A New Beekeeper’s Journal

By Michael Steinkampf

Beekeeping update 10-1-10.

I have come to learn that late summer is a tough time for bees in Birmingham. Although the hives are bringing in some pollen, the nectar sources literally dry up come August. Two of the newer hives have demonstrated their starvation by ejecting dead brood, so I decided to feed all the hives syrup. The nucs seem to be hanging in there, but it has become more apparent over time that nuc #2 is doing better than the others.

The number of bees in nuc #2 (in the middle) seems to be increasing, while the other nucs are dwindling.

A frame from nuc #1. No brood, and no queen anywhere. Nuc #3 looked about the same. Only nuc #2 had any brood.

I combined nuc #3 with #2, and installed the frames of nuc #1 with another hive. Newspaper inserted between the nucs allows them to get used to each other before the bees completely intermingle. I put a few slits in the paper before combining the hives.

I starved two of the nucs into queenlessness, and two other new hives also suffered. I found that hefting the back of the hive is a good way to determine whether bees have enough honey to get by. I still think making summer splits is a good idea, with numerous bees, warm weather, and plenty of time to get the hives ready for winter. However, I have learned that nutrition is a critical matter at this time of the year Next year I’ll do better.

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Beekeeping update 9-3-10.

I stopped feeding the nucs on August 23^rd. Dead brood started showing up on the landing board of nuc #1 today, a sign of malnutrition. Clearly, these nucs are finicky about feeding – too much syrup, and they prepare to swarm. Too little, and they starve. The syrup jars went back on today.

Dead brood on the landing board.

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Beekeeping update 8-23-10.

The Sandhurst beeyard as of 8-23-10. I have been cutting back the trees to give the hives a bit more sun.

I applied Apiguard to all the hives. The nucs got 12.5g; all the others got 25 g. These doses are low, but the temperatures are into the 90’s.

I gave a talk about honey bees to my Boy Scout troop.

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Beekeeping update 8-16-10

The nucs are still developing. I inserted a frame of brood and bees from one of the other hives into nuc #3 a week ago to see if this might strengthen it. Looks like it may have worked too well.

The syrup jar on nuc #3 (left) is empty. This nuc has increased its rate of syrup consumption compared to the other nucs. Increased syrup consumption with decreased egg laying may mean this hive is preparing to swarm.

Inside view of nuc #3. Doesn’t look that crowded to me.

Nice brood pattern in nuc #3, but no eggs seen.

Queen cell in nuc #3.

More queen cells in nuc #3. I disrupted the queen cells and stopped feeding this nuc.

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Beekeeping update 8-7-10

New nucs are all taking syrup. Reasonable bee traffic at the entrances.

A peek into nuc #1. The outer frames are still empty.

Marked queen in nuc #1.

Nuc #2. More bees here. Nuc #3 looked about the same.

Ex-feral hive (“Martha”) seems to be hanging in there. I partitioned off the hive with some plastic sign material. Best to give the bees just the room they need and no more.

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