Another Week as a NewBee Beekeeper

This week has been cooler than normal.  It is almost the end of April and it feels like late Fall instead of Spring.  Today, Hive 2 celebrated one week in their new home.  I opened the hive yesterday afternoon and checked to see if the Queen had been released and she was out of her cage.  I never saw the Queen, but the bees were working building comb and gathering pollen and nectar.  There were a few eggs in the frames, so she must be alive.  I'm still such a newbee at this that I'm not even sure that is the correct terminology.  I added 2 more quarts of sugar water HoneyBHealthy mixture, but these bees don't seem to be drinking as much as Hive 1 did.  I think it must be because more pollen and nectar is available to them since we are moving into May soon.

Another great thing happened this week.  Brushy Mountain Bee Farm had a posting on their Facebook page advertising a free webinar for Hive Tracks.  We had been trying to track our hives using a combination of memory, notebook, and this blog.  Finding out about Hive Tracks has been a true blessing!  Everything is now in one place!  

Check out this info from Hive Tracks Facebook page (there's also a link to their website below).  

And did I mention that the web based application is FREE!

Hive Tracks (www.hivetracks.com

 

) is a web based application for beekeepers. It's easy to use and makes learning beekeeping, keeping records, tracking weather and connecting with other beekeepers easy and fun!

General Information

Hive Tracks is a powerful web based application where you can keep track of your hives, queens, weather, inspections, feedings, medications and more. This service is FREE!

A map of the bee yards with beekeepers using Hive Tracks in our area.
Listing your bee yard publicly is completely optional.

Moving On Up...

I added a medium super to Hive 1 today. When checking the frames, 7 of 10 had comb, capped brood, and stored sugar water / honey. My plans are to "marry" the deep body hive and the medium for the bees. If they fill both of those, I'll add a shallow super to see if we can get some honey this year. Time will tell.

On another note, I hate those darn small hive beetles! One of the hive traps had 4 or so dead beetles. It's hard to believe that those pesky things can find a hive so quickly!

Bee Day at Bee Well in Pickens - Redeaux

This morning we went to Bee Well in Pickens to pick up our bees for hives 2 & 4. The owner donated 20 packages of bees to new Beekeepers who completed our county's extension club training. There was a drawing at the end of our last class and my husband and I each won a package. Packages of Italian bees are selling for $80 this year, so winning was a much appreciated surprise.

Hive 2 is mine and I plan to install the Queen differently this time to see if I can avoid a mess of burr comb. We shall see. I'm using a very small nail to place the cage with strap onto one of the middle frames. I'm adding a rubber band to hold the cage against the foundation. For Hive 1, I only used a rubber band. When I went into the hive for the first time, the cage and burr comb fell into the bottom of the hive. It was not a pretty sight.

The weather is rather cool today for mid-to-late April. I had planned to use the hive top feeder with this package, but have reconsidered due to the expected low temp of near 40 this evening. I don't want the girls to be without sugar water because they can't leave the cluster, so I'm using 2 quart jars on the bases that my husband made.

Hive 1 appears to be doing well and I am going to leave them alone for at least another week before opening the hive to check their progress. I did place a hive top feeder on their hive last Sunday and opened the top only on Thursday to refill.

Another day of working for the Queen.

~ Donna

Looking for a Queen

On Sunday, April 7, one week and one day after installing my first package of bees, I opened the hive to see how things were progressing.  Here's a video of that day's adventure in beekeeping:

Looking for a Queen

It was a very distressing and disturbing time as I did not expect to see the Queen box and a clump of burr comb the size of a dinner plate on the bottom of my hive.  I ended up closing the hive and leaving the "mess" in there.

The following week, I consulted with everybody I could think of who might be able to guide me in finding a solution.  All of the answers, except one, were "Wow!  I've never heard of that before!".

My husband and I went to Carolina Bee Company in Travelers Rest last Saturday to buy a couple of deep body hives.  While there, I talked to one of the owners about my dilemma and he said, "That burr comb must come out."  So, when we returned home on Saturday afternoon, I donned by bee suit and veil AND gloves (which I don't normally wear) and went in and removed all of the "mess" that I had left during my previous "visit" to the hive.

The good news is...I finally met the Queen!  And, as it stands today, I am working for the Queen.  I knew that the worker bees (and Drones) existed for the Queen, but I didn't realize the level of my employment to her until Saturday.

Humbly Serving Her Highness,

~ Donna

Working Girls

The ladies are working hard bringing in pollen.

Bee Talk...

“If you want to gather honey, don't kick over the beehive.” - Dale Carnegie

Food for the Ladies

Sugar and Water 1:1 mix + Honey B Healthy 1 1/2 teaspoon per quart.

During the first week, our bees were consuming 1 quart every other day per hive.