Hive Check

Since I last checked everything seemed fine until about a weeks ago. It looks like hive 1 (my first hive) has way less bees than normal? Maybe they swarmed I thought, so I went to check it out. But found larva crawling out of the entrance. Uh Oh! I pulled the hive apart to find only a few thousand bees left. And wax moth, everywhere. larva, moths, cocoons, and the ugly silky web they leave, the entire hive is gone, and I am sad. I guess there will not be honey extraction!

Hive 2 has bees and looks OK on the surface. Didn't want to probe to deep in case I transferred wax moth eggs over to my one remaining hive.

Hive check

With my interruptions to life as usual, this is the first time I've been in the hives in a long time. I've been keeping an eye on them when I lock up the chickens and everything seemed fine. Hive 1 (old hive) four boxes seems to have a full box of honey, I'll save it for processing on the tour de hives. Then a box mostly honey and some empty frames, then 2 boxes mostly brood. They are as usual a little feisty but less then when they were HOT.
Hive 2 is OK, always quite than 1. It has deep with some brood and some empty frames, and a medium with some brood, honey and a bunch of pollen on top.

feeding

Have fed Hive2 a 2:1 sugar mix for the past week and a bit. They've not been as thirsty for it as they had been last month. But they've gone through 3 mason jars, and I swapped in the 4th tonight.

honey fall 2014

2nd Austin - Le Tour De Hives

Successful day.
Before people started arriving I did a quick inspection of Hive2 layer 2. Looking better, for the rearranging of frames and comb. But low on nectar. Will continue feeding them. Also fixed the drooping comb from my mangling of the deep to medium transition.

I also went into hive1. They're getting a bit hot again. But only 5-10%. Much less than last fall.
I put layer 3 on top. Separated from the hive by a triangle escape and I closed off the roof. I took 1 "superwide" frame of honey. From the 4 there, for my crush and strain demo.

I had about 10 groups come through. Half new to beekeeping this year and half looking to start in the spring. Everyone was excited to see the crush and strain method in action and to taste the raw honey.

In the afternoon, I flitched the other 3 "super wide" frames from hive1. The triangle escape had removed some but not all off the bees.
I left hive1 with;
Layer 4 (previously layer 5) 8 full honey frames.
Layer 3 some built out comb ready to fill (added in june)
queen excluder
Layer 1 and 2; brood, honey and pollen I assume.

Nectar flow

We had some big rain at the start of the week and some cooler days. Flowers are starting to bloom again and apparently the bees my hives noticed too.

Feeding and quick check.

Hive2.
I made up 4 mason jars of 2:1 sugar solution. They went through the first jar overnight. The next 2 disappeared within 48 hours. I just gave them the last jar during a quick check today. I also gave them 1/2 a pollen patty. I killed 7 or 8 SHBs too, in an effort to prevent them breeding in the patty. I looked to see if the "burr" comb had been stabilized: One frame had several columns of comb rising up to the top bar. The other had drooped and was partially attached to the next (empty) frame. I used the hive tool to break and recenter this comb to vertical.

Must recheck in a week or so.