Fall Hive Check

Today I spent two hours in my hives.  I don't have the energy to write about it now and don't have time before I go to bed to transfer pictures from my camera...but I will say that they both looked good and I'm pleased. 

Two thriving hives and volunteering (pictures to come)

I haven't checked either hive in a few days, probably let too much time go by.  But they both seemed to be doing well.

In the Blue (strong) hive, when I took off the inner cover there were about 10 hive beetles hiding under the plastic baggie I'm using to feed.  So, they're still in there but at least they are hiding which means they aren't laying eggs.  I didn't pull out the two middle frames, I'd put in empty the last time I was in there, to see if they bees had filled cleaned/filled them.  I might do that tomorrow.  Today was just  a feeding day and I wanted to get in and out as fast as I could. 

In the Brown (nuc) hive, when I took off the cover I saw NO beetles running amuk.  There were beetles in the trap though, which made me feel pretty good.  Also, the dirty frames I'd put in the last time I was in there were all cleaned out!  I'm amazed that they do that.  I may try to get pictures tomorrow, we'll see how the weather is.  The frames in Brown were originaly like this : E E H/B H/B E.  (empty, empty, honey/brood, honey/brood, empty).  I switched them around so now it's H/B, E, E, E, H/B.  When I switched the H frames into Brown from Blue (last visit) I should have put them on the outside because bees work from the inside out.  So I just switched them around and now the bees should use the 1:1 that I put in there today to fill out the middle frames.

In addition to my own beekeeping, I'm now volunteering with the Sustainable Honeybee Program.  If you live in the area and want to learn more about bees, I would suggest contacting them.   The more you know about bees and the more you get involved the more fun it is.  Aside from being a great hobby, it's a very important hobby as well.  Without pollinators we wouldn't have many of the food options we enjoy today.

Here is a link to beekeepers in the United States.  Get involved, you won't be sad you did!   

Beetle traps and a second story addition (pictures coming soon)

So - last night I took the frames out of the freezer (but kept them in the black trash bag) and let them defrost overnight.  I took them out of the bag this morning and got a couple good pictures of the evil larvae that I froze to death.  It sounds horrible, but freezing is the best way to kill wax moth larvae. All told I counted about 6 large larvae on the frames.  I was able to extract three of the dead bodies.  They get no proper burial, I'm leaving them out for the hornets or yellowjackets or wasps.

The strong hive looked good.  I have decided to stop using the top feeder but I had left it on to test an idea.  The other day I put in the beetle traps and wanted to see how many the traps would have in them with the top feeder on because it seems like the beetles love to be up there.  I counted 5 dead beetles in the oil in the traps.  There were about 10 beetles in the dry top feeder.  So the top feeder came off today, and I put two traps in the strong hive and fed a baggie of 1:1 syrup.  If my theory is correct the next time I go in to check the traps there should be more drowned in the oil since there's no dry top feeder to hide in.  I'm going to feed more tomorrow, I didn't have enough syrup made today to do more than one bag.  As I was putting the baggie in the hive, some of the syrup spilled out and I had a good time watching the bees gather at the edge of the pool to drink it. 

Today was construction day, I added a second story to the nuc. 
I took 2 frames of honey from the strong hive to put into the new nuc hive. (Then I replaced those with some fairly good comb from the old hive that just needs to be partially drawn out and filled)  The frames I put in the nuc have some capped and uncapped honey and some larvae.  I tried to get the bees off as best I could but some ended up going into the nuc anyhow.  I put three of the "best of the worst" frames, that I'd previously frozen, into the nuc and then filled the jar feeder.  I took my first picture of the inside of the nuc, for posterity, and I did see the Queen but I was so scared of harming her that I didn't get a picture and put her frame back down as gently as I could.  I can't imagine something happening to her now.  I just got her!  She's got a lot of work to do to keep this hive buzzing through the winter.

Today wasn't a disaster, thank God.

and POOF, they're gone

When I went out to my poor performing hive to merge them with the new nuc, all the bees were gone. The comb was even more destroyed and infested with waxmoth trails, foreign larvae, and ants crawling about everywhere. I felt defeated.  I knew there was damage in this hive, but in less than 48 hours that damage spread further than I thought it would.

John said, when I called him, that it was a good thing that they left.  They probably integrated themselved into the healthy hive.  After all of the work and monitoring and anticipation, I'd been looking forward to doing a merge of the hives myself.  Oh well, maybe Mother Nature wanted to take the wheel, she does know best.

For the record, I got a photo of each frame and then when that was done I put the frames into a black plastic bag so I could put it in the freezer.  Freezing the frames will kill the larvae and if I'm lucky the bees will clean up the damaged frames and use them again. 

I also took a picture of the weak hive's feeder, it looks as though some water had seeped into places it shouldn't have been able to seep into...maybe something did leech into the water.

My Beeday (pictures to come soon)

This morning at 9 John and Margaret came over to my bee yard to look at my hives.  To my relief they didn't fall down and faint - so I must be doing something right.  Since they are experiencing hive beetles for the first time this year, they didn't really have any suggestions aside from the traps I've already ordered.  There were more dead bees in the syrup I'd just put in yesterday and it smelled the same as it did before, like fermenting oranges.  The bees looked oily and they were sluggish.  John put his fingers into the liquid in the feeder and he said it felt oily, I took off a glove and did the same - it was oily.  It just didn't feel like a 1:1 simple syrup should feel.  He thought maybe the syrup was contaminated by something in or on the feeder itself.  But when they got home and checked their hives, they noticed that their syrup had an odor and felt oily just like mine.  I did get stung when they were here, and the balm I mentioned in my previous post, Denver's Sting Stopper not only immediately stopped the pain but the sting didn't swell.  I can't wait to get some of this!

While reading the directions to get to the bee yard, I noticed that I was asked to bring straps to hold the nuc to the bottom, I didn't have straps.  So after I went and did a non bee related errand I made a quick stop at Lowes to get some.  I don't know how I've survived without straps until now.  I am already visualizing projects where I can put these to good use.

At about 2 I left to go to Purcellville to get my nuc and equipment.  The drive out to their bee yard was glorious, the sun was shining, the sky was blue with a few clouds, the humidity was gone...and as I drove  with my windows down and my music turned up loud, I could smell the fresh cut grass and hay and clover.  I felt recharged.

So what did I come away with?  I got a box with 5 frames, bees and a queen, plus two empty boxes.  I got a mite count board, a shim, and a jar for feeding.  Once I got the bees home I got to use the double drive gate we'd had installed when the fence was put in.  Driving into the yard made more sense than carrying the hive full of bees from the front of the house to the back of the yard.  I can just imagine, with me being as clumsy as I am, dropping the bees and them scattering all over and then dive bombing me.  I kept the "front door" of the nuc shut and put some sugar water in the jar.  It's really cool how the jar feeder works, there are holes punched in the lid and you fill it, invert it and situate it in the hole on top of the hive.  This way you can see when it's empty and you don't have to bother the bees to feed them.  Until I get my own pictures downloaded, this will have to do for an example.

The thing I had to do today was the thing I'd been dreading for weeks.  I had to go into the weak hive and capture the Queen and kill her.  Telling myself she's just an insect didn't lessen the gravity of what I'd had to do.  She's buried just outside the front door to our house.  I had to kill her because the nuc that I got has an established Queen - each hive has just one.  Since my Queen has been such a poor performer making the choice to remove her was as easy as it was difficult.

It's been a busy day.  A lot has happened and I'm hoping for positive changes.  Tomorrow afternoon I plan to merge the bees from the weak hive with the strong bees in the nuc.  I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed.

Denver Sting Stopper

I got stung on my hand today while my mentors were here (more on that later) and Margaret put a dab of this stuff on it and the pain stopped, immediately.  And I see no evidence of swelling.

Denver Sting Stopper

Hive Beetle explosion

I did not expect such devastation.  I didn't expect hundreds of dead bees, or fumes of fermenting oranges, or an explosion of hive beetles.  I didn't expect to see empty frames - no brood of any kind and no larvae anywhere to be found.

I was absolutely stunned and horrified when I pulled off the inner cover.  The feeder was full of dead bees and hive beetles and their larvae and wax moth trailings.

My first instinct was to just empty all that onto the ground, but I know that part of the life cycle of the hive beetle larvae is it crawling out of the hive and burrowing into the ground until it matures.  If I emptied the liquid and bees and larvae onto the ground, I'd be taking part in furthering the beetle's life cycle.  So rather than emptying it directly onto the ground, I spilled it out onto some garden netting and killed as many larvae as I could with the end of my hive tool. 

And I sat there on the tree stump I use for a chair and I cried.  If you know me at all you know I'm very passionate, and I have become attached to this weak hive in a way that I never thought I would, or could.  Seeing what I saw today was just too much for me. 

I saw one bee being born.  One.  And that is the very last bee being born out of the very last capped cell in the hive. 

The strong hive had a lot of beetles in it also, no surprise there, but this hive didn't smell like fermenting oranges.  The strong hive has a full medium of capped and uncapped honey which is a great sign. 

In each hive I'd spent time squishing the beetles with the end of my hive tool.  I noticed the bees rarely engaged the live beetles.  They also really didn't do much with the dead ones, either.  What it looked like to me was that they would engage the dead beetle briefly and then turn away, like it tasted bad or something. 

I got a few pictures of some beetle larvae on the edge of my hive tool.

I called my mentor John and talked with him about what I'd been through today.  He said that if the weak hive frames were dry, I could try taking two full ones from the strong hive and switch them out...the strong hive could feasably repair and fill the empty frames and the weak hive would benefit from having full frames...I could do that.  I'm still on that list for a nuc, and I'm supposed to pick it up tomorrow.  But do I risk getting a nuc with the problems I'm having with the beetles?  I asked John what he thought about getting nematodes from SEI.  Since this is the first year John has had any beetles, he didn't know really anything more than what he'd read from the link I posted to their SEI's website.  I told him I'd call SEI today and see about getting more information.

I have to go back out and see if there is any stored honey in any of the weak frames.  If the hive is completely dry, it will be easier for me to merge it with the nuc.  I am pretty sure I have 5 dry frames of the 8 in the hive.  If I do switch to full frames into the weak hive, the nuc and my existing weak bees will only have three to fill.  It's only a $108 gamble. 

Phil Tedders at SEI was very helpful and although he admitted he didn't have all the answers I was looking for, just talking to him about their nematodes alleviated some of the anxiety I'm having about my SHB infestation.  He also told me that his dad, Lewis, could answer any of my questions.  I asked him to see if Lewis could call me before noon tomorrow.  I ordered 5 million nematodes (I'm not sure who they pay to count those little guys!) and asked Phil to send me any and all information he could with my order. He did tell me that the order more than likely will contain 7 million nematodes, on gel, and they like to overestimate the number they send and they guarantee live delivery.  5 million nematodes will treat 10 hives so I'm going to have some to share.  From their website, SEI says "Nematode species produced by SEI are used to attack and kill larvae of certain soil dwelling insect pests. These pests include, larvae of white grubs, Japanese beetles, root weevils, small hive beetles, armyworms, cutworms, fleas, clear-winged moths, and fungus gnats."  So, in the event that I keep more than I need for my two hives, I have some garden area in the front of my house that could benefit from a treatment of nematodes.  (I'm pretty sure I have Japanese Beetles)

I mentioned to Phil that I'd take the information to the LBA meeting and spread the word about their products and that I'd included a link to their website here on my blog.  It never hurts to make friends with people who have something you need. 

In addition to buying from SEI today, I also put in an order with Brushy Mountain for AJ's Beetle Eater traps, Fumigilan and Api Life Var.  My total today was $104.62 for the nematodes and the things from Brushy Mountain.  Tomorrow's cost of $108 brings my total to $212.  It's a good thing my intent in learning this craft wasn't to make money.  I wonder if the IRS would be upset if I tried claiming all of my "adopted" bees as dependants?