Hive Visit: June 20

Another late posting, because, frankly, the bees looked a lot this week like they did last week. Maybe I’m expecting too much. Maybe the line between patience and boredom is becoming blurred.

The biggest difference between this week and last is that I did my full hive inspection bare handed. While I stated last week that I looked forward to working in this way, the reality was somewhat different than my expectations. I avoided being stung, but that was mainly due to paranoia. I took an absurd amount of time to place my hand every time I grabbed a frame. While I’m certain that this slower more cautious approach was better for the bees on this particular visit (i.e. far fewer bees were squooshed by my nimble gloveless hands) I can easily imagine myself dropping a full frame of brood or honey after being stung, resulting in the death of several bees and the agitation of thousands more.

Hive A
Hive A looks good. The top feeder was dry, with just a few bees picking at the residual sugar crystals. Plenty of bee activity and plenty of new brood. Also a large amount of honey stored in the top box – presumably this is primarily sugar syrup based (this is why you stop feeding sugar prior to harvesting honey). Around noon, with a temperature of 23C, bees were entering the hive at a rate of 42 per minute, far slower than the 180 per minute I have clocked on warmer days later in the afternoon. But overall, everything looks good.

Hive B
Well, it was Hive B’s turn to host the ants this week. They really do seem to alternate, and I have never seen ants in both hives at the same time. Weird. But the ants seem to stay between the top-board and the outer cover, never really going into the hive. Maybe they are taking advantage of the dryness, darkness and warmth rather than the honey. If this is the case, they are free to stay. Hive B had a steady rate of 62 bees entering per minute. Better than Hive A, as usual. No new signs of nosema, and no other indicators of poor health.

Treatments and Feedings
No treatments. No feedings.

To Do List
Consider making another batch of sugar syrup.

Thoughts
Three key thoughts this week. First, I am still a big fraidy cat despite knowing I am not allergic to bee stings. How many times must a man be stung before he grows some cajones? The answer my friends is blowing… never mind.

Second, the online beekeeping community is either too small or too fragmented to be of much immediate direct benefit to a beekeeper. Maybe the discord between ancient agrarian activity and online discussion boards is simply too strong. Or maybe there just aren’t that many beekeepers. An aggravating factor is the importance of geography to beekeeping. A question asked in Ottawa can not be easily (or authoritatively) answered in Arkansas. I may need to go off the grid and talk to some real live people if I want good local answers to simple questions like ‘can I stop feeding my bees sugar syrup yet?’. Seriously, I have sticky spots everywhere.

And lastly – I CANNOT WAIT TO GET ME SOME HONEY!