Archive for the ‘Log hives’ Category

GORSE: Bandon, Ireland to Bandon, Oregon

Posted in Bee-loving flowers, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 11, 2013| 9 Comments »

George Bennett

George Bennett    1827-1900

George Bennett wasn’t the first to visit Bandon from Ireland,  but he was the one who named the town in 1891, because it reminded him of his home town of Bandon, County Cork, Ireland.   His friend, Henry Hewitt Baldwin was the first.  Baldwin’s ship, the “Captain Lincoln” wrecked north of the Coos Bay bar in 1852 and he hiked into this area.  Baldwin persuaded his home town friend, George Bennett to settle here.  Lord Bennett and two sons arrived in 1873.  It is unclear how and when the title “Lord” was bestowed on him.  Some members of the Bandon Historical Society Museum are in agreement that he acquired the title on the journey from Ireland to here.  The former name of the town was Averill which is now the name of the Pioneer Cemetery where Lord Bennett is buried.

Averill Pioneer Cemetery, where Lord Bennett is buried.

Averill Pioneer Cemetery, where Lord Bennett is buried.

Lord Bennett is probably best known not for naming the town, but for bringing GORSE seeds to this area.

George Bennett brought gorse to Bandon

The conditions were just right for gorse which in the following decades went wild and became a nuisance in both the town and in the neighboring countryside.

To say gorse is a nuisance plant is probably an understatement.  It’s full of sharp spiny thorns, is impenetrable to walk through, and embodies an oil-type substance that makes it highly flammable.
In 1936, the Bandon Fire leveled the town,  gorse being a contributing factor.

My new hobby of beekeeping has sparked an interest in gorse.  When I joined the local bee club, I was advised that Bandon was not the best place for bees.  “Too damp and windy.”  I thought to myself maybe Bandon would have a slight advantage in the winter because of all the gorse growing here.  It starts to bloom early to  mid February and continues through late spring.  This would be a definite advantage in giving my bees a nectar and pollen source mid winter.

Some photographs of gorse.

Gorse growing in city limits

Gorse growing near town

Gorse can grow tall

Gorse can grow tall

Gorse pollen is orange...I had been hoping it was the yellow pollen I had seen going into the hive. February 13, 2013

Gorse pollen is orange…I had been hoping it was the yellow pollen I had seen going into the hive. February 13, 2013

Honey bee on gorse growing up the road from me.

Honey bee on gorse, up the road from me.

I love how these bees swagger when they are loaded with pollen...

I love how the bees swagger when they are loaded with pollen…

I realize that without special techniques to properly identify pollen, I can’t say for certain that all the orange pollen is from gorse.  Indeed, I could only find a small percentage of gorse with bees working it, but there is a lot of gorse that I don’t see.  My bees were bringing in a gobs of orange pollen through February and early March.  It’s possible this pollen could be coming from gorse.  I’d like to think so.

A short video showing bees working the gorse.

Footnote:  I checked with the The Federation of Irish Beekeepers Association.  They list gorse as a source of nectar of minor importance.

Some more photos…

Henry Baldwin's House, built sometime after the 1936 fire, now known as the Shindler House. Baldwin Cypress in foreground.

Henry Baldwin’s House, built sometime after the 1936 fire, now known as the Shindler House. Baldwin Cypress in foreground.

Baldwin Cypress now...Shindler house in background

Baldwin Cypress now…Shindler house in background

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Flowers blooming mid-winter

Posted in Bee-loving flowers, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Uncategorized, Videos, Warre Hive, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 22, 2013| 8 Comments »

Could this be pollen from the laurel bush? It's been blooming since Jan. 22.

Could this be pollen from the laurel bush? It’s been blooming since Jan. 22. I know that you can’t tell by color alone, but at this time I don’t have the microscope or capability to properly identify pollen.

This is the first year I’ve had bees into winter.  I was curious about all the types of pollen showing up on the bees entering the hive.  I was sure some of it was gorse since we seem to have so much of it growing thanks to Lord Bennett of Ireland.

I made a 9 minute movie showing the bees on different types of flowers and Shigeo of the local bee association demonstrates how to transplant an Echium.  I realize that some people can’t spare the time, so I’m offering ‘screen saves,’ as well.

Laurel blooming by Bonnie's house

Laurel blooming by Bonnie’s house

Bee on laurel, tannish-colored pollen

Bee on laurel, tannish-colored pollen…January 22, 2013

Bees on rosemary, at City Hall, February 8, 2013

Bees on rosemary, at City Hall, February 8, 2013

Pussy Willows blooming near our hives...sun comes out...bees love it.

Willow catkins blooming near our hives…sun comes out…bees love it.  February 8,2013

Gorse pollen is orange...I had been hoping it was the yellow pollen I had seen going into the hive. February 13, 2013

Gorse pollen is orange…I had been hoping it was the yellow pollen I had seen going into the hive. February 13, 2013

The video shows this bee in slow motion working the pollen back to it's pollen sac. I didn't see it at first until a more experience bee keeper showed me. February 13, 2013

The video shows this bee in slow motion working the pollen back to it’s pollen sac. I didn’t see it at first until a more experience bee keeper showed me. February 13, 2013

Bee on heather, 2-14-13, right up the street from Tom and Karen's house.

Bee on heather, 2-14-13, right up the street from Joe and Karen’s house.

Bee on acacia, 2-15-13...Shigeo showed me this place to get some video. By the time we got to it, the bees were returning to home so I only got a short clip of it.

Bee on acacia, 2-15-13…Shigeo showed me this place to get some video. By the time we got to it, the bees were returning to home so I only got a short clip of it.

Shigeo shows how to transplant an Echium Tree.

Shigeo shows how to transplant an Echium Tree.

Echium for 2013...I'm hoping this plant will shoot up 10 feet (3 m) starting about April or May.

Echium for 2013…I’m hoping this plant will shoot up 10 feet (3 m) starting about April or May. The tarp protects against freezing weather.

These are the plants that Shigeo demonstrated in the video, how to transplant. They are my hope for 2014

These are the plants that Shigeo demonstrated in the video, how to transplant. They are my hope for 2014

We planted this in late October 2011. It just stared blankly at us for several months. April or May we noticed it had grown about 10 feet. The bees worked it for 3 solid months.

We planted this echium in late October 2011. It just stood still for several months. About April or May we noticed it had grown to about 10 feet. The bees worked it for 3 solid months.

The video shows the bees in action on the flowers.  I used the Canon SX-50 (50x optical zoom) on the laurel as well as the willow catkins.  My little pocket camera, a Sanyo Xacti performed admirably for the rest of the close ups…I love the ‘super macro’ feature.

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Bees Active in Winter

Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, Warre Hive, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 3, 2013| 13 Comments »

As a newbie beekeeper I thought the bees just kept within the hive during the winter, leaving the hive infrequently.  I know things are different on the coast because we rarely get snow, but we get loads of cold winds and driving rains.  So it’s to my surprise that the bees are so active.  They are actually bringing in pollen during January and early February.  I’m hoping the yellow pollen is gorse, because everyone around here hates gorse so much (with good reason…it’s blamed for burning the town down in 1936), I’d like to know gorse is good for something, especially since it usually blooms early February.

I’m concerned about the Warre hive. The top video shows the front of the hive with the bees bringing in yellow and orange pollen and through the observation window in back.   I’d like some advice from more knowledgeable beekeepers about what to do.  I almost nadired another box underneath, had planned for the forecasted hottest part of the day at 55 deg.F (12 deg.C) but then the temperature turned cool.  Should I add another box so they can grow into it before they swarm or should I wait for a few more weeks because the winter weather will return the latter part of February and into March?  Another box means they have to heat it.  I’ve got a dry sugar pad above the box as a just in case food source.

The log hive below looks very strong, lots of activity whenever the sun comes out and the temps are in the 50’s (10 C) bringing in pollen during January and February.  Those bees came from a feral tree hive.  I’m leaving them alone to fend for themselves.  I’m hoping the hive will act as an undisturbed ecosystem…bees adapting to survive mites and other pests.

Hope to have another log hive in place before they swarm.

Hollowing out the log  Carving the log

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Bees still flying in Late December

Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, Warre Hive, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 30, 2012| 11 Comments »

A long time beekeeper in the bee association warned me to expect 50% winter losses.   I thought to myself which hive am I going to lose, the one I’m reluctantly feeding or the log hive?

I realize this is only the beginning of winter, but both hives have already come through hurricane-force winds, weeks of steady rain, and a few recent frosty mornings.  The sun finally came out this weekend and to my happy surprise, both hives are still flying, even though the temperature was a mere 50 deg. F (10 deg. C)  The log hive is still bringing in a surprising amount of pollen.

I was able to shoot the 2nd part of this video with my new camera that sports a 50x zoom.  I don’t have to get as close to the hive now. 🙂

Hollowing out the log     Constructing the base     Bee Beard Gets Bees

Here’s a photo of the bottom board taken the next day…Some more experienced beekeepers say you can tell what’s inside the hive by reading the bottom board.  I see flakes of wax, but I’m not sure about the rest of it…

Warre Hive Floor Board...Learning how to read the floor board.

Warre Hive Floor Board…Learning how to read the floor board.  The layout of the bars are parallel with the bottom of this board.  What do you see?

When it's cold the bees hang out in the lower left of hive.

When it’s cold the bees hang out in the lower left of hive.

Status of bee hives one year later.

Here is Bernhard Zaunreiter’s assessment of my little Warre Hive…

PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 8:09 am    Post subject:
It is a very small colony. But since they made it until now, they most probably make it through winter and until Spring. It will be a difficult time in Spring, when the old winter bees die off and have to be replaced with young bees just in time. Just make sure you protect them from robbing in Spring. A big colony will surely assault such a small colony and wipe them out of life. So reduce and watch the entrance.Such a moldy floor only can be found in small colonies. The black stuff on the right of the picture is mold. It won’t harm the bees for now. So no worries. The black dirt ist bug poo, I think the hive has quite some wax moths. The common woodlice are wintering within the hive, but won’t harm the bees much. You could clean the floor board regularily, so you can notice the differences over the time. Once the first stripes and pollen appear on the board, they started brooding. Wipe the mold off with some vinegar, washing and drying it afterwards with a hair dryer.Plenty of stores, so no worries about that. Maybe you scrape open some honey cells from above in Spring, so the honey draws moisture and can be eaten up more quickly, leaving empty cells to lay eggs into. Just some combs at a time. The most critical thingin Spring are empty cells.

You can see his example of a  more healthy bottom board here…http://www.biobees.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=88786#88786 (as well as follow the thread)

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Sandi’s Swarm

Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Swarms, Videos, tagged , , , , , on December 11, 2012| 4 Comments »

Sandi works for a company that orders printing from me all the time.  Whenever she would call, I’d bore her with my excitement about bees.  At that point I didn’t have any bees and was building swarm bait hives, wondering where I could place them, and in general being hyper about getting some.  Eventually, I got some bees.  So when Sandi called in late June to say she had a swarm on her property and didn’t want them because she was allergic, I felt obligated to get them.  She had suffered through my bee-brain ramblings, so I better come through.  I was still smarting from the feral bee hive transfer to Bee Beard Log Hive and didn’t want a third hive, but there was a couple whose daughter had built them a top bar hive that needed bees.  I called them and yes, they still wanted bees.

I’m sure there are better ways to capture a swarm.  These bees were snug against the trunk of a small fir tree.  I couldn’t bend the tree over the bucket to shake them in so I just sort of ‘brushed’ them into the bucket…watching for the bees to stick there rear ends up and fan the pheramone…”the queen is in the bucket.”  Hearing the grandkids exclamations are priceless.

I don't understand it. I got stung 25 times when transferring bees into Bee Beard and didn't swell up as much as this time with only 5 stings!

I don’t understand it. I got stung 25 times when transferring bees into Bee Beard and didn’t swell up as much as this time with only 5 stings!

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Bee Beard Log Hive…Robber Bees?

Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, Warre Hive, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 22, 2012| 3 Comments »

I’m happy to report my Bee Beard log hive came through the hurricane-force winds without getting blown over.  The bamboo and ‘staked’ hay bales must have protected it enough.

Since we are new to beekeeping  we try to pay attention to the advice of more experienced beekeepers.  We have been warned about robber bees attacking the hive…robbing the honey.  I shot this video in an effort to find out if my log hive is getting robbed.  I don’t know whether these are robber bees or just the normal activity of the hive.  They are still bringing in pollen so I’m assuming (naively?) it’s all normal behavior.  The bees came from a feral hive in a tree on private property.  Maybe it’s strong enough to defend itself.

A short video of my Warre Hive is included.  Much less activity can be seen around the Warre.  Is it because I’m feeding them sugar?  Maybe the bees don’t feel the need to venture out.

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Bee Beard Log Hive Shows Much Activity in November

Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 12, 2012| 7 Comments »

It’s early November when the clouds parted and the sun popped out.  The day started warming and the bees started flying.  It had been overcast and rainy for about a week, so I guess the bees were anxious to get out, but I was surprised to see so much pollen coming back in.  The Warre hive had bees flying but not returning with the ‘gobs’ of pollen like the log hive…could it be because I’m feeding  sugar to the Warre hive and not to the log hive?

I have no idea what kind of pollen they are bringing back.  Nothing is blooming in the garden but rosemary and borage and I don’t see many bees on it.  Is this normal behavior this late in the year?  Comments are appreciated.

After reading the comment from Emily Heath, I started looking around the area for ivy.  To my surprise it was growing all over the place.  It’s one of those things that you don’t see until someone points it out to you.  I had to get close to see the blossoms and that’s when I saw the bees.  I hope some of them came from my hives.

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Bamboo Attracts Wasps

Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, Wasps, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 4, 2012| 3 Comments »

Bee Beard Log Hive in front of Bamboo

When I decided to place my new Bee Beard Log Hive I considered many things.  I wanted it placed where it would get the morning sun shining into the entrance, well beyond the long reach of the tree shadows in winter, and protected from the raging winter winds that blast from the southwest.  Also I wanted the hive to be visible if possible, on the edge of the garden, so we could observe the bees whenever we worked outside. The placement of the hive in front of the bamboo satisfied all the requirements.  What I didn’t know is that bamboo attracts wasps.  When I started seeing all the wasps on the bamboo I started to panic.  What are they doing around my log hive?  I started recalling the stories at the bee meeting about all the hives that are lost to wasps.  How did I know bamboo attracts wasps?  Is that common knowledge?

Wasp on Bamboo leaf over Bee Beard log hive.

The bamboo was leaning over the log hive…are the wasps going to attack my bees?  What to do?

I plugged the last gap by stuffing the inner tube into it.  Wasps won’t  get in here

Found a piece of bamboo that fit the 1 1/2″ (3.81 cm) hole. This reduces the hole making it easier to guard against wasps.

After  consulting the internet about bamboo I found out that wasps gather fibers from the bamboo for their paper nests.  That’s what they are doing on the bamboo, not attacking the log hive,

Wasps are scary because they can sting again and again, but they also are beneficial because they prey on other pests like spiders, flies, bug, and caterpillers.

We feel that wasps have a place in our garden.  We won’t kill them because they really aren’t bothering us or the bees,   The ground hive is almost never used the next year and once the cold weather hits, it will be inactive.

I shot a short video showing the wasps on the bamboo as well as the very active ground hive.,,

Spider captures wasp.

Chainsaw artist Brian Vorwaller, carving the face on the log here.

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Bee Beard Log Hive gets a Headband and a ‘Boot’

Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Swarms, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 8, 2012| 2 Comments »

In anticipation of the wet stormy weather that the Oregon Coast is known for, I closed up some gaps on the log hive with a bicycle inner tube.

Bee Beard gets a headband to protect against the cold winter winds.

Bee Beard with headband as seen from side

Bee Beard as seen through the observation window 10-8-12. Bee-built tunnels provide access to the honey.

The large number of unfilled cells is a concern, but the bees are still packing pollen, so hopefully they will get filled with something.

This truck inner tube covers the gaps in the ‘wood plug’ that covers the observation window. It’s removable so I’ll be able to look through the window from time to time.

This log hive has exceeded my expectations for the summer.  It has built up fast, didn’t swarm like my hive last year, (swarmed two months after I got it), and has out performed the Warre hive even though I got it going about the same time.  Now for the real test…will it make it through the winter?  I haven’t taken any honey from it, I’m not going to medicate or hang miticides, and I’m not going to feed it.  It came from a natural living tree hive and made it through the winter last year without intervention so I feel it has a good chance.  The only intervention I have given it is to peer through the window from time to time.  If I get a swarm from it next year, I’ll count it as a success.  Maybe I’ll have my next log hive set up in time.

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Bee Beard Log Hive is Growing a Beard…or a Moustache

Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 3, 2012| 8 Comments »

Quite a mouthful. This photo was taken the evening before.

The bees started being very active fairly early in the morning.  I ran to get the video camera to document what was going on.  They grouped up on the outside of the hive entrance.  The group slowly moved up the right side of the hive and then under the nose.  My wife thinks this was a bunch of drones hatching, because they look bigger.  I couldn’t get couldn’t get a good fix on the eye pattern.  The next day was normal activity.  Any ideas?  We welcome your comments.

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