Swarm Trap - May 12th 2023

On Friday, May 12th

• 2:00 PM - active scouting at one swarm trap, zero scouting at other traps 
• 3:00 PM - very active scouting at one swarm trap, zero scouting at other traps
• 6:24 PM - air is thick with bees
• 6:48 PM - the majority of bees settled on the outside of the swarm trap and began to move in
• 8:23 PM - bees reversed and are on the outside of the trap

On Saturday, May 13th

• setup 8-frame deep box near the swarm trap; in the last photo, check out the homemade rectangular UV-reactive blue 8-frame entrance
• add a queen excluder beneath the deep box
• spray the bees with sugar water
• carefully lower the swarm trap
• carefully walk the swarm trap to the deep box
• spray the bees with sugar water
• brush bees into the deep box
• add frames
• move the pheromone lure from the swarm trap to the landing board
• add an inner cover and telescoping lid
• after 2 hours, all the loose bees have reoriented to their new home

On Sunday, May 14th

• add a gallon pail feeder with 32 ounces of 1:1 syrup

I'm guessing that 

• the swarm was hanging very close to their preferred swarm trap, and the scout bees ignored my other swarm traps
  
• this swarm contains more than 1 queen

swarm attached to outside of swarm trap

This story begins with several days of bees scouting my 4 swarm traps - each trap contains some brood comb and a swarm lure.  Next, I discovered a huge swarm attached to the outside of my tree hanging 8-frame swarm trap.  During back-to-back cool drizzly weather days, I wait for the swarm to move into the box.

After 2 days, I give up waiting and successfully lower the trap and bees to their new location.  After the bump transfer, I discovered 3 pieces of comb - previously hidden beneath the swarm.    Outdoor comb construction was almost beyond my imagination.

For a few days, I will keep a queen includer beneath the new hive and a 1gal pail feeder with Honey-B-Healthy above the inner cover.

small hive beetle larvae & dark brood comb

If I told you what happened, you probably would not believe it. The first photo contains the queen's retinue. When my finger tips touch these bees, enough space opens up for me to see her majesty - this experience is a rare gift.

I have been away for one week and returned to a hive with significantly fewer bees - maybe the hive swarmed, perhaps more than once.  My concern is that this hive has a huge surplus of honey, and many deep frames of dark brood comb attractive to small hive beetles (SHB) - too many frames, too much space and too few bees to keep the SHB confined to the margins of hive.

To my horror, several frames in the bottom box of this skyscraper hive contain SHB larvae crawling through pollen, honey and the dark brood comb.   I created a new hive configuration containing no dark brood comb at all.  I moved the small population of bees onto clean light colored comb, added a one gallon pail of 1:1 syrup (with Honey B Healthy) and reduced the entrance.  Stay tuned.

1gal pail feeder

I'm using one gallon pail feeders and Honey B Healthy purchased from P.N. Williams.  It's seems easier to make large batches of syrup and have two pail feeders per hive.

• bees take a few minutes to clear the pail feeder and if a pail feeder is left completely empty, then propolis may cover the pail feeder screen
• electrical tape helps line-up the pail feeder screen and inner cover hole
• inverting the pail feeder over a bucket helps control ant attracting spills

These bee packages have been fed continuously since May.  According to my counting board results, this has been my best year for controlling small hive beetles and varroa mites--this is also the first year with Lula Georgia bee packages and continuous feeding with Honey B Healthy. 

According to the official climate summary, this is a record setting warm summer which followed a prolonged winter--as always it seems difficult to apply the conventional rules of a normal beekeeping year when no two years have the same weather.  As I heard Malcolm T. Sanford says, "all bee keeping is local," meaning that continuous feeding may not work in your apiary.

3qt deep division board feeder experience

Here is my experience with a 3qt deep division board feeder.  I fed two new bee packages using a deep division board feeder, where the feeder took the place of one outermost deep frame.  The new feeders were tested for leaks using water, then 3qts of syrup (plus Honey-B-Healthy) was added and topped up with more syrup as needed. I opened the small black door and poured syrup into the middle filling compartment which raised the floats and bees too.  If the bees became defensive, then I:

• try to slow down my (hand) movements
• slid (not removed) the inner cover to the right exposing only the feeder

 

A second deep box was added when all the wax strips had lots of comb.  I moved one frame of comb (as bait) and the deep division board feeder to the second deep box.  After seven weeks, comb inside the feeders began to interfere with the floats and the division board feeders were replaced with wax strips and I started pail feeding.

 

Now I get to inspect the empty feeders.  In one empty feeder, no (zero) drowned bees are discovered.  In the other empty feeder, three drowned bees are in the central filling compartment.  What a relief not to find too many dead bees.  On the web I read the experiences of others using less sophisticated division board feeders that have a tendency to collapse or drown bees.

watering bees

I filled a boardman feeders with 1) filtered water, 2)water with a trace of honey b healthy, 3)water with a trace of kosher salt or 4)water with lots of kosher salt. The results are no success with bee watering. Additionally, I have 3 birdbaths that are not attracting bees. This year I am using woven plastic straw rafts in the (unlikely) event that a bee lands in the birdbath. Last year I attached, the plastic straws with hot glue, but those rafts were easily damage by freezing winter temperatures. With regular day time highs in the 80's Fahrenheit, where are the bees gathering water? Clearly, somewhere else. For a few hot days, a small number of bees were collecting water at the "bird girl" statue--see photo.

baggie feeder

After a number of stings (on the hand), I began to search for something other than a boardman style feeder. I started using a one gallon baggie, but I had to solve some questions:

• transporting filled baggies without creating leaks
• checking for leaky baggies
• where to puncture the baggie
• how much syrup to place in the baggie

Using a plastic bucket (with handle), several baggies can be filled and safely transported. Baggie leaks can be discovered by checking the bucket. I use a permanent marker to highlight where to puncture the baggie. I make two small punctures followed by one central one inch slit. If the baggie is sealed with lots of air, then this reduces the likelihood of puncturing the bottom side of the baggie. Usually, I fill the baggie with a 1/2 gallon of syrup, but I have also successfully filled the baggie with 3/4 gallons of syrup. This year, I am adding Honey B Healthy to the syrup, so the hive smells of lemongrass and spearmint. Entering the top of the hive may require a veil, but I have not been stung on the hand.

2009 wish list

Where does reading get me? Reading about bees is very satisfying and builds my vocabulary, but how much is appropriate to the tiny Atlanta in-town apiary? I mostly rely on listening to my Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association (MABA) friends, re-reading Keith Delaplaine's book "First Lessons in Beekeeping" and of course trying to learn from my mistakes. Here is my 2009 wish list:

• Running two AJ Beetle Eaters (+vegetable oil) per box, not one per hive as in 2008
• Purchasing nematodes (Southeast Insectary in Perry 877 967 6777) for spring SHB treatment
• Replacing concrete blocks with new hive stands that lift the hives higher and let more light reach the ground
• Painting a unique entrance for each hive as described in The Buzz about Bees by Jürgen Tautz
• Trying a bucket syrup feeder and certainly repeating the baggie feeding
• Purchasing more queen excluders and running a single deep brood chamber, not two as in 2008
• Trying a queen marking kit and practicing on a few drones
• Purchasing swarm traps (+lures), not the reactive ladder based swarm capturing as in 2008
• Trying MegaBee served dry using a bird (meal worm) feeder--no protein served in 2008
• Trying SuperBoost brood pheromone during the summer
• Trying Honey B Healthy (+water) for front entrance boardman feeding--not letting the neighbor water my bees using their salt water system swimming pool as in 2008

Why am I changing so many variables--not very scientific? My goal in 2009 is to reduce the SHB population and cover the single deep brood chamber with lots of bees during the summer SHB strength.