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up close and stingless
.I’m hoping to get out and see my bees tomorrow – and also hoping I’ll have a full hive that won’t mind me taking 2 frames for my observation hive. I cleaned it out a bit tonight, and also figured out how it comes apart and goes back together. I thought it might be good to be prepared *before* I’m in a cloud of pissed bees. I even wrote myself a list of things not to forget – like extra veils for helpers! Here’s hoping for a great afternoon. Look for the observation hive if you’re coming to the Seedling Sale at Little City Farm! Saturday, May 22, 9-12. It…
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s is for sarah
.I took a little trip to Better Bee Supplies today, to pick up some frames for my honey supers and some gloves. Gloves were not something I really wanted to work with; it’s great to have the sensation in your fingertips and be able to ‘pet the bees’ with your bare hands. However, my allergist tells me I have a Colophony allergy, which is basically an allergy to coniferous trees and products made from them. This is an issue because the propolis – the super sticky gummy glue that the bees make and use to seal and weatherproof their hive – is made using things like pine or spruce sap.…
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cozies
This pic was taken 12 days ago – I put some straw bales around the bottom of the hives to provide added protection from the elements. I’m sure it’s not absolutely necessary, but it makes me feel better. The tar paper doesn’t go down to the bottom of the hives – it kind of reminded me of pants that are too short. Floods, I think they were called by the grownups who used to tease me about my pant legs being too short when I was a kid. “Where’s the flood?” Well, nowhere. Is it my fault I was growing so fast? Sheesh. Anyway, regardless of whether this is a…
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it’s a wrap
Sort of ready for winter, here – not sure if I did this right, but November is 2 days away and I thought I better at least provide some cold protection for the bees. I want to add some straw bales for added protection, too. I’m thinking the tar paper should cover the bottom a bit more – but I didn’t want to block the entrance…. Definitely still learning. A lot..
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saving heat
I finally was able to put in my entrance reducers today. Life is busy! Hopefully now the bees will be able to heat their homes even more efficiently. I thought for awhile about which way I should put the opening… do they look like they’re upside down? I’m not sure what’s the best way, or if it matters. This hive didn’t really care that I was putting in the entrance reducer – they’re my weaker hive for sure. If you look at this next pic, you can see the difference: These ladies were mighty ticked with me – one stung my veil (not me), and another just clung to my…
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lowering heating costs
On Saturday the 3rd, I went to the beeyard to feed one of my hives sugar syrup. They hadn’t filled out the frames as well as they could have, and it’s important for winter survival that they are full to maximum capacity. So, despite not wanting refined sugar in my life anymore, back in it came. In the top picture you see the hive with a honey super on top – I had to leave a space for the ziplock bag of sugar syrup between the frames and the lid. After Ken’s comment on a previous post, I thought I better follow his recommendations, so I built myself a rim.…
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ready for battle
Yes, I tucked my pant legs into my socks, geek that I am. I was not interested in bees flying up my pants. This was my first visit out to the bees after being stung 9 times at once, so you can understand that I was taking every precaution. Including wearing my husband’s winter gloves. Yes, now I have to wash them because they’re sticky. It was worth it. I think I would have been stung otherwise, judging by the number of stingers I saw ready to strike, and the bees that were crawling on the gloves. I opened the lid, and there were about 20 bees there with their…
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thinking
Not much happening with the bees – other than me trying to figure out what I’m going to do with them. I’ve been talking to Ken about how I should deal with the hives – well, the one hive in particular. My two hives have very different personalities, which I think can be attributed to genetics in a large way. The first hive does a really good job of reproducing – the queen lays eggs like no tomorrow, and the workers take care of them. Not so much honey, though. The second hive, full of honey! But not very many workers, when I compare it to the first hive. So…
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reno
I’m pretty sure one or both of my hives will need a second brood box soon, which means I need to get them ready! This is the first coat of paint for these boxes. The reddish colour is my old hallway colour, and the blue is even older – it’s from our newlywed apartment. 9 years today (happy anniversary dear!), so it’s been around for awhile. Anyway, back to bees: this time I’m going to paint two coats of paint without primer underneath. My first boxes were done with primer and paint, but I’ve recently read that it works better if you don’t use primer. Who knows? I say why…
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ready….. i think
I took the girls out on a ‘breakfast picnic’ this morning at Fertile Ground CSA, which is where my beeyard is located. Today is the first day of the CSA pickup season for Angie and Mark, so they were very busy setting up their washing station and harvesting their organic veggies. I was busy too, setting up the hives in preparation for the bees. My girls had their breakfast on a picnic blanket, and were slightly annoyed with the early morning mosquitoes. Only 2 more hours until I pick up my bees!.