(click each of the pics – you will see more detail in the expanded view)

Bees mainly produce wax during the early bit of their lives…in particular, from days 10-16.  They eat honey which is necessary for the wax glands to produce.  It takes 6-10 pounds of honey to make one pound of wax.  Small flakes of wax protrude from the underside of the bee’s abdomen when the glands are in production.  The bees pull the flakes and chew them so they can be molded into whatever shape they need.

The cool part is that bees can also recycle wax!  Bees are the ultimate green community!  I had some extra honeycomb that I pulled from a hive that I had been working on earlier.  I always leave the bits of wax out for a period after I remove it so the bees can have a go at it.  This most recent batch has been particularly tasty I guess because bees have been all over it for 2 weeks snatching bits of old wax.  They bite chunks of the wax off of the old honey comb and chew it until it can be shoved into their pollen baskets to be carried back to the hive.

I have often seen bees work with wax I leave out for them, but I have never seen them work so long and hard on a single “pull” of wax.  It really is sort of inspiring how they use what they have and make do.  I think there is a lesson there for everyone…

These bees are headed inside the house

On Tuesday evening of this week, I got a call from a couple in South Hills who had a swarm of bees on their window.  I checked it out and it seemed that the swarm had decided to take up residence inside the soffit of their house.  That swarm is still in progress.  We’re waiting to see if they are truly headed in or if they were just running from me as I tried to catch them.

Last night I got home a little before 8.  There was a message about another swarm in Dunbar (a nearby town).   My father-in-law came with me as we loaded up the van and headed out.  The homeowner and her daughter and grandson noticed the swarm in a tree that they had planted for Mother’s day this year.  The usual way to get a swarm off of a branch is to cut the branch and lower it gently into a hive.  Of course, this tree was small and important to them so we went with Plan B (cue the scary music and crazy eyes).  I always carry a cardboard box so I had my father-in-law (who was fully suited up) hold the box while I gave the tree a good shake.  Most of the bees were jolted into the box which we then dumped into the nearby hive.

Home-owner's Grandson L.

The swarm itself was really easy to catch so that part was done pretty quickly.  My favorite part of swarm catching is not really getting the actual bees into the hive though.  The home-owner’s grandson had a lot of questions and was very curious about bees and beeswax and whether they would hurt him, and how they made honey, etc.  Answering questions and talking to people who are curious about bees is my favorite part of catching swarms…and Grandson L.  really made my day.  I chatted with him for 15 (?) minutes after the bees were captured.

All-in-all, it has been a great bee week and a good bee summer…this is definitely the year of the bee!

More swarms…

I am thankful that the yard guys (and gal) called WV DNR who called me.  I was able to run over at lunch yesterday and catch this excellent swarm.  They were pretty gentle and appeared to be healthy and vigorous.  After work (and hours after their capture so they had time to calm down), I was able to find a good looking queen so they should be a good colony.

Anyhow, I showed up to get these bees in my work clothes…you know, dress shoes, nice pants, etc.  I think I mentioned that the swarm was in a gravel yard, right?  It had rained the night before so it was a muddy mess (as was I).  Anyhow, the foreman brought me a ladder and stopped traffic on the scales and I was able to scoop the swarm into a cardboard box using a dust pan (yes, I have learned these tricks the hard way).  When on a ladder, it is best to have something light into which the bees can be placed for the trip down the ladder.  Old paper boxes work perfectly!  Anyhow, I scooped the majority of the bees into the box and carried it down the ladder where I dumped them into the hive I had waiting.  I waited about 10 minutes and the ones I missed smelled the queen in the hive and followed after her.  It’s just how swarm catching is supposed to go!

I love catching swarms.  I think my favorite part is the crowd that invariably gathers to “watch the crazy bee man on a ladder”.  The really cool part is when I (didn’t) load the hive into my van to drive them home.  The guys thought (not really, because I didn’t really do it) I was doubly crazy!  Anyhow, the folks at the gravel yard were really helpful and had lots of questions so this was, in all ways, a great swarm to catch!

More swarms…

We met the “finder” and some family/friends and the kids were super friendly and excited to check out how the whole “catch-a-swarm” thing goes down.  Isaac and I showed them the hive box and our equipment and talked with them about all sorts of questions they had.  We finally decided we better get busy before rain or dark made it tougher.  I held the branch and Isaac cut it and we had ourselves the first swarm of the weekend.

Sunday afternoon, I got a call from Charleston’s metro 911 service.  They reported a swarm of bees near the United Bank building in downtown Charleston.  Charleston is WV’s largest city so we have all sorts of business, medical and legal buildings here including several high-rise buildings.  Anyhow, the United building is a pretty large white building in the center of the city.  I drove around once looking for a swarm hanging from a tree in the courtyard or someplace more “typical” for a swarm of bees.  Finally I found them on a barrier in front of the building.  It really wasn’t much of a swarm by the time I got there.  I figure the real swarm had probably moved on and the remaining bees were ones that had been out scouting for a new home.  Anyhow, there were enough bees that I had to remove them so no one would come upon them and get hurt (or act stupid).

I parked around the side of the bank adjacent to the swarm.  As I was hauling my equipment out, it occurred to me that I may end up meeting the swat team.  ”A bald-headed guy wearing a camo shirt carrying a ladder and a mysterious white box has been spotted walking down Virginia street…all units respond!” went through my mind given the recent stuff happening in New York City.  Anyhow, I donned my suit and moved the bees from the pole to my hive box and headed home as quickly as I could.

As swarm weekends go, I think this was a pretty good one and we had a good time catching them…nothing beats catching a swarm, especially when we have an audience!

More swarms…

Weather radar on Sunday - I live at the blue star...

I happened to take a look at the weather radar and figured I needed to do something and soon as their temporary location was not great, rain-wise.  As always, I wait until just short of the last minute to do stuff, so I scrambled around the house and found some duct tape and a roll of baling twine (as well as a toilet plunger and a box of plastic spoons) and loaded up the man-van to move some bees before the coming storms hit (and I almost made it).

Before I go any farther, let me warn you…what I am about to tell you should not be attempted under any circumstances and is merely a figment of your imagination…I would never really do this ; -)

To move bees, I wad up some paper and stuff it into the entrance which I tape in place.  I do the same with the top entrance (basically a “breather hole”).  Then I wrap a ratcheting strap around the hive and beat feet with it to the back of the van.  There are always bees that hang on the outside and underneath.  Most times a couple of dozen bees seem to outsmart  my tape job too.  Still, I slam the door down and go for it.  You see, if I ever really did this I would not be fearful because, as it turns out, the bees that do escape have absolutely no interest in messing with me.  They see the light through the windows and buzz around as bugs do when caught behind glass.

If I ever really did do this a bunch of times, I would probably be able to tell you that I have never once been bothered by bees with this method and the bees have always been transported successfully and with no damage to me or them.  But, of course, I have never done any of this, right?

Beekeeping is always an adventure.  As always, there are risks when messing with thousands of stinging insects with no moral compulsion towards fair play…but the nature of bees is incredibly fascinating and mostly understandable…or so I have heard…I never do these sorts of things though…

Every spring, though, I seem to get a chance to do my absolute favorite beekeeping job of all…I get to catch swarms of bees.  Most years I do splits and other manipulations so my bees don’t swarm.  Usually the 911 center calls me to report a swarm of bees in someone’s tree or by their house.  I love going to get swarms of bees, especially when the swarm is from someone else’s hive.

Swarming, you see, is the bees’ way of growing.  When a colony gets too packed into its existing digs, it forces another queen to be created and, when the new queen is nearly ready, the old queen and half (or so) of the overcrowded bees head for the hills…or the nearest tree branch.  Once they make it to the branch, the queen hides in the middle of the swarm and scout bees go out looking for a new place to live.  Back before the days of varroa mites, these bees usually ended up in a tree out in the woods.  That still happens today, but they don’t live for more than a year or two.  So, back to why I like to catch other people’s swarms – when the bees came from my hives, I end up with two half-strength colonies instead of one really strong one.  In one way, it is cool because I get two hives that will grow into good colonies and may make some honey this year.  The bad thing is, if I had one strong colony, it would make honey this year.  Oh well, it can’t be helped!

Anyhow, when the bees are in waiting for scouts to find a new home, they are pretty vulnerable.  Each bee filled up on honey before it left, but that’s all the food they have to go on until they get to a new location.  They are completely exposed to animals and humans and weather and cold.  Being in a swarm is a dangerous proposition for a bee.

So, next door to one of the locations where I keep bees, the homeowners saw the swarm take off out of the hive and end up in one of their trees.  They knew it was mine so they called and I rushed to see if I could catch them.  There is no real trick to catching a swarm of bees (but please don’t try unless you know what you are doing).  All one has to do is get the swarm into a container along with the queen.  If the queen makes it into the container, the swarm will stay and claim the new location as their home.

Click for video

(try this link if the one above doesn’t work on your computer)

So, I got to the swarm location and saw the largest swarm I had ever caught hanging about shoulder-high in a tree…in the middle of a bunch of poison ivy…which I now have on my leg.  I carried my empty hive box to the location and cut the branch with the bees.  I shook them into the box…mostly.  A bunch of bees (since it was such a huge group) fell onto the ground in front of the colony.  Typically the bees will “sense” that a good hive is near and they will march into it.  I have no idea whether the queen walked in herself or if I got her into the box on the initial shake.  Either way, she ended up in the colony and all of the remaining bees followed her inside!

Click for video

(try this link if the one above doesn’t work on your computer)

Bees in a swarm are pretty docile (but don’t mess with them unless you know what you are doing…they still have stingers) and fun to be around.  It’s like pure energy…it’s just amazing to me.  The buzz that they  generate is incredible and it’s just a sight to behold.  I cannot begin to really explain how cool and exciting it is to see and catch a swarm of bees.  It is my absolute favorite part of beekeeping though!  I love this time of year!

More swarms…

This year we ordered packages from a supplier in NC.  My in-laws drove down and back this weekend and picked up 4 packages and 3 new queens in addition.  On Sunday we installed the bees, made splits, requeened and generally had a good time messing around with the bees.  Installing a package of bees is about the simplest thing a beekeeper can do, but new beekeepers often panic at the thought of dumping bees from a box into the new hive.  I figured I would video tape my hiving a package of bees so anyone who might want to have a look can see how I do it!

Link to Video

(Try this link to video of the above didn’t work on your computer)

A few weeks ago, we had a warm day and I was able to check the 4 hives at my house.  To my dismay, 2 were dead-outs.  All of my hives at other locations are fine so I was surprised to find some at my house that were gone.  We live atop a hill in Charleston, WV and we get serious wind.  I have a windbreak around them but I suppose that the extreme drafts might have gotten to them.  That is the one characteristic that separates the hives at my house from the ones I have elsewhere.  It has been said that one cannot freeze bees…if they stay dry and not too windy.  If either problem exists, all bets are off so I figured I fell prey to the wind.

Heads down in the cells...telltale sign of starvation

I opened the hives and immediately knew that the wind was not to blame, but rather the cold…sort of.  You see, my bees didn’t freeze, but rather starved to death.  The cold makes bees cluster together.  As it gets especially cold with no warm days interspersed, the bees cannot break their cluster.  Without breaking cluster, they cannot move through the hive either.  Since their honey stores are spread throughout the hive, they need to be able to move around periodically to eat.

Some honey nearby where they were clustered

Plenty of honey one more frame over...

So, I opened 2 hives and saw the tell-tale signs…bees still clustered together,  many bees with their heads deep in honeycomb cells, and honey nearby, but not right where they died.

I hate for a colony to die, and when it is related to something I might have done wrong, it irritates me even more (fortunately, that doesn’t happen often anymore).  But when it’s due to nature, I guess I feel a little bit of relief.  It’s never fun, but it is a reality of beekeeping.  So, I just hope for warmer days here and there so the bees can move to food and also for a quick Spring!  Come on Spring!

See it? Yellow spots...both sides in the snow...relief!

Why am I fascinated with this?

So, it always brightens my day in the early spring when I see yellow…I love the yellow of daffodils, the yellow of forsythia, and the yellow of fresh bee poop!  When temperatures rise such that any of my three yellows are possible, I get out and frolic a bit (not like the rabbits frolic of course).

Fifteen minutes after I washed my car!

I washed Steve Sunday morning and parked it in the driveway so I could watch it shine in the sun.  Much like birds are able to find a clean car, so too can bees.  Of course, remember that there can be as many as a quarter of a million bees in the hives at my house…and all of those bees have had their legs crossed for a long time.  My formerly green car now has a yellow tint…but you know what…I love yellow…it means spring!

Smart pills!

Emily says I am preoccupied with poop and animal anatomy so you can imagine my fascination with this pile of deer poop in my yard.  My Dad used to call those pellets smart pills.  I don’t think they really worked very well, but that’s another story.  Anyhow, Momma deer are now with fawns so my finding smart pills gives me hope that I will get to see newborn fawns again this year.

Oh yeah, check out this bird’s song!  Beautiful…and very springy!  Charleston is starting to break through I hope (though we have snow forecast for the rest of the week…but I choose to ignore that).

By no means do I want my yard overrun with natural fertilizer, but I have to tell you, a little poop means spring and in my book, that’s a great thing!

Honeybees make beeswax.  That’s how they roll.  Every egg that the queen lays and every ounce of food (honey and pollen) that they gather is stored in beeswax.  They are industrious builders and sometimes become a little over-zealous in their projects.  You see, honeybees like they hives to be orderly.  One huge part of that is “bee space“.  Bees like to have 3/8″ space to crawl between frames and throughout the hive.  If they have left, they typically fill it with propolis, a super sticky product they create to patch holes (or spaces smaller that the required bee space).  If the hive has spaces larger than 3/8″, the bees will fill it with burr comb.  Burr comb is just “filler comb” that they use to tidy up spaces and make every part of their hive the proper bee space.  It works great for them and settles their nerves (which is good for beekeepers!), but it makes inspecting the inside of a hive difficult for a beekeeper.  You see, we use those nice frames to keep things straight inside the hive so we can remove the pieces.  Bees don’t see it that way at all and build their burr comb in every direction they feel inclined.

What does that have to do with candle-making you ask?  Beekeepers cannot allow too much burr comb to build up or the hive becomes very difficult to manage without greatly disturbing the bees (by the way, bees have stingers and aren’t afraid to use them!) which is never a good thing.  Each time I get into my hives (once a month…sometimes more often, sometimes less), I scrape the burr comb into a box I carry with me.  Some beekeepers just pitch that comb, but that seems like a huge waste.  I gather it and toss it in a solar wax melter and let the sun add its magical heat to melt the wax (the process, by the way, leaves the wax mostly free of impurities…the wax flows into a collector while the dirt, twigs, etc that I introduce by accident stay in the melting tray.  Similarly, I also keep every bit of wax I remove when I harvest honey (honey cells are capped with wax which must be removed for harvest).

So, finally, we get back to candle-making.  When I get a little stir crazy in the winter, I have a good stash of clean wax that is just begging to be made into candles.  We melt the wax in an old crockpot so the wax heats slowly and does not get too hot.  Wax, as you hopefully have never experienced, is very flammable and if heated too fast or hot, will give you problems.  In my opinion, the only safe way to melt wax is in a solar wax melter or an old crockpot.  So, we add chunks of wax we collected and melted all summer into the pot and wait for it to melt.

Once melted, the wax can be poured into all sorts of molds.  To be sure, there are tons of candle forms that one can spend an entire inheritance on.  I prefer the simple approach though.  We add a wick to a simple jelly-jar or a small decorative jar.  No wax is melted during the burning of the candle and I like how easy they are to store in jar-form.

By the way, pure beeswax is always some shade of yellow. Colored candles, by definition, are not pure beeswax.  Pure beeswax candles are sootless when they burn and are the smoothest burning candles.  Candles made from parafin (most candles) put off black soot and are simply not as pleasant to burn in my opinion.

There isn’t a lot to making candles in a simple form.  Beekeeping is pretty straight-forward, but candle-making is even simpler.  Many beekeepers in your area probably collect wax but don’t bother to make candles.  If you are interested, you may consider approaching them and buying some beeswax.  It’s great family fun and a simple, easy, wonderful gift you can give for any occasion!