I'm a marked woman. Or at least my head is. I went into both hives between the raindrops on 7/2/09 because I needed to replace the syrup since we were leaving on vacation for a week and a half. We'd taken it off the weekend before, but were advised to put it back on due to the weather and the fact that they still had comb to build (we put on a super each, knowing we wouldn't be back in for a week). Because I was just doing the syrup, I went with my usual "eh, veil, schmeil" attitude. This was probably my first mistake, since I had grumpy, hungry bees, most of whom were cooped up in the hive due to the weather. But still, I got my sugar topped off just fine, half the job done. I went the long way around our yew tree so as not to get in the middle of the bee highway as they madly dashed to the flowers between raindrops, and stood on the "lawn side" (or between the hives) of Joel's hive. Oh, bother. His sugar can was on the OPPOSITE side of his hive. This time, I got lazy, and crossed the beeline. I think this was my fatal mistake. What I think happened was that one of his mad dashers ran PLUNK! into my unveiled head, got stuck in my hair, panicked and stung me right on top of my head, about 5 inches above my right brow. YOWZA. And off went the pheromones of the stinging bee, which may have accounted for the several more that landed on me. I could hear at least one still in my hair, and I stumbled into the front yard where my husband was performing some last minute repairs on the RV. I think I yelled every four letter word, and then some, so that the folks in Mansfield must have heard me. That finally got his attention, and he came to my rescue, brushing off the rest of the bees and disentangling the one from my head.
So, well, I guess the upside is that I know I'm not allergic now. And my kids appreciated that I couldn't raise my eyebrow at their antics for 24 hours. BOY did it hurt, though, and I think my veil will see a lot more use from now on!!
Showing posts with label Bees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bees. Show all posts
Monday, July 13, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Bring out your dead!! And other bee hygiene facts
Someone at work a couple weeks ago asked me if my honey was FDA approved. I tried to keep a straight face. And then someone else asked me if it was safe to buy farmstand unpasteurized honey. It's a legitimate question!!
No, my honey will not be FDA approved. Why? Read on...
Yes, it's safe to buy honey. Why? Well. There are many reasons.
First of all, honey lasts forever. Sealed honey has been found in Egyptian tombs, still in edible form.
Secondly, honey is fungus and bacteria resistant. Some people actually use honey to swab on cuts, much like Neosporin or Bactine.
Thirdly, honey isn't processed. It's spun out of the frames using a centrifugal force, allowed to settle so any sediment (bits of honeycomb, etc.) falls to the bottom, and put in a bottle for your consumption. It's pure.
There are warnings not to feed honey to babies, but that is for the same reason that you shouldn't feed them peanut butter or strawberries; they could develop an allergy or have an allergic reaction.
Finally, honeybees are VERY hygenic. They don't like anything to be in their hives except themselves and their honey and pollen. Sandy says that she put in some sweet fern fronds (which is an organic way to combat the ants which sometimes lurk around the hives), and witnessed the bees carrying it out the next day!! They don't even poop in their hive. They take it outside. My kids are amazed that bees are "potty trained." If you see evidence that bees are going in the hive, there is usually a problem. Winters are tough for them. YOU try holding it for weeks on end!!
I snapped a photo to illustrate this the other day. Another thing that is not allowed to lurk around the hive is carcasses. I've seen bees pick up their dead comrades and fly them out of the hive a few times, but I was messing around in the hive and actually got to snap two of them finagling a dead bee into one's grasp so they could move her out of the hive. First, they actually cleaned off any pollen she had on her (recycling!).
Then one of them got underneath her to grab her and fly her off. Look at her poor little tongue hanging out, she's dead...
No, my honey will not be FDA approved. Why? Read on...
Yes, it's safe to buy honey. Why? Well. There are many reasons.
First of all, honey lasts forever. Sealed honey has been found in Egyptian tombs, still in edible form.
Secondly, honey is fungus and bacteria resistant. Some people actually use honey to swab on cuts, much like Neosporin or Bactine.
Thirdly, honey isn't processed. It's spun out of the frames using a centrifugal force, allowed to settle so any sediment (bits of honeycomb, etc.) falls to the bottom, and put in a bottle for your consumption. It's pure.
There are warnings not to feed honey to babies, but that is for the same reason that you shouldn't feed them peanut butter or strawberries; they could develop an allergy or have an allergic reaction.
Finally, honeybees are VERY hygenic. They don't like anything to be in their hives except themselves and their honey and pollen. Sandy says that she put in some sweet fern fronds (which is an organic way to combat the ants which sometimes lurk around the hives), and witnessed the bees carrying it out the next day!! They don't even poop in their hive. They take it outside. My kids are amazed that bees are "potty trained." If you see evidence that bees are going in the hive, there is usually a problem. Winters are tough for them. YOU try holding it for weeks on end!!
I snapped a photo to illustrate this the other day. Another thing that is not allowed to lurk around the hive is carcasses. I've seen bees pick up their dead comrades and fly them out of the hive a few times, but I was messing around in the hive and actually got to snap two of them finagling a dead bee into one's grasp so they could move her out of the hive. First, they actually cleaned off any pollen she had on her (recycling!).
Then one of them got underneath her to grab her and fly her off. Look at her poor little tongue hanging out, she's dead...
Disaster in brood chamber #2 06/07/09
Today was a disaster. Well, nearly a disaster anyway. At Sandy's inspection last week, she had thrown her second brood chambers on already. Joel put his on a week ago. Mine hadn't gone on until the 3rd of June, four days prior to when this post occurred. When I threw on the second chamber, I couldn't find the staple gun to finish the frames (you have to lock the foundation in), I couldn't find the pins you use to attach the foundation to the sides of the frame, and I was in a hurry so I wouldn't be late to pick up my older daughter from school. Even though you're supposed to go at LEAST a week between inspections, I decided I wanted to peek into that second chamber just to make sure things were going ok.
I'm glad I did.
Apparently, the tacks I used in lieu of staples were NOT a feasible substitute. I was missing pieces of frames, the foundation was all mangled and warped, and completely out of the frames in several instances.
Problem was, the bees were now in the second chamber and working on a couple of frames. Egads.
So what was supposed to be a short inspection lasted about an hour and a half with my fixing the frames as best I could. I located the staple gun and the pins and pulled the frames one by one, shaking the bees off it as much as I was able to before working it.
In some cases the bees actually tried to fix the problem themselves by fusing the foundation to the frame. This had mixed results. Half the built frames had burr comb on them.
These are the pins that go in the sides of the frames. They are kind of a pain in the neck to put in (especially on frames where the bees and/or cells and/or honey are already plentiful), but they do keep the foundation in place much better.
I thought this was cute...it was a solitary pollen-filled cell in new comb.
In the end, it was fixed, I didn't get stung, and I felt much better about the second chamber. But boy am I glad I went in to inspect!!
I'm glad I did.
Apparently, the tacks I used in lieu of staples were NOT a feasible substitute. I was missing pieces of frames, the foundation was all mangled and warped, and completely out of the frames in several instances.
Problem was, the bees were now in the second chamber and working on a couple of frames. Egads.
So what was supposed to be a short inspection lasted about an hour and a half with my fixing the frames as best I could. I located the staple gun and the pins and pulled the frames one by one, shaking the bees off it as much as I was able to before working it.
In some cases the bees actually tried to fix the problem themselves by fusing the foundation to the frame. This had mixed results. Half the built frames had burr comb on them.
These are the pins that go in the sides of the frames. They are kind of a pain in the neck to put in (especially on frames where the bees and/or cells and/or honey are already plentiful), but they do keep the foundation in place much better.
I thought this was cute...it was a solitary pollen-filled cell in new comb.
In the end, it was fixed, I didn't get stung, and I felt much better about the second chamber. But boy am I glad I went in to inspect!!
Bristol Bee Workshop 06/05
We weren't sure it was going to happen due to the weather (ugh, has it really been awful weather all month!?) but we had our first workshop at a fellow beekeeper's house. Her name is Beth, and Joe, one of our instructors in class (the one that scared the bejeebers out of us when he announced a "quiz" based on our reading...he was kidding!) led the inspection.
Beth is NOT a first year beekeeper. She's got several hives, including a new package and a nuc, but the most impressive hive was the giant hive!! Check out the little gadget to the left of the hive Joe is working. It's this frame holder that you drape over the side of the chamber that holds the frames you pull. I want one. It would make life a LOT easier.
Joe worked all the hives, saving the big one for last.
He pointed out the drone comb, which was enlightening and comforting because Joel has the same thing on his hive (I haven't seen a single drone cell yet).
Joe also showed us a frame with a good "pattern" on it. You're supposed to see capped honey on the top, then a band of pollen, then brood (or empty cells if they have hatched and the queen hasn't filled them yet).
Then, because the hive is obviously giant, he taught us how to perform a "walkaway split." I will not be able to articulate it well because I don't remember the whole thing, but basically you are splitting the hive in two so it doesn't swarm, so you can create a queen, or so you can build another hive. Joe basically pulled a bunch of frames with fresh eggs, larva and honey, brushed off all the bees (to make sure the queen was NOT on the frames), and stuck them in a chamber on top of this screen gadget called the queen excluder (because the queen can't go through it).
The nurse bees (the "babysitters") make their way back to the brood, you move them with one more frame of fresh eggs from the old hive, and they make a new queen from those eggs.
After a while the bees started getting very irritated in the big hive, and they started to beard. What a sight!
It was very informative. One of the big things I noticed was the speed and efficiency with which Joe worked. I am always trying to get through inspection without killing any bees (go ahead, ask me how many times that's happened), but he just didn't worry about it. Another thing I noticed was that he didn't worry so much about a little bit of burr comb. I usually scrape every last speck out of the hives when I'm in there. He just lets it go unless it's really an impediment.
Beth is NOT a first year beekeeper. She's got several hives, including a new package and a nuc, but the most impressive hive was the giant hive!! Check out the little gadget to the left of the hive Joe is working. It's this frame holder that you drape over the side of the chamber that holds the frames you pull. I want one. It would make life a LOT easier.
Joe worked all the hives, saving the big one for last.
He pointed out the drone comb, which was enlightening and comforting because Joel has the same thing on his hive (I haven't seen a single drone cell yet).
Joe also showed us a frame with a good "pattern" on it. You're supposed to see capped honey on the top, then a band of pollen, then brood (or empty cells if they have hatched and the queen hasn't filled them yet).
Then, because the hive is obviously giant, he taught us how to perform a "walkaway split." I will not be able to articulate it well because I don't remember the whole thing, but basically you are splitting the hive in two so it doesn't swarm, so you can create a queen, or so you can build another hive. Joe basically pulled a bunch of frames with fresh eggs, larva and honey, brushed off all the bees (to make sure the queen was NOT on the frames), and stuck them in a chamber on top of this screen gadget called the queen excluder (because the queen can't go through it).
The nurse bees (the "babysitters") make their way back to the brood, you move them with one more frame of fresh eggs from the old hive, and they make a new queen from those eggs.After a while the bees started getting very irritated in the big hive, and they started to beard. What a sight!
It was very informative. One of the big things I noticed was the speed and efficiency with which Joe worked. I am always trying to get through inspection without killing any bees (go ahead, ask me how many times that's happened), but he just didn't worry about it. Another thing I noticed was that he didn't worry so much about a little bit of burr comb. I usually scrape every last speck out of the hives when I'm in there. He just lets it go unless it's really an impediment.
Sandy's Bee Inspection 05/30
Today, Joel and I went to our friend Sandy's house to see her work the bees. She has 8-frame beehives, which is another way to combat the heavy weight of the brood chambers. Even an 8 frame deep weighs significantly less than one with 10 frames.
We joined her husband and older son on the inspection. At first, her husband didn't even wear a veil. He's VERY brave!!
The first thing Joel and I noticed about the hives was that she has a LOT of burr comb. Burr comb is pretty much comb put where you don't want it to be - below the frames, between the frames, sticking sideways out of the frames...etc. The class leaders kept telling us that burr comb should be removed at all costs because it "causes problems" later on. I suppose those problems are that the bees will lay in it, put honey in it, and of course if you have a big wedge of burr comb holding two frames apart, the bees will fill up that space with MORE burr comb. Ugh. But yeah. Poor Sandy had a LOT of burr comb, both in her hives and that she's already taken out during previous inspections.
In the second hive was the biggest burr comb I've ever seen. Her husband pointed out that as she tilted the frame, it hung from a small strip at the top, so she decided maybe we'd better remove it. Unfortunately it had brood (babies) in it, capped larva (which means they're three weeks or less from emerging) but it was still better to remove it.
It was at this point that I got this sudden surge of courage and I helped her take it out and lay it on the ground. It was kind of sad, because her older son pointed out the bee that was trying to hatch (and most likely did not without help from her family). Those of you that know me know that I HATE killing most things, so it was difficult. But her death wasn't a complete loss. I was able to snap some pretty cool pictures that look like an emerging adult bee.
Those capped cells to the left, by the way, are what honeycomb looks like with capped larva in it.
Thanks, Sandy, for sharing your hives with us!!
We joined her husband and older son on the inspection. At first, her husband didn't even wear a veil. He's VERY brave!!
The first thing Joel and I noticed about the hives was that she has a LOT of burr comb. Burr comb is pretty much comb put where you don't want it to be - below the frames, between the frames, sticking sideways out of the frames...etc. The class leaders kept telling us that burr comb should be removed at all costs because it "causes problems" later on. I suppose those problems are that the bees will lay in it, put honey in it, and of course if you have a big wedge of burr comb holding two frames apart, the bees will fill up that space with MORE burr comb. Ugh. But yeah. Poor Sandy had a LOT of burr comb, both in her hives and that she's already taken out during previous inspections.
In the second hive was the biggest burr comb I've ever seen. Her husband pointed out that as she tilted the frame, it hung from a small strip at the top, so she decided maybe we'd better remove it. Unfortunately it had brood (babies) in it, capped larva (which means they're three weeks or less from emerging) but it was still better to remove it.
It was at this point that I got this sudden surge of courage and I helped her take it out and lay it on the ground. It was kind of sad, because her older son pointed out the bee that was trying to hatch (and most likely did not without help from her family). Those of you that know me know that I HATE killing most things, so it was difficult. But her death wasn't a complete loss. I was able to snap some pretty cool pictures that look like an emerging adult bee.
Those capped cells to the left, by the way, are what honeycomb looks like with capped larva in it.
Thanks, Sandy, for sharing your hives with us!!
When will the rain end?
Hi! It's been a while. There really hasn't been all that much to report though. It's been raining for EVER, it feels like...
We've got a second brood chamber on! That pretty much means the stack of boxes that are my beehive just increased by one. But beekeepers aren't supposed to call them BOXES :). They are "deeps" (because brood chambers are the deepest you can buy) for the bottom two, and "supers" (because...um....they are for collecting honey and that's SUPER?) after that. Supers can be deeps too, or they can be shorter than the deeps. Mine are "mediums" because in class we learned that a deep full of honey can weigh 80-100 pounds. Can you see me lifting that off the top on a regular basis? Yeah right. You can get even smaller than mediums too, but I sort of went middle of the road. Besides, with all this rain, I wonder if we'll get honey anyway this year.
I've managed to take some cool pictures and have some adventures this past month, but we've had some modem issues, so I haven't been able to post so frequently. I've caught you up to date this evening, I believe. I'm itching to visit those girls again already. They were out in full force this afternoon when the sun briefly peeked out. So were we! It was quite funny...I was out checking on the girls and cleaning stuff off with the hose in the back yard, our next door neighbor's crew (he owns a landscaping service) had just returned, and the kids were out at the preschool in the back. Whenever that sun popped out, all you heard in our three yards was cheering!! Anyway, they were doing their cleansing flights and pulling in some bright, bright yellow pollen today. I don't know what it was, but I think they were awfully happy. The ones I got close to not only had their pollen baskets full, they had it all over their "faces" and bodies!! One landed on my arm. I fought the urge to scream and flick her off, and she just proceeded to clean off her yellow powder and then flew off. I think they need windshield wipers!
We've got a second brood chamber on! That pretty much means the stack of boxes that are my beehive just increased by one. But beekeepers aren't supposed to call them BOXES :). They are "deeps" (because brood chambers are the deepest you can buy) for the bottom two, and "supers" (because...um....they are for collecting honey and that's SUPER?) after that. Supers can be deeps too, or they can be shorter than the deeps. Mine are "mediums" because in class we learned that a deep full of honey can weigh 80-100 pounds. Can you see me lifting that off the top on a regular basis? Yeah right. You can get even smaller than mediums too, but I sort of went middle of the road. Besides, with all this rain, I wonder if we'll get honey anyway this year.
I've managed to take some cool pictures and have some adventures this past month, but we've had some modem issues, so I haven't been able to post so frequently. I've caught you up to date this evening, I believe. I'm itching to visit those girls again already. They were out in full force this afternoon when the sun briefly peeked out. So were we! It was quite funny...I was out checking on the girls and cleaning stuff off with the hose in the back yard, our next door neighbor's crew (he owns a landscaping service) had just returned, and the kids were out at the preschool in the back. Whenever that sun popped out, all you heard in our three yards was cheering!! Anyway, they were doing their cleansing flights and pulling in some bright, bright yellow pollen today. I don't know what it was, but I think they were awfully happy. The ones I got close to not only had their pollen baskets full, they had it all over their "faces" and bodies!! One landed on my arm. I fought the urge to scream and flick her off, and she just proceeded to clean off her yellow powder and then flew off. I think they need windshield wipers!
Friday, May 22, 2009
IT'S A GIRLGIRLGIRLGIRLGIRLGIRLGIRL!!!
I've been looking forward to today all week. Last weekend I inspected my hives and discovered a FULL FRAME OF CAPPED BROOD! Uh...what's that you ask? OK, let me back up and give you some "bee math."
Bees start out as eggs, little mini rice grain type eggs stuck to the bottom of the cells.
This lasts 3 days.
Then the egg hatches and becomes a larva. It gets fatter and fatter for the next 5-7 days (depending on what kind of bee it is...queen, drone, worker) as the nurse bees feed it.
The worker bees "cap the brood" or put a skin over the cell on day 8-10 (usually day 9 for workers). During this time, although you cannot see it, the larva spins a cocoon around itself and turns brown and "beelike".
On day 16-24 (20 for workers), the brand new baby bee emerges!!!
So, I discovered capped brood and a lot of it last Wednesday. My bee math led me to believe that if I did an inspection this week I would see new baby bees.
And I was right!!
Last time I went in the hive, there were two little rows of eyes staring at me.
Today, there were FIVE!!!
I found TWO full capped frames of brood today (which means I will have twice the bees in two weeks), two full frames of honey/pollen, and two partially drawn out frames (they are working on building the honeycomb but nothing is in it yet). And that capped brood from last week? It's got new eggs in it! WOW!
I was particularly excited to ACTUALLY SEE THE BROOD HATCHING. Their little heads and eyes were poking out holes in the cell and the workers were trying to help them get out.
There are now fuzzy, smaller, yellow bees in with my Italians. Carnolians are supposed to be dark-colored, but unless these bees darken up, they're actually rather pretty, although they have less striking bands. If I'm right about it, there's one in the lower left corner.
All in all, what a GREAT bee day! Brad was here to see it. I wish Sandy had been here as well, she would have been so excited!! She's going to get QUITE a surprise when she opens her hive next, I think!
Bees start out as eggs, little mini rice grain type eggs stuck to the bottom of the cells.
This lasts 3 days.
Then the egg hatches and becomes a larva. It gets fatter and fatter for the next 5-7 days (depending on what kind of bee it is...queen, drone, worker) as the nurse bees feed it.
The worker bees "cap the brood" or put a skin over the cell on day 8-10 (usually day 9 for workers). During this time, although you cannot see it, the larva spins a cocoon around itself and turns brown and "beelike".
On day 16-24 (20 for workers), the brand new baby bee emerges!!!
So, I discovered capped brood and a lot of it last Wednesday. My bee math led me to believe that if I did an inspection this week I would see new baby bees.
And I was right!!
Last time I went in the hive, there were two little rows of eyes staring at me.
Today, there were FIVE!!!
I found TWO full capped frames of brood today (which means I will have twice the bees in two weeks), two full frames of honey/pollen, and two partially drawn out frames (they are working on building the honeycomb but nothing is in it yet). And that capped brood from last week? It's got new eggs in it! WOW!
I was particularly excited to ACTUALLY SEE THE BROOD HATCHING. Their little heads and eyes were poking out holes in the cell and the workers were trying to help them get out.
There are now fuzzy, smaller, yellow bees in with my Italians. Carnolians are supposed to be dark-colored, but unless these bees darken up, they're actually rather pretty, although they have less striking bands. If I'm right about it, there's one in the lower left corner.
All in all, what a GREAT bee day! Brad was here to see it. I wish Sandy had been here as well, she would have been so excited!! She's going to get QUITE a surprise when she opens her hive next, I think!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Camping and Hive opening
Yes, we did actually go camping. It wasn't fabulous weather (it was cold and windy and a bit wet), and my older daughter accidentally ran over her younger sister with a very large toy truck racing down the hill, but we had a blast. My friend Karen's youngest daughter turned 2 and we had a party for her (there were three families). I think that campground birthdays are the best! We had one for my daughter last summer in NH. People you don't know hear the singing and join in, and the kids get to run around with their color coded glowsticks at night among the fireflies (OK, so it was too cold this time for fireflies, but you get the idea. It's very bohemian. I love it). Our next trip isn't scheduled until July, and already I can't wait.
On to the bees....I'm opening the hive today. I opened up the outer cover on Sunday to discover that for Mother's Day, the girls had built me...erm...a Close Encounters Sculpture? A Bridge to Nowhere? A pantry? I don't know what they think it is, but we humans call it "burr comb" and we remove it because it can cause problems. They built upwards off the foundations and ended it right smack in front of the syrup jar. Actually it was ATTACHED to the jar, but the attachment broke when I had to refill the syrup. It's as though they don't want to move more than a few inches from syrup to comb. So these are my goals:
1. Light the smoker successfully (seriously, I am a failure at pyromania; the only time I have successfully lit it for a good long burn was before I got the bees)
2. Clean up the sculpture thingie (I should listen to see if they're buzzing A-B-G-G-D)
3. Check for larva, pupa, or eggs (collectively this is called "brood"), which means both that the queen is alive and well and working like a...well, a queen bee (dogs have nothing on her, she can produce up to 1500 eggs a day for several years, yikes!).
4. Do a count of what we've got in the frames (pollen, honey, brood) and determine if we need to put on the second hive bottom (which would be cool, because once you fill the two bottoms you start to get to keep the honey from anything you put on top!).
5. Document with the camera
I'll try to post later (or soon) with pictures!
On to the bees....I'm opening the hive today. I opened up the outer cover on Sunday to discover that for Mother's Day, the girls had built me...erm...a Close Encounters Sculpture? A Bridge to Nowhere? A pantry? I don't know what they think it is, but we humans call it "burr comb" and we remove it because it can cause problems. They built upwards off the foundations and ended it right smack in front of the syrup jar. Actually it was ATTACHED to the jar, but the attachment broke when I had to refill the syrup. It's as though they don't want to move more than a few inches from syrup to comb. So these are my goals:
1. Light the smoker successfully (seriously, I am a failure at pyromania; the only time I have successfully lit it for a good long burn was before I got the bees)
2. Clean up the sculpture thingie (I should listen to see if they're buzzing A-B-G-G-D)
3. Check for larva, pupa, or eggs (collectively this is called "brood"), which means both that the queen is alive and well and working like a...well, a queen bee (dogs have nothing on her, she can produce up to 1500 eggs a day for several years, yikes!).
4. Do a count of what we've got in the frames (pollen, honey, brood) and determine if we need to put on the second hive bottom (which would be cool, because once you fill the two bottoms you start to get to keep the honey from anything you put on top!).
5. Document with the camera
I'll try to post later (or soon) with pictures!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Bad mother woes
I'm a bad bee mother. I hang my head in shame. I'm getting burr comb and dead bees on Sunday, I can feel it. I went out to check on my girls (and Joel's) today now that the rain has subsided. When I say "check," I mean just pretty much look at the front of the hive (to see if they are active; Joel's were, mine not so much) and tip the top cover to see if they need more syrup (Joel's can still has some in it, mine was bone dry). So...it was cold, it was rainy, the bees were stuck inside, and I didn't even give them any nutrition to tide them over. I feel terrible. I topped off the jar and replaced it, I'll go out in a little as it warms and suns up to see if they get moving again.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
What actually happened today
So....there's nothing as malleable as a plan, right? I talked to my friend and fellow bee keeper today and she suggested that I not go in my hive since I just went in Thursday to verify the queen got released. The only thing, however, that I did to Joel's hive on Wednesday was to take out the queen cage, which was empty (well, of the queen anyway) and on the top of the frames, so there was minimal disturbance. He hadn't been in yet, either, so he opened his up to check on it.
First a little smoke around the hive to calm them down...
This is what they looked like when the inner cover came off:
He pulled apart the busiest frames to check for burr comb (improperly placed comb):
It was a good thing he went back in, as it turns out, because there was a curious growth on one of the busiest frames. It didn't really look like my burr comb, because it had a sort of pocket on top but it seemed to be attached all around, and it had a small bulbish growth on the bottom. Concerning!
We decided to table this issue and ask some people who know more than we do about this.
Later, I drove to Sandy's house, our fellow Bee School attendee. She also has two hives in her yard and has been in once, but had some issues. Like me, her queen cage fell to the bottom in one. And in the other one there seemed to be a big amount of burr comb.
Her friend who has kept bees for several years came over, and she was AWESOME. She walked Sandy through the first hive (queen was out of the cage that had fallen, and we located her on the frame, plus she cleared out some burr comb)
and had her work her own second hive (we spotted the queen in this one too, and she cleaned up an ENORMOUS burr comb shaped just like a heart...aw...the bees love her!!).
We both expressed that we felt so bad that the bees had invested so much energy in making comb that we just scooped off!
I peppered the expert with questions, and showed her the picture of Joel's hive. She thinks it's just burr comb, but in a different configuration than the others we've seen so far. At any rate it would be impossible to have supercedure (new queen cell) this early, because there was no brood (babies) to begin with. She suggested to either clean it up if it's easy to, or just leave it and be resigned to the fact that he'll have a funky looking comb on that frame. We probably should have completely lifted the frame out of the hive to inspect it, but there's just something about mucking with a big box of bees that makes you want to be as minimally invasive as possible. Next time.
One thing I did notice is that Sandy's comb seems to be a lot more white than mine. But I also noticed that mine have started bringing in lots of white and pale yellow pollen rather than only the dark orange stuff I saw the other day. That could be why I noticed that our newly blossomed Hoper Crab is positively buzzing today!! Seriously, you can hear it standing under it. It's a gorgeous tree. I'll have to post it for you.
Finally, here is the burr comb I pulled off the other day.
You can see how they structure the honeycomb on the second photo...you can just about see the back layer and how the middle of the cell is placed on the "Y" of the front layer for maximum strength. It's amazing, isn't it?
First a little smoke around the hive to calm them down...
This is what they looked like when the inner cover came off:
He pulled apart the busiest frames to check for burr comb (improperly placed comb):
It was a good thing he went back in, as it turns out, because there was a curious growth on one of the busiest frames. It didn't really look like my burr comb, because it had a sort of pocket on top but it seemed to be attached all around, and it had a small bulbish growth on the bottom. Concerning!
We decided to table this issue and ask some people who know more than we do about this.Later, I drove to Sandy's house, our fellow Bee School attendee. She also has two hives in her yard and has been in once, but had some issues. Like me, her queen cage fell to the bottom in one. And in the other one there seemed to be a big amount of burr comb.
Her friend who has kept bees for several years came over, and she was AWESOME. She walked Sandy through the first hive (queen was out of the cage that had fallen, and we located her on the frame, plus she cleared out some burr comb)
and had her work her own second hive (we spotted the queen in this one too, and she cleaned up an ENORMOUS burr comb shaped just like a heart...aw...the bees love her!!).
We both expressed that we felt so bad that the bees had invested so much energy in making comb that we just scooped off!I peppered the expert with questions, and showed her the picture of Joel's hive. She thinks it's just burr comb, but in a different configuration than the others we've seen so far. At any rate it would be impossible to have supercedure (new queen cell) this early, because there was no brood (babies) to begin with. She suggested to either clean it up if it's easy to, or just leave it and be resigned to the fact that he'll have a funky looking comb on that frame. We probably should have completely lifted the frame out of the hive to inspect it, but there's just something about mucking with a big box of bees that makes you want to be as minimally invasive as possible. Next time.
One thing I did notice is that Sandy's comb seems to be a lot more white than mine. But I also noticed that mine have started bringing in lots of white and pale yellow pollen rather than only the dark orange stuff I saw the other day. That could be why I noticed that our newly blossomed Hoper Crab is positively buzzing today!! Seriously, you can hear it standing under it. It's a gorgeous tree. I'll have to post it for you.
Finally, here is the burr comb I pulled off the other day.
You can see how they structure the honeycomb on the second photo...you can just about see the back layer and how the middle of the cell is placed on the "Y" of the front layer for maximum strength. It's amazing, isn't it?
Joel's first hive inspection
Big day today! The plan is for Joel and I to open up the hives again today and check on them. I found a picture with his bee brush in it today, which I never bought, so maybe I can stop using the unused paint brush as a bee brush. A bee brush is used to brush the bees off the frames (so you can see what you're looking at underneath, plus to move them back so hopefully you don't squish them). I don't know why people say "pig pile" when they could say "bee pile" because the bees really do pile up on each other!!
Hopefully I'll get to peek at my friend Sandy's hives too. She was in our class with us and is pretty local. I should probably also call the neighbor down the street (Brad) who has hives and let him know we're going in. Gosh, we could start our own bee club!! I really do think that the more hives you get to look into, and the more people you network with, the more knowledgeable you'll be. It's a whole different world outside of the textbook.
LOTS of pollen baskets coming in yesterday, even in the cold and the showers. The picture in my older post was of orange pollen, but I'm starting to see pale yellow and white pollen now. Our Hoper Crabapple bloomed Wednesday so I'm wondering if maybe that's the new color. My theory is that the very yellow/orange pollen was coming from the forsythia which was in full bloom when they arrived.
So I'm crossing my fingers that I will see eggs, that I will NOT squish the queen (or any of the other girls), and that all goes well for all of us.
More later, hopefully with pictures. Which is another good reason to have a bee buddy. It's hard to take pictures when you are alone in there.
Hopefully I'll get to peek at my friend Sandy's hives too. She was in our class with us and is pretty local. I should probably also call the neighbor down the street (Brad) who has hives and let him know we're going in. Gosh, we could start our own bee club!! I really do think that the more hives you get to look into, and the more people you network with, the more knowledgeable you'll be. It's a whole different world outside of the textbook.
LOTS of pollen baskets coming in yesterday, even in the cold and the showers. The picture in my older post was of orange pollen, but I'm starting to see pale yellow and white pollen now. Our Hoper Crabapple bloomed Wednesday so I'm wondering if maybe that's the new color. My theory is that the very yellow/orange pollen was coming from the forsythia which was in full bloom when they arrived.
So I'm crossing my fingers that I will see eggs, that I will NOT squish the queen (or any of the other girls), and that all goes well for all of us.
More later, hopefully with pictures. Which is another good reason to have a bee buddy. It's hard to take pictures when you are alone in there.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Bee Pictures
Here are some pictures that I've taken over the past week of the bees:
This is my youngest (2.5) holding a drone bee. I was okay with this because drones, or males, do not have stingers. The drone holding went a LONG way towards making both of my children more comfortable with the whole idea of having bees.
This is a worker bee. All workers are female, and they can sting. But only once. A worker starts her adult life as a nurse bee taking care of the babies, graduates to being a guard bee protecting the cave, and ends her life as a forager collecting pollen and nectar. And all of this happens in the course of six weeks or so.
This is a drone bee, the males that don't work or sting. They are basically "hive potatoes", LOL. You can tell the difference between the workers and the drones by the size (drones are bigger) and the eyes (drones have large, rounded, almost cartoonish eyes).
This is from my first inspection (which I will post about at a later date). You can see that the bees have started to "draw comb" or create honeycomb up at the top corner, used to store honey and grow new babies.
I think I'm most proud of this picture. I sat in front of the hive for forty five minutes for this shot. Bees fill their "pollen baskets" with pollen and bring it back to the hive. Only problem is, they are so heavy with it sometimes they crash land, and they are in a hurry to get in the hive and get it unloaded. It's really hard to be able to both spot a pollen carrier and then get a picture of her, because she is in constant motion. But this one seemingly posed right in front of me! You can clearly see the pollen baskets on the rear legs. They look like swimmies. This bee is actually Joel's bee. How do I know that? After I took the picture she entered his hive. This was not too long after I had my own hive debaucle, so I'm convinced that my bees wanted nothing less than to help me get a good pollen shot.
This is my youngest (2.5) holding a drone bee. I was okay with this because drones, or males, do not have stingers. The drone holding went a LONG way towards making both of my children more comfortable with the whole idea of having bees.
This is a worker bee. All workers are female, and they can sting. But only once. A worker starts her adult life as a nurse bee taking care of the babies, graduates to being a guard bee protecting the cave, and ends her life as a forager collecting pollen and nectar. And all of this happens in the course of six weeks or so.
This is a drone bee, the males that don't work or sting. They are basically "hive potatoes", LOL. You can tell the difference between the workers and the drones by the size (drones are bigger) and the eyes (drones have large, rounded, almost cartoonish eyes).
This is from my first inspection (which I will post about at a later date). You can see that the bees have started to "draw comb" or create honeycomb up at the top corner, used to store honey and grow new babies.
I think I'm most proud of this picture. I sat in front of the hive for forty five minutes for this shot. Bees fill their "pollen baskets" with pollen and bring it back to the hive. Only problem is, they are so heavy with it sometimes they crash land, and they are in a hurry to get in the hive and get it unloaded. It's really hard to be able to both spot a pollen carrier and then get a picture of her, because she is in constant motion. But this one seemingly posed right in front of me! You can clearly see the pollen baskets on the rear legs. They look like swimmies. This bee is actually Joel's bee. How do I know that? After I took the picture she entered his hive. This was not too long after I had my own hive debaucle, so I'm convinced that my bees wanted nothing less than to help me get a good pollen shot.
Hive Demo and Hive Install
So I had a big post going the day of the install, pictures and everything, and I wiped it out. Then I got so busy that I didn't even get a chance to repost. Sigh. It's a good thing that I'm pretty much talking to myself in here.
So in a nutshell, a week ago the bees came. First there was the demo done by Everett, our main teacher from bee class.
It was held at Bristol Community College in Fall River. It was a big deal, part of the start of a new certification on organic agriculture. The "Bristol Bee" even attended.
Everett explained to us what we were going to do, and then he hived one of three hives he had set up on campus. His students hived the other two. The screen tents served as protection for the more timid onlookers, but also will stand for a week or two as a visual cue so the bees can find their way back to their new home.
Through a process of opening the box, whacking, pouring and installing the queen, he guided us through what we had to do.
Here's the queen in her cage. She's the one with the green dot. She comes in a cage because she wasn't in the hive with the bees in the package, so they don't know her. If you just dumped her in, they might kill her. The white stuff on the left is candy, and it takes a few days for the bees to eat their way through it. By that time the bees recognize her as their own queen and they are one big happy family.
Then it was time to put them in on our own. EEK!! This was our setup:
And these are our packages (well, two of them. The third I picked up for a friend)
And the object is to get them from box to hive.
The "WE" in this case is a childhood friend of my husband's and myself. We did pretty well, got them in and now they're off and running.
Let me post this before I lose it again...
So in a nutshell, a week ago the bees came. First there was the demo done by Everett, our main teacher from bee class.
It was held at Bristol Community College in Fall River. It was a big deal, part of the start of a new certification on organic agriculture. The "Bristol Bee" even attended.
Everett explained to us what we were going to do, and then he hived one of three hives he had set up on campus. His students hived the other two. The screen tents served as protection for the more timid onlookers, but also will stand for a week or two as a visual cue so the bees can find their way back to their new home.
Through a process of opening the box, whacking, pouring and installing the queen, he guided us through what we had to do.
Here's the queen in her cage. She's the one with the green dot. She comes in a cage because she wasn't in the hive with the bees in the package, so they don't know her. If you just dumped her in, they might kill her. The white stuff on the left is candy, and it takes a few days for the bees to eat their way through it. By that time the bees recognize her as their own queen and they are one big happy family.
Then it was time to put them in on our own. EEK!! This was our setup:
And these are our packages (well, two of them. The third I picked up for a friend)
And the object is to get them from box to hive.
The "WE" in this case is a childhood friend of my husband's and myself. We did pretty well, got them in and now they're off and running.Let me post this before I lose it again...
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