Spring Cut Outs / Removals

March 17, 2011

This is the old detached kitchen. Circa 1800. The bees were going through the ivy just to the right of the old window.

I first removed the old plaster to revel ants and old wax mouth cocoons. The ceilings are 9 feet. We were working from a platform, hence the chair.

I am removing the strips. A hornets nest is on the left side with some very old honey bee comb. The old dark comb is exposed at the bottom of the nest.

My helper is using the vacuum as he removes the sections of comb. I am recovering from a total knee replacement. The vacuum drops the bees into a a deep super with 10 frames of foundation. The bees and their goods are joined later at the bee yard. I am putting the sections of comb into frames which are placed in a seperate brood box.

All the comb has been removed. We were able to use 5 frames worth of good comb, honey, brood, and pollen. The wax melter will get the rest.

Feeding for winter

I checked hives today. The top feeders with 2:1 syrup have been on for a week. A few bees were using the syrup while most were on the marshmallow fondant that was on top of the frames with a sleve for spacing.

Solar Wax Melter

Front view with lid in up position. The metal tray will be out sourced. The inner box area has be lined with rigid insulation.

Back / side view.

Front view of melter. I have not installed the small drop door in the front, and the glass for the top is not in the frame. It is 26 " x 65".

Winter

Winter work in the shop. Cleaning and painting old boxes, building hive stands, and repairing frames.

Dec. 31, 2010, a nice day has brought the bees out to play. They were enjoying the new hive stand with the slanted landing surface.

Bee Candy

A quick peak at this weak colony to verify that indeed the bees are using the candy. We have had 2 weeks of hard winter weather during the last weeks of late fall. Winter comes tomorrow.

Bee Candy

This is box #7. It is the first hive that I will check to see how the bees are accepting the new candy. A peak through the center hole of the inner cover spikes my interest.

I had to lift the lid to take a look at the bee party.

This is box #9. It has the only prepared candy board which is 7/8 inch deep. There were a couple of bees near the candy. I will follow up in a few days to see if the bees have moved onto the food.

Box #1 is a 5 frame colony of VSH bees in a divided brood box.

Box # 8 shows the 3/4 inch shim being used to give space for the candy on the top bars. The bees seem to be enjoying the new food source.

Candy Boards

I am very pleased with this mix for fondant candy. I cut my new 2 inch candy boards in half making a shallow board and a shim. I notched the center of the narrow end ( closest to you) for ventilation. I am going to feed the batch on the wax paper on top of the frames using the newly cut shims. This mix is a marshmallow fondant that a cake lady told me about. She sets her extra mixes outside in her back yard for the local bees to clean up for her. You can see this on YouTube by googling marshmallow fondant.