And the bees today - settling in!

And here they are settling in! Here they are in their new home - Freya!!! Chris, my scrapbooking friend from Scrappers Haven chose the name for my new hive Freya is the Pagan Goddess of Love :) And like Chris says, I love my bees :)

So I now have Flora, Fauna and Freya :)

Sorry Sharon, I just couldn't pick Merryweather because I live in Alberta lol! there is NOTHING Merry about weather in Alberta (lol) ;) lol but forgive me and please throw in a few extra scones for me every time you bake some because they are soooooo yummy :)

This morning I took the bees out of their temporary home in the plastic box by lifting out the two frames and pacing those frames in the centre of a brood box and surrounding it by more frames. A bottom board was underneath and a cover on top. A little entrance at the front and they have a feeder with some syrup and a landing board. They seem quite happy and all the ones not on the frames were all seeming happy to go in in the new hive.....lots of bees were flying around and there were quite a few on the wall of the workshop...they'll settle down later today though and tonight will go on in the hive. Lloyd will add a waterproof roof to the hive and then we can move it out to te vegetable garden and its permanent place.

Their first night!

This is how the swarm spent their first night! A thunder storm swept through early evening, so we carried them in to Lloyd workshop as the plastic tub would have blown away and we couldn't risk water getting in to them anyway! So we carried them inside and they were all settled in there and were fine....They had all gone into the box before we moved them anyway. I had already placed two frames in there and they had settled onto the frames quickly - I sprayed the frames with syrup so they attached to the frames quickly :)

Lloyd built me a bottom board and lid for one of my brood boxes, so that today I could get them into a hive. So 10pm last night we were out in the workshop cutting wood for that :) We have a Swallow that lives in our workshop and he was not too happy with us for using power tools in the workshop that late in the evening...he would fly in and sit on the light fitting and then fly out and fly around the workshop a few times and then fly in again and then out and do laps again and then repeat.....NOT happy!

Pictures from the Swarm....

Charlynn kindly sent me these pictures that she took yesterday while I was catching the honeybee swarm. I can't believe how lucky I was that the timing was so great for this swarm. Firstly that I was at home and that the swarm was right outside the front door! And then that I had friends here! That we had JUST inspected my hives so I knew they weren't my bees! Then that Chris was home from school to video the swarm. And then that friends were here to watch it happening - and THEN that Charlynn was here with her camera to take pictures!!!! I mean - how perfect was all of that??????

And I actually kind of look like I know what I'm doing ;)

Isn't a swarm of bees on a branch an amazing thing to see? And to think that this swarm came to rest right outside my house! What are the chances?

Lloyd and I were talking last night and we were wondering if they are attracted by the pheromones of our other bees....we were talking about the beekeepers on Beemasters who have had swarms in their yards or their neighbours yards and it does seem quite common - so perhaps it is the pheromones from our bees that attract them?

Anyone know?

My first swarm...

Today I caught my first swarm! I had some friends over for a picnic and so I had an audience too! We had just been down to look at my own hives so I know the swarm wasn't from my own hives which looked fine. We walked back up the hill from my hives and I was walking over to admire a Lily that had flowered when I saw something flying around by a flowering bush....as I got closer I realised there was lots of things flying around! Then I realised it was a swarm! A Honeybee swarm! OMG!!!

I couldn't believe it - this swarm was less than 10 metres from my front door! How wonderful! Imagine a honeybee swarm choosing to settle so close to a beekeepers front door! How perfect is that?

I got a few things together - a box, a sheet and some sharp scissors, put my veil and gloves on and then sat beside the swarm and cut the branches off and placed them in the box.

I scooped up the bees on the ground and placed them in the box or on the sheet and then closed the lid leaving a gap just big enough for the bees to get in and out.

I placed a feeder can of syrup in the box and also placed two frames in the box that I sprayed with syrup. (when I checked on them later the frames were covered with very happy looking bees by the way)

A thunderstorm came in this evening and by this time all the bees had entered the box and none were flying around any more. It isn't a stable box at all so we couldn't leave it out for the storm so we carried it to the workshop and its in there is the dry and shelter. The bees can get in and out but they seem quite happy in there so I don't think they're going to leave.....they have syrup and they have frames. What more would bees want??? ;)

I know I didn't do things perfectly.....I wasn't prepared at all lol - it was totally unexpected....I got one sting (which didn't hurt at all lol...maybe it was all the adrenaline running through me lol)! But I was so excited and so thrilled and I did my best and I was happy to do it :)

I'm glad I got to share the experience with friends - I'm glad Chris was here to film it for me. I'm glad I was home to find the swarm. I'm so glad I got to experience yet another part of beekeeping :) It truly was a wonderful thing to find and a wonderful thing to experience and I am thrilled to have three hives - two from packages and one from a swarm.

And yes, as Cori has reminded me, now I need to think of another name!!! Flora, Fauna and.........any ideas????

How to make a bee-friendly backyard habitat!!

forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,15975.0.html

A great post about creating a backyard habitat for bees!!!

Great pictures

www.flickr.com/photos/hooked_on_macro/sets/72157605225065608/


The guy that lives in the village where I grew up finally got to spend some time with a local beekeeper and took some macro images of their hives! At the above link you can see some of the pictures he took - aren't they great????

Burr comb...

Today we finally had a break in the weather and our timetable that allowed us to check on the hives and to check if the Queens had been released from their cages! It had been 5 days since we had put the Queens into the hives!

Thankfully yes, both Queens had been released from the cages. The worker bees had eaten through the marshmallows and the Queens were no longer in the cages, so we removed the cages and let the few bees that were walking about inside the cages, back into the hives....then we quickly closed up the hives again as it was cold and damp. We are still having such horrible weather here.

Both hives look to be doing really well...bees look to be well, busy building comb wile the weather is bad. One feeder is empty so I will refill that tomorrow - one has a little syrup left in it but I will top that up tomorrow too. The bees can't get out at the moment as the weather is just so bad.

We will leave the hives alone now for a week or two and then do an inspection and see for eggs and larvae. Hopefully then there will be signs that t he Queens are doing well and have been accepted by the hives and both hives will be doing good!

When we took out one of the cages - from Flora, we found it was covered in burr comb! Burr comb is comb the bees have built anywhere OTHER than on the frames - ie comb built in the WRONG place ;) Isn't it beautiful? Howe clever of them to build this amazing comb so fast!!!! :) On the Queens cage since Thursday night :) Like a gift for their new Queen :)

Susannah is taking it to school tomorrow to show her teacher and her class :)

Hotels rooftop hive!

www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/437506

Requeening

Last Sunday we did another inspection. It was then three weeks since we had installed the hives. By then we had given both hives plenty of time to settle in and they should have had plenty of time to draw comb, and have brood at all stages from eggs to larvae and maybe baby bees almost ready to be born...

Unfortunately there were no signs at ALL of any stage of brood. We had not seen either Queen and could see no eggs at all. Having taken advice from other beekeepers we had given them plenty of time and not rushed into requeening as many people do. The hives were not showing signs of being Queenless apart from not having brood which is why we had not rushed into anything

However, with our short Summer season it was now time to order Queens. So we ordered new Queens on Monday and on Thursday evening Lloyd picked up two Californian Queens from Beemaid. We unplugged the corks and plugged them with marshmallow and hung them in the hives so the hive bees would eat the marshmallow over the next day or so - this again gives the hive time to get used to the Queen and accept her before she is released into the hve from the cage.

Today (three days later) we will open the hive just to check she has been released. If not then we will carefully release her. Then we will close the hive and leave them alone for a couple of weeks and then next time we open them up HOPEFULLY we will find eggs-aplenty!!!!!

Oh please let us find eggs! these hives really need to build up their colonies now so they have a nice big number to huddle together with in winter!

The nails in the top of the cages are ones Lloyd carefully added so that we could hang the Queens cage over the top of the frames in between two frames in the hive and the other bees could climb all over the cage and get to know the Queen :)

The Queen is in the cage with several worker bees who care for her - feed her and act like her maids!

Learn to love your Dandelions!

Bees and other pollinators LOVE them!!! Relax a bit and leave them in the lawn a few extra days - don't stress about the odd one or two - remember you are helping the environment - DON'T reach for weed killer! Find an environmentally friendly way to remove weeds - remember that many weed killers are HARMING our pollinators!!!!

Learn to love your dandelions the way our honey bees and other pollinators do :)

Buddleia Beauty

The scent from my Buddleia Trees is incredible, so I can quite see why my honey bees are drawn to it - these trees are filled with buzzing honey bees and bumble bees today...as well as tiny little pollinators of all kinds! All with their heads buried in the perfect lilac coloured flowers!

My other tree is a slightly different shade of purple and isn't flowering quite as much yet because it doesn't get as much sunshine it also needs to be moved before TOMORROW!!!!!! YIKES!!!

Hanging out at the hives....

A few pictures snapped down at the hives this afternoon...it's lovely relaxing down there with a cup of tea, watching the bees coming back with their pollen stores :) click on the piccies to see the pollen their are bringing back and the bees coming in to land...the foragers readying for take off.......guard bees fanning their alarm scent, the wasp on the feeder stealing syrup from the outside of the feeder etc etc....lots happens at the entrance. Notice the dead bee and bits of wax on the porch - the bees have been doing their housekeeping again!

Bee quick ;)

www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=2229&it=1&affiliate_id=436

Free lapbook project pack on bees to print off!!! But only until tomorrow!!!

Great video for you and your kids!!!

tv.hww.ca/video/watch/1

Interesting and informative video for your kids AND you - all about bees and how you can help them!!! :)

Frame from Fauna

Frame from Fauna (hive 2) yesterday. Click on the picture to see the image larger.

I added this image simply to ask people on Beemasters forum to tell me what the various
cells were filled with. I am told that the cells are filled with honey and pollen...some of which are capped. I was actually surprised that only two weeks in there is already honey!! I thought it would take them longer to make honey than that! I guess not!

All I can say is thank goodness for the forums - especially Beemasters!!! I don't know what I would do without them all there to ask for advice - thanks everyone!!!!

Bees

My bees working hard :)

Pollen patterns

On patrol at the entrance...

Guard bees and bees on the porch....

Bee kisses

Crowds....

Up close in the hive!

Drones

Can you spot a drone in these pictures? He's bigger than the worker bees...his eyes are different....drones are the male bees that are born at certain times of the year and are born simply to fertilise the virgin Queens.

2nd Hive Inspection

Today we did our second hive inspection. I took the camera down with us and thought I'd add a few pictures for you all to enjoy! Don't forget you can click on them to see them bigger :)

Well maybe not!

Well, maybe not....maybe thats just the way bees are after two days of being cooped up in the hive! I've just been back down and Flora is now calm and the bees are coming and going as normal....but Fauna is going crazy with the bees flying about all over the places and bees pouring in and out all over each other!

How strange!

Fascinating to watch! They never do it at the same time though! Interesting!

Somethings wrong with Flora!

The bees in Flora seem a little disturbed by something today. They were calm earlier when I was out there. I sat out there for quite a while watching the bees calmly come and go with their pollen. then the UPS truck came by and I was busy with the children. When I went back out, I found Flora like this. The bees were going crazy outside of the hive. I'm not sure what happened to upset them.

Fauna, as you can see is still as calm as ever...a few bees on the feeder and a few foragers coming and going with pollen - it has its busy moments but nothing like this very often.

I wish the frogs would be quiet so you could actually hear the bees!

Excited

I'm thrilled that it's going to be lovely and sunny tomorrow. I'm glad we've had the rain for two days - we needed it, but I'm so excited about the sunshine and warm temperatures again tomorrow - I've missed the bees and I can't wait to open up the hive and see what they've been up to! I'm due to get in there and do an inspection! I hope Lloyd gets home in time so he can join me and we can video it and take pictures!

The bees can get out and about and do some flying tomorrow too :)

Letter from the Premiers office!!

Remember my email to the Premier? I got a letter from his office today! My Email was forwarded to the Agriculture and Rural Development Office. I hope you can read the letter clearly. I know they only reply out of politeness half the time, but it's still nice to get a response and even if just one person in their office learns something about honey bees then at least thats progress :)