Dead Hive

I went out to check on the bees today. It has been cold and raining a lot this month and last year I almost lost a colony because their top blew off and they got all wet and cold and moldy. I wanted to make sure they were OK and it seemed warm enough today and sunny to open them up and make any adjustments they might need: more empty frames, reduce them down so they are warmer, treat for mites, feed them, whatever.

I have five colonies. Well. Now I have four. Hive Four is dead. No activity, dead bees all over the place. I am heartbroken. It was one of the swarms from the super productive colony, Hive Two, and we caught it when it swarmed on the fig tree last April. This means that Hive Four had the original queen from Hive Two and perhaps she was old and died this month. I also remember being a little hurried with them last time I opened this hive and I worry that I might have had something to do with their demise. Tempting fate, I lifted the top off even though I did not have a veil on to protect me if they were still some bees left in there. Nothing. No activity. Plenty of capped honey, just no bees. I had to hold back tears. I love these bees and want them to do well. This is my first dead hive. I am taking it hard.

Hive One, the ones that are my special favorites because they are the ones that swarmed into my house after my invitation, is weak again this winter. Hive Two is still a mini volcano of bees, not sure what their secret is. Hive Three is also a bit weak, not a ton of bee activity. Hive Four is dead. Sigh. Hive Five, another swarm we caught from Hive Two is doing fairly well.

It is funny how the stronger hives and weaker hives perform in winter. I would not have thought Hive Four would have failed since they were doing pretty well up until I left in early December. Hive Five, which is doing medium well, was fairly weak when I left. That is the one I was worried about but it is doing fine. And Hive One was pretty strong when I left and now it is barely putting along.

I wanted to open the hives up and see what was going on in there but decided to leave them alone since it really disrupts them and makes them use a lot of energy to put things back in order. Energy they do not really have to spare. Right now there is very little food for them. San Francisco is a great place for bees since something is blooming for them almost year round. November and December may be warm and sunny some days but it rains a lot and nothing is blooming for them. I understand that in a few weeks the eucalyptus will bloom and the bees will happily break their winter fast and fly out to collect the eucalyptus nectar.

Bees Want Their Honey Back

I extracted about 4 gallons of honey on Friday. I am getting the hang of it and it is going a lot faster. 2 1/2 hours from start to final clean-up. This weekend while I was filtering honey and managing all the wax and making candles I had to open the kitchen window because all the heat from the oven and space heater was making me feel faint. As I opened the window a bunch of honeybees came flying in and more were headed my way. I screamed a little and shut the window as quick as you can when covered in honey and wax. I guess they could smell it cooking and homed in on their property. I caught all the inside bees in a glass with a postcard over the top and let them back outside. I could see them all hovering outside my windows looking for a way to get in to take back their honey.