Fall Begins

As Doris buttons up the summer, I have noticed some of the bee-haviors are changing. Over the last month I have seen them become more aggressive when I open the hive. Wax and propolis production have changed. And, the hive is much more crowded. In the last two weeks, sugar syrup consumption has slowed as well.

The fall blooms are exploding right now. Doris' bees are are extremely busy. Almost as if they are in a hurry for something. There is more traffic at the entrance of the hive, today, than I think I have ever seen. The evenings have still been warm even though the temps have been dipping over night. Fall is in the air. Doris is definitely getting ready for winter. The workers are getting aggressive, especially if I have the hive open too long. Last weekend I was looking closely at some brood frames and they let me know I had seen enough. I was stung on my wrist. It seemed minor at the time but over the next few days the effects grew steadily worse. I had to see the doctor. I was prescribed some steroids and some anti-inflammatory as well as an epipen.

This picture was taken just after I started the medication. The swelling continued completely up my right arm.
Today, I spent very little time in the hive and they seemed much less agitated.

There are so many bees in the boxes now, I am concerned about not leaving them enough space when I take the super off the hive before winter. The two brood boxes are full of bees. The extra bees are spread completely throughout the super. There are huge numbers of bees foraging outside the hive as well, if entrance traffic is any indication. The brood pattern is getting tighter, covering less area on the frames. There is a lot more pollen being stored around the brood. Doris will be laying less eggs going into winter. They are apparently using the extra space as storage. The comb they are producing around the outside is slowing down a lot. I had hoped we would see twenty full frames of comb by now but the outside two frames in the bottom box are only about half way. The frames just inside that are 80-90 percent. When those are full, I can move them to the outside to encourage the bees to finish out the last two. The frames in the super have not yet been started. I believe they are just too busy moving cells around and foraging to build wax.

So they aren't cranking out the wax right now. No big deal, that means they don't need the sugar syrup as much. They were using almost as much as two gallons per month. Now they are down to about two quarts a week. Judging by the amount of pollen they are carrying in, I may not need to feed them any more patties this season. Propolis has not be produced almost at all. All of the parts I have been breaking loose lately are still free. I suspect this will change quickly when the wind starts blowing colder. They will have to work to seal off the drafts in the hive.

This summer we planted garlic in the garden. I found an odd bulb, this week, that I didn't want to use in the kitchen. I had seen some articles about garlic and varroa mites. I looked into it a little deeper and learned many beekeepers are using garlic powder in their powdered sugar treatment. Well, I don't have the garlic powder, just the bulb. Some other beekeepers are using garlic oil. Okay, maybe the cloves will do something. I thought, why not slice up the cloves and put them in the bottom and count the mite drop. There was only two mites on the bottom board after 48 hours. Not really impressive results. The plain powdered sugar seemed to work well this first year. I will keep it simple going forward. Although, the garlic powder does seem like a viable next step if the mites get out of hand in the future.

Two mites on the bottom board? That's not bad for early fall. The hive is full of bees. I have seen mites in the recent drone brood. Removing the drone cells, and regular powdered sugar treatments, could give Doris a head start for winter.

Bees Wax

Today I made a discovery that I think will help. Processing wax can be very sticky and messy. While I was bottling mead today, I managed to get a good deal of wax stuck onto one of our sauce pans.

I was using some honey strained from comb to sweeten the mead I had brewed. I heated the honey in the saucepan but I did not realize there was still wax in the honey. The wax separated in the pan and made a skin which created a ring around the pan.

I had read that the pans you use for wax would better be dedicated to wax. My own limited experience has been to struggle, heat, scrub, struggle, then give up removing bees wax. Then I remembered the PBW.

PBW is a detergent produced by Five Star that is commonly used for sanitizing brewing equipment. I had some on hand to clean my carboy so I tried it on the sauce pan. A little hot water, a good solution of PBW, and about twenty minutes of soak time, the wax wiped away, effortlessly. It really worked well. It broke down the wax completely. It didn't smear or spread. The wax just wiped away.

So my tip for removing bees wax, pick up a container of Five Star PBW. It is available at your local home brew supply store, and big online retailers. 

Go Broncos!

It seems Doris might bee a Broncos fan. I made a quick visit by the hive today. I topped off their sugar syrup. There were hundreds of gatherers carrying loads of pollen in orange as if they knew football season has begun.

The amount of gatherers were astonishing. I am not sure what flowers they were foraging but the pollen was consistent on all of them. The sunflowers are just about tapped out right now but the wildflowers are peaking in blooms. These girls definitely prefer the flowers with orange pollen.

The Timing of Everything

It's all about timing. Right? Seems my timing has been a little off. The weekly feedings and inspections have been fairly routine. I have become stumped on what to write about. Fed the bees, they look good, growing every week, and so on. I have been writing later and later each week, I just realized I did not post last week. So, today I sit so I can post, right after I completed a lengthy inspection. Hopefully this will catch my timing back up.

Last time, I was looking to see if the bees were using the new entrance I provided them in the top super. I haven't seen any traffic in there just yet. Although, today there was obvious signs the bees are using it. They are just not carrying stores into it yet because they are still working on the bottom box.

You can tell they are exiting here for their cleansing flights.

There are plenty of bees to occupy space up here in the top box.













This #2 frame of the upper brood box is full of honey. The 1, 9, and 10 frames all look similar to this one. In the bottom box, the outer frames are getting there. They just aren't quite as full.

With several weeks until the the first freeze, I believe they still have time.

This time of year, there is a lot of talk about nectar dearths (dry periods of little nectar production from the flowers). Many honey producers are removing any remaining supers from the hives. I have been paying close attention to the hummingbirds in my back yard. They have been going through cycles, visiting my feeder less frequently when nectar is flowing. Right now, around here in Douglas County, there is large numbers of fall flowers coming out to bloom. The hummingbirds are visiting less frequently each day, and the bees have drastically slowed their production of burr comb and propolis. In fact, over the last two weeks, I have noticed the burr comb has almost dropped off completely. Today, the hive boxes were not stuck together the way they usually are. These bees are very busy doing something. I am sure it has to be the collection of nectar that has them occupied.

I am thinking constantly about the coming of winter now. I tried to get my eyes on Doris to see she is okay but had no luck. I can tell by the amount of brood throughout the hive, that she is doing very well. I am also looking for signs of mites and viruses. The bees all are looking very healthy.

Last week I noticed several drone cells at the bottom of the top box. I have not been able to figure out why they are producing drones this close to winter. My biggest concern with drone cells is that mites reproduce in the same cells. Drone production is mite production. Doris certainly does not need a bunch of mites going into winter.

 The drone cells only seem to be along the bottom of frames 4, 5, and 6. It looks like they are being laid intentionally.

The drone larvae are as large as the worker bees. Many of the drone cells were damaged when I removed the frames. I do not afford this hive enough space to regularly produce drones, so these large cells are damaged easily. Those that were not damaged, I removed. Less drone cells means less mites. That helps keep the lazy mooches out of the food stores too.

Another character I realized has timing is aggression. As I notice the nectar flow is on right now, I am also noticing the bees are more aggressive than they were two weeks ago. With a dearth comes robbing, bees are defending their stores from other foragers. With the nectar flow, the other foragers are too busy to rob. Doris' bees are defending against me, since I'm about the only intruder. One managed to make her way inside my veil today. She got my heart pumping but didn't manage to sting me.

There is something that has contributed to the writers block lately. We have been getting page views from all over the world. It is just a little added pressure to me because I feel like I should have great material to offer anyone. This beekeeping experience is isolated to Douglas County, Colorado. I know I can't offer something to everyone but I hope my observations help. We have views from France, Germany, U.K., Romania, Australia, Egypt, Israel, Italy, and Kuwait. It makes me feel proud to share.

More Custom Accessories

Maybe it is the mechanic in me. I love to modify and customize everything. More performance or a Hot Rod touch, I feel like I need to make everything better. This week, I upgraded the honey super on the top of the hive with an entrance and a landing. I recently read an article that described the use of a 5/8 inch hole for an entrance with a small block for a landing board. The accessory was recommended by a long time beekeeper. The article and the beekeeper's name are nowhere to be found now. I wanted to give credit but I have been searching for four days and can't seem to come across the article again.

Anyway, I decided to try it on Doris' hive to see if it helps the workers get busy with the honey super. It turned out nice. It is small enough for the bees to defend it.

You can barely make out the landing on the front. It is just below the cover. Mom and I are refilling the syrup jars. I like to give them space when I do this now because they get so upset when I mess around at the entrance.

It will be important to figure out how to handle the super now. These bees guard their entrances aggressively. Once they start using this entrance, I am sure they will get mad when I take the hive down again.

Pollen patties are placed here, between the two brood boxes. This puts the protein rich supplement right where the nurse bees can get to it. If the patties are too far from the brood, the bees won't even bother with it. So I do need to take the hive down to feed, at least for a few more weeks.

Next season, I expect this hive will be completely self sufficient. I have been feeding all season to help them build their colony. Come spring time, they might need some help for a couple weeks, but should do just fine on their own. Any new colonies we may start next year will get the same treatments Doris got.

As for winter, I am considering a candy board for feeding, an insulated top (like a quilt box), and wrapping the hive to protect it from wind and cold. These are just the start, we still have six or eight weeks to come up with more ideas for wintering.

Wild Bees

This week, I administered the fourth round of powdered sugar treatment. I simply dumped sugar into the gaps between the frames, as I have been. After I added a pollen patty and put the hive back together, I refilled the sugar syrup. This has been working very well for keeping the bees calm enough to work with. No stings, warnings, or even loud buzzing around the veil.

The temperature was still in the low 90's. Hot sunny days equal happy bees. It has been hot and sunny so long, the flowers have all but dried up. There are some sunflowers and some cone flowers blooming now. There just isn't a lot of flowers available like there was in June and July. I think the syrup and pollen patties are really important right now.

The evening did bring a little bit of cool air through the area. The next day was warm but had severe thunderstorms that hurried through. The bottom board I had installed surely shielded them, at least the underside, from the wind and weather. It was lucky timing, mostly. I checked on them last night after the air cleared. I counted eight mites all together. That is suggested to be a low number for this time of year. Things seem to be going well. The powdered sugar treatment is sufficiently effective.

These two are obviously not part of Doris' colony. I got a chance to get pictures of these cold bees early in the morning. They were waiting for the sun to warm them up. I have been watching closely the flowers along the roadsides to see, not only whats available, but, what is attracting honey bees during this August dearth. This wild sunflower is in full bloom right now and is covered in too many different pollinators to count. I have seen a honey bee here and there, but they are not covered like a Catmint would be. These two are sweat bees that have an emerald green back and yellow stripes. The males would be all green. The metallic color makes these one of my favorite bees.

These wild bees and others like them are in greater danger than honey bees. Wild pollinators, in fact, are capable of much more than a honey bee colony. A single wild bee can visit hundreds of flowers per trip. Pesticides are doing as much damage to wild bees as they are to honey bees. These sweat bees make small nests in tiny holes along flat ground. In my experience, these shiny metal bees are as timid and docile as other sweat bees.

Somebody's Watching Me

These days are too hot for a bee suit. The last couple times I used one, the heat was unbearable. Today, I decided the heat outweighed the stings. I went out in a t-shirt and veil. It was still too hot for comfort.

It has been in the 90's for more than a week with little or no precipitation. Everything is beginning to dry out. This happens every year here. This year it is drying out much later than usual. I have never kept bees before so I am not sure how these weather patterns affect the bees differently. Doris' colony sure seems to love the warm weather.

I changed up my procedure slightly today. I took more time between steps. I went much more slowly. I have said it seemed important to work quickly these days. Turns out that may not be right. Or at least, not the only answer.

Working without a helper, I smoked the hive from the bottom. Slowly, I removed the top and inner covers. I used a little more smoke in the top super. There are hundreds of bees hanging around in the top today. It may be the heat, or that they are beginning work on the frames. There was not enough wax built out to tell for sure. I set the super aside.

I pulled a few frames from the main brood box to have a look. They seem to be drawing honey down the frames and moving the brood pattern slightly lower. Without a helper, I did not get a pic, but it seems they are trying to build both levels as one. They definitely have a large store of nectar started.

Here I got a pic of a couple bees lapping up nectar. They have long pink tongues they use for a lot of different purposes. This burr comb gets built up each week between the upper and lower frames. I have tried to collect all the burr comb I can, whenever I find it.

Sometimes I look back at the boxes and I see dozens of eyes watching me. I think its funny when they do that.

The bottom brood box now has comb working on all frames. The two outermost frames have a very small amount of wax on them but they are being worked. I switched the two outermost frames in one position as I had done with the top brood box. This thing will be full in just a few weeks. There wont be much else to do but build out the comb in the top super.

The bottom box got a heavy dusting of powdered sugar, and a pollen patty. I reset the main brood box and heavily dusted it as well. This is the third week of powdered sugar treatments. I have not been using the bottom board because the weather is so hot, so I am honestly not sure if these treatments are as effective as they have been. I will need to treat, one more time, next week. I can install the bottom board for that day. I will get a good idea of the efficacy at that point.

The brood boxes are full, and bustling with activity. It is going to be difficult to get all the mites out.  I did not have any signs of a mite problem before I began this treatment. I did find some mites inside a brood cell but I did not see any number of them on the bees or on the bottom of the hive. We have been fortunate to not have to resort to using chemicals up to this point. This treatment was primarily preemptive, based on seasonal recommendations I found listed on scientificbeekeeping.com . They also list recommendations for which chemicals to use at different times of the year. That may be helpful later on when our apiary gets harder to manage.

Finally, I buttoned everything up, and gave the bees ample time to settle back into the hive. I used a little more smoke around the busy entrance, and refilled the feeders. Again, working around the entrance got a lot more buzz than the work inside the hive. A couple of guards got loud around my veil. I finished up and left them to their wares.

Dog Days

Doris and her colony continue to build comb everywhere they can. Unfortunately, they do not like to move around and they are sticking frames together, frames to boxes, boxes to covers.... It is amazing to see the work they have done.

The bottom box now has five frames with brood on them. As they fill out the comb, Doris is laying eggs. Everyone is hard at work.

I dusted with powdered sugar again. The workers seemed much more tolerant this time. In fact, the whole inspection went easy because the bees were more calm than they had been. I usually pull the feeders and fill them first. I thought it would help them gorge themselves with food from the smoke. I had noticed they were aggressive when I worked around the entrance.

This time, I left the feeders alone while I took the top off the hive, then the upper boxes. The bees all responded calmly to the use of smoke. There were no guards bumping me or buzzing my head. After I dusted them, they were more concerned about cleaning up than what I was doing.

The dusting created a large crowd at the entrance. When I went to fill the feeders, after the hive was closed back up, I had to use more smoke to make way and disperse the crowd.

Ashlyn got a pic of this bee in mid air, covered in sugar like a ghost bee.

There were storms headed in but not yet in sight. Another hot sunny day with a little breeze, like some in recent weeks. The main difference, I believe, is that we didn't alert the guards as we got started.

The bottom board has had an open screen for the last couple weeks. I pulled the tray out to allow air flow for these dog days of summer. I use these entrance feeders for now because they are convenient for me. These feeders do a good job reducing the entrance. I have been reading that this time of year the flowers dry out and robbing gets more frequent. With hives nearby, Doris' colony is susceptible. The entrance feeders seem to help keep the opening defensible.

I wonder if I had missed some signs that Doris' hive may have been battling robbers. Perhaps that may have been the cause for the increased aggression towards me and the kiddos. I think I will continue to fill the feeders last, and try to develop a new pattern. Hopefully they will remain more calm.

There was a Honey Festival in Parker this weekend. I had some interesting conversations with a few other beekeepers. One thing I found out, is the difference between Italian bees and Carniolan Italian bees. One beekeeper raved about how much more gentle her Carniolan bees were compared to her Italian bees. Another beekeeper and I spoke about a VSH (varroa sensitive hygiene) breed of bees that fight off mites in the brood cells. There are pros and cons to these other options that are worth considering for expanding our apiary next season. The Festival was lots of fun and offered a little about butterflies, gardening, and mead making. We are looking forward to going again next year.


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Week 13

Since it has been about seven weeks since the last powdered sugar treatment, I brought food, and sugar, out to the hive. I removed the lid, with full protective gear on, and found the top super was virtually empty. It was as empty as it has been in the past. There were few stragglers hanging about but not working the frames. I set the super aside. The queen excluder was glued down with propolis and wax. I scraped as much wax as I could to clean it up but it is increasingly important to work quickly now. There are a lot of bees protecting the hive and they are less tolerant of having the roof off for long periods. The main brood box is now full. There is comb from corner to corner on all frames, There is some capped honey on the outsides. The frames are built out with comb so much that they all interfere with the next one. The frames cannot be removed now without comb damage.

That's not such a big deal. That main brood box is theirs to get them through the winter. I had to set it aside to inspect the bottom box and see how it is progressing. The main brood box is almost too heavy to lift. I can only guess its between eighty and ninety pounds. I understand now, why many beekeepers choose to use mediums for their brood boxes.

The bottom brood box still has four empty frames. The middle three frames have brood on both sides. The other frames have some comb and some nectar so far. The larvae looks to be between two and seven days old. I know Doris is working in there daily but I did not see her there.

I shook gratuitous amounts of powdered sugar into the bottom box. The workers in this hive have never been covered in sugar. The oldest of these bees would have hatched shortly after the last treatment. None of them were very happy. I placed a pollen patty on this box and replaced the main brood box. That box got heavily dusted as well. The rest of the hive went back together quickly.

Finally, I filled the feeder jars with some fresh sugar syrup. For the syrup, I have been using a recipe I put together based on recommendations from articles and friends. I use a small amount of supplement based on lemon grass and spearmint that I received from a neighbor. It is supposed to replicate a Honey Bee Healthy type additive. I mix 1:1 sugar and water then add one teaspoon of bleach. I give the mixture a few hours to gas out before I add the supplement and serve. I know this method keeps the mold to a minimum and is fairly safe. I have been using it since the beginning.

I also have been using the leftover syrup in my hummingbird feeder. I empty out whats left in the jug so I can mix a fresh batch. The birds love it. Bees, hummingbirds, hornets, sparrows, and other birds all visit my feeder. Recently, I decided to mix up some sugar and water to fill the bird feeder. It was out and I didn't have any bee food available. I noticed there were a lot fewer visitors to the yard. In fact, the two pairs of hummingbirds that frequent the feeder would not stop to drink. They would swing by, sniff around, then leave again each day. After one week I went out to see what might be the problem.

The sugar syrup appeared to be normal but it had spoiled rotten. It smelled horrible. I dumped out the bad syrup and made up a batch of sugar syrup for the bees. I put some of it in the hummingbird feeder and now it is as active as ever.

The recipe has a definite purpose. Whether it is the aroma of lemongrass or the preservative, it sure seems to work better than straight sugar.

Doris and her colony love these warm sunny days. The evening showers keep the flowers blooming which keep the bees at work.

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Great Big Bee Hive

Yes, it is getting enormous. They are burning through the pollen patty and sugar syrup at an alarming rate. The bees are covering every corner of the main brood box. There is now brood on all of the frames in the main brood box. They are filling the bottom box rather quickly too. So far there is only nectar and pollen being stored in the bottom box. That will change soon, I am sure. There is almost enough comb to start laying brood in.

The number of bees protecting the hive has increased dramatically. So dramatically that, Ashlyn was stung yesterday just standing next to the hive when she just checked to see if the syrup needed refilled. She did not disturb the bees at all. It was unprovoked. Hailey's sting, last week, seemed pretty innocent as well. Today, they were bumping Kyson and I as warnings they are not a week little hive any more. They are a big strong colony. From now on, veils will be a requirement in Doris' yard. It also seems to help when there is less of a crowd around watching when we open the hive. We knew before getting into this, beekeepers get stung.

I did not get any new pictures today. We kept the inspection to a minimum. Looking at just a few frames, adding feed, scraping some burr comb, than out'a there. While removing one of the frames, some burr comb along the bottom of it scraped open some capped brood on the next frame. One cell had mites inside feeding on the larvae. This was very interesting to see. It  is unfortunate the bees have to live with these parasites, but they are part of life. I removed the damaged cells making sure to get out all the mites I could find. Considering it has been seven weeks since the last powdered sugar treatment, the number of mites is extremely low. I found one mite on the bottom board last week, and this brood cell with four or five in it. That's pretty low for this time of year I believe.

For next week, I will plan on starting another round of powdered sugar treatments. I will continue with the feeding as I have been. They are still collecting a great deal of nectar and pollen and will not starve if they use up the syrup a day or two early. Only eleven more weeks until winter sets in. They are working a pace that should make it easy for them to make it through the cold.

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Stung! (#2)

Another Beautiful day. Temps in the upper eighties, high bright sun, mild breeze, speckled clouds, and buzzing bees.

This full frame of nectar is being capped as honey. We did not get to look at all the frames in the top box. There were several helpers for today's inspection and the crowd may have made the bees uncomfortable. Hailey got stung on her finger and we cut the inspection short. Obviously the bees were agitated. Some of the bees from this frame were brushed off and that may have made them defensive. We are going to try to keep the observers, and the helpers, to just a few. Also, we will try to keep the bees in the boxes, with the lid on, as much as possible during the inspections.

The bees are doing a beautiful job. We were only able to see half of the top box frames, but there was only the outside of the outermost frame that was not filled out with comb yet. We counted five frames that had comb being built out in the lower brood box.

We replaced the quart sized entrance feeder, and added a pint size feeder. There were no signs of any pollen patty in the hive, so we added a new one. Hopefully, they will make it last until next week.

I did find one mite a few days ago. Today I saw no signs and decided not to do a sugar shake. It has been five weeks since the last powdered sugar treatment and I have only seen one mite. I believe they will be okay for a while.

About the beetles, I have not seen any sign of beetles in or around the hive since Deloris left. There was a wave of flies that came through a few days ago and nearly covered the outside of the hive. The bees seemed to be unaffected by the flies. But it got me thinking. They came and went just as the beetles came and went. I can't seem to find any articles on hive beetles that discuss a seasonal trait, or any migratory behavior of the beetles. Perhaps beetles tend to be more of a problem in apiaries where there are dozens, or thousands, of hives to propagate. Our one little backyard hive is doing great without them.

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Hungry!

In just one week, these bees have consumed two quarts of syrup and a whole pound of pollen patty.

The hot sun has them all spread out everywhere in the hive. They are in the super, both brood boxes, and the slatted rack.

We added more syrup, more pollen patty, and we got the excluder installed above the brood boxes.

The honey comb had been over built in one frame. A few days ago, we had to trim some back because it had interfered with the next frame. Today we were amazed to see the removed comb was already rebuilt. In fact, they had built out the apposing frame they way it is supposed to be.

They are making honey and wax everywhere they can now. There are fresh eggs in every available cell. They are building in the bottom brood box and the top super. Doris did not even slow down when I blew smoke into the hive and pulled her out into the light. She kept laying eggs and allowed me to witness it. Here, we even got a picture of the birth of a new bee.

See her tiny face poking out of the cell? Its hard to believe they fit inside those little cells. Mite free, virus free, this is one very happy, and hungry, colony.

 

 

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Castle Additions

It has been a nice warm sunny day. Mid 80 degree temps, when I showed up to Doris' place to drop off some food, there were bees everywhere. They were crawling around the outside. They were in the top box, beginning to work the frames in the super. They had filled up the slatted rack, and spread out to cover the majority of the last few frames inside the brood box. They have really blown up this last week or so.

I really only stopped by to drop off a pollen patty and refill the syrup. That quart size feeder is lasting only a few days now. There was so much activity, and they were obviously looking for more space, Kyson and I decided to go ahead and add the second deep box under the brood.

We will check them out later this week to see how they're liking it. I may need to move a few things around. I was planning on installing the queen separator to create a false roof over the brood. Right now the inner cover is between the brood box and the super. There were about three small clusters working on those frames this morning (golf ball size groups). They also had a dozen or so individuals wandering around the super. I do eventually hope they fill that super. For now, the goal is to increase bee numbers. I didn't spend much time inspecting. Of what I did see, all still looks well.

The brood box I added had some comb worked out by Deloris when she stayed there. I expect Doris will probably take right off where the others had left it.

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Nine Weeks

It has been nine weeks since these bees were installed. The bees did fine while we were gone on a short trip. When we got back, just five days after topping off the sugar water, the bees had nearly used up all the pollen patty and both quarts of syrup we had left them. At seven days, the syrup was gone. And today, no pollen patty at all. The dry days and eighty degree temps really help them get things done.

The inspection was ideal. They had brood in all stages, perfect egg laying patterns, large areas of hatched brood comb cleaned and reset with fresh eggs, and no signs of beetles or mites. There are no signs of any mites at all! I can't believe there are no mites. I figure I must be missing something but they are clean. I have even, recently, taken pics of each frame, zoomed in, inspected bee by bee, and I have not seen any mites. Skeptics take note, powdered sugar treatment works for me. I am sure mites will eventually reappear. But for now, Doris' bees are happy.

There were only two frames left on the outsides of the box that were not being built out with comb yet. The brood box is nearly full of bees. The second outer most frames had partial comb with only nectar in them so I switched the two outside empty frames in one position. I am hoping this encourages them to build out a little farther.

I am going to give them one more week. Next week I am going to add another Brood box below the one they are in. That should encourage them to continue building and growing downward into the next box.

The use of the slatted rack has definitely made a difference in the utilization of the frames. The first few frames are now completely filled to the corners. Now the bees are building them deeper. They seem to enjoy building burr comb. There is chunks of comb holding the lid down each time I open up the hive now. There is also gratuitous use of propolis. They are trying harder to keep me out and it's probably due to their growing numbers. The bees are now spread out across seven full frames (some are more concentrated than others).

I have been leaving one medium super above the inner cover. It seems to have helped them. It has been functioning as a makeshift quilt box holding the air above them steady. It has empty frames which won't absorb moisture like a quilt box, but they like hanging out in there sometimes and this time of year there is not a lot of condensation anyway.

Long Live the Queen!

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Where's Waldo ( I Spy )

We didn't see Doris during the first inspection the other day. We went back later to find her. Then while I was looking back through the inspection pics, I spotted her right out in the open. She was there the whole time.

Even with her markings she is tough to spot. See if you can find her.

 

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Surprise Inspection

During the initial inspection of the hive, Doris was especially good at hiding from us. So we relaxed, had a nice visit with Scott, rode a dirt bike a little bit, then went back in for a surprise inspection. We got good look at her the second time. She is doing an excellent job. John got a chance to meet her then, too.

Here, Scott is checking the weight of a full brood frame. They are noticeably heavy compared to the empty frames.

Kyson is helping us look for Doris.

Full frames of bees are so much fun to look at. The brood is all in really good condition. No signs of deformed wings. I didn't see any mites hanging on bees. There were no mites on the bottom board. We are still looking good. I hope this continues through the summer.

The workers managed to build some burr comb to stick the inner cover down tight. I took the hint and promised not to open the hive again during any rains.

I pulled the small feeder and left two quarts of sugar syrup. The new front porch fit perfectly. I hope that slatted rack spacer serves them well. Perhaps, Doris might even fill in those empty corners now they are further from the door.

A half dozen or so bees did end up squished by that pollen patty a few days ago. Not too many, but it was sad and unnecessary considering there were no storms the next day. We had some light showers that were not even close to what was in the forecast Thursday.

They have collected a complete frame of stored nectar. In combination with the syrup and patty I have provided, that will be enough to get them through much of the summer rains.

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Surprisingly Sunny

Well, as I have said before, the forecast is more often wrong than right. Today, the clouds cleared, it warmed up and it began to dry out. I didn't have much to do but I decided I better just let the bees be bees for today.

Kyson and I rolled down to Lowes to waste some time. I found some lemongrass plants I had to have. While pokin' around their scrap bins, I found a nice piece of 3/4 inch plywood. FREEBEE! Now it is a slatted bottom board for Doris' hive.

We will have to try to get it installed this weekend.

I have read a lot about these slatted spacers. They offer many benefits to the hive year 'round. Beekeepers who use them swear by them. I am hoping it will help keep the winds away from the frames, and some of the moisture below the brood.

This design will keep the frames elevated an extra two inches above the entrance. The wide shelf at the front channelizes the atmosphere away from the bottom of the frames keeping the queen, brood, and bee cluster warmer and drier. The added space below gives larger crowds someplace to hang out when it gets hot around the brood cluster and effectively helps the bees manage the hive temperature. Also, the slats act as a bottom to the hive, preventing burr comb in the open space, but allow mites and debris to fall through to the screen bottom.

I am excited to offer this accessory to Doris. I believe every little bit will help.

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Rain, Rain, Go Away

After a busy week, full of rain storms, baseball, work, and errands, Doris' colony has used up all of the sugar syrup and pollen patty. I needed to feed the bees but the rain is relentless. Rain is in the forecast for the next few days. There was no choice, we have to take a chance. I had to get them more syrup and pollen patty.

Ashlyn held the umbrella over the hive, blocking both the wind and the rain. I lifted the top just far enough to slide the pollen patty in. The bees were all over the tops of the frames and there's a chance a few may have been hurt. I installed a fresh jar of sugar syrup. I added it to the other two feeders that were already installed. I also filled those two feeders. There is now three jars of syrup in entrance feeders. The opening is only about a half inch wide now, which should help with the cold temps and damp winds. The bees will still have room to get in and out if the sun does shine during the next couple days.

There were no signs of beetles in the usual spots around the feeders and in the entrance. There are also no mites on the bottom board. This is very positive to see. We are still just waiting for some warm dry weather to come through so the colony can really take off.

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New Inspection

Today there was a window in the daily thunderstorms. Just before the weather turned, we opened the hive to see what progress was made.

There was a lot of activity outside the hive.

This whole frame is all nectar. There is another frame of nectar that is about two thirds full. They are working hard at expanding.

 Doris is working away. She is laying eggs across three frames. This is also the first picture of Doris with her tiny blue marking. It makes all the difference in locating her during inspections.

 Two of the brood frames are almost full to the corners.

 There is new brood in the cells that have already been hatched out.

 Bottom left to top right, you can see the larvae in different stages.

The bottom board had only a couple mites. They were the first I have seen in about two weeks. I did spot one bee with deformed wings (a developmental deformation caused by the mites). So, I dusted with powdered sugar and I will check them again in a few days to see how many mites drop to the bottom board.

There was no sign of any beetles. The colony has plenty of pollen stores, nectar, pollen patty, and sugar syrup. They seem to be healthy and growing in spite of the bad weather.

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