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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