tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47561712198109595452024-03-14T05:45:51.340-04:00The Bee Man's DaughterA young bee keeper chronicles her adventures in apiology.Jessie Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06831639525528938424noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756171219810959545.post-43547034328592091872011-07-17T22:27:00.000-04:002011-07-17T22:28:00.000-04:00What kind of dummy...I decided to do a little problem solving with the bees today. I decided to do a little artwork so it would be easier to talk about which hive was which. I was getting too confused talking about left and right. It was really very arbitrary given that I often took pictures from different angles, so the left was often on the right. I couldn't call them the "good" one or the "bad" one, because constantly in a state of flux. So now, we have Luna and Dia: Luna for night, Dia for day.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GH73RyzaTj0/TiOUhX8Za5I/AAAAAAAAAU8/9x6woPilGjo/s1600/DSC03333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GH73RyzaTj0/TiOUhX8Za5I/AAAAAAAAAU8/9x6woPilGjo/s320/DSC03333.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Oil pastels. Perhaps not the best idea. I didn't have any paint. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ig6A75nbEQs/TiOUquiV_QI/AAAAAAAAAVE/nlZkhK9m8Vc/s1600/DSC03335.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ig6A75nbEQs/TiOUquiV_QI/AAAAAAAAAVE/nlZkhK9m8Vc/s320/DSC03335.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There will be a little more artwork later on. I was forced to retreat a little early. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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I also decided to add a new super to both hives. They had been getting really full and I wanted to give them a little more room. Crowded bees can lead to a couple of different problems. #1: Swarming. #2: Swarming. They had really been hanging out on the front of the hive quite a bit. Of course, the heat index has been over 100 degrees earlier in the week. However, the front of the hive had been getting increasingly populated and I saw a couple of weeks ago that both hives were pretty full.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mrGpPI5gAFo/TiOUs7iUHdI/AAAAAAAAAVI/NWzvZGlrdmI/s1600/DSC03339.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mrGpPI5gAFo/TiOUs7iUHdI/AAAAAAAAAVI/NWzvZGlrdmI/s320/DSC03339.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pretty durn full. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5kL2Qu6cnAQ/TiOUp5UnGhI/AAAAAAAAAVA/OUomdo4D4GY/s1600/DSC03337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5kL2Qu6cnAQ/TiOUp5UnGhI/AAAAAAAAAVA/OUomdo4D4GY/s320/DSC03337.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I added a new super to give them some room to grow. Also, MAYBE they will bring in a little honey during the fall honey flow. I would love to taste the "fruits" of "my" labor this year (so not really MY labor, but whatever). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You may be wondering, "Do you not have any honey now?" Technically, we do. The formerly top super is pretty full of honey. However, this honey is mostly made from the sugar water I had been feeding them and would not really be good for eating. Also, that is food for the bees. Hopefully that will get them through the winter. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was going to be a pretty easy job- just take off the other top, put on the super. So I suppose I got a little cocky. No smoke, no socks, no problem. Right? I felt one of those little girls get in my suit, and crawl up my leg, right up the leg of my shorts. I know that as a bee keeper, getting stung in part of the game. However, if possible, I would rather not be stung on the rear. I decide to abandon ship and get her out of there!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MI44aXxYNI8/TiOUzFfHEyI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/EQwd5DoAxwQ/s1600/DSC03343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MI44aXxYNI8/TiOUzFfHEyI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/EQwd5DoAxwQ/s320/DSC03343.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I did successfully avoid getting stung on the rear, but she got me on the calf. Lesson learned. Good beekeepers wear socks. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Jessie Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06831639525528938424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756171219810959545.post-37969533513906067292011-07-17T21:58:00.000-04:002011-07-17T21:58:31.075-04:00Independence! From Mites?We celebrated Independence Day with the Bee Man and the rest of the family here in Athens. This was my first family cookout at our "new" house. It is a little embarrassing that it has taken us this long to invite the family over, especially since they just live an hour away (except for mom and dad). But we had a great time.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oZT7R62hdeM/TiOKC9_ns_I/AAAAAAAAAT4/cyzKDqHA-HQ/s1600/IMG_0273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oZT7R62hdeM/TiOKC9_ns_I/AAAAAAAAAT4/cyzKDqHA-HQ/s320/IMG_0273.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As an added bonus of fun for the weekend, I got to spend some time with mom in the kitchen and dad in the bees. We decided to make a little something "sweet" in both places. In the kitchen, we made a lemon ice box pie. In the bee yard, we did a sugar test for mites. Yummmy......</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So the sugar test is one way to see how bad your mite problems are in the hive. Do all hives have mites? Probably so to some extent. Mites are parasites that hang out in the hive and really sabotage the larva. They can make your bees weak and deformed. If you are interested in mites, there are many sites and books you can read. Here is a great link on the <a href="http://www.tc.umn.edu/~reute001/htm-files/powder-sugar.html">powdered sugar test. </a> The Bee Man talks a little about mites <a href="http://holtbeefarm.blogspot.com/search/label/mites">here. </a> So here is our try at the sugar test. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SP_H8Isa3e0/TiOMNdWUdcI/AAAAAAAAAT8/UKgNh3VfjCc/s1600/IMG_0245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SP_H8Isa3e0/TiOMNdWUdcI/AAAAAAAAAT8/UKgNh3VfjCc/s320/IMG_0245.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V3ualGcvS50/TiOMcwgVpbI/AAAAAAAAAUA/RTWqt1Nj1aw/s1600/IMG_0242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V3ualGcvS50/TiOMcwgVpbI/AAAAAAAAAUA/RTWqt1Nj1aw/s320/IMG_0242.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fvg9ocMcOZY/TiOMjXXsGPI/AAAAAAAAAUE/uPggYL2kJEY/s1600/IMG_0244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fvg9ocMcOZY/TiOMjXXsGPI/AAAAAAAAAUE/uPggYL2kJEY/s320/IMG_0244.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hkNlhkm1sgY/TiOMs4Lr4UI/AAAAAAAAAUI/hOMBqasjcAo/s1600/IMG_0246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hkNlhkm1sgY/TiOMs4Lr4UI/AAAAAAAAAUI/hOMBqasjcAo/s320/IMG_0246.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is the bee man laying out something white to dump the mites out on after shaking the bees in a jar of powdered sugar. The idea is to coat a small representative of bees in powdered sugar, they will then fiercely try to clean themselves off, in the process getting the mites off of their little bodies. The mites are then left in the jar, then shaken out, and counted to see how many there are. The more mites, obviously the worse off you are. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R5z6Cj7qlHU/TiOMz0wnP8I/AAAAAAAAAUM/wy8ESfY-aj0/s1600/IMG_0247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R5z6Cj7qlHU/TiOMz0wnP8I/AAAAAAAAAUM/wy8ESfY-aj0/s320/IMG_0247.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wwc7JH0mGiw/TiOM90uOAKI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/E7c6P85qqIs/s1600/IMG_0248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wwc7JH0mGiw/TiOM90uOAKI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/E7c6P85qqIs/s320/IMG_0248.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Bees are NOT that easy to get in a jar. We didn't quite get enough in the jar. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_Omh7oDHFIY/TiONEUcYOFI/AAAAAAAAAUU/JeZUyjRMxfU/s1600/IMG_0250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_Omh7oDHFIY/TiONEUcYOFI/AAAAAAAAAUU/JeZUyjRMxfU/s320/IMG_0250.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-flBi7Ilaso8/TiONK4Udo5I/AAAAAAAAAUY/-DbAtp4fjrI/s1600/IMG_0252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-flBi7Ilaso8/TiONK4Udo5I/AAAAAAAAAUY/-DbAtp4fjrI/s320/IMG_0252.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d3s68CXVqmM/TiONTc1cOjI/AAAAAAAAAUc/3HTfcti2NpA/s1600/IMG_0253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d3s68CXVqmM/TiONTc1cOjI/AAAAAAAAAUc/3HTfcti2NpA/s320/IMG_0253.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Shakey- shakey!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--upU6WdEamQ/TiONa8Dc6QI/AAAAAAAAAUg/3SquEkAPVXo/s1600/IMG_0254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--upU6WdEamQ/TiONa8Dc6QI/AAAAAAAAAUg/3SquEkAPVXo/s320/IMG_0254.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Do you see anything? We didn't. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Probably because we didn't do it right.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9kan3xZuw90/TiONhcENM_I/AAAAAAAAAUk/askjjLJPwVE/s1600/IMG_0255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9kan3xZuw90/TiONhcENM_I/AAAAAAAAAUk/askjjLJPwVE/s320/IMG_0255.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Returning these sweet bees to their home. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vcLYeC9_HQM/TiONn4F5SjI/AAAAAAAAAUo/jFPhiQLJYL0/s1600/IMG_0257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vcLYeC9_HQM/TiONn4F5SjI/AAAAAAAAAUo/jFPhiQLJYL0/s320/IMG_0257.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ghost bees. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ixamAp3G0W8/TiONt3YjZrI/AAAAAAAAAUs/_IzH-3nXZZo/s1600/IMG_0262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ixamAp3G0W8/TiONt3YjZrI/AAAAAAAAAUs/_IzH-3nXZZo/s320/IMG_0262.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DxiZu9rIO-U/TiONzY1yU3I/AAAAAAAAAUw/DZLMwGDuAt0/s1600/IMG_0265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DxiZu9rIO-U/TiONzY1yU3I/AAAAAAAAAUw/DZLMwGDuAt0/s320/IMG_0265.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YaFqdWi6tdk/TiON34kGV6I/AAAAAAAAAU0/IkxjDZDt7n0/s1600/IMG_0269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YaFqdWi6tdk/TiON34kGV6I/AAAAAAAAAU0/IkxjDZDt7n0/s320/IMG_0269.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So you may have some questions- such as "Why didn't you do it right?" Good question. Sometimes dad and I don't quite read the directions. First, we didn't get enough bees. We didn't really think through the whole "getting them in the jar" thing. So we just got as many as we could. You need a hundred or a couple hundred typically. We may have had forty. Then we shook them and immediately dumped them out. We should have let them sit for a little while to give them time to clean themselves off, thus releasing the mites. So this was really just a "trial". The Bee Man will try this on one of his hives soon to get the method perfected. Then he will tell me how to do it, I will remember about half of what he tells me, and we will try it again here. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another question you may have is "Surely, it can't be good to coat them in sugar! Doesn't it kill them or bother them?" The answer is No and Yes. No, it does not kill them. Yes, it probably bothers them. Not that I have ever been coated in powdered sugar and forced to lick myself clean, but perhaps the human equivalent is walking through a spider web or stepping in dog doo. You won't die, but you either panic and flail about until you are free, or you are really ticked off and walk around half the day trying to get it out of the tread of your shoes. In short, they spend the day cleaning themselves off.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a good thing in reality because through the cleaning process, the mites fall off. You can also do a powdered sugar treatment on bees in the hive as well. You shake it all over the top, ensuring that many bees will have a bath that day, thus allowing them the opportunity to get the mites off of their bodies. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Independence from mites? Probably not. I just hope that they stay under control. </div>Jessie Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06831639525528938424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756171219810959545.post-79829130118454430212011-06-19T21:10:00.000-04:002011-06-19T21:10:14.915-04:00Bees don't celebrate Father's Day, but I do!So it has been a little while since I have updated. Let's just say that I waited on purpose to be able to show you real changes going on in the bee yard (or I went on a super awesome vacation!).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--BEWH5SU6Iw/Tf6Ub5bnyXI/AAAAAAAAAO0/he9CO0-hYbA/s1600/DSC02972.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--BEWH5SU6Iw/Tf6Ub5bnyXI/AAAAAAAAAO0/he9CO0-hYbA/s320/DSC02972.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zdsNkMR7GEc/Tf6bKNkuTsI/AAAAAAAAAP0/iwRM_jqnUyk/s1600/DSC03084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zdsNkMR7GEc/Tf6bKNkuTsI/AAAAAAAAAP0/iwRM_jqnUyk/s320/DSC03084.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">ALASKA!!!</span></div><div><div><br />
</div><div>If you will remember, in early May, I added the first super to all the bees to get that honey flow rolling in. The hive on the right was rockin out: great brood pattern, I had actually seen the queen and she looked good, lots of brood= good things. The hive on the left had some brood, but no young brood as far as I could tell. The pattern of the brood that was there was acceptable, but not the best. There were MANY less bees than the hive on the right. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Mid-May, I left the queen cells in the left hive hoping they would make a new queen as I suspected the old one was gone. I also added a frame of brood from the hive on the right to the bottom box (I just switched out the frames, trying to leave all the bees in there original box). The hive on the right was filling up the super with honey, so I also switched a frame of honey to the left hive to even it out. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Dad says the trick is to keep things strong, which is why it is best to have more than one hive. When you have more than one, you can take from the strong to strengthen the weak (I bet you would have never guessed my Dad is part Democrat ;). Political leanings aside, it's a smart idea. He also thinks that for this same reason, it is good to have nucs at all times. I hope to be able to get at least one from what I have and try to winter it. That is a task for another day though. </div><div><br />
</div><div>So after I did that, I went in to take a look. Low an behold, the left hive had made a queen. She was pretty new as far as I can tell, but I actually got to see her! Can you spot her?</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-glfZLzjEAdI/Tf6PhXZaWqI/AAAAAAAAAOM/xd-588hxTuc/s1600/DSC02878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-glfZLzjEAdI/Tf6PhXZaWqI/AAAAAAAAAOM/xd-588hxTuc/s320/DSC02878.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div>But still, the right hive was much fuller than the left. I am at the front taking these pics so the left is on the right and vice versa. </div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tJH2pl8PwQA/Tf6PcLBpeGI/AAAAAAAAAOI/M9YC55NuhNU/s1600/DSC02877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tJH2pl8PwQA/Tf6PcLBpeGI/AAAAAAAAAOI/M9YC55NuhNU/s320/DSC02877.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is the right hive. Let's just say the left did not look like this really. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nCc07TiWq44/Tf6PJ-24O9I/AAAAAAAAAN4/e01Ulaun5z4/s1600/DSC02864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nCc07TiWq44/Tf6PJ-24O9I/AAAAAAAAAN4/e01Ulaun5z4/s320/DSC02864.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here are just some shots of some good brood, capped honey, and uncapped honey. Most of these are from the good hive.</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GbMpUX_B498/Tf6P67DR4SI/AAAAAAAAAOc/9hi71h6wpFI/s1600/DSC02883.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GbMpUX_B498/Tf6P67DR4SI/AAAAAAAAAOc/9hi71h6wpFI/s320/DSC02883.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D9Xb_OZn5-0/Tf6PtEuwkDI/AAAAAAAAAOU/-gomymhHHbY/s1600/DSC02880.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D9Xb_OZn5-0/Tf6PtEuwkDI/AAAAAAAAAOU/-gomymhHHbY/s320/DSC02880.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PdRUMZsTGIQ/Tf6PFdtJNfI/AAAAAAAAAN0/OgOJgWazfaE/s1600/DSC02862.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PdRUMZsTGIQ/Tf6PFdtJNfI/AAAAAAAAAN0/OgOJgWazfaE/s320/DSC02862.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, let me tell you my concerns... I am sort of a perpetual cynic, so as soon as I saw one hive doing AWESOME, I thought that may come to an end. They were pretty full and I thought they may swarm. I was REALLY concerned when I looked out on day and saw this:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div>I am not sure if you can really see what is going on there, but you can tell there are a lot of bees at the entrance of the hive. They are also all wadded up in a ball hanging under the lip of the hive. I was very concerned as I thought this was a sign that they may swarm. So I called the Bee Man to report what was going on. Turns out, this is called "Bearding". Yep, kind of like a beard of bees that you see on those crazy people who put bees on their face. They do this when it is hot. So, what I did to help give them a little ventilation was to raise up the super and put a stick between it and the hive body. That created just a tiny gap for some air to get through. I also laid the feeding jar down partially covering the hole at the top to give them more air. I have since removed the feeding jars (no reason to feed if the box is full of food for them) and have put the bricks with the holes over the feeding hole. This allows for ventilation and also keeps the rain out for the most part. </div><div><br />
</div><div>So after my super awesome vacation, </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xZjoe1SYytk/Tf6XUwi_R0I/AAAAAAAAAPY/GDa2-QRmHGA/s1600/DSC02895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xZjoe1SYytk/Tf6XUwi_R0I/AAAAAAAAAPY/GDa2-QRmHGA/s320/DSC02895.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZjhWK6p4i0/Tf6bF3iC1KI/AAAAAAAAAPw/g0DXwku7Vag/s1600/DSC02904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZjhWK6p4i0/Tf6bF3iC1KI/AAAAAAAAAPw/g0DXwku7Vag/s320/DSC02904.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="240" /></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(This is a honey dispenser at Pike's Market in Seattle)</span></div><div><br />
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</div><div>I came back with a few supplies. I thought maybe I would have to put another super on at least the one on the right. I decided not too, as the Bee Man pointed out, the honey flow is over, so they should not be filling anything up right now. I may keep that around till Fall in case we get some Fall honey here (you get honey flow when the bees are able to bring in food, or rather, things are blooming. When things aren't blooming, they have nothing really to bring in). </div><div><br />
</div><div>I took a look at the girls today and what do you know... I think my cynicism was a self-fulfilling prophesy. I think the hive on the right swarmed and the one on the left got strong. Take a look:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vwroTamBVNQ/Tf6X9kKEHJI/AAAAAAAAAPc/uJKxC5UXPSw/s1600/DSC03324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vwroTamBVNQ/Tf6X9kKEHJI/AAAAAAAAAPc/uJKxC5UXPSw/s320/DSC03324.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Remember the right is on the left... I am going to have to paint these boxes. Right and left is getting confusing. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hzs5DI1LGTw/Tf6YDXnXKUI/AAAAAAAAAPg/D2oOrKE6aag/s1600/DSC03325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hzs5DI1LGTw/Tf6YDXnXKUI/AAAAAAAAAPg/D2oOrKE6aag/s320/DSC03325.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Even a little bearding going on today. Trust me, today I would have bearded too if it would cool things off a bit. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-soOcNmDlO_w/Tf6YIGTrBYI/AAAAAAAAAPk/7TaR7PJre5Y/s1600/DSC03326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-soOcNmDlO_w/Tf6YIGTrBYI/AAAAAAAAAPk/7TaR7PJre5Y/s320/DSC03326.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is just some pretty capping. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VRoDY8GfPEs/Tf6YNMB78VI/AAAAAAAAAPo/qtGCxHB5W08/s1600/DSC03327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VRoDY8GfPEs/Tf6YNMB78VI/AAAAAAAAAPo/qtGCxHB5W08/s320/DSC03327.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So this is a picture from the back of the hives, so the left is really on the left and the right is on the right. You can see NOW the left is pretty full and doing well. The right is doing just fine, but it is just not as full so I guess some of the girls high tailed it out of here. As the Bee Man says, we are just contributing to good feral stock (good for our mating queens). Both hives have some brood and it looks pretty good (not as much as a month ago though) and both have pretty full supers of honey. It seems as though everything is going ok. I will check again in a couple of weeks to see how things are going and what they need for the heart of summer. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In other bee news, my lovely friend Connie made me the most awesome pillow ever! Thank ConCon! You are the best!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A-GGJmH0iK8/Tf6c0k1HlRI/AAAAAAAAAP4/jr5X6Uzufg4/s1600/DSC02825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A-GGJmH0iK8/Tf6c0k1HlRI/AAAAAAAAAP4/jr5X6Uzufg4/s320/DSC02825.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And I found out that bees can in fact sting through gloves. If you grab one of those critters the right way, they can get you through the glove. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In other news, today is Father's Day and I sure wouldn't be the Bee Man's Daughter if it weren't for the Bee Man. So I want to tell my Daddy Happy Father's Day! I miss you very much and hate that I am not home for father's day. But I made sure to go out and to share in the the thing that you have taught me to love. Thank you for teaching me everything I know and showing me how to live with passion. I love you!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div></div>Jessie Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06831639525528938424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756171219810959545.post-77521478762171887372011-05-28T11:11:00.003-04:002011-05-28T12:05:00.291-04:002 Story<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On May 5th, I decided it was time to add a second story on the hives. The extra boxes are called "supers". Sometimes on hives, you will see several supers stacked up, sometimes very tall. Mine are just shorties right now, but I have plans to possibly add another top box in a few weeks for a little possible fall honey gathering. Supers usually hold honey (or you want them to hold honey only). A whole super full of honey is what the bees eat over the winter. As I understand it, any other supers full of honey are yours to keep. I kind of think of it this way, the fruit fruits are your investment, giving it back to nature.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here is how things looked on May 5th. Here are the supers getting ready. These are small framed supers (the frame is shorter than the frames in the main hive body). This is mainly because I am a weenie and this one, when full, will weigh less.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m8o8HGobXRk/TeD_ceFcqtI/AAAAAAAAAMo/cJOIzla7AbY/s1600/DSC02826.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m8o8HGobXRk/TeD_ceFcqtI/AAAAAAAAAMo/cJOIzla7AbY/s320/DSC02826.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My supplies here are my two supers, my regular supplies in my very first tool box from when I was a little girl, my smoker, some sugar water for feeding, and some sugar water in a sprayer. The sprayer is to spray the empty frames to make the new addition a little more attractive to the bees.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ltsaVLibHGA/TeEBtASy0YI/AAAAAAAAAMs/VTHWHa9UoNI/s1600/DSC02827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ltsaVLibHGA/TeEBtASy0YI/AAAAAAAAAMs/VTHWHa9UoNI/s320/DSC02827.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, after getting them sprayed, we were ready to go! The install is easy (just put it on there!), but I wanted to check out how the girls were doing. I have two hives. I will just refer to them as left and right so you will be able to tell the difference. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Left was strong in the beginning, but it had weakened considerably over the month. Upon counsel from my mentor and all-knowing bee man, we think it probably swarmed early. So you saw that beauty of a queen from the hive on the right in the previous post. I had never seen the queen in this hive (the picture from the last post was a drone, or boy bee). On May 5th, I think there was still a queen though. Here is some evidence that the hive had had a queen in the previous ten days or so. I did not see any young larva and that worried me a little. You can see she had an ok pattern.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G9xliHXnok8/TeEFhfAfv-I/AAAAAAAAAM0/7dvusWtDpfw/s1600/DSC02835.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G9xliHXnok8/TeEFhfAfv-I/AAAAAAAAAM0/7dvusWtDpfw/s320/DSC02835.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i9dhJboTygM/TeEFp9BIUeI/AAAAAAAAAM8/GYRXr6AXdVM/s1600/DSC02840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i9dhJboTygM/TeEFp9BIUeI/AAAAAAAAAM8/GYRXr6AXdVM/s320/DSC02840.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some other pics from the left hive. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q4sFEtEkhoE/TeEFdHBiDQI/AAAAAAAAAMw/KVs_AzHmlso/s1600/DSC02833.jpg" imageanchor="1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q4sFEtEkhoE/TeEFdHBiDQI/AAAAAAAAAMw/KVs_AzHmlso/s320/DSC02833.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This is honey being capped. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2R4BPAFWHdc/TeEFk85mlOI/AAAAAAAAAM4/e1hmCsP6_Ak/s1600/DSC02839.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2R4BPAFWHdc/TeEFk85mlOI/AAAAAAAAAM4/e1hmCsP6_Ak/s320/DSC02839.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GXMWaC0Tp5U/TeEFt2dNq7I/AAAAAAAAANA/0MkIEDzLr4s/s1600/DSC02841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GXMWaC0Tp5U/TeEFt2dNq7I/AAAAAAAAANA/0MkIEDzLr4s/s320/DSC02841.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I left these queen cells because I was worried about the queen being gone (there was no young larva).</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6XKP3NghPW4/TeEFyi94XcI/AAAAAAAAANE/zFU3AGBofqU/s1600/DSC02842.JPG" imageanchor="1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6XKP3NghPW4/TeEFyi94XcI/AAAAAAAAANE/zFU3AGBofqU/s320/DSC02842.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XjrRnxWmVuM/TeEF3Z9e9xI/AAAAAAAAANI/FRmGg8QVKQA/s1600/DSC02845.JPG" imageanchor="1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XjrRnxWmVuM/TeEF3Z9e9xI/AAAAAAAAANI/FRmGg8QVKQA/s320/DSC02845.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XjrRnxWmVuM/TeEF3Z9e9xI/AAAAAAAAANI/FRmGg8QVKQA/s1600/DSC02845.JPG" imageanchor="1"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">I just love the bee chain. I asked about this last time and Dad and Steven from <a href="http://stevensbees.blogspot.com/">Steven's Bees</a> confirmed this is part of the wax making process. Thanks for the help!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So that is the hive on the left. Let's see how the right was doing on May 5th. I want you to see the comparison. This is the left:</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l3GR4K_I78w/TeEGMDMU9VI/AAAAAAAAANM/dV9Ou92s5GI/s1600/DSC02829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l3GR4K_I78w/TeEGMDMU9VI/AAAAAAAAANM/dV9Ou92s5GI/s320/DSC02829.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">This is the right:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w7Z1WfLhe5Y/TeEMU2gcXyI/AAAAAAAAANQ/z6-TLB32MyQ/s1600/DSC02849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w7Z1WfLhe5Y/TeEMU2gcXyI/AAAAAAAAANQ/z6-TLB32MyQ/s320/DSC02849.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A little more full, eh? This queen was on the ball. Here is a little of what she had been doing. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--3DIoKvaIq8/TeEMZs56yoI/AAAAAAAAANU/FFL4p_vMoIQ/s1600/DSC02850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--3DIoKvaIq8/TeEMZs56yoI/AAAAAAAAANU/FFL4p_vMoIQ/s320/DSC02850.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YczXY-iuKOo/TeEMiOeU9WI/AAAAAAAAANc/qGFS4JDUpJQ/s1600/DSC02853.JPG" imageanchor="1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YczXY-iuKOo/TeEMiOeU9WI/AAAAAAAAANc/qGFS4JDUpJQ/s320/DSC02853.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AXCdCwxI5p8/TeEMmlPVefI/AAAAAAAAANg/gUzqZ8PMxUc/s1600/DSC02854.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AXCdCwxI5p8/TeEMmlPVefI/AAAAAAAAANg/gUzqZ8PMxUc/s320/DSC02854.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iBV97ycg7FQ/TeEMunwsA2I/AAAAAAAAANo/if4Thy7BYec/s1600/DSC02857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iBV97ycg7FQ/TeEMunwsA2I/AAAAAAAAANo/if4Thy7BYec/s320/DSC02857.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I felt good about this queen. So the next step was to see what happened with the left, weaker hive and the queen cells I left in there. Stay turned for the next update!</span>Jessie Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06831639525528938424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756171219810959545.post-48648261412056391852011-04-21T19:35:00.000-04:002011-04-21T19:35:46.250-04:00Confucius Say...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yZaa1DDid6Q/TbC0pHWZbWI/AAAAAAAAALc/eLAaSP3cr0w/s1600/1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yZaa1DDid6Q/TbC0pHWZbWI/AAAAAAAAALc/eLAaSP3cr0w/s1600/1.jpeg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Confucius say... Bee keeper with sticky fingers have sticky camera. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Today was a good day to check out the girls again. I had plenty of daylight to go in both hives, so I was prepared to spend some time. I have one thing to say about bee keeping:</div><div style="text-align: center;">It's hot. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So I found her. The queen. And she is a beauty. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4tu7DXzpOSQ/TbC1uWBvBTI/AAAAAAAAALg/vyOaOUgpM_s/s1600/DSC02696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4tu7DXzpOSQ/TbC1uWBvBTI/AAAAAAAAALg/vyOaOUgpM_s/s320/DSC02696.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you spot her? She is the darker, long one. She is bigger than the rest.<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>This is the hive on the right, the one I went in last time and took out the two queen cells. So, (sigh of relief) we have a queen. And she seems to be working. I didn't spend too much time in this hive because I looked at it pretty good the other night. I found her, checked for larva, and left them alone. <div><br />
</div><div>The hive on the left seemed like it was more full than the one on the right. I found numerous queen cells in this one. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vaUbS-V8cHY/TbC3cOmtYUI/AAAAAAAAALk/CwiXf5-5oP0/s1600/DSC02702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vaUbS-V8cHY/TbC3cOmtYUI/AAAAAAAAALk/CwiXf5-5oP0/s320/DSC02702.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The queen cell is the light yellow, peanut looking thing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FVO7BGJShXk/TbC7Y6xkyLI/AAAAAAAAALw/yavJYD5Lwz8/s1600/DSC02704.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">I also found lots of larva. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aPpIwpxwz0E/TbC336kbW0I/AAAAAAAAALo/aFqaoL3p0Pg/s1600/DSC02698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aPpIwpxwz0E/TbC336kbW0I/AAAAAAAAALo/aFqaoL3p0Pg/s320/DSC02698.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See those little worm guys down in the cells? They will soon be capped. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I don't quite know if I saw eggs or not. It was very hard to tell if what was in the cells just food (royal jelly, I guess) waiting for eggs, or if they were the early stage of larva. There was SOMETHING in there, but I am just not sure what. So I felt confident that there was a queen, so I got rid of all the queen cells. There were probably six or seven.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I had also a hard time telling which one was the queen. I thought I found her, but she looked so different than my other queen I thought maybe I was just seeing drones. Drones are boy bees. They are bigger than the worker bees, because they sit around, doing nothing, waiting to "git wit" a queen (not necessarily their own queen. That can cause inbreeding, which is no good for any species). That is a one time thing, by the way. If a drone is successful in mating with a queen, he soon dies. Apparently after mating, his "beenis"is ripped from his little body. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So I don't know if I saw the queen or not. What do you think? Is this the queen or a drone?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-enyCkK3vSXQ/TbC68-h0BEI/AAAAAAAAALs/nnRqigE8gdY/s1600/DSC02703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-enyCkK3vSXQ/TbC68-h0BEI/AAAAAAAAALs/nnRqigE8gdY/s320/DSC02703.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See the big one in the middle?<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FVO7BGJShXk/TbC7Y6xkyLI/AAAAAAAAALw/yavJYD5Lwz8/s1600/DSC02704.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FVO7BGJShXk/TbC7Y6xkyLI/AAAAAAAAALw/yavJYD5Lwz8/s320/DSC02704.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe this one?<br />
<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It is really hard to find the queen sometimes. I noticed quite a few drones and drone cells in this hive. That may be because there are more bees in there...I don't know. But the brood pattern looked good and they are starting to make a little honey. Take a look at the difference. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-suYHeXimkQE/TbC8O1fJZHI/AAAAAAAAAL0/_7RaHWERqN8/s1600/DSC02705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-suYHeXimkQE/TbC8O1fJZHI/AAAAAAAAAL0/_7RaHWERqN8/s320/DSC02705.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Honey on the bottom and brood on the top. The colors are different. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I also saw something pretty cool- a bee chain! These bees were making a chain across the gap where I had taken out one of the frames. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Reo2q3WWRng/TbC8oc1Rg_I/AAAAAAAAAL4/7kfe9h2LTn0/s1600/DSC02707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Reo2q3WWRng/TbC8oc1Rg_I/AAAAAAAAAL4/7kfe9h2LTn0/s320/DSC02707.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">They were all strung together all the way across. I wonder why they do that? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It has finally dawned on me. I am a beekeeper. Keeper of the bees. Tamer of creatures most feared. :) I'm just being a little silly there, but I am very excited to do this on my own. I have the privilege to watch these creatures who have survived and adapted since the time of creation. Honey has been found in tombs in ancient Egypt. The Jews were led into the land of milk and honey. I just feel like when I look into the bees, I am watching how they have done their job for possibly millions of years. It is an amazing pleasure and blessing. Realizing that is how I know I am a beekeeper. Realizing that you can never really "keep" bees is when you become a beekeeper. I am just enjoying my time with them. Civilizations will change and develop, people will become "advanced" and no longer do the things that I understand today. But thousands of years from now, the bees that are still around will be doing business the same way they always have. I find comfort in that. </div><div><br />
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</div>Jessie Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06831639525528938424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756171219810959545.post-50437275402700165222011-04-21T18:48:00.000-04:002011-04-21T18:48:05.949-04:00Queen of Errors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Have I mentioned yet that I hardly know what I am doing with these bees? I have also learned that I only listen to about half of what I am told. Or maybe I just remember only half of what I hear. Either way, I only know about half of what I should know, or perhaps much, much less than half of what I should.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cL6b0w86ZgY/TbCubocwqYI/AAAAAAAAAK8/CI1Wt4V4TVU/s1600/DSC02669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cL6b0w86ZgY/TbCubocwqYI/AAAAAAAAAK8/CI1Wt4V4TVU/s200/DSC02669.JPG" width="200" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jSfMHmwLZJg/TbCuM5np1TI/AAAAAAAAAKw/q3I2jLGR6X4/s1600/DSC02665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jSfMHmwLZJg/TbCuM5np1TI/AAAAAAAAAKw/q3I2jLGR6X4/s320/DSC02665.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KeNICp9pEzI/TbCuSiXpiaI/AAAAAAAAAK0/vAyAh4TysK0/s1600/DSC02667.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KeNICp9pEzI/TbCuSiXpiaI/AAAAAAAAAK0/vAyAh4TysK0/s320/DSC02667.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some capped brood (bee eggs/soon to be baby bees)<br />
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</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C5q7qnPDBZ8/TbCukrDkRmI/AAAAAAAAALE/Hv0BhoQxDWI/s1600/DSC02671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C5q7qnPDBZ8/TbCukrDkRmI/AAAAAAAAALE/Hv0BhoQxDWI/s320/DSC02671.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So the Bee Man told me I would want to go into the hives and make sure that they weren't thinking about swarming. Among the many things Dad told me, the only thing I heard was "get rid of queen cells." This was about half the story. I go in -- may I mention with much less distress for the bees and myself -- on a search and destroy mission. I find two queen cells and destroy them efficiently. I move the outside frames by switching places with the current outside frames, to give the girls a little more room, and I get out as it just gets too dark to see anything but a softly buzzing mass. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7kUdCxG1Y4w/TbCuf-V0rlI/AAAAAAAAALA/XhfatpUJIpI/s1600/DSC02670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7kUdCxG1Y4w/TbCuf-V0rlI/AAAAAAAAALA/XhfatpUJIpI/s320/DSC02670.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">I called to report my success to the Bee Man. "Did you see the queen?" he asked. "No." "Did you see larva?" he asked. "No." "Did you check for eggs?" "No," I reply vaguely realizing where this train of questioning was going. "How do you know you have a queen then?" Good question. I had forgotten to really check for any signs of a living queen at all before destroying the heirs to the throne. </div><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SabXxHitSIM/TbCupNMyKHI/AAAAAAAAALI/Sy_64Oum42o/s1600/DSC02672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SabXxHitSIM/TbCupNMyKHI/AAAAAAAAALI/Sy_64Oum42o/s320/DSC02672.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see some larva here. They look like little white grubs in the uncapped cells. You can see them most clearly on the left of the picture at top and bottom. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">While a queen cell can mean that the bees are preparing to swarm, it can also mean they need to replace an absent or bad queen. If you see eggs, that means she has been there a day or so ago. If you see larva, you know she was alive at least three days ago. If you see capped brood, she has been alive within the last week or so (larva takes around eight-ten days to hatch). I had a younger queen cell (gross white jelly stuff inside) and an older queen cell (bright white bee-looking creature). So I would have to go in later in the week to find the queen and take a look at how she has been performing. If you want to know more about queen bees, queen cells, or see what is inside the queen cell, take a look <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_bee">here</a> or check out <a href="http://holtbeefarm.blogspot.com/search/label/queen%20cells">Dad's blog posts on the subject. </a></div><br />
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I had an excellent photographer, who surprised me by getting very close to the frames to take pictures. I surprised myself by sounding just like my dad when I told him to get back if he didn't want to get stung. He spent some time being artistic with the pictures of the smoker.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">He also spend some time slaying serpents for me. I picked up this little guy thinking he was the most awesome earthworm ever. He was no earthworm. I hope "momma 'nake" is nowhere around.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Su47oJQddA/TbCvEGtJIyI/AAAAAAAAALY/DU2Z8uCrIIM/s1600/DSC02645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Su47oJQddA/TbCvEGtJIyI/AAAAAAAAALY/DU2Z8uCrIIM/s320/DSC02645.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Jessie Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06831639525528938424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756171219810959545.post-39188169475995763202011-04-12T17:39:00.000-04:002011-04-12T17:39:03.346-04:00Agitation All AroundOn Sunday, the day after installation, I just quickly opened up both hives to make sure all was well. I noticed in one hive, one of the frames had dropped down in the front (the frame was just a little bit too short). I decided I would suit up and go in Monday to fix that. I gave them a whole quart of sugar water and put them to bed for the night.<br />
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Monday, after dinner, I suited up to go in and quickly fix that frame. Or that is what I thought anyways. Here I go in my space invaders suit, down the hill to the hives. I have my bulky gloves and my trusty tool in tow and I am ready to totally know what I was doing. I got into the hive and started trying to get my tool under the frame to just pop it up and move it half an inch to the left. Easier said than done.<br />
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I could NOT seem to pry that frame up! I thought I was going to either put my tool through the frame or lever the side so much the side of the hive may come off! I tried to be gentle but my huge, mutated fingers were anything but. I would get the frame up a little and try to grab it, then BAM! it would drop and slam down into the hive. This was met with quite an uncomfortable level of buzzing. After doing this three times, it was obvious I needed some smoke.<br />
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I knocked on the window for my loving husband (who wants nothing to do with my new hobby) to bring me a lighter. He helped me get the pine needles lit and off I go, back down to the hive, with a blazing torrent of flame coming out of my smoker. This would not do, unless I wanted to incinerate them all. So I huffed and puffed, then realizing this was literally fanning the flame, I let it die a little. I then had some good smoke to get them calmed down. This was successful. I set the smoker in the grass to go back to my prying. Soon I was cussing myself the same way my dad always did when I smoked him. Big dummy me, had placed the smoker directly upwind from myself and I had managed to choke myself out. So I moved the smoker and went back to prying.<br />
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I felt so silly fumbling about with that tool and frame as I thought about my Dad, the hive tool merely an extension of his hand, or brain even. Neither my hands or brain seemed to want to work together. Finally, I got the frame pulled up and shifted. Once I had it where I wanted it, I wanted to just get out of there as I had traumatized these girls enough for the day. I closed them up and looked in at the other hive (blissfully oblivious to the wake of disaster in which I had left their neighbors). All looked well. I didn't want to prowl in there with out a reason, so I closed them up, put out my fire, and headed back to the house.<br />
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They had taken about half of the quart of sugar water, so I left the remainder on the hives for them to finish today. Seems as though they will take a quart every two days. So I will try to check on them again later in the week and try my best not to traumatize them more than necessary. I have a lot to learn.Jessie Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06831639525528938424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756171219810959545.post-44864811931649754922011-04-12T17:36:00.001-04:002011-04-12T17:36:48.446-04:00It's OfficialI am an official bee keeper.<br />
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Mom and Dad arrived on Saturday afternoon with the hive bodies and frames. We spent a little time figuring out where they should go, which way was South, and getting them level. I decided to put them on the South side of the house, facing east. I am not too sure that is ideal, but that is where they are. We actually didn't have too many choices. Even though it is early April, the heat and humidity were already in high gear, so after the set up, we headed in for a late afternoon nap. We needed to kill time until 7:30 until we could go pick up the bees.<br />
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At 7:00, we arrived at Jennifer Berry's house. We saw all ten nuks setting out ready to head home with us; the bees were just coming in for the day. They looked good, full, and active. The best part was is they seemed VERY calm and gentle. Jennifer arrived home from a full day of working in the University hives and it was very cool to meet her. She is pretty close to a celebrity in the bee realm. We loaded up the nuks in the back of the truck and headed back to the East side.<br />
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When we got home, we decided which bees would be mine. We used the scientific method of "which ones are closer to the back". Those were mine. :) So I immediately suited up, Dad carried the nuks down to the site, and Mom got the sugar water. We then took out the frames, one by one, to take a look at the brood pattern and to make sure that there were no queen cells (an indication they wanted to think about swarming). Everything looked good, so in their new home they went. All of the drawn out frames from the nuk went in the middle of the hive so they could work their way out. Soon, I will be looking to move the outside frames in so they will fill up all the frames.<br />
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The bees handled the transition well and with hardly any agitation. The hardest part of the move was seeing in the dark and using my new gloves. It felt like I had Hamburger Helper mascots on my hands as I fumbled around, got the end of my gloves stuck under the frames, and struggled to handle the tools. These gloves are for the birds. One of these days, if I ever get to a point where I WANT to be stung, I may lose them. In the meantime, I have got to get those puppies broken in.<br />
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Mom and Dad headed back home with their 8 new colonies in the back of the truck before daylight on Sunday morning (this is not unusual for them to head home that early, but there was actually a need this time). They needed to arrive back home in Tennessee before the bees got up and left to get breakfast (speaking of breakfast, I believe mom, dad, and the bees may have stopped at McDonald's on the way home. I am sure some of the bees stayed for a tasty Egg McMuffin.)They managed to get home around 9am and Dad was able to get his hives installed with no problems.<br />
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I am so pleased to have my own bees now, but I have a feeling it will not be as easy as I think...Jessie Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06831639525528938424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756171219810959545.post-81703333972351276242011-03-14T16:55:00.000-04:002011-03-14T16:55:26.978-04:00Hand Cream the Easy WayIn our bee meeting last week, we learned a simple recipe and method for making hand cream. Damon Wallace of Opelika, AL was the speaker and he definitely has this method down to a science. He said it was fine to share with you fine folks, so here we go.<br />
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I have researched hand cream/lotions a little in the past and was always very intimidated by the ingredients: glycerin, emulsifiers, lanolin, aloe vera juice.... I did not have these things in my cabinet at home. Other ingredients were even scarier sounding, money wise. I had never even see mango butter and carrot seed essential oils, but they sounded expensive. I was pleased when this recipe was mostly items I could easily locate.<br />
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Skin Cream Recipe:<br />
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8 oz. olive oil (preferably extra virgin light olive oil)<br />
2.5 ounces of beeswax (clarified)<br />
2/3 cup of distilled water<br />
1 teaspoon of borax (by far the scariest ingredient. I will explain what it does later)<br />
5 drops of tea tree oil<br />
5 drops of Vitamin E (can use the oil inside capsules)<br />
15 drops essential fragrance if desired<br />
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The key is too keep everything warm all at the same time. Our demonstrator used a handy electric skillet as a water bath for the ingredients.<br />
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<ul><li>Add 1 teaspoon borax to 2/3cup to warm distilled water. The warm water will help the borax to dissolve. Stir until completely in solution </li>
<li>Heat the beeswax until melted (140 Degrees)</li>
<li>Heat olive oil to 140 Degrees</li>
<li>Add tea tree oil and Vitamin E oil to olive oil</li>
<li>Add the oil mixture to the beeswax. Keep the temperature up </li>
<li>Add the borax/water solution to the oil/wax, whisking like crazy as you go. The mixture will turn white as it thickens</li>
<li>If fragrance is desired, add now to the mixture </li>
<li>Pour into pre-cleaned containers (these containers were white, double walled, rounded bottom 2oz jars)</li>
<li>Let sit until cool before capping to prevent condensation</li>
</ul><div>This yields approximately 16 oz of cream. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I was amazed because it took about 10 minutes or so to make this batch of hand cream. The second batch he did twice as fast because we were not slowing him down with explanations and questions. </div><div><br />
</div><div>So, let's talk about what is going on with this cream. First, let me address the scary ingredient: Borax. </div><div>Borax is a mineral salt of boric acid. Once I thought about that, I remembered some other uses for boric acid, most important in my experience is flux for welding. Flux allows the solder to flow freely into the cracks of metal, while somewhat lowering the temperature of the surrounding metal. In my jewelry days, Pete taught me all about boric acid and it was a staple in the shop. Now it is also used in some insecticides, so don't eat this hand cream (even though Damon said he would eat this cream because it is "all natural". I will leave that to him.) Borax is the emulsifier. In terms I can understand, that means it changes the properties of the mixture from a liquid into a cream. It incorporated the oil and the wax together so they will not separate. It's the "why can't we all just get along" component of this concoction. </div><div>Tea Tree Oil is a common antiseptic and has a very clean smell. </div><div>I would be wary of fragrance. They are very strong and sometimes tend to be allergenic. Choose wisely, or you will end up smelling like old ladies. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Now on to my evaluation of this cream. Without fragrance the smell is unoffensive. Any smell is really from the olive oil and the tea tree oil (which smells a little camphor-y). It smells a little like outdoors. However, the smell on your hands fades quickly. In the jar, it is a nice cream color. Damon mentioned that the more color your olive oil has, the more green or yellow tint your cream will have. You definitely want it not green- trust me fellas. Ladies don't want green or "pus" colored hand cream. Call us vain- but it's gross. The only complaint that I have is that it is slightly greasy, but most hand cream is. It does soak in nicely and leaves a nice fresh scent. One other slight problem is that it can get a little "chunky". Think of the "lotion goobers" that you get on the end of a pump lotion bottle. They do massage right in and are not unsightly. I am fairly allergic to everything (cosmetic-wise) and I have not broken out. I have been using this cream since last week. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Damon also did the math for us and determined that the total costs (not counting overhead, just supplies) for this cream per 2oz jar is about $1.36. Not too shabby. You could definitely sell this cream for more. He sells his for about $5.00, which is a very reasonable price. People especially love the natural ingredients and the fact that it supports local beekeepers. </div><div><br />
</div><div>My suggestion for this hand cream is really for foot cream. This would be wonderful to slather on your feet and cover with socks. If you were to make this for that purpose, I would suggest either peppermint or lavender oil for fragrance. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I hope to learn a few methods for clarifying the beeswax and will update you as I learn more. I may try this recipe one of these days with a few tweaks. </div><div><br />
</div>Jessie Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06831639525528938424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756171219810959545.post-40083827132571542532011-03-11T16:28:00.000-05:002011-03-11T16:28:07.323-05:00The Journey BeginsThis is the chronicle of a brand new beekeeper. I hope to use this blog as a place to share my findings, experiences, and hopefully find bee-lovin' friends all over the world.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ywu-dHBoqEY/TE8-Up84-QI/AAAAAAAAAF4/NQ4qMCGuNvI/s1600/~OT33FP000F.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ywu-dHBoqEY/TE8-Up84-QI/AAAAAAAAAF4/NQ4qMCGuNvI/s200/~OT33FP000F.JPG" width="155" /></a></div><div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ywu-dHBoqEY/TE8-ksqluKI/AAAAAAAAAGA/x1sbXG3Lrew/s1600/100_0781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ywu-dHBoqEY/TE8-ksqluKI/AAAAAAAAAGA/x1sbXG3Lrew/s200/100_0781.JPG" width="200" /></a>My father has been a hobbyist bee keeper for over thirty years. About 4 years ago, he retired from his job and became the "Bee Man". Since going professional, he will no longer be able to keep bees in the Olympics, but I have benefited greatly from his example over the years. He has several apiaries in Middle Tennessee. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Since the age of two, I have been going into the bees with him, playing with the drones, trying to find the queen, and trying to keep the smoke out of his face. I continued over the years to go in with him, while wearing the same bee suit for nearly thirty years. On my 30th birthday, I received a my own, brand new bee suit and I knew the torch had been passed. I began to plan for my own bee yard. In 2010, my husband and I decided to move from Middle Tennessee to Athens, GA. I was still determined to carry on my dad's love of caring for bees. This spring, I will receive my first two hives of my own. The task seems daunting, but at least I have a professional on call for any trouble I have. </div><div><br />
</div><div>In exchange for his bee consultation services, I help my dad with his blog. Please check it out @ <a href="http://holtbeefarm.blogspot.com/">http://holtbeefarm.blogspot.com/</a>. There is a wealth of knowledge about bees, wintering, queen raising, catching swarms, and various problems and diseases. As exciting as bee diseases sound, the real fun is following the adventures of the Bee Squad from Holt Bee Farms. My dad, Greg, and his side-kick, James, have some very exciting times, usually involving some sort of dangerous, swarm-catching antics (that is of course, when they manage to get away from the college girls and single moms, who are mesmerized by the mere presence of such honey slingers). You will no doubt hear about those wild and crazy guys on this blog as well. </div><div><br />
</div><div>In preparation for my bees (who are scheduled to be ready in mid-April), I have joined the <a href="http://www.easternpiedmontbeekeepers.org/">Eastern Piedmont Beekeepers Association</a>. I will pass on the interesting information I learn from those meetings. Also, my dad sends me many great and helpful links that I will post. I hope that in the context of my new beekeeping adventures, the information I pass on to you will be meaningful. If nothing else, I hope that more people will discover what amazing creatures bees are and their importance in our world, like the Latin proverb says, "Neque Mel, Neque Apes" (or No Bees, No Honey). As one of the most important pollinators, there would be WAY more devastating results from the disappearance of bees than the absence of honey (however, as you take that first taste of the season's honey, you can't imagine any worse than not having honey). </div></div><div><br />
</div><div>I hope you follow and enjoy this blog. I expect an exciting summer of stings and discovery!</div>Jessie Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06831639525528938424noreply@blogger.com0