The Silence of the Bees - about CCD on Public TV

There is a very good tv show on TPT about CCD.
It is a Nature series. The show is what is happening with the bees and CCD.
It has about two showings left. They are at odd times. Set your dvr's or tape them.

Nature

Sunday, July 26, 7:00 PM on

Nature

Monday, July 27, 1:00 AM on

Nature

Sunday, August 2, 12:00 PM on

The Rain

I had a good soaking in Stillwater. My rain gauge said one inch fell. Hopefully this will keep the nectar flow going another two to three weeks.
Spotted Knapweed is blooming all over now. I still see white sweet clover although not as much as before. Purple Loosestrife should be blooming in swampy areas soon. Loosestrife honey has a nice flavor but the honey looks like new motor oil, it has a greenish hue.

Nature's Nectar Hours

Nature's Nectar will be closed Wed - Fri. Open Sat regular hours.

Checking supers today

I was out checking supers today.
There are many of my hives with 6 supers on, some with three supers, some with one and some that are not doing very well.
I am going to combine the weak ones trying to salvage some colonies for winter.
The nectar flow is still going. We do need some rain. I am hearing many beekeepers with 3 - 6 supers on. Also reports of new beekeepers that started with a package on foundation have up to 3 deeps and two supers all drawn out and filled with honey.
My swarm hive that I caught and left in one deep. I added my third super today of foundation. It has filled and capped one super, the second super is about half full.

Honey and the comb

Terry McD has some thoughts of honey and the comb that holds the honey.

Swarming is going on again

I have been getting calls of hives swarming. This could be an indication the the nectar flow may be drying up in some areas. More than likely the lack of moisture is having a negative effect on the nectar flow.
Hopefully some rain is in the forecast for the upcoming week and we will see the flow intensify a bit.
I see the basswoods in Stillwater area are in full bloom and clover is still going on. Spotted Knapweed is about ready to bloom.

Terry Mc D's Hive is queenless

Terry checked her parent colony and it was queenless. It was hard to tell if they had swarmed and had made a new queen. By having two colonies she had another option to fall back on. By taking a frame of eggs from the queen right colony to the queenless colony she will be able to confirm if there is a queen present or not.
Checking the frame 4 days later she saw queen cells. This confirmed there was not a queen in the hive. Had she not seen queen cells we would have to assume that a queen is in there but not laying yet.
The next post shows here combining the hives.