Monday, September 27, 2010

Surprise!

I went into my hives the evening of Thursday, Sept. 24 with the expectation of doing the following:
  1. Remove honey super from queenless hive with expecation that all frames would be full and capped
  2. Remove upper brood box from queenless hive with expectation that some frames would be full and capped
  3. At this point all bees in queenless hive would be in lower brood box.
  4. Remove two honey supers from 2nd hive with expectation that all frames would be full and capped
  5. Remove both brood boxes from 2nd hive and install regular bottom board to prepare for winter
  6. Place both brood boxes back with "nest" in bottom box.
  7. Place layer of newspaper over top brood box; make small slits in paper
  8. Place brood box from queenless hive on top of newspaper; combining the hives
So it was going to be a busy evening for sure.  In Step 1, I removed the honey super and was surprised that not all the frames were capped yet.  Bummer.  I then removed the top brood box (Step 2) and began inspecting the lower box.  I had just seen Dr. Kunkle and he implored me to be very sure that the queenless hive was in fact queenless.  I looked at a couple of the frames and was very surprised to find larve, eggs, and capped brood!  "This hive isn't queenless!"  This of course means all my plans that I had been working out in my head for the last several days if not weeks were all kaput!  "Shnikeys!"

The fact that this hive was not queenless meant that I would not be combining the hives as I had previously thought and not only would I have to leave honey for THIS hive but I would also have to make sure there is plenty of honey in the other one as well.  I had been hoping that in combining the hives, I would also be combining the honey stores...

Anyhow, it was great news that this hive was able to raise their own queen.  My earlier hunt for the queen must have been premature...it does take time for the queen to become mated and to bulk up in preparation for laying hundreds and then thousands of eggs DAILY.

I went and installed the regular bottom board on this no longer queenless hive and put all the boxes back in place.  I then went ahead and checked the other hive.  The upper honey super was full of capped honey frames.  I shook and knocked and brushed the bees off the frames back into the hive and placed the frames into an empty hive box...placing a board over the top to keep bees out.  In the lower honey super, I was able to pull 6 more fully capped frames...the other 4 were not yet fully capped.  I left those and put in 6 empty frames.

Since it was getting cooler, I closed up the hive.  At a later date, I'll have to go back in and install the regular bottom board to keep the cold out some.  Over the weekend, I also put a hive top feeder on this hive to help them fill those empty frames and to make sure they have plenty of honey for winter.  I'll do the same for the "no longer queenless" hive.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Lots of Honey!

I went into the hives Monday afternoon...Sept. 13 just to see at what stage the frames were in capped vs uncapped honey.  I estimated that about 75% of the frame surface throughout the left hive were capped so hopefully they will be done capping by the weekend.  The frames being capped is important because it signals that the honey within is "cured" and is at the correct moisture content.  Too much moisture causes the honey to ferment.  You want as much of the honey to be capped as possible before extracting it.

I also checked the queenless hive on the right.  It appeared that they too were filling their frames in both the hive super as well as at least one of the hive bodies with honey.  Since there is no queen to lay eggs, they are putting honey in the frames that normally would be used for brood.  After extracting the honey from this hive, I will attempt to combine these bees with the other hive.  You do so by placing their box on top of the other hive with newspaper separating them.  By the time the bees eat their way through the newspaper, the bees from both hives should have the same odor and will be accepting of each other.  That is the plan anyway.

I wonder how much newspaper should be used...a few sheets, or the Sunday edition of the Boston Globe?

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Got Honey?

I do!  I inspected the "good" hive yesterday...first time in a couple weeks.  Previously, there was not much honey anywhere in the hive...only a little here and there.  I was worried I would have to feed them heavily and that there would certainly be no honey "harvest".  Now one of the honey boxes is packed full of honey though it appears they are just now beginning to cap it.  Once it is all capped, I will be able to take that box off and it will be ready for extraction.  The other honey super is not full but the comb is all drawn out and they do appear to be starting to fill it...  I put in a queen excluder to keep her out of these two honey supers...there was no evidence that she ever ventured into either so that is good.  Hopefully all will go well and I'll have honey.

I did not check the other hive but did provide them medicated syrup.  They should pack this away in frames...which I will then use in the other hive for the winter.  Later I will try combining the two hives...

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Still Queenless...bummer.

I went into the hive Tuesday, August 31 to see if a new queen had emerged and begun doing her thing...unfortunately, it a queen did survive, she is not laying.  I suspect that perhaps what emerged from the queen cells were regular workers or perhaps their was no surviving queen after they duked it out amongst themselves.  I suppose there is a slim chance that there is a queen but that she just has not yet matured to the point where she is laying...but I know that is a very slim chance.

The good news from this inspection is that there are still plenty of workers left for not having a queen for several weeks.  And they seem to be collecting honey and are doing a number on the pollen patties I left for them.

I looked real quick in the other hive and they too seem to be collecting honey now rather than consuming it all themselves.  Maybe I will get a jar or two out of them yet!