Monday, April 22, 2019

Bees and Birthdays

The youngerchild had a birthday, and there were many parties, as usual, as we spent time with each set of grandparents. For the one where I wasn't baking in my own home, I made red velvet cupcakes (from a MIX, what were you thinking, mom?) with chocolate cream cheese frosting. I have to say I wasn't too happy with the frosting, and we tried to find Pop Rocks to sprinkle on the top but couldn't. We resorted to Nerds, which were OK, but not Pop Rocks.
Back at home, the youngerchild specifically requested a Brazilian Carrot Smith Island cake. I guess that's my specialty now. The chocolate fudge icing was so strong I couldn't taste the cake part at all!

Now on to the bees - it's been warm but I've not had enough time to get into the healthy hive (Beeyoncé's) and move the false back to give them room. It's supposed to rain today but I jumped in quickly and did get the insulation panels off, the false back moved, the candy board taken out, and I moved over some of the empty comb left from Phoebee's hive so they wouldn't have to do any significant work. I did not inspect, given they were all in there I decided to leave them alone and pick a different, sunnier and warmer day to inspect. At least now they have more space.

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Farewell, Phoebee

In the late fall, when I put the insulation panels on the hives, Phoebee's colony was a little aggressive. I had fed it as often as possible during the late summer and fall, and even put in a candy board when I sealed it up for the winter. I hoped that would be enough. Beeyoncé's hive got the same treatment. A few weeks ago I peeked in both windows and didn't see any activity in Phoebee's hive. I figured I'd lost them. Then, on a warm day, I saw bees orienting around the hive entrance so I guessed I was incorrect and maybe they were just collecting on the warmer side of the hive. Sadly, since then there has been no activity and today I confirmed that my original interpretation was correct. Phoebe's hive was gone.

In the hive I found evidence of a new brood that just never really made it out of their cells. All the bees were dead. I might have even found Phoebee; I definitely found a bee that looked more like a queen than a worker bee. And there was NOTHING in the combs. No honey, no pollen, no capped cells, no larvae. Nada. No signs of disease, either.

So now the hive is cleaned out with a lot of starter comb which I might use to replace any combs I take from Beeyoncé's hive once I harvest some honey this spring. I decided to leave them alone for a little longer, it's only been in the 60's for 2 days and I want to give them more time before I go in there, remove the insulation panels, and set them up for the spring.

It's possible Beeyoncé's hive might split again, and then I'll have a place for them. We'll see.