Tag Archives: urban beekeeping

September 14, 2010 · 12:13 PM

Post-Vacation Hive Check

After two weeks out of the country, I had a chance yesterday to check in on the girls and see how they are doing. I had added an empty super to the hive before we left to be on the safe side. There was some comb drawn out but nothing significant. Everything else looked pretty normal but I did notice a huge increase in the amount of pollen being stored.

Unlike the pollen in the spring and early summer, this pollen is very white. I’d be interested to know what plants are in bloom right now that has white pollen. Austin did have a massive amount of rain last week, so I’m wondering if all the rain lilies are the source of this pollen. My only concern is that they seem to be using cells formally for brood to store this pollen in. There was also a reduction in the number of queen cells as well which is a good sign. At the end of the day, I just have to trust that they know best.

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August 27, 2010 · 5:14 PM

BeeCam 5000 Mark II

The BeeCam 5000 is back online. The Mark I model only lasted a bit over 3 days with the original battery and solar panel configuation. I had my top scientists work on the problem (thanks Matt!), and after a redesign with a deep cycle battery, it has been redeployed into the field.

So I’ll finally be able to check the bees in the evening with the cooler weather and see if they are still clustering outside the hive.

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August 24, 2010 · 7:06 PM

Cooler Weather Test

A cold front came through today bringing some random rain showers and much cooler temperatures. I’ll be very interested to see if the bearding on the hive is reduced this evening.

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August 24, 2010 · 9:07 AM

My Poor Hot Bees

With temperatures hitting up to 105 degrees in the city, even the girls are complaining about the heat. Everything I’ve read seems to indicate it is just too hot for all of them to be in the hive at night. I’ve ordered a screened inner cover to help with ventilation, but it may not get here before the weekend.

There is good news on the horizon as the temperatures are predicted to break by Friday and the highs should be back in the low 90’s. Rain is also a possibility which would be great as Austin is looking a bit dried out after two weeks of hot and dry weather.

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August 22, 2010 · 12:42 PM

It’s 11:00 p.m. Do you know where your bees are?

Apparently, mine are all hanging outside the hive.

I always just assumed that all the bees went inside the hive at night leaving just a few guard bees at the entrance. Since the temps here are hitting 100+ each day, my best guess is the hive is still too warm for all the girls in the evening. Maybe I need to set the alarm for 3:00 a.m. to see if they are still outside, or if they all finally go inside.

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August 21, 2010 · 4:21 PM

BeeCam 5000

The BeeCam 5000 will soon be the industry standard in portable yet functional webcam technology for the urban beekeeper of tomorrow. This solar powered beauty eliminates the need for those messy power cords, and uses the power of your wireless internets to stream video 24/7. The infrared camera will allow you to monitor your bees at night as well as capture any night time critters that may be bothering your hive. Developed by my friend Matt, I predict that every beekeeper will soon be installing this baby in their bee yards.

Until I can figure out how to embed the video feed directly into my blog, you can click here for live bee action!

Edit: This link may not work for those folks out there using IE.

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August 15, 2010 · 6:34 PM

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?

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August 15, 2010 · 1:01 PM

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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August 7, 2010 · 1:42 PM

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.

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August 3, 2010 · 11:03 AM

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?

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