Show Me The Honey

Lots of Brood in the Purple Hive

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 19:19:33 -0600

The Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association is taking orders for nucs and queens starting this week, and I needed to know if this hive was going to make it through the rest of winter or if I was going to be making an order to replace them.

They were my strongest hive last year, and I wasn't really concerned about them thus far.

I lifted the telescoping cover and discovered a moth sitting on the outer edge of the inner cover. I've heard this is common and they're there keeping warm, but I "removed" it anyways. We won't be seeing him anymore.

Taking off the inner cover, I was greeted with 6 and half frames of bees, many of them covering the top bars.

Starting from the right side of the picture, I removed frames 1-3 and they were full of nectar/honey. In fact, they don't look like they've been touched since fall.

Moving on to the other frames, I saw large patches of brood on both sides of 4 frames.

Some of the brood had the classic dark color capping, indicating they were close to hatching. This I found exciting, because it means the queen has been laying for some time already.

Some of the frames with brood were almost void of capped honey. Some of them had liquid nectar in them, but not as much as I would like to see. Remember frames 1-3 completely full and almost untouched? I'm thinking the cluster wouldn't move away from the brood and over to consume the full frames of honey in the cold weather.

With this amount of brood and several more weeks of winter still to come, I'm wondering if I should make some additional fondant candy and place it on the top bars where they can get to it easier. Even though the frames on either side of the brood nest is full of nectar, will they be able to reach it?

Propolis: Nature's Duct Tape

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:54:25 -0600

I remember as a kid one of my favorite shows on TV was a Canadian comedy show that aired on PBS called the Red Green show.

The premise of the show was that with a roll of duct tape, a guy could build or repair almost anything. Red often referred to duct tape as the Handyman's secret weapon.

As I stand in my workshop taking measurements of the screened bottom boards I made last year, so that I can make an extra duplicate for this year, I noticed a long trail of propolis along the back of the SBB.

Below is a close up picture of the propolis along the top of the back of the SBB.

Why is there a line of propolis there? Because when I made the SBB last year, I trimmed the piece of wood for the back a little short, and it left a gap between the screened bottom board and the bottom of the brood box.

To help illustrate the gap, I placed a scrap piece of wood where the bottom brood box would go in the picture below.

The bees noticed this gap and filled it with propolis to seal up the hive.

I've seen a lot of beautiful hand crafted bee hives out there...some that look like they were created by highly skilled cabinet makers. I wish my hives looked that good!

And then...there are my hives. I'm not a cabinet maker by any stretch of the imagination, but the girls seemed to accept my "handy work" anyways.

As Red Green often said, "If the women don't find you handsome, they'll at least find you handy."

I'd humbly like to add: "and if not, they'll use propolis to fix it."

If you're building your own hives this spring, don't sweat the small stuff. Relax and enjoy yourself in the workshop, knowing the girls will help fill in the gaps, if needed.

Late January Inspection

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:49:16 -0600

Today we had temperatures in the mid 60's here in St. Louis...a welcome warm spell from the past couple weeks of 30's! The bees were flying when I got home from work so I took the opportunity to open them up and see how they were doing.

There were bees on top of 6 frames, and occupied both sides of almost 8 frames.

You can see the chunks of hard candy I made for fun and gave to them a few weeks ago.

The picture below shows capped honey in the corner of one of the frames, and uncapped honey (circled in yellow so you can see it easier) in the center.

I pulled several frames and they were still heavy with stores. I was going to inspect all the frames in the top box to see if I could find brood, but the frames were packed so heavily with bees and the propolis was really holding the frames in place!

Rather than risk hurting the queen or rolling bees when we weren't out
of winter yet, I decided to leave them alone and closed them back up.

As I was walking back to the garage my son Garrison kept pointing to my veil asking if he could wear it. I unzipped it from the suit, and placed it on him.

He was all smiles as he walked around in it.

Making Sawdust in the Workshop

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:29:40 -0600

This past week I've been making additional deep brood boxes and more hive top feeders in the workshop, although I'm sure my wife considers it instead to be making more sawdust in the workshop.

I've been working on them a little each night after dinner. The boys follow me into the workshop, and play in the sawdust piles on the floor, re-arrange the tools in the toolbox, climb up onto the workbench to watch and have a great time.

So far I've been able to put together the following deep and feeder.

I'll finish their coats of paint, and get the mesh hardware cloth on the top of the feeder and they'll be ready to go for spring.

If you're interested in making your own equipment, you might check out the article on how to make your own hives and supers or download the pdf directions to make a hive top feeder.

9 or 10 Frame Supers - Thinking Out Loud

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:23:07 -0600

When I bought my bee smoker on e-bay last spring, the seller included a free metal 9 frame spacer in the box as an added bonus.

While standing in my workshop the other night trying to plan ahead for this year, I re-discovered the 9 frame spacer and found myself wondering if I should switch from 10 frame supers to 9 frame supers this year.

I've read my fair share of books, magazines, blogs, online editorials, etc., and 9 vs 10 frame supers is definitely a popular topic.

Several sources sited advantages of using only 9 frames such as the ease to manipulate and inspect frames, the ability to collect additional wax during harvest, the cost savings of one less frame per super, and of course the holy grail of harvest time, full frames of capped honey that extended way beyond the end bars so that a knife (electric heated or cold serrated) could easily uncap the frames.

After all, reducing the number of frames by one gives the other frames, if spaced out evenly, more room for the bees to draw the wax out further. Below is a picture of a super with 9 frames, where the wax is drawn out way beyond the frame bars.

I've seen arguments that converting from 10 frames to 9 frame supers can produce extra honey, while others say the additional amount is negligible, and others still say they see no difference.

Of all the material I've read through, one question still bugged me. If I switched from 10 to 9 frames in the super, would I also have to switch from 10 to 9 frames in the brood boxes? After all, the frames would no longer align vertically, and wouldn't that cause confusion, congestion and even weird burr comb inside?

I was about to give up searching for my answer, when I stumbled on an article from Bee Culture, January 2006 that discussed this topic. It had calculated the offset of each of the 9 frames in the super and showed how they were staggered over the 10 frame brood box below, causing a blockade near the center most frames.

The only way for the bees to climb up from the brood box to the super in this situation, if they were to come up the center of the boxes, was to make two consecutive turns in a tight area. The author noted how he witnessed congestion of bee traffic up into the super, and returning down into the brood box because of these staggered frames.

The suggested solution is to either stay with 10 frames (in brood box and supers) or if reducing the supers to 9 frames was desired, to reduce the brood chamber to use 9 frames also, thus the frames would all align again as shown below.

Now that I think about it, I am thinking out loud after all, I don't think I really want to reduce my brood box to 9 frames. Since I'm not running a commercial operation, and I enjoy taking my time inspecting the hives, I'm OK with removing the outer most frame, setting it on a frame rest, and scooting over the other frames to inspect as necessary.

In addition, I don't know that I want to give up the extra frame of cells for the queen to lay into or for pollen collection.

While I think it would be nice to have honey super frames where the wax cappings extended out beyond the end bars, I don't mind using a capping scratcher to uncap the frames during harvest.

I think I'll keep my 10 frame brood boxes and 10 frame supers this year. I'll hang onto the 9 frame spacer for now just in case I change my mind.

If you have converted from 10 frames to 9 frames in your supers, I'd love to hear your experience and recommendation. Did you run 9 frames in the super only, or convert your brood boxes also? Did you notice any additional congestion or problems otherwise?

Remove Snow From Landing Board?

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:22:25 -0600

We just had the first accumulating snow fall of the season in St. Louis area, and a several beekeepers were asking at the recent club meeting whether they should remove the snow build up on the landing board or not.

The concerns ranged from bees not being able to get out of the hive for cleansing flights to bees suffocating in the hive with the entrance being blocked.

My response to the question of is it necessary to remove the snow is "probably not".

If your hive has ventilation through the top, outer cover, or screened bottom board then you're OK to leave the snow piled up, they won't suffocate.

If you're in the middle of a cold stretch where the snow isn't melting outside, it's probably too cold for the bees to get out and take cleansing flights anyways, and they're not actively trying to get out .

If the outside temperature suddenly warms up and your hive is in the shade where the snow isn't melting, it wouldn't hurt to help them clear away the snow so they could get out sooner.

However if you're like me and just anxious for spring to arrive so you can at least do something with your bees, go ahead and clear the landing board off.

It gave me something to do while I watched the kids sled through the
yard.

Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Short Course 2012

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:27:52 -0600

Are you looking to start beekeeping in 2012? Are you familiar with general bee biology, but desire to learn how to graft your own queens, overwinter hives and better manage them in the early spring?

The Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association will offer a short course
beginners and experienced beekeepers on Saturday, February 11, 2012, from
8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Maritz in Fenton, Missouri. Space is
limited, and will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis.

Jennifer Berry, Erin Forbes, and Grant Gillard will lead the courses.

Jennifer Berry is the
Apicultural Research Coordinator and Lab Manager of the Georgia Bee
Laboratory component of the University of Georgia Honey Bee Program,
directed by Dr. Keith S. Delaplane. Jennifer’s areas of research
recently have included queen breeding and Integrated Pest Management for
varroa mite control.

Erin Forbes is President of the
Maine State Beekeepers Association, and an EAS Certified Master
Beekeeper. Erin operates a sustainable, non-migratory beekeeping
operation in southern Maine, and is a recognized expert on small-scale,
practical beekeeping.

Grant Gillard, a resident of
Jackson, Missouri, is an articulate and innovative leader in Missouri
beekeeping. He is President of the Missouri State Beekeepers Association
and President of the Jackson Area Beekeepers.

The Beginners Beekeeping course is intended for persons with no prior
beekeeping experience. The class will cover all aspects of basic
beekeeping to prepare students to start beekeeping in April, 2012.

The Experienced Beekeepers’ course will be tailored towards intermediate
and expert level beekeepers, and will place special emphasis on spring
management, nucleus colonies, queen rearing, mite control, and
successful overwintering.

To learn more, click here. To sign up, click here

Early January Hive Inspection

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:19:15 -0600

This weekend I took the opportunity to check on the hive
in my yard and see how the bees were doing.

This first week of January has had 3 days above 50*F, two of which were in the upper 60*F!

I placed my camera under the hive, and took a picture looking up through the bottom of the hive. From this vantage point, the bottom brood box looks empty...or at least the frames I could see straight up into were empty.

I was excited to see that the inner cover showed no signs of moisture, condensation or wet wood anywhere. This is good as moisture present in the hive can weaken and even cause the death of a hive during the winter.

Turning towards the top of the hive, lifing the cover I was surprised to see so many bees walking around on top of the frames, and in such a large pattern occupying so many frames.

I looked down through frames 1-8 and there were bees heavily covering both sides of those frames.

I had wondered if they were eating their way though their second box of winter reserves, so I lifted the back of the hive, as the old beekeepers in the club suggest doing to see if it felt heavy or not. A bit of unscientific approach to determine how much food reserves they had left I though, but did it anyway. It was still very heavy. Not as heavy as it was back in the first part of December, but still plenty heavy.

Wondering how they would react to the sugar candy I made two weeks ago, I broke a piece up and set it on top of the frames.

It only took a brief moment for a couple of them to find it, climb on it and start eating it.

I didn't really intend to feed them any sugar candy, nor do I think they need it since I can still see capped honey in the frames, but I figured since I already had some on hand, and they took interest to it, I would leave them a few chunks and see how much (if any) they consume in another week or two.

How has the weather been where you are? Have you lifted the cover of your hives recently? With these warm (but brief) days of January, I just couldn't resist the urge to put on my veil and go have a look!

Making Candy for Winter Feeding

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 21:07:17 -0600

During the winter time, honey bees can run out of food and starve if they weren't able to build up enough stored nectar and pollen before winter or if the beekeeper extracted too much honey from the hive during the fall.

Pouring dry granulated sugar on the inner cover or mixing sugar mush in a zip lock baggie are two methods of emergency winter feeding. Another option is to make candy fondant for the bees to eat and gain necessary energy to keep warm.

The hives were heavy with stores going into the winter, but I thought it would be fun to try making some candy anyways.

Recipe:
5 lbs. granulated sugar (11 ¼ cups)
16.5 oz warm water
1/12 teaspoon Cream of Tartar (just a pinch)

Directions:
Pour water in pot. Add sugar to water. Add cream of tartar. Mix until thoroughly dissolved.

Heat to 240 degrees F, as per candy thermometer. Do not stir mixture while boiling, this will cause coarse grain.

The longer you let the mixture boil at 238-240 degrees F the harder the mixture will be.

Remove from heat and allow to cool to 150 degrees.
When mixture cools to 150 degrees, stir vigorously until the mixture appears cloudy white.

When the mixture becomes cloudy, pour immediately into feeder tray or molds and allow to cool.

To make form molds, I lined a few butter dishes with foil.

When I combined the sugar, water and Cream of Tartar I was unable to get it to completely dissolve as the directions stated I should.

After applying a little heat, the mixture dissolved quite a bit, and when it reached boiling temperature, it dissolved the rest of the way.

Notice the candy thermometer in the pictures? It's used to ensure
the temperature of the heated sugar is measured precisely. I allowed the temperatures to reach 245*F, the threshold between Soft Ball and Firm Ball candy.

Listening to the boiling sugar was really neat. It had a sort of glass breaking/crinkly sound to each bubble that surfaced and popped.

After it reached the desired temperature, we allowed it to cool, and then poured it into the mixer (I wasn't going to mix by hand!)

As the candy was being mixed, it cooled even further and the candy turned from clear to white again, and started to set up almost immediately.

In fact, by the time I poured the last bit into the molds, I was scraping it from the bottom of the bowl with a spoon, and pressing it into the molds.

After they cooled over night on the counter, I was able to pull them from the molds, and release the foil easily.

The recipe made seven pieces of candy the size of a butter dish and one piece the size of a pie plate.

So what does it taste like? Believe it or not, I don't think it tastes as sweet as 2:1 syrup. The candy had a "cooked" taste to it, for lack of a better way to describe it. Not burnt, nor caramelized, just not as sweet as I expected.

I suppose though, the bees aren't concerned about the sweetness of the flavor, so much as they would be happy to have something to eat and provide them with energy in a late winter emergency situation.

I wrapped the candy back in the foil, and put it into a zip lock baggie, and will store it for another week or two and see if the hives need any in the first part of January.

Merry Christmas 2011

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:52:44 -0600

I've been wandering through other blogger's websites lately and I've noticed quite a few other beekeepers hang a wreath on their hive over the winter time.

The hives in our yard during the winter time when the vegetation and leaves fall from the trees and bushes are clearly visible from the nearby road.

What a fun way to decorate a hive (and make it appear more friendly to those who drive by) with a wreath.

One of the blogs I was reading at the time was by Holly over at the Simply Resourceful blog, and her topic on how to make your own Christmas wreath.

I won't go into detail on how to make them, because her site covers the materials list and even has a video tutorial.

However, I'll show you the pictures of my attempted wreath (and my little helpers) for your viewing pleasure.

For our second annual tradition, we cut down our own live Christmas tree and brought it home a few weeks ago, and not wanting to waste any of the limbs near the bottom that had to be trimmed to fit into the base, I used them to make this wreath.

In this picture, you can see Emmett, who just celebrated Christmas and Jesus' birthday today at preschool.

I bought the metal wreath hoop and 50' of green wire for .50 cents each at the craft store nearby.

Here is my other helper, Garrison, who is eating one of the leftover (very blue) cupcakes from his big brother's party today.

He has no problem posing for a camera!

Almost finished...once I made it all the way around the hoop, I went out into the yard and collected a couple of pinecones that had fallen from our pine trees.

With everything secured into place, it was time to hang it on the hive.

From our apiary (and family) to yours, Merry Christmas!