Crunchy Beekeeping Lives Again

Well, we get to start over!!  I thought I was going to be done after last year when I lost the hive to wax moths.  It was a huge mess, but now I get to start over!


God blessed us with a wild colony of bees that is easily enough to set up 3 boxes.  Heather from Heather's Blooming Gardens on Facebook, and I collected a wild swarm from somebody's back yard.  While we were pulling out the brood comb to put in our boxes, a queen hatched from her cell in front of us!!  SOOOOO NEAT!!

This colony was inside a discarded conveyor belt that had buckled and bent, creating a "bent pyramid" kind of shape.  

So, anyway, we got the swarm collected and over to her house to kinda divy it up, and a mass of bees collected around a limb of one of her trees.  We tried shaking them off, but they went right back!  It's almost like they were trying to swarm right then.  I have a second hive I'm going to offer them to see if they will take it up.

Anyway, here are some pics from the capture....

Into the second year

Woefully late in updating for 2013, a quick description of how things are going as I start my second year of beekeeping. 

Here's my hive, as it overwintered...

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In an attempt to entice the workers to start storing honey in the honey super, I took out the queen excluder.  I mean, she won't even lay in the brood super, what's the likelihood she will lay in the honey super?  It's the SECOND level up, for goodness sakes!!

WRONG!!

Finally have a few warm days where I can bust open the hive and see what's going on.  DOGONNIT!!  Pupating brood in my honey super!  The little wench!  Doesn't she know that's MY space??  That's it!  It's ON now!  Queen excluder back in place, and a quick prayer that she's in the brood boxes, not the honey super.  Close it all up, and we'll see what happens.  That was Monday the 8th of April.  Oh, yeah, take a few pics because Geek1 has a biology lab project due on the 11th. 

Got an email from Mrs. Geek on the 15th that there is a swarm of bees on the ground in the back yard.  HOLY COW!  Have Geek2 get the spare hive body and set it next to them.  He did, and they marched right in (his description).  When I got home, the hive was empty and there were a bunch of dead bees on the ground.  Not sure what happened, but the swarm didn't make it.  Opened the hive back up on the 16th, just to make sure it's OK, and see whether the queen is laying like crazy in the honey super because she got trapped up there, or have the pupae emerged and the workers now filling those cells with honey.  SUCCESS!!  Lots of honey-in-the-making.  Just for my trouble, I take one of the frames of honey out of the brood super. Can you tell I'm impatient?  Don't look at me like that.  They have plenty of time to refill the frame!  Besides, it was an end frame.  They had only filled one side of it anyway.

Gotta put that frame I pulled out (BTW:  dark honey in that frame) back in, so I opened up on the 19th.  Man, these bees are much more aggressive than last year!  Honey super has lots of almost full frames.  Just waiting for the caps!  Pulled out one of the frames that was capped, and it is very light honey.  Hmmmm.  The flowers make a difference, huh?

I think it's time to open up again.  I don't want them to run out of space  ;)

Newest update (I got impatient!)

I am behind on an update.  Sorry about that.  I checked the hive on the 3rd, and all looked good.  The bees are starting to draw out the frames in the honey super.

That is GOOD NEWS!!

I did something I probably shouldn't have done.  I traded the bees.  I traded them one frame full of capped honey out of the brood super for the frame in the picture above.  Before you drag my name through the mud and bring me up on charges before PETA, I can only say that I am impatient to see what the honey tastes like.  And OH MY GOSH --  IT.IS.GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!

It has a hit of a floral taste, which makes sense, but surprises me still.  I have never tasted the floral taste in any other honey.

In my defense, after I let the honey drain off the frame that I stole, I put it back in the honey super for them.  I gave it back...(...so they can fill it up again!)

I left them alone yesterday, but I don't know that I will be able to leave them alone too much longer!  I want honey!!!  That one frame gave me about a quart plus a pint.  I gave some to 4 neighbors.  OK, time for some math....

1 frame ======> 1 qt + 1 pt

therefore, 10 frame =====> 10 qt + 10 pt = 10 qt + 2.5 qt = 12.5 qt

12.5 qt = 3.125 gal!!

Therefore, 1 super ====> 3.125 gal, enough for us for about a year!!!

(I'M SO PROUD!)

Update

I checked the hive today.  The bees have been busy!!  The brood super was about 65% full, so I went ahead and put on the honey super.

I was pretty sure they had been pretty busy.  There has been a virtual swarm of workers on the front of the hive for at least the last week.  Here are some pix:

This is a frame from the brood super.  Notice the full size of most of the comb on the frame, and if you look closely you can see some honey in the cells!  It was practically dripping out!

This is the other side of the same frame.  Notice the capped cells of honey already.  This super has been on for about 5 weeks now.  Like I said, they have been busy!

I'm not sure why they are building out these connectors so far into the space between frames, but they are.

I am pointing at the honey super.  I did put in the queen excluder.  We'll see how it goes.

New Developments

I checked on "the girls" yesterday afternoon.  They have been B-U-S-Y!!!

My photographers have gotten "sting-shy", so they won't get close enough to take a pic until I get them bee suits.  :-(

Anyway, I had the comb we pulled out of their duckbox in three frames on one side of the hive, and the plastic-based foundation filling the rest of the hive. 

Last week when I checked on them, I intermingled the plastic foundation and their "home" comb.  When I checked yesterday, they were busily adding wax to the frames with plastic foundation, some of which already has capped honey, even though that frame is not even completely drawn out.  Only 3 frames had little to no comb added yet. 

I went ahead and added the first super to the hive.  They may start upward begin storing in the super.  I don't necessarily thing that is a bad idea. 

I AM anxious to add the first honey super, though.

Checked the bees today

We checked on the girls today.  There sure are a BUNCH of drones in there!

The biggest news is that they are FINALLY putting some comb on the plastic foundation!  They ARE  still working very hard on their comb that we brought home with them, but they have put a couple of little spots on the first of the frames with plastic foundation.  I will have a couple of pictures uploaded tomorrow.  Right now my phone (with the pictures) and my laptop are in two different places.

Later!

Checked on the Bees, 7 Mar

We checked the bees on the 7th just to see if they are starting to fill out the plastic cell foundation.  There is a bit of wax on one side of one frame where they are filling in between the side of the foundation and the side of the frame.  We didn't get any pictures because Geek2 got stung on his lip, and Geek3 ran out of the back yard screaming.

I guess we will be ordering some jacket/veil combinations pretty soon.  GloryBee has them for $16, plus hive tools for $2.35.

We also pulled out the feeder since the weather is now warming up.  I am seeing quite a few bees going in with pollen on their legs, so I'm guessing the rest are carrying nectar.  I have come to notice that the drones make a lot of noise, and their abdomens are very big.  In many ways, they are very caricaturish.

I am hoping to check them out today and see if there is any wax on the plastic foundation yet.  If not I am probably going to order some wax foundation and replace the plastic.  I am out of town next week, and Mrs. Crunchy asked last night if I would be OK without my bees.  I think there will be some withdrawal there (-: .  The really funny part is that I have been calling them "my girls".  Oy VEY!

The box they came from...

I just realized....I haven't shown you where the bees came from.  Here is a picture of their "old house"

Fed the bees, 3/5

On the 5th, it was supposed to approach freezing, so we gave them about a pint or pint and a half of sugar water in the feeder. 

I told one of my coworkers that we had fed the bees, and he got this weird look on his face.  "How do you feed bees?  I am picturing these little bitty steaks and potatoes!"

I said "that's it!  That's how we do it!"

He said, "How do they cut it up?"

I said, "With a buzz saw!" 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I kill myself!

Anyway, while watching the hive yesterday (the 6th), I GOT REWARDED!!  I saw at least 5 forager bees come in with pollen on their legs!  YAY!!  I don't know that that is significant per se, but I do know that it impressed the heck out of me when I saw the Johnson's bees doing it back in January.

Checked on the Bees 3/4

HOWDY, ALL!!

Geek3, Geek2, and I opened up the hive on Sunday (March 4th) to check on the hive and see how it is doing.  MAN!!  There were a bunch of bees in there! 

 There were 2 beetles in the trap. 

We did see one more beetle crawling on a frame, and tried to get a picture, but I don't think we got it.  He didn't live long after his photo debut!

When we took them out of the duck box we brought as much of their comb as we could, and we took the RiteCell foundation out of some frames and tied in their comb with fishing line.  They have now secured their comb to the frames so that we can cut off the fishing line.

We cut the fishing line off one frame.  I am expecting we will cut it off the remaining frames this week.

We didn't see any cells with honey in them, but that didn't concern me too much since they are just getting started.