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Bees on the farm

4-19-17 Bees moved into the farm.

Today was the day.  At the house I had a hive that was VERY full with bees, and a full 30 frames.  about 20 frames were brood, and about 10 honey.  They were meaner than I’d like.  I’ve been stung by them at times even just walking nearby for a look, something none of the other hives ever care about.  Rather than scrap them all, they’ll be the founders for the new farm hives.  Once the new queens begin laying, her gentler bees will replace these.  I took the 30 frames with bees to the farm and split them across 8 hives (2 will be populated from a pair of double nucs I wintered).  I was able to put 3 or 4 frames in each hive, doing my best to balance frame composition (brood, honey, pollen, free space) and bees.  When I found the queen, I kept her and that frame aside.  I’ll return it to her original location to build back up again.  In this depleted state they should be far less aggressive, and allow me time to generate her replacement.  I’ll give them a few days to notice their queen is gone so they’ll accept the replacements I’m installing soon.

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First swarm of ’17

4-19-17 First swarm of the year.

On my return from work today, I found this little gem in a tree about 20 feet in front of my home hives.  I was able to collect them and install into a double nuc.  I gave them a frame of comb to settle on, and 3 empty frames to draw out.

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Queen cell jail

4-15-17 Queens in their cell jails.

Here are the cells I grafted earlier, now moved from the bar to cell jails.  This specially designed bar holds each cell in a separate jail where she can emerge.  The worker bees can feed her through the screen.  Queens will actively hunt down other queens and unemerged cells to kill the others.  This jail prevents that from happening.

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Pallets moved to the farm

4-14-17 Hives moved to the farm.

I got a little time today to move the pallet hives out to the farm.  These are just the hive bodies in place.  I’ll move frames into them when my grafted queens are ready to join them.  I’ll get the frames and bees from hives at home.

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Hive pallets finished

4-10-17 Hive pallets

This spring I decided to build pallets for the hives headed to the farm.   Over time this will be a more manageable way to move the hives.  In the short term, it’s a stable base that holds two hives at once, perfect for life in the field.  The pallet is made from treated lumber and exterior grade plywood.  Each side has its own entrance in front with a matching length to a double nuc allowing me to use the same entrance reducers with them.  The pallet has retainer clips that align and hold the hive bodies in place.  I’ll get these installed in their new home soon.

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Pollen!

Pollen!, Mar 25, 2017

It’s early spring here in the midwest, and the bees are finding bright yellow pollen in abundance.  The buildup is well under way.

Pollen!, Mar 25, 2017
Pollen!, Mar 25, 2017
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Wonky comb

This is what happens when you put frames in without wiring, foundation, or anything else and forget to replace them in time.  This empty frame should have went into broodnest, or at least between capped frames.  Since the neighboring frame was being filled when the empty went in place, the bees simply drew out the comb double-wide in the original frame.  After I cut the excess off this frame, it was good as new.  I’ll return this to the hive to recap it.

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Housekeeping day

This appears to be the first big day of housekeeping this spring.  The hives are looking good so far, taking out the trash and bathroom breaks.