New Hobby: Bee Keeping

[sigsauer]

can you send some pics of the starter hive?

[AdamJoshua]

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4104/35213927320_cf7b21ce79_z.jpg

And that's what three in the arm looks like. Doesn't hurt, but man does it itch.

I was going to suggest rubbing alcohol, but clearly you're fvcked.

[massphatness]

I was going to suggest rubbing alcohol, but clearly you're fvcked.

Took some Benadryl and have been applying cortisone. It's a lot better.

Still itchy.

[markem]

Took some Benadryl and have been applying cortisone. It's a lot better.

Still itchy.

I know that apple cider vinegar works on mosquito bites. It might work on bee stings as well.

[AdamJoshua]

I know that apple cider vinegar works on mosquito bites. It might work on bee stings as well.

This is why i recommended rubbing alcohol, it's great for mosquito bites, takes the itch out that comes from the anticoagulant the little bastards inject in you, might work for bees as well, personally i'd stop being a stud and wear an actual bee protective suit.

[Steve]

One of the best things I have in my backpacking 1st aid kit.

Sting-Eze (http://stingeze.com/)

Of course there's also the old school method...tobacco. Several years ago Boo stepped on a honeybee in the yard while barefoot. I got a phone call at work from my wife telling me how well the Tobacco from one of my cigars worked. When I asked her which humidor she got the cigar from, I already had a feeling. Apparently Monte #4's are awesome at drawing out the "poison" from stings.

[Tio Gato]

Steve- It must have been a Cuban bee.;)

Vin- Ouch, good thing you had pants on!:noon

[G G]

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4104/35213927320_cf7b21ce79_z.jpg

And that's what three in the arm looks like. Doesn't hurt, but man does it itch.

Bee-yootiful!!!!!

[Don Fernando]

I was going to suggest rubbing alcohol, but clearly you're fvcked.

Vin thinks rubbing alcohol is a waste of alcohol

[jonumberone]

Vin, you don't need any of these hillbilly potions, redneck elixirs, or quack remedies.
What you need, if this happens again, is the Mia Wallace!
I'll show Grace how to administer it when I come for Hog Herf.
I'll just need you to head over to the hive and rile it up while in your Jesus sandals.
Also, don't have sweatpants tucked into your socks.
We'll have to wait for the bees to stop stinging you, because, let's face it, you're not outrunning anything at this point in your life.
Once it's safe, I'll have Roger mark the location of your heart with a felt pen.
I'm going with Roger over Keith here, because, as we all know, Roger is the only one with a heart among us.
Then, I just need to stab you hard enough with the needle to get through the breastplate.
Once I administer the shot, you should be good to go right back to entertaining and cooking for us.

[massphatness]

I suppose that's better than hearing "And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee" as I lie on the ground being stung ...


All better today, btw, thanks for asking.

[massphatness]

I don't mow the front lawn/clover field as often anymore to give the girls a chance to work the flowers (at least that's what I tell Grace when she asks why the yard looks so shaggy).

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4237/35814938196_19c52437a6_z.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4233/35814937696_895d904fa9_z.jpg

[CigarNut]

Nice excuse!

[sigsauer]

I am loving this thread.....and I am JEALOUS!

[icehog3]

I met the Bees! They were Buzztastic! :D

[357]

Great thread Vin. I took up beekeeping in spring 2016. I would highly recommend having a second hive. There are so many ways you can fix one hive using resources from the other, even if the second hive is just a nuc (pronounced nuke, short for nucleus hive).

Also, check out beesource.com. It's the closest thing the beekeeping world has to Cigar Asylum. Some of the biggest names, scientists, large commercial outfit owners, and a ton of very experienced beekeepers post there. If you haven't watched them yet, check out the series called the Sustainable Apiary by Michael Palmer. It's easy to find on YouTube. I've watched it twice and plan to again. I learn more each time as I have more experience under my belt. I would also recommend joining a local beekeeper club. Mine has been a huge benefit for the costly sum of $10/year/family.

If you haven't yet, you also need to do mite level checks. Powdered sugar or alcohol tests to need to be done periodically to know your mite/bee ratio. Even if you treat, you need to know your levels. Most die-offs and absconding happen due to high mite levels aka PMS. No, not that one. It stands for Parasitic Mite Syndrome. It's where the colony weakens due to various viruses introduced by high mite levels. If you ever have questions or want talk bees, please let me know.

[AdamJoshua]

I met the Bees! They were Buzztastic! :D

I guess you didn't have a Plan Bee?

[massphatness]

Had been leaving the bees to do their thing and just before we left for vacation last week, I noticed a precipitous drop off in activity around the hive.

Returned from vacation yesterday and did a hive inspection this afternoon. The bees that are in the hive continue to be working away, but the colony as a whole seems to have plateaued. They haven't really come close to building out comb on all the frames in the second box. Consulted with some other bee keepers in the area, and they suggested a supplemental feeding to re-stimulate activity since the spring/early summer flowers in our area are now past blooming and the late summer flowers haven't come in yet to speak of.

I took out two of the empty frames and replaced it with a feeder frame that holds about a gallon of sugar syrup. Will check on things later this week and add additional feed if needed.

Hoping the girls are just hungry, and there's not some larger problem at play.

[icehog3]

It will bee OK, Vin. :D

[markem]

Thank you for doing your part, Vin! Do some more for me.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/08/insect-bug-medicine-food-macneal/

[Tio Gato]

Hi Vin. Two days ago I drove by a big farm by me. They have 8 hives. I thought "what do they collect this time of summer?" I haven't seen a fresh flower in a month. I think you're right on that they're hungry. (Much like Roger! Ha) Good luck!

[massphatness]

Did a hive inspection when we got back from vacation last week, and I continued to have some concerns about the general lack of activity in the hive. Prepared a feed solution using a 1:1 sugar to water ratio, and filled a half gallon feeder frame with it. When I checked in on it a few days later, the frame was bone dry. The girls were HUNGRY! Gave them another half gallon, and they went through that as well!

The hive activity picked up significantly since I added the sugar syrup, and on Sunday I replaced the feeder frame with regular frames in the hopes that the bees are re-energized and will ramp up the building of comb. Will check on their progress this weekend.

The hope is that they build out comb sufficient that I can add a honey super in time for the upcoming fall honey flow.

Fingers crossed!

[pnoon]

Hoping for the best, Vin.

[CigarNut]

Now you know: they NEED their crack, er candy!

:)

[357]

Good luck Vin. You want those two deeps overflowing with bees before the cold hits. You may need to get an entrance feeder if there is no room left inside.

[massphatness]

Good luck Vin. You want those two deeps overflowing with bees before the cold hits. You may need to get an entrance feeder if there is no room left inside.

Thanks - the bottom deep is banged out pretty good. The top deep had ~7 frames built out when I replaced the feeder frame.

Entrance feeder on standby, but I really don't want to overfeed with the sugar syrup if I can avoid it.

[markem]

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=17832&stc=1&d=1503864745

[Tio Gato]

Just had to share this.http://nypost.com/video/idiot-puts-bare-ass-on-bees-for-money/

[jonumberone]

Just had to share this.http://nypost.com/video/idiot-puts-bare-ass-on-bees-for-money/

Looks like the coming attractions for next year's Hog Herf. :D

[icehog3]

Looks like the coming attractions for next year's Hog Herf. :D

You going to dare Roger, or Keith? :lr

[massphatness]

A mother covered herself in bees for a maternity photo shoot (https://www.yahoo.com/style/mother-covered-herself-bees-maternity-slideshow-wp-154821872.html)

The word "idiot" comes to mind

[stearns]

"so the bees would be on the outside of my body as a precautionary measure"

Good general rule :r

[Dux]

A mother covered herself in bees for a maternity photo shoot (https://www.yahoo.com/style/mother-covered-herself-bees-maternity-slideshow-wp-154821872.html)

The word "idiot" comes to mind

No, No, No, This guy tops them all

https://www.facebook.com/DailyMail/videos/2730126403713757/

[Tio Gato]

Looks like the coming attractions for next year's Hog Herf. :D

I don't wanna taste Vin's honey if that happens!:D

[Tio Gato]

A mother covered herself in bees for a maternity photo shoot (https://www.yahoo.com/style/mother-covered-herself-bees-maternity-slideshow-wp-154821872.html)

The word "idiot" comes to mind

I don't think she was stung 350 times. Pretty sure she was "stung" big time 9 months ago.;)

[massphatness]

Today was interesting day ...

Noticed an unusual amount of activity at the hive this afternoon, and a closer look revealed it to be under attack from yellow jackets! This is apparently common in the bee world. Instead of gathering their own resources, bees will sometimes try to rob out honey from another colony.

There were more bees buzzing around the hive than I've ever seen, and there were clearly fights going on among groups of bees.

I did a little internet research, and it seemed to boil down to two options:

> Reduce the size of the entrance to the hive

> Throw a wet sheet over the hive to stave off the intruders

While I know there are such things as entrance reducers, I don't yet have one. It's on the list to buy because as the weather turns cooler, I want to discourage mice from taking up refuge in the hive, but I haven't ordered it yet.

I don't fully understand WHY the wet sheet method works, but that's the way I went.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4367/36149153334_10f47a64be.jpg


About 15 minutes later ...

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/36986185755_3ca8d75798.jpg

There's still a ton of activity going on at the hive, and I can't tell if the bees massing on the sheet are mine or the robbers, but the research I did says to give it a couple days. The robbers leave as they're unable to get to the booty, and they're on to other targets. The sheet gets removed, and the hive gets back to normal.

Here's hoping.

[icehog3]

Praying for our bees, Vin. :)

[bonjing]

Bee fights must be interesting. Donald Duck dressing up as a bee and fighting with the stingers jumps to mind. Good luck against the intruders Vin.

[markem]

one word, Vin: mediation

[AdamJoshua]

fingers crossed!

[mosesbotbol]

Vin, that is all very neat. How much honey have you harvested this season?

[Tio Gato]

Hi Vin. Amazon has reducers for about 4bucks. Not sure what shipping is for a hunk of wood.:2 Good luck.

[elmorgan]

You have an unlimited supply of honey and with that I envy you.

[massphatness]

CRISIS AVERTED!

Tremendously happy to report the ladies survived the no good thievin' yellow jacket bastages! Grace and I did a full hive inspection today, and the bees were docile & unperturbed by our presence. They just worked away while we gently poked around the hive.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4373/36193728614_01f95f5944_z.jpg

This is a frame thick with capped honey. The bees will nosh on this to get them through the winter.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4360/36193729454_a02dac462e_z.jpg

And this frame has capped honey at the top with additional honey that's in production below.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4358/36193731104_aaa5ef56b5_z.jpg

One thing has become very clear to me: we ain't getting no excess honey this year. The weather here is starting to turn cooler, and the bees still have not fully built out all of the frames to store their winter supplies. Going to add some sugar syrup to the hive to stimulate some additional building activity. My #1 goal this year has always been to develop a strong colony that's able to over-winter. Harvesting a bit of excess honey was always seen as a bonus for this year.

[bonjing]

Have you had a taste yet Vin?

[massphatness]

Have you had a taste yet Vin?

Just the little bit that gets on my glove. Tastes like honey! :D Go figure. Honestly, I'm dying to try some, but it doesn't look to be in the cards this year. I'd literally be eating out of their winter supplies, and that's going to jeopardize the bees ability to over-winter, so no honey for this fat guy this year.

[icehog3]

You and Grace have done a great job with the hive, Vin. Hoping the bees live long and prosper, and sting Roger when he's being mean. :D

[mosesbotbol]

The bees are rocking in my area. I can't go into one of our gardens without seeing bees all over the place. I wonder if that is consistent in Ashland & Holliston (my neighboring towns I live on the border to)? They are both known for honey and apiaries are pretty common in those towns. I thought bees were on decline, but not in my yard at least...

[massphatness]

Installed an entrance reducer over the weekend. This will serve dual purposes: it keeps the robbers at bay since the hive has to defend a MUCH smaller opening, and it will prevent mice from setting up a winter home inside the hive.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4400/36771179750_73ce6234ff.jpg


And a closer look shows the ladies are starting to forage pollen off of the late summer/early autumn flowers like mums. You can see several of the bees carrying in pollen balls.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4430/36979971226_1d75aced66.jpg

[bonjing]

Very cool, Vin.

[icehog3]

Wish your bees would carry my pollen balls.....

[AdamJoshua]

Nice work Vin, the bees owe you and Grace both!

[massphatness]

Noticed the bees working around the flower pots on our front stoop, and they weren't interested in the flowers as much as they were focused on the droplets and small puddles of water in the pots. Apparently they're thirsty.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4415/36553522094_d82b1193db.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4354/36553521174_83f5fd429f.jpg

I put out a shallow bowl with water near the hive to give them another drinking source. Filled the bowl with some extra crushed stone we had laying around to give the bees some surface area to land on.

[bonjing]

Never new bees were so cool, Vin! One of these days a I need to go visit a bee farm.

[icehog3]

I bee thirsty too. Please leave a not so shallow bowl of Guinness near the hive, with a non-crushed lounge chair for me to land on. :)

[markem]

You are the bestest bee Mom, Vin :tu

[jonumberone]

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bees-killed-crash-20171103-story.html

[massphatness]

Got the hive wrapped for the winter last week now that the overnight temps are dropping lower. I used roofing felt which provides a bit of a wind break as well as helping to warm the hive by absorbing solar gain in direct sunlight.

The entrance to the hive remains open as does the notch in the top board to allow for circulation and air flow.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4462/26227671429_943c59b4b4.jpg

[icehog3]

Those bees are going to be pretty cozy!

[BigAsh]

Got the hive wrapped for the winter last week now that the overnight temps are dropping lower. I used roofing felt which provides a bit of a wind break as well as helping to warm the hive by absorbing solar gain in direct sunlight.

The entrance to the hive remains open as does the notch in the top board to allow for circulation and air flow.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4462/26227671429_943c59b4b4.jpg

You mean the notch covered by the giant f'ing rock? :sh

[Steve]

You mean the notch covered by the giant f'ing rock? :sh

Technicalities counselor, technicalities... :noon

[massphatness]

The notch is actually in the top board which is beneath the hive cover.

The hive cover is a little larger than the hive boxes which allows for a bee-sized gap between it and the top board. In a pinch, the bees can enter/exit from the top of the hive if necessary although I've never seen them do it in my hive.

To be clear, there's nothing under the rock except the metal wrapping over the hive cover. The rock's just there to help keep the cover in place when the wind blows. :D

[shade]

Hey Vin, looks good. How's the food supply going into winter?

[johnbljr]

I have wanted to get into this but the kids are terrified of bee's. We even have a local company here in Cincy that will let you house hives (4) and get the first batch of honey for them for free. Then eventually if you like it you can purchase the hives from them.
Maybe after the kids grow up a bit....

[massphatness]

Hey Vin, looks good. How's the food supply going into winter?

The frames are packed in pretty good with honey. Very little brood - which panicked me at first, but as I understand it, that's normal for this time of year.

Hoping for a mild winter, or at least one with some intermittent warm-ups over the course of the season.

[markem]

Vin - have you heard about this hive?

https://www.honeyflow.com/

[icehog3]

Vin - have you heard about this hive?

https://www.honeyflow.com/

Mr. Mark - have you heard about this flow?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKQU8j8lzRg

[AdamJoshua]

Mr. Mark - have you heard about this flow?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKQU8j8lzRg

Should have stayed out of Vegas, I told him, he wouldn't listen to his homey jew.


Hive looks awesome, Vin, do you check on them during the winter like open the hive and see what's going on, or do you basically leave it sealed up and trust that they know what they are doing and will be okay?

[bonjing]

If you're cold, they're cold, bring them inside :r:r:r

[massphatness]

Vin - have you heard about this hive?

https://www.honeyflow.com/

Yes, but I wanted to go old school for the sake of experience

[icehog3]

Yes, but I wanted to go old school for the sake of experience

Just like Tupac! :banger

[massphatness]

Sad news in the world of bees: as I feared, the ladies did not survive the brutal cold snap we had to start to the winter. I peeked in the hive yesterday as temps got up to 50* and was concerned I didn't see any activity. Even in the winter months, the bees will leave the hive when the temps get way enough in order to make cleansing flights to relieve themselves.

Looks like the entire cluster froze to death in a big ball. :(

Plenty of honey stores in the hive, so I know they didn't starve.

Grace & I are going to give things another shot this spring. Going to order a nuc instead of a package. A nuc is a working mini-colony of bees: 4-5 frames of bees who have already drawn out comb and are working with their queen. You slide the frames into the hive, and away they go. They'll have a head start on honey stores from last years hive -- I think I have 6-8 full frames of honey still in the hive -- so the hope is this helps them to rapidly build up & strengthen the hive.

Look forward to continuing the adventure, but kinda' sad about losing the bees.

[markem]

Sorry about the bees, Vin. Glad that you are going to continue.

[BigAsh]

I'm strangely saddened by the news...thru this thread, and personal conversation, invested in the project from afar... anything that would've prevented the result?? ...looking forward to the next round

[MarkinAZ]

Sorry to hear about Grace and your loss of the colony, especially after all of the nurturing given to the bee's.

Maybe before next Winter set's in, some form of wind break with a heat lamp pointed in the direction of the hive. That is, just enough heat to keep the freeze off the hive. Just a thought...

[icehog3]

You'll tweak it a little and have better success next winter, I am sure, Vin.

[massphatness]

I'm strangely saddened by the news...thru this thread, and personal conversation, invested in the project from afar... anything that would've prevented the result?? ...looking forward to the next round

Sorry to hear about Grace and your loss of the colony, especially after all of the nurturing given to the bee's.

Maybe before next Winter set's in, some form of wind break with a heat lamp pointed in the direction of the hive. That is, just enough heat to keep the freeze off the hive. Just a thought...


May look into planting some shrubs as a wind break. I knew going in that could be an issue, but I thought the area was wooded enough to provide a natural break. Need to research what kind of shrubs do well in heavy shade.

Not sure a heat lamp is a solution. As I understand it, artificial heat can cause the bees to think it's warmer outside the hive than it really is, and they venture out and die.

[CigarNut]

Sorry to hear about this, Vin — I hope your next attempt is much more successful!

As others have said, I really looked forward to reading this thread and am saddened. Looking for to future updates later this year.

[AdamJoshua]

Sad news indeed, maybe their memory bee a blessing.

Seems like they didn't give their tiny lives in vain as you are already researching and looking to improve next time!

[Dave128]

Sad news, Vin. May round two bring better success.

[8lug]

Vin, sorry to hear that you lost the hive. I'm sure you'll have much better luck this time around.

[shilala]

Sorry to hear it, Vin-Bob. That sucks.
You can wrap the hives come winter, insulating them.
Or build a break with hay bales, or do a lot of other stuff.

Think about the size of the hive vs. the size of the colony (which I think you already have a good grasp on).
There's gotta be enough bees to keep the heat up in the hive. If the little buggers are already chilled, they'll bite the dust on cleaning trips even though they'll shorten them.
Consider maybe even a styrofoam cover you can cob out of blue construction foam and tack on, or remove a section?

[Dux]

Sad news in the world of bees: as I feared, the ladies did not survive the brutal cold snap we had to start to the winter. I peeked in the hive yesterday as temps got up to 50* and was concerned I didn't see any activity. Even in the winter months, the bees will leave the hive when the temps get way enough in order to make cleansing flights to relieve themselves.

Looks like the entire cluster froze to death in a big ball. :(

Plenty of honey stores in the hive, so I know they didn't starve.

Grace & I are going to give things another shot this spring. Going to order a nuc instead of a package. A nuc is a working mini-colony of bees: 4-5 frames of bees who have already drawn out comb and are working with their queen. You slide the frames into the hive, and away they go. They'll have a head start on honey stores from last years hive -- I think I have 6-8 full frames of honey still in the hive -- so the hope is this helps them to rapidly build up & strengthen the hive.

Look forward to continuing the adventure, but kinda' sad about losing the bees.


Vin, sorry to hear you lost the bees. fingers crossed for the next attempt!

[massphatness]

Bees 2.0

Having successfully managed to freeze my bees to death over the winter, I was left with a hive full of comb and a lot of usable resources like pollen & honey, but no ladies to work their bee magic.

The pic on the left shows the bees basically frozen in place between frames all bunched together as you might expect for warmth. Pic on the right is after I pulled the frames apart.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/968/28259001158_5b4df0731d_n.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/943/28259000238_dc4d4733b5_n.jpg

This time around, since my first batch of bees had already laid a lot of the groundwork, I opted to go with a nucleus (or "nuc") which is basically a mini working hive of five frames complete with bees and a queen already making brood and storing honey and generally doing bee things.

It comes in a box like this, and thank god I brought bungee cords because one big bump on the road and that top comes flying off. Then voila -- bees in the Jeep!

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/964/40323693070_6c5bffd041_z.jpg

And with that, I was ready to transfer the frames from the nuc to the hive ...

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/975/40323693910_74d0d434ae_z.jpg

More later.

[stearns]

The hive is alive! :wo

[Dave128]

Sweet! Maybe you should let the new hive winter in the Jeep?

[BigAsh]

Bees 2.0



https://farm1.staticflickr.com/975/40323693910_74d0d434ae_z.jpg

More later.

so much win here!

[sigsauer]

I will definitely buy honey

[sigsauer]

man I would love to have the time to do this

[icehog3]

Can't wait to meet the new bees! :D

[markem]

Sweet! We have bee sign!

[Steve]

Bee careful... ;)

[Flynnster]

Congrats on the new ones!

[jonumberone]

Can't wait to meet the new bees! :D

Meet the new bees... Same as the old bees.

[CigarNut]

Very cool, Vin!

[massphatness]

Here are some shots from when Grace & I transferred the frames from the nuc to our hive.

In this photo, you can see we've put in a feeder tray (far right). the bees climb down the opening in the tray to drink the sugar syrup. This helps stimulate brood rearing, especially in the spring when resources (flowers) are not yet plentiful. The little orange thing in the on top of the frames in the left corner that looks like a sponge is a pollen patty. The bees can eat that as well as a protein source in the absence of other pollen sources.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/968/42084508152_ffb5f1199d_z.jpg

This is a look inside the nuc as we were transferring frames. It's really a mini hive, and the bees were already working away building comb, storing honey and raising brood. The hope is this head start, plus the leftover resources from my hive last year are enough to jump start the colony and give them a strong foundation for the year ahead.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/823/42084508752_4a2b053e1c_z.jpg


The ladies working on building out comb and packing it with honey. In the upper right, you can see a lot of honey that's "in process". Once they get it to the right moisture content - somewhere around 17% - they add the airtight wax cap so it stays at just the right consistency. My understanding is the bees cap honey in groups of cells whereas brood cells are capped individually. That's why capped honey can appear dimpled whereas capped brood looks to be more raised.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/979/40323694380_66b1f71dbe_z.jpg

[icehog3]

Meet the new bees... Same as the old bees.

Damn, I got fooled again!

[IBQTEE1]

So sorry Vin about the ladies. So, cool that you are trying again. Can't wait to see the progress.

[massphatness]

Took a peek in the hive today and we located the queen doing her thing. Big treat for us because this queen is unmarked -- no colored dot on her back like the queen from last year, so spotting her among the thousands of other bees gave us a thrill as well as a confidence boost that we're progressing as beekeepers.

On the downside, we were a little too slow with the camera and didn't get a clear pic of her. Hopefully next time!

However, we do know she's doing her thing because we were able to see freshly laid eggs and larva that are only a few days old.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/978/41337031585_de683cdfa4.jpg
The egg is the little grain of rice looking thing sticking up in the lower left corner of the honeycomb.


Here's a shot of larva that's more fully developed. Based on its size, I'm guessing the bees will be capping these soon.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/824/40429276930_5ae226d998.jpg


This is the same frame, but further away. The honey comb that contains the larva had baby bees emerge from them just a few days ago. Once the new bee eats through the wax cap and pops out of the comb, she immediately gets to work cleaning and polishing it so the queen can deposit a new egg in it to start the process all over again. Initially the honeycomb produced by bees is a translucent white, but it darkens as it's used again and again. The darker the comb, the more times it's been used to produce a bee.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/903/40429277610_18431ae739.jpg

[massphatness]

During our hive inspection we also determined that between the new frames we added from the nuc and the leftover frames of honey we had from our bees that didn't survive the winter, our boxes were pretty full. In a situation like this where there's ample resources coming in but nowhere for the bees to put it, you risk having half your hive swarm out and leave to find greener pastures.

To avoid this, we put on our first honey super. However, we don't want the queen laying eggs up in the new honey box so first we place a screen - called a Queen Excluder - on top of the brood box. The screen allows worker bees to pass through its slats, but the larger queen will not be able to do so; keeping her in the bottom two hive boxes to keep popping out bee babies.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/905/41337122675_f882751c70.jpg

With the screen in place, we add another box of empty frames, called a honey super. This box has ten frames like the brood boxes but isn't as tall. The bees will need to build out comb in this new box, and once they do, they'll begin storing honey there. With luck, we'll have our first-ever batch of honey later this spring!!

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/907/41337123455_9e27657ba1.jpg

Here's what the hive looks like now ...

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/825/41337124515_eee045c51e.jpg

[markem]

Very cool! Might I venture so far as to say "sweet"?

[Tio Gato]

That's a great tower there. Plenty of room to thrive in that bee castle.

Mid March I saw a guy in Walmart buying every bag of sugar they had. A whole cart full. He was wearing a CT Bee Keeper Association t-shirt. He said this winter was brutal on his hives and the bees were starving and freezing. Thought I'd share that so you know you weren't alone facing such a horrific winter. Good luck. Soon they'll be having a feast at the apple orchard.

[icehog3]

Love seeing the bee progress, Vin! Maybe a little honey for breakfast in July?:D

[markem]

Here's a good video of bee birth

https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/magazine/150415-ngm-bees

[BigAsh]

During our hive inspection we also determined that between the new frames we added from the nuc and the leftover frames of honey we had from our bees that didn't survive the winter, our boxes were pretty full. In a situation like this where there's ample resources coming in but nowhere for the bees to put it, you risk having half your hive swarm out and leave to find greener pastures.

To avoid this, we put on our first honey super. However, we don't want the queen laying eggs up in the new honey box so first we place a screen - called a Queen Excluder - on top of the brood box. The screen allows worker bees to pass through its slats, but the larger queen will not be able to do so; keeping her in the bottom two hive boxes to keep popping out bee babies.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/905/41337122675_f882751c70.jpg

With the screen in place, we add another box of empty frames, called a honey super. This box has ten frames like the brood boxes but isn't as tall. The bees will need to build out comb in this new box, and once they do, they'll begin storing honey there. With luck, we'll have our first-ever batch of honey later this spring!!

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/907/41337123455_9e27657ba1.jpg

Here's what the hive looks like now ...

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/825/41337124515_eee045c51e.jpg

Nice Vin...good work on honey! ...BTW, is that your hat on the ground in front of the hive in the last pic? :tf

[icehog3]

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/825/41337124515_eee045c51e.jpg

Nice Vin...good work on honey! ...BTW, is that your hat on the ground in front of the hive in the last pic? :tf

https://i.imgur.com/hHVS5XK.jpg

[mosesbotbol]

There's a ton of bees around my neighborhood, I wonder if someone has a hive nearby? The next two towns to me are both big apiaries. There are signs everywhere not use pesticide because of bees.

[Flynnster]

There's a ton of bees around my neighborhood, I wonder if someone has a hive nearby? The next two towns to me are both big apiaries. There are signs everywhere not use pesticide because of bees.

How far away are those other towns? Bees travel surprisingly far for food. Also, if they are close it's pretty natural for those hives to swarm, which could help them slowly spread out.

[massphatness]

Just playing around with my camera and got this shot of one the ladies returning to the hive with her pollen pants on ...

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1753/42305642832_016257a5db.jpg

[BigAsh]

is that like the 7:00 am, pumps in hand, mussed up hair, long hallway "walk of shame"? :D

[Tio Gato]

Panties in the purse? Nice pic Vin.

[massphatness]

Grace & I did a hive inspection over the weekend.


Finally grabbed a decent pic of the queen.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1730/42569242171_33b181aa9a.jpg


Inadvertently broke open some honeycomb while pulling frames, and the ladies went right to work making repairs. Clean up on aisle 3! Close up on the right shows bee tongue. :)
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1759/42569240641_f97bc63e19.jpg https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1753/42569241661_5167bff04f.jpg


This shot shows the bees packing pollen into cells. You can see some of the bees going head first into the comb. They basically pack the pollen in by head-butting down into the comb.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1759/42569242851_57661ab14e_z.jpg


Good times!

[Tio Gato]

Amazing what goes on in nature. Great pics!

[CigarNut]

Very cool, Vin!

[markem]

Very nice. Glad that the bees are cooperating and that you have a good long summer ahead for them to build out the hive and prep for next winter.

[icehog3]

MMM.....bee tongue.

[357]

Sad news in the world of bees: as I feared, the ladies did not survive the brutal cold snap we had to start to the winter. I peeked in the hive yesterday as temps got up to 50* and was concerned I didn't see any activity. Even in the winter months, the bees will leave the hive when the temps get way enough in order to make cleansing flights to relieve themselves.

Looks like the entire cluster froze to death in a big ball. :(

Plenty of honey stores in the hive, so I know they didn't starve.

Grace & I are going to give things another shot this spring. Going to order a nuc instead of a package. A nuc is a working mini-colony of bees: 4-5 frames of bees who have already drawn out comb and are working with their queen. You slide the frames into the hive, and away they go. They'll have a head start on honey stores from last years hive -- I think I have 6-8 full frames of honey still in the hive -- so the hope is this helps them to rapidly build up & strengthen the hive.

Look forward to continuing the adventure, but kinda' sad about losing the bees.

Take heart brother, losses in northern states like ours are averaging near 50% across the board. That goes for little guys like us and big commercial guys (as in the professionals). I lost all my hives last year (only 2). The year before I lost 5 of 6. This year I have 7 going. I should have a lot of honey to sell even though many of them are drawing out foundation. At least two are working with fully drawn comb.

Just a word of advice, be careful with queen excluders. Sometimes the workers won't draw out new frames above it. Other times they will. Sometimes, it can give them a swarm trigger as they feel like there is not enough space since they don't want to work through it. That said, there is a saying amongst beekeepers. If you ask 10 beekeepers the same question, you'll get at least 12 different answers. Do what works for you. I just offer when I've learned from others and from what I've learned on my own.

Also, if your hives are in the woods, like mine, at some point you'll likely start seeing some small hive beetles. I'm not sure how well established they are in your part of the country. 5 years ago they were unheard of in Michigan and were considered a southern states issue. Not anymore. SHBs aren't the end of the world, just make sure their larva aren't tunneling through your comb. Typically SHB are just a nuisance to a normal bee colony but if the colony is weak for whatever reason, the SHB can take over and ruin your comb and honey (making it unfit for human consumption).

Anyway, keep the pics and info coming. I love to see other folks beekeeping.

[sigsauer]

this is my favorite thread....

[massphatness]

We're going to have HONEY!!

Grace and I have been peeking into the hive every ten days or so, and while we noticed a few more bees in the honey super, they didn't seem to be actually doing anything up there.

Until yesterday when we opened the hive and saw this ...

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/927/43132202952_cb606307be.jpg

The girls were clearly hard at work in the honey box, and we were delighted to find they are steadily drawing out comb and filling it with liquid gold.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1785/41371580130_4aa360642f.jpg

I find the honey making process to be fascinating. Basically the bees gather nectar and bring it back to the hive for processing by other bees. If I understand it correctly, these other bees mix the nectar with enzymes in their little bee bodies and then deposit the mixture into the comb. At this point, it's not yet honey. Instead, it's simply a very wet nectar syrup of sorts. The bees then fan the open comb with their wings until the water content gets down to around 17%. How do they know it's 17%? Well, back in the old days, it was a hassle for them to measure the humidity, but now there are any number of very accurate hygrometers that can be picked up on Amazon rather inexpensively. :) I have no idea how they know, but they know. The wonder of nature and all. And now that the mixture has been evaporated down to 17% water content, voila - it's honey!

Once the bees get it to honey, they cap the comb with wax to keep it securely stored.
You can see they've started capping this frame.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1822/43132204382_2b2a9e2fec.jpg

Next step is for us to wait until they've filled and capped all the frames in the honey box, and then it's harvest time. No idea how long that will take, but boy would it be cool to have fresh honey for my herf later this month!

[CigarNut]

Very cool, Vin!

[markem]

Wow! Very cool and a great post. I think that I picked up on your excitement as I'm in "go bees, go!" mode right now.

[icehog3]

That's awesome! Nice job, Honey! :D

[Dave128]

Wicked cool!

[massphatness]

Almost there ...

About half my frames look like this:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1768/42569085684_683de624ee_z.jpg

Once the rest do -- maybe by this weekend? -- it's honey time!:noon

[markem]

Very cool, Vin!

[icehog3]

HONEY TIME! :wo

[CigarNut]

Are you going to put the CA logo on your honey? :)

[stearns]

Lookin great Vin! If you want to trade some honey for some honey bbq sauce made with it you know who to call :)

[BigAsh]

Can't wait to smear it on my...#vinsherfnounderwear....:D

[icehog3]

Can't wait to smear it on my...#vinsherfnounderwear....:D

:lr

[massphatness]

Fingers crossed for herf honey!! Looks like they just need to cap a couple frames, and we should be able to harvest this week!
Posted via Mobile Device

[sigsauer]

this thread is awesome.....man I am jealous

[icehog3]

Fingers crossed for herf honey!! Looks like they just need to cap a couple frames, and we should be able to harvest this week!
Posted via Mobile Device

Awesome, Vin! What's a few stings and a hoard of agitated bees compared to making your friends happy and honeyed. :D

[massphatness]

Grace and I removed the honey super this evening. I wish I had somebody taking video of the process because it went so much better than I could have imagined. The ladies were downright docile as we removed the frames and brushed them off.

Tomorrow Grace is taking the 10 frames to have the honey extracted and by tomorrow night we should have a butt load of honey. The box must weigh 40 or 50 pounds. Take away what little weight there is to the pine box plus the plastic frames, and I have to believe we have 30 to 40 pounds of actual honey.

Hoping that we can get some pictures of the extraction process. With the herf this weekend, I don’t know if I’ll be able to post much in the next few days, but I’ll get the thread updated as soon as I can.
Posted via Mobile Device

[AdamJoshua]

Well is that all honey or is a lot of that weight the actual wax is used for a ton of good stuff too. In Dublin the hotel we were at had this wood box at an angle with a plexiglass lid and in the box was raw honeycomb and you used a knife and just got fresh honey that way, it was pretty freaking cool

[shark]

:noon It looks like you are really good at this. Very satisfying when a lot of work pays off.

[icehog3]

I have to believe we have 30 to 40 pounds of actual honey.



OK, so after breakfast with me, you, Dom, Keith, Roger and Christos, there should be at least 2 or 3 pounds left? :D

[massphatness]

So much super bee coolness went on today that I want to go on and on and on yadda yadda yadda about it all. But I have a herf to prep, so I'm just going to leave this here:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1803/43519571891_05c2e5a8a5_z.jpg

[sigsauer]

you gonna sell any?

[markem]

woot!

[Tio Gato]

Hate to say it but Sweet! ;) Perfect name for it!:tu

[massphatness]

you gonna sell any?

Probably not this first round -- gifting most of it to family friends -- though a jar may find it's way into the next troop auction. ;)

There's a second honey flow in the fall. If things go well, and we get another good-sized batch, we may look into selling some. There's an orchard right next door to us, and they have a farm stand. Our bees almost certainly have been working their flowers all spring & summer, and I think they might see the value in taking some honey on a consignment basis.

[Dave128]

Nice job, Vin! Your hard work in keeping the hives thriving is paying off.

[icehog3]

Roger killed on of the bees Friday. It was horrific.

[massphatness]

A few photos from the honey extraction ...

Grace brought our frames to a local beekeeper who has a serious set-up. Here's one of our frames being readied. You can see the ladies did an excellent job fully capping the whole frame.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1829/43479166192_c45fa5954e.jpg


This is the same frame that's been uncapped. They use a heated knife to shear the wax away and it collects in a bin at the de-capping station. We get to keep the wax which can be used down the road for a variety of things from soap to candles to lip balm and more.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/940/43526767631_2db642929b.jpg


The frames are then loaded into an extractor which is basically a big stainless steel centrifuge that whirls them around to spin out the honey. The honey comb largely stays in tact during this process mostly because of the style frames I use. This is great for the bees -- less rebuilding of comb means more time can be spent making more honey.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1768/43526766481_4591836b47.jpg


The honey pours from the extractor and is strained into a food grade 5-gallon bucket through a couple layers of steel mesh to filter out the bits of wax, bee parts and other assorted detritus.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/942/43479167602_52beba009f.jpg


We ended up with just over 30 lbs of honey. (The bucket weighs about 2.5 lbs)

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/934/29655324438_d84130e6ee.jpg


This was our honey filling station in the kitchen. You can see that 30 lbs is about half the bucket.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/852/29655325378_ba2873b445.jpg


That 30 lbs was enough to gift everyone at my herf an 8 oz jar with plenty left over for family and friends. We'll see what the fall honey flow brings, and maybe I can make some available here.

[markem]

Wow! What a cool process, Vin. I love the idea of you having a honey filling station in the kitchen.

[sigsauer]

397!!!!!!!

[Dave128]

:dr:dr

[357]

Great stuff Vin. That first batch of honey really is special. "Fall" honey is unique. You likely will have large amounts of goldenrod blooming in August. If the weather is right, it can produce large amounts of slightly darker honey. It's got a little stronger flavor as well. I love it. Keep the pics coming. If you can spare a half-pint or pint size jar of honey, I'd love to trade you jar for jar from my apiary. Every batch is different even from neighboring hives and I like tasting the different varieties. I'd love to try some New England honey if you're interested in some Michigan honey.

[massphatness]

If you can spare a half-pint or pint size jar of honey, I'd love to trade you jar for jar from my apiary. Every batch is different even from neighboring hives and I like tasting the different varieties. I'd love to try some New England honey if you're interested in some Michigan honey.

Would love to trade if we get some additional honey in the fall. This batch is just about tapped after my herf and hooking up neighbors, family, co-workers, etc.

[GreekGodX]

Would love to trade if we get some additional honey in the fall. This batch is just about tapped after my herf and hooking up neighbors, family, co-workers, etc.

I’m sure we can find someone that came to the herf to regift their honey :r

[massphatness]

Mickey Moused a solar wax melter using an old cooler. Cut out the top of the lid and replaced it with plexiglass and fashioned an angled stand inside the cooler from some scrap wood. Banged some holes into one end of a foil pan, lined it with paper towels to stop any bee bits and junk from sullying the fresh wax & put a small Tupperware bowl beneath it to collect the melted wax. Now to let the sun do it's thing.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/849/43000013654_760ee9aa6a.jpg

Unknown if this is going to work, but the internet says it should, so here's hoping.

[markem]

Clever!

[massphatness]

Was going through our hive photos from last year, and came across some pretty convincing visual evidence that this year's hive is significantly stronger than last.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/934/41942054560_7e9fcf3f29.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1836/41942053620_23cc4447ff.jpg

More bees = Stronger hive

[Tio Gato]

That's amazing Vin. Thanks for sharing,. Oh, and thanks for the honey. Yum.

[markem]

Mickey Moused a solar wax melter using an old cooler.

Did it work, Vin? Inquiring minds and all that.

btw, if you grow lavender or something similar, you can make your own scents and put them into a candle, if you decide to make some. I don't know how, but there are plenty of places around here that do it as lavender is a fairly large crop here.

[massphatness]

Did it work, Vin? Inquiring minds and all that.


Kinda' but not really due to operator error.

Longer explanation coming when I have more time to self-flagellate.

[massphatness]

Soooooooo my first foray into melting bees wax produced unexpected results.

I ended up rendering another pound or so of honey from the wax cappings, but the wax didn't really melt -- it just kind of stayed in semi-soupy form in the melter.

Did some research and found you get much better results if you drain the remaining honey from the wax then rinse the honey comb in cool water to further remove any sweet, sticky stuff.

I bundled up the cappings in cheese cloth and pressed it over a metal strain to squeeze out the last bits of honey then rinsed it as instructed in some cool water.

I was left with some slightly sticky wax globs that I broke apart and put back in the solar melter to see if a second go at it would produce better results.

It was warm, but overcast yesterday -- not much in the way melting took place, and I was a little discouraged.

However, today was bright sun and hot all day. I came home to this:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1839/43724482652_001089dd5f.jpg

All the wax had melted leaving behind the impurities on the paper towel filter.

The wax itself looks like this:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1831/43723877132_cb54126e6e.jpg

There's not a lot, but I didn't expect a lot -- maybe enough for one candle? :) Not worried - hoping to get a bit more this fall.

Bottom line though, the solar melter works if you prep the wax carefully!

[icehog3]

Cool stuff, Vin, it gets better and better. :tu

Now if you can just train about 90 of them to attack Roger on command....

[markem]

Seriously cool, Vin!

[8lug]

Cool stuff, Vin, it gets better and better. :tu

Now if you can just train about 90 of them to attack Roger on command....

Now that's funny. :r

[357]

Great looking beeswax Vin. That's exactly what it's supposed to look like, lemon-ish colored. It can vary widely but they have shows/contests for this stuff and that's the color the pros aim for. Well done.

[massphatness]

Got a chance to do a hive inspection on Saturday.

Not a lot is happening in the honey supers. That's to be expected as the spring flowers are done blooming in this area. The one area where I see a lot of bees is in our Rose of Sharon bush which started blooming in mid July and continues to flower now - though I think that's starting to ebb.

Here's a shot of one of the girls getting her pollen on in the flower:
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1856/29218778417_f562ee7083.jpg

Didn't take any photos during the hive inspection because the girls seemed a little agitated. In pulling some of the frames, I did see a decent amount of brood in various stages from egg to larva to capped brood, so I know the queen is doing her thing.

Also managed to see the queen scurrying around one of the frames. Always reassuring to me when I can find her among tens of thousands of other bees in the hive. :)

Looking forward to the fall honey flow in a few weeks.

[mosesbotbol]

We get a lot of bees still around on Lavender & Basil patches. There are always several bees in them. Never seen them without bees actually.

[massphatness]

As the temps have started to get cooler in New England, Grace & I decided to harvest the fall honey this week. Unfortunately, there just wasn't all that much of it vs. what we got in the spring. Earlier this year we were able to take out about 30 lbs of honey. I was expecting A LOT more in the fall based on what I had been told by other beekeepers -- some of whom say their fall yield is 75%+ of the total year's volume. So I was expecting to blow past the 30 lbs we had taken this spring.

It was pretty clear we weren't going to get a whole lot because a couple of the frames looked like this - just a smattering of cells being filled.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1943/44217995244_827cea3dd7.jpg


In the end, we got about 12 pounds of a deep amber honey. Honey's color depends on what flowers are blooming while the bees forage. The bright gold honey you see in stores -- often labeled Clover Honey - is almost certainly produced in the spring and early summer when clover abounds. Darker honeys, at least in this area, are a result of late summer blooms of flowers and trees.

Here's a side-by-side look at our spring honey and our fall honey. The lighter spring honey has a more floral taste to it while the fall honey has a caramely, brown-sugar quality. I've read that the darker honeys are more nutritious. Both are freaking delicious.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1969/44217994754_1cd78c4e79.jpg

Going to throw some honey into the next troop auction if anyone's interested.

Grace and I have had such a good time with the bees this year, that we're going to add a second hive next spring. Fingers crossed that our current hive over-winters successfully. Otherwise, I may just have a whole bunch of firewood when the snow melts next year.

[Black Coral]

Looking forward to the troop auction

[Tio Gato]

Looking forward to the troop auction

Me too! I'd love to the dark honey.:dr

[AdamJoshua]

That's awesome congratulations on a thriving hive and bountiful harvest! Holy **** I sound like a Quaker :(


Actually thought this was very cool, saw it a lot in Europe on the breakfast buffets, that's if they are regular wax and not pre-made which it looks like they are, but this is still cool damn it!

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/bb/c8/b4/bbc8b4492f85504c30555b8ff55a85e6.jpg

[massphatness]

We’ve thought about trying out foundationless frames in the future. It’s awesome to be able to cut chunks of comb with honey right from the frame. The downside for me is that the bees then need to completely re-create the comb instead of just focusing on honey production. Also, the guy who does our extractions charges more if we use foundationless frames because it apparently takes longer and makes a mess of things. For now, we are going to continue to go with the pre-printed plastic frames, but I’d love to try the foundationless frames once I have some more experience under my belt.
Posted via Mobile Device

[BigAsh]

that dark amber honey looks delish!!..reminds me of a dark Amber I once knew...😎

[AdamJoshua]

This had me in the mood for toast with honey. I went out The kitchen before I realize there’s no bread here why would you be bread here. Then i was realized that there is no toaster here. Sure if there was bread i could use the oven, but really a house without a toaster, well there gonna s mood edit plan with taking a bath, notthst i would get in that tub even if i was going to play battleships with a plugged in toaster. I mean that’s just gross.

[massphatness]

After we bottle the honey, there's always a little bit left in the bucket. Washing it down the drain seems like we're asking for problems, but thanks to some research on Google, we found the answer is, as usual: bees.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1978/30100172577_d773322b28.jpg

I put the bucket a few feet from the hive, and within an afternoon, the ladies had slurped up all the good stuff leaving the bucket squeaky clean.

It was suggested that i put some grass in the bucket to give the bees something to hold on to as they can drown in their own honey.

What they took from the bucket is stored in the hive for future use as food during the upcoming cold weather months.

I wasn't prescient enough to take a photo of the honey remnants in the bucket before putting it out next to the hive, but there was a pretty decent amount. I remember thinking, "no way this works" and as usual, I was wrong. Will try to remember to take more pics next time.

[Dux]

How are they doing on winter reserves?

[massphatness]

How are they doing on winter reserves?

They seem to be loaded up pretty good. Going to do a hive inspection this weekend and rearrange some of the frames to keep the brood frames in one deep and the honey frames in the other. If the honey stores seem to be light, I'll add a feeder frame to promote additional honey production.

Overall though, I'm far more optimistic than I was at this time last year.

[BigAsh]

After we bottle the honey, there's always a little bit left in the bucket. Washing it down the drain seems like we're asking for problems, but thanks to some research on Google, we found the answer is, as usual: bees.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1978/30100172577_d773322b28.jpg

I put the bucket a few feet from the hive, and within an afternoon, the ladies had slurped up all the good stuff leaving the bucket squeaky clean.

It was suggested that i put some grass in the bucket to give the bees something to hold on to as they can drown in their own honey.

What they took from the bucket is stored in the hive for future use as food during the upcoming cold weather months.

I wasn't prescient enough to take a photo of the honey remnants in the bucket before putting it out next to the hive, but there was a pretty decent amount. I remember thinking, "no way this works" and as usual, I was wrong. Will try to remember to take more pics next time.

Genius.....gotta love nature....and way to use "prescient" in a sentence...bonus 10 points

[Dux]

They seem to be loaded up pretty good. Going to do a hive inspection this weekend and rearrange some of the frames to keep the brood frames in one deep and the honey frames in the other. If the honey stores seem to be light, I'll add a feeder frame to promote additional honey production.

Overall though, I'm far more optimistic than I was at this time last year.


Awesome! :tu

[massphatness]

Couple quick quick shots from our recent hive inspection. We're really happy with the amount of honey & pollen we're seeing on the frames as well as the sheer number of bees in the hive. Feeling much more confident as we head into the cooler months this year than I did last. It seems like we have 4 or 5 times as many bees in the hive as we did last year.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1959/45101972421_c16b1a7264_z.jpg
This is me poking around the frames to get a sense for what's going on in the hive. We riled up the bees pretty good, so Grace wasn't comfortable snapping many pics.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1903/45101970461_4d0c50aa5c_z.jpg


https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1938/45101973221_d6a111368e_z.jpg
This is a good representation of how nicely the bees are filling in the frames with their winter stores. In this photo, they're got the frame packed pretty full of pollen.

[icehog3]

Hope this year's bees kick that Massachusetts winter right in its ass, Vin! :D

[Dave128]

Looks like you’re doing an amazing job, Vin.

[markem]

That's one sweet setup, Vin. ;)

[sigsauer]

I never used "prescient" like ever
sort of like juxtaposition...

[shilala]

Hey Binnie.
I just read a few days ago that they finally figured out colony collapse disorder.
RoundUp.
Turns out the RoundUp decimates one of 4 of the bee's major gut flora, and it's not naturally recoverable, or at least in the period of time from crop application to winter layover for the bees.

Fortunately, some knuckleheads are developing fungus that supplies bacteria for the bees.
It happens to be the wrong bacteria at this point, but things are moving in the right direction quickly.
RoundUp isn't long for this world, and the right bacterial supplements for hives should be available soon. :tu

[IBQTEE1]

I missed so much of this. I am now caught up and it is so cool. I don't use honey too much but the whole process is cool. Vin once again thank you for the updates.

[hogg]

What a fascinating story. I finally got to catch up on the whole thing. Last winter was the coldest that I remember in years. Here's hoping for a return to mild winters this year. Thanks for sharing Vin!

[massphatness]

Some very welcome mild temps in New England this weekend, and it gives the bees a chance go out and do their bee business. When temps get above 45* it allows the ladies to get out and take "cleansing flights" as, being ladies, they don't poo in the hive.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4915/45602888734_91797600b6.jpg

[icehog3]

Some very welcome mild temps in New England this weekend, and it gives the bees a chance go out and do their bee business. When temps get above 45* it allows the ladies to get out and take "cleansing flights" as, being ladies, they don't poo in the hive.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4915/45602888734_91797600b6.jpg

Much more hygienic than some of the human guests in your house this year. ;) ;s

[AdamJoshua]

2 bees one cup huh

[Tio Gato]

Some very welcome mild temps in New England this weekend, and it gives the bees a chance go out and do their bee business. When temps get above 45* it allows the ladies to get out and take "cleansing flights" as, being ladies, they don't poo in the hive.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4915/45602888734_91797600b6.jpg

That's a cool thing to know. I try to learn something new every day, now I'm all set for today. Thanks Vin!:D

[357]

We’ve thought about trying out foundationless frames in the future. It’s awesome to be able to cut chunks of comb with honey right from the frame. The downside for me is that the bees then need to completely re-create the comb instead of just focusing on honey production. Also, the guy who does our extractions charges more if we use foundationless frames because it apparently takes longer and makes a mess of things. For now, we are going to continue to go with the pre-printed plastic frames, but I’d love to try the foundationless frames once I have some more experience under my belt.
Posted via Mobile Device

You can get an inexpensive manual extractor and do it yourself. The decent ones have a clutch so the crank handle doesn't take your arm off once you let go. The nicer ones yet spin the frames radially, allowing you to skip the step of flipping the frames over (like you have to on a tangential extractor) , plus is much friendlier to foundationless wax. With a manual extractor, you can carefully control the speed to prevent blowouts.

My extractor is a $120-ish 2-frame tangential but I have my eye on a 4/8-frame preferably with a clutching handle. There are a few manufacturers, and all will do 4 frames tangentially or 8 radially. I just haven't picked one I want yet. They run $250-300 or higher for name brands.

[icehog3]

http://www.dudeiwantthat.com/outdoors/garden/flow-hives-langstroth-style-cedar-beehive.asp

The Taj Mahal for Bees, or just a money laundering scheme for some suspicious bee keepers?

[Tio Gato]

Hi Vin. What's the latest news on the bees. Are they doing well?

[Conch Republican]

Was reading back - and it is interesting as always. Was particularly interested in the Round-Up piece. So many people use it, and now we are seeing carcinogenic issues, and of course eco-system issues. who knew that killing dandelions in my yards would create an issue that may resonate through bugs, to birds and bees, thus affecting our own food production. My neighbor is super green (solar, geo-thermal, and such) and asked me if I would consider NOT spraying for weeds in my yard - and also not treating the yard against bugs and skeeters. Paints an interesting picture

[massphatness]

Hi Vin. What's the latest news on the bees. Are they doing well?

I've been negligent in updating the thread -- lots has happened. Will try to post some info in the next few days.

[IBQTEE1]

I've been negligent in updating the thread -- lots has happened. Will try to post some info in the next few days.

Looking forward to it. :banger

[BigAsh]

I've been negligent in updating the thread -- lots has happened. Will try to post some info in the next few days.

The grim reaper rears his head....cue the dark music!!

[icehog3]

The grim reaper rears his head....cue the dark music!!

Paul McCartney sings the opening verse of "Let It Bee"......-(P

[massphatness]

Mother Mary, comfort me ...

[G G]

Paul McCartney sings the opening verse of "Let It Bee"......-(P

You really should be on the road working comedy clubs.:r

[icehog3]

You really should be on the road working comedy clubs.:r

First stop.... Taylor, Florida. :D

[CigarNut]

Took a picture of Vin's hive at the herf this last weekend -- it was too hot (over a 100*) for them, so they moved outside to keep cool. Vin said it's called Bearding:

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=18689&stc=1&d=1563895477

[massphatness]

Been negligent in keeping this thread updated. Probably deliberately negligent because our hive from last year, the one we got our first ever honey from, and the one I felt was suitably strong heading into the cold weather months, didn't make it through a rather mild winter. I know they didn't starve because there was still plenty of honey in the brood boxes when I discovered their demise. Like the prior year, they were all clustered tightly into a ball. Very much dead. Frozen.

I'm convinced I need a wind break, and while I'd prefer a natural one like a hedge, I'm researching temporary options.

Fortunately for me, I had another nucleus of bees already on order as I had planned to start a second hive this past spring. Had that not been the case, very possible I would have thrown in the towel.

Glad I didn't because this spring & summer have been a lot of fun with the new bees. Here's the new queen.

https://i.imgur.com/2gTcSmgl.jpg

She's "marked" with a green dot both for ease of identification and to determine her age -- all queens born this year are green-dots; next year's will be blue & the following white. In this way, bee keepers who manage to overwinter their hives can determine how old their queen is. I haven't had to worry about that yet. :(

Summer came somewhat late to New England as the spring rains didn't really end until mid-June. Flowers were late in blooming which actually help my new hive because I didn't get the bees until late May. I missed most of the apple tree bloom in the orchard next to our neighborhood, but otherwise there were plenty of resources for the ladies to pick from. Grace & I spent most of June and early July watching the bees come back loaded up with pollen.

Got a real treat during one of our hive inspections when we saw a few baby bees eating their way out of their honeycomb cell and taking their first steps. Have seen it in video & online, but never when I was holding a frame right in my hand. Was pretty damn cool, and I need to figure out how to link the little video we have of the event here.

With the hive doing really well & its population strengthening, we put our first honey super on at the very end of June. The day after my herf was about the three-week mark, and icehog watched from a safe distance as Grace and I found the super to be packed with honey; much of it already capped. We added a second honey super that day to give the bees some additional room to work.

That was two weeks ago, and I just peeked in the hive today. The second honey box is well on its way to becoming full. Another week or so, and we'll need to pull the boxes for extraction. My guess is we blow away last year's initial harvest of 35 lbs, and may even top our total take of 52 lbs with this first extraction.

And because summer's not complete without me getting stung, here's what a pulled out of my ear a few weeks back. It was left there after some rando bee decided to fly straight in my ear while I was minding my own business in the yard and sting me. That bee was an asshole.

https://i.imgur.com/yhRorOOl.jpg

[G G]

First stop.... Taylor, Florida. :D

Well you are welcome here of course but there aren't many venues to book you. WE do have three Churches, two of them meet every Sunday and the other one is what's known as "Primitive Baptist" but usually called Hard Shell Baptist. And one run down country store. LOL

[icehog3]

That bee was an asshole.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O8kRTVkjEI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZqUkk6fVuQ

Well you are welcome here of course but there aren't many venues to book you. WE do have three Churches, two of them meet every Sunday and the other one is what's known as "Primitive Baptist" but usually called Hard Shell Baptist. And one run down country store. LOL

Greg, I am afraid my humor would not play well with the Baptists. :D

[Tio Gato]

Well done Tom!:r

[G G]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O8kRTVkjEI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZqUkk6fVuQ



Greg, I am afraid my humor would not play well with the Baptists. :D

Probably not, but the Hardshell Baptist Church is so old I believe it still has holes in the floor to spit your tobacco out of.

[markem]

Amazing what difference a year makes.

I was stung by a honey bee once on the tongue. Didn't know about it until a few hours later when it came loose in my mouth. Hope that yours was an equally non-plus event.

[icehog3]

Well done Tom!:r

:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGaaQG5sTeg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvHFqcYN3nc

[massphatness]

Pulled the honey supers over the weekend and had them extracted today.

https://i.imgur.com/728fYZml.jpg

That's more than we got all last year!

If the weather cooperates, we'll have more on the way in 5 or 6 weeks.

Also got a fair amount of wax to melt down.

:banger

[AdamJoshua]

You could have quite the cottage industry going there!

[markem]

bee-utiful!

[Mikepd]

Pulled the honey supers over the weekend and had them extracted today.

https://i.imgur.com/728fYZml.jpg

That's more than we got all last year!

If the weather cooperates, we'll have more on the way in 5 or 6 weeks.

Also got a fair amount of wax to melt down.

:banger

Almost 78# from one extraction, looks like those ladies are really working well for only being on your 3rd year! I'm guessing you didn't have much die off during last winter? Also how many frames did you spin on this extraction?

Great Work!

[massphatness]

Almost 78# from one extraction, looks like those ladies are really working well for only being on your 3rd year! I'm guessing you didn't have much die off during last winter? Also how many frames did you spin on this extraction?

Great Work!


Thanks -- this hive is brand new bees as we failed (again) to overwinter. They had a huge head start though since they didn't have to make much comb.

We're ecstatic with the results so far but a little anxious too knowing that there's still more to come later in the season.

[8lug]

wow

[Mikepd]

Thanks -- this hive is brand new bees as we failed (again) to overwinter. They had a huge head start though since they didn't have to make much comb.

We're ecstatic with the results so far but a little anxious too knowing that there's still more to come later in the season.

Vin sorry to hear that you keep experiencing severe winter loss. Do you know why they aren't making it through winter, is it the cold, mites, starvation, or other damage? Glad to see this brood working out and hopefully you can find success through this coming winter after your second harvest.

[IBQTEE1]

Congrats on making a new record. That has to be exciting.

Sorry about those beetches from last year didn't make it.

[massphatness]

https://i.imgur.com/8sAXZE6l.jpg

A bit darker than I was expecting, but still super delicious :noon

[IBQTEE1]

https://i.imgur.com/8sAXZE6l.jpg

A bit darker than I was expecting, but still super delicious :noon

Once you go darker... wait what!! LOL

Looks good.

[massphatness]

Trying to render some of the wax that we had the people doing the extraction save for us.

Got a good sized colander full of wax cappings that I rinsed as best I could to get the excess honey out. This weighs about 8-10 lbs but the wax won't weigh nearly that much.

https://i.imgur.com/zlHsN0zl.jpg


Put some of it in the solar melter I made last year

https://i.imgur.com/05bShRfl.jpg


The results were meh -- too much detritus made it's way through the paper towel filter. You can also see a little bit of honey in there -- no issue: it rinses right off.

https://i.imgur.com/Rae4EtPl.jpg?1


But it did trap a lot of the gunk ...

https://i.imgur.com/N68dYTHl.jpg

I still have loads of wax, and I'm going to try to use a different rendering method using a double boiler. I just need to find a double boiler Grace won't mind parting with because anything the wax touches can no longer be used for food prep. Not 100% sure why, but that's what the internet says, so it's clearly gospel.

[massphatness]

Wax Rendering Redux: Double Boiler Method

Mickey Moused a double boiler out of a couple mis-matched pans, and melted a good amount of the wax down.

https://i.imgur.com/0czUrUKl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Kr64OIIl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/A4jaXPTl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hQnpWlvl.jpg?1

The solids in the last pic did break up somewhat.

Cut the top off a creamer carton and covered the opening with cheese cloth I doubled up to catch the impurities.

https://i.imgur.com/LkoZjQOl.jpg

Then strained the melted wax through the cheese cloth. The junk that's too big to pass through are bee parts, propolis and other non-wax impurities.

https://i.imgur.com/STxipk0l.jpg

[massphatness]

What passes through the cheese cloth is the wax and the honey that remained stuck to it.

Looks like a dirty mess at first

https://i.imgur.com/M4cdsTKl.jpg

But as the liquid cools, the heavier honey & any impurities sink to the bottom, while the wax rises to the top and solidifies.

https://i.imgur.com/ACErhk9l.jpg

Cutting away the container, and rinsing the residual honey on the bottom of the solidified wax, I'm left with this:

https://i.imgur.com/muC18vjl.jpg?1

Going to add that to my stash of beeswax from last year, and with the remaining wax I still have left to render, we might be able to get a couple beeswax candles out of it.

Interesting tid-bit I found while researching the various wax rendering methods: the wax cappings I started with are only about 13% actual wax. The rest is the honey and other impurities which is why starting with so much wax is needed to yield any decent amount of pure wax.

[markem]

Wow! The second rendering really got out a lot, Vin. Have you made any candles yet or are you still collecting wax?

[massphatness]

Still collecting wax. No idea how to make candles, or anything really. That's next up on the reading list. Although, grace was saying she might want to try making lip balm.

My house smells nicely of warm honey throughout. :)

[stearns]

Very cool walkthrough of the process, thanks for all the pictures. Very curious to see the final products of the wax

[icehog3]

I guess you really do mind your own beeswax. :D

[AdamJoshua]

That's very cool indeed! I like how calmly you said "or bee parts", at least i imagined it being said calmly but yah at risk of sounding foolish... ew.

[Conch Republican]

Cool stuff to read about. My neighbor and I talked about a hive - or at least starting with 1 of those hanging housing things to promote more bees/pollination of our gardens

[IBQTEE1]

Very cool Vinny.

[bonjing]

Massphatness, can you save the propolis or is it a pain trying to render it out?

[massphatness]

can you save the propolis

Not sure on this one. I don't know that I would have a use for it or if the bees can re-purpose it. The stuff is literally like cement. It's made from sap and other sticky compounds, and I think mixed with beeswax. The result is a glue that's pretty tough.

I did put the cheese cloth strainers I used during the wax rendering out by the hive. I had read that the bees will clean them up and take whatever they can from it. And they did! The cheese cloth that I had originally used to wrap up the wax was sticky with honey. A few days out by the hive and there was nothing but bits of dried up wax on it. I should have grabbed a photo. At one point, there must have a few hundred bees on working away on it.

Once the bees were done with the cheese cloth, I rolled them up and used them as a fire starter in our fire pit this past weekend. Beeswax & propolis are super flammable, and make a great fire starter.

[bonjing]

I have heard the propolis is good for you/things.

https://www.healthline.com/health/propolis-an-ancient-healer

[massphatness]

It opened right to Cold Sores & Genital Herpes ... go figure

[bonjing]

:hy:p

[markem]

Mickey Dees is also into bees!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=lng4n3FI7SQ

[CigarNut]

Very cool!

[massphatness]

We pulled the honey supers off a couple weeks ago. I think I got over-excited about our honey haul from earlier in the year, and I put three supers on after we had extracted instead of just going with one and adding as needed. The bees ended up working a little bit in one box, a little bit in another and a little bit in the third. As a result, we only ended up with about 12 lbs of honey. Most of the frames were only partially built out. No biggie. I don't know what I would have done if had gotten a lot more honey anyway.

The previous couple years I haven't done a fall feeding and thought I'd give it a try. I know the bees haven't starved out the past two years because there's been a good amount of honey in the frames when I've popped them open in the spring. Had the colony died of starvation, there wouldn't be anything in the frames. Still, better safe than sorry. The feed is a sugar syrup in the ratio of 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. (Interesting tidbit: a container of water weighs about the same when it's filled with sugar; not exact but close enough to make the syrup.)

At a 2:1 ratio, the syrup promotes honey production which will give the ladies extra food stores for the winter. In the spring, the ratio is 1:1, and that promotes brood rearing. No idea why.

I'm using an entrance feeder. The feed drips into it & the bees crawl in to slurp up the sugary goodness. Will be interesting to see how quickly they go through it.

https://i.imgur.com/5AXv7RYl.jpg

[IBQTEE1]

Very cool. Thanks for the update.

[icehog3]

Slurping up sugary goodness.

Bees got a good life. :D

[BigAsh]

Slurping up sugary goodness.

Bees got a good life. :D

.....though short-lived at Casa Stolo....

[AdamJoshua]

is it keto-friendly? :D

[icehog3]

.....though short-lived at Casa Stolo....

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in Littleton? :D

[markem]

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in Littleton? :D

Whoa! Major shrinkage. :noon

[357]

Hey Vin, any colonies make it through the winter? I'm 0-fer again. I had 5 going into fall, 1 I was certain had no chance but I didn't want to go through the trouble of combining it with another. All but 1 was dead by December 1st. That one died before it warmed up in late January. I don't have any packages on order yet. I might take this summer off.

[AdamJoshua]

Bee killers!!!!


You two are like the NYC of covid for bees.

[357]

Bee killers!!!!


You two are like the NYC of covid for bees.

True but, it's not just us. Northern states lose 30-80% of colonies annually thanks to Varroa mites and the 2-3 dozen pathogens they introduce to the bees, not to mention the parasitic feeding itself damages them.

Northern bees hatched in October have to live until April or May before they can bring in new pollen and nectar, which is needed to raise new brood. Southern "winter" bees only have to live from Nov/Dec until Late Jan or Feb. So they suffer the same parasitic problems but their winter bees don't have to survive as long so their losses are much less. At least that's the prevailing theory.

My friend who has been keeping bees in Michigan since the 70s told me losing 1 of 20 colonies was unusual, worthy of inspecting to see if you could find out why. Once varroa mites showed up everything changed.

[357]

Hey Vin, I wanted to resurrect this thread to see if you have any bees this year. I took 2020 off then had them again for 2021 but got super busy with the prep and sale of our house. My neighbor finished things up for me, harvested what there was and still has a few of my hive boxes.

I was hoping you had bees for 2022 and might be willing to share some news/pics. Once we find a place to settle I'll be getting my hives out of storage to start up again.

[AdamJoshua]

Hey Vin, I wanted to resurrect this thread to see if you have any bees this year. I took 2020 off then had them again for 2021 but got super busy with the prep and sale of our house. My neighbor finished things up for me, harvested what there was and still has a few of my hive boxes.

I was hoping you had bees for 2022 and might be willing to share some news/pics. Once we find a place to settle I'll be getting my hives out of storage to start up again.

The bees started committing suicide in the truck on the way to Vin's as soon as they realized where they were heading, better to do it quick and get it over with.