Queen Release

I went down to the hives after work today to make sure that the queens had been released. I was going to wait a week to let the bees settle down, but Vicky told me that the Queens should be out by now. I very quickly took the queen cage out of each hive (because it was a bit chilly outside) and put in two drawn frames that Vicky gave me. The bees were probably very happy to get a little bit of comb (since I didn't give them anything but plain wax sheets - it's easier for them when they have the comb already made). Here is me inspecting Thistle's queen cage:

I also put the other plastic hive top feeder that I have onto the Mint hive, you can see that it is a bit different than the other one that I have from Mann Lake, and you have to place an empty hive body over top of it to seal it. The hive top feeders are nice because you don't even have to put on a bee suit to fill them up:

Feeding

I stopped by the bees today with my friend Cliff so that I could feed the bees. Vicky fed the bees with the sugar water that they came with - but the Thistle hive had gone completely through it because they had the hive top feeder on (it's very easy for the bees to get up to the hive top feeder). The Mint hive didn't have the other hive top feeder on it, so it had a jar of sugar water on it. The bees had only gone half way through it because it is harder to get into. I put an additional cup of sugar water on that hive for the bees to get more food:

Package Installation

Vicky and Elizabeth installed my packages today and sent me this picture! The packages (that the bees came in) are in front of the hives because there are still a few stranglers:

Getting Ready for the Girls

The two packages of bees that I ordered from the Beekeepers Guild of San Mateo County are coming this weekend! Unfortunately I'll be in Seattle, but a friend of mine said she'd install my packages for me (thanks Vicky!). So I'm preparing my hives so they'll be ready for this weekend. I had 10 frames of wired wax leftover from last year that I am putting into the bottom brood boxes of the new hives. I marked them with Xs because I've heard that the wax only foundation doesn't go into honey extractors very well (also why I'm putting them in the bottom boxes, so they'll be used for brood, not honey).

Here is what a wired wax frame looks like, the foundation is only wax and it is held up by a few wires:

Here is what my other frames look like, they have duragilt foundation in them (which has a thin piece of plastic that is coated in wax, it also has a metal binding down the sides):

 After putting all of the frames in the hive bodies, I put one medium hive body on each and placed them outside in their new location on the deck. The new location is much sunnier than last year (in the side yard where the bees really only got early morning sun).

 

I also got a new deck box to store my bee equipment in. I put my tools, some feeders, and some extra hive bodies in there:

Bee Building

Spent a few nights at mom's house assembling the hive bodies and frames. I chose some more interesting colors for the hives this year ("mint" and "thistle"). The frames are stacked to the side of the hives because the wood glue is still drying and I didn't want them to get stuck inside the hive bodies. I forgot the drill so I couldn't put together the hive stands, but I'll do that next time:

Ramp Up

It's been a while! There is usually a lull in activity over the winter, but there has been an extra large lull for me since there were no bees. However, now I am starting to ramp back up for spring, starting with some brand new beequipment! This year I decided to go with Brushy Mountain Bee Farm for my hive equipment. A friend of mine in Seattle used their hive equipment, and I really liked how cute the hive tops were.

Brushy Mountain Bee Farm is actually based in North Carolina (I know, I know, I'm nuts. There are plenty of local suppliers). To to cut down shipping costs I bought most of my supplies un-assembled. Here are all of the parts that I need to assemble and paint in the next few weeks (this is 7 medium hive bodies and the 70 frames to go in them):

I got these items fully assembled:

• Copper Hive Top (much cuter than my previous telescoping top)
• Top Board with another entrance (not sure if I'll use the other entrance because I use hive top feeders - the bees wouldn't be able to enter from the top entrance if the feeder is on).
• Screened Bottom Board (this will help me monitor the mite population)
• Hive Top Feeder (I needed another one for my second hive. This is the Brushy Mountain version of my Mann Lake feeder - you need to place a hive body over it. At first glance I like my Mann Lake feeder better, but we'll see how well it works before I make a final judgment).

Beekeepers Guild Meeting

I finally attended a meeting with the Santa Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild meeting, I've been meaning to go for a while. There were some really good presentations on how to make mead, lotion, soap, and candles. I really liked it and everyone was really friendly so I joined the guild.

I also asked some folks there what they thought about what happened to my bees. Here were their thoughts:

1. Too much Apiguard -  if the bees are dosed with too much Apiguard, it can kill them just as easily as a pesticide. When the temperatures are too hot (100 degrees Fahrenheit +) you should reduce the amount of Apiguard that you are using. I also found out that a lot of people halve the amount of Apiguard they apply to the hive anyway. I think that it is unlikely that I applied too much Apiguard because the temperatures were in the 70s, I was following the label instructions, and when I opened the hive I couldn't smell/see any Apiguard when I opened the hive.
2. Varroa Mites - the population of Varroa Mites peaks after the population of the bees peaks, so as the bees are preparing for winter, there are way more mites. I may have treated the bees too late in the season and the mites would have had time to overtake the bees. I also doubt that this is what happened. Some of the folks at the meeting said that the wings are a dead giveaway, if the wings are very tiny and curled up, it's a sign that there are a lot of mites. Looking at the pictures of my bees, they look absolutely fine other than their behavior. I'll look more carefully next time I am at the hive.
3. Poison - There were recently a few cases of vandalism in Saratoga where people sprayed poison onto bee hives. Since my bees are behind a gate, I doubt my bees were victims of vandalism. I sent an email to our gardener to double check that he didn't spray anything in the yard (I really doubt he did anything, since he gardens for a few other folks with bees). There is also a lot of new landscaping around Los Altos because of all of the renovations in downtown, so it is possible that the city is just spraying their plants (and that is what my bees were into).

Of all of the theories, I still think that it was most likely pesticide. There is another meeting in December, some of the members suggested that I bring in one of my worst frames so that they can take a look.