Today is Bonne's birthday.  Because she went with me to pick up the bees, held them in her lap, actually, they wanted to give her a little gift.  They couldn't extract the honeycomb themselves, so I went in with my smoker and my bonnet and cut out a piece. 

The girls didn't seem to mind too much.  But I did burn my finger on the smoker.

Happy Birthday Bonne!!!

Just opened the hive to see how the girls have made out with the 2nd box. HolyMoly!!! It's about 50% full of brood, capped brood, and honey!  I wasn't expecting them to have created so much in the last 2 weeks.  In another 2 weeks, I'll have to get a honey super, maybe two.

Still haven't spotted a drone. I know they're in there!  Probably feasting away at the honey in the lower box.  Next time I go in, I'll look down further to see what's happening.

At this rate, they may want to split next spring!  I've got to be ready.

The county bee inspector, Lisza, came to call yesterday while it was hot and sunny.  I learned a lot from her, some of which I hope to remember when needed.

One thing she kept saying was how pretty my bees are.  It made me feel so proud, just like a mother! Of course, their looks came from their real mother, the Queen (whom I haven't named, but that's another story!).

There were a lot of drone larvae, but Lisza scraped most of them off. The thing about drones is their comb are breeding ground for varroa mites (bad), they don't really do anything (lazy), and eat up lots of honey (hmmm). Plus, the Queen has already been inseminated with enough bee sperm to lay hundreds of thousands of eggs. So why are drones necessary? 

Just in case. Plus the workers like having them around.  At least until the end of the summer, then out they go.

On another subject (still bee-related, of course!): we tasted a bit of honey that got scraped off.  OMG!  What flavor! It was fruity, like cherries and apricots!  Not only are my girls beautiful, but they can cook, too!

Although I've opened the hive all by myself a few times, Bill has been around to peer inside a couple times, too.  He is braver than I am and doesn't wear a bee bonnet (with a name like that for a hat, who would blame him?).

The other day, he used the hive tool to scrape off extra or "burr" comb from the lid of the hive. This comb contained traces of sweet light honey!  I popped it in my mouth and chewed the wax and had the first taste of fresh, homegrown honey. Ahhhh.

Bill asked me what they made the wax out of.  Being a good librarian, I found the answer in a book.  Kim Flottum, author of The Backyard Beekeeper and editor of Bee Culture Magazine, writes that the bee has "four pairs of glands on the underside of her abdomen. Wax is squeezed out of these glands as a clear liquid.  It cools rapidly and turns white. The worker uses her legs to remove the wax, and then manipulates it with her mandibles to build the hive's architecture" (page 35).

This may have been TMI for Bill.

Monday, May 25, 2009
Usually, there are two or three bees flying around the hive. But on Memorial Day about 3:00 in the afternoon, I noticed about 50 buzzing bees.  Curious and concerned, I walked back to see what was going on. They couldn't be swarming already, I knew, because their hive wasn't full. Had they been disturbed in some way?  Did the Queen fly away?  What was going on??

While I stood at the hive, I noticed several bees just hanging out on nearby leaves and a few walking around the ground. They were practically glowing in their tender golden color, like a glass jar full of honey held up to the sun.  No stripes and tiny eyes.  Who were these amber bees? 

Being a good librarian, I knew the answer would be found inside a book.  Sure enough, on page 140 of Beekeeping for Dummies, it tells me the new bees "appear lighter in color than her sisters and are covered with soft, damp hairs. Her eyes are tiny at first."  New Bees!!!!!

My friend and ukulele partner, Amy Fishbach, came over and said the Shehecheyanu in honor of these new bees:

Baruch Atah Adonoy Eloheinu Melech Haolom Shehecheyanu Vekeeyamanu Vehigeeyanu Lizman Hazeh

Blessed are You,
our God, Creator of time and space,
who has supported us, protected us,
and brought us to this moment.

The Shehecheyanu is one of those all around wonderful prayers. Jews are encouraged to say it during times of unusual circumstances, at milestone life events. Like the emergance of new bees!

Opened the hive yesterday.  The girls haven't expanded onto more than 4 frames. They have made comb going up, but not to more frames, yet. They will.

 I had a protein cake on top of three outer frames, so they would have enough to eat before enough flowers & trees could produce their own pollen. The protein cake is a gooey slab made out of mostly soy. Now that it's the end of May, there should be enough out there for them.  Plus the slab didn't look any more eaten than the last time I checked it, so they must be done with it. I bagged it up and put it in the freezer.  I have to do more research to see if I can use it again next year.  They aren't expensive, so there's really no need to be a cheapskate.

Some of the bees look like their eyes are smaller than the others. On closer look, they might just have more "hair" on their little heads.  I know, I know, more research is needed! 

Stay tuned!