Another hive check before Colorado trip

Tired of counting bars so have written bar numbers on tape and attached them today. Found in “Beekeeping for Dummies” that one doesn’t usually have to deal with swarming during first year of hive and unless one finds 8ish queen cells on the lower third portion of comb, no need for worry. There were three on B4 when I checked a week ago; today it looked no different than the other comb filled with brood—sending before and after pictures with Jody to the beekeepers meeting for input. So, I’m thinking the “real” queen came along and saw and killed the developing pupae.

Going from newest bars back to the beginning. B13 had a 4” comb with cells of nectar. B12 now has almost full comb drawn—was just 3” at last week’s check—with nectar, no brood. B12 was attached to the side walls so I used a serrated knife to cut through the wax. B11 and 10 cross-combed, which I left during the last check; B11 has no brood while B10 appears to be the usual brood comb.

B11 had been drawn again after the June 17 “crash” and was extending into B12 space on both sides so left side was trimmed and right side not done as it was not as prominent. However, B12 comb was drawn away from the comb on B11…interesting—maybe B11 and B10 only look cross combed? Will recheck B11 for brood next hive check and also right side comb to see if it needs removal. B10 had one “queen cell” which we removed for Jody’s hive (which we think has a failing queen or none at all). B9.5 had comb fully drawn just since insertion eight days ago…wow! There were many “queen cells” on B9 today; will see if that goes the way of B4—not at all concerned about queen cells and swarming this time around.

It is the workers who determine queens by the royal jelly at the larva stage and reigning queen dispenses with those potential usurpers, unless she needs a replacement or is preparing to swarm. B8, 6, and 5 not examined. B7 shows a good portion of dark brood cells, an indication that cells are being reused.

B4 no longer had queen cells at bottom edge but looked like a normal brood comb. There was a bright white wet-looking larva in one of the cells—first time I’ve actually seen one.

Did not peer at B1, 2, or 3 since all seems to be going fine elsewhere. Once again these bees were docile and not at all agitated by our intrusion…that is a big plus especially when one got between my eyes and glasses—who could believe I would be handling comb with bees and bees flying everywhere! “Dummies” also suggested one use reading glasses when examining the hive for magnification…works really well.

Now off to Colorado for 2-3-4 weeks; taking along the comb that crashed from B11 during the June 17 hive check for grandchildren to make candles. Husband Lee will keep an eye on the bees and friend Jody will check hive if needed. I think there may be honey to harvest when I return!

Not just bees...Alaska trip

Alaska--a good place to visit during the longest days of the year.  I'm not as good a writer as I am talker and responder to questions..that said, here are brief notes of the most impressive things I saw, heard, did during my 28 hours in Barrow and three days in Fairbanks June 18-23, 2011.

June 18-19, 2011 BARROW. AK

Barrow is located at 71°17′44″N 156°45′59″W . Arrived early evening on Saturday; saw the pipeline and tundra from the plane, which had cargo in the front half and passengers in the rear.

Tundra and pipeline from Prudhoe Bay

Walked from the airport to motel, getting lost after being told "you can't miss it"--yeah, well...  Went immediately to the Arctic Ocean…ahhh, very neat.

Here it is--my first sight of the Arctic Ocean

Got my "ocean view room" after some gentle persuasion--did they really think I'd be okay with a parking lot view?!. Perfect room to see the iced ocean and lots of pictures--hard to capture the real sense of being there and a multitude of photos still cannot.  Best two days of the year so far the locals said...50 deg, clear skies, no wind, bright sunshine around the clock--well, less bright about 4 a.m. but otherwise amazing and just what I went for... dream begun at age 8 and now realized.

Ate first meal at Pepe's, noted in all the travel guides for being the northernmost and best Mexican food restaurant...must take a lot to impress me re food but I enjoyed talking with Joe who also arranges the Polar Plunges in the Arctic...more on that later...and had leftovers to take to room for breakfast. And then I hit the streets...gravel roads at their best when frozen smooth but this is spring and warm weather. So I dodged potholes and mud puddles and water spray--water truck spraying down dust every 15 min.

Gravel streets

Kids out playing in snow boots and parkas at 10p and even more amazing I'm wide awake walking around town. Nice police department but everyone said not an issue to be out and about at all hours, so I was taking pictures and gawking and talking. Arctic water didn't seem much colder than our Oregon coast water and I could barely taste the ocean saltiness...would I do the plunge to join the Polar Bear Club?

Set the alarm for 12a to be sure I was awake to see the sun. Sure enough, it was shining right through the window, directly from the west and fairly high in the sky—took pictures. So I said to myself, wouldn't it be cool to wake every two hours to track its path...not really, go to sleep...but I did wake without an alarm at 2a and 4a and 6a and have pictures from the room!

Midnight

Started Sunday with another walk on the beach and roads, collected the requisite rocks.

The Arctic Ocean beach at Barrow

Sealskin whaling boat

Frozen leak under hotel; building on piers

Met the guide and some of the group at the motel and picked up others at the airport for the day's tour. Probably one of the best tours I've been on (but I always say that) with Ryan Oyagak as the guide, an Inupiat and lifelong resident of Barrow. Ryan represents his people well, proudly sharing information about his community and customs, interspersing his remarks with the Inupiat language and translating for us as well as helping us with the pronunciation.

Our group of 28 was quite congenial and talkative. A small group of us connected and had a great day doing the expected exploring, picture taking, etc. Actually quite a lot to see in Barrow--cultural center, ancient hut mounds, the cemetery where people are buried year round by using 15" drilled holes and ice picks to open space to 12' down, how the underground utilities work, trying to spot some of the 185 different birds in the area, and more.

Ryan shared some muktuk with us—whale skin and blubber, fishy tasting and soft yet chewy.

There's a summer beach a couple of miles north of Barrow on the way to Barrow Point--when someone camps there, it's private time without concerns and troubles brought from home.

The only trees in Barrow, at beach retreat.

And then came the big question...who will do the Arctic plunge? If Ryan gets 2 others from the tour to go, he will go for the fifth time this year--there's a certificate and patch in it for whoever pays $10 and submerges every part of their body, with Joe from Pepe's as the judge. I said yes, I'm up for it as did Ray, Mark and Andrew and then Sharon thought maybe so. However, as the long tour ended in the evening at point furthest north and the wind picked up off the frozen Arctic Ocean and I got freezing cold I opted out...and was the picture taker for the other four and Ryan. And of course when I saw that it wasn't so bad, decided I should have done it...next time I come to Barrow it will be winter and we'll be walking on the Arctic ice. It's quite okay that I didn't plunge--I really wanted to wade in the Arctic Ocean and I got that picture.

Standing on the Arctic Ocean

The usual feet photo

The splash from one of the brave five.

Food prices in Barrow would make me really thin--$12 for a gallon of milk; $6 for bread; $9 for a package of chips, usually double what we pay. However, Ryan said wages compensate...for a summer job picking up trash around town, kids get paid $14-17 an hour. Food comes once a year by barge when the water is open and by cargo plane the rest of the year, In fact, our Alaska Air plane had a cargo hold in front and passengers behind the wings--puts things in perspective. Didn't check prices of liquor, but it is gotten through a distribution service since Barrow is 'damp'. One has to get a permit, place an order in advance, and is limited in the amount purchased each month, which is tracked by "them".

Ended the day in Barrow being dropped at the airport at 7p by the tour bus. Most of the 28 tourees had flown up just for the day tour and the majority of us agreed the experience was worth the time and expense, recognizing that those who asked us why would we ever want to go to Barrow probably couldn't understand.

June 20

Checking out Billie’s Backpacker Hostel http://www.alaskahostel.com/ to see the layout and Fairbanks via bus today. Went to North Pole, AK to meet up with Lana and to see the Santa House.  Not so impressed with store, much the same as other Christmas stores; town has cute Christmas-type decorations such as wreaths on business fronts and candy cane light poles. Best part was visiting with Lana, driving about to see the area and where she and Ed are staying outside the city, and having lunch together.

Stopped at the Alaska Wooden Bowl Factory to see how tree trunks are changed into beautiful bowls…bought an oval bowl for use with the ulu knife purchased a few years ago during a weekend visit to Anchorage with Lee and the Evergreen Lear.

Back to the hostel late in the afternoon where I visited with others and ate dinner. Food is prepared by each individual in a shared kitchen and eaten at a long table with benches—quite an assorted cuisine. Up really late for me because 10p seems like 6p—great!!

June 21

Longest daylight of the year for northern hemisphere and I am so lucky to be in Fairbanks, Alaska today!  Have been navigating around the city on bus and feet...great way to get around, meet people, stay in shape out of the daily pool routine. (how are my water-baby friends in Monmouth anyway? looking forward to hearing about the summer pool program and jumping in when I return.)

Today I walked to the University of Alaska (UAF) campus in Fairbanks...college campuses have a unique atmosphere that I so enjoyed at Oregon State and realize after 5 years away that I miss more than I thought. In their library using the open computer system...what a fantastic library...if I were still working in the OSU Valley Library I would be taking pics and talking to staff about the building, services, art, etc, etc. I really liked a piece of glass bead art by Jeanne Leffingwell 1993 and took a photo as an idea for an art project this winter.

So I walked there because it's only "3 blocks" according to one of the older hostel fellows and some steps that "wouldn't be a problem for you"--ah, the trials of looking younger than one is ;-).  The blocks in Fairbanks are about half a mile or more and here's a picture of the steps.

Caught my breath and visited the Georgeson Botanical Gardens, less than its usual stellar self because of budget cuts according to a sign, but still pretty impressive. Found a good example of benches and planters that can be used around the deck when we redo it sometime in the future; talked with a staff member about the poles they use in the planters for vining plants--diamond willow branches, which were stripped of the bark and sealed with oil...another good winter project (I may have to stay home this winter for the many projects I'm gathering); and found a test site for bee hives, including the top bar hive!!! (Skip the rest of this paragraph is you've heard enough about bees.) As so often happens...another visitor who had been a beekeeper in Texas for many years appeared. He started as Jody and I have with one hive and ended with a small business of 90 hives a few years later. Jerry and I spent almost an hour talking bees (while his wife Nell waited patiently)--I heard some fascinating stories, such as how his daddy kept bees in a piece of hollowed-out tree trunk about 24" across, with branches across the top and covered with a piece of sheet metal (sounds like a top bar hive?!). Together we took measurements and pictures, decided what was good and what could be improved...Jody and I plan to build a top bar hive this winter (see what I mean?!).  I learned so much from him and got answers to some of the issues I needed to research and have things to do with the bees when I return home: put the sticky board back in place flush with the bottom of the hive (bees want dark and a sealed hive--the open wire mesh bottom requires too much energy to defend their hive from robber bees which will come in to steal honey and kill the queen); open the hive as fully as possible by moving follower to far left end; check for new eggs and larvae to be sure queen in viable since I found three queen cells on bar 4 last week and if she is, will remove those queen cells--unless they've already hatched and then it's a whole new ball game...and learning experience no doubt!; close off some of the lower entrances as the bees only need a small entrance (entrances were opened for ventilation but that should not be an issue now--Jerry suggested drilling holes at top corners if ventilation is a problem and bees will open or close them as needed); add empty bars on each side of bars that have honey cells--according to Jerry cross combing is caused by too large of a space between bars and one should wait until the bees have drawn and sealed honey cells and then add bars between, not in anticipation of...so I'll try that, too. Enough of bees and the garden. Oh, one more thing...I'll try to find the old school house in Molalla that Nell's dad attended and which is now being used as a hay barn on a farm somewhere there; when found, will try to get the rest of the lights for them...heard the story how they found it in the 80's and only took one light and wished they had the other 11. Now on to more of campus...

Visited the Large Animal Research Station to see musk ox and caribou...did you know that those animals can survive the cold weather up north because they have no muscle in their legs--only bone, tendons, ligaments and legs are kept at 55 deg compared to body temp of 105 deg--so they need less calories to keep legs warm. However, musk ox sometimes get frozen to the ground by their belly hair and die or get killed by predators...their undercoat is very soft and 20 times as warm as wool and $25 an ounce so I did not buy any...one winter project by the wayside.

Caribou with clicking legs



Musk ox; qiviut (underhair) 10 times warmer than sheep wool

To celebrate the summer solstice, there is a special midnight baseball game here in Fairbanks starting at 10:30p. Decided not to go--these late nights are catching up with me so to bed earlier than the usual 11:30p--and glad I stayed at the hostel because it rained at the beginning of the game and then rained so hard about 2:30a that the game was called in the 10th inning, to be continued tomorrow at 6p.

Hostel life is great... I was in a co-ed dorm with 4 guys. I was a bit dubious initially but quickly got over that. People come and go, staying a night or two or many. Billie’s is a popular place, so much so that there are 12 tents in the yard to accommodate those who want to be here. One person has been at the hostel for more than 20 years, sleeping in an outside tent year around; another has lived at the hostel 3 years working a regular job during the school year. It is unusual for people to stay for that long (they help around the hostel and cover when the owner is gone); usually people are in for a day or two or three and then off to other adventures--meanwhile it's neat to meet and hear their stories. Common for international or people with summer jobs to stay a few weeks--right now several young people from Russia, one of whom has a job at a local hotel for the summer, a grad student on an internship, people in training for their new job on the Northslope, older people on motorcycles, etc. Several visitors use Billie’s as a home base as their work has them moving throughout the state. I have two blogs to follow: one is gregmu.wordpress.com by Greg Mu who is riding some mountain bike trails from way up north all the way through Central America to the end of South America, going "until the road or the fun runs out" and the other by Jared Block who came to Alaska 18 mo ago and is detailing his adventures living "off the grid" between Fairbanks and Anchorage. http://foreveradventure.blogspot.com/. Everyone very friendly, no theft or personal issues seem to arise...I'm scheming how Lee and I start up a hostel...

The three year fellow at Billie's has thought about a bike rental business out of the hostel and after he and I talked, he applied for a loan from Prosper.com--he'll keep me posted on the outcome. Plus he requested enough $$ to buy a van to transport people more inexpensively than the local tour companies to Chena Hot Springs by tailoring his services; will be interesting to see what happens there, too. Decided during the bright night that I have been missing the "world" more than I thought these past five years since working at OSU and am happy to be meeting more new and different people again.

June 22

The UAF Museum of the North is a not to miss feature on the campus, and I spent a couple of hours there for a 'quick' overview...would go back anytime I'm here for more indepth information but I'm beginning to go into 'information overload' and need some downtime now. So, if you are visiting Fairbanks and someone tells you to be sure to go to the UAF museum, believe them!

Georgeson Botanical Garden again to visit with Pat Holloway, Director, for some time about bees and the Alaskan experience...again I must say, bee people are so nice and willing to share information. (Again, skip to next paragraph if you've had your fill of bee info.) Most important she says to remove queen cells regularly (if current queen is viable, determined by condition of brood) when found, which mean inspect hive every 7-10 days. The sad part of honey bees in Alaska is that they cannot survive the harsh winters, even on the coast. Pat indicated that they must cage the queen at during summer so she stops laying eggs and the workers will focus on foraging for honey. And then the bees must go in September when they will start eating the honey to survive; since I'm not so into honey production, this seems harsh to me although I must consider that the bees would not survive the winter here...it's been tried. We discussed shipping the bees to the lower 48 for the winter and returning them the next spring; someone in Delta tried that last fall by sending hives to California but Pat had not heard the results. It seems the bees would not be able to catch up with a such late start on producing comb and brood. She has not seen Mason (orchard) bees survive here either; however, there are 22 bee bumblebee and other species in this area. Here's a super tip from Pat: put honey water out during the early spring and yellow jacket queens will be attracted to it and drown. Doesn't work with yellow jacket worker bees though; they want spoiled meat type food. We wonder if it will attract wasp queens...will try next March/April at home.

Evening at the hostel…yawning constantly--I’ve been staying up too late and waking early because my bed is close to one of the three bathrooms in the hostel. That’s okay…will sleep on the long flight home tomorrow.

Billie and me at hostel front door

June 23

Nice to be home…walking, busing, flying, driving from 9a until 10p from Fairbanks to Anchorage to Seattle to Portland to Independence…and no, I didn’t sleep on the planes.

Back home, fixing things...

(Specific bars will now be referred to as B#)

I was wrong...there are bees in Barrow! Back home with lots of new bee information from Univ of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). Visited the Georgeson Botanical Gardens. Examined their test site for bee hives, including the top bar hive! As so often happens...another visitor, Jerry Teer from Texas, appeared who had been a beekeeper in Texas for many years--he started as Jody and I have with one hive and ended with a small business of 90 hives a few years later…we are not going to do that! Jerry and I spent almost an hour talking bees (while his wife Nell waited patiently)--I heard some fascinating stories, such as how his daddy kept bees in a piece of hollowed-out tree trunk about 24" across, with branches across the top and covered with a piece of sheet metal (sounds like a top bar hive?!). Together we took measurements and pictures...Jody and I plan to build a top bar hive this winter (see what I mean, really only one more).  I learned so much from him and got answers to some of the issues I needed to research and so have things to do with the bees when I return home: put the sticky board back in place flush with the bottom of the hive (bees want dark and a sealed hive--the open wire mesh bottom requires too much energy to defend their hive from robber bees which will come in to steal honey and kill the queen); check for new eggs and larvae to be sure queen is viable since I found three queen cells on B4 last week and if she is, remove those queen cells--unless they've already hatched and then it's a whole new ball game...and another learning experience no doubt; close off some of the lower entrances as the bees only need a small entrance (entrances were opened for ventilation but that should not be an issue now--Jerry suggested drilling holes at top corners if ventilation is still a problem and bees will close them with propolis or open them as needed); add empty bars on each side of bars that have honey cells--according to Jerry cross combing is caused by too large of a space between bars and one should wait until the bees have drawn and sealed honey cells and then add bars between, not before...so I'll try that, too.

            The next day I returned to visit with Pat Holloway, Director, about bees and the Alaskan experience...again I must say, bee people are so nice and willing to share information. Most important she says to remove queen cells regularly when found if current queen is viable, determined by condition of brood, which means hive inspection every 7-10 days. The sad part of honey bees in Alaska is that they cannot survive the harsh winters, even on the coast. Pat indicated that they must cage the queen during summer so she stops laying eggs and the workers will focus on foraging for honey. And then the bees must “go” in September when they will start eating the honey to survive; since I'm not so into honey production, this seems harsh to me although I must consider that the bees would not survive the winter anyway...it's been tried. We discussed shipping the bees to the lower 48 for the winter and returning them the next spring; someone in Delta, AK tried that last fall by sending hives to California, but Pat had not heard the results. It seems in that case the bees would not be able to catch up with a such late start on producing comb and brood. She has not seen Mason (orchard) bees survive here either; however, there are 22 bee bumblebee and other species in this area. Here's a super tip from Pat: put honey water out in a bowl during the early spring and yellow jacket queens will be attracted to it and drown, which will eliminate many of their nests. Doesn't work later with yellowjacket worker bees though; traps with spoiled meat type food works for them. We wonder if it will attract wasp queens...will try next March/April at home.

So this morning, I replaced entrance plugs except for original two at right on front of hive and replaced the sticky board and shimmed it so tight against bottom of hive; left ¼” wire mesh in place—may decide to remove that depending upon number of dead bees remaining inside hive on the “new floor”—will check when I return from Colorado or ask Jody to check in a week.

Looked into hive and found new comb drawn on B9.5 which is not cross combed onto B10. B10 is once again cross combed with B11 and B12 had new comb that is straight; inserted another bar between 11 and 12 so now we have an empty 11.5.  So they have drawn quite a lot of comb since I left a week ago…pictures tomorrow when Jody comes and we go after those queen cells on B4...and take pictures!

Entire hive check and crashing comb...

77°, beautiful day to open the hive with Jody and explore all the bars from end to beginning.

Sixteen bars in place; bees were resting on Bars 14 & 13 but not drawing comb; small comb about 3” long drawn at the center of Bar 12. And then I found the dreaded cross combing  between Bar 11 and Bar 10--not good. When I moved 11 away from 10, the new fragile comb tore apart and crashed from Bar 11 to the wire mesh floor. It had uncapped honey cells, but no brood fortunately. Comb on Bar 10 was placed on that bar and on both sides using the two ¼” spacers…not supposed to be like that. See top view of Bar 10 below where comb had been attached to that on Bar 11. Bar 10 had both honey and brood cells. About 4 hours later after some online research, returned and removed broken comb and set it outside the hive for bees to clean; if left inside they would attach it to whatever it is touching, which they had begun to do on the side of the hive. Later...and even outside the hive, they attached it to the outside wall where it was touching...lesson learned.

     

Bar 9 had brood comb with worker cells at the center and drone cells on the sides. Bar 8 had a few unopened drone cells at the edges and empty worker cells at the middle…see photo.

And moving on…to Bar 4 where we saw queen cells, somewhat smaller than what we expected they would be—are they normal size, should they be there now,  is the hive fixing to swarm? Something to research when I return from Alaska...  Here’s a picture of those larger cells at the lower edge of comb.

(Info found in Aug on OSU site)

Since there is only a single female reproductive in a bee colony, there is a special procedure to replace her when it becomes necessary to do so. Replacement of a queen by another queen is a process termed supersedure. Replacement of the queen and production of another colony is another behavior which is called swarming. A third means of replacing a queen, emergency queen rearing, is necessary if the queen dies suddenly, is removed by a beekeeper, or is somehow injured or lost from her colony.
Queen failure may lead to reduced egg laying but workers more readily respond to reduced pheromone production. Each worker bee needs to receive a certain level of queen substance daily. This pheromone is distributed through food transmission among workers. If a queen is taken away, the level of this pheromone drops rapidly, though it is persistent. In the case of a failing queen, the queen produces insufficient amounts of queen substance, and therefore is fed back less of the pheromone by the bees of her retinue. This feedback system of queen pheromone distribution is vital for communication.
The first behavior change observable in queen replacement is the laying of a fertilized egg in a queen cup. Queen cups are special cup-like precursors of queen cells. They are always present in a bee colony, though their numbers are greatest in the spring months. They are built at the lower margin of beeswax comb (lower margins of frames in a beekeeper.s hive) and in spaces where the comb is damaged or left open as a walkway to the opposite side of the comb.


The queen herself places the fertilized egg in a queen cup. Worker bees can remove eggs (from queen cups or regular cells) but they are not known to transfer them. The same queen may return to the developing queen cell. (Arbitrarily, a cell occupied by an egg or developing queen is called a queen cell - it is a queen cup when empty.) By chewing on the side of the cell, the queen causes the workers to remove and kill the occupant (egg, larva or pupa) inside. It is possible to observe queen rearing repeatedly aborted in a bee colony. The original mated queen (who started the process of queen replacement by laying eggs in queen cups) may be killed before or after emergence of a virgin queen in supersedure or she may depart with a proportion of the adult workers in a swarm before a virgin queen emerges. The workers always begin to rear several new queens rather than a single one.
Emergency queen cells can be distinguished from the queen cells of swarming or supersedure because they originate from a worker cell. The horizontal orientation of the worker cells selected to be converted to queen cells is quickly changed to the vertical by enlarging the base of the cell and drawing the opening outward and downward. This usually means destroying the cell walls and removing the larvae of three to four cells adjacent to the modified cell. Capped emergency cells often seem smaller than capped queen cells started from queen cups.
Source:
The above text is taken from The Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research & Extension Consortium, Basic Bee Biology for Beekeepers; Fact Sheet,MAAREC Publication 1.4 March 2004. You can download this factsheet and others at the MAAREC website


Bar 3 had dark brood cells, which indicates they are reusing brood cells; queens prefer the new comb and we will have to remove the used brood comb at some time in the future. It could be used for honey but “they” say it will have an unpleasant taste. More research…

Continued on through Bars 2 and 1, which were brood comb, and reached the follower at the beginning side of the hive. That was normal…bees resting on it but not drawing comb.

Back to Bar 10 and what to do now.  Jody and I think the ¼” spacers may have caused the cross combing. Bar 9 was straight comb so I placed an empty bar (now to be known as Bar 9.5) between it and Bar 10, hoping they will draw straight comb on it and stay away from cross combing. Decided to leave the spacers on each side of Bar 10 and to remove all other spacers. Spacers were supposed to allow additional space next to the bars for wider comb used for honey cells which are heavy. More research…

Added bars 17 and 18 followed by the ¾” spacer and follower…all hive space now available to bees. Removed plugs in the two left entrances. Warm weather has arrived so they should be fine keeping hive at 95°. Except for comb crash and need to find more anwers to yet more questions, it was a great experience to delve into the hive innards and see that it looks just like other people's pictures! Bees were calm and easy to be with...guess those daily visits are paying off...just long sleeves and a hat to keep them out of our hair. However, anytime I tried to blow them off me or the tools, they didn't move and got super excited...which reminded me that bees react to carbon dioxide as a threat and I'm supposed to push them away gently. Did you know that touching their backs causes them to sting?

And now I’m off to Barrow, Alaska where I expect to find zero bees. When I return, back to research 1) queen cells mean what? 2) ideal width of bars and spacers 3) appropriate time for comb removal. I know I’ve read about these at different times but didn’t bookmark all the interesting info or sites…dang.

No hive check and drones!

Sunday, overcast, mid 70°s, no hive opening today because I don’t need to…can see through the entrance on the back side or via photo taken from bottom of hive. Bar 10 comb appears to be fully drawn and bee mass slants up to the top at bar 13. Although I was concerned about there being little comb drawn for a couple of weeks, I assumed all is well in that the bees know what they are doing and I can trust them to manage their own hive. And, if they don’t draw comb so fast, then they won’t put in more brood and overpopulate the hive. So I went searching once again and found that, indeed, the bees draw as much comb as they need for all to stand on. From http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php?topic=23853.0  Wait until the brood hatches and increased amount of bees will most likely make the hive go back to comb building.  Bees only build comb under foot, meaning if there is space in the hive unoccupied by bees there will be no comb found there.  It is population that dictates comb building not size  of honey flow.  If there is not enough bees to mandate the manufacture of more comb the bees will go to backfilling the brood chamber until enough brood hatches out to require more comb building.

And more pictures, this time of drones—the big guys! And from this we know the first brood is hatching because there were no drones in the initial package of bees way back in mid-April, plus I saw cell caps on the sticky board last week. Notice the large bee on the wall above the entrance and one large bee at the entrance...both drones who only eat and fly out to mate with queens in a special mating area in the sky. Come winter, they are kept out of the hive because...that's what bees do. If you want more drone info check out  http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Beekeeping/Drone_Bee 
There is a continuous quiet buzzing in the hive and a sweet pleasant odor close to the hive. I visit daily so they know my scent and know that I'm okay and that they can like me fine and won't attack...particularly when I come busting in, removing the roof and messing with their propolis seals between the bars, pushing them off their comb, etc. etc.

Another hive check for space

Sunshine, 78°. Removed sticky board and placed in front of hive below entrances; later saw bees returning with big sacks of pollen doing the figure 8 dance on the board. Found one adult mite on board when removed from below hive; no bees with deformed wings…will continue to watch for that. Saw several drones returning to hive…they are huge, at least 1½ times the size of the workers. Bees working on bar 13 and resting on 14, have put propolis between 13|14 (w/spacer). Added 2 more bars, 15 & 16 w/spacers. Wondering if I started spacers too soon, between 8&9. Info below from Matt Reed in Portland, OR with spacers starting between 8&9, this hive at 32” long with have 18 bars…only 3 for honey? Hopefully not. Need to review Jody’s video from Boulder group, which showed brood in a cone shape and see what they recommended. Found this on their site:  http://www.backyardhive.com/Articles_on_Beekeeping/Featured_article/Using_Spacers_in_the_Top_Bar_Hive/

From Matt Reed: https://www.beethinking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4

e: Top Bar Hive Support

1) Even in my vertical hives (Langstroth and Warre) I run an unlimited brood nest and I've had NO issues with brood in my supers or in the comb I'm planning to harvest. The same goes for horizontal top bar hives. I start my colonies in one end of the hive (with the end follower board butted up against the end of the hive -- to be discussed more in the next answer) and allow them to build in one direction, moving the second follower board over until they have the whole space. The bees usually build brood in the first 10-15 combs and after that it's all honey storage. I harvest once they begin filling up the hive.
2) I've tried both end entrances and side entrances and I much prefer side entrances for a number of reasons. First and foremost I like them in conjunction with two follower boards as it allows me to easily access both ends of the hive (brood and honey). With one follower board and an end entrance it can be difficult to access the first comb (the one right next to the entrance) as it may have attachments and tear apart. With a follower board in place I can pull the follower board and then cut off attachments if there are any. Secondly, ventilation seems to work better when they have 6 side entrances through which to fan air.
3) The hives we sell are 42" and I wouldn't recommend going any smaller. Many of my hives are 48" and I find anything between 42" and 48" provides ample space for honey surplus and the minimization of swarming. While I haven't tried overwintering two colonies in one top bar hive, it can certainly be done, and this is another advantage of the side entrances. The issue will be that the colonies, once they start building up, will quickly run out of space and will need to be split.
             Best,  Matt  Top Bar Hive and Warre Hive Supplies: http://www.beethinking.com/

This hive is 32” long, which was the optimum recommended by xxx to Ken.

And here’s what Micharl from Bushbees says about space and bar width:

Michael Bush                                                                            08-29-2007, 07:25 PM

I make mine half and half with a few extras of each. In other words, in a 48 3/4" long top bar hive I made about 20 of each. I juggle them around as I see what the bees are building. When they are expanding the brood nest I keep it at 1 1/4" next to where they are building. When they start building honey comb that is thicker, I move those off and put the 1 1/2" next to where they are now storing comb and feed the 1 1/4" ones into the brood nest one empty bar at a time, to get them to expand the brood nest more. When that comb is drawn I put another empty 1 1/4" bar in the brood nest again.

Will open hive and look thoroughly at comb this weekend if weather nice and Jody around.

June 4 & 5 Looking Inside the TBH (top bar hive)

June 4, 2011  Beautiful day, sunshine, scattered high clouds, 83°, with a breeze...good day to open the hive to check if they need more space. We wait for warm weather when a good number of bees are out foraging to open the hive and so they don't have to work so hard to rewarm the interior to optimum 95 deg.

Here's a copy of my email to Jody this morning describing the hive opening and responding to her note about apitherapy (healing with bees), etc. (Jody hived bees a week before us and shares lots of great info and experience and most especially her enthusiam for beekeeping.)

Hi Jody, I read about apitherapy in the introduction of someone's web site about beekeeping where he had climbed a tree to get stung for a shoulder injury that wasn't healing and which healed quickly after that. Other than that I knew little about it--had heard of sugar injections many years ago and assumed this was similar. and yes, I figured the bees would have to die, unless they are wasps which I just learned can sting up to five times and often without provocation...nasty little guys. Had one following me in the garden yesterday...knew he wasn't one of mine!

The bees here are foraging as soon as the temp reaches 50 degrees and it's not raining. I looked in the hive yesterday mid-afternoon when it was 83 deg and many were out. Could see them resting on bar 12 and working on bars 11 and 10. Didn't go back further into where the brood would be. Tried the bee herder tool—works great at moving them off the comb. Bees strung together from bar 12 back to bar 10 with some having pollen on their legs.  Pretty interesting, too, as we saw them "bee chaining" up to 4" so I looked that up: it's called 'festooning' see http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2009/05/inspecting-and-festooning.html and also note in the article the tunnel the bees have made...cool--I want to see if that's on ours when we harvest honey. She also shows how they draw separate startup combs on the frame and join them into the whole. We've seen two of those things happening...so our bees are normal. (I feel like a new parent checking with others to be sure my child is normal--or above average, but at least not weird!)

They didn’t appear agitated by my intrusion and no water spray needed; only wore the hat and long sleeves/pants. Although they were flying like crazy Lee was game to suit up and take pictures. Added one 1/8” spacer and bar 14; closed hive after about 3 min. (Someday when it's really warm and you're here, I will say let's take it all apart for a photo op and that's where I need you say very adult-like "no, Lorraine, we don't do that" ;-)...and you'll most likely say okay, right?!)

Later in the evening without protective garb I removed that lowest screen that I had cut away and bent out; not many bees going and coming but they didn't bother me at all even though there was screeching from nail pulling and wire ripping noises. I am not sure this hive has guard bees... Then I could easily see them hanging down through the 1/4" wire still at the bottom of the hive below where the brood combs would be situated.

Have you noticed people with multiple hives name them some pretty creative labels? I haven't yet found the "right name"...you?

Okay, it's time to quit beeing and get on with the day otherwise! I'll probably post this to my blog rather than writing a new missive. Got some good comments back from readers.

(end of email to Jody)

June 5, 2011 Today we have pictures from yesterday...a good showing of the top of the closed hive, one showing what the bees look like from the top opening, and two from below looking up into the hive. Looking up you can see bees are covering bar 12 with bars 13 and 14 showing to the right. There is wire mesh at the open bottom of the hive to prevent marauders like mice; usually have the sticky board in place under the wire with a 1/4" open space, which will be closed off during winter.

Bee notes beginning March 2011

GrandmaB's Backyard Bee Guardianship

How it all started…

March, 2011 Independence, Oregon, located in the heart of the Willamette Valley, is an ideal place for home gardens. During the summer of 2010 the plants in our garden bloomed well, but there was not the usual abundance of produce. There seemed to be few bees out and about to pollinate; we were well aware of the decline of the bee population. On a drive to the Portland airport for a trip to Florida during the following March, I read an article about Warre hives and backyard bee guardians. Immediately thought this would solve our pollination problem and tossed the article in the back seat for later. Read the article more thoroughly when we returned, looked around for a Warre hive, found one locally, and set off to buy it. While talking with the hive builder, I learned about top bar hives, which he also builds, and decided that was the way to go. Hive purchased, now for bees.  Not so easy, the bee supplier in Portland told me one has to order bees months in advance and theirs were to be delivered in a week, so wait until next year. Not impatient me; I found a supplier in Eugene who had one day left for ordering with delivery in a week. Based on very little research, I ordered Italian bees on that last day and got ready to become a bona fide bee guardian. I was about to find out how little I knew about bees and how much information is on the internet; I owe much to the many bee sites and “beeks” who willingly share their experiences.

Top Bar Hive (TBH) was built by Ken, a local carpenter whom I had met several years earlier through bird house purchases. Besides being functional, it is a lovely piece in the yard and will work well for the bees. Details:  32”x17” red cedar with 1” thick sides; inside measurement is 20”. 19 top bars each 1 3/8” wide and 2 followers 1 3/8” wide and 1 spacer ¾” wide. It has wire mesh at the bottom with a sticky board below. We added a white poly covering on the roof for waterproofing. Hive placed and leveled on concrete blocks in a sheltered area of the backyard facing east to be in the early morning sunshine. One follower (a solid moveable end board) was placed on the far right side next to the wall and the other follower was placed at the center of the hive 9 bars to the left. Remaining10 bars and spacer were placed to the left of center follower for later use. Details of Ken's TBH: http://yardbuilder101.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/top-bar-bee-hives-built-for-the-climate-of-the-willamette-valley/

April 15, 2011

A friend and I picked up Italian bees with a marked queen at GloryBee in Eugene, Oregon during the morning. 3# package holds approximately 10,500 bees and one queen. Steady rain all day; mid 50°s. We did not know what to expect—it was a big deal, complete with registration tent, lecture about the initial care of the hive, demonstrations on how to hive the package of bees, and lots of people milling around buzzing with excitement. Attended the brief lecture, recognizing that things would be slightly different because we have a top bar hive, not a Langstroth—we can adapt. Found ourselves a bit nervous during the hiving demonstration with bees flying all around the crowd, landing on us, buzzing in our ears. It was not easy to focus on the work happening up front while wondering if this is really for me—but I have bought a hive and paid for the bees…I am committed.

Notes from lecture and demonstration:

Bees from California that had been packaged 4 days as a new colony with new queen and trucked to Eugene. Get into hive as soon as possible so they keep warm (internal hive temp is 93.5°) and so they can make their first orientation flight and begin work. Do not use outside feeder during spring as it is too cold for bees to come out and they can starve. Make syrup by filling jar ¾ full of white granulated sugar and adding hot, hot tap water stirring to dissolve sugar; place warm syrup in hive to help warm the space for them. Feed 30-45 days until bees no longer use syrup. An aside: honey is 60% sugar, 40% water.

To hive, spray outside of screened package box with sugar water. Remove top cap and take out syrup can. Spray inside to keep them from flying and remove queen cage; place something over hole to keep bees inside. Have candy (gummy bear from GB) in mouth to soften; remove cork in queen’s cage and cover hole with finger; put candy in hole. Hang cage between middle bars. Pound box or rap sharply on ground to loosen bees and pour them into the hive. Bees form a sphere around the queen. Do not disturb for 3 days.

On 4^th day, check to see that queen is out of cage and look for eggs in first 3 frames close to queen; remove cage. Okay not to find queen but confirm eggs being laid (once eggs laid, colony is okay). If no eggs, check again at 9 days; if no eggs, call GloryBee for another queen and arrange pickup next day. Smoke gently at entrance opening and when opening top (LB note: smoke not needed for top bar hives as only a small space is opened.)

            During the first year, goal is to establish colony, not harvest honey.

And here’s what happened…Hived bees with husband Lee’s help about 4:30 p.m. during a light drizzle, although I had a quick gulp when I thought Lee was absent-mindedly eating the candy, but he assured me not so. All went according to plan per demo by GloryBee with slight variations for a top bar hive.

We placed the queen cage between bars 3&4 from the right and taped metal strip on the cage to a top bar so it was fixed in place. Found it easy to drop bees into hive through the left side opening and put remaining bars in place. Next time, suggest placing the two bars with queen between to the far right side and then moving those two bars to the left two spaces and placing bars 1&2 in place.

Maybe 100 bees flying around when package transferred to hive; within 10 minutes most had entered hive or were close to hive. Since about 100 bees didn’t come out of the package, left it with opening close to hive entrance; will check to see if bees transferred themselves (3 hrs later, a small handful remain in the package).

The GloryBee demonstration stressed the need to keep hive warm and to use an inside feeder during this cold spring. We were unable to install inside feeder (purchased unit is for Langstroth hives and too large) and top feeder not an option. Decided smaller size of TopBar hive compared to Langstroth hives would compensate for heat needs and syrup could go outside entrance. We placed a platform close to the hive entrance and put an 8” cake pan of syrup (4 cups—3c sugar and 1c hot water) with wood floats and the syrup can (about ½ full) from the bee package on blocks on the platform. Bees immediately went to syrup can.

The hive and platform were covered by white plastic to shield from the rain; will remove when weather clears…probably tomorrow.  3 hour check: several bees flying outside plastic cover; maybe 50 bees outside hive under cover; not sure if bees are eating syrup in cake pan yet although a few bees on floats or sides of cake pan.

               

April 16, 2011

6:30 a removed plastic rain shield; little activity; about a dozen bees still in shipping package; quiet buzzing in hive.

11:00a  58°; no rain yet today; low overcast. Lots of bee movement outside of hive; bees using both syrup feeders.

4:00p Rain and cool. Put rain shield back—we need to come up with a better “porch roof” than the white plastic. Found about 30 bees drowned in cake pan syrup container so changed to a quart jar (3/5 full) with tiny holes in lid propped on wood (similar to can from package). No bees flying. Concerned about their getting food. Lee’s wondering if I’ll be up every 2 hours tonight checking on them.

April 17

6:30a no rain so removed rain shield; no bees flying...my concern still is are they feeding?

9:00a no bees flying…too cold?

11:30 a 55°  lots of bees out, covering syrup that dripped from jar…no worrying now!

Jody, another TBH bee guardian who lives about 3 miles away, called to introduce herself and we talked about our new bees. She had hived her bees from Ruhl’s in Portland on April 10 and opened the hive the next day to release the queen and saw honey comb being built already. I will open hive tomorrow, 3^rd day, to check that queen has moved out of cage.

Because of the hurried entrance into beekeeping, I have questions:

Are the packaged queens fertile or do they need to fly out to mate?

Answer, yes they are according to web site http://peacebeefarm.blogspot.com/2009/05/queen-bee-makes-mating-flight.html by Richard Underhill. The queen you receive in a package is already mated. A package of bees should contain a mated, egg-laying queen in a cage. A queen cell is placed in a queen mating nucleus hive by the queen producer. After it emerges in this small hive, it makes one or more mating flights and mates with a number of drones. It returns to the mating nucleus hive and after about two weeks from the time of the queen’s emerging, it starts laying eggs. After the queen is laying eggs, the producer catches her and places her in a cage. The cage is placed in a screened shipping box with about three pounds of bees shaken off the frames of various hives. The mated queen is held in the cage for a period of time to allow the bees to detect the pheromones she secretes. By the time the bees have chewed through the candy plug in the queen cage to release the queen, the bees will be organized as a social colony around her pheromones.

At what temperature do bees fly (actually…is there something wrong with bees in this hive)?

Here’s an answer from Wikipedia: Below 7-10°C (45-50°F), bees become immobile due to the cold and above 38°C (100°F) bee activity slows due to heat. Honey bees can tolerate temperatures up to 50°C (122°F) for short periods. We just need some sun and 50°+ days!

------------------

Here's the entire Wikipedia section about thermal regulation:

The honey bee needs an internal body temperature of 35°C to fly, which is also the temperature within the cluster. The brood nest needs the same temperature over a long period to develop the brood, and it is the optimal temperature for the creation of wax.

The temperature on the periphery of the cluster varies with the outside air temperature. In the winter cluster, the inside temperature is as low as

20-22 °C (69-71°F).

Honey bees are able to forage over a 30°C range of air temperature largely because they have behavioral and physiological mechanisms for regulating the temperature of their flight muscles. From very low to very high air temperatures, the successive mechanisms are shivering before flight and stopping flight for additional shivering, passive body temperature in a comfort range that is a function of work effort, and finally active heat dissipation by evaporative cooling from regurgitated honey sac contents. The body temperatures maintained differ depending on expected foraging rewards and on caste. [3] The optimal air temperature for foraging is 22-25°C.

During flight, the rather large flight muscles create heat, which must dissipate. The honey bee uses a form of evaporative cooling to release heat through its mouth. Under hot conditions, heat from the thorax is dissipated through the head. The bee regurgitates a droplet of hot internal fluid—a "honeycrop droplet"–which immediately cools the head temperature by 10 °C.[4]

Below 7-10 °C, bees become immobile due to the cold and above 38 °C bee activity slows due to heat. Honey bees can tolerate temperatures up to 50 °C for short periods.

------------------

11:30a 50° and bees are out, some on syrup…feeling better about how they are doing now that I know about their temperature needs.

Plant list from Jody, which she found online at http://thehealingpath.com/OrganicBeekeeping/

7p 54° Bees in for the night; some clustered on top of the hive, not moving, and a few dead bees scattered on syrup platform.

April 18, 2011 Nice day, slight breeze, 58°, and bees are out and about. Read today about bees needing pollen for protein for the larvae, which I have not supplied. Called GloryBee and heard that if bees are out flying they will bring pollen back—the bees know what they need and I’m just beginning to learn!  Tomorrow—checking the queen’s cage and comb and eggs.

April 19, 2011 Another nice day—bees out mid-morning. Opened the hive, complete with veil and vinyl gloves, to check for queen at 11:30a—she’s out of her cage. Pulled out bars on left side of follower and moved follower and 5 bars to the left until I found bees working; they were making comb on bars 3&4 between which queen cage was hung. Did not lift bars that had a small amount of comb: comb about 3” wide and 3.5” long—white. Didn’t search extensively for the queen—she’s there doing what she supposed to do or not…time will tell. (Really didn’t need to have her marked.) Bees calm even though I forgot the spray bottle. They came peeking out between the bars but moved back down when I wiggled the bars to close. Quite easy actually! Syrup jar ¼ full; it leaks onto platform and bees are feeding from that, too, but not sure how much has not been used; will refill tomorrow.

1:30p While watching for about ½ min, I saw 2 bees bringing pollen back to the hive—they are finding protein so now I know they will survive and thrive in this new hive.

6p Oh, the ants have arrived; will need a new scheme for feeding

April 20 I think the bees and I have settled in and down. Changed to syrup (2 c) in a quart size Ziploc bag, with five 1/8” slits, lying in a metal pie pan atop an empty tuna can placed in another pie pan filled with water. Has foiled the ants and bees are feeding from the tiny holes.
   Found during research that bars should be 1/8” wider for honey comb than for brood comb. Want to talk with Ken about cutting additional spacers that size to be placed between bars that are in the honey area.

April 22 Found a good website—nice work/descriptions/videos by Christie at http://www.goldstarhoneybees.com/ . Learned that I can use a long flexible knife instead of hive tool to cut propolis and comb from side, always cutting from bottom to top to avoid breaking off the comb.

Two cups 1:1 syrup added to Ziploc bag. First sting today..ouch! On the ankle between shoe and sock; now I know, always wear pants long enough to cover the collar of my shoes.

Tomorrow back into the hive to check brood, add top bars to honey side and spacers—nice weather and 67° predicted.

April 23, 2011

12p  69° Opened hive; saw bees on bar 6 with comb on bars 1-5. Lee took pictures and we can see eggs and larva in the cells!!! Yeah, it’s happening! I did not see any capped cells; saw nectar in top rows and some pollen cells; did not see queen but did see a ball of bees on the right side of bar 1 away from the comb being built—expect she was in there. Used a twig to herd bees off the comb as I held the bar a few inches above the hive and slid it along the opening as I moved bars back into place. Probably will order the “herding tool” I saw at www.BackyardHive.com of Boulder, Colorado.

Added 3 bars, 9-11, to the hive cavity and four 1/8” spacers from Ken placed after bars 8|90|10|11. Checked level of hive and added a couple of shims. Comb is drawn straight to the earth and will be slanted if hive not level; saw some interesting pictures of that on the internet.

Lee noted that bees were very agitated when I stood in front of their two entrances on the front (east side) and immediately calmed when I moved away. So now I’ll move around the hive at the “back” or west side.

Used syrup water to spray them down—not such a good idea as it will attract ants to the top of the hive under the roof, where there were a few when roof was removed before work began. Washed the top of the hive with plain water. USE PLAIN WATER IN SPRAY BOTTLE.

April 24, 2011 Need to figure another way to feed—syrup leaking from slits in bag and too many bees getting caught on the syrup. Trying 20oz water bottle with pin holes around side; bottle placed in same pie plan set up. Two cups syrup in bottle; left almost empty bag of syrup lying in pan, too. Ordered BeeHerder and TBH tool from www.BackYardHive.com.

April 27, 2011 Bottle feeding working; adding 1 cup syrup today; should have placed pin holes lower on bottle—1/2” from bottom perhaps. Added a block of wood on top of tuna can in the pan of water…all to foil the ants, which must be delighted with this new food source.

May 1, 2011  Nice sunny day, high 70s°. Have been adding 1 cup syrup per day to feeder. Opened hive with Jody. Bees have small comb on bar 8; took pictures; added one bar w/spacer, 12 bars now. No ants in hive; quite a few on top of bars under roof. Bees have sealed the bars with comb at the top. Probably will check hive one more time in a week if nice weather to see progress and maybe place follower to the far left. Visited Jody’s hive; her bees seem more aggressive than ours. She is also using a lot more syrup than we are. Jody thinks she’s feeding all the neighbor bees, too. (That might account for her bees being more agitated as we later learned that bees will be more protective if there are bees from other hives around…robbing apparently an issue for bees.)

May 7, 2011 No notes for six days but I’m out there observing more than a few times a day—it is so interesting to watch bees’ behavior. They have been flying more and using less syrup during last few nice days. Removed sticky board to check for mites…not sure if there. Will view photos and consult with others. Lots of debris and ants crawling on the board. Cleaned board and replaced.  Research with Boulder group (http://www.backyardhive.com/): don’t worry about mites…TBH seldom have them, wait for deformed bees to worry. That’s a good informational site.

May 10, 2011 Continuing to provide syrup, 2:1 ratio now; 1 c every other day. Opened hive today. Bees were coming up through the wire mesh on the non-hive side of the follower when I removed the first unused bars; seemed to be moving down from the comb section and along the sticky board and then up. I think they need more entrances. Bees active and drawing more comb, working on bar 8.  Found mildew on the follower and a slight amount on the sides of the hive…see photo. Turned follower around so mildew away from comb and opened 2 more entrances at the middle section on the back; research shows not much info out there about mold/mildew other than more ventilation needed. Did not look at bars on which comb has been drawn and did not add more bars, keeping them at 12. Ken cut 1/8” spacer bars, which I placed between bars starting with 8 and 9.

             

May 12, 2011 After research re mildew, back to 1:1 syrup mixture—too much moisture in hive. Will check mildew again this weekend and wipe with apple cider vinegar if necessary.

May 15, 2011 Bees are not using as much syrup the past two days; must be finding enough nectar. Took a peek inside; bar 8 comb about ½ complete; no start on bar 9; bar 7 looks to be almost complete. No moisture on walls and mildew seems to be almost gone (research shows bees will clean it away) so no need to wipe with vinegar.  About 20 dead bees between wire screens at bottom outside the hive area (left side of follower)—need to talk with Ken about that still. Left same number of bars (12) and spacers in place.

May 17, 2011 Many, many bees flying around outside hive in about a 6’x6’ space; research shows that happens when new (3 wk old) bees are making their “orientation flights” although I wonder since this hive is only 4 ½ weeks old. Comb took a few days to be drawn and then eggs laid and would have hatched about a week ago …maybe they go earlier when hive is being established and foragers are needed?

May 18, 2011  Ken, the hive builder, came to visit after a call from me about the dead bees between the screens; about 20 bees still there. We agreed that I should cut a 2”x4” hole in the bottom screen to allow the housekeeping bees to move dead bees out the bottom. Ken took pictures and has an idea how to change the bottom screen setup to accommodate the need to remove dead bees. I cut a 2”x1” hole in the wire without disturbing bees; will check later today or tomorrow to see if they’ve moved dead bees out of that space. Ken gave me two extra top bars to put in place of bars removed to place in open spaces when removing bars with comb and better retain environment of the hive…good idea I think. Little use of syrup during past few days; will fill once more tomorrow morning anticipating that will be the last time—we are at 4 ½ weeks and GloryBee said to keep syrup at least 4-6 weeks.  Bees are bringing back large bags of pollen--look at the tan spots on the back legs on two of them in the picture below. Looking through the middle entrances on the back, it appears they are still on bar 8 but cannot see top of bar 9 from entrances so they may be started on it.

May 22, 2011 We are at five weeks now. Although I was gone four days, all is fine…they don’t need me to check everyday I guess! Left full bottle of 1:1 syrup on the 19^th and about ½ cup used during those four days—expect this will be the final feeding unless rainy weather continues to keep them close to the hive. Another bar added, up to #13, as bees are beginning to work on bar 10. Dead bees have not been removed from space between wire mesh even with the open hole, nor are there any bodies on the sticky board.

May 24, 20011 Cut wire on three sides and bent it forward toward the entrance side. And I am leaving the overwintered turnips, kale, and other garden plants to flower for the bees who mass on them during sunny periods.

May 26, 2011 Removed syrup feeder; nice not to have all that clutter in front of the hive. Days are warmer but still too much rain coming down. However, bees are all over the raspberries located close to the hive. I’m looking for summer and fall flowering plants that can be planted in our yard; back to the list supplied by Jody in April.

May 30, 2011 No dead bees on sticky board; bottom layer of wire being removed seems a good thing. Found several cell caps laying on the sticky board—babies are chewing their way out of the cells and now we have new bees?! Checked inside to see that bees are working on bar 10; 13 bars in hive area and no more bars added. They are not using two entrances on back side and two at side on front of hive seem adequate for their traffic right now.

June 2, 2011 Ken has designed a bar cradle that he want me to try; used when removing bars with comb for inspection or harvesting. Will maybe open hive this weekend when warmer weather is predicted. This has been a typical LaNina spring—cold and wet, We are not supposed to be opening the hive—I think it’s like a giant lifting our house roof to see what we’re doing in here—but it is hard to resist! I did check the sticky board and found very little debris and one ant. Learned that bees will keep their hive spotless and now that the lower screen is gone, they can clean the sticky board? It is amazing to see the bees become so active as soon as the rain stops. They are generally tucked in for the night about 7p.m.