Another Bee Day - at Jeff and Valerie's House

Today I went to Jeff and Valerie's house to check the hives there.  I started with Five Alive.  Look at the beautiful wax they are drawing.  This is the last frame in the box so it is drawn out the least.



The hive was full in every frame except the outside frame, so I decided it needed a new box.  I put the new box under the top box and took two frames of brood out of that box to make a ladder in the new box.  (A ladder allows the bees passage to start drawing wax from the top bar.) When I took out a full frame, I replaced it with a foundationless frame with a wax strip as in the photo below.



This is what Five Alive looked like when I closed it up - and it's only April 3!



I then went to what we've called the swarm hive but is now Lenox Pointe 2 because we moved the queen by accident into that hive.

They aren't going crazy and aren't building up as fast as other hives, but they are storing lovely honey.



And they are equipped with a laying queen.



If you enlarge the photo below you can also see eggs.






Then I went to the original Lenox Pointe - remember the queen was only laying drones.  Well, that was just how she started - now she is laying beautiful brood - you can also see larvae in the photo below.



Her frames are arranged just so - with honey in the corners, pollen next, and capped brood.



Last but not at all least, I opened Colony Square.  The top box is a full box of honey and I know they need a new box.  Instead of going into the hive (because I knew I couldn't lift the fifty pound full box to position six (over my head), I opened it and added a new box above the top box.  I didn't make a ladder with their own frames, but did have two fully drawn frames that I put in the center of the new box to provide ladder facility.

And this is what Colony Square looked like when I left.

It's March and Colony Square is Bursting at the Seams

Today I gave a talk at the Riverside West Garden Club in Sandy Springs (part of Atlanta).  I reviewed the talk last night and packed the car this morning.  Yesterday I volunteered at the Publix Marathon in Atlanta (5:30 AM - 1 PM); worked the bees with Jeff in the afternoon; and went to a bee course planning meeting over dinner.

I wasn't functioning on all cylinders this morning.

I put my computer in the car, the LCD projector, some honey and crackers for them to taste, a box to take to Colony Square after the talk, and my bee gear.  I drove 25 minutes to the meeting site, set up all my equipment (computer and slide projector) and then discovered that I had left my flash drive back at home with the whole talk on it in Power Point.

Luckily I had another talk actually saved on the computer that covered the topics, but didn't have the lovely bees on flowers pictures that I always take to garden clubs.   Despite all of that,  I think the talk went OK.  Then I drove to Jeff's to add a box to Colony Square.

We've made two splits from Colony Square and it is still bursting at the seams.  I got fully suited and lit my smoker and opened the hive.  This hive is so angry all the time.  Bees head butted me throughout the small intrusion.  I decided I should name the two splits from this hive (also angry bees even in their new location at my house) Spawn of Satan One and Spawn of Satan Two (SOS1 and SOS2).

All I did to them today was remove the top box (about 50 pounds full of honey) and add another box under it.  I took two frames of comb from Box #3 and put them in Box #4 in the center.  I put foundationless frames in their place in Box # 3 (see below).

With the addition of the box below the top box and with the two ladder frames in the center of the hive, the bees are supposed to build comb more easily.  In a hollow tree, for example, the bees start at the top and build down.  So putting the box below is a more natural way for the bees to build their comb.



Bees were so in my face that all the photos I took were like the one below with a bee obscuring your view as she flew toward my veil in front of the camera!



In the end I left Colony Square with FIVE boxes - it's only March - and met Julia at the Blue Heron (see next post).  If things continue to go well, this hive will produce a record amount of honey.  It was so difficult to lift that fifty pound box by myself into the top position.  The second they have capped that honey, we are harvesting it.



Jeff showed me a unique way to stop the air flow to the smoker and I employed it today.  We'll call it Jeff's acorn method:

Split #2 From Colony Square

Thursday morning last week I had some time to go to Jeff and Valerie's for the second split of Colony Square.  This time I was all by myself.  I set up the nuc box and put the bungee cords under it for transportation purposes.  I had cut the window screen to size.  I was READY.

I suited up, lit and packed the smoker well, and opened up Colony Square.  I saw lots of queen cells - these bees want to swarm and may despite these two splits.  I used two medium nucs for this split.  I put five frames in the bottom box, mostly brood, eggs, and larvae.  I shook two more frames of nurse bees in, for good measure.  I put two frames of honey and pollen in the top box.

I bungee corded the whole thing together, stuffed the screened wire in the entry (I'm terrified of the staple gun and I didn't have anyone else with me to do it.)  Then I headed for the car.

I carefully put the nuc into the car, jumped in still in my bee suit because I only had about 45 minutes before my next appointment at my office (25 minutes away) and started driving.

As I drove I began to be aware of a steady buzzing in the back of the car that was increasing in volume.  In the rear view window I could see a mass of bees gathering on my back window.

When I arrived at my house, it was evident that the bees had easily pushed openings in the non-stapled screen over the entry and were gathering on the front of the nuc.  Undaunted, I gently used my gloved hands to lift the nuc and carry it to the backyard.  I walked slowly, hoping the loose bees would take the hint and come too.

Once in back of the house, I quickly moved the frames into an 8 frame medium box, waiting for their arrival.







Within minutes the bees were moved into their new home and I was ready to strip off my suit and head back for the office.  I only had 20 minutes before my next appointment.

I ran into the house, shedding my beesuit as I went.  I straightened up my outfit a little, put on my work shoes, and drove to my office.  My car was FULL of bees from the escapees who had refused to move to the backyard.



At the office I left the windows down to encourage their escape.  The bees were still there two hours later when I returned to the car.  Once home again, I used my bee brush and a mixing bowl to move the bees in several trips from car to hive box.

Later that day I found a clump of bees gathered on my mailbox.  I employed the brush and mixing bowl and a towel to cover to move them to the new hive.

When I told my brother the story, he said, "I know what you need to do, Linda….you should go into therapy to conquer your fear of staple guns!"

I think he's right.