First Hive Checks

 Apiary Update:

Here are examples of how queens should be laying excellent patterns of brood:

         

    

Examples of a "spotty queen":

Spotty queens can be replaced however, replacing a queen can be a risk because the colony might not accept a new queen once established.

Main tasks at this time:

1) Keep bees nourished with 1:1 sugar water and pollen patties;

2) Keep bees warm;

3) Regular hive checks every 10 -12 days;

4) Remove queen cups and cells after confirming you have evidence of a queen (eggs, larva, and pupa);

Queen Cup Examples:

Queen cell examples:

    

        

5) Remove any burr comb and save it for melting down for wax products (see examples below):

    

    

• Burr comb is always drone comb.

• When a queen lays an egg in drone comb, the egg will become an unfertilized bee - a drone!

• The more drones a hive has, the more the female workers have to labor to keep the colony nourished well.

• Keeping a small population of drones is important, however, in case you lose your queen. The colony needs drones available to mate with a newly hatched queen.

No Eggs or Larva? 

You probably have a queenless colony if you can't find eggs and larva. This needs to be addressed immediately!

Call Dale Lupton 907-978-1455 to order a new queen.

• If your colony is queenless for more than a couple weeks, some of the workers will develop ovaries and fill cells with multiple unfertilized eggs which become drones. 

• A colony in this condition will eventually have a full population of drones and will die out. 

• Also, this alters the comb in a very undesirable way - worker cells become drone cells - All drone comb must be removed to prevent future queens from laying high populations of unfertilized, drone eggs.

Examples of laying workers:

    

                  

        

Laying Worker Drone Comb:                   

What to do about laying workers:

• Have a replacement queen on hand in a queen cage.
• Lay a white flatbed sheet or blanket on the ground at least 50 feet and preferably with a  building between the hive and the sheet;
• Carry each frame over the sheet and shake off all the bees;
• Place the frame into a tote or a cooler with a lid making sure no bees are on the frames;
• Hang the new queen in the middle of the top brood box, leaving the cap on the queen cage so the bees will have time to get used to the new queen's pheromones (If you quick release the queen, the colony may kill her);
• Put all the frames back into the hive boxes.

Any workers who have not developed ovaries will reenter the hive and laying workers will not be allowed back into the hive.

You must re-queen the colony since they will not be able to create their own queen at this late date.

Preparing for Spring Hiving

 Hello Beekeeping Friends and Family,

My first shipment of honeybees is arriving this weekend. I am taking pollen patties out of the freezer to make sure they are at room temperature when I place them in the hives. My equipment is warming up inside my house for a couple days before hiving. Sugar water will be made the morning of hiving at a 1:1 ratio of sugar to water. I will put a couple teaspoons of Honey B Healthy in the sugar water. 

I always start with one deep brood box because more space means less warmth for the bees in early spring. I wait to set my hive equipment outside on foundation brick until minutes before hiving the bees to ensure the equipment is warm.

For folks hiving on bare foundation, don't let the sugar water run out! Top off internal sugar feeders every three days for the first several weeks. 

Insulation: I make sure to insert insulation boards on both sides of the internal brood box and wrap my hives on the outside with insulation. I put 1-inch rigid foam insulation under the bottom board and inside the telescoping lid, taping the seams or edges with aluminized duct tape (foil tape). 

Entrance reducers are a must this time of year! 

I wait to hive my bees until it is very close to 50* or warmer. I use a spray bottle to mist the bees to help them transition from the shipping container to the hive. If it is cooler than 50* or the wind is blowing, I do not mist the bees to protect them from becoming hypothermic.

I like to keep Benedryl and Epinephrine handy just in case I have an allergic reaction to bee venom.