This category is for simple observations that I make about the hive during a particular time of the day or maybe a weather event. This is an external observation.
Not much to report today, except to note that the gals are having to endure an incredible stretch of cold. Today and for the next week or so, we’ll see lows in the low 20’s and highs in the low to mid-30’s in Richmond, Virginia! Beekeeping is a stressful hobby for the novice these days, as I have no idea what to expect going into my first Winter. Each beehive remains quiet (or at least nobody is coming out of the cluster to fly around), which is to be expected, but gives the clueless beekeeper a bit of worry.
Hopefully, we’ll get a batch of weather in the 50’s next week and I can put some granular sugar out for them to enjoy.
Late last night, perhaps around 11:30 PM, I took the dogs out to do their nightly nature calls and noticed that snow was still coming down, ever so lightly. The temperatures had dropped into the 20’s and were scheduled to get lower here in central Virginia. My thoughts to the bees were only of passing curiosity and a lot of amazement. How they can keep the cluster warm in times like these is nothing short of amazing.
This morning, the good ole Sun finally poked through and we quickly went to a full sun day. The temperatures have risen to about 35 degrees and are expected to go a bit higher. Regardless, they will not get high enough for a bee to come out. Still, this morning I went to look at the hives and found several dead honey bees out on the landing boards on both hives.
A dead bee, about a yard from the hive
I have to assume that this death is natural. I wonder if they actually dragged themselves out to die or not. It is said that part of a honey bee’s defense system against disease is its altruistic behavior of flying off to die away from the hive when it feels poorly. Perhaps these bees were sick. Or, maybe they were simply some of the older bees that could not take the weather of the past couple of days. Still, if they did not drag themselves out, I am wondering about those brave girls that took them out in this cold weather. I am guessing that they must have dragged themselves out. There were a couple, beneath each hive, in the snow around the hives. One was a few feet away, so flight took her to her destination. Who knows if it was her own flight (most likely) or that of a sister carrying her to her final resting place.
Hopefully, all is well. It will be at least a week before I can check them again, which is probably for the best. I would like to put some more feed on the weaker hive. We’ll see if that ever comes to pass.
In my recent feeding, I decided to try the MegaBee again to see if I could give my bees a bit of a leg up during the hot month of August. This time, I increased the Sugar:Water ratio and hoped that it would dissolve a bit better. Well, it definitely did dissolve a bit better. But, the bees are drowning in the stuff like nobody’s business!
Basically, this stuff is definitely not for a top feeder. I cannot say for sure if it is worth a daggone for any kind of feeder, but I do know that I will not use it again in my current feeder setup.
In my weaker hive, I am basically going to have to replace the feeder today. It’s terribly hot, but I have no other choice. It will be good to take a look and see how many frames are being worked on. I am hopeful that I can put my second deep on the weaker hive soon.
As mentioned previously, one of my hives was performing very badly. After some online research, I decided to try MegaBee, a pollen substitute that has some additives which supposedly maximized a bee’s health. I ordered a 40# bag and waited.
As fate would have it, Hive 2’s health and vigor began to increase. By the time the MegaBee arrived, they had put on a lot of growth in a single week. No more Wax Moths and things appeared to be improving. But, now I had the MegaBee and wanted to put it to use (every bit helps…or so I thought…)
The MegaBee arrived with about 3 sentences of explanation. A little browsing online confirmed this was the only info I was going to get, so I followed it. I made up a batch of thick sugar syrup and added the MegaBee. What a mess. It created a sludge – the MegaBee did not wholely dissolve into the syrup. I kept working it, but it did not improve much. Figuring this was part of the solution, I put it in both of my hives and left them for a week.
Yesterday, it was like camp Auschwitz in my hives. Both feeders had about a dozen bees floating in the stuff, dead. In addition, instead of a bunch of bees eating the stuff, only a few were working at it. I do not think they liked that stuff. It may work great when crafted into patties, but I purchased it to add it to the syrup. In that, I would mark it as a major failure.
I will write the company and see if they have a response. I would not recommend this stuff to anyone at this point.
I have found a nest of german hornets in the yard and am wondering about what to do with them. I actually am not overly concerned for my own well-being, but do not want anything that is going to put more (undue) pressure on my bees.
These hornets are in a Maple tree just off of my bedroom. There is a hollar about 4 feet up that the little suckers have decided to use. I was eyeballing them yesterday afternoon and noticed a couple of ‘guards’ at the entrance. It amused me to see that they were working much like the bees do (only these guys are eating insects instead of looking for pollen and nectar.)
These things are natural predators of bees and I do not expect to wipe out this threat. But, will they attack a hive? I have put some feelers out into the bee community to get a feeling for this before I proceed.
Good times in Varina! Wow. I actually noticed a Training Flight (Orientation Flight, really) at Hive 2 today! I have probably seen it several dozen times at the stronger hive, Hive 1, but not a single time at Hive 2. Today marks a first! They are still weak and need tending, but this is a good sign. They were all over the front of the hive, buzzing around and doing figure 8’s in the air in front of it. Things were good.
Of course, I initially thought something was wrong (it doesn’t matter how many times I see this event, I immediately think that disaster is pending for some reason…) Regardless, I sat in front of the hive and watched intently. No fighting was going on (although sometimes they clean one another off with such vigor that you wonder if there isn’t a little malice between sisters!) and everyone seemed happy. As always, I worry that I killed the queen the last time that I opened the Hive. I cannot shake that worry, even though it has never come true so far. It’s a constant process for me. I open the hive, find the queen, am happy about that for an hour and then worry that I might have squashed her for the rest of the week until I open the dang hive again! It’s about two hours of feeling good and the rest of the week worrying… Such is the life of a new beekeeper!
Only a simple observation this evening. The weather was in the high 80’s with a bit of cloud cover and not much wind here in Varina, Virginia.
Hive 1
As expected, this hive is really active. They are eating up the sugar water like there is no tomorrow and the little girls are coming in, left and right, loaded down with pollen. I hope to see some definite evidence of pollen storage this weekend. There were a couple of interesting points, including the fact that a few bees continued to buz around towards the bottom of the hive now. The screened bottom board must make the robbers think that there’s a quick entrance to a bit of honey down there. Either that, or some of my learning-impaired bees are trying to get back in the hive through this egress. Regardless, no one can get in and the hive continues work hard. The other oddity were the several bees that were just standing on the outside of the screen, not moving at all. I’ve seen them do this before, after I put the robber screen up, and have no idea what they are doing. Maybe just taking a breather, which I don’t hold against them.
Either way, I continue to believe that the sugar syrup and robber screen have made a huge difference with this hive. My main concern is the Wax Moth, which I know are in there. I will be doing a pretty thorough inspection this weekend to see if the bees are keeping them in check, which they surely must be.
Hive 2
Again, as expected, some activity but not as much as I have in Hive 1. Regardless, these bees are taking the syrup and I do see a lot of the workers coming in, laden down with pollen. It is clearly good pollen times in East Richmond, Virginia or at least in my yard here in Varina. There are not as many bees coming and going and they are taking much longer to eat the syrup. I hope to get some MegaBee in the mail shortly and will use that to give them a boost.
Alas, I have discovered a dang wax moth in my strongest hive. To be honest, I found the larvae on the landing board when I removed my robber screen to expand it a bit. There does not appear to be a control, so I will need to check with some of my colleagues to see what to do about this daggone development…
Well, I was finally able to seal off the bees last night (around midnight – and a couple were STILL milling around the entrance!) This morning, I went out to check and about 6 bees were on the outside. I know that one of them could have been from the hive, as one did fall off the bottom board last night and meandered about without getting back in before I sealed her up. It probably was her, as I later noticed that one of the six was actually carrying pollen, which was probably her work this morning.
Regardless, I went to Lowes in Varina, Virginia and picked up the materials for a robber screen and put it in place around 10 am. It was a bit harry, as they were very peeved and I had to smoke them to get them back in before I could remove the blocker screen. Even smoking them only caused a few to go back in.
When I did remove the screen, they really got worked up and I moved off a bit before returning about 30 seconds later to put the screen in place. Amazingly enough, I was not stung (I was expecting multiple stings.)
Elevated and Ant Proof
I also moved the bees to a low table that I built last night and put up some ant guards on each of the legs. All of this had several bees going back to the old place (or maybe these were the robbers, who knows.) Regardless, they are a bit out of sorts, but I feel better (heh…that shouldn’t count, but it does!) I am hopefull that I will find them tomorrow, working the robber screen without a problem with some of the robbers being foiled. I created the second robber screen for the strong hive, which I think I will put in place on them too, just to be safe.
Finally, there’s lots of dead brood outside of Hive 2 again. I really do not know what to make of all of this. I hope (glass is half full) it is a sign of great hygenics and not a sign of something else wrong.
Folgers Can for an Ant Moat
Regardless, one more beekeeping experience in Varina, Virginia to add to the ever-growing pile!
Well, it definitely appears that my weak hive has been taking a beating these last few weeks. After putting the entrance reducer on, things really heated up on the landing area. Bee’s were all over it, all day long yesterday, and it certainly appeared like some fighting was going on. I am guessing that the sugar syrup that I put in there probably increased the aggressor’s desire to get in there and feed.
I am now very worried about my queen. When I broke this hive apart on Sunday, I never found the queen on the frames (but I did not actively search – if she was not easily seen, I went on to the next frame, as (at that time) I was not worried about her, but worried about the general state of things.) But, when I went to brush the bees off of the top board, there were a ball of bees on them. I sort of figured that some stray bee had come along and they were working on him. But, I have seen this ‘balling’ term used a lot when talking about queens. Now I am wondering if they had a queen in there.
To be honest, I have no idea what is going on. Michael Bush wrote an article saying that one way to help a weak hive is to shut off the entrance completely (one night) and see if there are bees outside the next day. If so, those are the robbers. Leave the entrance shut off for a couple of days and the robbers will give up. It is nearly 10 PM and I have tried twice to close that thing off, but the bees on this hive are still on the landing board, milling about. This cannot be a good sign.
Hopefully, I can help them out and rectify this issue. Lesson? When you get a new Nuc, put a daggone entrance reducer on it right off the bat.
