It’s time for a bee hive update. If anybody reading this lives nearby, I would really encourage you to come over and see it for yourself. It is soooo hard to get a good picture with the camera (terrible glare), but it’s crystal clear in person.
And, from the other window, you can see a cross comb (parallel to the window instead of perpendicular like these combs) right up against the length of half of the window. You can see the bees depositing nectar into the comb, pollen on the legs of the pollen gatherers, and you can see the wiggle dance that tells the other bees where to find great forage. Unfortunately, I have yet to get a good picture from that side with the camera. It’s just impossible (for me) to get the camera to focus on the inside of the hive instead of the surface of the plexiglass.
These bees are pretty darn cool if you ask me =)
Hey Nicole! I have known your mother for quite a few years now. She is really good friends with my Aunt Ruthie. I am a step daughter to her brother, Bill! We were in Kansas City last weekend when they had the “Millions Against Monsanto” march and they started talking about it and I chimed in and started talking about my garden and my kefir and my fermented veggies. I told her how I really wanted to start bees within the next few years and she showed me your website! I am a professional health educator and would love to expend my knowledge to my middle school students but unfortunately I think parents would freak out! So I just try to educate those that will listen! I love love love your bee hive and would love to see full pictures of it. I love that the kids can see it through the windows! We have pretty brutal winters here so I am curious if I would have to winterize the windows some way!?
I also wanted to share a website with you about a woman in Greenwood, Missouri about 6 miles from me…she has a book coming out in October, her name is Donna Schwenk. I think you will like her site! http://www.culturedfoodlife.com
Happy trails!
Heather
Hi Heather,
Thanks so much for commenting!
Re: winterizing the hive, I think that the bees would be fine as long as they have plenty of honey going into winter. That’s mostly only an issue the first year, when they have to use so many hive resources to build comb. From what I’ve read, the honey acts as a thermal mass to keep the bees warm. The windows have wooden doors that open and close on hinges, so I think the heat loss through the plexiglass would be minimal. I have read that glass would be too cold, though- that’s why we did the plexiglass (I’m not really a fan of plastic, but we thought it would be best in this situation). If you do get bees, I think the Perone hive is really the way to go! It was named the “automatic hive” by its creator because you don’t really have to do anything except harvest the honey once a year.
P.S. I love your Aunt Ruthie! I feel like she’s part of my family.
Your bees certainly seem to be thriving in their new home. When I decided to put a beehive in my yard I researched all the available types, and I agree with you that the Perone seems the most bee-friendly. This year beekeepers in my area (coastal northern California and southern Oregon) are reporting heavy colony losses over the winter. This may be the worst year yet for colony collapse. Almost all my friends use “Lang” hives, though some are using Warre or Kenyan Top Bar types.
Anyway, I just built my Perone hive (without windows, unfortunately) and introduced a swarm on 5/14/13. The people who gave me the swarm put pictures of my hive on their website, solarbeez.com
To my knowledge I’ve got the only Perone hive within driving distance of my home. There are very few Perone hives in the USA and they are located all over the country. Hopefully we will have the kind of success here that the Latin Americans always seem to have. I’m going to follow the progress of the USA Perone colonies posted on the net and try to track the overall survival rate over the winter of 2014. My colony is now a month old and all I know about them is that the foragers look busy and there is constant buzzing coming from inside the hive.
Wow! I’m so happy to hear about another USA Perone hive!!! I am shocked to see the progress my bees are making every day. I’m addicted!! I am planning to feed them truly raw honey starting in a week or so because the nectar flow is gone in my area until next Spring. That will only be this year because it takes so much work for
them to build all that comb. I just want to give them the best chance to make it through winter. I know Perone said don’t feed them, but I think he meant feeding them something inferior to honey.
Please keep me updated on the progress of your hive. I’d especially like to know if you have any issues with your inspector :)
No issues with inspectors yet, because I didn’t know there was such a thing! Guess I’ll have to do some research on that. Hopefully I won’t be hauled off in handcuffs for running an unlawful honey making operation.
I’m surprised the nectar flow is already gone where you live. My house is in a forested area with lots of species diversity. With any luck my bees will have some sorts of flowers available throughout our growing season. So far my bees have consistently flown off in the same direction (up and over a big tree) and returned the same way. Where they are foraging is a mystery!
Most of the beekeepers in my area feed sugar water over the winter and almost half their colonies die anyway. I know a veteran beekeeper who found he gets better survival rates feeding honey rather than sugar water. I’m not going to feed this winter unless my hive seems on the brink of collapse.
:) maybe I’ll wait and see on the feeding. The nectar flow is reported to end in this county at the end of June so I’ll just watch and see. Right now I am still seeing a few bees doing the waggle dance and also some with pollen on their legs, so I think they are fine at present!