Beehive Inspection, Queen Karma - Bee Vlog - May 30, 2014

Queen Karma is getting her first inspection. It's been a month since the swarm was installed in the hive and they're going to need more room very soon. To stay in front of what the bees need I'm adding a box.

These bees look really good. Every frame was full of brood. I also like the color variation I see among the workers. This is a good indication that the queen is well-mated and has a good mix of genetics.


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Hive Entrance Experiment - Bee Vlog - May 29, 2014

I'm trying out a modification to my hive entrances. Instead of using the full width, or even reduced entrance, of the standard Langstroth hive, I'm drilling holes in the boxes to be used as entrances or ventilation. I've seen other beekeepers do this too but never gave it much thought or credit. But last year when I gave a hive a box with a hole I noticed that the bees preferred to use the hole. I thought there might be something to it, so I'm trying it on all my hives.

There are several reasons I think this is a good idea:
1) It mimics the knot-hole-style entrance of a bee-tree.
2) It's small and easy to guard, but...
3) Even though it's small the bees seem to have no trouble using it. It doesn't seem to act like a choke point.
4) With a hole in each box they'll get better ventilation without making it too drafty.
5) I can close off holes as necessary to more easily "reduce the entrance" during the dearth.

I don't know why I was so hesitant to try this. I think I didn't like the idea of drilling a hole in my woodenware. But if I ever need to resize or patch a hole I can simply glue in a dowel plug. It's no big deal.


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Bee-friendly plants - Bee Vlog - May 26, 2014

Our backyard has been taken over by chickens who like to eat all the plants. I've been busy building a fence to confine the chickens to one area so that we can plant a better garden with more bee-friendly plants. We're trying to make the backyard more welcoming to pollinators.


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Swarm #2 for 2014 - Bee Vlog - Apr 29, 2014

This swarm was in the same location as the one from yesterday, but was just easier to get to. I think there were actually 2 swarms in this tree, unfortunately I wasn't able to catch it on video. While gathering the cluster that was on the low branches I saw another cluster up on the top of the tree. At first I thought the queen had flown up there and they regrouped on the other branch. So I snipped it down and added it to the box. I saw the queen and promptly caged her.

Later when I got the box home I heard piping coming from the box - a sound queens make, usually before they do battle. When I put them in the hive all seemed just fine, and I kept the queen caged up. A couple hours later I went to go see how they were doing and I found a dead queen that had been ejected from the hive.

Later in the evening when I went into the hive to release the queen from the cage I found that she had already been released. I think I might have accidentally let it pop open when I was trying to push it into place in the comb.

So now I'm thinking there were 2 (or more queens). But I can't be sure until I get back into it and look for a queen in a few more days.


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Swarm #1 for 2014 - Bee Vlog - Apr 28, 2014

My first swarm of the 2014 beekeeping season! It was in a tough location, but with the help of my friend Don we were able to get them into the box. The queen was flying around and didn't want to settle in. I wished that I packed my queen clip because I had many opportunities to catch her.


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CCD or Abscond? - Bee Vlog - Apr 10, 2014

I got a call that there was a swarm by one of my beehives today. When I got there the swarm had moved on, but I found that my bees had either absconded, or fell victim to the mysterious CCD. Was it my bees in the swarm? If so, why would they abscond and leave the queen behind? They seemed fine a month ago with pollen coming in. Very strange.


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Swarm traps are done - Bee Vlog - Apr 5, 2014

I'm building my swarm traps out of medium 5-frame nuc boxes this year so that they can be more than just a single-use piece of equipment. Here's the video where I built the boxes.

Half of the swarm traps have been painted on the inside with a propolis wash. It was very easy to do. Just dissolve some propolis with grain alcohol, paint inside the box and let it dry. All of the traps are baited with 2-3 drops of lemongrass oil and have a frame with drawn brood comb. No honey, to avoid attracting ants.

Now it's time to get those traps out there! If you build it, they will come.



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