Its 92º, light winds, clear skies at the Back Yard bee hive.
I built a solar wax melter last week and finally started using it this weekend. Its a work in progress but it does a great job of melting a lot wax quickly.
Back Yard Bees
I took five capped honey super frames from the hive today. I replaced them with frames that have comb, so they should still be able to store food.
I removed all of the honey supers and starting looking through the top hive body for signs of the queen. On frame 8 I found fresh eggs on both sides, as well as larva and capped brood. So the queen is alive and doing very well. Frame 7 had 90% capped brood!!! I put back the frames and put the hive back together.
The hive temperament was very good. Only a few bees during the whole inspection bothered me.
4pm, Bee Yard in the country
The hive that I witnessed on the 10th of September was from the strongest of Gene's hives. I say that because today I looked through that hive and there were very few bees, maybe a third of what was there last week. The remaining bees were struggling with robber bees and ants. The other remaining hive swarmed as well. There hundreds and hundreds of robber bees going through both of those hives. My Dad and I moved the frames and hive bodies a couple of hundred feet away.
Swarm Hive
The honey super is slowly being capped, but I don't think I will be able to harvest the honey. I will see if I can leave it there for the bees. While looking through the top hive body I found fresh eggs and the queen on frame 3. I carefully put things back together.
I didn't have a chance to check on Alpha and Beta hives, I will do that tomorrow.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
10 September, 2010 - 10 am
It was 85º clear skies and breezy at the Bee Yard.
I was checking on the two recently relocated hives today. There were alot of ants attacking the hives so I put down some insecticide.
I witnessed a large swarm settling around the whole bee yard. The bees ended up on a tree about 50' away from the hives. I won't know which hive swarmed until tomorrow, but that swarm was huge.
I was checking on the two recently relocated hives today. There were alot of ants attacking the hives so I put down some insecticide.
I witnessed a large swarm settling around the whole bee yard. The bees ended up on a tree about 50' away from the hives. I won't know which hive swarmed until tomorrow, but that swarm was huge.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
7 September, 2010 - 10 am
Its was 85º, clear skies and lightly breezy at the Bee Yard.
Moved Gene's four hives on Sunday of this week, to the bee yard in the country.
Today I found that two hives absconded. The two remaining hives were busy defending their hives from ants.
I did discover that one of the hives that left, settled on to a branch of a pecan tree about 40' up.
I didn't have a ladder or any safe way to retrieve that swarm. I did put an empty hive body with frames of foundation just below the branch.
I started feeding the two remaining hives today. One hive has a quart jar of 1:1 sugar water and the other hive has a gallon feeder bucket.
I also put down insecticide around the two hives to deal with the ant problem.
Moved Gene's four hives on Sunday of this week, to the bee yard in the country.
Today I found that two hives absconded. The two remaining hives were busy defending their hives from ants.
I did discover that one of the hives that left, settled on to a branch of a pecan tree about 40' up.
I didn't have a ladder or any safe way to retrieve that swarm. I did put an empty hive body with frames of foundation just below the branch.
I started feeding the two remaining hives today. One hive has a quart jar of 1:1 sugar water and the other hive has a gallon feeder bucket.
I also put down insecticide around the two hives to deal with the ant problem.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
4 September, 2010 - 11 am
It was 85º at the Bee yard, clear skies and no wind.
Swarm Hive
The bees are busy capping the frames in the honey super. I am thinking of leaving this super on the hive for the bees to carry them through the winter. I removed the # 3 frame and found eggs, larva, capped brood and the queen! I put that frame back in and closed up the hive. The overall attitude of the hive is good, the bees are very calm even when opening the hive and manipulating frames. I am considering requeening another hive with this species of queen.
Beta Hive
Although there was not much activity at the hive entrance there were a considerable number of bees in the hive. Top hive body, I looked at frames 2,3 and 4 and found plenty of eggs, larva and capped brood. The hive attitude is also good. The bees are not easily agitated and generally left me alone.
Alpha Hive
There was quite a bit of foragers coming and going and about 15-20 bees on the landing area hanging out. I peaked in the honey supers and it looks like I have four frames fully capped and three that are 3/4 capped. While going through the frames the bees were very easily agitated. This concerned me because this could mean no queen or robbing from other hives or the genetics of the queen is bit more hostile than what I am used to. I removed the supers and looked through a couple of deep frames and found plenty of eggs, larva and capped brood. I also found the queen! So I am puzzled as to the "meanness" of the hive. This keeps up I will end up replacing that queen!!!
Swarm Hive
The bees are busy capping the frames in the honey super. I am thinking of leaving this super on the hive for the bees to carry them through the winter. I removed the # 3 frame and found eggs, larva, capped brood and the queen! I put that frame back in and closed up the hive. The overall attitude of the hive is good, the bees are very calm even when opening the hive and manipulating frames. I am considering requeening another hive with this species of queen.
Beta Hive
Although there was not much activity at the hive entrance there were a considerable number of bees in the hive. Top hive body, I looked at frames 2,3 and 4 and found plenty of eggs, larva and capped brood. The hive attitude is also good. The bees are not easily agitated and generally left me alone.
Alpha Hive
There was quite a bit of foragers coming and going and about 15-20 bees on the landing area hanging out. I peaked in the honey supers and it looks like I have four frames fully capped and three that are 3/4 capped. While going through the frames the bees were very easily agitated. This concerned me because this could mean no queen or robbing from other hives or the genetics of the queen is bit more hostile than what I am used to. I removed the supers and looked through a couple of deep frames and found plenty of eggs, larva and capped brood. I also found the queen! So I am puzzled as to the "meanness" of the hive. This keeps up I will end up replacing that queen!!!
Friday, September 3, 2010
3 September, 2010 - 10 am
It was 83º, clear and sunny at the backyard bee hive.
Backyard Bees
I checked the hive today to look for signs of a queen. In the top hive body, frame 2 and 3 I found eggs that look to be from 1 to 3 days old. So it looks like the hive still has their queen. The demeanor of the hive is also good, the bees are still easy to work considering last weeks assault.
There are 4 frames of capped honey that can be harvested with the remaining frames being capped.
Backyard Bees
I checked the hive today to look for signs of a queen. In the top hive body, frame 2 and 3 I found eggs that look to be from 1 to 3 days old. So it looks like the hive still has their queen. The demeanor of the hive is also good, the bees are still easy to work considering last weeks assault.
There are 4 frames of capped honey that can be harvested with the remaining frames being capped.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
28 August, 2010 - 10 am
Partly cloudy, slight breeze and about 90º at the Back Yard bee hive.
Backyard Bees
There were a lot of bees out on the landing area this morning, I didn't know why until a little later after I finished looking through the hive.
The top honey super has two fully capped frames that can be harvested. The rest are being filled. There are also a lot of bees in this top honey super.
Bottom honey super has three fully capped frames that can be harvested and the rest are being capped.
Top hive body - the frames are full of bees, I removed the ninth frame and found eggs. larva and capped brood. This frame also had a lot of honey around the brood area and the other side was all honey filled cells, capped.
While going through the honey supers and hive bodies I noticed an unusual amount of bees in the air. They were not aggressive but there were a lot flying. So I put everything back together. About an hour later I looked out the window to check on the bees and saw a large gathering of bees at the back of the top honey super. I thought that maybe I had misplaced my queen. I suited up and checked things out. I found a large cluster of bees in a ball shape and thousands more all around on the top honey super. So picked up the ball of bees and moved bees around to see if there was a queen. And there was! I still thought she was my queen so I put her at the front hive entrance and immediately bees balled up on her! And it was then that I noticed the difference in color of the bees. My bees are a very light colored bee, the bees that were on the back of the hive are a darker color with dark bands. Its kind of hard to see these things some times because of the bee veil. But once I saw that color difference and the behavior I got the queen out of there. I put her in a queen cage and sealed it. I then put her in a five frame nuc and I began to try and collect the swarm bees. I am hoping the swarm bees will go to their queen and leave my hive alone. So far the swarm bees are still trying to get into the hive. It rained pretty hard so hopefully that will slow down what appears to be an assault.
Its 4 pm, I took a look in the nuc to see if any bees decided to take care of the queen. And there were 5 or so that were on the queen cage and they appeared to be feeding her. I noticed on the inside back of the nuc a small cluster of bees. I found another queen! So now I am really wondering what is going on here. I put that queen in a queen cage and now have both queens tucked into the middle area of the nuc. There are about 40 or so bees crawling around the queens. Both queens appear to be injured and may be rejected.
Now I need to really look through my hive to find the queen or at least see what damage was done by this assault.
Backyard Bees
There were a lot of bees out on the landing area this morning, I didn't know why until a little later after I finished looking through the hive.
The top honey super has two fully capped frames that can be harvested. The rest are being filled. There are also a lot of bees in this top honey super.
Bottom honey super has three fully capped frames that can be harvested and the rest are being capped.
Top hive body - the frames are full of bees, I removed the ninth frame and found eggs. larva and capped brood. This frame also had a lot of honey around the brood area and the other side was all honey filled cells, capped.
While going through the honey supers and hive bodies I noticed an unusual amount of bees in the air. They were not aggressive but there were a lot flying. So I put everything back together. About an hour later I looked out the window to check on the bees and saw a large gathering of bees at the back of the top honey super. I thought that maybe I had misplaced my queen. I suited up and checked things out. I found a large cluster of bees in a ball shape and thousands more all around on the top honey super. So picked up the ball of bees and moved bees around to see if there was a queen. And there was! I still thought she was my queen so I put her at the front hive entrance and immediately bees balled up on her! And it was then that I noticed the difference in color of the bees. My bees are a very light colored bee, the bees that were on the back of the hive are a darker color with dark bands. Its kind of hard to see these things some times because of the bee veil. But once I saw that color difference and the behavior I got the queen out of there. I put her in a queen cage and sealed it. I then put her in a five frame nuc and I began to try and collect the swarm bees. I am hoping the swarm bees will go to their queen and leave my hive alone. So far the swarm bees are still trying to get into the hive. It rained pretty hard so hopefully that will slow down what appears to be an assault.
Its 4 pm, I took a look in the nuc to see if any bees decided to take care of the queen. And there were 5 or so that were on the queen cage and they appeared to be feeding her. I noticed on the inside back of the nuc a small cluster of bees. I found another queen! So now I am really wondering what is going on here. I put that queen in a queen cage and now have both queens tucked into the middle area of the nuc. There are about 40 or so bees crawling around the queens. Both queens appear to be injured and may be rejected.
Now I need to really look through my hive to find the queen or at least see what damage was done by this assault.
Friday, August 27, 2010
27 August, 2010 - 10:30am
Alpha Hive
The bees have continued to fill the bottom honey super. Three frames are capped and ready for harvest. The rest of the super frames are being heavily worked. I didn't look through the hive bodies at this time.
Beta Hive
The hive is slowing building up numbers. I checked three frames in the top hive body and the bottom hive body. These frames had fresh eggs, larva and capped brood throughout.
Swarm Hive
I didn't look at the hive today. I cleaned up the grass around the hive and put down insecticide to deal with the ants. This was also done to the other two hives.
The bees have continued to fill the bottom honey super. Three frames are capped and ready for harvest. The rest of the super frames are being heavily worked. I didn't look through the hive bodies at this time.
Beta Hive
The hive is slowing building up numbers. I checked three frames in the top hive body and the bottom hive body. These frames had fresh eggs, larva and capped brood throughout.
Swarm Hive
I didn't look at the hive today. I cleaned up the grass around the hive and put down insecticide to deal with the ants. This was also done to the other two hives.
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