Partial Reversal of Boxes

April 17, 2011:
Shakopee

 We took advantage of the sunshine and drove to Shakopee where the bridge was finally open!  

Shakopee #1

Our purple hive, (now called Shakopee #1) is doing fantastic. We saw lots of brood, eggs and larvae which are a very good sign. We did not locate the queen but we know by all that activity that she is laying eggs, and is in good "spring" shape! We also observe some glistening nectar that was deposited in the cells. Honeybees are working hard. We don't see a lot of flowers yet but the bees collect tree nectar right now, and the flow is very good at the moment.

Taken from: Beekeeping in Northern Climates by Dr. Furgala, Dr. Spivak and Mr. Reuter

We also did a "partial reversal", where we take the first box and switch it with the one below. It is suppose to help in preventing swarming, giving the queen more room to lay eggs. It has to be done at the same time every year, no matter what...just like "Tax Day" is unavoidable! It has to be done.

The honeybees are so cute and golden fuzzy; it makes me smile :) They were busy, coming and going.

I saw few ants around and on the hive, so I sprinkled some powder cinnamon on the ground. It is effective to repulse ants.

Shakopee #2 Waiting for honeybees.

This is Shakopee #2, this hive had the Carniolan bees and we lost them to starvation. It has been clean and now waits for honeybees that will come from Shakopee #1 when we do a division or split later this spring. 

Chanhassen

We stopped in Chanhassen, the sun was still shining but a little bit of wind developed. We felt colder. We were greeted by our friends Liz, Gayle, Dick and 2 puppies coming out from their house to hear some fresh news about the honeybee buzzing in their yard.

Chanhassen #1

We inspected the first colony, Chan.#1. Made also a partial reversal,  removed all corks covering entrances, and had a large entrance opened. It was a busy place. The honeybees were flying in and out, and all around us. It seems that they were happy to get some fresh air. We looked at frames and everything looked perfect, eggs, brood, nectar and discovered a "new" queen; she was unpainted! Ours had been painted blue in July 2010, indicating the year "2010". No wonder this colony is looking great.

Chanhassen  #1, beautiful!

Chanhassen #2

Chanhassen #2,  is only 2 deep (2 boxes) because it was a swarm that Ben caught from Chan #1. However, even though it is small hive. It was also doing great, full of honey and bees. Even with only 2 boxes, a partial reversal was done, cork removed, and larger entrance was in place. 

Chanhassen #3

                      Chanhassen #3 is ready to welcome the new package of  honeybees, and a queen. We transferred the frames of honey from Shakopee #2. This will give the new honeybees a wonderful head start. The "bee pickup" is still schedule for April 23 in Stillwater, MN.