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Seventh Week

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No matter how hard you try to raise them right, sometimes they just go out and do whatever they want to do, leaving you to fix things and make it right again. Sunday evening I went down to check on the hive since I hadn't looked in for a few days. First I checked on the one feeder that was left in there. It still had about a quarter of the sugar water left. I removed the feeder since they are not really using it anymore. I closed that part of the hive back up and moved into the section the bees occupy. I removed the back three bars so I could peek in. I could see one small comb on the left side of Bar 8 being built and then that's when I saw something I didn't think I was going to have to deal with. After seven bars of nice straight comb, one group decided to try something new on the eighth bar and build from one bar to the another, better known as cross-combing. Carefully I separated the bars enough to see the attached comb. I eased a bread knife into the slit and b...
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Sixth Week

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Day 42     So the hive is now six weeks old. The bees have settled in nicely and have maintained a very calm attitude. I have not been going into the hive much the last two weeks except to check on the feeder. The jars had developed a small amount of mold so I removed all three jars and gave them a good washing. I only returned one jar back and after two weeks, only half of it has been used up.  I haven't decided whether I will remove it or not. It doesn't seem to be causing any issues and it gives them a place for a quick drink if they want it. They are bringing the pollen in pretty good. This girl is bringing in a good load. It has now started to warm up with temperatures into the mid 90's and a couple of days right at 100. I have not taken the bars out to examine them but Bar 7 has been filling out pretty good. My wife is taking a look at Bar 7. I never imagined that she would be this comfortable around the bees but she has become a big help and active pa...
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Fourth Week Inspection

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Day 28    "So, how are your bees doing?" Glad you asked. After a pretty significant drop in the population, the next generation has begun to fill the hive. There are a lot more bees in there than last week and if you look at the photos from last week and compare them to this week, you will notice how many brood cells have opened up. The weather has been pretty rainy with afternoon downpours the last five days. I only checked on them to check on the feeders. They have all but stopped using them. I did notice some tiny flecks floating in the water last week and my observant wife pointed out that it looked like it might be mold, which it was. After reading various people's opinions on the matter, I decided to leave it alone for now. Apparently moldy water doesn't affect them at all unless it gets really bad and sours the water. I may mix up some more sugar water and clean the jars and put one clean jar back in and see if they start taking it anymore. Starting from t...
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Three Week Inspection

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Day 21      It has been very windy the last few days and we also had rain a couple of days with a very unusual Sunday of misty rain for most of the day and cool with the temperature in the upper 70's. I have stayed out of the hive except to check on the feeders twice. Now with it being three weeks since this package was installed and a very calm, warm day in the low 90's, I checked the feeders and did a full hive inspection. They have slowed down considerably on their sugar water intake, not even using a full jar during the last week. Again, starting with Bar 7, they are building quite nicely. I had a surprise on Bar 6. Her majesty, the queen, had ventured back here (circled in red in the second photo). This is a good example as to why you should always check each comb carefully to locate her. I wasn't expecting her to be back here and if I hadn't looked for her, I could have very easily dropped her in the grass and never known it. You can see the white capped ...
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Two Week Inspection

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Day 14      So I have hit the two week mark. So far everything seems to be going well. I have been refilling the feeders as needed and checking the comb development. It has been overcast and rainy the past three days and the bees were a bit more defensive than normal. They weren't aggressive but they sure came out more to check on me. Today was clear and about 82. I opened the hive and refilled the feeders. The bees were back to their normal selves and hardly gave me a notice. That is except one that was particularly curious. She kept buzzing around in front of me, sometimes landing on my arm or on my hair and just hanging out there for a bit before flying around some more. One thing I noticed was they are starting to cap the honey cells on several combs. They seem to be starting at the top and working their way down. Most had about an inch on each side capped. There were also some worker cells and drone cells. My concern though is the appearance of what may be a queen ...
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How it Begins

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I have thought about raising bees for many years. Actually as far back as the late 1980's. However, the impending invasion of "Killer Bees" here in Texas dampened my enthusiasm somewhat and so the project was put on the back burner. So, some twenty five years later, the urge arose once more to give it a try. After much research and zero desire to lift heavy supers, I decided on the top bar hive design. With the assistance of my four year old granddaughter, I gathered the required materials and began construction. Looking at the list, the first number is the quantity of wood pieces needed followed by thickness, width, and length. The parts list was pretty much as follows*: Hive Body Sides and Ends  3 - 1" x 12" x 4' Legs                   2 - 2" x 4" x 6' Roof Frame        2 - 1" x 4' x 6'  sheet of plywood Top Bars Top Bars            2 - 1" x 4" x 12'   (makes a...
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Quick Peek

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Day 9      I arrived at the hive around 4:00 p.m. to top off the feeders. The first two were about 3/4 full and the rear had about an inch used. Filling them emptied what was left in the pitcher from when I mixed up the sugar water on Wednesday. I peeked inside to check on them and to get some pictures. This first one shows what they do when you are separating the bars. They hold onto each other and form chains from one comb to the other. This is separating bar 6 and bar 7. There are five bars with about this much comb. Bar 1 was not made with a guide. I left it blank so they wouldn't build on it and I could remove it for easy checking on the front of the hive. They had other ideas and have started building on it anyway. The comb is small right now because they just started on it. The bar was empty two days ago. Bar 7 also has a small starter comb on it. Here you can see them working on building all the way out to the end of the guide. This is bar 6. Here...
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