So I took 6 frames from the Super in Florida ( and this was supposed to be my weakest hive lol). I left one medium super alone for the bees and extracted the 6 frames got 24 pounds (roughly according to Hive Tracks) and will bottle and give to friends.
I use a scratcher and then spin the frames... I have it down to a science and oh the wax was good!
I returned the frames back to the hive and will do inspections today.
This is nothing like fresh honey....shh don't tell my wife.
Any way the bees were calm and were very happy to get the frames back I'll lookin on them shortly.
All is good
Considering I started with 2 colonies and now have 6 I think 'keeper' is the term not 'haver'.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Monday, April 10, 2017
2017 04 Apr 09 Highs in the 70s bright and sun shine
Interesting happenings
It started with the splits I wanted to expand. I could not locate the queen so I made sure I had eggs everywhere. I had two colonies in 3 deep box configuration which may have been the smartest thing I EVER did this season in January. The bees filled the boxes and in Virginia I simply moved that box to an empty setup. It turns out the queen was in that box as I did an inspection saw eggs, capped and uncapped brood in that box and more importantly saw almost completed queen cells on two frames in the now two deep configuration. so that may work out.
In Florida I split that top box into two double nuke setups (Sanford & Culpeper) with Sanford showing signs of the queen with eggs and capped and uncapped brood. Then the other double nuc having a queen cell and capped larva. Then the mother colony also having queen cells with and capped brood.
Another 12 days for all the queens to develop and an inspection planned for this Saturday before Easter. This set of inspections is looking specifically whether the queen cells are going to produce queens. If so then I may make more nucs or diversify queens over ones that may not have queens. If I don't have enough then simply combine queen deficient hives.
Also a side story, I gentlemen stopped by who is interested in acquiring a hive. He kept bees in his earlier years and asked if I could part with a hive. I advised I'd be thrilled if I could give him a hive with a new queen. He asked what would I charge and I told him if it works he can have one. He is full of stories and at 88 years old reminds me of my grandfather.... I'd love to give him five frames for his setup and see how he does. Turns out I may end up with a constant supply of eggs for that colony.... seems bartering isn't dead and it saves me learning how to raise chickens..... which my wife and I thought about.
Small world and God does work in mysterious ways and I get to listen to some wild stories too. I think I come out way ahead on this one.
If you enjoy the blog please let me know and certainly if you have questions...I'd love to hear them.
It started with the splits I wanted to expand. I could not locate the queen so I made sure I had eggs everywhere. I had two colonies in 3 deep box configuration which may have been the smartest thing I EVER did this season in January. The bees filled the boxes and in Virginia I simply moved that box to an empty setup. It turns out the queen was in that box as I did an inspection saw eggs, capped and uncapped brood in that box and more importantly saw almost completed queen cells on two frames in the now two deep configuration. so that may work out.
In Florida I split that top box into two double nuke setups (Sanford & Culpeper) with Sanford showing signs of the queen with eggs and capped and uncapped brood. Then the other double nuc having a queen cell and capped larva. Then the mother colony also having queen cells with and capped brood.
Another 12 days for all the queens to develop and an inspection planned for this Saturday before Easter. This set of inspections is looking specifically whether the queen cells are going to produce queens. If so then I may make more nucs or diversify queens over ones that may not have queens. If I don't have enough then simply combine queen deficient hives.
Also a side story, I gentlemen stopped by who is interested in acquiring a hive. He kept bees in his earlier years and asked if I could part with a hive. I advised I'd be thrilled if I could give him a hive with a new queen. He asked what would I charge and I told him if it works he can have one. He is full of stories and at 88 years old reminds me of my grandfather.... I'd love to give him five frames for his setup and see how he does. Turns out I may end up with a constant supply of eggs for that colony.... seems bartering isn't dead and it saves me learning how to raise chickens..... which my wife and I thought about.
Small world and God does work in mysterious ways and I get to listen to some wild stories too. I think I come out way ahead on this one.
If you enjoy the blog please let me know and certainly if you have questions...I'd love to hear them.
Monday, April 3, 2017
2017 04 APR 03 Highs in the 60s
So this took place on the 1st and the 3rd.
I have two hives coming out of winter...... Obviously I want more bees and just success.... so what did I do...
I have two 3-deep box configurations. I put the third box and feeder on in Feb as I recall.
So for Florida I broke that top deep up and put it into two nuc boxes. and on each of those I put an empty box with 5 frames of foundation. so two - double decker nuc boxes. That was from Florida. and blocked off the entrance to both for a day.
Then from Virginia I just took off the top box and started South Carolina up again.
Then I placed a medium and queen excluder on both Florida and Virginia.
My goal is to have at least three hives by the end of the year and some honey.
What I don't know is where are the queens?
They could be in the nuc setups or in South Carolina. and Florida, or some combination of either.
Now since I did Florida on the 1st, I thought I might see some defensiveness from that hive today, but I didn't. This may indicate that the queen is in Florida and nuc setups (Sanford and Culpeper) are queenless.
I know Culpeper has eggs and maybe a queen. so I may be looking for queens shortly but I'll let the colonies stay as they are for a few days. Allo of them have bees and brood so they should be fine.
I may have to either combine Culpeper and Sanford or mix them with South Carolina... I just don't know.
Now another challenge I have to work with is wax moths and small hive beetles in Virginia. So this weekend I'll take pictures and look for queen cells in both Florida and Virginia. Virginia will also get a dose of OAd.
I have two hives coming out of winter...... Obviously I want more bees and just success.... so what did I do...
I have two 3-deep box configurations. I put the third box and feeder on in Feb as I recall.
So for Florida I broke that top deep up and put it into two nuc boxes. and on each of those I put an empty box with 5 frames of foundation. so two - double decker nuc boxes. That was from Florida. and blocked off the entrance to both for a day.
Then from Virginia I just took off the top box and started South Carolina up again.
Then I placed a medium and queen excluder on both Florida and Virginia.
My goal is to have at least three hives by the end of the year and some honey.
What I don't know is where are the queens?
They could be in the nuc setups or in South Carolina. and Florida, or some combination of either.
Now since I did Florida on the 1st, I thought I might see some defensiveness from that hive today, but I didn't. This may indicate that the queen is in Florida and nuc setups (Sanford and Culpeper) are queenless.
I know Culpeper has eggs and maybe a queen. so I may be looking for queens shortly but I'll let the colonies stay as they are for a few days. Allo of them have bees and brood so they should be fine.
I may have to either combine Culpeper and Sanford or mix them with South Carolina... I just don't know.
Now another challenge I have to work with is wax moths and small hive beetles in Virginia. So this weekend I'll take pictures and look for queen cells in both Florida and Virginia. Virginia will also get a dose of OAd.
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
2017 03 Mar 21 High low 60s partly cloudy
What a day.......
So I had some time off today as I worked Sunday while being on-call I both my wife Teresa and Earl had doctors appointments and I worked on taxes (that's a blog on it's own). The Dr. appts went well Earl has more therapy and Teresa gets some more shots in her neck but more on the bees
So the hives are Florida and Virginia... we have cool weather coming in tomorrow night and I was anxious to get the Oxalic acid dribble in the hives.
So for both hives are still in a three deep configuration with feeders. I filled the feeders last week and was looking to see if they took any of the feed and the bees did take it in it is almost empty.
So I had some time off today as I worked Sunday while being on-call I both my wife Teresa and Earl had doctors appointments and I worked on taxes (that's a blog on it's own). The Dr. appts went well Earl has more therapy and Teresa gets some more shots in her neck but more on the bees
So the hives are Florida and Virginia... we have cool weather coming in tomorrow night and I was anxious to get the Oxalic acid dribble in the hives.
So for both hives are still in a three deep configuration with feeders. I filled the feeders last week and was looking to see if they took any of the feed and the bees did take it in it is almost empty.
So the feeders got the hives through the winter now and I will remove them perhaps tomorrow after work or at least the floats.
With the three boxes on I am hoping that frames in all the boxes have syrup, pollen and bee bread and I will look at splitting the two colonies after Thursday.
Then put on mediums for the spring nectar flow. I am expecting the bees to have a weak time collecting due to the splits and that a good portion of the early blooms were frozen and died.
So at the top and bottom you see the brown flowers they should all be bright pink. Now tomorrow night we will get low again 24 degrees. but the bees have been hoping around so we'll see if we get any peaches..... again back to the bees
So I grabbed my oxalic acid 600 ml water, 600 grams of sugar and 45 grams of oxalic acid all mixed and refrigerated. I grabbed the 60ml syringe and filled it up. I let the OA warm up and then took off the feeder and top box and dribbled on the second box and top box between frames on the bees for both colonies.
I was hesitant to see how the first application did before doing the second colony but the inspection of the slide out on the bottom board showed mites in both colonies again. So assuming I didn't do anything wrong in mixing I think it was wise.
Having varroa is a given and it's not knocking them down that is the trick for the bees survival, its preventing the rise of varroa. I have enough solution to do more than three treatments so I'll go for three and then look at the results.... assuming the bees survive the first treatment.
Two colonies and each has 50ml on three boxes.
Other things to note are:
1) the slide outs had less varroa than the over-winter which is expected but higher than I thought I'd have
2) the colonies were good and strong with Florida besting Virginia. Below is Florida
The this was Virginia
Keep in mind that Virginia was the weakest colony going into winter.... it's amazing they are still there. This will be the colony I split.
So next steps on Saturday split Virginia and remove feeders and do complete inspections. I am using and subscribed to Hive Tracks (http://www.hivetracks.com). So Spring is in the air but we are going to have some cold days still. I just need to get going.
Below is a short movie of the bees in the peach trees...
Also if you stumble across this blog... please let me know how you found it, who you are and if you have questions... I'd love to try and answer them.
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
2017 03 Mar 15 High 32-ish YIKES
Ok yesterday some snow with ice but all in all not bad....
So why the Yikes The problem is the cold... I still have not made splits as I said previously that was a very good thing. for the next 5 days if we hit the 40s it's a good thing. The snow ice combo and cold with winds would have killed the brood.
Now I am just anxious.
I did pick up a 50ml syringe and have two containers of 12oz of oxalic acid. It may be a good time to treat the bees after this last bout of cold. I still have 4 bags of 25 lbs of sugar so cabs and the OAD I can do. I will need to make frames for the medium super for the spring and summer.
My other worry with this latest cold spell that I have not heard other beekeepers mention is the impact on the foliage. My peach trees had already started blooming and while there aren't any dandelions yet I suspect that will hit us early April. I'd love to see the bees on the peach trees in our yard but I suspect the blooms will again be wasted.
I just want to get in the hives and make a couple of splits so maybe next week.
Come on spring
So why the Yikes The problem is the cold... I still have not made splits as I said previously that was a very good thing. for the next 5 days if we hit the 40s it's a good thing. The snow ice combo and cold with winds would have killed the brood.
Now I am just anxious.
I did pick up a 50ml syringe and have two containers of 12oz of oxalic acid. It may be a good time to treat the bees after this last bout of cold. I still have 4 bags of 25 lbs of sugar so cabs and the OAD I can do. I will need to make frames for the medium super for the spring and summer.
My other worry with this latest cold spell that I have not heard other beekeepers mention is the impact on the foliage. My peach trees had already started blooming and while there aren't any dandelions yet I suspect that will hit us early April. I'd love to see the bees on the peach trees in our yard but I suspect the blooms will again be wasted.
I just want to get in the hives and make a couple of splits so maybe next week.
Come on spring
Thursday, March 9, 2017
2017 03Mar 09 - coming on strong clear very little wind Highs upper 60s
Well I spent a little time in the yard today.
I had a good feeling on the remaining two hives and wanted to verify before I did my happy dance. From the previous post the third box on both hives was a good idea....
Virginia colony was in the third(top) and second(middle) boxes with capped brood, larva and I didn't want to cool them off too much but they were in a perfect configuration on the frames. They had honey arches then pollen and bee bread with eggs underneath. A picture perfect type of set up in 8 frames in the top box. I took the top box and the bottom box(pretty empty) and switched them. The queen was in the second box and got her covered up again.
I opened up Florida too but they were very defensive and I really didn't want to break the propolis ( tree and leave substance they collect) seals before we get the cold this weekend, so I will get them on Monday or Tuesday next week after work. but both were good with bees
They were bringing in pollen (light yellow (maple) and dark orange (ain't got clue what it comes from). Any way... they are going well. I have our peach trees out front budding and starting to flower....I just need the bees to find them. I didn't help that situation out much by putting the feeders on but maybe the pollen will get their interest.
I thought of splitting Virginia to make one or two nucs, but thought better of that with the cold coming.
The picture at right top is Virginia with bees on 7 frames.
Florida above this and doing well but there were a bit defensive and it was hot. I decided to let them 'bee' and target another inspection next week.
My goal within the next two weeks is to make a split or two....
They already have brood going and while the mites and beetles aren't visible I'd like to put a drip of oxalic acid in both since there were a large quantity on the screen bottom boards from winter.
Funny story if anyone is reading this that I learned......
So I am researching what is known about Oxalic acid and trying to decide whether to vaporize it or drip/dribble it. I am looking at it what is known on both http://www.scientifcbeekeeping.com (Randy Oliver) as I have decided, after looking at the slide outs for the screen bottom boards that I will not subject my bees to that type of trouble. I made an interesting discovery is that oxalic acid(OA) is in our every day foods specifically spinach, broccoli and a few other things although not in the concentrations needed. I reflected on the as there was mention of these things over time causing kidney stones. Well my lovely wife has been susceptible to kidney stones mainly when she is trying to diet, which is when she eats green leafy vegetables and cauliflower and broccoli. To this point both of us thought these stones developed over time from eating red meat. In talking with her doctor the pathology seemed to confirm the red meats with calcium deposits making up the stones. Then researching a bit more I found that some people can't process the OA in the vegetables and the creation of stones can happen quicker. We'll see where this leads but I did tell Teresa of the correlation between the two. so I have two cartons of wood bleach (OA) and will go with the dribble where you make 1:1 sugar syrup and add OA to make it in concentration of 3.5% (v:w) So now I need a small scale and syringe and explain to people I am not selling cocaine or the like.
I have two links about Varroa Destructor and Oxalic Acid. A lot of beekeepers believe that OA is the fix all and in reality like any chemical mites can build up resistance.
I had a good feeling on the remaining two hives and wanted to verify before I did my happy dance. From the previous post the third box on both hives was a good idea....
Virginia colony was in the third(top) and second(middle) boxes with capped brood, larva and I didn't want to cool them off too much but they were in a perfect configuration on the frames. They had honey arches then pollen and bee bread with eggs underneath. A picture perfect type of set up in 8 frames in the top box. I took the top box and the bottom box(pretty empty) and switched them. The queen was in the second box and got her covered up again.
I opened up Florida too but they were very defensive and I really didn't want to break the propolis ( tree and leave substance they collect) seals before we get the cold this weekend, so I will get them on Monday or Tuesday next week after work. but both were good with bees
They were bringing in pollen (light yellow (maple) and dark orange (ain't got clue what it comes from). Any way... they are going well. I have our peach trees out front budding and starting to flower....I just need the bees to find them. I didn't help that situation out much by putting the feeders on but maybe the pollen will get their interest.
I thought of splitting Virginia to make one or two nucs, but thought better of that with the cold coming.
The picture at right top is Virginia with bees on 7 frames.
My goal within the next two weeks is to make a split or two....
They already have brood going and while the mites and beetles aren't visible I'd like to put a drip of oxalic acid in both since there were a large quantity on the screen bottom boards from winter.
Funny story if anyone is reading this that I learned......
So I am researching what is known about Oxalic acid and trying to decide whether to vaporize it or drip/dribble it. I am looking at it what is known on both http://www.scientifcbeekeeping.com (Randy Oliver) as I have decided, after looking at the slide outs for the screen bottom boards that I will not subject my bees to that type of trouble. I made an interesting discovery is that oxalic acid(OA) is in our every day foods specifically spinach, broccoli and a few other things although not in the concentrations needed. I reflected on the as there was mention of these things over time causing kidney stones. Well my lovely wife has been susceptible to kidney stones mainly when she is trying to diet, which is when she eats green leafy vegetables and cauliflower and broccoli. To this point both of us thought these stones developed over time from eating red meat. In talking with her doctor the pathology seemed to confirm the red meats with calcium deposits making up the stones. Then researching a bit more I found that some people can't process the OA in the vegetables and the creation of stones can happen quicker. We'll see where this leads but I did tell Teresa of the correlation between the two. so I have two cartons of wood bleach (OA) and will go with the dribble where you make 1:1 sugar syrup and add OA to make it in concentration of 3.5% (v:w) So now I need a small scale and syringe and explain to people I am not selling cocaine or the like.
I have two links about Varroa Destructor and Oxalic Acid. A lot of beekeepers believe that OA is the fix all and in reality like any chemical mites can build up resistance.
- Varroa link good YouTube video of Dennis vanEnglesdorp(UM) Video
- Randy Olivers PowerPoint resentation on Oxalic acid slides
If you care to see some good videos give it a look.
Also if you have stumbled across my blog and have questions... just leave comments and I'll take a look. I may not know the answer, but I'll look it up and share what I find.
This is really my log for the hive. I do use Hive tracks to create and do inspections.
Monday, March 6, 2017
2017 03Mar 06 highs mid to upper 40s
SO was out on the deck on my day off just to observe the hives I have a bowl of sugar syrup on the deck for the bees to discover and they have been taking drinks. Since my initial blog post this year I have stayed out of the hives and I believe that was the smartest thing I have done so far this year.
High level summary:
This is the earliest I have ever had the top cover off and I almost made splits from one hive. I believe now that would have been my dumbest move ever as I am sure the splits would have perished and the hive I split them from would be gone too.... still just too cold.
So let me reflect on my previous post and give next steps..... 2 of my four hives died over winter and while I do practice IPM (integrated pest management) I will add something new and see if my results are better.
My apiary is in a half square configuration, meaning that I have two side of a square one facing south east. More south than east and the other more east than south. two hives made it two didn't. It may say something that the two hives that died are both facing the same direction. Oh and each of the hives had a huge mite count on the slide out. That's not each of the hives that died had a huge mite count...all 4 had a huge mite count from fall & winter until Feb.
Next steps:
1) clean out all the nucs and queen rearing castle and get them ready for work.
2) get the deep frames I made ready for spring by installing the wired wax foundation. At least twenty frames. 15 for the nucs and 5 for the two hives that survived as I like to replace 2 frames per deep box that are older than5 years.
3) besides splits to break the brood cycle I will add oxalic acid drip to the two colonies that survived.
4) document everything to see the impact.
5) pickup oxalic acid, turns out that it's pretty simple and while I am sure Central Hardware or Clarke's Hardware store would have had it. Gary's Ace Hardware store ordered it for me and now has it in stock. and I need a syringe too.
Concerns:
So adding oxalic acid to my beekeeping has been a hard decision but I have read a bit of it and checked Bee Source on line. I don't like having to add oxalic acid but I feel I could really improve on keeping bees. Meaning oxalic acid is naturally occurring in nature and some of our veggies have it but the concentrations recommended are definitely different than we consume. I have an interesting side bar on that as well. To state plainly what my concerns are...
If I am killing mites that are impacting my hives, what else am I killing without knowing it. Are there things in the hive that I will impact that are good for the hive?
If I kill the mites for the bees how will they ever develop to resist on their own?
Lastly, the definition of insanity, if I do nothing why should I expect different results.
So I will use a dribble method where you have a liter of sugar syrup and 3.5 grams to the liter and mix it well. Then apply 5ml per seam (between two frames that have bees) no more than 50ml per box. and let the bees spread it and the mites are impacted.
When do you apply Oxalic Acid(OA):
Best to do before the hive has brood early spring (almost) now or late fall.
Also if you do create splits good to apply 25 days afterwards as the queen will have just been created and the brood cycle will have just begun.
I am really interested in seeing how all this works out. I have a few other projects to try but before I run I have to figure out how to walk (get the bees through winter and healthy).
So a few beekeepers will argue vaporizing oav versus oad(drip). To vaporize it you need a way of heating it up and a power source. Many will state it's easy to do and my response is... it's an option but the drip doesn't require lugging a batter and heater to the yard... so I'll start with the drip and keep the vaporing for a next step.
How does OA work:
This is interesting, in that it does, if too strong a concentration, kill bees but in the concentration I will use will not. The bees tolerate it but the mites are 60 times more susceptible to it. I should see mites on the screened board slide out the next day as proof it worked.
So the funny/interesting story. While reading up on oxalic acid (OA) I found out it's naturally occurring in spinach, broccoli and other vegetables. Now originally that's the proof I needed it was available in nature but...
My lovely wife Teresa is susceptible to kidney stones, and has fought them through many a painful session and the funny thing is that it's usually when she's eating healthy. She'll eat salads with spinach and broccoli and peppers onions mushrooms etc. The doctor always said calcium seemed to be what her stones were made of.... I proposed to her maybe the OA in the veggies was the issue or pain in her side.....her OTHER pain in her side.
High level summary:
This is the earliest I have ever had the top cover off and I almost made splits from one hive. I believe now that would have been my dumbest move ever as I am sure the splits would have perished and the hive I split them from would be gone too.... still just too cold.
So let me reflect on my previous post and give next steps..... 2 of my four hives died over winter and while I do practice IPM (integrated pest management) I will add something new and see if my results are better.
My apiary is in a half square configuration, meaning that I have two side of a square one facing south east. More south than east and the other more east than south. two hives made it two didn't. It may say something that the two hives that died are both facing the same direction. Oh and each of the hives had a huge mite count on the slide out. That's not each of the hives that died had a huge mite count...all 4 had a huge mite count from fall & winter until Feb.
Next steps:
1) clean out all the nucs and queen rearing castle and get them ready for work.
2) get the deep frames I made ready for spring by installing the wired wax foundation. At least twenty frames. 15 for the nucs and 5 for the two hives that survived as I like to replace 2 frames per deep box that are older than5 years.
3) besides splits to break the brood cycle I will add oxalic acid drip to the two colonies that survived.
4) document everything to see the impact.
5) pickup oxalic acid, turns out that it's pretty simple and while I am sure Central Hardware or Clarke's Hardware store would have had it. Gary's Ace Hardware store ordered it for me and now has it in stock. and I need a syringe too.
Concerns:
So adding oxalic acid to my beekeeping has been a hard decision but I have read a bit of it and checked Bee Source on line. I don't like having to add oxalic acid but I feel I could really improve on keeping bees. Meaning oxalic acid is naturally occurring in nature and some of our veggies have it but the concentrations recommended are definitely different than we consume. I have an interesting side bar on that as well. To state plainly what my concerns are...
If I am killing mites that are impacting my hives, what else am I killing without knowing it. Are there things in the hive that I will impact that are good for the hive?
If I kill the mites for the bees how will they ever develop to resist on their own?
Lastly, the definition of insanity, if I do nothing why should I expect different results.
So I will use a dribble method where you have a liter of sugar syrup and 3.5 grams to the liter and mix it well. Then apply 5ml per seam (between two frames that have bees) no more than 50ml per box. and let the bees spread it and the mites are impacted.
When do you apply Oxalic Acid(OA):
Best to do before the hive has brood early spring (almost) now or late fall.
Also if you do create splits good to apply 25 days afterwards as the queen will have just been created and the brood cycle will have just begun.
I am really interested in seeing how all this works out. I have a few other projects to try but before I run I have to figure out how to walk (get the bees through winter and healthy).
So a few beekeepers will argue vaporizing oav versus oad(drip). To vaporize it you need a way of heating it up and a power source. Many will state it's easy to do and my response is... it's an option but the drip doesn't require lugging a batter and heater to the yard... so I'll start with the drip and keep the vaporing for a next step.
How does OA work:
This is interesting, in that it does, if too strong a concentration, kill bees but in the concentration I will use will not. The bees tolerate it but the mites are 60 times more susceptible to it. I should see mites on the screened board slide out the next day as proof it worked.
So the funny/interesting story. While reading up on oxalic acid (OA) I found out it's naturally occurring in spinach, broccoli and other vegetables. Now originally that's the proof I needed it was available in nature but...
My lovely wife Teresa is susceptible to kidney stones, and has fought them through many a painful session and the funny thing is that it's usually when she's eating healthy. She'll eat salads with spinach and broccoli and peppers onions mushrooms etc. The doctor always said calcium seemed to be what her stones were made of.... I proposed to her maybe the OA in the veggies was the issue or pain in her side.....her OTHER pain in her side.
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