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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