I was just speaking to my friend and fellow beekeeper, Chris, about our honeybees. He has experienced the same losses as I have, ending up with one hive as I did. Anecdotally, our experiences are pretty similar to many in the area. One person in the know stated that close to 90% of the hives have been lost. The general consensus says that last year's heavy rains has much to do with it.
I've just called B and B and ordered two more hives.
Showing posts with label Kendalls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kendalls. Show all posts
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, July 5, 2010
Moving Day
Last Friday was our first excursion into "migratory beekeeping" as Monta and I delivered three of our nucs to the Kendall farm. The operation was makeshift. We placed the three closed up nucs in the back of our Vibe, covered them net-like fabric (you know, the type used in making wedding veils) and took the 20 mile trip off to Houston County and the Honey Run farm.
Chris and I introduced each nuc into a regular 10 frame hive box without any real incident. The bees' new homes will be right in the middle of a new orchard, surrounded by a diversity of plant life.
Chris and I introduced each nuc into a regular 10 frame hive box without any real incident. The bees' new homes will be right in the middle of a new orchard, surrounded by a diversity of plant life.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Yesterday and Today's Inspections
Yesterday was dedicated to inspecting all the nucs, the swarm we caught the day before, the new hive set up last week from one of my other nucs, and Bee Glad... .
The four nucs I looked into were teeming with bees. They were getting to the point of overcrowding, and, thus, possible swarming. I removed a frame of capped brood from each 5 frame nuc (without attached adult bees) and set them aside, suspecting that the newest hive might just need some strengthening. By Friday all these nucs should be in hives on the Kendall farm if all goes as planned.
The swarm Monta, Joyce, Paul and I caught the day before was placed, branch and all, in an empty cardboard nuc that night. I retrieved the branch and channel locks yesterday, put in 4 more frames and opened up the entrance. I am surprised how fast the bees build comb sometimes, as the swarm was already building comb on the cardboard inner cover. This swarm also goes to the Kendall farm.
The inspection of the newest, nameless hive (hint! hint! readers) indicated, as I suspected, a rather weak hive. So I placed the capped brood from the nucs into it.
Bee Glad... is probably my strongest hive. It contains a large population of adult bees, plenty of brood in all stages, and good deal of pollen and nectar. It must be reversed fairly soon.
Today, I inspected Lib-BEE-taria, and Worker Bees.... I will have to admit that I was wrong about Lib-BEE-taria. The hive is not queenless but does contain a laying queen as is evident from eggs and young larvae in a number of drawn frames. Perhaps this hive superseded their previous queen and the new queen needed sometime to mate and lay eggs.
Worker Bees of the World Unite is strong. They are storing nectar into the honey super, using all three boxes for a nursery, and are, gentle to beat! This hive will need to be reversed soon as well.
The four nucs I looked into were teeming with bees. They were getting to the point of overcrowding, and, thus, possible swarming. I removed a frame of capped brood from each 5 frame nuc (without attached adult bees) and set them aside, suspecting that the newest hive might just need some strengthening. By Friday all these nucs should be in hives on the Kendall farm if all goes as planned.
The swarm Monta, Joyce, Paul and I caught the day before was placed, branch and all, in an empty cardboard nuc that night. I retrieved the branch and channel locks yesterday, put in 4 more frames and opened up the entrance. I am surprised how fast the bees build comb sometimes, as the swarm was already building comb on the cardboard inner cover. This swarm also goes to the Kendall farm.
The inspection of the newest, nameless hive (hint! hint! readers) indicated, as I suspected, a rather weak hive. So I placed the capped brood from the nucs into it.
Bee Glad... is probably my strongest hive. It contains a large population of adult bees, plenty of brood in all stages, and good deal of pollen and nectar. It must be reversed fairly soon.
Today, I inspected Lib-BEE-taria, and Worker Bees.... I will have to admit that I was wrong about Lib-BEE-taria. The hive is not queenless but does contain a laying queen as is evident from eggs and young larvae in a number of drawn frames. Perhaps this hive superseded their previous queen and the new queen needed sometime to mate and lay eggs.
Worker Bees of the World Unite is strong. They are storing nectar into the honey super, using all three boxes for a nursery, and are, gentle to beat! This hive will need to be reversed soon as well.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Another Nuc to Hive
This morning I transferred one of my strong nucs to bigger accommodations (a 10 frame hive) in Beelandia. The transfer went without incident. This is the last hive I can fit into Beelandia. The other nucs will probably either go to my friends, Chris and Jenny, or be used to requeen any of the other hives. Now I'll need another name for a hive, of course. As usual, I am open to suggestions.
And speaking of new names, last post, I asked for naming suggestions for the hive I started last week. Only David from the LA Garden blog entered but I really liked his suggestion: "Atta Bee!" So "Atta Bee!" it is!
And speaking of new names, last post, I asked for naming suggestions for the hive I started last week. Only David from the LA Garden blog entered but I really liked his suggestion: "Atta Bee!" So "Atta Bee!" it is!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Inspections of /Three Hives
Early this afternoon I did a brief inspection of each of the langstroth hives.
I first opened Bee Glad..., the hive I used as a cell starter and finisher using a Cloake Board. Last week, I Composeused many of its frames to start nucs from the queen cells produced in this hive. This splitting left the colony with one box full of bees and brood. On top of this, I placed a box filled with mostly undrawn plastic frames and a few frames filled with honey and pollen. I was surprised when I inspected this second box today. Within a week, the bees have pretty much drawn the 8 empty frames I placed in the box last week. This is a very strong colony. Now I need to buy some more frames for adding a possible third box next week.
Lib-BEE-taria was a little less productive this week, at least in my eyes. It is healthy, just smaller, probably the result of its carniolan ancestry. I had put a honey super on last week and the bees have not drawn anything out in that box. I sprayed some sugar water on the frames and will see if that helps the bees work in it.
Worker Bees... are starting to build in the third box I placed on last week. This is, by far, the gentlest of the langstroth hives and the one I grafted larvae from. I placed a top entrance on the third box today. All goes well in that one as well.
NOTE: I failed to mention my activities from yesterday. I picked up two 3 lb. packages from B & B and helped a friend and colleague (John) install these bees in his backyard. He lives about a mile from my apiary so this will provide a little more genetic diversity in the area. The second package I sold to friends Chris and Jenny. They installed theirs at their farm in Rushford.
I first opened Bee Glad..., the hive I used as a cell starter and finisher using a Cloake Board. Last week, I Composeused many of its frames to start nucs from the queen cells produced in this hive. This splitting left the colony with one box full of bees and brood. On top of this, I placed a box filled with mostly undrawn plastic frames and a few frames filled with honey and pollen. I was surprised when I inspected this second box today. Within a week, the bees have pretty much drawn the 8 empty frames I placed in the box last week. This is a very strong colony. Now I need to buy some more frames for adding a possible third box next week.
Lib-BEE-taria was a little less productive this week, at least in my eyes. It is healthy, just smaller, probably the result of its carniolan ancestry. I had put a honey super on last week and the bees have not drawn anything out in that box. I sprayed some sugar water on the frames and will see if that helps the bees work in it.
Worker Bees... are starting to build in the third box I placed on last week. This is, by far, the gentlest of the langstroth hives and the one I grafted larvae from. I placed a top entrance on the third box today. All goes well in that one as well.
NOTE: I failed to mention my activities from yesterday. I picked up two 3 lb. packages from B & B and helped a friend and colleague (John) install these bees in his backyard. He lives about a mile from my apiary so this will provide a little more genetic diversity in the area. The second package I sold to friends Chris and Jenny. They installed theirs at their farm in Rushford.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Report from Rushford
I spent this afternoon helping my friend Chris with his bees on his farm in Rushford, Minnesota. Chris had a slight and embarrassing accident with the new queens he purchased yesterday at B and B Honey Farm in Houston, Minnesota. He went back to purchase some new ones today and place them in the splits he made from two of his hives. He did have to take a little teasing from the staff at B and B. Chris successfully placed queens in two of his eight.
We went on to inspect the other six hives. Two of those contained the queens from last year's package. They were active and seemed healthy, though Chris took the advice of a local beekeeper and treated them both with formic acid. They had not been treated before.
The other 4 hives contained newly hived packages purchased two weeks ago. We saw the marked queens in each, and the drawing of comb on at least 4 frames in each hive. The really interesting thing was to see the color of this drawn comb. Chris' bees have been foraging on wild mustard all throughout his farm, and the comb reflects this foraging; it is bright yellow in color.
One concern was the appearance of a good number of dead bees in front of the entrance to one hive. These dead bees had their probosces extended, possibly indicating poisoning. This is a mystery. Where does the poison come from?
We went on to inspect the other six hives. Two of those contained the queens from last year's package. They were active and seemed healthy, though Chris took the advice of a local beekeeper and treated them both with formic acid. They had not been treated before.
The other 4 hives contained newly hived packages purchased two weeks ago. We saw the marked queens in each, and the drawing of comb on at least 4 frames in each hive. The really interesting thing was to see the color of this drawn comb. Chris' bees have been foraging on wild mustard all throughout his farm, and the comb reflects this foraging; it is bright yellow in color.
One concern was the appearance of a good number of dead bees in front of the entrance to one hive. These dead bees had their probosces extended, possibly indicating poisoning. This is a mystery. Where does the poison come from?
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Knowledge Acknowledged
Except for computer problems which made our powerpoint presentation useless, I would have to say that our beekeeping presentation for my univerity's Knowledge Acknowledged series was a success. We had a very diverse and engaged audience, along with tasty refreshments supplied by the library.
I left with a deep appreciation for my beekeeping colleagues at the university, even though we all came to apiculture from different directions and for different purposes. Gary found his way through the face-to-face influence of another local beekeeper who mentored him in the craft. He has a very non-interference approach that I much admire. Chris's approach is shaped by his involvement in the Univerity of Minnesota's extension courses and Marla Spivak's work. The joy he takes in beekeeping and all of nature was quite evident in his talk. My own approach finds its home mostly at Phil Chandler's biobees.com. I am very happy to have had the opportunity to work together with Gary and Chris on this project.
I left with a deep appreciation for my beekeeping colleagues at the university, even though we all came to apiculture from different directions and for different purposes. Gary found his way through the face-to-face influence of another local beekeeper who mentored him in the craft. He has a very non-interference approach that I much admire. Chris's approach is shaped by his involvement in the Univerity of Minnesota's extension courses and Marla Spivak's work. The joy he takes in beekeeping and all of nature was quite evident in his talk. My own approach finds its home mostly at Phil Chandler's biobees.com. I am very happy to have had the opportunity to work together with Gary and Chris on this project.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Preparing for "Knowledge Acknowledged" Series
Gary, Chris, and I met at Ed's No Name Bar last night in order to prepare for our joint presentation on beekeeping on April 21st for the "Knowledge Acknowledged" series at our university. This was the first time I'd ever spoken to Gary, and it was good to meet someone with the same passion and enthusiasm for bees. Over the last 20 or so years, Chris and I have actually collaborated on a number of projects, mostly of a musical nature.
We decided to each focus on a different topic during the presentation. I will be discussing top bar hives and sustainable beekeeping. Over the break, I'll work with Monta on a brief power point. As always when it comes to bees, I have to figure out how not to talk too much.
We decided to each focus on a different topic during the presentation. I will be discussing top bar hives and sustainable beekeeping. Over the break, I'll work with Monta on a brief power point. As always when it comes to bees, I have to figure out how not to talk too much.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Video: At The Kendall Farm
This fall Monta and I spent some time visiting the bees of our friends, the Kendalls. I filmed a worker evicting a drone, and then a guard bee decided to evict me.
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