First, I want to start out by thanking one of our long time followers Jessica S, for pointing out that August 18th is National Honey Bee Day! 🐝

Second, I want to point out the unpainted supers that are on the hives.  These are feeders that we bought at Mann Lake beekeeping supplies.  The feeder comes installed in a super. 

There is a mesh grate that the bees can use to climb down to the resources without falling in and drowning (a very real hazard).  There are also two plastic basins that hold resources for the bees. We typically make a sugar water syrup with some wintergreen, spearmint essential oils to aid in varroa treatment and tea tree essential oil to give it a pleasant scent for the bees.  The resources will help the bees get a carbohydrate source to create the wax which they will fill with delicious honey for us to harvest.  Think about it like drinking an energy drink at the end of the day as a pick me up.

During this hive maintenance we will start making sure there’s no robbing behavior as occurred last year.  We are also still looking to make sure there are no queen cells being made.  Cutting them out as we see them will help ensure that we don’t lose half of our hive before winter.  The plan is still to complete a walk away split in Spring 2019 if the colony is still going strong. That will give us a Hive 3!

During this particular inspection were hoping to see some wax on the honey supers. Unfortunately, we did not see any this time. In the brood frames, there is plenty of capped honey. 

In the video included as well as some of the pictures here, you’ll see me picking up frames with only one glove. I am doing this on Hive 1, as that was the hive that we re-queened some weeks ago. It’s only because of that re-queening that I am now able to use only one glove.  

The final check I complete in each hive every time I go in, is for varroa mites.

According to the University of Kentucky Entomology,

The Varroa mite has spread to and become a major pest of honey bees since their introduction into Florida in the mid 1980's. They were first reported in the Bluegrass Region of the Commonwealth in 1991 and now occur throughout the state. 

Varroa mites are external parasites that attack both honey bees and brood. They suck the blood from both the adults and developing brood, especially drone brood. This weakens and shortens the bee’s life. Emerging brood may be deformed with missing legs or wings. Untreated infestations of varroa mites will increase and may kill colonies. If the colonies are not examined for mites, losses may be mistaken for winter mortality or queenlessness. Many believe that you will never be free of them, but must manage their numbers to keep colony damage to a minimum.

While in the hive, we did see varroa mites. We have a fogger and some Oxalic Acid to treat the bees. Those treatments will start later on in September or at the beginning of October and we’ll have to treat them once a week for a few weeks to give them a fighting start to the winter.

Stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated as we begin and complete treatments!

~Chris, The Boxing Beekeeper