8/25/19 - Hive check and varroa treatment and mite check

I was anxious to get into the hive with all the talk of mites this week and saw that this is the exact time of year when they begin to really multiply.  The last time I checked, I didn't have any.  But I decided that today was the day I was going to do the Oxilic acid/glycerin treatment on the work towel.  To me, out of all I've read, that seemed to be the easiest solution and it's supposed to be very effective. I followed these instructions.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg1Vm-v2pRY
We'll see.

I also added the sticky board again but I should have done that three days ago so I can see how the solution works.  But it's too late now so I'll at least have a count in three days and then check it again in a few weeks and hopefully will see less than I'll have on Wednesday when I pull and count.

I was anxious to see if I had drone brood, still thinking of last year when my hive was overcome by drones.  The few cells I saw, I scraped off to get rid of them but also to see if they had mites in the brood.  They did.  But my green drone frames had no brood this time.  They were actually filling one corner with honey.  Whatever.  They have space to lay if they want to.

There's a lot of brood throughout the three deeps and a lot of nectar and capped honey.   I'm not taking any honey this year so that they have plenty to winter over.  In the spring, if there's any left, I can see if there's enough for me to take some.

It's not about the honey this year.  It's all about keeping the hive going!.

I did notice several queen cells, hatched or otherwise empty.

I also got my first sting of the year.  I've had much more aggressive bees than these. They probably thought, if they think at all, that I was going to take away  honey.

8/10 hive check = very pleased

I had added a sticky board 3 days ago so I removed that to check on mites.  I found one.  I couldn't believe that was all but there was debris but only one mite.  I use a 10X loop so I can really see them.  One.  Unreal.  I wonder how that could be when other years I've lost hives, I'm told, due to the number of varroa. or absconding or other.  I wonder if this new vendor I purchased from did some sort of treatment that has protected them.  I don't know but I'm glad it isn't an issue at the moment.  I will keep checking and treat when necessary.

Things otherwise looked great in the hive, now with three deeps and a super.  I added that third deep a few weeks ago because I had no brood and lots of nectar and honey.  But I needed brood and there wasn't enough places for the queen (which I wasn't sure I had) to lay any eggs. 

I have been on alert for drone activity after last year when the drones took over my hive and re-queening didn't work out so I lost the hive.  Finally they are working on the drone frame so I removed this and plopped it into the freezer.  I will put it back into the hive today or tomorrow. I shook the live bees away from the hive hoping drones wouldn't find their way back. It looks like I pulled it at the right time before the capped brood hatches/

A green frame, with larger cells, is used to encourage drones to build and hatch there so you can remove drones from the hive. It's done by freezing the frame for a day or two and then put it back into the hive.  The other bees will clean it up. Stay alert with these because if you let them hatch, they could take over your hive.

A beautiful frame; capped honey around the edges, capped brood in the center area, some nector in the few remaining cells.

The frame above is just what you want to see.  Capped brood and capped honey.  I didn't see any eggs in the cells...on this frame.  But I had a few other frames with lots of open cell brood in various stages. 

There was very little action in the super. The bees seems to be concentrating on building numbers and that's what we want right now. I don't plan to take any honey this year.  I want to see if I can get this through the winter as one hive, and if enough (any) survive the winter, I'll split it and then see if I can sell the nuc.  I really want only one hive so maybe...but I'm getting way ahead of myself, given my previous failures at this wonderful hobby.

Beeing Stubborn!

7/26 added drawn frame or two to the hive

I went through the hive yesterday and worried I didn't see any brood. However today I saw some  Not a lot but some.

Yesterday, I had added empty, undrawn frames to give the packed hive more space and added another deep.  But I worried that, IF there's a queen in there, she needs space now. 

I had a few frames in the freezer that are kind of old but at least they were already drawn out so I added it to the new deep where I saw another frame or two with some uncapped brood. I'm hoping it's not a drone brood.  We'll see.  At least I'll know I gave them room to grow.

I did see some queen cells that look empty.  I also saw a lot of craziness around the hive a week or two ago and a youtube video showed similar activity when a queen was heading out for her mating run.  That could be what was happening.  Time will tell

Hive check heavy with nectar but no real brood

I'm not sure I have a queen anymore.  I have a lot of bees right now, and a lot of honey and nectar.   In fact, the second deep was way too heavy for me to lift so I removed all but three frames from there to move it.  Then I decided to add a third deep since there was so little room in the second.  They haven't made much headway in the super I added but I also added that to the top.  Right now, I just wanted to give them room to grow....hoping there is a queen somewhere that I may have missed.

I saw very little brood, but did see some eggs on a few frames. I also saw some empty cells with black dot in them.   I wonder if they were mites.  I just fear that I could be drone heavy again.  I'm not sure.

But I did what I could for now as I'm heading to vacation and won't have time to deal with anything more than what I did today.  I checked all boxes and all frames today and cleaned out any comb not needed.

When I get back in a week or so, I plan to do a mite check and an oxalic acid treatment if needed then. I am not going to get a queen.  Seems to me the norm of the life of a queen should last more than 2 months!

Hive check 7/4/19

The bottom deep was pretty empty...much lighter than I expected.  But it is because all that brood is now hatched so I have a lot more bees flying around.  The queen is busy laying eggs and the pollen is so  varied and pretty in the cells.

I was going to add a super today but decided to wait until the next hive check.  They still have room now in the lower deep and about 3 frames in the upper deep so I added more sugar syrup instead so they can build out the few remaining foundations.  I didn't have a lot of comb on the frames this year so they've needed to put in some extra effort.  They seem to be thriving at the moment.

Dare I speak too soon?

I also added another sticky board which I will check on Sunday and do a mite count. Trying to get in the habit of doing it, even though I read that once a month is enough. Can't hurt though since there's no disruption to the bees.

I took this photo the other day when it was just slightly beyond its peak but it will be loaded with Elderberries in August.  I want to get them before the birds do. Will need to be diligent in watching for the perfect time to pick.

Mama and baby elderberry bushes.  I think I will move baby to another part of the yard that needs a focal point.

Looking from the hive area to the back yard and see some of the vegetable garden (with a few flowers around too)

Happy Independence day!

Added another sticky board

June 22 - I added another sticky board to check on mites.  I will take out the board on Tuesday and count them.

• There was lots of capped brood; 
• more bees so some have hatched
• I didn't see the queen but saw lots of larvae in various stages so I expect she's still in there. I always feel better, however, if I actually see her.
• Sugar water was all gone this time - probably because of all the rain we had last week.  But it's sunny today! I added more sugar water.
• So far, these bees have a great nature.  Not at all hostile.
• They are busy working in the second deep as well.  Lots of nector; a lot of cleaning done. It actually felt heavier than I expected when I removed it to get to the bottom deep.
• There was a lot of debris on the bottom board so I scraped that all out before adding the sticky board

Then I closed it up.  I also mowed the bee yard and added a pot of flowers.

A clumsy start with my screened bottom board (SBB) addition

I knew it wasn't right.  It didn't feel right. It didn't look right.  But I left it as it was and posted questions and photos to the Brattleboro Beekeepers Group on Facebook. It wasn't long before someone said that it looked upside down.  And darned if that wasn't the issue. I still can't believe I didn't see that at the time because now it's so obvious.  They were a great help.  If you're a beekeeper, happen to be reading this post, and aren't in a group, join one. You'll find a great sharing of issues and ideas.

So I flipped over the SBB and now the entrance reducer was in a position I recognize.  I left open the upper entrance (the circle one).  They seem to like that.

Today I pulled out the sticky board to check for Varroa mites.  So you get the count, when you're asked, you leave sticky board in the hive for three days and then you take it out and look for and count the mites you find in the rest of the debris on the board.  I used some paper taped together to the size needed to cover the board that fits at the bottom of the hive.  Then I sprayed with cooking oil...maybe I discussed this already.  I may spray heavier next time.  It didn't seem sticky enough.
But the count was 6 divided by 3 (the three days)=2  So my mite count today is 2.

I need to investigate how often I need to do this. I would think about every few weeks.

So I don't need to treat them yet.  I think that if the count is eleven or more, it's ready to treat. I also need to double check that fact.