Back again

 Here I am.  It's been a few years of no beekeeping.  First because of Covid and then my health took a downward turn.  This summer I got more bees and have been very focused on keeping them alive.  My goal is to keep them through the winter and then expand to two hives in the spring.

Varroa mites is the key...or lack of varroa I should say.  So I have been treating them with OA sponges during the spring/summer and then Apigard in the fall.  In late November, a few weeks after removing Apigard, I treated with OA vapor.  Now, on 12/15, I was trying to do another OA vapor treatment but saw that my hive had come off the bottom board.  So I had to do something and couldn't manage to get it back into place so, because it's almost 50 degrees today, I took the hive apart and fixed it.  Then I closed it back up, added a ratchet to keep it in place, added back the tar paper and the Xmas wreath.  Now I'm waiting for them to settle down so I can go back out and do the treatment, which was to be my only task with them today until I saw the issue and had to deal with that first.

In a way it was good to see what's going on inside the hive.  I have lots of bees!  None of them were happy with me though.  They prefer it if I leave them alone. I also was able to clean out the bottom board.  Once I complete the OA vapor treatment later today or tomorrow morning, I should be all set for the winter. I wanted to take advantage of this nice day.  We never know if/when we'll have another one until spring.

Third oxalic acid treatment today - 11/1/21

 Because there still were many mites when I checked my second treatment, I decided a third treatment was necessary so today was the day!  I will go check on the bottom board on Thursday morning, three days after the treatment and do a count then. I expect it'll be much better.

This morning was cold enough that the bees didn't all come storming out of the hive when I inserted the acid wand.  And so I was able to treat all but a handful who managed to escape.  That was better than the last time when it may have been too warm and that's when they like to be out.

I also added a piece of insulation to the top cover and covered that with a board that'll help protect them from rain or snow getting into the hive.  It forms a little roof over their entrance and further helps to insulate them. 

Afterwards I unplugged the hole in the hive to give them ventilation.

I don't think I will wrap the hive with roofing paper this year, but will add an thick insulation board to the left side of the hive and probably pick up another bale of straw to hold it in place and help to insulate that side.  The right side of the hive already has a bale of straw and I will move it a bit closer to the hive as well.

Then I can be done for now.

Second varroa mite treatment - 10/18/21

 After my first Oxalic acid treatment for varroa mites 10 days ago, and seeing how many mites were killed, I definitely needed another treatment which I completed today. Here's the image from the first treatment.

I used the green drone frame this season and my last mite check showed nothing so I was very surprised to see this amount of mites. Had I done nothing, I'm sure I would have lost the hive.

Today I also removed the super and there were just a few frames of honey which I'll put into the freezer for now. I left just the two deeps in the hive and hope there's enough honey in there to get them through the winter.

I also removed the top hive feeder today.  I closed up the front and left open a hole for ventilation in at least one of the deeps.  I will add some insulation under the cover and a board across the top of the hive for added protection but I don't plan to wrap the hive this year.  I may buy a bale of straw to help insulate a bit but that's my only plan at the moment (subject to change of course).

Hive check 9/27/21

 I have a full hive, two deeps and one super.  Today I added a top  hive feeder and added 2:1 sugar water.  Not really sure if I need it but since bees drank all the sugar water from the hummingbird feeder, I think they'll like it!

The super isn't full yet.  I will probably leave it on this winter to supplement honey stores below.  The top deep was pretty full of capped and uncapped honey so if there's no robbing, I hope there will be enough.

I also added a mouse guard with duct tape to close off the entrance a little...again to help bees protect against robbing.

Otherwise, things looked good.  I am anxious to do an oxalic acid treatment and hope to do that within a week or two.

Sept. 2 hive check

 I sure have a lot of bees right now.  But I left in the green frame, for drones, a bit too long.  I saw some hatching as I looked at the frame, but the rest look like they've hatched.  So I took the frame away from the hive and dumped off the bees remaining. I doubt I got all of them but most of the bees seem to be young and not drones so hopefully the hive will remain strong.

I didn't see many super frames full...one or two...so I left them for now and hope they get capped. Then I'll remove them.  I think there are enough stores in the lower deeps.

Next I will need to do a varroa treatment but think it's a little early now. Maybe later this month.

I also put on the bottom board today since nights are going to be a little cooler...although the hive is so full, I expect they'll stay warm enough.

Otherwise, I think things look good and will be anxious to get the varroa treatment done soon and probably again in October.

Hive check 8/4/21

 Last week, our favorite head of Brattleboro Beekeepers Association was kind enough to check my hive for me.  She also did an alcohol wash and found zero varroa mites!!  She let me know that all looked good in there.

Today I wanted to add the green frame to use to help control varroa which is made for drones to build and lay their eggs.  Then it's up to the beekeeper to remove that frame before the drones hatch.  Since the varroa mites like drones best, when you remove the brood before hatching, you are removing mites as well.  

I also added another frame to the super since I had only 9 in there so if they need more space, they have it.  Now I'll leave them alone for at least a few weeks and let them forage for goldenrod and whatever else they can find.

This week I bottled the honey I had extracted last month and that should carry me through the year but I won't be selling any of it. Instead I will sort of hoard it!

A big thanks to Nancy Frye for her help!

Extraction and checking on the queen

 Last week, when I added the new queen, I pulled 4 frames from the super that were heavy but not entirely capped.  I put them into the freezer until I was ready to extract.  I decided to extract yesterday.  It's always a process and messy so I wanted to just get it done and get some honey!  Those now empty frames will go back into the same super to let the bees clean them and hopefully refill again.

I went into the lower deep to see if the queen was laying eggs and she was.  I also saw some uncapped larvae so now I will let her do her work and hope to see a new batch of bees anytime now.

Because of an upcoming operation, I'll need to get them all set because there will be no heavy lifting for a while. The second deep has honey and they have plenty of time to fill it for their winter stores.  I just need to keep an eye on drones eating the honey so I try to remove them as soon as I see brood and also have the green frames in there for drone brood...except one of them is being filled with nectar. Ugh.

I do want to give an oxalic acid treatment for varroa which I plan to do next week. So far, there don't seem to be many but want to get ahead of it.

That's about it in my beeland.