Bee Yard Inspection at Prairie Wildlife

Yesterday Mark drove out to Prairie Wildlife in West Point to add honey supers in anticipation of the soybeans blooming. He was upset to find that since his last visit two or three of the hives' lids had been blown off in the recent storms. We have no idea how long the bees had to put up with all of that light, wind, and rain! Not their favorite way to live.

So today, after the rain storm and power outage (!) he loaded the 4-wheeler onto the trailer, put heavier lids in the back of the truck, and we headed out. Thankfully, it was only 75 degrees! Not that it lasted . . .

We looked through all of the hives except the "tower of power" on the end. For the most part, they're doing well, though growing more slowly than we anticipated. Most are not generating excess honey stores yet.

We found one hive that was queenless but loaded with honey and pollen. We combined it with one of the hives that had been exposed to the elements, but still had a healthy queen. We hope they'll join forces and create a strong, healthy colony.

It was nice to be out with Mark, working the bees together. I've missed it.

Photo highlights:

It wasn't smoky . . . my lens fogged up when I got out of the truck. ;-)

All of the hives, before we inspected.

Snack time!

If you can't see the queen here, folks, I can't help you.

These bees are making use of every cell -- pollen is interspersed with uncapped and capped brood.

Pretty, fresh brood comb. Well done, Queenie!

Newspaper combining a healthy colony with a queenless colony.

On the road again. . .

We're headed to Caledonia to see if some bees can be removed from a grandmother's house. Her granddaughter is worried that the granny will get stung.

It's March 17 & 80 degrees. I predict this will be Swarm Week 2012.

A Warm Winter & A Project

I'm no meteorologist, but it's been a warm winter. In mid-January, the porch bees were busy flying in and out of both entrances.

It was good weather for a beekeeper's list of winter projects.

Mark worked outside in short-sleeves to assemble bee boxes.

And, being the OCD kind of guy he is, he had it down to a science. Our bees deserve perfectly square boxes!

I love it when he concentrates so hard he sticks his tongue out. Adorable.

Cary Haycox, the art teacher at Heritage Academy came by to check out our hives and talk about a project. About a week after this photo was taken, Mark delivered 65 deep supers to the art room. The art students in the upper grades at Heritage Academy are going to paint our hive bodies. We're supplying the paint, Mr. Haycox is supervising the process, and we hope to have 65 unique and creative homes for our bees when we make our splits. Mark got the idea from one of the beekeeping magazines.

After the guys rode down to Bee Hill without me, I made Mark take me so I could get some photos. Bees were *everywhere*!

The entrance reducers prevented the bees from flying in and out easily, so it almost seemed like summer time when they beard on the outside of the hives.

Opportunities to fly during the winter are good in that the bees need cleansing flights -- they won't soil their own nests, so to speak. But, the downside is that all of the extra flying = more energy burned = more food consumed. We left them a lot of honey, but Mark needs to go around and check and make sure they all still have enough.

Beekeepers in south Mississippi are talking about splitting hives earlier than normal due to the warm weather. We have a bunch of henbit blooming across the road, and pear trees are starting to bud. And it's not even February yet! Hold on bees! Wait until it's time!

A new bee pest!

Richard has a post on his blog about the discovery of a new pest that is causing harm to honey bee colonies. This insect may be one factor in the mysterious confluence of causes for Colony Collapse Disorder.

Reading about it, I'm reminded of the movie "Alien" -- isn't that the one where nasty things explode out of someone's stomach?  Same idea here, as the phorid fly lays eggs in a bee's abdomen. These flies are known to parasitize bumblebees, which have a more solitary, seasonal lifespan. Imagine the damage they could do to colonies of bees that live year-round!

The good news, at least for our bees, is that these flies have been observed in California and South Dakota. We'll hope they stay far away from Mississippi.

Plus, today the temperature is supposed to reach at least 70 degrees, so our bees can fly about and enjoy the warmer weather. Enjoy your weekend!

Image taken from a preschool site, which means it likely came from somewhere else ...

Frost this morning!

Just a couple days after 90+ degree temperatures, autumn has blown in. On my way to work this morning, I spotted swathes of frost in the shady areas.  Brrrr.

Time to put on the entrance reducers!  Here's hoping we've managed our bees and honey well enough to see them through the winter.  I'm sure we'll keep feeding the bees on the porch for a while.