Visited the Four Elements Farm Apiary today. We found the colonies doing very well, they have closed off 2/3 of their access wholes and had bees returning with pollen at the open entrances. No pest seemed present, so all seems well. We will be placing bricks underneath the legs to prevent future rain mishaps.
Apiary Visit
November 8th, 2009
October Storm and TBH construction
October 30th, 2009
Storm Damage
We had a fairly strong storm come through a couple of weeks ago with extremely high winds and a few inches of rain. The rain saturated the ground in one of the apiaries to such a point that the legs of on of the TBH’s sunk into the soil so deep that it feel over and hit the colony next to it. The hit colony also had legs sink into the soil so over it went. We thought that was the end of that colony since being tbh’s there isn’t any support for the comb except the top. We were wrong; yes the colony lost a huge amount of bees to the rain and cold but look at this comb in the photograph. Not only did it maintain its integrity but the bee space was maintained and a large portion of the colony was able to cluster and produce heat until we were able to actually just set the hive back up and place the top bars back into the hive box. Time will tell but they at least have a fighting chance. We have come to the conclusion that this particular style and construction dimensions are excellent for the honey bees. I wonder if a standard commercial colony would have faired as well.
Fall is here
October 13th, 2009Checked the Apiaries this weekend all looks well. All excess honey is removed and there seems to be plenty of stores for the winter. Cleaning and painting getting ready for next spring. Going to check templeton colonies this Saturday .
September hive mangement
September 16th, 2009It’s the middle of September and it seems that the drones are starting to die off. We are basically watching for pests and deciding which colonies appear to be in stress. If possible we will not open them again until November. Now is the time to start getting equipment ready for spring.
Labor Day TBH Painting
September 7th, 2009
Just perfect Labor Day here in Morro Bay. So I spent the day painting two new TBH’s that we received from Raul and Gloria Gil from Gloria’s Got China on eBay. I get the TBH’s already primer so that all I need to do is pick a color and paint. Then I drill nine wholes for an entrance, cork them and all I need to do is add the bees. So here is a photo of the two new hives in transition.
