Foundationless Failure...and Attempted Solutions

WHEN FOUNDATIONLESS FAILS

Two days after discovering the mess that was my new natural foundationless hive, I went back into the now-leveled (better late than never!) hive on June 8th. Boy oh boy, what a mess. The bees had produced too much comb--a nice problem to have. But this was not going to be an easy process.

I'd had lots of good advice from Beemaster.com.

1) Michael Bush said that if the hive was level, I could unattach the comb from one frame and just push it over to align it with the other frame. Unfortunately, I thought I had a bit too much comb to do this, as you can see from this picture. However, I've been heavily influenced by his Beekeeping Naturally web site to try a more natural approach to beekeeping, so for some frames, that's exactly what I did.

2) Others suggested rubber banding the comb into the frames. I pulled out the first frame and immediately had the new comb come unattached...and drop on the ground. This seemed like a good time to test that rubber banding idea...and pray my queen wasn't laying on the ground outside the hive. Later, I used multiple rubber bands, including one big one going vertically, to hold in the comb.

But here is a picture of my first feable attempt. The single rubber band method is pretty precarious. You judge for yourself.

I think I managed to take this picture right before the comb fell out and on the ground again.

Moments later, I find myselft with two chunks of comb on the ground, bees crawling all over it; a frame precariously perched on the hive; rubber bands everywhere, not to mention bees; and my hands are a sticky mess from accidentally crushing honey comb as I tried to pick it up. So I'm trying to clean up, sucking honey off my fingers. My first honey, yum!

This of course is when the smoker goes out. I figured that with all these bees exposed, I better get that going again. All I had was dead grass, but I got it going...for a few minutes.

3) The third suggestion was to put foundation in every other frame or every third frame. I did this, too. However, it was kind of random. If it looked like there was going to be an awful mess, I put in every other frame. If it looked like the bees might be able to figure it out, I put foundation in every third frame.

Here is another picture near the end of the process, when the hive is highly exposed. You can see two pieces of comb laying on top of the frames. Two frames are perched on top; one of the frames has straight comb! This frame was just beginning to be drawn out when I leveled my hive a couple of days ago. Seems to have made a difference, though a few beekeepers have told me that the level was not the problem--sometimes bees just do this.

Looking at this is when I decided to add another medium super. I had a lot of comb, and not really enough room for it. Adding a super motivated me to save all the comb I could (with rubber bands). Of course, I wasn't prepared. I had to go back to the house, glue some more popsickle sticks into frames (for more foundationless), get the smoker going again (this time it was a bonfire, sucker did not go out again).

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That was on June 8th. It's now June 12th and I can't wait to get back into the hive to see if these approaches worked. A couple more days, as it's raining now.

Hive 1: Beautiful but Weak

So my first hive, the conservative one (with foundation), is struggling. It's requeened and she is laying well, with a great pattern, but they aren't drawing new comb. Only four of ten frames drawn out. It may be that there aren't enough bees to keep any more larvae warm, but I'm getting impatient. Especially after seeing the other, natural hive that is only twelve days old.

But Hive #1 has one thing going for it. It is neat and tidy! A beautiful rainbow pattern, just as promised. A half moon of yellow brood, with an arc of orange pollen/bee bread above that, and capped white honey above that (in the corners).

Someone will probably yell at me about those bird feeders. I moved them to the shade garden when I first installed the hive, but the finches dropped tons of tiny thistle seed all over my hostas. Hostas looked diseased. It was disturbing, really it was. So I moved the feeders back to their old spot. I've surfed and surfed, haven't seen that it's a problem to have bird feeders next to a hive, but then again, this hive isn't doing so well.

One fine day, I watched a carolina wren cleaning up all the dead bee carcasses. I haven't noticed any other birds under the hive, and none eating live bees. I did see a tanager in the tree above, a rare site indeed at our house. I also saw a nuthatch hopping around on top of the hive when his feeder was empty. Darn smart, the little blackmailer! Feeder was refilled pronto hasto.

I wonder if the hive will attract some new birds? After all, the chickens attracted new birds--hawks, actually, and all kinds of other sneaky predators. Ew.

The Appeal of Beekeeping

Beekeeping has all the hallmarks of a great hobby.

1. It's easy to get into but has a steep learning curve, and people continue their education for years.

2. There's lots of stuff to buy. You don't have to buy it, but you will. Or at least, I will. Reminds me of horses that way. They nickel and dime you to death. Bees might be a little better. Or not.

3. Bees are unpredictable (particularly for a newbee like me). There is no failproof formula for raising them. Bees are exciting, buzzing with energy, short-lived so they have to make the most of every day. They generally follow certain guidelines, but not always because, hey, they are a bunch of insects. Ok, that isn't really fair, I hear goats are worse.

Even the best beekeepers are losing their fair share of colonies every year. Bees are much less productive than they were twenty years ago. New pests and possibly pesticides, and maybe two or three other things are combining to weaken the bees. It's a mystery...and a challenge.

4. I just realized one of the other things that make this hobby cool and more appealing to me. It's organized. Nice neat frames, lined with comb, that I can pull out and inspect. I take pictures of each side of each frame and then pour over them at night. I can monitor the bees progress via dated subfolders of pictures and now this blog. Hey, no one ever accused me of not being nerdy.

Of course, the reason I realized the appeal of a nice, neat organized hive is that I have a hive that is in complete disarray. Naturally.

Hive 2: AAARGGGHHHH (Or, the importance of the level in foundationless frames)

Having forgone the medications that made it unsafe to operate the Suburban at any speed, particularly in the post office parking lot (which I figured out after I hit the curb twice and then cussed out my car; gee, thanks for the warning Mr. Pharmacist), I was finally well enough to examine hive #2 today, my "natural" hive. I'd set up the new bench for it and we'd had some good rains, so now I just had to level the bench and then move my new hive onto it...oh and check the new queen and add feed.

I leveled the new bench, got the smoker going, then prepared to check out my new foundationless frames, hoping for perfect comb on at least two of them, maybe more. Who am I kidding, I had envisioned four frames started, filled out halfway down, maybe a little uneven near the bottom but nothing I couldn't deal with.

I pinned my hopes high, but I'm also a realist. My hive has been a little unlevel, so I was curious, and not a little concerned, that the cone wouldn't be hanging straight at the bottom. Ahem. Not only is it not straight at the bottom, it isn't straight anywhere, unless perhaps you are a bee. As a wanna-beekeeper, I'd kind of like it to line up with the frames.

In this picture, I have pulled a couple of frames apart to show what is going on. The comb stretches from one frame to another.

Interestingly, I don't think the problem is the popsickle sticks. The angle of the comb matches the angle that I saw the sugar water coming out last week. I think this is about how level my hive is NOT.

I didn't know what to do about this, so I did what any now-significantly-less-confident gal would do, I ignored it! I didn't look for the queen. I don't know why, other than the fact that I had plenty of other things to do. Also, I may have forgotten all about the poor girl in the face of such utter foundationless failure.

Hopes dashed, I got to work moving the hive over. I also added a screened bottom board.

I was dripping with sweat so I decided to pass on the veil and gloves. For the first time, I actually managed to keep my smoker lit. So one thing went right. Also, I didn't get stung. I'm happy to say that in spite of many problems, I haven't been stung yet. Knock wood (but not the hive).

I learned a lot today, and not just the importance of perfectly level hives. I also started to experience the joy of having hives that are not vehicle accessible. I thought the vehicle was really for hauling honey, and Ahll worry about that anothah day, thank you very much. Hmmm, I got some exercise today. Here's my layout in the picture. I had to haul a lot of things down to that valley: screened bottom board, veil and gloves, smoker, smoker fuel, lighter, hive tool, level, sugar water, knife, marking pen, shims, and a box to carry it all in.

I already had the shovel and rake down there. They are still down there, truth be told. It's a steep hill.

And here's the hive on it's new stand, all level and purty. But inside, all you-know-what has broken loose. Another freakin' bee-ophyte smears the good name of natural beekeepers. I'll be turning to the blogs for support yet again. I hope they'll forgive me, and I really hope I don't have to combine my two hives just yet...

Oh, and yes I did remember this time to put the rock back on the cover, even if I did forget to take the shipping tape off the cover.

Why Can I Never Follow a Recipe?

With all this newfound confidence, I've decided to start a second hive, and do all natural beekeeping. That is, foundationless frames, bottom screens, and just a little thymol and honey-b-healthy on the day they arrive. Just to get rid of any old varroa mites that may have hitched a ride.

Not that there aren't other hives within two miles of me, probably teeming with mites, but I am determined to let weak colonies die out and build up stronger ones. Survival of the fittest. As my boyfriend is a geneticist with the USEPA, and I am an organic gardener, natural beekeeping is a no-brainer.

That is, if I can keep either colony alive for this first year.

So I ordered another package, glued popsickle sticks into the frames, set up another hive down in our valley, and leveled the hive. Not as convenient as the first hive, but I'm already starting to see problems with the placement of that hive.

The valley isn't ideal, as it's not accessible by vehicle, unless you count Mark's tractor. Mark would rather you didn't as he's hoping I'll buy a gator. These bees could get expensive real quick.

The new package arrives and I install it oh-so-successfully, at least, compared to my last installation this one goes swimmingly. Then I put in the sugar water. 50/50 by volume I believe, though no site is all that clear. I just use my measuring cups, e.g. 8 cups of water to 8 cups of sugar. Very easy, just boil the water, add the sugar and stir about 1-2 minutes until dissolved. As a hummingbird feeder extraordinaire, no problem. I can easily tell when the sugar is dissolved, even with my forty-something eyes. I am careful to keep stirring though; one of these days the phone will ring and I'll have burned carmel or something.

So anyhoo, here I am in the valley having installed my bees and their sugar water feeder, and I turn around for one last look...and notice that the sugar water is draining out the front of the hive. All that and my bottle leaked. More disturbingly, it's abundantly clear that my brand new, all natural hive is not level. The sugar water is leaking out the bottom board at an angle. It was level yesterday. Sigh. So I decide that I need to do more than just prop it up on two bricks, I need four bricks and at least two 2/6/8 boards. That'll be harder to level but easier to keep level, right?

But then a number of problems develop before I can get back to this hive:

PROBLEM #1: I have to buy the boards and bricks, then I have to get Mark to bring the bricks down in the tractor. I have to carry the boards down myself, on a steep trail.

PROBLEM #2: I am sick. Not too bad, except I've been studiously ignoring my mild vertigo for a month and haven't been to the doctor, and now I also have a cold and a sinus infection. Oh and I don't have a regular doctor. But heck, I really haven't been sick enough to get one in the four years I've lived here.

PROBLEM #3: I can't get out of my chair. I found a doctor, the only one that would take me on short notice. Being sick and all, I didn't ask enough questions. Next thing you know, I'm wasted on medication that just treats the symptoms, and honestly, I'm feel worse from the drugs than the cold.

PROBLEM #4: It's stormy and humid and hot, bad bee handling weather.

So I don't get back to my hive for ten days. My dad was a bomber pilot in three wars and an instructor pilot. I am soon to be reminded of what he told his guys (and me) over and over, "It's not the first emergency that kills you, it's the fourth or fifth."

Why oh why can't I follow the same recipe twice?

Success! I'm a beeeeekeeper!!!

On May 24th, I examined my hive and found the queen. I even marked her. This was a shockingly successful event in my humble opinion, and just what the ol' ego needed. A real shot in the arm. Plus, I'm no longer the queen bee murderer, now I've raised a new queen. Well, the bees did all the work, but I am feeling a bid more confident.

I decided that I thought she was laying well. Of the capped larvae, the pattern was pretty tight, and what wasn't capped was filled with a new larvae. She seemed to be laying wherever she could. Plus, the frame I found her on was only partially drawn out.

If only the bees would draw out more frame. Only four frames were filled out (on both sides) but that's probably all the colony could keep warm. Some of the larvae were capped, so I thought I'd see more frames filled out in a couple of weeks. On that subject, I was to be disappointed.

Early release queen allowed to live long enough to lay a few eggs

About ten days later, I found larvae and queen supersedure cells, but couldn't find a queen. Someone was laying though. A few days later, an experienced beekeeper came by and also couldn't find the queen. His impression was that they had let her lay a few eggs and then killed her off, or she died. The good news was that I had queen cells. The bad news was that the hive was shrinking with no living queen.

Everything that could go wrong...

Did! My first package of bees arrived April 22nd. I had read and reread everything on inserting the package. I had practiced with my smoker. I knew not to be nervous and to move slowly and deliberately. I was Miss Ready Freddy.

The first thing that went wrong was the queen cage attachment broke before I got the can out. I pull out the can and looking into the package, I see the queen cage immersed in a GAZILLION bees. Maybe more bees than a gazillion.

Then, I noticed the buzzing. I hadn't thought about the sound a thousand busy bees make. Nothing like all that buzzing to distract a girl. So...I rushed. By some miracle that I now cannot recall, I got the queen cage out and stuck the can back in. I looked at it for only a second, and then pulled out the cork...from the wrong end. Instantly, bees ran into her cage.

I knew enough that I had to get her into the hive before she escaped so I dropped her in...kerTHUNK. Hmmm. Oh well no time to worry about her, I have all these other bees that I have to get in there. And by now my adrenalin has used up what little energy I had and my blood sugar is plummeting. With shaking hands I remove the can and hold the package over the hive to pour the bees in. But they don't pour.

I don't understand. In all the pictures, bees can be seen pouring out of the package like honey out of a jar. Cool, easy, beautiful. Not my bees. They are stuck. Drat. I shake it a little and still nothing. Double drat. I shake hard and pound the package on the hive...out they come.

Only later do I realize that I should have watched a Youtube video on this. And now I don't know if my queen will be killed. So sad.