Beekeeping Log

2024-10-13

Time to start prepping for winter! We took off the screened bottom boards and added back the solid boards. One thing I noticed, there were a LOT of hive beetles hanging out at the bottom on the screen. This was a shock to me as I thought beetles tended to be in the top. I'll have to research this further.

Besides the usual hive beetle infestation which I'm not sure will ever end, the hives are looking really good going into winter. Good food stores in both hives but I plan equalize some of the honey frames next time. The left hive had me a bit concerned last time due to low pop, but the hives were bustling with activity. Huge populations. Added food buckets on both hives. My FIL (who got stung on the nose through his veil lol) is working on a birdbox type something to hold pollen supplement as well. Seems to be going into a bit of a brood break so gonna try to blind treat with oxalic acid vapor next week. Mite levels have not been a problem for us, just beetles. Apparently my BIL's wife's bees in Florida are experiencing the same, no mites but lots of beetles.

I need to start preparing a shopping list of stuff we'll need next year. We'll need a couple boxes for splits, possibly some nuc boxes, and maybe a box or 2 to catch a swarm. Black friday will be a good time to stock up on supplies.

Overall, things are going well. I have few concerns going into winter and think we'll be able to pull off some splits and multiple gallons of honey next year.

2024-09-26

This is a bit delayed, but we pulled a frame of honey this year! Ended up with about 48 oz. We didn't expect any for the first year so even a little bit is great. We could have pulled several more frames but we don't have the extractor yet, so we decided to leave the rest for the bees to help them get through winter. I'm not even a huge honey fan but this is the best I've ever had! I'm sure I'm biased there, but the hard work really makes it special...it was truly a wonderful feeling having all those jars lined up. I was more excited to share with people than to have it myself.

Click into the imgur album to see the captions. I thought it was fun to show the progression of selecting the frame to harvest through each step of the process. This particular frame was selected because it was almost fully capped over. The wax cappings over the cells generally indicates that the moisture level is appropriate for harvest.

2024-08-18

Forgot to update last time. We tested the honey for moisture content and it was reading high so we decided not to harvest any this year. If we get through the winter, should have plenty in spring. I looked at the new location for additional hives next year. My FIL scouted a nice elevated area next to a field of crops he's planning. We are thinking about expansion now so we can make a list and watch for equipment sales. Very much looking forward to harvesting honey and sharing it with people. This has been a rewarding hobby and I'm glad to have taken it up. It's much easier with family, too.

As for what we did in the hives today, we did a mite test. Didn't see any which is good. The left hive which had been struggling with beetles was determined to have too much space, and they weren't finishing capping their honey on the top box. So, we moved that honey super over to the right hive who has exploded with population again after their requeening. Idk, something about that spot leads to huge populations. Maybe the extra sunlight? Overall the beetle numbers are coming down and not seeing any sign of wax moths. My FIL sprayed an organic pesticide (pool salt and vinegar basically) around the hives which should help with the pests. The hurricane that passed through brought cooler temps and lots of rain. Even though our area is in a dearth, our bees are still bringing back tons of food. Yesterday, we saw them bringing back a lot of orange pollen. The prior inspection, it was yellow pollen.

I also got to see the right hive doing an orientation flight last night! It was around 5:45. I always love seeing those. Every time I see the newly hatched bees flying for the first time, the circle of life starts playing in my head. Bees are truly wonderous creatures. I got to show my wife and her grandma, too. Luckily we have very docile bees, you can go hang out right next to the hive without any gear on.

2024-07-28

The hives appear to be in good shape! Even though my area is supposed to be in a dearth (the period when there is very little for the bees to forage), my bees are still bringing home a good amount of pollen. In fact, the left hive is still filling out a honey super! We may get one or 2 frames to extract this year. The right hive is still getting fed sugar water since they were a bit weaker after losing their queen. However, their population seems to have recovered significantly and they look pretty strong right now, if not a bit lower on resources. I learned last night about equalizing resources between the hives so after we pull a honey frame or 2, we might split the resources between them, and then start feeding the left hive.

We put the queen excluder back on the left hive. There was only a few drone brood in the honey super. We had initially removed the queen excluder to encourage the bees to draw the comb. It did work, but now that we might be able to harvest a frame we don't want any more brood in it.

We refilled hive beetle traps and killed dozens while we were inspecting. The numbers do seem to be coming down overall. The weather was nice and overall a good day in the bee yard.

2024-07-13

Been a bit since the update! With my wife's grandpa passing away, we had a few weeks since last inspection. However, both hives are doing well today. Strong populations, good amounts of resources. The hive that lost its queen has recovered well. The left hive is incredible, they have a huge stock of nectar, pollen, and honey. This has also made them a target for small hive beetles. We have a bit of an infestation still. The traps were loaded with beetles so we re-upped the traps in all the boxes. We killed a few dozen during the inspection as well.

Finally got a few pics up, here's a few random ones. 2 show bees bearding during hot weather. There's also a short video of an orientation flight. This is when newly born bees take their first flight! You can tell when they do the sorta figure 8 pattern right in front of the hive entrnance. Each hive usually does this around at the same time once a day. Each hive has it's preferred time but it's often in the early-mid afternoon timeframe.

2024-06-23

I didn't make it for today's inspection since I was sick, but my in-laws finally spotted a queen today! This whole time we have yet to see our queens. It was the newly hatched one so it was good to confirm her presence. Nice laying pattern, she looks as good as the last queen. We are having a significant hive beetle problem in the left hive. Traps were added to all boxes. We'll see how it goes but additional measures might need to be taken.

2024-06-19

You know, I think it is worth tracking this stuff. I would like a place to post all my bee pics and such. I'm sure it'll be nice to look back on. I'll work on it more next time I do my inspection, but here's some background.

If you've been reading my site, you'll know that in 2023 my wife and I moved to South Carolina, to a small rural town. Her parents and grandparents split up a big chunk of farm land. We know that we'll be inheriting part of this land in the future, so figured it was time to put down roots in the same area.

In early 2024, my mother-in-law expressed interest in beekeeping. I always had a peripheral interest in it, too. So, we decided to attend a local intro to beekeeping class together. We were both quite intrigued and decided to attend a couple more classes. We ended up ordering 2 complete hives - basically the turnkey solution, bees and all. We picked them up from the local guy giving the classes (shoutout Honey Top Bees) in early April. It was going well for a while, however in early June I realized that one of the hive's queens had died. Worse, based on the timing there was a high likelihood that I accidentally killed her during an inspection. But, I followed the guidance and waited 21 days. Sure enough, a new queen was raised. She successfully mated and began laying eggs in the hive again. I was surprised at how strong my feelings were for these creatures I received only 2 months ago! The despair from the dead queen, and the joy from seeing signs of the new queen were really quite incredible! It's been a very interesting year for me with a lot of new experiences.