There was not a lot happening with the hives in the past few weeks worthy of a post. However, now that the weather's turned cool, there are some interesting activities to report.
For the past week or so, I've noticed a few dead bees and white larvae at the entrance to each hive; mysteriously they vanished within a few hours. Since the numbers weren't large, I wasn't too alarmed (I knew the hives weren't being robbed) — but I did open my beekeeping books to do a little research. I learned that, since bees are very hygienic creatures, they take advantage of mild weather days to do some housekeeping. The girls drag dead bees and larvae out of the hive and then the bodies are carried away for disposal. Mystery solved.
This morning I did a quick inspection. Sweet Beezus has a few frames of honey along with a few frames of brood in the top super! When I harvest the honey in a few weeks, I'll take the frames that are honey-only and leave the brood frames. Way to go, first year bees!
Apollo also has some honey in the top super, but only on the frames in the center of the box. I'm a little surprised the Apollo girls haven't stored more, but then they had better things to do this spring and summer. They were busy, swarming more than once and then defending their hive against would-be robbers and other intruders like bumblebees and yellow jackets.
The Rocky girls were angry this morning when I opened their hive, so I was hopeful that meant they were protecting a supply of honey. No luck, though — bees are in the top super building out comb but nothing has been stored. Haven already given up their honey supply earlier this summer, they're probably holding a grudge against me!
There are small hive beetles present in all three hives, so on harvest day, I'll install some traps. It will also be time to reduce the hive entrances and put in some pollen patties for the girls to eat during the winter. I think the extra protein from the patties, along with installing the beetle traps and reducing the hive entrances to better keep out the cold air, helped keep my girls healthy last winter.
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Fascinating as always. Who knew that bees were so "respectful" of the dead!!! But then it is logical that a "clean hive is a productive hive." They might be a great deal smarter than we think. After all, they also have gotten a "human" to take care of some of their tasks as well.
ReplyDeleteHow do you tell the difference between "frames with honey" and "frames with brood"??
ReplyDeleteBrood cells are uncapped and you can actually see the bee larvae in them. There might also be some capped honey stored around the edges of these frames. The honey frames have only honey stored in the cells, which may be capped (sealed when full) or uncapped (storing in process).
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