...educating the masses

So much capped honey!

Today marked the monthly meeting at the bee yard.  Marcus' wife is expecting a baby any day so we had a substitute instructor...Ken.  It was interesting having someone else teaching today.  We got a different point-of-view.  He gave us a few tips and tricks that have helped him over the years.

My hive is doing incredible.  I have 2 full honey supers that will yield about 4 gallons of honey.  We will be learning to extract honey on August 18th.  Ken suggested that I add a 3rd honey super in order to ensure that my bees do not swarm.  Swarming occurs when colonies become too large and need to divide.  They will lay and raise a new queen.  The reigning queen will leave the hive with half the workers and a few drones.  They will fill the air around the hive often surrounding a branch until the new location is found.  Bees usually swarm in the spring.  Ken said if they swarmed in the late summer or fall, the existing colony would not survive the winter.  So I will add another honey super....this can only be a good thing: no swarms and more honey!

Hive beetle.  In the next couple weeks, we will be checking our hive beetle count.  If we have an excessive amount, we will treat the hives.

I also wanted to touch on the title of my post this week and expand on the title of my last post.  I mentioned the dying colony last post.  I took some photos this week of the dead colony.  The Tennessee Valley Beekeepers Association (TVBA) have examined the dead colony and had the Tennessee State Beekeeper involved in discovering what happened to the colony.  The TVBA and the State of Tennessee could find no disease that would have caused the decline and eventual death.  The colony was strong and very suddenly died.  It turns out that 2 other hives died as well.  They were not as strong, but being cared for by a master beekeeper with experience since young adulthood who makes his living on hiving bees.  It appears that the hives were sprayed with pesticide through the small entrance at the base of the hive.  The hives have not been tested for a particular pesticide, but TVBA has come to this conclusion due to the positioning of the bees at the time of death.  The bees were pushed toward the back, sides and top of the hive like they were trying to run from something.  The bees also spilled out of the front of the hive as if they were ready to attack, but died immediately outside the entrance.

These bees are the ones that tried to escape/attack through the hive entrance.  They died immediately after leaving the entrance and fell to the ground.  It is very difficult to tell, but there are thousands of dead bees laying just outside the entrance.

This is a photo of the bottom super from the dead colony.  You can see that there are no bees except for a few against the top of the box.

This is the dead colony.

It turns out there has been a bit of drama at the bee yard that the students were unaware of.  A large company has a building near the bee yard.  When I say near, I would say it is at least 10 football fields...not that close.  The company noticed the bees a couple months ago when 2 Top Bar hives were placed about 20 feet away from the student's hives toward the company's building and new TVBA signs were placed at the edge of the bee yard.  These hives were a little bit more noticeable due to their placement, and the company now knew who to contact.  Their first complaint was that the bees were pooping on their cars.  Ridiculous.  If the bees were flying over to their parking lot in swarms and pooping, I wouldn't be as concerned about the mess on my car, but much more terrified of the bee masses flying above my head.  So silly!  When TVBA ignored this first report, the company sent another complaint about the safety of the employees in regards to the proximity of the bee yard.  This is where education is so important.  Honey bees are not aggressive unless you are robbing their honey or hurting them.  They will fight back if squished or swatted.  They also will protect their homes and belongings.  As beekeepers, we wear protective gear and smoke the bees in order to protect us as we "break in" to the bee's home.  I will need to knock on wood after writing this, but I have not been stung, and Rachel was stung once, 30 minutes after we left the bee yard when she unknowingly laid her hand down on a bee who had flown into her car.  I know that I will be stung.  I am fearful of it only because I am afraid I will scream embarrassingly and throw the frame full of bees that I am holding.  Although this colony death is obviously man made,  no one at the bee yard or TVBA is pointing fingers at the company next door.  It could have been a group of kids or someone trying to make a point.  We will probably not figure out who or why they did this, but it proves that the majority of the population is unaware of the benefits and need for honey bees, as well as, the non-aggressive nature of the honey bee.

I will get off my soap box now, but I am more than willing to answer any questions that you all have about the hives, bees, etc.  I don't know everything, but I have some amazing connections.  The TVBA was put in to place to encourage education and beekeeping, and they will give us the answers to the questions if I can't.