Adding Honey Supers

April 16, 2011

Here are the boys suiting up to add honey supers. We added two mediums, but later removed one because we found out that it is better to fill one at a time. We also added a queen excluder, but after further research removed it too. It was exciting to see how well the bees did through the winter, Shane can be seen holding up one of the frames of honey from the Lewis Hive. They all had plenty to eat all winter. We did feed each colony before it got cold but it appears they didn't really need it. I was pleased with the shape of the colonies after winter, we didn't have a lot of snow but did have some wicked cold weather. We wrapped the bees, but that may not be necessary according to some of the experts. We are planning on adding colonies later this spring and have a strong crop of honey.

Ben suiting up for a day working the bees, early morning in the hay field.

From the Lewis hive lots of capped honey still in the frame.

Ben adding the 2nd medium honey super what a buff bee keeper! 

October Removial of honey super

Jon, Shane, Dad (Jack), Ben, and I preparing to remove our first super. This is the Lewis Hive, due to the fact that we got it from the Lewis'. We got this hive late in the season and are concerned with its strength it is very hardy but I hope it can recover. It may need re-queened this summer.   

Setting up the Hive Stands

Setting our hive stands next to the Lyman Farms alfalfa fields. Preparing for our new bees to show up.

 Sam knocking down the rocks and sides for the post-hole digger.

 My turn with the drill steel to knock down the sides, Jon testing the stands, now if he could just make honey!

Great hive stands from our original bees in Colorado we dug the holes manually on these two, after these we used a power post-hole digger.

January Inspection

In contrast to our February Inspection I have some pictures of our January Inspection. Bruce Lyman was kind enough to make sure we could get into the bees and once we did with the sun shining we saw some very encouraging signs. Many of the bees were taking cleansing flights and the undertakers were hard at work you can see the amount of dead bees that were cleaned from the hives. The insulation was in good shape although I needed to cut a hole in it to allow it to dry.

 The insulation on the hives have held up well through the winter so far.

 Busy undertaker bees cleaning the hives.

Another look at the hives as well as a small pile of bees I swept off of the ledge in front of the door.

February 26 Inspection

Jon, Shane, and I traveled down to the Bees this morning to check on their condition. The wrapping we put in place has taken quite a beating but is in place still and hopefully keeping our girls warm. I did notice a bit of condensation inside the plastic and cut holes in the wrap to allow them to dry.

Very little movement in and out of hives was seen, in fact only 2 bees were seen. The wind was fairly strong 5 to 10 miles per hour, and the outside temp was 45 degrees. It was heavily overcast so I didn't expect to see much in the way of traffic. The outside of the hives do show signs of cleansing flights. The wind seems to be taking any dead bees from in front of the hives. I even tried my lucky pocket knife to see if any dead bees were near the door. In our December inspection we saw many bees that had been moved out of the hive. So I was a little concerned but will follow up with a later inspection to see what the condition is.