Regular Visit to the Apiaries

If I had to give a gold star to the "Best Colony" , the Chanhassen one would win the prize. Those honey bees are working hard together, and in harmony. Although I did not locate the queen, we could see that the combs are progressing nicely. Lots of eggs, larvae, pollen, nectar and a small amount of honey that they use themselves. As a result, this hive is thriving. I am so glad that at least one colony is following "The Book"! Just like a kid who develops following the stages in order! We always have one like that!

Today ( May 18), we had to add a new hive body because the honey bees are industrious, and their queen is prolific, and not to mention that spring is about 15 days ahead of schedule. Therefore, the colony is expanding and needs more room.

During that visit, Ben and I removed the bottom cork plug, as the weather become more seasonal; it allows the hive to have a good air circulation especially as the days will be warmer during the summer season, making the beehive cooler.

We made the entrance bigger because now the bees are used to their dwelling and are more mature to defend their "property" better. We checked the syrup and pollen patty, and the honey bees seem to find other sources of food because I only had to replenish half of the sugary elixir! I think that this colony is our best because of its location where food is abundant: there is always something blooming on this property or close by, and the dandelions are still around. Knock on wood!

Then Ben and I went to Shakopee... I have to remind you that those 2 hives are located on the side of a field soon to be planted with vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, peppers, onions, maize, strawberries and so on. However right now, the field has been plowed but it is bare. I can see that this land is rich and loamy, and it will produce later on in the season, but otherwise there is nothing much for the bees. The newly planted apple trees are done blooming, and only few young transplants have been planted. It will be a while before the honey bees pollinate those soon to be beautiful, juicy fruits and vegetables. In the meantime, we have to make sure they have good nutritious food, in the for of syrup and pollen patties.

The purple beehive is doing fine, growing and developing well, but at a slower rate than the Chanhassen colony. Thus, we did not have to add a new hive body yet, but I anticipate that if the weather is nice and warm in the next few days, it will be needed, when we visit next time. The honey bees have filled out about 6 of the 10 frames with brood, pollen, nectar and little honey for their consumption, in a bee-like pattern.

Due to the field's bareness, the honey bees rely and drink a lot of 1:1 sugary syrup and eat their pollen patty ravenously. Their 2-1 gallon pails were completely empty, and the patty almost done. That was a surprise that I did not expect because there are millions of dandelions and a lot of trees around... maybe the honey bees are finicky with their food and prefer the "man-made" one. We simply replenished the buckets with freshly made sugar syrup, and give them a brand new pollen patty.

I had to smile because the honey bees at the purple house had a friend, (an Eastern tent caterpillar) visiting them...maybe countryside bees are more welcoming to new visitors!

Now the spirited and "Infamous Green Beehive" was still struggling. Laying workers were still laying drones' eggs in an awful and irregular chaotic pattern, where brood, pollen, nectar and mishapped cells seem to be the norm. It is a noisy, and loud colony which is in complete disarray. It is pitiful to see. Obviously, since now there are probably almost an equal number of females to males ratio, the only activity of this colony seems to be eating and drinking! Foragers (females) are decreasing, because no new females have been born in the last month due to the loss of 2 queens, and the normal life cycle of bees. This can be seen not only by looking at the big drones' eyes walking around but also I noticed that their nectar store is practically nonexistent.

We can see that the honey bees are doing their best on this frame but it is very messy, and the pattern is far from being honey bee-like.

To help this colony, we have asked our supplier to make us a nucleus colony: It is a small colony, 4-5 frames with every life-stage on each frame and a queen. We dearly hope that this alternative will save this otherwise doomed colony.