Got the call from Tim last night since he is coordinating the extraction machine for getting the honey out of several people's frames. He said likely this weekend or early next week it will happen. He said to wear old shoes that will become "honey shoes" everafter, since everything will get a touch of honey on it!
He said I should go back and check my hive to see if the remaining honey was capped off and to retrieve that for our extractions. Also I am to dump the "bad hive" in with the good hive since it won't make it thru the winter, or much longer, on its own.
I won't need bottles yet, as we will just get the honey into food grade pails right now.
I have commissioned a talented friend of mine to assist in my label design.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Bee sure to vote!
I need to name my honey...be sure to vote on a name by clicking your choice!
See window on right side of this page to vote.
See window on right side of this page to vote.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Monday, September 3, 2007
60 lbs!
on Saturday, Tim and I visited my hives with the intention of "pulling" some honey, meaning, we would remove any frames that had capped honey. I was glad for this as the hive was getting a bit too tall for me to maneuver opening it.
We opened the "good hive" and noticed that the last box I put on( two weeks ago) was entirely full, and was full of knotweed honey- it is really dark, like molasses. We removed each frame and used the bee brush to remove bees that were guarding it. These capped frames (21 of them) were placed in another box nearby that we had staged so that we could carry them easily.
We stored them in the garage with a plastic bag beneath them and on top, to prevent other bugs from sneaking in. Each box weighed about 30 lbs, Tim said I could bet on getting 60 lbs of honey out of what we removed!
We replaced one of the boxes we removed with a new set of frames that the bees could work on. Tim and I will extract the honey from the frames once he has pulled honey from his hives and we can make one big mess together- he says it gets everywhere, but I think I can deal with that!
The next step is to order some bottles and create a name/label for the honey.
We opened the "good hive" and noticed that the last box I put on( two weeks ago) was entirely full, and was full of knotweed honey- it is really dark, like molasses. We removed each frame and used the bee brush to remove bees that were guarding it. These capped frames (21 of them) were placed in another box nearby that we had staged so that we could carry them easily.
We stored them in the garage with a plastic bag beneath them and on top, to prevent other bugs from sneaking in. Each box weighed about 30 lbs, Tim said I could bet on getting 60 lbs of honey out of what we removed!
We replaced one of the boxes we removed with a new set of frames that the bees could work on. Tim and I will extract the honey from the frames once he has pulled honey from his hives and we can make one big mess together- he says it gets everywhere, but I think I can deal with that!
The next step is to order some bottles and create a name/label for the honey.
Monday, August 20, 2007
hive update
My last check was on wed 8/15...
I added another box to the good hive, bringing it to 6 boxes high. I officially need a ladder now to tend to this hive as the hive stand is about 12 inches off the ground and there is no way I will be able to maneuver a heavy box that is head height. I didnt go too deep in the good hive for fear of disturbing a good thing.
The second hive, I was more interested in how my experiment went- whether the bees used the eggs I moved there to create a queen. I saw no evidence of such. In fact, I saw more evidence of that silly laying worker bee- multipe eggs in cells. Oh well. I guess this hive will doom themselves.
I added another box to the good hive, bringing it to 6 boxes high. I officially need a ladder now to tend to this hive as the hive stand is about 12 inches off the ground and there is no way I will be able to maneuver a heavy box that is head height. I didnt go too deep in the good hive for fear of disturbing a good thing.
The second hive, I was more interested in how my experiment went- whether the bees used the eggs I moved there to create a queen. I saw no evidence of such. In fact, I saw more evidence of that silly laying worker bee- multipe eggs in cells. Oh well. I guess this hive will doom themselves.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Experiment in process
well, an experiment within the existing 'beekeeping' experiment for me...
On saturday I went over to check the hives again, The "good"hive was still doing great, I only checked the top three boxes, the first two were mostly full of honey (and were heavy!). In the third box down I saw some eggs and no queeen on a frame, so I thought I'd do what my mentor said and move a frame of them over to the problem hive. This would give the problem hive the opportunity to create a new queen which would save the hive.
This switcharoo entailed me having the good hive broken open and then turning around and opening the second hive at the same time to steal an empty frame to replace the frame of eggs in the good hive. I was sucessful, so I will see what the problem hive does with this little boost of eggs.
When I inspected the problem hive further it appeared that the laying worker was at it again as the brood was only drone brood. This probably doesn't fare well for my experiment as it is likely the existing bees think this laying worker is in fact queen bee and will protect her and not recognize the need to create a new queen. But, I am guessing at all this. I will need Tim's insight to understand the "as the world turns" of these bees that have gone awry.
I finished painting the hive equipment (4 more boxes) and am in the process of prepping the frames and wax...it is very time consuming so it becomes my evening activities.
On saturday I went over to check the hives again, The "good"hive was still doing great, I only checked the top three boxes, the first two were mostly full of honey (and were heavy!). In the third box down I saw some eggs and no queeen on a frame, so I thought I'd do what my mentor said and move a frame of them over to the problem hive. This would give the problem hive the opportunity to create a new queen which would save the hive.
This switcharoo entailed me having the good hive broken open and then turning around and opening the second hive at the same time to steal an empty frame to replace the frame of eggs in the good hive. I was sucessful, so I will see what the problem hive does with this little boost of eggs.
When I inspected the problem hive further it appeared that the laying worker was at it again as the brood was only drone brood. This probably doesn't fare well for my experiment as it is likely the existing bees think this laying worker is in fact queen bee and will protect her and not recognize the need to create a new queen. But, I am guessing at all this. I will need Tim's insight to understand the "as the world turns" of these bees that have gone awry.
I finished painting the hive equipment (4 more boxes) and am in the process of prepping the frames and wax...it is very time consuming so it becomes my evening activities.
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