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October 2, 2009: The Feeding Continues...

I'm continuing to feed both hives a 2:1 syrup mixture in hopes of building up honey stores for the winter. I need to buy better top feeders, because I'm seeing a lot of drownings.

We had the first heavy frost of the season this week.

September 23, 2009: The Feeding Begins

Both hives are weak going into fall, so I have been starting the 2:1 sugar syrup feeding. They are going through the sugar fast. Quite a few Mussolinis drowned in the feeder due to my being stupid and not noticing that a shim was propolized to the outer cover. There was enough space for them to sneak under the lid and drown in the syrup.

This is not the most recent configuration: I removed both queen excluders and the top super from the left hive after the inspector came out. So both now have 4 boxes each. The entrance reducers are also in.

September 23, 2009: Linda's Blog

I have discovered the best blog about bees from Linda in Atlanta! Unlike me, she updates her blog regularly. I have learned so much from Linda. I followed her video for the crush and strain method of honey extraction which worked extremely well. A couple days ago, she reported on the flood that wiped out a 7-hive apiary in Georgia. The pictures are horrifying. What a tragedy for Linda!

So, check it out: http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/

August 28, 2009: How are the Bees?

Well, it's been a long time since I posted a blog entry. Blogs are cool but it's difficult to maintain the momentum when we're all so busy.

So how are the bees doing? It's been a rough year.

• The Italians I purchased in April are mean as heck. I dread working with them. I've renamed the overwintered Italians the "Filippellis" and the mean ones, the "Mussolinis."
  
• The state inspector last week left a note that my "hives are dying" due to varroa mite infestation. "Treat with CheckMite ASAP." Well what if I don't use chemicals?!!
  
• I got lazy with the powdered sugar treatments.
• I only harvested 2.125 pounds of honey (used the crush and strain method, worked well).
• The bees have little honey stores going into fall.

It is discouraging to be a beekeeper these days: it seems like a hopeless battle against the mites, when you're trying hard to be organic. It's an expensive hobby when you have to buy new bees every year and harvest little to no honey. But I guess, most hobbies are expensive.

February 8: Russians Dead: An Expensive Hobby

A few weekends ago, when it warmed up a bit, I checked the Italians and was relieved they were alive, but concerned that they were clustered at the top of the hive box. Bees work upward over the winter, eating along the way. I'm considering emergency feeding.

JANUARY 28: SNOW DAY (no work) SNOW, ICE AND WIND!!!
(20 inches of snow for January)

Let's check for damage:
On Feb. 1 (40s), I opened up the Italians to check them again. Still clustered at top so proceeded with emergency feeding. I put a shallow box on top (from the crappy plastic top feeder). Then placed a piece of newspaper on the top bars and poured about a cup of dry white sugar on it. The bees were quite angry to be disturbed and I got a few stings. The inside cover is still upside down and propped up with shims. Russians were not out and I couldn't hear any buzzing but I wasn't too concerned. It wasn't that warm out.

Today it was very spring-like, in the low 50s. The Italians were flying about. I opened them up and put in some more sugar. Then I realized the Russians were not out. That was odd, considering the temperature. They should be taking some cleansing flights.

I opened up the Russian and discovered that they were all dead!! How disappointing! They were so strong all summer long. I am very sad. My bees are like pets to me. Sometimes, I wonder why I've picked this hobby. I must be doing something wrong.

Autopsy:
I examined the dead bees and there were many with their entire bodies stuck down into the cells with there little butts sticking out. It almost looked like the cluster had broken up to feed and then been struck dead all at the same time. There was plenty of honey so I don't think they could have starved to death.

What next? I decided to rob the dead and feed the poor.

I moved the top super of 10 frames of honey to the Italians (hoping that the Russians didn't die from a disease) . I wrapped up the next 10 frames and stuck them in the freezer. I gathered up a lot of bees off of those frames. There were tons of dead bees in that hive. There are still 2 boxes outside. Not enough room in my freezer for more frames.

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.