Pollinators

Today we invited more interested students to the hives and sadly confirmed the death of both hives from what we believe was a combination of disease, winter cold, and mite infestation. We examined the frames noticing where the dead bees clustered in the winter for warmth before passing. There were also signs of hive distress from limited brood production and what looked like large, oversized brood of potential queens to replace a missing or unproductive queen. Thanks to everyone who helped, and we’re hoping to give folks more access to hands-on beekeeping this spring through site visits. 

Today when checking on the hives we saw 3 large queen cells on one frame. Unfortunately, this means that the queen is most likely distressed, dead, or swarmed away. We made a note on the top of the frame to check 4 days later to see if a queen has hatched. 

Today, we checked on the hive we treated for Varroa Mites by using a drone larva similar to the method described here. We identified the drone brood by it’s larger size and cap and opened it with a hive tool to see if a small brown mite was preying on the larva at the base of its head. It was hard to sacrifice a drone but helped us know that the hive wasn’t suffering from a large infestation.

Greg explained to us how you can identify drone brood which is larger and more raised than regular worker brood. 

Checked on new hives today and looked for new, healthy brood. Here’s a photo of light colored, yellow, fresh brood nicely filling out a good portion of one side of a frame. Greg talked to us about checking not only for light yellow color but also quantity. If it looks like there are large gaps and many empty spots between brood, it’s a sign the queen isn’t laying at full capacity and may be distressed or that the hive is unhealthy. Darker, more brown brood is older and also a sign that the hive’s health isn’t doing well.

#OldBrood #NewBrood #BusyBees #UrbanBeekeeping (at Harvard University Earth and Planetary Sciences)

Lovely conversation with John Mailloux of Weeping Pine Farm & Apiaries while picking up the new nuc. John clarified some safety and installation questions for us including why not to eat bananas before handling bees and the development of bee allergies when you’re exposed to pollen and honey but don’t get stung for a long time. Thanks, @amalgorithm, for the pics!

Spring nuc pick-up at Weeping Pine Farm and Apiary in Williamstown, VT. We had a great drive up through New England including a fire tower hike at Mt. Moosilauke, Chris stumbling on a moose den, a granite quarry in Graniteville and the rocket in Warren, NH! 3-2-1 blast-off! Due to the apiary's namesake, our new hive's name will be the weeping pine, Pinus Strobus. So happy to welcome them back to Cambridge for the summer.

Screened this amazing documentary, Queen of the Sun, What are the bees telling us? last night with pizza, wine, and great discussion. Awesome cameos from local New England organic beekeeping legend Kirk Webster and a host of lively characters. 

3) Adding black tarps or lining to absorb sunlight and heat.

This link also references an organic varroa mite treatment method involving the dusting of powdered sugar.

Oh honayyyy

#HoneyHoney Tasting and Sale today during Beer N Dogs 7pm! (at GSD Gund Hall)

There are a few other methods we will try next year with a black frame feeder that we have that replaces one of the empty frames in a super. There is also an external jar feeder that fits in the hive entrance with a wooden entrance reducer though that carries the risk of tempting other colonies from stealing from the hive. We noticed that when a new nuc arrives, a metal can filled with sugar water with a very small hole cut at its base provides a steady food source as well. You can just place the can in a medium, shallower super above the frames below the inner wooden cover. 

#QueenBee #UrbanBeekeeping #Apiary #Hive #BeeFFs (at Harvard University)