Honey has (almost) defininite dates

Hey Guys went to Jones Bee Company today and got one hundred, Single Pound bottles. We also put ourselves for the extractor for August 6. So far we will have honey the following week. WOO-HOOO

P.S. Stacie, and the rest of you, will get the honey very soon.

Found out what was wrong

Hey Guys,
Found out what was wrong they were overcrowding so we added another box and added ventilation and that did really well. So now we know what was wrong.

Bees? Not doing so well?

Hey Guys I just wanted to say that there is something wrong, I don't know about this, or the bees are getting really protective. There is so many bees on the entrance board that you can't see the bottom. This has been going on for a few days now and when I called Jones Bees to ask about the problem the lady said that it could bee a potential problem but gave me no more information. I hope to go there and figure out what is going on.
P.S. HONEY IS ON ITS WAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Announcement

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
     I am proud to present that we have 5 out of the 9 frames in our honey harvest box almost complete which means honey is on its way!!!!!!!!!

Third Box added time for HONEY!

Well it is time to add the honey box. Mitchell has been very anxious to get in his hive and add this third box. It was 94 degrees and the bees did not like us disturbing there home in this heat.

This looks like another swarm but it is the bees on the outside of the hive trying to cool off. Not sure if it is the heat or if they are mad at Mitch :)
They are making lots and lots of honey in the second box and even down into the first.  We are seeing less and less brood.  We are hoping that everything is ok. here is the honey we saw, it was dripping all over.

Other things to note was a drone, Male bee landed on Mitch's suit and we got a good picture to show you.

What a trade off this guy lives longer but come winter he will be forced out.  Another fact is he has no stinker.

 This picture was a few days ago we believe there was a hatch because the hive was very busy.  Many bees climbing out and up the hive to take flight off the roof. They then fly in circles called orientation flight.

This one was taken after the third box was added and the bees cover the box and fan there wings.  This is called bearding again they are trying to cool down.

First signs of capped Honey

Well this is not our honey this is still in box 2 but we are getting close.  By next weekend we will probably be adding the queen excluder (sorry no queens allowed) and box number 3 which we can harvest. The will be very busy these next few weeks.  But here are some photos of what the capped honey will look like notice the snow white color in the cap.  The brood or eggs were yellow. 

 This photo shows honey up top and notice those dark cells that is pollen.

 Notice this photo has honey at the top and capped brood in the middle.  This is what we should be seeing food stored up top and eggs layed in the lower 3/4. with some cells of pollen notice the dark cells at the bottom.

Big Daddy Bee Whisperer First Swarm Containment

Don't panic it was not our bees that swarmed.....We received a call from my brother saying he had a swarm in is back yard.  I went to investigate.

Yep, you have a swarm.  Ok everything we have seen and read says we cut the branch and shake the bees in to their new home.  Nice and easy Bee Keeping for Dummies tells us we don't need a full suit up these bees are at their most genteelness stage. The have no home, food, or brood to protect.  Well I assure you with this many Bees I was taking no chances.

Suite and Smoke for me.  Ok ready lets cut the branch and shake.

Oops, no branch this is the chain link fence, anyone got a grinder.

Well this story does not end well, no one got hurt but I failed a my first attempt to catch a swarm.  I tried shoveling them like Jones Bee store told me,  I tried brushing them in to a box I could catch a few but most just pushed to the other side of the fence.  I was puzzled so I set up my newly bought and painted hive with sugar water in it hoping they would just migrate in. Ten minutes later as we sat and watched the wind picked up and like a twister the all took flight and were gone:(