A Tale of Two Hives

This has been a challenging winter for both hives. I've learned more about the pests that plague honeybees and about the value of regular hive inspections, winter feeding and "re-queening." Let's just say I've learned these lessons the hard way.

Apollo

Apollo is my original hive, which I started with a package back in May 2010. This hive has overcome numerous problems including multiple swarms, one particularly brutal and prolonged cold snap and several different pests.

A couple of months ago, I pulled off the cover and noticed that there was a white substance underneath the inner cover. It looked like expandable foam sealant, actually. I had a very hard time prying the inner cover off the top super, and when I finally did, was horrified to see a thick layer of white cocoons. Apollo had a wax moth infestation. (Click on the photo below if you'd like to see an enlarged image.)



Wax moths are extremely destructive insects, spinning webs throughout the hive and their larvae destroying not only the brood comb but also the hive equipment. Here is a picture of the damage done to the super and frames by larvae burrowing into the wood.



I removed the top super — which could not be salvaged — and cleaned out as much webbing and other wax moth debris as I could, put in some fondant for the bees to feed on, closed the cover and hoped for the best. Although I've been told that honeybees are likely to abscond from a wax moth-infested hive, the Apollo bees chose to stay and, miraculously, appear to be thriving right now.

Recently I attended a lecture given by honeybee expert Dr. Keith Delaplane about colony collapse disorder and what the disappearance of honeybees and other pollinators means to the environment and to our way of life. (Check out this informative editorial, "On Einstein, Bees, and Survival of the Human Race.")

Afterward, I was able to ask Dr. D. about my wax moth issue and he just smiled and said, "Wax moths are generally only a symptom of a bigger problem. If the hive is healthy and the bees are robust, they can fend off wax moths pretty easily." So, we talked about the probability of Varroa mites (at least the small hive beetles are under control, I'm glad to say), or... an unhealthy or dead queen. He suggested I "re-queen" the hive, which involves killing the old queen and introducing a new, healthy queen. I shuddered visibly, I guess, because Dr. D. simply smiled again and wished me luck.

For now, I'm watching and waiting to see if Apollo has the strength to keep on keepin' on. There are hundreds of girls out and about lately, flying around in the sunshine on these warm afternoons, so I'm thinking they're gonna make it.

Rocky

Sadly, today I discovered that the Rocky hive is dead. I'd suspected as much because there have been so few bees visibly out and about, nowhere near as many as Apollo. I'm sad and feeling like a "bad mom" because if I'd paid more attention sooner, I might have been able to salvage the situation. I could've re-queened this hive and fed the bees with not only fondant, but also pollen patties.

Bees need a food source during the winter, even in Atlanta where there is some pollen available for foraging pretty much year-round. This year, I didn't give them pollen patties and I feel like this was part of the reason for hive failure.

So, I fell down on the job and it's a hard lesson learned again after losing the Sweet Beezus hive last winter.

Plan B

I've got a package of bees on order to repopulate Sweet B, and those bees will arrive in May. In the meantime, I've signed up to attend a hive inspection tour offered by the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association in a few weeks. The inspection of multiple hives will be conducted by a master beekeeper and we'll be able to observe and learn what to look for in determining whether the hive is healthy or has problems.

Also, I found out that, as a MABA member, I can put my name on the "swarm list" and possibly be the recipient of a swarm of bees that MABA beekeepers are routinely called on to collect from people's yards, businesses, school playgrounds, etc. As often as my own Apollo bees have swarmed in the past, I might be lucky enough to collect my own swarm again this spring and repopulate the Rocky hive. And that's an interesting idea in itself, because Rocky was started from an Apollo swarm the first year I began beekeeping.

Sweet BEEzus!

Friends and followers, you were all quite creative with the names you submitted for Hive #3, but I think pretty much everyone agreed that "Sweet BEEzus" was outstanding! Thank you, David. I'll be sending you the first jar of honey I harvest this summer.


Today's hive inspection was so exciting! First, Sweet BEEzus is queen right and thriving. A look into the top super showed the queen is laying in a nice pattern and the girls are storing honey/sugar syrup in the tops of the frames. In a couple of weeks when I stop feeding these girls, I'll add another super on top just in case they decide to make some honey.


Now, for Apollo. The original hive is going strong, despite producing a couple of swarms and some robbing activity. A peek into the third super shows the girls are storing honey on about three of the frames, but it is not yet capped. I'm hopeful they will make at least one super of honey by the end of the summer.


Rocky had the best suprise of all. My scrappy swarm hive captured last summer is very productive! This hive also swarmed twice in the spring and has fended off "robbers." When I pulled out some frames in the third super, they were heavy with honey, most of it capped! I'm pretty sure I'll be able to harvest this honey in a couple of weeks.

All of this honey activity sent me hurrying to my computer to order more supplies. I ordered two shallow supers with frames for more honey production in Apollo and Rocky; an escape screen for separating the bees from the honey super; and nylon strainer bags for the honey filtering system.

What a sweet morning it's been. I love my bees.

Flying high now...

At last, the swarm bees have a permanent home — the "Rocky" hive is up and running.

I stayed home all day yesterday, anticipating the delivery of the new hive. By late afternoon, the UPS truck still hadn't come and I was very upset — storm clouds had gathered and the skies opened to pour down rain on the poor makeshift hive again. When 7 p.m. had come and gone, I called UPS to make a complaint, but I was told it was possible that my delivery could still come that evening. At 8:45, we heard the rumble of the delivery truck on our street, and it was a beautiful sound. I was glad to get the boxes and unpack them, even though it was too late to move the bees that night.

This morning, I assembled all of my gear, got the smoker going, suited up and headed out to the back yard to move the swarm bees. The bottom box of the makeshift hive had almost completely collapsed from yesterday's rain and was actually crumbling. Here's a photo of the sodden mess of cardboard, newspaper and empty feeder.

The plywood and bricks I'd used for a bottom board were still intact, but the board had bowed up after getting wet in this week's storms.

I sprayed the bees down with a little sugar-water before trying to move them, but they were in a fairly calm state anyway. It was easy to move the three frames I'd put in the cardboard box to a regular super. I was excited to see that the bees had built out a lot of comb on these frames. I added in the remaining five frames to the box and then moved the second super on top. The bees had moved up into this second box on the temporary hive and were storing pollen in its frames. I placed the inner cover on top of the second super, closed it up with the cover and inserted a full feeder.


Here, you can see the Rocky bees at the entrance to their new home. I wish I'd had time to paint this hive, but it's all made of cypress and I'm told that it will endure all kinds of weather for years. The main worries now are whether or not the queen made it into the hive (again, I didn't see her) and robbing by the original hive bees. Speaking of the original hive, I'm looking for a name for it. Any suggestions?