Yes, fellow beekeepers: I'm baaaack!

It has been seven months since my last post on this blog.  So needless to say, I am a little behind.  Nay, I'm way behind.  Even thought I had the best intentions of jumping online and update my blog, something would come along and my ambition would be set aside.  But I do appreciate the messages or emails from several of you who just wanted to make sure that I'm still alive and kicking. The good news is, yes, I'm very much alive and kicking.  The bad news is that the realities of life got in the way of me keeping everyone updated on what was going on.  So let me catch everyone up from then until now.

The last part of 2011 was somewhat of a mess for me.  I'm fond of telling people that I was wide awake on New Year's Eve, not so much to celebrate the grand entrance of 2012, but to make sure 2011 was gone for good (and good riddance too).  

My mom was sick quite a bit in 2011 which included several hospitalizations, so my brother and I had to make sure my dad was taken care of while she was away.  Plus there were countless trips to and from the hospital too.  Luckily she got well and was able to finally come home.  Once she was stable and settled at home again, we got to go on vacation in September and spent a great week at the beach.  But it seemed as if once I got back home, life got hectic with work and other things that took up a lot of my time so many things fell by the wayside.  From Labor Day to the New Year, especially during the holidays, it is a really busy time in the broadcasting business anyway. 

I started feeling really bad in mid October, physically ill, and thought I may have developed an ulcer.  But as the days passed, the pain I felt became more localized, so I finally went to see a doctor (after changing my self-diagnosis to a hernia).  Thank goodness I'm not a doctor.  It wasn't an ulcer or a hernia; it was my appendix which was at the point of rupture.  After having a CT scan, the doctor would not let me leave the hospital and they started pumping me full of antibiotics for an early surgery the next morning.  Thank goodness it all came out just fine and I only had to spend two and a half days in the hospital.  My only real pain afterward was the bills that started rolling in.  I think I received a bill from every doctor within 10 miles of the hospital.

But then November rolled around and more problems came along.  As I started feeling better, our beloved Fritz, a Dachshund we adopted from the local pound, started feeling poorly.  We took him for several visits to the veterinarian to find out what was wrong, but an ultrasound revealed the worst fears we had.  He had cancer of the liver.  In the thirteen years he was with us, he had been through so much.  He had survived several surgeries to remove stones in his bladder and various cysts here and there too.  In the last three years he became totally blind, but he did really well with it because he had learned his way around the house and was always with us.  But this cancerous tumor was something he couldn't fight and we knew time was running out and running out fast.  Two weeks after the diagnosis, old and weak, he lost his fight.  With us surrounding him with all the love we could muster, he drew his last breath and left us for good.  Truthfully, it was one of the toughest moments in my entire adult life. And four months later, it is still hard and not a day goes by when I don't think of him.  I plan to post more on him later.

The Christmas holidays rolled around on time, and while I had finished everything I needed to do (including shopping and cooking)..I started feeling really worn down on Christmas Eve.  Thinking that I was just physically and mentally tired from the holiday rush, I finished what I needed to do and had dinner that night with my family at my parent's home.  After dinner, I went back to my own home and was so tired that I just couldn't hold my head up so I went to bed.  You guessed it!  Just a few hours later, I was really, really sick.  I'll spare you the gory details, but it turned out to be a really nasty case of the flu.  I finally got to see my family doctor on the day after Christmas (being a cheapskate, I wasn't going to fork out $500+ for an emergency room visit) and one shot and two bottles of medicine later, I finally started to feel better. So much better that I stayed up on New Year's Eve to watch 2011 leave for good.  It was a really bad year and I'm glad it is gone forever.

I'll spare you January and February of this year other than to say they were pretty good months overall.  And March has been pretty darn good too.  My area of North Carolina was in spring weather way before it arrived officially on the calendar.  Luckily all four of my bee colonies survived the winter although I probably wasn't as attentive to them last fall as I should have been.  Over the last month, hardly a day goes by that I don't see a flurry of bees in front of each hive although one of them appears to be weaker than the rest.  I plan to spend some time over the next few days with them and see what is going on internally.  But as you can see from the picture, my girls are definitely taking advantage of the nice warm days of spring.  

So yes friends, I'm back.  I plan to try to post regularly and let you know what is happening with me and the bees at our humble apiary in the Triad area of North Carolina.  And once again, thanks to everyone who sent a message to check and see if I'm still around.  It means so much to know that even though I haven't met many of you personally, you still care.  Beekeepers are like that!   We're a special lot!

Bee good!

-Mark

Anatomy of a dead hive...

If you read my last post, you saw that my big mother hive, the yellow hive, died without warning.  I was suspicious that the colony died of starvation, but wouldn't know until I did a thorough exam of the inside.  So with the weather being in the 60s for the last few days, I decided to take the hive apart to see what I could find.  And sadly, what I found confirmed my suspicions.

But before I get too far ahead of myself, let me say that just the other day, I noticed quite a few bees flying in and out of the big yellow hive.  I started to question if the bees in the yellow hive were really dead or if they were just cold and in some type of suspended animation.  Maybe the warmth had stirred them from their slumber and they were now alert and back to being honey bees?  But sadly, I learned that I was right all along and the colony really was dead after all. 

As you can see in the picture above, there is plenty of honey left in the yellow hive.  You can see where the bees ate their way along the honey frame from the bottom.  And the two surviving hives, the orange and the lime, knew there was honey here.  The bees I saw flying in and out of the yellow hive were robber bees from the neighboring hives who knew that a honey gold mine lay next door.  It was easy to tell they were mine because the robbers were darker Carniolans, while the deceased inhabitants of this hive were yellowish colored Italians.


Here is the frame where I found the dead cluster.  Looks are deceiving.  While they look alive and just standing there, they're very much dead.  Its as if they just died where they stood...frozen in time forever.  When I raked the dead bees away, you could see dead bees inside the cells, head down, trying to get food.  While there was plenty of food in several of the frames all around them, and candy patties just above them, they didn't move because of the cold and that caused them to starve to death.

The dead monarch lies among her daughters.  You can see the dead queen here, easily identified by the green dot on her back (indicating she was of 2009 stock).  This cluster on the left was in the same clump of bees as above but they were on the opposite frame.  As you can see, the queen was in the middle of the mass and died where she stood along with her daughters.  I will miss this queen and wish all of mine were of the same dynamic quality she was.  As I mentioned before, she was a terrific layer and kept this colony going with beautiful brood frames ever since arriving in 2009.  

A sure sign that the colony starved.  Here you can see that the bees, trying to get food from the cells, died head down.  These bees were covered by the bodies of their sisters who died where they stood.  It baffles me that the bees didn't move over one frame where lots of honey waited for them.  Instead, they died trying to get what was left out of these cells.  I didn't try to remove the bodies from the cells and will leave that for next colony that moves in the yellow hive weeks from now.

The good news, I have a package of bees coming from Mark Bennett at the Chatham, Virginia, branch of Dadant and Sons in early April.  With the frames in the yellow hive already drawn with wax, and honey still available too, it will give the new colony a leg up on establishing themselves.  And I plan to split the orange hive this spring too, so I should have plenty to keep me busy.

Until next time, "bee" vigilent in keeping your colonies alive until the spring thaw which I hope is very soon.  Until then, you have my very best wishes!

The silence of the hive...

The yellow hive is silent.  That's because all life inside her has ceased.  Suddenly and without warning, all of the life and activity that makes a honey bee colony exciting came to a cruel and abrupt end.  And I've thought about it extensively since I discovered it days ago.  Needless to say, it has broken my heart.

Last Thursday night, I decided to go check the hives by "listening" to them.  As many old-time beekeepers will tell you, you may not see a lot of activity around a hive in winter, but you can always listen for life inside.  While many beeks will put their ear to the hive and tap the sides it to arouse the colony, I use a medical stethoscope instead.  Just as a doctor will listen for signs of life through his stethoscope, I listen for life with mine too.  The stethoscope works well because you can put it all on the sides of the hive and better find where the colony is positioned.  Plus you don't have to do all of that bending and stooping to put your ear to the boxes.

I listened to the orange hive first and heard the distinct sounds of buzzing inside the top brood chamber.  Then I moved to the green hive, and while not as loud, I could hear the bees in the top box.  But when I moved to the yellow hive, the strongest colony in my yard, I could find no sounds anywhere.  I moved the scope to the sides and the front and back, and no matter where I moved it, there was no noise of any kind.  That's when I immediately knew that something was seriously wrong.

Not being able to stand it, I carefully opened the top of the hive...and my heart sank.  I could see dead bees all in the bottom, and a small cluster in the middle of the frames at the top -- all dead.  There were no bees anywhere else.  Trying not to panic, and thinking they may be so cold they couldn't move, I closed the top and went inside the house.  But in my heart, I knew they were all dead.  I was so upset that I sent my friend Jared a text message with the news.  I guess I just had to tell to someone.  After we talked, I decided that I would check on the next warm day which would be over the weekend.  The forecast was calling for temperatures in the low 50s, so I knew I would get the chance to look inside.

On Sunday, the temperature rose to 54 degrees, so I went out to look further.  My suspicions were correct, the colony was dead..I only found one lone bee crawling around between the frames.  While I didn't dismantle the hive because I want to do a more intense examination later, I could see that they apparently starved to death.  The honey was gone from the middle frames while there was honey left in the frames to the sides.  And while there was a candy pattie directly above them, they didn't move one inch from the cluster, so they apparently starved.  It was the saddest sight I've seen in my beekeeping experience.  

This was my first colony of bees.  This is the colony I cut my teeth on to be what I hope is a better beekeeper.  This was the only colony I harvested honey from.  The queen was a champion because she was an excellent layer and the workers kept a great hive.  They were extremely gentle and it was true delight to work this colony.  Plus it was just a month ago that they were alive and thriving. 

And then all of a sudden, poof, they're all dead.  

This experience has taught me a valuable lesson.  No matter how confident you feel about your bees, never take it for granted that they'll be around in a week or a month from now.  While you may see a lot of life outside the hive, you need to know what's going on inside the hive too.  Outward appearances can be deceiving.

Unfortunately its too late for my bees in the yellow hive.  As soon as its practical, I'll move their honey to the other hives to keep them going for what's left of this winter.  And I'll introduce a new colony to the yard this spring.  Life will once again come to the now silent and desolate hive.

Goodbye, girls.  I'll miss you.  Pleasant flights!

*Note: The bottom picture is from the fall of 2009 when the yellow hive (it was still white then) was making food stores for the winter.  As you can see, the workers did a terrific job of making honey, and the queen laid an excellent pattern.

Another nasty winter storm hits my area!

The same nasty winter storm that has crawled across the southeast for days finally made it to my area of North Carolina on Monday.  The same winter storm that drove major cities like Atlanta into a frenzy this past Sunday, complete with snow and sleet and freezing rain, arrived here like a lamb on Monday afternoon.  But as soon as night fell, that gentle lamb turned into a ferocious lion and brought my area to a virtual standstill.  Hour by hour, the storm grew heavier with snow that was topped by sleet.  All of this while the temperature hovered around 27, 28 degrees.

Here's one of the pictures I made of the snow while it was pouring down later in the evening.  I just had to share it since it looked so cool.  Check out the streaks from the snow during the photo exposure.  Impressive I think.

Winter drags on.

Warmer weather brings the girls out! And the bee candy is a success too!

Like most of the country, we've been in the dreary pits of winter lately.  The weather here has been frigid.  We've already had two significant episodes of wintry precipitation with another on the way next week.  This is the time when I look out the kitchen window and wish that I could suit up, fire up the smoker, and head for the hives.  Soon enough I suppose.  Spring will be here before you know it.      

But out of the cold weather we've had lately, a warm day finally emerged last week.  As the sun was shining bright, the temperature reached into the 50s, and the bees emerged from their hives.  Here you can see the girls from the yellow hive as they decided to venture out and enjoy the warmth.  This is the biggest colony I have, and even in winter their numbers are high.  Click on any of the pictures to see the larger version.  

Not to be outdone, the girls in the lime green hive came out to bask in the sun.  I've worried more about this hive than the others, and I've had my doubts about their survival.  But out of all three colonies, this one had more bees hanging around outside the entrance.  Even though this is a Carniolan breed which is generally darker in color, you can see some lighter, yellow bees in the foreground.  Those are younger bees which indicates to me that the queen has been laying.  In all probability, this is probably the first time they have ever been outside the hive. 

I wanted to check and see if the bees were taking the bee candy I made over the holidays.  And as you can see, they are.  While the lime green hive had adequate stores, the orange and yellow hives seemed to be rather low.  So I made bee candy to help get all three colonies through the winter.  After all, its not the temperature that kills bees in winter...many times they starve to death.  In my opinion, the bee candy patties I made are much better than using the "mountain camp" method of feeding.  That's because it doesn't leave a big, gummy mess like the mountain camp method does.  Plus the candy patties are fairly easy to make.  I made enough to feed the bees through this winter, so once they finish these patties, I have more in storage.

The bees have eaten a hole in the side of this bee candy patty.  Another thing that makes this method unique is that the natural heat from the cluster inside the hive had risen and softened the patty.  That made it easier for the bees to take it apart and consume it.  This is just one of several patties that the bees had made holes in.  The other patties are the ones I had broken in half and they had a jagged edge for the bees to start working on.

A part of the warm weather ritual for the bees includes housekeeping.  That also includes removing dead bees from the hive.  Bees are extremely hygienic and will not tolerate trash and dead bees to clutter their house.  Here you can see some dead bees lying on the stand in front of the entrance.  I watched the bees as they would drag some of the dead ones outside, then dump them over the front.

A housekeeping bee rests on a leaf after she dumped her dead sister on the ground.  While many bees will just dump the dead ones outside the hive entrance, some will actually pick the dead bee up, fly away from the hive, then dump them.  After that manuever, she'll fly back to the hive to begin the task all over again.  The living bee is on the leaf, and just behind her (in the white circle) is her dead sister.  

Overall I was very pleased and excited to see that my three colonies were so active on a warm day.  While there is very little I can do with my bees at this point, I know that this is the time to start getting prepared for the spring.  Before you know it, it will be swarm season, time for splits, starting new colonies, experimenting to see what works and what doesn't, and just enjoy what beekeeping is all about. 

Here's hoping that 2011 will be a very successful year for your beekeeping endeavors, and in your personal lives too!  I have a feeling that 2011 is going to be a great year for all of us!

Bee happy, fellow beekeepers!

My worst fears may come true. It may be a long, hard winter!

The news accounts are true; the East coast is absolutely, positively frigid!  As you can see, it was mighty cold here this morning.  When I snapped this picture, the temperature was 13-degrees, but the morning low at sunrise was an icy 11-degrees.  And the weather services are calling for snow and ice here tonight and tomorrow, then another wave of it on Saturday.  It looks like Old Man Winter decided to come calling a little early.

In preparation for the cold snap, I checked my bees over the weekend.  They're no longer taking syrup, so I switched over to feeding them homemade bee candy (the recipe is coming in a future post).  Two of the three hives are fine and I'm sure they'll make it through the winter.  But the third, the lime green hive, I admit I have grave concerns about. 

The temperature on Saturday was 45-degrees as I did the quick inspection, and the bees in the yellow and orange hives met me as I cracked open the tops.  Everything looked fine although they were a little testy.  I'm most sure they wondered who was opening their home in the cold weather.  So I placed candy and pollen substitute on the frames and shut everything up tight so they could settle down.  Plus I didn't want to take too long and allow the cold air to permeate the hives.

But the lime hive, well, that was a different story.  When I opened the hive, I found honey all through the top chamber, but I only saw a few bees...and they were dead.  I looked down through the hive and could see all the way through to the screened bottom board.  And as I put my head down near the top, I could hear buzzing.  Finally in frustration, I took my hive tool and rapped several times really loud on the side of the hive.  That's when a handful of bees came to the top to see what the ruckus was about.  With an uneasy feeling, I put the candy and pollen substitute on the frames and quickly shut it up.  I may be wrong and hope I am, but I have a feeling that may be the last time I hear buzzing coming from this colony.  This has been the weakest hive I own; much weaker that the other two and just slow to build up.  If they are lucky enough to make it through the winter, the first thing I want to do this coming spring is replace the queen.  While she was fine initially, I think she has slowly failed as the year progressed.  And my gut feeling is that if I don't replace her, they'll supersede her on their own.  We'll see what happens.

I'll post the recipe for the bee candy soon.  Its a heck of a lot better than gumming up the hive with the "mountain camp" method...and my bees went right to it.  

Until next time, BEE warm!    

Its been a long time, but we're all still here!

It has been a good while since I've blogged.  I had someone ask me just the other day what has become of my bees and me, so I knew then that it was time to jump online and do an update.

Its not because I don't care anymore or that I've lost interest.  Oh no, far from it.  It seems that I got lost in time around late summer when my brother got sick, and then his death.  Then it seemed like I just didn't have enough time to do things.  Throw in my yearly vacation and then back to work, and broadcasters will tell you that one of the busiest times of the year is between Halloween and the new year.  So I've definitely had my hands full and unfortunately, blogging had to take a back seat.  But I hope to get back in the groove and get back to blogging about my love for beekeeping.

My bees are doing okay.  As you probably know, I have three hives.  The yellow hive is the oldest and the orange and lime hives were established this year. 

All three colonies are doing okay, but I have to admit that I'm a little worried about the lime colored hive.  It seem to have the smallest number of bees of the three.  As I took the top off the hive to check for honey stores, I could look down through the frames and see the bottom board.  There were bees in there, but unlike the other two colonies still booming with bees, the lime hive has what seems to be lower numbers.  And honestly I think its the queen in that hive.  This colony was slower to get off the ground, the queen would do fine in laying for awhile and then get spotty, and it seems like they just didn't do as well as the other two. 

The other two colonies?  They're fine it seems.  I have a feeling I'll feed them through the winter just to make sure they'll do okay; syrup until they stop taking it, and if necessary, the "mountain camp" method until spring. 

As of now, I'm sure I'll replace the queen in the lime hive this spring, probably with a Minnesota Hygienic.  As I look back now, I should have replaced her this fall, but with everything going on I just didn't have time.  But if the colony makes it until spring, I'll replace her.  The queen in the orange hive (which is a sister to the queen in the lime hive..they came from the same queen breeder) has done rather well and I hope she will keep going strong.  And I plan to keep the queen in the yellow hive even though she has some age on her (she was my first queen) -- and she'll stay as long as she keeps laying a good pattern.  So far, so good.  We'll see if she cranks up and gets going this coming spring.  Some beekeepers believe in replacing their queens every two years, but my theory is, as long as a queen does a good job, just leave her alone.

So that's it, a brief update.  As you can see, we're all doing okay, and if we can all make it thorough the next few months, we'll get started up again this spring.  As of right now, I'm making a list of things I need for the coming year including hive equipment.  I have a feeling I'll have more bees this spring.  Thing is...where will I put them?  Wow...now theres even more to think about!

More updates soon!

Always make sure you brush after sugary snacks...

So we're finally seeing the sun and some decent temperatures here in the Piedmont Triad. This entire week we've been snow-free, thank goodness, although it looks like we could have a chance of some snow next week. But as of right this moment, the temperature is 51 degrees, and the sun is shining bright. I'll most definitely take it! More please!

I noticed that my girls were all in front of the hive and enjoying the sun. They've been cooped up for months in the brood chambers..just waiting for spring to come so they can once again become a bustling colony. And I'm anxious to get back to working my hive, and if they can make it for another month, I'll split this one off as soon as the numbers are good. 


When I checked under the hood (like a good mechanic does) -- one thing I noticed is that the sugar syrup I put there weeks ago wasn't touched. They took some of it initially, but then as the weather turned cold again, they stopped. Afraid that they may cluster and starve because their stores are too far away, I decided to try the sugar feeding on the top of the frames. I can see where they've made their way up to the top chamber, so they're close enough to take the cane sugar just at the tops of the bars.

I read that newspapers can turn into a mess if you use the sugar feeding method, and that's the last thing I want -- an even more gummy hive. But then I read that wax paper is ideal for this method; it is easily removed when the feeding is over, it won't stain the frames with ink, and it won't get really soggy like newspaper from the humidity in the hive. Plus the bees can chew through it and clean it out when they need to.

So with wax paper, sugar, and a spray bottle of warm water in hand, I went out and set up the sugar method. I put down a sheet of wax paper, then a thin layer of sugar..and then I sprayed the sugar with warm water. Then another thin layer of sugar and a spritz of warm water. Then I repeated the process again for a third time. And for good measure, I decided to add a strip of Mega-Bee to the side in case they wanted it.

Well as you can see, some of the girls couldn't wait to get up there and see what it was all about. This picture doesn't really do this justice since the sugar had bees all over it..I just didn't snap the picture in time. So between this method of feeding and the light gray pollen they were bringing in while I was out there, I think they'll do just fine for now. By the way, the top chamber was full of bees that's under the paper and sugar, so maybe these girls in the picture took some of the goodies down and shared with the rest.

By the way, just a curiosity -- but click on the picture above, the one of the bees on the front of the hive. Take a good look at the bee on the landing board -- the one closest to the bottom of the picture. See her? She's thin and all by herself. You know, if I didn't know better, I would swear that she's a queen. She's not as wide as the rest and she seems to be thinner and longer. While I haven't seen my marked queen since last October, mainly because I left them alone when cold weather started to set it, I'm just wondering if this could be a new queen. I suppose the possibility exists that there could be a brand new queen in the midst of this colony. I'm just going into my second season of beekeeping so I'm a little unsure if this could be happening.

I'm open for ideas here. So give me your thoughts. What do you think?

I'll bee anxious to hear from you!

The clean-up begins after the ice storm...

I feel so much more fortunate than the folks in the northeastern United States who are digging out from under the massive amounts of snow they've received for the last couple of days. While I can empathize, we still have our problems here in my area of North Carolina.

Around 20,000 people in my area are without power, and my own power has gone out twice already this morning. Its all because of a steady rain for two days straight, mixed in with some sleet and spitting snow flurries. Of course, with the ice accumulations comes downed trees and powers lines. Police, EMS, highway crews and power officials are running emergency calls everywhere -- prioritizing the calls by importance. 

The ground here is saturated because of two big snow storms, a rain storm with flooding, and now an ice storm. The wind just has to blow a little bit and down come the trees. And then the ice makes the trees brittle and the ones that don't fall just snap. Same thing with utility poles. They're snapping like twigs. 

Here's some of what I found this morning near my house.

I just happened to ride up on this while running errands. This pole was lying across a very busy residential street near the citys high school, Elk's Lodge and a swim club. An elderly man had his vehicle parked to keep people from running through the power lines in the street. He told me he had been blocking traffic for 30-minutes and no one had showed up to take care of it.

Same pole, different angle. By the time I got home to get my camera and return, city crews had blocked the street with cones. While I was talking to the elderly man blocking the street, he told me that all the utility poles on the street were cracked, but they were still standing for some reason. Whether he knew what he was talking about, I don't know.    

I'm surprised that more of these pine trees didn't fall. This is the entrance to one of the city's more popular summer attractions, the Reidsville Swim Club, and as you can see these trees blocked up the entrance. There may have been more below them, I just didn't want to walk down there to see. The club is directly across the street from the Elk's Lodge where the utility pole snapped in half.

A little closer shot with a better view of the trees at the Swim Club. The county Sheriff, who is a good friend and former co-worker, told me that between 1 o'clock and 5 o'clock on Friday afternoon, they had over 100 trees down across the area, many of them across highways and power lines. That didn't even include what was happening in the cities and towns. And there's no telling how many more there's been since in the last 24-hours, It looks like the clean-up could take weeks instead of days.

So there you have it. That's just a taste of the ice storm that followed on the heels of all the snow and rain we've had here lately. I'm trying to stay positive about all this precipitation and hope that it will make the plant life stronger in the spring and summer. But I have to admit that it is trying my patience. 

Bring on the spring!

The third winter storm looms. I am sick of snow!

Yes, friends, I am sick of snow. No, make it that I'm sick of winter.

This has been the craziest winter I can remember in a long time. Usually the winters here are so mild that people can sometimes walk around in shorts, and that doesn't even include the college kids in flip-flops year-round. But oh no, not this winter. No, this winter has to make up for all of the other mild winters we've had in the past. And with it came frigid temperatures along with the craziest snow and ice storms in memory. As I sit here, the third major snow and ice event looms on the horizon. With it supposedly comes anywhere from 4 to 8 inches of snow, but it looks like a generous amount of sleet and heavy ice may join in. No doubt its going to be a winter weather mess.

In mid December we had 8 inches of snow here. Then the first week of January we had frigid temperatures in the teens. Then a couple of weeks ago we had torrential rains complete with flooding all around my area. Then this past weekend, beginning on Friday the 29th of January, we got another 9 inches of snow and temperatures back down in the teens. And now we're facing our third major frozen weather event this winter. I just saw on the news that the power companies are on high alert now since the ground is already saturated from all the previous wet weather, and if ice comes, that means that trees can topple over and take down power lines.

So anyway, I made pictures of the snow event last weekend but just didn't have time to post them. Frankly they depress me. But I figured since I made them I would share them with you and you can see our very own version of a winter wonderland. 

By the way, have I mentioned that I am sick of winter?

On a side note, my bees are doing fine. I checked them again a couple times this week, just an outside the hive inspection, and on the warmer and sunny days they're out and about flying around. But like me I'm sure they're sick of all this snowy, wet weather. For them I hope we have a warm and dry spring filled with blossoms and blooms. They'll probably be glad to get back into a routine and do what comes natural.

Check out my pictures and click on them for a larger view.

Here's the night view of the snow falling on Friday night. It was a mixture of all sizes of snow, but it was falling so fast, it made streaks in the photograph. I have to admit it was beautiful.

Here's the street in front of my house on Saturday morning, the snow untouched by vehicles. It was late that afternoon before plows came by and barely made a dent in the snow.

Here's my house. In case you can't tell, that's a Nissan Xterra buried under all that snow.

As you can see, the snow is deep in the back yard. The snow depth at the base of my hive was 9 inches, just almost reaching the top of the hive stand on the side. And of course it completely covered the entrance.

A little better look at the snow amount at the hive. You can get an idea of the depth of the snow from the side view. I cleaned off the snow from the entrance and the top so the girls could get out once the temperatures warmed up some.

The creek behind my house which is just below my bee hive. This is their primary water source. It is amazing that with all this water just a few yards from them, at one point this past summer, they decided to get water from the rain spouts behind my house. Go figure. Bees can be remarkable, but odd too.

This is a wooded area across from my house. What you can't tell is that it is an old cemetary. Some of the graves here date back to the 1850s. There are two really nice homes on the side of this plot, at one time they belonged to one of my city's wealthiest families. Maybe one of these days I'll have bee hives there too if my neighbor (who owns it) doesn't mind. Who knows..maybe my bees could keep the residents of this property company?

So there you have it. More evidence of the crazy weather of the winter of 2009-2010 here in my neck of the woods. While all of this craziness is going on, I'm getting everything prepared for the weather to break and to get my bees going for another year exciting year. Hopefully sooner than later. Real soon. Like now would be fine with me.

Stay well and bee vigilant!

The feed bag is back for now...

After mulling it over for the last week, I decided to forgo the dry sugar or "mountain camp" style of feeding my colony. Instead, I went back to the favorite old stand-by method of using my hive-top feeder with a 2:1 sugar syrup.

The last few days have been pretty nice with an almost spring feeling. My bees have been flying everywhere in the welcome warmth and continue to bring in pollen from nearby sources. On Thursday I decided to make another quick under the inner cover inspection. While I found frames with honey still in them, I could see that my girls had gone through quite a bit of their prized food store. This winter has been brutal at times, worse than years past...the frigid cold and snow wreaking havoc to plants and animals (and insects). And it was obvious my bees had been eating really well for their survival.

While I'm sure the dry sugar or "mountain camp" method may work for a lot of people, I just didn't think it would work for me. I read where the newspaper you use gets wet from condensation in the hive, and that mixed with the sugar on top makes a big, sticky mess. And some even said the bees would carry the sugar out of the hive and dump it because they considered it as trash. 

So I went back to the method that worked with my bees last year...and that was sugar syrup in the two gallon hive-top feeder. When I made the syrup on Saturday, I decided to give it a little scent to attract them to the syrup, so I added about three drops of pure vanilla extract to the mix. Since the 2:1 ratio is more like honey, what they've been eating for the last few months, that's what I decided to use now. And as spring gets closer and it gets time for the queen to start laying eggs again, I can change the syrup to a 1:1 ratio. And I'm not concerned about the syrup freezing solid. The temperatures here for the next week are supposed to be up in the 50s again so it should be just fine.

For good measure, I also added some Mega Bee powder to the hive. I figured they may want to store it somewhere to get ready for spring, so I sprinkled a generous helping across the tops of the frames. They seem to really like Mega Bee because every time I've used it, then go back to the hive after a week or two, its always gone. It must be good stuff. 

Hopefully between what honey they have left and the syrup I've added, that will get my girls through the next few months. Then we can wave goodbye to winter and welcome the new beekeeping season and watch the girls do what they really do best!

Bee vigilant, my friends!

Another peek under the cover - or - come and get it!

This is a continuation of the earlier post from Friday, January 15th, where I checked under my hive-top for the first time since the somewhat blast of unusual weather our region has experienced.  

We had yet another nice day here on Saturday. It was a little overcast, but the high temperature got up to a nice 57 degrees. Needless to say, it was another good day for my busy bees to be out of the hive too. And they were all over the place. 

As you recall, I checked under the telescoping cover on Friday. I saw my girls under the inner cover (above) but didn't remove it because I really didn't want to disturb them much. But as the day turned into night, I had this gnawing feeling that I really should have checked under the inner cover to see just how their honey store is doing. And I figured that if the weather was nice enough on Saturday, I would check again to put my mind at ease.

So Saturday rolled around and I went out again with just my veil. No smoker this time either. Curious, yes, but none of the bees were overtly concerned when I opened the hive. They rather ignored me to be honest. I took my hive tool and tried to pry an end frame out but that wasn't going to work. As most of you know, when propolis gets hard, its like glue, so those frames would not budge. But armed with my magnifying glass, I was able to peer down between the frames.

As you can see here, the end frame #1 had some open caps. In October, this frame was full of honey, but it appears that maybe they started eating from the outside and they're working their way in. As I was examining the frames from above, I took my hive tool and gently raked it across some of the open caps and they crumbled. So I knew they were empty and had been cleaned by my hygienic bees. No ooze or anything, just flaky white wax.

While the girls had a meeting to decide just what the heck was going on and why I was back for a second visit in two days, I moved over to frame #10. And as you can see on the inside of the frame, they still have some honey that hasn't bee touched. A few caps at the top had been opened, but for the most part, it was still full. When I took my hive took and touched a couple of caps, golden honey oozed out. So it looks like their food store is still okay, but I know that I'm going to have to keep an eye on it pretty soon to make sure they're okay and do an emergency feeding if necessary.

Speaking of feeding in winter, I've been reading a lot about winter feed and what some people do. I can already tell you that my bees won't get corn syrup because I've just heard way too much negative feedback about it and the problems it causes. And I know first-hand that sugar syrup will easily freeze in hive-top or Boardman feeders. So if it becomes necessary to feed my bees in cold weather, I think I'm going to try the dry sugar method that Michael Bush has discussed on his website. But instead of doing it like some people and sprinkling the cane sugar across the tops of the frames or on top of a newspaper, I think I'm going to make something sturdy to hold the sugar on the bars. And can you guess what I'm going to use? Corrugated plastic! As you may remember, I still have a few of those signs (simular to campaign signs) that didn't pass inspection, so now I've found a new use for them. When I make my newest project, I'll take pictures and show you how I did it.

Before I close, I noticed that even more pollen was making its way into the hive on Saturday. The foragers who returned to the hive while I was inspecting had varying amounts of pollen, some with nothing, some with just a small bit, and some were loaded down. Obviously my girls have been gossiping about the pollen gold mine out there and they decided to check it out. It was really good to see them working.

And one more note, I didn't see any small hive beetles in the hive, and as I examined my honeybees with the magnifying glass (one that would make Sherlock Holmes proud) - I didn't see any varroa hitching a ride either. Not very scientific, I know, but it made me feel better that none were under the watchful eye of my spy glass.   

Bee good, everybody!   

A peek under the cover on a warm winter's day!

We've finally gotten a break from the frigid weather, thank goodness! The temperatures for the last couple of days have been more like spring than winter. On Friday, the temperature actually made it up to an almost balmy 61-degrees here. And while I'm loving it, I know that I shouldn't get too comfortable with it since it will turn cold again within the next few days. My wish is that we can ride out the rest of this winter with moderate weather and get out of this pattern that seems to be more suited for northern climates.

I took a peek outside just after lunch and found my girls flying all around the yard. While they would cover the entrance in spells it seemed, for the most part, they were flying everywhere. I noticed them flying by my kitchen window, through the mid-part of my yard, and all around the hive. Some would come out and spiral round and round and then take off in all different directions. So I figured this would be a great time to take a short peek inside the hive.

Without smoke, just my veil, I took the top off the hive and looked at the inner cover. Check out who was looking back. The top deep had girls all on the tops of the frames walking around and being busy. I figured that the intrusion would illicit a response, maybe flying out at me from the hole in the inner cover. But nary a bee seemed to be concerned with me at all. I was in a slight hurry and didn't take the inner cover off the chamber. Since everything looked fine, at least from this angle, I decided to leave them alone. The next warm day I'll go out and check a few of the frames to see how their honey is holding out and if I see any hive beetles lurking around. But for a quick peek, they looked fine. I closed up shop and put the bricks back on top of the hive so the wind won't blow the cover off.


If you click the first picture, you can see the bee at the top with her legs covered with pollen. Well here's another. Check her out as she landed on the hive stand. I have no clue where they found this pollen. I read on the Town Bees blog in Raleigh, North Carolina, that the dandelions were blooming there. So maybe my girls hit dandelion gold somewhere. I've checked my yard and haven't seen the first one yet, but maybe my neighbors have some.

Here you see a larger version of the same picture. She was just one of several that had pollen in her sacs as she made it back home. While they're a heck-of-a-lot smarter than me and know where their essentials can be found, I still think I'm going to scatter some powdered Mega Bee across their frames when I check the hive in a few days. And I'm toying with the idea of buying some Honey-B-Healthy for when I split this hive in a few months. While I have mixed emotions about the true usefulness of Honey-B-Healthy, it may not hurt since it has essential oils that helps the bees. We'll see.

So as you can see, all looks pretty good with my colony as of now. They seem to have fared well in this blast of wintry weather, and I think they're probably like me -- ready to get this blasted winter over with.

In other news; a co-worker asked if I would be interested in some bees in the chimney of a house that's 10-miles away in the city of Eden. The house belongs to a friend of his and he said that in the last few weeks, the bees will fly out of the entrance hole on warmer days. I told him I was ill-prepared to take a honey bee colony out of walls or masonary, but I would love to see them anyway. And get this, a man that runs a health food business in the same area told me that he has a colony living in the wall of his store..and I am welcome to take them if I can get to them. Unfortunately they're in a brick wall, down in a fire wall, between neighboring downtown businesses. 

Isn't it amazing that when people find out you're a beekeeper, they really want to give you the business? Maybe my very first swarm catch will be a little easier, maybe a low tree or some lawn furniture.

Critters in my hive! My new book arrives in the nick of time!

When I attended the Certified Natural Grown workshop this past Saturday, January 9th, I thought they would devote more time to dealing with bee colony pests in a more all-natural way. And I was disappointed when they didn't. They spent more time dealing with the rules for the organization than anything else. I still haven't reviewed the meeting, but I plan to soon. You can probably tell that I'm not all that enthusiastic about the program as of yet...but keep in mind that its the infancy stage and has a lot of growing to do yet. But more on that later.

The temperatures here are finally climbing back up to the moderate level. Over the next few days the daytime temperatures are expected to climb back into the 50s, so I decided to remove the corrugated plastic from under the screened bottom board so the air can circulate again. The plastic sheet had been in place since December 31st, and I decided that it wouldn't be necessary anymore with the warmer day and night temps on the way. 

When I removed the plastic, I noticed a dark dot the size of a really small garden pea. Making sure not to drop it, I went inside the garage and grabbed my magnifying glass to get a closer look. You guessed it..it was a small hive beetle. Honestly I didn't know what it was at first, but the more I examined it (and looked at pictures on the Internet) I realized I found my first. The beetle was dead, possibly dying from the freezing cold we've had lately. I've always heard the beetles could be found inside the hive itself..but this one was between the screened bottom board and the plastic corrugated sheet I installed. That leads me to believe that it may have hatched on the underside of the stand where it is dark and out of the way of the colony itself. But its possible that it was inside the hive. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services website says, "They have been shown to attack bumblebee nests in the laboratory, and have been observed to survive winters in the hive inside the bee cluster." So now I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on this situation. The last thing I want is a major invasion of these beetles in my hives. They're disgusting looking and obviously not good for the colony.   

Now remember, I put the plastic corrugated sheet in place on December 31st. So it had been in place for 13-days altogether. While I was examining the plastic sheet, I also found some dead varroa mites. How many? 67. So if the sheet had been in place for 13-days, and a total of 67 varroa mites were on the plastic, then I consider the count as rather low. I realize that some may say that my method of arriving at that conclusion may not be very scientific, that a 3-day count would be more accurate. But when you add the extra days to my count, I think a count of 67 is a low count. Still though, it looks like the first thing I will do after I split this hive in a few months is give them time to settle down, then do a thorough powdered sugar dusting.

In light of these developments, the book I ordered over the weekend, "Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture" arrived from Amazon on Tuesday, and just in the nick of time it seems. Ross Conrad, the author, looks at holistic methods to keep our hives healthy and handle pests without chemicals. It is obvious that many people, like myself, prefer to steer clear of chemicals when it comes to hive health. I've heard nothing but good things about the book, and now I plan to delve into it and read some each night. I think I'll hit the small hive beetle and varroa sections first.

Enjoy your day and bee safe!

Stretching their wings on a warm(er) winter day!

And maybe I should add that I was pooped on three times by my honey bees today! More on that below.

This has been the coldest stretch of winter weather we've had in my area in a long time. In years past, we've had cold weather, but nothing really like this frigid pocket we're in now. So far the lowest overnight temperature at my house has been 14.9 degrees, but we're still having lows ranging from around 20 to 17 degrees or do. Daytime temperatures have been just above freezing.  

As you know, I've been pretty concerned about my bees. Lately there has been very little activity if any at all. The girls that did bother to stick their heads out of the hive lately were dragging out the dead, and other than the sounds from inside (when I would put my ear to the side of the hive and listen) - there has been very little going on.

That all changed today. I went to the kitchen to make coffee and when I looked out the back window, the entrance to the hive was covered with lots of bees, and there was a constant flurry of girls flying around the front of it too. I looked at the thermometer and it said 39 degrees, so I knew that it was warm enough for them to break out of that hive and stretch their wings. And I was so glad that I had that craving for a cup of coffee...otherwise I wouldn't have paid attention to what was going on. Of course I grabbed up my camera and headed for the hive.

So as you can see, here is the results of cabin fever, or better yet, hive fever. The warm sun beating down on this hive warmed it up enough to bring the girls out of their winter slumber to stretch their wings.

Of course they were everywhere. This picture doesn't really do the ladies justice because you can't see all the ones flying in front of the hive. They would fly out, circle around for a few feet, then land back on the hive front.

By this time, maybe 10-minutes, I noticed that I was the focus of their attention. I looked down and had a handful of bees flying all around me, some landing on my arms and my clothing. If you look at the picture above, just to the bottom left, you can see one of the girls flying right at me. They didn't seem aggressive, just curious, although I did bring one in the house. I caught her in a cup and put her back outside. After all, if she's made it this long through this harsh mid-winter, she needs to go back to her house and help keep her sisters warm until spring.

By the way, when I got back in the house, I found that my bees, yes my beloved bees that I fret about so much...had pooped on me in three different places! So in addition to stretching their wings, the ladies were doing what nature instilled in them...taking their cleansing flights...and apparently yours truly was in their flight path! Does anyone know if they made Charmin-Ultra in honey bee size? Now its Tide with bleach to the rescue!

Until next time, bee warm everyone!