Woo Hoo! Added ANOTHER Super!

Just took a gander out to the bee hives today and decided to take another "peek"! Gently opened the hive, and lo and behold...they filled out every (all 10 of them) frame in the medium super! Last time i checked was Last Thursday so in 4-5 days, they have completely filled the comb with honey. Still uncapped though. I added another medium super on top of that one! Can't wait for my first taste of honey from my very own hives this year!!!

I had to do it!!! I peeked!!!

I just had to check on the bees yesterday, just had too! You are not supposed to open the hives too often and I had just been in there a few days ago. But we had 95 degree weather for a few days and then it cooled down rapidly the next day to about 70 degrees. I was worried and just HAD to check on them....

They have made comb!! That is the best news ever! That means a "flow" is on and they are working their little butts off to bring as much nectar into the hive to make me some honey!! Yahooooo!!!

Lots of Activity at the Hives Today! Wax Moths, Drone Larvae

Beautiful day today and while I was out walking the farm, I stopped by the hives for a quick look. WOW! So much activity going on in front of the hives! Bees were flying every which way. My first thoughts were robbing, but that was not the case. Think it was just a traffic jam for the ladies trying to get out and do thier business on this beautiful sunshine day! If you click on the picture you will see how many are flying just outside the hive.

When I opened the outside cover on Hive #1, I found a WAX MOTH! Not good! They can and will destroy your hives! I think they were able to get in while I was ventilating the hives during that super hot spell we had last month. I was trying to move the moth so I could take a picture when one of the bees snatched her up and immediately killed her!

Still slow going as far as comb building is going. But I have been assured that this is perfectly normal. Tons of pollen being brought back into the hives. Look at this picture...Amazing to see all of the different colors of pollen the girls bring back. Again, click on the picture to enlarge it to really see!

Both hives are still going strong. Take a peek at the sheer number of bees that are loading this hive...

And finally, loads of drone larvae on the bottom of one frame! Couldn't believe how many there were! Also saw a few baby bees being born again today! Doesn't matter how many times I see it, it still is simply wonderful to watch!

August Update! Bees are happy, but slow to make comb!

Just went into the hives after spending a week in the Outer Banks. Both hives look queenright (meaning they each have a queen and she is doing her job) so that is a good thing (as Martha Stewart would say!!)!

They are so slow to draw comb though. I added the medium supers back at the end of June...and NOTHING! No drawn comb to speak of! I tried shifting the medium super and putting it BETWEEN the two deep supers to see if that would force them to draw comb on the meduims. Nope! Didn't happen!

Then on one of my favorite beekeeping forums, I read about spraying the foundation with sugar water. The idea is that hopefully the bees will feast on the sugar water and draw comb on those frames.

Keep your fingers crossed that this wil work! Very important this time of year as I want to have strong hives to make it through winter here in Pittsburgh.

Drawn comb is really important so that the Queen has sufficient room to lay and keep the hive healthy and strong. No drawn comb...no place for the queen to put her eggs.

This is a really heavy frame loaded with capped honey, capped brood, and a bit of larvae and eggs. Can you tell by the smile on my face how in love with beekeeping I am!!!!!

A bee counter!!!

Found this great bee counter on the Mother Earth News website!  You can click on it to keep track of how many honeybees are in your area!!

Pennsylvania State Bee Inspection! Varroa Mites, Sugar Rolls, Babies are Born, and Honey Bound Hives!

The Pennsylvania State Bee Inspector came to visit the bees today on the farm! My mentor, Mr. Fine had given me her name and told me to have her come out and do an inspection which is required by PA State Law.  Bonnie came out and was absolutely wonderful!  Thank goodness I had Travis with me so he could remember details I couldn't.  She was such a wealth of information!  My inspection report came back very very good!  Found one varroa mite on Hive 1 doing a sugar roll and Hive 2 she found one while looking at frames actually on the bee itself!  How she was able to catch that was beyond me!  She gives Travis a run for his money on being the best spotter ever!  Here is a pic of me and Bonnie...notice she does not wear gloves or a suit and I am completely covered from head to toe!

The sugar roll consists of taking a frame (making sure the queen is not present on it), shaking them into a bin, scooping out a cup, putting them in a mason jar with a screened lid along with a tablespoon of powdered sugar.  Gently shake and roll the jar so the bees are coated with the powdered sugar.  Then shake out the powdered sugar onto the bottom of the bin or your telescoping cover.  The mites will free from the bees and will fall onto where you are shaking them while the bees remain still inside the jar.  This is a noninvasive test that will sample your varroa mite count.  The bees can be dumped right back into the hive, No harm, no foul!

Now here is a pic from Hive 2 in which she found a mite on a bee within a frame!  I am so amazed that she spotted that!  She is VERY good at her job!!!

As she was going through the frames, she spotted a baby about to hatch!  Look at this picture...Do you see it?

It was exhilarating to watch a baby bee being born/hatched!  She was wobbly when she came out and Bonnie just directed her in the right direction! Travis and I could not believe how lucky we were to witness that!

And finally, it was definitely time to add a few supers to the hive!  I have stopped feeding the sugar water and added one medium super to each.  There was really very little room left for the queen to lay her eggs because it was so filled with honey and nectar.  So I finally know what the term "Honey Bound" means!!  You can see in the picture that each cell is either filled with capped brood (the larvae or baby bees!), capped honey, or nectar.  No room for the queen to lay eggs!  Hopefully they will work on the super next and she will have plenty of room to do her thing!!

Officer Stoffer Does It Again!!!!

Ok, my husband is offically the "BEST BEE SPOTTER" in all of the land!  I mentioned before how he can spot the queeen like nobodys business.  Well yesterday, he outdid himself! 

As he was pulling over a speeder (on our street, no less), he happened to notice a hive about 20 feet up in an old tree directly across the street from our upper portion of our farm! 

Lots of activity going on!  I was actually at the post office so when he called me after he made the stop, so I rushed home thinking my own bees had swarmed.  But mine were perfect!!

4th Inspection, 6-29-11: Queen spotting, Wasps, and the REAL difference between two hives.

Did my fourth inspection yesterday, 6-29-2011.  Weather was beautiful!  Couldn't ask for better.  78 degrees and sunny.  When I walked up to the hives, I noticed Hive 1 was in more of a frenzy than hive 2.  Not entirely unusual, as hive 1 always seems more on edge than the other one.  Hive 2 is the more relaxed, docile, does not really need smoke, kind of hive. 

Started to check each frame on the top deep and found they were really coming along building it out.  All looks great.  However when I went down to the second deep, something seemed off, but I just couldn't tell what it was.  And then, about 3 or 4 frames in, I spotted it!

A wasp (or hornet?) was attacking my bees and killing them!  I was able to kill it with my hive tool.  If you ever get a minute, look up the video "30 wasps kill 30,000 honeybees in 30 minutes" on Youtube.  It is heartbreaking to watch but actually occurs. 

Rest of the frames looked great.  What really has me wondering is why Hive 1 is always so much more aggressive than Hive 2.  I will have to ask my mentor Mr. Fine and see if they are different breeds of bees and if that would make the difference.  I understand about the wasp in the hive today that made Hive 1 more crazy, but Hive 2 are just sweethearts!

Looking good!  Can't wait till the frames are drawn in the top supers so I can finally add my honey supers!! Have to say the smell when you open the hive is DIVINE!  Also Travis once again spotted the queen!  How does he do that!?!?!?!  Do you see her?  First time we have ever spotted her in Hive 1.

3rd Inspection of the year! 6-22-11, Difference between 2 hives, Adding a super, And ANOTHER STING!

Third inspection went really well!  6-22-2011.  I think I am finally getting the hang of this!  I has added the second deep (another hive body) last inspection to hive 2, but hive 1 just was not ready for it yet.  Once each of the frames have been drawn out (some say at least 9/10 frames) you add the second "story" to the bee hive house.  That is for the bees to use to make and store honey for winter use, to raise their babies , etc..Anything I put on after the two deep hive bodies will be mine!  YAHOO!  Here is a picture to show that Hive 2 already with its second deep on...

Everything looked great in both hives.  Hive 1 was ready for its second super as well.  So we added that today.  Tried to find the queen in hive 1 but was not able to.  Travis immediately spotted her in Hive 2.  He is the best queen spotter ever!  Not sure how he does it!  As soon as I pull a frame, he either says "There she is!" or "No".  Amazing!!

Look at these beautiful frames!  My bees are doing exactly as they were made to do.  They are such incredible little creatures!

And we didn't get away this time without another sting...This time Big Travis got one right in the EAR!  Ouch!  Both he and Little Travis both got stung in extremely sensitive places...I still have yet to get stung...knock on wood!

Inspection 2, 6-15-11: Drone VS Queen cells, Unusual Photography, and a STING!

Having soooo much fun with my bees!!  Did my second inspection on June 15, 2011 and went off without a hitch.  Ok, to be honest it was a complete and total disaster!!....And yes, I had to call my bee mentor, Mr. Fine yet again...

While inspecting the frames, I was looking for everything each of my books tell me to look for...capped brood, eggs, larvae, and the queen if I am lucky enough!  Everything looked great!  Thought I saw a few queen cells starting and thought, "Uh-oh, here we go again"!  This is what I saw:

This is actually a drone cell.  I had thought this colony had lost it's queen and was in the process of creating an emergency queen.  Now keep in mind, we had never officially found the queen in this one...So yes, I was in a downright dither (for no reason).  Since this one was dead, they carried out the traditional bee funeral.

Sad, isn't it?  What makes me even more sad is that when winter hits, the girls throw out the drones (boys) to freeze to death because they are of no use to the hive during the long cold winter.  I am thinking of trying to save them when the cold weather hits to thank them for all they did for the hive over the summer...just not sure where I could keep them...

The remainder of the frames looked great!  Do you see the larvae in the picture above?  So cool!   

My fearless photographer (aka Travis), thinks it is funny to take pictures of bees on my butt.  After checking the hives, I come into the house and load the pics and it is unbelievable how many "bee on the butt" pictures he has taken.  He thinks he is pretty funny...I am not laughing like he is...

And finally...A STING!!!  And it was not me!!  Little Travis is also fascinated and follows me out to the hives.  While we were walking back and almost at the house, one of the ladies decided to go for his hair! He started swatting like crazy   (worst thing to ever do!) and she landed right on his eyelid!  He smashed her and she bit him.  I probably would have done the same thing even though they say to just let them go and they will fly off.       

First Inspection!

I finally did a first inspection of the hive yesterday!  Well, almost!  I did what every new beekeeper does...I was halfway through inspecting my first hive when the girls started to get a "active".  I thought I should high tail it out of there.  Read back through my "Beekeeping Basics" book by the Penn State College of Ag Sciences Cooperative Extension and it stated this is what most new "beek's" do!  So next time I will be a bit more prepared for the activity that is going on in the hives. 

By the way, the book mentioned above by Penn State...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  One of the best in my opinion.  I have many and this one is just a great resource to have.  Got my copy from the Pennsylvania Honey Queen herself!!  Fancy, right?  Actually, my bee mentor is her father!  But that still sounds great doesn't it?  Makes me sound fancy-schmancy!

This is the inner cover.  Notice in the first picture, how many bees you can see at the top?  This was before using my handy dandy smoker. 

This is the after picture...The smoker sends the bees downwards so you are able to get into the hive.

Big difference,  huh?  Next, I removed the inner cover and started checking out the frames.  Have to admit, this was a bit scary being the first time and all.  So far, everything is looking good!

Look at this one!  I was proud of myself!  The one below is the middle most frame.  Much heavier than I had expected it to be.  Felt like Wonder Woman holding this up for the camera! Have to give props to my husband for taking the pictures! He was a great sport about it! Not scared one bit, but after all, he is a police officer and they fear NOTHING!!!

And finally one last picture.  This is a close up.  I am fascinated by it!  Will try using the Macro setting on my camera next time to get some really great shots!  Notice the pollen...really fascinating!

Forgot to look for eggs, the Queen, I was just so transfixed by the hive itself.  Only got to look at Hive #1!  Didn't even look at Hive #2!!

And I STILL did not get stung!  Yahooo!  I happened to run into my bee mentor Mr. Fine and his family today at a local strawberry festival.  He was the "Bee Speaker".  First question he asked me...Did you get stung yet??  I loved that I was able to tell him no!  Wonder how much longer I will be able to say that!!!  Keeping fingers crossed!!

A "Panic Moment" at Sunnyside Farms today...

Today was just one of those days!  I got up and went to check my hives early and to place my feeders on the hives.  Their food is basically a 1:1 mix of water and sugar.  All was well at 7:30 AM! Or so I thought!

My husband knew I was on the prowl for Mason jars to use as feeders on the hives.  He worked midnight last night and was able to scrounge up two for me.  While cleaning them in the sink, one shattered while he was washing it and sliced his finger wide open! A trip to the emergency room and a few stitches later, all was well.  Does anyone know just how many times I have heard the words "We have to run to the hospital?" 
Thankfully it has never been anything too serious!

I checked on the girls periodically throughout the day.  At 5:00 PM this evening, I again went to check on the hives.  (I know! But remember, I am REALLY excited!!).  All heck was breaking loose at hive #2!  Bees flying madly around everywhere.  Hive #1 was relaxed and calm with a minimal amount of activity.  What is going on??  My first thought was "Oh no...They are getting ready to swarm!".  My (and every other beekeeper's) biggest nightmare.  A swarm can occur at any time and it is really just nature's course.  The bees might feel like their is simply not enough room and choose to go elsewhere. 

Then I thought...ROBBERS!  Others are trying to steal my girls honey!!  I raced back to the house to look on the internet for signs of swarming or robbing.  Went to my handy dandy reference of http://www.beesource.com/!  I always find a ton of info there! 

I was hesitant to call my bee mentor, Mr. Fine, because it was less than 24 hours since picking them up!  He has had the patience of Job with me thus far and  I really didn't want to wear out my welcome this soon. 

Here is the way I found the hives...

You can't tell from the picture so much, but there were TONS of bees flying all over hive #2!  Found a few really good videos on Beesource which addressed my problem.  They were simply taking orientation flights to get used to their new surroundings!  After 20 minutes or so, all was back to normal!!

I did happen to catch something rather interesting while at one of my many trips to the hives today.  Found a few bees dragging a dead bee from inside the hive to throw her off of the landing board and get rid of the evidence! 

Rather sad, isn't it?  My heart broke for her and for the others carrying out her funeral...

Picked up my "girls"!

The girl's are officially home!  We went over to Mr. Fine's home today where he has so many hives!  Another gentleman was there to pick his hives as well which is why I changed my plans and  picked mine up this evening as well.  I wanted to watch the process of Mr. Fine transferring the honey bees from their nucs into our hives.  It was wonderful!

It was so scary but so much fun!  There were bees flying everywhere, landing on my suit, crawling up my veil, all over my gloves...I will never forget that moment as long as I live.  The sound was incredible.  I put my hands on quite a few nuc boxes to feel the vibration.  Magical.  Simply magical. 

This is my mentor Mr. Fine.  He patiently answers each and every one of my questions without fail.  Notice he never wears gloves!

Getting the other gentlemans hives ready.  He was also such a trooper for allowing me to tag along on watching and filling his hives.

Arrived home a few minutes later and heaved the hives onto their stands.  Notice my husband standing quite close with no protection on at all.  They are quite gentle.  He also was my photgrapher for the evening as well as Travis Jr. here at the end.

I did make one error...when dropping off of my equipment last night, I had forgot to leave the inner cover.  Once I returned home with the girl's, I had to add one to each hive.

Biggest highlight of the evening....I didn't get stung!!!!!!