Springtime buildup

Spring preparations underway. Splits, divides, nucs, swarms - all happening in the busy bee yard. If all went well, we should be multiplying this season.

Spring 2016 Update

A cooler, wet spring upon us here in West Central, AL. But the bees are working good, and it looks like I may be expanding the apiary soon. The three full colonies survived the winter and are going strong. The one nuc that I had an extra queen in survived, but I placed them in a larger box that a friend of mine made - so that I could give them to him - and they didn't make it.

In reality, this is my eighth year being a treatment-free top bar hive beekeeper and I am hopeful that this will grow into something beneficial not only for me but for others. This blog was started as sort of a log/diary of my experience, and I hope that it will encourage and influence others to pursue the wonderful world of beekeeping. I don't make frequent updates to this blog, as you can tell, but maybe in the future. Who knows?

Until next time,

May the Lord bless and keep you.

May 2015 Update - Excitement!

Lots of action in the bee yard. The lone survivor hive that I had was quickly filling up, so on 4-18, I made a decision to pull the queen with two bars of brood and one bar of nectar and put them in a nuc.
I checked the one hive on 4-26 and found that they had filled it up!

Almost to the last bar.

Every comb covered!

In the last pic above, notice the push pins, marking how many bars had capped queen cells. This was kinda planned and certainly expected, so I made three one comb nucs (with a couple shakes of bees in each) to recieve these cells on the next day. The next day (27th), I placed a queen cell in each nuc, hoping they would hatch and I would have extra queens and possibly grow the nucs enough to overwinter.

The Poplar flow was going good, so on 5/2 I checked the hives. The main hive was still crowded, so I gave them space, since I removed a few combs for the nucs. I didn't go all the way through the combs. The nuc with the queen I pulled was laying and they seemed to be doing well. Two of the mating nucs had the queen cell on the floor (guess I didn't press them in the comb good enough), but bees were still tending them, so I left them alone. Third mating nuc had it's cell chewed open, for there were cells on the comb that I put in and I didn't see them.

Monday morning (5/4), I looked at the outside of the big box before I left for work and they were bearding alot, so I figured they would soon swarm no matter what I did. When I got home that afternoon, sure enough, no bearding, but foragers working good. I went looking around for the swarm, but didn't find them.

Tuesday afternoon (5/5), I looked on the outside of the hive that swarmed and noticed a bee on the end of the box with a worker on top of it. It was a queen, probably just hatched from that box. I quickly got a cage and put her in it, then layed her inside in the shade and commenced checking the hives. The big hive had definitely swarmed, but they had a queen, and also more capped cells. One of the mating nucs' cell was opened, but no sign of a queen. I took the caged queen and put her in there. Come to think of it, that could be where she came from and just got confused on her way back from mating (although she still looked kinda small).

Then I walked around looking at the bees working the Privet in my yard and noticed a good amount of bees in one place. Upon further investigation, it was a swarm, close to the ground in a tangled mess of honeysuckle. I quickly got a box ready and got my son to help. I finally found the queen in the mess, caged her and put her in and the rest followed.

2015-05-05 swarm catch

So it's been busy this year so far. And all this action from one box of bees!

Also, check out my new found beekeeping friend here: Follow him as he begins his new journey.



Until next time,
Blessings.

Early Spring 2015 Update

Lots of drone brood. A good sign.

Hard winter! It has claimed 75% of my small bee yard this year. Truthfully, It started with the crazy Spring last year. The three out of four hives that didn't make it all had at least one thing in common: high winds upended them all at different times during the Spring / Summer / Fall, and along with other factors, they didn't have much of a chance of survival in the harsh Winter that they faced.

The lone hive that survived it's second winter with flying colors is doing great, as shown. I took a look at her today and here's what I found:

Date: March 24, 2015
Weather: high 60s, mostly sunny, breezy

Lots of bees, lots of worker and drone brood, and plenty of stores. This hive is healthy. We're expecting a cold snap this weekend, and, after that, I expect she won't be too far from swarming mode.

God's amazing creatures.

Some observations from last year's experience:

• Any splits that are made, I plan to feed until they stop taking, and then any time they experience dearth during the first season, just to give them a chance to make it through the winter.
• I have experimented with different ways to anchor the boxes so they won't be ravaged by the high winds. I also need to get some trees on the west side of the yard for a little added protection.
• Late summer checks will be more thorough, in order to make sure the hives are prepared for the winter.

I have yet to make any real "honey harvest", period, from any of my colonies. It's not a problem for me. The main concern is the bees' hardiness. The survivor colony has made it through two winters, now, and they look to be going strong. Now, if only I can not mess it up!
Spring is here!!!

Spring 2014 Update

Here's a brief on my 2014 beekeeping:

The two colonies from last year's cutout survived. #1 (My son's) looking good, just recently noticed a couple queen cells. We'll just wait and see what happens, the swarm season in Alabama is winding up, but the bees do what they want, when they want.

#2 is a doozy! Busting at the seams coming out of winter. Multiple queen cells in May so I got ready to split them. When I made the first divide I found opened queen cells, no queen, no eggs, lots of drone and  still a lot of bees, so I just made a four comb divide (Nuc #1). I figured the old queen had already swarmed and I just missed it. A few days later I took one of the queen cells from #2 and placed it in Nuc #1. They chewed it away, for they had already started one of their own.

Meanwhile, one afternoon #2 swarms into a nearby tree, so my son and I start making preparations to catch them. While we are getting another box ready, they go back into the hive! The next day about the same time, they do it again. I don't know what's going on. The next day (Sunday), after church I get home just in time to see a swarm hanging on a limb as it lifts off and away they go, out of sight. My guess is that every time one of those queen cells hatch, they are casting secondary swarms.

I went into #2 the next day and found still several unhatched queen cells and an emerged queen. I didn't want to take a chance losing her, so I made another divide (Nuc #2) and put her in it, hoping that now when the next queen emerges it will be the end of swarming. Well, they didn't swarm any more and as of today all colonies have laying queens. Looking good so far.

August Inspection

 Date 08-10-2013
Weather: PC, hot, humid, thunder

Both hives seem to be doing good. Didn't see the queen in either, but did see eggs, larvae, capped brood - all the good signs. I just hope they will get built up enough to make it through the winter.

Special thanks to McCartney Taylor at learningbeekeeping.com for the tip on using the hair clips. I used quite a few in hive #1 while doing the cutout.

Hive #1

 In hive #2,  I just laid the brood comb in the back of the hive, similar to what Les Crowder showed in his book which I highly recommend, along with his DVD.

Hive #2

Both methods work, and both have pros and cons. I will probably use them both again if I do any more cutouts.

After the Cutout

I have inspected the two top bar hives from the cutout I did and #2 had eggs, so it looks like I got the queen. #1 had a lot of nectar, but no eggs (of course), so I purchased a queen from a local beek and installed her Friday (05-31). I will hopefully have time to check her Wednesday before church and make sure she is released. The #2 hive started cross-combing, so I borrowed an empty comb from #1 to try to steer them in the right direction and give the queen something to lay in. We'll see how they do maybe this weekend.

Weekend Cutout

Finally. After a long season without bees, I got a new start. My cousin's husband called me some time last year and asked about getting some bees out of a house that they owned. It was late in the year, so I told them if it was ok to wait until this spring and I would be glad to get them out.

This Spring has been very wet and cold, so I had to wait until this past weekend to try it. On Friday (05-24-2013), around 11am after work, I began. After checking several places, we finally found them in the floor joists over the carport and under an upstairs bedroom.

It was 2pm before I even got started extracting the hive, and shortly thereafter, my son came by to give much needed help. We didn't finish on Friday, so I was back out Saturday morning to finish it up.

I wound up splitting the hive into two top bar hives, and I don't know if I got the queen in either box. In box #1, I'm quite sure they have resources to make a queen, but in #2, I don't recall any eggs or larvae, just capped brood.

Ants were a problem the first day at home in both hives, and in hive #1 yesterday. Hive #1 also suffered mild robbing on Monday. I think I'll take a look at them today and see how they are.

A short vid of the project is here.

Update

Been a while since an update, and still not much to post, except I plan to do some cutouts this spring and hopefully get back into watching these magnificent bees. We will see what happens.

Quick Update

I know it's been like forever, but I'm still around and kicking. Just did a short interview over the weekend about beekeeping and TBHs. Now for the bad news: the colony that I cut out from the church was upended by the April 27th tornado and never recovered. The good news: my house did not get upended like most of my neighbors. Everything around was pretty much totalled and my home did suffer damage, but all was not lost. I may post some pics later, but most of you probably already know what it looked like after the EF4 plowed through Tuscaloosa. I am truly thankful to be able to continue this blog - so bear with me and I'll try to get back at it next spring!

First Spring Inspection for 2011

I looked into the hive a couple weeks ago. Looks good! I'll try to get a report with a vid soon.

Spring Upon Us

My favorite time of the year is just in sight! I can feel the warm sun, see the buds and blooms, smell the earth, hear the sounds of new life. It's a new season. A new start. A busy time for all who care to be. A great time to make the most of this window of opportunity!

The bees from the cutout have been working good. I'll have to check 0n them and see how this cold winter (by Southern standards) has affected them. They're bringing in pollen, so that tells me the queen is stepping up production of a new work force to start this season.

Thank the Lord for Spring!

Looking Good

I did a quick check of the cut-out hive Friday (4th) and here's what I found:

Weather: PC, hot, humid

If you look closely, you can see eggs in the new comb.

On another bar, I observed larvae.

And, finally, I found the queen.


Here's a short video of her.

So for now, things are looking up for this colony.

Inspection of the cut-out hive

Date: May 22, 2010
Weather: Hot. Scattered Clouds.

I got to inspect the hive that I cut out of the wall.

Summary:

• Most of the brood had hatched & the cells backfilled with honey
• There was at least one queen cell on a piece of loose brood comb
• No eggs, larvae or new capped cells in the new comb
• I did not physically see a queen
• Bees were calm. They were chewing at the strings & some were tangled in the frayed string.

Here's a video of what I found.

My take:

• The hive is probably queenless or either a new (fresh hatched) queen has not started laying yet.
  

I need to keep a close check on this one, so that I can take action if needed.

Early Spring Update

Bad news. No bees. Hive #1 was full of dead bees. I checked them a month or so ago. What to do? I did get a call from someone wanting me to get a colony from a church building. I told them I would try when the weather warms a little more. I definitely want to keep trying. At least now I will have all my hives the same dimensions. Been busy gardening, hiking and enjoying the outdoors. This is my favorite time of year. I may even get a chance to call up an ol' tom turkey.

If I do get more bees this season, I think this time, I'm gonna leave the bees alone. I will check them and tend to them, but I think I'll lay off the manipulations (splits, divides, queens) until the colonies are well established. I may have stressed #1 too much. Plus, I should have made a fall inspection and maybe fed some sugar. Oh well, still learning.

Fall Update

We had a break in the rain so I decided to walk down to the hives today. My first stop was #2. DOOMED! Covered with ants. No activity. And they were doing so good! I guess the wet conditions didn't help. I don't know. I walked up to #1. It looked good. The wind had shifted the roof, so I adjusted it and left them alone. I need to open them up and further investigate. Beekeeping: the Roller coaster experience!

July Inspection

Date: July 11, 2009
Weather: Hot, breezy

Video

Hive #2 (was hive #3 from last inspection, but bumped to #2 because original #2 is gone): Lots of honey, nectar and pollen. I did not see the queen, eggs, larvae or capped brood. I decided to feed a little sugar water just in case she was in there somewhere. I read somewhere that , in the spring, it may induce the queen to start laying. Probably not good, since there was a fair nectar flow and I don't like artificial feed, but I had to try something.
Well, sure enough, I checked them a week later to take off the empty feeder and found larvae and the queen. Remember, this is the hive that I introduced the Caucasian queen into. This queen looked like an Italian queen. My thinking is, they had already started queen cells and when I introduced the Caucasian, they killed her. The new queen just had to have time to mate and get started laying. I just hope they have time to get established.

Hive #1: Doing fine, as always. I've made two (actually three) splits from this hive this season and it's still thriving. I didn't see as many hive beetles as before. I got some Boric Acid from the feed store and I think I'll make up some traps for the next inspection. I got a small piece of capped honeycomb, but I may be able to take some full bars before long. If not, that's fine. Just gaining the experience and confidence working with the bees is reward enough. For that I am thankful.

Quick update - Another Split

Date: Sat, June 20, 2009
Time: morning
Weather: HOT & HUMID!

Here is a quick update on my latest inspection:

Hive #2 (split from original Hive #1)
A quick look into this hive told me that it's queenless, again. They have an emergency cell started, but the numbers have dwindled, so I may have to take action before long.








Hive #1 (original)
Still doing good. I did notice some dead bees on the floor. They were getting crowded again, so I made another split. There should be some full bars of honey within this month.






Hive #3 (new split from #1)
I made this split Saturday, from the original hive. It went much smoother than last time. This time, however, I introduced a Caucasian queen yesterday, that I purchased from a queen supplier nearby. I'll check in a few days and see if she's been released and how the colony is receiving her.

Memorial Day Inspection

The sun came out long enough to look into the hives. Here's a short video on what we found:
TBH Inspection May, 2009

We were excited to see that a queen had emerged and started laying in hive #2. The bees had comb on 3 or 4 bars and they should take off for the next month or so. I took out one of the comb ends that I cut from hive #1 to fit into #2 - it was empty. The other piece had pollen in it, so I left it. I removed the follower and inserted all the bars so the bees can have at it.

In hive #1, I only observed the last few combs in back. there was not much honey, but a lot of capped brood. They too should build up very well.

Also, this past Thursday, I attended my first West Alabama Beekeepers' meeting. Maybe half the members were there, and it was pretty much just an open discussion. Most of the members there had as little or less experience than myself. The good thing is, like myself, they are eager to learn. I hope all goes well.

Splits

Date: Fri Apr 24, 2009
Time: 2:30 - 4:30pm
Weather: Clear, breeze, lower 80s

I made the split. Actually 2 of them. I moved the parent hive (#1) to a new location. I put one new hive (#2) in the parent's old location. I placed two bars of brood, bees, pollen and honey in #2 and a few shakes of bees. I also placed two brood bars into #3, but they collapsed as I was trimming them to fit the new design. I left them in #3, with some shakes of bees.

I got one sting behind my right thumb as I was trimming side attachments, so I went ahead and got some gloves on. I still didn't see the queen, but there was still plenty of sealed brood, larvae, and a lot more drone brood. I think the queen is still in #1, but I guess we'll see. There's a good flow going right now, so I'm not feeding. Hope everything works out. I gotta get some pics of the new setup.

Lessons learned:

• To trim comb to fit the new boxes, turn the bar upside down and hold to the comb as you cut. Also, you could shake bees off comb first.
• Keep on top of cross comb. the bees don't like me cutting their side attachments, either.

I also built a 5 bar nuc from 1/2" plywood. I think it will come in handy as the swarm season kicks in. I gotta get my other two hives built and hopefully get some bees in them before much longer.