Observation Hive - Update. Brood is hatching !

Last night I noticed some new born bees ! The frames that I pulled from my parents hive are Italians. Some of the new bees are Carniolan, so I assume that the new queen mated with the drones from my back yard. The bottom frame is covered in capped brood. I see larva and eggs. Today Quinn and I saw a lot more hatched bees. There is a mix of Italian and Carnie. Things are looking good for the observation hive.

Observation Hive - Update. There is a queen !

On August 1st I noticed that the queen cells were being torn down by the worker bees. I searched the observation hive and found a queen. She must have recently hatched from her cell. I didn't see much action from her until last week. I noticed that she was starting to lay eggs. So I watched her for about 20 minutes. I could see her abdomen squeezing out an egg, but not in a cell. It fell and not sure where it went. At first I thought she had a problem, but then thought she was just a beginner at laying eggs. As I watched her, she was getting it. She would put her abdomen fully into the cell for a few seconds and then come out. With a flash light I was able to see the tiny eggs that she left in the cell. I also noticed some cells with some white jelly and upon closer inspection I could see tiny larva. All was good !!

Last night Aug 16th, I noticed the first cell being capped ! I also noticed lots and lots of larva in the cells. I could even see the larva moving.

Today there was more capped brood and I could see more larger larva. The queen is laying eggs and the hive is beginning to be built up again. It is very exciting to see a hive raise a queen from an egg and now watch the queen as she is laying the eggs. Success !

I also got a big delivery from Mann Lake today. I was waiting on some 8oz and 1 lb jars so that I could fill them with honey. I also ordered a couple cardboard NUC boxes and some "swarm lure". Next time my bees swarm I'll be using the NUC boxes and swarm lure to make catching them a little easier. Actually, it'll make it easier for my dad who always finds my swarming bees !

A Crazy Train Day

Well, this week I was supposed to relax after my vacation and "regroup". I had a bunch of things to do at home, inspect the minivan, extract my honey, etc..., but the "bees" had a different plan. On my last blog (Swarm) I told you about my day on Saturday. The hive at my parents house swarmed. On Sunday I checked in with my dad and there was still a small swarm on the plum tree and there were also bees in the deep box. So I'm not sure what happened. I think the queen that I found on the ground may have been a second queen. Later in the day my dad said that the swarm on the tree was gone, but still some bees in the box. The plan was to go back to my parents the next day for dinner, pack up the swarm and bring them back to my house. Well, at about 10:30 am on Mon, my dad called.  Here is his message, "Hey Al, your not going to believe this, but you have another swarm." I was shocked. I gave my dad a call and he said the bees were up on a small tree branch, about 15 to 18 ft. This would be a somewhat easy swarm to catch. I packed my gear, hopped in my car and drove out the hour to my parents. When I got there, my dad already had the tractor with front end loader in position.  I grabbed an extra deep box & platform and put this by the tree. I suited up, hopped into the bucket and my dad lifted me up into the tree. After trimming some branches, I was ready to cut the branch on which the bees were hanging. Last time my dad climbed up on the tractor and into the bucket to cut the branch while I held it, but this time it was too high. I had to grab the branch with one hand and put the cutter underneath my arm pit trying to cut it with that one. It was difficult, but the branch finally cut. It slipped a little and a clump of bees landed on my foot. My dad lowered the bucket and we put the branch with the swarm into the deep. I was hoping that the clump of bees on my foot would go into the deep following the queen, but they decided to stay on my sneaker. PLease note that I was not wearing any socks, so the bees were tickling my ankle. My dad helped me remove the sneaker and I put it near the deep. Eventually the bees went into the box. I threw super with new foundation frames on top of the deep only containing the swarm on a branch and threw a cover and lid on top. The bees entered the box. Mission accomplished, or so I thought.


It gets crazier.  Only minutes after my dad and I caught the swarm, there was a big commotion over at the old hive where the swarm came from. Bees were flying all over the place. The sky was filled with bees. I was not sure what was happening, but I kept saying to myself there was going to be another swarm. And right in front of my eyes (and on film ) I saw the bees swarm onto one of my dad's plum trees. So my dad and I caught that swarm too !  Now I have 3 new hives.  I'll need to build them up before the winter so they can survive it.

Swarm number 3

This time I put the deep box in the tractor bucket. It was safer then propping it up on the step ladder.