Bees in Bird Feeders

Honey bees rummaging through my bird feeder cracked corn. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Bees in Cracked Corn

The mid-February warm spell we usually have in USDA Hardiness Zone 5 used to be when I would look for the first spring crocus in bloom. Now I check bird feeders to see if my honey bees are rummaging through the cracked corn.

The signs of foragers looking for pollen tells me the queen bees are starting to lay. Nurse bees produce baby food from glands on top of their heads and need pollen for protein.

Bees will pick up the cracked corn dust to take back to their home colony because there isn’t anything else currently providing pollen in nature.

Bees pack pollen baskets on their legs to carry pollen back to the hive. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)

Bees have baskets on their legs where they pack in the pollen before carrying it back to their home colony. If you look carefully at this photo, you will see a brownish substance around their back legs.

When there are more flowers trying to reproduce, bees will carry a variety of pollen colors back to their hives. Bees need 11 amino acids available in nature to stay healthy. The amino acids are available in different strengths depending not only on the plant but time of year. And bees are attracted to bad foods for them just as we are.

I am giving them pollen substitute inside their hives as well this time of year but I can’t help but enjoy watching them at the bird feeders. And they seem to be fine with the birds flying in. Birds and bees!

If you want to start keeping bees, pick up a copy of “A Beekeeper’s Diary Self-Guide to Keeping Bees 2nd Edition,” it will get you set up with check lists and helpful guides to get you started. The guide is also a study guide for the Great Plains Master Beekeeping’s Apprentice to Journeyman online test.

Charlotte

Winter Feeding Check

Wait, what? Why are the bees now on the other side of the hive! (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Winter Feeding Check

Normally it takes a colony about 50-70 lbs of honey to make it through a typical mid-Missouri winter.

Our weather, however, is anything but typical any more. For the past three years, we’ve had longer falls and springs and barely cold winters. A nice change for those who don’t like cold but bad news for bees. When temperatures are 50F plus they are out looking for flowers amid a desolate winter landscape.

This past year, my colonies had extra honey on all hives so I left it for them. I thought if we have another mild winter, they are going to need the extra food supplies since there will be nothing in nature.

Sure enough, when Christmas was 70F and I was checking - not inspecting - my colonies, they had worked through most of their honey supplies. Time to give them supplemental sugar cakes to help them make it through winter.

Now sugar cakes cannot feed bees full time, it just supplements them until they can find new flowers and food sources in nature. When temperatures are record warm, it also gives colonies a chance to move stored honey to areas in the hive where they can better reach it. The challenge is that temperatures can get cold very fast, leaving them separated from honey sources. That’s where the supplemental sugar cakes comes in handy, it gives them food until they can find their own.

As I opened this particular colony, I was struck by the location of the bees, on the right, and the placement of the supplemental sugar cake, on the left. When I added the sugar cakes, it was right over where the bees were clustered.

Seeing the bees had moved to the right told me they must have baby bees now. If worker bees have to decide between keeping brood warm or eating, they will die of starvation to keep the baby bees warm.

Another winter storm was heading our way so I moved the white sugar cake over the cluster. I also added a second supplemental sugar cake with pollen so the bees will have a source of protein.

Bee cluster now has food over it while it keeps brood warm. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

It will be interesting to see if there is any honey leftover come spring. If I had to guess, I will say there won’t be any.

Charlotte

Apologizing to Wind Blown Bee Colony

My wind blown colony settling on winter sugar cakes under the hive lid. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Apologizing to Wind Blown Bee Colony

As a beekeeping coach, I am pretty insistent about not opening up a hive over winter. Honey bees have worked diligently to seal up the hive cracks with propolis, or bee glue. We now also know propolis has antibacterial qualities, so we want to keep as much of the propolis in the hive as possible.

So it was with great trepidation that I saw one of my hives knocked over. We had had 65+ mph winds the night before. Although I had checked and secured all straps around hives the day before, this one hive was apparently in the perfect spot to get hit.

Another hive 10 feet to the left and forward of this poor colony was untouched.

The wind blown colony as I found it after 65 mph winds hit our hillside. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

A mad dash out to the apiary confirmed the bees had made it, they were gathered in the bottom two boxes. Which originally were the top two hive boxes full of stored honey.

I removed the empty bottom two boxes to shorten the hive and gently, slowly, carefully - settled the bees back in.

Once I moved the frames back into boxes, I found several clumps of bees among the dried leaves. I took those to be young, nurse bees that couldn’t orient themselves. An empty box with drawn comb settled over them for a few minutes and they got a comb ride back into the hive.

I rewrapped the hive since the wind had broken their propolis seals. The wrap should help keep them dry from incoming rain and wind.

The hive back together with a couple of empty boxes removed. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

I frankly did the least amount of rearranging frames to minimize stress on the bees. While I was in there, though, I did take the opportunity to do a quick inventory of how much honey they had stored. They were well stocked for winter with two honey-filled supers. I tried to be as quick as I could without rushing the introduction of the frames, I didn’t want to squish the queen. Most settled in; a few left a few stings.

I understood. It was a bad situation all around. The best outcome was to get them back into the hive.

As I watched bees flying back in, I decided to make them supplemental winter sugar cakes. I had added some to a couple of my smaller colonies earlier in case the smaller bee clusters ran out of honey. There are a number of stressors bee face but starvation - and well, falling over in a windstorm - should not be among them.

Once the sugar cakes were ready, I suited up with my beekeeping jacket and headed out to the hive to place the sugar cakes. i leave a feeding shim on top of all my hives so the bees have a back up entrance in case the lower front door is clogged with rain and ice. It was 62F and sunny so bees were out flying. To no surprise, NONE were too happy to see me and let me know. I made quick work of adding the sugar cakes to the top feeding shim and left.

A week later, when temperatures were warm again, I approached the hive. Not a bee in sight. Usually when temperatures are over 50F, bees will out in the garden flying.

When I carefully lifted the hive lid, a few bees peered calmly out at me. Ok, so they made it. And were calm. Good signs, they had settled back in. Whew.

Bees under the lid taking a peek at the hive visitor - me! (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Bees under the top inner cover on their supplemental sugar cakes. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

I spent only a few seconds under the inner cover, long enough to take these photos. Bees were working the supplemental sugar cakes, which is what they should have been doing. I closed up the hive with nary a sting.

Yes, it was a good idea to give them the supplemental sugar cakes as insurance against starving. I monitor my bees throughout winter to make sure they have food.

Part of me was also a bit relieved. Apology accepted!

Charlotte