The Bees are Brooding

And that is a good thing!

It's gorgeous out here today, 67˚ and sunny. I'd noticed the bees were not eating as much syrup so it seemed like time to get the feeder out of there and check on everything. All good news: while I still can't find Beeyonce there are larva and capped cells so I know she's healthy. There's stored pollen and even the beginnings of honey - no capped cells, but definitely nectar being stored. I pulled out the feeder, did a bar by bar inspection, and closed everything up. They seem pretty well established.

My plan for this year is to get in there more often than my first colony, in an effort to keep an eye out for things like cross-combs, queen cells, and other things which are either a nuisance or signs of impending danger. That means I should aim for a weekly or biweekly inspection. 

Birthday Cakes, 1 and 2

The youngerchild has turned 13 and celebrated twice, once with each set of grandparents. Who live in different states, so that meant two cakes. Never a problem, as the youngerchild has been asking for both these cakes for a long time.

First off, with my in-laws, I made a Brasilian Carrot Cake. I used the recipe I posted before but instead of fudge frosting I made a simple chocolate ganache. When I first poured the ganache on the warm cake, it filled the pan. I turned my head for a second and then looked again and the ganache had sunk about 1/4". Where did it go? It soaked into the top of the cake! That made the already rich and moist cake even richer and moister. Yum. We had a second piece each for breakfast before we hopped on a plane and came home. Our flight was delayed by over an hour, so I'm glad we had a filling breakfast.

Last night, for today's celebration, I made a New York Style Cheesecake, with strawberry topping. This was a recipe from school; the full recipe makes two 10" cakes and so I cut the recipe into 1/3 so I could make one 8" cake. (18 ounces of cream cheese, 3 eggs, a little sugar and flour, and some cream.) The batter was even run through a sieve to get out all the lumps, that's how much of a labor of love this was! It chilled overnight and today was served with the strawberry pie filling as a topping. The only other change I made was that the crust was chocolate wafer cookies crumbs rather than graham crackers.

And, with that, I think the youngerchild has been properly ushered into teenager-dom.

Sorted Out, Sort Of

The past few days I've been out of town and it's been cold and rainy. Even a little snowy. While I was gone my very awesome husband even offered to change the bee's feeder for me, but couldn't get into the hive when it was cold or overcast or rainy. So I got to them this afternoon when it was finally 50˚ and sunny and I was pleased with what I found.

They very industriously have started making comb. They had completely eaten the syrup I left for them. They also ate through the little sugar plug and released Beeyonce. However, I'm still not very good at finding the queen, evidently, as even though I know she's marked with a red dot I still couldn't find her. That's OK. I'm sure we'll see her sooner or later.

I changed the feeder, inspected each bar, and put everything back in place until the next time. I'll probably have to feed them pretty frequently until things warm up reliably and there are flowers around. 

Still Getting Situated

After a chilly start we have a few nice days during which I hope my bees figure themselves out. I went and changed the feeder this morning and found a whole bunch of dead or dying bees still in the crate. I'd left it open under the hive hoping they would find their way in; some did, but those that didn't weathered a few nights in the cold and so I don't think they're going to make it. Bee-yonce is still in her cage; I'll go back into the hive in 3 days and if she hasn't been let out I'll do that for her. But the bees only really made comb next to her cage and I hope that they'll figure out what they're supposed to do soon. Stay tuned.

Run the World

Feeder in place. It's adorable.

The bees are back!

After a year off, and some pondering, I decided to try again. I opted to get bees earlier in the season, to take advantage of the spring flowers here in Eastern MA. Unfortunately, it's still pretty cold and today it's going to rain, so I got them in as quickly as I could and am hoping for the best.

Here are some things I learned:

An empty hive attracts termites. I discovered this yesterday when I went to do a final clean out. Disappointingly, they ate into some of the wooden slats but fortunately all are still useable, the bees will likely seal any holes with propolis. Also disappointing: they ate much of the comb I left behind for the bees to build on this year. Well, something did, anyway.

Making a bee feeder can be as hard as you want it to be. My husband designed a feeder for me and 3D printed it, but the grooves are off so I had to jury rig it so it wouldn't leak. Still, it works!

Bees don't fan on an overcast day. I really hope the rest of the colony makes it into the hive before nightfall. Still, I think I have enough in there for now that the queen will be OK.

Speaking of the queen, she has a red dot (I went for a marked queen this time) and her name?

Bee-yonce.