"Speaker Bees" are in the hive............twice!

After about 2 hours of removing bees and honey comb from the speaker box, we had the bees in their new hive.  As we cut out and removed comb, we looked at each removed section in hopes of finding the queen.  The only way to be sure you have the queen is to find her, and make sure she is put in the hive.  With the amount of bees in this colony, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.  We never did find her, but we were confident we had her, as we estimate we managed to hive about 90% of this colony.

The photo below is what the speaker box looked like when we removed the back.  Honey comb from top to bottom, neatly drawn out row by row.

Another shot of the honey comb in the speaker box.  Pretty impressive work!

Below is a photo of the back of the box that was removed.  You can see the various sections of brace comb in the speaker box back panel.  Lot's of bees too!

After about 2 long, hot, sweaty hours, we had managed to secure some of the comb with capped brood into empty frames, and placed them into the new hive box.  We shook, scooped and placed as many bees as we could corral into the hive box, put on the top, and called it a day.  Now the challenge was to see if we did indeed have the queen, and if this colony would accept their new home. 

We went back to check on the newly hived bees this evening, and when we drove up to the hives, there was a good sized swarm of bees hanging about 3 feet off of the ground on a tree limb near the hive.  Uh Oh...........they swarmed!  The only thing that makes sense to us is the fact that we didn't have the queen in the hive after all.  She must have been hanging out on the hive stand, or was in the grass near the hive stand, or under the hive stand in the mulch.  Either way..............seeing the swarm meant that in the middle of that swarm of bees was a queen!  We went back home, grabbed another bottom board and hive body, returned to the bee yard, and captured the swarm.  We cut the tree limb, and shook all the swarming bees into a hive box.  After the bulk of the swarm was in the hive box, the rest of the bees smelled the queen pheromone scent, and they just walked right in the front door!  We waited a little while until all the bees from this swarm had entered the box, and we placed the inner cover and lid on the hive box.  I gently placed the hive on the hive stand, and we returned home.  We hope they will stay in the hive, and become a good, productive colony.  Time will tell if they like their new home and stay.  If not, we will have had a good learning experience........and the enjoyment of hiving our first feral colony.

We will check on these bees again in the morning, and provide an update on how they are doing.  It's been a long, hot day with the bees.........if they leave, at least we tried our best!

Musical Bees

While perusing Craigslist one day last week, we ran across an interesting posting that stated "Bees in a speaker in a barn", and they wanted someone to come rescue them instead of exterminating them.  This was too interesting not to call and check on!  After an email exchange, I called the phone number, and sure enough, the lady said she had a colony of bees in a outbuilding, and they were living in an old home stereo speaker box.  They were located just off of Route #4, about 15 minutes from home.  So, off I go with bee suit in hand, to see for myself.  Upon arrival, they showed me the building, and I could see a flurry of bee activity going in and out the door.  This was a good colony, and they were working hard for the queen!

I checked out the situation, and decided I would return around dusk, when the foragers had returned to the hive, and remove the colony of bees.  I fabricated a cardboard box to transport them, returned about 8:30 p.m., and gently lifted this HEAVY speaker and bee colony and carried them out of the barn.  I placed them in the box I whipped up, and transported them to our bee yard.  Once there, I placed them on the hive stand, gave them a pint of sugar syrup feed, and left them for the night. 

Here is the transportation box:

I placed a jar feeder over the ventilation screen on top of the box.  It was going to be warm in that box, until I could release them the next day, so I wanted them to have a drink!

I retrieved the bees on Wednesday, August 3rd, and we removed the speaker from the box on Thusday, August 4th.  This will be an easy date to remember..........as it was Angie's Birthday!  One of her presents..............new bees, of course!  :-)

A shot taken a few minutes after I removed the speaker from the cardboard box.  LOT'S of bee activity!

  They were using several holes on the speaker cone for a hive entrance, as well as a round hole on the side of the box.

Angie is pulling a loose flap of fabric from the speaker cone, to have a better look inside.  We hoped to see how the comb is built inside the box, but there are just too many bees in there!

 A closer shot at the activity on the speaker cone.  All in all, this colony was rather well behaved, considering all the have went thru with the relocation process.  We'll see what sort of mood they are in on Saturday.  That's when we open the speaker box, and remove the colony and place them in a hive body.  That should be interesting!

More photo's to come, documenting the removal of the comb and bees from the speaker box, and getting them established in a normal hive body.  This could be fun!

Borrowed a bit more Honey from the girls!

Angie and I inspected the hives again on Friday, July 22nd.  Despite the unbearably hot weather, the girls are hard at work doing what they do..............raising brood and making honey!  Hive #1, which was started from a 3 lb. package of bees in April, is thriving.  They are working on their second medium honey super, drawing comb nicely, and starting to fill the cells with honey.  That being said...........we checked the first honey super, and decided that since they have it filled with capped honey, we could safely take another frame of honey and extract it. 

Angie holds a frame of capped honey.  This frame will yield just over a quart of honey.

This photo shows a medium frame in the process of having the wax comb drawn out by the bees.  Once the comb is drawn, they will fill each cell with honey.  Once they have the moisture content of the honey to the proper level, they will cap the cells with wax. 

That's the latest on the Honey Bees.  Hive #2 continues to grow, now that the queen is productive and laying eggs.  Next update will focus on Hive #2 and how things are progressing.  Despite the hot weather...............the Honey Bees are working hard!

Our first Honey Harvest!!!

Angie and I are SO excited!  Our package bee hive has been filling and capping frames of Honey for a couple of weeks now.  They are doing so well, we felt it was safe to "borrow" a frame of honey for ourselves.  This morning, we removed a frame of capped honey, and scraped the honey and wax into a crock pot.  We set the heat to low, and allowed the wax to melt and separate from the honey and float to the top.  We turned off the heat, let it cool, and simply removed the cake of wax from the top of the honey.  All that was left to do was pour the fresh honey into jars, and we were done!

This single frame of honey yielded just over 2 pints jars.  Yes, it is YUMMY!

Below is a shot of the wax and honey in the crock pot, before heating to separate.

Here is the finished product:  Just over 2 pint jars of nature's finest......fresh Honey!

Our Honey Bees have been nothing short of amazing since we hived them this past April.  My only regret is that we should have started Beekeeping 25 years ago!  This is SOOO fun!

Hive #2 Inspection May 28, 2011

We completed the first inspection of our new "Nucleus" Hive, which we brought home and placed in our Apiary on Friday, May 20th.  The Bees were calm and well behaved and we removed frames and took a look at the hive progress.  We didn't see any new eggs or Larvae, but they still have some capped brood that hasn't emerged yet.  They are doing a good job at drawing comb on the empty frames, and we did see the Queen, and she appeared healthy.  She may not be mated as of yet, which would explain the absence of eggs and larvae.  They are taking the syrup we are feeding them, and storing lots of it in the frame cells, so that's a good sign things are fine.  They are also foraging, and bringing in pollen and storing it for the brood.  Hopefully by next weekend she will be laying and beginning the process of building up the bee population.

We did notice that the bees have constructed 2 Queen cells in the middle of the center frame.  Often times the hive will build Queen cells, in case they need to raise another Queen.  Time will tell if the Queen that came with the hive will be productive, or replaced by one the colony raises.  If they need a Queen, they will raise one, if the current Queen starts laying, they will discard the Queen cells.  The Bees know what's best for their colony, so we will let them dictate the course of action.

Below is a photo of the Queen Cells.  They look like a peanut hanging from the comb.  Some people say they resemble a Morel Mushroom.  Pretty neat stuff!

Another shot of a Queen Cell.  It is amazing to witness the dynamics of a Bee Colony!

The photo's below show both hives in their new location at our property in the country.  They seem to be happy there, and it is a short 5 minute drive from home!

Hopefully, when we inspect Hive #2 next weekend, we will have a laying Queen, and some pictures of Eggs, Larvae, and a growing bee population!

Hive #1 Inspection - May 21, 2011

With some much needed sunshine this morning, we did a thorough inspection of Bee Hive #1.
Hive inspections are important for the Beekeeper, so they can keep an eye on what the Bees are doing inside the hive.  Any problems can be spotted and dealt with before they become a big problem down the road.  So far, this hive is doing fantastic!  The Queen is laying lots of eggs, and we spotted many egg, lots of Larvae, and a lot of capped brood.  I would estimate the size of this hive has doubled since we installed the 3 pound package on April 16th.  They are foraging well, and bringing in a lot of pollen and nectar.

Here is a picture of a frame of capped honey that they will use to feed the colony:

The photo below shows a picture perfect brood pattern.  The oval section in the center is where the Queen will lay eggs.  Surrounding this oval are stores of nectar and pollen, which is used to feed the developing eggs and larvae.  This is what it should look like in a good hive.  Ms. Queen, you and your workers are doing a great job!

The photo below show newly layed eggs.  In the center of the photo, you can see the tiny white objects.  They look like tiny grains of rice.  When you see these in your hive, you know your Queen is alive and well, and doing her job of laying eggs.  We are always excited to spot eggs...........they are a good sign!

The photo below shows a frame that is loaded with busy bees!  The dark, orange colored material you see in some of the cells is pollen.  They store pollen to feed the brood in the colony.  There is also capped brood in some of these cells, along with honey.  They were busy girls today, taking full advantage of the nice weather.

Next week, it will time to inspect Hive #2 which I placed in the Bee Yard on Friday afternoon.  They were working hard this morning, and I will be interested to see if the Queen is laying by next weekend.  Hopefully, this new hive will do as well as Hive #1!

It's Bee Moving Day.

Today is the day we relocate the Honey Bees to their new home in the country!  The plan is to prepare the area for the hive stand, get the hive stand set, and move the bees after dark when they have all returned home from their day of foraging.

Tomorrow morning when they wake up and go to work, they will have to re-orient themselves to their new location.  After thinking about the move, they will be better off in this rural location, with much more nectar and pollen to forage.  It won't be as satisfying as having the hives in the backyard, but the new location will satisfy the Zoning people, and make for more productive hives.  Basically, it's a win-win for the us and the Bees.

Once the move is complete, it's on to doing research and preparing a case for the Madison County Zoning Board to change their way of thinking about the importance of Honey Bees.  We do believe we can get the ordinances changed for the better, and we won't stop until we do.  It won't change our situation, but the goal is to make it better for future Beekeepers.  That alone will be worth the time and effort.  Paying it forward is what it's all about!