April Showers.... The Life and Times of the Honeybee in Mableton!

We are rolling right along with our unusual spring weather. The bees are really growing strong.  Right now, I am adding supers (honey boxes), like crazy. The strong hives are just getting stronger. The weaker hives are getting stronger, and I am trying to help the really weak hives. 

I have less to worry about in terms of the Varroa Mite right now, but I am concerned about Small Hive Beetle. I have seen a bunch of those rascals running around. In previous years, I had seen them in the end of spring or early June. The small hive beetle can over run the colony if it is weak and ruin the honey stores by laying their eggs in the honey, which hatches and the larva then goes to town. I kill them with my hive tool. I have tried different traps and have not had success, so hive tool it is ... at least until we can get chickens. 

I am still hopeful that we will get a lot of good honey off of the hives. Yesterday, I went out and had to take down a small Nuc (a type of hive that has 5 frames versus 10 frames) colony that I have because they swarmed a week ago and the queen cell did not turn into a queen. I opened up the box, took off 5 frames of honey for me and put in four more queen cells. This colony will have enough time to recoup before the winter, but I will not take any more honey from it. It should be able to grow nice and strong to survive this winter, but time will tell. I may end up just adding it to another hive. 

What is a queen cell? It is a cell that the colony has decided should become a queen for various reasons. The hive feels strong enough and part of it wants to leave, so there will be two hives. Or, something may have happened to the queen, and the hive produces an emergency queen cell from the eggs that remain. If the colony does not have a queen, it will die as there are no other bees that can lay eggs that become workers.

A lot of beekeepers would just combine the hive. I would have also except I pulled queen cells from a really strong hive and needed a place to put them. Since I had the queen cells, I thought I would use them and see what happens. Beekeepers try to manage the colonies so they will survive and produce a lot of honey. For me, the honey is the bonus. I try to be very conservative when I take the honey so the bees will have enough of their natural food to get through the winter.  

This year though, since I am pulling honey now, I might have to have two honey harvests!  You won't hear me complaining!!

Farmers Markets will be starting soon. Please think about spending a little extra on the honey. The beekeepers need your support and you will be happy to buy local.