February Hive Inspection

[Tunapalooza]

I have three hives. Two from nucs this past year and one from a nuc the year before. All have overwintered with two hive bodies here in the SF Bay area. All have survived our rather mild winter, although there's a plain distinction in the strength of each. I fed overwinter, but have pulled off all hive-top feeders because Argentine ants are relentless here.

We're do for more rain starting tonight, so I took the opportunity to inspect the hives. Hive #1 (the oldest and strongest) has a honey super that I added a couple of weeks ago. It is about 40% "built out," but I noticed something a bit odd. On some frames, the bees are not building on the foundation, but hanging comb between two frames. I'm leaving it alone, but had not seen this before.

In the upper hive body (I did not go into the lower hive body) there were a few frames of brood and a few frames of capped honey. But there were also a few frames that look like this:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3221/3297810485_0fe93de20c.jpg?v=0

There were some honey stores and brood at the edges on these frames:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3263/3298637996_f8f42f54af.jpg?v=0

Over than these observations, things looked fine to me (as a fairly new beekeeper). I added a super to the #2 hive because the upper hive body only had a frame and ahalf of open space. The upper hive body of the #3 hive is less than 50% built out, but there was lots of brood, so perhaps its just getting a late start.

Comments welcome.

Marc

[EvaST-B]

I had that dark look to what I thought was capped honey in one of mine too - What does that??

[Ravenseye]

Honey stored in cells that had previously been used for brood often appears darker. Sometimes, the honey itself is just darker as well.

[Beaver Dam]

? What is that dark stuff? I've never seen anything like that. Please explain it to me.

[tecumseh]

looks fairly normal. your camera must have excellent resolution???

as the bees consume the honey (thus emptying the cells) at the edge of the brood nest these then will tend to be used for brood rearing.

for myself... early in the spring I like to determine where the brood is located and move (consolidate) this downward in the hive. if I still expect colder weater I like to maintain honey and nectar at the outside location of the brood chamber (insulation). about 50% of the time I will run into frames LOADED with pollen which will limit brood rearing (brood expansion in that direction)... I typically move these outward and replace with empty frames.

above all keep the brood area somewhat intact (as one whole).

[Tunapalooza]

I've got decent photo gear. Photos were taken with a Nikon D80, 105mm Nikkor macro lens, and a macro flash set-up.

The frame in question is from the upper brood box on a vigorous hive. The lower brood box (which I did not examine) must have plenty of room for brood. I've learned that the bees usually know best, so I'll leave the frames alone. But I'll take another look at my other two hives that are markedly less vigorous. Perhaps they are honey bound, although one would expect the girls to make room for brood as needed since there's still room to place honey on outer frames.

Marc

[tecumseh]

marc writes:
Perhaps they are honey bound, although one would expect the girls to make room for brood as needed since there's still room to place honey on outer frames.

tecumseh:
honey is generally not a problem and yes the girls deal with this quite as you suggest. honey they use up readily and move. however... if I had two frame of honey (in the brood nest) towards the outide walls ,one uncapped and one capped, I would move the uncapped one towards the brood area and the capped one towards the outside wall. the girls seem to have some reluctance to uncap... not so much to move or use. some old time bee keepers would scratch capped honey with a capping scratcher or fork to assist the girls in the decision to uncap. if I was a new beekeeper I would employ this manipulation very sparingly, since a bit too much dripping honey has the potential to create robbing.

a frame of pollen is something else. they tend to use this up slowly and I would suspect??? they don't move it at all.

good luck...

[odfrank]

Feeding over winter in Contra Costa is unnecessary if you are a suburban beekeeper, except for weak hives or starts. I remove honey from brood chambers this time of year to make room for brood rearing. Bees in suburban bay area need little in the way of winter stores, unless they are out in the wild lands away from residential landscaping.