Saturday, March 10, 2012

Holy Honeycomb Batman

I opened my hive yesterday since it was such a nice day. I wanted to see how my bees were doing for honey stores. Apparently, they had a very abundant season last summer as they had loads of honey left. I will still feed them because there aren't really any flowers blooming yet, besides my few crocuses. One frame looked like whichever bee was in charge was high when she designed the layout. Instead of building flat along the frame, they build all sorts of little tunnels and mazes SIDEWAYS. It was all built out away from the frame and looked almost like rungs on a ladder. I cut it all off to encourage them to build it like they are supposed to. They had quite a mess going on. My kids have been picking at the comb ever since. I have to admit, fresh honey tastes soooo much better than what you pick up at the store!
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6 comments:

  1. PioneerPreppyMarch 10, 2012 at 10:52 AM

    Are you putting a drone frame in your hive? Usually the girls will begin making odd shaped comb and burr comb so they can make the larger cells needed for drones. If the only foundation or frames you have is worker sized they make some drone comb anywhere they can.

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  2. GracieMarch 10, 2012 at 11:02 AM

    I have never heard of a drone frame. I guess some research is in order! Thanks for the tip.
    This frame was in the top hive body and there were no eggs at all in any of them. This frame did have a bigger gap between it and the one next to it though.
    I am ordering all of my spring medications today and when they come in, I will get into the bottom hive body and make sure I still have a queen. There are so many bees right now though, I can't imagine the queen is gone.

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  3. 45erMarch 10, 2012 at 1:34 PM

    That looks so good.

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  4. PioneerPreppyMarch 10, 2012 at 2:26 PM

    I order drone frames which are typically a bright green from Mann Lake. Also if your spacing was off on your other frames it will make the girls fill it up. I had some issues with that two years ago and sometimes what they will do when I have new frames in is build up one frame all the way to the other without putting any comb on the other frame. Switching out and moving the overlarge covered frame to the outside of the box usually helps.

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  5. Red WomanMarch 10, 2012 at 3:38 PM

    That looks beautiful. I've never tasted fresh honey. I pass a Honey and Bee supply store on my way to work every day, I think it's time I stopped in for an education!

    Blessings,
    Red

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  6. GracieMarch 11, 2012 at 5:17 PM

    So, I have a question for you Pioneer Preppy. What am I supposed to do with a plate full of honey and comb? How do I separate the honey out? I am lost, lol.

    ReplyDelete

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