Checked on the hive today.
Even though it was late in the day and cooling off quickly I still checked the feeder jar.
The bees only consumed a 1/4 of the full jar since 28 Dec.
Since the temperature was so low there were not any bees to be seen.
The "north" side of the hive has some mildew. I guess I will have to touch it up with some Killz paint very soon.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Dec 28, 2008 - 10:30 am
Its been eight days since I visited the hive.
I replaced the jar of sugar water with a fresh jar. I will check back in 3 days, weather permitting, to see how quickly the bees consume the food. The mixture is 1:1, water to sugar.
With the temperatures in the mid seventies, the bees were very active today.
I didn't see any signs of ants so I didn't put down any insecticide.
I decided to take photos and a couple of movies.
I replaced the jar of sugar water with a fresh jar. I will check back in 3 days, weather permitting, to see how quickly the bees consume the food. The mixture is 1:1, water to sugar.
With the temperatures in the mid seventies, the bees were very active today.
I didn't see any signs of ants so I didn't put down any insecticide.
I decided to take photos and a couple of movies.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Dec 20, 2008 - 3 PM
Last visit to the hive was 27 Nov.
Today I put down insecticide with a watering can.
Opened up the hive and removed four frames from the top brood box. The bees seemed okay to me. The bees were very active in the hive as well as around it. I did not see any signs of hive beetle or wax moth or ants. Again I only looked through the four frames of the top brood box.
Closed up the hive and put a quart jar of 1:1 sugar water in the feeder slot.
At the front of the hive there was a lot of activity. I saw bees bringing in a lot of pollen. I did take some photos but they didn't turn out too well.
Today I put down insecticide with a watering can.
Opened up the hive and removed four frames from the top brood box. The bees seemed okay to me. The bees were very active in the hive as well as around it. I did not see any signs of hive beetle or wax moth or ants. Again I only looked through the four frames of the top brood box.
Closed up the hive and put a quart jar of 1:1 sugar water in the feeder slot.
At the front of the hive there was a lot of activity. I saw bees bringing in a lot of pollen. I did take some photos but they didn't turn out too well.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
27 Nov, 2008 - 11 am
It has been about three weeks since I visited the hive. Today it was warm enough to open up the hive and look inside. Since the colony has two brood supers I only opened the top one.
I didn't see any wax moth or hive beetles. The hive smell seemed okay, not decaying or anything like that, so hopefully that means the bottom super is doing okay too. I didn't have a smoker so I only removed a couple of frames.
The entrance reducer has been installed for three weeks now. The bees seem to be doing okay with it.
There was a lot of activity at the entrance, the bees were bringing in a lot of pollen.
I went ahead and used a watering can to put down some insecticide around the outside of the hive to deal with any bugs, hive beetles and such.
I didn't take very good pictures today, so theres nothing to post of today's tasks.
I didn't see any wax moth or hive beetles. The hive smell seemed okay, not decaying or anything like that, so hopefully that means the bottom super is doing okay too. I didn't have a smoker so I only removed a couple of frames.
The entrance reducer has been installed for three weeks now. The bees seem to be doing okay with it.
There was a lot of activity at the entrance, the bees were bringing in a lot of pollen.
I went ahead and used a watering can to put down some insecticide around the outside of the hive to deal with any bugs, hive beetles and such.
I didn't take very good pictures today, so theres nothing to post of today's tasks.
Monday, October 27, 2008
27 Oct, 2008 - 11pm
Although I have visited the hive several times since the last post this is the first time I took the time to post an entry.
The weather here has been very cool for this time of the year. Its been in the 40s at night and now this week a day or so in the 30s at night.
Todo List:
* install entrance reducer this week or next.
* Medicate bees( fumigilin-B & terramyacin)
* dunno yet, but there must be more stuff
My daughter created a variety of labels to use for the honey jars that were recently filled. My favorite is the one in the lower right corner.
The weather here has been very cool for this time of the year. Its been in the 40s at night and now this week a day or so in the 30s at night.
Todo List:
* install entrance reducer this week or next.
* Medicate bees( fumigilin-B & terramyacin)
* dunno yet, but there must be more stuff
My daughter created a variety of labels to use for the honey jars that were recently filled. My favorite is the one in the lower right corner.
Monday, October 13, 2008
13 October, 2008 - 6 AM
On 9 October I went ahead and pulled two frames from the top brood super so that I could "rob" some honey! The frames had nothing but honey. After extracting the honey, those two frames provided six eight ounce jars of honey.
Since I have taken that honey I can begin medicating the bees in preparation for fall/winter.
I will be putting Apigard VAR in the hive to deal with the varroa mites. I will also continue to use powdered sugar for varroa mites as well.
Since I have taken that honey I can begin medicating the bees in preparation for fall/winter.
I will be putting Apigard VAR in the hive to deal with the varroa mites. I will also continue to use powdered sugar for varroa mites as well.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
1 Oct, 2008 - 10:00 am
Checked on the hive to see what they were doing with the honey super. Looks like they were not doing anything in it. So I removed it. Now there are two brood boxes. I will leave the hive like that until next year.
I removed frames from the top brood super. I wanted to see what was going on in there. Looks like there are 3 full frames of honey!! The rest of the frames have brood and honey/pollen. No signs of wax moth, but I did find about 6 hive beetles in the honey super that I removed. I found the queen in this brood super, she was in the middle of the box doing what she does...
There were 4 frames that had about 75% brood and the rest honey/pollen. About 3 frames with 40% brood and the rest uncapped honey/pollen. And 3 frames with all honey
I had to removed the top brood super to check the bottom super. The top super must weigh over 50 pounds.
I put that box back together and opened up the bottom brood super. There are alot of bees but no where near the numbers found in the top super. This bottom super has some honey and pollen and about 3-4 frames of brood, but not very much brood. It seems that the hive has shifted to the top brood super. There were no pests that I could find.
Once I had the hive back together I dusted the bees with powdered sugar.
I went ahead and put down some pesticide.
BTW, I am still only using a spray bottle of sugar water instead of a smoker. So far so good. I noticed I must handle the frames/bees more delicately.
I removed frames from the top brood super. I wanted to see what was going on in there. Looks like there are 3 full frames of honey!! The rest of the frames have brood and honey/pollen. No signs of wax moth, but I did find about 6 hive beetles in the honey super that I removed. I found the queen in this brood super, she was in the middle of the box doing what she does...
There were 4 frames that had about 75% brood and the rest honey/pollen. About 3 frames with 40% brood and the rest uncapped honey/pollen. And 3 frames with all honey
I had to removed the top brood super to check the bottom super. The top super must weigh over 50 pounds.
I put that box back together and opened up the bottom brood super. There are alot of bees but no where near the numbers found in the top super. This bottom super has some honey and pollen and about 3-4 frames of brood, but not very much brood. It seems that the hive has shifted to the top brood super. There were no pests that I could find.
Once I had the hive back together I dusted the bees with powdered sugar.
I went ahead and put down some pesticide.
BTW, I am still only using a spray bottle of sugar water instead of a smoker. So far so good. I noticed I must handle the frames/bees more delicately.
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