So I am walking in the yard, and see a Yellow jacket walking Oh so brazenly into one of the hives. Now a week back I checked the heft (weight) of all the hives and this one was a tad lighter than others.
So I panic...... good reaction.
I open the hive, temps around 48-49 deg F, but almost no wind, ..... I see no bees in the top super, NOW a total freak out, I lift the super off the deep,..... ahhhhhhhhh a nice cluster of bees across about 4 frames and they are pissed at me, I get a tag and a few follow me about 20 ft away.
Having lifted the super I know why the hive is light, as I check the frames (still without any gear), I find all 4 frames on West side are empty.
I cover the hive and head up to the house , open up the freezer and pull 3 full capped frames of Honey I had saved.....pull 3 empty frames and add full frames into the super and put it all to bed after taking another hit.
Whew !!!!!! At least I know the hive will be OK for next 6 weeks.
Still watching out for the damn Yellow Jacket too.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Wrapping up an interesting season
My original hive was gang busters on honey, I eventually pulled 4 full boxes plus a few frames.
By end of season things quietened down and I continued to feed the other three hives.
The damn hive beetles became an issue and I played around with CD jewel cases as traps with some bait in them. They worked ok but each hive was different, which was surprising. One hive propolised the trap closed, while oters let them be.
Towards mid Oct I found some brood trouble and Don Hopkins , our inspector, came out and diagnosed varroa Mite problems, so we treated with the new Mite Away Quik Strips, and did all 4 hives. Saw large mite drop in 24 hrs, I next checked day 3 and again day 10, ( when i removed the strips) each time saw plenty mites and in one of the hives- dead Beatles too, but none in any other hives.
Still seeing pollen coming in on warm days despite it being December. The lightest hive has dry sugar food on top of inner cover. Will be watching it carefully.
Looking fwd to spring.
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