Napa Valley Bee Company

Drones keep goin'

Bee picture taken earlier today on the fly with my iphone - not the best quality, MYiphone needs a macro setting. I buffed this flat/soft picture out a little bit with some text and an arrow graphic to make it easier.

Today I was over at Kevin Crossland's place getting his bees dialed in when I was pleasantly surprised to run into a drone or two. It has been an amazing year in many ways for the bees; one reason bee*ing the amount of drones we created by using the J-frame technique earlier in the year. The other great thing is how long the drones have been sticking around. Last year at this time all my drones got the boot around the end of May so to be still seeing them in late September is a real thanksgiving. The late season drone is a very good indication that it has been a honey bumper-crop year for the colony, or the girls would have run the drones out as soon as the nectar started to dry up. That, or these last few remaining drones are the gay male bees in the hive. Think about it, if you were a girl that had to live in a house with 60,000 other females wouldn't you like having a couple token males around, gay males at that? Honestly, I don't think a straight male couldn't stand all the ya-ya sisterhood if you ask me.  Hell, I'd cull myself if I was one of the last drones of the season. Seriously, I'd tuck my little bee wings behind my back and jump straight off the front landing board head first. On the ladies behalf I could see why they might want a few strapping young drones around. One or two late season guys that could help with grooming varroa, stacking pollen, or even just having them around to build moral like I do around my house.... 

Rob, you speak in bee-bonics, I don't even know what language this is. Bee street lingo?? 

Bee people meet my wife Meg - she has been doing my proof reading because apparently I'm writing in bee-speak.

Last two beek weeks in pictures

Wheew!

This bee-blog thing is time consuming. Looking back I haven't gotten much done 'round here since the 8th, feels like just yesterday. What I'm going to try <--- key word try --- to do is up load some of the images I take out there while I'm rustling bees and make comments on them rather than doing longer posts less frequently. Certain times of the year it gets really difficult to manage the blog and bees because I'm either working with bees or talking about them all day -- the last thing I want to do at night is come home and type about them too! This time of year I am in 5-10 colonies a day checking them for brood and stores before sending them into winter. I'm talking going deep here, not just a pop of the lid for a quick looky loo. On my mother colonies I'm not overly concerned, they have shown me over time that they are decent producers of both honey and brood. It's the new colonies I have introduced into my apiaries I want to check-up on. Enough excuses....

Hop in, let's see how this rolls:

For the past month or two I have wanted to get a business card. It's always a little funny when people ask for a card and I don't have anything with my contact info. You guys know where to get me, right here at the blog, but not everyone is so bee savvy. For now I didn't want too get crazy - only the basics - my splitty and the bees... They should be ready in 7-10 working days. Lemme know and I'll hook you up with one fresh of the press.

Checkin' on the bees at College Ave.

It's a desert out there in the rural landscape, look at how hungry they are... That 1:1 hadn't hit the deck for a second before they were all up on it. Be careful, not only are some of my less foraging bees in a tight place right now but desperate x's call for desperate measures, robbing is rampant! Make sure you have all the gear needed on hand before you start working your bees but also keep the cover on them while you're not in the hive. Move quickly but efficiently and for the love of god don't leave any honey laying around.

I ended up feeding some of my bees - not my ideal scenario but what's one to do when there's follower to follower brood and no nectar or honey? I guess I could have thrown them a couple frames of the sticky icky from another colony but that's not the safest option either. You tell me. At least I'm brewing them up the Rudy Steiner, nothing is finer recipe... 1:1 sugar - water, whole chamomile (I was using just bags, but have since stepped it up thanks to Clay) and a pinch of salt. Not sure if it was Steiner or Gunther Hauk that said to also add Comfrey. Dunno about that but I have added some lavender blossoms in the feeder when I have them. Remember to ALWAYS reduce the entrance when feeding. I leave a very small opening at the far opposite side to discourage robbing. Actually, this image shows an external feeder but really if you have to feed your bees I'd use a method from inside the hive like a top or frame feeder. This particular feeder is a custom design made by a student of mine that has a long straw that goes down into the brood chamber. It's an experiment... Feed your bees inside the hive!

Working the bees at Billy G's. Take note of my VW head badge... I met a cat named Don in Napa that  wrenches v-dubs. He did me a fat solid by not only putting my badge on but installing seat belts, and adjusted my valves. We talked about doing a lot more to my car so stay tuned...  If you need aircooled assistance you should call Don's VW Repair 707.363.4779, he's the Volkswagon shiz-nit!

Working Roger's bees and making an Andy Goldsworthy-inspired entrance reducer. Don had just done the work on my truck the night before so I emptied it and forgot to bring proper reducers. The bees were a bit pissy so I decided to wear my gown. Sadly I just threw it in the bed when I drove off and It must have blown out in transit. So if you happen to come across a Dadant veil with the Napa Valley Bee Company logo on the back - it's mine..

Bee class at Arnie Bunter's.

Anytime is a great time when you're hangin' round Arnie but the ultimate bee bliss is working the girls at his place. Michael and I took our beekeeping - bee garden class that is normally held at the Connolly Ranch out to the Bunter's for a little bee fun and yum-yums.

This kid Scott took most the pictures. He did a wonderful job if I do say so myself.

Smokey....

Stirrin' 'em up!

Check-out Arnie's Exxon beekeeper get-up.

Laura having a bad veil day...

I got stung twice.

I went through my freezer this weekend and found a bunch of pollen I had forgotten about that I stashed away over the summer. The problem is that when you freeze wax it makes it really brittle and because of my lack of freezer finesse a lot of the frames that didn't have that plastic foundation broke apart. Not the end of the world, you can rubberband it back into a frame but why not have a little fun while your at it?

This one was too obvious.. I know, I know, how cliche but what am I meant to do? The shape presented itself and I couldn't deny. I hope the bees don't think it's as corny as I do. I wouldn't eat pollen out of heart shaped comb based on principle.

Once I was doing a hive removal where the bees built around all these twigs in a building. It was truly one of the coolest things I had seen bee do in a long time. I decided to try and recreate that while also securing some loose comb by harpooning the pieces together with sticks from around my yard.

I even put an acorn in it, corny.....! Can't wait to see what the bees do with these wax constructions. I don't suspect much will get done on them until next spring as I'm not seeing a lot of wax production this late in the year. I was thinking I may incorporate them into my over-wintering protocol in the upper box, so as the cluster moves up through winter they will run into some extra pollen treats along the way. Yum!

Sadly I ripped out all my Borage yesterday. My all time favorite bee plant had run it's course. Luckily for me and the bees it will reseed and hopefully I'll get another round before winter.

SEE BEES - FEEL BEES - THINK BEES

Hey now!

There is a great class quickly coming down the pike, starting this Thursday.
It's a beekeeping/ bee garden class through the Napa Adult School held at Connolly Ranch in Napa.

The class is only 4 sessions: Sept 10, 17, 24, and Oct 1st. 

It's short, sweet, and one of the best bee deals in town.

One of the classes is dedicated exclusively for personal hive checks. We can accommodate two, MAYBE three, hive inspections that night.

Another class will cover an in-depth/ get-your-hands-dirty -garden demo. This session will focus on plants you can incorporate in your landscape that will help offer the bees a year-round pollen/nectar source. I just finished the curriculum with Michael Lauer, who runs the ranch, and he will be heading that aspect of the class.  He said there will be plenty of take-home plants and seeds to get you started.

One night will be focused on canning where we will open the Connolly kitchen to everyone to bring their bounty to can or make preserves. A great opportunity to trade-up with other students and get a wonderful cross section of preserved fruits and veggies from around the valley.

 
Lastly, after we have done all the hive checks and assessed how much available honey will be left over for us, we'll go back to the ranch kitchen and have a honey extract-a-thon. We'll bring in a number of extractors, uncapping knifes and tables, filters,  and buckets. All you have to do is
bring your full honey frames and jars.

 Call the adult school today! (707) 253-3594

 Beekeeping: Have you noticed fewer bees in your garden recently?

Participate in planting a demonstration bee garden, while investigating the flora that supplies local bees with nectar and pollen year round. Learn about hive construction and management, correct handling procedures at all hive stages, mite resistance, and disease control. Discover the role of bees in local pollination of food and flowers. Materials list will be given on the first day of class. Students bring their own supplies, including protective clothing. 4 weeks

               9/10 - 10/1

5:00 pm -8:00 pm             Th             Connolly Ranch             Keller/Lauher             $85

SEE BEES

 

FEEL BEES

 

 

 

 

 

 

THINK BEES

 

Yapping about relocating some bees

This is a short video of me yapping about relocating some bees from Napa to St. Helena.

Feral Colony in Downtown Napa

This is an interesting hive because long before I ever saw the bees people were telling me about it.
it mostly came up over coffeee at ABC, always described as being over there behind the large lavender Victorian. It's in the garage behind the house in the alley way.  Joe Newman, who used to own the car detail shop on the corner,  actually walked me over a couple months ago to see it.

I imagine it's a pretty strong colony by the size off the space they occupy. Honestly, I'm amazed no one has removed them, their flight path is about 4 foot up directly behind a popular parking lot.

All I had was my cell phone, so the image is kinda crappy but you get the idea.....
bees thriving in a garage in Downtown Napa gentle, not bothering people, probably of decent genetic stock.

TOO TRUE!

Everything this article says is for real!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810174226.htm

A number of years ago I had this massive bump on my nugget.

Researchers attached the major component of bee venom to nano-sized spheres that they call nanobees.

For me, nanobees delivered the bee toxin melittin to my protrusion while protecting other tissues around my face from the toxin's destructive power. Within weeks my neoplasm stopped growing or even started to shrink. Today I live a happy, full life as a sustainable bimpless beekeeper in Napa, California.
God bless the stinger of the bee...