Bee Diary: 2018-05-28

Mon 28 May 2018

Bee hiveEveryone seems happy at the new homestead. It was, however, raining off and on today so it seemed our new lodgers were mostly staying indoors.

I did remove the wedge that was propping the lid open and added a concrete block to the top which will hopefully keep everything together. I did not, however, open the hive as it was too early and it was fairly wet out.

In spite of all the rain, the ground immediately under the hive seems to not be soggy. The same cannot be said for the ground leading up to the hive as the spring that is running nearby is in full flood mode and is making everything treacherous. Harlan found out that out the hard way by losing a shoe along the way.

Wednesday looks better, weather-wise, to get into the hive and check things out. The rest of the week looks like a higher chance of rainfall with even some thunder showing up starting Thursday morning.

OSBeehives

I was excited to try out a program called OSBeehives. The company makes a hardware device that you mount to your hive but it requires 24/7 network connectivity and that’s not happening right now where this hive is located. Unfortunately, I don’t have a good enough cellular signal at the apiary to be able to record the sounds and immediately upload data which the app seems to require. So, for now I won’t be able to take advantage of this software, it would seem. I’ll keep tinkering with it because, you know, technology!

To Do

  1. Remove syrup can in ~three days.

  2. Inspect brood box in ~three days to make sure:

    • bees are creating wax along the frames, not between the frames

    • eggs are visible

    • everyone is happy

  3. Remove queen box in ~three days

  4. Tilt the hive forward instead of back.

By Sparks, Category: Bees

Tags: Bee Diary /