last of the winter

The bees died, all frozen, bodies tested (AOAC or BAM), in two 20 bee lots. Results cfu per BEE: total coliform : 50; Strep. species: <4; Staph. species/S. aureus : <4/<4; Listeria species: negative per 20 bees; Paenibacillus species: <2; Salmonella species: negative per 20 bees; APC (SMA 24/48 hr 32'C): 1500/63,000; molds/yeast: 1,100/1.9 million; A dilution of 1 bee:10 mL buffered water gave a strong positive on a standard bio assay (B. sterothermophilus) for antibacterial antibiotics. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

light frost leaves little for the bees

Paul, Dorothy and Mary checking the bees one last time before winter. About a dozen partically filled frames were boxed up and will be saved for next spring to give the bees a start. Ample honey is left in hive for winter.

Fall blooming wild asters attracting the bees, at least three species of asters here out of approximately 120 in US. Some honey removed and will be tested in the lab. Hilary in Seattle.

abundant friendly birds

Humming birds are well fed and friendly.

Today we again found excessive numbers of drones and drone cells as seen in the lower right hand corner of the picture of bur comb. We did remove about 10 quarts of great tasting comb honey. A bee found its way into Mary's hood and suit, notice picture Mary removing hood and running. We used special dried leaves to lightly smoke the bees and that did calm them.

combining hives

The weaker hive was again producing excess drones, suggesting the 2nd introduced queen also did not survive. Newspaper with a few small holes was placed in between the supers of the old and new hive. This should give the added bees time to adjust to the scent of the queen in the new hive. The camera was on the wrong setting so pictures of drones hatching are low quality.

Also, the lab work is not going well, I did not freeze a sample of the original fungi isolated from comb surrouding larvae and subcultures lost some desireable activity.

The sun is out, the bees are friendly and the strong hive is full of honey, Hilary removed about two quarts from the strong hive. The weak hive is looks active and no new drone cells are noted. Hilary will get an epi pen tomorrow. The swelling from the stings of bees in a neighboring hive a few weeks ago warranted keeping one nearby. Tiny frogs/toads are abundant near the hive and pond. The honey is delicious, I broke my rule and ate some from this batch before I tested. Testing will be done this week end if we have time. Lab work is getting backed up.