queen bee makes honor roll

On Thursday I received a hive visit from Dan Conlon, my bee keeping teacher and owner of Warm Colors Apiary in South Deerfield. I was a bit nervous for his inspection since I hadn't been down to inspect the hive since I literally threw on the second hive body and ran. That day I was happily overwhelmed by the amount of bees and the wild activity around the hive; clearly the bees had it all under control. On the way down the meadow to the hive, I overloaded Dan with questions. Our class, I told him, didn't feel quite like a beginner 101 course. People were masquerading as beginners but I could tell they have all done this before. He eased my mind and answered all of my rambling questions as we put on our bee protection outside the electric fence. Dan wore a t-shirt and a head net. I wore a full bee suit, wool socks, steel toed doctor marten boots, and gloves to my elbows. Yes, I am still a beginner. Dan brought along his smoker and gave my bees their first taste of smoke yet as we uncovered the hive. Smoke simulates a fire and causes the bees to gorge on their honey, thus creating a high as a kite bee, with a massive sugar buzz. Much like a human the end of a large meal, the bees don't feel much like stinging, but are happy just to sit on the couch. Dan and I pulled out the frames one by one, and he showed me the brood, the pollen, and the honey. The queen has high marks for laying habits- each cell capped. We even saw the birth of a few new bees as they chewed their way out of the capped cell. After scraping off much messy wax and propolis we put the queen bee, named Ruby, into a small container so that Dan could mark her for me. She now has a blue back. This makes the queen easier to spot when one inspects the hives. With the queen out, we took a frame from the first hive body and moved it into the second hive body, and put an empty frame in its place. This restructuring will encourage the bees to move on up. We put the queen back into the first hive body, added the second body and closed it up. On the way up the hill Dan invited me to the bee keepers get togethers which are on the 3rd Thursday of every month. With my hive earning high marks and the invitation to hang with the locals I felt a new surge of bee confidence. In two weeks I hope to add the first honey super, though I need to build it first. Dan thought that, with the way the bees are looking, I might be able to pull 35 pounds of honey off this year.

second hive body

This sunday marks the eighth week of the bees arrival to Western Massachusetts. I would throw some kind of nectar party, but I have been told that in July it is best to not open the hive. It is a very hot month and a low month for the nectar flow, so many bees are home, overheated and cranky. Understandable as the thick air of this New England summer can cause great irritation. I broke the July rule however on Sunday the fourth, when I went down to see if a second hive body should be added. I pried open the inner lid, which was glued on with layers of propolis, and saw to my amazement almost 9 drawn out frames. My once clean hive was a mess with proplis, honey and wax on the inside of the cover and on top of the frames. And there were too many bees to pull out a frame to place into the center of the second body. Feeling vulnerable and sensing that they really have things under control without my tampering, I gently placed on the second hive body, replaced the covers, weeded very slowly, filled the entrance feeder with sugar water and left them in peace. Who am I to interfere with their miraculous nature?