45 degree days and bees are out

 Yesterday was a beautifully warm day so the bees came out and did a lot of pooping.  I have lots of yellow snow around the hive.  I took a quick video because there was a bee in my hair and around me so I had to retreat further away.

After giving them pollen and sugar early in the month, I learned I shouldn't have done that.  No pollen until late March, if it's needed.  I could give sugar now but I left it alone since adding the pollen sugar mix because it's been way too cold to open the hive again.  Even yesterday I thought it would be better to just leave them alone and let them enjoy the weather without disturbing them.

I'm so happy to see them after wintering over.  Usually they don't survive and I wait for a Nuc to arrive in early May.  If I still have them and nothing happens between now and then, I hope to be able to start a Nuc of my own in April or end of March so that I can expand my one hive to two.

Fingers crossed.

Feb. 4, 2021 - Added bee pollen mixed with sugar

There were different thoughts on when to add the bee pollen and sugar mixture to the hives.  I've not done this before but it is supposed to help the bees get started on creating brood early and to just give them more nutrients beyond the honey I left in the hive this winter.

Two people were okay with my approach which included adding it now, versus one person saying I should wait until end of March.  That's quite a time difference but I moved ahead and added it today. Probably about two cups worth.  I didn't think it would hurt.

My approach was to add an empty super to the top, lay a sheet of newspaper over the frames in the super below and then add the pollen mixture to that.  I made sure the top box had an air hole drilled to give them another  exit and to vent moisture.

I should have ten a picture but I was too busy running!

I was told that I might be see bees at the top of the hive and boy were there a lot of bees there.  They attacked me! I was not prepared for that and didn't suit up thinking I'd not really see a lot of bees .  I was wrong.  I bolted to the house with bees following me.  Now there are a bunch of dead bees as a result.  Makes me feel bad.  But I do hope they enjoy their pollen and sugar treat. Those that are left, that is.

I have a lot of bees in that hive.  I was shocked by that since I haven't kept bees through the winter for quite a long time.  I was worried about the below zero cold snap we had for several nights and very low day temps but they clearly survived that, so I'm hopeful they make it to spring.

In the spring, I hope to split the hive and maybe encourage them making a queen instead of me buying one.  First things first.

Mission completed!

 So the story is that my battery was fine and I just needed to keep the Oxalic acid wand on longer than the 2.5 minutes suggested almost everywhere.  But that is a little flexible, I've learned. 

I performed a test outside the hive to see how long it takes to emit vapor.  For me it was about 3 minutes. 

I decided I'd treat the bees while I had everything out so I did it! I left it in there for 3.5 minutes on and then another 2.5 minutes off.  Then waited about 10 minutes with it sealed up. I didn't see vapor come out of the hive but it was well sealed and the product appeared to be mostly powder when I removed it from the hive. So I'm comfortable it worked just fine. 

I'm not sure how long before I see the dead mites on the bottom board. I'm anxious to see the fruits of my labor so will check today and maybe again tomorrow.

Thanks to Nancy Frye who heads the Brattleboro Beekeepers Group for her advice and support!!

Now that I've done it a few times, the biggest issue was disturbing the bees so much. First unscrewing the mouse guard and removing the entrance reduced which is always stuck in the opening so that bothers them and riles them up.

I saw a video this week where someone used bricks or wood blocks to open/close off the entrance as needed.  Then it would be quick and simple to open the entrance without disruption.  I want a slightly larger piece of wood so I can close the entrance a little bit more but I think it will work for me, especially using the bungies to hold in place. Overnight I realized it now has no mouse guard so I slipped that in behind the brick and piece of wood and also closed up the opening a bit for these next few days that will be cold.

Note my straw is sprouting! :)

Update: Here is an image of the bottom board the day after treatment with Oxalic acid. You can see the larger ones in the image below, but there are a huge number of tiny baby mites in that brown section. I wonder if I should try another treatment in a few weeks.  Wow.  I'm impressed with how good this works...now that I'm an expert haha.

Oxalic acid vapor treatment - 12/3/20

 What a sight I was with the respirator mask and full bee outfit but I figured I would need all my protective gear since this was my first time doing Oxalic acid treatment this way.  In the past, I have soaked paper towels with glycerin and Oxalic and laid them over the bottom deep.  But it's too late for that now since I have already have covered it for the winter.

It did seem to go smoothly once I had everything out by the hive.  I did it all as instructed.

1. Remove entrance reducer and mouse guard
2. Add 1/2 tsp. Oxalic acid in wand
3. connect one side of wand cable to battery
4. slip wand into bottom board of hive
5. connect other side of wand cable to battery
6. set timer for 2 minutes 30 seconds
7. Remove cable from battery and wait another 2 minutes
8. Remove wand from hive and close it up again
9. Wait 10 minutes
10. Return entrance reducer and mouse guard (Note, I had to wait until bees calmed down before putting mouse guard back)

So it's done.  One thing I wonder about is that my wand didn't sizzle when I put it into the bucket of water.   Not sure if I got the amount of vapor I needed or not.  I'll need to check on that with some folks.d

Update 12/4 - The first time failed.  The wand didn't ever heat up so it was a wasted treatment.

The battery didn't have enough juice so I recharged it which took hours (and shouldn't have imo).  Then I performed the entire treatment again today.  It also failed.  

It failed even after I watched the Oxalic heat up in the wand before inserting into the hive.  But it must have heated only enough to melt the Oxalic but not enough to make it a vapor.  Now the battery isn't charged enough to charge the fence so I ordered a new battery to pick up tomorrow. Hope no bear comes through tonight!

I'll take a few days before trying to do this again to the bees. It's such a disturbance each time.

 

11/15/20 - Readying the hive for the winter

 

It looks like it'll be rather cold for 10 days out, and rain expected tonight, so I decided to winterize my hive today.   

• Removed top hive feeder. Not sure if I'll add it back on later but I doubt it'll be warm enough so I'll supplement with patties of pollen or make sugar patties if needed.
• Straightened out the hive a little...a box wasn't positioned properly on the one below
• Wrapped with roofing paper, stapled and then secured with the orange bungie cords.
• The brown lump is a bale of straw which I"ll reuse in the garden in the spring
• To the left of the hive is another bale of straw that should get another tarp to cover.
• I tried to strategically place the empty hives and the straw to block wind.  
• I may pick up a few bales of hay (cheaper than straw!) to further block the cold winter wind
• Repositioned the entrance reducer and added back on the mouse guard 
• I also left the hole in the top deep for a vent and another way in/out.
• I added a board to the top of the hive so it sort of gives them a "porch roof" for rainy days

There are still a lot of bees in the hive.  I had to leave the super on there because it was also full of bees. 

Mean, mean bees

 Wow.  These bees are being extremely protective of their honey!  I was stung twice just removing an empty frame from the super...the bees were all over me.  So I decided to stop inspecting for now and added the top hive feeder with some sugar syrup and closed it up again.  I did open the entrance again to ensure they can get in/out okay and they swarmed out quickly.  So they are doing just fine for the moment.

I'll wait to  wrap the hive.  We have too many warm days ahead to do it now.

11/2

 After our first real cold snap, I noticed no bee sounds near the hive and saw no bees outside, obviously.  So I went out to remove the top hive feeder and saw no bees in the super at the top...so I quickly closed it up again. 

I then checked the front to make sure bees could get out and sure enough, I cleared a few dead bees from the entrance and bees came rushing out.  So good.  I still have bees.

Now we have warm weather coming for a few days so I will take that time to wrap the hive, add more sugar syrup, remove the super and ensure the dead bees are removed.  I will keep the hole in the upper deep open for moisture to escape.

I will report once this is done with a photo too.  I will need another bale of straw to help block wind.  I think two bales  in addition to the two empty hives will block wind.