Episode 8: Beautifully Ruthless

Finally, a long overdue recap of my last hive inspection, where I was joined by Liz of TwoHoneys. After lots of fretting and hand wringing, I finally accepted the fact that I needed help and contacted Liz. Sorry again for the lack of pictures, but without Marc, and with my own hands covered in honey, I was not able to get any action shots.

Temperatures had been (and now are again) in the mid to high 90s. In this heat, comb becomes very soft and it is difficult, not to mention risky, to try to work in your hives. Luckily we had a break in the weather early last week, and Liz was able to come over on Tuesday. She arrived at about 4:30 and was exactly as I expected: smiling, kind, and had a truck full of bee-related gear and supplies. I told her about my troubles getting my smoker lighted, and she shared a tip on making starters out of corrugated cardboard. She also suggested getting a torch from Home Depot to make things easier. (All I want for Christmas is...a torch. Oh, and maybe a chicken coop.)

Once we were both suited up, we got down to business with the hive. As expected, the cross comb was pretty bad. Once we had pulled out a couple bars, Liz realized that we were going to be doing some major surgery (chopping off some comb) and that, ready or not, I was getting a honey harvest. The first few bars were all honey, and some of it was cut off so we could push the remaining comb into a straight line parallel with the top bar. We left one comb with uncapped honey inside the hive on the bottom so the bees could take that honey back. The rest that we were cutting off was put into a bucket for harvesting. The comb built on my hair clip fix bar from two weeks ago had fallen off :( Liz told me that she has tried that method before, too, and it didn't work well for her either. To re-attach comb, she just uses large rubber bands around the entire comb and bar.

It became apparent to me once we started working (or, when Liz started working) that one of my problems is my fear or reluctance to hurt bees while moving things around inside the hive. She said that "sometimes, you have to be ruthless" and just get down to work.  So, yes, more bees than I would have like died while were fixing issues that were the result of my inexperience. It made me sad. But she also said that when you keep bees, you're going to kill a few for the greater good. So, in being a bit more "ruthless", I can avoid situations like this in the future.

We carried on further into the hive, pulling the bars apart one by one. We finally reached the brood area and cut out some drone comb which was thrown away. Since the only purpose of drones is to mate with queens, they don't really serve much of a purpose in the hive. Their larger size also makes them targets for one of the worst pests plaguing honey bees: the varroa mite.

I think there were about 3 combs of mostly brood. We looked for the queen while we were working, but didn't spot her. There was worker brood, though, which means that she was there somewhere. This may have been when she slipped out the front entrance. I'll never know for sure. Anyway, apparently my bees are super honey-makers, but my brood nest seems a little weak. Finally, we got all the bars separated and comb straightened out, for the most part. Liz suggested some adjustments and told me that my popsicle stick guides weren't going to cut it, so I need to make a trip to Home Depot this week and get some materials to make better guides. Once it was all said and done, there was honey everywhere. Luckily, the bees can drink it up and put it back into combs for themselves, so all is not lost. Makes me feel a little better about the combs I've broken in the past. Upon closing up the hive, we noticed the unusual activity at the entrance I mentioned in my earlier posts:

 Unprofessional photo taken by yours truly. "WTF" - the Bees

There you can see tons of bees clustered on the front of the hive. I'm still not sure if it was because the queen was outside, or if they were just really upset, but for a while things were pretty dicey and I thought they might hit the road (or the air?) Luckily, they stayed with me and things seem to be back to normal. Unfortunately temps are back up again, but I need to get back in there and see how things are going. I may end up doing it earlier in the morning one of these days. 

Now for the fun part: harvesting the honey. 

 Harvested comb before crushing

One of the cool things about a top bar hive is that you don't need any special equipment to extract the honey. You can either harvest cut comb honey (honey sold to be eaten with the wax, still inside the comb) or use the crush and strain method. To crush and strain, I just got a potato masher and mashed all of this comb and honey into a big, gooey mess. All the instructional videos I watched said you should put down cardboard where you work to help contain the mess. "Oh, I don't need that," I thought "I'm not going to make a mess." Oh, how wrong I was. Somehow, honey goes everywhere, whether or not you intended for it to happen. I'm still finding sticky spots in my kitchen almost a week later. Anyhow, once you have your crushed honey/comb mix, you pour it into a sieve so that the clean honey drains into a pot, leaving the wax and other debris behind.  Something else I scoffed at while watching YouTube tutorials was that there would be bees in the honey. There weren't lots in mine, but I think there were at least two dead and two or three alive that I took out of the pot before straining (a couple of which I later found crawling around my kitchen, covered in honey. Sort of sad.) 

It was so great to be able to meet Liz and learn from her. I hope it is just the beginning of some additional education for me in the world of bees and top bar hives. It was sort of a difficult experience, too, though. I hated seeing so many bees die, especially because of something I could have prevented if I had known better. I know it happens, but to me, each one is still a life. So, I will learn to be a little more ruthless, but I will still try to work as carefully as possible and avoid injuring my bees. They spend their short lives working to make honey and care for each other, as part of one amazing, greater organism. The bees are teaching me so much, and I never want to take a single one of their lives for granted.

Last night, as I was sleeping,

I dreamt - marvelous error! -

that I had a beehive

here inside my heart.

And the golden bees

were making white combs

and sweet honey

from my old failures.

-Last Night by Antonio Machado 

  

They Stayed

Well, three days later and the bees are back inside the hive, for the most part. I still see increased activity on the landing board and front of the hive, but I suppose they are still cleaning up the mess we made on Tuesday. The large clumps of bees that looked like mini-swarms are gone.

When I got home on Wednesday evening, they were all clustered on the stick, so I picked it up and shook them into the hive again. I think the queen may have been there as Liz suggested, because after I did that most of the bees stayed inside.

I set out the wax left over from harvesting the honey so the bees could take back what I was not able to filter out. Next week I'll take it back inside, rinse it, and keep it to be filtered and melted later on. I might make candles or soap with it.

Still working on a post about Liz's visit and correcting the cross comb. For now, I leave you with a photo of the beautiful honey. I ended up harvesting about 4 pounds. I will most likely feed some of it back to the bees once the nectar flow slows down.

 Much more flavorful than store bought honey

Dear Bees,

Thank you for staying with me. I know it's been a rough week, but we'll get through this and all come out better for it. Thank you for helping me meet a wonderful new person who is sharing her knowledge of bees with me, and helping me become more comfortable with asking for help. Also, thanks for not stinging me (yet). 

Love,

Sarah 

Fixing ... to leave?

After much anticipation, yesterday Liz from TwoHoneys arrived at my house to help me fix the cross comb issue in my hive. It was pretty exciting and most definitely a learning experience. It was also rather upsetting for the bees, apparently.


When we finished working on the hive, a whole lot of them were gathered outside around the entrance. Liz left and we were hoping that once they settled down they would go back inside, but about an hour later there were even more bees on the outside of the hive, and some on the ground below the entrance. 


I called Liz and she told me I should try to scoop them with my hands back into the hive.  Either they were getting ready to abscond, or the queen was outside the hive (we did not manage to spot her while working earlier.) 


"This will require some courage" she said. And it did, but it was also neat to feel all those bees in my gloved hands. I scooped as many as I could and placed them back inside the hive, and also leaned a tree branch near the entrance on the ground where some of the bees had settled so they could use it like a ladder if they so chose. 


I went to bed optimistic, but saw this morning that they had all clustered on the tree branch "ladder." Maybe the queen is there. Maybe they will be gone when I get home from work. Only time will tell. 

Shot with my phone - bees on the outside of the hive with the stick

We harvested some honey while fixing the cross comb, which is pretty awesome. I didn't get any pictures really since Marc wasn't able to be there, but I will write another more detailed post about what we actually did soon, along with an update about what happens with my bees. Hopefully they will decide to stay. 


We fixed the cross comb. We harvested honey. Some bees died in the process. So it goes.  

Episodes 6 & 7: A Sticky Situation

I've been debating today about updating the blog versus cleaning. It's been too long since I've done both, but the blog wins tonight. Don't you feel lucky? I have a lot to write about, so I hope you're in a comfortable chair.

Last week I was in Florida, but the week before I set out to start making some corrections to the cross combed mess in my hive. First, I took out all the honey bars and a couple of brood bars and added popsicle sticks with beeswax to work as comb guides on each bar and hopefully "inspire" my little friends to build straight comb. I also did some research on cross comb correction and read that you can use a hair clip to attach some comb to one of your bars straight, so I decided to try that as well.

 Tools of the trade, and bars with new comb guides attached

I opened up the hive and put the honey bars back in behind my follower board, then proceeded to open the front part of the hive where my bees are living. I'm not sure what is "normal" since I have no basis for comparison, but my bees seem to be quite prolific propolis-makers. Propolis is "bee glue" that the bees make to seal up unwanted open spaces. They use a lot of it on the bars and I now have to use the hive tool to pry them out every time I work on my hive. Hopefully it's a sign of a healthy hive, but it also ups my clumsiness factor. I seem to always be clanging or banging something around as I'm prying off the bars. I wonder how long it takes to acquire grace as a beekeeper. 

Anyway, next step was to attach the hair clips to a couple bars:

Once this was done, I needed to pull out one of the bars with messed up comb, cut it off, and then grab it with the clip. I managed to get a bar out, but it was pretty messy. Then it was time to cut out a piece of comb, which wasn't too hard, but there were still quite a few bees on it. I suddenly remembered: I don't have a bee brush. They actually sell brushes for beekeepers to brush the bees off frames of comb. I didn't buy one since I thought it was kind of silly at the time, but I was really wishing for one in that moment. I tried using some blades of grass without success, so I finally just took the piece of comb and gently brushed it on the ground to get the bees off. They were less than thrilled, for sure. By this time it had also been over 10 minutes with the hive open, so things were getting a little more intense. I was fighting that familiar rush of adrenaline and flight response screaming "run for your life" in my head. After a couple deep breaths, I clipped the comb to the bar and put it back in. I also pushed the comb on the bar where I did some 'trimming' back into a more straight position.  Since things were not going quite as smoothly as I 'd hoped, I decided to just go with one hair clip. I re-arranged things, put the lid back on the hive, and said a prayer that the bees would correct themselves while I was on vacation.

Then I spent a week on the beach in the sun, and didn't really think too much about my bees. Sorry bees. I think they must have felt it, because they didn't quite take to my corrections like I hoped. Last Sunday I went back and opened up the hive after about a week and a half. Some of the comb I had attached to the hair clip had fallen off, but they had still built off of it. The new comb was a bit wavy, and there was also a second comb on that bar attached to the bar in front of it. I gave the bees a very disapproving look. If they had middle fingers, they probably would have given them back to me.

Results of the hair clip re-attachment. You can also see propolis (orange) and the incredible mess inside my hive in this shot. 

I cut off the second comb from the hair clip bar and stuck it on to one of the bars where I added the comb guide.

 New comb guide with honeycomb stuck in the middle and bees probably wondering what the hell I was doing. 

I tried pulled out another bar and broke some comb, which dripped honey everywhere. The bees proceeded to freak out. 

Dripping honey + messed up comb that is also attached to the wall of the hive. 

So I now have a somewhat straight comb on the hair clip bar. I read on a beekeeping forum that putting an empty bar in front of a bar with straight comb will help the bees continue to build straight, so I added a bar in front of it, and put the bar with new comb guides and cut comb behind it. I didn't even attempt to pull out any more bars. 

I was feeling quite overwhelmed after this latest check of the hive. I know that I've learned a lot in a short time about beekeeping, butl there is still so much more to absorb and experience. Asking for help does not come easily for me, but I finally mentally conceded defeat to the crooked comb and admitted that it was time to call for reinforcements. After these last two experiences where I've broken lots of comb, spilled honey everywhere and drowned some bees, I knew it was time. I was upsetting myself and the bees now, and things were not improving.

I've mentioned Liz from TwoHoneys in the blog before, so I sent her an e-mail SOS. She agreed to come this weekend or early next week to help me make some major corrections. I'm so excited to get some help from someone who really knows what she is doing. I'll make sure to get lots of pictures and post an update about it once that happens. In the mean time, there is not much I can do. Since the temps are in the 90s, the wax comb is really soft and I would risk doing even more damage if I went in and messed with the bars right now. So, although my 'wishing and hoping' for straight comb has proven highly ineffective in the past, that is all I have until Liz comes. 

One of my girls eating honey off the hive tool

The bees have taught me, or at least forced me to accept, that it is okay to need and ask for help sometimes. I'm sure it's a lesson I'll have to continue to learn, but for now, that is what I'm taking from my little winged friends. Peace, patience, perseverance...and a little honey to sweeten the deal. 

Let the wax raise

green statues, let the honey

drip in infinite tongues, let the ocean be a big comb

and Earth a tunic of flowers, let the World

be a cascade, magnificent hair, unceasing

growth of Beedom.

-Pablo Neruda

Inspired

First Taste
by Sarah Hegner 6/6/12


Upon the first taste of honey
Out of the comb cut from my hive
I realized that
Nature has her ways
Though I ask most politely
That she follow my plan
She whispers to the bees
Survive, survive
And I can only watch as
My straight lines are shifted
Life is built at an angle
Where I expected empty space
Is filled with surprising sweetness
And so I think
Upon the first taste of honey
That I am lucky that
Nature has her ways

Episode 5: A Mess (Amateur Hour at the Hive)

I feel like I deserve a failing blogger award. I have wanted to update more frequently, just as I have wanted to visit my bees more frequently in these recent days, but it is one of many things on a long to-do list.
I went to check on the hive this past Monday, and it had been about two weeks since my last inspection. At the last inspection, there was a definite increase in cross-combing. I was not able to pull out bars 1-3, and I had a  hard time with the rest and damaged some comb in the process.
I didn't get to the hive on Monday until the evening hours, so I was a bit worried that the bees would be unhappy. After my last experience, though, I read on a forum that if you remove a lot of bars at a time, it causes more agitation for the bees. I think that may have been part of my problem. So this time, I pulled out one bar to make a little space, and the bees seemed much happier about it. Earlier in the day, I witnessed more activity at the hive entrance than I have ever seen. There were a lot of bees that seemed to be hovering around the entrance. I wonder (and hope) that this was a group of newly born bees on an orientation flight. By the time I went to open the hive, things had calmed down, but I was a little worried that things were getting cramped and that the bees needed more space. There were still three empty bars before my follower board, so I don't think that was it. I pulled out the first bar with comb and saw some capped drone brood. Every time I see drones or drone brood, I worry a little that my hive is queenless and I have laying workers, but I don't think they would be making so much progress if that was the case. And even if it was, they will make a new queen anyway. (Right? I hope...)
The second to last bar with comb was harder to remove, and in my clumsiness, it slipped off of one side and started falling down into the hive. I had to use my hive tool to get it back out and killed a couple bees in the process. I always feel bad about that. This also made me understand why people work their bees without gloves. As much as I appreciate the security of the gloves (and the fact that I would have been stung in the hand last time had it not been for them), they are way too big for my hands and make it a lot harder for me to feel what I am touching. So far, I've managed to shed my multiple layers of clothing, and I'm down to a pair of jeans (no leggings beneath) and a tank top under my bee jacket and veil. I could probably get stung in the leg if the bees really wanted to do that, but so far, so good.
Back to that bar I almost dropped... I pulled it out and there were two separate combs on it, both at an angle. One was broken off of a bigger comb from the next bar. Nectar was dripping out. Bees were annoyed. I put the bar back in. Crap. When I went to the next bar, I saw that it had the same problem, only exponentially worse. Both pieces of comb were attached to the next bar. At that point I sort of gave it up and decided I have to get those guides on the bars as soon as possible, or pretty soon I'm not going to be able to look at anything because they'll all be stuck together. I pulled out all the bars behind my follower board and set them aside before closing up the hive.(Side note: during this inspection, there were a lot of bees poking around in this area which is technically closed off to them. Not sure what they are doing. There was no comb but there was some propolis on the bars.) Yesterday I bought 75 large popsicle sticks. I'm going to glue them to the boards and then paint them with beeswax. I think I also need to cut off some existing comb and re-attach it to one of the bars. I need to find a hair clip to do this. I think I might make a video when I do, for your amusement, of course. Maybe something like this, except I'll be wearing my oversize gloves:

I promise my video, if I make one, will be better than this. You can't see anything he actually does with the comb on camera, but the part around the 12:30 mark where he's messing with the comb and it  falls off the bar sort of made me feel better about myself. 

In summary... Sighted on this inspection: workers, drones, capped drone brood, pollen stores, nectar stores, honey (?), friendly neighbors watching me work the hive. Not sighted: the queen (hiding, or absent, as usual), worker brood of any kind (probably because I couldn't get more bars out.) Need to do: put guides on remaining bars, cut out one comb and re-attach straight, continue to beg bees to not cross comb the entire hive.
Lesson learned: need to address these things earlier. I thought I had more time, but my bees are efficient and now I have an even bigger mess.

Do I look like I know what I'm doing?

Photo by Marc D.M. Croswell

If Bach Had Been A Beekeeper

Charles Tomlinson

If Bach had been a beekeeper

he would have heard

all those notes

suspended above one another

in the air of his ear

as the differentiated swarm returning

to the exact hive,

topping up the cells

with the honey of C major,

food for the listening generations, 

key to their comfort

and solace of their distress

as they return and return

to those counterpointed levels

of hovering wings where

movement is dance

and the air itself

a scented garden

 

Heart to Heart

Dear Bees,

I know I should not anthropomorpize you... you are insects, not people...but sometimes, I can't help myself. I like to think that maybe, in some way, you have emotions. Because if you have some sort of emotions, that means that maybe you could understand my emotions, and these days, I really wish there was someone or something that could truly relate to me. The truth is that humans, as much as we try, can never truly, fully understand one another. We are limited in that we are very individual creatures. Yes, we have the power of speech, but sometimes I think even that limits us in some ways. We can talk and talk, with word after word after word, and still leave each other totally confused. Sometimes even when we think we understand, in reality, we couldn't be further from knowing the real truth that someone was trying to explain to us. It's mostly just educated guessing between us humans. We are ever limited by the life experiences we have had, the impressions they have left on us, and our ability to imagine the reality of others.

I don't think you can comprehend, my little apis mellifera, just how beautiful your communication is. I recently read about the queen and her court in the hive. Inside the hive, the queen moves around the combs laying eggs. She is surrounded by a court of worker bees that feed and groom her, but not all bees in the court are feeding or grooming. Some of those bees are just touching. They touch the queen, and then they touch other workers to spread the queen's pheromones. Those workers touch other bees, further spreading the pheromones and confirming with every bee in the hive that all is well. There is order. Things are okay. We are safe. Tens of thousands of you are living just to support each other. You exist as individual bees, but you could not exist alone. The only way you can live on is as part of a single, greater organism. 

Sometimes there is nothing I would like more than to be able to communicate like you, my bees. I wish that, through touch, I could let those around me know that everything is okay. I would touch someone I care about, and then, through every subsequent touch with others, I would let them know that all was well. Things are okay. There is order. We are safe. I wish that through touch alone, we could come to truly understand each other, that through touch we could shed the limitations of our own realities and simply just "know" what is real - for you, for me, for all of us.  

There are limits to your beautifully simple communication, though, dear bees. With a little puff of smoke I can temporarily mask pheromones that you use to communicate. And lately I feel like my own life is filled with smoke. Communication is blocked. I try and try, but there is confusion. There is an absence of understanding. My heart breaks with each reminder of how very limited we are in our ability to understand not just each other as human beings, but also the world around us.

So, I will keep watching you. Maybe if I watch long enough, I will learn more of your secrets. And maybe when a few of you land on me as I work with the hive and your tiny feet and antennae brush against my hands, we will share a moment of true understanding. 

 Photo by Marc D.M. Croswell

Love, 
Sarah