Adventures in Beekeeping - Journey To Liquid Gold - Pics

[Quail_Antwerp]

So it wasn't really in the plans to get bees this year - not really sure it was in the plans at all, although the idea had been tossed out there in passing and The Man Unit had said, "Absolutely Not".

Usually that means, case closed.

But not this time.

The winds of change threw some bees our way - via a swarm from my mom's hive!

We managed to get through a whirlwind few days and had 1 crash course in beeking, and now, we're both hooked!!

Since I don't have the needed veil, I was patiently (or so not) waiting for my mom to loan me hers so I could check on my bees.

There was a little concern that they were not working the frames, but rather building burr comb in the top, frameless deep super.

And boy was that ever a valid concern!

FYI, you do NOT want to do this at home! Or with your own hive.

E and I ventured out, with E keeping a fair distance for his "safety" and I proceed to check my hive for the first time.

Removed the telescoping lid, and then started to lift the inner cover - and *gasp* they had started building on the inner cover!!

That was Monday - I was so unprepared, and not sure how to proceed, never having worked a hive before, that I shut everything back up - while my husband was falling over himself with laughter. Some help he is.

After a couple of desperate emergency calls, we did get in touch with a local Beek, but he wouldn't be available to come out until Sunday.

So we ended up talking to our Amish friend, and he came out on Wednesday to help me with the hive.

First, we had to get beyond the guards -

I just love this picture!! It's almost like they are looking out and saying, "Don't even THINK you're going to get past us!" LOL

or

"What are YOU doin'?"


or

"Say hello to my Little Friend"

I could go on and on.......lol but I won't....

But I do have to say, that is absolutely one of my FAVORITE pics that I took.

More to come in Post 2.

 

[keljonma]

Isn't that so neat?, all those tiny girls peaking out to see who is disturbing them! This will become a familiar site when you start working the frames.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

So our Beek Amish Friend got down on his hands and knees and looked up through the screened bottom to see how many, if any, bees were in the bottom super.

Then he put his ear to the top super and confirmed what I was already aware of, "They're all in the top."

So we just picked up the entire top super, without removing the inner cover, and placed it on a small plastic table.

This is what the bottom super looked like

and this is pretty much what EVERY frame looked like

Every frame did have a few bees on it, but not like they should have had.


So, then we lifted off (ok, Beek Amish Friend did it, I snapped the pic) the inner cover and this is what we found....

They built ALL of that in JUST 10 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I know why they used the expression, "As busy as a bee!"

And it was SO BEAUTIFUL! Heartbreaking, though, to see it and know it was wasted energy.

This is what the top super still had in it, after removing the inner cover

At first, we tried to attach some of this comb to empty frames, but it was so soft (we suspect from heat) that it just kept falling apart and literally just dropping off the inner cover. We were trying to carefully remove bees from the comb and put them in the hive body with frames, because we didn't want to squish anyone. Unfortunately, a few workers still got squished.

Look at how hard the poor girls had worked! In this comb, you can see what I think is capped brood (could be wrong, I'm still learning)

This one was the MOST HEARTBREAKING - you can see larvae, and in the comb parts that look empty, every single one had an egg. There was also necter, and already some honey (but not much).

Then we had some more comb on the inner cover, that we were carefully removing trying to get all the bees into the hive body and looking each piece over for the queen.

And then we still had to deal with the rest of what was in the other hive body

After getting the rest of the bees in the hive body with frames, the bees started climbing on the frames like crazy. We were watching as closely as possible for the queen, but the bees were acting kind of crazy and piling on top of eachother, so we really couldn't tell where she was.

We used my scraper to scrap off every bit of the burr comb off the super they had built in. E started to walk it to the house (I told him take it where they can't smell it) and he starts to smell it and says, "This thing smells wonderful!"

To which I replied, "Yep, it smells like home to them, and if you don't move it, they'll be after ya!"

I am not kidding - I've NEVER seen that man move so fast!!

But mostly E was out there the whole time in his shorts and t-shirt, and we didn't even smoke the bees or spray them with food - and no one got stung!

This is how my happy hive looked at 5:30 this morning

 

[keljonma]

Great photos, QA!

Play with the photos on your computer and you may be able to find the queen. It will take some time, but it is possible.

I think the paraffin-coated hive body looks much better than the painted.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I don't know if I'll find her, even playing with the pics - there's a lot of stingers in there!!

My beek friend said it's a really healthy and LARGE hive lol

afterwards, he had taken off his gloves and was combing the ground for any "missed" bees and putting them back into the hive. He found a whole clump on the bottom screen and so he scooped them up and put them in the hive, too!

He had pulled a couple frames after moving the bees from the top super to see if we could find the queen, but no luck.

We're going to check in a few days. There's been lots of activity out there with the hive today.

AND they found the black berry blossoms!

 

[gettinaclue]

I love that you and Lori are posting pics and stuff about your hives.

Dh and I are also looking into getting one somewhere down the road.

 

[reinbeau]

Aly, I saw a lot of honey in there, but didn't see much in the way of capped brood - it was way too early for them to have it anyhoo. It's really too bad you couldn't put the comb into some frames, but they'll rebuild quickly, especially if they have lots of forage around. I agree, I love the look of the paraffin coated hive body! As for Ernie's observation about the smell, I absolutely adore the smell of a beehive, the wax, the honey - it's heaven-scented....well, at least until the dirty socks of the Goldenrod flow!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

thanks, Ann! I need to do some more looking into what capped brood will look like then.

There is a lot of white clover in our pasture blooming right now, and this morning we saw them on the Blackberry bushes that are in bloom.

I am hoping they rebuild fast.

I do have a question - if the queen flies out of the hive to mate, and doesn't mate with the drones in the hive, how long is she fertile?

 

[keljonma]

Aly, I saw a lot of honey in there, but didn't see much in the way of capped brood - it was way too early for them to have it anyhoo. It's really too bad you couldn't put the comb into some frames, but they'll rebuild quickly, especially if they have lots of forage around. I agree, I love the look of the paraffin coated hive body! As for Ernie's observation about the smell, I absolutely adore the smell of a beehive, the wax, the honey - it's heaven-scented....well, at least until the dirty socks of the Goldenrod flow!

You're right, Ann, there isn't any better way to spend some time, than to sit by the hive and inhale deeply! (before the goldenrod)

 

[keljonma]

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