First Hive Inspection!

In the past week, we have participated in silent negotiations with our bees concerning water. We had already filled a shallow container, added pebbles (so they won't drown), and placed it near their hives. We saw no visitors. We moved it nearer. Nothing. But we noticed bees looking close to the house, circling around the water hose faucet. This happens to be a high foot traffic area for humans and dogs.....yet there is a small flower bed closeby, and we placed the water here as a compromise. They immediately began foraging the water! For our part, we keep the water fresh and easily available, and siphon off any excess so bees don't drown. Also, they've chosen to forage water from the bird bath in our front yard, and that's perfectly fine too.

Our first inspection day was sunny, 75 degrees, and we visited about 10:30 am. We both decided to work bare-handed....the smoker puffed steadily, and we had another good experience. In hive 1, we removed a frame near the center, and were able to see the tiny eggs that look like rice, capped and uncapped brood, and active bees--evidence our queen is alive and productive. We only removed a few frames for viewing, and observed they have filled 6-7 (out of 10) frames in this top super already! Should we add a third super soon? The frames felt weighty, and the bees were docile with us, only mildly disturbed.

In the second hive, we observed only 4-5 of the top frames were filled. However, we saw the rice-like eggs, capped and uncapped brood....so this queen is alive and working too, thank goodness. We saw what we assumed was pollen, though a few spots were dark red....we immediately thought, "Blood!" (too much dramatic tv?) We didn't feel sure of what we were seeing....is the brood too watery? Is the red color a sign of disease? Is everything okay? Fortunately, we remembered we had brought the digital camera out with us, and took several photos. This is what we saw:













We actually didn't spend a lot of time in either hive...just enough to check a few frames and leave them to their work. Once inside our house, we were elated--the queens are alive!! There is brood we can see! We both worked bare-handed, and received no stings! Even the smoker worked! You know what? It was a RUSH, plain and simple. We downloaded the photos and realized how important this was: to be able to sit down and take all the time in the world to examine the frames and everything on them, even get close-ups! We scanned all the disease descriptions in the bee books, and thankfully found no similiarities in our hives. We sent our photos to our mentor Ron (who sent them to another beekeeping friend), and an expert in our state.

• Ron gave us a thumbs up, and suggested the red we saw is pollen from the maple trees.
  
• Ron's friend said the brood pattern looks good (meaning a productive queen who uses space efficiently). She suggested not adding a third super just yet--if the bees have too much room, they may not be able to cover their brood if it gets chilly. She also suggested checking the bottom super. The queen likes to move upward as she lays, and will leave supers under her empty. If this IS the case, we can simply reverse the hive bodies.
  
• Our bee expert said the frames look VERY normal, the brood looks healthy, and the various colors are indeed pollen.
  

What a huge relief to have positive affirmation that all is well! By now, we have refilled the sugar syrup several times (especially for hive 1). An easy time for us to do this is at night, by moonlight or flashlight. We just slip the feeder out and check to make sure no bees are inside it. Of course, we've found a few bees hanging out after-hours at the Sugar Syrup Bar, completely soused! They are pretty easily brushed off. Usually, at least one brave guard bee will come onto the flight deck to check on things, but she never seems too disturbed. We clean the feeders with hot water, add fresh syrup, and slip them back into quiet hives. The jars sometimes spill a lot and tilt....we can't seem to get a feel for how they're supposed to work well. Once, the hive feeder made a solid KNOCK! against the hive, and I got a loud BUZZZ! in response. Then total silence.

Checking on the Queens

If you can believe it, we had a frost the first evening! It was a great comfort to see bee activity around 10 am the next morning when things warmed a bit. We watched their movements while planting three evergreens along the back fence, and had the dogs out with us so everyone could begin acclimating. We were particularly pleased to notice the dogs absorbing (in their own canine way) the reality that this wasn't just one little creature that went BUZZ! in an amusing pattern, this was a group of creatures--and they were outnumbered.

By now we've noticed the first hive has more bees are flying around, they seem more industrious in general, and they've ingested more sugar syrup (hive 1=syrup jar is 1/2 full and hive 2=3/4 full). So on day 3, it was time to check and see if the queens were alive and well. The bees already looked active by 9 am, and it was turning into a warm and sunny day. Fortunately, we both could take some time extra off from work at lunch, and at 12:45 pm, we suited up! Hats, veils, long jeans and button-down shirts....rubber bands around the sleeves....a small basket of tools, including the smoker. We decided on Erin operating the smoker while I took off the hive covers. I decided not to wear gloves to better feel what I was doing.

So there we were, two inexperienced beekeepers using the smoker and opening hives for the first time....I slowly removed the outer cover, and just as I removed the inner cover and could stare at the frames with bees on them, the smoker went out, and I whispered (hold your ears, children) "Oh, #+@*" Believe me, the books warning us about this didn't make us feel any less stupid. Erin, as she always tends to do in a crisis, kept us calm. I mean All of us. She re-lit the smoker, she talked to me, she talked to the bees--it turned out all right. The smoker went out 4-5 more times during this whole visit, but we did our best.

We needed to take the first super off, since the queen cage was on the bottom, which gave a little crack!....In the first hive, I spilled sugar syrup from the entrance feeder since it no longer had the weight from a top super to hold it in place. It was so fascinating to see the bees moving around the hive and frames, and I was relieved they didn't seem to mind us much. As a matter of fact, after several minutes, we had the distinct feeling hundreds of little dark eyes were watching us. Not in a menacing way, they still seem very small and fuzzy. Without having much to compare them to, we thought them active and totally involved with their labors....the queen had been released from her cage!

We put all back in place, and moved to the second hive. This one didn't seem quite as active, and I'm not sure there are as many bees....we found the queen still in her cage! Now the activity level made more sense--she hasn't been able to start laying eggs. It was like the other bees were waiting around to really get on with things. I gently popped off the screen wiring of her cage and set it back into the hive, waiting several moments. When we checked the cage once more, she was gone. Looking back, we can see this was a risky choice. Maybe the hive needed more time to accept her. Maybe she flew away and we missed it. As it turned out, all went well--the hive accepted her, and she did not fly away. Thank goodness. We closed the hive and went inside to process!

The first thing we noticed was that our legs were trembling. It was so different to work in a hive of bees, and we were jubiliant neither one of us got stung. I can already see how watching the Keith Delaplane video has helped trememdously--we were able to watch how he moved around the hives, how slowly and steadily and confidently he worked, how he could gently brush bees aside. We agreed that we suck at using the smoker. And we forgot to give them the protein patties.

A couple hours later, I suited up and returned to the hives with the protein patties. I was determined the smoker would NOT go out on me during this procedure, and I got a good flame going. It was no problem to place the patties on top of the frames and put the covers back on. It seemed like the second hive was already slightly more active. The trouble is, my smoker never went out, and by the time I was through, the whole back yard smelled like a forest fire. I sincerely hope the neighbors weren't home.

April 8th - Bee Installation Day!

We had a wonderful time installing the bees with the help of our dear mentor and fellow beekeeper Ron and our friends Linda (who brought the fun bee hive shaped cake) and Joan (who cheered us on with apple pies). So much sweetness!

The bees arrived at the extension office on Saturday afternoon, thanks to the beekeepers club who picked them up for club members at the supply warehouse several counties away. There were two wooden screened boxes, each with about 13,000 bees and one Italian queen in her own little cage. This apparently allows the newly introduced workers to get used to the queen before they all have to work together in a new hive.


They were fairly quiet, until we released them into their hives. Maybe it was because this weekend we had a cold spell and they were busy just trying to stay warm. They each had a can of sugar syrup in their wooden cage and they hung around it in a big cluster.


As we prepared to install, we sprayed them gently with sugar syrup to coat their wings and make them calmer before prying off the top of the boxes. Ron bravely shook them out of the box and down into their hives and we crossed our fingers in hopes that they would like their new home.

The bees swirled around us while they were getting settled and the sound of all those little wings was simply amazing to hear. We felt fairly safe being among them, as they are at their most docile when trying to find their way into their new home. They seemed to really like our hats for some reason, as you can see in the photo.


The bees began busily inspecting the frames of beeswax and the hive entrance or "runway" as I like to call it. The mass of bees slowly moved down into the hives and eventually we were able to put on the second super and the inner and outer covers. We stablized the covers with a log since the supers were so light and tipped up when we put the sugar syrup jars at the entrance.

The bees are very young for the most part and Diana noted that they truly looked like babies....fuzzy and soft and curious about the world. Who would ever have thought an insect would be cute?! They sat on our arms and shirts carefully cleaning their wings and seemingly unaware of our amazement and awe. Their innocence at this stage is appealing....though we have been forwarned that they become more intense as they age and the hive has honey and brood to protect.

That's the scoop for now. We can't stop looking out and checking on them! They seem to be up and about by 9-9:30am and back in for the night by about 8:00pm. We'll have to see if this changes as the sunlight increases. I think I'll go have another piece of the beehive cake that Linda brought us!

Recipes for Bee Snacks and Dog Stings

It's April! (gasp!) The bees are coming, the bees are coming! We both feel excited and nervous and are thinking about some of the final details. We email with Ron almost daily--he continues to help guide and support us--and we are so relieved and grateful that he's offered to come help us install the bees into their new homes!

For our dogs, our friend Joan has researched the proper dosage of Benedryl according to their weights, in case of reaction to a bee sting. The way we figure it, we will watch the dog/bee interaction very closely. We've already put up small wire fencing around the hives to discourage dog curiosity....we don't plan on leaving the dogs in the backyard without checking on them frequently....and we have already decided not to EVER have the dogs outside while we are actively working with the bees, their feeders, etc. Anyway, we need to think about preparing sugar syrup and protein patties for the bees since there isn't enough available food for them to forage yet.

Here are the recipes:

SUGAR SYRUP

• In a very large cooking pot, bring 10 cups of water to a boil.
• Turn off heat. (boiling will spoil the sugar/water mix)
• Add 5 lbs sugar while constantly stirring.
• Allow to cool before adding to containers.
  

PROTEIN PATTIES

Dry ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups soy flour
• 1/2 cup brewer's yeast (or nutritional yeast in bulk from co-op)

Sugar syrup:

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup hot water

Mix dry ingredients and sugar syrup separately. Slowly add dry ingredients to sugar syrup until mixture is like stiff bread dough. Press patties between wax paper. These patties can be stored in freezer until needed.

When feeding bees, use a knife to make cuttings into wax paper, allowing bees access to patties. Place one patty on top of frames. You will need to put inner cover on upside-down to accomodate the patty. The outer cover should fit on normally.


BENEDRYL DOSING FOR OUR DOGS

NOTE: This is from our friend Joan's vet...but check with your own vet if you have any questions or concerns! Our dogs both weigh about 55 lbs and are mixed hearty breeds.

Our friend's vet said, "50mg for your guys. If you don't see any results after a half hour, you can give them another 25mg. Two teaspoons equal 25mg. It will make them sleepy...."