February 28, 2023
Warm, mostly sunny day in the mid 70s with a moderate west wind. This is why you live in Texas and sweat the torrid summers to have such wonderful days in winter. S hive full inspection showed lots of bees in both the deep brood box and the medium brood box (see pics on Pics page). Not really any brood in medium but still lots of honey. Moved the honey frames to the outside and placed one foundationless and one slightly drawn foundation frame to the center to give the queen room to move up. Still not as much brood in the bottom as I would like, especially compared to C hive. Hive seems to have plenty of stores, and thankfully, they seem to have recovered from the poisoning. Saw the queen and she looked healthy. Will need to keep an eye on her laying. C hive full inspection showed lots of bees in both the deep brood box and the medium brood box (see pics on Pics page). Medium brood box had numerous drone cells. Both boxes had lots of capped brood, larva and eggs. Queen looked well and has obviously been busy. Hive looks so robust, I placed a metal queen excluder and medium super on top. No beetles our wax moths observed in either hive. Both hives were dusted with powdered sugar using a manual hand pump sprayer. Have yet to check for mites. I struggle intentionally killing bees but I understand the reasoning of sacrificing a few to save the many. Most of the research also says to start with at least two hives. I am really seeing the wisdom and benefit of that as we progress.
February 20, 2023
Warm day near 80 but cloudy and probably too windy to do an inspection, but golf and rain are coming the rest of the week. Didn’t go in Sunday as planned because it was cooler, windier and cloudier. A few dead bees around hives and very few on bottom boards. Makes me feel like we will survive the poison episode. Top medium boxes are still heavy with honey on both the C and S hives, C more the S. C Hive has about 7 to 8 frames of bees in the deep brood box with no more than three frames of capped brood. Saw maybe a dozen capped drone brood. S hive has 6 to 7 frames of bees in the bottom deep box with fewer capped brood and only a handful of capped drone brood. Did not see any queen cells Looked for eggs but the cloud cover made it difficult and the wind rushed me to stop looking for them. Did not see either queen this time which was disappointing. Both hives are filling with pollen stores. After consulting a pollen color graphic, I am more certain the orange is dandelion but also saw yellow stores and almost a gray pollen in a few bee pouches. Saw the waggle dance in the S hive, which is always fun. I see no need for pollen patties or sugar at this time. Plan is to treat with powdered sugar beginning next weekend and every 7 days for at least 4 weeks. Also considering when to add the queen excluder with medium super. Would like to harvest some honey this year for family and friends.
February 19, 2023
Placed three bait hives out: one flower pot type, one used plastic nuc, one used ten frame deep. Flower pot hive inside top cover was brushed with a wax, propolis, bee part mixture melted in a small Crockpot. Top was attached with four deck screws. Pot was place about four feet off the ground in a medium sized Crape Myrtle with one inch entrance on bottom. Used plastic nuc was filled with used foundationless frames, moved from front porch and placed about seven feet off the ground in a Mesquite tree near open horse farm at back of property. Entrance was reduced to about 2×1 inch and brushed with the mixture. Deep body was place on cinder blocks behind the holly bushes on the front porch. Nine used open frames, one with foundation and drawn comb placed inside. Entrance reducer with smallest cutout inserted and inside top cover brushed with mixture. All entrances sprayed with Swarm Commander. First foray into bait hives. Goal is to catch one hive this year to have three in the apiary. Pulled bottom boards from both C and S hives.
Feb 17, 2023
Mild freeze last night. Already replaced solid bottom inserts several days ago. Lots of bees flying in and out of both hives, many with orange pollen pouches full. No dead bees at entrance and no sick bees observed. Our small acreage is getting full of dandelion, so again, assuming that is the pollen source. Did not open hives on sunny day, slight north wind but only in the upper 40s. Plan is to open hives in two days on Sunday with temps expected to be in the lower 70s but cloudy. Want to check on brood.
February 6, 2023
Further examination of the dead bees from S hive shows that they were most likely poisoned somehow. Many of them died with their tongues out and some live ones were very lethargic and unable to fly. Extremely disappointing!. Researching now how I can help them.
Went back out to the S hive to see how they were doing. Lots of bees flying in and out, which is good. Tried to see if many more bees were on the bottom screen but hard to tell without opening hive again. No dead bees visible outside the hive.
February 5, 2023
Sunny day in the mid 60s with light southerly wind. Opened both hives for a complete hive inspection before spring weather comes. Both C and S hives still have pounds of honey in the upper medium, so I see no reason for sugar feeding. Both hives have pollen coming in with very active bees. Guessing the pollen is very likely dandelion (not sure), so I don’t feel the need to add pollen patties at this time. Bee populations seem very high, and I was able to observe both queens. Both looked healthy and active. Neither hive contained hive beetles or wax moths. C hive beetle trap was removed. One lone black spider was hiding under a dense little web the size of a nickel in the C hive. Observed very little capped brood in both hives, and it was difficult to see eggs as the population density was so high. Instead of agitating them even more, I did not blow on them much to get them to move for a better look. I think this time of year the lack of much capped brood is not an issue. Biggest concern was several hundred dead bees on the screened bottom board of S hive. Looked for deformations and protruding tongues but nothing seemed overly suspicious. If the hive population was low, I would be way more concerned. Will just have to keep an eye on them. Hopefully the girls had just not gotten around to cleaning up. We just came of an early February ice storm, so the bees may have died due to the chill and/or moisture. Also removed both bottom board inserts to let the hives have more air and dry out.
January 28, 2023
Placed five frame plastic NUC box, which I bought full of bees in the spring several years ago (thanks Texas Bee Supply), on the front porch with used open frames, propolis, and some dead bees inside. I placed very small piece of cotton ball with two drops Lemongrass oil on the top of one of the middle frames opposite the opening. I blocked the back opening with tape and reduced the front to about 2×1 inches. I also dropped one drop of oil at the entrance. I know it is too early in the year. I am impatient for spring. NUC is near the holly bushes which are first to bloom each season.
January 27, 2023
Upper 50s in the afternoon, sunny but very windy. Checked the C hive to see if the beetle trap had victims. None. Didn’t see many bees in the upper medium brood box which still had honey in both S and C hives. Didn’t pull any frames because it was just too windy. Placed peppermints in each corner of the upper medium brood box of both hives. Hoping the girls were all in the bottom brood box trying to stay out of the wind.