Stonehurst Place: Stopped there on Tuesday (one week from my last visit). The bees were busily flying in and out but they had not drawn or used the frames in the top box on either hive. Despite the way my bees are flying, the nectar flow must be slowing somewhat.
Home: Also checked on Tuesday. Colony Square had drawn and filled two of the 8 frames in the top box and was just looking at the rest of the frames in that box. Lenox Pointe had drawn none of the frames in its top box. The swarm hive had not drawn any (they had been in the hive for three days at this point), so I made some sugar syrup and fed them inside the hive.
By yesterday, that baggie looked like this:
So today it was empty and so I replaced it with a full bag.
I opened up the swarm hive and the queen is laying. I was relieved to see eggs. I am so glad that the queen is there, but they have very little comb drawn - just about four frames in the top box and are not using the bottom box at all.
Next week I'll switch the box positions.
Blue Heron: We had terrible weather in Atlanta last night so I didn't check on the Blue Heron this week. The hive combination should have taken by now and the queen should have been raised. (We combined the hives and gave them resources to make a queen on May 7). However, we won't open that hive until June 19 when the next hive inspection is scheduled. That way the queen has time to get out, get mated, and begin laying.
Rabun: I'm going up to the mountains tomorrow and will check on the hives there. It's about to be sourwood season, so I'll make sure they have honey supers ready for honey storage.
Topsy and Linda T's Bees in South Georgia: Haven't been to either in a while, but will go check on Topsy on Monday and will go to South Georgia in the next couple of weekends. Greg is down there looking over the situation this weekend so I'm not too worried about them.
Home: Also checked on Tuesday. Colony Square had drawn and filled two of the 8 frames in the top box and was just looking at the rest of the frames in that box. Lenox Pointe had drawn none of the frames in its top box. The swarm hive had not drawn any (they had been in the hive for three days at this point), so I made some sugar syrup and fed them inside the hive.
By yesterday, that baggie looked like this:
So today it was empty and so I replaced it with a full bag.
I opened up the swarm hive and the queen is laying. I was relieved to see eggs. I am so glad that the queen is there, but they have very little comb drawn - just about four frames in the top box and are not using the bottom box at all.
Next week I'll switch the box positions.
Blue Heron: We had terrible weather in Atlanta last night so I didn't check on the Blue Heron this week. The hive combination should have taken by now and the queen should have been raised. (We combined the hives and gave them resources to make a queen on May 7). However, we won't open that hive until June 19 when the next hive inspection is scheduled. That way the queen has time to get out, get mated, and begin laying.
Rabun: I'm going up to the mountains tomorrow and will check on the hives there. It's about to be sourwood season, so I'll make sure they have honey supers ready for honey storage.
Topsy and Linda T's Bees in South Georgia: Haven't been to either in a while, but will go check on Topsy on Monday and will go to South Georgia in the next couple of weekends. Greg is down there looking over the situation this weekend so I'm not too worried about them.
Linda, I love your site, I am in the process of taking classes, workshops and working with mentors before I plunge into beekeeping myself.
ReplyDeleteQuestion:
I notice that your hives are located all over Georgia. Do you have land or friends with land all over or pollenating contracts? I guess what I am curious about, is how to go about finding places to host the hives?
Thank you,
Janean
Let's see. I have hives at my home inside the perimeter in Atlanta. I have a hive at my daughter's house in East Atlanta. I am the community garden beekeeper for the Rabun County community garden because I have a house up there and a friend who made that happen. I have hives at the Blue Heron because it's a community garden in Atlanta where we negotiated with them to allow us (members of Metro Atlanta Beekeepers who run hive inspections) to have hives to help the garden and be a public service by teaching beekeepers. I have hives at the Stonehurst Inn because they found me on the Internet and asked me to be their beekeeper. I have hives in South Georgia because my son-in-law's best friend owns a farm/hunting acreage down there and they all wanted to go into business raising bees for honey with me. So I don't own much of the land that the hives are on, but I'm not a pollinator as in the business of pollination. It's fun having hives all over the place but much harder to keep up with them. I'm getting ready to move to a different house in Atlanta where I will also have hives!
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda, the community gardens where I am located in Florida do not allow beekeeping. Its unfortunate. The town I live in doesn't allow beekeeping either. I do have property located 3 hours from where I live now, and will be moving there next year. It is rural and I have several acres, that is when I plan to plunge in. Until then, I joined the local beekeeper assoc, and have attended the Florida Bee college. There is a beekeeper about 30 min from me that was kind enough to spend some of his valueable time with me. In as many ways that the area has been unfortunate, the people in the bee community have made up for it ten fold. Thanks for the info and the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteJanean