Hive inspection, August 6th

Here's what I observed today while inspecting the hives.

• Droogie 1 is drawing new comb in the top (4th) box and storing nectar. I'm surprised that there is still nectar available out there, but glad to see it!

• There are about 5 capped frames of honey in boxes 3 and 4, and more will be capped soon. I'll probably harvest a few frames in early September.

• There was lots of activity at the entrance of both hives. I think there are more bees now than ever.

• Droogie 2 continues its strange habbits. The queen is laying all the way up in the top box (3rd), and they don't have much honey stored away. The brood pattern is really dense on some frames, and then she'll skip a frame for some reason, and then there is more brood on the next frame. I'm not sure what is the reason for this. Perhaps the comb isn't the right size? I think the wavy foundation might have had a negative impact on the way the bees were able to draw out the comb. I'm only going to use foundationless frames in that hive from now on. They also continue to leave the combs on the side of the boxes alone.

Dog days

July and August are slow months for beekeeping, and I expect they'll be slower months for the blog as well. All my favorite bee blogs (including this one) are also quiet these days.

The bees have established themselves in their hives and really don't need tending until later in the summer or early fall, when it will be time to treat them for mites and help them prepare for winter. It's actually better to leave them be (bee?) except for a hive inspection every 10-14 days.

Today was day 14, however, and I was excited to take a look at what's been happening. Droogie 1, by far my better hive, is 4 boxes tall. The top box has three of the ten frames fully drawn out with wax, and two of those frames are being filled with honey. The third box is almost full of honey, some of it beginning to be capped! This is great news, because I think I'll be able to take some of this and still leave them with enough to last them through winter. The first and second box are filled with bees and there is lots of evidence of a healthy, busy queen (eggs, larva, capped brood).

Here is a picture of a frame that has capped honey, and below that is one filled with honey but hasn't yet been capped (The bees dehydrate the nectar until it has the appropriate water content, which we call honey, at which time the cover the cell with wax). I'm thrilled that I'll be able to harvest some honey this year- I was dubious for a while.





Droogie 2 remains a laggard, and for some reason the bees have ignored four or five frames in each of the three boxes. I saw some eggs and so I know the queen is there and doing fine, but this hive just doesn't seem to be thriving. Unless they pick it up, I'll have to move drawn frames from the upper boxes down to the bottom boxes for winter, and I doubt I'll be taking any honey from this hive.

Late Bloomer

My second hive, also known as Droogie 2, has been lagging behind Droogie 1. When Ellie and I last inspected the hives, Droogie 2 only had about 6 frames drawn in each of the bottom two boxes. I removed the empty third (top) box and continued to feed them a 1:1 solution of sugar and water, which they've been guzzling.

You can see the two hives in the picture below. Droogie 1 has more bees going in and out, and even though the hives appear to be the same height, Droogie 1 has three boxes of frames while the top box on Droogie 2 is just there to protect the feeder. You can see the wooden inner cover that separates the hive bodies from the feeder.

I refilled the feeder on Monday, and on Wednesday it was empty again. After completing my duty as Sugar Daddy, I couldn't help myself from having a peek under the cover to see what they've been up to.

Wow! They've done some remodeling. It was almost like that show "While You Were Out" where a crew comes in and redecorates your house while you are out golfing with your buddies. Or not.

Almost all of the frames are now drawn out, and there is a lot of brood in the top hive body. They've also socked away a few jar loads of sugar in their comb. I think the population has grown since the last inspection and they appear to be doing much better.

I don't know why they've taken so long to get these boxes filled (its been two months since I installed them), but I'm happy to see that they are expanding and the queen is laying well. I'll bring a super down for them on Tuesday.

Fifth Hive Inspection

I decided to put another hive body on both hives today. I suppose they could be called supers but I wouldn't mind if the queens were to lay in them. I didn't put an excluder on either hive, so the queens are welcome to move up if they'd like.

In Droogie 1, which you can see in the video below, the bees had drawn out nearly all the frames in the second hive body, and the lower body is also full. Most of the second hive body is filled with lots of capped honey and nectar, with a few frames having brood in the center. The super I added has foundationless frames as well as some frames where I installed wireless wax foundation. I moved two drawn frames filled with nectar and capped honey up to the super, and replaced the feeder. I may stop feeding after this week, but I want to make sure they are able to continue to draw comb.

Here is the video of the inspection. You can see some of the bees fanning on top of the frames.




It is clear that the hive started on foundationless frames (Droogie 1) is doing much better at drawing frames and expanding than the hive started on traditional wired foundation. Although I cannot attribute this solely to the difference in foundation, I'm going to use foundationless frames from now on. They are so much easier to prepare and the bees seem to love them.

Fourth Hive Inspection

I was able to visit the Droogies today. The hives are both doing well and drawing out more comb in the second hive body. I still do not see any capped brood in the top body, but perhaps it is still a bit too early for that.

I did take some pictures of one of the frames from Droogie 2. You can see a brood in the center of the frame with some capped honey around the upper edges.

Brood!!

I inspected the hives for the third time today. I've been out of town for a week and it had been rainy and cold before I left, so it has been longer than I would have liked. I was worried that the queens might not be laying since I didn't see any capped brood during my last inspection. However, this time both of the hives have lovely capped brood in the bottom hive body. It appears to be mostly worker brood. Neither hive seems very interested in the second hive body that I put on last time, although Droogie 2 has drawn out a couple frames in it.

It was also interesting to see some burr comb in between the two supers in Droogie 2, which has foundation. I haven't seen any burr comb in Droogie 1, which is using foundationless frames. I wonder if the bees in Droogie 2 need someplace to put drone comb because the foundation isn't the right size for it? Or maybe they just inspired to make some comb from scratch.

Because both hives have begun building comb in the second hive body but I did not see evidence of the queen having moved up there, I moved a couple frames of brood up into that chamber. Hopefully this will signal to the queen that she has free reign in the second level as well. I'm not sure if moving brood frames is a good idea, but I read on one of the forums that this might be helpful. It seems that for everyone who says something is a good idea, there are 10 other beekeepers who will disagree with them for one reason or another.

Second Hive inspection

It has been 12 days since the packages were installed and time for another inspection. This time I brought along the video camera so that I could show Ellie what the Droogies have been up to, and it also allows me to share it with you (warning: it is long and potentially boring)

Both hives are still taking lots of syrup. I didn't see any capped brood in either hive and had a hard time seeing eggs because the comb is so white. I'm a bit nervous that the queens are not laying, but it is potentially too early to see capped brood. I did see the queen in Droogie 2, so I am at least relieved that she's there. Both boxes have drawn out 7/10 of the frames and filled them with lots of nectar (probably mostly just the sugar water I've been feeding them) and pollen. I decided to add a second hive body on each of the hives for brood, just in case they need the extra space.

First Hive Inspection

The Droogies had been in their new joints for 4 days and so it was time to take a look to see if the queens had been released. Both of them had consumed all of the sugar syrup within the first 24 hours, and so I had replenished the feeders to give them more for the weekend. Both jars were completely empty when I went back on Monday- those are some hungry bees!

The queens had been released in both hives. Both hives have drawn out wax on about 6 of the frames. The comb in Droogie 1 was especially beautiful in its natural shape.