Day #256 Hive Inspection Yesterday

I’m feeling a little bit sad, and I’d like to share the reason with you.

Yesterday I opened both hives to see how much comb the bees had built in the honey supers.

None. Nada. Nuttin. Nope.

I had to accept the fact that I probably won’t get any honey for myself and my friends this season. I know. I know. I’ve been saying all along that if I didn’t get any honey the first year, it wouldn’t matter. After all, beekeepers are supposed to take the excess only. The bees need enough honey and pollen stores to make it through the winter. [Yes, I agree. It’s hard to think of winter when it’s 95 degrees outside.]

Still, there’s always been that glimmer of hope. Why else would I order a honey-filtering kit from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm? Why else would I invest on all those unassembled super frames? Why else would I start an Excel spreadsheet of people to give honey to? Why else would I have TWO SHELVES of glass jars stockpiled in my garage?

Why indeed?

As I saw the dismal result of my experiment with the open, top-bar-style supers, I decided my bees couldn’t figure out how to build comb there, so I replaced the frames with some plastic-foundation supers. That way my girls will have a template to draw out their comb. I’ll feel happy if they can fill it so they’ll be ready for winter.

Yes – I’ll feel happy about that. But I’m feeling sad about the honey I won’t have for me and for you.

BEEattitude for Day # 256:

       Blessed are those who change course when circumstances require it. We bees do that, and we eventually find very good flowers as a result.

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Day #232 Another Visit to That Top Bar Hive

For a great way to end the month of May, I visited Steve Merritt’s top bar hive. You may recall that he was someone I met last October at the very first meeting of the Gwinnett Beekeepers Club, and he offered to show his relatively new top bar hive to anyone who wanted to see it.

I took him up on his offer, but it was so close to the beginning of winter, the bees weren’t doing much.

Well, Tuesday I went back and spent time helping him do a hive inspection. We both found out that there are definite disadvantages to the top bar system. Since there isn’t any wooden frame around the comb that the bees build, if they goof (or even if the day is just too hot—it was 95 degrees on Tuesday), the weight of the comb is too heavy for the wax attachment on that top bar.

Some of the comb collapsed as Steve lifted it out for the inspection. The good news is that his beautiful, fat-bodied queen most definitely was on one of the combs that stayed in one piece. She was so busy laying eggs, it’s a wonder she even knew we were there.

Steve took a lot of pictures of the bees and said he'd email them to me so I can share them with you. I think you'll enjoy them.

I’m also thinking I’m really glad I didn’t go with the top bar plan. From now on Steve is going to be shifting his focus to the Warré hives that I wrote about in an earlier blogpost. He already has built five of them.

And—the comb that fell off? I brought a chunk of it home and am planning a homemade bread and comb-honey breakfast! Yummy in the Tummy!

BEEattitude for Day # 232:

       Blessed are those who plant trees for shade, for they shall avoid excess air conditioning.

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The teeny details:

my books:  http://www.franstewart.com

my eBooks on Amazon for Kindle

my eBooks on Smashwords (for all other formats)