SR Hive Check, 7/21
I missed the opportunity to post about a brief hive check I did at Sunflower River on Friday morning, July 21. I went out around 10am. They had a lot of shade at that time, and the hive was pretty busy. I was mostly checking on their progress building in the second brood box. There was still evidence of a queen, and they were busily building more comb, already mostly filling all but the two side frames. I didn't go further in, hoping to just leave them do what they'll do, and next week (probably on August 1) I will see about adding a honey super, just for giggles, and really check out how they're doing.
Ironwood Farms
In addition, Chris finally got back to me about checking on the hives at Ironwood Farm in the South Valley of Albuquerque. I went out there this morning and got a tour. His one hive that remains is descended from the same swarm he caught a dozen years ago! His hives are "messy" in that he's a master of sustainability, and they are made from lots of spare parts, and it made me think that beekeeping can be even more natural than I'm already doing! Anyway, Chris' beekeeper abandoned him a couple of months ago, and it took that much time to get me out there to take a look.
Unfortunately, checking on his hive, I found them to be incredibly cramped and every frame is full! When I opened it up, these cranky bees flew out and swarmed me. I was safe inside my suit, but they covered my veil and made it hard to see, so I decided that his hive was beyond my growing skills. So I chatted with Chris and decided that I would look for local beekeepers willing to come out and likely assist him with a split.
He may have me back once things calm down again, but that was an interesting and harrying experience.
Source Hive Split!
Also, stay tuned! This Thursday, July 27, I will acquire another queen and split my own hive here at home. I'm excited!...And a little bit scared.
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Hives Check 7/3/17
Source Hive
Whew, is it hot out there. I went out around 3:45pm to look in on the ladies. It's hot, somewhere in the 90's, with just a gentle breeze. They were plentiful and a little grumpy, once I got into the hive. Loud buzzing. Turns out they have 17 bars of comb! and one more that they are almost completely done making.
The hive, I think, is kind of messy. I probably should have been in there more often. That's on me. I have burr comb on over half the bars, though thankfully none are cross-combing. The queen is a prolific little monarch. I only took a casual glance because they were a little angry (I think because of the heat, and I felt like a five-thumbed troll trying to get into the hive) so I did not see the queen. However, there is larvae, eggs, capped brood, and 18 bars of full comb. I have very little doubt that she isn't there.
In any event, they are getting far too big for their britches. I don't see any swarm cells, though I didn't look too hard. I think it's time to make a split. I haven't done that before, and I'm a little nervous about it. I have an extra hive, I just need a stand and a lid (and a queen, most likely). I will read up on it again and work on that the rest of this week.
SR Hive
We showed up at Sunflower River at 5:30 and soon moved out to the hives. The farm had two new interns who were curious to see the hives, so they followed us, along with Tristan's five year old son Gawain who was finally brave enough to come see the hive. It was still warm out, but the trees in the area gave us a dispersed shade that was actually quite pleasant.
Tristan reported that he's found that the bees have emptied the feeder every five days, and that tells me that they are growing enough that they are relying more on their own reserves. We'll continue to feed them for a while, but only once per week.
Our goal was just to see how the hive was doing with their additional box and just see how prolific they are. After having such a rough start, I wasn't so interested in looking through the whole hive. We just got into the top box and investigated how much they had done since the last time we were there. They had expanded to making 8 frames of comb (though one was barely started and two of them were half-frames, though they were using it). Larvae and capped brood and honey were in them in a good pattern. I saw the queen on one of those frames, so obviously she's doing her work and they are starting to expand.
We let them alone and closed up the hive, leaving them to it.
Overall, a pretty good day!
Whew, is it hot out there. I went out around 3:45pm to look in on the ladies. It's hot, somewhere in the 90's, with just a gentle breeze. They were plentiful and a little grumpy, once I got into the hive. Loud buzzing. Turns out they have 17 bars of comb! and one more that they are almost completely done making.
The hive, I think, is kind of messy. I probably should have been in there more often. That's on me. I have burr comb on over half the bars, though thankfully none are cross-combing. The queen is a prolific little monarch. I only took a casual glance because they were a little angry (I think because of the heat, and I felt like a five-thumbed troll trying to get into the hive) so I did not see the queen. However, there is larvae, eggs, capped brood, and 18 bars of full comb. I have very little doubt that she isn't there.
In any event, they are getting far too big for their britches. I don't see any swarm cells, though I didn't look too hard. I think it's time to make a split. I haven't done that before, and I'm a little nervous about it. I have an extra hive, I just need a stand and a lid (and a queen, most likely). I will read up on it again and work on that the rest of this week.
SR Hive
We showed up at Sunflower River at 5:30 and soon moved out to the hives. The farm had two new interns who were curious to see the hives, so they followed us, along with Tristan's five year old son Gawain who was finally brave enough to come see the hive. It was still warm out, but the trees in the area gave us a dispersed shade that was actually quite pleasant.
Tristan reported that he's found that the bees have emptied the feeder every five days, and that tells me that they are growing enough that they are relying more on their own reserves. We'll continue to feed them for a while, but only once per week.
Our goal was just to see how the hive was doing with their additional box and just see how prolific they are. After having such a rough start, I wasn't so interested in looking through the whole hive. We just got into the top box and investigated how much they had done since the last time we were there. They had expanded to making 8 frames of comb (though one was barely started and two of them were half-frames, though they were using it). Larvae and capped brood and honey were in them in a good pattern. I saw the queen on one of those frames, so obviously she's doing her work and they are starting to expand.
We let them alone and closed up the hive, leaving them to it.
Overall, a pretty good day!
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