Great Ball of Bees part 3

 

OK. This is the final part of the exciting great ball of bees story.

 

 

Just before the discovery of the ball of bees, at the recommendation of the State Bee Inspector, we had inserted 3 Apivar strips into the hive. Apivar is a pesticide used to control the varroa mite which is a real threat to a hive of bees. The strips are supposed to remain in the hive for at least 42 days. After our 2 week inspection of the hive and the discovery of a possible new queen, we patiently waited to open the hive again on the 42nd day of Apivar treatment.

 

Once again, we suit up, gather the gear and open the hive. Things look good. The top super is fuller and heavier than before. The bees are flying in and out and many are loaded with bright yellow pollen. We take pictures of each frame and rotate some from the outer edges to the middle so the bees will fill them. The bees are a bit cranky and they sting Jim several times on the wrist.

 

Moving to the bottom super we see honey, older capped brood but not much and very few eggs or larvae. This is very discouraging and we are now convinced that our first McBee hive is not going to make it through the winter. We take more pictures so we can study them later then we close up the hive.

 

Again I post to the NNJ Bee Facebook page and ask about the condition of my hive.  Within a few minutes I learn that queens slow down their egg production in the fall so the hive doesn't have so many babies to take care of. I also learn that, if bees are bringing in pollen, they are feeding it to the larvae and baby bees. My girls are doing this and it is a very good sign.

 

Later in the day I load the pictures onto the computer and take a good look at the frames and the bees. I see a couple of hive beetles, no mites, honey, brood and..... 

Queen in the middle of the picture

 

There she is! My beautiful italian queen bee is still with us and is still working hard to keep the hive together. I'm so happy that I found her in the hive! The chances of the hive surviving the winter have now increased dramatically. I'm now getting excited for honey harvesting in June.

Some thoughts on cause the ball of bees-
The same day we found the ball, the people who take care of our lawn were using a machine that pokes holes in the lawn to aerate. It is a big machine which thumps and may have vibrated the hive enough to have vibrated the queen right out the door. Seems far fetched, I know, but it is the only explanation we have so far.

Thanks for staying involved in the drama!

Next post- Getting read for winter.