Testing for Varroa Mites

I am not a technical person, so this is just the basics of the Varroa Mite. A person can write all about them and how they work and what happens to the bees, but the long and short of it...they are bad and they need to go.
Varroa Mites are nasty little critters that will end up living off the larvae in the hive. If left untreated they can kill your hive by the time spring comes. So its important to test for them in August and then again in the spring and if need be, treat them.

See it on her back. Yuk

Disgusting little things

There are several methods of testing, but for me this year I decided to do the sticky board test. Its a piece of cardboard that you lay a plastic mesh on so the bees won't stick to it. You slide the board on top of the  bottom board of the hive. You can leave it up to three days or as little as one day. I did one day this year out of ease as its still quite busy at the motel.

                                                                         

I have circled the mite so you can see it easier. They are so tiny, the grid is 1 square inch. I still have one more hive to check but over the next day or two, I will decide if I need to treat. So far it looks pretty good but we will see. Once this is done, you are one step closer to getting the bees ready for winter.

Random ramblings and pretty pictures

Right now theres not a lot to do other than worry about everything with the upcoming winter season. Did I leave enough honey for the bees for the winter. Will they survive the cold and dampness of the winter. Did I do everything I could do to help them survive.
So since the beginning of Sept I have put feeders in all the hives. I mix a sugar/water syrup, 2 parts sugar 1 part water. Mixing it thick like this, apparently is best as there is a short window of time for the bees to turn this into food for the winter. It you mix it 1 to 1 they may not have enough time to get the moisture level down.
Even though there is not much to do right now, I still go out several times a day, I find any excuse I can to check on them. I will fill their water bowl...or just stand there and stare at them. Or take a picture or two. I couldn't resist the other day and had to snap away. Look at that face. So cute
Here are a few photos I took during the summer and over the past couple weeks. Some of the bees are honey bees, some are bumble bees and some are another kind of bee which I don't know but are equally as photogenic

Under Wraps for the winter (winter of 2015)

2015 was our first winter with the bees. I really stressed over it because its hard wintering over bees in the north. I had read all kinds of articles, talked to lots of seasoned beekeepers, then finally decided what we would do.
Our town is quite windy, my gut told me we needed to protect them from some of that north eastern winds that blow during the winter here. And since the bees were in a chain link enclosure, the solution was simple, I would tarp the north and east sides of the fence. The insulation of choice was 2 inch Styrofoam.
Some months earlier we had decided to combine the 2 hives together for the best survival rate during the winter. I then compressed all the bees into one brood box, then put a honey super ontop of that with 10 full frames of honey. On top of the honey super I placed an inside cover with screen over the opening, then a empty box which we called the attic box. Inside the attic box, we put fiberglass insulation inside a old pillow case. Then put the outside cover ontop.
We had cut the Styrofoam then tuck taped it around the hive, leaving the entrance open. I had decided not to have a top vent hole after having many conversations whether to have one or not. Because of a recent surgery, we didn't get the bees wrapped up until the beginning of November. Thankfully mother nature was kind and the weather was quite mild up to that point. I was relieved we got it done.
That night while I was suppose to be sleeping, I started worrying about the lack of a top vent.
I worried that the condensation would build up in the hive during the winter and come spring the bees would all be dead. So first thing the next morning....I drilled a hole in the attic box to help let any extra condensation escape.
This is what the winter wrap looked like....not very pretty but it worked.