Bummer Summer with the Bees

Psalms from the Hive

by Jeannie Saum

This summer, what a bummer

Cold spring, summer rain

Not to the bees liking.

Busy multiplying, but eating the honey they’re supplying.

Not leaving us any!  What a pain!

Clover, Bee, and Revery

Reverie (revery) –(n.) state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing; a fantastic, visionary, or impractical idea

 

We headed out to our hives today, hoping to harvest some honey to bottle and sell at the upcoming HoneyFest next weekend.  A month ago, one of our thriving hives had at least 6 frames of uncapped honey, so we were hoping to have a super of honey.  Our HIve and Honey BEEpothecary partners, the Dotsons, headed out to their hives at the same time and we planned to get together this afternoon to process our honey together.

But, it was not to be – or BEE? – not for the Saums or the Dotsons.  In our 2 thriving older hives, we found boxes full of drawn comb, much of it empty.  We also found tons of bees and brood, some pollen and a little bit of capped honey on a few frames around the brood.  But NO full frames of honey.  They evidently have eaten it as fast as they are making it!

In our 4 smaller new hives, one was completely empty – not even bees.  The other three had lots of bees and brood, and a little pollen, but NO HONEY!  We were shocked and disappointed.   We called the Dotsons, and learned that they had found the same thing.   By this time last year, we had pulled a full super of honey or more off of hives twice, and got a third batch in the fall.

Later today, a first year beekeeper from down the street,next door to our son, called.  He asked if he could come down with some pictures from his new hive, to see if we thought he had a problem.  The pictures on his tablet computer, looked just like our hives!  Lots of bees and brood, some pollen, and that’s it!  He felt reassured that he had company in his misery, and that  we did not think he had a big problem.

I posted our results on the local beekeepers’ association Facebook page, and found that many others in our area are experiencing the same.  Guess it’s just the whimsy of the weather and the bees and we have no control!  The spring was cold and damp.  The spring bloom happened late, all at once.  Then we had four weeks of daily rain in June and July, followed by unseasonable cool weather in August.  Guess this all was not to the bees liking or need!

As of tomorrow, we will start feeding our bees sugar syrup and hope that this and a good bloom of goldenrod this September will help the bees make enough honey to get them through the winter!  And we are glad that we have other things to sell at the HoneyFest than honey!  I hope other beekeepers have honey to sell.   Might be kind of a weird HoneyFest if there is no honey available this year!

 

Jeremiah 17

⁷ “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,   whose confidence is in him.
⁸ They will be like a tree planted by the water  that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought  and never fails to bear fruit.”

Strange Spring With the Bees

Psalms from the Hive

by Jeannie Saum

What will we find, when we visit the hives?

What have “the girls” been up to?

Bees can be fickle, along with the weather.

Will they be thriving or need tended to?

Clover, Bee, and Revery

Reverie (revery) –(n.) state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing; a fantastic, visionary, or impractical idea

 

Well, we’ve had a new experience this spring in one of our hives. We saw no capped brood a few weeks ago and couldn’t find the queen.   We checked it again a week later and had frames full of spotty drone cells!  We had to ordered a new queen and were going to put it right in, but thankfully checked online for information. We found out that there is much more to fixing this problem than just replacing a queen.  We learned that we had to move the hive 100 yards away and shake off all the laying workers, before returning the hive to its spot for the waiting foraging bees to re-enter.  Then we could put the queen in. Steve carried out this task with his brother’s help and inserted the new queen.  They found hundreds of forager bees waiting for them when they returned the hive to its spot.  WE hope we will how have success! A weird spring so far – 3 hives doing great, one floundering with an old queen (we replaced) and one without brood but several queen cells open. Hope it will have brood in a week or so.  And then the one with all the drone cells. 6 hives all in same place, but so different!  We never know what to expect when we go out there to inspect!

 

Psalm 9

⁷ The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.
⁸ He rules the world in righteousness  and judges the peoples with equity.
⁹ The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
¹⁰ Those who know your name trust in you,  for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Back from the Bee Yard

 Psalms from the Hive

 by Jeannie Saum

Interesting!  Cool!

Guess what we did?

You should have gone!

Dad put in a bid

For a hive from the bee yard.

At the end of the season

It will be his to keep on pleasin’.

Clover, Bee, and Revery

Reverie (revery) –(n.) state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing; a fantastic, visionary, or impractical idea.

 

They’re back from the Bee Yard  – Steve, and our daughter and son, Sarah and Nate – and bouncing off the wall.  They are so excited by what they saw and learned and spent a full hour regaling me with their enthusiasm.   They watched hive inspections, learned to identify different members of the bee colony, looked for evidence of mites and moths and saw a bar top hive.  Many of the new hives were built by COBA and were up for dibs, to buy at the end of the season, after being used for instruction.  Of course, Steve had to have one,  the benefit being that at the end of the summer, he gets a strong healthy hive that has been well taken care of.  So come fall, he will be the proud owner of a third hive! It’s official, he’s in deep!

How to Perform a Basic Beehive Inspection

By Howland Blackiston from Beekeeping For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Beekeepers always follow certain procedures and always look for certain things. After a few visits to the hive, the mechanics of all this become second nature, and you can concentrate on enjoying the miraculous discoveries that await you.

Removing the first frame of the hive

Always begin your inspection of the hive by removing the first frame or wall frame. That’s the frame closest to the outer wall. Which wall? It doesn’t matter. Pick a side of the hive to work from, and that determines your first frame. Here’s how to proceed:

1. Insert the curved end of your hive tool between the first and second frames, near one end of the frame’s top bar.
2. Twist the tool to separate the frames from each other.
3. Repeat this motion at the opposite end of the top bar.
4. Using both hands, pick up the first frame by the end bars.

   

   removing a frame

Now that you’ve removed the first frame, gently rest it on the ground, leaning it vertically up against the hive. It’s okay if bees are on it. They’ll be fine. Or, if you have a frame rest (a handy accessory available at some beekeeping supply stores) use it to temporarily store the frame.

Use your hive tool to pry the wall frame loose before removing it.

Working your way through the hive

Using your hive tool, loosen frame two and move it into the open slot where frame one used to be. That gives you enough room to remove this frame without the risk of injuring any bees. When you’re done looking at this frame, return it to the hive, close to (but not touching) the wall. Do not put this frame on the ground.

Work your way through all ten frames in this manner, moving the next frame to be inspected into the open slot. When you’re done looking at a frame, always return it snugly against the frame previously inspected. Use your eyes to monitor progress as the frames are slowly nudged together.

work through all the frames

Holding up beehive frames for inspection

Holding and inspecting an individual frame the proper way is crucial. Be sure to stand with your back to the sun, with the light shining over your shoulder and onto the frame. The sun illuminates details deep in the cells and helps you to better see eggs and small larvae.

hold it up and look at fro all angles

Here’s an easy way to inspect both sides of the frame:

1. Hold the frame firmly by the tabs at either end of the top bar.
2. Turn the frame vertically.
3. Then turn the frame like a page of a book.
4. Now smoothly return it to the horizontal position, and you’ll be viewing the opposite side of the frame.

Knowing when it’s time for more smoke

A few minutes into your inspection, you may notice that the bees all have lined up between the top bars like racehorses at the starting gate. Their little heads are all in a row between the frames. Kind of cute, aren’t they? They’re watching you. That’s your signal to give the girls a few more puffs of smoke to disperse them again so that you can continue with your inspection.

Understanding what to always look for in your hive

Each time that you visit your hive, be aware of the things that you always must look for. Virtually all inspections are to determine the health and productivity of the colony. The specifics of what you’re looking for vary somewhat, depending upon the time of year.

Checking for your queen bee

Every time that you visit your hive you’re looking for indications that the queen is alive and well and laying eggs. Rather than spending time trying to see the queen, look for eggs. Although they’re tiny, finding the eggs is much easier than locating a single queen in a hive of 60,000 bees. Look for eggs on a bright, sunny day.

Storing food and raising the bee brood

Each deep frame of comb contains about 7,000 cells (3,500 on each side). Honeybees use these cells for storing food and raising brood. When you inspect your colony, noting what’s going on in those cells is important because it helps you judge the performance and health of your bees.

Inspecting the brood pattern

Examining brood pattern is an important part of your inspections. A tight, compact brood pattern is indicative of a good, healthy queen. Conversely, a spotty brood pattern (many empty cells with only occasional cells of eggs, larvae, or capped brood) is an indication that you have an old or sick queen and may need to replace her.

Recognizing foodstuffs in your beehive

Learn to identify the different materials collected by your bees and stored in the cells. They’ll pack pollen in some of the cells. Pollen comes in many different colors: orange, yellow, brown, gray, blue, and so on. You’ll also see cells with something “wet” in them. It may be nectar. Or it may be water.

Psalm 92

1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,

3 to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.

4 For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

5 How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!