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.

August 25: In a Drought

I propped up the top covers over the weekend, because it has been so hot. It rained hard yesterday. I was able to get the Italians closed up before the storm, but there were Russian bees all over their inner cover. I didn't want to squish them. They weren't getting wet but I worried all day about the drop in temperature last night.

After work tonight, I lit the smoker and figured I might as well inspect the top supers. In both hives, there has been no progress in the top super. The Russians are quite defensive and I ended up with 2 stings on the left hand.

I probably will not open the hives for a few weeks. I'll wait on the goldenrod honey flow and do a last check before the winter.

August 10: Setting Realistic Goals

Last weekend, I inspected both hives, got 2 stings, and removed the queen excluder from the Russians. There will be no excess honey to harvest this year. I will be stealing from the Russians to feed the Italians. I want to go into the winter with 3 mediums each. I'll be moving the full honey super from the Russians to the Italians before winter sets in. The late start for the Italians is taking its toll on my apiary.

It's important for new beekeepers to be realistic about their goals for the first year, or perhaps, any year these days. I'll just be happy to get the hives through the winter.

On the bright side, I did see orange pollen being delivered to the hives today.

July 19: Heat, Dearth and Coneflowers

It's been very very hot (in the high 80s and low 90s). This weekend, I propped up the rear side of the top covers 2 inches with a block to let some air in the hives. They were still bearding last night around the front entrance and drilled entrance holes. I removed the block this morning, because we had a chance of thunderstorms today and I didn't want it to rain into the hive.

I also quickly inspected the top supers of both hives. Neither hive has drawn out the top super. I believe we are in a dearth with little nectar and pollen available. Still, I took a trip to Danville, Ohio, on Saturday to Simpson's Bee Supply to pick up two medium supers and 20 wired frame wax foundations. I'm preparing for what I hope will be a nice goldenrod/aster honey flow late in the summer. Why do I drive an hour to pick up equipment? Because Simpson's woodenware is cypress and well-made. I also enjoy the drive to Knox County and the chance to chat with Mr. Simpson.

It's exciting to see my honeybees collecting pollen and nectar from my own perennials, which I witnessed this weekend (see picture). They seem to really like the coneflowers which are in bloom right now.

Swarm Lists and BuZZzz Scholarships

This year, Franklin County (Ohio) offered $500 scholarships for beekeeping equipment and a package of bees to people who completed the Central Ohio Beekeepers Association beginning beekeeping workshop. If you are a resident of Franklin County and want to start beekeeping, you'll want to look into this opportunity. Classes usually start in March with a late April package installation.

A record number of swarms has been reported this year. Does this reflect reality or are more people reporting swarms with the news coverage on the plight of the bees? If you notice a swarm (a large number of bees congregating in a tree or house), call your local beekeeper or someone on the "swarm list" . Check with your local beekeepers organization for their swarm list. Beekeepers like swarms: free bees. And you may save them from the exterminator.

July 9: Unidentified Flying Objects

I recently returned from vacation to the Sequoia/Kings Canyon national parks in California. It was an awesome trip! Just beautiful.

I did some "bee-watching" while I was hiking the trails and discovered a gigantic bee pollinator among patches of purple lupine. The bee looks like some strange mutant beetle/bumblebee hybrid. I saw literally thousands of these bees in the parks.

What kind of bees are these? I believe they are female Valley Carpenter Bees.



I also stumbled upon honey bees as I was sitting on a boulder along the Trail of Sequoias, admiring a fantastic view of the Sierra Nevada. I wonder if these honey bees live inside of the hollows of the gigantic sequoias?

July 16: Bearding and Festooning

It's been really hot in Ohio for the last few days. It was 91 degrees yesterday. The last couple evenings after dark (when watering flowers), I've noticed that a lot of bees have been congregating at the front entrance of both hives. This is called bearding and bees do it when they get too hot. If you were in a hot building without air conditioning (and you've been flapping your wings all day), you would like taking a break to get some fresh air too! It was a bit scary the first time I saw them gathering at the entrance, because I thought they were getting ready to swarm.

Temperature and humidity regulation is an important activity inside the bee house. Bees fan their wings to produce a convection draft into and up the hive. You wouldn't think those tiny wings would actually make that much of a difference, but bees do a great job keeping their homes at a constant temperature, winter and summer.

I hate the heat and humidity of Ohio summers. I'm assuming the bees hate it too (they certainly do have to work harder), so I may have gone a bit overboard with ensuring ventilation: the Russians have the front entrance without a reducer, 2 drilled entrance holes and the top cover is propped up.

In the picture to the right, you can see an interesting festooning formation. What they are doing?

Did you know? People have long claimed that honey bees "shouldn't" be able to fly from an aerodynamic perspective. False! "the secret of honeybee flight is the unconventional combination of short, choppy wing strokes, a rapid rotation of the wing as it flops over and reverses direction, and a very fast wing-beat frequency."

July 15: "How to Lessen the Labor of Women"

I stumbled upon this hilarious article in the 1892 issue (page 457) of Gleanings in Bee Culture when I was reading up on L. L. Langstroth (for the article I wanted to write but just discovered may have already been written as a play).

"How to Lessen the Labor of Women
Who Have Swarming Bees to Care For

If the dishes are washed and immediately replaced upon the table it saves much time, for, when dish-washing time comes, one generally has more time than just before the meal...Leave the sugar, butter, salt, pepper, honey, spoons, and such things as are needed each meal, always upon the table. Do not go to the cellar for potatoes each meal, but bring up a large panful at some leisure time, and wash all at once...

The washings may be done on rainy or dark days, when the bees choose to stay at home. The underclothes, sheets, and towels may be used without ironing, rather than overwork, or rather than let the bees go to the woods or swarm when there is no one to care for them; for if one keeps bees it pays to take care of them in the proper time...

The bread may be set in the evening, so that it may be baked before swarming time next day. Many prefer setting bread at night, thinking it makes better bread...

When much extra work is expected, as swarming or harvesting, it pays to be liberal with the pennies for the children, to induce them to save steps for their parents, and thus tide them over the hard places...Leave as little to be done in the mornings as possible. If there is time in the evening, pick the berries. Take the children along, and, if they can't be induced in any other way, reward them a little for work done...

Sweeping and dusting spare rooms, scrubbing porches and walks, may be done in the evenings, if there is spare time; if not, they had better be left undone than to overwork...Such work can better be neglected than cooking, for it helps one to be good-natured to have appetizing food; and of all times when I appreciate good dinners, it is when I have been wearied and worried catching swarms...[swarming happens] at most for three weeks once in a year, unless it be a year like 1882, when we had one or more swarms every day from the first of June to the middle of September, except about a week in the first of August."

Mrs. L. C. Axtell, Roseville, Illinois

July 1: Upward Mobility: Time for More Supers

In need of additional supers, I picked up two mediums, each with 10 wooden frames of wired wax starter foundation, from a local supplier (roughly $70). Apparently, there is tremendous demand right now for equipment, so I was lucky to find a place with same-day pickup.

Time to paint. I bought a gallon of reject exterior latex paint from the hardware (oil-based paint probably is not good for the bees) and applied one coat primer and two coats paint. Only the exterior of bee homes are painted.


This morning at 7:30 am (not the ideal time to be making adjustments, for me or them), I lit the smoker and added one medium to the Italians and one medium to the Russians. The Russians were not happy at all; the Italians were oblivious.

I think the bees will be quite pleased with their lovely new blue additions.

So: the Italians have 3 hive bodies and the Russians have 3 hive bodies and 2 honey supers. The equipment apparently is exactly the same, but hive body refers to brood chambers and honey super refers to the area dedicated to honey storage. I was confused about that for a long time.

Did you know? It is best to inspect hives on a warm, sunny day at the time when most foragers will be in the field.

June 29: Back to Waterloo

I returned to Waterloo Wildlife Area (Zaleski, Ohio) this weekend to spend more time exploring and to find that elusive geocache. It was perfect timing, as the orange butterfly weed and I think, milkweed, were in full bloom with lots of butterflies and bumblebees, performing their pollination duties (see my slideshow below). Very nice area, and I did finally find the geocache!

If you are a hiker, I would highly recommend this Lake Hope State Park (Ohio) loop: take Copperhead (A) from the trailhead at the last campsite in the campground to Yosemite Falls (E). I saw 5 deer and no humans. Gorgeous at this time of the year.

June 21-22: Six Hobbies (con't)

A continuation of an update on last weekend's activities:

Camping
I camped in my tent at Lake Hope State Park. I've been to a lot of state parks in Ohio, and I think this park has one of the nicer campgrounds. It is busy enough that I feel safe, and the sites are nicely shaded. Just after setting up camp, a severe thunderstorm blew in. I stuck it out in the car until the storm passed, moved to the tent where puddles of water had collected around the sides, and read a book (another hobby). Unfortunately, it was too wet for a campfire!

Hiking
The next day, I headed out to the 23 mile Zaleski Forest Backpack Trail. I completed the 10 mile day hike--a challenge for my knees. If you think Ohio is nothing but flat farmland, take a trip to Southeastern Ohio--beautiful, hilly, heavily forested area of the state.

Yoga
Some sections of the Zaleski trail are a bit strenuous (for me), so I applied my learning of breathing techniques in yoga (another hobby). I found that if I concentrated on my breath, it helped get me up the hills with less strain and also helped me keep my thoughts focused on the experience of the solitude, rather than the long list of things I need to do.

June 22-28: National Pollinator Week

I almost missed it. Last week was National Pollinator Week, sponsored by the Pollinator Partnership and the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign. The group's web site has a lot of good information. Check out the planting guides: the pdf documents contain region-specific information about pollinators and pollinator-friendly plants. Great resource!

Did you know? Bumblebees are capable of buzz pollination: they can release a flower's pollen by vibrating their flight muscles.

June 27: Italians Drown, Russians Store Honey

This evening, I took a peek under the top covers of both hives. Bees are not too smart when it comes to water and syrup. About 100 Italian bees drowned in the top feeder. Since it was pretty much empty anyway, I took it off. There were many bees up in the split between the two sides of the feeder and I didn't want to shake them out, so I propped it up against the hive. There was a lot of activity in the top box. The Italians appear to be making a slow recovery. I replaced the inner cover and top cover.

I was curious to see if the Russians were yet storing honey in the super above the queen excluder. There is some controversy about whether queen excluders are necessary: some people call them "honey excluders." Remember that the point of the queen excluder is to keep the queen from moving up into the top super and laying eggs, thereby mixing brood and honey when what you really want is a box full of nothing but honey.

I'm pleased to report that the Russians are in the top super and storing honey!

Here's the problem: I have no extra supers on hand, and both hives are growing beyond capacity. As usual, I have not thought ahead and am not prepared. I'm kicking myself for this mistake. I placed an order tonight from Mr. Simpson (Simpsons Bee Supply) for two medium supers with frames. There is a supplier in town but I'm partial to Mr. Simpson. He's given me very good advice in the past, so I want to support his company.

June 27: Good Article on Urban Beekeeping

My mother recently sent me an article from her local newspaper on urban beekeeping. I located the AP story on the web: "Urban beekeeping is the latest buzz". It includes the standard advice for city beeks, including providing a water source, communicating with neighbors, and checking flight paths and local ordinances.

The author makes an interesting point: "cities are often a healthier environment for bees because there is less pesticide usage than in most farming areas." Cities generally have the reputation of being dirtier and more polluted than the "country", but we tend to forget about the tons of chemicals dumped on rural land.

The future of beekeeping:

my brother and his son when installing our very first package.

June 24: Supering the Super Russians

At about 6:30 pm tonight (in the 70s), I inspected both hives.

Italians
I saw lots of Italian eggs. Yeah! They have drawn out more frames in their 2nd brood box and look like they have gained in population. Since there is still syrup in the feeder, I left it on, though they may not be taking it.

Russians
The 3rd brood box on top is full of larvae! I pulled out 2 frames which contained both wax-capped (older) and uncapped (younger) larvae. Very nice frames. I've included a closeup pic (see above) of the brood with nurse bees. It's time to add a 4th box to the Russians which will be the honey "super" (same type of box as the other brood boxes but this box will be devoted to honey collection).

Here are the details of my 10 step inspection process:

1) I lit the smoker (with cedar chip bedding as the fuel) and puffed smoke first into the front of the hive to distract the guard bees and then up around the top cover.
2) I removed the brick, top cover, and inner cover and set them aside on the ground.
3) Using my hive tool, I pried out and inspected 2 frames in the top box.
4) I sprinkled powdered sugar over the top box (bees between the top frames get misted with sugar) to stimulate grooming behavior for mite control.

5) I added a queen excluder to keep the queen from laying eggs in the honey super (see left). The metal grid allows the smaller workers to pass through but theoretically, the queen cannot fit and she stays down in the brood boxes.
6) I added the super with a drilled ventilation hole and 10 frames (4 with honey from last year and 6 frames of foundation from last year).
7) I put the inner cover, then the outer cover, and then the obligatory brick (to keep the covers from blowing off) back on top of the hive.
8) I removed and inspected the vaseline-covered poster boards and checked for mites. Mites appear to be under control.
9) I refilled the water trough.
10) I put out the smoker and dumped its contents.

Very well-behaved bees tonight! No stings.

June 21-22: Six Hobbies, One Weekend

What a great weekend! I was able to experience six of my hobbies in two days: 1) beekeeping; 2) camping; 3) hiking; 4) geocaching; 5) yoga; 6) reading.

Beekeeping
On Saturday, I attended the Ohio State Beekeepers Association summer meeting at Athens High School. It was very informative. Over the next few days, I will attempt to summarize the sessions.

Geocaching
Saturday afternoon, I drove to Waterloo Wildlife Area to search for a geocache. Geocaching involves using a GPS device to locate a hidden container at a set of coordinates that are published at geocaching.com. As usual, I set out unprepared. I had written down the coordinates for the cache on a scrap piece of paper. I arrived at the site and discovered that the area was absolutely gorgeous, isolated, and quiet. I hiked and drove around aimlessly before I remembered that duh, it's supposed to be on Trail 26: that's the name of the cache! There were no maps on site and of course, I didn't print one. I did not have appropriate clothing or insect repellent on me, was absolutely starving (no veggie lunch at the conference) and worried about getting a campsite, so I gave up. I hate giving up on a cache!!! I have risked life and limb to get to caches. But it was worth the trip, as I have never seen so many butterflies in one place (picture from internet). There was some butterfly weed in bloom in the meadows. It is also a site on the Hocking Valley Birding Trail, with 80 species of birds. I'm not much of a birder though.

That is the best thing about geocaching: it takes you to places you would never discover on your own!

To be continued...

June 23: Top Feeder Update

The Italians have about 3/4" of syrup left in their top feeder. There were quite a few bees up there. I plan to open both hives tomorrow for a more thorough inspection.

June 20-21: Ohio State Beekeepers Association Meeting

AGENDA FOR SATURDAY
June 21, 2008

• 8:30 A.M. Registration
• 9:00 A.M. Welcome & Introductions
• 9:15 A.M. Keynote Speaker: Dr. Dave Tarpy, “Healthy Queens, Healthy Bees”
• 10:00 A.M. Break (Visit the Vendors)
• 10:15 A.M. Breakout Session I
  • “Backyard Queen Rearing, It’s Not As Hard As You Think” Dr. Dave Tarpy
  • “Beginning Beekeeping Basics” (Athens County Instructor)
  • “Ohio Queen Project” (In the beeyard) Paul Cline, OSBA Regional Queen Coordinator
• 11:00 A.M. Break (Visit the Venders)
• 11:15 A.M. Breakout Session II
  • “Making Summer Splits” Dr. Jim Tew
  • “Mead Making” Chuck Harrington, Athens Co. Beekeeper
  • “Dumping a Package, Inspecting a Hive” (In the beeyard) Bob Hooker, OSBA
• 12 Noon - Lunch
• 1:00 P.M. Breakout Session III
  • A. “Marketing Your Honey” Jack Cantrell, Athens County Beekeeper
  • B. “Pests and Diseases” John Grafton, Ohio State Bee Inspector
  • C. “Making Summer Splits” (In the beeyard) Dr. Jim Tew
• 1:45 P.M. Break (Visit the Vendors)
• 2:00 P.M. Breakout Session IV
  • A. “IPM For Beekeepers” Bob Hooker, OSBA
  • B. “Reading A Frame” Joe Kovaleski, OSBA, EAS Master Beekeeper
  • C. “In the Bee Yard” Dr. Dave Tarpy
• 2:45 P.M. Break
• 3:00 P.M. Panel Discussion, Plenary Session (Business), Raffle Drawing, Departure

Learn more here.

June 19: Backyard Sanctuaries in the City

I've noticed this summer that I've been spending a lot more time in my backyard. It's because of the bees. Well, and the new fence that hides me from the creepy neighbor (who ironically, just pulled into his driveway). I enjoy watching the bees launch from and land on the bottom board. It's relaxing. I've been more meticulous with the gardening (ignore the weeds in the pics): thinking about ways to make the yard more bird- and bee-friendly.

So here I am. Typing this blog from my patio (wireless) and eating honeybee-friendly Haagen-Dazs ice cream (vanilla swiss almond). In the time that I've been sitting here, a bumblebee has landed on the zinnia in the planter on the table. Two hummingbirds have visited the feeder behind me. Several birds have checked their feeders and are singing. My bees are zooming in and out. And I've gotten stung by mosquitos. One of my cats is meowing from the open window. Many of my perennials are in bloom: clematis, yucca, cat mint, corieopsis, marigold, lilies.

The bees have made me more aware of the activities in my backyard and more appreciative of my own very small, but beautiful, sanctuary in the city.

The winds which passed over my dwelling were such as sweep over the ridges of mountains, bearing the broken strains, or celestial parts only, of terrestrial music. The morning wind forever blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it. --Henry David Thoreau

June 18: State Inspection: My $5 At Work

Yesterday, I got home and found a slip in my mailbox from the bee inspector. He wrote: "Bees look good. Good brood pattern. Super as needed." I was thrilled! Doesn't seem like much but it's validation for a beginning beek. I just wish I would have been present for the inspection.

Apiaries in Ohio need to be registered. It only costs $5.00 per location. That seems pretty cheap to me: especially since the Ohio Dept. of Agriculture has proposed cuts to the apiary program which would eliminate the position of the chief bee inspector for the state. I would pay a lot more for an annual inspection, and that's what I said in my email for the letter-writing campaign.

Did you know? There were 3,128 beekeepers registered in 2007 in Ohio which represents 4,898 apiaries, or an estimated 16,654 colonies.

June 17: Feeding with Syrup and Essential Oils

After a lot of thought and reading, I made the decision to feed the Italians. The population is low and struggling. I'm hoping the feeding will keep them from starving, give them enough energy to forage, and stimulate wax production and brood rearing. That's the theory at least.

Last night, I made 1:1 sugar syrup with 8 pounds regular white sugar, 4 teaspoons Honey-B Healthy (feeding stimulant with spearmint and lemongrass oils) and 4 drops of wintergreen essential oil.

There has been some suggestion anecdotally and in one study that wintergreen oil may repel mites. Thymol and spearmint oil have also been recommended for mite control. In my opinion, essential oils may or may not help but they probably don't hurt. Ross Conrad's book (Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture) is excellent if you want to read more about natural beekeeping.

Tonight, I poured the cooled mixture into the top feeder and placed on top of the Italian hive.

Did you know? Most essential oils are created by distilling parts of plants over water. They are said to capture the "essence" of the plant.

June 15: Latest Inspection Results

I opened both hives on Saturday to check progress, powdered them (to stimulate grooming behavior and mite falloff), and added new sticky boards (so the fallen mites can't climb back into the hive). You can see from the view looking down between frames that the population of the Italians is low.

June 15: What is healthy? What is normal?

I inspected my 2 hives today. I feel a little disappointed. I guess I was expecting more progress and now I'm worried. It doesn't help that I just watched "The Silence of the Bees" on PBS about disappearing honey bees (Colony Collapse Disorder). I'm trying to do my small (very small) part to help save the bees, but I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. As if the future of honey bees rests on my shoulders!

A recap: Both colonies were started from packages installed on April 20. One of the hives got started late due to a failed queen which I replaced in mid-May. The other hive made tremendous progress but seems to be slowing down considerably if you measure in terms of capped frames.

Hive A: Italians: 2 medium boxes: top box is partially drawn out and I see eggs but not many bees and not very much activity presumably because of the late start with the queen troubles and progressive die-off of older bees.

Hive B: Russians: 3 medium boxes: bottom 2 boxes are completely drawn out and capped and top hive box is partially drawn out but with little nectar or pollen. A lot of bees but they don't seem to be making much progress on that 3rd box.

Are these hives doing well? Is this normal? Are we in a nectar/pollen dearth? Should I be feeding? Should I combine the hives? I have no idea. I'm an amateur. A novice. A beginner. A newbee.

And that's why I rely on information from the International Beekeeping Forum. The people are polite, helpful, and respond quickly. I've posted my concerns to the forum. I'm sure the masters will have good advice and reassure me!

MBI Lecture: Real Democracy - How Honeybees Choose A Home

The Mathematical Biosciences Institute at Ohio State University is holding a free public lecture at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday (6/17) in 355 Jennings Hall (MBI Auditorium). Thomas D. Seeley, assistant professor of kinesiology at Cornell University will deliver “Real Democracy: How Honeybees Choose a Home.” A reception will follow.

Real democracy — when citizens meet in a face-to-face assembly and bind themselves under decisions they make themselves — has been practiced for some 2500 years by humans, but for more than 20 million years by honey bees. We will examine the remarkable democratic decision-making process of a honey bee swarm as it chooses a new home. We will see that bees have evolved sophisticated ways of working together to identify a dozen or more potential dwelling places, to choose the highest quality one for their new home site, and to make a decision without undue delay. We will conclude with some take-home lessons from the bees (“swarm
smarts”) on how to foster good decision making by democratic groups of humans.

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June 10: Bee Stings

When I mention to people that one of my hobbies is beekeeping, the first thing they ask about is stings. Don't you ever get stung? I'm not quite sure why people are so afraid of getting stung by a honey bee. I think it's because they lump honey bees in with yellow jackets, bumblebees, and wasps. Honey bee stings are much less painful than wasp stings, that's for sure. I try to explain that a) honey bees are gentle compared to their relatives, that b) I rarely get stung, that c) they won't sting you unless you are in their way or tearing up their house, and that d) it doesn't really hurt that much! Honey bees don't seek out people to swarm, like you see in the movies.

Ironically, I'm writing this post after having just gotten stung. The Russians are a growing colony, and I now have to be careful about standing in their flight path. Twice, bees have taken off from their bottom board launch pad and flown right into me. Not their fault.

What do I do if I'm allergic to bee venom?
I keep an Epipen (available by prescription) at my house, just in case someone might visit with an allergy to bee stings. Anaphylactic shock from a bee sting can occur when an allergic person gets stung. You need to inject the Epipen and get that person to the hospital as quickly as possible. But again, it happens very rarely.

Can a bee sting me more than once?
No. Worker bees have barbed stingers. When she stings you, she cannot remove herself. The poison sac gets ripped out along with parts of her gut, so she will soon die. Drones don't have a stinger. Queens do and can sting multiple times, but reserve their stinging for rival queens.

What does it feel like?
Well, there is a stab of pain, like a pin prick, as the stinger sinks in. The pain becomes a bit worse as the venom is released. It can be a bit of a delayed effect. I become slightly dizzy. The sting spot gets numb and red. But it's all over in a matter of minutes.

What do I do if I've gotten stung?
If you do get stung, how long you leave the stinger in affects how much venom is injected. Scrape it out as quickly as possible (see diagram). Don't panic.

What is in the venom?
Mostly melittin which releases histamine and serotonin, causing itching, swelling, decreasing blood pressure and respiration, and pain, and phospholipase A which destroys cell membranes and causes pain. Another ingredient is apamin, a neurotoxin that causes tremors! Luckily, very little venom is injected with a sting.

We need more hobby beekeepers, and unfortunately, I think one obstacle in recruitment is the fear of being stung.

Did you know? Fewer than 20 deaths each year in the U.S. result from bee stings.

June 7: Busy as a Russian Bee

When I inspected the Russians on Saturday, I pulled out a frame sparsely covered with workers, many of them with their heads down in the cells! They stayed in that position, even as I rotated the frame. I thought it was funny, so I took a picture.

Honey bees live in highly organized societies. As workers age, they take on new roles in the colony. According to my Beekeeping for Dummies book, these workers are probably about 12-18 days old. I can guess that they have taken nectar from returning field bees and are storing it in cells. They will add enzymes and fan their wings to help evaporate the water to ripen the nectar into honey.

I concluded from my inspection that the Russians are not ready for a fourth box. They still have more work to do on the third floor.

Did you know? In the summer, worker bees work themselves to death after about 6 weeks.

June 7: Italians Have Eggs!

Very hot day for an inspection, but I was concerned about eggs in the Italian hive and crowding in the Russian hive. The numbers of the Italians are naturally dwindling with their queen troubles, but the remaining workers are still working hard. The frame of Russian brood I had installed last week is capped. I was disappointed to see no eggs in the first 2 frames that I pulled out, but then I spotted some! They look like tiny grains of rice (see picture from the internet) and are quite easy to spot if you have your back to the sun and the frame raised to capture sunlight.

No reason to disturb the Italians any longer once I confirmed queen activity, so I added a second story of 6 new frames in the center and 2 frames of capped honey on each side from last year. The bottom box is all drawn out, so I want to make sure they have some room for expansion. I also thought they might appreciate the gift of honey from last year's bees.

Did you know? It takes 21 days for a new worker bee to emerge from her cell.

June 6: Hot Day for Me and Bees

Check out these pictures of the Russians Friday afternoon. Very hot and humid day (92 degrees at 4:00 pm). The triangle pattern was interesting. The bees were hanging upside down, fanning their little wings furiously: too hot in the hive I guess. They fan to help regulate the temperature. I decided to remove the front cement block, because I noticed that the blocks were retaining moisture under the bottom board. Not having that front block will increase the ventilation on hot days like this. From reading on the forum, there doesn't seem to be any danger of bees overheating in this weather. For me, that's a different story. I'm miserable.

June 3: Eat More Ice Cream

Haagen-Dazs is selling a new flavor of ice cream--Vanilla Honey Bee--to raise awareness of the plight of honeybees. According to their web site: honeybees play a key role in creating ingredients (almonds, strawberries) used in nearly 40% of their flavors. The company has put together a cute (love the graphics) educational site that I would highly recommend: http://helpthehoneybees.com/
There's a section for making your own bee which you can see here. Fun!

So eat more ice cream without feeling guilty!

June 1: Feral Bees

Yesterday in my quest to find a cache in each of the 88 counties of Ohio, I geocached at Mt. Gilead State Park in Morrow County (a nice park by the way). I was hiking a trail when I almost stepped on a small swarm of bees on the ground. I watched them for quite some time, trying to figure out what was going on. A couple of people came up on me on the trail and I stood guard, because I certainly didn't want them stomping the bees to death out of fear. The bees could have been feral but also might have swarmed from a managed colony. Interesting.

When is the last time you saw a wild honeybee in your yard? Feral bees are rare these days. In fact, it is believed that wild bees have almost died out.

Speaking of bees in the yard, I spotted one visiting my cat mint and another circling around the marigolds. I would have to assume these are my own pet bees!

May 31: Third Floor Added

Today's cursory inspection of the Russians revealed that they have drawn out the comb and capped a few frames (that I could see) in the second story of the hive. It is very important to make sure they don't get crowded, because they may swarm. So I added a third story with 7 frames of foundation and 3 frames of capped honey from last year.

I found only a handful of varroa on the sticky board.

The Russians are doing very well. Textbook. When the three boxes are drawn out and capped, I can add a fourth as a honey super.

Fact: Bees maintain a temperature of 92-93 degrees in their central brood nest regardless of whether the outside temperature is 110 or -40 degrees.

May 31: Last Ditch Effort

Despite it being quite windy today (and in the 80s), I decided to check on the Italians. I gave the queen a week to perform and hoped to see eggs. Well, I didn't. But I did see the queen! She was very noticeable on the frame: much lighter in color.

I had to be very careful to not accidentally crush her or knock her off onto the ground. There were some tense moments, as I waited for her to jump off the removed frame into the space between a couple other frames still in the hive box. Then I carefully replaced the frame.

When I removed the next frame, somehow she had made it onto that one! And again, with only two hands, I had to wait it out for her to scurry off the frame and back into the hive box. So, quite a dilemma: the Italian queen is alive but has not laid eggs. Is she infertile? Or just late getting started?

With my smoker still smoking, I opened the Russian hive and the top box was a thing of beauty. All the frames are drawn out, and the first frame I pulled out was full of larvae, not capped. I made the impulsive decision to remove a frame of brood from the Russians and place it in the Italian colony, so they can raise some new babies to replace the dying adults (the picture to the right which I found on the internet shows what the larvae look like). It now occurs to me that I probably should have also moved Russian eggs to the Italians, in case they need to raise a new queen.

Top picture shows where I added the new frame in the Russian hive box to replace the one that I removed.

May 24: Sam

Sam Snapp
1995-2008

My fuzzy little supervisor--always by my side

May 26: Replaced Sticky Board

5/26
On Friday, I removed the sticky board from the Russians and forgot to replace it. Today I covered a piece of poster board with Vaseline and installed on the bottom board of the Russians. There was a lot of activity around the entrances of both hives today.

May 24: Rock Garden

5/24
The rock garden is looking nice this year. Some flowers are starting to bloom. I just planted a couple more thyme and sedum to fill in empty spots. I need to add more rocks in some places where the chipmunks have been digging. You can see the Italian hive at the top right.

Fact: In one recent survey, beekeepers reported sustaining losses of even more colonies over the winter of 2007-2008 than the devastating previous year: 35.2% of their colonies died.

May 23: Inspections

5/23
Two pictures from the inspection. Russians on the left; Italians on the right.

May 23: Long Live the Italian Queen

5/23
I inspected the Italians today and was very surprised and a bit dismayed that the queen was still in her cage after 7 days. The cage had fallen down between the frames. I'm not sure whether the workers just couldn't get to the marshmallow with the cage knocked down or whether the marshmallow had hardened too much for them to eat through. Well, at least she is still alive! (I saw festooning-see previous post.)

Next, I performed the very nerve-wracking task of scraping out the marshmallow and releasing the queen into the hive. The last thing I wanted to happen was for her to fly away or to accidentally kill her. As I worked the cage, the bees noticeably began to buzz much louder. Curious. The attendants and the queen took their own sweet time exiting the cage. I tried to sear in my memory what the queen looks like (see picture from Internet), so maybe someday, I can actually locate her when inspecting. The one thing that I did notice is that she doesn't have a furry thorax and is lighter in color than the Russian queen. Master beekeepers can easily spot the one queen among the thousands and thousands of workers.

The queen scampered out of the cage and high-tailed it downward between frames C1 and C7 (the middle frames). So the Italians have their queen. She needs to start laying eggs very quickly, because with a 6 week life span, the workers installed on April 20 will soon be dying off in waves.

I lifted the lid of the Russians. They are drawing out the frames on the second floor but no eggs up there. I closed the hive up. No reason to tear their house down when they are doing so well.

Vaseline sticky sheets looked much better! Considerably fewer varroa mites.


Interesting fact: Honeybees pollinate 80% of our flowering crops which constitute 1/3 of everything we eat! Every year, 60% of the commercially kept honeybees in the United States--more than 1 million hives--are driven to the almond groves in California.

May 22: Father of American Beekeeping

L.L. Langstroth
b. 1810 (Philadelphia) - d. 1895 (Dayton)

I recently stumbled upon a fascinating biography of Langstroth (The Life of Langstroth by Florence Naille, 1942). Despite being "prostrated" (completely disabled) by "head trouble" and "nervous malady" (obviously depression) half of his life, Langstroth's contributions to beekeeping made commercial beekeeping possible. Our ready access to honey is in no small part due to his discoveries. He:

• Identified "bee space" (3/8")
• Invented the moveable frame, stackable hive (the style of hives you see in my pictures)
• Imported and propagated the Italian bee in the U.S.
  
• Wrote a seminal book on beekeeping called The Hive and the Honey-Bee (1853)

He also was a well-respected minister, abolitionist, and lived in Oxford, Ohio for many years. He's buried in Woodland Cemetery in Dayton. Unfortunately, he was a bad businessman, got screwed over with patent infringements, and barely made any money off of his invention. He had trouble holding down a job because of his illness, and his family survived financially through the generosity of brothers-in-law and friends. Incidentally, his great-grandson was an astrophysicist and co-discoverer of the neutrino.

May 19: Festooning

5/19
I've been reading a book called The Beekeeper's Handbook. David and I noticed last year bunches of bees "holding hands." It was fascinating but we had no idea what they were doing. I read tonight that it's called festooning. Bees apparently festoon when they are engorged with honey and producing a lot of wax from their special wax glands, although this picture I found on flickr doesn't seem to have anything to do with wax. It looks like they are trying to bridge the gap between the two frames. I also found some beekeepers talking about festooning on the outside of the hive in the context of overcrowded hives.