New Year - New Posts

It's been a busy year so far and I haven't had time to work on this blog lately.  I got razzed a little bit for that Thursday night at the Cherokee Beekeepers Association meeting, so I figured I'd better get on the stick and catch up.  There's been a lot of things happening, and I'll try to catch you up.

Cherokee Beekeepers Association Short Course

On Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014, The Cherokee Beekeepers Association, Athens, TN held it's annual Short Course for Beekeepers.  It was held at the McMinn County High School.   Below is a list of presenters and topics:

2014 Short Course Presenters:

9:30-10:15 a.m.   (WHY)
         Keynote Speaker, Charlie Parton, President Tennessee Beekeepers Association
         So You Want to be a Beekeeper?

10:45-11:30 a.m.   (WHAT)
         Getting to know honey bees
         Anatomy
         Honey bee activities inside the hive
         Honey bee activities outside the hive
         Presenter(s):  Lynda Rizzardi, Executive Vice-President Tennessee Beekeepers Association

1:00-1:50 p.m.      Two Concurrent Sessions:  HOW/WHERE, WHEN

         (HOW/WHERE)
         The role of the beekeeper
         Intro to hive/beekeeping equipment, tools, protective clothing
         How to cope with stings
         Suggestions about lifting
         Location, location, location
         Time commitments
         Space/storage requirements
         Presenter(s):  Nancy Howard & Greg Whitehead

         (WHEN)
         Getting honey bees
         The first year
         The second year
         Management:  Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
         Pests and diseases
         Presenter(s):  Jim Gentry, Bobbie Burtz

2:00-2:50 p.m.      Repeat of Concurrent Sessions above

3:00-3:30 p.m.      Panel/Open Floor to address remaining questions
         Jim Gentry 
         Nancy Howard
         Mike Coulter
         Myron McCleary

I did a presentation on safety and how to try to protect your back.  I figured since I was down for a month last spring when everything needed doing that I knew first hand how it felt and the effects on your bee yard.

A super full of frames full of honey is heavy.  A 10-frame deep weighs 70 - 80 pounds.  Plus you have to pry it off the lower box and then lift it in an awkward position.

My idea was to build a 10-frame deep, but instead of honey-filled frames, I'd put concrete blocks, so that an accurate training aid would be presented.

I had an extra box, so me and dad cut up a 2x4 and attached the pieces to the bottom of the box.  I wanted it to be sturdy enough to hold the weight and not tear the box up.

Installing the 2 x 4s

 Cutting the top and bottom

 Adding the blocks

 Cutting the shims to stabilize the blocks

The box ended up weighing 72 pounds.  I encouraged people to try to pick it up.  My thought was that it was better for someone to know what it was like before they bought a bunch of equipment.  I'd hate for someone to invest a lot of money just to find out that they couldn't lift the boxes when they were full of honey.

I estimated that there were around 120 people attended (not counting CBA members and other volunteers).  There were great presentations on a variety of subjects.  Lynda Rizzardi, former president of the Tennessee Beekeepers Association, gave another one of her always-motivational presentations.  She never fails to keep your attention, and it's always interesting and informative.

There were displays of equipment, catalogs, vendor information, and lunch and refreshments.  I had a great time, and I think everyone did.  If you didn't make it this year, plan on attending one next year.  You never know who you'll run in to or what you'll learn!

A good crowd

Equipment Display

 

CBA President Gwen Lane

 

Attentive audience

I even got my picture in the local newspaper!

February Meeting

On February 27th we had our first regular meeting of the year and over 90 people showed up!  I wish I had thought to take a picture of the crowd!  We didn't have enough chairs.  Lots of folks wanting to try beekeeping!  I know many of them will decide not to, but it's a good sign that there's so much interest.

Our group had four state hive grant winners this year.  They have to join and attend meetings for at least two years, and donate some of their honey (when they get some) back to the association.  They get a starter hive kit, veil, gloves, jacket, smoker, hive took, etc.  One of them lives pretty far north from Athens, and since I was the closest one, I was assigned to mentor that winner.  Luckily, there's another member that has been doing bees for over thirty years that lives down the street from me, so we'll both be available to assist.  The grant winners are really nice people, and I look forward to sharing their upcoming adventure.

March Meeting

On March 27th, we were privileged to have Jim Garrison give a presentation on Pollen and Nectar Sources.  He is a dynamic speaker and explained a lot of things about plants, nectar and pollen.  Since I recently purchased the adjoining 5 acres next to my 5.5 acres, I plan on getting the bush hog attached to the tractor and preparing the field next door for bee forage.  It won't be an all-at-once thing.  It will happen over several years.  But hopefully I can add a lot of things the bees will like.

 

Near-term plans for the bee hives

 It was an extremely cold winter, but I still have two out of three hives left, and they seem to be doing well.  I gave them a pollen patty the week before last and when I popped the lid for a peek, they were going after it.  Of course things are starting to bloom now, so there's pollen becoming available.

It's supposed to rain today and tomorrow, so hopefully Sunday I can get into the hives and rearrange some boxes.  I hope to treat for mites in a week or so after they settle down from this weekend's inspection.

Hopefully I'll be updating the blog and posting pictures.  Stay tuned!

Ready For Winter

The top feeders and robber screens are off the hives now and the entrance reducers are set to the smallest opening.

The SHB oil pans are empty and clean and reinserted.  The telescoping covers are slid forward so the inner-cover notch is exposed.  I am hoping there's enough clearance around the oil pans in the bottom that there will be sufficient ventilation in the hive like this, while keeping it warm inside.

The hives are too heavy to lift, so I'm thinking there's enough stores for the winter.

In Febuary, I'll try to lift the hives and peep inside to see if they need sugar (mountain camp method).

The next couple of months will be good for inventory, repair, maintenance, and planning.

Have a great winter everyone and I hope your hives make it to next spring!

November Brings Cooler Temperatures

The good news is that the hives are too heavy to lift.  I have been feeding syrup with Honey-B-Heathy but they're slowing down taking the syrup.  It's time to start thinking about moisture in the hives.  Starting this coming week, the temps are going to be lows around 40 and highs around 60.  I plan on takking the top feeders off and maybe doing some open feeding behind the house, away from from the hives.  Later on I'll probably put some sugar in the hives (the mountain camp method).  It's time to plan for Old Man Winter.

End of the 10-Frame Hive

I've thought about this and studied about this and don't have any definite answers.  But we went into the 10-frame hive today and it had bees inside, and lots of pretty comb, but no eggs, no brood, no honey, and no queen.  Just lots of worker bees and drones.

The best idea I can come up with is that they swarmed, and the ones that stayed didn't make a queen.  Or else they got weak and another hive robbed them out.  Some of the comb looks torn.  But there's no drone cells or no laying workers.  And there's a robbing screen on the front.  So I figure the bees that were in there were after the syrup in the top feeder.  I had put a screened oil-tray small hive beetle trap underneath the hive, and there were lots of beetles in the oil.  I guess the beetles got in there and since there wasn't anything for them to eat, they ended up in the oil tray.

So here's the 10-frame hive now:

There's some perfect comb in the deeps, so I'll stick them in the freezer for a few days and save them for next spring.  If I catch a swarm or do a split, that comb will be useful.

I'll probably use the boxes for swarm traps.  I think I'm going to go all 8-frame hives.  If my back keeps going at the rate it's going, I may go to medium brood boxes and shallow supers.

On a positive note, there's still lots of goldenrod and other flowers blooming, and the bees are bringing in tons of pollen.

A Late Update

Haven't upadated lately.  I've been feeding the bees some (although I probably should have been feeding more).  The goldenrod is blooming like crazy and the entrances are very yellow, so I assume they're bringing in lots of pollen.

The 10-frame hive isn't doing so well.  I think it may have gotten robbed out before I got the screens on.  There are lots of bees in it, but no honey and I didn't see any brood.  I tried putting a new queen in (I ordered it from WT Kelley, and it came in the mail) there a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't looked into it lately.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get inside and see what's going on.  The other hives are doing ok, with one doing extremely well, judging from the weight.

It's going to be time to get serious about winter soon.  The daytime highs have been in the 80s lately, and this next week is going to be high 70s maybe 80.  So cool weather is right around the corner.

Still Undecided

Well, I just don't know about this 10-frame hive. We went into it again this morning, and most of the bees were in the top super. There's lots of capped cells (not honey but syrup that I've been feeding them). Didn't spot a queen. The bottom two deeps are drawn comb, but empty - no brood or capped cells, just comb. Saw one hive beetle and squished it. No wax moths. But there were many more bees than I remembered being in there.

I just have a feeling the queen is in the top super and maybe has stopped laying because of the dearth. Or maybe there's not a queen and the bees are capping cells out of instinct. It seems to me that if there were a laying worker, there would be some eggs and some capped drone cells. But there's not. Just empty cells. And if all the bees were robbers, they wouldn't bother capping the cells.

So, since I'm going to be working the next four nights, I'm going to feed them good and look at them next Tuesday. I ordered a queen today and it will be here hopefully next Thursday. If there's a queen in there, then the new queen will be unnecessary and will probably be killed, unless the queen that's in there is weaker than the new one. I'm just experimenting to see what happens. I will just lay the queen cage in there and see if the bees accept it or if they get mad (like there's already a queen there).

I was reading today that a lot of people lost hives to starvation this summer due to the bad weather. Maybe that's what has this hive in such bad shape. Anyway, no matter how it turns out, I will learn something!

Labor Day Woes

I went into the hives today.  The 10-frame hive had lots of bees, but no eggs, no brood and no queen.  I have been trying to figure out what might have happened to it.  Maybe she starved during the dearth before I started feeding them.  There's lots of bees in the hive, and some pollen and nectar.  And they beard some at night, so I don't think all the bees in the hive were robbers.  Besides the feeder was empty (I need to make some more syrup to feed all the hives because they're still drawing comb).

So now I'm going to try to find a queen for the hive.  If I can't find one, I guess I'll try the frame of eggs/brood a week for three or four weeks to see if they'll make a new queen, but it's getting late in the year for that.

The second hive I opened was plum full of bees.  I looked at the bottom box but didn't pull any frames out.  There was lots and lots of activity there and many more bees than the previous hive, so I think they're ok.  Although I saw more SHBs.  I've got to get some of those screened bottoms with oil tray for the 8-frame hives.

So in a way it's sad because I've got to get a queen for the first hive, but in a way it's good because the other hive I looked into was booming.

The other problem is that trying to pry the second deep off of the first hive pulled my back.  I've been thinking about that, too.  I may have to set another level of cinder blocks under the hive to raise it up so I don't have to bend over so far.  I may need a ladder for the supers, but I can reach easier than I can bend.  I may go to all shallows at this rate!

I'll post again when I have news about the queen.  Have a fun and safe Labor Day!