Two new colonies...Italian bees

Another theory (the most convincing so far) for the disappearance of the 2011 bees is that robber bees were attracted by spilled honey when I removed two combs in March. They invaded the hive weak from winter and killed the queen, which disrupts the structure of the colony. If so, the bees were the price of that lesson learned. I thought honey flow began in our area when dandelions bloomed and honey left from the winter stores could be safely removed then…not so, wait until late May.

However, not discouraged for long, we have set up the new Warré hive, a work of garden art produced by hive builder Ken here in Independence, and installed a package of bees in it and one in the TBH on Sunday, May 6. There is a week of warm, sunny weather predicted which bodes well for the bees in their new hives—much different than last year where we had an unseasonably cold and wet spring weather after the April 15 installation for four weeks.

Since I discovered the empty hive after spring bee orders had been delivered to the local beekeeping stores, I planned to buy a Nuc or wait for summer swarms. Fortunately, a call to the Willamette Valley Beekeeping Association put me in touch with Kenny at Wild Harvest Honey who was soon to be assembling packages of local bees. Although I wanted Carniolan, he had only Italian queens so I ordered two, one for the new Warré and one for the TBH. Will sell those in TBH as a Nuc to some adventurous soul this summer or keep it as our own. Weather was good enough on Sunday, May 6, for the packaging operation to commence. I was able to drive to the site, see how the packaging was done, and pick up my two bee packages for a short drive home.  

See the beautiful countryside between here and there…

 After this experience and ordering a package from California suppliers last year, I recommend waiting for local bee packages not only because they are already acclimated but also less stressed from traveling a shorter distance and installed after hours instead of days.

Kenny suggested hiving the packages at dusk and putting whatever drawn comb left from the TBH into the hives as a place for bees to perch instead of clinging to one another. I had kept the best examples of comb for “show and tell” so had two fully drawn dark brown, empty brood combs and two still white combs partially filled with capped honey. The two brood combs went into the TBH, and the two with honey went into the Warré. This will give each hive a head start on comb and will provide a little food for the Warré hive.

All went as expected although dusk wasn’t quite long enough for two installations, but with Lee’s help we got it done before it was too dark to see. Bees were not nearly as active as last year during installation at 4pm, and quite a few bees remained in the screened boxes after the pour. (By this morning all but a few had moved into the hives, and those 20-30 still outside warmed with the sun and joined the rest.) Queens looked fine and were moving well in their little cages so they were taped by the metal tab to hang between bars; will check in three days to see that the candy plugs have been eaten and each is free among the colony. Even after the 6 hours with the queen in the package some bees had bonded; one was fanning on the entry board of the Warré hive after it was closed and some bees were still in the package box…interesting and amazing how quickly they adapt to our manipulations.

Feeding this year is much, much, much better than last year when we tried all sorts of cockamamie ideas to provide syrup outside the hive while protecting the bees from the cold, wet, windy weather. Of course, it is three weeks later in the year and the weather is better, but more because the feeder developed by Ken for the TBH is enclosed and syrup easily provided with a ziplock baggie. An adapted version Boardman feeder in an empty super above two boxes in the Warré makes that an easy refill. Both allow checking and refilling with little disturbance to the colonies and retain the hive environment –heat, moisture levels, light, etc. Very nice…

Warre feeder system



TBH feeder system developed by Ken

 Temperature reached upper 70’s today and many bees were flying in and out of both hives. I know these bees will die off within a few weeks so there will be fewer bees in the air for a while, but optimistically I also know these hives will be strong with bees flying in great numbers to pollinate the local blossoms. So begins our second year of beekeeping...