Hive Check : 07-10 : All in all, things look pretty good

Today I got into the hives to do some real investigative work after not having bothered them in a while.  I got in them when the family was here but it was only to show them what the inside of the hives looked like.  I lit my smoker because it is an overcast and somewhat windy day today and I didn't know how many of my little friends would be in the hives. 

Today when I went into the weak hive, I was pleasantly surprised.  I saw a bee coming out of it's cell.  I didn't want to take the time to see it come all the way out, it can take a while and I had other things I wanted to check out. 

I'm still worried about the absence of growth in my weaker hive. Having a Queen that is laying is a good sign but it's very late in the season and I don't see any stored honey and very little stored pollen. The numbers in this hive have dwindled, largely in part because a new Queen takes between 4 and 6 weeks to start laying after she's born.

The laying pattern of the queen is still spotty, it should be more dense and uniform, but she's laying. None of what I saw were drone cells which means that I have a mated Queen and the workers aren't laying.  In these two pictures you can see different larvae at several different stages of development. 

Since this hive is weaker than it should be, I'm constantly on the lookout for Hive Beetles and Wax Moths.  I saw a moth today and squished it.  I don't need those little buggers laying their eggs in my hives and devouring the wax comb that my bees have worked so hard to build.

The strong hive is doing really well.  There was a lot of activity in the hive when I took off the inner cover which is shown below.  The inner cover rests on top of a top feeder, where I've been putting sugar water for feeding.  There were bees all over the top feeder, and they'd been busy drawing out comb in the super just under it.

These bees have a lot of capped and uncapped honey.

The laying patter is looking fairly uniform and appropriate.  I saw a few drone cells but not many.  I still haven't seen any signs of mites yet, which is a huge relief.  

Hive Check : June 15th : Unattended Queen and a possible swarm

pic 1 - Brown hive : spotty laying pattern, some capped drone

pic 2 Brown hive :

queen with no attendants

Here is video of the queen

pic 3 Brown hive :

some frames with hardly any drawn comb

pic 4 blue hive

some drawn comb

pic 5 Blue hive

extra comb needing to be removed

pic 6 Blue hive

empty comb

pic 7 Blue hive

capped honey and empty comb

pic 8 Blue hive

larvae - need to see if it turns out to be drone brood or not

Hive Check : June 7th : They keep me on my toes

My package hive Queen is still there - but today I noticed that she wanders around pretty aimlessly.  I didn't see her lay any eggs and I also noticed that the workers that are supposed to be surrounding her and taking care of here were not doing that with any regularity.  So I have a Queen, but is she going to do her part to keep this hive from taking a nose dive this winter.  She needs to figure it out...or maybe I need to do something differently?? 

I ended up putting on a second super with frames and foundation and I also put two baggies of simple syrup on top.  I have decided to send my mentor an email to make sure I'm doing the right things. 

The nuc colony is doing alright, but I didn't see their Queen.  I also noticed a distinct lack of larvae, both capped and uncapped.  This turn of events alarms me because recently I had whole frames of capped larvae.  Instead of feeling confident about this hive I am finding that now IT is the source of my concern.   Some little bugger decided to sting my upper thigh today, it really didn't hurt - cross your fingers that it doesn't swell up! On a positive note, I did see a lot of capped honey. 

Hive Check : June 4th, I found my Queen

I immediately saw the Queen when I pulled up this frame.  All my worry and searching are gone.  I got misty eyed, it was a good few minutes as I watched her surrounded by her attendants.  She's a graceful creature, she's so important.  Merging my two hives is now a thought from the past.  For the time being, both hives are doing fine.  This package colony is still very weak and hasn't had the numbers to build out the last frames on each side with comb yet.  Now that I can confirm that there IS a Queen maybe the hive will grow.  I'm going to see if I can't find a pollen patty to put in there and will also be putting in another baggie of sugar water to stimulate the colony.

Hive Check : Cell anomalies and bee births (May 25th check date)

On May 25th I did a check on my hives.  I wanted desperately to find the package hive's queen so that I could put this issue to rest.  I didn't find her, again.  What I did find were some anomalies in the cells.  The center of the top left photo contains a larvae that is not bright white an shiny like it's supposed to be.  It is somewhat shiny but it's not the right color. The top right photo has an unknown substance inside it.  The bottom right photo is of a frame that has drone cells all over it.  Drone cells are usually laid on the outer edge of a frame with worker cells in the middle.  The bottom left photo is another angle to illustrate the cappings.  I really wanted to reach out to my mentor but decided against it.  I want to learn all I can by observing and researching on my own.  The reason you don't see a lot of bees on the frames in these pictures is because I gently shook them off into the box (super).  I wanted to be able to take the photos with fewer obstacles in my way.

                 

There was good news this day though and all was not lost.  I got to see some more bees being born which is always such a fulfilling experience.  The one bee butt you see is probably from a bee cleaning out a cell.  Once they free themselves from their cell they are required to clean it out and prepare it for the next generation. 

Hive Check : In search of my Queen

Today was so beautiful - no wind, warm temperatures and sunshine galore.  A perfect day to get back into my hives. 

My mentor Margaret called me the other day in response to an email I had sent to her and John about the overabundance of drone cells in my package hive.  "You're just going to have to take out every frame and find the Queen" she said.  "But they're calling for rain the next three days, so you'll have to wait for nicer weather."  Oh, sure, find the Queen.  Easy for her to say, she's a pro!  Taking the frames out is certainly easy, but finding a Queen amongst all the workers and drone bees is, well, like finding a needle in a haystack to my untrained eye. 

Before I was able to don my beesuit and veil and get to work (because I had errands to run), I was able to go out and just observe the hives for a few minutes.  There was a lot of activity just outside my nuc hive.  It looked like orientation flights to me.  This happens when new bees emerge from their cells,make their way outside, and fly just outside the entrance of the hive to orient themselves to the location of their home.  It made me smile to think that I had a group of new bees (haha, newbies) and it got me thinking that maybe today I'd witness the birth of a new bee.  When it comes to these bees I am like a kid - bees seem less like a hobby and more like magic. 

Errands needed to come first so I had to settle for snapping this one shot.

After running my errands I was able to come home, put on my gear and collect my equipment.  Since I now have a clean shed, I also now have a safe place to keep my bee equipment that is really close to my hives.  I was able to light my smoker much more quickly than before and got a good, steady smoke started.  An empty cooler served as a table to put the empty super on (I'd need somewhere besides the hive to put the frames once I'd checked them for the queen).  I had my camera at the ready.  Now I just needed the Queen to make an appearance and my worry would be alleviated.

Once the outer cover and inner cover were removed this was what I saw in the package hive.  There were more bees on the tops of the frames than I remember seeing before, I think this is a good sign.  I am hoping it's a good sign.  I don't want to lose this hive! 

While I was looking for the Queen, I noticed that there were actually bees emerging from their cells!  If you look closely at the photo to the left the dark spot in the center of the shot is actually the head of a bee.  I spent quite a long time looking at this and hoping to see it finally free itself from the cell, but I had the hive open so long I was starting to get worried about robbers. 

In looking for the Queen, I did manage to figure out what the drone bees look like.  The have bigger eyes and a more rounded abdomen than the worker bees - which I already knew - I just hadn't seen one in the hive before.  The drones are males and come from unfertilized eggs.  Workers are female and are born from fertilized eggs laid by a properly mated Queen.  Anyhow, I had hoped that this darker bee might have been the Queen but it's unfortunately not.  I've had my bees a month now and feel like such a slow learner.

Ultimately today I didn't find the Queen.  She keeps eluding me - that means now that I have to ask my mentor and her husband if they have time to come by this week and help me find her.  I don't mind asking for the help, I actually look forward to having someone in my hives with more experience than I have. 

Hive Check : squished beetle and drone cells

I went into both hives today. Lighting the smoker is still an issue for me, I’m going to have to get organized and have paper and untreated twine on hand to help out.  I tried using just leaves but the wouldn't light and then I tried adding paper but the paper wouldn't light.  I did get smoke but it didn't last long and it was thin.

My nuc colony was abuzz with action and the second super was nearly full so I put the third super on top like I planned to do. There are still queen cups on several frames and I couldn't see inside them well enough to find out if there is anything in them.  Are they thinking of swarming?  I am trying not to panic, bees have been at this longer than I have, but I have this insatiable desire to know what's going to happen with my hives! 

My package colony isn’t doing as well and I’m sure that there is a problem with the queen. I also saw a hive beetle on the inner cover so I knocked it off and squished it.  There are drone cells all over most of the middle frames and the pattern of open and capped cells is haphazard.  I could have a drone laying queen or I could have a colony of laying workers.

Amendment 8-10-10 The beetles that I have been seeing are NOT the dreaded hive beetle.  Those guys are domed and have antennae with bulbs on the ends.  The beetles I have been seeing are super fast but they are brown and elongated.