So far my small hive#3 is hanging in there.
The weather has gotten down to the low 30's. But, they are still in the hive buzzing around.
Had to put some sugar syrup in the top of the hive to help out. I really want to see them make the winter
and turn that little hive into a much larger hive in the Spring.
It's been fun starting my hives this year...
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
My Bees This Winter
Checked on my bees this time while home off the road.
They are looking pretty good so far but, the real cold hasn't hit this area as of yet..
Had to put an inside feeder in Box#3. The smallest hive of the three.
They are my latest hive and was put out later then the others this year. By feeding them
I am hoping they survive the Winter and become a good honey producing hive for me.
My plans are to split my hives and add a few more shortly after Spring hits...
They are looking pretty good so far but, the real cold hasn't hit this area as of yet..
Had to put an inside feeder in Box#3. The smallest hive of the three.
They are my latest hive and was put out later then the others this year. By feeding them
I am hoping they survive the Winter and become a good honey producing hive for me.
My plans are to split my hives and add a few more shortly after Spring hits...
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Checked Out The Hives 09/23/2012
Checked out all three hives this past weekend. They are looking pretty good so far.
The cool weather has the workers pushing the drones out of the hive as they prepare for winter coming.
Hive #3 has the least number of bees but they look strong and have a good number of bees on each frame.
I put 4 new frames on top of the brood box to see if that would help encourage them to make new
cells to store sugar syrup or pollen in so they could eat in the winter..
Looking forward to the spring when I can start making splits to increase the number of hives I have..
The cool weather has the workers pushing the drones out of the hive as they prepare for winter coming.
Hive #3 has the least number of bees but they look strong and have a good number of bees on each frame.
I put 4 new frames on top of the brood box to see if that would help encourage them to make new
cells to store sugar syrup or pollen in so they could eat in the winter..
Looking forward to the spring when I can start making splits to increase the number of hives I have..
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Little Concern Hive #3
Things have been for the most part going well with all my hives this year...
I had to re-queen hive#3 because the queen had such an erratic brood pattern. It could have
caused the hive be become weak and susceptible to attack by other bees and mites.
I went into the hive last Saturday ( 09-01-2012) and located the queen quickly on the brood
frame. She looked pretty active but, I think she is having trouble locating empty cells to lay her
eggs. The reason for that is, I believe the old queen was working so slow that the workers were
filling the cells with sugar syrup before she got to them to lay her eggs/brood.
I have been giving them all bee vitamins added to the syrup to help strengthen the hive and
hopefully build the hive a little quicker in number.
I will check on them (hive#3) in the morning (09-10-2012) to see if the queen is doing better now
that she has been in there for two weeks.
If, she looks like she may need more help. I may take a frame of brood from my stronger hive#2
and place it in hive#3 in an effort to help the new queen hatch out more brood strengthening the hive.
So far this year I have really enjoyed taking care of my hives and can't wait till Spring of the year to
hopefully make some splits and add to my hives.
I had to re-queen hive#3 because the queen had such an erratic brood pattern. It could have
caused the hive be become weak and susceptible to attack by other bees and mites.
I went into the hive last Saturday ( 09-01-2012) and located the queen quickly on the brood
frame. She looked pretty active but, I think she is having trouble locating empty cells to lay her
eggs. The reason for that is, I believe the old queen was working so slow that the workers were
filling the cells with sugar syrup before she got to them to lay her eggs/brood.
I have been giving them all bee vitamins added to the syrup to help strengthen the hive and
hopefully build the hive a little quicker in number.
I will check on them (hive#3) in the morning (09-10-2012) to see if the queen is doing better now
that she has been in there for two weeks.
If, she looks like she may need more help. I may take a frame of brood from my stronger hive#2
and place it in hive#3 in an effort to help the new queen hatch out more brood strengthening the hive.
So far this year I have really enjoyed taking care of my hives and can't wait till Spring of the year to
hopefully make some splits and add to my hives.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Queen Cell
This queen cell was removed from hive #3 before re-queening the hive... 3/4" long and about 1/2" wide..
Hive #3 Re-Queened
After checking hive #3 a couple of weeks ago. Found out that the queen wasn't doing a very good job.
By looking at the brood patterns on each frame. She was having issues laying new eggs before the worker bees filled the brood cells with sugar syrup. So, they were working harder to store winter supplies then she was putting new eggs in the cells. She has to make new brood faster then they are dieing off or the hive dies as well.
So, today was time to re-queen. We found her and had to kill her to prevent issues with the new queen being introduced to the hive as the leading lady now.
I really hated having to killer but, that's what has to be done in order to re-queen a hive.
In nature the old queen would have been superseded by the new queen. So, she only had one of two options. #1 she could leave when the new queen hatched out or #2 be killed by the new queen and other worker bees because of the new queen having better pheromones telling the other bees in the hive that she is now the new boss. So, the out come would have been about the same for the older queen. That's just nature and beekeepers have to deal with it for the survival of the hive and the out come means the rest of the hive will make it through winter. This also means that there will be more honey for the beekeeper and the next generation of bees. I am always amazed about what I learn about my bees and the work that it takes to have good healthy bees and end result a lot of honey. Love my bees.
By looking at the brood patterns on each frame. She was having issues laying new eggs before the worker bees filled the brood cells with sugar syrup. So, they were working harder to store winter supplies then she was putting new eggs in the cells. She has to make new brood faster then they are dieing off or the hive dies as well.
So, today was time to re-queen. We found her and had to kill her to prevent issues with the new queen being introduced to the hive as the leading lady now.
I really hated having to killer but, that's what has to be done in order to re-queen a hive.
In nature the old queen would have been superseded by the new queen. So, she only had one of two options. #1 she could leave when the new queen hatched out or #2 be killed by the new queen and other worker bees because of the new queen having better pheromones telling the other bees in the hive that she is now the new boss. So, the out come would have been about the same for the older queen. That's just nature and beekeepers have to deal with it for the survival of the hive and the out come means the rest of the hive will make it through winter. This also means that there will be more honey for the beekeeper and the next generation of bees. I am always amazed about what I learn about my bees and the work that it takes to have good healthy bees and end result a lot of honey. Love my bees.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Hives Doing Great
After checking the hives out and getting a good report on their health. I added a new deep super to the #1 hive. They are coming a long well enough that I feel they well weather the winter this year. Will be their first.
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