Category Archives: Nature

A weekend of swarms!

We were all out at the deluxe deer stand working on drywall last weekend when a few of the neighbors came by on atvs.  One neighbor asked if I was busy  and if not, whether I could help him with something.  It was clear it was something urgent so I jumped on the back of his atv.  He drove me over to his brother-in-law’s place…another neighbor, to see a huge swarm of bees!

A huge swarm of bees!
A huge swarm of bees!

Dang it!  It was a huge swarm, undoubtedly out of one of my hives.  A number of people asked me why bees swarm and why I was mad they were my bees.  Bees swarm usually when their hive location becomes unsuitable…usually when they run out of room.  In those cases, the worker bees prepare a number of new queens by feeding royal jelly to fertilized larvae.  When the time comes, the old queen and half (or so) of the original bees strike out on their own to find a new place.  That is how bees naturally propagate and it is not unusual.  I don’t like when my bees swarm, however, because that leaves me with two colonies, neither of which is probably big enough to make much honey.  I like having more colonies, but I prefer when they make me honey too.

My hand in a huge swarm of bees!
My hand in a huge swarm of bees! Look Ma…no gloves!

I usually try to intervene before the bees decide to swarm.  I usually make a split…basically, I take a number of bees out and sort of make my own controlled swarm.  By controlling the size and the timing, I can usually prevent swarming and end up with plenty of honey.

Some of the swarm on my hands
Some of the ladies held on…

So, the neighbors called around and a bunch of folks gathered to see me hive this colony that was 7 or so feet up in a tree…that’s a perfect height.  I showed off some of course.  I stuck my hand up into the swarm.  I got super close and took pics.  I sang the song of the bee people…well, not that part.  Anyhow, I brought my new hive box in and shook the bees into the new box…easy-peasy…except not.

Swarm in the hive box
Swarm in the hive box

The next day, the bees had decided the new box was not acceptable.  This time, they decided to swarm again about 20 feet up in the same tree.  I didn’t have much of a way to get them up that high so I did what any young (?) strapping(?) American (check) boy (check) would do…I tied a rope around a hammer and threw the hammer up in the tree so I could use the rope to shake the swarm out.  That worked well and I re-hived this swarm again.  We’ll see what happens.  It occurs to me as I ponder the process, that throwing a hammer over my head into a tree might not have been all that smart, so don’t try that at home.  Still, it worked and hopefully I still have my bees!

Swarm video
Click for a video of the swarm in progress…with audio!

Well, this is long enough…I have more swarm stories to tell so I will put them off until Part II

Remember Gordon?

Last year, I had a brief but special relationship with Gordon, the girl turtle.  She was a beauty and came to live with us for a time at our house.  I had picked her up at the deluxe deer stand and always wanted a pet turtle.  After I read about the plight of turtles in captivity, I returned her to the wild figuring I would never see her again…but at least she would be free and able to breed, live, do what turtles do.

Ming the Turtle
Ming the Turtle

Last weekend, I was weed-eating around the bee yard when I grazed across the top of the weirdest looking rock I had ever seen.  I bent down and saw a turtle shell buried in the grass.  I didn’t bury him/her in clippings…the turtle was actually down in the grass and seem to have been that way for a little while at least.  Anyhow, I figured it was an empty shell so when I picked it up and a turtle peeked back at me, I was delighted!  “Gordon!” I screamed.  Of course, the turtle retreated back into the shell and I nearly dropped him as well.  After I settled, I realized this wasn’t Gordon, but was almost assuredly kin to Gordon…or maybe her beau.

This Turtle, who I named Ming, is a boy I think and was pretty good size!  I was so happy that the turtle population at the farm is still apparently alive and well and that my girl-turtle Gordon may be responsible for at least some of that!

Two swarms so far

It’s swarm season and swarm season is my favorite time/part of beekeeping!  Swarming is a natural part of a bee colony but one that is pretty unsettling to folks who see it happening.  In the last 10 days or so, I have gotten two good calls about swarms of bees in Charleston.

An easy swarm on a bush in Kanawha City
An easy swarm on a bush in Kanawha City

The first call was from a postal carrier who was walking in a neighborhood delivering mail.  He came upon a swarm hanging low in a bush.  The homeowner initially wanted to call an exterminator, but the postal worker pulled out his phone and found my contact info.  I was delighted to come and take care of the “problem”.  Most people are terrified and also fascinated/curious about swarms so I try to describe what happened, what I am going to do and why it is so important to save bees rather than kill them.

Shaken, not stirred
Shaken, not stirred
Traffic jam...
Traffic jam…

So this swarm was easy.  I placed my sheet on the ground and my nucleus hive box on top.  With a quick shake and a giggle, most of the bees dropped into the box and my work was done.  It’s unusual, but I actually saw the queen on the top of the pile of bees.  I watched as she marched into the box whereupon I put the lid in place and waited for the rest of the colony to catch up with her!

Large swarm on a concrete wall
Large swarm on a concrete wall

A few days later, Charleston’s 911 dispatch called me about a large swarm in the middle of the city in a fairly public area.  When I arrived, the fire department was in place keeping people away.  They had taped off a large area and were waiting nearby patiently.  I whipped in and saw a very large swarm stuck to a solid concrete retaining wall.  Luckily, I brought along my handy-dandy-bee-swarm-retrieving dustpan.  I am pretty tough but I cannot shake bees off of a concrete wall so I just used the dustpan to gently scoop the bees into my hive box.  Easy-peasy!

I wish I had a banana for reference
I wish I had a banana for reference
Full house!
Full house!

I am pretty vain so I figure that is most of the reason why I love catching swarms so much.  I always get an audience and lots of oohhhs and aahhhs.  It’s usually relatively safe and pretty simple to catch a swarm, but I look brave and tough.  It’s a vain man’s dream!  And on top of that, I get free bees which will (hopefully) make me lots of wonderful sweet honey.  Heck, the world needs more bees as well as more sweet honey so it’s a win all the way around!

More bee stuff

Peonies and Ants

For as long as I can remember, my family has grown pink peonies.  My great grandmother had a substantial stand of them at her old home place and it has been a tradition that a few toes go with family members as we move about so we can propagate the blooms and share something in common no matter where we are.  My grandparents had them planted at their place and my parents have them also.

To me, peonies are about as lovely a flower as they make…secondly only to daffodil I expect.  Both flowers have the most wonderful fragrances of anything in the world too.  I could honest-to-goodness start every day for the rest of my life smelling daffodils and peonies and be a happy man.

Ants on my peony buds

We planted our peonies a few years ago when we bought our home in WV.  We waited and waited and nothing really showed the first year or two.  In fact, I sort of forgot that they were in the ground until last year when familiar shoots started up through the ground.  I do not think a single bloom grew but I knew the leaves and was hopeful.

This year, the flowers came on strong and we have buds waiting to open!  I took a few pictures of the ants that always go with peony blooms which I thought was pretty cool.  I always heard that without the ants, peonies would not bloom.  Apparently that is an old wives’ tale.  Ants just like the sweet nectar the blooms produce.  The blooms will be just fine without the ants though.

Ants on my peony buds

So, ants and aphids are welcome…peonies now grow in my yard as they have in my family for at least 4 generations!

Honeybee eggs

I was helping my friend Larry with his bees the other day.  He’s our neighbor up at the deluxe shed and the husband of Granny Sue.  So he has bees and asked me to come take a look at his bees, offer some advice, and generally act like men.  It was a good time and we had a lot of fun poking around in his bees to make sure things were ship-shape.

Bees hanging on a beehive
Bees hanging on a beehive

We looked over the bees and found some brand new wax that was the most beautiful yellow color!  Fresh wax often ranges in color from white to bright yellow depending on what is blooming when they build it and what they drag in on their little feet as they walk across it .  Eventually, all wax turns black or brown from traffic so it a real joy to see fresh yellow wax I think.

Fresh Yellow beeswax!
Fresh Yellow beeswax!

The best part though, is that the sun was just right and the color was just right and I was able to get some really cool pictures of honeybee eggs.  Each hive has exactly one queen and she lays between 1000 and 2000 eggs per day during peak season.  These eggs are not much bigger than a comma on a page and are very hard for many beekeepers to see.

Honeybee eggs...the small white lines in the bottom of the comb
Honeybee eggs…the small white lines in the bottom of the comb

A good queen will lay only one egg per cell and always in the bottom of the cell…close to the middle and never on the sides.  A few times, I have seen a good queen lay multiple eggs in a single cell, but only when she is brand new and when first introduced to a colony.  I suppose, with her typical laying rate, she gets backed up a little and has to get some eggs moving.  Anyhow, a queen will always settle down and lay one egg per cell and rarely skips cells across an entire frame of honeycomb.

Honeybee eggs
Honeybee eggs…another view

In a hive where the queen has died, one or more workers will take on the role of a queen, but because they were not raised properly as a queen, they never become fertile.  Still, they will produce and lay eggs but their eggs are usually all over the place…often many to a cell and all over the sides.  Their eggs will develop into male drone bees and signal the end of a hive if a new queen is not introduced.

More bee stuff

Pupae are people too

Well, they aren’t really people but pupae are interesting anyhow.  As I mentioned before, it is bee season so lots of exciting things are going on.  I suppose that you probably know that many critters, bees included, start as eggs.  Eggs hatch into larva or little white wormy/caterpillar-looking things.  After those larva eat and eat, they grow a lot and finally spin a cocoon after being sealed into their own little honeycomb.  Inside that cocoon, they undergo a metamorphosis where they change from ugly, fat worm of a larva into a regular old-fashioned honeybee…been doing it like this for brazillions of years (or maybe 100 million years or so in a form related to current honeybees).

Drone pupae and worker bees
Drone pupae and worker bees

Bees are funny critters.  They have serious OCD issues and cannot handle too much open space within their hive.  “Bee space” is generally regarded as about 3/8 of an inch.  That’s the optimum space for bees to walk around, make more bees, tend to the honey, etc.  Leave a space larger than that and they will build comb to fill the void.  Space much less than that and they will plug it with propolis, a tar-like substance that is super sticky and will stain anything and everything.  Actually, old fashioned violins and furniture were often stained with propolis. Generally, there are gaps larger than the bee space between the tops of bee frames and the lid, between the top and bottom box where the bees live, and other places that just crop up.  So, bees do what they do and build honeycomb.  The comb is usually drone comb…that is, comb that is a little larger in diameter to accommodate the larger developing drones.

Drone pupae and worker bees
Drone pupae and worker bees

When a beekeeper works within a hive, sometimes that drone comb necessarily gets torn apart as one lifts the lid or pulls out frames.  Any drone larvae/pupae/eggs are ruined of course, but it leaves a neat opportunity to see pupae in various stages of development.  Early on, they are all white but look very much like a bee…a zombie bee, but still a bee.  One of the first things to change during pupation is the color of their  eyes.  The entirety of the bee might be stark (Winter is coming) white, but their eyes turn pink and then a 3-day-old-bruise shade of purple.

Purple eyes on developing drone bee pupa
Purple eyes on developing drone bee pupa

Additionally, drones have a longer development cycle so varroa mites, the pesky parasite bugs that basically killed most wild honeybees in the 1980s, have a greater opportunity to hook onto the pupae.  In fact, they even prefer the drones for that reason and, based on smell, selectively choose drone pupae over worker pupae.  In fact, there is a school of thought that one should “plant” larger diameter foundation comb on which bees will build drone comb, to entice varroa to attach to drones in a beekeeper-selected area which can be culled.

Varroa mite on a drone pupa
Varroa mite on a drone pupa
Varroa mite on a drone pupa
Varroa mite on a drone pupa…up close so your skin can crawl

So, as I was checking out my drone pupae, I noted a small but non-zero number of varroa mites.  The level is, in my opinion, still manageable, but I will take measures to cut their number this season after I harvest honey.  So, while pupae are people too, varroa mites are not and must die!

Pollen!

It’s finally Spring as far as the bees are concerned!  Typically, maples are among the first things to bloom…usually in March sometime.  When the maple blooms pop, I usually sigh a sigh of relief.  There are no guarantees with honeybees, but once the maples bloom, bees generally can find sufficient pollen and nectar to start their spring build up and ultimately, survive.

Honeybee laden with pollen
Honeybee laden with pollen

This weekend I peeked in on the colonies and saw lots of activity!  Maple pollen is a sort of greenish, grayish color and it was what I expected to see.  Instead, I saw tons of bright yellow pollen!  I have no idea what pollen source the bees had found but I suppose we might as well call it daffodil pollen…it was the right color and daffodils are my favorite flowers ever.  Does anything smell better than a daffodil bloom in spring?  No, I think not.

Honeybee laden with pollen
Check out the wings of the bee with pollen

As I often do, I sat in front of the hives and watched the bees come and go.  Spring is a wonderful time for bees…they are so focused on chasing blooms and nectar and pollen that they hardly even notice my presence.  I love the opportunity to just sit and listen to their buzz and watch as they weave and bumble into the hive entrance, loaded with pollen.  In addition to the pollen baskets on their legs, the honeybees seemed to be completely covered in pollen, head to stinger.  I love spring in the apiary (and everywhere else too) and I can’t wait to taste this year’s honey crop!  Yeah yellow pollen!

More bee stuff…

Early bee check

Like many folks across the country, this has been a weird winter.  Honestly, it may not be so weird compared to when I was a kid, but lately, winters have been so mild.  Anyhow, we had a this-year-rare nice weekend so I tromped out to my bee yard to see how my girls had fared.

Bees in winter

Did I ever mention that there are only female bees in the hive at this time of year?  You see, the males are only useful for breeding in the spring and summer when the colony may need a new queen.  Queens only breed during a week or so period when they first hatch and never again.  So, males (aka drones) are only good for breeding during that period when a new queen is hatched.  Otherwise they just eat up resources which are precious through the winter.  The females kick out all the males in the mid-Fall and make new in the spring.  Males are made when the queen lays unfertilized eggs, a process she controls since all breeding happened during that one week of glory when she was first hatched.

Bees in winter

Anyhow, I like to check on the bees on warm days to make sure they are still alive, haven’t starved and don’t have nosema (like bee dysentery).  Bees “hold it” to keep the hives clean, so on a warmish day, they all need to get out and poop.  Normal poop is fine but “the runs” is a bad thing so I check to make sure they are not abnormal.

So, for the most part, the colonies looked good.  I may have lost one colony but that isn’t unexpected or unusual.  I don’t like it, but some winter loss just happens, even in a well-managed apiary.  I made some feed available in the form of sugar-water so any colony that is a little light on stores can grab a quick bit of food to get through the remaining weeks until the maples bloom and the pollen and nectar flow again.  That is often at the end of February through the beginning on March but with our cold and snow, it may be a bit later.  Well shall see, but for now, it looks like the bees are doing well!

Post Groundhog Day

So, here’s the rest of the story…we toured around Punxsutawney all day on Saturday buying souvenirs and generally acting touristy.  The town undoubtedly makes a good bit of money during this celebration and that is cool.  We enjoyed seeing the sights but headed in a little early because we knew we had to be up early for the real celebration.  You see, bus tickets to Gobbler’s Knob go on sale starting at 2am, February 2.  I knew my family wouldn’t follow me quite that early so we opted to sleep in until 3:30 am.  At 3:30, we hopped up (I did anyhow) and headed to one of the bus stops.   I was shocked.  I mean, there were a number of people around on Saturday, but the crowd was amazing for the real show.

Groundhog day entertainment
Groundhog day entertainment

The powers-that-be had done it right though…there were a metric crap-ton of buses shuttling people the 1.5 or so miles from town up to the Knob.  We got there sometime early…I can’t remember exactly when, but early enough to get a pretty good spot, not too far back from Phil’s burrow-of-prediction.  It was still dark and had started to rain.  It was still rain but it was that cold rain, just above freezing that is so pleasant.  When we got there, the crowd was large but little did we know…

It really was fun!
It really was fun!

Some of the members of the Inner Circle were there keeping the crowd excited and they did a heck of a job.  When you see it all on TV, they look sort of formal, but let me tell you, they know how to have a good time.  I mean, they wee singing and dancing and telling funny stories.  Honestly, I see why Phil trusts them so much.  They are good people for making this weekend a success!

And now, the band
And now, the band
Groundhog day fireworks
Groundhog day fireworks
Groundhog day fireworks
More fireworks

At some point, they had a band come on and play some music…and then some dancers…and them more music and singing…and then some pretty cool fireworks.  Time is sort of a blur but we had a good time.  More and more people showed up as time went on though and it got extremely crowded.  We honestly had to shove back against people to keep from being knocked over or otherwise moved from our position.  Being a jerk, I am pretty well disposed to that anyhow, but I do not think Emily or the kids enjoyed that part too much.

Panorama of the crowd at Gobbler's Knob
Panorama of the crowd at Gobbler’s Knob…this doesn’t really capture the size of the crowd (click to make it bigger)

Sadly, this isn’t really a kid-friendly affair.  For too many people, it was an excuse to get dunk and act stupidly.  I am all for a good time, but my only complaint is that the powers-that-be didn’t jerk people out of the crowd by their ears when they started acting like total morons.  Oh well, such is life and my kids already knew all those bad words anyhow (thanks to their Mom of course).

The typical beachball
The typical beachball
Phil's prediction with the Inner Circle
Phil’s prediction with the Inner Circle

Anyhow, the Inner Circle finally retrieved Phil from his den.  The President of the Inner Circle, the only human able to translate Groundhogese discussed with Phil his outlook and declared that Phil saw his shadow thus guaranteeing 6 more weeks of winter.

Just a few buses from Gobbler's Knob
Just a few buses from Gobbler’s Knob

Now I never doubt Phil…after all, he is the Seer of Seers and the Prognosticator of Prognosticators, but I was a little disappointed in his prediction.  I cannot be selfish however, as he is merely the bringer of news.  And based on how things are looking, I’d say he was spot on (as usual)!

Time to flush

We had a bit of a water disaster here in Charleston.  It’s been called Aquapocalypse 2014…that’s probably a good term for the mess that we’ve had, but good news is coming!  It looks like our zone just got cleared to flush our water system (edit:  this just “undid” our area…dang it!).    WV American Water has done a fantastic job (in my opinion) as far as being rightly conservative in issuing the “Do not use” order as well as providing information and getting the systems back on line.  Sure, it would have been nice if our water system hadn’t been polluted, but that wasn’t their fault…it was the chemical company that apparently did not maintain proper safety systems.

Charleston Last Night
Charleston Last Night

So, the plan was to monitor the treatment system to find a point when the dilution of the chemical was at a level the CDC reported was safe…that is less than 1 ppm.  In laymen’s terms, what that means is if we had a million gallons of liquid, 1 gallon would be 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM).  There is much discussion as to whether that is truly a safe level for consumption.  I am concerned of course because the plan means I will be consuming some of that chemical…even in my  “safe” water.  I get that my drinking water is not straight h20 even before all this,  but I wish it could just be MCHM-free again.  That’s not a reality now however so we will proceed to shower in the water that has been declared “safe”.  In our house, we will not be drinking or brushing with it for awhile longer but ultimately, we will have to just “go for it” I guess.  Again, I don’t blame the water company of the officials on the ground for making this decision and all will probably be well…I just want my perfect world to return!

"Safe" water zones
“Safe” water zones…we are in the blue!

So we will drain our hot water tanks and all of the pipes in our house.  We will follow the nicely written directions provided by the water company and we will get back to normal.  I think most people have done really well in handling their situations.  Thursday night when this all started, it was a little wild as initial panic set in but people quickly got their heads on straight.

Water was trucked in from far and wide and distributed all over.  Neighbors checked on neighbors, and friends in safe-water-zones offered the homes and showers to others to make this all a little better than it would have been.  I am proud of my fellow West Virginians and of my state and local government (and maybe even the feds?) for how they handled this situation.  I saw a little more clearly as it was exercised before my eyes, the importance of community and helping others.  I also saw very clearly the benefit of having some extra water and water containers on hand.  I now realize how very much I appreciate having a shower and even more importantly, I realize how much I appreciate other people having showers.  Even so, I am proud to be a Mountaineer, stinky or not, and I am delighted to have such a great community who get down to business when the going gets tough!