WINTER is Cometh!

Well...ready or not, winter is just around the corner.  Up here in the North Country the nights are in the 30's with snow predicted in the mountains.  Great for the snow lovers, but not "The Girls!".

We need to check often for moisture in the hives.

The bees have been busy cleaning out the dead bees.

We will keep an eye on the hives, maybe putting straw inside the top cover.  We will keep you posted!

Bundle up and keep warm -- your bees and yourself!

HARVESTING LIQUID GOLD!!!

Putting Labor Day to good use with a labor of love!  

Mid August to September is generally set aside for checking the hives and deciding how many frames and/or supers will be harvested for the honey and what should be left for the bees to over winter with.

We had all ready planned to check Hive 1 and leave all their honey for their winter use.  Hive 1 consists of 2 deep supers and one medium super filled with honey.  Hive 2 we will check for honey flow and hopefully have some honey for us to over winter with!

Hive 2:  The top medium super had capped honey on the frames:

Frame by frame, we took went through the super, smoking the bees, then shaking the frame knocking the bees off, and then brushing the remaining bees off.  The frames went into an empty super in the garage. Frame by frame we repeated this process.

On to the second super.  It was full of capped honey!  We were so excited.  Repeating the above process, we went through the 10 frames.  Then we brought the supers into the kitchen.

We had rented an extractor.  The extractor handled three frames at a time and was hand cranked.  We had a LONG afternoon!  

A hot knife helped uncap the honey.

SUCCESS!!!  Look at our beautiful honey!

Bee Bearding

Hot weather and afternoon and/or evening thunderstorms have been the norm for the last few days. checking the hives early am, Dad Boss notice Bee Bearding!

Bee bearding refers to the clustering or hanging of older bees outside the front face of the hive during hot weather, giving the impression of a " beard"!

Bee beard forms any time bees need to cool the inside of the hive.  When summer is in full swing, the colony populations are nearing their peak and combs are filled with open brood ~ the act of bringing in water Blythe forager bees to cool down the hive may not be sufficient.  Therefore, a a number of adult bees vacate the inside portion of the hive and move outside.

BUSY as a BEE!

Sunny days bring out Dad Boss with the lawn mower and A LOT of BUSY BEES!

A Bee's (and Beekeeper's) Work is Never Done!

We are trying to keep one step ahead of "The Girls" so decided to check on them when the rain (as in days of rain!) stopped and the sun came out.

To prepare in advance for the hive exploration, we waxed frames for the MEDIUM SUPER.  The medium super is 6 5/8 inches (16.8 cm).  Again, 10 frames in each super.

The bees have been hard at work so we decided to add another super to each hive.  We want them to have enough room to grow.  Hopefully we aren't giving them too much room!

3 Supers deep!  2 deep and one medium! Now to celebrate Father's Day 2013!  

3 Weeks and Going Strong!

Hello!
We have had the bees for 3 weeks now.  A couple of days ago very warm weather moved in--like mid 80's--and the bees were very, very active.  Taking advantage of them all out working, we dressed up and got the smoker going for a "grand inspection!"

The Rule of Thumb:  when the bees start working on frame 8, add the next super.

We waxed the next 20 frames and got 2 deep supers ready for the hives.  The next day, (when the bees were out working and which happens to fit our lunch time!), we added a deep super to each hive.  We are also slowing down the sugar syrup feeding as the bees are finding food on their own, which is a good thing!

Two supers deep -- all done for the day!

2 Weeks Old!

Dear Followers!
We have had a lot of rain, so have left the bees to themselves, just lifting the cover on the feeder to add more sugar syrup.  We enjoy watching the bees wake up in the am and start to get to work, as well as lunchtime, when the bees are very active, coming in and out.

Finally a couple days of nice weather, so opened the hive to take a peak!

The bees looked pretty happy and busy.  Have yet to spot either hive's Queen Bee!

DAY #3!!!

Well...Tuesday, Day 3!!!  Debating if we should take the cover off, check to see if the queen is out of it's cage, and if so, add the remaining 5 frames to the hive. More sugar syrup this made this morning, so will add that at the same time.  Hive #1 needs syrup no matter what we decide.  If we don't check for the queen today, we will need to do it Thursday, as tomorrow is supposed to be a rainy day!

1/2 successful!  Hive #1 queen had been released.

The package box was taken out of the deep super and placed in front of the hive, so the bees can easily get home!

Hive #2 was still in its cage.  We adjusted the cage's position, moving it lower into the frame. Also, we poked the candy with a toothpick, trying to help the release process along, and will check again on Thursday.  

Bees are getting back to normal after The Dad Boss and Mom Queen Bee feed them and left them alone -- ha ha.

Finishing Bee Installation

Breathing a sigh of relief with Package #1 in their new home!  The metal can is the sugar water that came in the package to feed the bees as they traveled from the south to our pickup point, and then on to their new home. The syrup in the can was poured into the hivetop feeder along with the syrup made Friday.

We moved on to Package #2. Feeling more confident with our process, we moved a little quicker this second time around!  Plus, we now had some company -- clump of bees from Hive #1 buzzing around!

Two packages of bees, two nice bee hives!  Now to sit back (several yards away!), relax, and watch "The Girls"  get use to their new homes and watch them "dance"!  

SUCCESS!

Here Come "THE GIRLS"!!!

Saturday May 11, 2013:  Bee Day has arrived!  A very exciting day for us! A two and a half hour drive to get "The Girls"

Upon arriving home, the bee packages were placed in the shade and sprayed with cool water.  About 20 minutes later, started spraying with "Sugar  Syrup"  (1:1 ratio of sugar to water for the spring feeding) made yesterday.  This was to feed them and make them a little lethargic, so they will be easier manage as we move them to the hive.

Each package contains 3 lbs of bees.  Some dead bees were on the box floor.

Pried off the cover and took out the Queen cage, got it wrapped to hang between frame 3 and 4, shook some of the bees over the Queen Bee and set the remainder of bees, in the open area of the box, where frames 6 - 10 would be.

Package #1 in their new home!

Melting Wax and Brushing Frames

We melted 2 lbs. of cleaned yellow beeswax and brushed 20 frames for the deep supers, getting ready for the bees.  About 1 lb. of wax = 10 frames.

We made a double boiler using a coffee can.  A crockpot that you know longer use would be good, also.  With the melted wax and a throw away painters brush, we applied the wax to the frames, both sides, about 5 stokes each side.

The frames came out pretty good!  

Unused wax is stored right in the coffee can for when we add the next super.

Hive Anatomy

As we build up the hive, look at the chart below.  We have a "Deep Super" outside and another  to be added as the bees start working.  Hive Top Feeder so we can feed "the girls" sugar syrup while they get used to our north country weather and spring really comes!

Hives Outside!

Spent the day building a hive stand and setting up the hive.  Looking forward to and getting excited about our new friends coming to visit!

Painting the hive

Finally, a day above 50 so "The Dad Boss" said:  It Is Paint Day!  Just the outside of the boxes are painted.  Color:  Barnyard Red! (chosen by The Dad Boss). The bees will surely find their way back home ~ hopefully!

The Bee Hive

Getting ready!  Picked up materials to make 2 hives.