Happy Harvest Blog
The bees are working like they've had coffee
After the frost, we’ve had a warm spell, and the bees are going so hard. It’s their last charge to get their stores in. I feel bad now taking their honey, but they have more than enough, at least the big hives Pansy and Violet do. The other pollinators in the giant wasp nest have made their home bigger than ever. I’m terrified of them, although they’ve only stung me once, for banging on the wall, and I am looking forward to a long wasp-free future.
bees snugged II
The bees are all wrapped now, after getting their insulation. This time I tried to wrap the tar paper so that it was sealed and went up under the flange of the beehive lid, so in theory the water sheds over the tar paper wrap, but I can still get the lid off anytime. We’ll see. I put a piece of tape on the corner before doing the fold so the paper doesn’t tear- that worked well. Like gift wrapping. The paper is all folded down tight and taped to the eke.
The five aren't afraid of bees
The famous five, in fact, love to rummage around around the hives, and jump upon them. That is the back of the hive, but they rummage equally well in the front. They go underneath. I've seen one jump up on the bee door closure stick. Meeting behind Pansy building! (My hives are plumb; the camera is tipped)I've thought one would get stung, and that would be over, but no. It's always just a little tribe. They have the place to themselves.
Swarm catching, part 2
At "dusk" (ok, dark), I got the hive box ready. One super full of drawn comb and fresh foundation, another empty super, and an eke. The whole empty upper box thing is to imitate a spacious swarm box. So they can all crowd up in the ceiling. Then I went to get the nuc box from the woods. Whoa! Quite a few bees on the outside of the box. More than before. They're so neat. They're like lined up in stacked rows. And quiet, just a low hum. It was bedtime.
What the heck are these bees doing?
I took a look at the hive and got a bit of a fright that they were swarming (on foot?). That clump hanging off of the landing ledge...? But then I looked at the other hive: How similar is that!!? My theory is that it had something to do with the heat and the time of day. In another hour, they were all in the hive for dark. I was looking forward to going in the hives today, but then there was a sudden (glorious) thunderstorm!
The insects are back
First bumblebee window rescue of the year. There will be many more. The mosquitoes are back, but they aren't at plague proportions yet. The blackflies are back, with their horrible parasitic bite, like they are drilling into your skin with their head, which is what it feels like. The ticks are back but are either just beginning, or my guineas are shielding me from the full horror show. The bittern is gallunking; the peepers are singing. It is almost time for the screen doors, the window screens, and the secondary line of defense- the mosquito bed tent
OPENING THE HIVE
I got my first chance to get into the hive. We´ve had a warm, early spring, so I've been feeding them, and anxious for the right warm day to come, so I can give them the third super. They´ve been unwrapped since the end of April, but this is the first time I´m going to the bottom of the hive, and the inner lid is coming off.
Unwrapping the bees
I had been marveling at the towers of styrofoam prefab hives, but when she said that, I realized how now wood is the exception. That´s why they have to drag it out of the back. Everything is plastic. Plastic frames, plastic foundation, plastic hive parts now.
Proved: honeybees can sting and NOT die
She would pause and tug and rub with her feet, and then run some more. She made somewhere around three dozen revolutions around her stinger. I couldn't believe I was watching a bee unscrew herself from the top of my foot.
Ant attack!
I had noticed they were rather testy lately, quite irritable when I go to close their door at night. They had briskly seen me off a few times and I was even stung. I thought that was odd because they used to be so mild. Now I get it.
Instagram.
I may not make a blog post every day, but at least I Insta.
Bite size.
