Summer Time - 11 July 2008

It has been about 6 weeks since I've been back to check in on the G-Farm bees.  This was a Friday afternoon visit with my mentor ... I felt a little reassured this time being with her after my last encounter ... It was quite hot outside and a bit humid ... thunderstorms off in the distance.

I was happy to get the smoker going and have it last until we had finished the 2nd hive this time ... I think I may finally be getting the hang of this.  The bees in the 1st hive were active after opening the cover, but not agressive ... we worked quickly but with a sense of calm and the bees seemed to handle our intruding just fine.  The top 3 supers were quite heavy and looked to be almost completed filled and capped.  The one with 2 plastic frames had a little not finished, but the other 2 (one new and one older) were full as was almost the whole Ross Rounds super ... we estimated about 50 lbs on 2 supers with the other at about 70 lbs. and the Ross Round perhaps 30 lbs.  quite a nice supply with about 200 lbs total on this hive.  I hope to remove the 70 lb. super and extract honey from those frames and take the 32 rounds of comb honey on the next visit.  We did not notice any signs of mites, hive beetles or wax moths ... the bees looks healthy and we did a visual from the top of the Brood chamber and the frames looked active and quite full of brood and larvae.  Replaced everything, but changed the over of the supers putting the Ross Rounds one from the top.  On to the 2nd hive.

Here the new super was quite full and the 2nd brood box was also full of drawn comb, lots of bees and plenty of activity.  We pulled 2 frames in the top brood chamber and saw larvae, eggs and the activity of a healthy Queen.  Since we were not looking for the Queen we did not disturb the bottom hive box and reassembled the hive.

I was quite excited about the progress of the bees in almost completing the Ross Rounds and having populated the 2nd hive so well with most of a full super full of honey.

Next month we will finally get to take off the excess honey and enjoy the sweetness of our labor.  It was a good visit.  After getting out of our bee suits, we roamed the row of eggplant and picked a few select fruits to enjoy as an eggplant parmesan dish over the weekend.

I look forward to the August visit.

3rd Visit - 24 May 2008

My third visit to Geraldson's Farm to check up on the bees was a bit different from the first two visits.  This time I was the expert ... or so I thought.  I was taking my niece this time, and she had never been around bees.  To ensure I good visit, I decided to make sure she was well protected and I gave her my bee suit and veil, and my gloves.  I was wearing a long sleeved shirt and I have a spare veil to protect my head and face, but no additional pair of gloves.  This was OK as I am not afraid of getting stung, I just don't enjoy it.

We worked the first hives and removed the cover and lifted off the 3 supers and the newly installed Ross Rounds super.  I had added the 3rd of the 3 regular sized supers and the Ross Rounds super on the last visit.  These two were only starting to have the comb drawn out on and some honey deposited in the completed cells.

I removed the Queen excluder and was getting ready to show my niece the frames in the Brood chamber.  I smoked the hive again as I pull out the first frame hoping to show off the brood, eggs, larvae and hard work of the Queen.  All of a sudden I heard a change in the sound of the bees in the hive ... they were pissed!  As I was holding this first frame, the bees decided collectively it seems to start stinging me.  Since I didn't have gloves on this was an easy task for them.  One sting, then another and another ... I gently set this frame down on the down and we moved away ... but by this time I had over 2 dozen stings on my forearms and hands.

We moved quite a distance from the hives and I ask my niece to give me the gloves that she was wearing.  My suit was rather large on her and she was able to just pull the sleeves down over her hands to protect herself.  We returned to the hive.  I was planning to sugar the bees, but after thisI was in no mood to do anything but give this hive closed up.  I put the one frame that I had removed back into place and decided to go ahead and powder sugar the bees anyway.  We placed the supers and cover back in place and then moved onto the 2nd hive.

I wasn't feeling so well by then ... my hands were starting to swell and the stings combined with all of the heat was making me feel quite light-headed and squeasy ... we removed the cover on the this hive and the one newly installed super and just did a visual check to see how the bees were doing in added comb to the 2nd brood chamber that I had added to the hive during the last visit.  Both new boxes had the comb being drawn and the beginnings of pollen and honey stores, but with most of the labor left still to be done.

We closed up this hive and quickly got out of our bee protection and found some shade to rest and rehydrate.  We also took some time whilest we were at the farm to do a little last harvest U-pick gathering potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, squah and leeks.

I was a visit I won't soon forget ... my hands and forearms were swollen for about 3 days to twice their normal size with a aching and bruised feeling.  I will choose to work with gloves from now on and leave the bare handed work to inspectors and others with more tolerance for stings than I.

My niece survived this experience without any stings and enjoyed getting a chance to be a part of this exciting hobby.

Apis Outing 29-APR-08

Our 2nd Apis visit at Geraldson's Farm, it was a partly cloudy day with breezy conditions. The white sweet clover (Melilotus albus) had grown up around the hives since we visited last month. An adjacent field was also in bloom with this flowering plant providing pollen and nectar for our foraging bees.

Our goal today was to inspect the hives in general for signs of mites, wax moths, small hive beetles (SHB) and to locate and verify that the queen in each hive is without marking or clipped wings. We also planned to add 2 additional supers and 1 additional brood chamber.

Inspection of the first hive when well. Only a couple of mites were seen as we inspected the hive. This hive has 3 supers, most were completely drawn out with comb and full of honey. As soon as we are able to get use of an extractor, we will process some of this honey for our use.
We were able to locate the queen and verified that it was not marked or clipped. We reassembled the hive, replacing a plastic queen excluder with a new metal queen excluder. Also we added a Ross Rounds super directly above the brood chamber and below the existing 3 supers. We replaced the existing top with a telescoping cover. (See slideshow pictures)

The 2nd hive is the one that was quite aggressive during our last visit. After smoking this hive, we pulled the top cover and inspected the brood frames for signs of pests, but we failed again to locate the queen. The bees temperment was much more mellow today. This hive had consisted of only the brood chamber. It was quite full and healthy with plenty of capped brood, recently laid eggs, developing larvae and pollen stores. After inspection, we added a 2nd brood chamber, replaced the existing wood/metal queen excluder with a new metal queen excluder and added 1 additional medium super.

Our next visit we hope to mark and clip our queens and perhaps take some excess honey.
My challenge during this visit was to keep the smoker going and avoid stings to my hands through my gloves. I wasn't very successful at either.

As always, special thanks to my mentor and support person for assisting me in this wonderful adventure.

It was a beautiful day on the farm. I was able to share a taste of some comb honey with Adam, the Geraldson's Farm on-site manager. I look forward to my next visit.

Entering their social world ...

I was gifted two Eurpoean honey bee (EHB) hives back before Christmas 2007 from a local Master Gardener who moved North without his bees. The hives are located at a community farm in Manatee County, Florida. Up until this point my only interaction with bees was purchasing honey at the local farmers market and my memory of watching my great uncle work his bees on the family farm as a child. I was reluctant to venture out to the hives on my own and because of this, its been 4 months since the previous owner and state bee inspector have been out to observe the hives and check on them.

Earlier this month I attended a Bee College put on by the University of Florida, hoping to gain enough knowledge and courage to make my first site visit and check on the health of the hives. Last month I purchased the minimum equipment ( suit, hat, veil, smoker, and hive tool ) to safely start my beekeeping adventure.

On Tuesday 3/25/08 my beekeeping mentor/friend and I went out to check out the hives.
Here's what I remember of our visit ...

It was a sunny, but cool, breezy day. I tried several times to get the smoker lit ... kept going out ... practice makes perfect ... and after several tries I had the smoker puffing thick cool smoke.

The 1st hive consists of a brood chamber and 3 supers. The top super had all wooden frames and only a minimal amount of comb drawn with a liitle honey. We noticed only 1 small hive beetle and a couple of mites during our inpsection of this hive. We also notice holes in the comb in 2? places where this might have been moth damage??

The 2nd super had 10 mixed wooden and plastic frames. The spacing was off and the bees had drawn out comb parallel to the fames. Getting these frames out was a bit harder, as we had to break the comb built up between the frames. This hive had most of the comb drawn and much more honey.

The 3rd super also had 10 mixed fames types. This super had fully drawn comb and was quite full of honey.

The brood chamber had a plastic queen excluder on top. Upon lifting it, we noticed a few carpenter ants and their eggs in the top corner. We checked each frame and observed eggs, larvae, both worker and drone cells. I was able to find and identify the queen on one of the last frames we checked. This hive was quite calm and we had to smoke it only slightly. The hive itself was set with the open more south than east and near a brazilian pepper tree. On a future visit I should re-orient the hive to catch the early morning sun and move it slightly by several feet to avoid shading from the pepper tree.

The 2nd hive consisted of only a brood chamber. This hive was surrounded my overgrown weeds around the hive which we removed. The hive was quite heavily populated and became agitated and more aggressive than the 1st hive. This hive had 10 frames with one or two plastic frames. We saw no eggs, but a good number of brood cells and and drones. Also we saw a queen cell that was open from the bottom, suggesting a new queen?? We were not able to locate a queen during our inspection. We noticed no small hive beetles and only 2 mites. We re-located this hive several feet away and repositioned the hive opening more to the East. This hive also had a couple of holes in the foundation. Not sure why?

Plans and tasks for next visit include ...

• Purchase super & brood wooden frames, super & brood foundations, 2 metal queen excluders.
• Add 2nd brood chamber and 1 super to 2nd hive
• What else?

We also found a nuc box with 5 old moth ridden frames inside. I took the nuc home to clean up and salvage what I could from the frames. I'll re-use the frames and get new foundation.

Overall it was an exciting and good first visit to my hives. We met the farm manager and spoke with them about having the bees on the property.

Thanks to Bethany ... you are a great mentor ... and I appreciate your help!

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