An avid gardener and outdoorsman, I started beekeeping in 2009, give or take, and began using this journal as a way to document my trials and tribulations. Over the years, it has become a part of my hobby, recording events here.

Hive 2 : Wax Moth Incursion…

With the problems going on with Hive 2, I had the president of the East Richmond Beekeeper’s Association, ERBA, come over and have a look to see what was going on. When we opened the hive, we immediately discovered about a dozen larvae of the Wax Moth. I killed each one and removed 4 or 5 cocoons. I also removed that frame to clean it and subsequently replace it. I need to get it in a cooler.

This was a good lesson, although it was not aimed at me. The key point to this discovery was that no larvae were found on or around any of the frames that had bees on them. The good thing was that the bees on this hive had moved out to 5 frames, which was a first. They have clearly been active. The one problem with all of this is that the bees really have next to no honey at this time. They are effectively eating just about everything that they bring in.

wax_moth_coccoons_on_frames — Wax Moth Coccoons

My goal is to get more frames with honey on this hive. I hope to get some Megabee soon and will begin a feeding program to supplement that. I really do feel good about everything else, however. The Robber Screen and feeding have increased this hive’s chances of making it through the Winter. I will be checking them every week, going forward, but not using any smoke. The moment it becomes too uncomfortable (due to stings) to do so, I will reduce my visits to every two weeks and use a tad of smoke.

On a side note, I did also see one small hive beetle in the hive. A bee was chasing him. Beekeeping in Central Virginia is no ‘Walk in the Park’….

Hive 1 Looking Good

Update: On the Wax Moth front, someone on a forum advised me to look for Hive Beetles. He seemed fairly certain that this was more likely my problem.

So, this afternoon, after a stint at the Henrico County Gardening Helpline, I went out to have a brief look. No smoke this time (smoke sets them back and I am not using it again until I am stung), but I did not look into the frames.

I was able to get the feeder and the top deep hive off and finally replaced the bottom board with a screened bottom board. Bees were all over the place, but no one got real cranky and stung me. The hive looked great, with lots of bees on 8 of the frames (I didn’t pull them out, but could see them milling about.) They have not moved to the second deep, which is fine by me, as they are still working on the bottom one.

I did kill a handful of bees, but I hope to reduce this when I get my bee brush in the mail shortly. The little suckers love to run over to the spots where they will get crushed. I am now confident that anyone starting a new hive should feed from the start and put up a robber screen too. This is how a hive can get the best chance of knocking the ball out of the park when it is just getting started.

Tomorrow, we look at Hive 2! David Stover of the ERBA is coming to have a look with me.

Wax Moth!

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…

Looking up at last!

It’s been two weeks since the last inspection, so I had to have a look at Hive 2 today, to see how it was faring. I have no idea how much the Robber Screen and sugar syrup feeding played a role, but the hive was looking much better. I found the queen and the bees are clearly working on 5 frames now. They also have been looking much more active at the front of the hive as well, with bees coming and going on a regular basis.

I checked the hive around 2 pm on a sunny day around 85 degrees F. Although I definitely found capped honey, I was unable to be sure about brood because I did not go very far into the hive (once I saw the queen, I closed her back up.) I also realized that there is very little chance that I will be able to see eggs or larva in the cells while I have the cap on. I will have to brave a ‘no hood’ inspection soon, so that I can start to check this out.

I also briefly checked Hive 1 and there was little to say. No work on the new brood chamber yet, but they looked very healthy, still working on 7 frames. I might have jumped the gun with these guys. We shall see.

Robber Screen

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.)

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.

Regardless, one more beekeeping experience in Varina, Virginia to add to the ever-growing pile!

The Fight is On

Hive 2

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.

Interesting Research

The bees looked good this morning and I went ahead and put the entrance reducer on the weaker hive (Hive 2). I also checked the feeder and they were working on it pretty good. At last they are eating, which should mean some good results in a couple of weeks if it bears out like Hive 1. Of note, I was not able to get the entrance reducer in the hole, so I placed it flush with the opening. This afternoon, a bunch of the bees seemed to be busy propolizing the narrow crack between the reducer and the brood body. There was no apparent fighting, so I am hopeful.

On the ‘fighting’ note, I read an article by Michael Bush (http://www.bushfarms.com/beesrobbing.htm) that spoke about robbing (and how to not mistake it for an Orientation Flight). One of the comments by Mr. Bush was that you may not see any fighting if the robbers have already killed the guards. This is a bit concerning. Regardless, I will definitely keep the entrance reducer on these boys until the next Nectar flow begins.

My First Sting!

Weather: Nice but very windy
Time: circa 8 pm

Beekeeping in Richmond, Virginia is a definite adventure! Basically, it was not perfect timing to be sure. Most of the bees had returned from their foraging and where holed up in the hive. You’re supposed to check them between 10 and 5, when all the gals are out working. The wind supposedly makes them cranky, but I have no idea about that. Regardless, I had some real tasks to perform and I could not delay (or so I thought.)

Hive 1
Queen: Check
Frames: 6-7 (some just being drawn out)
Spotted the queen, great brood pattern, drawing out frames 5 and 6 now, with a little work done on 7.
I did not keep track of how much brood vs nectar vs pollen (I forgot!), but it looked really good. In addition, since I had seen several training flights at this hive, I was definitely expecting good news. In fact, I had brought a second brood chamber along just in case. I may have jumped the gun, but I went ahead and put the second box on top and refilled their feeder. I had to brush the bees off of the top board with some straw but I finally got the feeder to sit directly on the box (the new brood chamber that I installed.)

All in all, I am happy with this hive and will probably only spot check (no frame withdrawal) a couple of times over the next month.

Hive 2
Queen: Did not see her
Frames: 3-4
Different story here. Did not spot the queen, but did see a lot of good capped brood. This hive had just started to use the feeder (I noticed the first use of it when I took off the top.) These gals were really not even on 4 frames. I have to hope that the problem is not that my queen died (no sign of any queen cells). I will have to keep an eye on this one, perhaps checking it again in a couple of weeks to see if there has been any progress. I am happy to see that they have at least started to use the feeder.

Of note, they were balling something on the top board when I went to brush them off. I have to say that these gals were pissed about me brushing them off and I received my first sting (on the pinky!) of my beekeeping career. I removed the stinger, just like they say, and all was good. In truth, I was stung at the end of the examination (when I was trying to get those fools off the top board since I was placing the feeder on top of the brood chamber.) I am not certain if this balling indicates robbing or not. I am definitely going to get an entrance reducer on these guys (and probably Hive 1 too, since I do not think it will hurt much) in the next couple of days (and try to level them out a bit more.)

And the Beat Goes On…

Weather : Spotty Rain, 70 Degree F

Hive 1 has finished all of the sugar syrup that I gave them and seem to be itching for more. Hive 2, however, has not even touched a drop of the stuff. I have added more syrup to Hive 1 and am waiting until the weekend to determine what the heck is going on with Hive 2. Kenny, a wise Beekeeper at the ERBA, mentioned last February that ‘if you have two hives, one will always be noticeably stronger then the other one – no rhyme or reason.’

This weekend, I will give Hive 2 a full ‘redo’, getting rid of any excess pollen and putting the feeder (after I clean it) directly on top of the box. I also plan to do a thorough inspection of the brood on this hive to see what the heck is going on. On Hive 1, I will mainly add a second brood chamber (or ‘Deep’, as some call it.) I do want to give them a good ‘once over’, as I doubt that I will be looking in that chamber again for a month or so.

On a ‘nectar flow note’, I was walking to my car from work yesterday and noticed a bunch of bees on a small, yellow-blooming tree. Upon closer inspection, this tree appears to be the Golden Rain Tree. Amusingly enough (or sadly enough…), I dumped several seedlings of the Golden Rain Tree last year (or let them die). Now, I see that it could be a very good source of food for my gals. Of course, this whole even took place at Cary and 6th street. There are probably not a lot of options in that area to begin with. Maybe that was the only thing blooming in that area.

Honey Bees Eating Syrup and Another Training Flight!

Although I have been waffling on looking at the hives this weekend, I finally decided to basically let them be with respect to an actual frame inspection. I did, however, observe them externally on several occasions and frequently checked the hive-top feeders that I put on them earlier this week. As always, the two hives are not working at the same rate.

Yesterday, I had checked both hive-top feeders a couple of times. I never noticed any bees eating the syrup. In fact, except for 1 lone bee flying around in the feeder section in Hive 2, I never noticed any bees in the feeder section at all. This all changed today (I wish I had snapped a picture of it.) In Hive 1, the bees were in the feeder entrance thick as flees! In Hive 2, nothing. The more that I read up on feeding, the bees take up the syrup to help them build out more comb. Next weekend, I should see a substantial increase in comb. Hive 2 continues to struggle, at least from external observations.

As a final note, I once again found the bees outside of Hive 1 doing the Training Flights and actually snapped a picture this time. The picture definitely does not do justice to this event. Honey Bees are all over the place, climbing on the front of the brood chamber and flying all about in front of the thing. It appears to be a very positive sign.