[madjack]

Did my forth inspection a week or so ago, hive is 58 days old as of then.

Things have recovered fairly well from my last debacle.



Bees can be seen coming and going normally. I have been giving them a gallon per hive of 1:1 every 5 days or so. I've switched from a Double Jar Feeder to a 1 Gallon Frame Feeder that I got at Ballard bee when I was there buying protein patties. The bees love this thing. The rate at which they take the syrup has tripled. It's kinda a pain in the ass to have to open the hive each time I want to feed them, but it gives me a quick chance to look around. The bees also seem keen on the protein patties I have been giving them and I've seen no more evidence of cannibalism.



The bees seemed to be carrying a decent amount pollen now. Much of it is a grey color; maybe pollen from the forget-me-nots?

 

[madjack]

Carniolan Hive Upper Box

This box is mostly drawn out now with the center frame having a nice dense pattern of uncapped brood. Stores seem OK as well here. I'm not fooling myself into believing that those nectar cells are holding anything but sugar water but at least I know they are not starving anymore.

 

[madjack]

Carniolan Hive Lower Box

This box was the scene of most of the carnage in the last inspection and it looks like things are much improved.

box

Here you can see the new feeder and what's left of the protein patty I had put in a week ago.

 

[madjack]

Italian Hive Upper Box

This box is doing OK, but I wish I was seeing more brood.

box

 

[madjack]

Italian Hive Lower Box

This box made me feel better. Lots of capped and uncapped brood. And even some capped honey (really just sugar I think).

box

No sign of the protien patty I put in here. Looks like the bees have been putting it to good use.

 

[StonyCreekBees]

Beautiful photos! May I ask what kind of camera you use?

 

[AugustC]

This time of year the grey pollen being brought into my hives is from poppy.

 

[sfloyd]

Those are some GREAT pictures!!! They are in the running for the best that I have came accross in a long time.

 

[madjack]

Beautiful photos! May I ask what kind of camera you use?

Thanks!

For these photos I used a Nikon d40x body with a Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Lens and a Nikon SB-900 AF Speedlight Flash.

 

[OhioBee]

I noticed your entrance reducer is still one. Any idea when you will remove it? I just removed mine (48 days old) and that's why I'm curious. Also, you number your frames. Why? Part of your record keeping system? Last question, you have two different types of bees. What are the behavior differences? What are the carniolan like? I have only Italian. How close are the hives to each other, and does that matter? Thanks!

 

[madjack]

I noticed your entrance reducer is still one. Any idea when you will remove it? I just removed mine (48 days old) and that's why I'm curious.

I had some robbing issues a few weeks back and I am now hesitant to remove the reducer until I see it has become a real impediment to traffic. But I may be being overly cautious. I was under feeding my bees and they may have just been robbing from each other because they were starving. Now that they have plenty of food
I could probably take the reducers off but I am a little gun shy.

Also, you number your frames. Why? Part of your record keeping system?

Yes, part of my record keeping. My goal is to take a photo of both side of each from every time I do an inspection. My thinking was that I could then use the numbering on the frames to tracking the progress and usage of a frame over time. However, when I added the top box and put in a bunch of new frames I neglected to add numbers to them. Not my brightest move... Also the stickers I used the first time were old and not very sticky and so now are falling off. I still believe numbering the frames was a good idea but I need to do better at implementation.

Last question, you have two different types of bees. What are the behavior differences? What are the carniolan like? I have only Italian.

The Carniolans and the Italian seem very similar to me but I can't say I've been doing this long enough to notice any fine distinctions. The Carniolans are mostly darker colored and the Italians are mostly lighter colored. Both are very calm and only get a little ornery when I open up the hives.

How close are the hives to each other, and does that matter?

My hives are about 3 feet apart. I've read drifting can be a problem if the hive are too close together but I've got to work with the space I have.

 

[OhioBee]

Thanks!