A new "and improved?" year to come

Let's hope that the new bee season to come is better than last year's season where I lost all my bees.

I attended a workshop this past weekend and there were about 12 people there who all shared their experiences. I left there not feeling alone anymore.  Many of the beekeepers experienced bee losses last year. Some, like me, didn't exactly know what caused their hives to collapse.

I am still trying to understand what happened to my hives.  I took one of my frames from last year with me to see if contained varroa or nosema but the instructor said no...it just looked like a bear had gotten that frame.  And one had!

After I took my hives down in the fall, I stored the frames in my greenhouse so that would deter the moths which like a dark environment.  However, before the bear went into hibernation, they came by, apparently, and smelled the honey in the greenhouse and broke in.  They pushed in one panel on the side and roof and squeezed in and took some frames outside and got what they could.  Now my frames are stored in the shed for the winter, or down in the basement, or "down cellar" which is the term I use.

This year, I will scorch each frame and hive boxes, and add new foundation so that we start with a clean hive.  If all goes well, I will start a Nuc from the one hive so that I will have extra bees of my own in case I need them in the future.  That was the recommendation of Imagine That Honey over in Swanzy, NH.  This beekeeping group will strive to produce our own bees so that we don't need to purchase bees from down south.  We would like to have our Northern bred bees which should be heartier than those from elsewhere and much less stress for them.  I think it's a great goal!

The thinking about my bee loss last year where the remaining bees all died in front of my hives is pesticides.  I have no control over what other people do around here but I did let my entire street know about my hives and to please not use pesticides.  I think most listened.  But I know one neighbor used them to kill barberry bushes cropping up throughout the woods and fields around here. I don't know what the answer is since bees fly up to 5 miles away from the hive to gather nectar and pollen. I can only hope that my bees don't run into it again.  Cleaning the hives can help to reduce any pesticides that might be in the hive so starting off clean is about all I can do and hope for the best.

Offering Maitake mushroom aka Hen of the Woods

Like I said when I started this blog, it will sometimes veer off course. Today, I am thinking about my mushroom find earlier this week.  I took a lunchtime walk out on my neighbor's land where, a few years ago, I had found Maitake on a huge oak tree that had fallen over and uprooted from the ground.
The Maitake fruited at the base of the tree which is now protected by the soil that used to be under it but now is above it.  So any under the tree roots were almost pure white.  I filled my basket!

I wish I had taken a photo of them first!  But these, I ended up drying what I didn't give to my daughter. A precious few one ounce packages of dried Maitake are now being offered on ebay.

My stash of dried Hen of the Woods (Maitake).

According to Dr. Andrew Weil, "Maitake: This delicious Japanese mushroom is also called "hen of the woods" because it grows in big clusters that resemble the fluffed tail feathers of a nesting hen. You should be able to find these mushrooms dried or fresh in Japanese markets, gourmet foods stores, or upscale supermarkets. Extracts are also widely available. Maitake has anticancer, antiviral, and immune-system enhancing effects and may also help control both high blood pressure and blood sugar levels."



Plus, they're delicious.

Bees are gone

I promised I'd report on my progress or lack thereof, so I will.  But I'm definitely not happy to report that all my bees have died.  There were so few left that other bees came in and started feeding on the honey.  I don't know if the other bees killed the honey bees or not.

When I went out yesterday to put roofing paper around the hive, I didn't hear anything!  So I opened it up to find it empty of all but some dead bees on the bottom board.

So I packed up my hives and put them away.  I took what honey was left and it's now safely in the freezer.  I'll extract it at some point.

Then, I will start off fresh in the spring with a Nuc which will give me a good start.  I will not even think about expanding my hive next year.  My goal will be to keep my one hive going and get it strong.

What lessons have I learned?

1. Don't try expanding the hive unless it's very early in the season
2. Watch for swarms on hives more than a year old. (this year's main issue)
3.  I will not buy bees from the same vendor next year since I had terrible luck with my bees for the two years when I bought from them.  It's probably not at all their fault...but now I'm a bit superstisous.
4.  Attend the bee meetings to keep on learning
5. Continue with the fence system which worked out great this year.

That's all for now.  Next year is another attempt!

Discouraging year

I'm pretty discouraged right now.  I hate to  be negative about this hobby of mine but I'm feeling pretty negative right now.

I did a hive check yesterday and saw that there were bees in there that didn't belong.  Also, behind the mouse guard, where bees come in and out, there was a pile of dead bees.  Then as I looked at the frames, a lot of honey they had built for winter food, were already emptying out.  No way will there be enough for the winter.

There are very few bees now.  I saw no signs of a queen...again.  So I lost two queens this summer.

1) one that went with the swarm
2) the replacement queen for the remaining hive

Started off with high hopes

I don't know how/why things went so poorly.  Especially since I wintered over my hive last year and started off with a very strong hive.  But....that's the one that swarmed. 

• The swarm was the start of the downward spiral.  I lost the queen and it took me a few weeks to realize what had happened and then more time to try to fix it.
• I also tried to split the hive into two but now suspect I did that after the swarm ...so that compounded the downward spiral
• As a last effort, I merged the two hives and bought a new queen for it.  More adjustment time for the bees and they started to act like they had a queen again....but by this time, it was too late in the season.

Now, I don't think I will bother to do anything much.  I will and already have added their insulation with the cedar shavings.  And I will add roofing paper around it.  I may put in a pattie or two just in case, but I expect to lose them all this winter. 

I will start out in the spring with a Nuc which will start me off with a new hive and thriving queen. And see how next year goes.  Next year I won't need to worry about a swarm, but the following year, I will if next year goes well. It's something new to me so I will be looking for it after this year's loss.

Mushroom season is here! 10/5/15

Although it's been dry through September, the Bolete's have been abundant and I've found such perfect specimens that I couldn't help but pick them.  A lot of them.  I have dried enough to sell a few so if, in the winter, you want to make a healthy stew or soup, having dried mushrooms on hand can add a lot of flavor to your recipes.  They keep forever.  Buy dried mushrooms here. These were picked in southern Vermont this season.

A few for sale

Dried Boletus Mushroom mix

Just for show

A few days ago, I took a walk in a hilly location outside Keene, NH, and saw a white clump on a standing tree off the trail a bit.  I walked over for a close look and it turned out to be Hericium Coralloides.  I will ask my mushroom experts to confirm that based on the photos below.  Never eat a mushroom unless it's been properly identified by someone who knows mushrooms....not me. Listen to the experts on identification.

Not all my Hericium  mushrooms were  young enough to cook and eat.  Notice the differences in color.  I didn't cook this brown one.   Only the pure white was cooked.  I actually composted another clump like this brown one below.

This is the brown Coral tooth-fungus that didn't get eaten

Notice the difference in color. I cooked the white only.  I wish I'd gotten to that tree a bit sooner.

chopped and in the pan

Almost cooked but I cooked until brown like you see in that little
 bowl which was a mix of boletes and sweet-tooth mushrooms

Now having had some rain, I expect there will be other great finds during this mushroom season.  Can't wait.

Small steps toward winter preparation - 9/24/15

I went into the hive today to see how things are looking.  I still have bees, which is a good thing, but I don't see much brood and I couldn't find the queen either.  But the hives feel pretty heavy so hoping there is enough food in there for the winter...but am not really that sure so I've made more sugar syrup that I will give them.

I added on the mouse guard.  Last year, I wondered why  it kept ending up on the ground until I saw a video that showed it being screwed in.  So today, I screwed it in to keep it in place.

I also added a super with the cedar pillow for some insulation, even though nights aren't terribly cold yet.  Nights are still in the 40's here in southern Vermont.  But a cold spell could happen any minute so I wanted to be prepared.

A bit later, I will add the roofing paper around the hive for added insulation and will pack a few bales of hay around the hive too.  I generally add a piece of plywood over the top cover too to prevent the front of the hive from getting rain or snow hitting it.  I cleaned out a lot of old wood from my basement this year so hope I've kept a good board for this purpose.

So basically I'm done for the season.  I am certain I'll be purchasing a Nuc for next spring.  I still want to grow to two hives so starting with a Nuc as opposed to a package of bees will give me a better start toward that goal.

I also still have the electric fence in operation.  I will keep that going until I'm sure the bears are in hibernation.

Sept. 6 - Flower gardens helping one healthy hive

The one hive appears to be doing really good during today's checkup.  I wanted to inspect all of it.  Here's what I found:

1.  The syrup in the top box was not empty and it looked to have a sort of mold skimming the top so I dumped it and added fresh syrup.

2. The next box down, the white deep, was pretty heavy with honey, capped and uncapped. And lots of pretty yellow and orange pollen in there too.  This is good news since that's what they'll be eating all winter.

3.  The bottom deep is coming along.  I saw some of the frames perfectly laid out with capped honey on the top  and brood and pollen below.  I saw plenty of larvae on some of the frames.  I hope there's enough time to see these turn into bees before cold weather hits.

It's probably a good time to take a look at the bee's surroundings at the end of this summer here in southern Vermont.  Of course the bees don't all stay close to home to gather nectar and pollen...they'll travel up to 5 miles and somehow find their way back.

Some of the golden colored pollen comes from these sunflowers and saw a bunch of my bees on them yesterday.  Down the hill is loaded with goldenrod...not fun for the sinuses but great for the bees.

I didn't see any pink pollen in the hive but something is helping them bloom as lush as they are.

In front of the hive are a few wood chairs where I like to sit in the evening and watch bee action. Finally the morning glories are blooming.  Not as lush as I'd like to see them but each year, it seems better and better.

To the right of the driveway is my spring garden where there are daffodils, tulips sometimes, if I keep planting them, vinca, violets, and hyacinths. I'm in the process of dressing it up for the fall with potted marigolds, sedum, potted zinias and corn stalks.  When pumpkin are ready a few will go here as well. (Fence hides compost bins and it's made of misc wood lengths and widths. I saw it done on TV and loved the idea of recycling the wood.)

One of three drying racks for the calandula that is growing in the garden. I will dry it, use some, and sell the rest on ebay later on.

This is the area where I let the goldenrod take over behind the fence.  There's a hill there and lots of goldenrod like it, as well as other yellow fall flowers.  On this side of the fence, there is a new crop of dianthus that I started this year.  I have a few other colors that were elsewhere in the yard and I'll add them here. In the spring, there is a beautiful old fashioned rosebush in bloom here.  If I'm lucky, another rosebush will be there in the spring, the Cecil Brunner rose.  It doesn't like our winters here, and I often lose it, even when insulating it with leaves etc.  I have been nursing one in a pot this summer so if I can keep it alive, it will go here at the fence in the spring.  I may try housing it in the unheated greenhouse which should be warmer than the ground outside.

So, for now, there seems to be enough food the the bees, in my yard and outside of it.