Bee Log 53: February 13, 2011

Take a look at the photo above. It shows the entrance to a beehive that is in our backyard in Seattle. The place where the bees land as they come into the hive is covered in a damp dirty substance. It is probably a mixture of dirt and mildew. This hive is dead. I don't know what it died of but then lots of beehives die in the winter since the verroa mite came into the area. Compare the landing board above to the landing board of the very much alive hive pictured below. The bees somehow keep the landing area clean. I don't know if they clean it or if in and out traffic keeps it clear. (Picture a matronly bee on her bee's knees with a brush and a pail of water!) The difference in the appearance of the the landing board has for me become a pretty good indicator of which hives have died over the winter.



If the hive is alive, the bee landing board at the front of the hive is clear and clean.

Bee Log 52: January 29, 2011

We found the marker commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Lorenzo L.Langstroth (b.Dec. 25, 1810). It is near the Delaware River in the old part of Philadelphia. Langstroth developed the modern beehive with movable frames. We were visiting relatives in the city of brotherly love.

The darkest part of the year is behind us and already there have been days warm enough for the bees to fly. We have visited all of our bee hives except one and removed the sugar feeders that got left on late last autumn. We poured granulated sugar around the top of the inner cover hoping to avoid starvation for any hives that are low on stores. We know that we lost at least 5 hives out of 19. We can't count survivors yet.

We are looking for one more location for our bees in Seattle. We have one new location in Bothell. Our host home in Bellevue is being sold so we will have to move those hives. Also, we did not want to pay the new toll on the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge that we would have faced if we kept the hives there. That was our first host home and a great location so we feel a little sad to leave. We have one new Seattle location near the University of Washington. We are looking for another north Seattle location.

One perspective host home was in the middle of a bunch of town homes. The home owners were so excited about the possibility of having bees but we realized that any bee events like a swarm or a bee war (robbing event) would probably freak out some neighbors. There was just too much people traffic. We felt bad turning them down as a host home.

I look forward to another beekeeping season. I love watching the bees. I love working the bees. I love selling the honey at the Phinney Farmers' Market. I love educating people about bees.

Bee Log #17: March 17, 2010

Honey bee in heather taken March 16, 2010

Happy St. Patrick's Day!



The vote so far on changing the business name from Wallingford Urban Honey to Seattle Urban Honey is overwhelmingly in favor of a name change. 3 to 0. There is still time to vote if you have not weighed in.

I am off to Auburn, WA to get the bee-ware that we so desperately need before the bees arrive. Yea! It is just a partial order but it will keep us for now.

Starting a new business is a series of puzzles and worries and unknowns. The puzzles seem to be getting solved one at a time. The worries are just part of what I do and wish I didn't. The unknowns seem to be linked to the worries and the puzzles. So, one little bit at a time. Life is an adventure. Every day is a new installment of the story. Pray God for his providential care for today.

Bee Log #11: February 9, 2010

My husband and I have become apprentice level master beekeepers. This means that we have passed a test given by the Washington State Beekeepers' Association. We can now start working on the much more demanding journeyman beekeeper certificate if we so desire.

Our plan to put hives in 5 yards in north Seattle is on track. We have ordered the boxes and the packages of bees. We still need to order frames, bottom boards, hive tops, queen excluders, inner covers and feeders.

Our current hives are getting a bit of flying time almost every day. They are bringing in a lot of pollen. I still have not looked inside the hives yet. I will wait for a day that is at least 60 degrees to avoid chilling the brood.

Bee Log #10: February 2, 2010

The above pictures were taken at the Washington Park Arboretum January 15, 2010. The building shown is the Graham Visitors' Center, meeting place of the Puget Sound Beekeepers' Association.

I am happy to report that we have recruited 5 homeowners located in north Seattle that are very interested in having bees placed in their yards. Thank you to those homeowners. We are hoping to promote bees as a wonderful hobby that can be pursued by the average person and to increase our honey harvest.

My husband and I will be placing 2 hives each on 4 of these properties and one hive on the remaining property. We have ordered 8 packages of bees and will use one hive from our current stock. This is as big as we wish to get this summer. It is important that we not expand beyond our capacity to manage our bees since they are placed in an urban environment. All of the bee-placement homeowners are very enthusiastic and I aim to keep it that way! They are hosts of living creatures and we are responsible for the care of those creatures.

We have decided to use western size brood boxes with plastic frames for the interior. The western boxes are 6 1/4 inches high and much lighter than the standard deep box especially when full of honey and brood. The plastic frames come as one piece and don't require assembly or wiring. We also won't have problems with broken wires or frames coming unglued when we try to pull them out of the hive. The bees are said to do fine on the plastic.

I have gotten my apprentice beekeeper certificate through the Puget Sound Beekeepers' Association. My husband is currently studying for the required test.

The weather has been unseasonably warm (a record for January in Seattle). The bees have had opportunities to fly for a few hours each day. They are bringing in pollen of several colors! Many plants are blooming including the earliest plums and crocuses. One of our hives is especially active. Another hive is showing little activity (I know it is still alive and has sufficient stores of honey). We will see what this means for those hives later on. I do not have enough experience to do more than guess. I will wait for a few weeks to do an inspection of the interior of the hives as it not warm enough to risk chilling any baby bees (brood). Warm is a relative term in Seattle! The temperature has been in the low 50's rather than the usual mid 40's.

We are hoping to return to the Phinney Farmers' Market in early July. With more hives, we should be better able to keep up with the demand for local raw honey.