Beekeeper Class

Class on November 14 at Jacqueline’s was quite informative; she shared that she has a psychic connection with bees. Although it was a basics class, I learned a few things…as usual...and will share them below.

As she went through the life stages of the bee, Jacqueline said that on day 16 the newer bees set their magnetic compass (GPS in our vernacular) during their orientation flight: they fly to a spot a few feet from the hive and hold for a few seconds, move to another spot, and another holding in place each time before returning to the hive. She observed that they do this at 11a and 1p.

Also, drones are not lazy and only for mating. I already knew they helped warm and cool the hive. Jacqueline told us that drones also sing to the babies in their own hive and are welcomed into other honey bee hives whereas any other bee is barred from entering; the drones then go to the nursery area and emit a “droning” sound. There’s a theory that they are sharing ‘bee history/life information’ with the new bees—what a wonderful concept.

Jacqueline related a winter time experience in which the beekeeper thought the bees were dead because of the extreme cold, harvested some of the honey and called her to come get the remainder, and placed the hive in the basement out of the weather. When Jacqueline arrived, the bees were moving around—they had been in “torpor” which is a cold weather survival mode. She and the beekeeper reassembled the hive, left honey that hadn’t been taken, placed it back outside, and now hope for the best; she is not optimistic that the hive can survive because of the disturbance and without the full complement of winter honey.

Opening the brood area is not advised at any time—even during the hot days of summer. Brood needs a 95° environment and even a slight dip in temperature stresses the larvae and pupae. They might hatch and do fine if there are not additional stressors but are weaker than they would have been.  I’ll definitely not be looking at brood from now on unless it is critical to do so. One can tell if brood is doing well by observing hive entrance; if pollen coming in, queen is laying and brood is fine.

We heard about “emergency queens” which is where the current queen has disappeared or has major problems and it is imperative that new one be established. The bees will take one of the newest laid eggs, revamp the cell to be vertical instead of horizontal and feed the new larva royal jelly continuously. This is in contrast to an intended queen where the cell is built vertical initially. The emergency queen then follows the normal mating procedure but is replaced within a few months by an intended queen who can be viable up to five years. I believe something similar happened in my hive. The queen cells found June 17 had me thinking that the hive was about to swarm, but it was really too new and didn’t swarm. And we found an unmarked queen on July 23 instead of the white dotted queen that came with the package in April. Jacqueline agreed that may have been the case as package queens are artificially inseminated and could be considered an emergency queen. So, in the end it appears this hive is actually quite healthy and further on the road to being as nature intended.

Jacqueline indicated that moisture is a problem in our area, most often mildew shows up in the spring when there are warm days that cause more heat in the open hive space and condensation happens when the outside cold returns. I plan to insulate the attic of the hive to have a more gradual temperature contrast in an attempt to prevent condensation.

Although it’s a 100 mi drive to Battle Ground, WA, the trip was worthwhile and Jody and I plan to attend Jacqueline’s classes when possible.

A late fall hive check after all...

Mild, overcast day, slight breeze, 55° and bees are flying more than they have in the past week. Probably cleansing flights, although there are blossoms in the yard and nectar/pollen to be had; this is not the time. They should be in their hibernation mode by now.

Opened the end of the hive to see if comb on B14 was empty and I could remove the bar to show Ken how bees were attaching comb to the wider V on the bar. B14 was empty on the left side but had capped honey filling almost half the comb on the right side. Good news, actually, that they are not decimating their winter food supply as I thought might be happening when I last observed the combs on Oct 19 and found the left side of B14 empty. B13 left side also had a good amount of capped honey remaining. So, B14 left in place and top of hive closed.

B14 right side

B13 left side

Then I unfastened the securing straps of the bottom board, which had been put in place last week to keep the board tight against the hive for winter, and removed the bottom board for a look there.

Lots of debris on the board: bits of casing, bee carcasses and bits, and mites—yes, mites have now been seen. Will have to keep an eye on the number. By the nature of the natural comb cell size in the TBH (top bar hive) the mites are supposed to be scraped off the backs of the bees as they move into the cells…we shall see.  It appears the bees are not able to remove dead bees and other debris from the bottom board as easily as they did when board was not sealed. While I had the top space open two bees came out through the opening each with a dead bee in tow; maybe the bottom board should not be sealed—our winters are temperate, Phil Chandler in England (http://www.biobees.com/index.php) has mesh bottoms in his TBHs, and bees like a clean environment so dead bees and debris might be a stressor for them. Jody and I plan to attend a beekeeping class Monday evening—that will be a good question to explore with Jacqueline (http://www.friendlyhaven.com/classes.html).

Not being sure about the best way to handle the bottom board, I returned it to the closed position. No detectable moisture in the hive at this time; that is another concern I have because of our wet winters here and the fact that mildew was in the hive last May. Lots of questions to be addressed during this first year of beekeeping…fortunately there are people who willingly share their experiences.

Warm day, a peek into the end of the hive

3pm 68° cloudy; many bees flying. Left side of B14 has no honey on it; did not move bar to see right side or B13 and beyond. Bees removing carcasses from bottom board. One wasp flying near the hive; no ants on the hive; removed two spider cocoons under roof.  When we have another warm, dry day I’ll look at B14 and remove it if no honey on either side and move the follower further in again.

October 19, 2011

Anniversary of Brad’s leaving…and it’s a beautiful warm day here in Independence, Oregon, located in the mid Willamette Valley. We’ve not had a frost yet and it appears we’ll get to Nov 1 with little rain—if that happens I can make it through a rainy winter just fine. So today’s high was 75°, clear, barely noticeable breeze—fantastic Oregon fall day! I checked the top bar hive with a plan to remove empty B16 and B15 if there was little honey left on it and move the follower to reduce air space.  Yes, most of the honey was gone and B15 and B16 removed; ¾” spacer inserted and follower moved. I placed B15 on the cradle and set it on the kitchen table for display and to have the honey, wax, and propolis smell in the house…nice. And that’s it for the fall unless we learn something that indicates we need to check the hive sooner than late winter. Jody and I are looking for learning opportunities on top bar hive beekeeping and found what looks to be an interesting experience: http://www.friendlyhaven.com/classes.html.

A few ideas I’ve picked up during recent reading:

*To determine the start or end of honey flow:  Place 1 tablespoon of honey on a shallow container in the sun. If nectar is unavailable, bees will find it within 15 min or so and call others to the feast.

*Use Mrs. Stewart’s liquid bluing for stings

*Sprinkle a little salt on the entry board—bees will take if needed

*Construct some kind of an entrance board for the tbh???

*Sprinkle cinnamon to stop ants on their path.

Bees still flying, although in reduced numbers, and returning with pollen and nectar. Bees throughout the yard on the plants purchased and planted last month—wait until next year when the plants have grown and become established…there will be buzzing all around!

Probably last hive check of the fall

Another hive check, 20 min, partly cloudy, 68°, calm.  Bees flying today, 30% returning with pollen. Got a sting on cheek soon after moving B15 to the cradle, so put on the veil. B15 appears much the same as it did a week ago. Cut through brace comb on B14, bringing the blade of the hive tool up from the bottom of the comb next to the hive side with a gentle sawing motion. Set B14 on the cradle, too, in order to look at and move B13 to see B12. (Because of two added bars during the summer—2.5 and 9.5—B13 is actually B15 and B15 is actually B17 in the hive, etc.) Good to see that the comb on B13 and B12 is drawn deep into the hive with a small amount of brace comb near the top and a good number of capped honey cells. Not keen about the cross combing on the front side between B12 & B13; appears to be a small amount of cross combing from B13 to B14 also on the front side. Next spring we will probably find that same configuration back to B10, which is where it all started a few months ago. Really wanted to go further back to find where the brood is but after about 15 min the buzzing inside the hive became much louder and more agitated bees were flying closer to where I was working, it was time to close up and leave. They have capped honey through B13 and a good amount on the right half of B14; they should have enough food for winter. Later in October I'll remove B16, which is still empty, and move the follower in to reduce air space in the hive.

Ants were up under the roof so I sprinkled cinnamon where they were entering…frustrating ants, which will always be here but I don’t want them on/in the hive. Will mix up a borax solution and see if that eliminates the nest that is infesting the hive area.



B12



B12 cross comb to B13 at hive front

B13 left side, comb drawn deep into hive

B13 right side showing cross comb from B12

Not a mite in sight...

Just a quick peek with pictures today; total sunshine, not a cloud to be seen, 70° at the time I opened the hive about noon.

Still no comb on B16, which was expected; B15 had no nectar on the left side but had capped honey on the right side. There was lots of nectar on the right side of B15 when viewed on Sept 12 and 25; I actually saw capped cells on this side yesterday, which is why I decided to take pictures today, but nectar and capped cells gone today—am I seeing things?! Are they using their food stores already? I’ll put out a 2:1 sugar syrup and check B15 every few days to see how it goes. Compare B15 picture today with that of Sept 12…lovely but few bees and no nectar.

Took a photo of B14 from the top to show how it wows into B15 space; that seems to be a normal configuration so I am not worried about it. The 1.5” bars seem to be good.

Took photos of bottom board to check for mites, which I did not see while holding the board and do not see now when zooming in on the pictures. Nor do I see any mites attached to the bees themselves in the pictures of bees inside the hive. I could see mites on the sticky board at the neighbor's hive and on the bees there as well, so I’m 98.5% sure there are none in this hive…big yeah!

Bottom board, brood side

Bottom board, other side

A good photo of the bottom up view showing part of B11, and B12, B13, B14, B15 and empty B16.

B11 through B15 comb, note the two-bee space between

Another bottom up view, bees in the middle section showing no mites. Zoom in to see the tiny body hairs and veins in the wings.

Closed hive…bees and hive are good.

Fall 2011 has arrived.

Fall has arrived with rain showers and mostly cloudy skies today, 67° when I peeked into the hive to check progress on B15. Someone should look at the properties of propolis for glue…follower and B16 really stuck on tight! Probably someone has and it won’t generate enough dollars in that use to warrant much attention. However, it is promoted as beneficial to human health. Here’s an excerpt from a site selling bee products for health: http://queenselixir.com/propolis-info/what-is-bee-propolis.htm.

A sticky glue-like substance, bee propolis is created by the worker bees and used around the hive to insulate and protect the structure of the hive, and as an antibiotic to protect its inhabitants.
Propolis has been used for many centuries as a natural antibiotic, treating all manner of cuts, wounds and abrasions, and taken topically for its healing benefits.
The substance is basically a combination of tree bark and leaves, collected by the worker bees, combined with their saliva/secretions, forming a black or reddish-brown resinous paste. It is commonly used to repair cracks in the hive walls, and to create a sterile environment, protecting the bees from harmful bacteria and viral infections.
As a health promoting product, propolis has been studied worldwide. The nutritional and therapeutic benefits of propolis are primarily associated with its high bioflavinoid content and the fact that it exhibits antibiotic and antifungal properties when applied as a topical agent.
Our propolis products are independantly lab-tested and certified to contain a minimum of 8% bioflavinoids, and is brought to you as a powder or liquid tincture.
Europeans have used bee propolis for the treatment of peptic ulcers and ulcerative colitis, where it is thought to provide benefits to the digestive system and digestive organs. Again, the anti-inflammatory properties of the substance are thought to be beneficial to the stomache and intestinal tract.
In a similar way, propolis is said to help prevent and/or heal infections, where it is commonly believed that its antimicrobial effects can defend the body against bacteria, viruses, and parasites.
With its flavonoid / antioxidant properties, it is considered to be of benefit to the immune system. It is also used commonly to treat dental conditions such as cankers, mouth ulcers, and periodontal disease.
Propolis is generally considered to be a safe product, but if you are allergic to other bee products like royal jelly or honey, you should perhaps opt not to use propolis, since it contains these elements albeit in small quantities. If you have any mild negative reaction to bee products, discontinue use straight away.

Back to the hive check… Bees docile; not much foraging traffic; bees inside the hive since the temperature is much cooler; I closed the three entrances on the back of the hive. Bees forming a layer on the wire at the bottom of the hive; will close bottom board in a few weeks. B16 has spots of propolis on it but no comb; same amount of comb on B15 as seen on September 12 with cells being filled with nectar. Side bracing on B14 seems to have increased slightly.

Still undecided about removing all the bars to assess the hive interior—seems like a major disruption for my inquisitiveness. Had thought that we should assume all is well and let the bees do their work for winter and do the photo documentation in the spring as I check to see that there is enough food and consider how to do a split. However, plan to check with the Portland, OR Matts to hear their thoughts on the need for a thorough hive check in fall and how detrimental that might be. No pictures today.