Now THIS is a Beard

This hive started from a package that I got from Jarrett Apiaries at the beginning of bee season.

I got home in the 90 degree June (??? - feels like August) Atlanta evening and found this hive looking like:

And when I went around to the back, there were even more bees consigned to the outside of the hive!

This is a HUGE hive and I have not opened up the screened bottom board.  I haven't done that for the last two summers.  But for this hive, I may have to.

I wanted to give them room to spread out inside the hive but it was 8 PM when I got home.  So I went out and put on two empty boxes - undrawn frames - just to give them some hangout room inside the hive.  (This hive has a slatted rack at the bottom.)

I carefully moved the top to avoid upsetting the bee beard at the back and gently put those girls on the inner cover.  Still it was hard to find a handhold.  I only got stung once in this whole maneuver, though, on the ball of my thumb.  I put the two empty boxes on and closed the hive up.

One bee seemed interested in the salty sweat on my hand:

However, as night fell, the beard was hardly disturbed and no bees appeared to go inside. I expect the space needs to be distributed throughout the hive for them to take advantage of the extra boxes I gave them. 

After a hot night, the beard was only slightly smaller this morning, but there were no bees bearding at the back of the hive.  I'll put some beer caps on the inner cover to lift it up a little and that might help as well.

The nectar flow is over and it's time to harvest and make splits. I'm not certain about this hive because at Jarrett Apiaries, they use oxalic acid, so this hive may not be able to deal with varroa mite on its own.  Still, it's such a strong hive that I will make some overwintering nucs from it for the winter.  

I'll have my work cut out for me for the next couple of weekends!

Crisis of Confidence with Apologies to Mo Willems

My bees and I are not having a great year.

Today I had electricians at my house so I was home more than usual during the work day.  I came home at 2 to see what progress was being made (turns out my whole house needed to be appropriately grounding so they put copper posts into the ground and ran wire to water pipes and put a surge protector on the whole house).

I glanced out into the bee yard and this is what I saw:

What's going on?  It couldn't be a beard - the other hives weren't bearding and rain was threatening.  Maybe they were absconding?   This is my best hive - the swarm hive from Patty.  It has done great this year and now it looks like they were leaving.

At 2:45 when I had to be back at my office at 3, I donned my bee veil and jacket, lit my smoker and took a quick look in to see if there were any bees or honey in the hive.

You can see the wet concrete from the rain.  And you can see that there are no bees to speak of in the hive.  I panicked.  Why are they going?  

I love the Mo Willems books and one of them is called I am Going.    I felt so like Gerald (the elephant in the story) today.

Piggie is leaving.

Gerald does not understand why Piggie is leaving and he says,  

"WAIT!  

Go later!  

Go tomorrow! 

Go next week!  

Go next month! 

GO NEXT YEAR!!!"

But Piggie replies, "I am going now."

"NOW!?!" says Gerald, "Why, Piggie?"

"Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?....."

That's exactly how I felt....thank you, Mo.  So I opened up the hive and looked deeper into it.  It was full of honey I haven't harvested yet because the year has been so bad and I don't want them to be without stores.  Usually when bees abscond, they take whatever stores are in the hive with them, so this doesn't make sense - lots of honey, no bees.

When I put it back together, the bees were still outside.  I wanted to cry.  Instead as the thunder and rain began, I covered the hive, bees and all with the wet sheet I used on another hive being robbed yesterday and went back to the office.

When I returned at the end of the day, amidst more thunder, this is what I found under the sheet:

When I put the Billy Davis robber screen on this particular hive, the bees pooled on the ground outside the hive.  The next day they were all back in the hive, but I think they don't like the robber screen one little bit.  So one thing I did today was to pull the robber screen off (see photo two above).  

At 8:30 when the hive looked like it does in the last photo, I started thinking the queen was outside the hive in this huge cluster.  So I treated it like a swarm and put them into a box and shook them back into the hive.  They'll probably leave tomorrow.  I feel totally disheartened and want to scream.  

At 9 PM, this is what they look like:

And as per Mo Willems, now I want to say:

"You are going?!  

You are going away?!"

Bees:  Yes.

"You cannot go!  

You must not go!  

I WILL NOT LET YOU GO!!!"

But what I know is that I am not in charge.  

I will feel defeated if they fly off tomorrow.  As I usually do, I will probably lick my wounds and keep on keeping on, but it won't feel good.  

It just won't.

What a difference a Slatted Rack Makes!

Yesterday Lenox Pointe looked like this at the end of the day. Bees were hanging off the entry and lined up on the sides. Although you can't see it in this photo, there is about a 3 inch wide row of bees around the corner on the shaded side of the hive.  It's about 90 degrees.



Last night while sorting bee equipment in the basement, I found to my astonishment that I had another 8 frame slatted rack. I pulled out the blue paint and painted it as well as a few hive boxes in need of new paint.

This morning before I went to work, I added the slatted rack to Lenox Pointe. Now at night tonight around 9 PM, the photo below is what the hive looks like. Many fewer bees are hanging out on the entry. If you compare the two photos, you can see the raised area at the bottom of the deep box that is the slatted rack, missing in the upper photo.

Hive Transformation - the Resurgence of a Dead Hive

Now I know for sure. A swarm moved into Bermuda on Sunday, Easter, morning. It is the rebirth of the hive on a significant day. I took these pictures at dusk with a flash and you can see that the bees have taken possession of this hive. How exciting this is!

Every time I leave old equipment out around my house a swarm moves into it. My second year of beekeeping a small swarm moved into a hive box that was sitting on its side on my deck. The next year a swarm moved into a nuc box that was sitting in my carport. This year a swarm moved into Bermuda and appears to be happy there.

I might put out another empty hive set up with some old drawn comb in it and see if that garners me yet another hive!



Another dusk view of the entry way.

Meanwhile the L Hive is desperate for my attention. They are bearding and even with the new yellow box (which is pretty much full of empty frames) they are so crowded that they are hanging out and festooning off of the landing to keep the hive from being too hot indoors.



I can't wait to put a slatted rack on on Thursday and take an "after" picture.

Of course, Thursday is an iffy proposition.

I have been called for jury duty that day and am on the call list. I get to call in the night before to see if I actually have to serve. The last time I was called for jury duty a couple of years ago, I did have to go in, so I'm hoping my chances are good that I won't have to go on Thursday. I cleared my books because it was highly likely I would be out of the office. However, if I am home instead, then it's a beekeeping day, for sure.

Hot town, summer in the city....

It's hot and the bees are bearding. My Aristaeus2 hive I think is half its size. About a week ago outside at 8 PM there were thousands of bees swirling around. I thought robbing was going on and responded accordingly. Now I think that half of Aristaeus2 swarmed, or at this time of year, I guess they absconded.

To help bees who were left behind, I put a baggie feeder of sugar syrup in and closed the top of the hive. They have honey and were even making new honey but I don't know why the hive absconded, so I thought it would be best to take care of those who are left. There is a laying queen. I saw eggs after the swarming/absconding event. But without the ventilation of the propped top, even this small hive is bearding.



Bermuda, my four year old hive, is really bearding. All the girls are out. I just checked and they are still out in the summer night at 9:30 PM. The beard, if anything, is even larger than it was before at 7 when I took this picture.



Mellona has never bearded. It is a hive full of bees, but this is about as big as her beard gets. Given that it is August in Hotlanta, that is quite an accomplishment.

All of my hives have screened bottom boards, slatted racks and I keep the top propped in the summer - but still it's too hot for all the bees to spend the night indoors. So they lounge and dance (washboard) on the front porch late into the night.



"But at night it's a different world
Go out and find a girl
Come on, come on lets dance all night
Despite the heat
it will be alright
And babe don't you know it's a pity
The days can't be like the night
In the summer in the city
In the summer in the city

Hot town summer in the city"....Joe Cocker

The Rain and the Spring Flow

As I woke up this morning, the signs are all there that we will have another day of rain. We've had a honey flow season replete with rain.

Our neighboring state of North Carolina is experiencing similar conditions. In the June E-Flier from North Carolina bee supply company, Brushy Mountain, Shane Gebauer writes:

"The spring flow has been terrible this year. Any reserves are quickly consumed when the bees are house bound by all the rain and cool weather. Once this weather pattern breaks watch for swarms. They are crowded in a hive by the weather with nothing to do, so "hey lets make swarm cells". O.K., this is an over-simplification and imposes human traits/characters on the bees, but you get the point. This time of year there a spike in swarming activity after several days of rain."

In my past three years, during this period of time, I am both harvesting already and am putting on extra boxes by the day. This year my bees are not needing extra boxes as quickly and so far are barely producing honey for hive to use for the winter. I have hives that I will be able to take honey from in a few weeks, but not as much as in previous years.

And so today again it will rain. The drought was terrible for Georgia, and I'm grateful for the rain, but it isn't having a great effect on the bees.

P.S. Sure enough, it rained all day. I came home to find the bees in one hive all clustered on the porch (see above picture). It wasn't hot, the hive has a propped top and a slatted rack so should be well ventilated. Do you think they are plotting a swarm when the rain stops on Friday afternoon? Or are they all so bored indoors with nothing to do that they came out to enjoy the rainy afternoon and evening?

Hotlanta Breaks a Record (and so Does This Blog)!

Today the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported:

"Atlanta reached 98 degrees today, breaking a 13-year-old record by one degree.
Forecasters expect another hot one Tuesday and again on Wednesday. Summer's here, a bit earlier than usual."

You can see the bees bearding on the landings of their hives in an effort to cool off. The bees maintain a temperature of around 94 degrees in the hive. In Atlanta today where it was 98 degrees, you can imagine that it gets even hotter inside the beehive unless the bees do something about it. What they do is to send some of the bees outside to lower the heat indoors. Once on the porch, some of these bees fan to increase the ventilation. Others do the washboard dance - maybe to forestall the boredom of just hanging out on the porch.


Mellona, below, was creative in its bearding, making an outline of bees around the bottom box.

Persephone had her bees hanging out in the orientation branch. The bearding in all of these hives would be much denser, but for the slatted rack, the screened bottom board, and the stick that I use to prop up the top cover at the back.

As Atlanta set a record of 98 degrees, this blog with this post sets a record of 400 posts so far.

I've kept the blog for two years and 55 days. This averages out to approximately one post every two days. The blog continues to be a great way for me to keep a record of my bee activities and has been a wonderful way for me to make beekeeping contacts around the country and around the world.

Bermuda Bees in the Rain

My Bermuda beehive loves to beard. Every evening they gather on the porch. This hive has plenty of ventilation. There's an open screened bottom board, a slatted rack, the top is propped open and the top two supers are full of empty frames from honey harvest that they are cleaning up. So there's lots of room. But still every night they are hanging out. I think it's the hive culture. This is my only hive that made it through the winter and they behaved like this last year, too.

Finally in Atlanta we are having our typical summer weather. It's extremely hot in the day time and then gets really muggy toward the end of the day, followed by a thunderstorm. The Smithsonian magazine ran a very funny article on visiting Atlanta in the summer just this month. So after months of drought, finally we are having our thunderstorm evenings and this was one. Above you can see the Bermuda bees on the left, just hanging out in the summer heat.

In the above picture, the rain has started and the bees are beating a retreat. You can see the raindrops on the camera lens.

They so want to be outdoors that they are barely inside the hive as rain puddles on their favorite hangout porch! I wonder if they'll go back out when the rain stops, since there's no sun at 9:30 PM to dry up the puddles.

Hotlanta Nights and the Bees are starting to Beard!

With slatted racks, screened bottom boards, and propping the hive tops, my hives are about as ventilated as I can accomplish. But as the Atlanta nights get hotter, so does the interior of the beehive. You can see the beard on Bermuda (left in first picture), Mellona (the tall hive). Even Proteus with its mixed up configuration has a beard beginning.

It entertains me to see that the small swarm nuc has its own version of a beard! Of course, that nuc doesn't have a screened bottom board, a slatted rack, nor is the top propped, so even though it is the smallest of my bee colonies, it is probably the hottest temperature-wise.

It's a miracle! Before....and After!

These pictures were taken at about the same time of night on a day with similar temperatures - in the upper 90s in Atlanta.

BEFORE:
The first picture shows Bermuda on the left without a slatted rack - look at the beard. Destin on the right has a slatted rack and a much smaller beard.




AFTER:
Today I put a slatted rack on Bermuda and look at the after picture. Bermuda has a slatted rack and an empty super. Now the beard on Bermuda is SO much smaller.

Late night look at the two beards

This weekend I will put a slatted rack on Bermuda and probably give it another super. However, Destin (on the right) used to have the thickest biggest beard of the two hives. Now that it has a slatted rack, its beard is thinner because the bees are probably hanging off of the slatted rack inside the hive.





Bermuda's beard as a close-up shows you how thick the bees are, hanging off of each other and the hive.



Destin's beard is thinner. Bees there are probably more comfortable in Atlanta's 90 something degree night.

Beard and slatted rack

Here is a slatted rack. You can see that the slats follow the ten frames that are in a hive box. this sits between the screened bottom board and the hive body. Using a slatted rack provides the bees with room to spread out as well as more ventilation for the hive.
Bermuda on the left does not have a slatted rack (the one in the picture arrived broken and its replacement arrived from Betterbee today). Destin on the right does have a slatted rack (the unpainted piece at the bottom of the hive.

Notice how much smaller the beard is on Destin. It's 90 something degrees in Atlanta this evening. Destin on hot nights like this used to have the biggest beard.

Continued inspection part three

Michael Bush, a beekeeper whose wisdom frequently appears on Beemaster Forum discussions and on Beesource, no longer paints his equipment. As you can see from the unpainted state of the slatted rack, I am planning to follow his lead.

The reason to use a slatted rack is to help with hive ventilation. Bees apparently hang out on the rack, flap their wings and generally enjoy themselves. The slatted rack provides a space for bees to use to spread out inside the hive rather than outside. Destin makes the biggest beard at night and I am hoping this will help.


I return the deep and the medium without removing any frames. I don't want to disturb the hives any more than I have to. The reason to inspect the brood chamber is to make sure brood is being raised and you can see the huge numbers of bees. Clearly with the increased number of bees in my hives, they have been busy multiplying.
Look at the edge of Destin. I've hung a rack there to hang frames on it so that we can really look at them. I'm using my hive tool to remove from the hive body.
By now a disturbed bee is recognizing my daughter's presence on the deck and goes over to tell Becky to leave immediately. It worked! The bees just looked at Becky, flew around her head and sent Becky inside with her camera. This picture of the beautiful capped honey was taken through the sunporch window!