Feb 8, 2009 - 11 am - 2pm

The weather was warm today, around 70º. I decided to open the hive and see what was going on in there.

Outside and in the front of the hive there were hundreds of bees flying around this morning when I walked over to begin the inspection.

The top hive box had about 95% of the bees. The rest of the bees were scattered among three frames in the bottom hive box.

In the top hive box I removed each frame and quickly looked over them trying to find the queen. I could not find the queen. But I did see larva from about 3 days old and older. So shes probably there somewhere. The top hive box has bees on both sides of six frames. I found plenty of pollen and honey throughout the frames. Three of the six frames had capped brood and there drone cells and capped drone cells.

I only found one larva that resembled a catapillar that disappeared as soon as it was exposed to the bright sunlight. I tried to find it but could not. I hope it wasn't a wax moth.

Other than that pest there were no hive beetles or ants or anything else.

The bottom hive box only had a few hundred bees scattered over three frames. I really couldn't tell what they were doing.

I looked over each of those frames and found uncapped honey and pollen on three frames. I didn't see any signs of pests in the bottom hive box.

Since the top hive box had a lot of build up, I swapped brood boxes. I also replaced the bottom board with a screened bottom board.

While taking the hive apart for the inspection I only found two dead bees on the bottom board. The bees seem to be doing well with cleaning out the hive.

I left in the entrance reducer but it is installed with the largest opening in place.

The feeder jar was empty so I replaced it with a full jar that has fumigilin-B mixed in with the sugar water. Thats two quarts of fumigilin-B sugar water that the bees have consumed with the third one in place.

Tuesday or Wednesday of this week I will look at the hive again for signs of the queen and look for pests. I will also check the feeder jar and replace if needed. And Friday I might use the fogger.

I did take photos and movies - I'll post later.

Feb 7, 2009 - 7:30 pm

Attended a local Symposium about Bees.

It was very informative. There were discussions about hive beetles, varroa mites, hive management and so many other bee related subjects.

There were several vendors selling their products. I picked up a couple more tools to add to my collection. One is a frame wedge that makes loosening and removing frames much easier. The other tool is a frame puller/holder, it makes it easier to handle frames and pull them from the hive.

If tomorrow is warm enough I plan on opening the hive for an inspection.

I might also swap out the old bottom board with an open bottom board.

I prepared a couple of mason jars of sugar water with fumigilin-B to put in place.

Soon I need to use the fogger to work over the varroa mites. I'll wait a bit for the weather to get warmer.

Feb 1, 2009 - 12 pm

Friday of this last week the quart jar of sugar water was empty. I wasn't able to replace it until today.

So far that is 1 quart of sugar water with fumigilin-B that has been consumed. I'll have to keep a closer watch on the consumption.

There were many many bees flying around in front of the hive. It looked like the bees were doing orientation flights. There were several hundred doing this when I stopped by to look at the hive at about 11:30 this morning. It kept on like this for a couple of hours!

I took some photos and movies, I'll post later.

Jan 26, 2009 - 4:30pm

Since the temperatures are warming up, I started feeding the bees a 1:1 sugar water mix with fumigilin-b. Today the first quart jar was put on the hive. Although it was late in the day, the bees were still busy bringing in pollen. I took a few photos, I'll post them later.

Jan 17, 2009 - 6 pm

The jar of sugar water that has been on the hive for a week has finally been removed. The bees didn't drink much of it.

The hive woodenware for the second colony is painted and ready.I finally acquired a fogger! Hopefully this will keep the mite population down.

The frame foundation for the second hive will be the 4.9 cell size. I thought I would try raising bees that are that size and see how mite control would work. The bees are also of the 4.9 size. The bees are from K&M bees and will be a 5 frame nuc.

This year I thought I would use wood pellets for smoker fuel. I bought a 40# bag from Dadant & Sons.


New Fogger...




Colony # 2 woodenware.

Jan 9, 2009 - 6:30 PM

Yesterday my bee supplies arrived from Dadant and Sons. This year I will be adding a second colony to the bee yard. That colony will have two deep brood supers, since that type of layout worked for my first colony.

Jan 02, 2009 - 1 PM

Visited the hive today. Checked the feed jar. The bees are not very interested in it. They are consuming the sugar water, because when I remove it to see inside the hive, the bees cover the feeder lid!?!?!?!

So I will leave it on until Friday of next week.

Opened the top hive to peek inside. The bees fill 6 1/2 frames. The 3 1/2 frames they do not occupy are completely empty!

I did not look in the bottom hive super.

I took a few photos and movies.