Honey Bear Apiary ( M’kwa Nda-Aamoo Zhiiwaagaizikaaning - Bear's Honey Bee Sugar Camp )

Did a follow up inspection and found one of the two hives young queens did not make it back. I had to pop out and pick up a new queen for the hive. To make sure the bees actually want a new queen I pop the cage on the frames to see what they do. You can see in the video that they are sticking their tongs out through the cage to feed and pick up the scent. A good indicator they want her in the hive. If they didn’t they would be balling up and attacking.

This time of year I’m treated to a daily parade while I eat lunch.

This time of year I’m treated to a daily parade while I eat lunch.

Are small army of leaf cutter bees have moved back into the plant pots and the wasps under the deck. The lizards and frogs are back as well. New this year though we have a bird nest in one of the pots. They don’t seem to mind us and we think it’s cool having them there.

Things have been busy here with me being on the road so I'm just going to upload the raw video. Sorry about the previous upload, I should have figured I had the wrong one when it uploaded so quickly. I was still working on my first coffee. Not the best excuse but it's all I have.

Things have been busy here with me being on the road so I'm just going to upload the raw video.

Santorini is a hot mess when building comb but she tends to be timely when it comes to delivering surprises.

Did a quick inspection of the hives June 18th. I thought they were a little light on the landing board.

Frangipani is bursting at the seams. Boxes full of bees.

Pretty straight forward inspection. All four hives made it through winter strong. I've been experimenting with the video editing stuff having fun with that.

My surprise while on my lunch walk March 1st

It's been a while. Figured I need to rebuild the habit of posting and this would be a good start.

The shoes I normally wear around mucking about in the yard. Our usual inspection routine is a bit after lunch on the weekends when the girls are their nicest. Due to weather I needed to do the brood nest check in the late afternoon/early evening. When they are not so nice... lesson learned!

Noticed earlier this Spring our Leaf Cutters were back and figured I'd put together some of the pictures and video we've taken of them.

Having a check of the Frank hive to see if there's enough brood to remove the queen excluder from below the bottom box. I use the excluder as insurance to help prevent the queen from flying away after install.

Hoping everyone is doing great and having a lovely Easter Sunday with family.

Having a check of the Santorini hive to see if there's enough brood to remove the queen excluder from below the bottom box. I use the excluder as insurance to help prevent the queen from flying away after install.

The second package install for bee day. Excited to get things rolling with the new bees.

March 22nd was bee day! The first install of the day was the Frank hive. It went pretty well.

I do controls for machines and on a regular basis the shop does a 5S sweep of inventory. These two rails of extruded aluminum ended up in the recycling pile. I saw them and immediately knew where I could put them to use. So for the cost of scrap ($24) I have a new stand with the convenience of jacking screws and the stability of a machine frame to restart our bee adventure. Sorry about the audio, that's the next thing among many things I need to work on. Materials used 1x2 2 slot extruded aluminum ( scrap bin ) 4 roll in T-slot nuts to anchor the modified ant barriers ( dumster diving ) Modified ant barriers ( orignal, made in the US purchased here https://www.ebay.com/itm/283475227101?hash=item420070b1dd:g:Va0AAOSw9N1Vo-2Q ) U channel used on the bottom boards ( https://www.lowes.com/pd/Steelworks-3-4-in-W-x-8-ft-L-Mill-Finished-Aluminum-Weldable-Trim-Channel/3058185 )

This was a quick clip from the first hive I took the top off. I noticed none of the three hives were flying on a warm day in January and decided to check on them. All dead. Plenty of resources, no mites and a few bettles and they all looked very healthy. What I think happened is when we had the week plus of very warm weather and the plants started blooming the girls thought it was spring. They started ramping up and producing brood and when the temps dropped to crazy cold for us (20 F, -7 c) for two weeks straight they were too spread out trying to keep the brood warm and ended up freezing to death. I should have wrapped them when I saw them flying in with resources and knowing the temp was going to drop. First year beekeeping mistakes can be very expensive, but I'm not quitting yet. instagram.com/HoneyBearApiary

I was going to remove the mite strips but this is what I found happening at the entrance. It looked at a robbing attempt at Frangipani so there was no way I was popping the lid. They looked like they were holding their own so let it ride. Things looked back to normal late afternoon so all is good. instagram.com/HoneyBearApiary

Been a busy few months and with the cooler weather, not as much going on and fewer inspections. Hopefully we'll be into the hives next weekend to check the mite treatment strips and the food stores.

Been a busy few months and with the cooler weather, not as much going on and fewer inspections. Hopefully we'll be into the hives next weekend to check the mite treatment strips and the food stores.