Help! Query from a beginning West River Valley beekeeper

I received this query today in an e-mail message from a friend. Please respond: any helpful comments will be appreciated.

"...since everyone is talking about harvesting honey we went into the top super to see if there was any honey. A week or so ago there seemed to be a lot of bees in that super, but today although there were a lot of bees there is NO comb. I have been feeding and they are eating the sugar water very quickly. Would you assume that our hive is having trouble maintaining like what we hear of others? Our plan at this point is to feed and leave everything for the bees to have this winter. Tell me what you think?

A little discouraging. We didn't venture to the broods........."

Bees Starving!!

Just wanted to alert other beekeepers that I and another local beekeeper have had bees starving for lack of stores,.....yes, in the middle of summer!
A few weeks ago I noticed dead bees on the entrance of a nuc. When I checked them they had no honey in the frames and they were cannibalizing the brood. They were desperate! I immediately started feeding them sugar syrup, and things turned right around,...they're doing fine now. I checked my other hives & nucs and found some others that were out of stores, too.

Yesterday another local beekeeper called me saying they had a hive with many bees dying, and when I got over there it turned out they were starving, too.
It seems the ones most likely to be on the verge of starving are the hives I made up in the spring or later with frames of capped brood/honey/ pollen. The weather has been so rainy, and we're into the summer nectar dearth, so the bees with little stores have had to consume all they had just to survive, leaving them precariously low, or entirely out of stores.

So I just wanted to let other folks know, and you might want to check your hives and feed any that are light.
Hopefully the fall flows of goldenrod and bamboo (japanese knotweed) will be good.
Good luck!
Denny

Beehive cameo

An apple orchard in bloom is a nice place to bee.

There's a hive about three minutes into Five Minutes in Miller's Orchard, starring Dwight Miller, Jr., of Dummerston, Vermont.



By Tegote

There are Hungry Bears in These Hills!!

A black bear saunters out of the woods and starts flirting with the edges of a yard. This Vermont bear is hungrier and bolder than usual because beech nuts and other favorite foods have become scarce this spring. The animal spots, most likely smells, a bird feeder in the yard and eventually works up enough courage to knock it down with its massive claws and starts eating. While there, the bear smells something equally delicious. Ah, the sweet juicy smell of HONEYBEES!

Does this scenario sound familiar to you? It does to a lot of us.

Last week, I was awakened at 2:10 am by a strange sound on the deck outside my bedroom window, followed by a chorus of intense alarm barking from our dogs. At the sliding glass door, I saw in the moonlight a medium large black bear standing upright on two legs and holding the handrail of the gate in its front paws, as if trying to open it. Even though I had remembered to bring in our sunflower seed bird feeder, I had forgotten about the hummingbird feeder, and the little pile of thistle seed! The dogs and I made a lot of scary noises and the bear retreated back into the woods. I had trouble going back to sleep that night from worrying about our bees.

Happy news in the morning! The hive was safe and happy. (Of course our hive lives in a "Safety X-treme" bee yard designed and constructed last year with the assistance of a VT Game Warden, and the many lessons learned from several bear attacks over the years, but that is another story.) This very hungry bear returned about 2 am every night for the next four nights, although its presence was sensed only by the dogs.

PLEASE whatever you do, bring your bird feeders inside each night, or stop feeding them all together. And please add a comment to this post, you can do so even if you are not a member. Let the rest of us know where the bears are active in your neighborhood, and what you are doing to keep your bees safe.

Be a Bee Blogger. Thanks

What has happened to these bees?

Happy Acres wanted to post the following photos of the frames from one of his hives that died over the winter. Notice the circles of dead bees. The bees in the center look dark as if they were burned. Notice the white substance around them as well. Does anyone have any ideas as to what might have caused this?

Please make a comment below. Thanks.

In you go

Well, I put the two packages in yesterday as today's weather was uncertain. Alas, today did have some fair moments. They seem to be doing well. I gave each of them a "global patty" of pollen which I purchased at Betterbee.

I was able to send Carol the pictures of the one sick hive and I will try again to send them with this note.

Mite Control

I have an old Navy buddy down in Kentucky that is also a struggling beekeeper. He was up here about three years ago and found me working at the problem and now we trade tidbits when we can.

I told him about the bottom screens to reduce mites. They have been using that method for years but don't put anything below the screen. I'm sure their weather is warmer and the season longer so they just leave the hive bottom open.

Something else they do is put a paper towel saturated with vegetable oil on top of the upper super. The theory is that the bees try to rid the hive of the trash and in the process coat themselves in oil that repels the mites. He says it seems to help.

Has anyone heard of such a thing?

Another thing he is trying is starting with a larger package when he starts a new colony.

Bud