No inspection, just Bee Zen.
What is it about watching bees busy at work that is so relaxing? Sit back and enjoy 10 minutes of Bee Zen meditation at the entrance of Queen Beatrice's hive. I recommend adjusting the YouTube settings to hi-definition & full-screen.
Video Link
And another 10 minutes with Queen Anne's hive.
Video Link
Monday, September 17, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Bee Vlog - September 10, 2012
After about 48 hours with the bee escape in place, the honey super still had 100+ bees in it. I'm not sure if it was because the weather had cooled a little and activity slowed, or if it's typical for so many bees to just stay behind. I tried blowing them out and brushing, but the method I finally ended up using was "blasting" with a leaf blower. That's not something I'll be doing ever again. It didn't really seem that effective (the bees can hold on really well) and it seemed to be doing more harm than necessary. Next time I'll be more prepared with an empty box and just use the brush.
A couple frames of comb were extra thick, so to restore proper frame spacing I tried "thinning" the comb by cutting off the faces. Another big FAIL. I ended up just harvesting that entire frame via "crush and strain" and I'll save the honey for any emergency feeding during the winter. (Yes, I tasted it. Yes, it's DELICIOUS!) The rest of the frames were given as-is to Queen Beatrice.
After I got the honey super into the kitchen I spotted a nasty little varoa mite. So there's no doubt that Queen Anne's hive has mites. Every beehive has mites, so I'm not too worried. I don't know how bad the infestation is, but I don't see any signs of weakness or disease in that hive. Again, I won't be treating and I'll just leave it up to the bees to deal with them their own way. It may seem cruel to just let it happen, but I think it's more cruel to treat with pesticides that can also harm the bees. I also believe there's no real helpful or effective treatment.
Video Link
A couple frames of comb were extra thick, so to restore proper frame spacing I tried "thinning" the comb by cutting off the faces. Another big FAIL. I ended up just harvesting that entire frame via "crush and strain" and I'll save the honey for any emergency feeding during the winter. (Yes, I tasted it. Yes, it's DELICIOUS!) The rest of the frames were given as-is to Queen Beatrice.
After I got the honey super into the kitchen I spotted a nasty little varoa mite. So there's no doubt that Queen Anne's hive has mites. Every beehive has mites, so I'm not too worried. I don't know how bad the infestation is, but I don't see any signs of weakness or disease in that hive. Again, I won't be treating and I'll just leave it up to the bees to deal with them their own way. It may seem cruel to just let it happen, but I think it's more cruel to treat with pesticides that can also harm the bees. I also believe there's no real helpful or effective treatment.
Video Link
Monday, September 10, 2012
Bee Vlog - September 8, 2012
Hive weigh-in:
Queen Anne: Unknown (very heavy)
Queen Beatrice: 89 lbs (+4.4 lbs from 2 weeks ago)
Today's inspection involved mapping out the hive and relocating a couple frames to move the drone comb out of the center of the nest. I'll be moving some honey from Anne to Beatrice, so to clear out the extra honey super on Queen Anne I'm using a bee escape board. I'll come back after 24 hours to check on it.
If I just wanted to keep the 2 hives and not do any expansion in the spring then I'd be fine with leaving the honey where it's at and leave Queen Beatrice as is. It would be a good experiment to see how well they were able to survive through the winter with just the stores they gathered themselves.
However, I do want to expand next spring and I want to make sure Queen Beatrice makes it through the winter. It seems like Queen Anne has enough stores to spare so I'll be taking some of it and sharing it. Of course, doing this also runs the risk of taking too much away from Anne, so I'll be keeping a close eye on them through the winter to make sure they don't starve.
Video Link
Queen Anne: Unknown (very heavy)
Queen Beatrice: 89 lbs (+4.4 lbs from 2 weeks ago)
Today's inspection involved mapping out the hive and relocating a couple frames to move the drone comb out of the center of the nest. I'll be moving some honey from Anne to Beatrice, so to clear out the extra honey super on Queen Anne I'm using a bee escape board. I'll come back after 24 hours to check on it.
If I just wanted to keep the 2 hives and not do any expansion in the spring then I'd be fine with leaving the honey where it's at and leave Queen Beatrice as is. It would be a good experiment to see how well they were able to survive through the winter with just the stores they gathered themselves.
However, I do want to expand next spring and I want to make sure Queen Beatrice makes it through the winter. It seems like Queen Anne has enough stores to spare so I'll be taking some of it and sharing it. Of course, doing this also runs the risk of taking too much away from Anne, so I'll be keeping a close eye on them through the winter to make sure they don't starve.
Video Link
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Bee Vlog - August 25, 2012
Hive weigh-in:
Queen Anne - (Too heavy to get a good reading, but I got individual readings of the boxes)
Boxes 1 & 2 together containing the brood nest, some food storage, and the bottom board: 72.4 lbs
Box 3 alone: 62 lbs (about 50 lbs of just honey)
Box 4 alone: 43.6 lbs (about 30 lbs of just honey)
Queen Beatrice - 84.6 lbs (+4.2 lbs from 2 weeks ago)
In today's inspection I talk a little about my efforts in treatment-free beekeeping. I do some cell size measurements and explain the importance of cell size to maintaining a healthy treatment-free hive. Queen Anne's cells are still measuring at 5.4mm...the same as the foundation they came from. Her daughters are the 1st generation to be raised in a foundationless hive, so they are still drawing out cells to the same size. It's going to take a few generations to get them to regress to a smaller cell.
Queen Beatrice's cells are a little smaller though - ranging in size from 5.1 to 5.4mm. This tells me they were either a feral hive, once managed a few generations ago, or came from a managed foundationless hive that has had a few generations since they have used foundation. Either way they're likely from strong survivor stock. A very good sign.
Housel positioning seems to be a controversial subject. Here are two differing opinions/resources.
BeeSource: Housel Positioning – How I View Its Importance To Beekeeping!
Bee Natural Guy: Housel Positioning – Seeing is believing. Or is it?
Some beekeepers swear by it while others seem to notice no difference. I was curious to see if I could observe my bees creating a Housel pattern naturally. But that just doesn't seem to be the case. I saw on a few frames that the pattern can vary across a single frame. There doesn't seem to be any uniformity. I believe that the bees don't really seem to care about such things. I suspect there's some placebo effect at play for the beekeepers that notice improved behavior when positioning their foundation in a Housel pattern.
Video Link
Queen Anne - (Too heavy to get a good reading, but I got individual readings of the boxes)
Boxes 1 & 2 together containing the brood nest, some food storage, and the bottom board: 72.4 lbs
Box 3 alone: 62 lbs (about 50 lbs of just honey)
Box 4 alone: 43.6 lbs (about 30 lbs of just honey)
Queen Beatrice - 84.6 lbs (+4.2 lbs from 2 weeks ago)
In today's inspection I talk a little about my efforts in treatment-free beekeeping. I do some cell size measurements and explain the importance of cell size to maintaining a healthy treatment-free hive. Queen Anne's cells are still measuring at 5.4mm...the same as the foundation they came from. Her daughters are the 1st generation to be raised in a foundationless hive, so they are still drawing out cells to the same size. It's going to take a few generations to get them to regress to a smaller cell.
Queen Beatrice's cells are a little smaller though - ranging in size from 5.1 to 5.4mm. This tells me they were either a feral hive, once managed a few generations ago, or came from a managed foundationless hive that has had a few generations since they have used foundation. Either way they're likely from strong survivor stock. A very good sign.
Housel positioning seems to be a controversial subject. Here are two differing opinions/resources.
BeeSource: Housel Positioning – How I View Its Importance To Beekeeping!
Bee Natural Guy: Housel Positioning – Seeing is believing. Or is it?
Some beekeepers swear by it while others seem to notice no difference. I was curious to see if I could observe my bees creating a Housel pattern naturally. But that just doesn't seem to be the case. I saw on a few frames that the pattern can vary across a single frame. There doesn't seem to be any uniformity. I believe that the bees don't really seem to care about such things. I suspect there's some placebo effect at play for the beekeepers that notice improved behavior when positioning their foundation in a Housel pattern.
Video Link
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Highlight - A Plea for Bees' Needs: Dr. Elizabeth Elle
In this video, Dr. Elizabeth Elle gives a great lecture on what we (all) can do to support backyard biodiversity. Her talk includes 4 important points:
Video Link
- Why should we care about bees?
- Are the bees in trouble?
- What is a bee anyway?
- What can I do?
One thing I really liked about the talk was how much information she gave about, not just the honey bee we're most familiar with, but about the other native bees and how we can support their populations as well.
It's nearly an hour long, so grab some popcorn and enjoy!
Video Link
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Bee Vlog - August 11, 2012
Hive weigh-in:
Queen Anne - Unknown, too heavy for scale
Queen Beatrice - 80.4 lbs (+7.4 lbs from last week)
I put out a call to some of my friends to see if any want to host a hive or 2 for me next spring. I had a few responses. One of the families was with me for today's inspection so they could see what typical hive activity looked like. The kids were really interested so I wanted to also give them a chance to see inside a hive and learn a little about bees. Knowing that I wouldn't be doing a full inspection, and that nobody else would be suited up, I went ahead and tried this inspection without a suit or veil (I had one in the car just in case things went bad though). No problems at all. Nobody was stung and everyone enjoyed seeing and learning. Queen Beatrice's hive is finally growing really well and they've been making good progress expanding the brood nest.
Video Link
Queen Anne - Unknown, too heavy for scale
Queen Beatrice - 80.4 lbs (+7.4 lbs from last week)
I put out a call to some of my friends to see if any want to host a hive or 2 for me next spring. I had a few responses. One of the families was with me for today's inspection so they could see what typical hive activity looked like. The kids were really interested so I wanted to also give them a chance to see inside a hive and learn a little about bees. Knowing that I wouldn't be doing a full inspection, and that nobody else would be suited up, I went ahead and tried this inspection without a suit or veil (I had one in the car just in case things went bad though). No problems at all. Nobody was stung and everyone enjoyed seeing and learning. Queen Beatrice's hive is finally growing really well and they've been making good progress expanding the brood nest.
Video Link
Monday, August 6, 2012
Bee Vlog - August 4, 2012
Hive weigh-in
Queen Anne: Unknown (very heavy)
Queen Beatrice: 61.5 lbs before adding the 2nd box (+2.9 lbs from last week)
It's been a few weeks since I checked the brood, so a full inspection was done today. Even though they're really back-filling the brood nest in the 1st box (bottom) with bee bread (pollen), the brood nest in he 2nd box is looking very good. Lots of honey coming in still. The 4th box (top) is starting to fill out even more. And this time I get a little taste of their honey and comb from some burr comb they built between boxes.
Video Link
Queen Beatrice had a population boom and has finally filled up the 1st box. The comb I straightened up last week has been re-attached very well. Now everything is nice and straight and orderly. I pyramided up the brood nest like I did with the other hive previously. I moved 3 of the brood frames up into the 2nd box in a checkerboard pattern, replacing the removed frames with empty foundationless frames. My previous concerns about the relatively slow growth of this colony are now gone. They're bringing in plenty of food and are functioning very well. Even though I didn't see the queen I can tell from the brood pattern that she is healthy and doing well. Also, the site of eggs in new drone comb tells me that the bees are also feeling confident with their situation.
Video Link
Queen Anne: Unknown (very heavy)
Queen Beatrice: 61.5 lbs before adding the 2nd box (+2.9 lbs from last week)
It's been a few weeks since I checked the brood, so a full inspection was done today. Even though they're really back-filling the brood nest in the 1st box (bottom) with bee bread (pollen), the brood nest in he 2nd box is looking very good. Lots of honey coming in still. The 4th box (top) is starting to fill out even more. And this time I get a little taste of their honey and comb from some burr comb they built between boxes.
Video Link
Queen Beatrice had a population boom and has finally filled up the 1st box. The comb I straightened up last week has been re-attached very well. Now everything is nice and straight and orderly. I pyramided up the brood nest like I did with the other hive previously. I moved 3 of the brood frames up into the 2nd box in a checkerboard pattern, replacing the removed frames with empty foundationless frames. My previous concerns about the relatively slow growth of this colony are now gone. They're bringing in plenty of food and are functioning very well. Even though I didn't see the queen I can tell from the brood pattern that she is healthy and doing well. Also, the site of eggs in new drone comb tells me that the bees are also feeling confident with their situation.
Video Link
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