Getting Metpropolis Ready for Fall/Winter

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon moving bars of honey around in the top bar hive, Metpropolis. The hive surprised me. I'd been thinking that, while watching from the outside the last few days, it was rather weak. This was not the case. It is thriving with much capped honey, a healthy looking queen, and a solid population. I cannot say the same with the other top bar hive, Plan Bee... . I looks like it was weakened and robbed in some way. It is essentially dead! This was a surprise as well because in August it looked like the strongest hive I had. I fed sugar syrup and pollen patties to the other hives. They seem to be doing well just like Metpropolis.

Bring Out Your Dead-- Part I

Today I began cleaning out the dead hives in Beelandia. This morning I scraped, cleaned and examined the langstroth, Worker Bees... . I was surprised with how few dead bees were left in the hive. It is quite possible that the queen died sometime late in the fall. I took out a number of full frames of capped honey which I use when I start new packages next month. In all, I am a bit stumped about what actually happened to this hive at this point. I will reserve judgments after I examine the rest of the dead hives.

Another Visit to Bee Glad...

I went out today and checked on Bee Glad..., the one hive that has survived the winter so far. The hive was alive and active, even on this cloudy, upper 30s day. I might open her up tomorrow and quickly leave a pollen patty. Hopefully, I can also bring in some boxes from the dead-outs.

Winter's Been Tough

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.

Video: February Thaw

February Thaw and the bees are out II
Uploaded by WesBeek. - Watch funny animal videos.

I guess this is both good and bad news. It was over 40 degrees F in Winona today and at least one hive (Bee Glad...) showed a great deal of activity at the top entrance. In the next few days I will have to decide whether to order two more packages or will I increase solely through this hive.


February Thaw and the bees are out I
Uploaded by WesBeek. - Explore other animal videos.

Like Night and Day

My 5 hives have come out of winter healthy which leads me to the next obvious question: Why did I lose my two hives last year, and, this year, have my 5 hives all survive?

First, I know it isn't due to how much food they stored. This year, I worried going into winter because the hives had little honey in storage. Bee Workers of the World Unite! had very little indeed! Last year in comparison, the two hives were packed with honey going into November and it was all still there when I examined the dead-outs in February.

Survival could be due to two factors beyond either the bees' or my control. First, last January had two weeks of continuous subzero temperatures. The bees probably couldn't move up to the capped honey within inches of the cluster. Second, I still suspect that my bees had a significant virus infection created by an immense varroa mite infestation.

But I did do other things to prepare the bees for winter that I didn't do last year:

1. I moved the hives slightly, so that they would receive plenty of winter sun.

2. Monta and I made quilt boxes for both the top bar hives and langstroths. These boxes absorbed a significant amount of moisture that rose up from the cluster.

3. While I kept the screen bottom boards on the langstroths, I did duct tape the openings, keeping the cold air out.

4. Besides wrapping the hives with black wintering materials, I also placed hay bales around the hive to cut down on strong winds.

5. I tilted boards in front of the bottom entrances. The bees could leave through the bottom entrances but didn't get full exposure to the chilly winds.

While these are the things I did, I can't be assured that these interventions were actually the key to the bees' survival. Honey bee survival/death is the result of a number of apicultural and environmental factors. It probably cannot be reduced in any particular silver bullets.

Two Packages Ordered (Just in Case)

The honeybees in my five hives seem to be doing fine this winter, however, the next six weeks are a critical time in the life of a hive. Yes, my over-wintering hives look good today, but who knows what will happen in those weeks approaching spring. As a precaution, I've ordered two 3 lb. packages of bees from B and B. If all my hives survive then I will use the packages to start colonies at other out areas or give them to my beekeeping friends in the area whose colonies may not have survived.

Hive Autopsy Finished on Bee Glad...

On Saturday, I finished examining Bee Glad... and found a disturbing surprise. The bottom board was covered with thousands of varroa mites. What part this played in the death of Bee Glad... is still debatable but my surprise lies in how did this occurred. I checked the hive for mites all spring and summer, did periodic drone brood frame extraction, along with sugar dusting. When the mite count became too large in August, I treated it with Thymol and the count went down significantly. I was confident going into winter that the mite load was reasonably low, but, having seen the state of the bottom board, I imagine my confidence was unfounded.

I will be publishing some photos of the bottom board later this week.

Hive Autopsy Begins

Saturday, I began the autopsy of Bee Glad... and Metpropolis. I was planning on continuing my examination of both hives on Sundy but the weather did not cooperate.

Bee Glad... probably died because of what I suspected originally: starvation in the midst of abundance. The top two deeps were jam-packed with honey with no empty comb cells for the cluster to move up through. (Below is pictured a typical frame)


The cluster was in the bottom box. Many of these bees were found dead, head-first in cells. There was only one place where "spotting" might indicate a Nosema problem.

I collected some bees for microscopic examination.

Metpropolis' autopsy does not seem as definitive. Again there was plenty of untouched honey and pollen in the hive. However, despite my best efforts in the fall, the bees still moved the honey to both sides of the brood nest. This probably happened because I moved the top bars of honey around a little too early in fall, giving the bees enough time to rearrange things during the warm spell in late October. Because the honey was located on both sides, the winter cluster had become too diffused and separated throughout the brood nest, and when extreme cold occurred the bees couldn't keep the cluster temperature warm enough.


Two other things are worth mentioning about Metpropolis. First, the hive still had an usually high percentage of drones in it when it died. Whether this is an indication of some underlying problem is a question that needs further research. Second, I was able to find the queen. (pictured below) She looks healthy but I will do a closer examination of her body in the future.

Bee Glad... Is Dead

Today was our warmest day in 2009 (upper 40s) so I went out to see if my suspicions were correct about at least one of the hives. I opened up Bee Glad..., separated the boxes, and, yes, BeeGlad... is dead. I didn't look all that closely or take out any frames but my initial diagnosis is starvation with plenty of honey above.

Both the top and middle boxes were heavy with honey (and possibly too much), so that the winter cluster in the bottom box had no empty cell area on which to move up to the top boxes. The dead cluster was still in the bottom box. With the freezing cold we've had, the cluster wouldn't have been able to move up much anyway. If, as beeworks.com mentions, the two top boxes had been clogged in fall, the queen might not have had enough room to lay eggs to replace the worn-out and dying summer bees. This would've left fewer bees to keep the cluster warm.

No matter which scenario, I must, in the future, pay more attention to leaving the middle frames in both top boxes relatively free or pollen and honey. When I had closed Bee Glad... in mid-October, I had left, what I thought, was a clear enough pathway up into the top boxes. However, two things happened: 1) I continued to feed the hive sugar syrup with Fumagilin-B which the hive consumed greedily, and 2) there was a stretch of warm weather at the end of the month in which the bees scavenged at the local Kwik Trip for sweets. The bees may have stored more honey right in the spaces I had left empty.

I am not very happy with myself right now.

Winter Bees Revisited

I mentioned two posts ago about the possible dying of my two hives. I can't be really sure yet either way. It is still too cold to open the hives. This possibility did get me to think, however, about some possible reasons for the hives dying out. As I looked at the locations of each hive I've noticed that, because of the sun's angle in the winter, and the various obstructions (e.g. fence, houses, shubbery) around the hive that these hives do not get much sun on winter days. Perhaps, the hives need to be moved this spring to take advantage of the occasional sunny days they will receive in the winter.

Carniolan Packages

Looking into to purchasing two packages of Carniolans for the spring. Even if my two hives do make it this winter, it would be nice adding some bees that winter well to the local gene pool.

I Hope Not...

...but it looks like both my hives are dead.

We've had some brutal temperatures this January in Minnesota. However, yesterday was in the 'thirties. I went out to Beelandia to check out both Metpropolis and Bee Glad..., hoping to see or hear some signs of life. Without daring to open either hive, I observed neither.

If both are dead like I suspect, the next step is to figure out the possible causes and go on with new packages this spring. I am quite sure that I left both hives with enough to eat, but with the cold we have been having, starvation is still very possible. If the cluster was positioned in such a way that food was not directly accessible and the cluster could not move for a few days because of the sub zero temperatures we were having, the cluster could've still starved even with plenty of stores left.

Also, I wonder what effect those high mite counts might've have had on the colonies at the end of August. I treated each with Thymol when I observed the counts but was this simply trying to close the door after the horse was gone?

I must also ask myself about the quality of foraging that exists in the area I keep the hives, especially with a golf course, and all its pesticides and herbicides, three blocks away. Am I exposing the bees to too many stresses in this small city environment?

Lastly, I need to honestly examine my own apicultural abilities. I have tried to learn as much I can but was it enough and applied correctly.