Installing a different hive-top feeder and checking for frame build-out with comb

Today I needed to work with the Russian hive. The hive top feeder, which I thought would make my life easier, ended up not working as well as I’d hoped. To begin with, the feeder weighed about 40 lbs when completely filled with sugar water, so it was inconvenient to remove from the top of the hive, when working the bees. Also, the bees did not consume as much sugar water, as quickly, as I thought they would, so the feeder began to grow a mold in and around the sugar water. Shortly after this mold appeared, the bees simply stopped eating the syrup. Lastly, because the feeder was difficult to handle, I would inevitably crush a couple of bees between the bottom of the feeder and the frame of the hive when placing it onto the hive each time. At any point, that could have been my queen bee getting crushed, which would be devastating for the colony, and set them back at a critical time of the year.

I found it interesting, though not surprising, that the bees avoided the mold in the sugar water.

Another purpose for today’s work was to examine how many frames the bees have built out with wax comb. There are 10 frames (see the pic below) in each wooden hive body (the wooden boxes that are stacked on top of each other to form the expandable hive). The bottom two hive bodies are called ‘deep supers’. When each colony is started, they start with one deep super with 10 frames. When the bees have built wax comb on enough of the frames in that body (6 frames for Russian bees, and 8 frames for Italian bees), a bee keeper will add another deep super on top of the first. When all 20 frames (both supers) are built out with comb, honey, pollen, and brood (young bees in various stages of development), the honey supers are added. Honey supers also have 9 or 10 frames, and are smaller boxes so that they can be lifted when filled with honey. Supers are VERY heavy when filled with honey. Supers placed above the bottom two are what the bee keeper harvest for himself at the end of the season. The bottom two are left as food store for the bees to eat over the winter months.

*Note: Bees only need to build comb on frames once. After new frames have been built out with comb, the bees simply need to reuse the comb year after year. Many bee keepers will say that 'drawn comb' is the bee keepers most valuable asset.

Both colonies this year are brand new. New bees, new queens, new equipment, so the bees have the added work of building new comb on all the frames. The Russians were installed on 5.5.07, and to date have built out 4 frames with comb. This means that they have built 28,000 honey comb cells in 2 weeks and 3 days. To me, that is a remarkable accomplishment. The Italians were hived on 5.12.07, and have built out just over 2 frames in 10 days.

Both colonies are laying lots of eggs, and appear to be very healthy.

Today, I also removed the entrance reducer on the Italian hive so that the bees have less restricted access to bring what they need to in and out of the hive.

All in all, today’s work was very good. I will now stay out of the hive until 5.29. By then, I anticipate that the Russians will have built out 6 frames with comb, and will require a 2nd deep super. Staying on top of this is important. It will help prevent the hive from feeling the impulse to swarm. I hope NOT to write a blog about swarming this year, unless it is just an informative blog, rather than an experiential one.