Up to Speed
In my last blog entry in July of last year, we were in the swing of the season and evaluating how the bees were handling themselves with the nectar flow. I will try to sum up the details of the end of the season and what surprised us this winter.
We had two hives in 2018 that we purchased from a different source than we have purchased them from in the past. The hive that was doing poorly (in my opinion) was the most aggressive colony we had ever had. One even managed to sting through my leather glove! I also felt that it was the least hygienic hive that we had. It was low-producing and although we managed to help the colony get established with its own laying queen, we were unable to winter it.
The hive that was initially doing well continued to do well. The only issue we ran into was with the queen excluder. This is a layer that beekeepers can use in a hive to keep the queen in the area where she lays eggs (the brood) and away from the honey frames. We haven’t used an excluder since we started beekeeping, but we decided to try it again. We put it on too early, which I think set them back a little bit. I don’t think the bees were passing through it to work on honey storage. Thankfully, we caught the problem in enough time to remove it and still have a smaller harvest from the colony.
This hive was the highest propolis-producing hive we have had. Propolis is a glue-like substance that honey bees make from tree sap. It is used to seal cracks in the hive and is antibacterial, so it tends to aid in the health of the bees. I have heard that some beekeepers have linked the amount of propolis in a hive to its overall health. Check out the drips down the edge of this super. It was like this around every edge and the frames themselves were heavily glued into the boxes.
We planned to not do anything extraordinary to winter this hive. I didn’t feel that it was a very strong colony, although the temperament was good, and am not as much of a fan of Italian honey bees as I used to be. Our Carniolan bees had been great producers and the stings were less severe for Mr. Bee. We did not wrap the hive and decided to simply let them try.
In January, we went out to listen and although the colony was still buzzing, it was high enough in the hive that we knew it would soon be out of food.
To our great surprise, this colony survived the polar vortex week which included negative 40 degrees F temps and high winds. Not only that, it was a "historically cold" winter overall. Mr. Bee loves an underdog story, so after the bees survived all of this, we gave them some honey frames and box to keep moving upwards in the hive, like colonies do in the winter.
Currently, this hive has a small amount of bees left. We don't know if they will make it, but we are going to try. If all else fails, we could add these bees to one of our new hives.
As a whole, we did not have a bountiful year of beekeeping. For us, it is to be expected that not every year is a banner year. Still, we are doing what we can to now help this colony through the difficult end of winter/start of spring, until pollen and nectar are available outside.
Keep an eye out for my next post. Bee Day is in one week!
We had two hives in 2018 that we purchased from a different source than we have purchased them from in the past. The hive that was doing poorly (in my opinion) was the most aggressive colony we had ever had. One even managed to sting through my leather glove! I also felt that it was the least hygienic hive that we had. It was low-producing and although we managed to help the colony get established with its own laying queen, we were unable to winter it.
The hive that was initially doing well continued to do well. The only issue we ran into was with the queen excluder. This is a layer that beekeepers can use in a hive to keep the queen in the area where she lays eggs (the brood) and away from the honey frames. We haven’t used an excluder since we started beekeeping, but we decided to try it again. We put it on too early, which I think set them back a little bit. I don’t think the bees were passing through it to work on honey storage. Thankfully, we caught the problem in enough time to remove it and still have a smaller harvest from the colony.
This hive was the highest propolis-producing hive we have had. Propolis is a glue-like substance that honey bees make from tree sap. It is used to seal cracks in the hive and is antibacterial, so it tends to aid in the health of the bees. I have heard that some beekeepers have linked the amount of propolis in a hive to its overall health. Check out the drips down the edge of this super. It was like this around every edge and the frames themselves were heavily glued into the boxes.
We planned to not do anything extraordinary to winter this hive. I didn’t feel that it was a very strong colony, although the temperament was good, and am not as much of a fan of Italian honey bees as I used to be. Our Carniolan bees had been great producers and the stings were less severe for Mr. Bee. We did not wrap the hive and decided to simply let them try.
In January, we went out to listen and although the colony was still buzzing, it was high enough in the hive that we knew it would soon be out of food.
To our great surprise, this colony survived the polar vortex week which included negative 40 degrees F temps and high winds. Not only that, it was a "historically cold" winter overall. Mr. Bee loves an underdog story, so after the bees survived all of this, we gave them some honey frames and box to keep moving upwards in the hive, like colonies do in the winter.
Currently, this hive has a small amount of bees left. We don't know if they will make it, but we are going to try. If all else fails, we could add these bees to one of our new hives.
As a whole, we did not have a bountiful year of beekeeping. For us, it is to be expected that not every year is a banner year. Still, we are doing what we can to now help this colony through the difficult end of winter/start of spring, until pollen and nectar are available outside.
Keep an eye out for my next post. Bee Day is in one week!
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