Inspection 4/1/10

Mary
81 f
Sunny

Long Live the Queen...She pulled it off! Mary lives for another season!

I opened up Mary today to see how she's doing. They have taken about half of the medicated syrup. It has begun to crystallize on the surface. Pulling off the HTF showed the still messy frames from where the Nosema caused problems. The bees where testy and did not like the intrusion. Many are from Myrina who is normally defensive. It is really a sign of how stressed they are having such a weak Queen. I used my smoker a lot.

I went through all the frames in the single deep hive. 1 through 3 were mostly honey, some old pollen, & emptied cells. Frame 4 was the same on the outside. The inside was half capped brood & fresh maple pollen. There was also a good showing of eggs and larva. Frame 5 was also half capped brood & fresh pollen but on both sides. I found Mary herself slowly walking around on the outside of 5. She was looking for a cell to lay in. I watched for a moment hoping to see her lay an egg. But then gave up thinking I may be hindering her. Frames 6 through 10 were again mostly honey, some old pollen, & emptied cells.

So, the brood nest is small. Oddly the pollen was being stored beneath the brood on the frames. I believe that is a result of the colder 30's & 40's night time temps. Again she is only in a single deep right now. However the temperatures here have finally broke. Night time temps are now in the 50's and up. The bees are now free to go anywhere they want in the hive. The brood pattern was beautiful; almost complete with very few holes.

I removed the SBB so to clean the dried sugar off it. It was replace with an unused BB that was meant for the new hive for the up-coming package. Inspection of the wood beneath the SBB showed the Nosema has gone away. It has been in place for 10 days. I saw no stain from the Nosema. The Fumagilin did it's job. I'll leave the HTF on for another week or two. Myrina's bees (they get all the credit) have done a great job cleaning up the cells. Rotten pollen, Chalkbrood mummies, & wax moth debris had been pulled from the frames. Now I hope they can start making some new wax.

The hive body itself was in terrible shape. It was very dirty from the Nosema & the dry sugar. I will consider whether to replace the wooden ware or not. Two frames did need replacing now. The top bar had split from the side rails. Frame 3 & 5. 5 has brood so it will stay in the hive for now. Frame 3 came out. Replaced by another honey filled deep frame. It was salvaged from Mary's second deep body removed in November due to Wax Moth. All of the frames in this deep came assembled from Dadant. They apparently didn't use glue. I was surprised to see the side staple pull out. Something else I'll need to fix.

About the brood. I did not see any Drone cells. I did see them when Myrina had only a little brood. All the frames are Plasticell. I don't know how much of an effect that will have. The cell size is standard not small cell. Curious to be sure. Mary, though, may not yet be in the mood to make drones yet. I'll check again next weekend.

She's still in the temporary location. I'm second guessing where to place ALL my hives. Wherever they end up will be decided soon. Before the package arrives.

I'm sorry for not taking any pictures this time. I was in a hurry.