Sunday, June 20, 2010

Ghost Bees

My necklace

I am powdering the bees
Pollen

I have decided to combine this week and last weeks hive update into one post. Last week I looked down into the second box. Everything looked o.k., but I had to cut some excess honeycomb off. Sometime that week, since I was still in school, my mom went up to Beez Neez to buy drone frames for me to put in to get rid of mites. I have not seen any mites yet, but I am sure they are in there. I put a drone frame in the third and second box. In a few weeks I will take the frames and freeze them, hopefully also freezing mites. Another way to get rid of mites is to powder sugar them. I first watched Corky, then I did it. It is very simple, you sprinkle powder sugar over the top of a box. The powder sugar will fall down, covering the bees in it, making them look like ghosts! I did this to the third and second boxes. THE BEES HATED IT! Thousands of them poured out of the entrance all white. It almost looked like a swarm, but luckily was not. After awhile the bees cleaned themselves, rubbing off the mites. I decided last week to stop feeding the bees too, so my hive shrunk by two boxes. This week though, since it has been so cold and rainy, I decide to feed them again. We need sun! So, because it was drizzling all day today and was cold I only put the feeder back on. The bees seemed different. I am still not sure how, maybe a little bigger or crabbier.

Last week on the 15th I had my Middle School graduation. For a graduation gift my parents gave me a bee necklace from Nordstrom. I love it. I also got a Polaroid camera, so I have been snapping lots of photos of the hive! Well, hope it starts to act like summer soon!
-Audrey

2 comments:

  1. Hello, Im having problems regarding my bee hives, the bees seem to be healthy but why are they not producing any honey? What could possible bee wrong? need your expert help!

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  2. Sorry it took a while to respond. I hope you read this, for I did not know another way to reach you. If you are from Seattle, I would recommend going to the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association and asking at one of the beekeepers meetings. They meet on the last Tuesday of every month. I would try feeding them, but I am not positive that would work. I have never heard of such a thing happening before, so it surprises me. Hope all ends well.
    -Audrey

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