The Queens are Out

This even we had temps in the high 50's. It had been in the 60's during the day. Sunny, and calm, it was a good day to open the hive and look at the queen boxes. The marshmallows were gone, and the queens were off and running. The workers were all bunched up on the frames. That's where the queen must be so I pulled out the package and began replacing frames.

I moved the bee clusters to the center. I added some honey and wax to a couple frames and put them in next to the bee clusters. As I scraped the original frame to divide it amongst the hives, I ended up covering three sides of the clean frames. The honey made a huge mess. Luckily there is a large team of workers to clean it all up.
Until today, the bees didn't have any honey. I decided not to smoke the bees, since they wouldn't be able to gorge themselves on honey. When I started moving the frames around, they started getting angry. I am still not used to angry bees yet. It is nice to have the protection of the veil and coveralls.

The tin can in Delores's hive was empty. The bees had consumed half the syrup in the jar already too. Doris's team didn't do quite as well with the can but they made quite a dent in the pollen patty. Both hives got after the honey right off.

One concerning item, there was a lot of dead bees on the bottom screen. There were some that were moving slowly but it was kind of alarming to see how many were lost.
There are still many bees to care for Doris and Delores. Each hive had roughly three full frames covered in bees. I saw good activity outside the hive too. Doris looked like she may have had a little bit bigger of a family.

I couldn't find either of the queens, but the clusters were reassuring. Overall, they were busy working hard.

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Coincidentally

Turns out, the first grade class happens to be studying pollination. In the past, Ms. Jill's class would inspect bees, flowers, pollen, etc. Each of the kids took home a bee of their own. Apparently this year the supply of bees for the lesson was not high quality. They ended up with only one specimen to demonstrate pollination.

I found these stragglers from the other day. They were soaking wet, still, and lifeless. We collected them from the ground into a jar so we could offer them to the first graders. Before we got home, we were amazed to see that most of the bees had awakened.
The most amazing thing was the way they clustered in the jar. The first few that started moving huddled around the others and licked them and groomed each other until more and more woke up and began helping. Within an hour, 35 of the 50 bees were dry and lively, working to revive the remaining. Those cold bees I glimpsed earlier will undoubtedly be just fine. These creatures are astonishing.

The advise I received from a neighboring beekeeper was very reassuring. He told me he had experienced cold bees. He said they always wake up when they thaw out. When they say every beehive is different, every beekeeper's methods are different, it's because no one can prepare for what will happen once they get their bees. The classes can't demonstrate the weather. The books cannot express the intensity of the sounds. You Tube won't even touch on the way the bees behave. I am looking forward to seeing all the different colors the bees create from the variety of wild forage in the area, as the neighbor suggested, there's a lot going on within the hive.
He also mentioned there's not too much to worry about along the lines of infestation and infection with our area. I think I will take his advice and monitor the colony diligently before unnecessarily subjecting them to excessive mite treatments and medications. Its nice to have some experience close by to help out.

This was only day 3. Awesome.

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Named.

We have names. The north hive is headed by Queen Delores. The south hive is is lead by Queen Doris.

Thank you to Lisa for coming up with those names.

If anyone has any ideas for queen names, save them for the successors.

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The Forcast is Always Wrong

The one thing you can always count on in Colorado is that the forcast will always be wrong. Today it was wrong in the worst way for bees. It's rainy, windy, and 42 degrees. It has been raining all night and everything is soaked, thoroughly. I had hoped to be able to open the hive possibly between showers. Now it looks like I won't be able to open them until tuesday.

I did open the entrances to the hives.  Maybe if it gets a little warmer they can start exploring. I noticed there was a lot of water around the entrances. So I cracked the top open and peeked to make sure it was all dry inside. It looked good. The bees inside were still but not stiff. Now I am hoping they survive this cold snap.

I am worried having the package in this long will allow the queen to move into the package instead of the frames. Hopefully this cold prevents them from building comb and from freeing the queen. At least long enough to let me get the frames put back in like they should be.

Oh well. This is the first lesson in keeping bees, I guess. The neighbor/Apiarist reassured me they have a survival mode and we should be just fine.

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New Family

Here's a couple pics of a gal hangin' out on the spare frames.

Here is some of the stragglers. They are looking for their sisters.

There is a GIANT BEE behind the feeder! Watch Out!

I crack myself up...

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Welcome Home Honey Bees!

So last night I received an email that said the bees are in a day early. All the better because weather is supposed to move in this weekend and could make it tough to install the bees if it rains.

We drove up to get the bees. Once again, Plan Bee was very generous, and gracious, considering the millions of bees they had in, and around, their place. The noise was amazing. There were, what seemed like, crowds of bees in the air.

Here's a few of the hundreds of bee packages they had.

The bees and their new homes. We placed the hives about 50 feet apart to install the bees and allow them to get used to their new hive. They will be placed next to each other in a month or so.

Inspecting the north colony. We got the hive ready by removing some frames, and filling the entrance feeders before we let the bees out. The sugar water spray helped out quite a bit. It didn't really seem to bother them much but it definitely made it hard for them to buzz around. There were plenty that still made it airborne.

The old guys were unafraid. The first package I opened, I tried not to shake the bees, bang the package, or be otherwise rude. It didn't go well. When I grabbed the queen box, they got really upset and buzzed loudly. I gave them a shot of sugar water but there were a few that were too mad. It got kinda hairy for a second. I had to step back. The loud buzzing makes it hard to trust the veil.

 Her Highness. Both queens were unmarked. Neither queen box had a candy plug.

I was prepared. I brought mini marshmallows. I even brought enough for Ashlyn [who was the photographer].

I carefully plugged the exit. She was very interested in getting out of the box.

Here's a few workers exploring the new digs. They started getting into that brood patty before I even had the queen installed.

Still not into shaking bees, I placed the package into the hive. All you can see is the tiny aluminum tab from the queen.

 Bees for the south hive.

 Opening the package.. I sprayed them first. This time I decided to knock the package on the table one time. It made all the difference. A second shot of sugar spray, they didn't know what happened to even get mad about it. Thankfully Hailey built a work table that is durable enough to stand up to the abuse.

 This queen gets a marshmallow.

 These bees are all in the bottom of the package. Much easier to manage that way. I still don't want to be rude so I'm not going to shake these either.

 Both brood boxes got an inner cover.

 I placed the package feeders above the brood box. The more food available the better, right?

Empty super around it.

Home sweet home. At least for a day or two. We will go back in on Sunday to remove the package, replace the brood frames, and add a frame of capped honey. While I'm in there, I'll see if the marshmallow has been eaten at all, and if the queen is doing well.

Then, we'll open up the entrance to the hive so they can get to work. We left it closed up so the workers can get used to their new queen. We don't want anyone trying to fly back to Montana to find their old queen.

The weather today was in the mid 60's, and breezy. It was gusty when we arrived with the bees. The wind seemed to let up just long enough to install the bees. It was mostly cloudy. Thunderstorms rolled through parts of the metro area later in the afternoon.

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Decorating the Hives

Before the bees arrive next week, we wanted to ensure the hives were uniquely decorated.  Each grandchild added their handprints and we marked their names with the ages.

When we add future hives, we'll do the same thing and see how the kids have grown.

 

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The Hives Have Arrived

No bees yet. Just the woodenware. The bees will be ready for pickup on April 25th. Today I drove to Thornton to pickup the hives from Plan Bee. Kathy (proprietor) was very friendly and generous. She offered lots of advice and enthusiasm for beginners.

We got them home so we could get a coat of paint on to protect them. The kids insisted on helping so I emphasized how we needed the original coat to be thorough and neat.

Here's Ashlyn working hard coating the screened bottom for one of the hives.

Kyson is working on an outer lid. The frames are piled up waiting for the foundations to get installed.

I had a light green/grey color leftover from some other project. There was no extra cost in paint. Plan Bee had painted hives available that would have cost more. Hailey helped with these boxes and lid.

These are the medium frames with white foundation cards. The black foundation cards in the shadow go to the deep frames. Installing the foundation was tricky. The frames are light weight and the medium foundation was difficult to flex into place. The deep frames were considerably easier. As fragile as they were, I managed to get them assembled without issue.

This is the assembled beginner hive. I carefully touched up any bare spots as I put both of them together. I put them inside the barn so other creatures don't make a home there until we get the bees installed. Hopefully we can get them decorated with some kids' graffiti before the bees make it a home.

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Interesting Update

Early last week, I was invited to a planning meeting with some of our engineers and managers. We discussed upcoming projects such as Pinery West and Sterling Ranch. There are dozens of developments going in all over the county. Tracts of homes along Chambers have begun going in. There are plans in review for the area between C470 and Aventerra. Not to mention the big future expansions of Happy Canyon, Chambers, Bayou Gulch, and the explosion of homes and commercial sites for those areas. It was extremely informative.

Closer to home (or to the "hive" I should say), that road expansion mentioned in "Conversations" (4/12), won't happen. Apparently, there was recently a citizen who "[strategically] purchased property along that stretch, specifically to block future expansion". At least that's how it was stated Tuesday. There was no further elaboration.

Although, expansion is actually still planned for everything west of the intersection. It will be widened to four lanes, eventually. Construction won't likely start within the next year. It will take take several years for the road work to reach the east end of the plans. Some ideas for improvements were mentioned, although not approved at this time. There may be a roundabout along the way at some point, but I might have misheard. It wasn't until after the meeting I realized I should have been taking notes. Not much of the meeting actually affected me in my position at work though.

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News Story

www.usatoday.com/semi-truck-bees-overturned

Conversations

An idea was brought up around the county recently. It seems there is discussion starting about rebuilding and possibly widening the stretch of road that crosses the back of the lot nearest the planned location for our beehives. This plan is only in the discussion phase. There are zero details as to when construction might be planned. Or what stretches of the road are to be widened. The engineers haven't even begun preliminary studies. So far, it's just talk.

This got me wondering. If or when construction reaches the hives, is there enough room for the bees or will they be affected by the noise and machinery. I used to see a set of beehives next to I25. When construction started there, those hives were relocated. Perhaps we need to be prepared to relocate the hives.

Brad and I were talking about it. Construction won't likely affect our bees. But moving the hives does not seem far fetched. Looking around the yard, I realized that small fenced in area might be a good winter shelter. There are migratory pollinating beekeepers that move their hives regularly, throughout the season, from one farm or plantation to the next. Putting our bees in, away from the elements, might help them winter better. It could reduce the cost of having to build snow fences or wind breaks out in the yard.

We don't have bees yet and I'm already worried about winter. There seems to be more and more to this beekeeping thing than I imagined. Maybe I am overthinking things. Bees have been compared to livestock. While simple bee setups may be successful short term, extra care must be taken to keep a colony thriving in the long run. We will have to keep coming up with more ideas as we go, I guess.

 

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Website

I found a great new website. It has tons of info for beginners. The explanations are in depth and thorough. I will be using this one a lot.

scientificbeekeeping.com

I am planning on adding a resources page. This site will be at the top of the list.

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Considerations

Considerations

All of us have thought a lot about the benefits of keeping bees. We all have heard that the bee numbers are waning. We know we need bees for pollinating everything. We like the idea of having honey and wax on hand, especially because the price of honey is so high.

Laura encouraged the idea of getting a beehive. Lisa encouraged me to learn as much as I can about starting bee colonies. Brad and Ann approved the location on their property east of Parker. Mom offered to pitch in some start up money. So we ordered our first hive with bees.

We are still waiting on the bees. So many have offered support and encouragement that we decided to go ahead and order a second hive with bees. Hopefully we will be able to pick them up on April 25th.

Location: We picked a spot near a tree on the high side of the lot. The tree should offer some shade and hopefully a little protection from the winds.

Invaders: I am planning on building a wooden hive stand to keep them off the ground. Also, we can use some pea gravel for ground cover to limit the weeds from reaching up into the bottom of the hive. That should help keep some of the ants and crawly's out. We can also use some leftover scrap chicken wire and t-posts to help keep the skunks out.

Equipment: This week I purchased a bee smoker with some pellets, as well as a pair of veils, so we are ready when the bees come.

Feeding: I have two Pollen Patties purchased to offer the bees when they are installed in their new hives. I also plan to feed them sugar syrup I can make before we pick them up.

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This is the Beginning

"This is the beginning."

Saw that on a TV show and found it fitting.

I am starting this blog to keep records of a new hive we are putting together as a family. I will try to keep on task with photos and discussions that relate to the hive and the challenges of starting and maintaining beehives in Douglas County, Colorado.

Everyone in the family is welcome to post here, or just check in every once in a while. Hopefully everyone can find some enjoyment in learning about bees and beekeeping and even get involved, if you want.

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