The different flower the bees visit results in different color honey.  On the right is from Summer/Fall 2010.  Middle was Spring/Summer 2011 and left is Fall 2011.  It is cool with the Honey come out as dark as used motor oil.

Honey Sale

Today Aleena decided to sell the honey. From the stand in the front yard between 11 am and 5 pm, she sold 31.5 lbs of honey and 24 lip balms. She worked really hard all day long. It sure draws a larger crowd than a lemonaid stand does.

Marked Queen

My new queen bee came in via UPS. She is marked with a blue do so it will be easier to find her. Each year they mark queen with a different color so you can identify when she was born.

Blue is the color for 2011.

Solar Oven

I created a solar oven to melt bees wax. The wax is filtered through a cloth and then into a pan of water. It floats on the water and is easy to remove.

The melting point for bees wax is around 145 degrees. On a 87 degree day we were able to get the oven upto 178 degrees. So the wax melted very well and we now have filtered wax.

Capturing a Queen

Aleena & I went through our large hive yesterday looking for our queen.  The brood pattern did not look very strong, so she is not a strong queen.

After looking through all the hive body frames, all 27 of them, we found the queen on the last one.  The fact that she was on a frame that was not built out much shows she was not working as needed.

I placed a open jar over her.  Once she climbed on the jar, I slid the lid on and sealed it.

On Thur, I am expecting the delivery of my new queen from GA.

High Winds

Last night we had a major storm with tornado like winds of 90 - 100 mile per hour winds (National Weather Service confirmed).  Our block will lose 4 -6 trees since the storm tore them apart.


The only damage to the bee hives was that the lids were blown off.  I am sure there was some rain got in to the hives. I do not know how much damage that caused for the hive, but there was some activity today.  Once we have had a could days of nice weather, I might go in to check them out.


What I find amazing is that a 6 foot tall hive did not get blown over by 80 mph winds.  It was all the propolis and weight of the honey that held it together.

Pollination

The bees do a great deal of pollination in the plants around our neighborhood. This results in better production of berries, fruits and vegetables and more flowers.

This year our strawberry crop is out of control. We usually pick a small bowl of strawberries a day, now we are picking a strainer full every day. That results in a lot of strawberries smothies just to keep up. We also had neighbors notice the improvement in the flowers in thier yards.

We we feel that we are reaping the benefits of the bees prior to getting the honey.

First Honey

I was able to take 4 frames of capped honey out of the super. I am just guessing but I expect each frame to hold 2-3 pounds of honey.

I am doing this for a couple reasons.

• To give the bees more space and make them happier
• To give have them start on new frames of honey and increase production.

Starting a new hive

I am starting up two new hives. Once we open up the three pound package, place the queen cage in the hive between a couple frames, then you just dump the bee in.

Since the bees do not have a home to defend, they will not sting. So you do not need the bee suite. Last year one went up the pants leg looking for a home and stung me. Thus the bee suite.

It really is fun just dumping the bees in.

Pallet of bees. The new packages of bees are raised in CA and shipped to a Beekeeping supply shop in WI. Each box has 3 pounds of bees, or about 6,000 and a queen.

We went up there to get 3 boxes and brought them home this weekend.

Bees at School

Today Aleena taught her 4th grade class about bees. She had shown a slide presentation explaining many of the finer aspects of bees. With her she displayed a frame with a queen cell and a full frame of capped honey. She also had the observation hive with 3 frames of bees.

Her class asked a lot of great questions. They enjoyed seeing all the bees and got a taste of fresh honey.

Spring Queen Cells

In the spring it is natural for hives to colinize. They do this by creating new queens, thus creating the queen cells.

I will need to go through my hives every 7 - 10 days are remove these to keep my hive strong for the season.

Added a Super

Since the hive has taken off so early this year I have added a super. This will expand the hive and provide a place for the bees to add honey for me to harvest. This year I am only putting 9 frames into the box. This will allow for the bees to draw the comb out farther and place more honey in each cell. This actually result in greater honey production... so they say. I have a bar that spaces each frame an equal distance apart.

New bee suites

Aleena and I got new bee suites. There is no way for the bees to get into sting us. I guess we have a bit more confidence with them on. The real test will be mid summer when the hive is full with 50,000 bees and the get agitated.

Start of Year 2

It is the middle of April and Aleena and I went in to the hive for the first time this year. The bees have been active for a good month now and we expected a population explosion. We were right there was a lot of bees and the next batch will hatch in a week or so. As you can see in the photo there is honey in the hive, so they have food. There is not a lot of pollen, so I will need to get them a supplement for that.

Proof They are Italian Bees

It starting to warm up and the bees are out looking for food where ever they can. They are bring back some pollen, so there are some flowers out there. Also, they have been in the compost bin. They really have taken to the espresso grounds we dump in there. I should have expected that they are Italian Bees.

Warm Winter Day

On a warm winter day the bees will remove any bees that died in the hive. While it seem like a lot, remember there are thousands of bees in the hive.

They will also leave the hive to take care of business, thus yellow spots in the snow. This is a good sign that the hive is making it through the winter.

Prepare for Winter

Just prior to winter, I wrap the hives with a insulating wrap. The bees will remove all Drones during the fall. There is a hole part way up so the bees can get out during the winter.

Honey Harvest

The harvesting of honey takes time. It starts by using a heated knife to cut the wax cap off of the sealed cells. Then the frames are inserted into a centerfuge to spin the honey out.

It takes time on straining the wax from the honey, but thats OK.

Pollen Trap

The pollen trap will allow the bees to enter over a screen and brush off some pollen. Then they leave through a tube which can not be entered through. On a good day a 1/2 cup of pollen can be captured.

More than just honey – There is Pollen !

Bees collect pollen to serve as protein in their diet. They collect the pollen on their back legs and bring it back to the hives.

There is a verity of color due to the different flowers they collect from. And yes the different colors taste different. Some are sweet others are spicy.