Beekeeping - Take 2!

In case you hadn't already heard, the bees died over the winter. Rest in peace little honey makers. What caused their death? I wish I knew. Did they freeze? Did they starve to death? I really don't know, but I speculate they ran out of food because there isn't a drop of honey left in the comb. Ooops.

Anyway, I'm over it. Instead of dwelling on our loss, I was eager to get started with a new hive and new season of beekeeping. Yesterday after work, I went to pick up a package of bees from the NH Honey Bee in Gilsum, fresh off the truck from Georgia.

Before we could install the hive, we had to clean out the dead bees from last year's losses... GROSS. Warning, this was disgusting. My dad and I literally had to whack the frames onto the ground to get the dead bees that were wedged inside the comb to fall out. NASTY. I was practically dry heaving.

Once that lovely task was complete. We installed the hive! (thanks to mom for videoing, even though the bees were swarming her!)

Hive Installation Video - Part 1

Hive Installation Video - Part 2

Now it's time to let the bees do their thing. We will check on the hive this weekend or early next week to make sure the queen has been released into the hive. Fingers crossed for a honey-producing second year!

Things NOT to do as a beekeeper

Here's a list of things NOT to do as a beekeeper:

1. Visit the hive on a cold evening, when all the bees are at home and protecting their brood and honey.


2. Don't use the smoker.
   
3. Wear dark clothes (black pants, bright sweater).
   
4. Move around the hive quickly and spastically.
   
5. Force your mom to take pictures of you even though she has a bee stuck in her hair and is freaking out.


6. Get stung, twice!

Ooops! I did every one of those things last night :-/ I did not find the queen and I did not get to inspect the frames... I was too busy getting attacked by angry workers!

Next time, I will use the smoker, on a warm day, wearing light clothing... and bring dad!

Why won't they build?

Tuesday evening my dad and I paid a visit to the hive to check on the progress of our beloved Russian queen and her loyal workers.

The good news - the hive was lively, the bees seemed happy, and there is still a decent amount of brood, indicating that the queen is laying eggs and the hive is growing.

However, the bad news is that while the population of the hive may be (slowly) growing, the bees have not been building out the comb in the second hive body (layer).

This is worrisome because I have my doubts that the hive can survive the winter without more comb, bees and honey.

They still have the entire months of September and October to build out the comb and start saving up honey for the winter months, but they are really going to need to pick up the pace!

Enjoy the photos of the queen, a worker with very full pollen baskets (we are guessing rhodedendron?), and my beekeeping partner in crime, my dad.

Laura Meets the Queen

My friend (and blog follower) Laura came to visit and I took her on a tour of the hive Saturday. The weather was lovely and it was the perfect day to show of the hive with tons of workers carrying full pollen baskets into the hive. The bees were very active - the hive seems to have totally recovered from the downfall during the month of June.

Although the hive is doing well, with lots of brood and honey, there is still
no way that I'll be able to extract any honey this season. They are going to need everything they make to get through the winter.

The exciting thing about the Russian Queen is that every time we go into the hive we find her! Maybe she is more social than the Italian Queens? The bright blue dot on her back helps too!

Find the queen in the photo! Look for the bee with the blue dot :)

Bees at MOS!

Yesterday afternoon Jeremy and I were at the Museum of Science in Boston with some friends and went to check out their Bee Exhibit!

They had an indoor "observation hive" and within a few minutes of looking at the frames, I found the queen!! Unlike my queen, she is unmarked, so I was really excited to detect her among so many workers!

The Museum of Science also had a more traditional hive outside on the roof. Maybe more Bostonians will be inspired to keep bees!

The Russian Queen!

My dad and Jeremy went out to the hive last night to add more sugar-water and check the hive. While they were poking around, Jeremy found the queen!!! She has a bright blue dot, representing the year (next year queens will have a different color dot, so we will know what year our queen is from).

I like how in the pictures the queen is more in focus than the other bees, who are just a blur. That is a lot like how the hive works - all the focus is on the queen!

Answers to Blog Questions

I just noticed that blog follower Laura Melkonian has posted a few questions which I will now attempt to answer.

1) Why is there no king bee as well?
Correct, there is no "king bee". The hive is ruled by the queen. When a queen is hatched (more below on that), she sets out on a "maiden voyage" where she flies around for days getting impregnated by drones (males) from other colonies. Then she comes back to the hive and basically never leaves again - she has something like 10,000 fertilized eggs in her at that point, and her job is to start laying! Basically, male bees have no purpose except to fertilize queens. They don't work in the hive or collect nectar/pollen. The worker bees are all females, and they do all of the work. Hmm... sounds familiar...

2) I just read the wikipedia article on bees and it mentions a "no-sting bee." Is it possible to get honey from those bees in our area?
I have never heard of this, but I will ask my beekeeping instructor. I also would caution believing half of the info on wikipedia.

3) Is it true that after a bee stings you, the bee will die?
I believe this is true. The honey bees are very docile and have no intention of stinging. They can get aggravated by people poking around the hive, but they won't attack. They are likely only going to sting if you touch them or squeeze them.

4) How is the queen determined or pre-determined to the hive members?
Answer: ROYAL JELLY. When the hive needs a new queen, either because the queen has died, the workers think the queen is weak, or the hive is about to swarm, they will feed a special concoction called Royal Jelly to the queen larvae. This formula is like steriods or something, and will create a queen instead of a worker. I have no idea how they decide which larvae to feed royal jelly!

5) I read on your blog that the queen has laid a lot more eggs. Are most of the bees the offspring of the queen or do the other bees in the hive reproduce as well?
Only the queen has fertilized eggs, so she is the only one that can lay workers. The workers are essential because they are responsible for building comb, taking care of the queen, feeding larvae, collecting pollen/nectar and making honey. Worker bees can lay unfertilized eggs, which become drones. While a few drones are necessary, a hive with many drone cells (which mine had in June) is a sign of a hive without a queen.