Viva la Queen!

We purchased a new queen from Pigeon Mountain Store in Lafayette last week and installed her into the hive last Monday (April 22). She is marked with a red dot. I nicknamed her the Red Queen.

Today, we opened the hive to check on its progress and see if she had been released. She was! All that was left was part of the candy plug, which was being checked out by one worker and two small hive beetles. I killed the beetles (they are a hive PEST!) and took out the queen cage, gently encouraging the worker to leave it. She took the hint and flew off.

Checking the bars from the empty end, we found one right away that was attached to two bars (cross-combing). I used the hive tool to scrape part of the comb off. Unfortunately, it was so heavy it fell to the bottom of the hive! Oops! It was full of nectar and bee bread.

There were several more bars of comb. Many had drone cells that still hadn't hatched. We did a little comb maintenance while looking for the Queen. And finally, we found her! The red dot made it easy to see her. We also observed some single eggs laid in the bottom of the cells, so we know she has been laying eggs. The laying worker is still going, and probably will until we have some open brood. Apparently, the pheromones from the brood help to suppress the laying workers. Check out this video!

We left the hive as we found it. The only issue we've really been having is with paper wasps starting nests in the lid! I think we need to fix some window screen across the top so they can't get in.

Some more pictures....

There she goes! With the red dot!

Lots of drone comb, still...

A bee passage through the comb. SO COOL.

Queenless...oh no!

Well...it happened. Our hive is definitely queenless.

We checked today, and all we saw were capped drone cells. We have about 5 or 6 bars of comb partly drawn out.

Domed cells spell DOOM for the colony.

 We ordered another queen a week ago, but apparently they are on back order due to the weather. Also, I think the supplier wants us to come pick her up! We can't do that because we live several hours away. So our only other option is to find a nice beekeeper in the area who might let us have a couple frames of brood to cut out and put into our top bar hive so they can raise a queen.

Strange thing is, the colony is really very calm! They didn't seem agitated at all when we checked the comb, maybe just a little disheartened or confused. I hope that when we give them brood comb, they'll be stimulated to produce queen cells and raise one of their own.

Here are a few pictures from today's adventure:

Some drone cells at the bottom- you can see one uncapped cell.

If you look closely, you can see the larvae in the cells. We watched workers feeding the drone brood.

The comb is all yellow (just like our cars!) from all the pollen.

I hope that some of those darker-looking cells are honey in the making.

We're Learning EVERYTHING!

School must be in, because our bees are teaching us everything all at once.

I went out to the hive this morning before church (it was still cool, so no chance of bees flying up my skirt!) to peek in on the bees. Good thing I did, because I saw a fallen comb at the bottom of the hive. Guess it wasn't attached that well to begin with.

After lunch, we went out to fix it. We also blocked off part of the hive because we ordered another queen. We figure if we see eggs or brood by the time she arrives, then we'll just do an "in-hive" split using the follower boards to make a nucleus colony. If it looks like the current queen is dead or MIA, then we'll just put her in and eventually remove the follower so the bees can use the whole 4-foot length.

Anyway, we pulled out a few bars (with bees busily festooning, making new comb) and moved them to one end of the hive, then grabbed the piece of loose comb. D remarked upon how light it was. We brushed the bees off into the hive (they didn't like that) and then used the hair clip method to re-attach the comb to the bar. We straightened it out the best we could, then replaced it into the hive.

We also fixed another bar of new comb that was starting to go crooked. I feel like we'll be having to check the hive every few days or so to ensure that no other combs have collapsed and that they are building straight.

Brand new comb! Look how gorgeous!

Didn't see any eggs today, but we decided to wait until Wednesday to check the hive again to see if there might be larvae.

So that's....potential queenlessness, cross-combing (although not too bad), and re-attaching a broken comb. Wow! We've learned a lot in three weeks. = )

Also, does anyone out there know if Eastern Carpenter bees like to rob honeybees? We had one buzzing around us today while the hive was open. The ladies didn't seem to mind, but I did. I caught it with a butterfly net I brought along.

Hello? Are you there?

We opened our hive today to see what was going on. It's been getting nicer; warm and in the 60's the last week or so.

The hive has been very busy. The first two top bars we pulled out had nothing attached yet, and the third had a plethora of bees festooning from it. We quickly put that one back inside so they could continue working.

Bar 4 had a small amount of comb and festooning bees.

Bar 5 had an issue with cross-comb. We had to break it a little to free it. I pushed the comb to where we wanted it to go (hopefully they'll get the hint and re-attach it there.)

 Bar 6 was a MASSIVE comb- a bit more than a bar's width. We damaged it a little getting it loose, which is disappointing, but there were bees all over it. We saw a lot of pollen and nectar being stored in these combs.

 

 As we were looking, we didn't see any eggs or brood. That was very worrisome. The bees didn't seem aggressive or lethargic. They have been working hard to build comb and bring in resources. I also noticed that some of them were fanning on the top bars when we picked up the comb. I hope this is because a Queen is present on the bar I was holding.

Not seeing any brood made me nervous, so I went back and looked at the pictures we had taken (thanks, honey!). I think I see the Queen in this picture- bottom left, abdomen completely golden-colored, butt facing the left. I remember her being golden-colored from the time I saw her in the cage, so I think we are okay.

We also saw two Small Hive Beetles. We weren't sure what to do about them, but I think the next time I'll try to squash them.

It was a very nerve-wracking inspection, but I think we're getting the hang of it! We only squashed a couple bees trying to put the top bars back in. Our 'brush' (made of feathers) helps to get them back down between the bars. They did NOT like it when we blew smoke on them- most of them just pointed their hind ends in the air and fanned like crazy. The hive noise also picked up considerably. We haven't been stung (yet), so I think we'll go easy on the smoke for now.

Whew! Hopefully the bees will build straight combs and next time we'll see some brood.

Until then, bee good!

First comb

Woohoo! We are so excited- checked the hive the other day (Monday) and found that the bees were out of sugar water (not many in the feeder area). We replaced the feeder, then decided to remove the queen cage. When we pulled up the bar, we discovered that they had started drawing comb! This caused a lot of excitement for us because we were really anxious about them leaving. We saw pollen and sugar-water inside the cells, but no eggs yet. Of course, we weren't really looking for eggs. We will check again on Saturday and see if the queen is laying.

We took out the queen cage. I smartly brought a pair of needle-nosed pliers that made it easy to remove the tack that held it in place.

The bees were remarkably calm! We haven't been stung (yet) and haven't had to smoke them except a little bit to encourage them to go back down into the hive. We use a feather-duster type thing to help them scoot along.

I was able to get a picture of the comb (although it's covered in bees!). I'm also uploading some other pictures of the flowers our bees have been visiting and a couple cool pictures of some other pollinators.

Enjoy!

Our hive, hard at work!

A wild bee- pointed wings seem more wasp-like

Henbit- a wild yard flower (weed). Apparently this one has RED pollen!

You can see a honeybee with pollen coming in for a landing...

This pear tree has been picked over by pollinators now that the weather has warmed up.

Homing in on the Bradford pears. These trees STINK to us, but the pollinators love 'em!

You can see how the fuzzy body attracts pollen.

This one has some pollen in her basket already.

Dandelions are more than yard weeds- they're great early spring forage!

This wild bee was surprisingly obliging and held still so I could take pictures.

Interesting how the wings are held away from the body and not folded over each other like the honeybee.

This bee is also very hairy!

Not much gold on the thorax. Anyone know what kind of wild pollinator this is?

Check-in

Our ladies (and some gents) are hanging tough in the hive. They've been curled up in a bee ball since the weather has been SO cold! We even had some snow (flurries) here.

We've kept an eye on the hive this past week from inside using binoculars. Last Sunday, the weather was warm enough for the bees to take cleansing and orientation flights. Needless to say, it caused a little consternation on our part to see so many bees flying around outside the hive, but we calmed down when they all went back inside.

I also thought I saw some fighting at the entrances. We don't have any other beehives nearby (that we know of), so I didn't think it was robbing. What it looked like to me was female workers manhandling drones out of the hive onto the ground. I think they were throwing the drones out because it's been so cold and the drones are really just a drain on resources.

We opened the hive today to replace the feeder jar. They seem to be going through about a quart every 4-5 days. We decided not to open the main part of the hive since they are still all clustered, although I really want to get that darn queen cage out of there. As soon as the weather warms up, I suppose it will be time then.

The bees haven't built any comb yet that we can see. We are pretty sure they are more interested in keeping themselves warm and alive rather than constructing comb so far. I just hope they aren't queenless. We won't be able to tell until they begin to make comb and we see signs of laying.

No pictures again today- sorry! We'll try to do better in the future. = )

Not so bee-utiful weather

In spite of the cloudiness, today has been minimally rainy. We decided to check on the hive today and try to block up the gaps in our top bars so bees wouldn't become trapped there or build errant comb in the roof. We also wanted to check on the sugar water supply and see if the queen has been released.

Suiting up is a clumsy process. The hats are attached to the jackets with a zipper, and they frequently get in the way when you're trying to zip the jacket. Then you have to put the hat and veil combo on. Then (if you have long hair like me) you remember that you wanted to clip your hair back so it wouldn't fall in your face when checking the hive. So you unzip your hat, fix your hair, and then re-zip your veil. And then you have an itch on your nose...and so on! We found it works best when we're both around so we can help each other.

Also, sorry about no pictures yet. We're usually trying to concentrate on the bees and forget to bring a camera with us to the hive. We'll try to remember next time!

There has been a lot of activity around the front center entrance of the hive pretty much all week. From the spots on the roof, the bees have been emerging to go on cleansing flights. We also think they have been orienting themselves. A group will emerge, turn around and face the hive, and make a circular or figure-8 pattern in the air for a few minutes. Then they will land and go back into the hive.

Anyhow, on to the hive. We lifted the lid and checked for comb in the roof. None there, which is a good thing. Then we opened up the side of the hive with the feeder. We cut one of our follower boards to fit the feeder. Unfortunately, bees were squeezing under the gap of the follower and the screened bottom board and getting in the area with the feeder. Whoops! Not bee-tight. We'll have to keep an eye on this area as the weather warms and discourage them from building comb there.

The feeder was almost completely empty! We were a little surprised, but then remembered how cold it was all week. We came prepared with another quart Mason jar full of syrup, so we just took the other jar out (with many bees clinging to it, drinking what was left) and replaced it with a full one. We had to hold a piece of cardboard over the hole where the jar goes because there were a LOT of bees in the feeder. Putting the new jar down was difficult because I didn't want to squash any bees. I tried to go slow and be gentle, but I think I may have got at least one. = (

After the feeder was in, we decided to check and see if the queen had been released. Since the bees had been clustered due to cold all week, we peeked into the observation window. They were very active and all moving around, so we figured it was all right. Lifting the bars where the queen cage was hung was QUITE an adventure. The bees on the first bar were festooning, so hopefully we'll see some comb soon (none yet, which makes me nervous!). However, when we took that first bar off, a whole bunch of bees came up on top of the bars and we couldn't replace it! I had my husband pick up the bar with the queen cage attached and gently set mine back down. There were many bees clustered on the cage, so I tried my best to brush them off. It was apparent that they had eaten through the candy. I didn't see the queen, so she (hopefully) was in the hive. The bees were probably all still clustered around it because of Queen Mandibular Pheromone. I really wanted to take it out, but more and more bees were emerging onto the top bars and I really wanted them to stay in the hive.

So we left the queen cage and then spent the next 10 minutes trying to replace the bar I was holding. We finally decided to light our smoker and puffed a little bit across the bars. Some of the bees took off, but not all of them went back down into the hive. We were finally able to get the lid on and walked away, a few curious bees following us.

And not one sting! The bees seem very gentle and curious, even on a day when it is cloudy and most of them were probably in the hive. A good sign, we hope.

We'll be checking on them again on Wednesday or Thursday to see how their food supply is and perhaps they will have made some comb by then.

Ta! Thanks for reading!