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.