Category Archives: Honey bees (honeybees)

At the hive. . . .

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bees on upper super top framesMy last inspection was a little off my intended schedule–I didn’t want to open the hive with yellowjackets buzzing around. They were finally gone last week so I peeked into the hive to see what the “girls” were doing. (I have to keep reminding myself that the colony only arrived here on the 24th of July.)  Definitely more regular traffic in and out lately, carrying pollen in all colors different colors.

Goldenrod is starting to bloom here now–and I think I’ve seen ragweed.  I’m not yet used to looking at fall flowers for a bee’s point of view. From the meeting of the Durham Beekeepers association this week, it seems that I was correct about the goldenrod, and the asters will be later.  It’s a whole new perspective on looking at flowers when I consider the bees!

There is new comb in the upper super, but only very rare pollen or nectar, so I didn’t add an extra super this time. I’ll be checking again in about a week to see where we are. I’ve asked an experienced beekeeper to go through an inspection next weekend.  It will be good to have a “teaching” inspection since I wasn’t able to get into a class before my bees arrived.

 

Hive report

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bee coming to hive with pollenThere is considerable relief in the last couple days as I watch the traffic in and out of the hive. There are no longer guard bees clustered on the landing board–they are able to do their job from inside the hive since the sticky mess of spilled syrup has mostly been removed by changing the cement blocks that were saturated with it, and there’s been some rain that apparently help wash away what was on the hive and the ground.

It’s very relaxing to watch the steady traffic of bees coming with pollen–white, yellow, orange, and some greenish in color.–and then heading back out for more.

Only the very occasional bald-faced hornet seen now and the yellowjackets seem to have either been trapped or decided that the sugar left around the hive is not worth fighting the guard bees for.

A pestilence of ants

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Perhaps pestilence is a bit too strong a term, since I’m not literally dealing with plague, but I’m frustrated.

I’m not used to seeing insects strolling about my kitchen, but lately I keep seeing those little tiny brown or black ants that are called “sweet-eating” or “sugar” ants. I’ve had them invade before–you know, the moving black line, marching steadily toward something. . . .

But these aren’t in a column, a cluster, or even a group! If they were in a marching column, I could see where they are coming from, and where they were going. them. I could attack them effectively with traps or spray. If I knew where they were coming from, I’d sprinkle cinnamon or lay cinnamon sticks out.

Well, these aren’t marching purposefully toward anything. They aren’t even marching–they’re meandering. They aren’t obviously coming from anywhere. http://antark.net/They act as if they were on a Sunday afternoon stroll–not exactly wandering–each individual seems to know where it is going but with no particular destination all,  just one or two at a time, and in various directions, nothing consistent. The little b-….er, beasties are just there and they have been for weeks. Only a few at a time–just continually there.

If there were hordes, masses of them streaming across the counter, I wouldn’t really be surprised. Since the bees arrived,  I’ve been mixing sugar syrup to feed them.  I’ve had more sugar in my kitchen in the last three weeks than I’ve probably had in the whole rest of my life.  Until the bees arrived (and needed feeding  until the fall nectar flow really gets going), I bought sugar by the one-pound boxes since I couldn’t get anything smaller.  Now I’m bringing it in four-pound bags–several at a time, and mixing simple syrup by the gallon. So–I’d expect “sugar” ants. I could deal with the massive march that had an origin and a destination.

But that is not what seems to be happening here. They are not even walking purposefully–they’re just promenading ants!

Still Sticky, continued

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We had some rain last night, but it seems that all it did was to make the spots where the sugar syrup spilled wet again, and get attention back to those.

Bald-faced hornets (BFH) and yellowjackets are still skulking around the hive.  I’ve put out traps–homemade ones–with soda for the yellowjackets and meat (tuna and chicken) for the BFHs.  At least this morning the BFHs were grabbing some of the yellowjackets and making off with them. There are lots of bees at the entrance apparently on guard duty.  Bees carrying in pollen are coming and going–though it seems their pollen baskets aren’t as stuffed as they were a few days ago and the pollen whitish-greenish!

A few yellowjackets have made it into my homemade traps, but so far no BFHs.

Still sticky

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Perhaps this should be titled sequelae to stickiness sequelae. . . .and for all my friends who are grammarians, I used sequelae intentionally, to refer not to this sequela to the previous post, but to the myriad, multiple, bucketful, and gobs of effects stemming from that one event of a leaky syrup container.

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bees at hive entranceOn hive check this morning, it looks like normal activity at the entrance. No “invaders” hanging around the entrance for the time that I was watching–just “my girls” coming and going on the landing board.

I have traps out for yellowjackets and for bald-faced hornets.  Looks as if a few yellowjackets have been lured into the trap.

Unfortunately, there are still yellowjackets clustered on the lower right cement block that is supporting the hive.

I suspect that yellowjackets on cement blockwas were most of the sugar syrup flowed down.  That rather porous material is probably saturated with sweetness! They see to be preferring that to the trap with Coco-Cola in it. More concentrated sweetness (I hope). Maybe when that’s all been slurped out they will like the trap better.

I’m contemplating how to be sure that my pail feeders are not leaking, although when I check the inner cover and the empty super covering the feeders this morning there doesn’t seem to be wetness that would suggest feeder leak that would be dripping through the hive. I guess time will tell.

Stickiness sequelae

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unknown bee-like visitorAnd in our continuing beekeeping saga is the sequel to stickiness. . . .still sticky!

The hive is fighting off invaders after the syrup spill.  I’d been hoping for rain, but that didn’t happen, so it was out there with the hose making like a rain goddess. All sorts of unfriendly creatures: bald-faced hornets and paper wasps I could identify without problems. Then there were (at least I hope I’ve gotten rid of some of them) others that are as yet unidentified (even with the Audubon guide). I’ve yet to do an internet search.

I think that others are yellow jackets–at least they were busy enough with the sugar syrup (dried on the hive) to mostly ignore me. The honey bees do have a fight on their hands right now, though it was looking much better after the second time I washed down the hive.   This is incredibly frustrating–I changed the style of feeder to avoid this exact thing, and then to have cropped invaders IMG_20150805_135640958even more syrup dumped onto the front of the hive and into the hive! (I’m not sure what I’ll do with the feeder that did the dump–maybe take it to the beekeepers meeting and see if anyone who already uses and likes it, wants it–I don’t think that I’ll try it again!

At left is one of my girls with one of the invaders. I really didn’t hang around to try to take pictures–I was busy with the hose. And some of the yellow jackets were just a bit PO’d about getting rained on.

These girls have really been slurping down the syrup, so I had to add more.  I went to the bee supply and got a second pail so that I didn’t have to keep the super where the feeder lives open long with all this activity of the invaders. I guess drawing all the comb and defending the hive takes a lot of energy. I’ve been reading some statistics on how far a honey bee will travel, and how many flowers she must visit to make a pound of honey, and how fast they can zip for flower to flower. Amazing creatures.

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I’ve just been out to the hive to take another look around. The girls are patrolling, but the entrance with the guards is quiet. Still a couple paper wasps around, but not on the hive or near the entrance. I really didn’t need this actual experience of  what a mess spilled syrup makes–I’m going to be taking a lot of precautions to see that it doesn’t happen again! I know it was stressful for the bees, but it was stressful, and distressing for me too!  I’ve noted that even with all this going on they were still quite gentle with me–I didn’t put on protective gear to work around the hive or to change the feeder. I think that they must have held their own pretty well since there were more of the opposition dead that my honey bees.

Since I put on the new box and frames last Friday, I may be looking in to see how things are going this coming Friday, depending on the weather.

And, to end–here is the nice quiet hive entrance after the washing down. That’s just normal coming and going.after washing progress IMG_8231

Stickiness

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cropped-crop_img_20150801_130019171.jpgI told you in an earlier post that I changed to a different type of feeder when I inspected the colony yesterday.  Well, I’ve now changed feeders again as of this morning. It’s turning into a  “feeder saga”.      I started with a Miller hive top feeder–from reading that seemed like it would be what I wanted. My only objection to it is that as a learning beekeeper with a new colony, I have to do almost-weekly inspections to make sure things are going well in the hive. The issue is that at times I can be a veritable Klutz (the capitalization is intentional–I can take klutziness to a special level without even trying just in the kitchen with a bain-marie)–the good side of that is that at least the sugar syrup (1:1 sugar to water) is not hot. All the good and bad things I’ve read about this style of feeder seem to be true, so obviously I’m not having a novel experience here, and I suspect that I’ll return to this style of feeder once this colony is established and I’m more familiar with beekeeping.

However, I did decide to try to make my life a little easier (so I thought) by changing to a feeder that would be easier to put on and take off for inspections. I went to Bailey Bee Supply, my local bee store, intending to purchase a simple pail feeder.  What I discovered was that the pail was too tall to fit into an empty medium super. Since I didn’t have a deep (and truly didn’t want one since all my equipment was medium 8-frame) I decided to try a different style of in-hive feeder.

Bee smart feederAfter the inspection yesterday, I put the new feeder into the empty medium super.  There was a minor mishap–which I thought was beekeeper, not feeder.   About an hour later I went back to check and there was syrup running down the front of the hive. This is not a good thing, since it attracts other nectar-drinking insects as well as MY Apis mellifera.

I got in there and made some adjustments and finally managed to get the syrup to stop overflowing by leveling the feeder and tray; closed things back up and went about my evening’s activities. (I did get the Miller feeder off yesterday without sloshing syrup everywhere so the wetness on the front of the hive here is not a result of my klutziness. No matter why its there its not a good thing to see.)

This morning I checked on the food–the feeder was empty–meaning that one-half gallon of sugar syrup had been “dumped” during the night.,  This was not a happy thought but all was quiet around the hive.  I took the empty feeder away and made a bee-line (sorry–that pun is unintentional, but I’m leaving it there) for the bee store again.

white pail in medium superI bought an extra medium hive body and a pail feeder (pail is just barely too tall for the medium) so that it would be covered.  Home–install new feeder. Amazingly, everything around the hive was very quiet–I had expected to see all sorts of insects attracted by sugar water spread around on the ground and the front of the hive.

Now, a couple hours later–back to check and there are bees flying everywhere–not aggressive though. I think it’s bees from my hive reclaiming their syrup.  At least I hope it is. There are a few other wasp-like critters, but they are not making any effort to get into the hive. Thankfully, no hornets either.  I think maybe a rain dance this evening with hopes of a good hard rain to wash away the syrup. What I saw under the hive (I have a screened bottom board, and no sticky board in place yet) was not what you want to see around your hive.

group of bees under hiveThe only thing for me to be thankful for is that there were only a few other insects buzzing around–I just hope that lasts. Interestingly enough, I did not see any ants around–but perhaps they were all in my kitchen slurping up the syrup from where I carried the other feeder back in to clean it out. I wonder if that is a commentary on how ants feel about cinnamon–because there’s certainly a lot of it sprinkled around the hive.

Turns out that the ants were not in my kitchen–the cinnamon sticks that I had lying around on the counter must be doing a job. But, now I’m wandering around the house with a damp cloth trying to get sugar syrup wiped off of everything I touched–outside door handle, inside door handle, cell telephone (have no idea how that got there), the faucet in the bathroom sink. . . .probably other places that I didn’t realize.  I’ll find them later when I least expect it.

I never realized that “simple syrup” could be SO sticky!

More–bees and me

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beekeeper me

beekeeper me

An incredible experience today! All the beekeeping books I’ve read (a fair number by now) try to describe the experience of seeing a hive in action.  It’s likely to remain indescribable.  I certainly can’t begin to put it into words.

One week ago today I brought my nuc home and transferred the girls (probably a few guys as well) to their permanent home. It didn’t take long for me to discover that I needed to modify the protective clothing that I wore, so back to the bee store.

Today, I opened the hive to see what was happening inside. (Had friend to take some pictures, too.)  As you can see, I’ve opted for different attire–a much nicer experience for me. Still sweaty, but at least not dripping on my veil. The weather was cooperative–clear, sunny, low humidity (41% and 87 °F reported at the time I opened the hive).

I did light a smoker and used it only for a couple of puffs to clear the Miller feeder before taking it off.  Last week I did the newspaper-pine needles-punk wood, routine.  This week I wussed out and simply used the cotton fiber fuel that you can by from the bee store–such a time-saver, and so much easier. This colony seems rather tolerant of me nosing around so I didn’t put on gloves. There was one point when I was just getting ready to start pulling the frames (after I had removed the first one) when there was an interesting line of bees, all side-by-side, wall-to-wall, in the cracks between the other frames–I definitely did feel I was being watched!  They got anther puff of smoke then–given that several of the books say that indicates need for a bit more smoke.  I really felt I needed them to move down so I could pull the frames without hurting anyone.

Because I’m going to be in and out of the hive about weekly with the new girls getting established and me learning, I switched from the Miller-type hive-top feeder to a Bee Smart feeder today. I tried out the Bee Smart in the kitchen sink before toting it out to the hive.  The  Bee Smart tray filled nicely and didn’t overflow.  Fingers crossed because that should be easier than moving the other one each time without slopping sugar water all over the place. After talking with other keepers, I did add Honey-B-Healthy to the feeder.

queen on frame

queen bee

To my very novice eye, things looked good in there. I did see eggs around where the queen was–they are really hard to see–I may add a magnifying lens to my “bee bag” with all the other goodies that accompany me to the hive.  I made sure that I did this inspection when the sun was out or I doubt I would have seen eggs. I didn’t see a lot of larvae though. Lots of capped cells. And bees crawling about everywhere….

On the left 1/3 of the frame, you see what looks like a white/light blue spot–that’s actually the queen bee (marked with the international standard color). She was moving around slowly on that frame.

Soooooo happy to see her in there doing her thing (yes, with effort I did see eggs) after my first adventure with her.  It seemed like every single cell was stuffed with nectar/sugar water/honey in all of the frames from the nuc. Surprised at how much heavier they were when I picked them up today, compared to what I remember from last week., (The hive was certainly heavier (after the feeder was off). With luck it will be heavier still next week.

newly drawn comb on new frame

newly drawn comb

They had started to draw the comb on the unused frames–so it seemed appropriate to add another box–certainly want them to have enough room to do their thing.

Now to wait another whole week to see what is happening in there–I really do want to peek sooner, but I’ll refrain, and just deal with the anticipation.

Since this was my first go at doing a frame inspection, I didn’t take my tablet or notebook computer out to use Hive Tracks live on the inspection, or for that matter even attempt to use my smart-telephone. That will be added next time. It was certainly wonderful to come in and have the weather entered at the time I started the inspection.  I liked the check-things-off approach.  I suspect that I got a more complete record than had I been handwriting or even making notes on the computer. Just reading over the inspection form before I actually even lit a smoker helped with organization–which I need badly as a brand new beekeeper!

holding frame

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OOPS!  Well, a bit of a mishap with the Bee Smart feeder–which may be with the beekeeper.  It’s good to read the instructions, but then you do have to follow them if you want something work as promised.  I put feeder in, but neglected to note that “the base can be rotated to adjust the syrup level; since most hives are not level make sure that the syrup stays. . . .”  So–some sugar water spilled onto the inner cover, and down the front of the hive. Didn’t run out all that much, and it did not douse the frames. But. . .it did not stop overflowing until I leveled it.  Slight movement while trying to adjust it lead to sloshing which lead to more syrup. After leveling it has (right now) quit overflowing.  There will be an early morning check on this for sure. Likely an internet search for an alternative just in case.  I’m looking for something that fits in a medium super rather than a deep (or two mediums). In my internet searching before I got the Bee Smart feeder, there did seem to be a split: love it or hate it.  I talked to users who loved it–I’ll have to wait and see.  I might want just a plain simple bucket feeder!

IMG_8203

For the bees (and me)

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After my experience with the dome veil and jacket while I was putting the new bees into the hive, my mission for today was to get a veil that would allow a lot more ventilation. My last experience while in the jacket and veil was a bit like looking at the world through raindrops–not the best for clear vision, especially looking at little moving critters and trying to find one specific little moving critter that (thankfully) had a nice, bright blue dot on her thorax. So, off to Bailey Bee Supply this morning.

new equipment on car seat

new stuff

As is likely typical of most of us when we start a new project/hobby, gadgets and new equipment are totally fascinating and there is such a variety to check out. I suspect that beekeeping gadgets are going to be like kitchen gadgets and widgets–a lot of them better  in advertisement than in actual practice, but you never know, though chatting with other beekeepers certainly helps in choosing, or not. You find out all sorts of things that never appear in the “book learning” part of beekeeping.

For example, in discussions of hats and veils that I’ve read online and in books, nowhere did I find any mention of having a chin strap on the helmet. A friend mentioned, while chatting on FB, that she wished her helmet had a chin strap. I was about to settle for the basic plastic helmet, when my brain registered the fact that a helmet sitting right in front of me had a chin strap–quick change, and I have a helmet that is ventilated and has a chin strap to support a veil that will allow some air flow. That doesn’t mean I won’t drip while working outdoors, but it should help.

Obviously I came home from the bee store with more than just a helmet and veil–just like when I go skulk around the kitchen store.  I had a delightful chat with the lady in the bee store about pros and consult of various gadgetry and her experience–much greater than mine, gave me useful information and contributed to my purchases.

After opening the hive once, I discovered that the disadvantages frequently described for a this type of hive-top feeder  8 Frame Miller Top Feederwere very real. Biggest one for me right now is the difficulty in lifting it off the hive without slopping sugar syrup all over the place. Think about lifting a big, fairly shallow pan–like when you use a bain-marie in the oven–how the liquid shifts and threatens to slosh.  Well, slopping sugar syrup all over me, the bees, the hive, and surrounds is not something I want to deal with right now when I’m doing frequent inspections for my learning experience. SO, new feeder. (Given the good points of this style of hive-top feeder, I suspect that I’ll use it again when I’m not in and out of the hive so often because it’s large capacity is attractive–so it’s not a write-off.)

Despite reading some very contradictory reviews on forums–seemly a definite love-it or hate-it reactions–I got a Bee Smart in-hive feeder in-hive feeder. I’ve read the instructions, and  I’ve been checking it out over the kitchen sink with water. It seems a little touchy about getting the cover screwed back on, but as long as I pay attention to that (and I think my OCD-tendencies will kick in there), it seems to work. Since can go on the inner cover, it will certainly make opening the hive easier for me right now.

My only other purchase was some Honey-B-Healthy–an all-natural feeding stimulant for bees that is HONEY-B-HEALTHY® Supplement 16 ozreported to help with some of the problems that one encounters with bees–like  Nosema ceranae and some of the other really nasty things that can get your bees! It’s not advertised for that (I guess like off-label drug use in humans), but for those attempting to do without giving heavy-duty medications unless absolutely necessary, it has good reports from experienced beekeepers.  So, add a bottle of Honey-B-Healthy concentrate for the girls.

Now comes the sort of hard part–they are not due for a hive inspection until Friday–I have to content to watch them carrying pollen into the hive.

bee with full pollen baskets

pollen into the hive

pollen rainbow

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Watching the bees bring pollen into the hive, I saw mostly yellow but on looking at the frames I saw other colors–and so to Google–a veritable rainbow.

misterkrista's avatarkrista and jess

You really should click for a larger look.

And if you are a nerd (I know you are), click for the Wikipedia with a pollen color chart.

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