2009 Honey Harvest

Today was honey harvest day. Perhaps the best day of a beekeeper's season. A close second would be the first spring inspection where live bees are found inside a hive. But, I digress.

Since the local county fair is next week and I made it one of my 2009 beekeeping season goals to show honey this year, I went out and harvested what the bees have produced since April 9th.

Early this morning I dropped by the county extension office and picked up the extractor. Both hives had honey in the supers, but Exodus had nearly 6 of 10 frames complete. Genesis had barely a combined 3 of 10. I was really suprised because I had thought this year would be even better than last years 36 lbs.

We decided to make it a family event and everyone was assigned tasks. I use the method recommended to me by my beekeeping mentor and simply scratch the cappings open and then spin the honey out. After filtering the honey through a simple colander we bottled it up. We ended the day with 23.5 lbs and one full frame to show at the fair.

I was a little disappointed with the quantity thus far, but my wife (The Queen Bee) reminded me that we aren't trying to make a living selling honey. Thank goodness for that! She so wisely explained that the kids loved working in 'the honey factory' and it offered them something very special and unique to do with their dad. So true...indeed today was the best day of this beekeeper's season.

Here are some pictures.

Thriving vs. Failing Hive

Today I went out to harvest the honey from Genesis and Exodus so I would have some honey to show at the local fair next week. More about the harvest in the next post, but a quick hive update.

Exodus: Of course, this hive continues to thrive. Lots of bees and activity and lots of honey stored up for the winter. Could this be a sign of a cold winter to come? I don't know. I need to find a good frame of eggs in this hive as well. There is so much honey that I don't want it to become honey-bound. I have seen minimal eggs in my latest inspections.

Genesis: If a picture is worth a thousand words, I think this comparison tells it all. This is a failing hive. Not a single egg, minimal brood, and no queen cells from the frame I transfered last week into this hive. Honey levels remain low and unless I get a new queen in this hive, I believe it will fail very quickly. Another concerning thing that I saw were hundreds of dead bees on the screened bottom board (after tearing into this hive). The bees are just too depressed to do any housecleaning, or my making the hive entrance too small has limited their ability to clean out the hive. Anyone have any ideas on this? I also believe that this hive is being visited by a skunk or raccoon. I also did a powdered sugar shake on this hive to knock down some of the Varroa.

I think this is why it is important for new beekeepers to always have more than one hive. One can compare and contrast the health and well-being of one hive with another.

From Exodus to Genesis - Transfer of Brood and Eggs

Today I went back to the hives to check on Genesis.

Genesis: Again, there was very little activity outside. The queen cells remained uncapped, no eggs in sight, and no sign of a queen. I decided to transfer a brood frame from Exodus to Genesis. Needless to say, both hives were a little unhappy with my taking them down to the brood chamber. No stings, but plenty of buzzing around and bumping me. I also reduced the entrance to the bare minimum in order to help them defend the hive. Minor honey stores.

Oddly, I saw some mud on the front entrance which could indicate skunks visiting Genesis. The next time I go, I'll have to place some rolled up wire fence in front of the hive.

Exodus: Plenty of bees, activity, and massive amounts of honey in this hive. Way to go girls!

Hive Check - Good News and Bad News

Today I took advantage of the nice weather and went out and checked the hives. Here's the report:

Genesis: My concerns about this hive and its well being have been confirmed. First, there was very little activity coming or going. On my last visit, I had put the second super on this hive. Sadly, the bees had not even touched it. The bottom super was still at about 70% complete with no frames looking completely full. Plenty of honey, but no eggs in the top brood chamber. I did see swarm and supercedure cells, but no evidence of a queen. I did see emerging bees so that mean

s that I had a queen at least 22 days ago. If counting by the few larve I saw, then I could safely say that I had a queen 10 days ago. That being said, I believe that this hive either swarmed or has superceded the original queen. My concern is not for honey stores at this time, but rather the population. I'll do another inspection in a week to ensure that a queen does exist and is laying. If not, I'll transfer a frame of brood from Exodus into Genesis and let them raise a queen themselves. I did see a wax moth larve, but only one. This hive will take some monitoring to ensure it survives the winter. (in the photo above, notice the classic honey arch. The interior of the frame should be filled with capped brood and/or baby bees, instead, it's empty. Classic sign of a loss of a queen)

Exodus: Surprisingly, this hive is doing great. The bees were 'boiling' out of the hive. They had completed one super and are onto the second. The top brood chamber is full of honey, massive amounts. No signs of trouble, but I did only see a few cells with eggs. That's good enough. I'll defiantly be taking some honey off of this hive.

Changes Coming...

After getting some constructive feedback from a friend of mine who is a professional media expert, I am going through the process of changing things around a little with regards to this blog and The Beekeeping Podcast. I'm working to polish up the website and make things a little easier to navigate.

I'm also working on the format of The Beekeeping Podcast. Stay tuned...

If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please send me an e-mail.

For starters, here's the new iTunes icon:

Episode 010 - Hive Inspections - Part I

In this episode, I share ideas for performing external hive inspections. This episode is part one of a two part series where I cover both internal and external inspections.

If you would like a copy of my hive inspection log sheet, please e-mail me.

Subscribe in iTunes

Back Checking The Hives

Time: 5:30pm
Temp: 82'
Weather: Hazy, clouding up with scattered storms, no wind

In one of my previous podcast episodes, I talked about the importance and effectiveness of simply observing your bees. Today, I employed that technique. Instead of smoking my bees, opening up the hive, and disturbing the work that the bees were doing, I just stayed a few feet back from the hive and observed the bees coming and going. Most beekeepers will tell you that it sets the bees back a day or two of production when you open the hive. Well, I don't know if that's true or not, but I don't like to open up the hive, or disturb it more than I have to.

Genesis:A beekeeping mentor of mine told me that if the bees are bringing in pollen that there are baby bees being born in the hive. There were also lots of bees coming and going. And, as an added bonus, I saw 'washboarding' bees. For those of you who have never seen it, it's either a lone bee, or a group of them, steadily rocking back and forth in rhythm. I haven't found a good explanation, but it's sure interesting to watch. (They are lined up above the mouse guard on the left side of the picture below)

Exodus:This hive had more activity going on as well. I saw some orientation flights and lots of bees coming and going.

I'll likely still do a full inspection next week and look for eggs, brood pattern, and check on the second super I put on earlier this week. I'm still preparing a few more podcasts with suggested show topics.

Honey and the County Fair

Here in Boone County Kentucky we have a great fair every summer. This year, I'm really looking forward to entering my honey and a frame of capped honey in the competition. Here are the list of possible entry categories.

Open to the World HONEY - SECTION 402
(Honey is entered in the Vegetable & Crops Bldg. on Monday)
ALL HONEY TO BE EXHIBITED IN GLASS CONTAINERS

No Class 1st ($5)2nd ($3)3rd ($2)
001 White Extracted Honey 1 lb.
002 Light Amber Extracted Honey 1 lb.
003 Amber Extracted Honey 1 lb.
004 Dark Amber Extracted Honey 1 lb.
005 Chuck Honey 1 lb.
006 Chuck Honey 2½ lb.
007 Frame of Honey, shallow or medium, any color

Episode 009 - Pests and Diseases - Varroa Mites

In this episode, I share ideas for detection and management of one of the most destructive pests that beekeepers will likely come across, the Varroa Mite.

Here is more information on treating for Varroa:

The Varroa Mite - Dr. Tom Webster, Kentucky State University

Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium - Varroa Mites

To subscribe via iTunes: Subscribe in iTunes

Hive Inspection - Show Me The Honey!

Time: 11:30 am

Temp: 73'

Weather Conditions: Hazy, Winds Calm

Today I visited my two hives. I realized it had been a while since my last inspection and I needed to cut the grass and weeds around my hives. The weather here has been a combination of both warm and wet which has given plenty of growth opportunity to the plants and flora in the area.

Both hives were extremely quiet. Not too many bees coming or going, no orientation flights, and not much activity when I opened up the hive. I'm not sure what this means and next week when I have more time, I'll have to do a very through inspection. When I checked the supers that I had put on back in April, each frame showed a beautiful amount of capped honey. The frames were about 70-80% complete. I added another super and closed up each hive.

I hope that I'll get at least one really nice frame to show at the fair this year. My friend let me borrow a really nice display case for frames which I'll detail in another post.