Just in time?

When visiting the bees today, I saw something unexpected in Hive #3.  I found swarm cells being constructed on the bottom of one frame!  What to do..?

  Swarming is a colony's natural means of reproduction.  When a colony of bees starts to run out of space in it's current dwelling, and conditions outside the hive seem favorable (good nectar flow going on, not too late in the season, etc.), they will swarm.  When a colony "decides" to swarm, they will start to make preparations by beginning to raise a replacement queen, often many (just to be safe).  Just before a new queen is about to emerge from her cell, about half the population of the hive will take off as a swarm, along with the original queen.  The swarm will usually land not too far away, on a tree branch, picnic bench, what have you, while scout bees scan the area for an appropriate spot to move into more permanently.  Meanwhile back at the hive, a new queen emerges and murders any queens still in their cells, taking her rightful place as the new matriarch.  That's how it usually goes, at least.  Fun stuff, huh?

So, when I saw the tell-tale queen cells hanging on the bottom of a frame, I knew the process had begun.  However, the cells had not even been capped yet and the original queen was still running around in the hive, so it had only just begun.  Lucky me.

I decided to let the bees swarm, or at least think they did, by making an "artificial swarm".  I set up a small hive, or nuc, and moved into it the old queen and a couple of frames of brood and honey, along with the clinging bees.  I left behind the swarm cells and over half of the bees, mimicking what would happen if they had actually swarmed.  And, I think I fooled them.

Now there is a slightly weakened colony, and a new mini-colony.  I'm thinking I'll just recombine them at a later date, once all this swarminess is out of their systems, and hopefully have a strong viable colony again.

 *Lesson learned:  when using all medium-sized supers, bees can fill up a box fast and get crowded.  I won't be slow to "super up" next time.

Newbees

When you start a new hive from scratch, you only have a couple of options:

• You can purchase a package of bees.  These are usually sold as a "3-pound package", which means 3 lbs. of bees in a box, along with a queen (to whom they are not related), and some sugar syrup for the road.  These are usually shipped from the south, often Georgia, because the season starts so much earlier there and producers can build up large numbers of bees long before we can in chilly PA.
• You can purchase a nucleus hive, or "nuc".  A nuc is just a very small colony of bees in a mini version of a regular hive.  It comes with frames (usually about 5) just like you'd find in a standard hive, with pollen, honey, and brood (baby bees) in various stages of development.  Also, you get all the bees from that colony along with the queen they've been living with their whole lives.
• If you're lucky, you could catch a swarm.  Installing a swarm is similar to installing a package of bees, with the exception that they're actually all related.  Catching a swarm is another matter...

I decided to go with nucs from a local operation for the TLC hives.  So, on Friday May 27th, I picked up our 3 nucs from Bjorn Apiaries in Lewisberry, PA.  They definitely got a very late start this year, but I think it was worth it.  Because our bees come from queens who overwintered in PA, we know that they are well adapted to our climate.  Also, Mike Thomas from Bjorn Apiaries raises his bees without any chemical treatments, which means that these girls are survivors; we should be starting with some hardy genetics indeed.

I drove up to Lewisberry in the morning with my 3 empty hives, where Mike and I went out to his bee yard and inspected the nucs he had on hand.  When we found a nuc that was ready, we basically moved 5 frames (or more) from his nuc box to my 10-frame hive, and filled it the rest of the way with frames of foundation.  We made sure there was a healthy looking queen in each hive, as well as a good mix of honey and brood.  I must say, I left happy.  Mike is a good guy, his hives and queens looked great, and he made sure that I left with lots of bees.  Then all I had to do was drive back with the hives (screened shut so there were no escapees), and plop them in place. 

p.s.- The looks you get with buzzing boxes of bees in your truck at the gas station is a real bonus.

TLC Apiary

It finally happened.  With the help of The Kennett Friends Meeting and The Chester County Beekeepers Association... we've got some hives!  The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County has set up 3 beautiful new beehives at the Vincenti Preserve, on the corner of Hillendale and Rosedale roads in Kennett Square.  These hives will be available for the public to admire and be inspired by.  I'll post updates of what's new at the site and on this blog, and in the future we hope to host events at the preserve.

In planning this new apriary, my goal is to manage it using no chemical treatments ("organic" is a tricky word, but I'll save that for another post), and to design the hives to be easy for anyone to handle.  I'll also let you know about what steps I take throughout the year to manage the hive, and all the mistakes I'm sure to make.  We need more advocates for honey bees, they're up against an awful lot.  So, we hope you learn a little more about Apis mellifera, or maybe even become a beekeeper yourself.  Come on down to the preserve and check them out (from a safe distance of course- bees can sting, you know).