It’s a White Thanksgiving

I set up the video camera to record how I opened the hive, and dusted it and the bees with powdered sugar. It is my last treatment for Varroa mites. I hated the video, actually hated the sound of my voice in the video. My wife agreed, she said I sound like a goober. So instead of video I’m did a slide show. (Link to slide show)

I do have some video of the hive after I dusted it today. Is a little boring, but is the best way to get a feel for the sound of the hive. It either captivates people, or it makes the hair on the back of their neck stand up.

It took the bees all day to clean the outside of the hive, and before dusk I gave them a hand by watering away large clumps of sugar. I didn’t want to feed the ants or any other animals over night.

This most likely is the end of the inspections until next February. I may inspect once a month from now on just to keep them used to my presence and the intrusions. I also want to keep the hive components from becoming glued together to the point where it’s going to take a hammer and chisel to get them apart. I need to ask the experts about this.

Mid Novemebr and pollen is still coming in, and today I personally saw them colleting it from my FireBush. There is red and yellow pollen been brought in. I have no idea where the yellow is coming from. There also seems to be a return of the Small Hive Beetle, not in the hive, but in the trap/drawer. I'm trying to see if the drawer is as effective with out the bait.


There were some local events that reminded me why I decided to be anonymous. Personally, I think both sides are a little irrational. First, trying to keep nine hives in a residential neighborhood is a little over the top, but the neighbor claiming to have had her children swarm by bees is an ……….(if you can’t say something nice about a person, don’t say anything my mom always said). Her ignorance on the subject is visible with statements like "We are concerned for our safety -- for the safety of our children and for our property value," neighbor Nancy Aumuller said. "Who would want to live next to someone who has bee hives?"
Nancy, bees don’t swarm children unless you roll them in honey. Local Channel 6 story , My local paper, and the world wide web

But, life goes on and this is an educational blog. Hopefully people may learn something new about honey bees that they didn’t know, andforget about Hollywood movies about killer bees.