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In the center is visable the abdomen of a queen bee. See how much larger it is than the workers. Workers are unfertile females and the queen is fertile female.
Drone bee (male) stingless. Note large eyes to help in spotting queen for mating.
going into a hive
Poplar honey that has not been sealed
Examining brood pattern
defending the hive
Mackenzie taking off top cover of hive
Mackenzie preparing to enter a hive
Mackenzie showing how the bees have not finished with this frame of honey
Mackenzie displaying a deformed bee. Note the wings are not developed. The wings failed to develop because Varroa Mites fed on the larvae which this bee came from.
Mackenzie pointing out brood in this frame of bees
When a Varroa Mite falls off and lands on his back, he just waits until another bee comes along and grabs on.
A Varroa Mite is about the size of a period at the end of a sentence.
Varroa Mites are visible with the naked eye.
Varroa Mites can be found on adult bees, but do their damage on the larvae. They prefer the Drone brood larvae about 12 to 1.
The Mite gets into a cell with a young larvae and the bees seal it up. The mite then reproduces and feeds on the larvae.
When the young bee hatches, it is often deformed and is kicked out of the hive.
Heavy Varroa Mite infestation will cause the hive to fail. There are various treatments and practices which help keep the mites in check.
Not a swarm
shaking swarm into hive
swarm of bees
swarm shaken onto hive
they are in
making room
Guard bees keep unwanted guests out of the hive
+
*
*
*
Yellow pollen around brood on brood frame
Nurse bees care for young brood yet uncapped on brood frame in an Italian hive
Note several drones marked with a * Bee with mite damage to wings marked with +
Russian worker bee with mite damage to wings
The Small Hive Beetle is yet another pest attacking Honeybees
Below are photos of me taking bees from wall of house across from Sourwood Knoll
Entrance hole
First look with siding off
Closer view with siding off
Me getting ready to cut comb out
Now what?
Cutting out the comb
For scale, I am 6 feet tall
Bees on the brood nest
some of the comb came off with the siding
During the honey flow, the hive entrance is busier than O'Hare, JFK, and Heathrow combined.
^
Note the Drone (male bee) hanging out at the entrance to the hive. (see ^) The big eyes in addition to the large size gives him away as a drone.
This is my prize hive for 2006. I have already removed 4 supers of Tuplip Poplar honey amounting to 12.33 Gallons or 148 pounds of honey. I have 1 remaining super of mostly Tulip Poplar with a little Sumac and Sourwood and 4 supers of Sourwood not to mention the super of winter stores I will leave on the hive. Based on what I have already taken off, this will be approximately 296 pounds from this one hive or 24.66 gallons. If you add the super of winter stores, they will have made 332 pounds of honey this year. Quite a good hive! If only my other 5 hives had done this. This one hive will produce almost as much as the other 5 combined! 10 supers of honey from a single brood body is more than I ever dreamed. This is one really good queen for sure.
Entrance to nest cavity of a bee tree on Dr Buddy Marterre's property in Forsyth Co NC
Bee tree after it fell over
Buddy cutting into the tree to try and save the bees to a hive
The nest cavity exposed
A swarm marching into a hive after queen was placed inside
Honeycomb viewed from the entrance hole on a beetree
A hive body sealed to the top of a section of beetree cavity
The bees will move up into the hive body and the empty section of hollow tree trunk can be discarded. The new hive can be managed and inspected. Honey can be produced and easily harvested now without major disruption of the hive. The tree trunk has been tied to a pole to prevent it tipping over.
Now I have two beetrees to remove the bees from. The last one I got on New Years day.
Due to part of the cavity breaking off when it was sawed, I had to protect the bees inside the best way I could find until I am able to work on getting them out. They have been very active since coming to the new home in the warm weather.
Entrance hole was screened up to keep the bees in while cutting and transporting. They were released the next day when the weather was warmer so they would not die in there cold disorientation
