Winter Beehavior

As the days grow shorter and cooler, the beehive becomes outwardly less active. But I know from peering into the hive, the bees are still busy. As I was placing the entrance restrictor at the opening of the hive, I could see the bees balled up around the queen keeping her warm and fed. Wintering bees is an amazing event to see in nature, I am continuously reminded of the wonders of nature as a beekeeper.

You Can Bee Sure Fall Is Here

Even though it was hot today, the bees are displaying fall-like behavior. I spent several hours today photographing my beehive and observing the activity around the hive. As I sat with my macro lens in hand, I got a great picture of a worker bee forcing a drone from the hive. I noticed several dead drones on the ground in front of the hive. This is typical beehavior in preparation for winter. Drones are a liability to the hive in the winter months and therefore must go.

Bee Ready For Fall

As the days are getting shorter and the nights cooler here in Michigan, I've noticed the bees are slowing down too. Today was a cool cloudy day and the bees were not active until mid morning. Next week, I am going to change the base of the hive from a screen to a standard wooden base. I think the bees will appreciate the extra warmth in the evenings and early mornings.

City Beekeeper Map

Stop by the City Beekeeper Map, at www.Frappr.com

Frist Honey Harvest

My husband and I just harvested our first batch of honey. We have 1 large bee hive in the back yard. The colony is 4 supers tall (all deeps). We extracted 3 gallons of honey from the hive. Our honey is very light in color and has a strong floral bouquet. I am hoping to harvest more honey in the next week. I was working in the bee hive today. The busy little bees have almost filled the empty combs up again. Even though, I have been reading information on CCD, my colony is large, active and healthy. What's the buzzzzzz