Bees in my bonnet

"You've got bees in your bonnet," my Dad would say. He'd say it to Mom a lot too. Our family often enjoys projects that we have a tendency to work on with a singleness of mind that's kind of scary. And Dad, he can get bees in his bonnet too.

This photo is of a bumble bee flying to my Oriole feeder (sugar water feeder). It's the first time I've ever seen bumble bees sip nectar from a feeder. In the past the visitors would always be ants, yellow jacket wasps, hummingbirds, finches and Orioles that drop by to sip from these feeders. The fact that bumble bees came to this source of nectar is a sign of how bad our summer has been.

There must be a dearth of nectar in my neighbourhood. That's not surprising considering how cold and rainy it has been this summer. I've read that many flowers will bloom but unless the temperature reaches a certain high, they won't put out nectar.

Last week our family vacationed in Tobermory, Ontario. It's about a 2 hour drive north of Toronto (4 hours from my home south of Toronto). We go every year because we love it so much. It's the scuba diving capital of Canada - crystal clear waters and about 30 shipwrecks to dive on as well as giant interesting geological rocks.

We also love hiking the trails of the Bruce Peninsula. Our favourite trail leads up to the top of cliffs that open out into a huge rocky grotto. These are smooth flat rocks that are great to sunbathe or picnic on.

So I had a week away from my bees. It was hard to be away from them. The last I had been in the hive was during my friend Henry's inspection and we found queen cells.

But I found I still had bees in my bonnet. I just couldn't stop thinking about them. I looked for them everywhere I went in Tobermory. I didn't have to look very hard. Milkweeds and Queen Anne's Lace were in bloom on the edges of the camp site and the bees were happily swarming all over them. I could smell the sweet intoxicating scent of the milkweed from several feet away.

Of course there were also predators on the milkweed as well, trying to take advantage of a meal that might fly within their reach. I saw a dragonfly and a crab spider, poised to snatch a meal if the opportunity presented itself.

While entering the dive shop in town I looked down at the steps and there was a worker bumble bee. I could tell right away that something wasn't right with her. People had stepped over her to enter the shop but I knew it was only a matter of time before someone stepped on her.

I picked her up by her wings and placed her on a leaf. I learned the trick of picking up honey bees by their wings from my beekeeping friend Paul. He assured me that honey bees can't twist around to sting you.

I wasn't so sure if the bumble bee could twist around to sting but I decided to risk it. As it turned out, the little creature was too preoccupied with its own issues to sting me.

I placed her on a potted purple annual flower that looked like a daisy. I hope she was okay.

We'd called home a couple times during the week and found out that the weather was fair and sunny which is a real boon from all the overcast cold days and rain.

The weather in Tobermory was fine and fair as well, just one day with rain in the morning but then it cleared and the sun came out.

And on the long ride home a week later I was still thinking about my bees and planning my next hive inspection.

There's no question, I definitely have bees, several thousand bees, buzzing around in my bonnet.

My Truck Smells.... Really Nice!

I love getting into the truck these days. I'm finding it's an olfactory delight. The smell inside the truck brings memories of happy times and relaxation and a hobby that I'm just loving.

A few years back I needed to take on a part-time job in addition to my full-time job to make ends meet. I went to college at night to take Aesthetics. I loved it and made some great friends. I opened a salon in my home and welcomed customers for acrylic nails, manicures, pedicures and facials. I also took an aromatherapy course. This is where we studied the benefits of essential oils and how to blend them to help people.

Aromatherapy is all about the olfactory senses - often a scent will bring memories with it, not always good ones unfortunately, but our sense of smell is uniquely tied to memories.

What's really interesting is how it's different for everyone. Some people would find the smell of cow manure offensive but for me it reminds me of my favourite place and that was my grandparents dairy farm. The smells of the farm, hay, manure, etc., evoke fond memories and warm feelings.

Now I hope you are wondering what on earth my truck smells like? Well, after my smoker goes out I keep it in the truck so that it won't get (a) stolen and (b) wet from rain. Often the cab smells like a campfire. That alone brings very fond memories of camping with my family all over the world. But lately the smell has gotten even richer. Why do you ask? Because underneath it all, underneath the like smoke smell is a sweet smell. It's the smell of honey and wax emanating from my clothing and tools. It's a wonderful mixture that I would just love to bottle so I can spray it every where.

Expert Hive Inspection

I was at work when the phone rang. It was a fellow beekeeper Henry Heimstra.

Henry has been in beekeeping for over 30 years and ran Clovermead Apiaries in Aylmer, Ontario, until his son took it over when he retired.

Saturday was supposed to be the annual Bee Beard Competition at Clovermead but due to an especially wet and cold summer, the decision was made to postpone the event until 29 August 2009.

That meant Henry had his Saturday free, and so did we. He said he wanted to come and see my bees. I gulped! It was such an honour to have Henry willing to take time out on a busy day to come and see the bees and to offer his advice but I was a bit nervous that I might have done everything wrong!

But at the same time I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to learn and get some advice from an expert.

At the swamp it was strangely a mosquitoe free day, actually the first time I've been to the swamp when I never had to put my gloves on at all.

The hives looked placid, with their normal buzz of activity. It was again an overcast day with the threat of rain and thunder showers.

We had a dry break in the morning so we all decided to make the run to the bee yard and hope to get through opening the hives before the rain came.

Henry commented right away that everything looked good. He said he could tell from the outside that everything was fine on the inside.

I can't wait to have that kind of experience. It will take time I know, but I do make a point of taking time to watch and listen from the outside so I can learn the sights and sounds of a normal happy hive.

I lit up the smoker and Henry, not wearing any beekeeping equipment at all, opened the hive. He commented right away that I had gentle bees. I was so proud of them I beamed.

I knew they were gentle, requiring almost no smoke and I actually had not received a single sting while working inside either hive since I started in June.

The bees had progressed very well in the second purple honey supers. Hive #2 were very busy building comb and they even had HONEY! Henry dipped in the hive tool and tasted it.

I immediately saw the huge disadvantage to wearing the veil but I snuck my finger into a spot of honey and slipped my hand under the veil to have a taste too.

Delicious. Especially delicious because the purple super contains the honey they are making from nectar only--no sugar water feeding after this second super was put on so it's pure flower nectar.

The pink super was the first box put on the hive and they were being fed sugar syrup at that time (to help them make wax to build comb) so that honey will be a mixture of nectar and sugar syrup. Mind you it still tastes like honey because I've tasted it a couple weeks ago and it would be perfectly fine to extract and have for personal use, just not for sale.

Henry commented too, not to feed them, despite the weather. He said they had enough honey to feed the hive and that I should expect to harvest some myself too. And from looking at the honey filling up the purple super, it's true. They are finding nectar from somewhere, despite the rain, despite the cold weather. They're simply amazing!

A couple days ago I took off the queen excluder on Hive #1 to give the bees more movement through the hive so they could build comb and you could tell when inspecting this hive that it did make a big difference. There were a lot more bees busy working to build up the comb.

Next week I will put on the third honey super box because they're approaching the 7 or 10 frames of drawn comb in the super below so they'll be ready for it.

Let's just hope the weather takes a turn. In fact, it'd be nice if the rain from Ontario would blow itself out west and help those poor people in British Columbia who are having forest fires and losing their homes because of a lack of rain. (Sometimes things just aren't the way we'd like them to be).

We found a queen supersedure cell in Hive#2 so I'm now aware that the bees have decided it's time to replace their queen. There's really no way to know for sure why they've decided to replace the existing queen. From my inexperienced point of view I think she's a great queen.

But queens should be replaced every year at best or at least every second year so it's not a bad thing. Henry suggested to let things be as they are and allow the bees to supersede the existing queen.

(Click on the photo at left to enlarge - notice you will see a tiny white crescent shaped larva sitting in a pool of white royal jelly inside this queen cup, which once completely built will be a supersedure cell). Once a new queen hatches in about 16 days, the new and old queen will fight for the right to rule the hive. The winner will take over the hive as the new queen.

On Henry's advice, we're going to let the bees make their own queen. I figure they know what they're doing.

I mentioned that I hadn't been delving down into the deep brood box for several weeks to make sure there are eggs down there because I didn't want to disturb them too much. (I was also concerned that the more I manipulated frames the increase in the likelihood that I could accidentally crush and kill my queen).

Henry said he avoids pulling frames from the deep because it really disrupts the bees. Instead, he watches for signs of young larvae to know the queen is alive and well and he relies mostly on how things look and sound from the outside.

This makes complete sense to me. If every time you pull frames you disrupt and set them back and if inspections are going on every week or two, that's a lot of interruptions. Also, I keep remembering running the gas heater to warm the room when I lived in Melbourne Australia (it was freaking cold there in winter without central heating!) Anyway, every time a door opened, great amounts of heat would escape meaning that the heater would have to run longer to warm it up again. Every time the hive is opened there's heat loss which I'm sure the bees have to re-create. So I think it makes more work all around. Also, bees die in inspections, by accident yes, but it happens.

I think inspections and monitoring are very necessary to be sure of the health of the hive, but I'm going to do my best to limit them to when I really think it's necessary.

The rain barely held off for us and it started to spit while we were finishing up the inspection. I was glad to have the trees which sheltered us from most of the rain.

I'm very grateful that Henry was willing to come out to the yard. I really did need to have an expert have a look see and let me know if I was on track or doing things all wrong.

What Queen Cells Look Like

If you're a new beekeeper like me when you lift out frames of comb and see bumps sticking up you probably ask yourself, what is that?

The drones (male bees) are usually laid in cells along the top and bottom of the frame. I'm not sure why the queen chooses that spot, maybe because the centres of the frame are focused for the workforce of the hive - the female worker bees.

When I see a row of drone comb along the rop edge of a frame I don't seem to have a problem recognizing it. But when I saw only two cells like the ones on this photo, I wasn't so sure.

This photo is a frame of honey with a patch of brood comb and within the patch are 2 drone cells. I had this confirmed by an experienced beekeeper and friend, Henry Heimstra, who looked at my hives.

Then I saw these two very large cells on the bottom of the frame.

The cells come out from burr comb so this time I was really unsure... were these 2 cells drone comb or queen supersedure cells? The cells just looked so huge and domed that it was really hard to tell.

Henry confirmed that the two large cells at the bottom of this frame are drone comb.

He said that queen cells are always directed downwards, not across.

(Don't hesitate to click the photos to see the enlarged version)



See the photo at left how the cell goes upwards? That's what makes it drone comb.

On Hive #2 though we did find a queen cell located at the bottom of the frame. See the photo below.

Dad managed to grab a photo looking straight into the comb where you can see the white puddle of royal jelly. If you click to enlarge the photo you can actually see a tiny white crescent shaped larva sitting in a pool of the white royal jelly.

The cells is on the bottom of the frame, turned up for the photo so you can see it.

You'll notice that the direction the cell is being built is downwards.

On closer inspection there was a larvae inside the queen cell.

So my bees have decided they'd like a new queen.

It's the Little Things That Get You

It's true what Linda commented on in a previous blog, that bees die every time you open the hive.

It's not a deliberate thing at all. After all, the bees are technically (or legally speaking) considered as 'livestock' and no wise farmer would abuse the creatures that bring in a livelihood.

But it happens, not as abuse though but as an unavoidable circumstance. The frames inside a hive (called a deep) are packed in very closely. In fact, they're packed in precisely, leaving 3/8 of an inch in between each frame. This space is called a bee space. When frames are set at the correct distance apart, the bees can travel up and down both sides of the frame and they can cross over to adjacent frames. When this space is violated by putting the frames farther apart, the bees then fill up the gaps with their burr comb. The burr comb creates little bridges so that they can move from one frame to the next more easily. This burr comb glues the frames into the hive making it difficult for the beekeeper to remove the frames to inspect the hive.

Inspections are really important to look over the bees and combs to monitor the overall health of the hive.
So, this precise space makes it difficult to remove frames of bees without injuring or maiming somebody. The frames are first very sticky, from honey and also from propolis, otherwise known as bee glue. Propolis is made from tree sap that bees collect and mix with their saliva. They use it to weatherproof the hive and to stick things down. The frames are stuck down and must be unstuck. Next, the frames are heavy because over half the frame is filled with honey.

The beekeeper makes their best effort to pull the frame out straight up without rocking back and forth, and don't forget the frame will often be covered with thousands of bees.

I do my best. When opening the hive I will sometimes see the body of a bee, squished totally flat because it happened to be on the edge of the hive when I set a box on top. It's a small regret but you know the death was a quick one.

The ones that bother me though are they injured bees, specifically the ones that I've accidentally injured.

This little gal is pretty young and would probably still be a house bee. A house bee is usually a young bee that does 'chores' inside. There is a fairly wide range of chores that go anywhere from feeding the baby larvaes to guarding the front of the hive. I'm not sure of her injury. Her wings on the right side are upright, looking like what could be "K-wing" (my Varroa sticky boards haven't shown any mite drops so far) and she appeared to have some type of injury or disability to her left side middle and hind leg, almost like they were paralyzed. I don't know if this was a hive related injury or something else going on.


I picked her up from the ground with my bare hands and held her a while. She was not interested in stinging. She was too preoccupied with her other issues.

The mosquitoes began to close in on my bare flesh though and so I put the gloves on. The little worker and I visited for a bit. I could admire her while she stood there and take a moment for photos.

She still has most of her fur because it hasn't been worn off yet due to toiling in the hive. Her fur still has the new whitish hair of a newborn and her body is still golden and not darkened with more rings of black as it would be when she's older.


(photo of frame from honey super, capped honey with the whiter cappings and a bit of brood marked by the more yellow-beige cappings).

I found a drone too, wandering around on the ground (sorry no photos), so I picked him up to say hello. He was content to sit and clean himself for a few minutes while I looked him over. After about ten minutes he took to the air, looping back in forth in front of the hive a bit before spiralling up into the air and flying off. I wished him well and good fortune finding his queen.

I think each bee could tell a story. Wouldn't it be amazing if they could talk?

Building Comb in the Super - Week 6

Mmmmm Honey!

The bees have been working very hard, and through some pretty crappy weather.

They've been keeping themselves busy first with creating wax (bees have wax glands on their abdomens that secrete wax which they chew into shape to make honeycomb). They've been keeping busy taking this wax to build up honeycomb on top of the plastic foundation that I've given them inside wooden frames placed in a box called a honey super.

They started to fill the honeycombs with nectar gathered from flowers even before the construction of the combs was complete. Bees are workaholics. They're very driven--that is as long as there's a queen present giving off her pheromones to keep them organized and focused.

This inspection was to check the progress of the first (pink) honey supers on both hives and then to see the progress of building comb on the second (purple) honey supers. The main focus of the inspection though was to determine if the queens from both hives were laying eggs up in the honey super, not a very ideal thing for them to be doing.

I left off a piece of equipment called a queen excluder which would prevent the queen from being able to travel through the whole hive. My reasoning was based on advice from many long term beekeepers that queen excluders tend to slow the bees down to build comb. They simply don't like having to crawl through an excluders narrow bars to move up in the hive. I can't say I blame them. It's probably like doing a limbo and then having to double check you get all your important appendages tucked in so they don't get injured. It would certainly slow them down from moving freely.

The photos are all from the second hive, because we got busy when inspecting the first hive so didn't stop for photos.

Hive #2 had all it's frames drawn in comb in the pink super and the frames were full of honey. The central frames were half capped as well. No queen was sighted and there was no presence of larvae or capped brood. I opted to not put the queen excluder on this hive since the queen was staying down in the deep (brood box). I want the bees to continue upward with ease to the purple super because they need to build comb on those blank frames waiting for them. On inspecting the foundation on the purple super, the bees were at work building comb, but no frames were complete yet. But at least they'd got started.

Hive #1 had not started on their comb building at all in the purple super. This was as expected because this hive is slightly behind the other hive in their production and the weather has been so cold and rainy that I'm sure nectar flows that would help them increase productivity haven't been that great. (The existing honey in the supers is most likely a combination of nectar and sugar syrup honey because I was feeding the bees while they were building comb).

Hive #1 did have their frames drawn in the pink super and they were full of honey, capped and uncapped. I removed frame #1 which was full of honey up into the purple super and then replaced it with a blank frame. I'm hoping that frame of honey higher up will encourage the bees to move up and build comb in the top super.

(Photo - this frame has only a small strip of starter comb across the top. Notice the bees have festooned and are holding on to each other while they begin to create comb. The shape of the festoon should end up being the shape of the finished comb. This will be my honeycomb to harvest).

The Queen was sighted in the pink super on Hive #1 last week, wandering around. I didn't see larvae at that time but on this inspection a week later there was capped brood (no open cells with larvae could be seen) on both sides of about 3 centrally placed frames in this super. I'd say she's a prolific queen which is great and I think she's wonderful--but she needs to stay in the brood box below and do her laying there.

So I checked each frame to be sure the queen wasn't in either super, scraped away some burr comb from the top of the deep and then placed in a white plastic queen excluder. This will ensure she stays below. I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that--lots of rain can make bees unhappy and get them thinking of swarming and the excluder also can make the queen feel she doesn't have enough room but because of her laying above it was time to put it in.

I'll certainly have to monitor their activity but I'm determined not to open the hive more frequently than once a week. My next inspection will be to make absolute certain that the queen is below the excluder (by the presence of no new eggs or larvae) and to keep an eye out for supersedure or swarm cells.

I did see one large bullet-like cell on the left middle of a frame on Hive #1 which I wasn't sure if it was a supersedure cell or a drone cell so I opened it with my hive tool, unfortunately killing the larvae, but preventing another queen from being made if it was a supersedure cell. (Now after the fact I wish I had taken photos so I had a reference to look back at to be sure--but I'm finding I get so busy dealing with the busy bees, trying not to crush or kill them, sticky fingers and heavy frames, the smoke, etc., that it's hard to stop for the photos but they would give me something to look back at because I'm finding I get those 'senior moments' when I don't remember everything I did!)

I'll drop by mid week just to observe from the outside to see if they have a contented hum or not.

(Video - sorry I don't seem to have software that will allow me to rotate the video to make it upright).

Supers are just.... Super! Week 5

Today I added my second supers to both hives. I just did a really quick check when I opened the hives - no photos of frames today.

Hive #2 had reached 7 of 10 frames of drawn comb in the super.

Hive #1 was at about 6 1/2 frames drawn so I went ahead and gave them their next super now too. This is the hive where I saw the queen in the first super a few days ago.

I was pleased to see lots of capped honey on the center frames in the super on this hive.

I expect I'll shortly be doing a full inspection with the purpose to locate the queen and put in my queen excluders.

I'm assuming that if the bees don't finished fully drawing out all the comb in the supers, I can probably rotate some frames into the center of the box so that they all get drawn out.

I'm noticing that things are moving fast--faster than I expected. I feel like I'm being taken by surprise, which shouldn't really be happening since for the most part I know what to expect.

I don't have any extracting equipment yet and I'm realizing that I'd better figure out what I want to do because it looks like I'll have at least two boxes of honey fairly soon. Yikes!! I mean, gee that's awesome!!!



I was relaxing for a few minutes watching the bees when I looked up to the trees above. The bees were zooming by coming and going to the hives. The sun was glinting off their bodies like a quick sparkle which I thought was really neat. What's even better is that it did show up on the video so I can share the moment with you too.