April 12, 2010 - Checked general hive wellbeing; all is good
April 17, 2010 - Feeder pail check; refilled. Carniolans required less than MH Italians
April 26, 2010 - Feed pails good; Meghann stopped by
May 2, 2010 - Refilled feed pails - trying Honey B Healthy supplement; removed pollen patties; removed an oddly shaped cell - possible queen cell?
May 7, 2010 - Snow. Checked feed pails - all good. With low temps, added pollen patties to each hive.
May 9, 2010 - Added second super to each hive; warm temperatures today brought out a tremendous amount of activity from both hives. Feed pails good.
May 15, 2010 - Routine check of the hives. No bridge comb found in either hive. MH Italians, however, had large number of dead bees on the bottom board. I also moved one frame full of bees (one each hive) to the upper super, and removed one frame from the lower super. This left 7 in the bottom, and 8 in the top.
May 16, 2010 - Refilled MH Italian’s feed pail. This morning, it was apparent that the feed pail had been leaking - a pool of sugary goodness was on the bee-deck. Feed pail was removed until this evening, when I had time to suit-up and check the hives out more thoroughly. MHI’s were in much better condition than the previous evening; in 24 hours, they were able to make a piece of comb 4" long, 2" wide and 1" thick. This was in the space left by the remove frame from the lower super. A similar, but smaller wax formation was found in the Carniolans’ hive. Both hives were very active throughout the day today. The Carniolans’ feed pail was nearly full - they are getting nectar from afield instead of the pail.
May 20, 2010 - Routine check of the hives. MH Italians had produced burr comb on two frames; this was removed and the wax put into the solar melter. The MH’s had also started wax draw out on the frames in the upper super. The carniolans were buzzing along nicely. They will need more syrup soon - by the 23rd at the latest. No burr comb in the carniolans’ hive. They too were drawing wax out on the frames in the upper super.
May 22, 2010 - Refilled feeder pails on both hives. The MH Italians were, again, producing burr comb. The carniolans looked fine; very little unwanted wax buildout.
May 28, 2010 - Feeder pails were 3/4 full on both hives. The MH Italians were not drawing out comb very well, but had not been producing any burr comb. I took the top super off and consolidated the frames from the top into the bottom super; this made for 8 frames with at least one side of comb. The Carniolans were showing heavy comb building in both supers. No burr or bridge comb was found. Sam Bradley joined me in the bee yard.
June 6, 2010 - Weather turned from rain and cold to sun and warm in a matter of an hour. Checked both hives; the MH Italians are really slow with comb draw-out, but there are still signs of an alive queen - eggs and larva were present. The Carniolans, on the other hand, were going great-guns and had burr and bridge comb all under the inner cover. Both supers were nearing complete draw-out; a queen excluder and a honey super were installed on the Carniolans.
June 11, 2010 - Refilled feed pail with simple sugar syrup; no Honey B Healthy supplement; one honey super is now on the Carniolans. Ordered new MHI queen; should arrive mid-next-week.
June 18, 2010 - Requeened MH Italians. Poor comb draw out as well as a larger presence in the hive, too. This points to an egg laying worker. Refilled both feed pails.
June 22, 2010 - Merged MH Italians with captured feral hive; feral bees appeared to be straight-up Italians. Removed empty queen cage from MH Italian hive.
June 26, 2010 - Hives checked; MH Italians and feral bees seem to have merged; few feral dead and a colorful mix of bees in the rest of the hive. Added another super while merging the bees. Carniolans have a honey super under the queen separator to allow for further brood expansion. Order of new bottom boards (screened) and more deep supers and honey supers has been placed.
July 3, 2010 - Hives checked; MH Italians doing well; moved one complete frame of comb to top super. Carniolans are doing well; lots of wax being drawn out in the top honey super.
July 10, 2010 - MH Italians making burr comb; drawing out 5 of the 8 frames in the top super. Still concerned, but they appear to be doing much better. Carniolans have filled the top honey super 2/3 with comb and 1/2 with honey. Top brood box 100% comb draw out and weighs a good 40 to 50 lbs.
July 16, 2010 - MH Italians are doing well. Comb draw out continues; removed empty feed pails from both hives. No honey super on the MH Italians, yet. Added second honey super to Carniolans.
July 21, 2010 - Added third honey super to Carniolans. Added one honey super to MH Italians.
July 28, 2010 - Added fourth honey super to Carniolans in preparation of trip to Boone, NC. MH Italians not moving up into honey super.
August 10, 2010 - Removed five frames of honey from Carniolans. Used newly acquired extracting gear to produce about 1.1/2 gallons of honey.
August 26, 2010 - Installed a bee escape - test run of device; it is used to non-invasively remove the bees from the honey supers above it. Will remove the next day.
August 27, 2010 - Removed three frames of honey from the Carniolans; the bees escaped work very well. Will the bees to finish off the remaining open comb cells; put a feed pail of 2:1 sugar/water on the Italians. No honey from them this season. Added essential oils to the sugar to help stimulate feeding.
September 2, 2010 - Noticed a strong odor, much like dirty socks, coming from the hives; looked up what it could be; apparently, the bees are processing goldenrod and aster nectar. Hope the honey does not taste like gym socks. The honey should be quite dark compared to the first round of honey we pulled.
September 4, 2010 - Test run on pollen substitute; soy flour + vegetarian yeast + dry, non-instant non-fat milk. Bees seem to like it; removed at night to prevent caking with air moisture.
September 8, 2010 - Checked hives. Italians are doing well, and I think they will be strong going into the winter. Refilled their feed pail with 2:1 sugar plus essential oils. Carniolans are winding down; put bee escape under second from top honey super; will be pulling honey tomorrow.
Mid September through Mid October - Minimal checking of the hives; several rounds of feed pails; Noticed piles of dead drones in front of both hives; the workers are preparing for winter. Will begin the final winterizing this weekend.
November 8, 2010 - Checked hives and installed homasote undercovers for moisture wicking during the winter; the italians looked to be low on honey in the top supers; I am suspecting the carniolans made a honey heist. Made fondant and put five frames into the italians; may need to check them next month on a nice day. Wrapped both hives in insulation wraps, too.
November 14, 2010 - Final tuck in for the bees; put 2” R-10 rigid foam insulation under the outer covers.
