with a clean feeder. Although I found larva in the hive top feeder I did not see any beetles in the hive, but they are there somewhere. I will be spraying the area under and around the hive stand to deal with the beetles and ants later today.
I removed the #2 frame and it had one side drawn out and filled with pollen and curing sugar/nectar. The other side was about half drawn out, and there were eggs. The #1 frame which is against the wall was untouched. The #3 frame was drawn out on both sides, there were eggs,larva and capped brood! Frames 4,5,6 were the same as 3 but with more capped brood. The bees are storing plenty of sugar/nectar and pollen throughout the frames. The bees cover 5 frames at this time. There are many many bees producing wax. There is so much wax being made that it is easily visible on the ground under the screened bottom board. So at this point, it has taken the bees two weeks to draw out five frames.
Backyard Bees
Today was the day for the second inspection. The hive top feeder was just about empty. While inspecting the feeder I found numerous hive beetle larva!. I removed that feeder and replaced it with a clean feeder. Although I found larva in the hive top feeder I did not see any beetles in the hive, but they are there somewhere. I will be spraying the area under and around the hive stand to deal with the beetles and ants later today.
I removed the #2 frame and it had one side drawn out and filled with pollen and curing sugar/nectar. The other side was about half drawn out, and there were eggs. The #1 frame which is against the wall was untouched. The #3 frame was drawn out on both sides, there were eggs,larva and capped brood! Frames 4,5,6 were the same as 3 but with more capped brood. The bees are storing plenty of sugar/nectar and pollen throughout the frames. The bees cover 5 frames at this time. There are many many bees producing wax. There is so much wax being made that it is easily visible on the ground under the screened bottom board. So at this point, it has taken the bees two weeks to draw out five frames.
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