This is pretty awesome, and I’m continued to be amazed on how much more there is still to learn about these amazing creatures.
Final Bee Attack Update
Here’s a link to what is most likely the last news article and video about the bee attack in Austin. It looks like Willard is out of intensive care, and bee keepers have come in and removed the hives.
Filed under beekeeping, news
Bee Attack Additional Update
There are two video news stories that give more information and even have some video of the two hives they found. I couldn’t get the video to embed in my post so you’ll have to go directly to the news site to watch them. Although I must say, did they really have to put the 911 call in the story? Is it wrong that it is so comical, it makes me laugh?
Also, there was a nice piece on the victim of the attack in the Statesman, and he has now been upgraded to fair condition. I wish Willard a speedy recovery, and I hope he gets out of the hospital soon.
Filed under news
Balm Sunday
After much debate on what to do with my beeswax, we decided that lip balm was the way to go since we probably only had enough to make one sad looking candle. My mother supplied the necessary materials for my birthday (thanks Mom!), and after tracking down the necessary oils around town, we were in business.
Ingredients:
Beeswax
Sweet Almond Oil
Jojoba Oil
Grapefruit Essential Oil
Tubes and Filling Tray from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm
Electronic Scale
Plastic Pipette
Step 1: Assemble all the ingredients together. We used 2 parts beeswax, 1 part sweet almond oil, 1 part jojoba oil. I only had 113 grams of beeswax, so I used 56 grams of almond oil and 57 grams of jojoba oil.
Step 2: Weigh the beeswax.
Step 3: Add the oils in the proper proportions. The extract gets added later after everything is melted.
Step 4: Boil a a pan of water and then reduce to a simmer. Place your separate container of beeswax and oil into the water and stir occasionally until the wax is melted. Remove from water and add your essential oil of choice. We used grapefruit essential oil and added 2 mL. We followed the ratios from Majestic Mountain Sage which is also a good online source for lip balm ingredients.
Step 5: Pour mixture into filling tray after letting it cool for 5 minutes.
Step 6: Wait for the mixture to cool in the tubes.
Step 7: Scrape off excess lip balm.
Step 8: Remove tubes from tray and cap.
We found our lip balm to have a good grapefruit flavor but not overpowering. It is also a bit hard, but stays on your lips for a long time. Next time, we may increase our oil a bit to have a slightly softer lip balm, but overall we are pleased with the results. We ended up with 36 filled tubes, and I still have some wax in the freezer.
Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas?
Filed under beekeeping
Week 18 Activities
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.
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Bee Attack Update
A local beekeeper finally found not one but two hives in the area where the man was attacked by bees. I never really bought into the swarm theory so I’m glad to see they found the hives and can move them to another area to prevent something like this from happening again.
I do find it a bit hard to wrap my mind around a hive so large that it could contain up to 1 million bees as the story reports. That must be a very healthy hive, and if it is not Africanized, they must have some great genetic traits.
Filed under beekeeping, news
Bee Attack in Austin
I really don’t know how I feel about this article about an elderly man being attack by bees. The fact that they still have been unable to locate a hive in the area points to a swarm situation, but swarms are usually pretty docile. I understand bees don’t like lawnmowers, but I haven’t heard of a swarm settling in grass. It could be an Africanized swarm as they tend to be more defensive when swarming, but unless some genetic tests are done, it is very difficult to distinguish an Africanized bee from an European bee.
Obviously this is a terrible event, and I hope the victim recovers, but it would be nice to have some more information on what happened released.
Week 17 Activities
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.
Filed under beekeeping
Best Hive for a New Beekeeper?
At the Austin Urban Beekeeping Meetup this past weekend, there were a lot of interested folks wanting to start beekeeping, and had a lot of questions on what equipment they should buy. One participant spoke in great detail about all the benefits of using a top bar hive which I don’t disagree with, but with everything else a new beek has to learn, is the top bar hive adding another layer of complexity that someone who is just starting out may not want to deal with?
When I knew I was committed to becoming a beekeeper, I researched both the top bar hive as well as the Langstroth hive. After reading up on both, I felt that a Langstroth hive was more suited to someone starting off because there were a lot more resources and equipment readily available for the Langstroth.
I’d certainly welcome feedback from any beekeepers out there who have used one or both of these hive types. I do think there are pros and cons for each , but from a beginner’s perspective, is one easier than the other?
Filed under beekeeping, equipment
Large Marge makes her video debut
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.
Filed under beekeeping
Urban Beekeeping in Austin, Texas 