#008 : Learning About Your Bees

 A person who is too nice an observer of the business of the crowd, like one who is too curious in observing the labor of bees, will often be stung for his curiosity.

Alexander Pope

Well the more you watch your bees the more you learn about them. Today I spotted one of my beez up close. It was Blemunda ... yah, I know all their names! She had me nervous because I thought I spotted a Varroa mite under her thorax - it's doubtful that it's a mite and more likely part of the wing structure.

So I looked up honey beez on the google and found this diagram. I have a photo of Blemunda as well for comparison. You can tell she is an older bee because of the prominence of the dark thorax (in younger bees it might be lighter and less prominent)and her eyes are large and dark. The lighter color under her Thorax is what made me all nervoused out. Who would have thought mites in Chicago??? Anyway, I learned something about Honey Bee anatomy today - that being the difference between a mite and a thorax! Hopefully there aren't many mites but plenty of thoraxes in the hive!!!

Now I'm off to read the next chapter in my favorite book! Thanks to this book I was able to spot the thorax (and possible mite) in the first place!!! I wonder how this one is going to end - hopefully happily ever after and not 'this 'mite' happen to you!" Just kidding. Well, back to reading...
Click on the above image to purchase the great starter book from Amazon.

An image of the 'pimped-out' hive with a new landing board on the front and a couple of decorative shoring posts which I plan to paint in wonderful colors. The image was taken around 6:30 PM at sunset on 04/21/2012.

There is a wonderful joy that comes with beekeeping. Watching the bees go about their buzzziness makes one appreciate the beauty of a calm sun filled day and the pleasure of rest when the sun sets!

Enjoy your beezzz everybody! My beezzz are super cool - literally. It's going to be 40 degrees tonight!!!

Peace out!

# 007 : My first notable error ... Sugar syrup in the wrong place

“A bee is never as busy as it seems; it's just that it can't buzz any slower.”

Kin Hubbard

So I have made a notable mistake. I placed my sugar syrup in the wrong place - you know, where the bees can't find it!!! I found this out after contacting a Master Beekeeper and showing him the photo of my empty deep set-up. I put the in-board feeder in an empty deep above the main hive because the wind kept knocking it over when it was outside! We had really heavy winds the past few days! WOW! I thought it was a smart solution but I was wrong. I was told that the bees might migrate up to the empty deep (with the syrup) and start building comb. Can't have that so I had to open it up and move it! This video shows the slow painful process that should have only taken a few seconds!

Click the image above to see a video of me trying to figure out how to move the in-board feeder back to the front of hive where it belongs. If you're into watching people who are far from proficient in beekeeping boy this is the video for you!!! If you have any complaints don't yell at me - Ronald was filming and commenting!!! 

This is a photo of Ronald before filming. If you want to send him fan ... or HATE mail please send it to : BeeGuyRonald"at"gmail.com or just comment below so everyone knows how you feel.

 

The sugar syrup is finally getting to the bees! That black line shows how much sugar syrup was in the jar before I moved it. These bees like their shuhah shugah!!! Ha!

 

As you can see from the above images - with the Sugar Syrup where it should 'bee' the bees are getting active. The nice weather helps too.

# 006 : Windy!!! In the Windy City

"Tart words make no friends; a spoonful or honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar."

Benjamin Franklin

It's been a tuff weekend for my bees. There were two days of thunderstorms and high winds starting the day I installed the bees. I checked on them today just to make sure they didn't skip town and say :

"What the heck is up with this new house!!!" Ha! Just joking.

 

 We had some really high winds and thunderstorms so I shored up the hive just in case as you can see in this photo.The parapet behind the hive protects it from wind so the side shoring was all I really needed. (Just in case) We are expecting high winds today and the last thing the bees need is no roof or top hive feeder-that's why I weighed it down with a few bricks.

The way I set up my starter hive is with a bottom super with frames and queen. I then added the top cover and an empty deep super where I placed sugar syrup (It looks like they have beeen eating it), water (in the small jar) and some sugar candy in the can.

 

Here is an image of the top super showing the bees moving around under the cover.

Not much more to say. Now it's a waiting game for the bees to tuff out the bad weather ... we are expecting temps in the upper thirties tonight! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Or should I say Brzrzrzrzrzrzrzrzrzr!!!! Ha!

No photo of Ronald today. His cousin Bertha apparently doesn't like bees - go figure. Looks like that isn't going work out. Anyway, whatevs.

Have a nice Monday - If you're reading this on another day have a nice 'another day'!!! :)

# 005 : Madames & Sirs, the Bees have arrived

“Seeke out ye goode in everie man, and speke of alle the beste ye can; then wil alle men speke wel of thee and say how kynde of hearte ye BEE”

Geoffrey Chaucer 

Well, it involved seven hours of driving (total) but I picked up my package of bees and installed them.
No help from Ronald - he had to take his mom to buy corned-beef from some place on the South Side. Hello Ronald family! There are plenty of Irish people living on the North Side of Chicago ... Including yourselves!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't give me the crap that you couldn't find a place near where you live - you live in an Irish neighborhood for cryin out loud!!!

Here's the place his Ron's mom swears by for corned beef :

4701 W. 63rd St. (right by Midway Airport)
Chicago, IL 60629
Phone: 773-767-4353
Website: winstonsmarket.net 

Even though Ronald bailed, I don't think installing the bees could have gone any smoother. As you can see from the image below there was a bit of rain. But it stopped long enough for me to get my bees into their new home. I bought the bees from this place :

Long Lane Honey Bee Farm :

The bees are freaking beautiful. They are a nice golden brown and are not aggressive at all.

Here's an image of everything loaded into the 2005 Prius! Easy, plenty of room for another hive! Hello! HA!

I bought two deeps and two medium supers just in case the bees make lots of honey. You can see the package of bees inside one of the deeps getting acquainted with their new home!

After the 3+ hour drive back I unloaded the gear and bees and made my way to the roof.

But before I did that I couldn't help but put the bees on a friends desk. She hates bees - well, she hates hornets but she can't tell the difference between a hornet or a bee so she claims to hate bees. Hello! Honey Bees have fur! I snapped a photo to let her know the bees were sitting on her desk! I hope it freaks her out a little! No I'm joking. I hope she gets a little laugh out of it. I blurred out the images of her friends and boyfriend because something tells me she wants to have nothing to do with this blog!

Back to the bees: Here is a video showing how to install bees : Simple, simple, simple

This video was done by the guy who sold me the bees so everything I had was exactly the same. You might have a different Queen Cage with workers in it so that procedure might be slightly different if that's the case.

 Below is a video showing the procedure if you have a Queen in a wood box instead of the plastic cage.

This guy is soooo calm and makes it look so easy - which it actually is!

This is the first time I've installed bees alone. It was so easy I almost thought I did it wrong.

I'll find out in five days when I check on my bees.

Here is an image before I went at it. I propped the base board on top of some brick so water wil drain around the hive and not into it!!!! That is the deep on the bottom board. I gave the bees a good spray of sugar water (1 part sugar 1 part water) which made them fly around less when I pulled the can and Queen out. They were too busy cleaning each other to mess with me. I wore a beekeepers veil and gloves just in case. I just couldn't do this without gloves.

I used the hive tool to pry out the can of sugar food. It was just about empty. These bees have a good appetite. I only had a few dead bees on the bottom of the box. That was a good sign that the bees were healthy. I then took the queen out and covered the hole so no bees would fly out. I followed the video exactly so no use writing about it!

Well here's my start-up hive. There were still some stragglers in the box so I propped it up next to the hive opening so they can find their way into the hive at their leisure - common hurry up! I'm joking, I didn't yell at them. Last time I checked there were still a few in there picking away at the sugar syrup that was left at the bottom. I noticed a bit of in out action from the hive hole but nothing too alarming - it looked very calm and natural. I put a little bowl of water with rocks next to the hive so they could drink if they were thirsty from their trip. I'm not sure how long they were in that box!!!

This was a really fun day! It would have been easier if Ronald didn't bail!

Here's Ronald riding on a roller coaster backwards!!!!!

He is embarrassed by this photo which is why I'm posting it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You bail again Ronald and you know what's comin!!! HA!! Just kidding.

Get yourselves some bees everybody! Hope the pictures were a OK...

I need to take a shower, put some hair mousse in my hair and splash on some Drakkar noir cologne because I'm goin dancin and Ronald is setting me up with his cousin Bertha!!!

She's gonna love the bee stories!

FINGERS CROSSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

# 004 Still waiting for my package of bees

“Hello again, everybody. It's a bee-yooo-tiful day for baseball.”

Harry Caray 

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Until I get my package of bees here is an image of Ronald doing a karate kick!!!!

Ronald has what looks like a beekeepers hat, but it isn't. Even though Ronald stinks at beekeeping he can do a bad-ass kung-fu kick!!!!

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Enjoy the bee-yooo-tiful day everybody! I'm getting really excited to get my bees!!!

I i-tunes-ed Korsacov's 'Flight of the Bumble Bee' and will put that on continuous loop as I fall asleep tonight. It's not about honey bees but whatever.

Peace out!!!!!!!

#003 - It's All About the Bees, Honey

 “What a kid I got, I told him about the birds and the bees and he told me about the butcher and my wife.”

Rodney Dangerfield

Well, before I pick up my bees to install them in my new hive - 3 or four more days - I thought I give all the newbies a lesson on bees. The blind leading the blind! You won't have to know much when you start and you will learn much as you go. One of the main issues you will have is spotting your queen in the hive. It will be important to hone this skill. You will eventually build an eye for it. If you want to train to spot a nerd in a crowd follow this link to 'Where's Waldo'. After practicing there for eight hours a day you find that it doesn't help AT ALL! You will want to punch my face but a valuable lesson will have been learned. The lesson being, there are no shortcuts in beekeeping. 

Besides I won't let you punch my face. I will see you coming and do a judo flip move and laugh at you and then run away before you can get up. So don't even try it!
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Bee Castes :

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I found this really nice chart above from 'Bee Spotter'. If you want to read more about bees - ummm... nerd .......... then, click the image or follow this link to the website :

BEE SPOTTER blog.

When it comes to honey bees there are basically three types. They are called 'Bee Castes' or whatever. 

1. The Queen : She is brought up eating only royal jelly. Which gives her that royal & slender shape. Unfortunately this won't translate to humans. You can feed your kid a load of royal jelly but she won't 'bee' inheriting the throne of Queen Elizabeth any time soon. Although the Queen is pampered and gets to mate with Drones she is no slack! She can lay upwards of 3000 eggs in one day! Yep, nuff said.

2. The Worker : She starts off the same larva as a Queen but is fed bee bread and honey. These ladies do it all. They build the hive, they forage for food, they protect the hive as guards ... etc. These girls are every the emblem of girl power in nature. They have a 5 to7 week life cycle.

3. The Drone (Or 'Male' on the chart) is big and fat dude. His is the only male caste in the hive and eats allot and doesn't work - well, let me correct myself. He does work but the work he does is mating with a queen. WHOOAAA! Before you think this is all fun and games. Slow your roll. After the he mates with the queen he dies. So no bragging to the fellahs after the deed has been done. If he doesn't mate with a queen he is unceremoniously put to death before the winter ... yes because he eats too much honey!

Bee Caste Life Cycles :

The great diagram above shows the life cycle of a 'Worker'. Once again this image is from :

'BEE SPOTTER'

 Queens can live two years but it is rare for that to happen. It is advisable to replace the queen every year or so for the benefit of the hive colony. Just like the workers the queen can get worn out and start to shirk her duties a bit. If you are hard-core you will let your queen die of natural causes - but you might put your hive in jeopardy because of it. You are a beekeeper and you have to look out for the health and safety of the hive. You may never have to make this decision because the bees will usually make the decision before you do.

Drones will only live through one hive season. They are always killed off during the last nectar harvest before the winter. They eat too much and winters are too long. The colony will not put itself in jeopardy by having these big jamokes eat them out of honey and hive half way through winter. Nature is cruel but knows what it is doing.

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So there you have it. You now know about the three castes of bees, but if you think for a second I'm going to give you the latin terms for the different types of bees and their attributes you better think again! I'm no geek and I refuse to tell you about :

Apis Mellifera Mellifera : known as the German Black Bee. This bee is rarely see these days because it had a propensity to sting peeps and was prone to disease like American Foulbrood. That said you will find a little AMM in many mutt American bees.

That's right Ronald! I made you work the AMM hive and you gots stung every time! While I worked the AML hive and never got stung once! That's right Ronald you had no idea! But you would have know if you just read a sentence or two about bees and looked at the color of the bees in my hive vs. the bees in your hive. Your bees were dark and mine were golden. I'm going to do the same thing this year Ronald! That's right Ronny, because I know you won't read this!!! HAAAA!!!!!!

here's a photo of Ronald : he's gonna get stung somthin fierce again this year.

Apis Mellifera Ligustica : also known as the Italian Bee. It makes lots of honey and is one of the gentlest of the honey bees. This makes it one of the most popular types of bee in the US. You might have to help this bee make it through the winter as well as protect them against parasites.

Apis Mellifera Caucasica : These  guys were imported from the Caucusas which is where they got their name. They don't produce as much honey as the Italian bee and they produce lots of propolis. Propolis is stikey stuff the bees use to coat the hive walls. Look it up! I ain't your researcher!

Apis Mellifera Carnica : also know as the Carniolan bee. The Carniolans come from Eastern Europe and are more resistant to disease and parasites. They are more frugal when it comes to their consumption of honey too, which means a better chance of surviving the winter that first year.

That's it I can't do this anymore today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  BOOOOORRRRRRINNNNNNNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll be back to update the installation of my bees!!!!!!!!!!

Until then try to Bee-have!!!

# 002 : New to rooftop beekeeping like me? Good. Here's what you'll need.

 

“The busy bee has no time for sorrow.”

William Blake 

Let me make myself clear. The most experience I have in beekeeping is from living vicariously through the stories about my grandfather who kept twelve hives for many years. That said, I don't know much, but I do know what I need for the first year rooftop beekeeper. How? Because I asked people who know = Beekeepers who have been at if for many years. I've listened to many a podcast and watched many a video. I've taken courses. I figured I would share what I came away with.
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Take a beginners course in beekeeping. I can't stress this enough. It's amazing how much you can learn from 'real' beekeepers and it's amazing how much crap and how many mistakes you won't have to experience if you ask many questions.

 

Here is where I took my first beginning course :

http://www.honeybeesonline.com/classes.html

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Join a beekeeping club. You will 'bee' around many people who are yearning to share - that's why they are part of the club. If you are in the Chicago area there aren't many choices but there are great clubs.

 

Image from Windy City Beekeeping Page

The Windy City Beekeepers : Been around since 2007
They meet in the Logan Square area on Tuesdays from 6-8 pm.
In Beekeeping season (April-August)
You can find them here : http://www.meetup.com/The-Chicago-Beekeeping-Meetup-Group/
And here : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Windy-City-Beekeepers-Chicago/151127171626968
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The Cook-DuPage Beekeeping Association

http://cookdupagebeekeepers.com/ 

The Cook-DuPage group is great because of their mentor meetings.

Also, it's kinda cool to be told how stupid you are over a cup of bad coffee in McDonalds!
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This is a less Chicago specific Association but one you should visit if you want good information and if you start getting more serious about the art and science of beekeeping.
The Illinois State Beekeeping Association

website : http://www.ilsba.com/  
Yahoo Group : http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/illinoisstatebeekeepersassociation/

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Watch some good videos and listen to some podcasts. It's amazing how much differing opinion you will get in the podcasts, but listen, listen & listen. You will get the basics that everyone follows plus there is nothing like a beekeeping podcast to put you to sleep if you have insomnia!

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Just like I mentioned in the previous blog post : get a good basic book to learn terminology so when you talk to a mentor you can explain your situation and understand the advice they give you. Beekeepers are super-helpful because more people beekeeping means more bees to pollinate our plants and trees!

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Now that the buzziness is out of the way let's get back to equipment.

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I already mentioned (Previous Blog) that I am a Langstroth Hive type of guy.

You, might start with something else - all power to you - just make sure you talk to people who uses the particular hive you have in the location area you plan to have it.

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O.K. You have your hive picked out. Now what? What tools will you have to have?

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First and foremost : A Smoker : Fair Price is around 30 bucks.(2012)

Don't forget you will need something to put in there as fuel (twine, twigs, paper, pine needles, cotton etc) and something to light it with.

As for lighting the thing - do yourself and your fingers a favor and get a grill lighter. Pack the smoker tight and light from the bottom. If you light the top of you're smoker material you might get hot smoke and burn some bees.

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You will need a hat and veil. Fair Price is $15 for veil and $18 for a hard hat. $25 for a soft hat & veil combo the cute chick in the image is wearing. (2012)

If you're not an experienced beekeeper this is essential apparel.

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You will need a hive tool. Fair Price is $5 (prices from 2012)

You will use this for all sorts of tasks but mainly to pry apart anything that has been stuck together by the bees. Oh boy do they like to stick stuff together! They do that with propolis. What is that? Ever hear of google?  Search the term you nerd I can't explain it - I'm no poindexter!
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This one is iffy but I added it. Get some good heavy vented gloves. Fair price is $15 to $18

Why vented ... well someone told me that it helped keep your hands from sweating too much and bees don't like sweat or the associated smell that comes along with it. Oh yah - don't go to your hive if you smell bad. 

Did you hear that Ronald? Sorry but a shower once a month won't hurt you! Comm'on now!

 Here's a photo of Ronald. I keep tellin him to clean up but it's almost like he likes getting stung or something.

The reason I say this one is iffy is because you will eventually want to lose the gloves. The sooner the better. Evey beekeeper I've spoken to has told me that gloves are useful for beginners like me but they eventually become a hindrance. You want to feel what the bees are doing and the gloves will eventually get in the way. Use them until you are comfortable with your hive.

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This is super useful : A Plastic Spray Bottle: Fair Price  $1.50

This is very handy for filling with half sugar / half water solution - which is needed to spray on your bees before you install them in your hive. If you don't have one you're going to have allot of angry flying bees to deal with.
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This one is unique to rooftop beehives : A Bird Bath : Fair Price $35

You need this because bees LOVE birds!!! They like the way they sing and chirp and fly around so care-free and happy. No, no, no you big dummy - bees don't like birds - some birds eat bees for cryin out loud! You need this because you will need a water source near the hive and on a roof there is little water. If you get a bird bath it will benefit the hive because the bees won't have to travel too far for a water source to keep their hive cool in the summer - but remember bees don't like to get their feet wet! Why because they might have pollen on their knees! For cryin out loud! You know the saying : Bee's Knees ... Sheeesh! Because of this you need to find a way to create dry areas for the bees to land and drink. EASY PARCHEESEY! throw some rocks in there tall enough to break the water surface. Problem solved!
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Don't forget a Big Metal Toolbox : Fair Price $20

I use this to store my smoker fuel, lighter, hive tool and to put my smoker in after I'm done using it.

Don't forget to dump your used smoker fuel into a metal bucket half filled with water (fair price $10) before putting it in the tool box. Smoker fuel (twine, twigs, cotton, pine needles etc.) you will learn burns for hours. You don't want to leave your smoker sitting on the roof for the wind to knock over and possibly start a fire do you? Well DO YOU!!!!!??? I didn't think so!

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There you have it! The absolute essentials for a beginner like me. There is lots of other stuff you could buy and believe me some places will make you think you will need to buy a crap load more. But as far as you working on the hive is concerned this is all you need. 

As for your bees they will need tools and aids of their own but more about that in the next blog post! 

I need to pop me some corn and get my Portlandia on!!! 
Aren't Fred Armisen & Carrie Brownstein the coolest people to ever live!!!

Did I ever mention I love Portland?

I LOVE PORTLAND!!!!