March/April Checklist

Order supplies:
- Medication: Terramycin, Fumigilin B, possibly Apistan
- Honey supers
- Second hive (?)

On the hive:
- Rotate hive bodies - The cluster moves upwards in winter. If I rotate the chambers, they will begin expanding upward into the formerly empty box.
- Possibly, replace bottom board - I am thinking about getting a screened IPM board to manage the mites that drop.
- Start feeding sugar syrup (with medication).

For the upcoming months:
- Build second hive - I might be able to start a second hive from this one, and it will prevent swarming.
- Prepare honey supers before the nectar flow - This year, I'll harvest...

Getting Warmer....

I know it's been a while since I've updated, but as I've been telling people, my concern for this hive's overwintering has been so great that I can't even think about it for any great length of time, let alone talk or write about it.

However! Today was a good day at the hive. I haven't had a chance to open it and check the food supply/hive population in there, though I need to. It's been warmer, but on the afternoons when I have been free, it hasn't been warm enough for me to feel safe about cracking it open.

I sat to the side of the hive, watching tons of ants crawling around in the grass below and up onto the hive. I want to check and make sure that they are not a great threat to the bees. I poked through the grass below the hive entrance and noticed a pretty substantial mass of dead bees. From the varying stages of decay I felt certain that they were just the visible product of winter cleaning - a few bees tossed out one day, a few the next.... as opposed to a big wave of bee death.

Slowly, the bees came out of the hive to take cleansing flights. They were leaving from the top entrance, which supports the fact that bees always move upwards through the hive. Specifically, they will move upwards to consume their food, to lay their eggs, etc., starting in the lower chambers and moving towards the top as they need to. I am presuming that the bottom box is cleaned out of honey stores and that they are on the last bits. I have read that if you are concerned about the level of food in the hive, that you can lay a sheet of cake fondant (maliable, dough-like cake icing) across the frames for the bees to eat.

In other news, I ran into a friend of mine from high school, Jess, who I knew kept bees of her own a few miles away from mine. It was great to have a sounding board - especially someone who I have always respected. The things she said came right from my own brain, especially when she proclaimed, "I saw them bringing in pollen today!!" (I had marveled at that earlier in the afternoon, trying to imagine where that little bee had found the pale white pollen that filled her packets as she returned to the hive.)

Things seem good for this hive - I hope to have a better idea before the end of the week...!

Varroa!

The ground is muddy, the trees are still bare and March has come in like a lion. I placed a brick on top of the hive earlier after I woke up from nightmares driven by a particularly gusty day outside my window several weeks ago. I had seen, in the dream, the hive blown open and all of my bees freezing. Literally jumped out of the bed and drove over to make sure things were okay... which, of course, they were.

At any rate, on one of the calmer days recently I took away the entrance reducer to sweep the bottom board of the hive out of curiosity. I found a pile of wax dust and brownish flecks crowded under the entrance reducer. I looked at it for a few seconds before I realized what the flecks actually were - Varroa Mites. These mites cause all sorts of problems in the hive and are suspected as a contributing factor to CCD, for causing deformities in the bees and for weakening hives in general. There are a few chemicals available to control Varroa mites, but nothing to completely wipe 'em out.

After discovering the mites, I realized that despite the warmth of that afternoon, I'd seen no signs of life. I held my breath and stared and stared at the hive, dread accumulating, before I finally saw one little bee fly into the hive. Within seconds, she - or a sister of hers - appeared at the hive entrance and tossed a small hive beetle off the landing board. I probably cheered out loud at that, for several reasons. It was an encouraging sight.

A Good Bee Omen

I emailed many people to share a good bee omen that I encountered today.

In other news, well, there isn't any. It's time to catch up on reading and prepare to build the new hives. Last I checked at my hive, there were still dead bees out front - as I've said, that's a sign that there are bees alive inside to carry the dead ones out, so it's a good sign. I intend to get a laser heat-sensor thingy and shoot the hive and see what I can learn, but I haven't gotten around to borrowing one yet.

Closing Time

It was mid October and night temperatures had veered towards the freezing point or below. Time for all good bees to stay inside and keep the queen warm!

I'd noticed fewer bees leaving the hive during the day along with shortened days of activity. I'd done the final check of the hive and was ready to help them hunker down for the cooler months.

My first priority was to create adequate ventillation for the hive. In the winter, the bees cluster together, creating an internal temperature well past the 70s. With the freezing outside temperature against the walls of the hive, the heat generated by the hundreds of beating bee wings creates condensation inside of the hive. Condensation is, as far as I can tell, the biggest threat to an otherwise healthy hive as it overwinters.

If the liquid rises and coats the inside lid - and is not able to escape - it can pool and drip down onto the cluster. Imagine, a chilled droplet of water falling from the icy hive roof into the warm nest of bees. It damages their carefully calibrated temperature and can cause great harm to the cluster.

To prevent this, I glued matchsticks to the inner cover and pushed the outer cover forward, creating an opening across the top of the hive, so that air could breeze through and escape from under the eaves of the outer cover. (See photo.)

Finally, I closed up the hive and did a sweep across the floor of the hive. It's important to check for mice, who would love to snuggle inside and eat honey all winter. I put the entrance reducer in place with the larger gap as the opening. This both prevents drafts and gives the bees plenty of space to get out. (The smaller opening could be blocked by dead bee bodies as the population continues to drop.)

They're all inside and hopefully ready for what's coming. The only other thing I can do for them is to build a windbreak, wrap the hive in black roofer's paper and put a rock on top of the hive to prevent the cover from being blown off should any harsh winds hit. I will do those things if I feel like conditions get to be excruciating, but as for now, it's been fairly mild. I hope they make it...

End of the Season

{I meant to write this weeks/months ago, but never followed through. Here's a little note about the end of the active outdoor bee season.}

First of all, I continued to see elder bees leaving the nest. The one above is old enough that her wings have beat enough to destroy themselves.

Now, with the hive population and the temperature dropping, it's time to prepare for the winter. I did one last inspection of the hive - should have, but did not check to see if the queen was present - and made sure there was enough honey for them. I was shocked, actually, at the volume they'd accumulated since I'd initially been very concerned about it. Somehow, they had increased their stores to a level that indicated preparedness for the harder months ahead.

Also, I was able to see SHB's again. This was the second time I'd seen any, though I'd seen one hole through a comb at one point. (Their trademark: the beetles eat the comb and jump around from frame to frame, destroying everything and making life miserable for the bees.) Since they hadn't been visible for the majority of time I'd been inside the hive over the summer, I was less concerned about them. If they are inevitable, and they are not annihilating the hive, I guess I have to just cope with them, an extermination or pest-control plan in order for emergency use.

Finally, the closing steps in preparing the hive for winter....

Tattered Wings

I watched the bees that were in the grass yesterday to see if I could learn what was causing this, and I think I did.  It's not anything strange at all, I should have thought about it! 

They weren't drones (the male bees that get thrown out as the hive tightens up for winter), I was finally certain.  They were just there in the grass and leaves, stumbling around and not lifting themselves back into the air.

I looked closer and they all had tattered, broken wings.  That was the reason.  They are old bees.  It is the end of their lives. 

This time of year bees will be dying and leaving the hive and the hive number will be reduced to a bare minimum.  Also, if a bee is sick or dying, she will leave the nest rather than risk infecting or inconveniencing her sisters.

I told them 'thank you.'

The hive still smelled like candycorn.