Hive Condition Uncertain

Dad and I went into the hives yesterday for the first inspection of the year.  Up until now, there has been activity in and out of each hive.  The 10-frame had made it through it's second winter and was started from a split.  The 8-frame was the swarm I captured last fall.

There were some bees in each hive, but I didn't see any brood, eggs, or queens.  Some of the wax was torn, so I suspect some robbing had been going on.  There was still capped and uncapped honey and pollen in each hive.  The weather has been cold then warm then cold then warm, so maybe this has thrown the bees off.  I reversed the boxes because the top box had the most bees in it, and put them back together.  I put a robbing screen on the front of each hive.  I plan to go back into the hives next Friday to see if they're better or worse.  They may both be deadouts full of robbers.  They may be ok.  Hopefully next week I can make a determination.
 

Community Feeder

I got the community feeder assembled that I ordered from Walter T. Kelley.  Dad painted it for me.  The bees were thick under the two little entrance feeders that I had set out, so they should really love this.  They had emptied two quart jars in a couple of days, so this should last a week (maybe).

 

Also, the 10-frame hive didn't have much activity at the entrance, so I popped the top and peeped in.  There are plenty of bees and they're in the top frames, so this upcoming weekend hopefully I can get into the hives, check for brood, and swap the boxes to put the bees on the bottom.

I didn't look into the 8-frame hive.  There were bees coming and going there and lots of activity, so I'm sure they'll be ok until this upcoming weekend.

Time to mix up some syrup!

But don't do it this way!  I have a dedicated pot that I mix my syrup in. I poured in two gallons of water and started heating it up. Then I started pouring in sugar and started mixing. Well, I had three bags of sugar in and the water level was kind of high. I got half the fourth bag in and the water was up to the rim. Ut oh.   Luckily my wife was in the den watching TV. I got a measuring cup and a gallon jug and a funnel and started carefully dipping out of the pot into the jug. I got enough out to get the remaining sugar in the pot and mix it up. I topped off the jug with the mixture in the pot. I guess the ratio is kind of close, and I'll bet the bees won't care all that much. I will fill up the other two jugs tomorrow when it's all cooled. I hope I got all the sticky stuff wiped up off the stove!
From now on - ONE GALLON AT A TIME IN THE POT!!!!!

History, genealogy, and beekeeping

My wife has done some genealogy and has a lot of books. She got a new book yesterday and we were looking through it and discovered a lot of people were beekeepers around the turn of the 20th century. None of them seemed to wear veils or gloves either. It must have been nice to raise bees without mites and beetles and Africanized bees. I think it's neat to see old-time hives and setups.

My Grandfather on my Father's side of the family came out of Cades Cove, which is now a part of the Smoky Mountains National Park on the TN-NC border. Most of the residents left the park in the 1930s.

Here are some neat pictures of folks and their beekeeping from before the 1930s. I'm not sure of exact dates. One of the folks, Daniel "Uncle Dan" Myers had a lot of bees. The best I can determine is that he was my Grandfather's first or second cousin. He even made hives out of old sweetgum tree stumps.









Here's some other folk's bees:



I don't think Bess Myers is directly related to Dan Myers

Things are really starting to happen around here!

Yesterday was the Short Course for the Cherokee Beekeepers Association in Athens, TN.  We had 137 people attend! We ran out of chairs and had to get more brought in. There were three lucky people that got hive starter kits today thanks to a grant program from the state and the state beekeeper's association and the local association (there were 35 people apply for the grants!). We had speakers talk about bee biology, hive equipment, getting bees, installing packages, and a Master Gardener talked about nectar and pollen plants.

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I went out in the yard today and the bees are approaching a frenzy.  They are really working the henbit and some little blue flowers called speedwell.  I put some syrup out just to see if they'd take it (the temperature is only 60°F today).  They are all over it.  I'm glad to see them flying in and out of both hives.  That's a really positive sign.  I thought about going into the hives today, but it's supposed to get cold again next weekend, and I don't want to tear comb apart and risk damaging the hive or the queen.  But hopefully great times are just around the corner!

Lamium amplexicaule (common names:  Henbit Deadnettle, Greater Henbit)

Veronica persica (common names:  Persian speedwell, large field speedwell, bird's-eye, or winter speedwell )

Blooms are Beginning!

The daffodils are starting to bloom.  That means it'll probably snow again.  But it's a hopeful beginning to the year.

Rare White Stuff

Yesterday, 2/2/13 (Groundhog Day) and today, 2/3/13 we had a dusting of snow.  It didn't last long either day, but it was nice to look at.

OK, we've had some snow.  Now I'm ready for Spring!

I wanted to get some white and yellow tall clover sewed before it snowed, but I got home too late from work each evening, and it was already too dark to broadcast the seed.  I got home early enough today to get it sewed.  I just put all the seeds in a bucket and stirred it up and spread the seeds by hand.  Hopefully at least some of it will sprout and grow.  When I get back by the Co-op, I'll pick up some more seed and spread some more.  I hope the bees like it.  I've heard they do.