All We Are Saying, Is Give Bees a Chance...

Give bees a chance: Nine-year-old girl finds insects have made PEACE sign on honeycomb in father's apiary

• Nine-year-old Meesha Benefer found peace symbol in her honeycomb
• Symbol created by bees at the family bee farm in Leeds, West Yorkshire 

By SARA MALM FOR MAILONLINE

A nine-year-old beekeeper was astonished to find that the insects in her father's hives had made a peace sign on a honeycomb.

Meesha Benefer, nine, found the symbol made by a colony at her father's bee farm in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Her 38-year-old father Peter, who runs the beekeeping business on the side with the help of his young daughter said he was 'totally taken aback' when Meesha found the peace sign. 

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Buzz for peace: Meesha Benefer, nine, found a peace symbol in the honeycomb in her bee hive

Keen apiarist Meesha made the astonishing discovery while helping her dad at Benefer's Bee Farm in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Meesha said: 'Every Saturday me and my dad go to the hives to check on the bees and always hope to see honey building up in the comb.

'It means I have to pull the big heavy frames out and if we are lucky and its the right time of year, we drain it together to collect honey to sell and  have it in our porridge for breakfast.

'Last Saturday I was pulling out one of the frames and noticed there was a weird sign on one side.

'I thought it was the Volkswagen sign because I'd seen it before on my Grandad's car. But Dad was really amazed and said the circle with the three lines inside meant world peace.'

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'Pollen' their leg: Meesha first associated the sign with that of Volkswagen, but was told of its true meaning by her father while they worked at the family bee farm

The father-daughter team have been running Benefer's Bee Farm for three years, and balance it on the side of schoolwork and Mr Benefer's job in recruitment.

Mr Benefer said: 'I was totally taken aback by the symbol that one of our colonies left in the honeycomb.

'Bees are known to be highly intelligent creatures and have very sophisticated means of communicating to each other.

'Obviously this is an incredible coincidence - but I have to say a little bit of me did wonder if they were trying to leave us a message.'

The avid aphiarist who spends his free time with daughter Meesha reading up on honey bees' behaviour, said: 'I've read all sorts of incredible things bees have been known to do, but never anything like this.

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Family buzz-ness: Meesha and father Peter Benefer, 38, found the symbol while working on their apiarist business, Benefer's Bee Farm

'I've read lots of those stories about people seeing Jesus' face in slices of toast and their dead relatives in naan breads and whatnot, and I've always thought they're just a ploy for attention seekers.

'But when I saw this there's no way someone could have created that.

'Bees fill each cell in a piece of comb with honey and cap it off, but sometimes a few holes or large patches will just get missed and left uncapped.

'I'm amazed the they've missed out all the cells to make any sort of picture at all, let alone one which has a deep significance.'

Meesha, who stays with Peter at weekends after her parents separated, said they have kept the honeycomb to put in a frame on her bedroom wall. 

Peter added the two would continue to run their farm in the Headingley area of Leeds, which produces honey for the city's Double Tree Hilton hotel.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: MAILONLINE.COM

Swarm Rescue Update...

The swarm  I rescued a few weeks ago, is now kicking some serious butt!  The swarm queen, who I am now calling Catherine II or Catherine the Great is an egg laying machine!  Look at this brood pattern!

 And the rest of the girls are working hard and putting up some honey!  I can't wait to try it!

Brushy Mountain's "Back to Basics" June

Back to the Basics:  Moving Your Hive

Beekeepers will get their hives all setup and painted in a certain location, but sometimes it is not the desired location or they want to move their bees to a different area with a better honey flow.
Either way, sometimes it is necessary to move your hive.

Once bees become established in a certain location, they will go on orientation flights. They start off in small circle, flying back to the hive, and grow the circle until they are set on the location of the hive. Moving a hive will disrupt where the bees are oriented to and beekeepers can lose many foraging bees (Beekeepers hate losing bees!). If you intend to move your hive, we suggest following the rule of 3 (up to 3 feet or over 3 miles). If you move a hive across your 10 foot yard, the bees will return to where the hive was originally located.

If you are intending to move your hive, no matter how far, screen off the entrance the night before with hardware cloth. Your foraging bees will come back to the hive at night and will be leaving when the sun comes up. Screen off the entrance at night so you will be transporting all your bees (inevitably there will be a few stragglers left behind). Don't strain when moving your hive, use a hive carrier or a hive strap to make moving easier.

If you intend to move your hive across your yard or a short distance away from its original location, you must move it off site (over 3 miles away) for a week and then move it back to where you find more suitable. If you intend to move it to a separate location for a better/different honey flow, ensure that you are moving it further than 3 miles from its original location.



Wait... there is another way?
Sometimes it is difficult to continuously move your hive. 

If your desired location happens to be further than 3 feet and less than 3 miles (a.k.a. across the yard), you can use a different method. To trigger the bee’s orientation flight, the environment outside of the hive must be significantly different. Obstruct or impede the entrance to the hive with brush (grass, tree branches, straw, etc.) so that when the foraging bees leave the hive, they must crawl through the “brush” before they can fly. After a day, remove part of the brush and continue this process until all the brush is removed after three days. They will see the disturbance in the environment and reorient themselves.

It is best to leave the hive in its initial location. Moving the hive will hinder the bee’s production for days and cause stress within the colony. Also note that 10% of queens are lost when moving a hive. Set up the hive in an ideal location that will suit their needs as well as yours. 

Brushy Mountain's "Back to Basics" April

Back to the Basics

You have set up your hives and installed your bees with the queen cage attached to a frame. We know that you are eager to check on them to see how they are doing but disrupting the colony will hinder them. Give them time to acclimate to the new queen and release her on their own (will typically take 5 to 7 days). Once you have given them time to release the queen on their own, you can open up your hive and see your bees hard at work!

When you first open your hive to remove the queen cage, you may notice no substantial changes. Your bees are working frantically to draw out comb, giving space for your queen to lay her eggs and room to store their nectar. There will be some foraging bees sent out to bring in nectar and pollen but the majority of the force will be building up the frames. Providing feed during this time is vital. As the bees work the frames, they will be consuming feed almost as fast as you are providing it for them. Ensure they have the feed they need!
Other things to be aware of:

• Don’t be frightened to find that your colony seems smaller then when you installed it. This is a new colony and it will take them time before they will grow in population. The population will begin to decrease before it starts increasing because the newly laid eggs must be raised out to replace the older bees.
• As the bees begin to work the frames, drawing out foundation, they may draw out a queen cup. There is no reason to fret. A queen cup does not mean your hive is queen-less, but is a precautionary measure your worker bees take to ensure they can raise a new queen quickly if something were to happen with the current queen. A queen cup is a single cup which is located in the middle of the frame, and will not have an or larva inside.
• When you begin working your hive, your first instincts are to look for the queen. The queen is one of thousands of bees throughout the hive. Although she is much larger than the worker bee, she will be extremely hard if not impossible to find. An alternative is to check the frames for eggs. Eggs signify that the queen has been released and is laying. Eggs are also difficult to see (less difficult than finding the queen) but they appear as small white kernels that are similar to rice.

Installing your package is just one of the first steps into this exciting hobby. Once your queen has been released and starts laying eggs, you will begin to see a large field force in your garden, buzzing from flower to flower.
Here are some helpful hints to help you in these beginning months:

• Even though you see that your bees are bringing in nectar and pollen, feed still needs to be provided for the colony. They are still trying to build their honey stores and if there are days when it is rainy, your bees will need that feed. However, you should remove the feeder once you add the first honey super. We want to harvest honey, not sugar water!
• A great looking brood frame will have a central section of brood in different stages. You should find eggs, larvae and capped brood. If you find that your brood frames are spotty (small patches of brood with many empty cells around the brood patches) you could have an under-productive queen. This can happen with a newly installed package, as the queen gets settled into her new environment. If the problem persists, she may need to be replaced.
• Once you find that your outer frames are being worked and comb is beginning to be drawn out on them, it is time to add on the next brood chamber. The rule of thumb is that if 6 to 7 of your frames are drawn out, add the next super. Adding the next story will give your queen the space she needs to lay and can alleviate congestion in the hive.

With the first steps behind you, you will begin to see the true joy of beekeeping. Keep feeding your bees and let them build up in population.  

ORIGINAL SOURCE:  BRUSHY MOUNTAIN 

Brushy Mountain's Question of the Month: April...

Question of the Month

Your hives have made it through winter and are now busting at the seams with bees. Do you continue to add hive bodies and build up your hive? Can you create a split? Should you worry about swarming?

An overwintered hive will begin brood production before winter comes to an end. By the time spring gets here, they will be high in population and ready for the nectar flow. This can lead to the possibility of swarming and requires attention from the beekeeper.
You have two options to help prevent overcrowding in the hive:

• You may continue to build up your hive by adding on the next story. This is an easy option and will build up your hive fast. If the queen is not in the bottom brood chamber, reverse the brood chambers and place honey supers above the brood chambers. Reduce the congestion by giving your bees room to move up into the hive and space for your queen to lay. You still must be cautious of swarm cells and dealing with a honey bound hive.
• Create a split. A split in its simplest form, is the transfer of several frames with mixed brood and frames capped with honey from your mother hive into a new hive. You would replace the transferred frames with empty frames, giving your mother hive space to continue growing. Splitting a colony gives you another hive with a more bees to help pollinate your garden and harvest honey.

Creating a split seems simple, but there are different variations (below is just one example how to create a split) and challenges involved. This is however, a great and convenient way to establish a new colony in your bee yard.

When making a split, you will want to have your equipment setup and ready for the transfer of frames. It is best to grab 4 or 5 frames of mixed brood in various stages of development. This will keep the population going as new bees are hatched and as larvae continues to develop. The hive's survival will be dependent upon the newly hatched bees and developing larvae. Frames of nectar and pollen will be essential in feeding the colony until they are able to increase in population.

When transferring the frames into the split, you do not want to brush off the nurse bees. The nurse bees will be beneficial to help feed and raise out the brood. The bees that are transferred from your mother hive are orientated to the mother hive. Once they fly from the split, they will return to the mother hive. You will want to transfer a good number of nurse bees over to the split because the majority of them will return to the mother hive. This may require you to shake a few extra frames of bees into the split. The bees that hatch out will become orientated to the split colony and will replace the nurse bees that returned to the mother hive.

Right now your split is queenless. You have the option of purchasing a fertilized queen (before you create the split) and introducing her to your split colony. It will take 5 to 7 days before your colony will become acclimated to her, but once she is released, she will begin laying. If you know that you transferred over frames of brood with eggs that are less than 3 days old, your split hive will realize that it is queenless and will begin to raise out their own queen from the fertilized eggs. There are numerous risks in allowing a colony to raise out their own queen.Dangers in raising out a new queen: low drone population, rainy weather, birds, car windshields, ect. Aside from these threats, it can take 2 to 3 weeks before the queen is able to begin laying (if she is properly fertilized). 

After transferring your frames and ensuring your split is queen right, they will continue to grow. The split is a new colony and should be treated as such. Add a feeder to the split and give them time to grow before checking on them. Your mother hive will need to be monitored to ensure it does not become overcrowded. Some beekeepers can create multiple splits from one hive, depending upon the strength of that colony. 

ORIGINAL SOURCE:  BRUSHY MOUNTAIN

Wintering a Beehive in New England with the Gleasons...

Thanks to club members Dan and Joseph Gleason for sharing their new over-wintering experience!

Brushy Mountain's Back to Basics March...

SPRING CLEANING

Hives are beginning to replenish their winter losses before spring arrives.This is the ideal time to do some spring maintenance for your hive. Temperatures fluctuate during March but we will begin experiencing warmer temperatures. Choose one of these warmer days (above 50 degrees F) and head out to your hive.

Over the course of winter, your cluster would have been migrating upward in the hive,consuming their honey stores. This can place the majority of brood nest in an upper super. Beekeepers will want to reverse the boxes so that the brood nest is on the bottom, creating the sense of more space in the hive for your queen to move up and lay into.This will lessen the possibility of swarming.
If your brood nest is mainly clustered in your bottom box, there is no need to reverse boxes.

While we are working the hive, checking the brood and honey stores, why not do some cleaning?
Here are some ideas for you:

• With minimal brood and stored honey, this is the time to cull out some old frames and foundation. Foundation becomes dirty and will absorb chemicals and diseases.This needs to be replaced every 3 to 5 years, and this can be accomplished by replacing 1/3rd to 1/5th of your frames every year.
• Make your hives more functional by cleaning off burr comb from frames, feeders and queen excluders.
• Your bees will be cleaning frames, preparing for the nectar flow. Sometimes they do not remove the debris completely from the hive and its left on the bottom board. Help the bees and clean off the bottom board.
• Every beekeeper tries to save money by using equipment, year after year, however, there does come a point when you need to replace it. When you see rot in the wood or gaps between supers, it needs to be replaced.

Spring is getting closer and your colony is beginning to grow in population. Your bees are out foraging for nectar and pollen. You are ready for the beekeeping year to begin!

Here are some other things to consider:

• If the adult population coming out of winter is small, the brood rearing will start off slow. The small population must keep the brood warm and with empty space throughout the hive, they will have a hard time. Reduce the size of the hive until they grow in population.
• Food Stores need to be maintained. We harp on this every year as winter comes to an end. This is vital to the production of brood and the survival of your hive.Checking the food stores is important until you find that your bees are bringing in nectar, ignoring your supplied feed. They much prefer nectar compared to sugar water or corn syrup.
• Swarm Management. As the colony continues to grow in population your hive can become overcrowded. This can lead to swarming. Add the next super on before the bees get crowded.

ORIGINAL SOURCE:  BRUSHY MOUNTAIN

Experimental Natural Beekeeping...

The Sun Hive: experimental Natural Beekeeping

Sun Hives are a hive design coming out of Germany and now gathering interest in Britain. They’re part of the world-wide movement towards ‘apicentric’ beekeeping – beekeeping that prioritizes honeybees firstly as pollinators, with honey production being a secondary goal.

The Sun Hive is modeled in part on the traditional European skep hive, and is aimed at creating a hive that maximises colony health. The main thing I love about this hive and the enthusiasm surrounding it is not the hive itself, but the philosophy behind it, that of apicentric beekeeping.

In brief, the Sun Hive has an upside down skep hive at its base with curving frames in the top section and no frames in the bottom section. The hive is placed well above ground level (optimal for bees – they never choose to create a hive on the ground).

Like a Warré hive, the Sun Hive allows the queen bee to roam freely through the entire hive and lay eggs where she wishes to, which in turn allows the colony to manage the location and progression of their brood nest, which is great for colony health.

The top curved frames of the Sun Hive provide the ability to (in theory) remove each frame, with the free-form comb beneath coming out as well as it is (again, in theory) attached to the frame directly above.

The Sun Hive can also have a super attached to it on a honeyflow (not sure about that, as I assume that means a queen excluder would be used to prevent brood comb being created in said super, which goes against the idea of allowing the queen to roam the hive, but anyway).

As I said, it’s not the design of this hive that particularly gets me going (though it is very beautiful), but the philosophy behind it… putting bees first before honey yields.

Also, this sort of experimenting is important. We cannot keep relying on the industrial style of beekeeping that is currently the norm. Well managed Warré Beehives are one branch of natural beekeeping, and this hive is another.

What we need, right now, is lots of apicentric beekeepers refining, experimenting and progressing resilient beekeeping techniques. Backed up by good information on bee behavior, not just whacky ideas.

Would this hive style work in Australia? I am not sure, but I suspect it might not be ideal for most parts of Australia. And that is ok. Each continent has vastly different conditions – nectarys, climate and other variations that necessitate adaptation for hive design for effective natural beekeeping.

A hive design developed on the other side of the world, no matter how groovy, is not necessarily going to result in a happy and healthy honeybee colony over this side of the world. There’s seasonal differences, the way honeyflows work is different, humidity, etc.

But Natural Beekeeping, in all its global variations, is at the heart of future honeybee health. The Sun Hive is definitely part of that matrix and is causing many in Europe to rethink hive design to ensure colony resilience.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: MILKWOOD

Some Recommended Reading...

For some really great beekeeping titles check out www.wicwas.com

First Wicwas Book for 2014              

Price:

$23.00

Authors or Editors: 

Stephen J. Repasky with Lawrence J. Connor

Ideal For: 

All Beekeepers, Naturalists and Adventurers

Publisher: 

Wicwas Press, LLC

Binding: 

Perfect (Paper)

Dimensions: 

6" x 9" x 3/8"

ISBN: 

978-1-878075-32-1

Description: 

Swarming is one of the most powerful instincts that most successful beekeepers encounter. Swarm Essentials outlines the ramifications of swarming behavior (highlighting the often overlooked benefits), proven prevention and management techniques, and how to recover and even prosper from a successful swarm attempt. Second generation beekeeper Stephen J. Repasky's inaugural publication marks the latest addition to the Essentials series and is an excellent read for any beekeeper who hopes to make it past their first year.

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2013 Revised Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping                  Drs. Dewey M. Caron and Lawrence John Connor

• Hard Cover

• 368 pages of vibrant color photos, diagrams & updated materials

• Questions and exercises for self-study & classroom teaching

• $60, includes priority mail

This book is perfect for:

• Bee schools and classes

• Master beekeeper study and review

• Life-long learners

For multiple copies for classroom, bee school or resale, contact LJConnor@aol.com for a quote including shipping costs. You will receive a discount for multiple copy orders.

For single copies, order from the Wicwas Press website, www.wicwas.com, and use the PayPal bookstore.

—Chapter titles—

• Introduction Beekeeping art or science, humans and bees, bees as weapons, bee gums, superorganism, learning beekeeping

• What’s in a name? The classification system, bumble bees, other bee species, races and hybrid bees

• Sociality Insect societies, wasps, ants, stinging in Hymenoptera

• What is a honey bee? Hive bees, field bees, fifferentiation

• Honey bee anatomy Digestive and excretory systems, reproduction and other systems, how the bee’s body works

• Bee nest Beeswax comb, nest organization, the modern beehive

• Dance language communication The wagtail dance, dance language controversy

• Pheromone communication Queens, pheromone functions, food transmission, colony odor, trail pheromones

• Queens, queens, queens Replacement, swarming, queenless

• Foraging and bee botany Forager types, water and propolis, fruit bloom, clovers, major U.S. nectar and pollen plants

• Getting started When and how, personal equipment, setting up hives, drifting

• Basics of management Key concepts, avoiding stings, robbing

• Fall and winter in the beehive Requeening, feedinig why colonies die

• Spring management Spring buildup, weak colonies, swarm control

• The honey harvest Nectar flow, supering, harvesting honey

• Honey & other bee products What can go wrong? Pollen, beeswax, royal jelly, pollen, bee brood, venom, mead

• Queen mating and rearing Raising queen bees, mating control, nucleus colony basics

• Pollination Managing bee colonies for pollination, improving pollination results

• Bee mites Varroa mites, integrated pest management, treatment options for mite control

• Diseases and pests Adult and brood diseases, pesticides, 
conditons that mimic disease

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Undertanding Bee Anatomy: a full colour guide

Ian Stell, MD, London

COLOR THROUGHOUT!

Approx. 6.75 inches wide and 9.75 tall, softcover, 203 pages, Catford Press.

$60 priority mail postpaid in the United States

Wicwas Press is authorized to sell this book for Dr. Stell in the United States and Canada

This book aims to do two things.

Firstly,  to explain the structure of this fascinating insect and secondly, through stunning images, to reveal the insect’s intricate detail.

Dr Stell has applied his knowledge of the human body in describing the honeybee, system by system. 

The book starts with a chapter on the developmental stages, showing the internal changes taking place from the egg to the larva, and then the pupa.

It includes chapters on all body parts, wings and flight structures, the circulatory, respiratory and digestive systems and finishes with chapters on the queen and the drone.

The anatomy is explained in clear colour diagrams and illustrated with over six hundred high-quality photographs. These include electron micrographs, close-up images, high-power stained sections (histology) and other techniques.

This concise but readable book is perfect for the British exams in bee biology and training for master beekeeper programs in the United States. It is also a valuable resource for any beekeeper wanting to understand his insects better, or any student or scientist working in this area.

Dr. Ian Stell, has been a beekeeper in an urban area in South-East London since 1998, keeping about fifteen colonies. His day job is as a doctor in Emergency Medicine. Keeping bees has involved facing many disease challenges, much as Emergency Medicine does. This has led Ian into an interest in the microscopic examination of bees, and he has applied his knowledge of the human body in describing the honeybee, system by system. Ian became a Master Beekeeper in 2010, and was awarded the prestigious Wax Chandlers award, from one of the ancient City Livery companies with an historical link to beekeeping.

________________________

www.wicwas.com

__________________________________________________

History of American Beekeeping, Reprint of Frank Pellett's Classic 1938 Work.

It took me years to find a copy of this book I could afford, and then only due to the kindness of a friend. After the popularity of the Doolittle books, I knew that beekeepers liked classic reprints. And what a reprint this is. I was able get this reprinted by a printer who is a master of detail, Jeff Shaw, a Burgh Bees' member in Pittsburgh. The reprint looks just like the original, only fresher and a lot less expensive! There is gold foil and an embossing on the cloth hardcover. The book is Smythe sewn, so it will last longer than most first owners. Inside the book is exactly the same as the original but printed on earth-friendly paper and plant-based inks.

The price is $35 including priority mail postage inside the United States, and $45 elsewhere. If  you cannot use the following website's PayPal account, send a U.S. Dollar check drawn on a U.S. Bank to Wicwas Press, 1620 Miller Road, Kalamazoo, MI 49001, USA.

www.wicwas.com

__________________________________________________

Consider Bee-sentials: A Field Guide as your bee school textbook

A number of bee clubs and bee school instructors have switched to Bee-sentials: A Field Guide, for their bee school textbook. The book was published last year, has 208 pages, and is in full color.

There are 15 chapters that may be used for lectures in a semester-long class, or covered survey-style in a one-day bee school.

It contains a thorough overview of getting-started basics, an equipment section, and how-to set up hives.

It recommends new beekeepers start with two hives their first season so they help each other during the summer, and helps them get at one least colony through the winter. AND it discusses the establishment of a nucleus colony for spare queen backup.

It reviews the beekeeper's management year, has 25 pages of bee plants in full color, covers the major hive products, and explains swarm management and control. 

There is a good treatment of bee mites and diseases, all with close-up color photos.

Worker, drone and queen production and activities review what is normal and how to problem solve.

Hive nutrition, other bee species, bee club mentorship are included. So are an extensive glossary, reading list and index.

If you go the the www.wicwas.com website, you may purchase copies for $29.95 postpaid. But if you email LJConnor@aol.com, you can find out how to purchase quantities of this book at discount. As an instructor, ask for a free copy for your use while teaching the class.

We have lots of copies in inventory, and will ship them out as soon get your order.

Bee-sentials gives the new beekeeper a book with meat on it's bones, a book they can carry in their briefcase, purse or backpack, or keep in the car or truck as they go to the bee yard. It has the basics, and a whole lot more. Many advanced beekeepers learn from this book as well. There are dozens of questions other beekeepers have asked, that have have been answered.

Send that email today to LJConnor@aol.com and get details about using this book for your next class.

www.wicwas.com

__________________________________________________

Include this book in your beekeeping courses for new and experienced beekeepers. More than building your own beehive. This book shows you how to make and USE simple tools in the apiary.

This large format, softcover book folds open in the shop for ease of use.

Large font size.

Full color throughout.

Drawings of most items, and how-to-use photos.

Ed Simon is a retired IBM trainer, and now dumpster diver, who enjoys building things and is a master of building jigs that hold equipment together during assembly.

He writes for Bee Culture magazine.

Price mailed—$20.00 inside the USA.

There is something in this book for you whether you are a new beekeeper or an 'Old Smoke.'

www.wicwas.com

Please visit www.wicwas.com for a look at the complete bee book list. Remember, when you order two or more books at one time, I ship (to USA locations) by Priority Mail when your order fits the flat rate envelope or box. For example, if you get two or more of the Essentials booksthe order ships Priority Mail. The History and Anatomy books automatically ship by priority mail and no additional fee is required.

Thanks for your support and book-buying passion. I hope to see you soon!

Larry Connor, Ph.D.
Wicwas Press

Bill Crawford Photo Update...

Bill just emailed me some photos from his cell phone, so we can all see some of what he's seen on his commercial beekeeping journey.  Feast your eyes...

Keep up the good work, Bill!  And keep those photos coming!

A First Timer's Install...

New HCBA Member, Vanessa Mathieu shared this video of her first install earlier this year.  Vanessa started two hives this year, one standard Langstroth hive and one top bar hive.  Thanks for sharing Vanessa!  

Introducing My Queens...

This is the Martin Beeyard...

We're a small operation.

The hive on the left is our first hive, and the girls who live there over-wintered OK. I was very excited about that and thought it meant I had completed my first year as a successful beekeeper. So, mother nature decided to challenge me. On an inspection about two weeks ago, I noticed open queen cells, and that the frames were too full of honey, and worst of all... NO BROOD! I switched out some of the full frames with some built-out empty frames I had from last year. Maybe if there was a new queen in the hive, she just needed some space to lay? Left it alone for almost 5 days, and upon reinspection, still no brood. Not an egg in sight. I reached out to some of our experienced club members and the reply was unanimous, "RE-QUEEN! RE-QUEEN!" I got a new queen and installed her on Saturday. Introducing Queen Elizabeth Woodville II...

I'm going to check on her tomorrow and hope she's been accepted and freed by her people. Cross your fingers for me!

The hive on the right is our new hive. I installed a package of Italians from Tom on Easter weekend, and they're doing great so far. I've only done two inspections, and I've spotted the queen quickly and easily both times without really looking. This leads me to believe she's a bit of an exhibitionist. Please meet Queen Daryl Palumbo...

*A note on the size difference between my hives... I wanted to be sure I would be able to manage my first hive alone and was a little nervous about the size and weight of everything, so I opted to start with two medium hive bodies and an 8 frame hive. Initially this worked out great. When they needed more space, I added a third hive body, this seemed to prevent them from swarming. In the fall, they gave me 36 lbs. of delicious honey, and they over-wintered well. With an increased level of comfort going into my second year and second hive, I decided to go for deeps on our new 8 frame hive. Hopefully they'll both be a success!

Made by Hand No. 3...

Made by Hand / No 3 The Beekeeper from Made by Hand on Vimeo.

A project from bureauofcommongoods.com, Made by Hand is a new short film series celebrating the people who make things by hand—sustainably, locally, and with a love for their craft.

Local farmer Megan Paska has witnessed beekeeping as it morphed from an illegal (and possibly crazy) habit to a sustainable, community-supported skill. Mirroring beekeeping’s own ascendance, she found more than just a living: “This is the first time in my life when I’ve just felt absolutely on the right path.”

A non-beekeeping friend of mine stumbled upon this video on a journey through the world wide web. He forwarded it to me, and though I thought it was a little long and maybe a little boring, I've decided to share it with you all here. It was my first time seeing anyone use a top bar hive on video, and I was shocked to see her just cut away half of a comb and jar it up.

Any top bar hive users in the club? Any stories or experiences to share? Please comment on this post, or send them to me via email.

Tom's Follow Up for Your New Bee Packages...

hi all
hope everyone's install went well......now feed feed feed ...don't bother them until sometime this afternoon or Tuesday open up ,check the queen cage to see if she is out ...if she is take it out push the frames together and get out .....leave them until next week then check for eggs ....by then they should have some comb drawn and the queen should bee laying eggs.........don't bother them too much inspect them once a week ...to make sure she is laying ..if you see eggs you know she is there........ you do not have to see the queen to know she is there...watch at the entrance, if the bees are bringing in pollen..that is a good sign she is laying .........once you see capped brood it should bee flat not protruding like a bullet ..though there might bee some protruding capping's around the corners and bottom ...these are the drones...again keep feeding them sugar syrup 2 parts sugar to 1 part warm water...they need this to draw out the comb...

Mine are all in and going to town... Those Russians, they like the vodka...Special thanks to my two copilots, John and Fred...

any questions or problems call or email me ....413-883-9399
thanks, tom

July's HCBA BeeBQ...

A big thank you to Carrie and Arthur Naatz for having us all over to eat and socialize! The food was great and there was plenty of it!

Anthony Trani attended the picnic and showed off some of his great beehive woodenware. He is a local craftsman and if you did not attend the picnic but would like to check out his work please click this link Anthony had a lot of nice stuff at very fair prices!
Some of us ventured down to the Naatz's beeyard. I love Carrie's choices of colors!
That's a good looking bunch of beekeepers! From left to right, Mike, Sean, Jessica, Annette, Carrie, Scott and Arthur.
Thanks again to Arthur and Carrie! See everyone in August!