From the ground up

Last week my bees were bearding, which means they were hanging out on the outside of the hive. Being new to all of this I didn't know what to make of it so I looked online and found that bees will do this for a number of reasons. Maybe they are hot or it's humid in the hive or possibly they are getting ready to swarm. So I ordered another hive just in case. I was planning on getting another hive this fall anyway so I just got one early

I thought today I'd start photographing the pieces of my hive and assembling them for the benefit of my followers that don't have bees.

This is the hives stand. I'm putting my hive on cinder blocks so I don't really need this but I think it makes the hive look complete. It's only real purpose is to get the hive up off the ground.

This is the screened bottom board. Some bottom boards are solid this one allows for ventilation and allow debris to fall through. The white board you see has a grid printed on it. That's for checking for Verroa mites. The Grid helps you keep track of where you have looked

Here's the bottom board on the the hive stand.

This is a super. It's just a box with no top or bottom.

This is a frame. There are several types and sizes of frames but you match the size to the size of your super. I have medium supers.

This is foundation. I'm using pure beeswax foundation but there are plastic frames and foundation. The black lines you see are wires imbedded in the wax for support.

See how thin the foundation is?

Here's the foundation in the frame. The foundation has the hexagonal shape of the comb cells embossed into it just to give the bees a start. I'm not sure why it's made like that bees already know how to make that shape.

This is a super with the frames in it. I'm using 8 frame supers. Some beekeepers use 10 frame supers.

Here's the super on the bottom board. If I were actually setting up this hive I would put another super with frames on. One for brood and one for honey. Then add another later when the bees had drown out and capped most of the cells.

This is the top board. Think of this as the ceiling of the hive. Notice the notch in the back? That's for ventilation if needed. I can slide the top forward or back to open or close this.

The top board in place.

This is the top to my hive notice it has a ceiling built into it? Most hives just have a flat top. Mine are english garden style so they have the pitched copper top.

This is it all put together. Again if I were actually setting this up I'd have a second super on it.

New photo

I changed the header pic to one of my hive after I put on the second honey super. A three story hive. :)

busy as bees

I opened up the hive today. I wanted and needed to look at the super I put on a while back. I worked all night and was tired so I didn't take any frames out I just looked down on them and could tell they were pretty much all drawn out and some capped.

I have a picture of my hive with the extra super on it but evidently I haven't down loaded it from my camera yet. Maybe this weekend. :)

nothing new

I haven't bothered my bees in a few days so I really have nothing to say. I saw this comic and thought it was funny.

three story hive

I added another super today. I also looked at the beetle trap. No beetles. I also looked at the grid board, no Varroa mites either. Yea!

To answer Carla's question from the last post. A capped cell is where the bees seal or cap a cell in the comb. In the honey super it means ripe honey. In the brood super it means a larva is pupateing. A super is a box with four sides, no top or bottom that hold the frames of comb.

Got honey

I installed my beetle trap today. It just sets on top of the frames in the top super which is the honey super. I took out a couple of frames to look at the comb and they nearly full of capped cells. I'll put on another super tomorrow. I really hadn't planned on doing that until maybe next spring but the bees have been busy.

no news.

Nothing new to report. It's been so rainy I didn't want to open up the hive. I want to look at the brood comb again and put in a beetle trap. We are supposed to have nice weather for the next couple of days so maybe.