New Honey Supers

New honey supers have been made and painted for the 2010 nectar flow season. Bees can not see all colors. I read that they favor blue/green, blue, and yellow.

Bee gum log

Around the first of November 2009, this oak log fell roughly 20 feet from where it broke away at a fork in the body of the tree. The actual large lap section of the tree fell in a cow pasture in the area where they were being fed, and the ground was very wet and muddy. At the end of December there was a hard freeze, and the log was moved out to my bee yard on the flat trailer. I picked a warm day; around the 7th of January it was 60 degrees to get this log standing.

First I measured in the hollow with my rule to determine where to make the first cut. We used the end of the trailer to aid in making a square cut to attach the bottom plate.

The diameter of the log was 28 inches, and pretty comb was showing.

The base plate board has been attached.

The hollow at the top end of the log was not totally open. So we made the first cut parallel to the bottom based on our rule measure.

We measured and cut again after finding that we had 30 inches before hitting the comb. The hollow we want is on the right filled with trash from the chain saw. We tipped the log forward on the top end to dump out the trash.

A temporary bottom board for a brood box with a 4” x 5” hole is centered over the open hollow and attached to the log. This bee gum log is only 30 inches tall. This had to be a colony that swarmed in the spring of 2009, and found this great hollow that had room for much expansion. The brood box now has frames with foundations, but come late February I will move their comb into the box. A syrup feeder has been added, and the bees can go through the hollow entrance as well as through the top.

Bee gum log

This log is an oak that was twisted out of a twin tree about 20 feet above ground. I was called to come rescue the bees if possible. We cut 8 feet out of the fallen lap that was on the owner's wood stove shed.

My first cut on the small end put me right through a small roll of clear honey. Once I got the log to the bee yard, there was not much left to cut off.

This log is 54 inches tall, and will be opened around the first of March to move the colony into the brood box. The original tree hollow entrance was closed forcing the bees through the brood box on top.

Bee gum log

We are working with a 12 foot maple log that was from a downed tree in the early spring of 2009.

This is the view of the bottom of the log before the plate was added. The comb appears to look like a stack of pancakes. I will not know if the comb will hang with good spacing until late Feb. or early March when the log will be opened and the bees moved into the brood box.

You can see how the log is centered on the trailer. This helps with making the cut on the ends of the log.The bottom plate has been added to the bottom of the log.

The top of the log is cut parallel to the bottom, and just above the comb. A temporary bottom board for the brood box with a 4" x 4" hole is attached to the log, and a brood box with frames and foundation is added.

Once the log has been returned to a vertical position, the combs are now somewhat perpendicular to the ground, the bees can begin to clean house of the trash. The hole in the log entrance is also closed forcing them to go through the brood box. A jar feeder is added to provide syrup until they get themselves together. The log section now stands 54 inches high.