I'm back from my summer hiatus with a little bit of news. Forgive my lack of posting, but to be truly honest I don't really think posting just for the sake of posting is productive. The summer has come and gone. Yes, I've come out and said it, the days are getting shorter and the weather cooler. The bees haven't been at all pleased with how the weather has been, at least here in Edmonton. We had A LOT of rain this summer, not exactly what you'd call great nectar gathering weather. Mario's hives have done, for the most part, poorly. Although he did say he got 54, that's right count them 54!, frames of honey from a single hive. Yowzas!!
So here are a few of the things I made mental notes of during my few inspections over the summer. I've done a few things to my Langstroth this summer. First I blocked the top entrance off for 2 weeks and then I added a modified bottom board. Here is a picture of what the hive looked like a few weeks ago when my in-laws were up to collect some cut comb honey.
Quality time with the girls.....oh, and the mother-in-law.
The first thing you may or may not notice is that the bottom board I modified now places the long side of the box to the front. This serves two purposes: 1) It positions the frames in such a way that when standing behind hive the beekeeper doesn't have to reach or make any weird contortions to remove the frames. I found this absolutely wonderful. 2) The bottom entrance is now larger which allows for better airflow and less bee congestion.
Another issue I had to deal with was the top entrance. I do like the idea of having it as it provides great ventilation for the bees, however after winter it became the main entrance for the bees. This is due to the fact that all the new bees emerging from winter orientated to it because the lower entrance was blocked with debris and an entrance reducer. Even after I have cleaned out the hive and removed the reducer the bees were still using this entrance. It will come down to personal preference, but the issue you will come across with having a top entrance is that when you do inspections there will be a higher volume of bees flying around. This is due to all the foragers who are returning coming to where the entrance was. I didn't really like the extra commotion, so I simply duct taped the upper entrance closed. After a week, all the bees had re-orientated to the lower entrance and it wasn't an issue anymore.
I'm sure all of you that missed out on honey last year, or those who want more, just want me to get to the part about how much honey my bees made this year! From the looks of it, I'll have around 10 frames of honey. Some of you may think that pales in comparison to Mario's single hive 54 frames, and it does, however considering that last year I extracted 2 liters of honey from 2 frames I should have plenty to go around. I managed to find a cheap 2 frame extractor from a company out of Vancouver with free shipping and it should be arriving soon. Once it's all setup, I'll extract my frames and get it all bottled up and ready for delivery.
HONEY IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE!! If you would like a jar this year, please email me at newbees@telus.net. Also, I do have a single frame that I can make cut comb honey (honey still in the wax), if you would like a square of comb honey please let me know because quantities are limited. Donations are welcome :-P
My Mother-in-law holding a honey frame, minus two pieces of cut comb.
That's all for now, stay tuned for the Calgary top bar saga in the next few days. I will also be posting pictures and tales of how my adventure with the extractor go.
Until then, bee cool!