Wax moth larvae and lime

That may sound like a particularly delicious hors d'oeuvre for a beekeeper. In fact it is a disgusting pest.
I use screen bottom boards and trays with agricultural lime to trap small hive beetles and other debris the bees can chase down into them. This allows a break in the SHB reproduction cycle. However, it also provides a trap for the wax moth larvae. When I was cleaning the tray today I realize I need to look into the hive to make sure there's not an infestation in the brood comb.
These little monsters can collapse the hive in no time at all by burrowing through the brood comb.
You can tell by the mud behind the hives that this has been a very wet winter.

Division By Exclusion

Last week I decided to prepare for splitting the hive by putting in queen excluder between the lowest box and the other two boxes when I swapped the order. I put the shallow box, which I thought had the Queen in it, on the bottom. I then put the other two boxes above it. The theory was the Queen would be trapped below. This us swarm season and the hive maybe feeling it necessary to form a new queen cell in preparation for swarming.
On March 21, week later or actually 6 days, when I checked all three boxes I found larvae in the top two. Guess the queen was as in one of them when I put in the excluder last week.
I could not see any eggs because of poor lighting. The shallow box had no larvae in it but was full of capped brood. There was a queen cell -- at least one.
I took that box and built a new hive with a 10-deep brood box on the bottom and the shallow box with the Queen's cell on the top. I put it near, but not in the exact location it had been in.
I then took the remaining two 10-deep brood boxes swaped their order and put a queen excluder between them.
Again, the theory is if the queen is in the upper box when I switch the order she will be in the lower box if you put in a queen excluder she will not be able to go to the upper box and therefore will be easier to find.
I will need to check both hives next week to see what's going on. If for some reason the queen is in the new hive that would mean that the old live with the two boxes won't be queen right and may not be able to make a new queen. I did not check all 20 frames but I did not see queen cells anywhere in the five frames I checked.

A night visitor

The days have been very warm, unseasonably so. It's a busy season at work and in the hive. I'm concerned about swarms. I didn't see queen cells on the weekend so I'm waiting to the next one to check again. But, if I missed one (or more) a new queen will indicate the old queen has swarmed with 60% or more of the colony.

Till the next inspection, I'll go out each night with my stethoscope to make sure if I've missed a queen cell, perhaps I can hear her pipping before she emerges. 

Tonight was no different, just later than usual. I wanted to check on how much food the girls had been taking in on such a warm day, 80 degrees. And, just to say hello. 

As I stepped out into the moonless night, the sky was bright with stars. The darkness was full of owls hooting, cackling geese and restless squawks of waterfowl around the lake. I arrived at the hive to find a cluster of bees cooling on the landing platform. 

Clearly, if you look in the lower right hand corner, their presence had attracted an evening visitor. Look closely.

You never know what you're going to find when you go looking for something else.

Black is not the color

Ever wonder why beekeepers wear light-colored clothing? Or perhaps you heard that that bees don't like the color black, check this out. I forgot to take off my Fitbit. It has a black strap.
Today while checking the hive, I got 3 stings on the arm, five stings into the band itself.
Finally had to stop and take it off when two bees got caught between my arm and the band -- trying to sting it from the inside. Ouch.

Post Pi day swap

March 15, 2015. I decided today, rather than try to make a walk-away split, I would take the 3 boxes and swap the order. The top box had some capped brood and some sugar water stores. The middle box had been full of brood, 1 week ago. The bottom box had been the one that was full of bees walking on foundation but no brood last week. I put the shallow on the bottom with a queen excluder above it. I've put the brood box on top of it, reversing the order they had been. I've been put the box that had foundation but no brood on the very top. The theory is that the queen will move up. I am also feeding, so bees are going up to the top anyway.
I put this queen excluder between the shallow and the box with brood so that if the Queen was in the shallow, for some reason, she would be isolated there and it would be easier for me to find her and move her to a nook next weekend.
If she's in the middle box she will move up to the top and begin laying up there. I should see capped brood or at least larvae by next weekend.
I must check her on the 21st to make sure where she is.
The box is full of bees but they seem to have plenty of room. However, I put a notebook and a box out on the rack. Both of them have foundation in them. Maybe if they swarm they might choose to go to one of these. I also have 2 swarm traps in the trees on either side of the house so I might catch a swarm or I might catch one of my own.
As far as what's blooming: I believe we're still a bit cold out here. Other beeks are splitting their boxes, but I don't see queen cells in mine.
This past 24 hours has been warmer and lots of things have come into bloom in the neighborhood. My days are very busy and bringing in lots of pollen, that's a good sign! The oak and pine pollen is heavy. The dogwoods have just begun to the bloom. But I don't see any crimson clover. There is some small white clover. The Bradford pear trees in the area have come into bloom.

Early spring? Long winter 2015

It's been a long raw winter. One of the grayest February we've seen in a long time. Lots of rain. The land under the beehives has been wet. Its March 10th and it's one of the few sunny days we've seen in weeks. Saucer magnolias and red buds are blooming. Lost one hive --not sure why. The second one has two brood boxes on it and appears to be strong, but no sign of queen cells. Seems like winter is going to hang on for a while. The red buds are blooming but not much else. The box has lots of bees  they're not bringing in very much pollen. I've been feeding megabee in suspension for the past month. Put up two swarm traps in the area, just in case. Otherwise, I just bewildered.