Welcome back! Episode 55 of my podcast is now live, and you can find it here (and on your favourite pod catcher!).
This episode is all about what happened in my apiary last year, from bringing a package and nucs home in the Spring to closing everyone up for the winter. I break things down by hive and try to give a detailed accounting of my inspections. This was a great learning tool for me, which was a welcome surprise! I hope you enjoy it.
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Hive News (2022)
What I started with:
I went into winter with 3 colonies (2 Langstroth, 1 top bar) but suspected that I would lose the top bar colony pretty early on due to their small size and minimal honey stores. This turned out to be true and I lost them in the early months of winter.
Of my two Lansgtroth hive colonies, one was going into their second year (Oh/Sask genetics) so I was optimistic that they’d remain strong and survive the winter (second year colonies have a vastly better chance of overwintering success than first year due to build up of resources, such as comb). The other colony was formed when I had to merge two weak colonies in the Fall. I was worried this one might not make it.
Shockingly, my second year colony failed during that dicey time of year when the days warm up but the nights are still bitterly cold. This is a dangerous time as the winter bees are dying off in greater numbers but the next generation might not have emerged. Since the queen is laying, the brood nest needs to be kept at 94F, which puts added stress on the old winter bees. I suspect I lost this colony because they couldn’t maintain an appropriate brood temperature and the queen did not start laying, despite the need for the next generation. RIP.
My merged colony shocked me by making it through. They came out small so I aggressively fed them 1:1 sugar syrup once temps allowed it.
So let's break things down by hive!
Top Bar Hive:
Tuesday, April 19th, I drove out to Queenright Colonies to pick up my package of honey bees with a marked New World Carniolan queen. They were offering to treat packages with oxalic acid on site, which I happily paid for ($12 for vaporization). This saved me the hassle of getting all my equipment and PPE together so I was grateful.
I had kept some honey frames from the TBH in storage and put them back before installing the package. What I didn’t realise is that the cold had made the wax brittle, and about 3 broke free from the top bars during the install. I did my best to reattach them as I wanted them to have access to the honey but it is so much more difficult than all my books made it sound!! I tried making a fabric sling and using large elastic bands but it was difficult. I’ve learned that I need to keep heavy duty bands on hand!!
It was cold when I installed them, about 30F, with intermittent snow flurries so I was worried about the colony from day 1. While I was worrying, they were getting to work, and by April 24th, they’d repaired most of the damaged comb!
By May 12th, this colony had 8 frames of brood and were building fresh comb. Lots of activity and absolutely booming!
May 23rd, dramatic increase in drone brood. 10 total frames of brood, 2 frames of pollen and honey.
May 30th, up to 12 frames of brood. Good pollen stores. 1 frame of honey!
June 14th, colony expanding rapidly still. Added 4 additional bars for them to build on.
June 16th. Big, booming colony! Lots more drone comb being built, and some queen cups, so on swarm watch. Currently have 28 bars in use: 12 brood, 4 honey and drone comb (honey at top of frame, drone cells at the bottom), 3 honey, and 9 that are being drawn out with fresh wax.
June 17th. Added 4 empty bars to the brood nest to give them more room and hopefully prevent swarming.
June 24th: new bars already have comb on them! Added 2 additional bars into the brood nest, and moved some frames to open up the brood area. Still seeing queen cups but none with eggs.
July 13th: spent over an hour removing cross-comb. Hive so full that I took 4 full frames of honey. Added 2 more bars to the brood nest.
August 5th: more cross-comb to fix! Gah! Took 4 frames of honey, replaced with empty bars
Sept 15th: closed bottom of hive into the ‘winter’ position. Mite test but I forgot to write down the results; under treatment threshold, though.
October 6th: re-arranged comb so all honey on one side of brood nest. Still seeing some drones. Still huge population. Wrapped.
November 5th: warm day. Saw plenty of activity at entrance.
December 30th: Warm day. Opened up and found colony dead. Still lots of honey. Visible mites on the remaining bees. Did a mite test on the bodies; insanely high levels!! Very sad and disappointed. This was my absolute favourite colony to work with; very docile, non-reactive, and the queen was a champion layer. Gutted.
Langstroths
Where I started:
May 23rd: picked up 4 nucleus colonies from Hartville Honey Bee Farm. 3 VSH (varroa sensitive hygiene), and 1 Saskatraz. These are the nicest nucs I’ve ever had! Bursting with bees, great laying patterns from the queens, and beautiful comb. Just delightful! They were so full that some of them had swarm cells with eggs in!! Knocked those down and immediately put them into 10 frame Langstroth with drawn out comb.
All hives have robber screens on, frames with comb, and are either 2 deep bodies or 1 deep and 2 mediums. All being offered 1:1 syrup.
Numbered hives from left to right for note taking. VSH= 1,2, and 5. Sask = 4, and my overwintered colony is #3.
Hive #3 (overwintered colony): starting to ‘chimney’ so consolidated the brood frames into the lower box, and added a new deep with drawn comb. Some spotty brood patterns on a few frames; will monitor.
Breakdown by Hive:
Hive #1 (VSH nuc):
May 30th: replenished syrup; eggs, brood, and queen; building up well with some capped honey already.
June 9th: Not drawing as much wax as I had hoped but still building up. Queen in the lower box, nice laying pattern. Topped up their syrup.
June 16th: starting to backfill a little so added a honey super with drawn comb. Increase in wax making, Sucking down syrup still so refilled.
June 27th: added space to brood box (checkerboarding). Honey super still unused despite more than 50% of the frames having full comb. Currently 2 deeps and 1 honey super. Corners of brood frames packed full of honey. Colony was reactive today and relatively defensive; due to wind (light-moderate)?
July 19th: increased interest in the honey super but not filling it as I’d like. Noticeably less reactive today, although 2 guard bees were determined to get me (should have squished them!). Repositioned some frames for brood chamber expansion and to increase interest in honey super. Unlikely to get a harvest from this colony unless we have a strong Fall flow.
August 11th: still going strong. Mite test: 4/300 (under treatment threshold)
Sept 8th: mite test 8/300 (just under threshold but will treat). Too rainy to apply formic pro today.
Sept 15th: applied Formic Pro to lower brood box. Robbing guard off as entrance must be fully open during treatment. Remove on the 29th.
Sept 30th: removed Formic Pro. Colony looks strong and all the boxes were HEAVY. Yah!
October 6th: tilted all hives in preparation for winter, started feeding 2:1 syrup.
October 30th: winterized hive (feeder, quilt box, wrap, mouseguard)
December 30th: lovely mild day so went in to check on feeder. Activity at entrance and population seems good still. Most of the food untouched but I added dry sugar to be safe.
As of 01/19/23: this colony is still alive.
Hive #2 (VSH nuc)
May 30th: absolutely phenomenal laying pattern from this queen! Gorgeous. Big population and building fast. Seems very strong. Topped up their syrup.
June 9th: cannot get enough of this q0ueen’s laying pattern! Using most of the 2 deeps I gave them so added a honey super with 50% drawn comb. Fed syrup.
June 16th: quick check. Starting to use honey super. Topped up their syrup.
June 27th: expanded brood chamber via checkerboarding. Took one frame of brood for hive #5. Reactive today. Wind?
July 19th: less reactive today (despite it being 90F!!). Open nectar in honey super now. Moved a few frames around but mostly unchanged. Unlikely to get honey harvest this year.
August 11th: good population and brood but not much honey. Mite test: 0/300!
Sept 8th: mite test 8/300 (will treat). Very few stores suddenly and brood pattern is now spotty. What happened here? Took unused deep off so now 1 deep, 1 honey super. Consider heavy feeding or even merging before winter.
Sept 15th: applied Formic Pro. Robbing guard off as entrance must be fully open during treatment.
Sept 30th: went to remove Formic Pro and found this colony failing. Only 4 frames in use, very small population, seems weak, though the queen is still alive. Condensed down into a nuc and fed 2:1 syrup. Only time will tell how they do!
October 6th: tilted nuc, added more syrup.
Oct 30th: fondant feeder, quilt box, mouse guard, and wrap added.
December 30th: found colony deceased. Lots of honey left. Appears to be equipment failure: water somehow got in through the lid and dripped down onto the cluster. Inside of hive soaking wet. Very sad!! Will take everything apart and repair/remake before using again.
Hive #3 (OH/Sask over-wintered then Saskatraz)
May 30th: eggs, brood, queen. Still a little slow to build but showing improvement. Fed 1:1 syrup.
June 9th: some improvement of laying pattern but still not that good. Considering boosting the population by taking brood from another colony. If no improvement during the nectar Flow, will re-queen or merge this colony. Syrup on.
June 16th: spotty brood pattern continues. Backfilling. Decided to re-queen.
June 17th: went in and removed original queen. Used newspaper method to merge queenright split from hive #4 to this colony (2 deeps, newspaper, queen deep, honey super).
June 23rd: queen has been accepted! Eggs, brood, queen. Already building up faster now. Feeder off.
July 15th: queen, eggs, brood. 3 deeps, 1 honey super. The highest deep is really heavy; I have to take out half the frames to lift it. Need to consolidate brood frames in lower boxes. Re-check in 7 days, take any honey frames to extract and make room.
July 19th: Back in to re-orient boxes. Moved 3rd deep to the bottom, bottom box to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd. Bees extremely angry at me during this process!! This colony has been relatively reactive since day 1 and any involved management makes them worse. Showing interest in honey super. Frames ready to extract in 1-3 weeks, depending on flow.
August 5th: queen, eggs, brood. 2 deep frames almost fully capped. Colony is HUGE. Considering taking one of the deeps and merging with captured swarm colony. Mite test: 1/300
Sept 7th: honey super mostly unused. Top deep is once against PACKED with brood and honey and too heavy to lift. Middle deep mostly brood and pollen with honey at the edges. Did not inspect bottom box as robbing started so closed things up as quickly as possible.
Sept 15th: mite test: 9/300. Applied Formic Pro (robbing screen off). Took one deep of brood and honey, and merged with Hive #6.
Sept 30th: formic pro off. Looking good in here! Great population and stores.
October 6th: tilted hive. Feeding 2:1 syrup.
Oct 30th: winterized (mouseguard, feeder, quilt box, wrap)
December 30th: absolutely boiling with bees!! Seems very strong. Stores look good still but added dry sugar to be safe. Still kind of pissy/reactive (squished one girl for trying to get in my veil).
As of 01/19/23 still alive! Active on warm days.
Hive #4 (Saskatraz nuc)
May 30th: This is the nuc that had swarm cells with eggs in them when I brought it home. As of today, no new swarm cells! Really big population on this one so I gave them more empty frames to work on than my other colonies. Topped up syrup.
June 9th: eggs, brood, queen. Starting making more swarm cells (no eggs) and supersedure cells (why? Queen seems to be doing beautifully). The supersedure cells have eggs in them so I took those frames and made a nuc. Will need to closely monitor this colony to get ahead of swarming impulse.
June 14th: Building up so fast! Lots of beautiful new wax and lots of babies. Still making swarm cells so added a honey super with drawn comb to give them even more room. Consolidated brood into bottom box then a medium box with cells ready for eggs, and then two honey supers. Considering splitting this colony.
June 16th: Lots of nectar coming in! Decided to split this colony. Will merge queenright half of colony to hive #3 (to requeen).
June 17th: split colony. Sask queen now in hive #3. This hive is now queenless but lots of eggs to raise their own queen. Merged with the nuc I’d made from the original queen cells via newspaper method. Hive consists of deep, newspaper, deep now. Still feeding syrup.
June 24th: virgin queen spotted! 5 queen cells still in place. Opened the brood space somewhat, and gave them more eggs from hive #3. Feeder off.
June 27th: queen cells now being pulled down. Good sign! Saw the virgin queen again. Added a honey super with empty frames to keep the population busy.
July 15th: Confusing inspection today. Bottom box consists of mostly brood frames; middle box has eggs and some very small lava but there are new queen cells in odd places on the frame. Did not see queen. Colony is also reactive. Will re-check in a week.
July 31st: eggs, brood, queen! Queen in bottom box. Hive still reactive but not too bad. Took 1 deep frame of honey. Mite test: 1/300
August: I know I did an inspection for this month but I didn’t write it down. Gah!
Sept 7th: will need to condense down before winter as some empty frames dotted through all the boxes. Good population and stores. Removed a 99% capped drone frame and fed to the chickens.
Sept 15th: queen, eggs, brood. Took out empty frames and condensed colony. Smells super yummy in here today!! Mite test: 2/300
October 6th: tilted hive. Feeding 2:1 syrup. Took one deep frame of honey.
October 30th: winterized (feeder, quilt box, mouseguard, wrap)
December 30th: second most active colony! Stores look good but I added some dry sugar to be safe.
As of 01/19/23 still alive!
Hive #5 (VSH nuc then VSH/OH)
May 30th: Eggs, brood, queen. Only colony that didn’t immediately suck down all their syrup. Good build up.
June 9th: sounded loud/queenless the minute I opened it up. At the very end of my inspection, I saw the queen lying on the bottom board. Gently scooped her up and she was weak and missing a leg. Could I have accidentally rolled her during the last inspection? Found eggs so she was laying within the past 3 days. Watched the queen die. Her colony surrounded her and took her deep into the hive (very moving). Not sure how to feel. Thankfully, plenty of eggs for them to make a new queen.
June 14th: beautiful queen cells! 4 capped and looking good. Nectar coming in. Consolidated brood into the bottom box. Still feeding syrup for additional support.
June 17th: replenished syrup
June 23rd: virgin queen! Have space to build, still have brood to keep them calm. Removed feeder.
June 27th: Checked on brood. Decided to give them a frame from hive #2. Saw virgin queen again.
July 13th: queenright!! Beautiful, frame to frame laying pattern. Starting to see capped honey!
July 19th: Checked on honey supers. Lots of capped honey but on treated frames (bee safe only). Might be able to get a frame or two to extract in a few weeks.
July 31st: queen, eggs, brood. Queen laying in all three boxes. Consolidated brood.
August 11th: eggs, brood, queen! Almost full honey super (for them; winter stores). This colony was super cranky today. Mite test: 0/300
Sept 7th: very busy and well populated! Excellent honey stores. Less cranky today. Added additional honey super, just in case.
Sept 15th: queen, eggs, brood. Really aggressive today so kept inspection to a minimum. Mite test: 4/300
October 6th: tilted hive. Feeding 2:1 syrup. Took one deep frame of honey.
October 30th: winterized (feeder, quilt box, mouseguard, wrap)
December 30th: active! Good stores but added dry sugar.
As of 01/19/23, still alive.
Hive #6 (swarm catch)
July 13th: noticed activity at the nuc box I had left out. Found a small colony inside with a laying queen. She’s a bit small but laying pattern is good. Gave them frames with drawn comb and started to feed 1:1 syrup.
Sept 15th: added 1 deep box of bees, brood, and stores from hive #3. Decided not to mite test due to small population.
October 6th: tilted hive. Feeding 2:1 syrup.
October 30th: winterized (feeder, quilt box, mouseguard, wrap)
December 30th: seem to be in bottom box still (did not want to break propolis seals to open things up further). Very active and fondant untouched so far. Added a wee bit of dry sugar, just to be safe.
As of 01/19/23, still alive.
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Thoughts/summary:
Going through my journal and breaking things down like this, hive by hive, has been an excellent learning experience. I can see that I worked the nucs maybe a little too much in the Spring because I was anxious about my upcoming trip to Canada. I returned with COVID so definitely fell behind on my inspections, and completely forgot to add updates for some checks I did in August.
Ideally, I would have tested all hives for mites in July, August, and September. Instead, I only tested twice. I don’t think this was too much of an issue based on the mite counts I did get, and it seems like I applied the Formic Pro treatment at the right time. That said, I consistently ignored a suspicion that my top bar hive mite counts weren’t completely accurate. I had noticed that the nurse bees in this hive were always much more spread out among the frames, and was concerned that I had more foragers than nurse bees in my samples. Sure enough, this colony died due to mite infestation over winter. Moving forward, I think I will continue to test using the alcohol wash method but I will do a Fall treatment in August/September regardless of the results. I hate knowing that a treatment at this time might have saved this colony. I’ve always been opposed to treating on a schedule, or treating prophylactically because I will always prefer to avoid treatment if it’s not needed. But, clearly, I have an issue getting an accurate read on bees in this specific hive design. Lesson learned!!
I started beekeeping in 2019 so this will be my fifth year. Looking back, l can objectively see that I have learned a lot, gained better instincts, and have more confidence about making decisions for the health of each colony. That said, if someone asked me, “do you consider yourself to be a good beekeeper?”, I think I’d response with a simple “I don’t know.”
I believe my intentions are good and I have a solid understanding of bee biology and colony health but every loss feels like an avoidable failure. I understand that I am at the mercy of local weather, forage, mite infestation levels, and apiary location but I take every loss personally. The only silver lining is that I learn something with every loss. Keeping a bee journal is such an important tool for a beekeeper! It’s right up there with a veil and hive tool. Being able to go back and read what I saw, what I did, how things turned out, etc, is so valuable.
I am hopeful that my surviving colonies will make it through to Spring, and I am excited to start working the hives again! Who knows what this new year will bring?
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Thank you for reading and/or listening! Next week, I'm trying out something new for the podcast: I will be sharing shorter 'farm stories' about the goings on here at the homestead. Instead of one big info-dump or educational style episode, I'll be sharing the occasional shorter episode where I focus on specific animals, funny happenings, interesting finds, and general homestead news. I hope you will enjoy them!
Until next time, I hope those of you still going through winter are as cozy as my Chappie here in his jammies:
