tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42077182842284205142024-03-05T08:59:09.140-08:00Chris Harker's BeesThe experiences, mistakes, observations and suggestions of one new beekeeper.Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-83692784878808556452011-03-06T18:53:00.000-08:002011-03-06T19:10:16.153-08:00Is it Spring yet?<span style="font-family: arial;">Last month we had a day where the temp was up in the low 70s. I made a quick inspection of two hives and stood outside the entrance of the other two for a while, watching the bees come and go. The two I inspected looked happy and healthy. They were still well-stocked with honey and had already collected a good supply of nectar and pollen. The foragers I saw at the other hives were busy and purposeful; they looked like bugs on a mission</span>. <br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I liked what I saw that day. But Winter is not over. So to not jinx myself I'll just say that I am cautiously optimistic about still having four hives when Spring comes.</span>Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-3190014111107071682010-10-12T07:57:00.000-07:002010-10-12T08:03:32.200-07:00Eye candy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIh1bOHFAi4bw52gR7ff3A5HPEzl8C_pKbgFhA9_-AB3fvSfFpyzu9PejS-puufaPGQZ7dyF2fufIIIaxWDXaeiS3eC-xrNkT9OWpds6D0JjRnmWgqxJ7BM2c0M2AfGSQ3MCfb58-/s1600/DSC04741.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIh1bOHFAi4bw52gR7ff3A5HPEzl8C_pKbgFhA9_-AB3fvSfFpyzu9PejS-puufaPGQZ7dyF2fufIIIaxWDXaeiS3eC-xrNkT9OWpds6D0JjRnmWgqxJ7BM2c0M2AfGSQ3MCfb58-/s320/DSC04741.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527174427174818514" border="0" /></a>Here is a photo taken in early September of a comb from the hive I call Victoria. This is one well outside the brood area; probably 15th to 18th from the east end of the hive.Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-20600018988491112102010-10-11T16:40:00.001-07:002010-10-12T07:25:37.134-07:00Snapshots of CleopatraLast Fall Frank Walker came with me while I was inspecting my hives. I am one of the few top-bar beekeepers in the area and he wanted to see how it has been working for me. As we made the tour he took some photos: all photos in this post are by courtesy of Frank Walker, president of Tidewater Beekeepers Association.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3fd-LqOolsd0v3FF9xHR1fKWS1m8ZQrP_umCaeJNlj731rCKE_F9kATD2LgyHhlmEEgjpLbk1WKr92XpQ1DruLZDW2zXjuD3ntZ_cUnnS91KCRubEKRL6NnCUEJVgKxDKaSbVUlmw/s1600/DSC02919.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3fd-LqOolsd0v3FF9xHR1fKWS1m8ZQrP_umCaeJNlj731rCKE_F9kATD2LgyHhlmEEgjpLbk1WKr92XpQ1DruLZDW2zXjuD3ntZ_cUnnS91KCRubEKRL6NnCUEJVgKxDKaSbVUlmw/s320/DSC02919.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526940787400850418" border="0" /></a><br />Here is Cleopatra. She is the first split from my one surviving package from my first season of beekeeping. The box is made from reclaimed pallet wood. It is 4 feet long overall with 6" handles on either end. The handles are nice when moving the hive around but it leaves a 3' long space for the colony to build in. The top is built from pieces of 3/4" pine and two sheets of 1/2" HardiBacker.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUZ4rfpCOlv3nv96_PduG3wK9XtoS4ACFzUuID2SIt88_5sb2u8Q-w-zztpfSJ9XGPrC3FWZGEAw5CJbM2cuKhtjgPPggc6aKiSQy1r382xD5qLJcpWk6KlrJczXFXbNF11yBsssb/s1600/DSC02894.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 195px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUZ4rfpCOlv3nv96_PduG3wK9XtoS4ACFzUuID2SIt88_5sb2u8Q-w-zztpfSJ9XGPrC3FWZGEAw5CJbM2cuKhtjgPPggc6aKiSQy1r382xD5qLJcpWk6KlrJczXFXbNF11yBsssb/s320/DSC02894.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526945362042268050" border="0" /></a>Here's the east end of the hive with the top off. They looked vigorous at the time but sadly they didn't put away enough supplies to get through the Winter (despite my giving them plenty of syrup) and they didn't make it to Spring. This Spring I combined a queenless colony and a brood comb from a healthy colony in this box and they seem to be doing alright. Time will tell. At the time of the photo the colony mainly occupied the east end of the box, so I would start the inspection from the west end, as shown:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsddG-MzVFYlXS84PLCAXqmqP3UONLlT14f2PmQhMENIRL6nLedPVcOFX77RCgPzea1K1Lh29XGT6Qngz3Lj6xrndvknNd0GFkIUZ-SPU1tHUm2oeIYkpT0PnXcAwRGkiF8rOj2nRs/s1600/DSC02897.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 291px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsddG-MzVFYlXS84PLCAXqmqP3UONLlT14f2PmQhMENIRL6nLedPVcOFX77RCgPzea1K1Lh29XGT6Qngz3Lj6xrndvknNd0GFkIUZ-SPU1tHUm2oeIYkpT0PnXcAwRGkiF8rOj2nRs/s320/DSC02897.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527152514873680978" border="0" /></a>Here we're looking down into the hive from the west end. Most of the bars were still empty: the visible comb is the outskirts of the working part of the hive. The bottom of the box is a drawer that slides out from the west end. On top of the drawer is 1/8" screen, on the theory that varroa mites will fall through it and not find their way back up into the cluster. And some of them may have done so but it also provided a protected space for moth larvae to build cocoons. Also, many bees found their way under the screen but apparently never found their way back out, prematurely removing themselves from the colony's workforce. In the future I plan to make hive bottoms more like Lang-style bottom boards; a separate assembly from the hive box with a screen bottom and an inspection drawer that can be pulled out. And if I leave a small gap between the drawer and the screen, bees shouldn't be able to get lost in that space.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKB3SqpqOq_yVrkpFX67xgcyUiQ9j_3wsUyWHg5e0NZg4dB7uVh1oi4A46Hjgai5SEGSpefFwBwBajuBiN34ZxHozXXvEsVBnhqz5ebM-pfQs9ddWGDcuotCKvwIRXRAfby9fiPoPG/s1600/DSC02900.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 294px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKB3SqpqOq_yVrkpFX67xgcyUiQ9j_3wsUyWHg5e0NZg4dB7uVh1oi4A46Hjgai5SEGSpefFwBwBajuBiN34ZxHozXXvEsVBnhqz5ebM-pfQs9ddWGDcuotCKvwIRXRAfby9fiPoPG/s320/DSC02900.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527158693462329730" border="0" /></a>The bees did attach comb to the sides but only a bit here and there. They maintained a gap almost all the way around the bottom and sides of the comb. This eliminates one possible hideout for small hive beetles. In other parts of the hive I found groups of SHBs hiding in the small gap between the side of the box and the sides of the remaining frames. I am considering using foundationless frames in one of my hives, to provide additional support and prevent the kind of comb failure I saw there this Summer. If I make the clearance between the frames and the side of the hive tight enough that they don't make a SHB shelter the bees will probably glue them to the sides, mistaking the small gap for a possible source of draft. But I guess that's the lesser of the possible problems.Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-31037016572020265482010-10-10T10:10:00.000-07:002010-10-10T12:33:16.563-07:00My, how time fliesIts been over two years since I updated this blog - the fate of so many blogs. But the bees are in much better shape than the blog. I now have four horizontal top-bar hives: one in my back yard and three hosted in yards in the Thoroughgood neighborhood of Virginia Beach. Currently I am giving them all the sugar syrup they will take in hopes that they'll winter-over in good shape. Before long I will mix up batches of fondant or something like it, put it in the hives and bid them farewell for the Winter.<br /><br />I am considering an ambitious plan for next year. I may build several new hives over the Winter and try to stock them all with nucs I split off from my larger colonies. More on that as it develops. In the near future I plan to update this blog and tell details about my hives, this Summer's honey harvest, and more about my suburban beekeeping.Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-599218167776365592008-05-31T19:11:00.000-07:002008-06-09T20:09:41.304-07:00Bees in the TBH, take 2Today I took a thorough inventory of what the bees had built in the hive and decided to take the plunge: I split the hive. There were two brood frames with a queen cell each on them. So I took those frames, another with lots of brood and two frames with honey, nectar and pollen and put them into my TBH. I added two brood bars and a follower board and put both hives back together, putting fresh frames in the empty slots in the old hive. By this time the bees sounded irritated and I was hot & tired so I went away for a break.<br /><br />My plan was to set up a false swarm: to leave the queen in the Langstroth hive and force the bees on the hives to raise a new queen for themselves. (It is a great plan - as long as the existing queen is where she's supposed to be). And I had almost talked myself into believing that the she was most likely on one of the frames I'd left in the Lang. <br /><br />But as I was about to drive away I decided, in the spirit of Murphy's law, that the odds of something going horribly wrong with anything are directly proportional to the distance you have to drive to fix it. My hives are an hour's drive from my home. That, and the bees in the Lang had not calmed down during my break. If anything they sounded even angrier. So I got back out of the car and went through the TBH frame-by-frame.<br /><br />And there she was! I found the queen on the second frame I pulled. So I yanked the outer cover off the Lang hive and gingerly set the bottom edge of the frame down on the inner cover. The queen was a regular Cheshire cat; appearing and disappearing among the masses of nurse bees. After a few very long minutes I managed to get her to walk up my hive tool far enough for me to flick it slightly and drop her near the hole in the inner cover. <br /><br />I got one last glimpse of her as she bolted into the hive. Right away the noise of the hive fell to a murmur and the peevish cloud of bees outside the hive entrance vanished. Foragers came and went and the hive hummed along quietly as if nothing had happened.Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-46511892659908959952008-05-08T20:14:00.000-07:002008-05-12T13:59:39.175-07:00Puderzucker - (K)ein Zuckerschlecken für Bienen?Usually when I watch youtube movies by beekeepers I think, "yeah, I could do that". Here's the first exception. I'm not scared of my bees, though I do take what I consider reasonable precautions. And while I admire the fact that he can do it this way, one of my precautions will be to not imitate this beekeeper. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y7C_pV9ig4c&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y7C_pV9ig4c&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Powdered sugar is an increasingly popular means for dealing with varroa mite infestations. There are several common ways of applying it. But this guy does it with a boldness that has to been seen to be believed.<br /><br />When I treat my bees I plan to use a method I saw demonstrated at a TBA meeting recently. The idea is that you take a framed window screen the size of the inner cover, lay the screen atop an open brood box, pour on a cup or two of powdered sugar and spread the sugar around the screen with a brush so it falls evenly into the hive. (bee brush, clean chip brush, etc) Lift the screen and sweep any sugar off the tops of the frames into the space between.<br /><br />In other words, open the hive, place the screen, pour the sugar, spread the sugar, pull the screen, sweep the frame tops, replace the hive tops, walk away. Supposedly its that simple.Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-43207500174462312562008-05-07T19:55:00.000-07:002008-05-12T13:59:19.931-07:00NYT on Beekeeping in NYCThe New York Times has an interesting article, "For Hives and Honey; Rooftop Beekeepers Defy Law to Get That Sweet Central Park Bouquet."<br /><br /><a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9407E2DA173FF936A25754C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all" target="_blank">For Hives and Honey...</a><br /><br />It is a story about a New York beekeeper who works with NYC residents to set up and maintain hives in out-of-the-way places like rooftops. The resident gets some training in beekeeping and a cut of the honey. The beekeeper gets to have more hives that are dispersed across a larger area. The bees get to forage with less direct competition between hives. So it is a win-win-win.<br /><br />On the other hand, it is illegal. NYC health code prohibits "...keeping animals that are 'wild, ferocious, fierce, dangerous or naturally inclined to do harm'...." But in a city with a normal share of bumblebees, wasps, hornets, spiders, rats, cars, trucks (not to mention NYC taxis, busses, subways, gun-slinging cops, falling construction cranes and generally decaying infrastructure), I don't think adding a few honeybee hives to the mix will add any significant amount of danger to anyone's life there.<br /><br />I think it is an excellent idea. Many people have properties that would provide good sites for bee hives. But few go to the trouble of keeping bees. Maybe the thought has never occured to them. Maybe they are sympathetic to the idea but don't have the resources or time to get started. I used to think of beekeeping as a rural activity; something to do in wide open spaces with plenty of room for the bees to roam. But when I saw the trees and bushes bloom in Virginia Beach this Spring (and it was eye-popping) all I could think was, "hives....here.....now"!<br /><br />So maybe that will be my Winter project this year: to build a number of hives, contact homeowners in good locations and negotiate a way to keep a hive or two on their property the following Spring.Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-8378341832153910762008-04-15T21:43:00.000-07:002008-05-12T14:00:03.068-07:00Tax Day ReliefToday is the deadline for filing Federal income tax. That sucks for many reasons. Not the least of which is that according to <a href="http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/" target="_blank">The Tax Foundation</a> we will be working until April 23 of this year just to make the money to pay our taxes for 2008. The good news is that this is three days less than last year. The bad news is that it is because of the "tax rebate" checks - which is money we don't actually have but will borrow from ourselves and our descendants for a little pick-me-up right now. But maybe this will cheer you up for moment.<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/b7gafbqxu0A&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/b7gafbqxu0A&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />I don't know who they are but I know they make <em>me</em> smile. Enjoy.Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-31243666078793120682008-04-13T16:21:00.000-07:002008-05-12T14:00:24.840-07:00More on Top Bar HivesIt is time for the inevitable <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_bar_hive" target="_blank">Wikipedia Reference</a>. Apparently, one of the first recorded TBHs was found in Greece in 1682, though they are thought to have been used for thousands of years before that. More recently TBHs were used in Africa as a replacement for hollow log hives. Their ease of construction and low cost made them accessible to many beekeepers and the idea made its way to the US in the 1980's.<br /><br />There are two main types of TBHs: the Kenyan - with sloped sides, and the Tanzanian - with vertical sides. It is said that if you ask ten beekeepers, you'll get at least eleven opinions. This is just as true for TBH beekeepers. Except that ten TBH beekeepers may come up with at least eighteen to twenty opinions. If my research into Langstroth hives was like discovering a long list of scientific multiple-choice questions, my reseach into TBHs was like a long list of philospohical essay questions.<br /><br />Fortunately I found <a href="http://www.bushfarms.com/beestopbarhives.htm" target="_blank">Michael Bush</a>. His writings on top-bar hives and about beekeeping in general reminded me a lot of <a href="http://fukuokafarmingol.info/fintro.html" target="_blank">Masanobu</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masanobu_Fukuoka" target="_blank">Fukuoka</a> and his writings on agriculture. I like the idea that bees have been bees much longer than humans have been beekeepers and that the best thing a beekeeper can do is to give the bees a place to do their thing and get out of their way.<br /><br />So I picked a few core concepts and ran with them. I like a screened open bottom, like on an IPM bottom board but I didn't want it to be full-width, because of the cold winters here, so that calls for angled sides. But I wanted some compatability with Langstroth deep frames, which requires vertical sides. (compatability, platform standardization, old habits die hard) That's how I wound up with the beveled-box look of my TBH. The sides are made up of four 48" lenghts of 1 x 10" planks. The top pair is mounted vertically on edge and the bottom pair are paralled but canted inward to make about a four inch wide opening that I covered with hardware cloth. If I can figure out how to do it from here, or if/when I migrate to my own web space, I will put up drawings of my TBH.Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-51128578918399665942008-04-13T14:07:00.000-07:002008-05-12T14:00:49.239-07:00Tee Bee What?You might say, "I know what a <em>beehive</em> is; its one of those white boxes, about so big, that the bees live in and that the beekeeper stacks one on top of the other. What is a top bar hive and why would one use it"? And you should be forgiven for asking it because until fairly recently I would have asked the same thing.<br /><br />With all due respect to Reverend Langstroth, his work, his contemporaries and his many, many followers, there <em>is </em>another way of keeping bees. But at first glance one wouldn't know it. Last Fall, when I first opened the door into the world of beekeeping, I found a tangible, if at first daunting world of multiple choice questions: "eight-frame boxes or ten-frame boxes"? "solid or IPM bottom board and with or without a slatted rack"? "wood frames with wax foundation or solid plastic frames"? and on and on and on. The catalogs are wonders to behold; every product you could ever need for beekeeping. If you have a problem, they have the products to fix it. And if that solution causes another problem, they'll sell you what you need to fix that, too.<br /><br />I started wondering if I was going to be able to afford my new interest - and how the bees could have survived before the beekeepers and the catalog companies came to their rescue. Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against any of the companies that sell to beekeepers. I expect to buy plenty from them in the future. But a kludgey system is a kludgey system - whatever it is. The more I read about Langstroth hives the more they struck me as the products of a few key concepts (beespace, removeable combs, variable interior volume, etc) with many years of ad hoc, reactionary fixes to problems that cropped up along the way. I began imagining scenarios that might happen with my hives and what sort of solutions I might try to use - but always within the precept of a Langstroth hive.<br /><br />Enter Conrad Bérubé. It could have been any of a number of beekeepers, but I encountered Conrad's work first so I credit him for introducing me to the Top Bar Hive.<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oz0-J8KbI4M&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oz0-J8KbI4M&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Links to the whole film epic:<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgK121YmiTY"target="_blank">beekeeping with the Kenya Top Bar Hive 1 - starting a smoker</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd9vSDq3qNM"target="_blank">beekeeping with the Kenya Top Bar Hive 2 - smoking the hive</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AynfqV6Yg8Y"target="_blank">beekeeping with the Kenya Top Bar Hive 3 - moving hive for inspection</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-VgmNi78Ec"target="_blank">beekeeping with the Kenya Top Bar Hive 4 - propolis and medicinal uses of hive products</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz0-J8KbI4M"target="_blank">beekeeping with the Kenya Top Bar Hive 5 - handling comb</a> (Seen above)<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TIjtwH08y8"target="_blank">beekeeping with the Kenya Top Bar Hive 6 - comb and mild vs. wild strains of bees</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4HhKOWZ_DU"target="_blank">beekeeping with the Kenya Top Bar Hive 7 - unwanted guests</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LuDG4gwWH8"target="_blank">beekeeping with the Kenya Top Bar Hive 8 - getting stung</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6znE15XObc&hl=en"target="_blank">beekeeping with the Kenya Top Bar Hive 9 - sealed cells</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO9PsBC9r_4"target="_blank">beekeeping with the Kenya Top Bar Hive 11 - thanks to Hubert</a>Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-7220855884826886482008-04-05T22:00:00.000-07:002008-12-09T02:01:47.617-08:00The Bees Arrive - Part 2Two members of our <a href="http://www.tidewaterbeekeepers.net/"target="_blank">beekeepers' club</a> were planning to drive out to <a href="http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/default.asp"target="_blank">Brushy Mountain</a> to pick up their bee packages. They kindly offered to pick up orders for anyone else in the club, so on the afternoon of April 5 we went to their house, picked up our two boxes of bees and went to the site where the hives are. Now this is what we had been looking forward to:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9ycLnLWhNnk&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9ycLnLWhNnk&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />But here is how it turned out to be:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDUoXGpxej7PLbhKV4vLgfl52kSxKwTcy03VF7mTXznS7c9o-ELI7W6vt7QpAG7Bh9iAekB-d7kRL2J0q25xg8MGIJ0QXt6Ll0Yg4hjFf-FwwTCbNsWdRyMKCEFmVBqPI3Mq4o_CbA/s1600-h/helpers.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDUoXGpxej7PLbhKV4vLgfl52kSxKwTcy03VF7mTXznS7c9o-ELI7W6vt7QpAG7Bh9iAekB-d7kRL2J0q25xg8MGIJ0QXt6Ll0Yg4hjFf-FwwTCbNsWdRyMKCEFmVBqPI3Mq4o_CbA/s320/helpers.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196984625155790514" /></a><br /><br /><br />As you can see from my assistants' clothes, it was a cold, grey, drizzly day that day and for most of the following week. The colony that I put into the Lang hive hunkered down and waited out the weather. But I made a fatal mistake with the TBH: I had not made the follower board for the TBH so when I poured them in I was pouring them into the full volume of the hive. It was effectively the same as pouring a colony into about two deeps and four supers - on their first day - in cold weather. <br /><br />By the time I came back on the following Saturday, it was a disaster of pompeiian proportions. When I shovelled the dead out of the TBH, the few remaining survivors scattered and hopefully joined the other hive. I believe that if I'd had a follower board on hand and had placed it to give the bees only five or six frames worth of of space, they would have grouped back together and stayed warm long enough to make it through the cold spell. But such is hindsight.<br /><br />So I won't be comparing a TBH to a Langstroth on a day-to-day basis. I do intend to put a split or a nuc into the TBH when I can get one but it won't be a direct a comparison as I had hoped for. The lesson for anyone thinking of building a TBH: don't put off making the follower board.<br /><br />On a cheerier note, the bees in the Langstroth hive are thriving and I will post pictures of them soon. I will continue to follow their progress and deal with the topic of the Top Bar Hive from a more theoretical perspective.Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-85227764254516087272008-04-05T21:00:00.000-07:002008-12-09T02:01:48.179-08:00The Bees Arrive - Part 1So after months of reading, going to beekeepers' meetings, gathering & building equipment and thumbing through catalogs, my bees have arrived. First of all, the hives:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMCxEJWOgkA5qKlaqwQh35tZi_MLOxmoLf4QGkSkLVXFlIGpRIYIE7MM_fFdV9UlZPGoWC_GL991QTnu_0WBVBhktJHHVU1McI4KRPyw7IGq3D0BvkHJO7y8ydH3O682dVrrqycTi/s1600-h/hives-before.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMCxEJWOgkA5qKlaqwQh35tZi_MLOxmoLf4QGkSkLVXFlIGpRIYIE7MM_fFdV9UlZPGoWC_GL991QTnu_0WBVBhktJHHVU1McI4KRPyw7IGq3D0BvkHJO7y8ydH3O682dVrrqycTi/s320/hives-before.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196975034493818482" /></a><br /><br />I have a Langstroth hive and a Top Bar hive. The Langstroth is just that, so I won't dwell on it here. But the TBH is my own adaptaion, based on other designs I have seen on the 'net. It is not a true Kenyan or Tanzanian TBH: I wanted straight sides tall enough to hold a Lang deep frame but I like sloped sides that end in an open, screened bottom. So I combined the two.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjYfWNM2uMRcuEsJY2W6TDMGlkFlMBz6tBO91mRYT7m7tsdrQLRx_X-tJBWGWJD5ysN273IO_lYPxcMaZLC5RtQOy1kbsqC2UfNIzzQACTvcKeSI4Azc3hm-xZJZe334BO7FWXMpp/s1600-h/TBH+int+01.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjYfWNM2uMRcuEsJY2W6TDMGlkFlMBz6tBO91mRYT7m7tsdrQLRx_X-tJBWGWJD5ysN273IO_lYPxcMaZLC5RtQOy1kbsqC2UfNIzzQACTvcKeSI4Azc3hm-xZJZe334BO7FWXMpp/s320/TBH+int+01.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196976000861460098" /></a><br /><br />Above is a view of the inside of the TBH, looking at a temporary platform I put in to hold a bag of sugar solution. And below is another view looking up through the bottom screen into the hive from beneath.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZ9PCcZ0OtCw6cnIIPYQz_Z7sl4UcacwqvP3tQnmoQSHeYsN_-r1nF7XI_g0EIORj7nSdH6A_89_y7_4T2EzE4hLCo5nloYmzM6gOw95nGFpjvtEabVSG3yOf0NS5NJbB-hzhLNOj/s1600-h/TBH+int+02.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZ9PCcZ0OtCw6cnIIPYQz_Z7sl4UcacwqvP3tQnmoQSHeYsN_-r1nF7XI_g0EIORj7nSdH6A_89_y7_4T2EzE4hLCo5nloYmzM6gOw95nGFpjvtEabVSG3yOf0NS5NJbB-hzhLNOj/s320/TBH+int+02.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196976765365638802" /></a><br /><br />The undersides of the top bars and their lines of wax are visible here. The wax lines are saw kerfs that I filled with molten bees wax (this is better explained elsewhere - I'll post a link when I find it again). But here's how mine look. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAopIDCATSCSs8I9ZFn1IOKn5h1cgCoAA3lm6Y6RpXe3CKtZ2iwSwCGhwIW_QtTfaod3i_cpmzqJ65WH1QMEw8_dTgyMk77laTQ5QaB98p9Zt0vzrxiot-mPHu1HcU3-HLvu_gvkv9/s1600-h/TBs.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAopIDCATSCSs8I9ZFn1IOKn5h1cgCoAA3lm6Y6RpXe3CKtZ2iwSwCGhwIW_QtTfaod3i_cpmzqJ65WH1QMEw8_dTgyMk77laTQ5QaB98p9Zt0vzrxiot-mPHu1HcU3-HLvu_gvkv9/s320/TBs.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196977504100013730" /></a>Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207718284228420514.post-1838899834256049512008-03-17T21:00:00.000-07:002008-05-05T17:06:49.979-07:00Square OneI was finally inspired enough to start my own blog by Weaseldog's videos, "Jack's Permaculture, pts 1 and 2" (see below). I intend to document my early forays into beekeeping. Specifically, I want to anecdotally compare a Langstroth-style to a Top Bar hive, both started from packages at the same time.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OXBaJS2-1qg&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OXBaJS2-1qg&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T4dQCtbvlpc&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T4dQCtbvlpc&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Reluctant Lemminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06760782094549199674noreply@blogger.com0