Category Archives: beekeeping

August continues to be hot and dry which is why I try and get out to the hive early in the morning before it hits 100. One of the first orders of business is lighting the smoker. Chickens are optional.

The inspection was fairly routine. The girls were mostly calm until I got down into the 2nd super, but even then nothing too concerning. The photo below shows me just starting to get into the 2nd super which is almost all brood.

I’m still finding queen cells, but the number has halved from a few weeks ago. I think feeding is helping get the frames in the 3rd super drawn out which is giving Large Marge more room for eggs. Below is a queen cell I scraped off one of the frames in the 2nd super.

I’m looking forward to some cooler weather come September, and the fall nectar flow for a chance for one last honey harvest before winter.

Overall, a good hive inspection today. Even though it was slightly more humid than last week, the girls were well behaved and fairly docile. The feeder was completely empty again as I did not have time during the week to re-fill, but in a way I think that is almost a good thing as I am able to remove and kill the hive beetles lurking in the feeder.

Below is a short video of me checking a frame in the 4th super which is basically all honey. I usually don’t check every frame in the honey super every week to cut down on the time I spend in the hive. I’m really just making sure there is no evidence of hive beetle larvae in the comb and honey.

The girls are finally drawing out comb on the frames in the 3rd super even though they still seem to be storing a lot of honey or perhaps the sugar syrup in the cells. However, there are a few frames with brood on them so hopefully it will be a multi-purpose super with a combination of both brood and honey.

I’m still finding queen cells which I’m removing for now. If this keeps up through fall, I may attempt a split during the fall nectar flow here in Texas, but I’ll just play that by ear. I’m hoping they can get the 3rd super completely drawn out with comb before we leave for two weeks at the end of August.

It is by no means the greatest video, but is pretty good considering I’m holding a frame in one hand, filming using an iPhone in the other, all in a full bee suit and gloves. Large Marge is the largest bee on the frame and is marked with a green dot.

It was another hot Saturday today, but at least the humidity was about half of what it was last weekend. The bees were much calmer today which makes me think they didn’t like the hot sticky weather last weekend anymore than I did.

The girls had sucked the feeder dry for the second week in a row. I had planned on checking the syrup level mid-week, but it rained all week which ruled out opening the hive. I think the weather is rain free for the near future so I’ll hopefully be able to check the feeder at least once before next week’s full inspection.

On the plus side, I really think feeding the bees is helping out in the wax production department. I was pleased to see comb on the previously empty frames, and in the case of the photo below, they are even able to raise brood in small section.

It’s not 100% fully drawn, but I’ll take progress at this point. I wish I had started feeding in early July, but hindsight is 20/20.

I also got an extra treat of seeing Large Marge in the 2nd super. I even managed to get some video with my iPhone that I’ll post later. Everything else was business as usual. I’m still finding small hive beetles, but I have yet to find any evidence of comb destruction (knock on wood) so the girls are keeping them in check. All in all, a good inspection and a healthy hive.