Where did the Summer go?

Busy getting ready for winter

Is August really coming to a end already? 

Seeing a few more yellowing leaves and noticing that the days are getting shorter, I am reminded that Summer is coming to an end. As i look around the fields and along the sides of the road the Goldenrod is now in bloom, along with Asters, Hardhack and Tansy. The last wildflowers to bloom. Soon that smell of dying leaves will be in the air. Then I will need to prepare for our first frosts which usually happens in the first couple weeks into September. I look around to see what else is blooming but sadly that is about all there is. I see lots of berries on the trees and bushes like Mountain Ash, Bunch berries and the Elderberry.

The other day I was in the bee yard quietly sitting on my chair by the hives watching. Its one of my favorite things to do. They were busily working and I could see they were bringing in both gray and yellow pollen. It seems like every year around this time, they are flying with real purpose.....getting ready for winter.  They are also feeding quite heavy on syrup. Soon i will place pollen subs and possibly some fondant for them, to help them get ready.

Its been a terrible Beekeeping year, not necessarily for us but lots of our friends. From down at the Lower Mainland and right up to Terrace and Smithers, everyone is reporting little to  no honey. Its been an unusually wet and cool summer. I know folks who take hives up to the mountains in Terrace in July/Aug for the Fireweed nectar flow and that was a bust for the second year in a row. We havent pulled our honey yet so I can't say  how ours looks but I know it won't be much.  But as long as the bees have enough for the winter, that is most important.

One of our beautiful days

Another weird thing that happened this year was, swarming. Lots of swarming......and from the same hive. A friend of mine bought a Nuc this June and she told me hers have swarmed 2 times. It seems crazy. I heard this over and over this summer....and late in the summer too. Crazy. Another friend told me 2 of her hives attempted to swarm...but the queen refused to leave....like what was that all about. I heard the same thing from a beekeeper in Prince George. I know my big hive must of swarmed as well. With the nasty weather and hardly any breaks from it, I found capped queen cells in one hive. I wanted to deal with it but it had started to rain, then the thunder started. I had hoped to deal with it on the next  day that wasn't nasty and hopefully split it before the new queens emerged. 2 days later i went in...and all the queens cells were open. It was too late. 

So now i am hoping for several nice days so i can get into the hives and check out their food stores. Maybe take a couple frames of honey for us and start removing any extra boxes. I have already started feeding them and will continue until the beginning of Oct. 

I can't believe the beekeeping season is coming to the end. At least we still have a few months to watch them work and sit in the beeyard with them before they disappear inside for the winter.

Until next time.     

Bee Safe

Starting to plan winter projects (already??)

Every August when you see a few leaves start to turn and fall, you mind jumps ahead to winter. The garden is starting to produce and canning season is in full swing, . The firewood is in the wood house and the chimney is clean. Outside building projects are discussed and ready to get started so they will be completed before winter sets in.

Winter in Northern BC can be long and dark. It can start in mid October but normally waits until mid or late November. For the past 5 years we have wrapped our bees no later than the beginning of November. But I remember doing it in October one year during a early snow storm. I prefer not to do that again.

But its also the time when I start to  plan my winter projects. Things that I want to do for myself....fun stuff.

For the past 7 years I haven't been able to do my leather work and have really missed it. I use to make leather dog leashes, collars, belts and in later years I started making leather and cow hide pillows. But i wanted to try something different but could still incorporate leather.

My machine has been waiting patiently for me for 7 years.

I plan on making aprons. Not frilly light weigh aprons like our Gramas used to wear, but heavy duty cotton fabric work aprons. Aprons that will have some leather and copper rivets on them. I will also be making half aprons as well.  They will be able to be used in the garden, in the workshop or even while working your bees, which is how i came up with the idea. I get so hot in my bee coat and if I could wear a apron with pockets instead, I would be so happy and cool. It would also keep the propolis off my pants. And we all know how hard that is to get off.

Anyways i have already started to stock up on some fabric for them.

They will be similar to this. 

The second winter project I am planning is..... to learn about Queen Rearing.  I want to do a bunch of splits next year and its so hard for me to get queens mailed to me. 

Where we live, we only get mail 3 times a week and chancing getting a queen sent to me is not worth the risk. 

While talking with our bee inspector last month, he said why don't you rear you own. We talked about it for a short time but it long enough to wonder if I could actually do this. I think I can, well at least I can try.  It doesn't cost much to get into it but it does take time and effort and a whole bunch of luck. (mostly with Mother Nature and we know how cantankerous she can be at times)

So, today, I picked up a few items that I will need to rear some queens next year. I am pretty excited about that too.

Grafting tool and queen cell bar

I am a little scared to ask James what winter projects we have to do in the house this year, but I am hoping I will have time to have some fun.

Well, that is enough rambling for now. Enjoy the rest of Summer. I hope everyone is having some fun of your own.

Rain Rain and more Rain

Living life inside a Rainforest one would think we normally would get lots of rain. But thats not necessarily true. Yes we get rain....but this has been crazy. Enough already. Our nieghbours keep track of the rainfall and the other day she let me know since the 23rd of May we had received over 12 inches of rain. Yikes!
We have had many challenges due to the rain and cooler temperatures this year, (oh and lets not forget the high water and flooding). Getting a window long enough to cut lawns has been tough.  They are very long and lush, but on the upside, the clover is in bloom and the bees have been enjoying them during the dry periods.
The garden.....it too is lush,  but we need some sun and warmth to help things florish more.

Peas growing in old honey supers

Our little container garden

The driveway....oooohhh what a mucky mess it is.  Its a good thing we have 4 wheel drive in most of our vehicles

Mud bog driveway

Then there are the bees. My poor little girls.  They are doing ok, thankfully there are many periods during the day where they can get out to forage. Some of the things i have noticed how the rain has been putting a damper on beekeeping are:
1.  Hard to get in the hives to check for queen/swarm cells and general inspections
2,  Bees have less foraging time, July is usually our big nectar flow time
3.  The heavy rains can cause damage to bees wings if they get caught out in it or it can knock them to the ground.
4.  Bees use the sun as navigation. So it is possible they may not find their way home
5.  Chalkbrood. Its a fungal desease that kills larvae. Its can be caused by poor circulation and cool damp conditions. There are other things that can cause chalkbrood but the last 2 wet summers we have had minor cases of it. Due to the wet.
6.   The pounding rains we have had, it can wash away some of  the nectar out of the flowers.

You may wonder what the forager bees do on these wet days we are having. If it is pouring rain, they hunker down inside the hive. The forager bees help manage the humidity and temperature inside the hives. This time of year they are trying to get the moisture content down in the honey so they can cap it for the winter. Not sure what else they do....maybe watch a little TV?

Well all things considering, i am happy at the weight of some of our honey supers. I had high hopes for a good bunch of honey this year. But as it is right now, I will just be happy if there is enough honey for the bees to take them thru the winter and for maybe a jar for us.
Hope you have a good day. Chat again soon.

Apple Blossoms and Grizzly Bears

     We are now entering our 4th month of this Pandemic. Life for us hasn't changed a lot, but there has been lots of changes in the world.
Words like, self isolation,and self distancing are used on a daily basis and has become part of the norm. And who knew we would all wear masks and gloves when going out? I hate having to dig into my stash of  Nitrile gloves for beekeeping, so i can wear them while grocery shopping.

     Anyways, onto happier things. The bees seem to be doing good. Our smallest hive which suffered a substancial winter kill, is now doing great. I just added another box onto their hive.
I recently did a quick inspection to check for queen cells. I left the busiest one til the end and it turned out to be the one with some issues. When I opened it up, I noticed a very spotty brood pattern. I could see that there had been a recent hatch as the population was pretty big. I tried finding new eggs but we all know how hard they can be at times. (Especially with my older eyes and a overcast day.) Then I noticed there wasdrone cells scattered amongst the worker cells. When I flipped over one of the frames I noticed a couple of queen cups with larvae in them. As i turned over the same frame i seen two large capped supercedure cells. So i assumed the queen was either dead or going to be soon.
     I sometimes lack confidence in myself and my beekeeping knowledge so I talked to our bee inspector and explained the situation and he explained that since the drone brood was scattered amongst the worker cells, it may be a sign that the queen was running out of sperm. Hopefully tomorrow, if the weather is ok, I will go back in and see if one of the queens have emerged. Then we hope the weather holds long enough for her to have a successful mating flight.
     Update: I went through the hive about week after the first inspection. The 2 capped queen cells were gone. So this means they probably hatched and now we wait a bit longer to see if it all works out. I still plan on throwing in a frame of brood from another hive just incase the queen doesnt come back. At least the bees can make another queen cell and hopefully get a new queen.

   

One of the girls visiting a apple blossom

      As spring arrived, we were excited to see that all our fruit trees had survived the winter and are now covered with blossoms. The honey bees, bumble bees and other pollinator bees have been busy visiting them. And we have been enjoying watching them go from flower to flower.
      Along with the apple blossoms, its also the arrival of the bears. Hungry from a long winter and late spring, we see them almost daily. A week or so ago we were lucky enough to capture on film this young Grizzy as he wandered through our front yard. We watched him carefully to make sure he didnt go across the road where our Apiary is, but he only paused long enough to munch on some dandelion flowers then toodled off into the bush. Two nights ago we had another visit but this time it was from the most beautiful rust colored black bear I had ever seen. He too passed through quickly without any trouble.

Young Grizzly in the front yard

Well, its a wet miserable day here in the Robson Valley, so i think, like my bees, i will hunker down inside today. Hope everyone is staying safe and enjoying their bees.

Bye for now

Spring has arrived

Hi again!
I had started a new post back in April....but it was kind of boring so decided not to upload it.  But i will give you a bit of a idea what was going on during those times.
April 21
We had replaced all the broken insulators and re-tightened the fence. We then dug the battery out of the basement and hooked up the electric fence.
April 27
The girls had found their first bit of pollen. This finally made things feel like spring was on its way. By the end of the month a lot of the snow had melted.
May 1
With April behind us and most of the snow gone, we could finally get into the bee yard and start building the new hive stands. We had decided on a simple design and got to work.

Digging post holes for the stands

As you can see from the photo, we brought the Bob Cat in within a few feet from the front of the hives. We worked out there digging post holes and hammering and banging around and the bees paid us no attention. They carried on with their search for pollen to fill their combs for the brood. 

Moving day

Once the stands were built it was time to tear apart the hives and transfer them into their brand new homes. I was so happy to get them off that nasty old stand where the melting snow had saturated the bottom board and it was a nasty wet mess inside the hive. I felt so bad for them but was glad they had survived. Lesson learnt, we won't have solid bottoms on our stands again. The girls once again tolerated us disrupting them and not once did we get any warning shots on our faces. They were pretty calm. 

Hive stands complete and girls in their new homes

                                      

New strawberry bed on the left, filled containers in the centre. The old hive boxes will be planted with Peas.

Now that the bees are all settled in, we started getting a little vegetable "garden" done. We won't have time to build the greenhouse or set up a permanent garden this year so opted for throwing a few seeds in some old containers. I decided to set them in the bee yard since there is lots of room still. So we got that done the other day. We also had transplanted the strawberry plants  into a new bed. . So hopefully the bee yard will be full of fruit tree blossoms and lots of flowers from the vegi's soon. Its going to be such a great place to bring a cuppa and just sit and relax. 

Well, i hope everyone is doing good and staying healthy. Take care, chat again soon.

Dining room or Work shop

April 14 2020
Well since talking last time, the weather hasnt really improved much. We have had a couple nicer days, but then today it rained. However the snow is finally starting to go.
I had given up the idea of painting the new hive boxes in the workshop, so we brought them to the house. What better place to paint than in the kitchen...right. So i stacked 9 deeps in the middle of my tiny kitchen and got them painted. Somehow i managed to make meals and do dishes with 9 boxes in the middle of it all.

The next day, I went back over to the work shop and grabbed some lids.  I was concerned they weren't going to fit the new boxes because most of our older boxes were homemade and slightly different sizes. But they were all good. So i slapped some paint on them too.
Then I decided while i had time i should get some swarm boxes ready for "just in case". Once i can get in the hives to see how they wintered over and how big the colony's are, I will need to decide if I have to do some splits. So I wanted to be prepared in case one of them swarm before i get to them. So I rummaged through our stash of Nuc boxes and found 2 really nice ones with actual bottom boards and openings at the front, the only thing we need to make is lids. We brought those 2 to the house as well and gave them a paint job.

Its a good thing we hardly sit at our table, especially now with no company coming for coffee or dinner. Because there is no room. We can get to the coffee makers and into the pantry cupboard and thats about it. hahahaha
So now the dining room is stacked with 9 deep boxes, 2 nuc boxes, entrance reducers and 5 outside covers. Oh and lets not forget my Kitchen Aid mixer that is sitting on the table waiting for the parts to come so we can put it back together. Its probably a really good thing we are self isolating right now or i would be really embarrassed at the condition of our house.

Anyways I hope everyone is hanging in there and staying safe. We will. get through this somehow and come out the other side a little stronger. 

Take care everyone. Talk to you soon.

Is anyone out there.......

March 24, 2020

     I have lost track of how long its been since we started self isolating....but it’s been weeks now.
You know, living in a small town a lot of us are use to isolation. We are prepared to some point and are use to not seeing anyone for days. Although....i do really miss having coffee with some of our neighbors.

     Since the last time i wrote...the world has gotten even more crazy. Anyways i am trying not to think or talk about it, i like living in my happy little bubble. However i don't like the idea of not being able to get things like flour or sugar. That is a little unsettling.

     To keep us busy, James and I have been ticking off lots of projects. With the winter that just won't end and Covid 19, we have time, so why not.

     On one of our last sunny day with a high of +6C we went over to the bee yard and removed all the winter entrances, cleaned out the dead bees and put the entrances back on. I popped off the lid of the attic box and moved the insulation aside and peaked down thru the screened hole. I could see bees eating on the candy board. I then decided to remove the screen and squeeze pieces of fondant down the hole and press onto the candy.  I wouldn't risk going any deeper as its just too cold still. So I was content to know all 3 hives were still alive.

     So what else have we been up too. We have pretty well finished the bedroom. For many years we laid in bed gazing at the pink insulation and vapor barrier. So i was so very thankful to finally have walls and ceilings. Our loft is under the eaves so that and the fact when the Church was built i don't think they had levels or squares. So we needed to find a creative way to deal with imperfect walls and ceilings. We settled on 1x6's. I got to say it turned out great. I don't need a fancy house, with perfect drywall, i just don't want to watch a mouse run thru the insulation and vapor barrier while lying in bed. That project took the longest, as we could only bring home a small amount of boards at a time as we didn't have the room to store them all. So we would do 50 inches then wait until we went to town again. But its done yaaaay. We also completed finished the upper Bell Tower. It turned out awesome....we think. Its only about 8x8 but such a nice place to sit and have a cuppa and gaze over the "estate".

Upper Bell Tower Face lift

April 3

     Wandered over to the bee yard and popped off the outer lid of the hives, pulled back the insulation pillow and tucked a frame of capped honey and a little bowl of bee pro in each hive. We were in and out in less than a minute. I saw and heard all of the hives inside munching on their candy board still. So i feel good being able to give them honey and some protein.

April 8

    We decided since it was the warmest day we have had since Oct, the bees might be out flying. So we went over and sure enough there they were. One of the hives which hadn't come out much on the other nicer days, were out in full glory. The snow was brown from them doing their cleansing flights. The looked like they came through winter really well. So hopefully all the queens have made it. But its still a little cool yet to go inside.

    Ok i am going to end it there....or this will become a long boring book. Hopefully the next blog will have more bee news and pictures of the fence repairs we have to make before the bears come out. 

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. Take care.......Lyn

One very active hive!

Look....grass!!!

The snow is starting to disappear!