jethro.ws

Finally I have bees. After reading so many different reasons for building what how, I’ve decided to give this design a wing. The hives are unnaturally shaped rectangular boxes with inside dimensions of 18.5″ wide, 11.75″ deep, and 41″ long. 3/4 in. entrance holes. Some are stopped with corks until the hive gets established and is able to defend from robbers. Top bars are untreated western cedar boards cut just a hair over  1.25″ wide, 7/8 in. thick, and 20 in. long. On the bottom of the bars I have a groove cut so the bees start the comb where it becomes most convenient for me to rob it. The groove is cut in the center, running the entire length of the bars. It is 1/8 in. deep and 1/8 in. wide. I rubbed beeswax into this groove to help them start.  The rest is made of plywood from some skids lying around. The Italian bees feel a little like Nazis when they are mad. I have mason jars feeders inside the hive untill they get going. I heated half a gallon of water and mixed it with a half a gallon of sugar. I added some supplements that included lemon grass oil, vitamins, etc. Within a week each hive built about a square foot of comb. I haven’t seen brood comb to confirm if the queen is actually alive. And don’t hive a package of bees (10-15 thousand stingers per package) without protective equipment and expect to finish the job unscathed. I did and got stung half a dozen places on one side of my face. My eyes didn’t swell shut thanks to my younger brother who found some plantain leaves. In the middle of the ordeal, I took off my pants because they were going up my pant legs and under my shirt. Yesterday I was checking on their progress without a ski mask or glasses and I squeezed a little lady when I was putting the topbars back in place. She killed herself stinging me between the eyes and now I look like one of the Na’vi from Avatar.