Third Hive Body

Hello everyone! Today was the first time in a LONG time that I had opened my hive, and it was also the time that I put on the third and final hive body. The inspection was very short, most of my time spent in the less bee infested second body then in the lower brood box. I found that I may have waited just a tad too long to put on the next box, as there was only the outer edges of the outer frames that were free of wax.

That aside, I feel that my lack of inspections during this time was a wise call. The bees seem happy and healthy as a whole, and they seem productive in their efforts to fill up the second box. One thing that I may regret is that I had failed to look at the brood that lay in the inner frames of the lower body. I had checked an outer frame, bet it seemed much the same as the top ones (which it should, as it is a honey frame.) and that was enough for me as the bees were starting to become a tad restless and the buzzing was increasing. The only issue that I may see is that the wax on some of the frames was a dark golden color, but I brushed it aside as the aging of the wax.

I will be sending an email to a associate of mine with some descriptions and questions regarding my colony, and will most likely open the hive again after I receive some advice on where to go from here. What I have done is just about the final step to beekeeping in the first year besides reversing top and bottom boxes, and I would prefer to advance from this point with more direction.

Tip Time:

Instead of purchasing individual snack bags and the like, buy in bulk. It reduces the amount of plastic used, and you can put just as much as you'd like in lunches in reusable containers.

Thank you to everyone who reads my blog! The next post is another Bee Bio 101 on queens!

Expo and Beyond!!

Hello to all! School is now out, and I am so very very happy! I apologize for the late post, but I have been spending the past few days obsessing over My Little Pony. No. Seriously.

So. Expo. There's not much to be said besides it wasn't as big a deal as I thought. For those of you who were there, you will remember that it was mostly a lot of standing around and answering the same questions. It was kinda fun though, getting to show people my live bees in my terrarium. The poor things, they weren't all too happy with being there. It was loud and bright and cold... At least I got them back in the hive eventually.

So the other reason I haven't been posting is that I haven't had the need to check the hive in weeks. I'm now just waiting until I need to put the second box on. I believe in the laissez faire style of bee keeping. There is one thing that I can say happened though, I had my gifted class over for a post expo party, and the bees acted amazingly. I'm so happy that everything went off without any issues, but I had faith in my little insects.

Lastly, I am sad to say that my heart was broken when I found out that my city doesn't allow chickens...  I want some so badly.


Environmental Tip Time:

Whenever in drought, as Chicago land is at the moment, try to conserve as much water as you can. Save your watering to the garden and any new plants you may have planted as apposed to setting up a sprinkler every morning- your grass can take the heat. That said,  set up a rain water collector when it does rain. this could be just about anything that can hold water, but the larger the opening the better. You can then pour this into a watering can and use what would have just ended up on a patio for good use.

School Ends (Soon)!!

Hello to everyone! I am sorry about the lack of a post on Expo Night- I'm sure thats what everyone is waiting for, but I have had so much to do to get prepared for my final exams. Today was the last day of school, and testing starts tomorrow, and then I will be unable to post until Saturday when school is officially over. That said, I have a break tomorrow, and may be able to get a post then. Thank you all so much for the patience, and I will be posting much more frequently after school is over.

Tip:
Recycle all your old school papers! We all know that high school students obtain about a full trees worth throughout the year, and you will be putting that paper to good use by not throwing it out. Did you know that landfills are designed so that the garbage put into them will not decompose? This is so that run off from the decomposing matter won't poison the water system. Think about that the next time you have recyclables. But remember! The best way to recycle is to reuse. This takes out the middle man such as the collectors who drive around and the process of refining the materials which exposes energy. Take a step up and become your own recycling center!

Fun uses for old homework:

http://www.wisebread.com/22-ways-to-reuse-paper

http://www.squidoo.com/Reuse-Paper

Expo Approaches!!!

Sorry for the mini hiatus, but theres been a lot going on. I've checked the hive twice since I last posted, and the first time was very hectic. The second, on the other hand, wasn't so bad.

In the first inspection, I realized that I had put the inner cover on upside down, and the bees had filled the space with comb; and not just comb, but brood comb. Basically, I feel like a baby killer. I had to remove this mass of brood comb and the bees weren't happy, and I felt like crying. I didn't, but it was still very traumatizing, and I have learned my lesson. Sadly, I don't have any good video of this happening, because I was doing it on my own- my father being my usual cameraman.

The inspection after that went smoothly. I moves over some empty frames and added the second deep body box. I was again alone, but nothing bad happened this time

All that said, we've been working in the garden a lot lately. I got my berry patch growing! I have two blueberry bushes, two raspberry stalks, and four strawberries, all surrounded by a ring of marigolds to keep out the bunnies. I also sowed my sunflower seeds, so I now start the patient wait for them to  emerge. Its all very exciting!

On a different note, my grandfather came over today to work on my expo project. We got my two poster boards covered with a really cure bee fabric, but we ran out of ribbon for the boarder, and lost a "L" for the name of my project, "Bee Calm and Buzz On." So, those aren't done at all, and my expo practice run is tomorrow. Ugh. Ah well. I'll get a bad grade tomorrow, and pull it up by expo night. I would have had it finished if it weren't for Hobby Lobby being closed on sundays. Very inconvenient. 

My table cloth is on bottom, the poster board cover on top, and the dot ribbon the boarder. The other ribbon was just an extra.

Tip Time:

Look for the Water Sense label on products you buy. It's just the same as any other product, but has the benefit of being good for the environment.

Also, the best way to recycle is to reuse. Try using glass jars as togo cups and old butter tubs as "zip locks." Stop using plastic bags in your lunches, and put your sandwich in an old ham container. You can also reuse food waste by making a compost pile and save left over coffee in the fridge for iced coffee later. And a very society friendly way to get rid of old clothes and blankets is to donate them to red cross, vietnam vets, or the salvation army. You can even donate heavily used blankets to animal shelters as a soft place for those furry guys to sleep on.

Bee Biology 101: Lesson 1- Stings

Hey guys. Sorry for not posting for a while- I've been fairly busy what with the end of track and the school year fast approaching. My last meet will be tomorrow! Either way, today I will be doing a "class" on some of the basic things that go into a bee's life.

First off, I should say that I did inspect the colony last Sunday, and we had our first sting. It was on my father's stomach, and really wasn't bad at all. I'm not looking forward to my first sting, but I have been stung by a wasp before, and there is no way it will be as bad as that was. 

And that leads us into our first lesson! Stings! First off, I would like to say that what most people think are bee stings are really wasp stings. Those are much more painful and unprovoked and the cause of much unnecessary fears of honey bees. Wasps are carnivorous, angry insects who will sting with no real reason. They can also sting multiple times as opposed to the honey bee (and most to all bees I would assume) who die after a sting.

When a honey bee stings, her stinger gets logged into the flesh of the mammal (she doesn't loose it when stinging other insects) because of the barb on her sting. It resembles the pointed tip of a fish hook for the mental picture. Because of this barb, the bee looses her life in a slow death, as the stinger is attached to the venom sacks and part of her intestines, which you may see attached to the stinger when you remove it.

(please click on the image for a closer look)

It is for this reason that a lone, flying foager honey bee should not be feared in the slightest. The only time in which a honey bee will willingly give up her life would be if the colony was under attack. One way to think of this is to put it to the likeness of your own body. The human body is made up of individual living cells, but those cells work together to support the life of a complex being. The colony is much the same way. Each worker bee is a cell with a specific job, and, much like the white blood cells of our bodies, the guard bees are on the defensive. 

Now that the reasons and consequences behind honey bee stings are covered, it it time to explain sting treatment. Over all, the only thing that needs to be done to help a honey bee sting is to remove the stinger as quickly as possible. This should be done with the finger nail (or a credit card, but I would highly recommend the finger nail, as it takes time to get the card from your pocket.) in a scraping motion away from the sting. This is done so that all of the sting gets removed, and infection can be avoided. That said, bee stings don't generally get infected at all, but it is best to remove organic matter from the flesh. The other reason this is done so swiftly is because, going back to what I said about the structure of the sting, the venom sack is still attached to it, and if left alone, the amount of venom discharged into the flesh will be much higher, and the discomfort will be increased.

Besides removing the sting quickly, the other steps that can, but don't need to be done, are icing the stung spot to reduce inflammation and spreading of the venom (which will stay in the sting spot anyway, much like a misquote bite), and putting soothing skin ointments on the inflamed site.

Now that all this is said, I feel it necessary to say that, apart from the fact that honey bee stings are rare if unprovoked, and allergies to honey bee venom even more rare, stings are not something to be very afraid of. They only last about a day, and the discomfort if mild in most people. The initial feeling will resemble burning, but it will soon subside to an itch, and then to that of a misquote bite.

Environmental Tip Time:

Please help the bees by informing those who you know to fear bees of what I have just taught you. The major point to remember is that most people confuse wasp stings for bee stings, and that honey bees do not go out on suicide missions. Tell your friends that bees are generally quite friendly herbivores, and that it is in fact very safe and incredibly interesting for one to look closely at a bee resting on a flower per say. I would very much recommend for everyone to do this if they see a honey bee. I WOULD NOT, however, recommend one to look closely at a bee hive without the presence and approval of a beekeeper. Remember, the only real time to be worried about stings is when you do not properly prepare to enter a hive. Observing one from a safe distance of about, say five feet or so, is quite alright on the other hand.

And just to be sure that everyone will know the difference between the bees and wasps (so that they don't accentually take my advice and start observing wasps up close), here is a helpful image:

(please click on the image for a closer look)

New Bee Video

So I think some people have been having trouble finding the vid as i posted it to an old post. new video, old post, bad combination. Either way, here it is again! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr2YltHxrH8

First Inspection

Hello all. I have a video that is pretty much the entirety of what I did yesterday. Before the video starts, I feel that I should say that I had already removed the sugar water can. Well. Here you go.

Tip of The Post:

Save your jars! Any jars. Honey jars, jam jars. Use them to hold leftovers or tomorrow breakfast or as a to go cup for oatmeal. Get creative. We use one of ours for Swedish oatmeal and another for a brown sugar and dried fruit topping for it. it can be easily thrown in a purse or eaten right out of the fridge. We use another to hold leftover melted butter for, say, pancakes, and yet another for homemade raspberry sauce, whipped cream, and tabouleh.