Bee Inspection

Neither one of my hives is doing all that great.  They sure started out all gun-ho.  Lots of bees going in and out.  I thought *finally* I'll get some honey.  Then slowly there were less and less bees.  I left my sugar water out until we had at least 3 -- 70 degree days with lots of dandelions blooming, just like I was told to do.  Within 2 weeks of stopping it,  I started up again -- just because I had no idea what was going on.  My thought was.... must call local bee expert Mike.

Before I could call him, he called here -- checking to see how my bees were doing.  His 47 hives have done the very same thing!  They started out all good, and then a real slow down.   He said by now we should be putting on a second super on the regular hive, and we're not even close.  His advise was to keep the sugar water out yet. (yeah, I did something right.  :-)

There are live bees and we will get some honey, just not the yields that are normal.  The interesting thing Mike said, was that the bees that overwintered here are going hog wild!  There are so many of them that they are swarming and their honey yields are way up!

To me that rules out pesticides.  (At least in this case.)  The bees that over-wintered (not mine) and the bees we got new this year from California, are all collecting the same pollen.  The bees that over-wintered did get that warm March weather to get going before April was so cold.  We truly are thinking it is weather related.  The bees we bought had to go through a colder spell before they were really established.  (....and was the queen bred before being shipped?)

I wrote all the above before I checked the bees late Friday afternoon. (2 weeks since the last inspection)

After the hive inspection Friday.....down to one hive.  The traditional hive had a 1/2 cup size ball of bees all huddled in the corner, with no brood ready to hatch that I could see.  I'm too much of a rookie to know if the queen was in the group -- but I do know there were not enough bees to sustain the hive.

I expected to find the same in the top bar hive because there were still very few bees going in and out. 


This was the first bar with comb on it.
They had this built very early...I thought great, no bees.
But...look close, there is brood hatching.
(A really bad picture, but there were no do-overs)





Imagine my surprise when this is what I found between
the second and third bar.  Live healthy bees!  Yeah!





There were this many and more bees on the third bar. ....and on
the back side of the comb more brood ready to hatch.
This is not a lot of bees for this time of year.
But.....I still have a hive trying to survive!  :-)

(Check out my bare hand so close to the bees.....I
do believe I have lost my fear of the bees.
This is a good thing if you are a bee keeper :-)



.....dr momi

Linked To: Homestead Barn Hop #64

Two Hives of Bees In Place

  


Buzzzzzzzz
They were hungry and loud.

 




Here's one of the queens.  She seemed very healthy.
The rest of the bees are "Italians" and the queen is "Carniolan".





One of the hives will be the top bar hive again.







And the other I'm going to try the traditional hive.
Beekeeper Mike is borrowing me a hive to try this year.
It will be fun to compare them.

 
     For those that don't know,  I lost two packages of bees at two different times last year.  Both times the weather was 30 degrees and 40 mile per hour winds when I placed them in the hive....not good.  This year it was 57 degrees, very light wind, and sunny.  All the bees found their way into their respective hives (the hive with the scent of their queen) and things are looking good!  I was much more relaxed this year knowing a bit more of what I was doing.  ......Here's to a good honey harvest! (Or any harvest
for that matter.  :-)

.....dr momi

Linked To: Farm Photo Friday

Bees Are No More

     My second package of bees this year didn't make it either. *sigh* (again).  They gave it a good try.  I thought that maybe putting the packages into the hive on two of the coldest, rainiest (that's a word is according to spell check :-) stretches of weather (two different times!), was the problem.  According to an experienced beekeeper here in Northeast Wisconsin, probably not.  He thinks it is more likely that the bees came from California before the queen was bred.   When there is no brood being layed right away we are already behind.  It was either that, or my queen died soon after I put them in.  I never could find the queen when I would check on them,  but I have an inexperienced eye.
     This second package at least started to get some comb made, but then I noticed there was no brood,  and very few bees.  Thinking all was already lost, I didn't check them for two weeks.  When I did check there was a queen cell!  A spark of hope....and then two days later there were about 2 bees.  I'm not the only one that lost bees.  Lots of beekeepers around the area did.




There were 3 combs this size on 3 different top bars.


      So, I will be taking everything I learned this year, soaking up all the reading on bees that I can this winter, and trying again next year.   I think I'll try a regular hive and this top bar hive again next year, just to compare.

.....dr momi

Digging Holes

     Ya, so much for digging the holes before my tree/bush order came.  I picked them up this afternoon.  Five Nankin Cherries, five Highbush Cranberries, two Hazelnut trees, two Stanley Plum trees, one Lodi Apple tree, and ten Forsythia bushes.  Six holes are dug (this morning) and I'm dizzy and my knee isn't happy. .......and there was still some frost in the ground closer to the woods!!   My son helped plant the trees when I got home.  Thanks Matt!  Just the bushes left for tomorrow -- not as deep of holes :-)

     Rick put together and dug a hole for my mason bee house.  Let the orchard blossoms begin!  (But not too soon -- another week of low 30's nights is in the forecast!)




My mason bee hive is in place in the orchard. (Thanks Honey!)
The hole right next to it is where I am making a mud patch for the bees
 to plug the holes after they lay their eggs.
Check out my mason bee post under "bees" for more info on them.


 

Not a Good Beekeeper :-(

     *Sigh*......I lost them all.  So many questions, "Did I spray them too much in the cold weather when I put them in?", "Did I shake them too hard getting them out of their box?", "Did I screw the bottom of my syrup solution on too tight and it wasn't dripping?", "Is trying to put new bees into a top bar hive crazy in 30 degree weather?"

      I checked them 2 days after I put them out, half of them were dead then.  Two days later they were all dead.  I'm evaluating what to do next.  I have all the equipment, I might as well get more if there are  any to get.  I may end up getting an established hive in May.

Here's something that surprised me. ......I actually got attached to the bees.
Caring for them was much like caring for the chickens.
(And loosing them felt just like loosing chickens)
 Now that has got to be the farmer in me!

.....dr momi

The Bee's Are......Buzzin'?

     Hopefully the bee's are buzzing.  I just got my first bees today.  Guess that makes me an official beekeeper.  Whether I'll be a good beekeeper is yet to be seen :-)

     It's been a very crazy day.  I had bloodwork drawn early this morning.  Drove to pick up the bees  about 1hr. and 45 min. away.  Drove back home.  Picked up my grandson from pre-school.  "Ran" to the vet for Butsch's last set of shots.  Listened to Butsch "puke" in his kennel just before I got home. (Carsick from driving with me to get the bees.)  And then.......

     This rookie beekeeper had to get her bees into the top bar beehive.  Today's high was 39 degrees.  There has been 18 mile/hr. sustained winds with 40 mile/hr. gusts.  I have a gut feeling this isn't good for the bees.  Somehow, the bees are in the hive, the queen was still alive and put into place, the pollen was attached to the side wall, the sugar syrup was in place, and the cover with a cement block on it was in place.  If this all works........here's to honey and beeswax later on this fall!



The bees sat on the kitchen table while I ran to the vet.
From the car to the house, did they get mad!  They were a buzzin' then!



Grandson Logan was amazed.......

 

.....dr momi

Ordering Trees/Bushes

     Rick (my husband) and I have been getting our order together from the Menominee Conservation District in Upper Michigan. We ordered from them last year.  The trees and bushes were absolutely beautiful!  So strong and healthy.  We learned the lesson of not ordering more than we can plant in the next day or two from when we get them.  Rick and his brother ordered 200 Norway spruce and some apples last year.    ..........let's just say the chiropractor could have used a chiropractor :-) They are ordering 100 Norway spruce this year and some wild apple trees for their hunting land.  Hopefully they spread it out over two days.  They won't get any help from me :-) 

     I will be planting what I buy for the homestead.  Last year what I bought from them was; 5 elderberries,  5 sand cherries,  5 nannyberries, 5 highbush cranberries, a Wolf River apple tree, and a flowering crab apple.  Everything is alive and well.

     This year I'm buying 5 nankin cherries, 5 more highbush cranberries (part of a windbreak), a Lodi apple tree, 5 hazelnut trees,  10 forsythia bushes, a Stanley plum, and a Victory plum.  That's about all the holes I can dig.  Actually, I will have most of the holes dug and ready before they come.

     Why such an array?  Am I really interested in feeding the turkeys and deer?     uuhhhh No.  I'm sure they will take their share though.  Everything being planted has a reason.  It's either food for our table, with any extra going to the pigs, ducks, and chickens, or, I am specifically planting it for winter feeding of the chickens.  (all those small fruits I will dry).  The forsythias are for early feeding of my bees (and because I love them blooming so early in the spring too :-)........and I might make some sand cherry wine this year. :-)

   

Ordered My Bees



The bottom has a screen covering it
or we can close it up with the hinged
board during the winter.



     Now I did it.  I really am going to be a beekeeper.  .......so much odds and ends equipment to get. (as in protective clothing) The bees will be coming sometime in April.   I ordered them because my husband just finished building me a top bar beehive.  It only took him a couple of hours out of his perch fishing time.  He says it is my Valentine's Day present :-)  --- I'm thinking some roses will show up too.

      I wanted a top bar hive because a regular hive gets so heavy when it is full of honey that I wouldn't be able to lift it myself.  I guarantee you that even though he lovingly, and willingly built the hive, my husband will NOT help with working the hive. :-)  A top bar hive I've heard, does not produce as much honey as a regular hive but does give you more beeswax.  The bees actually build the honeycomb from a bar on the top that you can lift out to harvest the honey.  I'll only be lifting "sections" of the honey harvest at a time.  The sides of the hive are at an angle to discourage the bees from attaching the comb to the sides and preventing you from being able to lift it out.  I'd love to use the beeswax in homemade lip balms, hand salve, and candles  --- something else new to learn! 



The whole top gets covered with these smaller boards.
These two will be at the ends so the bees can't build right
up to the end.  The rest of the boards are at my brother-
in-laws to get a strip sawed down the middle of them. It
will be the starting point for the comb to be built.

      Getting the bees never was about a lot of honey, don't get me wrong, we will use it, but getting the bees is all about pollination for me.  Wanting the bees starts with having a garden and orchard.  I'm always interested in what grows a better garden.

     There is lots of information on top bar beehives on the Internet.  We got the building instructions from a couple different sites.  The hive is built with untreated wood.  The inside will stay untreated for the bees health, but the outside has to get painted  ---- hhmmm how fancy should I get?



Mason Bees

My Christmas present, a Mason bee house.

     The note next to my keyboard says: 5/16 drill bit, holes 4-8", 3 ft. off ground.  It is a result of a google search for mason bees.  It all started when I got a mason bee house for Christmas (yes, my kids know that that is something I would really like  :-) --- really)  I am looking for ways to get my orchard and garden better pollinated this year.  The honey bees are truly lacking.  We are working on getting a top-bar beehive built and getting honey bees again.  Years back an elderly friend, Clarence, helped me put a couple of honey bee hives on the back of our 10 acres.  Wow! what a difference in production of everything in the garden.  The plum trees were loaded, and oh the pumpkins we had that year!  Clarence had worked  honey bees for so long he never protected himself except for the head gear.  If a honey bee stung him, he considered it good for his immune system.  Today Clarence, I think, is 98 years old.................  Those old bee hives were heavy and I didn't have the same passion as Clarence, so I let them go. The top-bar hive I think I could manage, but, that's another story.
     So back to the mason bees.  We have quite a few of them around here.  They worked the flowers and tree blossoms as hard as they could last year.  Including the dandelions - when I was picking them for wine last year I got stung!  They don't make honey but they do pollinate.  I am out to make sure I have as many of them as possible.  So, besides the nest I got for Christmas we are going to make some nests.  We will start with a big block of firewood and drill holes in it.  Evidently the 5/16 in. drill bit gives the perfect size hole, and if it is at least 4-8 in. deep, you will have more female bees than male.  It is the female bees that do a lot of the work pollinating, and of course laying more eggs.  From my reading it sounds like they don't go further than 100-300 ft. away from their nesting spot.  A couple in the orchard and a couple next to the garden is my goal.  A spot of wet clay mud helps them cap their pollen and eggs. The results of all this won't be seen until the garden of 2012.  Google mason bees, and then put a nest near your garden.....you might be giving mason bee nests for Christmas gifts before long :-).