Summer Update #2 - A Bee Log

In late July a logger buddy of mine told me they had found a bee tree.  Unfortunately they didn't know what it was until it had been cut down and dragged to the deck.  He said they moved it off to one side.  I was able to check on it and saw lots bees still working.  It looked like the colony wasn't too badly damaged.  It was a week before i had the time to get the bees.  During that week a skidder operator dragged it across the clearcut before being told to take it back to where he had found it.  A lesson in MARKING a bee tree so people leave it alone!

These poor bees had been cut down then dragged twice across the mountain.  If you've ever been dragged by a skidder up & down a mountain twice you'd know how bad that is for the integrity of wax comb not to mention the loss of field bees.  When i finally went to get them, July 29th,  their activity was greatly reduced.  There were tons of hornets working the hive too.  Still we cut the nest out and took it home.  Best to try.

They looked good for the beating they had taken

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Cutting out the nest from an old Virginia pine tree.  The nest was around 20ft up when the tree was standing

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Had to guess where to make the bottom cut.  The nest went a lot lower than i thought it did.  Shaved a foot off the bottom.  The comb in this area was soaked with honey and blocked with nest debris.  The bees weren't getting down here at all.

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Some of the mashed comb i inadvertently cut from the bottom of the nest.

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You can see how big the entrance hole is.  Not sure how to plug it for the drive home so we wrapped it in a bed sheet instead.

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First we VERY slowly rolled it and the sheet into one.  Then we tied rope around the folded ends and middle to hold the sheet in place.

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The log weighed over a 150 lbs. so it took a little to 'ease' it into the truck.

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Long & slow 23 mile ride back home and we set it up in the yard that night

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The next day with an obstacle at the entrance to induce reorientation.

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Had to cover the big original entrance due to constant robing by other bees & hornets.  A bunch of flashing and roofing tar with a wood entrance in the middle.  Can you see the half gallon mason jar stuck in the top of the log.  The jar fit perfectly into the tree cavity when feeding.

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It took the bees a while to find the new front door but they did.  Sadly the robing continued as these bees weren't defending the entrance.  The only times these bees would fly was during feeding.  They took a half gallon each day.

Today there is almost no activity.  The bees act as if they have no queen.  Which is a Very good possibility considering what they went through.  I can still see some bees in the log when i look but they're not doing anything.  There is comb in the nest but i don't see the bees working it. I also feel that when i feed them most the bees i see are robbers.  I think this colony is done for.  If I had some extra brood come i could cut a strip to put in the log to spur thing on.  But there's a better chance it would be robed out too.  Plus adding bees, brood, a queen, & comb into a depleted log nest this close to winter doesn't make sense to me.  It would be like throwing away the resources. 

I'll leave them in the yard until spring to see what happens.  Then probably move the log to the back woods.  hopefully it might draw in a swarm next year.

The only consolation is that I've since found two more bee trees in the wild.  They're both standing and not near any logging operations.  The bees look to be happy, in good number, and are very busy.  Nothing i would want to get bees from directly but an area to set swarm traps in the future for some good old Survivor bees.

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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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Collecting the Wild Colony

Deer Bee Stand

Not going so well.  When last I looked the bees were in the hive box on frame 1 & 2. Since then they have found some new ways out and are not in the hive anymore.

 Needs a better fit

Fortunately there has been little movement between the tree & the hive.  The tube is the weak point.  I need to make a better cover for the tree too.

To many gaps

Tomorrow I'll get some more material at the home store.  Much work has gone into this attempt.  To much for me to give up on.  Looks like my Memorial Day will be spent in a tree!

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Tut Tut, it looks like Rain....

~An account of the adventures of Hemlock and the honey tree, written by his loving spouse.~

I am going to make the giant leap here that most of the folks reading this will have seen the classic "Winnie the pooh and the Honey tree". That wonderful tale where Pooh grabs some balloons from Christopher Robin and  rolls in some black mud and floats up to the honey tree all the while having Christopher say "Tut tut, it looks like rain" as our delightful little bear is suppose to be a little black rain cloud.

Our story has a similar vein to it. While out walking a timber tract soon to be logged, Hemlock discovered a "Honey Tree". He had the loggers leave the tree, and thus began our adventure.

A very happy and healthy hive in a dead and soon to be falling down Poplar tree.  Unlike our intrepid Pooh with his balloons, my insane creative beekeeping husband decided to borrow a friends deer stand last Saturday (May 1st) to get close to the hive.

Can you hear him? " Hello? it's just maintenance.  Pay no mind!"

Did I mention this hive is 14 feet OFF the ground? Oh, well it is. The next step was to knock on the hive with a hammer as he placed a piece of metal sheeting over the hole to narrow the entrance down. Any gaps or openings of which there were just a few were filled with cloth strips.

All the time he is knocking these lovely ladies are coming out to see whats going on yet being distracted by him spraying sugar water on the opening of the hive. At this point I am muttering under my breath "Tut tut, it looks like rain" in the hopes that maybe a rain cloud would appear and spare me from 91 degrees in the middle of a clear cut. (no such luck)

The most amazing thing about these little ladies is not only did they survive the worst winter we have had here in 50 years, but, they were mostly non-defensive! They simply did not mind any of the "big bears" shenanigans.  After this task was done we took a break and came back later for the final leg of our adventure.

It is a little before twilight here and you can see the 4x4's and 2x4's nailed together to get the box to the right height. There is also the aluminum tubing that will be connected to the hive body that is visible in the above photo.

The tricky part was attaching the tubing to the hive body with out pulling it away from the entrance. It took a couple tries and then we were set. 

The next section is more where we segue into Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. If you notice, Marlin Perkins is geared up in all his beekeeping duds. I, his faithful assistant "Jim" am not so attired. Although I am not trying to circumcise a water buffalo, I am handing him up each individual wax frame while a Bazillion (that's my girly technical term) wild bees are buzzing me! By the way, it's still hot with the temperature in the upper 80"s with tons of humidity.

Once all the frames were in the box and the lid in place the last thing left to do was to secure the hive in case of wind. One strap secured it to the tree and another secured it to the deer stand.

The idea behind all of this is a hope that the bees will go through the tubing into the hive and utilize all of the empty frames in there. That way once it's full, Pooh Bear can make off with the genetics of this wild hive.

This last one is a personnel favorite, and no "Jim" did not revolt against the beekeeper and shoot him dead on his hive; even though that's what it looks like. I promise he is still kicking and awaiting his next opportunity to go out and see if a beekeeper of very much brain was able to succeed in saving this hive.

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