I wrote last time about my concern that my colony is behind. At my last inspection they still hadn’t drawn out (built wax comb onto) enough frames to warrant the second brood box. Still, my inspection indicated that the queen would soon run out of immediately available space to lay eggs. In the summer a …
Category Archives: bees
Stung!
Honey comb is white, brood comb is yellow I’ve had my bees for 5 weeks, and I’ve done 8 inspections, and yesterday I did a big one. I pulled out frame by frame, looked at each side for several minutes, spotting patterns, looking for mites and queen cups, just standing in awe of all those …
Mite Count Misadventures and Hive Inspection
Honey bees suffer terribly from varroa mites: parasites that feed off adult bee bodies and even invade their cocoon to feed on them. There’s plenty of other pests and viruses and whatnot out there trying to get the bees, but the varroa mite is the first to pay attention to. It’s also almost guaranteed to …
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Water for the Bees
The tubs you see in the picture is the bees’ water supply. Bees need water to cool the hive (by evaporation), to feed brood (brood food is 70% water), and to dilute their own food (honey, sugar syrup or nectar). It is the main task of some bees to find and bring in water (they …
Hive Inspection and Preschool Bee Talk
I did a quick hive inspection today. It was hot – at 10 am – and I had forgotten to tie my long hair back, thinking the hat might keep it back, but no… So I made it quick, and just pulled out the frames to check on the pattern of brood, honey, pollen, and …
Tenth Day Hive Inspection
The bees have been busy. I can see a lot of activity at the entrance, lots of flying in and out. Perhaps it was the weather – coldish, gray – that kept them inside, or the fact that they first needed to draw out more comb before going out to get stuff to put in …
Mushrooms and Asparagus
Amie is sick (a cold, again) and home from preschool. She’s really bummed about it because these are the last weeks of school, and after Summer she’ll be going to a new one. Luckily it is sunny and warm again, today, so we spent a lot of time outside. She is great about letting me …
Found Queen and Eggs
I don’t think it froze last night, but it might this night, so all the plants that were moved inside will stay inside till tomorrow. It not being as cold and windy as predicted, I did a hive inspection at 11 am. Again there was very little activity outside the hive, but inside it was …
Frost!
Woah, I can’t believe it. After days of 70-80 F weather, the temperature is plummeting, down down down, to 31 F. Tomorrow will be blustery and chilly, and that night will again see temps of 31 F. So every plant that could be moved was moved out of the garden and the screened-in porch, into …
Inside the Box: First Hive Inspection
I did my first hive inspection this morning at 9:30 am. There wasn’t much activity outside, but the inside of the hive was abuzz. When I lifted the outer cover, the inner cover came up with it – it was stuck – immediately exposing the comb that the bees were building to fill up the …