Deer at Hives

I went out walking the dog and there was a doe eating by the hives. She watched us cautiously but not enough to stop eating.

The hives are booming - getting a deep super ready for the 'Tude hive since they are at least a week ahead of the Zen hive. I will go covered this time to avoid stings. It seems that in the world of beekeeping, the competition is whether you go uncovered to your bees. This is a silly competition. Other than the outfit is hot, I use my hands and do not need swollen hands.

I need to make more Top Bars. How many new tools do you think it will take?

Check out this alternative hive- dodecahedron hive using sacred geometry- www.microecofarming.com - More for the bees than collecting honey. I think I will wait for it to be improved- saw a visitor center in Alaska that was very similar.

There is a beekeeper here who is interested in the Top Bar hive. Maybe this will start a trend- they are good for backyard bees. I hope to harvest some honey this 4th weekend from it.

Amazing different personalities of hives

I finally got out to the Langstroth hives and am so amazed at the differences in the two hives. They say the gentleness of the hive is determined by the queen. I don't know but I have two identical hive in the same area, they came from the same supplier, both were nucs.

The hive on left I have named "Zen Bees". I took off the cover and popped the inner cover exposing the honey super. The bees said "hi" and went back to work. I took the top honey super off to see how they were doing on drawing comb out on the frames and they barely blinked.

The hive on the right from the beginning are "Bees with 'Tude" As I reached for the top cover, a guard bee came out to see what I thought I was doing. They are much further along than the Zen bees in getting ready to store honey for the winter. But they are much more insulted by my appearance, "what do you want" energy. Two decided to back me off by stinging my hand ( I had a really small reaction to them - Yippee- Apis homeopathy is working).

So it makes me lie in bed thinking of how I could force the Zen hive to make queen cells and put that queen into the 'Tude hive to see if it mellows them out. This is advanced bee care taking for me but I think I will start looking for classes on this.

I do know that next spring when hives are focused on swarming (the older bees and queen decide to leave the hive and find a new place to live, knowing that the young bees will make a new queen) which is bees' reproduction, I will force a swarm by splitting the Zen hive making a new hive and let the 'Tude hive swarm.

Other than adding new supers while they are busy creating honey to be stolen by me, there is not much to do with the Langstroth hives until July.

beekeepingvideo.blogspot.com
Check it out!

Sun

The girls have been on their own lately. Sunny today and soon heat so they should be happy.

Betterbee, one of the beekeeping suppliers in my area and they offer a free field day every year. This year it is Sat July 17 9-5 PM. Located in Greenwich NY, they feed us lunch and a honey ice cream made specially for this by a local maker. The speakers are from all different aspects of beekeeping and more speakers are aware of organic caretaking. You have to register to attend, www.betterbee.com or call 1-800-632-3379.

Honey recipe:
Dried Fruit & Nut Health Bars (www.marthastewart.com)
Coat 8 " square baking pan with cooking spray

1 cup pitted dates, bring to simmer in small saucepan while covered om water. Drain and puree in processor

Combine
1 1/2 cupps old-fashioned oats
4 1/2 oz (1 cup) pecans, 1/2 c finely ground, 1/2 c coarsely chopped
2 oz macadamia nuts 1/2 finely, 1/2 coarsely ground
1/3 cup dried papaya, 1/2 inches
1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/3 cup dried blueberries
2 T oat bran
3 T ground flaxseed
2 T wheat germ
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cinnamon

mix date puree and honey together and add to dry ingredients. Press mixture into pan and bake 25 mins (about) Cool and cut into bars.

Break in the rain

It looks like we may have a break in the rain, the girls in my hives were venturing out this morning. I have to go in this afternoon if it is not raining to pull the drone frame. If I do not, there will be too many drones and a substantial increase in the mite count. Drone frames work well when you can get to them. I will need to feed the Top Bar hive if it keeps raining too. They have too much work to do setting up the hive and probably do not have enough honey made to keep going.

Funny how life works - I am now on Apis homeopathy- derived from honeybee- so it looks like my body knew it needed the bees to heal. Wonder if this will make me seem more like a bee to them?

I have been strawberry picking and I thank the bees for pollination the berry plants. Without the pollinators, our diets would be bleak. There would be no peas or beans, apples or peaches, grapes (no wine?), carrots, squashes, COFFEE (oh, no!), citrus fruits, broccoli, cabbage, mustard, etc. Bless the bees!

I would imagine commercial beekeepers have had good honey harvests already. There are 2 honey flows - spring and fall. I get confused still about if I should establish my bees from the winter, then honey super for their winter use or put on a super to take and then give them a super for winter stores? What if there is not a good fall bloom and they struggle making enough? I know I can feed them late winter but it is not the same as them having enough honey. Some commercial beekeepers take all the honey and don't try to keep them alive over the winter. I imagine this will not happen as much with the cost of bees increasing with CCD.

Anyway, it is one of the dilemmas I have that everyone has a different opinion about it so I will have to find my way with experience.

Good day to clean up frames from last year

On and off showers for the last two days. Haven't bothered any of the hives, it is wise to let them bee (ha,ha) on these days. Most are home, few are out foraging and usually a bit agitated - probably like we are during holidays with the family. Hard to be in close quarters and not doing your usual routine. I will scrap the frames from the hive that died. I save the wax and propolis scrapings, melt it down (be careful) and try to separate the two. I will use this wax to coat the outside of new supers. It is what I did to the Top Bar hive.

Nice time to read Bee Culture and American Bee Journal magazines. They are online too if you are interested. A good book for the Top Bar hive is "The Barefoot Beekeeper" by P.J. Chandler.

Sometimes this can make me crazy- every beekeeper has a different way to care for them. Also, a lot of the information is for commercial beekeepers who have lots of hives and they do a lot of things that I would never need to, such as putting in new queens every two years so honey production is not interrupted by the hive making a new queen or slower brood.