Damn cows!

I got a phone call yesterday from Frank Sr.. The cows out at the Peczuh farm had broken the back leg of my TBH and it was leaning over.
I drove out to inspect/repair.
The outer cover was pretty much destroyed and not even in place. All the top bars were perfectly propolized in place The back right leg was snapped just below the main hive body.
I gave the hive a good thump before messing with it to make sure there were even bees inside. They were. I taped over the 3 front entrance holes to keep them in while I worked.

I was able to stand it back up and secure a temporary replacement leg to the outside using screws.

I (and Tim) moved the hive to the north of the fence. The cows won't be able to get to it here.
I secured a cardboard piece in front of the entrance holes to create a visible barrier and removed the tape. I want the girls to have to reorient themselves when they start flying again. It's been pretty cold lately so I'm not sure when that will be. In addition to the cold, the sun had just gone down so I'm confident that no girls were afield during the move. I'll return sometime soon ,when I repair the outer cover, and remove the cardboard barrier. I covered the top bars with a sheet of plastic cardboard, weighing it down with a long board, a brick and a pole (I hope it's enough).

The hive was light. I'm nervous about how much honey they might have. I'll have to keep an eye on them and feed if necessary.

Checked on the Peczuh TBH today. The nasty wind storm the other night made me worry it might have blown over. It had not blown over :-). I could hear the gentle buzz of bees inside after I knocked on the side.
Weather was painfully cold (24 degrees at noon) so I did not open it up.
I adjusted the bottom board a bit to better close off the bottom.
I also noticed that the cows have been using the hive as a scratching post. The corners are all bent up and the hive itself was about a foot off of the support boards.
I'll have to move it. Or construct something to keep the cows off.

Checked all my TBH on Sunday. Could hear the gentle buzz of bees in all three of them.
I closed the bottom boards to keep the winter wind out.
The TBH at Rosiers had signs of sickness (mustard marks below the entrance on the ground).

Did not open any of the hives as it was too cold.

Extracted (crush and strain) from 2 of my  hives.

Schampel Oscar (back yard)
quite a lot of brood (all stages) and bees. Very little stores. Very little pollen. They have drawn out a little comb in the top box (3) but it's all empty.

Schampel TBH
Full hive. These girls have been hanging out on the front of the hive every evening and into the night. By morning they are all inside. Extracted 3 bars of honey from the south end. Dropped one of them back in, all over the girls. They were quite pissed. When trying to pick it up again, I took 2 stings. One sting on the end of each of my index fingers. After putting the gloves on, I took about a dozen more stings into the gloves (I did not feel them). I cleaned my mess up as best as I could and closed this end of the hive. The north end of the hive is cross combed and would be difficult to get into. I left it alone.

Rosier TBH
Also very full. I pulled 2 bars out of the south end and about 4 bars from the north end. Used a goose feather to brush the girls off the comb. Did not smoke them. They get a little ornery at this. Took another sting on the thumb and another on the back of the right hand. Very pleased with how straight this colony has built up. Left them several bars of honey that weren't completely full or capped. Left empty bars between the drawn out bars.

Peczuh TBH
These girls were pissed from the second I opened the hive. I could see from the end that they haven't stored much. They are still at only about 12 bars. Due to their ornery disposition, I closed it up and didn't look any further.

Ended up with a full 5 gallon bucket of stacked comb which when strained, yielded almost 3 gallons of honey. :)

Extracted (crush and strain) from the 2 hives at Jareds' farm today.

Hive 1 - 5 tall - tons of bees going in and out - bringing in pollen - weeds grown over entrance, but the bees don't seem to care
Box 1 and 2 - nest box - top bars - did not touch
Box 3  bees honey box - top bars - did not touch (appeared full)
Box 4 - partially drawn out frames - extracted 2 frames
Box 5 - empty frames - left it on

Hive 2 - 3 tall - tons of bees - pollen coming in - mostly using top entrance
Box 3 - brood in top box - on 3 frames - extracted 2 frames of honey only - 5 frames crossed combed together and couldn't get into them
Box 2 - Brood on several frames - did not extract any frames from this box
Box 1 - Honey and pollen mostly - extracted a couple frames

Didn't see the queen in either box.
Rather calm bees considering that I ripped the hives completely apart. No stings. I did smoke them at first.

Inspected the TBH at the Peczuh farm today. It's been almost a month since I caught this swarm. They are building up nicely. They have completed 8 bars of comb and are working on the 9th (I had only given them 2 to start). All comb is perfectly straight and nice. Very few attachments to the sides. 1 comb had the comb guide fall out due to the weight of the comb but it was still perfectly straight (just a little lower in the box). Most of the comb was full of brood. Mostly capped. Found the queen (see photo). Saw several drones and a little bit of drone comb. Pretty gentle though I did take a sting to the nose, right between the eyes. I was wearing no protection. It was a little breezy and I think this is what probably upset her.

I added a couple empty bars between some full comb on the north end and they still have 4 empty bars on the south end. The alfalfa in the field was not yet in bloom. I hope when it does bloom, it isn't cut right a way so the girls can work it.

Very happy with the progress of this colony.

May inspections

Got a chance to check on all my hives today. I no longer consider the hives at Jared's mine. He kind of does what he wants with them. I find it harder and harder to get over there.

Schampel TBH
Doing great! Just over a week since the swarm left. Lots of capped  brood and larva. Harvested 2 partial bars of capped honey. Found the queen. Not sure if she's mated yet. Not sure how to tell. Lots of drones around and lots of capped drone cells. No sign of mites. Did not open drone cells to check. Some of my comb guides have fallen out of the bars again with the weight of the honey or brood. I must remember to glue all guides. The wax doesn't hold the weight. Took one sting (while shaking them off the comb I was harvesting).

Schampel Oscar
Hanging on. Found the queen. Still just a small brood area. A Little bigger than last time I checked. The honey stores are more than last time also. There are multiple eggs in some cells. All eggs are on the bottom of the cells though, so I think it's the queen (not a laying worker). Will continue to let them hang on and see how they do. I left the bottom board on but think I'll remove it tomorrow.

Peczuh TBH
First week since catching this swarm (from Schampel TBH). They are booming. The 1st comb (old comb that I gave them was mostly full of nectar and very heavy. The next bar was completed new comb. The next was an old comb again also full of nectar. The next two bars were complete new comb the next two were partial new comb. It's amazing how much they can build in such a short time (just over a week).
All comb perfectly straight. I left the bottom board on.

Rosier TBH
This is by far my most gentle hive. Did not even wear the veil for most of the inspection.
Harvested 3 bars, half full of capped honey. Removed several empty honey combs on account of they were very fat and very crooked. Girls have lots of capped honey above the brood on most of the bars.
Found the queen. Very dark (see pics) Very pretty. Follower board on South of hive is broken in half. Bottom half is sealed in place with propolis. Did not see any queen cells. Only a few drones and not very many drone cells. Some comb attached to sides, but most perfectly straight and easy to inspect. I removed the bottom board for the summer as the weather is nice (nicer) now. On inspecting the debris on the bottom board, I found wax cappings, pollen, and a very small bit of mold. No evidence of mites or mite carcasses. :)

Dark queen (dead center)

Catching a swarm

May 12, 2011.

After their "practice swarm" the day before, I was nervous that they'd really swarm and I'd miss it. I was about to return to work from my lunch break and I was explaining to my wife what to look for so she could call me if they swarmed. As I was explaining this, they swarmed. Poured out of the hive as we were watching. I grabbed the camera and caught it on video (see below). They flew around the yard for a while and then headed north west over the fence and down the hill. I was in hot pursuit. They decided to settle on a small chinese elm tree about 100 yards from their hive. I grabbed my bait hive (with a couple bars of empty comb), vail, camera and tripod and went after them. I managed to catch the swarm and they are now settled in a TBH out at the Peczuh farm. They whole process, aside from moving them to the farm, took about an hour. I managed to capture most of it on video.

I love swarms!

I did not take even one sting while catching the swarm, however I made up for that when transferring them into their permanent home. I transferred all the bars (full of bees) to the top bar hive and then shook the rest of the bees out into the hive. Some of them fell on the ground and as I proceeded to put the hive back together, these bees crawled up my legs trying to get back to the hive. Most were on the outside of my levis and I was able to brush them off. Several were inside my levis and I took 3 stings. The first sting was a result of me intentionally squishing a bee against my inner thigh to prevent her from crawling further up my pant leg. The other 2 were a result of me trying, unsuccessfully, to shake the rest out of my pant leg. Live and learn, right?

Practice Swarm

On Wednesday, May 11 my bees went nuts. I thought they were swarming (see video below).

After about a half hour of this, they all went back into the hive.

There were 10 or so drones crawling around in the grass in front of the hive as if they were stuck. not sure what that was about. Apparently the queen didn't come out (I've since learned this happens occasionally)

Small Hive Beetle?

While watching one of my weaker hives this morning, I noticed ants carrying off wax cappings. It appears they have their colony directly beneath my hive in a crack in the cement. While watching the ants, I noticed a small black beetle walking around on the cement. I caught the beetle and placed it in the underside of a frisbee so I could watch it. It could not crawl up the sides of the frisbee. It looked like a small hive beetle. I took it in the house to look up pictures on the internet and compare. It was the same size. It was black. It was the same shape. It has the clubbed antennae. As far as I can tell it is a Small Hive Beetle. I have not heard of SHB in Utah. I grabbed a bottle to put it in but then noticed that it was gone. I looked all over the computer desk and the floor around it. Nothing. I had my wife help look for it telling her that it couldn't have gone far. She says to me "don't they fly?". Duh. Why didn't I think of that. I was gonna see if I could have someone with the state ag dept identify it for me. I guess I can't now.

I'll open that hive this week to see if there is any evidence of more.

It's possible that it could have come to the area in a package or nuc. Most beekeepers have recently purchased their new bees as packages or nucs and these come from out of state. Could they have brought the beetle with them? Can they survive here?

A Sting for breakfast.

I was watching my hive (Schampell TBH) this morning (like I always like to do). Just crouched near the entrance watching how much pollen was coming in. I had a tulip in one hand and a frisbee (for the dog) in the other.
One of the girls got stuck in the tulip and started to panic. Immediately a bee was frantically buzzing in my face. She focused on my mouth area for a minute as I calmly stood and walked away but then she moved to my eyes (which were shut). I took a sting near the right eye. After I brushed her offm with her stinger still pulsing in my cheek, she (or perhaps one of the others) proceeded to chase me all the way to the house.

Not sure if the bee stuck in the tulip was sending panic messages to the others.

The little colony that could

I inspected the Schampel Oscar hive today. This is a hive I didn't expect to survive the winter. They were so light going into it. These girls are the remnants of a small swarm caught late last year that were added to the stragglers from a large swarm who absconded. They didn't have much time to build up for winter. I had decided to let them give it a shot. If they make it, they make it! If not, oh well.

I have been watching them bringing in pollen. Have also noticed a bit of dysentery (brown spots all over the front of the hive). Yesterday while watching the hive entrance, I noticed a large red and yellow wasp land on the front and walk right in one of the entrance holes. I tried to squish her with by shoe but was not fast enough.

Today at lunch the weather was nice enough (at first) that I decided to open it up and have a look.
There are still 3 frames in the top box about 1/3 full of capped honey. Bottom 2 boxes are large combs hanging from top bars (measured one of them at 14 inches long). I pulled them all out for a look see.

The first thing I noticed upon removing the only 2 bars without comb on them was a large red and yellow wasp dead on the hive floor. Yes! The hive bottom needed some serious cleaning. The entrances are about half way up on the bottom box (no bottom entrance). There was about 1/4 inch of chewed up newspaper bits (from when I combined the two colonies) on the bottom. Mixed into this were dead bees, bits of chewed wax cappings and of course a large DEAD wasp.

 I Found the queen on the first brood bar. Small queen (perhaps not mated?). Also noticed what appears to be the remains of a supercedure sell. Opened up on the side. Not sure what that means. I found a small cluster of capped brood with some uncapped brood. Did not notice any drones or eggs. the total brood area was only about the size of a softball.
I cleaned up a bit of cross combing that had happened. Rather easy to do at this point as those 2 combs were empty.

I'm happy that the girls survived the winter. I'm a bit concerned with the dysentery and also the small size of the colony. I guess We'll see what the do now the the flowers have their bloom on.

Death to the wasp!

Queen

Large Comb

Spring check

Checked the 2 hives at Haddock's yesterday. Didn't open them up but saw bees flying in and out of both. Pollen (pale yellow) coming into both hives also. The one (oscar style) currently has 4 boxes. I'm not sure when Jared put on the 4th box. The other (from a late swarm last year) is still just one box. I was surprised to see they made it through the winter. Saw some plants near by with tons of purple flowers on them - not sure what the plant is. I also saw some dandelions in bloom yesterday. Spring is here!

Spring pollen

Had a very beautiful day today. Got a lot of yard work done. Attempted my first apple tree grafts. Spent some time with the bees. All three of my colonies had girls out today. They are bringing in some light yellow pollen. Lots of light yellow pollen (see pics). I'm not sure what it is. The willows are barely beginning to bud. I've seen a crocus here and there but the dandelions aren't even up. Whatever it is, I'm glad they have it.

The TBH at Rosier's was especially busy (and quite friendly).

Early Spring / Late Winter inspection.

I have seen bees at all my hives flying around on the warmer days lately. Some of the days have been up in the 50s. We still have some very cold nights.

I opened up three of my hives to check on honey stores. I was wondering if I needed to start feeding.

Schampel Oscar
I was really worried about this one. This colony was from an August swarm and was very light when I moved it in October. I really din't expect it to last the winter. It did. It's currently 3 deeps tall. The bottom 2 contain the nest (no frames, natural comb from the top bars on top of box 2) the top box is frames with foundation. 3 are drawn out and still half full of honey - mostly capped - some uncapped. I don't know how much honey is in the nest. I am very excited to find honey in here at all. I'll watch this one closer than the others to make sure they have enough food to get to spring. Only a month more (give or take) before they should be able to forage.

Schampel TBH
This hive is doing very well. This colony was half of a split last spring. They queen was out of one of Paul's hives (carny mix of some sort). Very productive colony last summer.  They have several bars of honey on either end of the nest. I saw bees on both ends so I know they know it's there. Won't need to feed this one.

Rosier TBH
This colony is huge. They have many bars of honey on both sides as well. Very pleased with this one.

Empty TBH
This hive contained the other half of the split from last spring. This hive had the original queen. She never laid right after my attempt at splitting. Died off before fall. I poked around in the hive after moving it home in October and I suspect foul brood. The signs are there. The sunken caps on brood cells, some with holes in them. I did the string test but was not sure. I need to have someone else come look at it with me. I'd like to put a swarm or another split in it this spring if it's safe. Can't bare the thought of burning it up if it really is foul brood. Guess we'll see. Can't bare the thought of the foul brood spreading to my other colonies either.

Moved

I've moved again and moved hives too. I guess I should update things.
The Schampel TBH is still where it's always been.
The Prazen Oscar is now moved with  me and will become the Prazen Oscar.
The Prazen TBH has moved to my friends back yard and will become the Rosier TBH.

Hive Oscar is still at Jared's farm as well as a small box containing a swarm we caught late last summer (2 hives).