Now, that's progress.

Just a quick note about today's inspection. The girls of Sweet BEEzus have filled the two main supers with brood and stored sugar-syrup, so it was time to remove the feeder. I added a shallow super on top and hope that they'll make some honey by fall.

Apollo has made more progress in the top super and I'm optimistic that I'll be able to harvest some honey there later this summer. The Rocky girls were angry when I took off the inner cover today, a sure sign that they're guarding some major honey stores. Sure enough, most of the middle frames are capped and they're starting to fill in the frames on either end of the box. Hopefully that means a harvest in a couple of weeks.



Also, Apollo and Rocky are "bearding" in this hot weather. Last year, I freaked out the first time I saw this behavior. This year, it's just normal.

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.

Hot syrup

Hive 3 seems to be thriving. They have moved up into the second super, but I haven't opened up the hive again to see if the queen is laying brood there. Thought maybe I should give them some "space" for a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, my sugar buying frenzy at the grocery store continues. The bees need to be fed for another three to four weeks. Around noon today I realized I hadn't fed them since Sunday — oops! I made up a batch of sugar syrup in a hurry and barely gave it any time to cool off before I filled the feeder and loaded it in the hive. Yes, the bees got hot syrup today! Considering the afternoon heat here during the past two weeks, I doubt they will notice anything different.

Hive 3 is up and running!

My new package of bees arrived on Monday, May 16, 2011. Just as last year, I ordered them from Rossman Apiaries in Moultrie, Ga., and they were shipped through the U.S. postal service via Priority Mail. I find that people are either amazed, amused or horrified when they hear that live bees can come in the mail. Trust me, they are well packaged in a screened box and separated from the mail that comes to your residence, so no worries.

The installation went much smoother this time with a year's worth of experience under my belt. I now know that the bees are in swarm mode and fairly docile during this process, so I was comfortable using my bare hands.

The queen was in her little cage fastened to the top of the box and the rest of the bees were clustered around her in a cone shape hanging downward. I doused the package of bees with the simple syrup (sugar-water mixture) to keep them busy and happy while I removed a few end frames from the hive box. Using a nail, I removed the cork from the end of the queen's cage and placed it, screen side up, on the bottom of the hive under the middle frames. The worker bees would be able to see the queen and would eat through the candy "plug" on the end of her cage to release her.

Next, I banged the box on a brick paver to shake the bees down and away from the top. Using the hive tool, I pried up and removed the can of syrup from the box. The can serves as both a food source (there's a tiny hole poked in it to release small amounts of syrup for the bees) and a seal during transit.

Now the bees were ready to "load." Turning the box upside down, I shook it hard, dumping the bees out through the opening where the syrup can had been and down into the hive box. It took a good bit of shaking and banging each side of the box with my hands to get most of the bees out. As I replaced the removed frames down into the box, I was amazed at how easily the bees moved aside to accommodate them. Finally, I set the box down on the ground in front of the hive so the bees that were left inside could eventually fly out and into their new home.



Next the inner cover and cover were placed on the hive. I used the contents of the syrup can to fill the feeder and inserted it into the hive. And there you have it, new hive installed.



Today, almost a week later, I wanted to check and see if the workers had released the queen from her cage. (Rule #1: ALWAYS have the smoker going!)
The girls had done their job — the queen's cage was empty! A quick inspection of the frames showed lots of pollen and sugar-syrup storage. I didn't see any capped brood yet but thought I saw some larvae, so I do think the hive is "queen right."


Apollo and Rocky were both busy. I removed the entrance reducers I'd put on during the swarming and robbing weeks, so now they have better ventilation. There's comb being built out in the top boxes but no honey yet. Maybe in the fall! The swarms taught me that I'd chosen to make bees rather than make honey, but that's not a bad thing — our environment can certainly use more pollinators.


Currently soliciting suggestions of names for the new hive; winner to be announced soon!

Newbies...make that new bees!

Tomorrow's "shipping" day. The new bees I ordered from Rossman Apiaries will be shipped out to me via Priority Mail. (Hopefully, there is no significance to Friday the 13th in this case.) The new girls should arrive here Monday or Tuesday.

In preparation for their arrival, I watched the Brushy Mountain DVD for beginners again, paying special attention to the segment on how to install packaged bees. The hive is painted and ready in its place out in the back yard. All that's left to do is make a batch of sugar syrup on Monday for spraying the bees down and then feeding them.

Pictures to come after installation next week.

Swarmy weather

Today I experienced the natural phenomenon of swarming first-hand. I noticed some unusual activity going on in front of the Rocky hive this afternoon and when I went outside, I heard an enormous BUZZ. Thousands of bees were flying around in a frenzy in the warm sunshine, heading up to the branch of a nearby pine tree. They held in a tight cocoon on the branch, and I hoped that they would make their way to the empty hive I'd set out a few days ago.

About four hours later, the swarm had vanished, heading on to whatever permanent location they'd selected. Unfortunately, it wasn't the "bait" hive in my yard!

Here's a little movie of this afternoon's action:

Preparation is the key

It's a beautiful, warm, sunny day — just perfect for painting my new hive and doing an inspection of Apollo and Rocky.

Both hives overwintered nicely and appear to be strong. I did not go into the bottom supers, but did pull some frames from the middle supers to see that the queen was busy laying eggs and the bees had plenty of honey stored around the edges for food.

I have put queen excluders on both hives and honey supers on top of those. (The excluder keeps the queen from making her way up and laying eggs in the honey super.) The workers have made their way up into the honey supers and are building out comb, so I hope this signals lots of sweet honey to come this summer!