Welcome B2.1

“B2” unfortunately did not make it through the winter as you may already know.

“Club Fergie” made it through another winter and is going strong. As I observe the foragers daily about every 4th one is returning with pollen. Pollen is a wonderful sign as it means they are feeding larva. Spring is a time for a population explosion to replace the fall and winter dead as well as get the hive ready for the spring nectar flow. More bees in Spring = More Honey in the Summer. When I checked on them a month ago they already had larva and capped brood a great sign of a healthy hive in mid-March in Central Virginia.

Today my wife and I made what is becoming for me an annual trek down to Brushy Mountain Bee Farm in North Carolina to get a package of bees. I was hoping to expand a hive into my in-laws backyard this year but with B2's passing this package is now going to be used as a replacement. Someday I will attempt to make my own nucs, so I can get out of the bee buying business, but until that time Brushy Mountain will continue to be my source.

At Brushy Mountain with my new package of bees.

The werepanda spoke to them in werepanda language, a silent little language the bees can understand.

“Foragers come and foragers go,

Swarms come and swarms go,
Soon you will have a hive to call your home.”

All day we had been fighting with storms while we were traveling, at one point where we had stopped for lunch, a tornado had recently gone through a few miles away. This was the sight that greeted as we pulled off the highway back home. Perhaps this is a good luck sign for B2.1 in hopes that their hive be full of golden honey this year.

B2: Bad Bee News

I have been putting off checking B2 the last few days because it has been cooler and breezy. Today was calm so even-though my excellent photographer wasn't here to document it all I still had to do it.

So far so good some activity at the entrance, pollen being gathered.

Under the hive cover not much activity around the inner cover.

Looking better, I see some new drawn comb. Bees working.

Oh No! Where is the rubber band? Did the cage fall? Sinking feeling

Cage is still in place. Queen has been released, but where is she?

Bad news on the bee front, the big waxy cell on the side of the frame is called a “Supersede Cell.” Looks like supersede procedures have begun and Queen Bingo was nowhere to be found. Looks like she is either gone for good or not the Queen the hive needs her to be.

Today I only saw a handful of eggs and less than 10 larva. Hopefully the queen was here as recently as 3 days ago. Will do thorough hive check on the weekend to see the status of the queen, even if I missed her, the fact that the hive started with making the cell tells me she was either rejected by them or in poor health. It is good that they had some eggs in order to go into emergency mode, I just hope the eggs I saw are actually fertile eggs and not the byproduct of a laying worker. An egg produced by a worker is infertile and can only become a drone.

Now putting these photos together I have this sinking feeling that when the bees chewed through the rubber band, when it snapped could it be possible that it killed the queen or injured her? I may never find out, but I do know next time around I am going to play it safe and move to twine or florist wire just in case that is what caused this current situation.

Sharing my Knowledge

Melissa, as I have previously mentioned, made the trip with me down to Brushy Mountain Bee Farm to pick up bees. This year is her first year in beekeeping. Although I had read 3 books on the subject attended meetings with the Richmond Beekeepers, watch a video of an installation, as well as witnessed a live installation demonstration, I still remember my feelings of doubt as I first touched a package of bees. What made it easier for me when I arrived home was that I had the support of my wife to assist me in the new venture. Melissa’s husband fully supports her new venture, he however has a very real fear of bees. Knowing this I decided to be available for her during her installation just in case those feelings of doubt surfaced. I only offered a couple of words, but she didn't need my help at all. Her confidence during installation shows she will be a successful beekeeper. Here are a few pictures of Melissa with her new hive on Day 1.

Misting down the package with sugar water, this not only makes the bees sticky and temporarily makes them unable to fly. Having 10-12,000 bees this isn't perfect odds to get every one, but it allows you to be able to deal with a couple hundred instead of a couple thousand.

Removing the shipping lid, under this is where the travel feeder is as well as the cage containing the queen. Both are removed before the introduction happens.

“The Dump” The moment when the majority of the bees with quickly learn where their new home is. Imagine if almost all of those bees weren't sticky with sugar water. The queen cage had been transferred to the frame in the very middle right below where the mass of bees are being dumped.

Last, here is her new hive ready to go. The package was placed in front of the hive to allow any ones that were left behind the ability to quickly find their way to the hive entrance as soon as the hive sets up some scenter who will use their pheromones to send out a signal to any lost bee in the area the way back yo the hive. As you see, right now the hive only has one level so that it controls the growth of the hive to fill the brood box before adding a second. Having one level also makes it easier for it to defend itself against pests as well as maintain the correct temperature. In this area of Virginia our average last frost date is still a couple of weeks away so being able to cluster on those colder nights is very important to the well being of this new hive.

To read what Melissa had to say about the installation go visit her here.