Checking on the new queens - Bee Vlog - Aug 2, 2014

The nucs should have had enough time now to raise a new queen and for that queen to mate and begin laying eggs. By now I should expect to see capped brood if all went well.

During the inspection I found that nucs #1 & #3 had been successful, but nuc #2 was queenless and the workers began to lay eggs. I'll provide another video soon showing what I did about the laying workers.

Previous videos -
Making the splits
Checking the queen cells

Follow up video -
Laying workers


Video Link

Feeding Queen Natalia - Bee Vlog - Jul 26, 2014

I normally prefer not to feed my bees, except in times of emergency. I think this is one of those times for Queen Natalia: a swarm I caught in late June, at the end of our big nectar flow. I'm a firm believer in following your instincts and "gut feelings" when it comes to managing bees. This is one of those times where my gut is telling me to feed them instead of following my typical methods. They don't have any honey stores saved up, so I gave them a quart of honey to see if it helps them get through the dearth and get better prepared for winter.


Video Link

Checking Honey, Queen Karma - Bee Vlog - Jul 26, 2014

Inspection time for Queen Karma. The purpose of today's inspection is to see how honey storage is coming along. The main nectar flow is over and I'd like to make sure they have a good supply for the dearth and eventually winter.


Video Link

Safety Cone Swarm - Bee Vlog - Jul 11, 2014

There was a swarm at my neighborhood park that looked like it decided to move into a safety cone. A very easy swarm catch. They were already in a "bucket" waiting for me to just dump them into the hive.


Video Link

Bearding on a hot day - Bee Vlog - Jul 8, 2014

Queen Louise had a really big beard today due to poor ventilation. So I gave them more expansion room and a better ventilated hive.


Video Link

Queen Cells - Bee Vlog - Jul 5, 2014

Checking up on the 3 nucs that were split off of Queen Helen. It's been 7 days since the split and I need to see if the queen cells have at least been started. If the bees aren't raising any queens at this point then another frame of eggs would need to be given to them.

Fortunately, it looks like they wasted no time and immediately started raising new queens. I found a good quantity of capped queen cells in each nuc. Which means they chose from the very young larvae and began building out the cells within a day after the split.


Video Link

Trap Out with Wil - Bee Vlog - Jun 30, 2014

I mentioned in my last video that Wil was going to do a trap out with one of the nucs. In this video I show how the trap out is coming along.

Last year I tried a trap out and it didn't go so well. Here's the video of that.
Part 1 - Part 2


Video Link