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| Shakopee hives are now taller than I! |
Shakopee
Ben and I went to see our bees in Shakopee yesterday late afternoon (July 8). First, it was a "jungle"; since last week the wild plants had grown tall than expected, thanks to the hot and very warm weather! We were stopped in our tracks...however I had anticipated the possible outcome ,who's clever now? :) So Benoit got to work, braving the warmth, he decided not to wear his bee-suit, only his veil. He started the trimmer; I was a little worried and was standing by in full suit with smoker handy. He was swinging the garden power tool right and left, and to my surprise (maybe his too!) the bees were behaving. He then trimmed around the hives, waiting and stopping from time to time, and I was "puffing" a bit of smoke here and there...more to reassure myself than anything else. However I do not encourage visiting bees without a proper outfit and a smoker. Now I do have to wear a full suit, hiker leather boots, gloves and veil because I do react more and more to bee stings. However Benoit has more reaction to mosquito bites than bees'...go figure. Anyhow, he made a nice path which eased our stroll to the colonies.
Both hives are doing well, bringing in a lot of nectar. The supers are heavier by the week. They are piled up so high that we are thinking that we may need to do a first harvest soon. That's a bit crazy. I thought that this happened only in very warm locations like Florida, Alabama and Virginia. Well maybe it is a good thing, or a new trend.
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| Wild flowers on Russian lot |
Since we have more colonies than when we started a few seasons ago, we visit them over a 3-days period. That way, I feel it does not become a "chore" but something I look forward in doing each day.
Our 4 hives have increased in bee population, all queens are laying relatively well, and the workers are busy bringing pollen and nectar. So far, even though we placed 2 supers on each colony in anticipation of the nectar flow. The honey bees are only foraging for themselves , and don't seem very interested in filling the supers for OUR consumption! Well, it is ok with us, after all they were just packages only 3 month ago, and besides the "golden rule" is : Don't expect any honey the first season with new bee packages... So we are happy that they are all doing just fine.
Hive No.1 has provided us already with 2 beautiful frames of brood that I have been giving to our dear Russians, to help the queen and the colony live.
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| This is all is left of the Russian bees, less than 1,000 bees. |
Talking about Russian bees; after consulting with an entomology Professor from the University of Minnesota and Judy Wu, a grad student and bee expert ; Ben and I have decided to do the following to help save our bees: Every week we will give the colony a frame of healthy brood taken from our best populated hives. Then because we are trying to rescue this Russian colony from a certain and eminent death, we are feeding them sugar syrup and pollen. In addition we will be giving them an antibiotic (Terramycin: approved by FDA and EPA) to boost their immune system, helping them fight any bacteria that they may have encountered. It was never our intention to use any antibiotics in any of our colonies but we have decided to do all we can to save our honey bees as we care very much about them all; they are our pets just as our cat, dogs and lizard.
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| New frame given to the strong hive a week ago. We can see nectar and eggs! |
In the meantime, the healthy queen in the strong colony has more room to lay even more eggs. When I take a frame of brood, I replace it with a completely new empty frame. Already in a week the queen had found the new place and had laid eggs. In any case that's the theory. We will keep you posted!
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