Saturday, July 31, 2010
31 July, 2010 - 9 am
I extracted the honey this morning. There is a little over 30 pounds! I'll let it settle some and then bottle it. I will return the honey super to the Alpha hive today.
30 July, 2010 - 10:30 am
It was 95º at the Bee Yard, clear skies and light winds.
Swarm Hive
The bees are busy storing nectar in the honey super. They have stopped drawing comb on frames 10 and 1 but they cover frames 2 thru 9. Frames 5 and 6 are 1/3 capped, so it look like they are capping frames!
I looked at frames 1 thru 4 of the top hive body. Frame 1 is honey and pollen only. Frame 2 has some eggs/larva but its most of the cells have food. Frames 3 and 4 have eggs, larva and capped cells, most of these frames are brood frames, not much honey except at upper edges of frame. I stopped at frame 4 because I found so many eggs.
Beta Hive
The bees are not doing much in the honey super. There are not many bees in the super. When I removed the honey super a moth flew out of the hive body. Looked through all frames of the top hive body. Frame 1 had extensive wax moth damage, and there were bees all over it cleaning it and cutting out the damage. I went ahead and removed and replaced it. There were no other damaged, infested frames in the top hive body. Although I did not see a queen I did see eggs on 3 frames. The bottom hive body also had extensive wax moth damage on frame 1 and that was removed and replaced. I looked through all frames on the bottom hive and did not find any other pest damage. I saw some eggs scattered throughout the frames but not as much as I thought I should. There are also a lot less bees in the hive compared to what I noticed in the last inspection.
Alpha hive
The bottom honey super was ready to remove! The top honey super has some bees and the bees aren't storing food in that one. I did not inspect the bees I only removed the honey super
Swarm Hive
The bees are busy storing nectar in the honey super. They have stopped drawing comb on frames 10 and 1 but they cover frames 2 thru 9. Frames 5 and 6 are 1/3 capped, so it look like they are capping frames!
I looked at frames 1 thru 4 of the top hive body. Frame 1 is honey and pollen only. Frame 2 has some eggs/larva but its most of the cells have food. Frames 3 and 4 have eggs, larva and capped cells, most of these frames are brood frames, not much honey except at upper edges of frame. I stopped at frame 4 because I found so many eggs.
Beta Hive
The bees are not doing much in the honey super. There are not many bees in the super. When I removed the honey super a moth flew out of the hive body. Looked through all frames of the top hive body. Frame 1 had extensive wax moth damage, and there were bees all over it cleaning it and cutting out the damage. I went ahead and removed and replaced it. There were no other damaged, infested frames in the top hive body. Although I did not see a queen I did see eggs on 3 frames. The bottom hive body also had extensive wax moth damage on frame 1 and that was removed and replaced. I looked through all frames on the bottom hive and did not find any other pest damage. I saw some eggs scattered throughout the frames but not as much as I thought I should. There are also a lot less bees in the hive compared to what I noticed in the last inspection.
Alpha hive
The bottom honey super was ready to remove! The top honey super has some bees and the bees aren't storing food in that one. I did not inspect the bees I only removed the honey super
Friday, July 23, 2010
23 July, 2010 - 12 pm
Backyard Bees
The bees have been storing honey in both honey supers. The top honey super has a lot of bees in it and they are storing honey throughout the frames. The bottom honey super has four full frames of honey and they are starting to cap. The remaining frames are being drawn out and filled with honey. I looked through four frames of the top hive body. Frame one has more drawn comb and some eggs and honey. Frame two has more drawn comb and a lot of eggs on both sides. Frames three and four are filled with capped brood, and empty cells have eggs.
Alpha Hive
There were not any ants on the hive or the hive stand.
There are about 60 bees on the front porch cleaning and milling around. The top honey super had a few hundred bees. They are storing honey in there but not focused on this super. Bottom super has 6 capped frames. There are two frames that are full of honey and are being capped. The remaining two frames have some drawn comb and some stored honey.
Beta Hive
There were no ants on the hive or in the hive or on the hive stand. Top honey super had very few bees. Most of the bees are in the top hive body and bottom hive body. I started looking through the frames of the top hive body. I found the queen on frame three! and she was laying eggs!!!! I found eggs on frame one and two. After I found the queen I stopped removing frames. I did notice that two of the frames that were installed last week that were foundation, now have drawn comb! The hive is on the rebound.
Swarm Hive
I was unable to inspect the hive today. I spilled insecticide on my gloves while pouring it around the hive stand for this hive.
The bees have been storing honey in both honey supers. The top honey super has a lot of bees in it and they are storing honey throughout the frames. The bottom honey super has four full frames of honey and they are starting to cap. The remaining frames are being drawn out and filled with honey. I looked through four frames of the top hive body. Frame one has more drawn comb and some eggs and honey. Frame two has more drawn comb and a lot of eggs on both sides. Frames three and four are filled with capped brood, and empty cells have eggs.
Alpha Hive
There were not any ants on the hive or the hive stand.
There are about 60 bees on the front porch cleaning and milling around. The top honey super had a few hundred bees. They are storing honey in there but not focused on this super. Bottom super has 6 capped frames. There are two frames that are full of honey and are being capped. The remaining two frames have some drawn comb and some stored honey.
Beta Hive
There were no ants on the hive or in the hive or on the hive stand. Top honey super had very few bees. Most of the bees are in the top hive body and bottom hive body. I started looking through the frames of the top hive body. I found the queen on frame three! and she was laying eggs!!!! I found eggs on frame one and two. After I found the queen I stopped removing frames. I did notice that two of the frames that were installed last week that were foundation, now have drawn comb! The hive is on the rebound.
Swarm Hive
I was unable to inspect the hive today. I spilled insecticide on my gloves while pouring it around the hive stand for this hive.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
17 July, 2010 - 11 am
It was 83º at the Back Yard Bees. Partly sunny with showers.
Backyard Bees.
I removed the entrance reducer. I am hoping this will help with improved ventilation.
I looked inside the top honey super and there are hundreds of bees in there. The bottom honey super also has hundreds and hundreds of bees. They are focused on the three inner frames since they are full of honey.
I looked at a couple of frames in the top hive body and stopped as soon as I found eggs. Frame one has only one side being worked. They are building comb and storing food on this frame. Frame two is where I found one whole side filled with eggs. The other side is being used for food storage.
I put everything back together, I will check on them in a week.
Backyard Bees.
I removed the entrance reducer. I am hoping this will help with improved ventilation.
I looked inside the top honey super and there are hundreds of bees in there. The bottom honey super also has hundreds and hundreds of bees. They are focused on the three inner frames since they are full of honey.
I looked at a couple of frames in the top hive body and stopped as soon as I found eggs. Frame one has only one side being worked. They are building comb and storing food on this frame. Frame two is where I found one whole side filled with eggs. The other side is being used for food storage.
I put everything back together, I will check on them in a week.
Friday, July 16, 2010
16 July, 2010 - 11 am
It was 85º, partly sunny and slightly windy at the Bee yard.
Swarm hive
The bees are hard at work in the honey super. All frames have about one third comb drawn and there is curing nectar in the cells. I didn't do a hive inspection today, that will be done next Friday.
Beta Hive
The hive had ants crawling all over the top honey supers. I removed the supers and found thousands of ants all throughout the two honey supers. So I did what I could to clean them up, and set them aside. I looked through both hive bodies. I found capped honey and uncapped honey on six of ten frames. The remaining frames had pollen and some capped brood. Both hive bodies were like that, so I removed every other frame and replaced with foundation frames. I am hoping this will bring this hive back. I did find eggs and larva of various stages, but not many due to the lack of laying space. I am hoping that I don't have a laying worker. I put all of the hive bodies back together, and only put one honey super on the hive. There was just not enough bees to deal with the ants.
Alpha Hive
I did not get a chance to look at the hive today. I will look in on them this weekend.
Backyard Bees
I did not inspect them today. I did put a honey super on the hive. This particular super has drawn comb. At this time the backyard bees have two honey supers. They look like they need the room. I will inspect them this weekend.
Swarm hive
The bees are hard at work in the honey super. All frames have about one third comb drawn and there is curing nectar in the cells. I didn't do a hive inspection today, that will be done next Friday.
Beta Hive
The hive had ants crawling all over the top honey supers. I removed the supers and found thousands of ants all throughout the two honey supers. So I did what I could to clean them up, and set them aside. I looked through both hive bodies. I found capped honey and uncapped honey on six of ten frames. The remaining frames had pollen and some capped brood. Both hive bodies were like that, so I removed every other frame and replaced with foundation frames. I am hoping this will bring this hive back. I did find eggs and larva of various stages, but not many due to the lack of laying space. I am hoping that I don't have a laying worker. I put all of the hive bodies back together, and only put one honey super on the hive. There was just not enough bees to deal with the ants.
Alpha Hive
I did not get a chance to look at the hive today. I will look in on them this weekend.
Backyard Bees
I did not inspect them today. I did put a honey super on the hive. This particular super has drawn comb. At this time the backyard bees have two honey supers. They look like they need the room. I will inspect them this weekend.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
14 July ,2010 - 1pm
The backyard bees have filled seven and a half frames in the top hive body. So today I put a honey super on the hive to give them some room. That honey super has five drawn frames, three of those are already full of honey that is uncapped. The remaining frames are foundation only. I am hoping this will encourage the girls to move up and store surplus honey!!!
The Beta hive has a lot less bees..., looks like they swarmed. So I removed a honey super and put it on the Backyard bees.
I did not do anything to any of the other hives at this time.
The Beta hive has a lot less bees..., looks like they swarmed. So I removed a honey super and put it on the Backyard bees.
I did not do anything to any of the other hives at this time.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Swarm hive
Bees are slowly working on the honey super. Three frames are 80% drawn. The rest have patches of comb.
Bees are slowly working on the honey super. Three frames are 80% drawn. The rest have patches of comb.
Alpha hive
They are hard at work on the bottom honey super. The two honey super frames that were foundation only and installed on July 7th now have 80% comb drawn out!!
Beta hive
They have a lot of ants crawling on the hive. There were 40 or so bees at the entrance dealing with the ants. Opened up the top honey. Not many bees, and they were chasing ants. Middle honey super had a few bees. Bottom super had a few bees. There were not many bees in the honey supers. Looks like there are a lot less bees than last week. I will not bother do an inspection until next week.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
8 July, 2010 - 10 am
Today I returned the empty honey super to the Beta Hive.
Beta Hive
The bees did not bother me at all while I re-installed the honey super.
I did not inspect the other hives during this visit.
Beta Hive
The bees did not bother me at all while I re-installed the honey super.
I did not inspect the other hives during this visit.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
7 July, 2010 - 10 am
It was 85º, clear skies and no breeze at the Bee Yard.
Swarm hive
I did not do any inspections on this hive.
Alpha Hive
I looked through the bottom super and removed two frames that were completely capped. The remaining frames were about 70% capped!!! I put back two empty frames in the honey super. I did not do anything else to this hive.
Beta Hive
The bees have not moved up to the top honey super yet. The middle honey super has quite a few bees and they are busy storing food. There are no frames that can be removed from the top and middle honey supers. The bottom honey super had five capped frames so I removed them and replaced them with empty frames. The remaining frames are about 50% capped.
Today's harvest was 7 frames of honey. I will extract the honey this evening or tomorrow and return the frames to the bees.
The harvest yielded twenty pounds of honey. I'll let it settle for a day or so and bottle it.
Swarm hive
I did not do any inspections on this hive.
Alpha Hive
I looked through the bottom super and removed two frames that were completely capped. The remaining frames were about 70% capped!!! I put back two empty frames in the honey super. I did not do anything else to this hive.
Beta Hive
The bees have not moved up to the top honey super yet. The middle honey super has quite a few bees and they are busy storing food. There are no frames that can be removed from the top and middle honey supers. The bottom honey super had five capped frames so I removed them and replaced them with empty frames. The remaining frames are about 50% capped.
Today's harvest was 7 frames of honey. I will extract the honey this evening or tomorrow and return the frames to the bees.
The harvest yielded twenty pounds of honey. I'll let it settle for a day or so and bottle it.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
3 July, 2010 - 2 pm
It was 86º at the Bee Yard, clear skies and windy.
Alpha Hive.
I only looked through the honey supers. Top honey super is untouched, no bees in it. Bottom honey super has a large number of bees. They are busy storing, curing honey and capping. Five frames are half way finished! The other five have some drawn comb, some curing honey.
Beta Hive
It looks like the bees swarmed! I looked through the three honey supers and found very few bees in them. The top honey super was untouched, no bees. The middle honey super had some bees and five frames with curing nectar. The bottom super has honey in six frames, five of those are completely capped. The remaining frames have honey scattered throughout the comb.
Although it looks like the bees swarmed I did not want to take apart the hive bodies. I will give them a week and see how they are doing.
Swarm hive
The bees are working in the top honey super. They are drawing comb and storing nectar. I didn't inspect the hive bodies this visit.
Alpha Hive.
I only looked through the honey supers. Top honey super is untouched, no bees in it. Bottom honey super has a large number of bees. They are busy storing, curing honey and capping. Five frames are half way finished! The other five have some drawn comb, some curing honey.
Beta Hive
It looks like the bees swarmed! I looked through the three honey supers and found very few bees in them. The top honey super was untouched, no bees. The middle honey super had some bees and five frames with curing nectar. The bottom super has honey in six frames, five of those are completely capped. The remaining frames have honey scattered throughout the comb.
Although it looks like the bees swarmed I did not want to take apart the hive bodies. I will give them a week and see how they are doing.
Swarm hive
The bees are working in the top honey super. They are drawing comb and storing nectar. I didn't inspect the hive bodies this visit.
Friday, July 2, 2010
2 July, 2010 - 10:30 am
It was 82º and partly cloudy at the Backyard Hive.
Backyard Bees
Replaced the feeder jar with a full one today. I opened up the hive to see what is going on with all of this sugar water consumption. In the top hive body, frames 4, 5, 6, and 7 have drawn comb! And there is curing nectar and sugar water. I also found areas that had eggs and pollen in these four frames. Frames 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10 have a few bees roaming around and no signs of comb building. I did not remove the top hive body, I did not want to disturb the bees. Next visit I will do a more detailed inspection.
5 Pm
I removed a frame that was foundation only, and replaced it with a frame that has fully drawn comb and the top third has capped honey. The girls should clean it up and put it to use. I will see what progress they make on the next hive inspection.
Backyard Bees
Replaced the feeder jar with a full one today. I opened up the hive to see what is going on with all of this sugar water consumption. In the top hive body, frames 4, 5, 6, and 7 have drawn comb! And there is curing nectar and sugar water. I also found areas that had eggs and pollen in these four frames. Frames 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10 have a few bees roaming around and no signs of comb building. I did not remove the top hive body, I did not want to disturb the bees. Next visit I will do a more detailed inspection.
5 Pm
I removed a frame that was foundation only, and replaced it with a frame that has fully drawn comb and the top third has capped honey. The girls should clean it up and put it to use. I will see what progress they make on the next hive inspection.
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