It was 88º, clear skies and no breeze at the bee yard.
Alpha Hive
Decided to go ahead and harvest the honey. The frames were not as fully drawn as they were in the spring so there was not as much honey. There was a total of 26 pounds of honey and thats okay with me. Returned the super with the empty frames to the hive to let them clean it up. I'll check on that this weekend.
Beta Hive
Did not disturb this hive. I will check the honey super this weekend.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
August 2, 2009 - 1 pm
Its been raining every day since last Saturday. Today it was partly cloudy and about 85º, little or no breeze...seemed like it was more humid than usual for this time of the year.
Alpha Hive.
Checked the honey super, and the girls have capped about 80% of all 10 frames! So by next Saturday the honey super should be ready for harvest.
The honey super had a lot of bees on the frames in areas where the cells were still exposed. I will be ordering a honey super to put on this hive for the fall.
I noticed that on the front of the hive there were large numbers of bees hanging out. Could be due to the high humidity or they did not have another super to work on....
Buttoned everything back up and walked away in amazement at how much honey this hive is storing.
Beta Hive
Also checked the honey super on this hive. All frames are filled with honey and the girls are just starting to cap. If things go well maybe in a week to two weeks this super will be capped and ready for harvest!
There were bees all over every frame in the super!
The front of the hive had a hundred or so bees hanging out, could be for cooling or lack of something do to....hmmm
Alpha Hive.
Checked the honey super, and the girls have capped about 80% of all 10 frames! So by next Saturday the honey super should be ready for harvest.
The honey super had a lot of bees on the frames in areas where the cells were still exposed. I will be ordering a honey super to put on this hive for the fall.
I noticed that on the front of the hive there were large numbers of bees hanging out. Could be due to the high humidity or they did not have another super to work on....
Buttoned everything back up and walked away in amazement at how much honey this hive is storing.
Beta Hive
Also checked the honey super on this hive. All frames are filled with honey and the girls are just starting to cap. If things go well maybe in a week to two weeks this super will be capped and ready for harvest!
There were bees all over every frame in the super!
The front of the hive had a hundred or so bees hanging out, could be for cooling or lack of something do to....hmmm
Saturday, July 25, 2009
July 25, 2009 - 11:30pm
Temps were in the 90s today. Slight wind and sunny and the bee yard.
Alpha Hive
I looked through several frames of the honey super and each of them was full of honey, there are not many cells capped at this time. All frames in this super have honey in them. I did not see any signs of wax moth or hive beetles.
I removed the honey super to look in the top hive body. I pulled three frames and found eggs and larva in various stages. I also looked down at the lower hive body and it seemed ok. The bees were packed in there pretty close.
Beta Hive
Checked on the honey super. There are more bees in the super this week. More honey is being stored in the super. Didn't see much capping going on. Removed the honey super to take a look at some frames in the hive bodies. The top hive body is loaded with bees. The bees are packed in pretty tight. There is more room in the hive body nowadays. Looks like the girls are moving honey up into the honey super...very cool! On the two frames that had brood I spotted eggs! So the queen is still at it. Although I did not remove the top hive body to look at the lower hive body, the bees were also packed in pretty tight in the bottom hive body. I think next week, weather permiting, I will do a more thorough inspection to check for swarm cells.
Alpha Hive
I looked through several frames of the honey super and each of them was full of honey, there are not many cells capped at this time. All frames in this super have honey in them. I did not see any signs of wax moth or hive beetles.
I removed the honey super to look in the top hive body. I pulled three frames and found eggs and larva in various stages. I also looked down at the lower hive body and it seemed ok. The bees were packed in there pretty close.
Beta Hive
Checked on the honey super. There are more bees in the super this week. More honey is being stored in the super. Didn't see much capping going on. Removed the honey super to take a look at some frames in the hive bodies. The top hive body is loaded with bees. The bees are packed in pretty tight. There is more room in the hive body nowadays. Looks like the girls are moving honey up into the honey super...very cool! On the two frames that had brood I spotted eggs! So the queen is still at it. Although I did not remove the top hive body to look at the lower hive body, the bees were also packed in pretty tight in the bottom hive body. I think next week, weather permiting, I will do a more thorough inspection to check for swarm cells.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
18 July, 2009 - 5 pm
The skies were clear, no wind and it was 85º.
I have been checking on the bees lately to see if they are still storing surplus honey and today the answer was a definitive YES!
Alpha Hive
There are bees on every frame of the honey super. Honey is being stored on every frame. About four frames are full of honey and they are at the point of being capped. The remaining frames have honey but not as much and none of its capped. I am guessing that the bees are moving honey up from the hive super and storing in the honey super, because there is so much honey in the super.
I did not see any eggs or larva in the honey super, but I installed a queen excluder just to keep the queen out of the super.
Beta Hive
The bees have been busy storing honey in the super. The hive does not have the number of bees that the Alpha hive has but they still have managed to store a lot of honey. They may be moving honey out of the hive body. I also installed queen excluder on this hive.
I have been checking on the bees lately to see if they are still storing surplus honey and today the answer was a definitive YES!
Alpha Hive
There are bees on every frame of the honey super. Honey is being stored on every frame. About four frames are full of honey and they are at the point of being capped. The remaining frames have honey but not as much and none of its capped. I am guessing that the bees are moving honey up from the hive super and storing in the honey super, because there is so much honey in the super.
I did not see any eggs or larva in the honey super, but I installed a queen excluder just to keep the queen out of the super.
Beta Hive
The bees have been busy storing honey in the super. The hive does not have the number of bees that the Alpha hive has but they still have managed to store a lot of honey. They may be moving honey out of the hive body. I also installed queen excluder on this hive.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
11 July, 2009 - 12:30pm
It was partly cloudy, light wind and around 90º at the bee yard.
I opened up the top honey super of the alpha hive and found that the girls are storing honey in various frames. So I removed it and got out all of the bees in that super and set it aside. I looked through three frames of the remaining honey super and found that the girls are busy storing honey and capping it throughout the super. So I left one honey super on the hive. I did not do a hive inspection at this time.
I opened up the beta hive. I removed and examined two frames. One frame has one side of fully capped honey. The other side has about two inched of capped honey and the rest is open cells. I found eggs in most of these cells. The second frame had some eggs, some capped honey cells and quite a bit of cells filled with curing honey. Today I put a honey super on this hive, but I did install a queen excluder.
I opened up the top honey super of the alpha hive and found that the girls are storing honey in various frames. So I removed it and got out all of the bees in that super and set it aside. I looked through three frames of the remaining honey super and found that the girls are busy storing honey and capping it throughout the super. So I left one honey super on the hive. I did not do a hive inspection at this time.
I opened up the beta hive. I removed and examined two frames. One frame has one side of fully capped honey. The other side has about two inched of capped honey and the rest is open cells. I found eggs in most of these cells. The second frame had some eggs, some capped honey cells and quite a bit of cells filled with curing honey. Today I put a honey super on this hive, but I did install a queen excluder.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
July 9, 2009 - 10:30am
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.
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.
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...
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