Late Summer Beehive Update

 

The bees have been hard at work all summer, a very hot, humid and dry summer at that.  Perfect for bees!  The hive is almost 2 years old now and I fully expected there to be honey and sure enough there was when I opened the hive for inspection the other day.
Spring and early summer's flowers have nectar flowing which allows the bees to make honey whereas most of the summer there are no nectar producing plants in this area.  The next round of nectar producing flowers will be golden rod that is just starting to bloom and will soon make the bees drunk on both pollen and nectar.  I will remind you that nectar is 70% water and 30% sugar and the bees have worked at it all summer to flip those number by drying the nectar turning it to 70% sugar and 30% water which is actual honey.  The bees have also capped a good portion of what they made for storage. The frames with capped honey are quite heavy.  And those with uncapped honey glisten in the late day, late summer sun.  Simply gorgeous.  There was something quite hypnotic and peaceful about opening the hive to find very mellow bees that seemed to be enjoying summer as much as I was.  I barely needed the smoker to calm them.  All in all the hive looks good.
There are 10 frames in each of the upper "super" boxes where the honey is made and the bees had filled about 2/3 of each.  Interestingly though they fill the middle frames and leave the outer frames.  My friend Steve tells me that they prefer to move up when completed with a frame rather than out.  I simply did some re-arranging in hopes of getting them to use more of the frames now that the golden rod is about to put them into overtime.
I doubt that I will extract any honey from the hive this year even though it is so strong but in my opinion not quite strong enough and I really want them to have a nice supply for winter.  Perhaps next year.  For me bee-keeping is a hobby and I have no intentions of selling the honey.  We would use it here for ourselves only and if I have any leftover my friend Timm wants to make some mead (beer made from honey) with it.  I truly love the fact that this hive is doing a very small part in making the environment better.  Remember that without bees our food supply in fruits and veggies would not exist.  Think of what that would do to both humans and other animals.
Side note: all those nasty ground "bees" (most likely hornets) that you are finding in your yard that are uber aggressive are not honeybees and are not as important to our eco-system.  They are nasty hornets that will attack and sting without much warning.  If they pose any threat to you, your family or pets take them out.

The first 2 photos and the 1 at the top are of unfilled comb.  It is stunning in its beauty and complex simplicity (think about that).

Here in the upper left you can see where the bees have capped the honey.  The lower right is what the beautiful golden honey looks like prior to capping.  The smell is intoxicating.

In this photo looking down into the hive between frames you can see just how close together they are.  The frames become connected as the bees "glue" the frames together using a substance they make called propolis.  I have to use a hive tool that looks like a paint scraper or chisel to separate and move them around.  The glue is VERY strong!

This frame probably weighed at least 5 pounds as it was full of capped honey.  These bees couldn't have cared less that I was pulling the frames out, moving them around, etc.  They didn't fly away but stayed on the frames continually doing their work.

A side shot/end on shot of what the capped honey looks like.

Mid to End of May at Czar of the Woods Farm

May has to be one of the most beautiful months there is.  Everything is bursting with life and it simply put, it feels good to be alive.  With the mild winter we had and unseasonably warm weather we had in March and April everything has sprung forth with life and become green faster than I can ever remember, complete with Alice in Wonderland sized weeds.  In the 3 years that we have been on the farm I don't ever recall the pasture grass growing so high so quickly.  I would imagine those that make hay might be able to get 3 cuttings in this year as opposed to the usual 2.  Certainly good for those of us that have horses, etc. in that it might bring the cost down with supply being up.  With the cost of fuel for tractors though it will still likely cost more than it did last year.  A local hay farmer called me out of the blue the other day and asked me if I wanted to purchase some of his early cut bales.  Sure do, the stuff is beautiful (he gave me a bale for the horses to try and they loved it)!

Speaking of horses...on May 1st our boarder Divo left so that his owner could move him to a barn where her sister also boards and so that they could ride together.  That same day we were lucky to have a new boarder arrive at the farm, Rocket; a 20 year old Quarterhorse who is absolutely wonderful in every way.  Since Czar was so very attached to Divo I was worried that he would miss him so I made sure that Rocket arrived within a few hrs of Divo's departure so that Czar wouldn't have any time to miss Divo.  You never know what to expect when 2 horses meet.  Czar, is a 27 year old Arabian who is still very much full of life and still has a feisty side.  For every horse he meets he wants to desperately be their buddy but in horses when this is the case it is often up to the other horse to decide and accept, or not.  Luckily Rocket seems to be accepting of everything in life and is easily one of the most easy going horses I have ever met.  He really could have cared less about Czar and simply wanted to check out his new digs.  I guess that was all the acceptance Czar was going to get so he took this as a cue to try to mount Rocket, fully erect.  Rocket, the poor guy, hadn't even gotten a meal in his new home yet.  Luckily these horses don't live in North Carolina and luckily for Czar's old man heart this didn't last long and they became true buddies.  From day one they bonded very quickly and are pretty much always right next to one another or eating from the same hay pile.  The weather has been amazing, and dry, almost too dry, for the past 3 weeks and the new couple has been outside, even at night (which is real good for horses), so they have continued to develop and incredible bond.  Watching this unfold has reminded me just how amazing horses are and we are really lucky to not only have them in our life but on our property.  In the middle of winter when owning horses is as difficult as it gets, it is days like this that I long for.  Thank you to Judy, Rocket's owner, for being an excellent boarder so far and we welcome both of them with open arms to Czar of the Woods Farm.  Rocket is truly one of the nicest horses I have ever met and we hope that he stays here for a good long time!

Rocket on the left and Czar on the right love to eat from the same pile of hay.  This means that horses are buddies, accepting of one another and safe together.

This has been and remains one of my favorite vantage points at the farm.  Standing in the northeast corner of the property, looking southwest.

We have yet to finish installing all the new fence posts in the back pasture due to a partial barn rebuild project taking precedence (sagging roof in one corner due to foundation rot) but I really wanted to get this new duo out on the amazing green grass that has grown so quickly.  So I installed temporary fence posts where there were no posts and now there is a combination of permanent and temporary with electric tape to keep the horses in.  While it's not ideal it does the trick for the time being and the horses couldn't be happier.  They didn't know what to do with themselves and didn't know where to start eating.  They looked as though they were eating their last meal the way they gorged and move to another area so as not to miss out.  Can't keep them out there too long as if they eat too much too fast so early in the season they can colic (which can be fatal).  I have been putting them out there for a few hours each night and seeing horses in our back pasture again is sublime.  After having it closed for the better part of 3 seasons so the grass could re-establish itself after over grazing from the previous owner's horses it was a long time coming and what a beautiful sight it is.  Nothing quite like seeing horses in their natural environment in a sea of green as they nicker to show they are content.  It really is perfection.

Here the boys enjoy the luscious green, spring pasture grass.

Our rescued Western Box turtles are loving life in their outdoor enclosure that is rapidly filling with all sorts of plants that make for great hiding places and homes for the insects that they eat.  The warm sun is a turtles best friend.  While the turtles don't do a whole lot I love having them and knowing that they have a really sweet enclosure on our property that we built for them.

 Can you spot them?

I also opened up the bee hive to see how they have been doing as well since the weather we have been having is perfect for bees.  They are drunk on pollen and nectar right now bringing it all back to the hive in the process of making honey and more bees.  It is quite a production and seemingly effortless yet chaotic choreography.

The light yellow "capped off" areas are what will eventually become honey.  There are other capped off areas that are darker and not seen in either of these frames that contain baby bees known as brood.

Bees Loving the Unseasonably Warm Weather

Back in mid-March we had some of the most unseasonably warm weather that I can ever remember having.  I'm talking in the mid to high 80's for an entire week straight.  It re-charged the mind, body and soul and confused the plants and wildlife alike.  While the bees may not have been expecting warmer temps, especially not that warm anyway for at least 3-4 more weeks they sure wasted no time in springing to life, turning green, even flowering and looking for love (the wildlife that is, not the plants).

Our bee hive also wasted no time and took advantage of what the warm weather brought with it, pollen!  All the blooming flowers and trees were and are rich with pollen that the bees couldn't get enough off.  Honeybees are in great part responsible for pollinating the earth's food supply and for making our plants and trees thrive.  Without them humans could not exist because our grown food supply that also affects the animals we eat would disappear.  It was so nice to see the bees leaving the hive and coming back with little beads of pollen on their back legs.  One of the earliest species of trees to bloom in our area were the Weeping Willows and the bees couldn't hide where they had been because these tiny little beads matched the color of the pale yellow pollen that the willows produce.

As March turned to April temps at night were hitting hard frost levels which I'm sure confused the bees and did damage some of the plants and flowers that popped up pre-maturely during the odd warm spell.  We'll see if the damage is permanent.  During the warm days the bees are out working hard bringing all sorts of pollen and nectar back to the hive to start making more honey.  The pollen now is a richer yellow in color and I suspect that all the Dandelions that are out now are a constant source for them.

I added another "super" box onto the hive which is where the bees make the honey.  These are more shallow than the deeper "brood" boxes that are the base of the hives where more bees are hatched.  The artwork on the second super box from the top is by my brother Todd, www.toddkancar.com

In these photos you will see that the frames did well over winter and the bees have "capped" off the cells where the honey is stored.  I suspect that this year, the hive's second season, will produce some honey for us based on the looks of things.

These bees are hanging out on the inside hive cover.

Summer Blends Into Fall or BEES!

I fell in love with tens of thousands of insects this evening.  It wasn't just the bees though, it was the melding of perfect weather with my fascination with the honeybees that I keep. It created a moment in which time stood still and I was the same as a beekeeper was thousands of years ago, the time between those two moments did not exist and it might as well have been one in the same.  I sat mesmerized for an hour watching and learning.
Today was one of those days, those perfect late summer days that blend into fall.  It was full of warm sunshine yet there was that chill in the air, and the changing light, that made one feel cozy and long for wearing a  sweater.  It was a perfect day for football, GO BILLS!, and apple picking I suppose.  And watching bees.  This is really a perfect time of year.  I suppose that if I had to choose one weather all the time, it would be this.  Not too cold, not too warm.  Autumn's here summer, say your goodbyes.  It's okay if you want hang on for a bit.  We're not quite ready to let go but that sweater that is fall, sure is cozy.
As summer nears its end our honeybees have never been busier.  You see this is the first time, that this young hive (started it in April of this year) has been drunk on Goldenrod.  This time of year, for honeybees in the Northeast, is the equivalent of not just one buffet but a buffet consisting of all your favorite restaurants all in one place (bees having a 3 mile radius territory) serving exactly what you most crave, all the time, for weeks on end.  It's the equivalent of a billionaire having so much money that they don't know wuite what to do with all of it.  In a honeybee hive's territory there is so much goldenrod that they could never use it all. 

Goldenrod is the first flower (see photo above), of such hefty quantity, that is producing nectar since July.  There has been no honey being produced in this area until now.  Clover honey I believe is more of a spring/early summer honey.  Bees need nectar in order to produce honey, in the process of getting the nectar they also collect pollin to help cross pollinate flowers and also to bring back to the hive.  I have said it before and I'll say it again, without bees humans would not exist.  They are that important. 

The bees ingest the nectar and take it back to the hive where they chew on it for a bit and then 'spit' it out into the comb.  The nectar is 75-80% water and 20-25% sugar.  The bees then fan the nectar with their wings within the hive to dry it out until the percentages swap so that the sugar content is then 75-80% of the product and only 20-25% water....this my friend's is honey.  As one approaches the hive it reeks of the sweet smell of nectar turning into honey.  It is intoxicating.
I took advantage of the sublime weather today and sat next to the hive for a good hour, just watching.  I opened it briefly to inspect the production and status of the hive.  They have only just begun to use the top "super" where honey is produced but they are working hard.  While I didn't open the lower "brood" boxes where new bees are made I am quite certain that they are making honey in there as well which will feed them for the winter.  This is for sure where that rich smell is coming from.  All looked good so I decided to watch the activity in and out of the hive and directly on what I like to call the "front porch."

It was mindblowing and mesmerizing to say the least.  I can only describe the amount of bee air traffic in and out of the hive as all airport plane traffic at all airports at given time, combined into one.  I love changing my focus from looking at the hive entrance up close to the air surrounding the front of the hive.  It is then that you really get to appreciate the amount of traffic.  It is never ending as bees come and go arriving with their payload.  It appears to be non stop.  Busy is an understatement.  Hardworking doesn't quite cut it.  Each bee knows exactly what needs to be done with each having a unique job that is a small part of the whole.  I couldn't stop watching it.  I was in a way falling in love with this amazing and tiny creatures.  What sealed the deal is when I saw one bee in particular pick up a dead bumblebee that was probably ten times its size and carried it off the front porch and up a blade of grass to get this intruder out. WOW!  I had to pry myself away because there was other stuff to do.

 PS: As I write this I have stopped quite a few times to put my hand on Sarah's ever growing belly where she too, much like the hard working bees, has been hard at work tenderly growing our son.  We have 4 weeks left until his arrival and boy was he active tonight.  It may have had something to do with the vanilla ice cream, strawberries and yes, ironically or coincidentally, honey on top.  Not our honey yet, but he was diggin' it!