Quick Peek & Brood boxes

Nuc #5 (Mab)
Nuc #6 (Gumption)

On Feb 28th i took a quick look at the two nucs.  Nuc #5, or Mab, is packed with bees and has three of her five frames loaded with brood.  The queen looked big & healthy as always.  This colony was my first captured swarm from last year.  Her population plummeted last fall but now she'll be ready to swarm in no time.

Nuc #6, Gumption, Has two of five frames in brood.  She doesn't have the number of bees Mab does but she's drawing comb already.  She is a late September swarm.  I never took her seriously though she continuously laid eggs.  So she's off to a great start now that she survived Winter.  So i finally marked the Queen; with white since she is from last year.

Since Mab is full of bees & Gumption is drawing comb they both received an additional brood box (5 frame Nuc) today.

Ready to go with old frames & new wax foundation

 -

Mab's (nuc #5) new yellow Medium Brood box

-

and Gumption's (nuc #6) new yellow Brood box too

I intend to inspect a few hives this weekend.  Might need to reverse some boxes to hold off swarming.  This Winter has been VERY mild and the bees are way ahead of schedule.

 

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Hive Inspection 10/17/11

NUC #5
Sunny
75°F

The only nuc i have left and the first one i have ever tried to take through Winter.  She is from a wild hive and may be Survivor bees.  They have about finished their one gallon of 2:1 syrup medicated with Fumagilin.  Since they are a nuc that's all they get.

Top Box DNB2: frames
1 - Backfill, honey, empty
2 - Mostly drawn, backfill, SHB (1)
3 - Mostly drawn, backfill
4 - Backfill, honey, SHB (1)
5 - Mostly drawn, honey, backfill

Bottom Box DNB1: frames
1 - Solid Honey
2 - Honey, backfill, brood, pollen
3 - Honey, backfill, brood (eggs) - QUEEN (marked)
4 - Honey, backfill, brood
5 - Honey, brood, pollen, backfill

Bees on all the frames of the bottom box

Population seems to only be fair.  I'd like to see more bees in here.  They have four frames with brood and that's a good thing.  Honey stores could be higher too.  There are a couple of feedings left so hopefully that will do it. 

Queen of Nuc #5 (Mab).  Sorry for the blurry pict

At least these bees know to move the brood nest to the bottom box.  I wont have to manually move them down like the others.  I will also need to insulate this nuc and get a HTF for warm weather feeding.

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Nuc'ed September Swarm

Here's an update for that swarm from Sept 21.

They have since been given a Hive Top Feeder from Brushy Mtn.  It was filled with a gallon of 1:1 Syrup with a drop of Thyme & Peppermint oils each plus a tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar.  The bees took to it quickly.  Their population is so small that after a week they still haven't finished the gallon of syrup.  They did, however start drawing comb IN the feeder.  All of which was removed.

One nuc box & a HTF

 They are drawing out comb and filling it up with nectar & pollen like champs.  If it were April or May these bees would be able to establish a full hive before Winter.  Sadly it's October.  They would have to go through Winter in a 2 or 3 frame nuc.  They might be able too but I've not the experience to set them up for it.  I still plan to combine them into another hive but we'll see.  So I'm not counting them amongst the other colonies yet.

Eggs, Larva, & Pupae

The Best news is that the queen is laying in every good cell she can find.  There's even a few capped worker cells.  The bees must like her since there are no Supersedure cells to be found.  She not the biggest queen I've seen but the attitude of the bees and their productivity do rate well.

New Good Queen

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NUC #6 CHRONICLE

September 25, 2011

(post link)

r-SBB, DNB1, IC, TC
DNB1 = 5 frames, CW
Queen Spotted = yes
Brood Present = yes
Brood Pattern = good
Drone Cells = no
Population = critical low

• Remove IC
• Add HTF 
• Add 1 gal 1:1 syrup w/ACV, Thyme & Peppermint oils
• Bees drawing comb

September 21, 2011

(post link)

r-SBB, DNB1, IC, TC
DNB1 = 5 frame, CW
Queen Spotted = yes
Brood Present = no

• Add all equipment
• 2 frames of Bees from in-yard Swarm
• Reduce entrance

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Another Swarm??

The size of a grapefruit

We all checked our hives and this swarm doesn't seem to belong to any of us.  However, i might have missed a queen in Nuc #5 after its last swarm. idunno?  It was in a tree at eye level 15 feet behind Heléna & Nuc #5.  It has been raining for several days; cool & wet.  We don't know when it showed up.  For all i know these could be the bees from Nuc #5's original swarm (link here).

I Nuc'ed the Swarm

Well, since i could reach them they were tossed into a empty nuc.  I have no plans to keep them.  They will likely be combined with whoever needs a population boost.  The Queen will be evaluated.  If shes a good Queen she might have a future.  I'll keep the nuc going as long as i can as a spare queen if needed.

Not fully elongated yet but growing

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Hive Inspection 5/29/11

Nuc #4
Partly Sunny
85°F

This is really a Queen check but with only 5 frames it becomes an inspection.  The big news is that the Virgin Queen is now laying.  WooHoo!  I didn't expect it but there were eggs in all the usable cells; which weren't many. 

Queen and Eggs

Compare this image of the queen to the one I took of her on the 25th, four days ago.  Big difference.  Although it looks like her wings may be damaged if you zoom in on the above image.  The bees in the nuc were acting a little better too.  They have drawn out more comb and are leaving & returning from the field.  This Nuc is from Myrina (we think) whose production is usually good.  These bees may now make it.

Whether the plastic nuc helped or not I don't know.   There are a few other unknowns to this colony:  How does a swarm end up with a Virgin Queen?  How come the bees are so listless?  Why won't they take syrup?  Much doesn't make sense.  Maybe I'll figure it out someday.  Untill then this is the bees home untill the woodenware is finished.

Corrugated Plastic Nuc

They drew out a bunch of weird comb on the Plasticell frame again.  I turned the frame around instead of removing the odd comb.  They can try to get it right on the undrawn side.  The 4th frame from the left is the Medium brood frame from what was Nuc #3 but is now Melissa.

- - -   - - -

Also,
I checked the honey super on Myrina.  Surprisingly the bees had finally drawn out the majority of frames.  About Time!  So the super came out from between the 2 brood boxes and onto the top of the hive.  I added the Modified Queen Excluder as well.  I didn't see any eggs in the honey frames but I'll check again in a few days to be sure.

Honey At Last! 

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Melissa - the Fifth Hive

Nuc #3 has been doing very well.  Her 10 frame deep box is filled with bees, brood, & honey.  She has more bees and stores than Heléna.  Which tells me she should be in a full hive.  So today i put a second Deep box on Nuc #3 along with 10 foundationless frames and a Hive Top Feeder topped off with a gallon of 1:1 syrup.

This Nuc's ability to draw comb is quite good.  The bees seem preoccupied with making comb since I'm always scraping extra off the inner cover.  I don't doubt she'll have the new box nearly all drawn out by July.  Which will give her a double Deeps worth of bees going into Winter.

If she's going to be a full hive she needs a name.  We found out that in Greek, honey bee is 'Melissa'.  So that's her new name now.  Her parent hive belongs to the Neighbor.  It's name is Beatrix, after the 20th century queen.  The neighbor also made a split from the parent hive at the same time.  It also has become a full hive.  Lots of good genetics there indeed.

Melissa - formerly Nuc #3

The yellow box is on lone from Heléna.  The white box is drying from a bleaching it received to clear up the mold issue.  In a day or so I'll switch them out.  I'll do an inspection  as soon as I see the bees have drawn some comb in the top box.  I need to make a Slatted Rack and a new cover for her too now that she's a big girl.

The year is just moving right along...

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Hive Inspection 5/25/11

Nuc #4
85°F
Partly Sunny

The poor & lowly Nuc #4

This Nuc makes me feel like a slum lord.  I was out of equipment when i caught the swarm.  I had to use whatever scraps could be found.  The cover is Mary's original cover from 2008 when i purchased her.  It has spent the last two years as a tomato starter, essentially a flower pot!  The Deep box was Myrina's.  The one that had so much mold last Winter the knots started to weep.  The bottom board was also Myrina's and was in storage yet covered in dead bugs and spiders.  To make thing worse it's a 10 frame set up when all the small swarm needed was at most a 5 frame box.  I didn't even have 5 frames so they got 4: 1 plasticell & 2 foundationless all undrawn.  I did add that brood frame from Nuc #3 but it is a Medium.

I put a entrance feeder IN the hive to keep the robing down.  I know the flow is on but these bees couldn't defend a drop.  The bees haven't touched the syrup.  They continue to act strangely all huddled together and barely flying.

They haven't started on the fourth frame yet.  I don't know what they're doing on the plasticell frame.  Making a mess i guess.  Just a weak performance all the way around.  And still NO eggs!

Today they got a little break.  I purchased one of those plastic nucs.   They get a newer, cleaner home and a fifth frame too.  Almost like real bees.  The plastic nuc isn't great but its a mighty step up from what they have now.  They can defend it & control the climate whereas the 10 frame was too big for them.  These plastic jobs are stamped out of one piece corrugated plastic.  It takes a little to fold it together, the directions are Useless.  These are a one shot deals.  No adding on or feeders.  I think they're more for selling nucs than Making nucs.

Movin' on up!

The good news is i might get some time this weekend to start making the real nuc equipment.  Hopefully that can be completed before these bees drop dead.

The queen still looks unmated.  Her abdomen is not growing any bigger.  If there is no change she will be replaced, soon!

That's the Queen!

To add to this menagerie of gloom look who popped out for a walk during the inspection.  Is this really necessary?

SHB

If this nuc lives it will be by luck and a miracle.  I will do what i can but if they don't start behaving like bees and working they're done for.

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Hive Inspection 5/24/11

Heléna & Nuc #5
83°F
Sunny

Heléna is coming along nicely.  She is drawing out 9 of the 10 frames.  the comb is straight and in good form.  They are storing plenty of nectar/syrup.  Though she's still very slow to take the syrup; a gallon will last over a week.  She is laying as much as she can in the limited space.  Plenty of eggs, larva, & pupae already.

Frame #2 -

Frame #3 -

Frame #4 -

Frame #5 -

Frame #6 -

Frame #7 -

Frame #8 -

Frame #9 -

Frame #10 -

I started to use foundationless/Natural comb this year.  At first i used small bits of foundation as a comb guide.  Now i nail the wedge in sideways.  The comb here is off side because the queen cage was on that side (oops!).  The bees definitely favor the South side of the hive though.  That's the side all the big comb is on.  Frame #1 is on the North side where they're slowly getting too.

Queen Heléna

The Queen looked good.  She didn't get marked though.  After the last debacle marking the Queen in Nuc #3 i won't do it if there isn't enough eggs to make an emergency queen.  This colony has fresh eggs but not enough.  She'll be marked sometime around when the second Deep is near drawn out.

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Nuc #5

Nuc #5 is a real joy.  The bees are dark and may be feral.  They seem good about drawing comb and filling it.  They've been in the nuc for a week and are working every frame including the plasticell.  The queen has laid eggs in every available cell.  They have been feed 3 quarts of syrup so far.  The best part is that they couldn't care less about me.  They're very passive and don't mind me when i poke around their frames.

Frame #1

Frame #2

Frame #3

Frame #4

Frame #5

It looks great for a weeks worth of comb.  It was a surprise to see how well they did on the Plasticell.  I had given up on that stuff and gotten rid of most of it.  I would've kept it if I knew these bees were OK with it. 

Nothing capped yet but that wont take long.  I'll keep feeding them since they're taking it so well.  They never had syrup delivered to them while in their tree and probably think they're in Heaven.  Hope they don't get to dependent on it.

Nuc #3 Queen

The queen is a big girl.  She too won't be marked until they have a majority of drawn & filled frames.  Technically she should be marked with blue since she is likely from last year.  I'll need to find the blue pen again.

The plan is to go treatmentless with these bees.  I know they've survived at least one Winter in a tree without any help; maybe years.  If they do well I'll start using them to requeen the others.

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Swarm, Queen in Super, & Other Notes

Keeping up with the bees has been a daily chore lately.  Catching the Swarm on Wednesday (5/18) was great but all the equipment had to be borrowed.  The issue with that was the neighbor uses Mediums only.  Yesterday (5/20) the medium frames and the Medium Nuc were traded out for all Deep equipment; the quiet box is now in service.  On a good note the new bees had drawn almost a full frame already.  I like these bees.

The full story on the swarm is straight forward.  The Wife saw the swarm before Noon then called me at work.  After work we went back and hived them.  They were very cooperative in that the swarm quickly accepted the nuc.  They were all in it and calm within an hour.  We came home, put them on the stand, and fed them.  They've been busy since.  When i traded all the equipment they were calm and passive.  I guess the swarm was at about 2 pounds.  Good haul!  Oh, and the tree the bees were swarming on was a bee tree.  I marked it with flagging and notified everyone in the club.  We'll all watch it for years to come.  Welcome Nuc #5.

Equipment issues:
I'm out of  woodenware.  This Spring i started with 2 full hives.  The plan was to add one more full hive, via package, and make 2 Nucs.  The equipment for all was made and ready to go.  However what happened was more than i had hoped for.  On top of the what was planned I made a third Nuc and caught two swarms; the third Nuc is insanely productive and will be made into a full hive as soon as another box is available.

I have decided to make all the woodenware I need instead of buying it.  4 Nuc bodies, 2 Nuc covers, 2 Nuc Inner Covers, 2 Nuc Screened Bottom Board., 2 Nuc Slatted Racks, all for 5 frame Deeps.  Also I need 2 Screened Bottom Boards, 1 Slatted Rack, 1 Cover, all for 10 frame Deeps to fix a few issues with the full hives.  All of this is needed this year, NOW!, but the budget has been used up.  SO...I'll make everything from plywood.  Not ideal but doable. Plywood is more susceptible to water damage but is much cheaper.  To deal with the water issues I'll need to make sure the end grains are covered and well sealed.  If done properly the plywood boxes will last as long as solid wood.

Honey Production:
Queen Mary got into the Honey Super.  I notice on Monday (5/16) the bees had drawn a few frames out down to the bottom.  I wanted to put the Excluder on then but a rain storm shut me down then and for the rest of the week.  Yesterday (5/20) I went to put it in but it was to late.  She had gotten to 3 frames, mostly drone cells.  Not a problem though.  I made sure the Queen was not in the Super then swept the bees off the egg frames and culled them.  They went directly into the deep freezer.  Left them in for 2+ hours.  I figured by then the eggs were sufficiently chilled.   Then put the frames back into the Super.  The Excluder went on as soon as I culled the frames.  I'll check the Super again in a few days.

Queen Excluders are mostly called 'Honey' Excluders around here.  Seems bees don't like to pass through the bars and many Supers never get drawn out.  To remedy this I modified the Excluders.  I cut off the bars on the last inch of each side.  That way the Queen won't be in a position to crawl through while worker bees on both side can pass without hindrance.

Clipped off the sides

Other beeks like to place the Excluder sideways on the box.  It does the same thing while allowing for additional ventilation.  I'd rather keep the sides of the hives closed off.  The gap opens up the outside & the top of the last frames.  It closes off the inside of the last frames and everything in between.  When placing the chilled frames back in I saw the bees actively passing through the gaps.

Myrina is still having a problem drawing out honey comb.  To motivate her more I put her Honey Super in between the top & bottom brood boxes.  I'll check back in a week for improvement.

The Small Swarm:
Nuc #4, this swarm nuc was still doing nothing.  To boost their instinct to act like bees I added a brood frame from Nuc #3 and an entrance feeder.  A check in a few days will tell me if it worked.  Fingers crossed...

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MAB CHRONICLE

September 25, 2011
r-BB, EF, DNB1, DNB2, DNB3, IC, TC

• Add ½ gal 1:1 syrup w/ACV, Thyme & Peppermint oils

September 17, 2011
r-BB, EF, DNB1, DNB2, DNB3, IC, TC

• Add ½ gal 1:1 syrup w/ACV, Thyme & Peppermint oils

September 15, 2011
r-BB, EF, DNB1, DNB2, DNB3, IC, TC

• Add ½ gal 1:1 syrup w/ACV, Thyme & Peppermint oils

September 13, 2011
(post link)
r-BB, EF, DNB1, DNB2, DNB3, IC, TC

• Colony SWARMED
• New Queen marked white

September 6, 2011
r-BB, EF, DNB1, DNB2, DNB3, IC, TC

• Add ½ gal 1:1 syrup w/ACV, Thyme & Peppermint oils

September 4, 2011
r-BB, EF, DNB1, DNB2, DNB3, IC, TC

• Add ½ gal 1:1 syrup w/ACV, Thyme & Peppermint oils

August 29, 2011
r-BB, EF, DNB1, DNB2, DNB3, IC, TC

• Add ½ gal 1:1 syrup w/ACV, Thyme & Peppermint oils

August 28, 2011
(post link)
r-BB, EF, DNB1, DNB2, DNB3, IC, TC

• Add ½ gal 1:1 syrup w/ACV, Thyme & Peppermint oils

August 23, 2011

r-BB, EF, DNB1, DNB2, DNB3, IC, TC

• Add ½ gal 1:1 syrup w/ACV, Thyme & Peppermint oils

August 21, 2011

(post link)

r-BB, EF, DNB1, DNB2, DNB3, IC, TC

• Add ½ gal 1:1 syrup w/ACV, Thyme & Peppermint oils

August 17, 2011 - (Combined with Nuc #4)

(post link)

r-SBB, EF, DNB1 , IC, TC

• Combined with Nuc #4
• Keep Queen
• Remove Screened Bottom Board (SBB) neighbor's
• Remove Inner Cover (IC) neighbor's
• Remove Top Cover (TC) neighbor's
• Add Bottom Board (BB)
• Add second Deep Nuc box (DNB2)
• Add third Deep Nuc box (DNB3)
• Add 5 undrawn frames, wax foundation
• Add Inner Cover (IC)
• Add Top Cover (TC)

June 15, 2011

r-SBB, EF, DNB1, IC, TC

• Add 1qt 1:1 syrup

June 14, 2011

r-SBB, EF, DNB1, IC, TC

• Add 1qt 1:1 syrup

May 25, 2011

r-SBB, EF, DNB1, IC, TC

• Add 1qt 1:1 syrup w/ ACV

May 24, 2011

r-SBB, EF, DNB1, IC, TC

• Add 1qt 1:1 syrup w/ ACV

May 23, 2011

r-SBB, EF, DNB1, IC, TC

• Add 1qt 1:1 syrup w/ ACV

May 22, 2011

r-SBB, EF, DNB1, IC, TC

• Add 1qt 1:1 syrup w/ ACV

May 20, 2011

(post link)

r-SBB, EF,  MNB1, IC, TC

• Remove MNB1
• Add DNB1, 5 frame (old quiet box)
• Remove all 3 Medium frames
• Add 5 Deep frames, foundationless

May 18, 2011

(post link)

r-SBB, EF, MNB1, IC, TC
MNB1 = 5 frame, CW & foundationless
Queen Spotted = yes
Brood Present = no, New Swarm Nuc
Brood Pattern = no, New Swarm Nuc
Drone Cells = no, New Swarm Nuc
Population = 2 pounds
Condensation = no
Pests = no

• Add all Equipment, borrowed
• Add only 3 Medium frames
• Bees from wild swarm in Bedford County
• Reduce Entrance
• Add Entrance Feeder & 1:1 syrup w/ ACV

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A Bale of Hay

Let me tell you a story...

There once was a Walnut tree

That was in fact a Bee Tree

That had Swarmed this very morning

So the local beekeeper clipped the swarm down

and placed it in a borrowed Nuc box

Where the Queen felt right at home

and they all lived happily ever after

The End

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Inspection 5/16/11

Mary & Nuc#3
72°F
Sunny moments in between rain showers

Since Myrina swarmed I've wanted to inspect Mary.  For a while there she was showing lots of Chalkbrood dropped out in front of the hive and the amount of field bees seemed diminished.

The honey super was a sad sight.  The bees are now drawing out the comb, but slowly.  However they are making many drone size cells so the comb will be great for honey production.  I moved the drawn or drawing frames to the side and placed the empties in the middle; trying to spur the drawing out of those frames too.  Beautiful new wax

The Top brood box looked like this (from left to right):

1. Plasticell - little honey - open cells - Brood
2. Plasticell - little honey - open cells - Brood
3. Plasticell - little honey - open cells - Brood - many swarm cups/ removed
4. Plasticell - little honey - open cells - Brood
5. Crimped wire - little honey - open cells - Brood
6. Plasticell - honey - open cells - Brood
7. Natural comb - no honey - open cells - All Drone frame/comb cut out - Queen
8. Plasticell - little honey - open cells - Brood
9. Plasticell - honey bound
10. Plasticell - honey bound - returned to position #1

Not much in the way of honey or pollen.  Plenty brood both young and old.  Very, very little chalkbrood.  Both Mary and her spun off nuc have the CB.  For some reason Mary always has it.  The solid drone frames have been popping up lately.  I cut off all the comb but left enough at the top for the bees to have a guide.  This, i hope, opens up the brood nest enough to dissuade them from swarming.  The copious amount of queen cups in the swarm position was unnerving.

Bottom brood box:

1. Plasticell - honey - pollen frame
2. Plasticell - little honey - pollen frame - Brood
3. Plasticell - very little honey - open cells - Brood
4. Crimped wire - very little honey - open cells - Brood
5. Plasticell - little honey - open cells - Brood
6. Crimped wire - honey - open cells
7. Plasticell - honey - open cells
8. Plasticell - honey bound
9. Plasticell - honey bound - returned to position #2
10. Plasticell - honey bound - returned to position #1

More honey and less brood in this box.  There is enough open cells & undrawn frames in this hive to keep them from swarming, i hope.  With some of the honey comb reaching the bottom of the frames I'll add an excluder soon.  If it looks like it's getting crowded I may replace a honey bound frame with a foundationless one.  The colony looks OK for now.  The plan is to requeen her anyway.

- - -   - - -   - - -

Next was the split made from the neighbor's colony that i call Nuc#3.  These bees are the hardest working bees I know.  The first to flight each morning and the last to rest every night.  The Nuc, a 9 frame deep box, is full with brood and honey.  Sadly the parent frames are Mediums.  The bees have taken to drawing comb tangentially to the bottom of the 5 smaller frames.  I cut it all out then rearranged the frames so each small frame was bracketed by larger frames.  That should straighten out the bottom comb.

The bees have little room left though.  I need to add another deep as soon as I can.  This was suppose to be a Nuc but she's turned into a full colony.  I guess that happens when you start out with 5 frames of bees.

There's a hitch to it though.  I am going to requeen Mary with the queen from Nuc#3.  Then let Nuc#3 make herself another queen.  Mary will then become as productive as this awesome Nuc/Hive.  I plan on requeening this weekend.

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NUC #4 CHRONICLE

August 15, 2011 - (Combined into Nuc #5)
(post link)
PN

• End of Nuc #4
• Queen Pinched
• All 5 frames placed into DNB for Nuc #5
• PN put in storage

May 29, 2011

(post link)

PN = 5 frame, mixed
                          brood frames - 2/5
Queen Spotted = yes
Brood Present = yes
Brood Pattern = good

• Queen laying

May 25, 2011

(post link)

r-BB, EF, DHB1, TC 
Queen Spotted = yes
Brood Present = yes (from nuc #3)
Population = Small Swarm, pint and a half of bees
Pests = SHBx1

• Remove BB, EF, DHB1, TC
• Add 5 frame plastic nuc (PN)
• Add 1 foundationless frame

May 20, 2011

(post link)

r-BB,  DHB1, TC

• Remove 5 frames (for Nuc #5)
• Add Entrance Feeder (EF) & 1:1 syrup (internally)
• Add 1 Medium brood frame from Nuc #3
• Bees still not active

May 14, 2011

(post link)

r-BB, DHB1, TC
Queen Spotted = yes

• Queen found
• Bees not working??

May 13, 2011

(post link)

r-BB, DHB1, TC
DHB1 = 10 frame, mixed
                                   brood frames = 0/9
Queen Spotted = no
Brood Present = no, New Swarm Nuc
Brood Pattern = no, New Swarm Nuc
Drone Cells = no, New Swarm Nuc 
Population = Small Swarm, pint and a half of bees
Condensation = no
Pests = no

• Add all Equipment
• Bees from Myrina's Swarm
• Reduce Entrance
• No proper equipment available
• Frames are undrawn Plasticell & Foundationless

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Happy Anniversary! 3 years

May 5th of 2008 is the day we acquired our first 2 hives, Mary & Myrina.  2 old souls just needing a place to be.  How they have changed our lives.  We plant more for the bees now than we do for the vegetable garden.  The neighbor was bitten by the bee bug and now has 4 hives of her own.  Every January is spent planning for the coming bee year.  In March & April I'm too busy with the bees to do anything else.  I've met countless people who graciously lend their advice and support.  All in all it's been great.

I had hope to celebrate by taking the wife to town for a couple chocolate shakes.  Instead, on a whim, i put the veil on and looked into the 3 nucs.  It turns out All 3 now have laying queens.  One i knew about, the other 2 are new.  So to celebrate I got to mark 2 new queens.  Just as I finished that up the neighbor pulled up with the bee packages we had ordered; she got 2 and I 1. 

Going into the fourth year will be 3 hives and 3 nucs.  Although I might make a forth nuc out of frames from all 3 nucs.  Then make Nuc #3 a full hive; they're comb building fiends.  A guy at work has a bee tree of Survivors.  He said I can set up swarm traps at his place any time.

Should make for a busy forth year.

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A Few Observations

Lately I've been going into the hives every other day or so checking for laying queens, comb drawing, etc.  The bees seem to be doing alright.  There are a few things i wanted to put into the record.

Mary's bees are closer to drawing out the honey comb in the super.  I had added 3 partially drawn out plasticell frames to spur her to draw out the rest.  I don't know if it was those or the main flow starting but some comb is now being drawn.

Drawing Foundationless Comb

Each frame has a small piece of Crimped-wire foundation stuck to the top bar.  You can see the wires in the above image.  I use that as the seed strip to guide the bees.  The strips also get sprayed with syrup.

The bees have begun to bring in nectar and store it up in the honey super.  Though the frames aren't fully drawn out yet.  The wax bees seem to keep just ahead of the field bees.

Uncured Honey

This is one of the plasticell frames.  After this season i hope to have enough foundationless honey frames around to chuck the last of these. 

In the Brood boxes there is some odd looking debris in some of the cells.  I think it's either bits of mold or maybe SHB droppings. 

Dirty looking stuff!?

There was a SHB in Duchess's hive last Fall when I did the combination with Mary.  Maybe there were some more that made it through Winter.  To check I put a Beetle trap in Mary's hive and filled it with Mineral Oil.  To my surprise the bees went nuts and ganged up on the trap.

Why are they doing this?

Was I supposed to use Vegetable Oil instead?  I'll ask the question in the Forum.  The bees cant physically reach the oil in the trap but it looks like they're trying.  They immediately clustered around the trap as i was adding the oil to it.  Perhaps it should go in any swarm traps I make.

Mary had one frame that was entirely drone comb.  It wasn't a Pierco frame either but a regular foundationless frame.  It's swarm season and bees need to make lots of drones this time of year.  The bees can change the drone cells to worker cells later when they're over the drone rut.  In the mean time Mary is stuck making tons of drones and Varroa.  To fix that I cut the comb out leaving and undrawn frame.

Ex-Drone Frame

I left a few rows at the top to guide the bees making the next comb.  Which hopefully will be worker comb.

The Nucs look good too.  2 of 3 are broodless but should have laying queens in them soon.  Their populations are good.  Especially Nuc3.

Nuc3 loaded with Bees

This Nuc may end up as a hive this year.  It started with 5 Medium frames filled with bees & brood.  Plus I added an extra 4 Deep frames fully drawn with pollen & honey.  These bees have done well and love to make comb.  If i add another Deep box they might just draw it out before Fall.  How well the new queen does at laying will decide.

To finish I want to post an image of a hatched Queen Cell being torn down by workers.  Most of the time these are gone before i get to see them.  This one is from Nuc2.

Old Queen Cell

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