Bee Feeding and Inspection: Good News/Bad News

Well, the bad news today is that our Bianca hive is finished. We reduced it to two boxes since there are still bees in it, but we aren't sure whether they are robbers. We took out two frames with a little capped honey which would have been capped before we added the sugar syrup last Saturday. 

The irony of losing Bianca is she was the nucleus hive we paid $170 for in the Spring. It was a really strong hive, but it swarmed. We kept introducing eggs, but Bianca never reared a new queen. The hive that did rear a queen was the split we made from our own hive. So we will be going into the winter with two good hives, Anya and Charlie, and hopefully we can keep them alive until next Spring when we will try again to increase our little apiary. We fed Anya and Charlie with full Ziploc bags of syrup. The bees are also using the water source I left out there which was good to see, and our hive beetle traps have caught quite a few small hive beetles. 

The most exciting part of today's inspection was that we saw the queen in Anya. She's a beauty and laying well. It's always fun to see the queen and we don't very often so that was a thrill. We didn't inspect Charlie since that hive has been thriving all summer. We just added the syrup and closed up. 

We'll probably feed again in a few weeks.

Bee Update

The drought has done a number on the nectar flow. There's nothing much out there, so we've already started feeding. Larry did the deed yesterday and we put about two quarts of sugar syrup in each of the hives. That gives the bees something to do and lets them store up food for the winter. We need to do a complete inspection this week, maybe Wednesday to see what the brood situation is and whether we have three queen right hives. Asking the intercession of the beekeeping patrons. 

Saying Good-Bye to Bonnie Bluebeard

Poor Bonnie died during the night. For the past few days she's been acting oddly -- didn't want to come out of the coop, limped a bit, seemed to be feeling bad. I picked her up and petted her. she was extra docile. Bonnie was my favorite chickie, so I’m sad today. Silly, I suppose, to cry over a chicken, but I really loved her.

How can people kill babies? I think of Jim Lemon, the deathscort at the killing center where I counseled on the sidewalk for so many years. He loved his dog, Pumpkin, but championed child killing. He often told me that abortion just sent the babies back to God, so He could send them to someone who wanted them. I often urged him to think of the babies as puppies since they meant more to him than tiny human souls.

Jim’s gone now…I wonder to where. Think I’ll pray for him today. Despite his evil philosophy, I liked him. Poor, stupid Jim. So sad. I don’t want anyone to go to hell.

Broody Buttercup Never Gives Up!

Well, Buttercup is going broody again. She started yesterday puffing up and sitting in the nesting box all the time. When she's out she's pecking her coop mates and being altogether big, bossy Mama. 

Not a good situation for a happy chicken yard.

So I put her back in chicken jail. We'd like this episode to last less than the five weeks of last time. She's in the shade and has food and water and we will let her out this evening to free range with her sisters, but she'll be in lockup during the day. Hopefully the cure will only take three or four days. 

Now if only we could cure the liberal Left with just a few days of solitary confinement in a cage. Since they act like hyenas and baboons, treating them that way and putting them in the zoo seems appropriate. Biden has certainly turned the White House into a zoo -- or maybe the freak show at a fair!

Another Bee Inspection! Question for the Season: Will the Bianca Colony Rear a Queen?

We went out early this morning for our inspection because of the brutal heat. No way we want to be out there when the temp is pushing the upper 90s! Bee suits are hot, hot, hot! We were back in the house by 9:00 a.m. but both of us were sweating profusely and ready for a cool shower. Whew!

Our main objective was to see if we have queens, feed, and insert some hive beetle traps. 

Back in the Bee Yard Again! Whew -- Hot Work!

We should have checked the bees yesterday when the high temps were in the 70s. Today, while we were out there in the sun it was about 85 degrees. Whew! With canvas bee suits on, that makes for hot work! But sweating is good for you, right? So I'm not complaining.

Another Quick Bee Check

I went out to take out the bottom board insert from the little hive in case we pick up a swarm. It's too hot to leave that in. I checked inside because there's been some activity, but there were only a few dozen bees and they are probably robbers cleaning out whatever stores were there. 

We still hope to attract a swarm although it's getting late for that. But we'll see. I checked all the other hives to make sure they have enough room and they are all okay, so no need to add any boxes. 

No ants, no wax moths -- that's good news.

In another week or two we'll check again to see if the three active hives are queen-right. We know one hive is. The other two are iffy. But they have lots of bees and they are busy.