www.LongwoodFarm.org

In June of this year, my husband and I drove down to Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, a three hour drive from Chicago to Fairmount, IL, to pick-up my nucleus from David Burns. On the ride back, the bees seemed to handle it well. I installed the four frames from the nucleus into a deep hive body with foundationless frames the following morning. I did not feed them as they had honey in their combs and many plants were in bloom for their forage.

My first inspection was a few weeks after the bees were installed into their new home. I found that they had built combs across three frames rather than on individual frames. The deep was full of comb, honey and brood. It was unexpected for them to fill the box so quickly. They evidently figured out how they should be making the comb as the other frames were built correctly. I tore the cross frame comb out, along with the brood it held in various stages of development. I hoped they would remake the comb along the frames but a subsequent inspection showed that they are set in their ways. This picture shows the frame after I cut it out of the box.

As I write this in September, they are still foraging but have not expanded into the next super.

I hope that they will be moved out of the deep box and into the shallow by winter's end. Then I can dispose of the cross frame comb without hurting them again.

Over the summer the girls have expanded into a shallow super that I am using for a hive body. My objective is to get the whole hive on shallows, primarily due to the weight of full deep and medium boxes. I do not believe that they will have enough honey to make it through this first winter without help.

Beekeeping Year One — 2008

I have wanted to be a Beekeeper for the last five years. Living in the city, I am limited on what critters I can keep in my yard and Chicago encourages beekeeping. I took the plunge.

Beginning by reading as much I could during the prior year, I decided that I wanted to use a Top Bar Hive since the natural comb environment appealed to me. I don't want to use chemical treatments. My reading suggests that if the bees are allowed to make their own comb and eventually regress to a smaller size, they will be happier and healthier. I decided on Carniolan honeybees as they are very gentle and have a smaller cluster when they over winter. The smaller cluster seemed appropriate for the type of hive I was going to use. I purchased a three-foot long top bar hive and ordered my package of bees from Buckeye Bees in Ohio.

The bee yard. I built a "bee yard" to keep my dog away from the bees. She has had bad experiences with Deer flies and tries to eat anything she finds buzzing. The fenced area is 8 x 12 feet. I used 2-in by 4-in wire mesh fencing attached to posts on the east and west ends, I have an open picket on the north side, privacy fence on the south side. I have pear and quince trees planted on the wire fence. Rhubarb, strawberries and a grape vine along the wood fences. Clover in the open/non-bed area. On my city lot, I use every available space for growing fruit, flowers or vegetables.

Waiting for their arrival was nerve-wracking. My supplier, Buckeye Bees, does not notify you as to when they have shipped the bees.

I stopped by the post office to let them know they were coming and to give them my telephone number.

The weather was getting nice, I couldn't take it anymore and contacted the bee people. Sure enough, they had been shipped — Parcel Post! I called the post office, they stated that they were there and they would deliver them. The day went by, the clerk I had left my phone number with called and encouraged me to come pick them up. I did and found the girls sitting on the loading dock with many postal workers unwilling to go near them.

I took the girls home and sprayed them with sugar water. Hmmm, the box did not look like what I expected. It seemed BIGGER. On closer examination, I found that I had been sent TWO packages. I had one hive. What to do? I decided to put the two packages in the hive, with one queen and then see if someone wanted the other one.

Busy bees. My hive was now off to a good start. I put a feeder on the front, but the girls did not take much of the sugar water. A good sign. The first inspection at a few weeks was promising, comb was being built. I have a chair next to the hive where I sit and watch them. All looked good, pollen was visible, they were busy girls.

The July inspection showed an almost-full hive. I needed to figure out what to do, as they would swarm if I did not do something quickly. I decided to put a Langstroth box on top for expansion. I ordered the equipment, so did everyone else in beekeeping. My order went on backorder. By the time I was able to set up the expansion, the girls had swarmed. Bummer.

But, I thought, now I have a hive of Chicago mutts, maybe this will be a good thing. They will be hardy and tough for surviving our horrendous winters. I got them ready for winter as best I could. I was not happy with the hive setup as now they had just a small top entrance that went into the Lanstroth. They had never used the Langstroth so I removed the frames, leaving the entrances the same.

In November I took a good look on the exterior and found evidence of their housekeeping.

In December we had snow, sub zero weather, horizontal rain and 50 degree days. I checked on them on one of the warm days. I found that the top bars had swollen from the rain and closed their entrance. I went ahead and looked inside and found them in a big damp pile, on the bottom of the hive. Another Bummer. I felt like I had failed them.

I pulled out all the comb and brought it into the house. Since I didn't treat the bees, I can eat the honey. I am still smashing comb and draining them, I have three gallons so far.

This year was a reactionary year. It was a very valuable learning experience. As much as I like the idea of the top bar hive, I need a much larger one to support a colony. The weight of such a hive is a little mind boggling for a middle aged lady, I have decided to go to a Langstroth hive. I have found a beekeeper that breeds Illinois queens and have a nucleus on order from him. Another year, hopefully a better year for my girls.

www.LongwoodFarm.org

My Beekeeping Journal

Beekeeping Year Two — 2009

Beekeeping Year One — 2008

Bee Related Links