Post hot weather check

Was wondering how our bees have been doing with the heat. We had several 90° days during the past week and while I was away during the weekend, hot days for our area but typical at this time in August. I rigged up some shade for the hive by moving the plastic roof liner out from under the roof much like an awning and also opened two more front entrances on Thursday, Aug 25, after smelling an off odor around the hive, a very strong fermented honey smell. That evening I also lifted a bar to see how hot it was inside and a wave of heat escaped. The bees acted normal, some fanning near the entrances but were not using the birdbath water.

Lee said bees were at the birdbath Sunday evening when he got home and refilled it. So they needed water to cool I'm thinking...first time I've been aware they were at water. The birdbath is next to the steps from the deck into the backyard. Somewhere I read that they like stagnant, stinky water that is a little distance from the hive so I haven't placed water closer as I had planned last spring.

Monday, Aug 29 notes. Last look at the hive was Aug 25 before we took off, not inside but outside observation. Today when I returned it just had a strong sweet honey smell so expect all is okay. Bees were looking good...so very many out there--it looks like a real hive now with activity comparable to the stacking hives of our neighbor. According to the bee calendar at http://www.beekeepingandbeehives.com/the-beekeepers-calendar/, bees will start decreasing in September…not sure which land area that covers. That might not be the case here; I expect it to happen a little later because of our area's mild climate and much nectar still available. Also, I put an empty bar in the brood area during July and I believe it was used for brood--we'll see when we do the hive check for fall. It looks from bottom activity that they are almost to the end of the hive now. I'll sneak a quick peek tomorrow morning to see where they are now. Found that I liked the 7:30a time to look into the hive--calm bees compared to heightened activity in the later morning and afternoon; will see if it holds true tomorrow.

Today 8:00a 61° overcast slight drizzle. A good time to look into the hive as bees were quite calm; guard bees came for a look but I took a few steps away to give off good vibes and let them calm down. Thank heavens for spacers; the ¾” spacer next to the left follower allowed enough space to move bars over. Found many festooning bees on B16 which I shook into the hive so I could take pictures. The bees have been busy…I love it! B13 comb almost fully drawn; new comb on B14 and a small start on B15. Only B16 remains empty. I was just going to look so didn't have tools with me...used a twig to sever cross combing from B13 to B14 and pushed protruding part back into B13 space. Almost afraid to think what’s going on further back on B12 and others. Expect it will be necessary to remove a bar of honey as soon as they start comb on B16, the last bar in the hive—won’t that be a milestone?!

Comb on B14

Start of comb on B15

Lessons learned...

7:30a.m. 65° overcast sky no breeze. Probably the best weather I’ve experienced for getting into the hive to work. Actually quite pleasant—I’ve been a bit nervous about my reception since the guard bees defended their territory so well last time. Used the water spray twice but generally all was calm; the bees at the entrance area kept flying out and in and didn’t seem to know anything was happening at the back. Picked a stem of oregano to move bees out of the way and found it worked better than the wooden herder.

Had seen at last peek that comb on B12 seemed to extend into B13 space. Felt the need to investigate because I don’t want a repeat of B10/11 where the two bars have to be handled together for fear of having them crash. Until they are removed for harvesting next spring, we won’t know for sure if they are cross combed or if B10 is just built to curve around B11.

Removed B16 and B15 set them aside; they had bees but no comb drawn. Slid B14 and B13  next to the follower and moved in. B12 comb had two separate combs: the full one centered on the bar and a small one attached to the side. The center comb was curving under B13. I lifted B12 and placed it on the bar cradle Ken had made. The cradle met my expectations in that it provided a safe place to park the bar while looking further into the hive and taking pictures as well as served as a very secure holder when I cut and removed the comb protruding into B13 space. (Thank you Ken!)

Bar cradle developed and built by Ken

There was a small section of comb on the far side of B12 connecting to the hive wall. I cut the comb from the wall by using a serrated knife.

Comb attached to hive wall from B12

The hive tool worked fine for levering open the top bars where propolis had sealed them and for cutting between comb and hive sides. However, the serrated knife worked much better when cutting through comb. This small comb had unsealed honey—quite fresh tasting—very sticky. Everything I handled from the first cut until the end got the honey touch…camera, knife, water bottle, pail, veiling, etc. An extra person to hold and move some things would have been helpful. We will have our first taste of honey from this hive—not really honey but rather nectar being processed to honey stage.


Next, B11 had comb near the center extending into B12 space so I removed that small section.

B11 with spacer top view

Back to B12 hanging on the cradle. Cut away the small piece of comb extending into B13 space but did not remove the large curving comb…should I have? Will know the answer when we do the hive check in September or at honey harvest next spring.

B12 on cradle left side

Why did they skip a space on the bar and draw comb from the top bar to the side connecting to the hive wall? Don’t know but here are pictures:

B12 comb attached to wall





B12 bottom view right side




B12 on cradle left side



  

B13 has small amount of comb drawn. Many, many bees on B13 and B14. Closed hive, leaving bars in same position. Ahh, but not before a persistent guard bee stung me on a finger…just landed and stung, no movement or back touching from me. Not too hurtful and I scraped the stinger off with the hive tool blade…a good thing to have. Third sting and as I write these notes a few minutes later, no swelling or pain.

Nectar from my work was scattered across the top of the bars so I left the roof off temporarily to allow bees to reach that area to clean it away. Why waste their work and provide ants a food source by the hive.

Mocha with the bees this morning, plus Aug 16 notes

My Sunday mocha with the bees…7am, 62°, bees flying and returning with big bags of pollen*, gold and orange. Now that the huge rhododendrons are gone, there’s a great spot for observation chairs next to the hive—sun was out and it was the perfect morning for coffee outside. Since we’ve had upper 80 and 90° days this past week, I opened the bottom board for more ventilation…actually it was probably more me wanting to do something and that seemed fairly innocuous. Have seen very few wasps around this year…maybe the new family of scrub jays are taking care of that issue for us; see http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Birds/Likely/likely-Jay-Western-Scrub.html. There are several bumblebees on the crimson clover* next to the hive. So, I am not concerned about hive robbing at this time and felt comfortable with the1/2” opening along the sides of the bottom board. Anyway, bees are clustered on the board and on the edges under the right half of the hive where brood is located. Since there was so much activity and appears to be more bees, I looked at B12 to see what’s happening there…it’s been a blank comb for weeks now. Well, things have changed at B12. Bees were covering the whole comb and festooning over to B14, which in the past indicated they were drawing comb, or considering it. I just removed B15 and B16 for a peek and did not move B12, B13, or B14 this time, nor take time for a photo. So once again, what do I know?! Mentioned a few days ago that they probably had stopped comb drawing, blah, blah...I just need to sit back and observe, letting the bees take the lead in my learning here.

*Recently learned that crimson clover, my favorite garden cover crop, is not a nectar source for the bees. The bumble bee has a long enough proboscis/nectar collector to reach the nectar but honey bee does not. I wondered why they were not taking advantage of this hearty patch of crimson clover just outside their front door! Back to the list of plants to plant...

August 16, 2011

Sunshine, mid 80’s. A cloud of bees flying within 4’ of the hive with several bees on the side and roof “fanning”…this must be an orientation flight for the younger worker bees. As they get ready for the foraging stage of life, the young bees fly out a short distance and turn back to the hive and then move farther away and return. It is like they are fixing their GPS for future flights and memorizing local environment. The older bees are fanning to spread the hive pheromone so young bees can find their way back. Quite fun to watch the seeming chaos in front of the hive, lasted about 20 minutes and then all back to normal. I think they must gather a bunch of recruits to go flying and line up older bees for fanning…how they know to do all this is fascinating.

Found better information on the Oregon State Univ site about those “queen cells” of concern in June. They are actually ‘queen cups’ formed as a precaution in case they are needed. See excerpt from the article on the June 17 post.

On Sunday morning I set out new feeder tray from Ken in front of hive with a jar feeder and zip baggie feeder of 1:1 sugar syrup. Bees were not using either feeder at the end of the day which indicates that they are finding plenty of nectar. However, the ants had found the syrup by Monday morning and word had gone out to the entire yard it seemed. So I removed the system; will reinstall at end of honey flow and then deal with ants. The tray sets close to the entrance and should work well when feeding is needed.



Exterior tray feeder w/jar and baggie of 1:1 sugar syrup

Peeked into the hive and found that B12 comb has been enlarged slightly, still nothing in cells. Looks like the hive will stop here and fill comb already drawn with honey. Four bars untouched at left side of hive.

B12 top view, nothing in cells yet

B12 view from bottom; empty top bars 13-16

Lifted B2.5 (installed July 25 in brood area) about ½ inch and could see that comb had been drawn and nectar was in the top cells. So, assuming drawing comb took 2 days, eggs 3 days, larva stage 5 days, pupa stage 12 days for worker bees, young bees would emerge about Aug 10 and be making their nursery flight between 6-10 days…right about now! Will observe that comb more fully during next hive check, sometime at the end of August or first of September.

List of worker bee’s life/duties (from Beekeeping, A Seasonal Guide by Ron Brown)

0-4 days                      cell cleaning and incubation

3-12 days                    feed larvae

About 4^th day              power of stinging fully developed

Between 6^th and 10^th day        orientation or nursery flight, usually around midday

6-15 days                    wax making and comb building

8-16 days                    reception and storage of nectar; packing pollen in cells

14-18 days                  entrance guard, debris clearance and funeral bearer duties

19^th day                       begins to pay attention to bee dances

18-30/35 days             foraging for nectar and pollen

25-30/35 days             collecting propolis

Neighbor Ernie with 29+ years bee experience

Finally I took the time to connect with Ernie, a neighbor who has two commercial type hives in his yard and who has many years experience as a commercial beekeeper in California. Wow! what a wealth of information and he's willing to do a hive check with me and Jody..that will be priceless. He has the Langstroth box hives with two brood boxes and two "western" supers that are filling with honey; he estimates there is about 140# there already. These hives were brought in as established hives this spring.

Ernie is not familiar with top bar hives but he knows bees. We talked about my smaller hive being a "swarm hive" which means the bees will swarm next spring and I need to be ready with another hive for them and be watching for their swarm because they will not automatically move in. We then talked about basically moving this colony to a larger hive (which I had already planned to get) and starting another colony in this hive.

When we examine the hive, Ernie will show us how to identify eggs in the cells, determine how much honey we can remove, and more. Ernie showed me mites on the sticky boards of his hives and talked about the acceptable level of mites in a hive and what will be done if it gets too high. I haven't seen mites in the pictures of bees from my hive but checked the bottom board with a magnifying glass when back home--none there fortunately. Also, while talking at Ernie's hives I saw a drone return to the landing board and get taken down by a worker bee--she was on top of him for maybe 5 seconds and then dropped him to the ground. Ernie picked him up and showed me that the wings were off and told me that indicates that honey flow is ending. A yellow jacket quickly came to 'clean up' while the drone was still alive--goodness, nature is efficient. Although there is no landing board on a top bar hive and the bees fly directly through the entrances, I'm going to watch to see what's happening here.

When I pulled out the sticky/bottom board today to check for mites, I saw several bee body parts that were being moved out of the hive through a small crack between the board and the hive sides. We planned to close the crack off with bungee cords--now I'm debating about that.

And I got another bee book to read as well as received my first issue of the American Bee Journal so this will be one bee filled day. Between the bees and beginning kayaking and being in this area during summer, life is soooo good here...oh, and family and friends of course!

August observations

August 4, 2011

Mid 80’s today and another wonderful summer day here in western Oregon. Bees very actively foraging. At 5pm, I counted 32 bees returning within 1 minute, which did not seem nearly as busy as other times during the day time. Sometimes it's a steady stream in and out of the two entrances, very politely done although the drones sometimes seem to get in the way. Saw drones near the entrance so they are alive and well.

Fun yesterday to let Anita’s three grandsons (ages 9, 7, 5) peek at the hive interior. They were so quiet and calm once they knew the bees weren’t after them but just wanted to get on with their work of collecting nectar and pollen. This gives me the idea of a Christmas gift for the Bend, Oregon grandchildren—a medium size TBH. I’ll check with Ken about adding an observation window because I know they’ll be wanting to look inside more often than even I do. Plexiglass, acrylic, window glass, double pane glass…research to be done on that! And getting an okay from parents is the first requirement.

Watched the Boulder BackYardHive.com video again and was reminded of several things to be done. Based on their information, I added the remaining two bars with the new and improved angle, per Ken, so hive is again fully open. I waxed the empty top bars (using bees wax from the comb that fell during June). Did not remove any bars with comb for observation; just got in and out, looking at the last one with comb which could be seen from the end—same B12 with empty cells. Bees working hard to seal the very small opening by the sticky board at the back of the hive; sorry to say that may be wasted effort as we’ll be anchoring it closed soon with bungee cords. According to video, bees should be working during summer to seal hive for wintering—apparently that’s exactly what they are doing.  Lee recently added the spools and bungee cords supplied by Ken to hold the roof on tight during winter storms. We’ll get to the sticky board soon and then I’ll take pictures.

Another book I just read indicates that whenever one manipulates the hive, honey production is greatly reduced during that day and the next, so I’ll not bother those amazing bees until the end of August or early September. At that time, we’ll check to see how much honey has been stored and the state of the brood. Well, undoubtedly before then I’ll lift the last bar to see how many bars have comb…

August 6, 2011

Early morning visit with Ken today. He has another idea for a feeding tray which would be placed in front of the hive by the entrances. Seems like it would work well for this area. Because our springs include lots of rainy days, I see needing a cover of some kind—either on top of the tray itself or from the hive roof over and around the tray, which I’m favoring right now. We’ll see what cover, if any, works best when it’s needed next spring. I haven’t given up on the attic feeder (see July 21) which would seem ideal for the really cold winter days IF their own honey supply is not adequate and bees would not fly outside to reach supplemental food in the tray.

We removed the two large rhododendron bushes adjacent to the hives…mostly to make room for a seated observation area and more herbs, but also because the nectar is toxic. I noticed that few bees were on the rhododendron blossoms and later read that the nectar is toxic, not only to bees but also to humans. According to research, a couple of bushes in the yard is not a problem, and I believe the bees have an innate sense not to use it. However, we want to operate on the side of caution. And, never never never give a baby honey…excerpt from Mayo Clinic website: To prevent infant botulism — a rare but serious form of food poisoning — don't give honey or corn syrup (dark or light) to a baby. Both foods are potential sources of Clostridium botulinum (C. botulinum) spores. Bacteria from the spores can grow and multiply in a baby's intestines, making a toxin that can cause infant botulism. The concern is only for children younger than age 1.

Another book: Beekeeping The Gentle Craft by John F. Adams, 1972. Although forty years old and no pictures, it’s a very good read with very good information for the amateur, hobby beekeeper. It seems every book I find or person I talk with about bees has something new to offer. Having bees is addictive or that’s the way with me…I love to try new things, learning and experimenting, working with others on ideas.

And now I have to admit it: I want honey! Yes, I very much support bee guardianship and all that entails. But as we near the end of peak honey flow I want to be able to harvest honey for ourselves and to share with others. Hopefully we will be able to take one bar of honey away from this hive this summer, but I’m not counting on it. So I’ve been thinking again about a production hive and talked with Ken this morning. Still feel TBH is the way to go for me rather than Warre or Langstroth hives because with a TBH one works more closely with the nature of bees. Will probably opt for the largest hive Ken builds (see http://yardcraftjunky.com/store.htm) and split this “gentle” hive next spring. During the winter I will prepare for the big event, deciding on location and learning how hive splitting is done…stay tuned.

We need a picture…here’s a beautiful one taken by a friend last spring and mounted on a birthday card. Once I get permission from the creator, I plan to have it made into an insert for a necklace pendant…see http://www.magnabilities.com/store/.

Summer weather has arrived...

Sunshine, clear skies, 80’s for the past few and next several days…really bee working weather. Herbs--thyme, oregano, peppermint, chives--seem to be particularly attractive to the bees although there are many bees on the flower and vegetable blossoms as well.

Inside the hive bees are moving around on B12, but I cannot tell if they are filling the cells…doesn’t appear so. Have been lifting the roof and one empty bar to see B12 comb, which is about 2/3 drawn. Will not go further into the hive until necessary, which would be if bars are all drawn with comb and honey needs to be collected.

Where are the drones? Have not seen any around the hive recently nor were there any in the pictures taken last week. And the capped brood cells on B2 and B3 were only worker cells. I know the drones’ work happens during the swarm season, late spring and early summer, so maybe they are done and gone. Research shows they will be shut out of the hive during fall by workers preparing for winter.

It’s nice to report that the bees have done and are still doing pollination in the garden—my primary purpose for starting the backyard hive. I estimate that there are three times the amount of boyzen berries as last year and more squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes have formed than during all of last year.

Removed the attic feeder; no activity since it was placed there July 21. We’ll come back to that if feeding is needed during winter or spring.

Time for pictures…here are some of the immediate hive environment during summer: deck, back yard, back garden.  Bees are flying everywhere in the yard, settling on blossoms, and traveling constantly on their flight path to and from the hive.

Stung...I can hardly believe it! Plus opening the broodnest for regression and bar angle test.

Guard bees do exist…and do their job effectively.  Well…I’ve just inserted the extra bar into the brood area between B2 and B3 and am gently moving the last bar back into place when two loudly buzzing bees come out of the open slot and head directly for my face. One stings my cheek…I’m just wearing the hat and no veil. I leave the hive area quickly with the other bee in pursuit, she gets into my hair—we get that resolved, and then she tries to follow me into the house, unsuccessfully. I scraped the stinger off and took the homeopathic tablets Jody provided early on. They seem to work—two hours later, aches like a punch in the jaw must feel the next day but no swelling. A while back I was wondering why there seemed to be no guard bees on duty around my hive—I think it was because there was no honey to protect. Now there is and I was messing with those combs. Earlier this spring my brother, who has had hives on his farm in the past, listened to me extol the virtues of these calm and gentle bees; then he said that he’d like to hear how calm they were next year after we had removed honey…hmmm Next time I’ll have the veil on, spray water handy, and be a little more aware of bee movements.

Anyway, went back to finish closing the hive…lovely summer day, mid 70’s, mostly cloudy, bees out and about doing their thing. I had read info on the Bush Farms site about regressing bees to their natural size and considering that Ken had a new style brood bar to try, I thought we’d do both at the same time. However, I was concerned about the timing. Michael Bush’s response to my question about adding a bar in the brood area now: “You can put one empty in the brood nest most anytime except when there is no flow at all. Its a great way to get perfectly drawn comb if you put it between two perfectly drawn brood combs. If they don't draw it, you can always remove it later.” So, I added it this morning. While there I peeked at the comb on B2 and B3 and saw a small section of capped worker brood cells but no drone brood.

Here’s an excerpt from Bush Farms website about opening the broodnest to prevent a swarm and regression.

Opening the broodnest

>This, of course is what we want to do. What we need to do is interrupt the chain of events. The easiest way is to keep the brood nest open. If you keep the brood nest from backfilling and if you occupy all those unemployed nurse bees then you can change their mind. If you catch it before they start queen cells, you can put some empty frames in the brood nest. Yes, empty. No foundation. Nothing. Just an empty frame. Just one here and there with two frames of brood between. In other words, you can do something like: BBEBBEBBEB where B is brood comb and E is an empty frame. How many you insert depends on how strong the cluster is. They have to fill all those gaps with bees. The gaps fill with the unemployed nurse bees who begin festooning and building comb. The queen will find the new comb and about the time they get about ¼" deep, the queen will lay in them. You have now "opened up the brood nest". In one step you have occupied the bees that were preparing to swarm with wax production followed by nursing, you've expanded the brood nest, and you've given the queen a place to lay. If you don't have room to put the empty combs in, then add another brood box. The other upside is I get good natural sized brood comb.
> A hive that doesn't swarm will produce a LOT more honey than a hive that swarms.

What is Regression?
> Large bees, from large cells, cannot build natural sized cells. They build something in between. Most will build 5.1 mm worker brood cells. The next brood cycle will build cells in the 4.9 mm range. The only complication with converting back to Natural or Small cell is this need for regression.
> How do I regress them? To regress, cull out empty brood combs and let bees build what they want (or give them 4.9 mm foundation). After they have raised brood on that, repeat the process. Keep culling out the larger combs.
> How do you cull out the larger combs? Keep in mind it's normal procedure to steal honey from the bees. It's frames of brood that are our issue. The bees try to keep the brood nest together and have a maximum size in mind. If you keep feeding in empty frames in the center of the brood nest, put them between straight combs to get straight combs, they will fill these with comb and eggs. As they fill, you can add another frame. The brood nest expands because you keep spreading it out to put in the frames. When the large cell frames are too far from the center (usually the outside wall) or when they are contracting the brood nest in the Fall, they will fill them with honey after the brood emerges and then you can harvest them. You could also move the capped large cell brood above an excluder and wait for the bees to emerge and then pull the frame.

Will be interesting to see 1) if they draw comb on the inserted bar, 2) and if so, how much smaller the cells are, 3) how well Ken’s larger angles work, and 4) whether guard bees will be looking for me next time around.