Catching a Swarm

Wow!  What an exciting day!

I was on the phone with a co-worker when I looked out the window and saw 1000s of honeybees flying around in a circle in the backyard.  It took me about 15 seconds of watching to realize that I was witnessing a bee swarm.  Within 10 minutes, the bees had found a safe location on a tree in the backyard (see photo below).  It was a true blessing to be able to see this!

A Beautiful Swarm

A Warm Winter Day

We're only 3 weeks away from Spring.  We have added boardman feeders to our hives.  The ladies are busy drinking and bringing a little pollen.

Hive Top Feeders - Not for Me!

As a new beekeeper, I read lots and lots of material about beekeeping.  I watch lots and lots of YouTube videos about beekeeping.  I talk to lots and lots of experienced beekeepers about their best practices.  After all of this input, I decided to use hive top feeders on my hives this year.  I purchased the feeders from a reputable company (which I will not name in this post).  What a let-down!  What seems like a great idea and an easy way to feed the bees is one big mess in my opinion.

Again, I'm new to this, but here's the "real deal":  The hive top feeders have floating panels in two separate sections.  You prepare your sugar water mixture, place the feeder on top of your brood chamber / super / whatever, and then pour the sugar water mixture in.  Yes, it does hold more sugar water mixture than jar feeders.  That's the only positive that I could find.

After a week, I went back to check the feeders.  There was at least 100 dead bees floating around in the feeder.  The "floating" panels are more of a trap than a way for the bees to "safely" drink.  It seems that when one bee drowns, another bee tries to help, and then it drowns, and so on and so on.  My husband is creative, so he decided to add styrofoam pieces to each of the panels.  We tested the design and it looked like the drowning problem would be resolved.

After week 2 of using the hive top feeder with the new panel design, I went into the hive again.  To my dismay, I had more dead bees than the week 1 check AND some type of larva living in the sugar water.  To say it was disgusting is an understatement!

Lesson learned ~ I really don't want to trash the hive top feeders.  I would really like to sell them to someone who likes them more than I do.  4 of them at around $20 each is a very expensive lesson.

And that's my rant of the decade!

On a happier note, the ladies are working hard for the honey!  I'm planning to add a honey super on Friday!

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.

Beekeeping NewBee ~ Installing My First Package of Bees

This is a video of me installing my first package of bees.  What a learning experience!  While reading books and attending classes about beekeeping is helpful, there is nothing like working with those bees for the first time "up-close and personal"...

Installing My First Package of Bees

Thanks to Bee Well Honey Farm Market in Pickens for such healthy bees!

~ Donna

Countdown to Bee Day!

Wow!  How the time has flown!  When I was dreaming of becoming a beekeeper, it seemed like something that I would do "in the future".  Well, the future is almost here.  Hubby and I attended our small town's Christmas parade back in early December.  Our local beekeepers club had a float in the parade and club members were handing out fliers for their upcoming January beekeeper training.  Who knew?!  Training for learning about beekeeping?!

We began the course in January and met for 3 or 4 Saturdays for intense training.  All along, we knew that the SC State Certification required a test and a practicum within a year of passing the test.  The instructors gave out lots of papers, notes, a BOOK (very important, the BOOK), we watched videos about beekeeping, etc.  When test day came, I had already planned a shopping / lunch day with friends.  Hubby encouraged me to come back early so that we could review our materials one more time before testing.  Did I mention that I'm not much for listening?  I returned from shopping about 20 minutes before time to go and test.  To summarize, hubby passed the test and I failed (one point shy of the minimum score), and I did NOT pass.

Our club held it's March meeting a couple of weeks ago.  At the meeting, I learned that about 3/4 of the class didn't pass.  Guess what ~ the ones who didn't pass, didn't read the BOOK.  Yes, that BOOK!  Our State Beekeeping Board is reviewing the class content and the test.  An "embellishment" class was held this past Saturday for those of us who failed.  I was out of town on business, so I didn't attend, BUT I am now reading the BOOK.