High altitude bees

On July 4th we (my family and my dog and I) hiked to the top of Maple Mountain (Spanish Fork Peak). We saw bees at the very top on these purple cone like flowers. The elevation of the peak is 10,200 feet.

Queens?

I checked on the Patterson hive again today. It's been a couple of weeks. I cleaned up the collapsed combs from last time. The girls had moved the honey from them and then attached the combs to the side and bottom. Funky comb.
I pulled a couple more bars of honey. I removed some very crooked honey/pollen comb and put it in the end of the hive so they could clean it out.

I was going through the brood nest to see what happened with the many queen cells from last inspection. I saw two queens on the same comb and stopped at that point.

I did put a few empty bars between the existing combs on the north end.

I also used a push pin to re-attach the screened bottom that had come loose in one area.

Queen cells

I inspected the Patterson hive today. The thing was packed! I removed 5 full bars of honey. I set aside 3 more that I wanted to take home after inspecting the rest of the hive. These 3 combs broke due to the heat and the wind. It was quite windy. I knew the girls didn't like the wind. I had not considered it's affect on heavy comb. It made me sick. I salvaged what I could. Made a hell of a mess. 

I opened the bottom of this hive as well.

While inspecting I found several queen cells. 2 of them were in the middle of the comb. 3 of them were on the edge of the comb. All were capped. I tried to cut one out but with disastrous results. I ended up mashing it. I'm not sure what these girls are planning. The cells in the middle imply that they are replacing their queen. The cells on the edge/bottom imply that they are readying for a swarm. 

I'll have to watch and see.

Cross Comb Baffle

Because the girls were building cross comb straight through my aluminum/cloriplast comb baffles, I modified one to try to get them to build strait without continuing through the baffle. the baffle is much longer. It goes pretty much all the way down with space on the sides. I cut a few holes in the middle (Jared's idea) to let the bees through. We're thinking that this way it still feels like part of the hive/nest instead of a separate space.

We've got these in 2 hives now. We'll see how they doo.

In the above picture you can see that they had built straight through the cloriplast baffle I had insterted between the cross comb and the empty bar. They built semi straght comb but it was still not straight.

This is the aluminum baffle. You can see the space around and through the middle.

Cross Comb Cutout followup

In only 1 week, the comb on some of the bars is complete. The zip ties can be removed.

When we put this one back together, we included empty bars between all the cutout/clipped bars.

The girls had drawn out several of the in between combs to full size. Some of the clipped comb isn't secure enough to remove the zip ties. I'll check back in another week.

Bumblebee Attack

The bees in Jared's hive were getting a bit defensive. He's taken a coupe of stings and been chased across the yard more than once.

Upon watching the hive entrance, he watched as a bumble bee flew right into the hive.

We pulled the roof and watched the "foyer*" area as the bumble tried to enter the actual hive. The girls wouldn't let the bumble into the main part of the hive.

We saw this happen several times over several days. We figured that the girls were being attacked by the bumble bees and that is why they were being overly defensive.

We found 2 dead bumblebees in the grass under the hive entrance. One of them still had a honey bee sting in it.

We reduced the entrances with half corks so that the bumblebees can't get in and we'll continue to observe. I hope this settles them down.

We also put in a modified aluminum baffle to try to encourage straight comb building.

Bumble bee trying to enter the hive (getting attacked).

Cross comb

Bumblebee with Honey bee stinger 

Two dead bumbles under the hive entrance.

Cross combing (we'll fix that later by cutting out the comb and hair clipping it in straight)

Reduced entrance holes

Cross Comb Cut Out

I've known for a while that the girls in my queen breeder hive were building cross comb. I'd stuck an aluminum baffle in there to try to force them to straighten up but they just build cross comb under it and up to the top. Still crossed.

Jared came to town for a couple days so we decided it was time to cut it out and straighten it up.

We made quite a mess. Harvested some of the honey comb as it was too heavy for the hair clips.

The hair clips work great. At least for partial combs. Full combs are a bit too heavy for them.

We cut the crooked comb out clipped it on the top with a couple of hair clips and then secured the hair clips to a top bar with zip ties. Because the comb was diagonal before we cut it out, some of it was too wide to fit when we straightened it out and it needed to be cropped down anyway. 

The bees were remarkably calm through the entire process. We didn't see the queen. I hope we didn't damage her.

Lessons learned:

Have the clips ready beforehand so I'm not assembling them as we go.

Use smoke instead of the feather. It's easier to handle the comb if it isn't crawling with bees.

Perhaps a bee vacuum would be beneficial - remove all the bees first, then manipulate the comb. I'd probably not kill so many bees that way.

It takes longer than I planned - don't rush it.

Perhaps a bucket or two under the hive to salvage dropped honey?

Cutting out honey comb

You can see the failed comb baffle after some of the comb is removed.

Hair clips in action

Later that night - bees still worked up a bit.

TBH Honey extraction.

I got this photo text yesterday from Troy. I've got a hive in his back yard.
BEES!!!!!

I've been meaning to go over to inspect this hive but haven't had a chance lately.
I decided I better have a look.
Today on lunch I made it over. I removed 5 full bars of honey.

There are at least 6 more honey bars that could come out but my bucket was getting full and the girls were getting upset. I was using a peacock feather to brush them from the comb and they got a little ornery. I took a sting to each arm before I put my long sleeves and gloves on. Then I took another sting on the leg. I spaced the honey combs out and left the empty bars between them. there are 12 brood bars. Tons of bees!

I'll go back in a week or so to harvest more. I also removed the bottom board off the hive. It hit 95 degrees yesterday. I'm sure that is why they were all hanging out outside the hive.

Peczuh inspection

Checked on the Peczuh hive this evening.
Not much activity at the entrance at all.
Not a lot of bees in the hive either.
The first 2 bars were empty honey comb.
The next bar was mostly pollen and some capped (and I suspect crystalized) honey.
The next 7 were brood bars with very little honey on top. Very scattered brood pattern. Eggs, larva, capped brood, spread all over. Some of the larva appeared dead (starved?). There doesn't seem to be enough bees in the hive to care for so much brood. On one of the bars I found 2 empty queen cells on the side. Not sure if they were cells in the making or if they were used cells. They might have swarmed recently.
The next bar was solid pollen
The next 2 were mostly capped honey.
I did find the queen.

I'll have to check them again soon. They had a strange buzz to them. Almost a frantic sound. The weren't aggressive, just off somehow.

Inspection

20 days after catching this swarm I recorded this inspection.

http://youtu.be/vCyF0KB5_SQ

I was quite pleased with how they are building up. 9 good bars of capped brood and a 10th bar half drawn with honey. All very straight.

Elmo Swarm / Lost Swarm

I got a call a couple days ago about a swarm in Elmo (a small town nearby) that had been in a bush in the back yard for a couple of days. We drove out to get it. It was low in a bush near a fence but was perfect for setting the basket under. I only took 2 stings. One on the thumb during the initial drop and another when I shook them out of the sheet. Must have pissed one off then. She followed me for a bit before finally getting  me behind the ear.

It only took about 30 mins for all the girls to go in the basket after I shook them in.
Video here:
http://youtu.be/s1xNi_-8KTs

I tied the lid on the basket and drove it home without trouble. I placed it behind the shed (after dark now) with plans to put them in a hive the next day.

The next day at lunch there were bees coming and going. I had visions of them building comb inside my swarm basket. After work, there were still bees (many drones) flying around the basket. After dinner I went to put them into a proper hive and they had gone. Only a single drone remained in the basket.
I scouted the neighborhood looking to see if they had landed nearby but with no luck.

I had the thought to put the basket in the shade but I didn't do it. I wonder if it got to hot for them, or if it was too light in the basket, or not closed up enough. Who knows. I guess for future, I'll know not to leave them in there longer than just to get them home. I love the basket for catching them. It's huge and is easy to manage. Catching only - not storage!

Another bee tree

I had heard of a bee tree south of town. So today I drove to check it out. The owner told me there were 2 colonies in the same tree. I was only able to locate one. It's far enough up that I don't think it's worth worrying about.

trap out setup

Paul and I set up our first attempt at a trap out. This is the large cottonwood in south Price. The colony is about 4 or 5 feet off the ground. Very convenient. The first thing we did was seal off all the bottom entrances with spray foam. We then fashioned a cone out of hardware mesh and stapled it over the main entrance, tweaking it and adding screen until the girls couldn't find a way back in. There were hundreds of girls returning to the hive trying to find their way back inside. They were pooling up near the bottom of the cone but not one found the small hole at the end of the funnel. They were surprisingly docile bees. Even with me using a staple gun at the hive entrance, they did not get defensive. I even squished a girl or two and didn't receive as much as a head bump.

Once we had the entrance sealed off, we placed a nuc box in front of the entrance. Another mesh cone mounted to the side of the nuc box fit perfectly over the mesh cone on the tree. Any bees coming out of the tree are forced to go through the nuc box. We covered the mesh with a dark towel to make it as dark as possible.The nuc box was supplied with 3 frames of brood (all types - eggs, larva, capped, drone cells) and an empty drawn out frame. We secured the nuc to the tree, put a couple drops of lemon grass oil near the entrance for good measure and left. We'll check it periodically over the next few days and weeks to see if they girls start using the nuc box as home.

Update: Here is a video of the funnel in action after 1 day.
http://youtu.be/5fSoKMroEsQ

http://youtu.be/5fSoKMroEsQ

There's things 'alf in shadow And 'alf way in light

Got a swarm call today. Just about noon. She told me they had just showed up this morning.  This was a referral actually from the swarm I caught the other day.

I went to check it out and they had just moved into the chimney of her house.  She had removed some heavy ivy from the bricks last fall and the ivy had pulled some of the mortar out from between the bricks.

That's all the room the girls needed. I have no idea how big of a cavity is behind the bricks.

There were several openings up the wall. All with bee activity.

We had her turn on her gas fireplace and leave it on. Our hope is that the chimney will heat up and make it uncomfortable for the bees so they will move out. If they just showed up this morning there should be no comb/eggs/honey. If we can get them to move out, I think that's our only shot at saving them.

We'll go back after work this evening and send some smoke up through the holes to see if we can drive them out that way.

Huge Bee Tree

My buddy, Paul, called me this afternoon to inspect a bee tree with him. It was only a couple of blocks from work so I hopped over there.

The tree was huge. Huge! A giant cottonwood tree. The owner of the house has heard that this tree and it's much larger twin in the same yard were the oldest trees in Price. Possible.

The bees have been in there since at least last summer. At some point someone has sprayed the entrance with black paint. Perhaps trying to poison them?

The new renter is worried about her dogs and she, and the homeowner want them gone.

They agreed to let us try to trap them out first. If that doesn't work, we can cut them out.

If that doesn't work, we'll poison them and seal up the tree.

We are hoping the trap out works.

Plan B might be a good option too as they appear to be living behind an old dead branch that has rotted out from behind. It looks easy enough to cut out. It sounds hollow all the way up.

A bee tree no more!

I got a call back in the fall about a "swarm" of honey bees.  Upon inspection, it wasn't a swarm at all but a  well established colony in a tree. The homeowner wanted them gone as she was worried that they were killing her tree. Half of the upper tree was dead already. I'm pretty sure it was dead before the bees moved in. At any rate, she wanted them gone even if it meant chopping down the tree. The tree was a bit bigger than I wanted to handle. I spend some time researching trappouts  with a plan to return in the spring to trap them out. When I looked back in March, the entire tree had been removed. :( bummer.

Peach Tree Swarm Update

I inspected the hive on Saturday (2 days after hiving them).
They had built 3 partial combs. They weren't straight. One of them formed a T pattern. It started straight and then for no reason took a 90 degree turn in both directions.

I removed all comb and reattached it straight by pressing it firmly onto the comb guides.
I places aluminum plate dividers between the bars to encourage straight building.

I also spotted the queen. Beautiful, very light red color.

I inspected again on Monday (today) and found 3 mostly compete straight combs and 2 partial combs.
The bees were building in two parts of the hive. The middle part, where they had built before. I saw many eggs in this comb. They were also building comb several bars away near one of the ends. These bees were acting strange. Almost a queen-less buzz to them. I did worry the other day when I put the hive back together that she was too close to the follower board that I was moving. The eggs in the other part of the hive (new comb) prove that she is a live and well.

I left the dividers in for now.

Ultimate comb guide

So I had this wonderful idea. Perhaps the biggest challenge in top bar beekeeping is getting the girls to build straight comb. If we could give them a no brainer guide to build on, maybe cross combing would be a thing of the past. I've tried many types of comb guides. Waxed kerfs, Non waxed kerfs, Waxed wooden guides half inch tall. The bees don't seem to care what the guide is, they build comb how and where they want.

I had a friend engrave these boards for me with a partial comb pattern.
I was sure that the bees would find this to be perfect.

I installed 3 packages in the last 2 weeks all with these new engraved bars. I rubbed beeswax on the engraving just to make sure.
In all three hives, they completely ignored the pattern and built wherever they wanted to.

Beeswax rubbed on the pattern.

Cross comb

I did make the pattern with 4.9mm cells. I will try again with 5.1mm cells and see if that makes a difference. The bees that I tested this on were all package bees. No doubt raised on large cell foundation.

I think regardless of what kind of comb guide I use, I'll need to be vigilant with my early inspections to ensure they are building straight comb.