Finally had a nice day to check the hive, the past days have been very windy, humid and rainy. Not exactly the best weather for a bee - then tonight the weather is supposed to become cool.
The hive looked good. Although I didnt see the Queen K, I did see larve, so she is around and still laying eggs. I could tell that the external food supply is becoming scarce, as one of the honey supers was much lighter, and I saw plenty of bees with their heads in the comb. Mentor John, told me that when you see a bee with her face in the comb, that you are observing a hungry bee eating. I did refill the feeder with a gallon of sugar water - after starving Hive 1.0 I am a little paranoid about ensuring that the bees have plenty of food.
IPM board looked good. The hive beattle population is in check- saw a few but nothing to have me concerned.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
The Beekeper and his readers
After I finished that last post I decided to look at the readership stats and see if anyone reads my silliness...apparrently they do.
These are unique visitors:
221 from the USA
16 from Canada
4 from China
1 from Denmark
1 from France
1 from United Kingdom
1 from Sweden
I thought this info was interesting.
These are unique visitors:
221 from the USA
16 from Canada
4 from China
1 from Denmark
1 from France
1 from United Kingdom
1 from Sweden
I thought this info was interesting.
A nice weekend
My buddy Jim (the guy who turned 50 and Karen met the beekeper at his birthday party)and I went to Pinehurst for the Pinehurst triathlon. The race is an international distance race (1 mile swim, 30 mile ride, 6.2 milerun) it is by far the hardest course I have ever competed on. This course makes Ironman LakePlacid look easy. When I returned home, I had a great present waiting on me...Honey from NJEB. Eddie had a very succesful first year and was able to extract and bottle honey from his hive.
Now to the bees. I am glad that I treated the hive for mites. I had a TON of dead mites on the IPM board. So medicating the hive was a great thing to do. The bees must have liked it , as they were very calm when I was working the hive on Sunday. Perhaps they where just angry with all of the mites. I did not see the queen, but I really did not look for her. As I was just removing the mite treatments, and spot checking frames. I examined approx a third of the frames, and was pleased. Honey frames still look good for the winter and brood frames also look good. If the weather is nice on Saturday, I have plans to look for the queen.
Beekeeper Earl
P.S. Doug Bradley is now a beekeeper. Doug and I go to church toghter and he is a real estate developer who purchased a old brick building that has a hive living between the brick walls. Once he gets the building stabalized, we are going to get someone fromthe beekeepers association to remove the hive. He and his partners have nicknamed the building the "Beehive"
Now to the bees. I am glad that I treated the hive for mites. I had a TON of dead mites on the IPM board. So medicating the hive was a great thing to do. The bees must have liked it , as they were very calm when I was working the hive on Sunday. Perhaps they where just angry with all of the mites. I did not see the queen, but I really did not look for her. As I was just removing the mite treatments, and spot checking frames. I examined approx a third of the frames, and was pleased. Honey frames still look good for the winter and brood frames also look good. If the weather is nice on Saturday, I have plans to look for the queen.
Beekeeper Earl
P.S. Doug Bradley is now a beekeeper. Doug and I go to church toghter and he is a real estate developer who purchased a old brick building that has a hive living between the brick walls. Once he gets the building stabalized, we are going to get someone fromthe beekeepers association to remove the hive. He and his partners have nicknamed the building the "Beehive"
Saturday, October 9, 2010
The Smoker Strikes Again
Nice day in Charlotte. The morning was cold, wore my "nice yellow jacket riding jacket" and gloves on the morning ride to Waxhaw. Later in the day it warmed up and I was able to start painting the exterior of the house.
On Friday, Libby Mack stopped by and gave me some honey from one of her hives. The honey was a gift for giving her the 10 frame equipment. She has been very helpful, so that was rather nice of her. As far as I know this is the first local honey that I have ever tasted. I was intrigued as to the thickness, as the honey was thinner than typical store honey.
Overall the hive looked good. The honey frames are still heavy and I saw some bees yesterday with full pollen pockets. The brood frames that I pulled looked good. The primary reason for working the bees today was to administer a mite treatment. I chose the Apivar treatment pads. I have not noticed a mite issue, so this is preventative and from what I can tell a common practice amongst beekeepers.
Now to the smoker...as you might recall in the early spring while lighting the smoker I light the recycling bin on fire. Well today, I touched the smoker with my "nice yellow riding jacket" and it was hot enough to melt a hole in my jacket. So add another $100 to the bees tab. Hopefully honey futures jumped on Friday with the price of wheat as their tab is getting big so I am expecting a huge honey crop in the summer.
On Friday, Libby Mack stopped by and gave me some honey from one of her hives. The honey was a gift for giving her the 10 frame equipment. She has been very helpful, so that was rather nice of her. As far as I know this is the first local honey that I have ever tasted. I was intrigued as to the thickness, as the honey was thinner than typical store honey.
Overall the hive looked good. The honey frames are still heavy and I saw some bees yesterday with full pollen pockets. The brood frames that I pulled looked good. The primary reason for working the bees today was to administer a mite treatment. I chose the Apivar treatment pads. I have not noticed a mite issue, so this is preventative and from what I can tell a common practice amongst beekeepers.
Now to the smoker...as you might recall in the early spring while lighting the smoker I light the recycling bin on fire. Well today, I touched the smoker with my "nice yellow riding jacket" and it was hot enough to melt a hole in my jacket. So add another $100 to the bees tab. Hopefully honey futures jumped on Friday with the price of wheat as their tab is getting big so I am expecting a huge honey crop in the summer.
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