Three hives appear to be empty

I didn't open them up except for the super that holds the cedar pillow.  But I heard no buzzing and no bees came out as I opened up the mouse guard to clean out the entryway, which wasn't blocked after all.

I hope I'm wrong but I think my bees are gone.  I am heartbroken.  I don't know what else I could have done to keep them warm, fed and alive. 

I just seems like I'd have seen some action today since is close to 55 degrees today and sunny.  I'm recharging the fence battery but think it's probably on for nothing.

The only bit of hope I have is that two days ago, I saw one bee come out and go back into one of the hives so is it possible they're just not coming out?  And if they are in there, how come they're not more protective?

I don't know what to do so I will do nothing for now but within a month or so, I need to  make a decision about whether or not to continue with this hobby if I can't keep bees alive over a winter.  Darn!!

getting ready to insulate

Today's chore was to move the hive on the left to the right about a foot.  Last week, I move the hive on the right over to the left.  I want them close together when the cold weather hits. Tomorrow, I will recharge the fence to ensure it's fully charged.  Last year, this was the time the bear came through a few times looking for a meal which he didn't get from my hives, but he sure caused a lot of damage around the yard.  I must have posted that debacle in my blog last year.  Check it around the last week or so of October.

In about a week, I think the weather is turning colder so I think I will add the cedar pillow in supers on the hives.  These will catch any condensation.  I also added popsicle sticks on the 4 corners of the two flat tops to give moisture a chance to escape.  The peaked hive top has venting built in to the top. 

My plan is to use the building paper to wrap them in.  I often put a piece of plywood over the top to give some added protection from the elements.  I also have some bubble pack material that I used to insulate inside the greenhouse in years past.  But I don't know if it's an ok practice.  I will need to find out before I do that.  

I think by mid-November, these should be all insulated.  I have used bales of hay in other years but thought about that insulation so I think ti may be just fine but again, I will double check with some experts in the area.

I will keep the fence charged until I'm pretty sure the bears have settled in for the winter.  Someplace other than here hopefully.

Meanwhile I'll continue to enjoy these beautiful, warm October days.  

Hive check 10/2/17

I got through my list over my lunch hour....no stings!  Yeah!

Hive 1 - I removed 3 frames to extract and then consolidated the rest into one super which I will leave on the hive until they either empty it or fill it up.  I expect them to empty it but the upper deep seems to be full too so there should be enough food to last them through the winter.

Hive 2 - I did nothing with them today. I added more fumicilian to syrup and added that yesterday.

Hive 3 - I removed the jar of sugar syrup which they hadn't finished and moved that to a tree stump well away from the hive.  Then I added new syrup to a top hive feeder.  I added a 3 frames to the upper deep to fill in where the jar was.  Then I moved this hive about a foot closer to Hive 1.

I will go into hives again on Friday or another lunch to take a good look at the deeps in Hive 2 and make sure they are looking ok, do a little of comb cleanout too.

Less pollen coming in

As I sat last night with my binoculars, looking at my hives, for the first time, I saw very little pollen going in.

For the past few weeks, my yard has smelled like sour milk by the end of the day.  After much research, I learned that this is a smell that is from goldenrod pollen!  I have a lot of goldenrod around and in those few weeks, bees would come in with their pollen sacs full of golden pollen.

Last night, I saw practically no bees with golden pollen.  I also didn't smell that smell.

 I guess the summer is truly over, even though there has been no frost...and it's been gorgeous!  I have some amount of late blooming flowers they can pollinate and probably some asters nearby.

Stuff to do:

1) Begin moving hives together, a foot at a time (or less) until they are close enough to help insulate each other.
2) Continue feeding Hive 2 with fumicillin
3) Add varroa strips to Hive 2
4) Feed Hivc #3
5) Remove any full supers off from Hive 1 and then consolidate into one super.

medication

I gave Hive #2 some Fumigilin today in 1/2 gallon of 2:1 syrup.  It will need another dose when this is gone.

No meds in Hive #1 since they have supers on

No meds in Hive #3 since I had a mason jar filled with 1:1 syrup already and didn't want to disturb this hive until it's fully blended with the Nuc, which I did just yesterday.

I have pain everywhere today due to the  number of bee stings yesterday!

I had to put back into Hive #1 the empty super frames this morning and also needed to get some equipment from the area to wash it.  When I opened up Hive #1 to just add the frames, they swarmed me!  Oh man, they didn't like to be disturbed by me again!  Not in two consecutive days.

Only one sting on the wrist. But, I'm over getting stung.. I need to remember that, at this time of year, they don't want anyone taking their honey.  So they're very protective....hence the stings.  I've gone all season with no stings until yesterday.

I'll leave the bees alone now for a few weeks...so we can all recover.

Finally going to extract some honey!

Today I was able to take 5 or 6 frames out of the supers on Hive 1.  I have a few more but they aren't fully capped yet so will leave them for a bit longer.

Then I decided to merge Hive 3 and the Nuc.  If I don't, neither will last the winter.  As it is, I'll most likely need to feed them throughout the winter because I don't think there will be enough stores.

That Hive 3 is vicious! Somehow the bees broke into my suit and I started getting stung on the head...if I collapse, you'll know why.  Also a few stings around the ankles because the elastics holding suit in place around my legs lifted up in all the commotion and they found my ankles.  Also one on the wrist.

But now they are merged and hope they relax.

I was so worn out that I didn't even open Hive 2.  I'll save that for another day.

Hive check 9/4/17

What an adventure!

Eight days ago, in my hive inspection, Hive #2 appeared to be queenless.  I saw a lot of uncapped honey and pollen coming in, but I saw no brood at all. I had decided to wait a week and if still queenless, I would merge Hive 2 and Hive 3 since Hive 3 is going strong with what appears to be a energetic queen.

However, today, when I opened Hive #2, I saw an entirely different scenario.  I had many many frames with capped brood.  I saw open cells with brood in various stages of development.  I saw capped honey in the upper corners. So plan B is to leave them both alone!

Later on, when I'm ready to wrap them for the winter, I will put Hive 3 on top of Hive 2, separately so that hive #3 can catch the warmth of the hive below...and hopefully winter them over.

At some point I'll need to merge the Nuc into somewhere.  It only has 3 frames full right now.

Then I went into Hive #1 to find many frames nearly capped.  But only two were completely capped over.  I'm hoping that in another few weeks,  they will all be capped and I'll actually get some honey.  I was beginning to doubt that I would since it's so late in the season.  I think I've over manipulated the hives this year, trying to expand.

It does look like I'll get a decent enough harvest, although a little late.