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Old 03-23-2009, 07:18 PM   #21
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in that case, I also hate to think what WILL happen when it's multiple stings. Do you have some kind of antihistamine at the ready?
No, just a medical attorney document and a will.
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Old 03-23-2009, 07:59 PM   #22
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No, just a medical attorney document and a will.
Have you increased your life insurance?
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Old 03-30-2009, 08:32 PM   #23
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I checked on the hive yesterday. It is doing well. Very vigorous. I didn't see any hive beetle.

Good honey stores, so I don't think I will need to feed them.

They have moved up into the 4th super, so that means the population is expanding. I saw a lot of capped brood in the 3rd super, so I am well on my way towards a large population. Worried about swarming now, but realistically I'm not going to try and prevent it. Too much work and checking. Now if my dad comes up and convinces me that I need to do a split and that the split needs to become his property, well he can probably convince me of it.

Of course, another problem will be if the queen starts laying eggs in the 4th super. That would be bad. I would merely end up with the world's largest beehive, and no actual honey to harvest. I've been burned by the queen excluder before and I don't feel like using it.

I do have a 5th super that does not have drawn out comb, that is on the ready.

Oh yeah, need to get those epi-pens.
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Old 04-09-2009, 12:33 AM   #24
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I was talking to my father yesterday, and he asked me whether there were any bees in the first super (i.e. brood box). What he meant was this--I have four supers. Each super is merely a box with frames inside. I have 4 boxes that are stacked up, with a bottom and a lid. That is the beehive.

I didn't know the answer. The question is relevant because bees have a tendency to migrate up into a hive, going from the bottom to the top. In pursuit of the honey they have stored, they start elevating the area where they make babies, and you may end up with an empty box at the bottom, which is an inefficient way to house your bees.

The reason I didn't know the answer is because it has been a long time since I actually took all the boxes apart and looked at the bottom super. So I decided to do that. Put on the veil, started up the smoker, wearing gloves. For some strange reason a cloud of bees encircled the hive. There were a lot of agitated bees. I smoked the heck out of them. I had never seen them do that. They weren't super aggressive, they weren't trying to attack me, they were just agitated.

Killed a couple of hive beetles taking off the top. Then started pulling off the supers one by one. When you don't take your hive apart, you will get "bridge comb" between supers. That is, the bees will make comb between the boxes and when you pull them apart, you end up breaking that bridge comb. So I saw rather large larvae that were exposed as I pulled boxes off. It's ok, there are plenty more from where they came from, and those at the bottom of frames are usually worthless drones.

End of the story is that yes, there were plenty of bees in the bottom super, and no, I didn't get stung, and when I put it altogether the cloud of bees went into the hive and disappeared like magic, like I had blown a whistle and they obeyed on command. There are starting to be a good number of bees in the top super, so that is where they will (hopefully) store the honey that I will harvest. We shall see.
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Old 04-09-2009, 12:51 AM   #25
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What controls the sweetness and quality of the honey?

The strain of bees, climate, nesting material, or the type of flowers polinated? Or all of the above?
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Old 04-09-2009, 12:59 AM   #26
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What controls the sweetness and quality of the honey?

The strain of bees, climate, nesting material, or the type of flowers polinated? Or all of the above?
The nectar source.

Clover honey is considered to be the standard, and what people are used to. But there are many other sources of nectar, each leading to a different kind of honey, both in flavor, density, and appearance.

Some honeys are considered by some to be unpalatable, and are used for cooking only. As an example, my father doesn't like youpon honey. I like it ok. Some honeys that you may have heard about are tupelo and orange blossom.

I don't know what my honey will be. Probably just a generic "wildflower" honey.

One of the important nectar sources in the south during the later months is the Chinese Tallow tree, which is basically an invader weed tree that some people have in their yards. A lot of honey is produced from these trees, but I understand the sugar content is low, so you have to be careful with this kind of honey going bad.
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Old 04-23-2009, 09:43 PM   #27
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There have been several requests for an update on the bees. Ok, I lie, there have been no requests. Yet, I continue on. Kind of the mantra of this site.

The bees continue to grow in numbers. They have started putting honey into the 4th super and the frames inside that super have about 60% coverage. I would say that optimistically the super is now 10% full of honey. But that will change rapidly. So I have to be ready to remove those frames and harvest.

Thankfully I didn't see any small hive beetle. Which is not surprising, given that the hive is very strong right now. The entrance of the hive is incredibly busy. Imagine the deck of an aircraft carrier with hundreds of bees flying in and out every few moments. This contrasts greatly with previous years.

I noticed one bee land at the entrance, and it was immediately attacked by two "guard" bees. It escaped and flew away. It was probably a "robber" from another hive. Bees will rob honey from other hives. The strong get stronger, and the weak perish. If your hive successfully robs a weak or dead hive, it can very rapidly increase its honey stores. I wonder if my hive is out there "robbing." I will discourage it, because it doesn't fit with my ethos. I doubt they will listen.

I guess, right now, my hive weighs over 150lb, and perhaps closer to 200lb. That's a lot of honey, wax, pollen, and biomass.
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Old 05-08-2009, 09:26 PM   #28
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I should check my hive. When the nectar comes in heavy, things can get done explosively. We've had a lot of rainy cool weather around here, and that means less foraging for the bees. So, things may heat up quite quickly and I need to make sure my bees don't run out of room.
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Old 05-09-2009, 12:27 AM   #29
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Cracked the hive open. Killed a few hive beetles. There were more than last time.

Not much change since the last time I cracked it open. That will change, I think, if we can get some sunny weather.
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Old 05-19-2009, 08:11 PM   #30
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Opened up the hive again last weekend. And no progress!

It's been rainy and cool and overcast for a while around here, which is bad for honey production. We need hot, dry days with lots of sun to get the nectar flowing.

I hope my young bees will be suckling at the nectar-teat of many flowers this week. Otherwise, it may be that this season was a whiff.
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