These bees have just started to build comb on one of the wooden bars in the hive. The queen will probably use this first-built comb for egg-laying/brood-rearing |
Swarming is how bee colonies reproduce, as opposed to a queen's egg-laying, which propagates individual bees. When a hive throws a swarm, the existing queen and a large number of bees ingest a bunch of stored honey, and then leave the hive in a swirling, buzzing cloud. Left behind are worker bees and a soon-to-be mature young queen, who continue to live in the existing hive.
It's mostly a Spring phenomenon, and whether a hive swarms depends on a number of factors, including crowding. Beekeepers interested in honey production generally want to prevent swarming, since the hive population -- and nectar gathering capability -- is greatly diminished when half or more of the bees leave. Since swarming occasionally happens later in the summer, it's something I was concerned about. Our colony was so vigorous that within about seven weeks, the entire hive was filled with comb. Looking in the side window, there was nothing to see except bees and comb ... no space. Basically, things were reaaal crowded.
So, last Sunday I went over to the hive with the intention of pulling several full bars of honey, and swapping them for empties, to give the bees more space. It turned out to be a bit of a mess, though in the end all went well. This first bar of comb had a lot of brood (bee larvae and pupae ... "babies"), which I didn't want to disturb.
The top third of this comb is stored honey that's capped with wax. Below are brood cells. |
The queen had begun laying in the front of the hive, and there was brood halfway to the back as well. I finally found broodless, mostly-capped honeycomb about two thirds of the way back.
Unfortunately, in the back of the hive, the comb was crooked, and each piece connected a couple of bars together. There was no easy way to remove a comb without tearing it, which is exactly what happened.
The honeycomb broke in half when I pulled out the first bar of it out of the hive. As you might imagine, the broken comb caused a flood of honey in the bottom of the hive. |
All four bars that I removed tore, to one degree or another. I tried to cut each away from the rest of the hive before removing it, so that it'd be attached to only one bar, but that didn't work. Eventually I just had to reach into the hive and grab the remaining globs of comb by hand.
In the end, I felt kind of bad leaving the bees to clean up the honey spill, but what could I do? I put the lid back on the hive and went home with a couple of pots full of comb. That's when things got interesting!
I thought there might be a quart or so of honey, and we'd planned to set it aside to feed the bees in the winter. When I crushed the beeswax cells and ran the honey out through a collander and a sieve, though, we ended up with a gallon of honey.
Four bars of comb produced a gallon of honey. Half is reserved for feeding the bees, in case they need it to make it through the winter. |
This honey is primarily from the local linden trees. Some years, but not all, the lindens provide a very large nectar flow. This was apparently one of those years, and the hours I spent harvesting & extracting the honey was one of the most rewarding weekend days I've had in a long time. I'm now thinking towards 3-5 hives rather than just one, and am just about done building the 2nd.
If you've ever thought about keeping bees, a top bar hive is a great way to get started. If you're handy, you can build your own (there are plans online), and either share some of the other basic equipment with a friend, or put up a hundred bucks or so for a basic set (I ordered from Dadant). It was also helpful for me to take a class ... look for similar offerings in your area! Bee happy and bee healthy!
--------------
[Updated 7/21/2008 21:58]
Uh oh, maybe there was something else I should have done, instead of or in addition to removing four bars of comb.
It was this sight that got me worried about crowding to begin with (photos are from today):
A curtain o' bees |
On hot days since a couple of weeks ago, hundreds of bees come out and gather on the front of the hive. Certainly that's partly because it's a hot day, and they do what they need to do to regulate the hive temperature. But, if it were less crowded, maybe it wouldn't be so hot, either?
Mysterious creatures, these bees ...
Cross-posted, along with other interesting stuff, at peaksoil.com (another SoapBlox blog) |
