Does a bee have ears?

This question was asked by Laura. A search on google answered the question...


Google answer (several sites had the same information)
They don't have ears but they do have tympanic organs, which are holes with a thin, drum-like membrane stretched across. This is how they hear, although they don't distinguish different sounds the same way that we do, they just sense different vibrations in the air. Their feet and antennae can also feel some vibrations, but the tympanum is the main "ear" for a bee. It's located in the abdomen, which is why you might sometimes see a bee moving its backside up and down as though it's trying to sting, but nothing happens, that's because it's actually trying to "listen."

Pollen, Pollen and More Pollen

The hive is happy as the yard is in full bloom. Before I left town, I added the Ross Rounds. The Ross Rounds are the frames that are used to harvest comb honey. Assuming everything goes according to the plan, later this summer I will harvest thirty two combs of honey. In addition to the honey combs, I hope to have twenty - fifty pounds of honey to bottle.

Since I had inspected the hive earlier in the week, I just added the Ross Rounds, and did not inspect the hive. The hive has also completed its journey across the yard. Until I need the garden truck, I am planning to leave the hive as it sits. Construction on the carport starts this week, as the building permit was issued yesterday, utilities marking is set to occur today or tommrow, with the sewer line and foundation work occuring Thursday and Friday.

NJEB visits the hive

My buddy NJEB was in town visiting his son NCEB and stoppped by today. It was really nice to actually meet NJEB. We had time to be bee geeks and grab some lunch. Very nice visit. I hope he, his son, his son in law and buddy have a great time in California playing golf.

What Exit?

Weather this weekend was great, the bees where out buzzing around collecting pollen. On Saturday, I did have teh opportunity to open the hive up and take a good look. The supers that we rotated to the top of the stack, are being replensihed with honey and pollen. The new frames ont he outside of the supers are still undrawn. Although the frames are not drawn out, I suspect that it will not take long. The Tulip Poplars in the yard are starting to pop leaves, and the Tulips in the yard will soon flower, thus the pollen season is nearly here. Typicallt I hate pollen season, but this year I am really looking forward to the yellow dust. Pollen makes the bees, happy bees and honey will make the beekeeper happy, and Zythromax will make the beekeeper feel better.

I did see the queen on Saturday. She was in the super that John the Bee Mentor had suspected. Overall the hive looked good. I told the queen, the workers, and the drones that NJEB was coming over this week. He will be in town visiting NCEB. After I told the hive he was coming from NJ, in unision the queen, the drones, and the workers all asked "What Exit?"

A day full of anxiety

As they say in the NFL "upon further review" the hive appears alright. A few items were noticed on the pictures last night that had me worried. In the picture there were lots of drone brood and what apperaed to be a swarm cell. When you see lots of drone brood there is a problem with the hive as your queen is either dead or she has run out of stored sperm. So at best you have lost your queen and at worst you have a laying worker. A laying worker is one of the worst problems for a beekeeper as the hive believes they have a queen, but th eworker only lays drones. This problem is made worse, since the hive will not accept a queen due to the laying worker.

After a early call to John the Bee mentor, he was able to stop by the house after work. John and I gave the hive a good look. He said the hive looks great and we saw plenty of regular brood. I learned that drone brood is normal and plentyful at this time of year since all the drones have been kicked out of the hive during the cold winter months. Based on how the frames looked, John said I should expect 20,000 new bees within the next three weeks.

When it is time to requeen in the summer , I am going to purchase a queen from Weaver Honey in Navasota TX. Karen's grandmother was very good friends with the founders of Weaver Honey and she also lived in Navasota.

I am very relieved to learn that the hive looks good. This experience does have me thinking about a second hive. The second hive would give me something to check against. Depending on how much money Comrade Obama takes ont the 15th will determine if I purchase a second hive and a new bike.

A Good Looking Hive

After a an email exchange with NJEB today, I really got the urge to really inspect the hive. The weather was perfect - mid 60's so I suited up and fired up the

smoker. I had not pulled frames in several months, so the dissambly of the hive took some time. The hive really had everything locked down, with proplis (think adhesive caulk). The honey frames stuck to the bottom of the feeder- this took some effort to free. Once I got into the hive it was worth the trouble. The honey frames look good, plenty of honey on the frames. I might have provided the hive with to much sugar syrup over the winter, but I was very concerned about Hive 2.0 suffering the same fate as the beta hive. The one item that did concern me in the honey super was the amount of eggs and larve that I saw in two frames. Thus it might be time to put the queen excluder back on. The honey from this super will not be harvested and will remain for winter feedings (unless the bee mentor tells me to do something else). The brood chambers looked ok, I wanted to see more eggs and larve on them, but during the cold I assume the bees clustered in the middle of the stack. Since I had everything unstacked, I did reverse the order of the brood chambers.

I did not see the queen, but since I saw eggs and larve I know she is still around. Since I will be looking into the hive on a frequent basis, I hope to see her in the future.

Dandelions, Redbuds, and Warm Weather

The common dandelion is a horrible weed that has many a homeowner crazy. Until becoming a beekeeper las spring, the dandelion was just another reminder that the weeds were winning and I would spend more money at HomeDepot. Now the dandelion, tells me that spring is here and pollen is becoming available. I still hate dendelions and other weeds in my yard, but have enjoyed seeing the dandelions popping up around town. The Redbuds are alos popping so soon the bees will have a feeding frenzy, my car will be covered in yellow pollen and I will have a sinus infection due to the pollen.

The bee "truck" continues across they yard at a furious pace of two feet a day.

On a non bee topic - Curlin and Racheal Alexander have "met" hopefully they will have a son and he will wint the Triple Crown in 2014. I tell you all this because it is Derby trail time and we are headed to the Preakness in May. Our Preakness group includes Bobcat Doug and his family, Ricky Bobby and his wife, Our friends the Reids ( I havent given them a nickname yet), and the Girl Scout Cookie Queen of Charlotte. We are going to have a great time.