Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Moved Home!
the swarm MOVED BACK HOME!??? the blank hive is blank again. ....i'll probably catch them in the act again today...going home for lunch.
Monday, May 24, 2010
walked right past it.
SWARM....the now 2 high (3 high)....i walked right past it. they were conveniently hanging on the elm by the bench (in front of the hives). used my uncapping tank/tub...shook them in....took them over and dumped them into the now occupied BLANK hive.
...sure hope that foundation comes sooooonnnn!
...sure hope that foundation comes sooooonnnn!
Field Day at the "beehouse"
Field day at the "beehouse"...we sure had a nice day for it! You know how it is....YOU JUST GET TOO BUSY sometimes!? ...(naughty beekeeper)...i admit, i've not been in the hives since early April and the hive body switch....(naughty beekeeper)
We examined my 3-high (3 deeps) hive.....as i "wanted" out of this experiment....IT WAS WHOPPING FULL OF BEES! at EVERY level! We found capped brood in 2 levels - solid frames....we also found a good half-dozen of swarm cells....and what didn't we find??? eggs and larvae. THIS HIVE IS IN SWARM MODE...the queen has ceased laying - in her attempt to slim down for the flight.
What did we do? we SPLIT it. we took one layer and started a new hive....we made sure we grabbed two frames (with swarm cells/new queens) and put it in the new split...MADE SURE the existing queen wasn't on these two frames!
What happened after everyone left? The (now) 2 high hive with the queen - was doing some serous BEARDING outside the hive....they're gearing up, i'm afraid.
We also left a couple of swarm cells in the "mother" hive in case of this exodus. remember, the old queen leaves...and if we'd not left SOME swarm cells - this hive could potentially go queenless.
i just hope i can catch them in the act today! (gotta go home for "lunch")
HINDSITE 20/20. this hive was AMAZING in it's population. the beekeeper should have done another HIVE BODY SWITCH 3/4 weeks ago!...and SUPER'd IT!
MY EXPERIMENT....i really wanted to see how many bees i could "get" in a box. with this queen and all the capped brood....i could have made a 4 high hive!
....need to build frames!...more wax foundation on the way!!! i hope it's in the mail today!!!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
A Swarm in May
The first 70 plus day of the year. 72 degrees at 10 am in fact....FEELS like a SWARM DAY!
It being a Proverb, that a Swarm of Bees in May is worth a Cow and a Bottle [bundle] of Hay, whereas a Swarm in July is not worth a Fly.
[1655 S. Hartlib Reformed Commonwealth of Bees 26]
The Proverb says, ‘A Swarm in May is worth a Load of Hay’.
[1710 Tusser Redivivus May 11]
‘A swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly’—for it is then too late‥to store up‥honey before the flowers begin to fade.
[1879 R. Jefferies Wild Life in Southern County vii.]
As she reminded the children: A swarm in May's worth a rick of hay; And a swarm in June's worth a silver spoon; while A swarm in July isn't worth a fly.
[1945 F. Thompson Lark Rise v.]
A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay, A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon, A swarm of bees in July is worth not a fly. On that basis, a swarm of bees now would be worth a milking cow, but I won't be joining it to one of my colonies.
[1985 D. Foster Dog Rock ii.]