Sugar Coated Bees against Veroa

Today three of my four hives underwent the Powdered Sugar treatment. A dusting of pure icing sugar gently shaken over each side of every comb. Plenty took to the air but generally they underwent the proceedure in good spirit without too much complaint.
Wearing my top tunic veil and Marigold gloves I was not stung at all but the heat was in the region of 30degC and I had to retire before attempting to dust the fourth and final hive.

I shall not count the Veroa drop 'till later tomorrow.

Several of the combs were quite heavy with honey

Some flying while others entering still well coated in sugar powder

The mouse guard has been in place all year on this hive

Plenty of brood and lots of drones

This design hive is quite easy to manage without upsetting the bees much

The end follower boards blank off either end - heat loss here is minimised by the use of a 3/16 balsa wood lining

Transfer Top-bar Hive into Cathedral TopBar Hive

Using the Bailey comb transfer method of migrating bees out of an older hive and comb I am hoping that  this procedure will work to utilise my empty spare Cathedral hive and enable me to discard the flat topped standard TbH. The Cathedral hive has a window cut out of the base approx. 20"X 8".
5/8 inch diameter holes were first drilled between the bars so the bees have access to the hive above, much like a super added on top. During the set up, a towel was draped over the open holes and then a rectangle of 9mm ply laid in between with a window cut in it to match the window base of the TbH.
The upper hive has ten bars of foundation on and the remaining bars are left empty,  giving plenty of room for the whole colony to move upwards. 

Time expected for this to be accomplished is three to four weeks

The assembly is secured with rope and supported on a pair of IKEA trestles .

One month later and with no sign of bees migrating upwards. Instead they are sealing all gaps that allow their warmth to escape into the hive above.  Back to square one and my only option is now to transfer comb piece by piece into the new fully framed bars already prepared in anticipation.
The comb will be held temporarily in place with rubber bands until the bees have secured it in place. Not an operation to be undertaken lightly, but fortunately this colony is not aggressive or too defensive. Hopefully I shall find the queen and be able to cage her against any harm through this process.

The day chosen to carry out this move was hot. All was readied and the first three combs cleared of bees. The combs proved too heavy to be held onto the frames by rubber bands and the attempt was abandoned in favour of simply harvesting the honey. After over an hour in the sun I was dripping wet and quite unable to work in the apiery any longer.

 

The Cathedral hive is about ninety five percent larger by volume than the flat top hive underneath

Cathedral Top Bar Hives August activity

My threee hives seem in good heart with plenty of incoming forage being brought in by numerous bees and filling combs.
I have been feeding sugar syrup for the past week or so and all is being consumed at approximately 500ml per day per colony.
Wasps and the occasional hornet have been seen around the times of these feeding episodes but they are being repelled with plenty of vigour.

  

Bee shakedown Update on Update

A good number of bees are transferred safely into their new TopBar Hive and my chief concern is to establish whether or not the queen is present and undamaged. The hive was well sterilized previously by scorching the wood.
I am feeding them with sugar water (1:1) and also Ambrosia fondant which is suspended from two of the top bars present within the cluster seen below.
The bees seem to have cleared much of the honey from the discarded comb left imediately outside, so this has since been taken away.

24th June and two weeks later I find laying workers - Oh dear I should have taken action on my first suspicions of queenlessness.  I imagine the shakeown was done soon after the colony had swarmed and the unborne queen could have been lost within the discarded combs. Best advice from Phil Chandler is now to shake out the colony some way away from original hive location and introduce a new queen or brood comb to the returning flying bees. The laying bees will be left behind but would only kill a new queen.

Maturing drones and multiple eggs laid by workers   (Latest Image taken on 23rd June)

1:1 Sugar water feed jars

Bees chose this end to start on where fondant is suspended from two of the top bars

Opened hive lid is hinged

Entrance holes on this side of the hive are replicated on the opposite side

The sides have a viewing window

Discarded comb

What's going on here?

Sugar Water 

Where is the queen ?

Bee Shake Down

Having an old neglected top bar hive to re-house I managed to transfer the bees into a nice new spacious Top-Bar Hive without getting stung or losing courage. Its a somewhat sticky process tickling out thousands of bees from broken comb and a hive gummed up with propolis.
A swans feather was most usefull, plus a hive tool made by my brother out of an old saw blade to form a thin flexible blade in the shape of a long slender L. This was used to hook and slice away the combe from the sides of the hive and from beneath the top bars.

Before venturing down this route I consulted with local beekeeper Peter Hunt and without his encouragement I would probably have not attempted the proceedure.

Old comb to be discarded

Cluster hanging in there

Defending an existing colony nearby

First step accomplished but will they stay put

Battling a Dartmoor gale in the Morgan

Helen and me followed the A30 today to Okehampton to buy some bee fondant at the National Bee Supplies superstore but Okehampton lived up to its nickname of Soakhampton.

A gale of wind was driving ice cold rain from the west, so we reluctantly upped the hood of the Morgan and headed back up the road to Whidden Down then headed south to Moretonhampstead for the dramatic weather scenery west, then on to Two Bridges. Here we tracked our way back to the sun which was towards Ashburton.

The mileometer that had been mended with a replacement LCD now working to my relief. A jiggle around behind the dashboard seems to make the connection.
We attempted to park in Chagford along the way but the town was too busy and so the usual coffee and toasted tea cake at the Bird Cage Cafe passed by.

Home once more and relieved to find the washing on the line bone dry.  Not a drop of rain had fallen in Kenton all day.

Cathedral Top Bar Bee Hive

Winter stores are building up with eight combs showing promise of a healthy colony. The Veroa mite has, so far, not been detected which suggests that the original swarm collected on 17th July from a garden in Kingsteignton is not yet harbouring the parasite.   The bees were dusted in icing sugar in August and a tray of Apiguard (Thymol) given mid September.
To improve heat retention within the hive a small carpet square has been draped over the unoccupied bars and the follower boards faced in insulating layers of Balsa wood. The entrance is restricted down to about 1 3/4" and sugar syrup fed.  Pollen continues to be brought in.

5th of October update on a sunny afternoon at 19 deg C.   Pollen  incoming and bees flying strongly. Syrup feeder jars replenished and plenty of honey now being sealed.

Two additional Cathedral horizontal top bar hives almost completed now ready for next year.  A queen excluder and several bars with foundation wax inserted into saw cuts recesses and window follower boards have also been prepared shown below.

Bars with foundation wax in place, Queen excluder and a window follower board

How to make a Barn style beehive

The bees-knees in design -  I favour this one - "The Barn" or "Cathedral" top Bar Hive.

Top bars rest on side rails (not yet fitted here)

 It does take some time and patience to make.   Here are notes for those inclined to try this productive hive. (Sketches follow later and earlier posts show bees enjoying my efforts to house them.

Using untreated wood, the roof and upper half overlap the lower half, so that water is shed and the inside remains dry.  The process of putting the 60 degree angle onto the boards is best achieved by clamping three boards together, stepped so that all three together form the angle as measured by a bevel, set at 60deg.
The square edges are then planed and shaved down by electric planer, hand plane and draw knife. The hand plane alone is sufficient but labour intensive.
Edges and ends may be screwed and glued, or pegged with wooden dowels.  The roof is longer by about 70 mm, so that a drip channel can be routed into the underside of each end.  The long edges of the roof should overlap the underside by about 15mm .  Western Red Cedar is the ideal weight and naturally weather resistant, but almost any type of wood may be substituted.
The top bars are fiddly to make, each having two mitred 60deg. corners and a strengthening tongue inset at each of those corners. Alternatively the corners may be simply screwed together after first gluing and setting up in a jig to the correct angle.
The bars have a 3mm side slot cut to allow air to vent upwards between bars and into the roof void. The slot should be approximately 60mm long, on one side only. The router makes the job easier but a spokeshave would achieve the same result.  Bees adapt easily to most situations and will fill much of the slotted cut with propolis until their desired temperature balance is achieved.
A brushing of the underside of the bars with melted beeswax is my method of encouraging bees to build their comb straight, but firstly the bars should be scorched with a blow lamp to render them sterile. The entire hive may be scorched before being painted or rubbed down on the inside with a mix of beeswax and an edible oil such as flax oil. This may be made by melting the wax into heated oil in the proportion of approximately 1 : 4,  taking care not to overheat. The resultant wood finish is quite harmless and can serve to attract bees into the empty hive. Waterproofing is achieved by a plastic or thin metal top sheet or paint, whichever you prefer, so long as the final coat is reflective and light in colour, against the summer sun. The lower half may be left natural wood finish, given a couple of coats of varnish . 

The design described has been chosen because it enables all management procedures to be achieved with the minimum of disturbance to the bees, and reduces lifting effort required by the beekeeper. The cross holes in each bar allows bee traffic between the combs via the uppermost and warmest route. This feature benefits overwintering by enabling bees to transit each comb without venturing downwards into the cooler levels of the hive.

A Varroa trap floor may be fabricated in the form of a shallow drawer inserted through a slot cut in one end of the hive. By smearing a coat of Vaseline onto its surface mites get stuck there. Above the drawer a metal mesh floor is stapled in place to prevent bees getting onto this lower level.

There are many designs of bee hive and the fact of the matter is that our creativity can run riot. One may adapt an old chest or toy box,  a wardrobe, even a dressing table, but my choice is governed here by the work others have put into this particular design. It gives a head start to your beekeeping and comes with no unpleasant surprises. You may prefer to use a traditional straw domed hive or one of the many other traditional and well documented standard types of hive - "whatever turns your crank" - as my dear auntie Betty would say.

Lid showing inset end and drip channel

The six boards showing beveled edges

  For Higher resolution images Click this Link

Top bars here have been scorched (only another twenty to make)

Window may be cut later into each side and exit/entry holes drilled out 

Scorched wood with shellac interior finish and window follower boards at each end

Top is varnished and awaiting acrylic roof  insulation

Top Bar Jig 

Sketch 

A stand is required to raise the hive off the ground

The full size working drawing showing the window opening (lower left)

Bee Trap Out to bag a colony

Probably too late to capture the colony no. 2 due to a natural swarming out of the barn wall.

My hopes for bees from out of the masonry diminished yesterday.

A trap hive was hauled to the top of a ladder, set against the barn and a mesh funnel deployed over the colony exit. Wasps were seen raiding the depleted nest. A colony defenceless compared to the week before.

Meanwhile the Cathedral Top Bar Hive thrives. The following video shows all the bars removed except those holding comb. The two jars of syrup have just been re-filled and the varroa tray beneath the wire mesh floor temporarily removed, to allow some bees to escape. They had somehow found a way under, despite my best efforts to make it proof against such an event.

 Apologies for the noisy clicking camera focus.

The combs nearest the camera are relatively new, those farthest away and now expanded almost the full extent of the width available, contain brood and will soon be hatching the worker bees that will hopefully overwinter through to early spring of next year.  Five combs just two weeks ago have expanded and seven combs are showing - probably double the overall comb area.

Newly deployed Cathedral Top Bar Hive

The bees are in charge at hive No 1 and reminded me with a full on attack to my forehead at 5.30pm today. Their mood seemed much altered from the earlier days of settling in to their location in Courtenay's garden. The wind is fresh from the south east. Honey stores and brood are building well and they have much more at stake to defend.  Latest Images
At the outlying site farther afield hive No 2 is also deployed, in addition to a bait hive, which is located just below a colony deep within the brickwork of a farm building.
Almost immediately the scouts began investigating the two hives, so I was hopeful they would choose to move in. After waiting several days and with no progress towards a move by the bees, I plan to use a trap out method for their removal from the barn.  Plan B will involve the use of a one-way funnel to allow escape but prevent re-entry through the hole in the wall. The bait hive is to be deployed close to the funnel base and the bees hopefully will choose to move inside, including the queen with any luck. 

This late in the year they will need feeding and ongoing support through the winter months in order to boost any chance of survival.

Bees within the brickwork of the studio / barn.

Allowing trapped bees to escape. The dark patches here seen along the joint line between brickwork and blockwork are the bees at their entry point. 

Vacuuming the bees was not successful - Several perished - Entry/exit point inside sealed up.

A rescue operation was first accomplished of bees trapped inside the building., They could find no escape from behind the non opening window. The method was removal of a pane of glass reachable by shinning up an extending ladder.

Half size bait hive attracts attention but since removed for minor alterations pending the trap out.

A trap out will be required to re-locate this colony. The window pane top right of the picture had to be removed in order to rescue some.

Attracting attention from scout bees. Unlike No 1. hive this No 2. hive has two entrances - one each side low down, so that is can be utilised for combining or splitting colonies. Phil Chandler Explains - Get his book !

Weekend Bee Course

Courtenay and me drive down to Ashburton on Saturday to learn more about our venture into beekeeping.  A deep subject which a relative beginner may explore with the bare minimum of knowledge, soon to become aware that his bees know more than he does.  We had better get to understand them a little better. 

Several different types of hive and sorts of colonies are shown here. Twenty or more of us donned bee suits, so that we could get up close and personal with these insects that are so essential to the environment. To begin with an illustrated lecture was held, including question and answer sessions.

Here is a colony in terminal decline, queenless and starving,  housed in a top bar hive where all appears much too quiet.

  Later a tour of the apiary, where some of it secrets are shared.

The bars here are parted to reveal the inward sloping shape of the hive walls and a central bar on the left is slotted to allow two removable little dowel rods to be removed .. A feeder bowl may then be placed on top to  contain syrup or fondant, if the keeper decides to help them through lean times of the year.

The composted wood chip floor seen deep in the bottom is held in a half round pvc gutter running along, fixed under the hive.

The drones are all male and slightly larger than worker bees but the workers take longer to mature through their larval stage.

Here the aluminium feeder is seen replaced above the middle top bar. At each end of this a blanking bar confines bees to their reduced section while the open section here, nearest the camera remains void. Normally a more vigorous colony would expand into it. 

This innovative hive has a feeder seen on top, a queen excluder half way down, confining the queen to the lower two sections. It is quite healthy

The water spray is used in preference to a smoker. The short wooden bar  is designed to be capable of introduction to other hives. The bar has removable plastic capping at each end and may be extended to fit any other type of hive as required

Atomizer is aimed down onto the exposed top of the hive to discourage bees from exiting out of the top

Inspection over and back it goes into the top section from which the queen is excluded

The top two sections are being lifted off to reveal the queen excluder.  Our host and tutor Phil Chandler is here showing his innovative own design of hive dubbed the "Four Square".

The bottom two sections  are where the queen lays and is constantly fed her royal jelly

The flow hive here is shown about to be opened. Not a hive in use by professional keepers due to its prohibitive cost

Bottom entrance of the flow hive

The combe is artificially manufactured of acrylic but the cells are a formed from a vertical alignment of zigzag strips that alternate to allow honey to either be contained or flow down through . A top keyway moves alternate strips up or down while a bottom trough collects the drained honey to be decanted.

The brood is confined to the bottom sections below the excluder - the queen is too big to pass up through the slots of the mesh.

Beekeeping courses for all

The excluder laid on top and about to be topped itself  by the upper section flow-combs that are  man-made of plastic (top). Top centre  of picture shows the side door giving access to the keyways

Replacing the roof

Courtenay's flow hive back home has been clogged up with solidified honey due to the bees feeding off Rapeseed fields that flowered some weeks ago. Later in the year a similar risk is with the Ivy which provides a distinctive flavor but also is so rich in sugars that it would also solidify quite quickly if left to settle in the flow hive. We later get together and study his flow hive to better understand the mechanics and decide how best to clean it up. I was especially eager to see how the plastic cells open and close and understand how the honey was prevented from leaking down through the combe.  The cell halves appear to be designed to slide past one another without touching and the initial gap must be closed and the cell prepared by the bees before becoming filled. We had to insert the key paddle an inch or two at a time and twist firmly to shift the assembly open / closed. It will later have a clean up in boiling hot water.