December 19, 2015…The Grand Kids Log Hive is going strong, I’m happy to say. I know the anchors are probably not necessary, but I can hear the heavy gusts of wind hitting at night and I got tired of imagining the tall hive tipping over. Now I can sleep better.:)
December 30, 2015…The temperature inside the hive is a chilly 46˙F (7˙C), and yet the bees were flying this cold day.
12-30-15…The bees broke ranks for a short time in the afternoon. I was relieved to see them after viewing the cold temp on the probe thermometer in back. When they’re in a cluster, you can’t see them in the viewing window.
December 18, 2015…Bee Beard Log Hive might be feeling his age, but the bees still like it as can be seen in the video.
12-19-15…my only Warré, having lost the other two during the summer. After seeing too much moisture on the bottom board, I removed it and tacked some black plastic film on three sides. We’ve been having record rainfall in December and it’s possible rain was entering on the observation window sides. I hope this helps.
November 26…All is quiet. The birdhouse bees didn’t make it. I was hopeful this year because they came through the three month winter shadow last winter, but I must have lost them between October and late November.
December 18…I shot another photo when the weather warmed back up. Doesn’t look like anything is moving in there.
Empty comb at the front. I guess I can hope they are clustered somewhere back in there, but that’s just a sliver of hope.
The green tree hive is entering it’s third winter. If numbers mean anything, this hive is a survivor. With the sun so low these days the light can reach through the branches to get the bees flying relatively early. Often its the only hive flying. I’m always happy to see the bees flying especially after a ‘rocking’ big storm. This hive is totally intervention free. No mite strips, pollen paddies, or sugar water, it just keeps on going. It’s slightly above my height when I’m looking at it, so occasionally an incoming bee will alight on my ear. “Ooops, sorry I’m in your flight pattern.”
January 1, 2016…The pussy willow tree is getting ready to bloom.
1-1-16…Willow buds are swelling
More willow buds. “Hang on, little critters, It won’t be long before pollen is available.”
So I’m back to four hives. I’m a little worried about the Warré hive, because of all the moisture inside. I’m hoping the sheet of black plastic I tacked on three sides will cut the wind and moisture back. In the video you can see bees tossing out dead bees. I always think of that Doors song with Jim Morrison chanting, “Bring out your dead,” over and over again.
I’m a treatment-free beekeeper for better or worse. I can’t bring myself to believe that killing the varroa mites will solve any problems. I’m of the opinion that we will NEVER rid the bees of varroa mites. The bees MUST adapt, because eventually the mites will develop a resistance to the poison and then what do you do? I say let the bees adapt. Let the weak hives go.
I’m not feeding the bees anything either. I saw bees bringing in pollen into my Warré hive in December. It could be ivy or even gorse. If they can hang on just a bit longer, they will get pollen from the pussy willow blossoms. Jonathan Powell of the Natural Beekeeping Trust, also explains the risks of sugar very well at about 3 minutes into this you-tube video. “Studies have shown that sugar destroys the bees internal intestines and also it destroys a very particular enzyme call the P450 enzyme which the bees use to counteract some of the pesticides and toxins they find in the environment. So by feeding sugar, we may be averting a starvation if you’ve taken too much honey, but we are also damaging the bees.” And here’s another article about feeding anything can be detrimental to the hive. (including honey)
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
Does the Warré hive have any ventilation? Is the floor solid? If so you could try to find a way to get some air flowing through to reduce the moisture in there. Before open mesh floors came along beekeepers here used to prop up their crown boards with matchsticks to allow a little bit of air in. Beekeepers often say that damp is a greater killer than cold.
Without the bottom board it’s a mesh floor. I was hoping to reduce the moisture problem by letting air come up through. The bottom box is mostly empty comb. I figured that could insulate the top two boxes.
I never robbed any honey, so I’m hoping there’s enough to get them through until the pussy willow starts blooming in a couple + weeks.
The black plastic sheeting is meant to block our (record) rainfall from leaking in. The cover boards of some of the observation windows are warped to the point of letting rain water leak in. I’m thinking that’s the biggest source of the moisture problem. So fingers crossed for the next few weeks, but I was particularly happy to see pollen coming in and the dead bee removal.
Such a lovely post with so much information! Your granddaughter’s excited bottom wiggle is much like our granddaughter’s who is six months younger. They are at such a lovely age. The cat is probably wise to avoid the generous cuddles that we appreciate so much.
I agree with you that as we will never rid the world of varroa and that the only solution is that the bees become resistant. However, I could only imagine resistance being achieved if communities were kept in isolation until the perfect gene pool was achieved. If drones or queens from non-resistant colonies mix with the control colonies surely it would be an impossible task?
I found the video very interesting as I did not realise there were other log hive keepers! I had not heard about the p450 enzyme but I looked it up and discovered that it is involved in complex detoxifying reactions even in the human body. However, I was unable to find the research showing that it was destroyed in bees that were fed sugar. I would really appreciate it if you knew the reference as I think this is a very important point that I was unaware of. Not surprising as Kourosh has not been keeping bees for even one year yet! Amelia
Thanks for your comments, Amelia. I’m going to chase down some further research studies on the p450 enzyme. It was the first time I had heard about it. Maybe I should have researched it a bit more before mentioning it, but as a treatment-free beekeeper I’m always ready to believe anything that supports my side. 😬
This is from Jonathan Powell of Natural Beekeeping Trust.
Pat,
You will find this paper interesting:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0031051
Just look at the damage done by sugar to the gut of the bee in the picture half way down the paper.
Jonathan
Thanks, Jonathon, for getting back to me so soon.
Pat
Seems like a Win Some Lose Some kind of year. Hope the wins were more than the loses. 🙂
Yep…I think that’s what it boils down to. If you’re a beekeeper, you’re gonna lose some bees.
My first (one and only) hive failed in September – October 2011. Maybe that’s why they encourage you to start two hives.
In 2012 I started again with the Warré hive and the Bee Beard Log hive.
The interesting thing is the green hive in the tree is the only hive that has lasted without interruption. It was the 4th or 5th swarm from Bee Beard on April 17th 2013. It has survived two winters and still counting. 😀
Another beautiful video. Hopefully, you’ll catch a swarm or 3 from the tree hive next spring to fill your dead-outs. The bee gene pool thanks you for not propping up weak colonies with treatments. I do too.
Thanks, Bruce. I’ll have several hives ready for any swarms that might happen.
btw…I’m inspired by your idea of passing out flower seeds to your neighbors. I think I’ll try something like that. Maybe I’ll grow starts to give away.
I kinda got the idea after you sent me those hypericum seeds. I like the packets for handing out this winter, and for mailing, but starts sound good too, for spring.
Thanks for the link in your comment above to the ‘Ecologically Appropriate Xenobiotics Induce Cytochrome P450s in Apis mellifera’ paper.
It is interesting but I think it’s worth bearing in mind that not many beekeepers (except exceptionally mean ones) are feeding their bees on sucrose sugar alone, most of us use sucrose sugar syrup/fondant as supplementary ‘just in case’ food during winter on top of the honey we leave for our bees. In the Figure 2 picture of the dissected bee guts, the largest, strongest midgut was from a bee which had eaten candy fortified with a high dose of honey – but not a honey-only diet. The study certainly suggests that a no-honey diet is not as healthy but it doesn’t say that a mostly honey supplemented with a small amount of sucrose sugar diet destroys the guts of bees.
Good point.
Such a gorgeous post! Thanks for that info about the sugar destroying enzymes in bee guts. I had read that bees fed sugar do not live as long as those that only eat honey, but I will certainly read the link to the paper you posted.
Your comments about not propping up bees that cannot deal with varroa mirror my own sentiments. We definitely need to let nature find it’s own balance.
So sorry about the birdhouse hive. 😦 I have a thing for birdhouses, so that was my favorite. Fingers crossed it will attract a new swarm next year.
I plan to clean it out, paint it, and relocate it…in a sunnier spot.
I am always inspired when I see your log hives and glad the bees are enjoying them. I will make one one day but not sure I am able to carve a face to any great quality, perhaps practice first. My thinking at the moment is an observation log hive with doors covering a glass panel and hopfully lovely comb behind.
Hey Thomas, you’re a craftsman. Why not make a hive like this? https://solarbeez.com/2015/05/25/hal-nails-log-hive-4-patti-shows-us-her-garden/
In Hal’s hive, the bees built comb 36″ + in length (1 meter). I bought the wood for one, but I don’t know where to locate it yet. I was thinking about making it look like a grandfather clock. I would paint a clock face on it with the hands painted on at ten minutes to two o’clock. (10 to 2 being the best hours to swarm) I bet with your skills you could make a wonderful hive from just plain wood. 🙂
Is that a Zombie Fly (Apocephalus borealis) at 1:41 in the video?
Great post and video Pat, loved the music as ever and great to see Calliope enjoying your garden.
Not knowing anything about beehives I love the way you have yours in all sort of different housings/hives, looks cool. Great write-up and photos, much enjoyed, thank you.
Love this post Pat, thanks for honestly sharing the highs and lows…and staying treatment free as well as providing documentation on why it is a good idea. Love the photos and video too!