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. = )
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
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!
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!
Friday, March 22, 2013
Bee Fever
Well, it finally happened. The idea had been buzzing around for a while, and over Christmas my Dad helped my husband and I build a top-bar hive. I read the Practical Beekeeper by Michael Bush (much of which can be found on his web site, www.bushfarms.com) and absorbed as much of it as I could.
Our top-bar hive has sloped sides, as we felt it would help the comb be a bit stronger in our hot Georgia summers. Of course, we think we will still have some comb collapse in the hottest parts of the summer, but we have tried to locate our hive where there are some trees around to shade the hive without getting in the flight path.
Hiving our package of bees was an exciting event! They arrived on a rainy Monday morning. The post office guy handed them to me across the desk in a postal tray- I think he was a bit nervous about handling them. I was surprised at how quiet they were! I buckled them into the back seat of the car (chuckle). I can only imagine what a police officer would have said if he would have pulled me over just then. "Uh, ma'am? What's that buzzing sound?" = )
The weather was awful that day, so we put them in our garage until the weather calmed down a bit. The weather became unseasonably cold this past week, so we had to hurry when we got home from work to get the bees in the hive on Tuesday (3/19).
Suiting up was an event in itself- we helped each other get all the zippers and Velcro in the right places before heading out to the hive. The bees seemed to get excited as we pried off the lid to the package. I had to be very careful removing the can because the bees were clustered on it. The queen cage was held on with screen- I didn't expect that. I hung it from a top bar on the side of the hive closest to the follower board with the feeder in it, hoping that they would cluster near it and keep warm.
Banging the box on the ground, I then dumped the bees into the hive. I had to laugh, because it was just so ludicrous and magical and wonderful as they poured out of the box. We carefully replaced the bars and put the remainder of the package on the ground in front of the hive. I was a bit worried that they wouldn't all make it because the sun was going down and it was going to get cold.
We came back and checked on them the next day- they were all bunched together inside the hive, and we could see bees going in and out of the feeder board, so we knew they were getting food. Surprisingly, about a hundred bees were still clustered inside the package box, still alive. We decided to take them and knock them into one of those plastic containers with the slits in the lid (we feed our snakes in them). We took them into our laundry room to warm up and fed them.
About an hour later, I swore I could hear something buzzing around in the kitchen. Sure enough, some of the bees had escaped! They were flying around our light in the kitchen. We gently caught them and put them back into the container, and then decided to move the container into the garage. Whoops. Next time, we'll have to just knock them out by the hive instead of trying to be nice to them and bring them inside.
The weather has stayed cold and kind of rainy, so we haven't opened the hive yet. We keep watching the bees from our window with binoculars, having fun seeing the girls go in and out. We think they're taking cleansing flights and doing some orientation. My husband says he has seen some drones leave the hive also, probably heading out to look for queens to mate. We are a little nervous because the bees haven't built any comb yet (that we can see from our observation window), and we are afraid they might abscond if the queen has no place to lay her eggs to anchor them into the hive. The weather is supposed to get warmer for a little bit this weekend, so we're hoping to open up the hive and check on them then, with an umbrella if need be.
My curiosity is out of control. It's so hard to NOT look in the hive every day! We just use the little window and we are careful and quiet when there, just observing general health and behavior. It's amazing how warm the cluster stays. We haven't seen them bringing in any pollen yet, despite the fact that my allergies have been wicked lately. I get nervous that we're not feeding them enough, or that they will leave. Hopefully that won't be the case. Perhaps the cold and rainy weather will help them to make the hive their permanent home and when it warms up they'll start comb building. I can hardly wait to see that.
I'll try to get pictures for upcoming posts- thanks for reading!
Our top-bar hive has sloped sides, as we felt it would help the comb be a bit stronger in our hot Georgia summers. Of course, we think we will still have some comb collapse in the hottest parts of the summer, but we have tried to locate our hive where there are some trees around to shade the hive without getting in the flight path.
Hiving our package of bees was an exciting event! They arrived on a rainy Monday morning. The post office guy handed them to me across the desk in a postal tray- I think he was a bit nervous about handling them. I was surprised at how quiet they were! I buckled them into the back seat of the car (chuckle). I can only imagine what a police officer would have said if he would have pulled me over just then. "Uh, ma'am? What's that buzzing sound?" = )
The weather was awful that day, so we put them in our garage until the weather calmed down a bit. The weather became unseasonably cold this past week, so we had to hurry when we got home from work to get the bees in the hive on Tuesday (3/19).
Suiting up was an event in itself- we helped each other get all the zippers and Velcro in the right places before heading out to the hive. The bees seemed to get excited as we pried off the lid to the package. I had to be very careful removing the can because the bees were clustered on it. The queen cage was held on with screen- I didn't expect that. I hung it from a top bar on the side of the hive closest to the follower board with the feeder in it, hoping that they would cluster near it and keep warm.
Banging the box on the ground, I then dumped the bees into the hive. I had to laugh, because it was just so ludicrous and magical and wonderful as they poured out of the box. We carefully replaced the bars and put the remainder of the package on the ground in front of the hive. I was a bit worried that they wouldn't all make it because the sun was going down and it was going to get cold.
We came back and checked on them the next day- they were all bunched together inside the hive, and we could see bees going in and out of the feeder board, so we knew they were getting food. Surprisingly, about a hundred bees were still clustered inside the package box, still alive. We decided to take them and knock them into one of those plastic containers with the slits in the lid (we feed our snakes in them). We took them into our laundry room to warm up and fed them.
About an hour later, I swore I could hear something buzzing around in the kitchen. Sure enough, some of the bees had escaped! They were flying around our light in the kitchen. We gently caught them and put them back into the container, and then decided to move the container into the garage. Whoops. Next time, we'll have to just knock them out by the hive instead of trying to be nice to them and bring them inside.
The weather has stayed cold and kind of rainy, so we haven't opened the hive yet. We keep watching the bees from our window with binoculars, having fun seeing the girls go in and out. We think they're taking cleansing flights and doing some orientation. My husband says he has seen some drones leave the hive also, probably heading out to look for queens to mate. We are a little nervous because the bees haven't built any comb yet (that we can see from our observation window), and we are afraid they might abscond if the queen has no place to lay her eggs to anchor them into the hive. The weather is supposed to get warmer for a little bit this weekend, so we're hoping to open up the hive and check on them then, with an umbrella if need be.
My curiosity is out of control. It's so hard to NOT look in the hive every day! We just use the little window and we are careful and quiet when there, just observing general health and behavior. It's amazing how warm the cluster stays. We haven't seen them bringing in any pollen yet, despite the fact that my allergies have been wicked lately. I get nervous that we're not feeding them enough, or that they will leave. Hopefully that won't be the case. Perhaps the cold and rainy weather will help them to make the hive their permanent home and when it warms up they'll start comb building. I can hardly wait to see that.
I'll try to get pictures for upcoming posts- thanks for reading!
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