the bees were robbed!

So among bees, there is a phenomenon known as robbing - when the nectar flow begins to ebb, sometimes bees from one colony will descend upon another colony and try to rob them of their honey. This usually happens right around now in the Pacific Northwest - the days are getting shorter, the nectar flow is getting sparse...it will soon be time to get ready for overwintering, where the bees will hibernate, depending on their stores for getting through the winter.

Today, because my bees are right outside my front window and my husband happened to be near the hive, we got to witness the battle of the bees firsthand. My huband came running to the backyard and said, "Something unusual is happening with the bees. You need to see this. It looks like they're fighting, there are dead bees all over the place."

What the what?!?

Yeah, it's been a year since I've had bees, and last time, they were on a property that was a 25 minute drive from my home. So I didn't get to witness much of the day to day. And now, my memory of what could have been witnessed is a bit hazy...

So I run to look out the front door window, which has a great view of the hive without the exposure that might allow for stinging. Sure enough, there was a flurry of activity in front of the hive, and some pretty heavy bearding on he front, but also on the sides, which was weird. We saw some that were actually fighting in midair, one on one, to defend their hive - my girls! There were dead bee bodies everywhere.

I freaked! I'm not in the bee club yet! What should I do? Who can I call???

The beekeeper who gave me the swarm! Now where did I put that number? .... apparently into the ether. Damn.

So I look at the Oregon Beekeepers Association website, and there is a swarm catching list! Yes! I look for someone near me, just in case they want to come out....no answer. I go to the next person on this list, and score - they're home! I explain my predicament, and they are happy to answer my questions. Thank you, Universe, that beekeepers tend to love helping out new beekeepers!

After listening to my predicament, he and his daughter say sounds like robbing, although it could also be them putting out the drones. I told him they pout out the drones three weeks ago, but maybe again? So kindly they let me know I could put in the entrance reducer to help them protect the hive, and also to put a block in front of the entrance a few inches out, so they'd have to slow down to go in - to protect from wasps divebombing the hive, which apparently they wil begin to do in a week or two here.

Then later in the day, the first beekeeper I'd called calls me back, and has a lovely english accent to boot  - did I have a bee problem? I explained the sitch and that it was well in hand from the previous advice, and he still wanted to know all about it, so I told him the story, and he asked, "Do you have Langstroth (traditionally used by modern beekeepers) hives, or Warre, or...?" Warre. He said they have several Warres, then proceeds to give me all kinds of other advice about managing Warres, then gives me his email address so he can send me more information about the bee club locally and more links...and hen he invites me to come out to his farm and see HIS bees!

He also said I can call him any time with questions and he is happy to help. Yes! I have a Warre mentor! Squee! I am so damn excited.

So back to my girls - the fighting continued, but not for long, and pretty soon everything had settled back down. It looks like our hive is strong, though, and they triumphed. There are still bee bodies scattered everywhere, and they are on guard outside the hive tonight, making sure no one else comes a robbing. So now I'm not sure how to get the entrance reducer in, because the bees are filling the entrance and making their own entrance reducer, only made of bees instead of wood.

I wish I could communicate with them to let them know this device will make their job so much easier...hey won't have to expend all that energy protecting the hive at night and keeping themselves warm, because there will be less space for others to get in.

I will figure out a way.

Meanwhile, I took a little video of the hive while the fight was happening. You can't really see any fighting per se, but you can see the bearding out front and the agitation of the girls and all of the dead bee bodies strewn everywhere. I recommend expanding your screen view for maximum detail.

my amazonian bees

My hands smell like beehives. Aside from a baby head, this is the greatest smell in the world to me.

We just got back from visiting our bees, who badly needed feeding, as it hasn't stopped raining here in WEEKS now, and bees won't fly in the rain. I was going to put feeder bags full of honey on the hives so they'd have some supplement to their nectar flow.

Rain makes for some tall grass, because when I got there, it looked like this:

Where are the hives? All I see is this tall grass! I got in closer and discovered that the hives were still there. I was immediately drawn to what we've been calling the weaker hive: there were bees flying in and out so much, it was like grand central at the entrance - some of them FULL of glowing yellow pollen. And understandably, there hasn't been a ray of sunshine in weeks, those girls must be starving in there! Fly, girls, fly!

I cleared away some of the tall grass nearest the hive and about four feet out. That took awhile, and then I finally had time to turn my attention to the "strong" hive, and I noticed that nothing was happening there. Nothing. No bees going in and out, no noise, just silence. Silence is not a good sign in a beehive, unless it's dusk. and even then, you'll hear humming inside. Not good. I opened up the hive and saw this:

Click for a larger view.

Bees with their heads pushed into the cells of the comb: starvation. My first thought was that I ought to have fed them so much sooner in this rain. But upon closer inspection and taking apart of the hive, I discovered this:

That's the queen cage. You can't see it, but there's a dead queen inside. Trapped, with no way to get out. The queen was never let out of the cage. That hive had no chance. New hive, new bees, no queen, no brood, and comb to build. No chance. I cannot even express my disappointment. They'd built some beautiful comb, but they were dead awhile ago. I remembered my husband asking me why the "big" hive was so quiet last time we'd been. It was dreary and cold and rainy - we just figured they were huddling inside for warmth. I had no idea - they were supposed to be the "strong" hive!

Upon inspection, I realized that the other hive was FULL - because when I went to place the feeder on the top bars of the hive, bees were literally pouring out of the top - the top! Last time we'd checked, the bees had barely built a box of comb on the bottom, and we were meant to come back and switch the boxes so they'd be building down. And here they were, two boxes brimming over with bees. I honestly didn't get a chance to properly check the box for comb, but based on the sheer number of bees pouring out, I'd say they're good.

So we took the clean empty bottom box from the dead hive and placed it at the bottom of the live hive to give them more room to build and store honey. And it was then that I noticed just how LARGE some of the bees were - I mean almost bumblebee-sized, these giants. Where did these HUGE bees come from? They were ginormous, on the bee scale. Can you see the size difference in this photo?

How about this one?

I didn't have anything for scale, but trust me, they were LARGE.Note the smaller bee on the bottom in the center there? That's the regular size of the bees - first generation, I guess.  I'm wondering if this is the new generation of bees, and if I ought to be worried. I've read that smaller bees = no mites, so I'm a bit concerned about these amazon bees I've got. But I will say they are BEAUTIFUL. I was so smitten with them! I heart my girls. I talk to them when I'm there, tell them what I'm doing, call them my girls. I love them. Today Kiernen and I went in just our bee veils and they didn't so much as land on me the first time we went. When we came back in our beesuits, thinking the bigger work might require them because we were adding boxes and opening the hive, we were mistaken. They did land on me, but more to just check me out - I'd swear it.

Little girl bee saying, "Oh, hi, what are you doing here?"

I love that they do that. Then they sent out one of the larger ones when I really did get too close to their flight path - but she just buzzed me to let me know to move - which I did, and apologized, too. (In my defense, we were pulling some of the tall grass from in front of the hive - directly in front - so they'd have a clearer area). I love my little girls - they are so very beautiful and perfect and gorgeous, especially when they're all fuzzy and full of pollen. And I love how they guard their entrance - maybe those larger girls were the bouncers.

So now their hive is a little taller and looks like this:

And it is the lone hive standing. However, Hubby and I talked, and he is keen to build more boxes, and for me to put our names on the swarm list. What does that mean, you ask? It means that when a swarm comes along, (and it will if it ever gets to be summer around here again) we get to go and catch it - and take it home with us! So basically, free bees, plus we get the experience of catching them, too. We just need to make a bait box, make some more hive boxes, and get on that list.

so what about the bees? part 2

The next night after work, Hubby met Mike (the expert beekeeper) out at the hives. Their visit lasted a total of ten minutes tops. Mike peeked in the "dead" hive and said to leave it be for two weeks. He said it might come back, but to give it space and see what happens. He barely peeked into the second hive, and said, "This one's fine."

He recommended tar paper for the outside of the hives for insulation, as the weather here has been unseasonably cold.* He said they had enough food in both hives, he said leave them alone for two weeks. They need to build comb, the queen needs to lay - just leave them alone.

* - In fact, today and a couple of days ago we've had severe winds, which is also not normal for this area - today it was downright frigid outside. WTF, global warming? We NEED spring! My bees need it! Bring it back! Gaia, we need spring!

Tonight Hubby went back and put on the tar paper. He said when he put his ear to the hives, he heard the happy humming sound of BEES. He didn't look in, he just put on the tar paper and left.

And now we wait. The good thing about this is in two weeks, I ought to be walking with my walking cast and out of the wheelchair! So I have that to look forward to. And if I can walk, then dag nabit, there WILL be photos.

"I deserve to rejoice in life. I accept all the pleasure life has to offer."

so what about the bees?

I have a little update on my wonderful son and the thing he says at his blog over here.

I've been reluctant to update what's been happening with the bees, because I needed some time to process it and to just have some down time from all things bees. The whole process has been keeping me awake nights, and every time I wake up all that runs though my head is "bees, bees, bees" and all of the things we ought to be doing/should have done.

Without further ado, though, these are my hives. My wonderful and amazingly detail-oriented husband built them, and I painted them. Click the photos to embiggen. These are completely surrpunded by blueberry bushes (outside of this area, obviously). I'm going to ask the landowner if we can cut down these weeds and plant wildflowers in their place. I doubt he'll mind since their plan is to burn the weeds eventually (owie!).

Let us pan out for a broader view - note the pond in the background. That pond id FULL of lilypads and frogs - it is like a symphony at night. When my ankle is healed enough for me to be walking around, I'll get photos of the lilypads and more of the pond. And of course, of the blueberry bushes. Oh, wait, I've got lots of photos of the blueberry bushes from years past when we've gone picking...but they're on my other computer. Later for those, then. Again, click the photo to embiggen.

On to the saga of the bees, no?

Sigh. I've had to readjust my entire expectation - and my entire paradigm - on the bees as of late. Why? Broken ankle. More accurately, the bees are in a good spot for the bees to be in, which isn't necessarily a good spot for someone with a broken ankle to get to - especially someone who isn't all that fit and is fairly heavy. Not easy to get around on crutches and just using the one leg.

* - This photo is my husband and my friend. Those long tubes they're holding are actually the packages of bees. Nothing like we'd ever seen before - no online videos of installing these. I was hoping to take one myself, but we were losing daylight and I couldn't get to the hives, so it didn't happen. This is the only photo I have, too.

I didn't get to hive my bees. My friend who took the beekeeping class with me (who is as new to this as I am only hasn't studied my type of hives at all) and my husband (who expertly built the hives but knows next to nothing about actually taking care of the bees themselves) hived the bees for me. We had no idea this was going to happen until it was actually happening. The day was cold as heck, we were losing daylight, and the bees needed to get in their home. Kiernen was crying in the car, I was in my wheelchair and it seemed I couldn't get to the hives - decisions were made on the spur of the moment and without consultation. Mistakes were made that could have been avoided had someone stopped to talk to me about what to do.  Because you know, I was mentally prepared. I'd been studying, watching videos of intstalls, asking questions of my Warre hive yahoogroup. I was the one who was ready to do this. Instead, I was here. (Note in photo you can see them walking away toward the hives through the car window.)

We returned the next day , and I was determined to see the inside of those hives. I managed to crutch over to one of them - the one closest to the pond. We opened the first hive to find that because two of the top bars had been left off of the boxes on top, the bag feeders we'd used had fallen through the hole left (duh) and crushed a large number of bees. We were pretty sure the queen was dead as well, and it really didn't look like there were many bees left in there.

I couldn't get to the second hive, though - the ground was too uneven for m crutches, and too wet. Kiernen was whining about the cold so I crutched back to the car with him to wait while my husband checked the second hive.

Apparently that one looked much better. Although it had suffered losses and the feed bag fell through just like the first one, it didn't fall on the bees. We left and Hubby dropped me off at my bee club meeting. While there, I talked with some of the experts, including the man I bought my bees from. As he was only ten minutes from the location of my hives, he volunteered to come out the next night when Hubby went after work.

preparing for the arrival of the bees

* - Picture linked is not of my actual hive. Photos of my actual hive to follow soon. This is, however, the type of hive I intend to use.

My hubby continues to build my beehives, because the bees! They are arriving Easter Monday - woohoo! And also? I'm freaking out! Still to do on the hives between now and then is:

~ get the hives completely put together
~ get raw linseed oil, cedar shavings and thin strips for the top bars of the hive box
~ coat the outside of the hives with raw linseed oil (and paint pretty designs to denote the different hives)
~ allow linseed oil/paint to dry
~ coat the top bars with a beeswax starter strip (to encourage the bees to build the combs in frames)
~ install the hives
~ pick up honey and formic acid evaporator from Fred
~ order non-irradiated bee pollen from Sasketchewan

The honey and pollen are both for human consumption and for mixing together to feed the bees when I get them. I've watched several videos on YouTube about how to install the package of bees, so I feel pretty good about doing that when I get the bees. It is advised to do it in the last hour of the day, so I'll do it when my hubby gets home from work - that way he can help me with any lifting that might be needed, too.

All the wood is cut for the hives but one piece (there was a knot in the original board for this piece, oops). Once it's cut, it is ready to be assembled.  So: close! Tomorrow we order our pollen, and Thursday we go get honey and formic acid evaporators. In the meanwhile, my job is to call around for cedar shavings and top bar strips. And! Once the hives are together, I can get those linseed oil protected. Progress is being made, progress is being made...

Bees!

all the news is good

It looks very good for me keeping bees at lour local organic farm!!! Woot! I loved reconnecting with the guys there and meeting some of the other folks involved with the farm. It is such a great place, and the energy there is - it's EARTH. I mesh well with it, I believe.

Today I got some seeds sorted out - I borrowed some from a neighbour and inventoried them - I still need to put them in little packets with instructions for myself. I made some pie, my green juice, Kiernen's breakfast, did the dishes. And just now I got the chequebook balanced. And can I say? I love the feeling of paying the balance on our credit card every month. It's a good thing.

We got the bar to hang my Vertical Herb and Veggie Garden - the hubby just needs to cut it to size tonight, and then tomorrow I can FINALLY get my seeds in there - woohoo! I'm ready to get my seedlings going inside, too - it's time to get celery and peas and parsley and tomatoes going indoors. I'm so keen! Garden!

This weekend instead of hubby building my hives, he is going to be reassembling the garden - we're taking apart the entire back garden and redoing it into long rows - to maximize the efficiency of the space and allow for much much more food production - woohoo! Then on Sunday I'm attending the first in a series of nonviolent communication courses done between our community and our organic farm - giving me even more opportunity to get to know my farm community. So exciting!

Meet your newest beekeeper

Have I mentioned that I'm going to be keeping bees this year? Because I am. In fact, I threw my hat over the fence and ordered my bees before I even have my hives made. I trust that the Universe will provide me a space for my bees. The Universe loves bees, it wouldn't leave them out. They are the pollinators! Without the bees, we have no food, no flowers, no life!

I cannot wait to be a real live beekeeper. My dear wonderful handy loving husband is making my hives for me. Making them! I'm going to be using Warre hives - they're designed for natural beekeeping and with the bee in mind.  I found detailed instructions and WAY more at this wonderful blog, The Bee Space. I'll most likely (Universe? Please?) be keeping my bees on a wonderful local organic farm not too far from here - it's where I often buy my local produce, and a few of my cohousing neighbours own shares there.And then the produce I but from them? Will have been pollinated by MY bees! This is a happy substitute for having my very own land to grow my very own food on and keep my very own bees on. Bees!

I very much wish we could keep bees on our property here, but unless we go rogue and do it on the sly, we cannot. Of course, it's not entirely outside the realm of possibility, as long as no one finds out...and the whole gardening team would benefit....food for thought.