Don't Expose Your Weiner to the Bees

Now, before your mind goes where it shouldn't, let me make known that we have a Daschund or Weiner Dog.  With that bit of clarity in hand, today Dawn and I went to the farm to check on the bees and see if their were making queen cells after the 3-way split last weekend.  We also brought along the dogs because they enjoy the farm so much: Sammy (black lab) and Molly (The Weiner).  We thought the dogs would run about while we were working with the bees, but Molly (aka - The Weiner) stayed pretty close to us. 

As we were checking the original East Hive we found the bees were quite upset with our presence and began getting defensive and buzzing all about.  At this point I noticed Molly running on the back side of the hives and when Dawn called her she was covered in bees.  Dawn quickly wiped the bees off of her and threw her into the truck for protection.  She ended up getting around a dozen stings and was reacting to the pain and venim with panting, vomiting, and diarrhea.  We spoke with the vet on call and he recommended 25mg of benadryl unless she was going into anaphylactic shock, then we would need to bring her in, but that never happened.  With the benadryl in her system she had a very calm night, which Dawn appeciated!  So, the lesson learned today is "Don't Expose Your Weiner to the Bees!"

As for the bees, West Hive is doing OK, but I think I need to replace the queen this year; we found her in the upper hive box, but she does not have a strong laying pattern.  Now for the splits, the original East Hive will be East 1, and the other two splits going east will be East 2 and East 3.  East 3 is where the original queen is located as evidenced by lots of young brood and no emergency queen cells.  East 1 and East 2 have emergency queen cells going either capped or almost capped.  Also, East 1 has the drone frame and the drones are doing well!  Lots of drones coming online to help with future mating.

3-Way Split Today

While at the farm today I decided to split the East Hive.  It has been doing well and is a lot stronger than the West Hive.  As I dug into the hive I found lots of bees and lots of brood.  I found three frames with 1-day old larva and decided to try for a 3-way split.  I never found the queen among all the bees, so I made sure each hive had a frame with 1-day old larva for raising queens as needed.

Swarm Trap

Today I put the finishing touches on a swarm trap.  It is based on a design I saw at the bee school in Henderson, Kentucky, last month.  Basically, it is a 5 frame nuc with a 1 inch hole in the front, a detachable lid, and an arm for hanging.  I hung it behind the farm house with some drawn comb in it to see it any wild swarms will take an interest!

East Hive Bustin' with Bees

Dawn & I did an inventory on the bee hives today.  The West Hive has not been very active, but also they were low on bees following the two cold spells earlier this year.  I didn't find the queen but did find larva and capped brood.  As for the East Hive, they were bustin' with bees in the middle of a warm afternoon.  We found larva and capped brood in both boxes, and Dawn found the queen who suddenly crawled into Dawn's hand!  I also found drone capped brood and larva on both the drone frame and the frame immediately above it.  I'm considering splitting this hive tomorrow, since I won't be available to check on it much over the next two weeks.

Killer Honey!

Tonight my daughter, Jessica, and I went to Joe Sippers for some java and daddy/daughter conversation when I received a phone call from Eleanor Balson, state bee inspector for this area, asking about the beekeepers meeting.  It turns out she had her weeks off and had driven to Effingham, so we invited her to Joe Sippers for some coffee before her long drive home.  Eleanor had recently returned from Brazil where she spent 7 weeks helping with their bee industry in the back-country.  She showed us some facinating photos, but most interesting to me was the fact that they raise and care for Africanized bees (i.e. "Killer Bees").  She told us how they have to use huge smokers to keep them somewhat under control, and when you work with them it seems like the entire hive empties out onto you!  She also brought some killer bee honey for Jess and I to sample....very good honey from the native flowers....and yes, I would describe it as "Killer Honey"!

Workin' Like Bees

Today I took advantage of the beautiful, sunny, windy weather and painted several of my hive components that I have been building.  Below is a photo of 7 starter hives ready for bee occupants.

Filling the Feeders

This evening after work we headed up to the farm to prep the hives for large scale feeding.  I took off the old candy boards, which were about finished off anyway and replaced the inner covers for the spring season.  About a month ago I made several entrance feeders and decided to put them to good use.  I had Dawn make up 1.5 gallons of 1:1 sugar water and I placed 3 1-quart feeders on the inner cover and placed a hive box and lid over them.  That gives each hive enough sugar water for several days.  I hope to get up there soon and see how much water they are consuming this early in the season.

Busy as Bees Today

Dad and I spent the day at the farm with our focus on honey bees.  We teamed up on building hive components including bottom boards and telescopic lids.  How I wish I had a right angle bender for the aluminum to cover the lids...things would go a lot faster!  After lunch I suited up and headed out to the hives to rearrange things for spring production.  I dug into the West Hive first, found the queen who was laying eggs and had probably day 3 larva in the comb...I was so excited.  I placed the queen and brood frames in the bottom box, removed the honey super, and got things squared away.  The East Hive also had brood, but I couldn't find the queen.  I moved the brood frames into the bottom box as well....I was really surprised how much honey the East Hive had in the hive!  I need to get up there this week to check on the feeders and maybe set up multiple feeders on top of the inner cover so I don't have to check that often.

Here is the West Hive during Spring Inventory.  I repositioned all the frames for Spring Production.

Here is my West Hive Queen Laying an Egg!!!  Is this cool or what!!!

Here's one of my West Hive bees with a strange growth on her butt.

Bees Vital to Pollination!

This is an interesting quote from United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) executive director Achim Steiner.

"The fact is that of the 100 crop species
that provide 90 percent of the world's food,
over 70 are pollinated by bees."

Dropping Numbers

Aaron & I went up to the farm today to check on the bees.  The East Hive was looking good, so I stuck a Brood Builder pollen patty on top of the frames, stuck in a drone frame, and went to check the other hive.  What I found I didn't like.  A few weeks ago the West Hive was looking strong, but this time they were few in numbers and hadn't eaten much more on the original pollen patty I have them in January.  There were few bees on top and most were in between the frames.  I checked to lower boxes and found nothing except dead bees on the bottom board screen.  I used the mouse guard to rake out many, many dead bees out of the bottom board....it made me sick to see so many dead ones when the other hive is still strong.  I put a Brood Builder patty and stuck in a drone frame, and began the long process of trying to figure out what to do next.  I did make up some 1:1 sugar water and set up a feeder for each hive; I check on them later on in the week.  Aaron and I then went to the wood shop and worked completing ten inner covers and getting all the wood cut out for 15 telescopic covers.  Next time we'll assemble the lids and start on the mating nucs.

Bee School in Kentucky

Today I went to the bee school in Henderson, Kentucky, which was the same one I attended last year when I decided to commit to beekeeping.  This time I took Dawn, Aaron, and my friend Dick Loy.  They didn't have quite as big of a turn out as last year, but still quite a crowd.  I went to workshops on marketing your bee products, swarm control, bee nutrition, and raising queens.  It was a lot of fun, and I think all of us had a good time a learned a good bit as well.

Recipe from Liquid Kitchen

For those who enjoy liquid adult refreshment, this may be worth a try.  It is called a Honey Hum Collins and utilizes a water and honey solution as part of the recipe.  Kathy Casey, the gal in the video, is also a beekeeper and has her own brand of honey called "5130 Honey", which is the address of her beeyard. If you give this a try, please post your thoughts below in the comments section.

Plans for Expansion

I love the Spring-like weather we are having, and my thoughts turn to what I want to do with my apiary this year.  I've been talking with Dawn, and we have decided on expansion of the bee operation beyond my initial hopes of adding six more hives.  If the weather cooperates and I am able to successfully split my two existing hives, then I hope to use them for harvesting worker bees for starting new hives in June.  In May I'll be taking a queen rearing class and will be bringing home a frame of queen cells to raise, and I hope to give as many as possible a new hive as a birthday present!  We'll see how the best laid plans of mice and men work out....more to come.

Bees Doing Great!

Dawn and I went to the farm today to check on the bees.  It was around 50 degrees and they were buzzing all around taking their cleansing flights and cleaning out their dead.  Over the past month it looks as if they have each eaten about 5 pounds of sugar from the candy boards.  They had also eaten about a 5th of a full pollen patty.  I'm hoping that they worst of winter has passed, and I can start feeding them sugar water and building up brood.  I'm hoping to split the hives in late March. 

Added Pollen Patties

I shared with a beekeeper my frustration with the aggressive nature of the West Hive, and he suggested trying some pollin patties to see if a change in nutrition will result in a change in temperment.  It was was quite cold today, but I was up at the farm and decided to stick in a couple of patties - one for each hive.  The East Hive was down on the frames appearing quite slow, while the West Hive was at the top buzzing loudly at my presence.  Well, we'll see what happens.