The nuc box (blue) on the right is the nuc I started with the queen who had been caged for two weeks when I finally realized it and moved her to this nuc. She must have suffered from PTSD after such a long caging and didn't get going - her brood pattern was spotty at best and in the end, the nuc was robbed out and all the bees died.
The wax moths will move in if I don't move the wax into the freezer - which is a project for tomorrow. You can see a wax moth cocoon on the right on frame 3.
To add to the sadness, when Julia, Noah, and I went to Blue Heron today to check on and feed the bees, one of her two hives there had absconded. There wasn't a bee in the place.
So goes this summer. I hope next year will be better for both bees and me. At least I still have the Blue Heron hive, the hive at Valerie's and my hive in Rabun County.
I want to sell my house and move closer to my Atlanta children so that I can be a more active grandma. This will give me an opportunity to move the hives off of the deck and have it pressure washed and maybe stained to help sell the house next spring.
I've already ordered two nucs from Jennifer Berry for next year. I'll probably get a couple from Don in Lula as well, but he doesn't take orders until the beginning of the year. I'll put those bees either at Rabun, Blue Heron or wherever I live next!
Your deck feels a little lonely without your bees, Linda. Odd how things work out...your bees abscond just as you need a little room and time for your own absconding. Follow the bees.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm really looking forward to reading about how you build your own swarm bait boxes this winter...and how you'll hang those boxes in some wooded areas around Atlanta or some other Georgian woods...and how you'll build some top-bar hives in which you'll hive those swarms.
The adventure continues.
This has not been a good summer. I am sorry for your loss of bees. Liz may be right about following the bees. Grandparents can be such a great influence on their lives and I am sure they need you! Good luck with all your new adventures. Some of my family lives in Douglasville; where do you live?
ReplyDeleteSo sad to read about your bees this summer. Maybe you'll have better luck wherever you move to. It must be really difficult for the bee to have to defend against so many things....beetles, moths, disease, etc. Somehow they will prevail as they have been around for hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of years. I'm sorry you've lost so many hives this year. Don't give up...the bees need you!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to see you turning a negative into a positive, seeing this as an opportunity to power wash the deck in anticipation of selling. All the best on your new ventures. My heart goes out to you for your loss.
ReplyDeleteStrange,
ReplyDeleteThis same thing happened to Cindi on our beeforum. When she was planning on moving to be closer to her children, she ended up losing all 10 of her hives. Once she got to her new home, a swarm ended up there and she started again.
Wishing you so much luck with selling your home and the bee adventure. It seems to constantly change and we keep on learning from them.
Take care Linda
Annette from Placerville California