A few days away from the farm

Earlier this week I was in the Miami area on my way to do some kayak sailing and camping in the Everglades National Park.   Part of the trip involved driving through a predominately agricultural area with plenty of bee hives set up throughout the fields.  Something I probably wouldn't have noticed before getting into beekeeping.

The trip was originally supposed to be 5 days but some very bad weather came through at the last minute and we postponed the trip 2 days.  Because who wants to sail in thunderstorms and 50 mph gusts.  Especially when your boat has a 16' lightning rod.  There were two groups of us and the plan was to meet in the middle and then sail back to Flamingo together.  After the bad weather, everyone in my group cancelled except one guy who had to cancel the day we were leaving because he was feeling quite sick.  So I ended up going myself to meet up with the other group.

The seas were quite challenging but well worth it being able to enjoy the beauty of the everglades park.  Very remote with almost no people around.    Headwinds prevented me from getting to my preferred destination on day one so I camped on mid-cape with a beautiful full moon.  Only concern I had was a strong tide might come up and encroach on the campsite so I made sure to tie the boat to a tree just in case and was prepared to move the tent in the night if that happened.  Fortunately the tide was no big deal.

Fellow sailor Martin going through gear

Day two I met up with the other group and hung out.  A great group of guys and a gal.  A perfect day.  Our camping companion was a Pelican that walked among us and hung out between our boats.  Completely unafraid of us and not a beggar either.  At one point I got down eye level with him (or her) and had what I thought was an intelligent conversation (one sided).  The pelican even took a nap at our campsite for awhile but finally flew off a few hours later.  The pelican was the high point of the trip for me.

My Hobie Adventure Island boat

Another time I was sitting having lunch when I looked down at the water and saw a large shark cruising only about 3 feet offshore in pretty shallow water.  Really cool.  Someone thought it was a bull shark.

Another honey bee related coincidence was one of the guys on the trip was passionate about making his own Meade which is an alcoholic beverage made from honey.    I've never had Meade before but may end up doing a honey / Meade swap with him.  Could even save me from having to set up a stand somewhere to sell the honey I have. 

Here's a 7 minute video of the trip:

Gargoyle road trip home

Yesterday was the day to return the Gargoyle that was formerly a beehive to it's owner.    Since it was a couple hour drive with tolls and all, I waited until our niece needed some furniture delivered to her new college apartment in Orlando.  The bed of the truck was pretty full so my nephew and I strapped the Gargoyle to the open tailgate and ratchet strapped it securely to the truck.

Gargoyle at a rest area along I-4

Needless to say it was quite a site going down the road.  For some reason nobody wanted to be behind us with this bizarre looking Gargoyle staring at them.  We did get a few thumbs ups and were even followed into a rest area by some guys who wanted to know what that was in the back of our truck.  Maybe they thought it was attached to whatever was wrapped in the blue tarp.  The lady who owned the Gargoyle was glad to get it back as it was a 28th wedding anniversary gift from her sentimental husband.  My kind of guy.  And she was such a nice person but even so, I told her I'm doing no more bee removals from heavy steel Gargoyles.

After getting home, new queen bees arrived.  I spent the next couple hours dodging monsoon rains while in the hives.  I had one of the best and most experienced beekeeper I know help me through the rain and darkness working on the hives to requeen.  I was pretty worn out by the time I got home after 9:00 pm.  Every time we opened the hives, the rains would start and let loose.  Toward the end we rigged up a tarp to somewhat help.  But looking for a queen with a flashlight is not very easy.  Especially with my eyes.

Taming your inner Gargoyle

Honey Bees using the mouth of a hollow Gargoyle statue to enter their spooky hive

 

I recently found an ad on Craigslist from someone with a Gargoyle lawn statue filled with a strong hive of honey bees inside.  She needed them removed as there was an elementary school across the street and the gargoyle was only about 20 yards from the sidewalk where the kids walk.  She loved the bees but after a year of them growing into a considerable sized hive she decided they needed a new home.

Road trip

As this was quite a distance from home I justified the trip knowing I could stop at my wife's favorite vegetarian restaurant (Dandelion Communi-tea cafe in Orlando) and pick up carry out for dinner so I made sure to bring a cooler.  Of course Orlando traffic was typical, I-4 went to one lane and I was in a virtual parking lot in the land of the mouse.  Not unexpected though.

The lady who owned the house and the bees couldn't have been any nicer.  So I took my time and after closing off the mouth of the gargoyle with mesh screen and duct tape we sat in the shade sipping sweet tea waiting for foragers returning to their gargoyle.  Once a clump of bees accumulated on the mesh on the outside of the gargoyle, the bee vacuum was used to coax them into a waiting brood box with frames.  This went on for several hours as we wanted to leave as few stragglers behind as possible.  Many of the bees were loaded with several beautiful colors in their pollen.  It was a pleasant two hours in the shade talking about bees and enjoying a beautiful day.  I could see the owner getting drawn into the world of bees and wouldn't at all be surprised to see her become a beekeeper someday.

Mesh taped to the entrance

One thing I failed to ask was what material the gargoyle was made of.  I assumed it was concrete and could be gently broken open to remove the brood, the queen, and the honey.  Then it would be easy to patch up up to return to the owner.  However being made of steel really put the kabosh on my plans.  On the two hour ride home I kept trying to think of a way to get the gargoyle open without hurting the bees or contents inside.  After sleeping on it I finally realized it would be impossible to salvage anything inside the gargoyle.  I could only give all remaining bees and the queen the option to exit the gargoyle and into a new hive.  I have metal cutting wheels and even a plasma cutter which could be used to open up the gargoyle.  But that would instantly fry all the bees and honey inside as well as splatter metal everywhere inside the honey and comb.  Using a cutting wheel to cut the gargoyle might work somewhat but still .... metal shavings will cover all the comb and brood and possibly kill the queen if I do it too early.

Weird looking you say ?  Typical for our home

Poor Gargoyle

So a one way exit from the gargoyle was fabricated allowing access to the hive by running a hose from the gargoyle's mouth to above and inside the new hive with a one way mesh valve at the end.  Bees can leave the gargoyle by marching up the tube into the hive but cannot return.  Hopefully the queen will come out soon.  Since all their honey was in the gargoyle, a feeder was placed on the new hive to give them something to eat in the transition.  I'm convinced this is the best option we have to keep this bee colony intact.  They may swarm off but their new home was spiffed up to make it as attractive as possible for them.   Keeping my fingers crossed.

One way valve coming from the gargoyle (box not positioned over hive yet)

Breakfast

Hive beetle War strategies

As of today I have two excellent strong hives of honey bees left.  Besides being strong hives, they are gentle as can be and a pleasure to be around.  And that's something I want to continue.  Because once they get overrun with varroa and hive beetles that can change.

Secure base.  Nothing gets in except fresh air

Slides into base (lubricated with beeswax of course)

The first thing I did was completely caulk all new frames in the hives to allow no crevices where hive beetles can hang out.  Plus that saves the bees time and energy so they won't have to fill these areas with propolis.  Several members of the Pinellas beekeeping group had some innovative ideas how their hive bottoms and covers were modified to add ventilation and close off areas where hive beetles hide out.  The hive bottom boards were screened but under the screens they had trays that could hold either diatomaceous earth  OR oil.  Both have their advantages and disadvantages.  I decided to start off with the diatomaceous earth which is fatal to hive beetles ... especially their larvae.  Oil is a bit messy and you may end up with low spots due to the angle of the hives not being completely level.

sliding bottom board pan for oil or diatomaceous earth

fine mesh screen vent in the bottom board promotes cool bees

So now the bottom of the hive has closed off access to hive beetles while still retaining a fine screened ventilation slot.  Plus the pan of diatomaceous earth to catch hive beetles being pushed out by the bees.

Modified inner hive cover

Fine aluminum screen - Nothing gets in but fresh air from the cover

The top covers of the hives also have major modifications.  Besides extra venting, the bottom of the inner covers are completely screened with fine mesh to keep out any hive beetles (or other pests like wax moths, etc.).  They may get into the upper chamber but it's impossible for them to get in where the bees are.  And I think this will be a major help because above inner hive covers is where these nasty beetles love to hide out and plot their strategies to lay eggs in the brood chamber infecting the baby bee larvae.

The final method of hive beetle control is one I've mentioned in previous posts.  And that's adding an entrance reducer.  This gives the beetles a limited area to gain access to the hive.  With a couple hundred bees hanging out by the entrance keeping watch this really limits the options for hive beetles sneaking in.

Adding beeswax to honey super frames

I'm happy to report that the bee farm bees were ready for a honey super so some beeswax was melted in the slow cooker we got at a resale shop and then applied to medium frames.  I used a foam brush to apply the wax which was somewhat clumsy.  Need to refine this technique somewhat.  Also tried a mini roller which might work better.  A constant learning process for sure.  Fun fun fun

Honey Bee Sunday Garden Brunch

Today the bees were enjoying a nice Sunday brunch at the honey bee garden cafe behind their hive.  Plenty of sunflowers to pick from as well as gladiolas and other delicacies.  It looks pretty and there's something highly therapeutic about watching plants you grew from seeds transform into beautiful plants.

Beans !

New palm trees are doing well and the vegetable garden has it's share of wins as well as a few losses which are to be expected.  Beans are growing like a bean as they say.

The other advantage of the bee garden is it benefits butterflies and native bees as well as honey bees.  We can't forget about these important pollinators which are also very important to our environment.

Honey bee garden

bees on sunflowers

Honey bees enjoying sunflowers

honey bee garden

Butterfly Love

While gardening today I kept watch on the monarch butterflies which seem to be attracted to the bee garden.  As I mentioned before they seem to always be zipping through the heavy flight path of the bees by the hive entrances, even getting occasionally banged into by bees while flying through their congested traffic pattern.  Several theories have played out in my head why they do this and my number one theory was because I thought they love the heavenly smell of honey that emanates from the hives.  But today the real reason for this mischievous behavior was discovered.

Another butterfly phenomenon that was observed is how two are always zipping around together to where it looks like one may be chasing another.  Which indeed was the case.  While taking a break this morning and wondering what they were doing it all became crystal clear in a moment.  That's when I noticed two butterflies locked in capitulating bliss in the butterfly garden.  I never really considered where baby butterflies came from but now it's abundantly clear.  It explains the buzzing of the bee hives by the butterfly.  Of course it's the guy butterfly showing off in front of his girlfriend.  He's probably shouting in butterfly "Hey check this out ... I ain't afraid of them steenken bees" as he swoops through in front of five very active beehives.  And apparently it worked because they finally did hook up in the end.

I took a video of the two butterflies in the heat of the moment but decided not to post it as we're a PG-13 blog and posting x rated butterfly video just didn't seem right.  So you can just let your imagination run wild ....

Operation Rescue Stragglers

It was heartbreaking.  Yesterday afternoon we went out to where the swarm trap was and there were still about 50 bees hanging out in a clump on the fence.  Homeless bees they were.  What really started tugging at our heart were some of the bees had the pollen sacks on their legs full of pollen with no place to go.  Yvonne had a good idea.  She said to put the swarm trap back so they have a place to sleep tonight (even though bees technically don't really sleep).  Then we'll plug the trap when it's still dark and the next day transport them out to the bee farm with their hive.

About an hour after putting the swarm trap back where it was, all the bees happily went inside.  And it's a good thing because it started pouring rain shortly after.  So they stayed nice and dry.  Early the next morning the box was plugged and the honey bees were reunited with their sisters.  And a happy, joyful reunion it was.  I should have brought extra Kleenex.

Ignoring the beekeeper "Rule of 2's" and resulting chaos

Since there are really no rules in beekeeping since it's all so different with each beekeeper, the title should really be ignoring the beekeeper "guideline of 2's".  The Chaos part can stay though.

The guideline of 2's simply states if you're going to move a beehive then you should move it less than 2 feet or more than 2 miles.  Anything in between might cause confusion for the bees (and chaos).  Today was moving day for the swarm trap in our backyard.  I planned to move it to the front yard on the stand I built but a little voice kept nagging me saying "NO" .... take them to the bee farm.  Two hives in your front yard might not be a good idea.  And listening to that little voice inside is something you need to pay attention to.

I started the fiasco early but the bees were heavy on the outside of the swarm trap.  After smoking them, I was able to close up the holes and move them to the front yard.  I quickly set up the new hive with fresh frames and the new base.  Of course the transfer from the nuc swarm trap to the new hive was a little chaotic and it got the bees zipping around pretty good.  It seemed to go ok so I put everything away and came inside to take a break.  About an hour later I visited the spot where the swarm trap originally was and saw a good size ball of bees hanging on the side of the wood that just held the swarm trap.  The bees were returning to their old home area ... lots of them.  Bees get a point of reference and use that to guide them back to the hive.  Going only a few feet or more than 2 miles makes them establish a new set of reference points.  At this stage it looked like I would have to move them out to the bee farm unless I wanted the new beehive to be empty in the morning and all the bees sitting out in the back of the house.

The problem with all this was I had to get the new hive, put it in my truck and then find something to hold the pile of bees bearding up in the backyard.  I found a big box to hold the new hive and lamely taped it up.  Very lamely.  The original swarm trap/nuc was used to capture the beard of bees in the back.  The nuc/Swarm trap was something they were familiar with so that made it easier.   Then they were loaded into the truck with all the new pieces of the new hive.  Put the smoker out, take off the bee suit and off I go.

The first thing I did when getting to the bee yard was to move all the hives over a tad to accommodate the new hive.  And of course this gets all the bees in those boxes a little defensive and rightfully so.  Next I grab the screened bottom board to lay on the hive rack and to my horror I noticed the wrong bottom board was grabbed.  The unfinished one  ie a screened bottom board without the screen.  And that will not do.  The smoker is already lit and the only choice I had was to drive home again with the bees in the back of the truck so I could get the correct bottom board.  Another problem with that was the box (that was lamely taped) came untaped and bees were everywhere inside the bed of my truck.  The truck bed topper fortunately kept most of them in there but they were all pretty much hanging on the open box.   The trip home better be uneventful or things will get interesting.  I close up the tailgate, return home and get the correct bottom board.  Then another trip back.  Poor bees.

Newest arrival (far right)

When I finally arrived back at the bee yard, the smoker was still puffing away which was nice.  Getting the box of bees and the nuc into the new hive was a little challenging but it all worked out in the end.  They were not happy though.  And it was a pretty good size swarm I have to say.  With all this jostling and moving around they could very well take off.  We'll see.

I'm worn out and taking the rest of the day off.

The smell of bees and honey

An unexpected benefit of beekeeping is that occasional smell of honey from the hive. A little puff of wind or slight breeze is all it takes and if you're lucky enough to be downwind, you're in for a treat.  They are bringing in the nectar now and filling up comb.

Today I went to a friends who also has a couple beehives.  His wife and him manage the hives together and so I was able to be there when they opened up the hives this weekend.  There was a lot of anticipation because when they split the hives a few weeks ago, the one queen died.  So they had to wait while the bees created a new queen from existing brood.  And they were pleasantly surprised that both boxes had a fresh young queen.  Unfortunately the boxes had way too many hive beetles.  We manually killed at least 20 of them.  Maybe more.

I still need to get the new home ready for the last swarm.  Maybe tomorrow.

Daredevil butterfly and a doghouse without a dog

The milkweed in the bee garden has been blooming and bringing in the Monarch butterflies.  I was watching one in particular today while I was sitting and taking a break.  They fly erratically zipping up down and sideways.  But this particular butterfly kept buzzing by the entrances of the bee colonies.  I even noticed when it went through the traffic pattern of the very large hive it got banged into several times.  It seemed like an accident but it was almost inevitable with the heavy bee traffic.  What made me wonder was why this butterfly made a few passes past the hives.  Was it showing off?  Because it seemed to have no real destination other than the buzzing of the hives.

When it got real interesting is when the butterfly came around and was about 20 feet away from the hive.  I then saw a bee whack the butterfly twice. Once might have been accidental but twice made for a definite challenge.  Kind of how the bees have been keeping me away from their hives lately ... whacking me in the head a few times will convince me to find something better to look at.  

Swarm #6 is now a reality and has moved into their new temporary home.  If the bees are just scouts checking out the swarm trap then they'll be out of there before dark.  But if you look into the swarm trap at night or early morning and it's full of bees then you know they're moved in.  This morning just as it was getting light I went out and stuck my head by the entrance to the box.  And sure enough I had a bunch of little eyes looking back at me.  Doing what bees do in the early morning hours, probably having a coffee or sip of honey I imagine.  When I saw all those little faces looking back at me I knew that I'm going to have to do some more carpentry tonight to get a new permanent home ready for them.

I had a little extra paint so the doghouse got a fresh coat to match the house.  Now we just need to get a dog.   

Pesticides, herbicides and fun honeybee facts

While at our beekeepers meeting last week, the lady in charge of our group told us that when she recently went to inspect her hives she found several hives full of dead bees.  Inside the hives were full of dead bees and there was a pile of them dead on the ground under each hive.  Quite distressing for a beekeeper.  Another hive was trying to swarm and get away but they too were dying.

Why did this happen?  It's unknown at this time so she froze many many of the dead bees to give to a state inspector to help determine the cause.  Not sure it will ever be known but the probable cause is pesticides.  The actual pesticide may be hard to determine but another possible culprit may be the chemical used to kill lawns / crops named roundup.  Some are even saying it may be the cause of colony collapse syndrome.  Roundup is a cancer causing chemical that is sprayed on most of the corn people eat.   Here's an article on the subject if you're interested http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/roundup-bees-zm0z10zarc.aspx?PageId=7

So to counteract the downer of reading about dead bees here's a couple "Fun Facts" that was on a beekeeping brochure from St. Pete College in addition to a few other online sources:

Honeybees are the only insects that produce food for humans.  Honey is the oldest food in existence and it never spoils;  it contains all the substances necessary to sustain life including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water; and it's the only food that contains "pinocembrin", an antioxidant associated with improved brain functioning.

Honeybees will usually travel approximately 5 miles from their hive for pollen and nectar.

A single honeybee will produce approximately 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime

It would take about 1 ounce of honey to fuel a honeybee's flight around the world.

A honeybee has to travel over 55,000 miles and visits approximately 2 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey.


88% of pollination of fruit, vegetables and seed crops in the U.S. is accomplished by honeybees.

Honey bees have 170 odorant receptors, compared with only 62 in fruit flies and 79 in mosquitoes. Their exceptional olfactory abilities include kin recognition signals, social communication within the hive, and odor recognition for finding food. Their sense of smell is so precise that it could differentiate hundreds of different floral varieties and tell whether a flower carried pollen or nectar from metres away.

A colony of bees consists of 20,000-60,000 honeybees and one queen. Worker honey bees are female, live for about 6 weeks and do all the work.

 Larger than the worker bees, the male honey bees (also called drones), have no stinger and do no work at all. All they do is mating. In fact, before winter or when food becomes scarce, female honeybees usually force surviving males out of the nest.

Each honey bee colony has a unique odour for members' identification.

Honey bees make about 200 beats per second with their wings, creating their infamous buzzing sound. A worker bee in the summer lasts six to eight weeks. Wearing their wings out is the most common cause of their death.

Into the hives and guess what?

Today was inspection day for the bee farm hives.  All four hives were opened up and examined.  In particular I was anxious to look at the smallest colony that was from the swarm that split.  Not as many bees as all the others so I had to determine if there was a queen.  Sure enough when the hive was opened, the numbers were not great but ok.  Two to three strong frames being worked on.  And as hard as I looked, there was no queen to be found.  The good news was I found active brood and what appeared to be queen cells midway up one of the frames.  We have many dragonflies in this area and dragonflies love to eat bees.  Maybe the queen went out to find a boyfriend and got eaten by a dragonfly. 

The two original hives (from the Nuc's I purchased) were going strong and the honey supers on top were already half filled.  What this means is I better get to work building more supers and frames.  Because these will soon be filled and need more supers stacked on top.  The last swarm colony looked quite healthy.  Only hive Beatles were found in one of the original hives from the Nucs.  I placed beetle traps in them.

After examining 60 frames it was time for a rest.  I still struggled with keeping the smoker lit but will get it right eventually.   All in all it was a good inspection and took a good portion of the morning.   The colony in our front yard won't be opened for a couple more weeks.

Last night frames and bases were built.  This seems to be a never ending fun project.  Deeps, mediums, more frames and inner and outer covers need to be constructed this week.  I can't imagine doing this and having to buy everything instead of building it yourself. 

Here's the guess what from the title ... I was on the side of our house and noticed a lot of bees around where the swarm traps were stacked on top of each other (with no bait scent).  A lot of activity was around the one in the middle so I removed the cover and couldn't believe how many bees were inside.  A bunch flew out at me buzzing around.  Quite amusing so I put a couple frames in the box for them to start building comb.  Why not?  What's so funny is they're only a few feet away from the noisy air conditioner.  Is this swarm 6?  Not sure yet.  I'll check back in a couple days. 

The Honeybee Garden

For the last couple weeks work has been progressing on the honeybee garden which sits approximately 30 feet behind the hives.   Last weekend we planted the milkweed flowers and various other plants we had been accumulating.   Also there were many seedlings that were ready to plant so those were added to the garden.  Most of the seedlings were various varieties of sunflower but there were also Moringa (edible) and papaya seedlings.  I'm finally getting the hang of starting plants from seeds which is much more gratifying than store bought plants.

A couple hundred bulbs were also planted in the garden including many varieties and colors of iris, gladiolas and a bunch whose names evade me now.  A bag of mixed flower seeds (honeybee mix) was also sprinkled over the entire area.   If everything grows as planned it should be very beautiful.

A couple of days after mowing the lawn with that riding lawnmower, several bees kept harassing me as I worked in the yard.   Even when I wasn't even close to the hives a few chose to be quite annoying.  Fortunately I was able to send them to bee heaven and it's been back to normal since ... kind of.  The one very large hive by the chair where I used to sit and watch the bees seems to have a million guard bees hanging out on the landing entrance area.  They don't seem to like me sitting there any longer and let me know it.   It's like a bunch of gang members hanging out on a street corner and then I come along.  A few of them want to show off in front of the other guard bees and have a good laugh as the lumbering human gets chased off.  It's so humiliating ....

The original 2 raised beds are doing well but the new one is just ok.  That one didn't get enough good compost and soil so it's going to need some extra TLC.  Most of the plants are doing very well and we've been getting plenty of fresh tomatoes which is our favorite.  And it looks like the mustard greens will be ready for picking soon.

Growing corn in Florida should be interesting

Slightly challenged raised bed

Brussel sprouts

The rain barrel system has been tweaked and a level indicator was installed.  It rained right after it was installed so watching the indicator rise showed how quickly the rain barrels fill up.  The plumbing with the new pump was also completed and works very well.  Only thing that still needs to be installed is a backup system which will allow me to hook up a hose to city water in case the rain barrels run dry and the irrigation system needs to run.  The (new) irrigation system will be installed later this week and should automate most of the watering.  Because it takes a lot of time to water all these plants and you can't ignore that task.

Moving Day

While it was still dark this morning, plans were being made to move our new honey bees to a new permanent home at the Bee Farm.  The plan was to quickly plug the entrance hole with paper towels and then use duct tape to seal it.  However when the flashlight illuminated the swarm box up in the tree I saw a big clump of bees gathered in the entrance.  The group of bees was densely packed together about the size of a golf or tennis ball and they protruded slightly outside of the entrance hole.  Those bees need to be inside before I can plug the entrance. 

This means the smoker is needed.  The smoker was lit and after a few puffs of smoke the bees went inside.  Fortunately my wife delayed going to work a few minutes to hold the flashlight as the ladder was not too stable.  A few more puffs of smoke and then I sealed all the openings (they opened up a few of their back doors chewed in the Styrofoam).

When I arrived at the bee farm it was still dark.  Plenty of time to fire up the smoker again and move the girls into their new home.  I wanted to be as gentle as possible and transfer the frames quickly.  Because the least amount of disruption will provide a smooth transition to their new hive.  As twilight arrived the frames were transferred into the new hive and I was surprised how much new comb they had already created.  And there were a lot of new honey bees in the box.   I didn't do a full inspection  and look for the queen because it wasn't light enough out and they need to get acclimated to this new location first.  An entrance reducer was also installed to help them defend their new home against any potential robbers looking to take advantage of the newbees.

Best looking (new) hive in Pinellas county

The transfer went as smooth as could be and I spent a lot of time watching the new bees get settled in.  I have a chair in front of the hives and it's so relaxing to sit and watch them all.  They were very curious about their new home buzzing all around and especially checking out the screened bottom board.  The other two hives did the same thing when they arrived.  After an hour or so I noticed a few fights on the landing board but not too bad.  Probably just curious residents from the other hives getting too close.   And of course the big ole Carpenter Bee paid a visit zooming around all the hives a few times .... probably showing off.

And then there were three !

It didn't take long for the new arrivals to start foraging.  Several bees were noticed returning loaded up with pollen already.   I thought that might take a day or so but they didn't waste any time. It was a very relaxing morning observing the bees, working in the garden, and listening to all the song birds.  What a beautiful way to start your day.

With a little help from Murphy

Murphy's law is an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

With this in mind, I decide to open up the swarm box to see what's actually in there.  So if I suit up with my protective bee suit and gloves then there will probably be nothing inside.  But if I use murphy's law to my advantage .... and not suit up and then open up the hive then it will be full of honey bees that will not be very receptive to this lumbering intruder opening up their new home.   Sounds logical to me.

The first thing was to move the ladder and climb the tree from behind the entrance.   As I'm going up the shaky ladder my thoughts are how difficult a hasty exit will be if this endeavor heats up.   But that even boosts the Murphy factor a couple points higher.   Once I get to the top, I climb into the bough of the tree and notice that there are more bees around this box than initially observed.  Time to open her up.  As the top is being pried open it feels sealed.  They must have been gluing it shut with propelis.  Hmmmmmm  Adding another few points to the murphy factor.

And then the box pops open.  WOAH !!! BOX IS FULL !!! and then the bees notice me.  But before they could even think of any defensive actions, I gently position the top back on the box and begin a hasty exit.  As I make my retreat the top of my head is brushed by a palm frond which I mistake for a head full of bees (no I didn't panic).

Thank you Murphy !

Looks like the feeder will go back on top of the trap.  Next week they will get moved to the bee farm.  I'm smiling again.

Breakfast in bed

The bees are mysterious in so many ways.  For example, I just couldn't figure out why they ended up "bearding" on the outside of the swarm trap by the entrance last night.  That was quite worrisome.   It could mean several things.  But the worrisome reason might be that they are just stopping for the night on their quest for a new home.  So our humble little swarm trap would merely be a bee version of Motel 6.  Why else wouldn't the entire group go inside for the night?  Although there could be a lot of bees inside too.  Maybe it's full????  I can't open it up and look in because it's too high up.

So the next morning before they became very active I mixed up some sugar water and filled a new sprayer and feeder to welcome them with a delicious breakfast.  When you spray swarming bees with sugar water it gets them into eating mode vs "let's fly away" mode.  And it inhibits flight temporarily.  They will get a nice snack of sugar which is definitely good for swarming bees as they don't have a hive full of honey to fall back on.  The feeder placed on top of the box is also another reason for the bees to stick around and call this their new home.  So if they do head out again, at least I know that everything possible was done to keep them around.

The other alternative is to gather this hive in a box and take them immediately to the apiary and dump into new hive box.  This may not go over well with the bees and off they could go again.  Plus you could hurt the queen and have some other issues.  By letting them stay in the swarm trap for a week or two the plan is for them to start forming comb inside on the frames and foundations making it theirs.  Then in a few weeks the frames will gently be transferred to their new hive with very little disruption to the group.

Planting seeds, monarch butterfly plants and a new plan for catching bees

I'm kind of skipping over a lot of projects lately so there's a few things missing in the blog.   It's been quite busy.

2nd attempt at a successful swarm trap

First thing is I'm reading a fascinating book called "Honeybee Democracy by Thomas Seeley.  It is based on research by some of the top bee scientists / animal behaviorists that describe how the honey bees make collective decisions and how they communicate.  It completely leaves you in awe.  One chapter talked about all the experiments that were done to determine how bees choose their homes when they swarm.  After reading this chapter I made several modifications to the swarm trap in front of our home and moved it up into a tree as well as changed the direction it was facing and made it more desirable to honey bees.  Now we'll see how this works out.  Only down side is if I catch a swarm I'll have to retrieve it with a ladder which will be a bit tricky.

Today we planted seeds in our miniature greenhouses we made from items bought at the dollar store.  My earlier attempts at planting seeds were not thought out and researched as carefully as I should have.  This time the seedlings will have a better chance.  However it looks like we're running a takeout restaurant with these containers lined up on top of the rain barrels.  The seeds will be more protected and controlled in that humidity and water delivery will be accurate.  Not quite sure if I want to put them in direct sun as it may cook the seeds.  Still working out a few details.

milkweed

milkweed (on the right)

Not long ago I was at a friends home who had raised beds with flowers that attracted monarch butterflies.  There were butterflies everywhere so I inquired what type of plants they were.  They were milkweed and the more I researched milkweed the more intrigued I became with this plant which is not easily obtained.  But thanks to the internet, a dozen plants were located not far from where we live.  Milkweed is also loved by honey bees and supposedly makes top grade honey which will be another benefit.

The raised beds are as healthy as can be and the plants are growing like mad.  I cooked up a 55 gallon barrel of delicious compost tea for the plants and spent the other day going all around the yard feeding plants.  A giant tea bag was made from a paint strainer bag and it was loaded up with compost and some rock dust.  After dipping and hanging in the barrel, an aerator was added to keep the tea oxygenated.  I used an electric pump to fill the barrel with rainwater from the rain barrel setup.  The resulting bacteria in the compost tea needs a couple ounces of molasses a day for food.  In the near future the plan is to hook the compost barrel up to a garden hose with a pump so it can be easily applied anywhere using a garden hose.

Tomorrow it's time to inspect the hives and see what's going on in there.  Should be an interesting (and beautiful) day.

It's official - They're gone ...

It was pretty much the same this morning when I looked out at the swarm trap.  No activity.  So I made it a point to get home around noon to check on things and see if there were bees.

I got there right about noon and sure enough there were 5 honey bees hanging out in the entrance.  A pretty good sign but after looking around I realize there wasn't a buzz of activity around the hive.  No comings and goings.  So what's going on?  Are these wayward bees goofing off in their new playhouse when they should be out gathering pollen and nectar?  Maybe there's a drone inside and the girls are throwing a party.  Or maybe getting a little buzzed on the rich scent of lemon grass essential oil I put in the box.  Who knows?

And then a little lizard quickly slipped into the swarm trap.  Not a good sign for honey bees.  I opened up the box and sure enough empty.  Lizard was hiding under the frames and nothing else.

Empty !!!  It was a one night stand after all.  Back to square one.

One night stand?

I was quite happy when my new honey bee friends moved into our cozy little swarm trap.  It was fascinating watching them yesterday and I thought everything was going great !

That was until the next morning.  I woke up in a good mood thinking about all our new friends.  It was a little foggy out as I peered into the new morning light to check on activity around the swarm trap.  Hmmmm nothing .... well maybe they're sleeping in this morning.  After all it's a cool foggy morning and they're smart bees probably sleeping in.  About an hour later I peered out expecting to see the early risers out stretching their wings.  By now my euphoria and ego were deflating as my mind contemplated the possibilities.  Did they leave me?  No, there was a connection ... I felt it.   But then again .... still no sign of the girls.  Now my attention kept coming back to the entrance of the box hoping, anxiously waiting.   But as each minute ticked by the doubts kept creeping into my mind.  Was I the victim of a one night stand?  How humiliating.  No this can't be ... used ... another new inexperienced beekeeper falls prey to a bunch of pretty honey bee faces.   And I thought they were the ones ... my first (swarm).  Feeling foolish I left to go to work for the day slightly dejected, comforting myself with empty reassurances that there will be others.

When my wife got home from work she called me on my cell phone and said the swarm trap still had bees all over going in and out of the box.  What ???  It looks like I have a lot to learn. 

 Girls !!!

Welcoming our first Honey Bee Swarm

It started off with me looking out the window to see if there were any bees on our swarm trap.  After a few minutes I saw a bee buzzing around and go into the hive.  Then I saw a few more.  When I called the wife over to check it out, all the bees disappeared and after a few minutes she looked at me and said "Oh right ... lots of bees ha ha ha".

About 15 minutes later I went outside and the activity level started picking up and more and more honey bees were going into our swarm trap.  Before long there were 30-40 bees buzzing around the converted Nuc (swarm trap) and then it got to be in the hundreds.  Quite exciting.  I just couldn't believe it and was over the top overjoyed to be watching this.  Fortunately I took some video of our new friends buzzing around.

The next step is to give them a little space and let them get comfortable in their new digs.  Then I'll transfer the frames to another hive I have waiting.  I'll put them in the new deep box that my mom painted. 

What a good day it is !