Brian HarperMelissa shot some video of me clearing the super of bees for transferring. It shows my process. Some people use bee board escapes, or scent boards (a smell repellent to bees on felt) or blowers. I like the simple shake and brush method.
We ended up harvesting 28 pounds of honey today. A respectable amount for an 8 frame medium super. The moisture content over several samples after spinning everything was closer to 15-16%. Much better for storage.
Now to clean up and start passing it out to the circling vultures. Everyone wants some of my bees sweet honey. 🍯🐝 The girls did very good this box!
Liquid gold! The moisture content was 17-17.2% so perfectly shelf stable for years.
Final moisture level was around 15-16% after spinning everything and taking multiple readings.
It's always super to bring home a full super! Of honey that is. 🍯 Tomorrow we spin.
The blue hive has a little beard tonight. 🐝🐝🐝 The population is at a peak, probably 40,000 - 50,000 bees, maybe more. I'm adding another super tomorrow, the basswood and mimosa trees are in full bloom and the girls are hitting them hard.
The yellow is still struggling but we're hoping another new queen of the specific Carniolan stock they are might help. Time will tell.
Have a good night! 🌃
The bees are back to tease me again... My swarm box is always a bridesmaid, never a bride. 😕
We had a good new / bad news day with the bees. The yellow hive has no brood nor could I spot the new queen introduced. There's a good population still so Melissa and I discussed it and decided to get another queen but from a different supplier. Maybe we'll have better luck. Now the blue hive on the other hand is booming and I almost threw out my back pulling the super. It should be capped by next weekend. 🍯🐝
We're definitely adding another hive or two next year. 🐝🐝
Hello everyone, hope you're doing well! We went down to the apiary today to install a sun shade and put on the fully vented covers. From the angle it's hard to tell but the shade extends past the hives about a foot on each side. It's to block the intense afternoon sun. I prefer full sun most of the day to keep pests like small hive beetles at bay. Oh and the new queen is out of her cage.
Well it's time for a shower and lunch.
Have a wonderful afternoon!
The swarm box is seeing some serious interest. First time in a while.
A hawk landed on one of the hives a little while ago. The bee yard is surrounded by nature, so we share the space.
