December 27, 2008: In the 60s

With temperatures in the 60's, I was happy to see bees out and about, relieving their cabin fever (also relieving themselves of poop). There was a lot of activity around the entrances of both hives. They seemed happy about the nice weather (and so was I)!

December 14, 2008: Wintering bees

It hit 53 degrees today. I bought a machinist stethoscope for $7.00 on amazon to make sure the bees are still alive. I didn't need it for the Russians, as several were flying in and out of the hive, probably pooping. I removed the duct tape that covered the middle exit hole of the Italian hive, stuck in the stethoscope probe, and heard quite interesting buzzing noises. What a relief. Some Italians starting congregating around the hole, and I let them fly around a bit before re-covering with duct tape.

So it's mid-December, and my bees are still alive!!

What do bees do in the Winter?

When the temperature drops to 57° F, the bees begin to form a tight cluster. Within this cluster the brood (consisting of eggs, larvae, and pupae) is kept warm-about 93° F - with heat generated by the bees. The egg laying of the queen bee tapers off and may stop completely during October or November, even if pollen is stored in the combs. During cold winters, the colony is put to its severest test of endurance.

As temperatures drop, the bees draw closer together to conserve heat. The outer layer of bees is tightly compressed, insulating the bees within the cluster. As the temperature rises and falls, the cluster expands and contracts. The bees within the cluster have access to the food stores. During warm periods, the cluster shifts its position to cover new areas of comb containing honey. An extremely prolonged cold spell can prohibit cluster movement, and the bees may starve to death only inches away from honey.

The queen stays within the cluster and moves with it as it shifts position. Colonies that are well supplied with honey and pollen in the fall will begin to stimulatively feed the queen, and she begins egg laying during late December or early January-even in northern areas of the United States.

from http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/bkCD/HBBiology/seasonal_activit.htm

October 26: Tear Down

I survived the most intense day of my short beekeeping career. I decided to do a bit of rearranging of frames from the Russian top super to the Italians. I removed 5 honey-less frames from the Italians and set them aside in an empty box. Then one at a time, I struggled to free a frame of honey from the Russians. The frames were stuck with propolis. I didn't even bother with the outside frames. They were cemented to the box. I carefully removed a frame, bumped it against the super several times so the Russian bees would drop off. You can imagine they weren't too happy. Adding to the fun, the smoker kept going out. It was a little too breezy to be undertaking this task, but as usual, I felt a bit of desperation to take care of this before it gets too cold. I replaced the removed frames from the Russian hive with the frames I had removed from the Italian hive: so a big switcheroo.

I replaced the inner cover, flat side up and propped up about 1/2 inch with shims. Between the inner cover and a queen excluder, I added some fleece cloth (an experiment) to fight the cold, and the top cover. In a week, I'll remove the cloth, as it seems kind of stupid and risky, if it were to wick in moisture.

Amazingly, I finished the project with only 5 or 6 stings to the hands (no safety gear). Time for a nap!

November 1: Realignment and Feeding

The Russian hive has not been level for quite some time, as the plywood and cement blocks have settled. Since it is so heavy, I have been putting off trying to shim it back to level. Today I used some scrap pieces of wood and pieces of shim and my immense strength to get the hive to level. The back is propped up a little more, so any moisture will run out the front. I checked the Italian hive with my level, and it is still perfectly aligned.

As it is forecasted to be in the low 60's for a few days, I decided to give both hives one last feeding. It is risky, because they may not have time to cure it, but I am very concerned about starvation, especially for the Italians.

I ordered a hot plate so I can start making syrup at my house, instead of at my sister's or friend's. I hope it will get hot enough to boil water. I'll likely be making lots of syrup come Spring (I hope), and this will be much more convenient.

November 8: Feeders Off

A return to colder weather after the 70 degree temperatures earlier in the week. I removed the empty feeders and replaced them with the inner cover - queen excluder combination that I'm experimenting with. The inner cover is propped up about 1/2 inch. Also I taped the drilled entrance hole on the Italians and one of the two holes of the Russians. They should be ready for winter. Let's hope.

October 23: Freeze

Down to 32 degrees on the 22nd. I opened up the hives to check the syrup situation. Both feeders were empty. I removed the feeders and put the inner cover back on (flat side up).

Below normal temperatures. Rainy and cold yesterday.

October 20: Low Temperature

Down to 37 degrees last night. In the mid-50s the rest of the week. The syrup was probably a little too late.

October 19: Preparing for Winter

Frost advisory last night but only got down to 43 degrees. I checked activity today (sunny and 55), and the bees are quite busy--some bees flying in with pollen which is good to see. I removed the sticky poster board, and the number of varroa mites has thankfully decreased. The entrance reducer hole should be facing up, as I have confirmed in my books. Top entrance holes are still open.

I've been doing some reading about winter preparations. I've got some work to do. I want to make sure that when I do my last big teardown of the hives for inspection that I know exactly what I need to do, so I don't have to open them up again.

Put top feeders on and fed each hive one gallon of 2:1 syrup with Honey-B-Healthy.

September 28: Inspection

Not much progress has been made in the honey supers since the last inspection a month ago. It's getting chillier at night, so I added the entrance reducers. I checked the sticky boards and was dismayed to discover that both hives are heavily infested with varroa mites. I sprinkled with powdered sugar to stimulate grooming behavior and will check again in a few days. Otherwise, the bees look pretty healthy.

September 1: Goldenrod and Asters

Two major sources of late season pollen are goldenrod and aster. Both hives are very active today. I watched the Russians for a few minutes and noticed that foragers are flying in with baskets of pale yellow pollen. I hope that they are able to collect lots of pollen and nectar this fall to build up more honey stores for the winter.

I had a weird dream last night that someone stole my hives from my backyard. Not sure what that means.

The neighbors behind me cut down their trees along our shared fence. It was a shock when I returned from California to find that I no longer had a shaded backyard. I was very depressed until I discovered that the bees are exposed to sun much earlier in the morning and get an earlier start to the fields.

I would assume the neighbors behind me now know about my bees, because the tree cutters would have had to have been in my backyard to cut down limbs. They trampled my butterfly bush. I recently put two and two together and realized that one of the women attend my yoga class! So far, no one has said anything. With all of the news media about honeybees, I would hope people are more accepting of sharing space with bees.