Winter Disaster For The Bees

Most of the time winters here in the Pacific Northwest are mild and wet, as you can see by the green algae on the side of this hive. Honey bees do not hibernate during winter but cluster together inside the hives to keep warm.

There are many days above 50 degrees , so my bees are active and fly out to take a potty break. ( cleaning flight) Winter hit us this month with a vengeance. We had 11 inches of snow all at once, more than we usually get all together in a whole winter. In the pictures above, my bees are safe in their hives with lots of honey to feed on. Who could have foreseen an ice storm so destructive only the day after these pictures were taken that would destroy the cozy life of one of my hives ?

We spent 12 hours listening and watching branches fall. It was too dangerous to go out so this is what I found the next morning. One of my hives destroyed, broken boxes and lots of dead bees.

I was able to save a few frames so If the Queen was among then they might survive.
I will let you know!!

Honey Harvest & State Of The Hives July 2011

Our oldest granddaughter is all fitted out to help me check out the state of my bee-hives, and possibly harvest honey.

First we had to get the smoker going . Smoke is used to calm the bees.

I burn fir cones or burlap in the smoker, I find these work best and are readily available.

The 'Leaning Tower Of Beeza'. The placing of this hive was not my choice. We had some empty old hive boxes sitting here until I could get around to cleaning and storing them. A swarm of bees from somewhere else decided this would be the perfect home for them.

In the top box the bees are bringing in honey but very little is capped yet. The honey in the cells of the honeycomb needs to be capped with wax by the bees before harvesting. Bees won't cap the honey until the honey is at the proper moisture level, about 18%.

The darker area are cells being filled with honey.

We need a bit of a breeze to clear out the smoke, but it is working well ,the bees are calm.

Here is a frame with drone brood. Drones are male bees.

A closer look. The drones are larger, so need more room~ thus the larger cells.

My other hive. I think I need to trim some of the vegetation as there is too much shade.

We collect a few frames of honey from this hive.

Where is that queen?

Spring?

We have just had the coldest April on record. There has only been one day where the temperature reached above 60 degrees. I left an extra box of honey on each hive going into winter this year so I would not have to feed the bees this spring but I did not anticipate Spring being so long, cold, and wet. The first dry weekend I saw the bees busy in two of the three hives but only a few coming and going from the one started last season. Upon closer inspection these bees were coming from the adjacent hive, a hint that it was being robbed. I got into the hive and found that what few bees it had left were all dead , just their heads stuck in empty cells. There was capped honey in the outer frames and just above them the upper two hive boxes were full. I extracted one box and put the other on this hive. I'm not sure why this hive did not survive the winter as this had been the most prolific first year hive I have ever had. I was talking to other beekeepers who purchased bees from the same supplier as me , and they had the same problem. Many Californians have trouble with the Pacific Northwest winters and that is where these bees came from... hm-mm.

These bees have created a new entrance. I wonder if mice tried to get in during the snowy weather.

It is the last day of April and we may get above 60 degrees for the second time this month. There are a few early blooming plants the bees are collecting pollen from, but most is coming from Dandelions.

The bees have started moving into the extra upper box and with the hope of warmer weather I may not have to feed them this year... we'll see.

Bees in the Winter

There is not much for the beekeeper to do with the bees during the snowy days of winter.
We don't get a lot of snow here in the Pacific Northwest and occasionally we get daytime temperatures above 50 degrees so the bees come out for a cleansing flight (elimination of waste).

This year has not been as mild as some so the hives should have plenty of stored food to last until spring. I gave away most of this years honey at Christmas but have a couple of gallons left for our own use. Now back to the playoffs. Go Seahawks!!!

The Littlest Beekeeper

The honey has all been collected. Winter is coming and it is an unusually warm day for November, so we are going to check on the hives to make sure they have enough stores ( frames of capped honey) to last the winter. Our youngest grand child is over for a visit with Papa and wants to help. This hood is a little big but will work just fine.

"Papa can I see the bees?"

"They look good to me but they are not too happy."
They all have enough to last until Spring but these boxes are so full of bees that I may have to feed them if Winter lasts too long.

"That was fun but I like playing with trucks too,"

"But a bowl full of whipping cream is the best!!!

BeeKeeper At The Fair

I , the Beekeepers' wife,have high- jacked the Beekeeper's blog to show you a glimpse of a wonderful time we had today at the Puyallup Fair with our oldest Grandchild, C.T. The Beekeeper and C.T. enjoy many of the same things so it is always fun to spend time with him. Here the Beekeeper and C.T. tickle and tingle their feet after we have walked for a few hours.

C.T. got a toe-tickling twice!

One of the Beekeepers' and C.T.s favorite indulgence is root beer floats. These two are root beer connoisseurs, but on a day like today, full of sunshine and happy things to see and do, most any root beer will satisfy.

Especially when you add it to vanilla ice cream.

See? Oh, happy, happy day!

I'm Back!!!

I am back from my business trip to Southeast Florida. It is a beautiful place but I'm glad to live in the Pacific Northwest. ( Above :honeybee on thyme blossoms.)

For some reason they wouldn't let me take this big boy home on the plane. I think he would make a better watchdog then the ones we have. Not so great on early warning but a great deterrent to unwanted visitors.

I have finished harvesting honey from all three hives and you can see the difference in color between the new and old hives.

I pour the honey from the extractor into gallon jars and the filter it and place in pints.

I was watching the honey bees work the thyme in the herb garden when a bald-faced hornet attacks, kills and eats one of the bees. I have killed three yellow jacket nests this year, maybe I should look for his nest also.

Next I will be harvesting some late season honey.....yum!