Right. The plan was to post something each time I went into the hive or discovered something new.
Oops.
Because of weather and work, the bees were left alone for about 3 weeks. When I finally opened up the box, they had made a pretty good free standing build up of comb, some of which was full of uncapped honey! I took a deep breath and dealt with it.
Went back a week later to feed them.
Went in another 10 days later to see if I could steal some honey. The top super (out of 4 mediums) was full of drawn comb and uncapped honey. I lifted it off to see what the brood chambers were looking like.
YAWWW!!! Every frame in that box (3rd from bottom) was FULL of capped honey! I was unprepared. Typical. I only took out 3 frames, replacing them with empty plastic foundation frames.
Got stung, but was so frantically trying to close up the hive and get the bees off the honey frames, then walking the dog, it wasn't until an hour later that I was able to get the stinger out from behind my knee.
Sure enough, the back of my thigh and knee area ballooned up, got really hot and red. Woke up at 2 am itching -- some hives all over. The next night, welts developed. But by the 3rd night, the heat had stopped and most of the swelling had gone down.
The honey was crudely removed from the frames (scraped with a spatula), strained through 4 layers of nylon hose, and bottled up. Getting 5 half-pint jars out of a single frame!
Wait until I remove the rest of those caped frames...
It's been a long time since I posted! A lot has happened, so I'll keep things brief.
In February, I noticed the tell-tale signs of hive activity: cleansing flights marked by spots in the snow.
But by mid-March, when it was exceptionally warm here in Cleveland, I opened the hive to see how things were going. There hadn't been anything observable from the outside. I didn't have a good feeling about it. Sure enough, I lifted off the outer cover and nobody flew out. I lifted off the inner cover and there a pile of dead bees greeted me. Frame after frame was just full of dead bees and nothing else.
They had starved.
After a couple days of grieving, I went back out and cleaned off the frames.
Then I made phone calls. It was getting late in the season to order bees, but I contacted an "old-timer" who sells nucs. Along with the bees, he offers a once-a-month class at his place from April to August.
So far I've gone twice. It was good to get my hands back in there. What I'm getting is actually not a nuc, but a medium super complete with comb, queen, workers, larvae and eggs.
The plan is to use only medium supers, instead of the deeps, for easier lifting. Ideally, an 8-frame "garden" hive would have been better, but then nothing I already have can be used.
Last night I glued and stapled 30 frames. I'm going to use wax foundation, and have to now put those in the frames (after buy nails).
 Cut the stakes and stapled a double layer of burlap. Good thing I did it today! Our first snowfall and a big storm on the way this week.
Also, I removed 3 dead bees from the entrance. Hope there are lots of warm, well-fed girls inside!
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!
After all that depressing info about mites and viruses, I had to get into my hive. It's been so cold, rainy, or windy, I couldn't do it before today. When the sun finally came out, I put my bee hat on and tried to light the smoker.
Sucker wouldn't stay smokin'.
Went in without it.
Oh! The girls are so busy! Three frames were full of bees back and front. They were building comb. I pulled out only 2 and saw pollen stored in the lower part of the frames and either honey or water stored at the top. I was so excited about seeing all that wax comb, I forgot to check for the most important things! Eggs and/or Queen.
When Bill came home, we tried again. He couldn't get the $*&@ smoker lit either. This time I looked at all the frames. The center one (I'm supposed to number these, I guess) was full of capped brood!!!!! That means bees will hatch (probably not the right term).
While I was looking at one side with all the capped brood,Bill spotted the Queen on the other side. He gets a badge for that! I flipped over the frame, and there she was running around, longer and pointier than her workers. If the Queen is alive, there are eggs. I just didn't see them.
I'll go back in next week.
With or without t
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