Beehive Inspection Day

Today I worked the hives, all 3.  They are growing beautifully, and making lot's of honey.  Since 2 of these hives are new colonies, and since the older hive was a combine of a swarm and a queenless hive, I am treating it as a new colony as well.  This means that I will not take a lot of honey from them.  I want to make sure they have enough of their own stores for Winter.  I did take 3 frames ( medium sized ) total from the hives today and will extract tonight or later today.  I will take photos of the "crush and strain" process.  I do not have an extractor, and besides, I like being "one" with the honey!

Seedlings from Our Garden

Here are some 3rd year seedling from Day Valley Dahlias ( that be us )...I really love the red one, nice!

We rescued a pup from the local animal shelter.  'Shelly' is a terrier mix, we think she is mostly comprised of Rat Terrier, here are a few pics, some of her early on at our Oregon Bungalow, then back here at home.

On July 19th we visited my mentor's fabulous dahlia gardens.  Karen and Kevin at Corralitos Gardens have a real knack for growing these beauties.  They have brought many a new variety to the dahlia world for our enjoyment.  Here are a few photos:

July 19, 2008...First bouquet from the dahlia patch!

March 8, 2008 Swarm News

The swarm is still enjoying the new hive body.  I still have a few more tasks to complete.  I have to elevate the hive onto a platform and put it in a more user friendly area.  Since it was still on the sheet I placed under it, I just pulled on the sheet and got it closer to the area where I would like to put it.  Tomorrow I will actually lift it up in the late evening.

After that I have to focus my attention on the first hive, see if they are "queenright"...

Bees keep the brain active for sure!

Swarm Update 3/6/08

6:30 am Thursday morning.  Still a cluster of about 1/5 the bees clinging to the side of the hive body.  I went inside and planned my strategy.  Suited up and went out around 7:30am...took 2 dust pans and a bucket.  Placed a little stand next to the hive body with a sheet  under it.  I placed the sheet so in case queenie fell onto it I could hopefully see her.  I very gently lifted the lid and placed it on the stand.  Squatted down and took the dust pans .  I took one pan and placed it under the cluster then took the other and gently but firmly scraped the bees in a downward motion into the lower dustpan, put them in the bucket then dumped the bucket into the hive, placed the top back on the hive...Noticed that after about 1/2 hour, all the bees were in the hive.  That means the queen was inside her new home!

Swarm Update 3/5/08

Wednesday am...still in the oak...the short oak, on a fat stump, nearly impossible to try to scrape/brush them into anything.  I attempted, but I figures I wasn't helping them by stressing them out, so I went to the grocery store to buy more sugar to make more syrup. When I returned from the grocery store around 1pm, they were gone from the scrub oak...Oh my where did they go?

I saw bees flying around my little work shed.  There was an overturned metal garbage can.  They all decided that the can would make a good home I guess...

Well I stood and pondered, how to remove 30,000 bees from an upside down garbage can? Think like a bee?  I placed the hive body, which I put on a sheet, next to the garbage can.  Sprayed the bees down with syrup as best I could, as most of them were IN the can!  I gently lifted the can and gingerly lifted it over the hive body and thumped it down...bees poured into the hive, I quickly set the lid on and put a bucket of sugar syrup in for food.  I noticed a cluster of bees on the side of the hive body...and though best just to watch and wait.

Swarm Update 3/4/08

On Tuesday morning I ran out to the back deck, and saw that the swarm cluster was still high in the old oak.  I had to drive my daughter to the airport that morning, so I would need to leave my observations for a while.  I left the house around 11:00 am, returned at approx 1:30 pm.  There were no bees in the old oak.  They had left.  I went outdoors to do some work approx. 2:30pm and could hear a loud hum again.  Looking towards the Southwest, I could see the cluster swarming again...WOW, amazing yet again!  They looked as if they were aimlessly flying, after al that chaos, the settled on a short scrub oak on my lower property.  I set the hive body next to the oak hoping they would enter, but they remained on that little oak.  I attempted that late afternoon to hive them after spraying them with sugar syrup.  It had been a day since they swarmed and I figured they might be hungry.  The syrup did keep them occupied.  I was not successful in trapping them. Leaving it up to fate, nature & the Universe, I left them alone...

Hived a Swarm

On March 3, 2008 I heard a LOUD hum, looking up toward the sound I saw a cyclone of golden bees swirling swarming.  It was quite the site to behold, and had an extreme humbling affect on me.  The swarm clustered high in a huge old oak that sits to the East of my back deck.  There really wasn't much I could do, it was pure nature.

Fellow beemaster.com folks gave me wonderful instructions as to how to capture this swarm.  I set out 2 swarm traps.  One I had purchased from Mannlakeltd.com.  It is a large sort of conical shaped pulp thing.  I placed lure in it, this lure has a swarming pheromone in it.  The second trap I made out of an old hive body, and some drawn comb that I had saved in the freezer.  Now all I had to do was sit and wait...

This is a swarm which landed in my cousins oak tree in Del Rey Oaks, Ca. Sadly he said all the bees died. Probably poisoned...

Blogging is like Beekeeping

Right now blogging to me is like beekeeping, I really have no idea what I am doing.

Beginning Blogging

Sometimes I wonder...anyway...here is my attempt at blogging. A bit of a journey into my "off work" life here at home...
Growing dahlias and beekeeping, both in a non-toxic manner I do hope. The dahlias I pretty much have figured out...I will not say for certain I have them figured out, as nature can always throw a curve ball. The bees however, well, they are challenging to the mind...Unfortunately, bees have it much harder now. Why? One can only speculate as there seems to be many factors involved. I have learned about the dreaded varroa mite. There are various theories as to how to control and prevent this parasite...I will attempt to "regress" my new bees. It will be a slow process for me I am sure of that...I am going to try to crate a step-by-step for other newbees...a "keep it simple: kinda way...Enjoy the buzz...