Urban Farm And Beehives

Beekeeping and Mistakes

Posted on May 18, 2012 by mil a.

photo by Cieleke

I read a couple of days ago about a beekeeper who killed the old queen in one of his hives before checking to make sure his new queen was up and going. She was not. His “rookie mistake,” as he called it, had him kicking himself.

Learning the craft of beekeeping isn’t easy, and you are going to make mistakes. Trust me on this. Even my teacher, master beekeeper, Serge Labesque, said he made every mistake he could make with the bees. I’ve heard lots of other beekeepers say the same thing–that they have made many, many mistakes. Understandably, it’s hard to make a mistake, especially if you cause the death of a hive or someone gets hurt. On the up side, making mistakes is essential to learning. It is through our mistakes with our bees that we come to understand them and serve them better.

I think of the bees enduring, despite me. Last winter, we made the mistake of leaving too many boxes on the hive as we closed them up for the winter. I read recently that leaving so many boxes, can, in a way, stimulate a hive to keep making brood. That was not my intention. We had thought to leave a good amount of honey for the girls, just in case.

Here’s another tale of some classic rookie mistakes. We had captured a swarm and hived them, and let them be for about a week, only to discover that the girls had built comb attached to the hive top feeder (it’s best to make sure to fill out a hive box with, at least, frames, even empty frames, lest the swarm you’ve housed builds out comb hanging from the ceiling). Anyway, we had to cut the comb out, and we thought to attach it with rubber bands into empty frames so the girls could still use it. Without thinking, we placed the comb UPSIDE DOWN into the frames. We realized later that we had set the hive back quite a bit by doing that. They couldn’t use the comb at all because the cells slanted downward and any nectar they tried to store would slide out. Needless to say, that hive did not survive the winter. We think our mistake did not help.

So rookies and new-bees, go easy on yourself when you make a mistake. That’s just the way it is with life anyway, yes? Just like windsurfing (I was a goof and kept falling), gardening (who plants papayas in a temperate climate?), and even cooking (when I think about the crummy dishes I first made…), you’ll get better as you go through it. I promise!

What mistakes have you made? Share them with me and the other readers by leaving a comment below. It would be a learning experience.

Posted in Beehives, beekeeper education, Beekeeping, General, Urban Beekeeping | Tagged beekeeping, beekeeping education, beekeeping for beginners, urban beekeeping | Leave a comment

Bent on Misadventure

Posted on May 16, 2012 by mil a.

Saw this picture from BugDreams.com and I had to share. Here is the caption/poem that accompanied the pic.

Bent on misadventure, a streaming
squadron of bees dissolves into the sun,
unhooking their anchor to my garden.

Do you have a cool bee pic to share? Let me know about it by leaving a comment below. Thank you!

Posted in General, Honeybees | Tagged honey bee picture | Leave a comment

Book Review: Made From Scratch

Posted on May 15, 2012 by mil a.

While perusing the self-reliant titles at the library, I came across Made From Scratch. Being a chef, I wondered if it was about food, complete with recipes. It’s not, but was an enjoyable and fun read nonetheless! The author, Jenna Woginrich, writes:

What you can do…is change the way you live, no matter where you live…you can learn the skills that make for a more independent way of living…because at the end of the day you’re more control of your life.

The author writes chapters on some of the basic DIY homesteader stuff such as chickens, bees, and gardening. Interestingly, she also writes about subjects I haven’t seen covered in such a book as this. For example, Homemade Mountain Music, Working House Dogs, and DIY Wardrobe are some of the the off the beaten path subjects she includes.

Because I am into bees, I read her chapter Bees: Watch the new kid break out in hives with anticipated amusement. She comes to the bee task a complete beginner (remember when you were there?) and records her impressions as a scared newbie:

…no one in the world could convince me there wasn’t a fine line between a hobby farm enthusiasm and a death wish…

She writes with such honesty about her beekeeping mishaps that I remembered all the dumb mistakes I did with my bees too somewhat fondly! It’s rather endearing. Hint: she erred with her purchased queen bee. I won’t spoil the chapter for you. You just have to read it!

I also found her chapter on Homemade Mountain Music quite intriguing because it made me realize how she used her music playing as a community builder both when she lived in Tennessee and then when she moved to Idaho. She writes:

…learning the music of the original homesteaders is just as important as learning how they lived off the land…(it) is as authentic and accessible today as their recipes and quilts.

Can you tell that I really enjoyed this book? It isn’t a how-to book per se, but one woman’s experience and always enjoy the personal story over a manual. Although I say this, she doesn’t leave you hanging. At the end of each chapter, she has a small section on how to get started with each activity, and then lists the resources she consulted with at the end of the book.

I’m not sure why this book isn’t more well known. I found it so enjoyable that I read it in one day.

What book moves you as this book has me? Let me know as I am always looking for good books to read by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

Posted in Beekeeping, Cooking, Gardening, General | Tagged beekeeping, book review, self sustainability | 2 Comments

How We Caught Our First Swarm (Or If I Can Collect One, so can you) Part 2

Posted on May 14, 2012 by mil a.

Descendents of that Original Swarm

A continuation of last Thursday’s post…

Unenthusiastically, of course, I stood under the ladder, ready to accept a cut camelia branch with a clump of bees attached. I decided to let my partner take the fall for desecrating the neighbor’s property. She carefully cut a branch with the largest lump of bees and handed it to me. I was supposed to give it a hard shake over the hive body. If the bees accepted their new home, they would willingly enter and stay in the hive, allowing us to close it up later for transportation.

I gave the clump of bees a hard shake over the hive body. At first, the bees kept flying back to the space where they had gathered, so I knew the queen had not settled into the hive. We waited until the clump reformed on the camellia bush and repeated the procedure again. Success! This time the bees gave their thumbs up to our offered home and entered the hive in groups. We put the lid on the hive. I knew the queen was okay with her new home when I saw bees on the entrance board “nasanoving”—signaling “home is here” by standing firmly in place, lifting their bottoms and fanning furiously with their wings.

We left the box on the grass under the camellia bush with a note taped to the top of it, requesting that the hive be left undisturbed until that night when we would return for it. We actually had to attend Serge’s class that night, and drive all the way up to Santa Rosa and back! When we finally returned to collect the box, we again knocked on the door of the home with the camellia bush. This time someone was home, and she was angry. She told us she had felt violated that we had come onto her property without her consent. We told her that we had tried to ask permission. We explained that swarm collecting was very time-sensitive, and we’d gone ahead rather than risk losing the hive (only something like 17 percent of swarms survive in the wild if they are not housed by a beekeeper). We said we were neighbors, beekeepers, and told her our address and names.

When she saw our beekeeping integrity and earnestness, she calmed down. We obviously knew what we were talking about and cared about the bees, so she began to listen to what we had to say. Most people in our area are sympathetic to the plight of the bees. We sweetened the deal by telling her that we would bring her some honey from this hive’s first harvest. (About a year and half later, we brought her over a big jar. She ended up sending us a very nice thank you card.)

With the property owner’s permission, we clicked on headlamps and went over to the hive box with the swarm in it. We took the lid off and gently added frames until the box was full. In class that night Serge had explained to us that, to safely transport the box, we’d need to fill any empty space with frames so that the bees inside (and especially the queen) wouldn’t be crushed by frames sliding about as we moved the box. We strapped the lid to the box and put a wire mesh plug in the entrance so that the bees couldn’t come out. They were quite calm and gentle, only buzzing mildly when we added frames to the hive body. We carried the hive box to our car, put it in the back seat, and drove it home, feeling completely elated. By moonlight we carried it into our backyard and set it up on a hive stand. The next morning we removed the wire mesh from the entrance and watched with interest throughout the day. The hive had settled in: foragers came and went, finding their new home without a hitch. What a beautiful sight!

And you?? Please leave your wonderful or not-so-wonderful swarm stories below. Thank you!

Posted in Bee Swarms, Beehive Behavior, Beehives, Beekeeping, General, Honeybees, Urban Beekeeping | Tagged bee swarm | 9 Comments

How We Caught Our First Swarm (Or, “If I Can Collect One, so Can You”) Part 1

Posted on May 10, 2012 by mil a.

The note we left for the neighbors or any passersby who might be curious about the bee hive

Looking out the window at our hives, I was reminded how, back in the day, bumbling and confused, we caught our first swarm (which is now Hive 2). March 18, 2009 was a beautiful sunny day. We were eating lunch on our backyard deck when our neighbor, John, stuck his head over the fence and asked if all our “pets” were at home. Pets? We only have one cat. And yes, she was home. “Well,” he answered, “I was really wondering about your bees. There is a big bunch of bees flying all over the place a couple of blocks down, at the busy corner of Marin Avenue.” Our girls were calmly doing their usual, coming and going from our hives.

A swarm! We hurried down to the corner. There, we saw a tremendous amount of bees flying everywhere, almost like a huge loose ball of buzz. The sound was amazing!! Petrified motorists hurriedly rolled up their windows while they waited for the light to change; pedestrians scurried across the street, away from where the hive was settling in a camelia bush alongside a home.

Because we were taking Serge Labesque’s class, we knew a little about swarms. For instance, we knew that when bees swarm they are generally gentle since they have gorged on honey and they have no home to defend. The honey they’ve eaten makes it difficult for them to sting. And because the food in their bellies will only nourish them for about 3 days, they are in the mood to find a home quickly–that is their focus.

As we gazed at the ball of bees, they increasingly began to collect in a clump on the camelia bush. My partner turned to me eagerly and said, “Let’s get those bees!” I was against it–neither of us had any experience collecting a swarm. I really didn’t have any idea what “getting those bees” would entail. I was a chef–very methodical, testing recipes, adjusting for problems, anticipating problems. Swarm collection? Without any tried and true method to guide us? No way!!!

My partner was determined, though, and nagged and reasoned ceaselessly as we walked back home. She argued that, as good citizens and bee lovers, we HAD to try. Bees are endangered after all, and the chances of a swarm on its own finding a good home are very slim, etc. Reluctantly, I gathered the pruning shears, a ladder, our veils, and gloves. While dragging my feet, I said that I didn’t know what the procedure was, and she said to look it up in Serge Labesque’s manual and on the internet. (Taking Labesque’s class and driving the hour each way was worth it just for the manual alone, which covers a wonderful array of topics and offers tons of information.) We did a little quick research.

We realized we had to get the queen into a hive body, so we got a medium super, a bottom board, 4 frames with wax foundation, and a hive lid. Still under my protests, we threw everything in the car and drove over to the corner. When we got there, we saw that most of the bees had settled into football-sized clump onto the camelia bush, about 8 feet (2.4384 meters) off the ground. Ah, the queen must be in the middle of the ball.

We started by knocking on the door of the home that owned the camelia bush. We wanted to inform them that they had a swarm in their bush, and to ask them if they wouldn’t mind if we did a little mild pruning to collect it. (Remember, we still don’t know what we’re doing.) We knocked and knocked, but no one was home. We reasoned that they were probably at work. Because we were worried the bees would take off again, we felt a sense of urgency. My partner started setting up the ladder by the camelia bush and took out the shears. I turned to her: “Hey! You can’t just go on to someone’s property and start cutting their trees!” I said we had to wait until they came home. My partner answered, “But what if they take off and go somewhere even more inaccessible? That’s another hive lost and dead!” We’ll explain later.

Please look for Part 2 in a couple of days!

Have a good swarm collection story? Please share it with me and the other readers below by leaving a comment. Thank you!

Posted in Bee Swarms, Beehive Behavior, Beehives, Beekeeping Equipment, Beekeeping For Beginners, General, Hive Management Spring, Honeybee Crisis, Honeybees, Serge Labesque, Urban Beekeeping | Tagged bee swarms, beekeeping, beekeeping equipment, beekeeping for beginners, urban beekeeping | 2 Comments

May Garden and Beehive Update

Posted on May 8, 2012 by mil a.

It’s May, and I was just in the backyard feeling very content. It’s sunny, and there is life and growth in the garden which makes me giddy in anticipation of the bounty. I planned the garden better this year. Last year’s planning consisted of no planning–I just put seeds here and there, and left it up to Mother Nature. It didn’t always work well: the tall fava beans would shade the rest of the vegetables, and I didn’t get the best growth. This year, I better and planted the fava beans on the northern side.

The bees, especially Hive 3, are doing well. I have noticed a ramping up in Hive 2′s population. We performed a hive inspection and saw many more frames of brood and more bees sitting on the top bars. We even had to give them another box.

There is fruit starting to show up on the trees. Even our Honey Babe dwarf peach has some tiny peaches. Our delicious Snow Queen nectarine has fruited.

So has our Sunshine blueberry.

Here is our weeping purple mulberry.

One of the projects I just finished was starting mushroom logs. I bought some plug spawn of Lion Mane’s mushroom and Shiitake mushroom. Here is a finished log.

Of course, the Shrub Jay is still snacking on the bees!

How are your gardens and/or bees faring this month? Let me know by leaving a comment below. Thank you!

Posted in General | 12 Comments

Book Review: Confessions of a Bad Beekeeper

Posted on May 7, 2012 by mil a.

Have you ever felt woeful about the bad mistakes you’ve made with your bees? Well, this book Confessions of a Bad Beekeeper will make you feel better about your errors. The author, Bill Turnbull, works for the BBC and writes with stylish English wit about his misadventures as a beekeeper.

This is not a how-to book, and I’m glad! (Although there are many excellent beekeeping primers out there, reading manuals can become quite tedious.) I enjoy reading about personal and human interest angles on any endeavor, but especially delight in books like this on beekeeping, since they’re not abundant.

The first chapter drew me in immediately. Turnbull gives a hilarious description of his first hands-on experience with bees, witnessed by some of his beekeeping mentors. I won’t give it away, but any beekeeper that has gotten stung in a silly manner will relate to Turnbull’s story. There are also funny chapters on trying to collect a swarm, buying supposed beekeeping equipment at an auction, trying to extract honey in his wife’s beloved kitchen…One of my favorite quotes from the book:

The first screeching is coming from below, where the extractor’s feet are carving wild graffiti on the floor of the kitchen.

Okay, so you had to be there. : ) When I read that sentence in context, I found it wildly funny, and couldn’t stop laughing.

The only downside to the book is chapter 13 where Turnbull describes his performance as a competitor on the dancing contest show Strictly Come Dancing. For me, it’s too much about dancing (although it’s still quite funny in spots), and not enough about bees. Turnbull ties the chapter in with his theme about bees by introducing it as the reason why he neglected his bees for so long. Good try, but tedious. I ended up skimming through that chapter.

So if you want a light read and would benefit from feeling incredulous at someone else’s many mistakes (I did find myself asking if he played up some of these incidents just for the book. Could someone really have that much bad luck?), read Confessions of a Bad Beekeeper and have a good laugh at Bill. I don’t think he’ll mind.

Know of any other noteworthy bee books that aren’t how to guides? Please let me know by leaving your comment below. Thank you.

Posted in General | 5 Comments

Important Considerations When Choosing Where to Harvest Honey–Part 2

Posted on May 4, 2012 by mil a.

This is a continuation from yesterday’s post Important Considerations When Choosing Where to Harvest Honey–Part 1

Process your frames in an area close to your hive(s). You don’t want to walk very far while carrying a heavy box full of honey frames with bees chasing you as they smell the honey aroma.
Process in an area closed off to the bees, but with ventilation. It will probably be hot when you harvest. Every time we harvest honey, there are always bees hanging around our kitchen window screen, trying to access the honey. It really helps to be able to open a window and get a breeze and still feel safe.
Choose an area that is warm enough for the honey to flow (and be easily extracted), but cool enough to be comfortable for you.
Prepare a raised area to put your honey bucket on so you can decant your bottles easily. Prepare a separate raised area for the uncappings box too!
If you are using an area in your house, enclose that area before you start. We shut all the doors to the pantry, bedroom, and living rooms when we process in our kitchen. No matter how careful you are to remove the bees from the honey frames, one will always sneak into the honey room and get loose. If you contain the bees in one area of your house, it’s a lot easier for you to help the bees back outside.

It also helps to have a method to store un-bottled honey (such as the honey dripping slowly out of your wax cappings) for a time away from ants, who will find it quickly if they can access it. We have on occasion put our wax cappings box on a chair, and then put the legs of the chair in separate containers of water.

Will you be harvesting honey this year? I hope you found these tips helpful, and please share any you might have by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

Posted in Beekeeping, General | Tagged harvesting honey, honey, honey house | 4 Comments

Important Considerations When Choosing Where to Harvest Honey-Part 1

Posted on May 3, 2012 by mil a.

Ready to harvest honey!

When we got our first hive in 2008, we knew we would have to allow our hive to establish itself for a year before we could harvest any honey. I put off learning about harvesting honey, and instead completed some of Serge’s classes and gained confidence with some basic beekeeping skills. Then, in the late spring of 2009, I took a class offered at Beekind on honey harvesting, taught by one of the owners, Doug. I was very glad I did so, as honey harvesting is a task unto itself, separate, I feel, from beekeeping.

One important aspect of harvesting that I learned about during Doug’s class was making a careful choice of where the harvested frames of honey will be “processed.” Processing includes removing the wax cappings from the frames so you can access the honey, and may also include using an extractor, and bottling your beautiful raw golden nectar.

At Beekind, students brought the hive boxes heavy with built and capped frames of honey (and mostly free of bees) into a warehouse behind the store. As we labored with the boxes, I remember thinking that this part of harvesting is hard work!

Recommendations:

Process your frames in a space that is close to a water source because honey will get everywhere and you will need to be able clean yourself and your equipment. Another option (which we experienced during class) is to keep handy a bucket of warm water with a clean rag.
A washable floor is best. The first time we harvested honey at home, we processed frames in a former kid’s shed with a carpet floor. Blecch! Sticky carpet! Even though we’d covered it with a tarp. We then decided to harvest in our kitchen (with a linoleum floor)–much easier to clean.
If you are using an electric uncapping knife to take the wax cappings from the frames, your processing location needs to have an electrical outlet or be close to one.

Please see Part 2 tomorrow!

Do you have any tips to share about best practices for harvesting honey? Please share them in the comments section below. Thank you for reading.

Posted in General, Honey, Honey harvesting | Tagged beekeeping, honey, honey harvesting, honeybees, urban beekeeping | 4 Comments

Our Spring Inspection of Beehive 3

Posted on May 1, 2012 by mil a.

Our weather has been erratic lately. First, we’ll get some warm weather in the high 70s F (almost 21.1°C), and then we’ll get a cold and rainy day. Despite that, there have been numerous reports of swarms in the area. I’d been worrying about Hive 3, the hive that I found in the worm box:would they swarm? The best scenario would be if the issuing swarm just moved into the hive next door, a box that I had baited with swarm lure and some old brood comb. What I didn’t want is a panicky neighbor knocking on our door!

Yesterday was warmish and sunny, a perfect day to inspect Hive 3. When we removed the cover and the ventilation board, we were greeted by some girls sitting on their wax sculptures in the hive top feeder.When we set the hive top feeder aside, we were gratified to see so many bees on the top bars. Our objective was to see if the bees needed more room for brood in order to help prevent swarming. When we checked one of the middle frames from the box, we found that indeed the queen has been very busy.We determined that the boxes were about 80% full of either honey or brood and decided to give this hive another deep box. We removed some frames if honey and put them into the new box to help entice the bees to use the new box.

We also found many almost capped frames of honey! It was exciting to see. Here is another frame that the bees are beginning to fill with honey.As you can tell, I am very enthusiastic about the progress Hive 3 has been making!