Well we had some cold weather while I was out of town so I got worried about the bees, and went out to look at the hives when the rain finally stopped on Tuesday. It was still cold so I didn't expect to see any bees - but I was very surprised to see the landing area of hive #1 full of dead bees :(
So on Wednesday the weather warmed up so I went outside to look inside. The first thing I saw was the same landing area was empty! Somebody moved all of those dead bees and I soon found out that it was the bees themselves. What I had forgotten is that I had put the frames with dead bees from the deadout hive in hive #1 and the bees on the landing board on Tuesday were simply the already dead bees that had been cleaned out of the frames. When I looked in the hives I found those frames empty of dead bees and in fact several of them already being filled with honey!
The other hives looked good, so I updated the sugar syrup and left them alone - for now...
For now - a place to capture my adventures in Virginia beekeeping.
Sweet Accounting
20012 Honey
4/21...16 pints (9 frames)
2011 Honey
8/13... (5 frames, 2 shallow)
7/17..39 pints (11 frames some shallow)
7/4 .. 10 pints (6 frames, (4 shallow))
6/12 .. 18 pints (7 frames)
5/28 .. 20 pints (8 frames)
5/14 .. 25 pints (9 frames)
2010 Honey
afraid my records were poor this year, but based on sales/gifts about 20 gallons.
'09 - honey - 24 gallons!
10/23 . 16 pints (9 frames)
9/18 ... 38 pints
7/11 ... 42 pints (14 frames)
6/21 ... 47 pints (18 frames)
6/13 ... 26 pints (11 frames)
5/26 ... 24 pints
'08 - (# of frames of honey harvested)
Hive #1 (deep frames)
5/21 ... 4
5/29 ... 2
Hive #2 (medium frames)
5/29 ... 3
6/8 ..... 5
6/15 ... 1
Hive #3 (medium frames)
5/29 ... 2
6/8 ..... 3
6/15 ... 4
6/25 ... 1
4/21...16 pints (9 frames)
2011 Honey
8/13... (5 frames, 2 shallow)
7/17..39 pints (11 frames some shallow)
7/4 .. 10 pints (6 frames, (4 shallow))
6/12 .. 18 pints (7 frames)
5/28 .. 20 pints (8 frames)
5/14 .. 25 pints (9 frames)
2010 Honey
afraid my records were poor this year, but based on sales/gifts about 20 gallons.
'09 - honey - 24 gallons!
10/23 . 16 pints (9 frames)
9/18 ... 38 pints
7/11 ... 42 pints (14 frames)
6/21 ... 47 pints (18 frames)
6/13 ... 26 pints (11 frames)
5/26 ... 24 pints
'08 - (# of frames of honey harvested)
Hive #1 (deep frames)
5/21 ... 4
5/29 ... 2
Hive #2 (medium frames)
5/29 ... 3
6/8 ..... 5
6/15 ... 1
Hive #3 (medium frames)
5/29 ... 2
6/8 ..... 3
6/15 ... 4
6/25 ... 1
Dictionary
- Brood Box - where the brood (the eggs, larva and young bees) are raised. Normally the bottom most box.
- Checkerboarding - Interspersing empty brood comb (or even foundation) into the brood area. This is done to give the queen more room to raise brood and hopefully not swarm.
- Entrance Reducer - Just a wooden stick made to fit in the entrance and make the entrance smaller. This will help keep in heat and allow the bees to guard the entrance better against bees that do not belong to the hive (robber bees).
- Orientation Flight - The first trip out of the hive by young bees. They try to understand their location so they can make it back home. Also occurs when the hive is moved.
- Super - meaning "above", is actually any box above the brood box (or boxes). Normally the location of honey!
- Syrup Feeder - Essentialy an upside down canning jar with pin holes punched in the lid. This is placed in the hive to feed the bees as needed.
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