Well I'll be a Monkey's Uncle.

I walked outside today expecting cold frosty air- and instead got blasted by warm muggy air and a bee buzzing by my head.

Hmm.

So I went over to the hives like any good be charmer would and check in on the properties I manage there.

One hive was HIGHLY active. The other- not.

Good and bad news.

The Buckfast were non active. 

I gave the hive a kick with my foot (which I would highly suggest against any other time of the year) and still no buzz, no bee coming out, nothing.

I was prepared for a hive failure. We did have some cold weather last week and I knew that these gals did not have enough of themselves to keep warm- even if insulated. So I opened the hive to see the damage.

It was kinda a sad sight.  The queen laid fallen, and the "cluster," of bee's were spread out in two different combs. The bee's had failed to uniform themselves and the queen was alone.  I did see evidence that she had laid some eggs within the past week and a half, but the amount I could count on one hand.  They had really not touched any of the fondant, and I was amazed to see vast amounts of untouched pollen. Hmmm.   The most discouraging part of the whole scenario was the mold that had come into some of the combs. It wasn't a devastating amount but it was enough to make some combs look ugly. Mold=dysentery for bees.

As for the other hive (The Carniolans) I was happy to see that not only were they buzzing as I opened their hive- but their cluster had grown in size. It gives me reason to believe that the queen is still going strong and laying her winter brood to keep the hive doing what it should be doing. The hive smelled good and the bee's were on the fondant.  I took the leftover pollen from the other hive and scraped it off the comb.  I know that any other bee keeper reading this would yell at me for destroying "some" of the drawn out comb, but I figured it was better than risking putting in a moldy foundation into a healthy looking hive.  I left the Buckfast's foundation out on the ground as we are getting snow tonight. This will help freeze the comb and hopefully destroy any growing mold spores. I wanted to take their unused pollen and put it into the Carniolans hive. They will eat it- store it- use it for the babies. Why waste what is gold to them. Hopefully this little boost sacrificed from the Buckfast will help boost the Carniolans for the rest of winter.

Here are some pics of what I did- 

Here is the pollen that I scraped out. I smooshed it together to make a patty out of it and easier to lay across the top of the Carni's foundation. The white that you see in it is comb wax. It smelled slightly like bread.

Mold on the comb. Boo.

Putting the patty of pollen into Carniolans hive- their buzzing interest.

Less than ten minutes later- the numnums going on.

Note to self- When randomly going into a high don't wear all black. Also when you stick a hand into the hive that is covered in pollen and expect the bee's not to notice- you are an idiot.

No bee's, or bee charmers were harmed in the making of this blog.

The bee charmer almost was though........

not so charming.

A Patty of Cake Fondant a Day Keeps the Beecharmer Away

Took a little peek on the Golden gals today. I was happy to see the Carniolans (as small as a cluster as they was) angrily buzz at me when I looked in. A few attempted to fly to come and investigate who was letting the cold in.  As for the Buckfast (picture above) I couldn't help but snap a shot of the gals buzzing their wings to heat up the hive. Putting my hand close to them you could actually feel the heat coming off of their little (and I mean little) cluster of bee's.

So what's a cluster of bee's?  Its something of your worst nightmare.  Its a massive amount of bee's that will wait until to you are asleep and then come inside your house and steal all your socks and underwear.  You awake to find them missing and you walk around all day feel uncomfortable and vulnerable.

Not really.

Here it is explained by the infinite storage of information. Wikipedia.

In beekeeping, a winter cluster is a well-defined cluster of honey bees that forms inside a beehive when the air temperature dips below 54 to 57 °F (12 to 14 °C). Honey bees are but a few insects that survive the winter as a hive. As the outside air temperature decreases the winter cluster becomes tighter and more compact. The bees cling tightly together on thecombs in the hive. The temperature within the winter cluster remains remarkably warm regardless of the outside air temperature. Larger clusters (basketball size) have a better chance for survival than smaller clusters (softball size). The winter cluster within the hive must move throughout the winter to reach the available honey stored in the combs.