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Hal and Patti’s Log Hives and Garden

Posted in Bee-loving flowers, Gardening, Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Swarms, Videos, tagged bee-loving flowers, beekeeping, bees on sedum, Gardening, Gunnera, honey bees, Log hives, multi-level garden, natural beekeeping, Pitcher pump water fountain, Verticle log hive on May 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I just love standing on this bridge and seeing all the work Hal and Patti have done. It’s so beautiful.

Hal called me up last week to say he took some video of a bee swarm flying INTO his unoccupied bee log. I’m thinking “Well, that’s a first. Whenever I see a swarm, they are flying OUT of something…like a hive.” I had to see this. While I was there I shot some photos of all the work they have done. I draw inspiration every time I visit. It was here that I learned about sedum and what a wonderful bee loving flower that is. There is so much color here, so many flowers. It surely takes hard work and dedication to keep everything looking so good.

When I first saw all the bees sipping nectar on these sedum, I knew I wanted a bunch. It’s clear it’s nectar they are after…I didn’t see a speck of pollen in their pollen baskets. This photo was shot at Patti’s garden in September 2012

It didn’t take long for the bees to set up home. They swarmed INTO this log, April 18.

Patti's gunnera growing under the bridge

Patti’s gunnera is growing under the bridge

Hal and Patti on bridge, May 10, 2013

This video shows the swarm of bees moving INTO the vacated log hive. Hal explains what is going on as he shoots the video on his iPhone.

All this is natural comb, built in less than two months from when the bees swarmed INTO the log hive.

Hal’s first log hives

Hal talks about his log hive

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A Mother’s Day Swarm

Posted in Hives, Natural Beekeeping, Perone Hive, Swarms, Uncategorized, Videos, tagged beekeeping, Capturing a swarm, honey bees, natural beekeeping, natural comb, Oregon Coast, Perone hive, Steinkraus-Morse Swarm catcher, swarm retriever on May 14, 2013| 5 Comments »

Bees, bees, bees

My daughter, son-in-law and new granddaughter were visiting us on Mother’s Day. It was about noon, we were eating lunch…my wife spots this horde of bees. “It’s a swarm!” We all rush out to see it. I think it probably came from the Warre hive that’s been threatening to swarm for over two weeks. Son-in-law says, “What can I do to help you capture it?” My wife says, “Oh, thank you, Jim, I didn’t want to have to do it.”

We let the bees coalesce on a branch.

They settled down into a nicely shaped swarm about 12 feet (4 m) up.

This calls for the Steinkrauss-Morse swarm retriever

A Bucket of Bees

“The queen is over here…” Bee stick their abdomen up in the air to fan the pheromone letting stragglers know where the queen is.

It was a win, win, win. My son-in-law, Jim Montgomery provided much needed assistance in corralling the swarm, my daughter was able to capture the whole event with the camera, and my wife was able to spend more time with our granddaughter.

Where did the bucket of bees go? Well, I would have liked to put it into Bee-atrice log hive because it’s a ‘prime’ swarm, but Bee-atrice was already occupied. I found someone who didn’t want package bees. He has built a Perone style hive. It’s a BIG hive. I like his attitude…”The Perone hive is built for the bees, not the bee keeper. It’ll hold about 150,000 bees. I’ll let them build their own comb.” We arrange for the ‘hand-over,’ and meet at a very scenic state park along the Oregon Coast.

There are 17 top bars where the bees will build their comb.

Vernon built his own Perone hive. He brought the framework holding 17 top bars where the bees will build their natural comb. He held it up so we could see how big the hive will be. In the background you can see why I wanted to live on The Oregon Coast.

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Adding ladders to a Warre and ‘Tanging’

Posted in Hives, Swarms, Videos, Warre Hive, tagged beekeeping, natural beekeeping, swarm, swarm video, tanging a swarm, Warre hive on May 1, 2013| 9 Comments »

What to do if you need to add ‘ladders’ to your Warre box, but you don’t have any comb. I don’t want to use any plastic foundation or anyone else’s comb. So I’m using melted organic wax and painting it on posts hung from the top bars. It worked last time so I feel confident it’ll work this time.

It doesn’t take much wax, or much time to melt, so stick around when you do this.

It doesn't take much melted wax to coat bars and posts

Coating the bars and posts

These are how the t-posts will hang down once they are in the hive

These are how the t-post ladders will hang down once they are in the hive…trouble is I couldn’t remember if the bees build comb with less than 3/8 inch or more than 3/8 inch.

I started gathering the items together, went out to my bee hives and observed what looked like a swarm forming. I grabbed the melting pot and spoon and started tanging. Three days ago they headed back in when I tried tanging. Maybe this time too, then I’ll add the extra box and maybe they’ll be happy.

At 10:07 am It looks like a swarm is forming on the hive I want to add the box to

Yep, a swarm is in the works...quick, get the wax melting pot and a spoon

At 10;11 am Yep, a swarm is in the works…quick, get the wax melting pot and bang on it with a spoon

At 10:15 am, it’s still growing so I tang faster, wondering if I’m crazy

At 10:16 am, swarm bees are flying higher and higher

At 10:20 am, it almost looks like they are calming down

At 10:28 am after about 10-12 minutes of tanging, they are headed back in

At 10:35 am, they are definitely headed back in

At 10-44, they've calmed down for today...what about tomorrow?

At 10:44 am, they’ve calmed down for today…what about tomorrow?

At 10:58 am I add the box with t-post ladders. I’ve got to get a hive jack so I can do this right next time.

At 11:05 am, bees are crawling up t-post ladders already.

Day 3, the bees are still climbing the posts and a daisy-chain is visible.

Meet Bee-atrice…A Female Companion to Bee Beard

Posted in Hives, Log hives, Swarms, Videos, tagged attracting a swarm, beekeeping, honey bees, Log hive wood carving, Log hives, Observation window on log hive, pollinators, Quilt box on log hive, Verticle log hive, wood carving on April 28, 2013| 10 Comments »

Bee-atrice is looking good. Okay, the yard sign on her head isn’t too flattering, but it was all I could come up with in a hurry. We will fix that later.

When Bee-atrice became aware of her beauty she developed a real attitude. Her long golden hair, the color of the setting sun, a beauty mark on her face, and the fact that she was carved out of a hard wood by a professional wood carver made her vain. In conversations, the iPod would always be pulled out to show how she was carved. She would tell people. “I’m special. I was carved out of myrtlewood which only grows on the Oregon Coast and in the Holy Land.” We told her the brochures weren’t exactly true, myrtlewood also grew along the California Coast, and the kind in the Holy Land was a different variety. She would counter with the fact that “Myrtlewood” is the only wood still in use as a base “metal” for legal tender, “besides my mouth was carved ‘open’ so I can sing.” I think she fashioned herself as some kind of diva or something.

We decided to place her near Bee Beard. We just figured they’d hit it off because they had so much in common. One look at Bee Beard and she realized her open mouth was carved to let bees pass in and out. She was shocked and humiliated…stomped off in a huff. I couldn’t figure it out. Bee Beard has never complained about anything, not even once. He’s been through a whole year of wind, rain, and bees. It’s true we’ve never smoked him or bothered him much, I just figured Bee-atrice would be the same. Not so…“I don’t want to be next to him and I don’t like bamboo. It attracts wasps. “ We ended up promising her a one of a kind Easter hat and face her into the sun so it could shine on her beautiful golden hair. She gave in to the flattery, but there was no way she would agree to be near Bee Beard or even to look at him.

The bees first couple of nights were spent here in the upper corner of log.

The bees first couple of nights were spent here in the corner of log.

I’ve always wanted to note the temperature of the hive.

I'm surprised this is only 83 F (28 C) I wish I could see inside better, but I'll have to wait until the combs are visible in the observation window.

I’m surprised the temp is only 83 F (28 C) I wish I could see inside better, but I’ll have to wait until the combs are visible in the observation window.

A short video show bees already bringing in pollen on Day 6

Bee-atrice gets a bonnet

The start of the project

Bee-atrice…the Carving

Preparing Bee-atrice Log Hive for Prime Time

Hal started it all

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Preparing Bee-atrice Log Hive for Prime Time

Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Swarms on April 27, 2013| 2 Comments »

This tight #8 screen will hold the burlap. The wood shavings and sawdust will fill it up.

Quilt box with burlap

Filled with myrtlewood shavings and sawdust.

Scorching inside of hive cavity…mouth entrance can be seen below

Myrtle leaves and sawdust for the bottom of the hive.

Myrtle leaves and sawdust are for the bottom of the hive.

Bees live in Myrtle Trees. The wood smells good and the leaves are like bay leaves…you can use them in place of bay leaves, but in smaller quantities. According to wikipedia, the leaf has been used as a cure for headache, toothache, and earache—though the volatile oils in the leaves may also cause headache.

I used cedar sawdust in the bottom of my first log hive. Phil Chandler of biobees.com was discussing the importance of hive ecosystem…“that it might be beneficial to have wood shavings and possibly dry leaves in the hope of stimulating an ecosystem similar to the natural environment where perhaps earwigs and woodlice etc. would live below the bees and maybe eat any falling varroa.” Since my first log hive survived the winter intact, without me feeding or medicating them, I think I’ll try the sawdust option again. This time I’ll add myrtle leaves to the mix.

I’ve been saving the last of the old comb in the freezer. It’s time has come.

The plan is to remove bars, add a swarm when it becomes available, then replace bars

The plan is to remove the bars, drop the swarm in, then replace bars

Fence post anchor…two were planned, but the swarm came first.

We left town to visit the grandkids. It was just a day trip, but when we got back a little package was waiting for us…hanging from a tree.

Because of the angle the picture was taken, this swarm looks bigger than it is. Tree hive in background.

Thankfully I was prepared. All that I had to do as it was getting dark was to snip the branch with a bucket under it and carry it to the log…remove the top bars and drop the swarm into the log. This is swarm #5 from Bee Beard Log hive. It probably does not have a mated queen, but the weather looks good for the next 7-10 days, so it should be a safe bet that the queen will be able to fly out.

Unfortunately this small swarm never quite made it. It was slow to build up and just didn’t have the numbers to survive the week of freezing nights we had in December. Good news though. A prime swarm picked out Bee-atrice for their home on or about June 6, 2014.

Beginning of the log hive

Bee-atrice, the Carving

Meet Bee-atrice, A Female Companion for Bee Beard

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Pat’s New Log Hive

Posted in Hives, Log hives, tagged Log hive wood carving, Log hives, Verticle log hive, wood carving on April 26, 2013| 2 Comments »

She was but a gleam in her father’s eyes.

When Shigeo found out I wanted to build another log hive, he offered me a myrtlewood log. Myrtlewood is a hardwood that excels all other hardwoods in variety of color and beauty of grain. I was excited by the prospect because bees live in myrtlewood trees. In fact, my other log hive, Bee Beard, is occupied by feral bees from a Myrtlewood tree.

Off to a good start. Log is carved out about 18″ from both ends

Shigeo brings his ‘big dog’ to help out

Shigeo gets to work on lengthening the cavity

This is so familiar…when the chain saw cuts don’t meet in the middle, we’ve got to do it the hard way.

Progress…Shigeo pulls out some wood.

Hollow all the way through, finally.

Shigeo cuts the top to use as a possible quilt box

Cut the top to use as a possible quilt box

Starting the cut on the observation window

This was a lot of work. I'm glad my son did most of it.

My son brought his Sawz-all to the task

Observation cut-out for window is completed. This was a lot of work…I’m glad my son was able to do most of it…I was able to visit with my grandson.

Good…I think we’re ready for Brian Vorwaller, the professional chainsaw artist who will be in town next week on April 4th. I wonder what kind of face he will want to carve.

The carving…

Getting Bee-atrice ready for prime time

Meet Bee-atrice…a Female Companion for Bee Beard

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A Tree Hive

Posted in Bait Hives, Hives, Swarms, tagged beekeeping, honey bees, Log hive wood carving, Log hives, natural beekeeping, Verticle log hive on April 25, 2013| 5 Comments »

Lucky number 7…I caught bees in this bait box last year, so it was a good choice to use.

Yesterday I caught a swarm from Bee Beard Log hive and put it into my back-up Warre.

I thought I had some time to finish my second log hive before another swarm would take place. Not so. On April 18 two more swarms came out. These are cast swarms…more than likely the queen has not been mated yet. What to do? I had already used my back-up Warre and there were some work responsibilities staring me in the face…deadlines that couldn’t be put off any longer because “people are depending on you, Pat!” Okay, I’ll get the deadlines done first and get the bees figured out in the morning…it rained all night. My wife suggested I adapt a bait box. Last year after reading McCartney Taylor’s book on swarm bait hives, I had built nine swarm bait boxes and placed them in different spots hoping to attract a swarm. I was successful in two of them. One I gave away and lucky number 7 went into my new log hive.

After some initial resistance, I realized she had a good idea. The box is already built. I just need to add some Warre length top bars…it’s also a good size of 40 liters as recommended by Tom Seeley in his book “Honeybee Democracy.”

First job is to wax up some top bars…

Painted melted wax on top bars

Prewaxed top bars installed into former swarm bait box after scorching the inside.

Three waxed top bars installed into former swarm bait box after scorching the inside.

The above picture shows only three top bars. I added a total of 12 because I wasn’t sure when I’d get another Warre and at the time I wanted to be able to add these bees to my next log hive if I ever get it done. I also tapped some panel nails in to keep the bars from sliding when I tilt hive with bees into the tree. The bars have a slot for the nails, so they will lift out easily.

I like the idea of a ‘quilt box,’ so I cut another bait hive down to make one.

Hardware cloth on the bottom keeps the burlap ‘quilt’ from getting glued to the bars. That way the sawdust won’t spill into the brood box.

I drilled several holes into the quilt box covering them with screen. That way the hive can breathe and keep the hive scent. I used myrtlewood sawdust for two reasons…feral bees live in myrtlewood trees and I had a lot of it left over from hollowing out my next log hive. Actually some of my bees came from a feral hive in a myrtlewood tree last year.

I'm beginning to think bamboo is the ideal swarm catcher...this is the fourth swarm to land in bamboo.

I’m beginning to think bamboo is the ideal swarm catcher…this is the fourth swarm to land in it.

After bending branches and snipping them, we managed to get the majority of bees into the box.

"Hey everyone, the queen is over here in the box." (The bees are fanning the pheramone.)

“Hey everyone, the queen is over here in the box.” (The bees are fanning the nasonov pheromone.)

Day 5, they’re bringing back pollen already…a sign of a laying queen.

A short video of swarm activity. The main video that shows us getting the swarm in the box has disappeared due to Pat’s incompetence.

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Bee Beard Log Hive Swarm #2

Posted in Feeding sugar, Hives, Natural Beekeeping, Swarms, Warre Hive, tagged beekeeping, honey bees, natural beekeeping, natural comb, Swarm capture, Warre hive on April 24, 2013| 4 Comments »

This is what we were waiting for…Bee Beard’s Prime Swarm, but it was waaay out of reach

When we started keeping bees we read that a healthy hive will swarm, at least once every year. Our goal was to get through the winter without feeding, medicating, or miticiding. The swarm would be our sign of success. On a warm day March 30th, that’s what happened. We heard the loud buzzing, came out to witness the bees heading up to the top of a nearby spruce tree. I even tried ‘tanging,’ banging a spoon on a pan to create noise so they wouldn’t go far and would form near the ground. I was wildly unsuccessful. This would have been the swarm to get, but it was clearly out of reach.

Swarm #2, April 17 is within reach

Swarm number 2 is withing reach, but the 2nd log hive isn’t ready for it yet…I’ll have to stick it into the ‘back-up Warre.”

Let’s try out this bamboo swarm catcher so I won’t have to use a ladder

Well I ended up using a ladder to cut the bamboo and let the swarm drop into the white sail cloth basket.

My wife noticed some bees on the ladder...we brought it near the hive for them to crawl in, but looking closer, they were fanning. The queen must be here. We gathered them up and placed them into the hive.

My wife noticed some bees on the ladder…we brought it near the hive for them to crawl in, but looking closer, we noticed they were fanning. The queen must be here. We gathered them up and placed them into the hive.

After the bees were dropped in, we added the top bars with comb attached…hoping they would stay attached once I hung them in the hive.

Top bars with old comb melted on. Quilt box in background

I had already built the sugar frame shown below.

Sugar for comb building pm a couple of sheets of blank newsprint.

1/2 inch hardware cloth will hold up sugar if using newsprint.

Premixed sugar recipe laying on a couple sheets of blank newsprint

Premixed sugar laying on a couple sheets of blank newsprint for the Warre hive #2

We slid the sugar frame into place.

Sliding the sugar frame into place

Next comes the quilt box.

Top it off with the roof. Matt Reed of beethinking.com, you made a nice hive kit.

Bees flying orientation flights.

Through the observation window we can see the bees working. No new natural comb can be seen yet, but it won't be long.

April 23…through the observation window we can watch the bees working. No new natural comb can be seen yet, but it won’t be long.

April 26, Natural comb can be seen on Day 9.

Where this and other swarms are coming from…Bee Beard Log Hive.

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Mason Bees…Ready to Go!

Posted in Hives, Mason Bees, Natural Beekeeping, tagged mason bee blocks, mason bees, natural beekeeping, solitary bees, Wild pollinators on April 5, 2013| 14 Comments »

Mason Bee Cocoons

Last year my wife opened the refrigerator to discover the Mason bees were starting to hatch…this year we were determined to hang the nests before that happened. We ordered the cocoons from Knox Cellars in Western Washington. They provided this little ‘launch box.’

Ready to place cocoons into box

I saw some great plans on Dave’s Bees on how to build the nests so I got started yesterday.

Saw off 1/2″ (1 cm) off 2x6x8″

Entrance holes drilled more or less in a straight line.

Drill 3/8″ (9.5 mm) holes more or less in a straight line about 3/4″ apart

I hope the bees don’t have a measuring tape…someone can’t drill straight!

I didn't want to buy a longer bit, so I started with the top one and ended with the blade bit. Don't start with the blade type...it'll take a long time.

I didn’t want to buy a longer bit, so I started with the top one and ended with the blade bit. Don’t start with the blade type…it’ll take forever to drill.

Assembly on kitchen table. My wife is knitting a
bee hive hat…how appropriate.

The rolled up parchment paper liners are sticking out. They will be bent flat when the 1/2″ piece of sawed-off wood is fastened back on to seal it off. See Dave’s Bees excellent video.

March 23…Mason Bee Nests in place with launch box taped securely

Grass trimmed under nests to make bees more visible if they fall below. The drones (males) will emerge first and wait for the females. Sometimes the females will emerge and fall to the ground.

After about a week of waiting we start to see some activity…

One shy bee showing in 2nd row 2nd from left

March 30…Mason bee entering straw tube in wood block

Keeping mason bees is one of the easiest method of beekeeping. Some interesting facts…200 mason bees will outpollinate 2000 honey bees. Mason bees rarely sting.

A female Orchard Mason Bee visits more than 1,600 blossoms per day for about 45 days! Will fly in temperatures as low as 50 F. (10 C), and is not bothered by rain.

In orchards with non-Apis bees, the foraging behaviour of honey bees changed and the pollination effectiveness of a single honey bee visit was greater than in orchards where non-Apis bees were absent

Mason Mud tray. Since the Masons use mud to close up their tubes, it’s recommended that you provide a nearby source of mud.

Six tubes filled already.

Mason bee update…looking for mites.

Mason bee launch, 2014

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A Face Mask on Bee Beard Log Hive

Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, tagged beekeeping, honey bees, Log hive wood carving, Log hives, natural beekeeping, nature photography, Verticle log hive, Wild pollinators, wood carving on March 29, 2013| 14 Comments »

On a hot day in late March, the bees step out for some fresh air and dancing.

It's a hot day for us on the Oregon Coast in late March.

It’s unusably warm on the Oregon Coast today.

The lower bee has been fanning for awhile. While I was photographing, this other bee came out and fed her? I don’t know if that’s what it is, but from here, that’s what it looked like.

Pat’s next log hive progresses…much work still to be done before ready for bees.

Some bees are still outside the hive, at 10 pm. and 49 deg. F (9.4C)

This hive swarmed the next day. I missed the prime swarm but got the second swarm into a back-up Warre.

Swarm number 4 went into a tree hive.

Swarm #3 got mixed into swarm #5 that went into Bee-atrice log hive.

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Adventures in Natural Beekeeping

Bees, Hives, Swarms, and Everything under the Sun

Archive for the ‘Hives’ Category

Hal and Patti’s Log Hives and Garden

A Mother’s Day Swarm

Adding ladders to a Warre and ‘Tanging’

Meet Bee-atrice…A Female Companion to Bee Beard

Preparing Bee-atrice Log Hive for Prime Time

Pat’s New Log Hive

A Tree Hive

Bee Beard Log Hive Swarm #2

Mason Bees…Ready to Go!

A Face Mask on Bee Beard Log Hive

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