Up to now, we have been supplementing the bees with sugar syrup, to help them draw out their beeswax comb, in which they place brood (eggs and babies), nectar for honey, and pollen for food. It is now time to remove the feeder bucket because there is enough natural nectar available, and the bees have stopped using the syrup.
This is what the feeder bucket looks like. It was placed upside down, on top of the hive, and the bees took the syrup out through the screen you can see in the center.
This week, we put menthol packets into the hive, to protect the bees against tracheal mites. They will remain in the hive for two weeks. The menthol emits vapors that eliminate the mites but don't harm the bees. The menthol is natural and not a chemical.
Jeff adds the second story (hive body) to the hives. He is
putting the hive tool into his pocket here.
The hive on the right now has two stories. On top of it, you can see a chicken waterer. We provide water to the bees so that they do not have to fly far away in search of it.
The bees bring the water into the hive, place it in cells in the comb, and on hot days they fan it with their wings to make it evaporate. In this way, they provide natural air conditioning for their home!
The population in the hives has grown to the point that we need to add the next levels. The hive size needs to expand along with the population. Right now, 1,000 - 2,000 bees are hatching per day! If we did not give them more room, the queen would try to move some of the bees to a new home in a swarm. The rest would stay and create new queens, which would get into a big fight because only one queen can rule a hive.
If half the bees left in a swarm, it would not be good because there would be fewer workers to make honey. In the long run, this would weaken the hive. We therefore expand the hive keep everyone here.
Swarming is how wild bees would naturally create new colonies.
Here is a beekeeper's-eye view of a frame. Notice that Jeff does not wear gloves around the bees. There is nothing to be afraid of if you are careful and cautious. Gloves can make you clumsy and more likely to squish a bee accidentally. If a bee dies, it emits pheromones which tell the other bees it is in distress. They then go into a protective mode, and may then sting as a natural defense.
Jeff continues to look for a good pattern of nectar, pollen, larvae, and eggs. He also tries to check for the queen to make sure she is still healthy. If a queen is not productive, a beekeeper will order a new one by express mail, so that the hive doesn't lose too much production time. The faulty queen would have to be destroyed.
Here you can see Jeff examining the frames. You can also see how close we keep the hives to our home. Again, there is nothing to fear from them being so close to us. We enjoy watching them out of the window each morning.
Honeybees like their homes. They will not try to get into our house, as wasps or yellowjackets might.
Jeff is only wearing his coveralls and veil because he must take the hive apart to inspect it. When we are not opening the hive to check it, we can go quite close to it without any fancy clothes. (I did not wear any special clothes while taking these photos for you.)
We can even let the bees land on our hands as they arrive back at the hive from their gathering expeditions. (Do not try this unless you are experienced with bees, though.)
(Jeff was gone week four.)
