Beekeeping Adventures: All New Bees

A bees life lasts about six to eight weeks. All the honeybees from the Memorial Day weekend install, with the exception of the queen, are gone. The last set of bees born for the season will overwinter. They will not leave the hive and only serve to keep the queen warm and feed her. They will die soon after the winter is over. A queen's life is roughly three to five years in length.

Beekeeping Adventures: Nucs and Packages

Honeybees come in two different styles of boxes when picked up. The first is a nucleus or nuc. The second is a package.

What are nucs? Nucs come in a Styrofoam container that looks like a cooler. They have five to eight frames inside them. There is a fertilized queen and roughly three pounds of bees. The bees have been busy building combs on the frames. This is known as “drawing out” comb. There is honey on the frames as the frames have been taken from active hives. The queen is already busy laying eggs. The honeybees are ready to go as soon as you place them in the hive. Honey production is faster as a result.

What are packages? Packages come in cages. There is wood on four sides of the cage. The other two sides have screens. There is a fertilized queen and approximately three pounds of bees. The queen is in a queen cage with a few attendants. There is a can of sugar syrup to sustain the bees while in transport.

The queen cage is placed in the empty hive once at the bee yard. The bees are then dumped into the hive. The bees will eventually chew through the candy cork of the queen cage. This takes two to three days. The bees will be busy drawing out comb in the meantime. The queen will then begin to lay eggs. The bees begin foraging for plant nectar as soon as there is wax comb to put it in.

Sugar water will be placed in feeders at the entrance of all of the hives. This will provide food so the bees can focus on building up the combs. Honey can be harvested from a hive started with a nuc in July or August. A hive started from a package can be harvested in September or October. Both harvests are weather dependant just like gardening.

My bee yard will be started with one nuc and seven packages. One hive will be a Langstroth, or Lang, hive. This is the box on a box style of hive. The other seven will be Top Bar Hives also known as TBH’s. This is a horizontal hive using bars instead of frames. Please see the archive for more information on these two styles of hives.

The Lang hive installation will be on May 21^st while the TBH’s installation will be on May 23^rd. Pictures and video will follow in a few days after that. I would love to hear your comments!

Beekeeping Adventures: Hive Set-Up Day

Saturday was hive set-up day. Two hives were set-up in Dewitt and eight in Cazenovia. It was a beautiful day with just a bit of wind. Adelle, her dad James, my dad Marty, and Dad's girlfriend Chris all helped out. Andy, the land owner helped out too. Much fun was had as we chose the placement and leveled the hives. I will be back out there tonight to sink and lash down the hives with Andy and Carol, the other land owner. This area in Cazenovia can get very windy. We want to make sure the hives don't get blown over!

Annotated Bib: "Small Scale Beekeeping", Curtis Gentry

Gentry, Curtis. Small Scale Beekeeping (PDF on Top Bar Hives). 1982. Found at:

https://www.k4health.org/sites/default/files/M0017_Small_Scale_Beekeeping.pdf

Published by the Peace Corps to teach the usage of Top Bar Hives in developing countries. There are other resources found on the internet, but this is a free resource with basic information on using TBH's.

Top Bar Hives: Introduction

The Top Bar Hive, or TBH as it is commonly known as, is a horizontal hive elevated about three feet off the ground. The height makes it easier for the beekeeper to work the hive. The elevation also keeps water and dampness out of the hive. The width allows the bees to have the room they need to build enough comb. The shape of the TBH is similar to a log where wild bees would build a hive.


The TBH does not have wax foundation or frames. Instead, there is a set of bars for the bees to build comb on. There is a strip of wood on the bottom of the TBH bar to guide the bees to build straight comb along the path of the bar. The straight comb is only of benefit to the beekeeper for use of checking on the hive and retrieving honey. The bees will more than likely build the comb in any direction they deem best for the hive.

Medieval Bee Picture #2

This is the picture I will be basing my wood hives on for the medieval bee yard project. It's very similar to a Top Bar Hive.

Wooden hive on the left being harvested. Swarm being put into the hive on the right.

From the Exultet Roll, made between 1070 and 1100 AD in Monte Casino, Italy. 

Modern Bee Pic #3

This is a picture of Top Bar Hive (TBH) honeycomb being drawn out and worked on the bar by the worker bees. The cream colored comb to the left is virgin comb. It's comb that has yet to be used for pollen, honey production, or raising young. It is one of the most beautiful things in the world to me.

At the top right of the picture, along the bottom edge of the bar, there is a substance that looks like melted Bit o' Honey. This is propolis. The bees manufacture it from tree sap. It is sometimes referred to as "bee glue". It is very sticky when warm or hot. Bees use it to fill in spaces and cracks they deem harmful to the hive.

The best reaction I get when showing people this picture or comb I have on hand is from kids. They see the comb and they are already in awe. Then I tell them the bees built it without using a ruler. Their eyes go wide and they get very excited. After that, I am usually unable to keep up with all of their questions.