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
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Sunday, July 13, 2014
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
Video Link
Thursday, July 10, 2014
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
Video Link
Monday, July 7, 2014
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
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
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
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Splitting Queen Helen - Bee Vlog - Jun 28, 2014
It's time to split Queen Helen. My friend Wil is going to be using one of the splits for a trap-out. When the trap-out is finished he'll be returning the nuc to me.
Queen Helen's Origin.
How I made the nuc boxes.
The strategy I have in splitting this time of year is:
1) Keeping the hive strong through the nectar flow to maximize honey yields. (Not necessarily for me, but to make sure the bees have enough honey for winter.) The main nectar flow is now drawing to a close and drones are still available to mate with the new queens.
2) I want to make more hives from queens that have proven to make strong hives and can survive the winters here.
3) I want to try overwintering nucs and see what I can learn through that process. Ultimately this is the type of strategy I would like to have going forward: raising queens in the summer + overwinter the nucs = strong hives for the spring.
4) Having a break in brood rearing may also help reduce the mite population. This is not my main purpose, but it's certainly a part of it. Especially since I've been suppressing their swarm instinct. This is an opportunity to still let them "swarm."
Next week I'll check on the splits to make sure they've created queen cells and are raising new queens.
Video Link
Queen Helen's Origin.
How I made the nuc boxes.
The strategy I have in splitting this time of year is:
1) Keeping the hive strong through the nectar flow to maximize honey yields. (Not necessarily for me, but to make sure the bees have enough honey for winter.) The main nectar flow is now drawing to a close and drones are still available to mate with the new queens.
2) I want to make more hives from queens that have proven to make strong hives and can survive the winters here.
3) I want to try overwintering nucs and see what I can learn through that process. Ultimately this is the type of strategy I would like to have going forward: raising queens in the summer + overwinter the nucs = strong hives for the spring.
4) Having a break in brood rearing may also help reduce the mite population. This is not my main purpose, but it's certainly a part of it. Especially since I've been suppressing their swarm instinct. This is an opportunity to still let them "swarm."
Next week I'll check on the splits to make sure they've created queen cells and are raising new queens.
Video Link
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Swarm Trap Success! - Bee Vlog - Jun 14, 2014
It worked! I get more excited about catching swarms in a trap than I do when I chase them and catch them manually. It takes a little more preparation, but it's so much easier. And when it works it's very validating. They actually chose to live in a box I built for them!
Video Link
Here's the video showing how I built the traps.
Video Link
Here's the video showing how I built the traps.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)