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This swarm decided to land at a local nursery in Dallas ( Redenta’s Garden Shops. ) They knew who to call! These friendly ladies eagerly marched into their new (temporary) home. Their box will be upgraded to a 10-frame model in the morning at the bee yard. No suit, no smoke, no gloves – just Bee Love.!
This colony swarmed last Friday while I was out of town. Another beekeeper snagged the swarm, however the parent colony was still in the home. Way up in the soffit of a 2nd story dormer.. The homeowner had spray-foamed their entrance in an effort to kill the bees… I opened up a hole for the bees last Saturday – and completed the bee removal this afternoon. Once opened up, there were plenty of bees, capped brood, and queen cells. I pulled 8 queen cells, then noticed that one was open – that was not open when I had pulled it 15 minutes earlier… And I watched another queen emerge. Here’s the rest of the queen cells – and a pic of the biggest queen cup I’ve ever handled. wink emoticon – they will be a good a A quick minute of today’s activities. (3 hives taken to the bee yard, checked hives from the splits I made on Saturday, and responded to an emergency swarm call in Allen, Tx)
I pulled the excess honey from 4 hives today. Yes.. 4 hives. Some of my friends know the math on the box weight…. Take a wild guess as to the weight of the boxes/honey. All hives that were doubled up with brood (2 deeps high) were split. The hives with the highest population showed signs of wanting to swarm soon (open queen cells, with royal jelly & developing queens in them) – so I gave them room, and created new hives with the 2nd box of bees – making sure to provide queen cells so they can have a mated queen laying eggs ASAP. These gentle ladies needed a new home so that the homeowners could put their house on the market to sell. I had a helper on this one- who shows a promising future in beekeeping. The valve box was almost 2′ deep, and there was a LOT of capped brood. I’ll leave the box for a few days, then take it to the bee-yard.
The broccoli in the garden has bolted, now that the temperatures are warmer – and the bees are making sure that the plants are pollinated for the next seed crop.
A North Texas leathercrafter contacted me for beeswax earlier in the year. His intention was to use it in a recipe as a leather conditioner and waterproofing (or water-resistant) agent. He used beeswax, and softened the wax with Neatsfoot oil. You can find recipes to fit your needs in many publications or online. Here’s his results:
1 House, 2 Hives. According to the neighbors, both of these hives have been in existence for well over 10 years. I believe it – with the hard, black propolized comb. Both hives were in the joist space between floors of a 2-story home. Hive #1 had bees that were very gentle to work with, and had lots of honey that they had stored. They were accessed through the drywall below the hive. Hive #2…(2nd two pics) – well, they weren’t so nice. (they were accessed from above – through the 2nd floor decking). The job is done, and the contractor renovating the home can finish up their work, now. These bees have survived a Texas summer, fall, and now a winter. The homeowner says that the bees moved in the BBQ pit last spring. The bees were not bothering anyone – so they let them stay for a while. Before springtime sets us in with warm weather, though – the bees *really* need to be hived into a proper hive. Though I took away the bees today (28 degrees, snow, ice, etc) I’ll take them to the bee-yard, and when temperatures are warm enough for a proper removal and transition to a commercial hive, I’ll spend about 2 hours with their move to a regular box. (If you look closely at the 2nd picture, you might see a few bees poking their heads out to see what I was doing).
NASA has collaborated to provide information to (and from) beekeepers to show nectar flow data. Their resource lists plants in a large region, as well as whether those nectar sources are a significant forage item for the bees, or if it is not. A guesstimation is also given as to what months the particular plants are in bloom for a nectar flow. A link to the USDA website is also provided in the regional (state) maps that you can click on – and search the database for specific plant data.
The link is HERE for the information.
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