Summer in May...

One week since the new bees were moved into the hives. Summer-like weather has been beneficial as they fly out to forage, returning with nectar and pollen.

The feeders are both working well--each hive has used three of the four cups placed in the feeders last Sunday, which is not much considering the number of bees. Replenished the syrup supply with four cups today and will continue to provide syrup as long as they use it. The screen under the Boardman feeder in the Warre hive along with the fabric barrier keeps bees in the second box. It was a bit difficult moving bees out of the way to replace the zip lock bag of syrup in the TBH; next time I'll do it early in the morning before they stir.

Later this week it will be time to check brood's status to see if the new queens are adequate or better. Warm, dry weather is predicted all week with lows in the 40's--perfect bee weather. Here's a good site to check weather http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Independence&state=OR&site=PQR&lat=44.8314&lon=-123.203

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...

No bees in hive...?

Optimism of April 11 gone…as are bees from the TBH. On Saturday I noticed many bees coming and going, which was as it should be since it was an amazingly nice day for Oregon. However, bees were fighting at the entrance but not vigorously, and strange bees entering and not being ejected--thought robbing was happening, but that didn't seem the case, really, since bees were not aggressive when I was around—if there was robbing, they should have been attacking all strangers. Also, noticed no pollen being returned. Nothing to do about it…

Sunday afternoon I went in to remove 2 more bars of honey, B10 & B11. There were no guard bees as in the past and the other bees didn't seem to care about the disruption, so decided to continue through to the beginning of the hive to see what was up. Not many bees, maybe 200, and those were taking honey, and very little brood on the combs. On the brood combs, I saw several dead bees that didn't make it all the way out of their cells, a few cells of pollen and some cells with uncapped nectar.  Most importantly, no queen. Did they swarm or did the robbers kill the queen—no dead body—so I’m leaning toward swarming…for reasons I do not know at this time nor did I hear the swarming buzzing which if often referenced in articles about swarming.

B4, right, with few brood and nectar cells

B5, again little brood, but notice full shape of combs

B6, small honey section with a few nectar and pollen cells

Bees had been flying last week during the warm days, seemingly making orientation flights (although I may have misread that) and some returning with pollen. Alarmingly, on one day I smelled a heavy scent of herbicide in the air which had me concerned for bees out that day returning with pollen. I think that was not the cause of this hive failaure, because there were not many dead bodies on the bottom board.

Left side of hive after bar removal; few bees on bottom board.

So, what happened? I don’t know. Now I wish I had checked the brood area during the nice days of February so we would have had an idea of the hive conditions then. Disappointed, of course, but not discouraged…glad I am not in it for my livelihood—can relate to the commercial operations just a bit now. I'll concentrate on the new Warre hive first and decide later about rehiving the TBH. Jacqueline in Battle Ground, WA who has been beekeeping for 8 years has moved to Warre hives from top bars after comparing the two systems. I'm checking into getting a nuc from Eugene beekeepers and have been in touch with someone on the local swam list who will take me along on his next call. Ken almost has the hybrid Warre hive done and we anticipate setting it up soon. Will make it a bait hive using some of the used bars from which we removed comb/honey and pheromone.

Removed all combs from the TBH and added back eight bars in the following order: two new 1.25” brood bars, two used bars from honey extraction with wax remnants, 4 new bars. Maybe one of the robber bees will convince her hive to move here!

Yes, there was still honey left…we extracted about 14 cups of honey from five bars removed yesterday, using the same process described in April 9 notes. Plan to render the wax from all the combs, including the brood combs, which will make very dark wax candles.  

The dreaded cross combed B10 and B11 were no big deal—heavy when removed together. They actually had three combs on the two bars. That was the only cross combing in the hive.  Most of the combs holding honey had brace combing on the sides, which is normal to support the weight; see interior picture above.

It's a beautiful day here in Oregon's Willamette Valley, unseasonably warm with temperatures in the low 80's...I'm off for a bike ride...after a quick look at the abandoned hive!

April 16 notes...before all the above happened...

Only a few bees flying yesterday afternoon, high 60's and partly sunny. Saw two drones coming back to the hive. What's up? They should be out gathering pollen and nectar for the brood.

This morning I installed the new feeder system Ken developed; instead of using the ziplock bag, I used the Boardman jar feeder with a pint jar which sits a little high--need to find a shorter jar. The feeder itself is about 1/8" too high so I'll shave off the bottom a bit for a better fit when I remove it. Marked  level of 1:1 syrup with tape to be able to assess amount used.

In order to fit the feeder inside the hive, I removed B14 which had been left in when B12 & B13 removed for honey harvest and moved the left follower all the way to the end.

While the top was open I could hear a very quiet even buzz so assume all is well, even with no flying yesterday. Later, during the afternoon, there were more bees flying--yesterday was too windy perhaps and bees are staying in to keep brood warm and new bees are in their first 21 days before flying out???

Drones...large drones

About a week ago, during the few warm spring days, I noticed drones flying...really big drones, larger than I remember them being last year. From that I surmise that 1) brood is hatching for spring build-up and 2) drones are larger because bees are making cells the size they wish for different populations...a good thing.

Drones take 24 days from egg to bee and spend six days in the hive before flying; workers take 21 days from egg to bee and spend 21 days inside hive before going out to forage. According to those numbers, we should see quite a few bees on orientation flights some time between April 16 and Arpil 20. Exciting to have gone one year from installing the package and beginning the cycle once again. I believe it is safe to say the hive made it through the winter successfully. Although the plan was to dismantle the hive when weather warmed, I am less inclined to do that now that I know that even a minor drop in temperature adversely affects the brood. We shall see...

The ants come marching...and honey harvest

April 2. The ants are back. I've been expecting them and there they were, the first really nice day of April, crawling up the base of the hive and onto the honey combs at the back of the hive. Wanting to know where they were, I opened the hive at the back and saw them on the last two combs with no bees in sight. However, having the colder air entering the hive alerted the bees and one came to the opening. I closed the hive and considered various options to keep ants away; decided to install a moat between the cement blocks. I had developed the idea last fall--it hadn't been implemented because the bees had propolis sealing the hive so ants could not enter easily. But, my opening the hive to remove honey comb had disturbed the seal and allowed entrance to the ants. Three days later the moat seems to be working although weather has been poor and ants haven't been foraging much. Had to add a landing pad below the entrance because bees were falling into the water and drowning...problem solved.


Several days ago two B12 and B13 which were about 2/3 full of capped honey had been removed and stored in the refrigerator, awaiting extraction when grandchildren arrived during spring break. The comb had broken where there was cross combing and the cold refrigerator temperature kept the honey from dripping from the opened cells. We followed directions found online, crushing the comb, placing it in jars so honey would drain through cloth. Worked well and we ended with six cups of very dark, strongly flavored honey; these combs were at the far end of the hive and would have been honey from the final fall foraging. The two bars and fillled combs weighed 5.5 pounds. There were four cups of crushed comb after draining, still quite sticky with honey. That may be placed out for the bees to glean the remainder of the honey or will be washed when wax is rendered later this spring.

While removing B12 and B13, I looked closely at B11 which we knew from hive checks last summer was cross combed with B10. Because of the considerable amount of cross comb, both bars will have to be removed at the same time to keep the comb intact. That will be an interesting exercise because bees will probably be in the cavities and not easy to brush away--will deal with that when it is time.

Snow in March...

Yes...snow here in the Willamette Valley during the first days of spring. All is good in the hive; bees have been flying, returning with pollen, on several nice days recently.

Noticed a portion of the snow on the hive roof had slipped off and found a cavity under the snow on the roof going back a few inches from the open area...the hive heat caused the melting and shows where the ball of bees is located. Next year I will put block insulation on top of the roof, under the plastic covering, to help preserve hive heat. This would mean less work for the bees and less need for honey stores. Would still keep wood chips in the attic to absorb moisture; I've been changing the chips regularly (every 2-3 weeks), switching the cases and letting them dry out in the house.

Roof snow melted from hive heat.



Ken and I have again talked about adapting the Warre hive design. I'm excited to get the hive and set it up as a bait hive for the swarm that I'm sure will be happening from the TBH. Starting out this spring the hive is almost half full as the heat pattern seems to show, so they will be wanting more hive space...I believe.

Ken has a good description on how to set up a top bar hive at http://www.yardcraftjunky.com/setting-up-a-top-bar-bee-hive.htm. Check it out if you are interested in becoming a "bee guardian."

Also, I bought the "Queen of the Sun" documentary DVD; amazing photography and a really good description of the worldwide bee crises, a call to all of us to do what we can now to protect the bees and thus ourselves. http://www.queenofthesun.com/

Bees in Baja!

While camping February 26 on a remote beach in the southern part of Baja on the Sea of Cortez, I found this old abandoned toilet among bushes! No bees and no honey, but lovely intact comb. How's that for an amazing find...whether in Alaska or Baja, bees are there! I hope to return some day to this Baja site for another hive check.

Back home again on March 5, I find our home bees still hunkered down for winter. Although I hear a quiet buzz after a soft knock on the outside of the hive, no bees are flying during these cooler days. The dandelions began to bloom while I was away so honey flow is not far off.

I and many others are looking forward to seeing how much honey is left in our top bar hive after winter and harvesting it for a taste. Although that will be really cool, I'm mainly looking forward to learning how well the bees did during this first winter, getting the new Warre hive set up, hanging a swarm collector in a tree, and observing the spring behavior of bees in an established hive. Now that March has begun, it won't be long for the new beginning. What a fantastic year of learning and observing our bees--it all began one short year ago on April 15, 2011.