Inspection 3/12/11

Mary & Myrina
64°F
Partly Sunny
Slight Breeze

Not a full inspection but a brood check.  It's that time of year where time gets short with all the tasks to be completed.  A beek needs to monitor the Spring brood up for Swarm Control.  The last inspection showed small brood nests in each hive.  Today's inspection was to learn how much more those nests have grown.  

Myrina's bottom Deep had full honey frames from the 10th  to the 7th position.  Frame #6 was filled with worker brood.  I stopped pulling frames and closed the box up.  The last thing I wanted to do is pull apart the brood nest.  I'm sure, judging by the amount of bees on them, frames 1 & 2 also had brood.  I tipped the box on it's side to look for Swarm cells hanging off the bottom frames but saw none.

Her top box had many bees in it but a frame by frame search revealed no brood.  There too the bees were on most of the frames.  Still some honey in the end frames.  I expect eggs in the top box soon.  The Reversing tends to set them back a week or two and it's been only one week since that happened.  The bees look healthy now and I'll do another brood check soon.

There were a few equipment issues with Myrina.  The unpainted wood sheet beneath the bottom board had molded.  Apparently it soaked up the rain water which mixed with the hive debris under the screen.  The bees couldn't access it to remove it so it molded.  That sheet was replaced with a corrugated plastic 'Land 4 Sale' sign.  The wood sheet looked terrible.

Rain seeped in onto the unpainted wood sheet

I also changed out the Deep box that had been lowest in the hive.  It too had the mold/mildew spreading up it's sides.  I hope to save the box but that will take some bleach first. 

Mold & Mildew spread upwards

I wanted to put the first Honey Supper on Myrina.  I had ripped out all the Plasticell comb and then wired all the frames for Foundationless Natural Comb.  It's my understanding, however, that the bees must have brood in the box directly below the super for them to draw it out. 

Foundationless Medium Honey Frame

Since the top Deep has no brood in it I'll need to wait on that for now.  We are still having cold nights.  With the bees only filling one & a half Deeps an extra Super might add to much space for them to heat when they need to cluster.

Mary is much farther ahead.  I was pleasantly surprised to see full brood frames in the top Deep.  Recall the first inspection where she only had brood in the bottom Deep.  I pulled one brood frame to remove some bur comb beneath it.  On the next frame i found Drone Cells both capped & uncapped.  Great news!  I guess in a week or two I can go ahead and make my nucs.  Unfortunately in the excitement I forgot to look under the boxes for swarm cells.

I say I can make my nucs soon because the plan is to let the nucs make their own queens.  So drones need to be flying first.  I could wait and buy Queens to put in the nucs later but I want to make my own.  I hope to rear local queens and eventually have a bee yard filled with Survivor bees.  Though I don't plan on requeening Mary or Myrina this year,  Their queens are not yet a year old.  They should last me until next year at the earliest.  The nucs will, hopefully, make queens quickly.  Those who can make it through next Winter will seed the next batch the following Spring.  The big picture is to make my own queens and sell Wintered nucs.

However, I did see a small pile of Chalkbrood mummies beneath the entrance.  That's usually a sign of a weak queen but the brood in this hive looks great.  The amount is good and so is the pattern.  I keep an eye on it to see if it gets worse.  If it does I may need to requeen her.
Since Mary had plenty of brood in the top box I added an undrawn foundationless Honey Super.  That might help ease any potential over crowding until I can pull the nuc frames and replace them with more undrawn foundationless ones.  Which breaks up the brood nest and diminishes the swarming instinct.

However,  I did replace one frame from the top Deep.  The bees had over-drawn one frame and under-drawn the next one.  To fix this I replaced the oversized frame with another undrawn foundationless frame.  Now the bees can hopefully draw both out to normal size.  That too should relax the chance of swarming.

Both Hive Top Feeders were removed.  The bees showed no great interest in the syrup this Spring.  Maybe they hate the Tea or the Maple flow is just to good (still going strong).  The Inner Covers were placed back on too.  I'll put the Slatted Racks on as soon as I finish them.

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Mildew Damage

In an earlier post I mentioned the presence of mildew in Myrina.  It looked like the unpainted wood sheet used to close off the SBB got wet with moisture and began to mildew.  The stuff then spread up the SBB wall onto the Hive body.  It did not appear to be major then.

Looking at the side of Myrina today I noticed two spots where the paint has blistered.  The boxes are two years old and are long past coat adhesion problems. 

Weeping Paint Blister on Deep Hive Body

I scraped it off to reveal a pine knot beneath.  Gunk was weeping from the knot and collecting under the paint, hence the blister.  So i guess the mildew had begun to trap excess moisture in the wood.  Causing liquid to seep through the exposed and open capillaries in the knots.

Only one side is affected right now.  Next week, when it's in the 60°'s, I can replace the box with a new one and the unpainted wood sheet too.  I'll clean out the mildewy box, bleach it, & set it out to dry for a month.  After which I'll touch up the paint and it will be good to go again. 

If the other box looks bad enough I may change out both boxes.  I have the extra equipment so it's not a problem.

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Water on the T-Cover

The Bees flew today and I wanted to get a glimpse at whether the bees were taking the Tea/Syrup.  After work I went down and lifted off the t-covers.  Mary had a few bees up in the HTF and the level hadn't changed much. 

The t-cover on Myrina surprised me.  As I lifted it off several ounces of water ran on to the ground like a faucet had been turned on.  Startled i turned it over to examine it.  The underside was saturated.  Fortunately the cover is waxed but nothing is waterproof.  No swelling of the wood but a green & black mildew were acutely present. 

Another problem is the condensation dripping into the HTF is infecting the tea/syrup with the mildew/mold.  A couple of mold spots the size of quarters were floating on the surface.  This poor hive is loaded with the rotten mildew above & below (recall the last post).

The HTF's and tea/syrup went in the hives last Friday.  So all of this happened since then.  Mary was fine.  Her t-cover is homemade and the top piece of wood is 3/4" plywood.  Myrina's t-cover is purchased and it's top board is only 1/4" fleck board.  Big differences in insulation value.  Both HTF's are jacketed by wood shims with 3 - 1.25" holes in them for ventilation, and it's been very windy.  I can't believe there isn't enough ventilation.

Both populations are near the same and the queens are sisters so I dont thinks it's behavior.  We are in the initial Spring Flow with lots of Maple nectar coming in to cure.  I'm not sure why this is happening.

I wiped off the excess water on the inside of the t-cover.  It was too late in the day to do much.  All i did was place tin foil over the HTF shims (Vent Box) and put the t-cover back on.  There will still be condensation but this will keep it off the wood.  We are expecting a bunch of rain tomorrow night.  Hopefully I figure things out tomorrow and get it done before the rain starts.

I don't think any water is getting on the bees from under the HTF.  I believe all the condensation is above it.  Also i noticed only a few bees taking the the tea/syrup in Myrina.  Yesterday was to cold for the bees to fly.  I figured they might be taking the tea/syrup instead.  Today was a Fly Day but not a warm one at 47°F.  Thought they may still be interested in the tea/syrup.

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Inspection 2/18/11

Mary & Myrina
75°F
Partly Sunny
Slight breeze

The first inspection of 2011.  The colonies have looked good all Winter.  Now was time to see first hand.  Though there were some clouds out and a slight breeze at 75°F today would be good enough.

I started by opening up Mary.  The bees had again gnawed on the insulation near the single vent hole in the Vent Box.  They had not chewed anywhere else though.  So that's an improvement over regular Styrofoam.  I still want to try the foil backed fiber sheets next year.  There was also some very minor bee poop on the top of the Inner Cover; probably from December.  As of yet i have no plans to treat with Fumagilin this Spring.  I'd like not to, so unless there are signs of Nosema i won't.

Under the IC was the pollen patty placed there in January.  The bees were working on it but nearly all of it was still there.  A previous post mentions the bees were bringing in pollen.  I expected the bees to eat more of the pollen patties before now.  They just don't seem to like it much.  I took it out since they'll not be needing it any more.  

The bee are not yet on top of the frames in the top box.  They're in them but with plenty of store left above and around them.  Looking down the cluster is on 7 of the frames to the left (east) side.

DHB2 - still some room left to go

The TOP BOX (DHB2):
10 - Full honey
 9 - Full honey
 8 - Full honey
 7 - Full honey
 6 - Full honey
 5 - 1/2 honey, new pollen, in cluster
 4 - 1/2 honey, new pollen, in cluster
 3 - 1/2 honey, new pollen, in cluster
 2 - 1/2 honey, new pollen, in cluster
 1 - 1/2 honey, new pollen, in cluster

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DHB1 - this is where most of the bees are

BOTTOM BOX (DHB1):
10 - Full honey
 9 - Full honey
 8 - 4/5 honey
 7 - 1/2 honey
 6 - 1/5 honey
 5 - 1/4 brood, new pollen, in cluster
 4 - 1/4 brood, new pollen, in cluster
 3 - 2/3 brood, new pollen, in cluster, QUEEN
 2 - 1/4 honey
 1 - Full honey

New incoming Nectar & some Pollen

I'd like to find out where the yellow pollen is coming from.  The Silver maple pollen has a dull green color.  Whatever it is there must be a lot of it.  I suspect a Pussy Willow but I've not located it yet.  I have 5 of my own but they're seedlings so not in bloom.  The Nectar is likely from the Maple though.

Beautiful Early Brood frame

Last year I didn't see brood until March 20th.  So this year is quite early.  It has been warm and the bees have been flying since the 11th of Feb.  Still this is a great sight to see in.  The guy who sold me these queens last year told me they would brood up early and to watch out for swarming.  So i'll be getting the nucs ready soon.

Queen Mary herself on frame #3

There's that hard working queen.  Marked with 2010 blue.  It's an easy color to pick out.  This year is white which i hope will still be easy to see.  I might, like some, skip yellow and use a purple when it's time.


Then Myrina
Her bees were almost on top of the frames in the top box.  Not entirely but close.  They've almost gone through all their stores.  Here too the bees did not consume much of the Pollen patty.  It too was thrown away.  I was going to buy a case of these things to feed to the bees this Spring.  I'm glad i hadn't done it yet.  I don't think i'll bother with them next year either.  I started feeding syrup today as well.  With that & pollen & nectar coming into the hive they will be good going forward.

Bees not covering the top & useless pollen patty

The TOP BOX (DHB1):
10 - Honey, not fully drawn
 9 - Full honey
 8 - 4/5 honey
 7 - Full honey
 6 - Full honey, old & new pollen
 5 - 1/4 Brood, new pollen, in cluster
 4 - 1/4 Brood, new pollen, in cluster
 3 - 1/4 Brood, new pollen, in cluster
 2 - 3/5 honey, new pollen, in cluster
 1 - 4/5 honey, new pollen, in cluster

DHB1 - Lots of brood on the old frames

All fresh Pollen

BOTTOM BOX (DHB2):
10 - Empty, mildew
 9 - 1/5 honey, mildew
 8 - 1/3 honey
 7 - 1/2 honey
 6 - 1/2 honey, new pollen, in cluster
 5 - Mostly empty, not fully drawn
 4 - Mostly empty, new pollen, in cluster
 3 - Mostly empty, new pollen, in cluster
 2 - Undrawn
 1 - (oops, didn't record)

Myrina's bottom box

Myrina's bottom bottom box is having a mildew problem.  The right corner (west side) has a coating of the dark greenish stuff over the whole side.  Frames 10 & 9 are also affected.  The wood bars and a little on the wax comb too.  The box is from 2008 and has been fully waxed by the bees but the mildew's on the comb too.  I think the source of the mildew is the unpainted piece of luan board under the screened bottom board.  The moisture of the Winter hive settling on it each day may have started the process.  I think it then spread upwards from there.  I don't plan on opening the SBB until the nightly lows are in the 60°'s.  I'll replace the sheet with a painted one soon.

Mildew, box & comb

Top boxes are a common place for a queen to start laying in Spring but all the brood is in the oldest frames in the hive.  The current brood frames are the only remaining equipment from the old farmers apiary.  The comb is dark and the frames are rough and chipped.  I wonder if such old comb is desired by the queen for laying eggs?  I'll need to read up on it.

Feeding time again

After the inspection I added the hive top feeders to each hive.  Then filled them with a gallon each of the 1:1 syrup/tea I've made.  It looks like a good start to the year. 

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Honey Super and More

 Ready to go on
 

Myrina got her Medium Honey Super put on today.  It was from last year and has drawn out comb on Plasticell foundation.  I added spacers to it so now it's a 9-frame supper.  All the frames were sprayed with syrup before they went it.  Since the frames are drawn I went ahead & put the Queen Excluder on.  I will check in a week to see how they're doing.  Her bees were defensive as usual. 

 New Super & New Stand

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Mary got another gallon of 1:1 syrup.  The first gallon was about gone.  I had hoped see would have repaired the damaged comb in  Deep Hive Box-2.  But no new comb there.  Her bees are still very active.  She has the earliest flying bees in the yard each morning.

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The new colony (Duchess) has a small ant problem.  They are getting into the HTF through a gap.  All the equipment is new and because of the HTF the bees do not access to the Inner Cover, Vent Box, & T-cover.  SO, they can't seal everything with propolis.  I flicked out the dead ants.  They are not taking the syrup as fast as Mary but they're still taking it.  I looked in the new DHB and found frames 5 & 6 were almost all the way drawn out.  There was a small piece of bur comb on the top of frame 5 in the first DHB. It was removed.
 

Invaders!

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Frame 6 in DHB2

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 Bur Comb

And since the bees have not sealed all the interior wood there has developed a mold problem on the T-cover.  A big green spot of mold above the hole in the Inner Cover.

 Wood not sealed by the bees

I put what wax I had left right on top of the mold spot.  I didn't have enough to treat the whole T-cover.  If the mold gets worse I'll buy some wax and do the all of it. 

Bees wax over the mold.  Problem solved

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Wax vs. Green Mold

I've have trouble with a Green mold that keeps appearing in Mary. It beat up some honey supers last year (click here to see) and recently go into my new T-cover this year. I always assumed it was a moisture problem. I did everything I could to vent the hive and still the mold came back.

I posted the problem in the on-line Bee Master forum. Many good responses also dealing with moisture. Then finally one beek mentioned that new wooden ware may sprout mold if the bees have not properly sealed the surface with propolis/wax.

BOOM! There it was!

When I thought about it all the wooden ware that came down with the mold was new. So I need to make sure all the wood is treated by the bees or someone else. Like me.

The current victim is the telescoping cover on Mary. It's a year old but the bees never waxed it. So I took it upon myself to wax it.

Notice that you can see the inner outline of the hive

First I washed off the mold with bleach then dried it. Then warmed up the wood underside under a lamp. While that was happening I melted some bees wax & got a metal scraper. When all was ready I removed the lamp and poured the wax onto the T-cover. To keep the wax soft as I spread it I used a blow-drier. I did not coat to the edge of the T-cover. I feel that exposed wax may attract Wax Moths. After a good coating I put the T-cover back under the lamp to help the wax melt in. When completed the T-cover went back out on the hive.

Wax soaking into the wood

I remembered Michael Bush's article on how he wax dips his hives. So I got the idea to hot wax the inside of my previously painted equipment. If this works (no more mold & no added pests like Wax Moth) I'll be sure to do this in the future when the bees don't do it themselves. I imagine that a strong & healthy hive will have no problem with this task. Mary on the other hand has always limped a little.

aun Aprendo

Apistan Strips

So today's temp was above 50F. I've had the strips for 2 weeks now and have been waiting for just such a day as this to put them in the hives. The girls are buzzing around enjoying a little Winter sun.

As soon as I open Mary's cover I see trouble (again!). There was a small puddle of water resting on the inner cover. We've had no rain for a week or so; so why the water?. Plus the water had saturated the inner cover completely. When I looked underneath at the hive body & frames I saw them covered in a greenish sooty mold. Mind you that the hive is loaded with bees. I do use an entrance feeder. Have been for months. Yet I've never seen this type of problem before.

Yes it's true that both hives are currently made up of two deep hive bodies with a honey super on top. The bees of neither colony did much in the supers before Winter. I was hoping they would draw out the frames and make some honey, or store pollen, for them to use. The super are mostly empty. The bees ball up down in the deep hives.

So, I have one hive with water & mold damage. I don't know if Myrina will be the same. I quickly place the strips where they need to be in both deep hives. I leave the super off and close the covers. Then on to Myrina. Fortunately she is dry on the inside. In go her strips and more sugar syrup for both colonies. Her super comes off too.

I'll scrub, bleach, rinse, dry, then freeze Mary's super & frames. Myrina's will go straight into the deep freeze. Now I must go and find out why There is water in my hive. Maybe condensation, I don't know.