It was about 85º, partly cloudy and slightly breezy at the Bee Yard.
Since I harvested the honey from the Alpha Hive I thought I would check on the honey supers to see how well the girls cleaned them. The top honey super was clean and there were a few hundred bees scattered amongst the frames repairing the comb that was damaged during the extraction process. I didn't check the bottom honey super, I'll do that Saturday.
I opened up the Beta hive and found that the top hive body is packed with bees. I think I should put a honey super on to give them something to do.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
July 4, 2009 - 8:30am
Today was harvest day at the Bee yard. The harvest began at about 9 am this morning. It was about 85º at the bee yard and very little wind.
The Alpha hive was the only hive to produce surplus honey. The girls managed to fill two medium honey supers.
Today, Gene and my Dad joined in the honey harvest. My dad took pictures at the bee yard. Gene and I worked through the honey supers clearing bees from the frames and preparing them for extraction.
The two supers yielded 6 gallons of honey and about 6 cups of wax from the cappings.
Currently the honey bucket is in the house settling. Tomorrow I will being filling containers of honey.
Here are some photos of today.
The Harvest begins...
Gene uses a refractometer to check for water content. We were looking for 14% to 16% and it was right at 16%
At the house the extraction process begins...
The Alpha hive was the only hive to produce surplus honey. The girls managed to fill two medium honey supers.
Today, Gene and my Dad joined in the honey harvest. My dad took pictures at the bee yard. Gene and I worked through the honey supers clearing bees from the frames and preparing them for extraction.
The two supers yielded 6 gallons of honey and about 6 cups of wax from the cappings.
Currently the honey bucket is in the house settling. Tomorrow I will being filling containers of honey.
Here are some photos of today.
The Harvest begins...
Gene uses a refractometer to check for water content. We were looking for 14% to 16% and it was right at 16%
At the house the extraction process begins...
Saturday, June 20, 2009
June 20, 2009 - 3pm
It was about 98º at the Bee Yard...
Very little wind, clear skies.
Alpha Hive
I just had to see how the girls were doing with the second honey super.
They have drawn comb on 9 frames out of ten. The comb is deep enough and filled, such that they are starting to cap the honey cells throughout the frames!!!! The bees filled frames of the top honey super.
There is not a lot of activity at the front of the hive, could be the heat. The bees aren't flying around the front. They are either hanging out on the hive or they are flying in and out of the hive.
I took a frame out of the second honey super to see if I could get the girls to draw the comb out more. So now there are nine frames.
Beta Hive
The activity level matched the Alpha Hive. So its looking like this hive has its number back up!!! I need to add a honey super as soon as I can.
Very little wind, clear skies.
Alpha Hive
I just had to see how the girls were doing with the second honey super.
They have drawn comb on 9 frames out of ten. The comb is deep enough and filled, such that they are starting to cap the honey cells throughout the frames!!!! The bees filled frames of the top honey super.
There is not a lot of activity at the front of the hive, could be the heat. The bees aren't flying around the front. They are either hanging out on the hive or they are flying in and out of the hive.
I took a frame out of the second honey super to see if I could get the girls to draw the comb out more. So now there are nine frames.
Beta Hive
The activity level matched the Alpha Hive. So its looking like this hive has its number back up!!! I need to add a honey super as soon as I can.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
June 17, 2009 - 10:30am
It was around 98º at the bee yard. Very little wind, clear skys and so very very hot.
Alpha Hive
The recently added second honey super has a lot of bees working in it. The bees have drawn comb on every frame and are focusing their numbers on about 4 frames. The rest of the frames have a few bees and curing nectar.
I ordered a bucket bottling kit and it should be here just in time to harvest.
Beta Hive
I opened up the top hive body. There were a lot of bees in the inner cover. I am guessing they were helping with cooling.
The girls have been busy storing honey in the top hive body. So I need to put a honey super on the hive to give them something to do.
I saw capped worker cells and a lot of capped drone cells. I did a quick check so I didn't look for eggs or the queen.
Alpha Hive
The recently added second honey super has a lot of bees working in it. The bees have drawn comb on every frame and are focusing their numbers on about 4 frames. The rest of the frames have a few bees and curing nectar.
I ordered a bucket bottling kit and it should be here just in time to harvest.
Beta Hive
I opened up the top hive body. There were a lot of bees in the inner cover. I am guessing they were helping with cooling.
The girls have been busy storing honey in the top hive body. So I need to put a honey super on the hive to give them something to do.
I saw capped worker cells and a lot of capped drone cells. I did a quick check so I didn't look for eggs or the queen.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
June 13, 2009 - 7:15 pm
It was about 85º, partly sunny and no breeze at the bee yard
I took a look at the bees this time of the evening out of curiosity. I took a few pictures.
Alpha Hive
From the looks of things the girls were coming in for the night. There so many bees that they ended up hanging outside on the front porch. There were still quite a few inbound and outbound bees.
Photos from around 7 pm.
Beta Hive
There were a few bees staying out on the front landing area.
I took a look at the bees this time of the evening out of curiosity. I took a few pictures.
Alpha Hive
From the looks of things the girls were coming in for the night. There so many bees that they ended up hanging outside on the front porch. There were still quite a few inbound and outbound bees.
Photos from around 7 pm.
Beta Hive
There were a few bees staying out on the front landing area.
Friday, June 12, 2009
June 12, 2009 - 11:30am
It was clear and sunny, about 95º at the bee yard.
Alpha Hive
There was a lot of activity at the hive. There were a lot of bees in the air flying around the front of the hive and large number of bees entering and leaving the hive. I was curious about the second honey super I install last week. I opened it up and found that all of the frames have comb in various stages of production. And in some of that comb there was nectar!!!
Beta Hive
Activity in the entrance area was busy, there were bees bringing in pollen. The hive is still building up its numbers.
---
Honeybees just amaze me.
Alpha Hive
There was a lot of activity at the hive. There were a lot of bees in the air flying around the front of the hive and large number of bees entering and leaving the hive. I was curious about the second honey super I install last week. I opened it up and found that all of the frames have comb in various stages of production. And in some of that comb there was nectar!!!
Beta Hive
Activity in the entrance area was busy, there were bees bringing in pollen. The hive is still building up its numbers.
---
Honeybees just amaze me.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
June 6, 2009 - 11:30am
At the Bee yard...temps were in the high 80's to low 90's, there were no breezes and the skies were clear.
A friend and fellow beekeeper of mine, Gene, accompanied me to the bee yard today.
Alpha Hive
Activity at the hive entrance was very high. There were a lot of bees flying around the front of the hive. The bees are bringing in pollen.
This hive has had a honey super installed for some time. Checked on it today and found that all ten frames have drawn capped comb!! Since its so full and nearly complete I installed another honey super. This newly added honey super has the plasticell foundation and no drawn comb.
Once again I did not get into the hive bodies to do any inspections, I hope I don't regret this.
Beta Hive
There were a lot of bees coming and going at the entrance. But there were not many bees flying around the front area.
This have has had a honey super on it for some time. Checked this honey super to see what was happening. There were some bees in it but no clustering of bees, no comb building...nothing. So I removed the super. Now that the honey super was removed the top hive body was visible and accessible. The top hive body looked very packed with bees and drawn capped honey cells. Gene had some ideas about what to do with this hive. One of the ideas was to swap the top hive body with the bottom hive body, and maybe that would get this hive going. So we did that. We started looking through the newly repositioned bottom hive body and found the queen on the second frame. Several of the frames in this hive body had a lot of capped drone cells. Hopefully I don't have a laying worker, or a poor quality queen. I'll check again next weekend and see how things go.
A friend and fellow beekeeper of mine, Gene, accompanied me to the bee yard today.
Alpha Hive
Activity at the hive entrance was very high. There were a lot of bees flying around the front of the hive. The bees are bringing in pollen.
This hive has had a honey super installed for some time. Checked on it today and found that all ten frames have drawn capped comb!! Since its so full and nearly complete I installed another honey super. This newly added honey super has the plasticell foundation and no drawn comb.
Once again I did not get into the hive bodies to do any inspections, I hope I don't regret this.
Beta Hive
There were a lot of bees coming and going at the entrance. But there were not many bees flying around the front area.
This have has had a honey super on it for some time. Checked this honey super to see what was happening. There were some bees in it but no clustering of bees, no comb building...nothing. So I removed the super. Now that the honey super was removed the top hive body was visible and accessible. The top hive body looked very packed with bees and drawn capped honey cells. Gene had some ideas about what to do with this hive. One of the ideas was to swap the top hive body with the bottom hive body, and maybe that would get this hive going. So we did that. We started looking through the newly repositioned bottom hive body and found the queen on the second frame. Several of the frames in this hive body had a lot of capped drone cells. Hopefully I don't have a laying worker, or a poor quality queen. I'll check again next weekend and see how things go.
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