New Beemaster Saves The Hive.

[jdmidwest]

My hive of bees has finally made a turn for the better. Weekly inspection today revealed many new eggs and some new comb drawn on my Homemade Foundationless Frame. No beetles or moth worms. Most frames were being filled with nectar. The bees were feisty and flaring up at me when I tried to move them off frames.

The past month has been depressing each time I opened them up for inspection. First it was the small hive beetles. Then there was the lack of brood. Last week I found a frame of comb being destroyed by wax moth larva. Then Saturday, I found Varroa Mites in one section of comb. All the major problems except for the biggie have been plaguing me.

With advice from others, I condensed the hive down to one brood box. I started feeding sugar water and reduced the entrance so they could guard better.

This weekend I took the boxes apart and painted all of the hive parts with a fresh new coat of paint. I dug wax moth cocoons out of all the crack and crevices. I made a new solid bottom to replace the screened hive bottom that came with the hive. I removed the last frame of odd comb that they had made and found where my queen may have been hiding. Instead of using the foundation material provided, they had built a new comb on one side of it and had brood on it. Since it was wedged between the foundation, it created a hiding spot for a lot of bees and bugs too. Since there was only space for one layer of bees in there, they were having a hard time cleaning and covering the brood causing them to be deformed.

After some research, I decided to try a foundationless frame to replace the one I pulled out. Standard foundation comes as a sheet of beeswax imprinted with a standard cell size that they draw out. But in real life, bees make several size cells. Small ones for workers, bigger ones for drones, and a large one for a queen. So I made a foundationless frame and installed it Sunday. Today I pulled it out and they have drawn their first new comb since I moved them in. Pretty little white comb, all natural. It does not look like much, but it takes a lot of effort for them to produce the beeswax. I may go this route from now on in the brood box as it was a simple design, and all natural. I need to rotate out the old wax comb as it is getting dark and nasty looking. Wood frame, bamboo skewers, large craft sticks, and some 50 lb fishing line for support. Its obvious that they like to do it this way, they never attempted to draw any wax on the store bought foundation I put in there the first few weeks.

Now we need some rain and some nice fall flowers. Nothing like a bunch of happy bees.

[ness]

Geez, you've been busy as your beez!

You're starting to make this cool-sounding hobby sound like a lotta work!

[jdmidwest]

Not just a hobby, an adventure. When I set out at something, it is usually full bore.

The net is a great place, lots of info and ideas. Local beekeepers are great resources too.

I like to make stuff myself instead of buying it. Wood working is not a problem with me. It kills the time in the afternoons while I am watering the garden or wishing there was water in the streams to fish.

And, Beekeeping is work. To be consistant, you need to open the hive up and check it during the warm summer days. If it is weak like mine, you have to work it to make it stronger, Winter is only a few months away. If they are not up to speed, I will end up with some fertilize for the garden in the spring.

The nice thing is watching them work. They are a well organized, self sufficient colony for the most part. They carry out their dead and diseased bees. They scrub their cells and hive, meticulious cleaners. They patrol and repel invaders. They control the temperature of the hive with their wings and vibrations. They do a little dance and wiggle their butt to tell others where the good food is. Watching all that is going on inside of a creature with a brain the size of a pin head puts life into a perspective.