The bees are driving this train.

Kirk says:

Hay Buddy I got these bees in a rail road tie. I put some screen over the end, picked it up, and took it to my house like the Bee Store.

Man, how great is that second photo?

Small Honey Harvest

A week and a half ago I pulled 2 frames of honey from our hive after doing an inspection. I had 2 replacement frames with starter strips so I just swapped those out and brought the entire full frames inside. Of course this wouldn't work if you had a lot of honey but it was nice to get a really good look a the full frames away from the hive.

This past weekend I finally had time to wash the buckets, drill the holes and crush and strain the honey.
We couldn't wait to taste the honey.


It was a family affair. We all took turns crushing the comb with the spatula.


Anticipation.


We modified the bucket set-up that Kirk recommends because we have a really small house and two mischievous boys who I am sure would find the dripping honey and tip the top bucket over. Instead we used a 3 gal bucket (with half inch holes drilled into the bottom) fitted into the 5 gal bucket with the honey gate. That made it a little shorter and locked the whole thing together. With the lid snapped on top if it gets tipped over it won't be a disaster as long as we get to it soon enough.


Here's the harvest from just two frames. The bees are going gangbusters so I need to get that other box on this weekend.

Viewer mail

A reader writes:

I have the concept of foundation-less hives, but how do you install a new package of bees? Surely you can't just dump bees and queen on the bottom board, even if you have starter strips in the frames, and expect them to get to work.

David

But in fact we do expect that to happen, and it does. The key is to give them some food to get them started, as Kirk explains:

When I install a Package I remove the queen cage and put it between the frames. I like to hang it with a couple of straight pins with the hole (filled with the candy plug) facing up. This way if the bees inside the cage with the queen die, they don't block her exit. I then simply dump the rest of the bees in the top of the hive were the queen cage is hanging...Real simple. Then feed the bees with a baggie feeder.

kirkobeeo

Assembling Knock-Down Frames

I just posted about how to assemble a medium box, now it's on to the frames.


For each frame there are 4 pieces: top, bottom, and two identical sides. Start with one or two sides and the top. Apply glue to the surfaces that will touch.


Now just hammer a nail into the top bar through to the side. Go slow and make sure it's straight and try to make direct hits with the hammer so that the nail doesn't bend. I sometimes use the hive box to support the opposite end or sometimes I put the other side on with the glue just to support the top while I tack in the nail.


Next glue it up (if you haven't yet) and nail the other side. It should look like this.


Flip it over and glue the bottom bar and the bottom of the side bars.


Press it in place...


..and nail it in.


Voila! One down, nine to go.

The next step is to put in your starter strips so the bees have something to attach the comb to. For starter strips watch this video of Kirk in action: How to make starter strips. If you are wondering why we don't use foundation read Russell's post about that.


Oh yeah, things don't always go perfectly. Sometimes the nails bend or pop out the side a strange angles. When this happens (and it will) don't stress out, just try to pry it back up straight and hammer it in again, or pull it completely and use a new nail.


This only works about 30% of the time though so when it goes badly a second time, cut your losses.


When that happens hammer it flat, hope that some of it grabbed on the other side and/or that the glue will do it's job and move on to the next nail.

Happy Beekeeping!

Assembling a Medium Hive Box

I recently put together a medium hive box with help from my boys. Some people have asked how to do this so I thought I'd document the assembly. This is just the box. I'll post again to show how the frames go together.

Start out by applying glue to the "fingers" on the boards that will fit together. The glue goes down in the "U" shape but not on the top of the pegs - those don't get glue.


Then just fit one side together and tap it into place lightly with a hammer. Then glue and do the same with the other side. It should look like the picture below.

You can hit it a few more times for good measure if you really want to. Now you are ready for some nails.


Start the nails by putting one in the middle "finger" on each side of the piece facing up.


Then flip it on it's side and put one in the bottom of the side piece. After that flip it back on the other side and put one in the bottom there.

Now you are ready to glue and tap in the fourth board. Do the same thing with the nails: One in the middle on each side and then flip it each way to put in the two nails at the bottom of those sides.

Now it's glued up and nailed together. It should be sturdy enough for you to handle without worrying that it'll fall apart and it's time to drive the rest of the nails in.


I numbered the nails here to show how I do this part - kind of like tightening lug nuts when putting a wheel back on a car, I try to nail them in alternating order. After the last "2" is in I put the 3s and 5s on that side then rotate it and put in the 4s and 6s on that side, turn again, 3s and 5s, etc.


The last thing to do is to nail in the strip that the frames will sit on. I guess this is a separate strip so that you can replace it when it wears out after years of removing and replacing the frames. I can't actually imagine this happening with my hives so I glued mine in. I may be screwing the next generation of beekeepers to use my boxes provided I did everything else right.

One thing I recommend is that you go kind of slow, making sure your nails are headed in the right direction. If you go too fast your nails will either bend or angle out of the wood which although not disastrous can be annoying.

Kirk's bee bliss

Kirk is fired up on bee energy. Take a listen.

Corey harvests honey

Check out Backwards Beekeeper Corey (and daughter Chloe), doing some Very Urban Beekeeping.

Jules does her first inspection

Backwards Beekeeper Jules says:

I gotta say, there's no fear like new-bee fear, but I opened 'er up and took a look and Greg took some shots for posterity. I worked it into this brief slideshow.

I got one sting but am relieved to see that I must not be too allergic. I smoked the sting immediately and it didn't even bother swelling much until late last night. Took some benadryl and this a.m. it looked fine.

They're doing very well so I'll keep the lid shut except for sugar water bag changeouts for a while now. I know it's old hat for you all but I know I will never forget that sensation of holding the frame, crawling with little furry bodies as a brand new bee emerged from her cell. Total coolness.

Kirk adds:

Julian I'm so Proud of you I can't stand Up yippieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Hurray

Robot Bees!

Harvard University was recently awarded 10 million dollars to build robotic bee swarms. Wouldn't it be easier to take them out of their neighbor's garage?

The whole story here.

Yesterday's Bee Meeting

Bee people!


We had another great turnout at yesterday's Backwards Beekeepers meeting, held at downtown LA's Farmlab.


Kirk brought the amazing log full o' bees (previously seen here) and showed how to make pollen patties to feed your bees during this lean period of the year.


Maurice also gave a talk about the many species of bees other than honeybees and how to encourage them as local pollinators. He's got quite a handle on flowering plants as well.


Kirk finished the meeting by moving the bee log into position near Farmlab's already-established hive. He pulled off the screen and skeedaddled away—those bees inside were a testy bunch.