Video: You Can Lead a Bee To Water...

In between activities, I was able to film a bit of Beelandia bee activity at their chief watering hole, Lake No-Bee-Gone.

May 1st Inspection

In the late morning and early afternoon, I spent time inspecting 3 hives: Lib-BEE-taria, Worker Bees of the World Unite, and Plan Bee... .While the temperature was comfortable, it was very windy which made inspections difficult at times. This was especially so when examining the top bars of Plan Bee... that had new comb. I did get through the inspection without a sting. All three colonies were gentle, considering the windy conditions.

Lib-BEE-taria had bees working in all three brood boxes with plenty of brood, pollen and honey in each. The honeybees in this hive have stopped taking syrup from the feeder so I took that off when closing the colony up.

Worker Bees... was also doing well; so well I added a third box to the hive. I am continuing to feed sugar syrup to this one since they still consume it. Both Worker Bees... and Lib-BEE-taria were dusted with powdered sugar as routine maintenance for varroa mites.

Plan Bee..., one of the top bar hives, is simply thriving. I will probably have to split this one very soon. I did cut out some drone brood and found it full of varroa mites which concerns me. Yes, the bees are healthy but this quick glance at the mites sent up red flags. I am considering treating it with Apiguard.

Later in the afternoon, Beelandia had a few visitors. Molly and Mark brought their gold fish, Lala, over so that she could spend the summer in our pond, Lake No-Bee-Gone. I received two stings at this time, though Molly and Mark escaped without a scratch. Later in the afternoon, a young child named Toby came over with his adult entourage (grandparents and dad) for a tour as well. Toby donned a small bee suit and spent sometime asking some very good questions about the inhabitants of Beelandia. Toby's visit caused not a sting.

The First Cold Snap

The last two days have brought a change in our weather here in Winona, from warm and dry to cold, wet and windy. This was a sign that I need to begin winter preparations in Beelandia. This afternoon, after work, I will be bringing all the plants that can't survive our southeast Minnesota winter. Monta will be measuring the top bar hives in preparation for making "quilt" boxes for each this weekend. I have the hive wrap already for attachment this coming weekend. I will transfering all the fish out of Lake No-Bee-Gone and into their winter quarters this weekend as well.

I now await our first frost tonight!

Video: Bees Drinking in Lake No-Bee-Gone

Retrieving More Queen Cages

I opened Metpropolis and Bee Glad... to retrieve the queen cages I left inside during last week's installation and took a very brief look at what was going on in the two hives. All seems to be well in both hives. The bees have been bringing a tremendous amount of pollen and nectar and are building comb quite rapidly.

I placed the fish back in Lake No-Bee-Gone today as well: two koi (one was in the pond last year), and 4 white clouds (all had been in the pond last season). Interestingly enough, here I have this pond as the water source for Beelandia, yet the bees prefer our muddy parking area to collect water. Hopefully, when the water dries in parking area, they will return to consuming water from the pond.

Lake No-Bee-Gone Goes Solar

I just received my Sunjet 150- Solar Powered Pump in the mail today, already to be installed in Beelandia's pond, Lake No-Bee-Gone. Besides being more sustainable, it will eliminate the sight of that ugly extension cord in the apiary. I don't know how the bees felt about it but this orange cord was always getting in my way.

Beelandia Re-arranged

In light of the dying of both Metpropolis and Bee Glad... , I've decided to move the hives around a bit in Beelandia. I suspect that one cause of the bee demise was their placement in the apiary. They just did not get much winter sun where they were placed.

I am moving Metpropolis further away from the north facing fence. During the winter, this fence shaded the hive from any winter sun. Hopefully, the hive will get more just one or two feet south.

Bee Glad... will be moved a few feet east, away from the house, right in the middle of Beelandia. Lake No-Bee-Gone will be positioned right where Bee Glad... use to sit.

Three feet behind Bee Glad..., the new langstroth, Lib-BEE-taria, will be placed in all its green splendor.

Finally, on the far south side of Beelandia, Monta's newly built top bar hive, Plan Bee from Outer Space, will be positioned, facing Beelandia's garden of sunflowers and such.

Wrapping Up

Today, Monta and I wrapped up Bee Glad... and Metpropolis. We used some hive quilts we purchased at B&B Honey Farm in Houston Minnesota. The entrances had been narrowed and "mouse-proofed" a few weeks ago. We did two treatments of Apiguard for mites in August and September as our counts were extremely high.

This is one of those things I've really felt like I've done blindly, since packing up the hive for the onset of winter is such a local thing. We have a rather unique local climate in Winona being that on the Mississippi in a valley protected by bluffs on each side. We had a good deal of snow last year but in the previous three or four very little. I hope the Beekeeping in Northern Climates manual applies to Winona and is transferable to Top Bar Hives. I spent the day fretting. I've grown attached to the bees and feel a very deep responsibility toward them.

I also removed the fish from Lake No Bee Gone. Only one of the koi survived but the white clouds multiplied. They are now in winter quarters in my home office.

Lake No-Bee-Gone

Located between Metpropolis and Bee Glad... is Beelandia's most popular resort: Lake No-Bee-Gone. Besides being famed for its waters, the pond contains Naranja, an orange and white koi who is Beelandia's answer to Shamus, the killer whale. Also popular with tourists is the famous school of white clouds, another temperate climate fish from China. As the photo demonstrates, other creatures besides the residents of the hives stop by to relax and enjoy the sights.