It's been 2 days since the cutout and Queen Catherine needs to be released from the cage. I also needed to make sure no major damage occurred to the comb during transport and push all the frames into the center to maintain proper bee space.
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Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Bee Vlog - April 6, 2013
I got a call about some bees living in a chicken coop. I was told the hive has been there for 2-3 years, which seems about right judging by the color of the comb. The bees looked strong and seemed to be in good health. I'm really excited to be adding these survivors to my apiary.
This was my first time doing a cutout. I had some help from a friend (Tara) and family (Tammie & David). There was a lot of comb to cut and fit into frames and they helped things go much faster. We ended up filling 20 frames nearly full, with a little bit of leftovers. We spotted and caged the queen near the very end of an over 4-hour ordeal. We were very fortunate to have found her the way we did. The bees were hiding in the cracks and corners of the walls and we were gently trying to scoop them up and get them to the new hive. As I was doing a little sweeping in one corner she just suddenly appeared. She wasn't running too fast, so with a little help from a feather I was able to get her into a cage for safe keeping. Welcome Queen Catherine!
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This was my first time doing a cutout. I had some help from a friend (Tara) and family (Tammie & David). There was a lot of comb to cut and fit into frames and they helped things go much faster. We ended up filling 20 frames nearly full, with a little bit of leftovers. We spotted and caged the queen near the very end of an over 4-hour ordeal. We were very fortunate to have found her the way we did. The bees were hiding in the cracks and corners of the walls and we were gently trying to scoop them up and get them to the new hive. As I was doing a little sweeping in one corner she just suddenly appeared. She wasn't running too fast, so with a little help from a feather I was able to get her into a cage for safe keeping. Welcome Queen Catherine!
Video Link
Monday, April 1, 2013
Bee Vlog - March 30, 2013
Queen Beatrice is doing really well. There was a mess of burr comb filled with drone brood that I destroyed while going through the boxes. This is what happens when proper bee space is violated, they fill up the gaps and make it messy to do an inspection. I cleaned things up as best I could and left them some empty frames and an additional box to build up more comb. So instead of raising drone brood between frames they can just fill a frame if they need to.
When I was closely inspecting the drone larva (later, after doing the inspection) I did find mites. So it should be interesting to see how well this hive does and how they deal with them. I don't treat for mites. My desire is to have bees that don't need treatment. So far, this colony has been doing very well and hasn't shown any signs of weakness.
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When I was closely inspecting the drone larva (later, after doing the inspection) I did find mites. So it should be interesting to see how well this hive does and how they deal with them. I don't treat for mites. My desire is to have bees that don't need treatment. So far, this colony has been doing very well and hasn't shown any signs of weakness.
Video Link
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Bee Vlog - March 9, 2013
In this episode I talk about my location in Beaverton, Oregon. I talk about the major forage for nectar and pollen sources, as well as the green space and wetlands commonly found here. The weather is a big factor on how we manage bees and some of the difficulties it can present.
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In this inspection I was only trying to get an idea of the population size. We're coming up on swarm season soon and I needed to know if they were getting crowded and if they were building queen cells.
Some beekeepers will also switch the boxes this part of the season. During the winter the bees move up into the upper boxes as they eat their honey stores. So moving the upper boxes to the bottom pushes them back down again and encourages brood to stay down low instead of getting up into the honey. I contemplated doing this, but ultimately changed my mind. I didn't want to separate the cluster from their honey. And I think they'll move back down as necessary. So I'm leaving things alone and just seeing how it all works out. I've done more manipulations with this hive than I'd normally like to do anyway.
My smoker wasn't working right so I wasn't able to properly smoke them. I was having trouble because I was trying out burlap as the fuel instead of my usual pine needles and wood chips blend (because it was all wet). I've tried burlap before with no success, but I thought I'd give it a second chance. Well, the bees never got smoked right and were on high alert and I got stung.
Video Link
Video Link
In this inspection I was only trying to get an idea of the population size. We're coming up on swarm season soon and I needed to know if they were getting crowded and if they were building queen cells.
Some beekeepers will also switch the boxes this part of the season. During the winter the bees move up into the upper boxes as they eat their honey stores. So moving the upper boxes to the bottom pushes them back down again and encourages brood to stay down low instead of getting up into the honey. I contemplated doing this, but ultimately changed my mind. I didn't want to separate the cluster from their honey. And I think they'll move back down as necessary. So I'm leaving things alone and just seeing how it all works out. I've done more manipulations with this hive than I'd normally like to do anyway.
My smoker wasn't working right so I wasn't able to properly smoke them. I was having trouble because I was trying out burlap as the fuel instead of my usual pine needles and wood chips blend (because it was all wet). I've tried burlap before with no success, but I thought I'd give it a second chance. Well, the bees never got smoked right and were on high alert and I got stung.
Video Link
Monday, March 4, 2013
Bee Vlog - March 2, 2013
I don't do a full inspection today, just take a peek under the hood and swap out some frames of honey. Last fall I moved some frames of honey from Queen Anne to Queen Beatrice. Those frames where drawn out very thick and didn't fit together very well. Now that Queen Anne is dead I have some extra frames of honey that are moldy and I can't extract or use. So I'm harvesting the really thick frame of honey and giving Beatrice 4 new frames of dirty honey in its place. The bees can clean up the mold and use it just fine.
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Video Link
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Bee Vlog - February 2, 2013
It looks like the Varroa mites did their damage. Not enough winter bees in the hive and they couldn't keep warm enough. Queen Anne is dead. Lots of mold and condensation in the hive. Does anybody have advice on what to do with moldy frames? Or even worse...moldy wax?
On the other hand, Queen Beatrice is doing great. They were bringing in lots of pollen. The population looks strong and they still have plenty of honey. I'm really happy with how well they're doing.
After looking over the remains of Queen Anne, I'm thinking I want to give quilt boxes a try next winter. I think that will really aid in maintaining hive temperature and reducing moisture. Queen Beatrice has been fine without one, but I think it will at least give a weakened hive a better fighting chance of survival.
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On the other hand, Queen Beatrice is doing great. They were bringing in lots of pollen. The population looks strong and they still have plenty of honey. I'm really happy with how well they're doing.
After looking over the remains of Queen Anne, I'm thinking I want to give quilt boxes a try next winter. I think that will really aid in maintaining hive temperature and reducing moisture. Queen Beatrice has been fine without one, but I think it will at least give a weakened hive a better fighting chance of survival.
Video Link
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Bee Vlog - January 27, 2013
It's too cold to open the hives (41°F) so I just take a weight and listen in to try to hear if the bees are alive. Queen Beatrice seems to be doing fine. I actually got to see a couple bees moving about. They are steadily eating their honey (observed by weight-loss), and I can hear a good humming sound inside the hive. However, I am concerned for Queen Anne. They have lost very little weight, and I can barely hear anything (if I'm hearing bees and not just background noise). But I won't open any of the hives until it's warm enough. If Queen Anne is alive I don't want to be the cause of death by opening the hive in cold weather and chilling them too much.
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Video Link
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| Hive weight graph |
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