Honey Bees 2012

            I have been keenly observing the hive of Russian bees each morning as I go to and from the newspaper box. There seemed to be no early morning activity near the hive’s entrance at the early hour. Later in the day I would see a few bees coming and going as the air warmed up. As August pressed on I was anticipating a level of bearding on the outside of the hive. Bearding is an indication that the hive is near capacity and it needs to be emptied soon.

            August has passed and there has been no bearding. Regardless of the hive’s state of readiness, it was the time of the year to open it up and harvest what I could. Each season I did this, I was rewarded with an abundance of thick rich honey. This year would be no different.

            I began a day early to collect everything I would need to open the hive, pull the racks, scrape the combs clean, and to drip filter separate the honey from the comb wax. I had even secured a full body suit, complete with a zip on head guard mounted to a pith helmet. The ensemble even came with elbow length gloves with leather hands and sturdy cloth extensions. I was ready.

           

            I invited Bill to join me again this year. He sounded a bit reserved during the phone call and he inquired whether I had an extra hazmat suit. I told him I had the head screen, a Bob the Mechanic jump suit, and long leather gloves. When he arrived an hour later he had been to Harbor Freight and in short order he had donned his new outfit and was ready to help zip me into mine.

 

               

            We had learned valuable lessons from our bee experiences last year. We were ready to tackle the welding job the bees will have done to the inside seams of their hive.        

            Bill used the smoker at the entrance of the hive. Both of us felt very imune to problems that may be instigated by the soon to be angry inhabitants. I quickly pryed the top lid off the hive. It seemed to separate much easier than it had last year. As I lifted the lid away the first thing I notices on top of the inner tray were a couple of moths. Wow, that’s strange. When I removed the inner tray it hit both of us hard.

            The top tier of racks was devistated. There was wax comb loaded on the racks, but there was no honey. Everywhere there were empty inch long pupal sacks and the inside of the hive was crawling with larvae.

            We removed the top layer of racks, and then the top section of the hive box. This fully exposed the middle layer of the hive and its racks. They, too, were devistated. A few brave bees crawled around the empty combs vigilent to their predisposition to be diligent in their tending of the hive. As we removed the middle racks we found a couple of them completely covered with a webbing. Both of us immediately though that we might be dealing with an attack by web moths.

            Last year was very hard on shrubbery and bushes in southern Oregon. During the summer months I discovered and removed several branches from our bushes that had been infested with web moths. Their presence is easy to see. The twig, or limb, is wrapped in a cocoon like web which can be a foot or two long on the branch. The growth inside the webbing has been destroyed and the covered section of the branch is deathly brown.

            I had disposed of the bags of trimmed shrubbery in the green lid garbage bin at the rear of the property. This bin was only thirty feet from the hive. Perhaps some of the moth had at that time been exposed to the hive.

     

I will replace the comb foundations and steam clean the wood racks and the inside of the hive. Next spring I will get another queen bee and a new hive starter colony. In the fall of 2013 I will again harvest a  bumper crop of honey.