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doodlemaierSome sage advice for all beeks:
– Ian Craig (the Australian Beekeeper, May 2014)
Bees can be stressed by too frequent disturbance by the beekeeper during the year and especially in winter. A great deal of information can be gleaned by observation, without opening the hive. Hives showing some sort of abnormality should be noted and be subject to a closer examination when weather permits.
SMALL PARTICLES OF WAX
When bees are confined to their hive for long periods in winter, the appearance of small dust-like particles of wax at the hive entrance is a sign that the bees are uncapping and eating into their stores and that all is well. Hives should be ‘hefted’ from the rear in order to ensure that the colonies have enough food.
MEDIUM PARTICLES OF WAX
Particles in autumn, wax particles up to 2.5mm suggests robbing by other bees or wasps. The robbers are in a hurry to tear down cappings and make their escape.
LARGE PIECES OF WAX
In winter, if wax pieces up to 12mm are seen at the entrance it suggests that a mouse in residence. Mice can nest in the hive, feed on honey and urinate on combs. Combs soiled by mice never can be used by surviving bees, and should be disposed of and a clean floorboard.
SMALL WAX PLATELETS
Prior to the start of summer, small platelets of wax can sometimes be seen at the hive entrance. This indicates there is a surplus of young wax secreting bees. A frame of new foundation should be given.
POLLEN LOADS
Small pollen pellets on workers’ corbiculae early in the season is an indication that small amounts of pollen are available. At other times large pellets indicate a laying queen with plenty of hungry larvae to feed.
HARD, GREY POLLEN PELLETS
These are often seen on the alighting board when bees are expanding their brood nest in spring. They are usually the size of a worker cell, resemble chalk brood, but are brittle and if crushed, break up into layers.
They are a sign that some pollen stored in autumn had not been covered with honey and sealed. A late autumn syrup feed may have prevented this loss of pollen. Combs with large patches of hard pollen are usually eaten down to the mid-rib by the bees in an attempt to remove the pollen. Combs like this should be removed by the beekeeper at the first opportunity.
CHALK BROOD MUMMIES
These are flatter than moldy pollen and are like poorly developed pupae and do not crumble into layers. They can be whitish or almost black with fungal fruiting spores.
WHITE GRUBS
If the colony is on the verge of starvation they eject first drone pupae, then worker pupae. This is an indication that immediate feeding is required. Occasionally long, thin caterpillar-like grubs are ejected. These are an indication of the presence of wax moths. It is also an indication that some very old abandoned combs are in the hive.
FEW BEES FLYING IN EARLY SPRING
If fewer bees are flying from a hive than others in the apiary, especially in winter or early spring, it might be an indication that the strain of bees does not fly in cold weather or that the hive is in the shade, or it might indication a weak or diseased colony. Such colonies should not be united to another until the cause of the weakness is ascertained.
DRONES FLYING
In September, this is a sign of an early colony build-up. In late autumn it is a sign that the bees are unhappy with their queen. She may be un-mated or failing.
DRONES BEING EJECTED
This is a normal occurrence in early autumn and is an indication that all is well, in summer it is a sign of starvation or that the hive has been satisfactorily re-queened by supercedure or by the beekeeper and has no further need for drones.
SMALL DRONES
If these are seen flying or on the alighting board of a weak hive, they are a sign that the colony has laying workers or a drone-laying queen. It is futile trying to re-queen such colonies.
DEAD BEES ON THE GROUND AT ENTRANCE
During the year, bees are continually removing the dead bees and dropping them some distance from the hive. During a mild day in early spring, bees in a healthy colony can often be seen clearing out bees which have dropped off the winter cluster. Such bees usually form a small pile at the entrance.
CHEMICAL POISONING
In good weather when bees are foraging, if the number of flying bees is less than usual and large numbers of dead bees, usually with their proboscis extended, are in a pile on the ground outside the hive entrance, that is a sign of chemical poisoning.
BEES CLUSTERING ON THE HIVE FRONT
This could be a sign of overcrowding, lack of ventilation or a surplus of young bees due to a reduction in the queen’s egg laying in autumn or during a honey flow. It is also a common occurrence when supers have been removed from a single brood chamber colony at the end of the honey flow.
BROWN SMEARS ON THE HIVE FRONT
This can be caused by a number of factors. The colony could have gone into the winter with some unsealed stores of honey or sugar syrup which had fermented because of their intake of dampness, causing dysentery in early spring. Spring dysentery is also, but not necessarily, a sign of Nosema. On a cold spring day when nurse bees are eating large quantities of stored pollen their rectums will rapidly fill with pollen husks which they struggle to get rid of in poor flying conditions, forcing them to defecate on or near the hive.
HONEY FLOW
During a honey flow, bees are flying in and out of the entrance in vast numbers. They are in a good mood, intent on harvesting as much nectar as possible. In the evening, there will be a strong scent of nectar flavored water being evaporated and condensed moisture will be seen on the alighting board.
FANNING BEES
Bees fanning at the entrance can be a normal process of ventilation especially in hot weather or the evaporation of excess moisture when ripening honey. At first glance robber bees resemble returning foragers during a honey flow, but on closer inspection they usually hover momentarily with their legs hanging down, before deciding to try and enter the hive. The robbers’ abdomens may be shiny due to the nibbling of guard bees and they will never be carrying pollen loads. Clusters of guard bees will be confronting them at the entrance and fighting will also occur.
NOISE UNDER THE LID
In early spring, if you put your ear to the vents and give the side of the hive a few taps a queen-right colony will emit a gentle ‘hiss’ which quickly subsides. A queenless colony will emit a characteristic ‘roar’.
– Ian Craig (the Australian Beekeeper, May 2014)
Bees can be stressed by too frequent disturbance by the beekeeper during the year and especially in winter. A great deal of information can be gleaned by observation, without opening the hive. Hives showing some sort of abnormality should be noted and be subject to a closer examination when weather permits.
SMALL PARTICLES OF WAX
When bees are confined to their hive for long periods in winter, the appearance of small dust-like particles of wax at the hive entrance is a sign that the bees are uncapping and eating into their stores and that all is well. Hives should be ‘hefted’ from the rear in order to ensure that the colonies have enough food.
MEDIUM PARTICLES OF WAX
Particles in autumn, wax particles up to 2.5mm suggests robbing by other bees or wasps. The robbers are in a hurry to tear down cappings and make their escape.
LARGE PIECES OF WAX
In winter, if wax pieces up to 12mm are seen at the entrance it suggests that a mouse in residence. Mice can nest in the hive, feed on honey and urinate on combs. Combs soiled by mice never can be used by surviving bees, and should be disposed of and a clean floorboard.
SMALL WAX PLATELETS
Prior to the start of summer, small platelets of wax can sometimes be seen at the hive entrance. This indicates there is a surplus of young wax secreting bees. A frame of new foundation should be given.
POLLEN LOADS
Small pollen pellets on workers’ corbiculae early in the season is an indication that small amounts of pollen are available. At other times large pellets indicate a laying queen with plenty of hungry larvae to feed.
HARD, GREY POLLEN PELLETS
These are often seen on the alighting board when bees are expanding their brood nest in spring. They are usually the size of a worker cell, resemble chalk brood, but are brittle and if crushed, break up into layers.
They are a sign that some pollen stored in autumn had not been covered with honey and sealed. A late autumn syrup feed may have prevented this loss of pollen. Combs with large patches of hard pollen are usually eaten down to the mid-rib by the bees in an attempt to remove the pollen. Combs like this should be removed by the beekeeper at the first opportunity.
CHALK BROOD MUMMIES
These are flatter than moldy pollen and are like poorly developed pupae and do not crumble into layers. They can be whitish or almost black with fungal fruiting spores.
WHITE GRUBS
If the colony is on the verge of starvation they eject first drone pupae, then worker pupae. This is an indication that immediate feeding is required. Occasionally long, thin caterpillar-like grubs are ejected. These are an indication of the presence of wax moths. It is also an indication that some very old abandoned combs are in the hive.
FEW BEES FLYING IN EARLY SPRING
If fewer bees are flying from a hive than others in the apiary, especially in winter or early spring, it might be an indication that the strain of bees does not fly in cold weather or that the hive is in the shade, or it might indication a weak or diseased colony. Such colonies should not be united to another until the cause of the weakness is ascertained.
DRONES FLYING
In September, this is a sign of an early colony build-up. In late autumn it is a sign that the bees are unhappy with their queen. She may be un-mated or failing.
DRONES BEING EJECTED
This is a normal occurrence in early autumn and is an indication that all is well, in summer it is a sign of starvation or that the hive has been satisfactorily re-queened by supercedure or by the beekeeper and has no further need for drones.
SMALL DRONES
If these are seen flying or on the alighting board of a weak hive, they are a sign that the colony has laying workers or a drone-laying queen. It is futile trying to re-queen such colonies.
DEAD BEES ON THE GROUND AT ENTRANCE
During the year, bees are continually removing the dead bees and dropping them some distance from the hive. During a mild day in early spring, bees in a healthy colony can often be seen clearing out bees which have dropped off the winter cluster. Such bees usually form a small pile at the entrance.
CHEMICAL POISONING
In good weather when bees are foraging, if the number of flying bees is less than usual and large numbers of dead bees, usually with their proboscis extended, are in a pile on the ground outside the hive entrance, that is a sign of chemical poisoning.
BEES CLUSTERING ON THE HIVE FRONT
This could be a sign of overcrowding, lack of ventilation or a surplus of young bees due to a reduction in the queen’s egg laying in autumn or during a honey flow. It is also a common occurrence when supers have been removed from a single brood chamber colony at the end of the honey flow.
BROWN SMEARS ON THE HIVE FRONT
This can be caused by a number of factors. The colony could have gone into the winter with some unsealed stores of honey or sugar syrup which had fermented because of their intake of dampness, causing dysentery in early spring. Spring dysentery is also, but not necessarily, a sign of Nosema. On a cold spring day when nurse bees are eating large quantities of stored pollen their rectums will rapidly fill with pollen husks which they struggle to get rid of in poor flying conditions, forcing them to defecate on or near the hive.
HONEY FLOW
During a honey flow, bees are flying in and out of the entrance in vast numbers. They are in a good mood, intent on harvesting as much nectar as possible. In the evening, there will be a strong scent of nectar flavored water being evaporated and condensed moisture will be seen on the alighting board.
FANNING BEES
Bees fanning at the entrance can be a normal process of ventilation especially in hot weather or the evaporation of excess moisture when ripening honey. At first glance robber bees resemble returning foragers during a honey flow, but on closer inspection they usually hover momentarily with their legs hanging down, before deciding to try and enter the hive. The robbers’ abdomens may be shiny due to the nibbling of guard bees and they will never be carrying pollen loads. Clusters of guard bees will be confronting them at the entrance and fighting will also occur.
NOISE UNDER THE LID
In early spring, if you put your ear to the vents and give the side of the hive a few taps a queen-right colony will emit a gentle ‘hiss’ which quickly subsides. A queenless colony will emit a characteristic ‘roar’.
It's been almost a month now since a week long stretch of 100°+ days and with the Strasburg hives in direct sunlight most of the day the heavy, honey-laden combs of Brigid collapsed just like those of her daughter hive back in May. I first noticed activity of individual bees and scavengers busy underneath the hive where liquid honey had run down the inside of the cinder block support and despite my worst fear I held out hope that perhaps the high daytime temps were merely causing uncured nectar to ooze out of open cells. I gave them a week after when I'm fairly certain the collapse actually happened to observe what the colony themselves might do to remedy the problem. Mostly their response was limited to permanently clustering in the dormer of the roof and drawing a pathetic little comb and wait for death. . . This episode proved to be far more destructive than the last and likely killed the queen in the deluge. 
This morning I discovered this open-comb, free-hanging, feral honey bee nest in my backyard at Medford. Naturally I'm wondering where this colony came from and how long they've been in the tree. It's not likely that either of the Easter colonies had the time/resources to swarm again so early in the season. They could be another random product of 2012 Swarmapalooza season, or my theory is that these are the survivors of a colony, Isis, that I kept at this location last year which 
There are four large distinct combs, ranging in size from a Whamo Frisbee Flying Disc up to that of a standard toilet seat lid. I was hanging out this morning having coffee with the bees and they've been testy for days. Quite out of the blue I was stung on the head for standing there minding their business. I decided it was time to head to work after that and from the driveway, thinking about the sting on the top of my head, I looked up where the large nest apparent. I wonder how I didn't see it sooner. 
The nest is about fifty feet up in the storm-torn maple tree that hangs over the tiny Easter apiary. Can you see it there? (just left of top dead center) Last year Isis sat in the little shady cloister behind the chair.
The idea behind the trap-out is to engineer a method by which foraging bees of a colony ensconced within a wall or other structure where their presence is unwelcome are able to exit their nest but aren't able to return. Within eight to ten weeks the economy of the feral colony is gradually interrupted to point where the ensconced queen will eventually cease egg-laying and vacate the occupied structure. In the mean time, the beekeeper provides an empty hive body that holds a frame of day-old eggs and is otherwise filled with drawn comb so that the returning foragers that are at that point "trapped-out" have a place to shelter and the motivation and means to rebuild via the frame of fresh (queen-worthy) eggs. The cone is fabricated from a piece of 1/8" mesh hardware cloth and installed over the original entrance by means of a makeshift flange. This is usually a piece of plywood drilled to allow the mesh cone to slip through the front and then be stapled and caulked on the back. The flange or adapter is then caulked or otherwise sealed around the edges so that bees aren't able to push their way back in through the original entrance. Because of the optical illusion of many, many holes created by the mesh cone and because of the force of habit to return the location of the original entrance the returning bees are unable to navigate their way back into their nest and are instead prompted by the smell of brood and eventually queen-rightness of the surrogate hive body. For this reason the "empty" hive body or bait box should be placed as close to the entrance of the ensconced colony as possible, preferably touching so that returning foragers can walk, and not fly, into the replacement hive. 
Thursday and Friday were considerably warm enough to cause the comb to fail in hive #2, Brigid's first swarm of the season. It didn't help in the least that I left the catchment drawer in place all week, which might've prevented the bees from supplying adequate ventilation which might've mitigated the impact of direct sunlight had I the foresight to leave it open. The original hive, Brigid, is only a few feet away and doesn't appear to have been affected at all, but also doesn't get quite the exposure as this one. 
The conservation hive adapted to utilize standard frames begins, like most houses, with a basement. The basement is as simple as possible, built from reclaimed untreated 2x4 lumber with some aluminum ¼" channel screwed to either inside surface near the bottom to hold a simple sliding catchment drawer which I made from a sheet corrugated plastic, a reclaimed sign I found blowing down the road. This arrangement serves to make mite counts and much intuitive information can be gleaned from observations of the garbage that drops from a colony of bees. The pins driven partially into the inside perimeter are to support the mesh floor. That's about as technical as these hive designs get. I call it a basement because like most basements this too gets dark and scary and fills up with spiders, eventually. 
The floor is a simple frame fashioned from 1x2 furring strips with a sheet of plastic needlepoint backing cut to fit and stapled into place, allowing hive junk to drop through. I've also used reinforced pet screening with some success as it's actually strong enough to deter skunks and other vermin from infiltrating the the brood nest in areas where that might be an issiue, but I prefer the needlepoint backing because it's a little more rigid than screen and, most importantly, it's cheap!
The next thing to go on is what I call the atrium, a place to locate the entrance above the floor and for bees to congregate inside the hive. The footprint of this piece and everything above it is an inch shy in length and width of the dimensions of the basement, not only as a aesthetic consideration but also, when centered, helps stabilize the floor. I consider this two part base to be an improvement over the one-piece basements I was making prior, if for no other reason they're easier to build. To complicate things a bit, I've built a couple of these with a series of dowels or slats laid cross-ways in rebates along the top inner edge, after the concept of the slatted rack of conventional woodenware that supposedly improves ventilation when used in conjunction with a screened floor. We'll see, I'd like to run a couple of those configurations in the field before I go building them. 
Next is a box, a DIY version of the standard 8-frame medium pictured here with a full array of 
Another box! I've removed a couple frames from the center, hopefully, facilitating the bees to move downward (not only in direction but also a descent from free-range, feral, hippie bees to Dilbert-style, "cubicles-for-honeybees" frames) and this will be the first box they'll encounter into their progression into the "working bees" area of the hive. Last year I tried to integrate a couple of frameless boxes into framed hives without success and I've heard from other beekeepers, as well, that it can be tricky to convince them. 
After any supers comes the most makeshift piece - the adapter, or flange - a simple piece of 3/8" plywood cut so that the outside perimeter is larger than that of either the framed super or the frameless box, and the inside perimeter of the "hole" is smaller than either inside perimeter. If I get enough time to transition the brood nest out of the bait box before the sun, wind, and rain rot the flange to pieces I'll consider it a smashing success!
The adapter, in this case, is made to transition a colony out of the bait box that I captured a swarm in on Easter at my Dad's house in Bentonville. The floor of bait box is a thin, light panel of wood secured with a a bungie cord - nothing elaborate, minimal futzing about with stuff on a ladder. The bait box has the same footprint as the frameless conservation hives and it's designed to be dropped on top without the use of a flange. (KISS - keep it simple, stupid). After the colony has moved down I'll incorporate a crown board, a quilt, and a gabled roof just like the other conservation hives. 
So, that night I crept up on the bait box and wadded up a damp paper towel and stuffed it in the entrance and taped it shut. After moving the colony to the new location I un-bungied the floor and dropped them right on top, centered as best I could over the hole in the flange and, viola! My Easter apiary is complete. Except that's not exactly how it went down. . . 
April 10th: I must be doing something right (or as conventional beekeepers would probably say: "wrong"), this was a third swarm kicked off by Brigid. I'm pretty sure she's honey-bound and every time a queen cell hatches She sees a full pantry and doesn't even bother killing the other unhatched queens, just up and hauls ass. Again, Mrs. called for me to intervene. I didn't have an available hive so I ended up gifting them to a beekeeper Mrs. is in contact with in Culpeper who was able to drive out to Strasburg after I retrieved them. 
It was the evening of March 28th, 2012 when Mrs. called through a network of people (mostly, my brother) who have access to me on weeknights because I stubbornly refuse to carry a cell phone. She wanted to tell me that Brigid had swarmed earlier that day causing a ruckus at the neighbors and the bees were last seen clustered on the rail fence between us and the Yates' house. I asked her to check for me if they were still there, as it was near 9:30 at night and I was just turning in. Sure, enough! they hadn't moved on yet and would stay put throughout the night time. I dropped everything a drove back the 70 miles to Strasburg and this is what it looked like when I found them an hour and half later. 
I spent a couple hours and never seemed to have enough hands to scoop up a swarm in the dark, otherwise a low-hanging fruit because I didn't have to go up on a ladder in the dark trying to manage a brush, a bucket and flashlight at he same time. Even after getting the majority of the cluster into a hive, and relatively certain of having captured the queen it was difficult to sleep that night for all the excitement. I was up early and unplugged the bung at the entrance of the hive releasing the cluster into the warm day to forage. As the sun exposed the front door of their new home the bees gathered and started fanning their Nasonov glands into the air in the manner they do to attract any stragglers of the swarm to the new digs. According to my very limited experience of bee wrangling that was pretty much their approval of the terms of lease and the agreement was sealed. My wife took this picture of the victorious beekeeper and I went to my day job confident of having just expanded my apiary by 100%!
No sooner than I arrive at work and Mrs. calls to inform me that the new colony were bearding at the entrance. I couldn't tell her whether this was normal or not and asked that she keep an eye on them as best she could. The behavior in this instance made me uneasy. A hour later she called again after having run an errand. The bearding had grown since and even she had the impression by then that they had no intention of staying. She described the cluster at the entrance in terms of a tub draining in reverse, and as she watched while on the phone with me the bees began leaving the hive in droves and filling the air! Time to beg out of work and stage an interception! 
Seventy miles and another hour and half of gasoline and traffic I'm back in Strasburg. The bees have taken up in a bush very near where they were the night before. Sensible people, perhaps, might've allowed the swarm to escape at this point but I was galvanized in my resolve to catch them again by the fact that the queen in the initial swarm of the season - this queen - was my survivor stock, the queen that reared a colony so strong that they decided to expand; and second year queen at that (generally regarded as their most productive season). Daylight was a huge improvement over trying to determine any sense from the swarm within the beam of a flashlight. This time I had the foresight to make up a baggie feeder of sugar syrup to hold them over for the couple days they were to spend confined to hive before I was able to make it back to the valley again. The sugar gives workers the nutrition they need to start drawing comb and stimulates the queen to begin laying. Once there were some eggs for the house bees to watch after the swarm will stay pretty well put. I think the proximity to the mother hive is what prompted them to abscond. 
I've gotta make this quick because I've been trying to get around to an update for weeks! We've divested of the U.S. housing boondoggle and are in a rented 3 bedroom house in Strasburg, Virginia 10 miles west and over the Massanutten mountain. The move has been arduous and is still not entirely complete, but the good news - and this is what I've been holding off to report - is that Brigid has survived our very mild winter, where the top bar, then Isis, and finally Lada all succumbed. Moving the conservation hive wasn't nearly as difficult as I had anticipated. Although a two-man job, it took more time to figure out the ratcheting tie straps used to secure the roof, supers and base together with a couple of makeshift handles than it did to hoist the whole caboodle into the back of Pop's pickup truck, secure it and drive it over the mountain. 
