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December 6, 2018 Hive Inspection: One Colony Down

Well, I started inspections with the Persister Hive because we've been worried about it. It hasn't had much activity at the entrance for a couple of months, but there are always a couple bees going in and out. I think this is the one that swarmed a few months ago, landing up high in the sea grape tree where I couldn't get them, and the population never rebounded. When I looked at it today, there is some honey storage in the brood chamber and workers in it, but signs of wax moths in about half of the frames in the deep, no brood or larvae, and no queen I could locate. Only saw one small hive beetle. I'm not sure, but the Mother Hive might be using it for honey storage at this point. Would a neighboring hive utilize it? Might ask around on that. I cut out the old comb with wax moth damage and saw a few wax moth larvae. Put the frames back in for now, but need to look at it again soon. Since I'm working on a removal from an avocado tree a few miles away, I could move them in if this colony absconded or got robbed out while weakened.

The Mother Hive is a whole different story. There has been plenty of activity at the entrance, so we haven't been concerned about what's going on. The super was absolutely full of capped honey. Every frame. I set it aside, and took a look in the deep. There is plenty of open and capped brood, pollen and some honey in the deep, so that colony is rocking. Scraped down 8 frames to harvest and got them back in the super and the colony closed up just fine.

Harvesting 8 full frames by crush and strain took a few hours, but we got about 2 gallons of dark, tasty honey just in time for the holidays. We can give the gifts of the bees this year! We ran through the rest of the lovely hexagonal jars that [personal profile] rubibees got, as well as most of our miscellaneous ball jars! They have our "Temple Bee Honey, Casa Raven" labels on them, so we'll take some to the Turning the Tides festival this weekend, too.
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(no subject)

We did a mini-inspection this evening of the honey supers after our first small honey harvest last month.

The Mother Hive had only one frame harvested. It has fair amount of uncapped honey in the center frames, with a smaller amount towards the outside. There were a couple of patches of capped honey across the super. Lots of bees with head in and butts sticking out!

The Persister Hive had three frames harvested. Because it has no foundation in the super, we had cut out comb to harvest, leaving some comb in the frames. On this inspection, the bees had cleaned up the areas that were cut out, but hadn't redrawn much comb yet. There were a couple of patches of capped honey and a number of frames with some uncapped honey, but not a lot of honey storage in that super right now.

The water was refreshed, and we wrapped it up!
rubibees: (Default)
[personal profile] rubibees2018-08-29 10:59 am
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our first honey harvest!

 So we got our bees in April of 2017, and although we have seen lots of honey during hive inspections, we havent felt there was  enough, or that it was capped enough, to harvest it.  But at the inspection about a month ago we thought things looked good and if they kept capping the honey we could harvest soon...and this past weekend [personal profile] greenwapiti  pulled four frames out and we had our first harvest!  There was one frame from the Mother hive and 3 from the Persister hive.  We put them in a big pot in the sink, and then squeezed them through cheesecloth.  We ended up with 5 small jars and two very small honey bears worth of delicious, dark honey. He took a jar and toothpicks in to work to share tastes, and I did the same today.

The VIP list for jars is: Marty, the O's, honey bears for Cyrus and Morgan, a jar for padrino or someone else from the house, and we havent decided on the rest. 
greenwapiti: (Coffee)

Bee Hive Inspections: Hurricane Irma, 1-1-18, and 1-15-18

A lot has happened here at the Casa Raven Apiary. These notes cover from Hurricane Irma (made landfall here on September 10 2018) through the inspection today (January 15, 2018). [personal profile] rubibees and I were involved in all of these inspections.

Hurricane Irma: In preparation we lowered the hives to a single cinder block, put spiral steel screws into the ground and strapped the hives down tight. In the last inspection, the Mother Hive had about 50%-60% capped honey in the super on a bit more than half of the 19 frames. The Persister Hive had just recently gotten a super, so there wasn't any comb, pollen, or honey in the super. Both hives had active brood chambers with good populations and most frames on in the bottom 10 frame deeps had capped brood. The Persister Hive had one frame with a small area of dark shiny stuff in the upper left that was a bit of a concern, but we didn't have much inspection time with the storm coming, so we figured we'd look at it during the next inspection to see if it was stringy and sticky, a possible indication of disease, or just some honey stored in dark brown comb.

The hives stayed stable during the storm and weren't damaged or affected that we could tell by storm debris. In the aftermath, most forage had been blown off of local plants, so we did a couple of days of feeding. After that we stopped feeding, but continued to see regular activity at the entrances and foraging flights, so all looked well. Both hives had some queen cells built. To the best of my memory, the Mother Hive had two queen cells and the Persister Hive had three.

January 1, 2018: we did a brief inspection. The Mother Hive's honey super was full of drawn comb, but all of the stored honey was gone, capped or otherwise. Getting down into the brood chamber, the Mother Hive had no sign of capped brood or larvae. There was a small population of bees in the brood chamber, and they appeared to be clustered around some stores of mostly honey and a tiny bit of pollen. The Persister Hive had not drawn any comb in the super at all. It had some capped brood and larvae, but less than before, and a somewhat larger population than the Mother Hive. Both had open queen cells. We were surprised at the impacts to the colonies, but were about to start a road trip for a few days, so we set out some sugar water to help support them. We didn't see queens in either hive that day, but wanted to do another inspection soon where we could take the time to really look for queens and at the condition of the brood chambers better. Both hives had some small hive beetles running around. Not too many, but more than previously with a number in the Mother Hive's empty comb in the honey super. We brushed off the bees and knocked the frame edges on the ground to get the beetles off, then put them back.

January 15, 2018: we did a follow up inspection. The Mother Hive had fewer small hive beetles, but some and still nothing stored in the super. The bee population in the brood chamber looked slightly larger, but it was hard to tell. The brood chamber didn't show any capped brood, but had some honey and pollen storage that the bees were feeding on and some possible larvae, but not much. We got some photos of a possible queen which we'll share with some local beekeeper friends to see if they agree that the Mother Hive may still have a queen. (Note: there was a swarm across the yard from the main apiary location during the summer, and I thought that the Mother Hive might've swarmed then. If so, it might not have raised a viable queen then, or one that has been only marginally viable.) The Persister Hive looked a bit stronger than on January 1st. No drawn comb in the super, and a few groups of small hive beetles in the brood chamber nooks and crannies, but not too many. The brood chamber had a larger population than the Mother Hive, and larger than on January 1st. There was capped brood, larvae, pollen, and honey stored in the brood chamber area with at least 5 frames showing capped brood. We spotted a dark, large queen, and got a couple of photos of her. The Persister Hive entrance has more activity than the Mother Hive at this point, and looks generally stronger and healthier. We raised each hive by one cinder block again and pulled the Persister Hive away from a tree a bit to try and have enough room to mow between it and the tree.

Overall, it looks like at least one of the colonies made it through the hurricane and the cold snaps we've had. If needed, we can get another colony in the Mother Hive this spring, so I'm optimistic!

Mother Hive, empty honey super
Mother Hive, empty honey super

Mother Hive brood chamber frame 1
Mother Hive brood chamber frame 1

Mother Hive brood chamber frame 2
Mother Hive brood chamber frame 2


Possible Mother Hive Queen, head down
Possible Mother Hive Queen, head down

Possible Mother Hive Queen, head up and under workers
Possible Mother Hive Queen, head up and under workers

Persister Hive Queen pics
Persister Hive Mother, head down
Persister Hive Mother, head up

Persister Hive brood chamber frame 1
Persister Hive brood chamber frame 1

Persister Hive brood chamber frame 2 (bees brushed off)
Persister Hive brood chamber frame 2 bees brushed off
greenwapiti: (Default)

Summary of Florida law on backyard beekeeping

When [personal profile] rubibees first discussed beekeeping with me back around 2009, I called the city we live in (Miami Springs, FL) to see if we could do it. They defaulted to Miami-Dade County zoning for it, which required (I believe) agriculturally zoned land of at least 5 acres to establish an apiary of any size.

A few years later in 2012, the Florida Legislature passed the bill designated as 2012-83, Laws of Florida. It pertained to a few different things, but it included preemption of local beekeeping regulations, effectively opening many properties to beekeeping that could not do so before due to local zoning ordinances. The statute itself didn't provide for how many colonies could be kept on non-agricultural private lands, but did delegate authority to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop regulations.

FDACS amended Rule 5B-54, Florida Administrative Code, in 2014 and provided for apiaries to be located on non-agricultural private lands and developed the Beekeeper Compliance Agreement. Pursuant that Agreement, beekeepers can have up to 3 colonies on lots up to ¼ acre, up to 6 colonies on lots between ¼ and ½ an acre, up to 10 colonies on lots between ½ and 1 acre, etc. Those limits can double for up to 60 days to help with swarm management. There are some requirements for keeping water accessible to the bees and inspecting hives at least monthly, as well as fencing if colonies are kept near a property line to help ensure that the bee's flight paths aren't going off the property at a low height that might be a nuisance to neighbors.

Those are the basic legal requirements for backyard beekeeping in Florida!
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April 16, 2017 2nd Week Hive Inspection, the Bee Queen of Casa Raven

The inspection went well. The foundationless frames are 3/4 to 4/5 drawn with combs, and we found the queen on new comb, catching a nice photo. No signs of disease, mites or other problems. There was a bit of cross-combing, but not much. A bit of comb on the edge of one frame was cut away.

The Bee Queen of Casa Raven
The Bee Queen of Casa Raven!
greenwapiti: (Default)

April 9, 2017 Solo Hive Inspection

I did a solo hive inspection today with a little smoke, a veil, and gloves. The empty frames were about 1/3 full of newly drawn comb. The original frames for the hive were fuller. The colony hasn't started building comb in the super, but there was a small about of comb started on the foundation frames in the brood chamber. Overall, it looks like good comb development during the week, and the hive was calm throughout.
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April 4, 2017 - Moving Day

[personal profile] rubibees and I moved the 5 frames from the nuc to the main hive today and inspected the colony during the transfer. We got the smoker going, I suited up, and she got in a veil, long-sleeved clothes, and some leather gloves. This was our first time doing anything significant on our own, as we'd really just observed the bees before this!

I opened up the nuc and started getting frames out. The hive was quiet and calm for that, but got louder when we used a little smoke on it. I'll keep an eye on whether the smoke is really very useful, as if the bees are just more riled up, the benefits of using it to move them out of the way a bit might not be worth it. I can already move slowly and gently.

We each took a look at the frames during the transfer, but kept them mostly vertical as they are foundationless and some of the new comb wasn't too well attached yet. There was a bit of cross-combing to cut, and I cut a bit of the developing comb off of the edge of one frame to try and discourage that.

Moving the frames over
Moving the frames over

Checking a frame with some cross-combing
Checking a frame that had some cross-combing

[personal profile] rubibees puts a frame in the new hive

Rubibees puts a frame in the new hive
greenwapiti: (Default)

April 3, 2017

[personal profile] rubibees and I checked on the bees this morning. It was really nice to share that time with her! The returning bees were heavy with nectar and pollen, so they'd definitely found sources for forage. They had lees on them in the evening, so I think what they have found must open up in the morning.
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April 2, 2017 All is well

The bees are calm and active. I was late to my usual Sunday morning Ultimate Frisbee game because I was watching the nuc. Scouting and foraging were going just fine, and I showed the nuc to a couple of friends that came over. [personal profile] rubibees got home that night and got to see the hive, too!
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April 1, 2017 The First Colony

We had the opportunity to get a colony from some friends up in Broward County. [personal profile] rubibees was out of town, but we had all of the equipment and training to get started, so we decided I'd go get them. I packed up a nuc (5-frame nucleus hive) with solid bottom and top boards, some duct tape, bungee cords, the smoker, and my bee suit. I was happy and excited!

I got up to Bridget and Riekin's place at about 5:45 pm, so there was enough time to transfer the frames before dark. Riekin checked over my equipment and recommended that we put a small device in the bottom of my nuc that would held stablize the frames for transport, which we did.

We all suited up and checked the nuc they'd stored the swarm in that recently came off of their "rescue" hive (a small cut out that they got locally). There was a bit of cross-combing between the frames, so Riekin cut through that gently and took a small amount of it off where the bees were drawing comb so far along the edges that they were establishing bee space under the frame bar, instead of between the frames. The frames were transferred to our nuc, which we then put in the same place as their nuc had been so the colony's foragers and scouts could easily find it. The hive didn't get riled up at all, and we all went out to dinner until after dark to let all of the foragers and scouts get back.

After dinner, I screwed a block over the entrance, bungeed everything tightly, and got it into the back of my Camry with the frames aligned with the direction of the car to minimize any problems in transit. I seat-belted the nuc in place, and wrapped it in a sheet in case any bee somehow escaped the nuc in transit (none did). The hive was really quiet the whole way home, and the drive was about 40 minutes. I got the nuc set on a cement block stand by 11:00 pm and got it opened up. A few bees explored the entrance area, but I didn't see any scouting flights right away and left the hive for the night.

The last frame in the old nuc
The last frame in the old nuc

The new nuc with 4 of 5 frames
The new nuc with 4 of 5 frames

The nuc readied for transport!
The new nuc readied for transport!

The nuc at Casa Raven!
The nuc at Casa Raven!
greenwapiti: (Default)

Equipment List

Hive - 10-frame deep with screened bottom board, gabled roof, 10-frame medium super, queen excluder, inner cover, and frames (10 deeps with black foundation and 10 mediums with yellow foundation.
Nuc (nucleus hive) - 5-frame deep with solid bottom board, top and frames.
Extra nuc body and top
Bee suit - extra large for [personal profile] greenwapiti
Large goatskin gloves for [personal profile] greenwapiti
Viel for [personal profile] rubibees
Smoker
Hive tool
J-tool style hive tool
frame holder
cement blocks for stands
poultry waterer with stones in tray
greenwapiti: Casa Raven First Queen (Bee)

The Beginning

This is a journal about the bees at Casa Raven. [personal profile] rubibees and I have been interested in keeping bees for a number of years. When she first asked about it, I checked on keeping bees at our house, and we couldn't legally, as our city defaulted to the county's zoning for it, which required 5 acres or more of land zoned for agricultural use. However, in 2012, state law changed to preempt local beekeeping restrictions and allow for broader urban/suburban/backyard beekeeping! We both went to the South Florida Bee College offered by the IFAS Extension Service, and kept reading up on it for a couple of years, as well. A couple friends of ours had begun beekeeping, so we had the opportunity to bring a colony home from just north of us up in Broward County, which is close enough to have well-acclimated bees. I bought basic tools (smoker, hive tool, bee suit, etc.) and [personal profile] rubibees got down to South Florida Bee Supplies to get a hive, frames, and a veil. She chose a hive with a beautiful gabled roof, screened bottom board, a medium super, a queen excluder, and a nucleus hive ("nuc"). Both hives got painted a nice yellow! We also made an even more concerted effort to read up and get ready! On April 1, 2017, I brought the first colony home to Casa Raven!

There will be other posts about getting the colony, the equipment, and the beekeeping laws in Florida, but that's the short story of the beginning of bees at Casa Raven!