We have honey!!!

We've been anxiously awaiting the time when we would have honey.... We have been watching our bees work, work, work. Dad went to check them last night and noticed a frame that was capped. He took it out and replaced it with a new frame. This is the only frame that we will probably get this time around as the bees need the rest for themselves to survive the winter. We'll see though.

The honey is beautiful and tastes oh so good!!! Dad cut it out of the frame and we processed it. It is a beautiful amber color.

Keep checking with us as our bees continue to work.

~We have babies~

It was time for a hive check today! More importantly, Dad has to make sure the weaker hive has brood ready to hatch. The new queen just began laying and most of the worker bees have been working for weeks now. Some of them will die soon. Below you will see a bee hatching!!!

Not a really good picture but we were so surprised!

As soon as the new bees hatch out, they have a certain job. The youngest bees clean and polish the cells for the queen to lay eggs in and for honey storage. (The hive is always very clean. )
1-week old Bees feed the older larvae.
2-week old Bees make royal jelly for feeding younger worker larvae, and queen larvae. They also make wax for comb building.
3-week old Bees hunt for pollen (Adapted from westmeade.net)

Dad checking a frame with brood..... He brushed the bees off and will put the frame in hive 1 to give brood to the weaker hive so that all workers will not die before the new queen's brood will hatch.

Fresh frame of honey, bees, brood, and eggs.

~Queen Check~

Dad checked today to make sure the queen in the newest hive was ok. He saw eggs and then immediately saw the queen. She was busy working so Dad put the frame back in the hive body and closed it up.

~Hive Check~

The replacement queen finally came in today. Dad put her cage in the hive and hopefully in a few days she will be out laying eggs. He double checked the 2nd hive and it had lots of surprises for us.

You can vividly see honey capped, eggs, bee larvae, and capped cells where larvae is changing into bees.....

They are busily working on 7-8 frames. It shouldn't be too much longer before he can add another box...

It is warming up nicely here and the bees are bringing in lots of pollen and nectar:)

Will update when Dad checks later this week.

Queen for the Day!

Today Dad went and did a quick check of the hives after speaking to an apiary about queens. They believe that the queen in hive 1 is just not ready to lay eggs. Well after looking at a few frames, Dad could still not find a queen or see any signs of eggs......... Hmmmm............. So Dad needed to check in on hive 2. When he opened up the hive he could see lots of drawn out comb. The bees are pretty much working really good on 3 frames. There seemed to be little workers on all frames though! Dad decided to pull one frame out to inspect......all of a sudden............he saw the queen!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep-she has silver on her head, and she is very different than the others..... Once Dad saw her, he decided to close the hive back up and let them work..........

The queen is seen below... She is longer and has the silverish/white spot on her head........

More bees filling up honeycomb with pollen and the sugar water

A Day of Work...............

Hive 1--No Eggs-Still~

Time for another check in on Hive 1. Dad is concerned that there weren't any eggs or any sign of a queen. He took every frame out for inspection......No signs of eggs............No sign of queen...

He did not open Hive 2 today as he saw eggs yesterday and they need to be left alone for a few days. Both hives were busy today as their sugar feeders were 3/4 gone by early evening.

He talked to a mentor beekeeper and he said wait a few more days...... He'll go back in Thursday to check again.... Enjoy our pictures from today....

Bees working as Dad is checking the frames.....

Bees agitated because Dad checked them out.....Tails up......Guarding their home..................

Until next time!

We found Eggs

Today Dad went in to see if he could find the queen in each hive. Hive 1--no luck! The bees were busy working but Dad could not find the queen or see any signs of eggs. There seem to be a lot more bees in hive 2. They are using a lot more sugar water feed and lots more bees coming in with pollen! Dad observed the frames and found eggs! Eventhough he found eggs, he could not find the queen! He'll go back in near end week and check on them again.

Hive 2 honeybee filled with pollen and 1 already going in!!!!

Bees are Working...............

Today Dad went in and checked the queen cages. They were empty. He looked in both hive boxes to see if he could find her but couldn't. He did see lots more honeycomb being made and lots of working inside the hive.

Here is a closer up picture of one of the frames..... There is noticeable honeycomb and inside is pollen already being stored!

Today's tidbit is about the most important "queen bee."

The queen is the mother of all of the bees of the beehive. There is only one queen in a colony of honeybees. Without constant egg-laying by the queen the bee colony would soon die. One of the most important functions of the queen is to enforce the social order of the hive. She does this by her very presence! "Queen Substance" is a pheromone that the queen secretes to let the member bees know that all is well in the hive. Pheromones are chemical substances secreted by the body that like members of the same species recognize and respond to. Bees in a colony "share" the queen's pheromones among themselves, and thus recognize fellow members, as well as identify intruders. The absence of a queen causes obvious "distress" among bees of the colony. (adapted from ccpollen.com)

Until next time!

First Hive Check...........

Today was the first inspection since installation. John smoked the bees and the first hive was very calm while the second hive was a bit more aggressive. Once the hives were opened John was pleased with what he saw. The bees were already making honeycomb for the first frames. Hive 1 had noticeable honeycomb and Hive 2's honeycomb was a bit thicker and had more depth. We watched the bees for a while and noticed that some bees were flying in with packs of pollen!!! The queen was about out so there'll be another hive check in a few days to make sure she is fine. Until then, enjoy some of the pictures from today.

A bee with pollen sacs.....

Hive 2 bees working..........

The first frame being worked.....

Bees from Hive 1 on Frame

Bees from Hive 2 on Frame (Honeycomb is much thicker--notice in top left area)

Our Beekeeper at work...........

We saw signs today of the first honeycomb. Honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen. (Wikipedia)

It is very interesting how bees make honeycomb. Here is a short explanation.

The honeycomb is formed from wax produced by worker bees. The wax is secreted from wax glands on the worker bees' abdomens. A droplet of wax hardens to a thin "scale" upon contact with air. The bee scrapes the wax scale off its abdomen and passes it to its mouth. It chews on the wax until it is softened and uses it to add to the construction of the comb. The wax may also be used to cap cells containing honey. (Source: The Beekeeper's Handbook. 3rd ed. Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile. Ithaca, NY: Comstock Publishing, 1998.)

Bees are finally here!

Today we received our two packages of bees. Dad took the bee cages down to the bee hives. Dad sprayed the bees with sugar water to calm them down. Then, he opened the bee cages to let the bees inside the hive. Some of the bees flew around, but most of the bees stayed down in the hives. He also put a sugar water feeder on the hive for a while so the bees can begin their work. We’ll check on the bees later this week to check their progress. Check back as we begin our adventures in beekeeping and to learn about what bees do inside the hive.

Here are some pictures:

One of the hives with the new bees.............
Dad inspecting the queen.......

The hive body, sugar water feeder, supers inside the hive body, and the bees in the box....

Calming the rest of the bees before putting them inside their new home!

All done! Inspecting a bit closer......

Hives and Honeybees......

We are so excited to 'bee' beginning our beekeeping adventure. The hives are pretty much completed! John will be putting the finishing touches on them and then will place them onto their homes! The bees should be arriving next week. Stay tuned...........

It Won't BEE Long!!!!!

We are so excited about our venture into beekeeping! The hives are being completed and the bees are scheduled for delivery soon! Check back often to learn about this exciting hobby and learn a little about bees along the way.