Napa Valley Bee Company

A day in the week of a Napa beekeeper - Day I

 

3/26/10

Okay, here's the deal. My intention was to chronicle each day's beekeeping adventure, but here I am 3 days later. So, I'm not getting off to a great start since I still haven't posted from yesterday-- oops, make that two days ago.  Working in flashback, here's what's going on..

* Met with Michael after dropping our kids at the Waldy School --  discussed trading bee work in exchange for Davis going to Spring and Summer camp at Connolly (flash forward to today when he actually was at the camp, when he got in trouble one time during the day and my wife was late for pickup -- good exchange). 

* Received a call from Anita on White Hall lane about a swarm, her husband Dave was a great help.

* Went by a "trap out" I am working on, also on White Hall Lane in Saint Helena.

* Cleaned out the bee stuff in the back of my truck.

* Hived the swarm from White Hall lane.

* Met  Nate regarding bees he has had on the property he manages. The bees have been there roughly 6 years now. They look really good considering they have not been managed in years. The weird thing is I pulled out the monitoring tray and there was drawn comb and nectar on the bottom. The hive stands are for sided wooden boxes on end, so it would make the perfect place for a second colony to live. Curious, more later...

 

Football sized swarm in an olive tree on White Hall Lane,  Saint Helena

TOUCH DOWN!

As a reference, I put football sized swarms on three frames. I offer some drawn comb. I do my best not to offer swarms honey and pollen unless I absolutely have to, not to say that you can't spread disease from sharing just drawn comb. I'm sure there are pathogens bees can pick-up from sharing any part of the hive that is sanitized by heat. I know in the last post I was going on and on about the "goodies" I offered the storm swarm but sometimes drastic times call for drastic measures. The two extra frames in the above picture are plastic foundation being used as follower boards. Not only is the hive body beat-up, but I'm needing followers too. Hey! It's all I had around alright?..

I cut and removed the entire limb the swarm was hanging on and lowered them in a 5 gallon bucket perfed with 1/16 holes. I easily slid the entire colony and the olive branches out of the bucket into the hive.

I added an empty deep on top of the bees giving them the space and privacy to get started on their wax production.

About 7 hours later the bees shifted to the far right side of the hive -- most likely the side the queen decided to go towards. Tomorrow I'll go in and gently move the bees to the center. So much for my theory that bees will automatically jump on drawn comb. 

In this "trap out" we are trying to re-route the bees from coming around the post. Their hive is behind the pole occupying the space between two interior walls. The owner, Tom, has made a plywood cover that will act as a hallway for the bees to go an extra 4' towards a hole closer to the end of the porch.

Steel wool helps to fill the space around the pole and the plywood. Think of the steel wool as our propolis filling the space we don't want the bees to occupy.

The hole the bees will be using as their new hive entrance. I may even end up running a piece of PVC from the hole to route the bees even further around the corner.

 Cleaning out the back of my truck meant taking my bike out. Check out my rack...

More later on our zero emission honey bee tree removal last week.

Nate and Davis hangin' by his hive. You can see how a swarm might move under the existing hive, maybe?..

Check out this salamander we caught by Nate's bees. Gorgeous but slimy, Davis loved it.

Reaking of Teak

For the past few weeks I have been working with Ed Clay Studios and we’re making two of the most amazing beehives EVER, out of teak. A client of mine asked me to price out hives in teak, so one day at lunch sitting on the epi benches at Oxbow Market with my hardwood friend Lewis deSoto I got the 4-1-1 on the best wood guy around – Ed Clay. If you need anything made of wood you should call this guy, my experience was fabulous. http://www.edclay.com/ 
The hives are based on the Langstroth design but with much nicer screened bottoms and ventilated tops. Seriously, I have not been this affected by objects made in wood since seeing the show of furniture found in King Tut’s Tomb at the Metropolitan Museum of Art back in the mid-nineties. Albeit, at the time I was a complete Egypto-freak but still...if nothing else these hives have an attention to detail fit for a Pharaoh. As far as wood goes, teak is Greek to me, but I have been told the tight grain and texture will prevent aging and resist moisture. Teak is generally used in manufacturing outdoor furniture so we figured the wood could, and should, be used for beehives. For the price, teak had better resist moisture! I’m telling ya’ -measure twice cut once.
And you’ll only want to cut once because even though it’s easily worked teak can cause severe blunting on edge tools because of the presence of silica in the wood. This can’t be good, which is why I guess manufactured teak fetches the big cheddar I’m sure. Well, jacking up all your tools working with teak is one thing AND jacking-up the planet harvesting it is another. It should be expensive.
Some people shriek at using teak because of its un-sustainability, but according to Ed - the wood guy, the teak for this project was reclaimed from an old factory in Indonesia. Attention to detail is paramount the new teak hives will be located amongst some of the finest outdoor sculpture in the world. Think Andy Goldsworthy, David Nash, Magdalena Abakanowicz, and Barry Flanagan.... super tight! I’m sure you’ve heard of the White House hives? Yeah so.... they’ve got nothing on these beauties.
Popular in the 1950s and 1960s in a style often referred to as Danish modern, teak has had a boom in popularity, Not so much in the way of beehives but you know that’s how we roll in the wine country. Always trying to set the next trend. Stay tuned for more imagery of the hives as they age over time.

 My therapist says when I cross my arms I'm not being open to new ideas. I don't think that's Ed's case cause I'm pretty sure he'd never made teak beehives before I called.  

From this.....

To this....

Heading out with the sleek teak

Rolling home with the funk

Measure twice...

Handrail detail

Installed

Howard Carter and Lord Carnovan Entering King Tut's Tomb, 1922

appreciation for the precipitation

How exciting, it's been raining big in Napa all day. The funny thing is when you see the people that just don't get it. You know the ones, all grumpy 'cause they're getting wet running to their cars at Starbucks. All my homesteading homeboys like Michael at Connolly Ranch are busting. We are beside ourselves with hopes of a wet winter and what that will inevitably bring to us and our bees in the long run. I'm sure the rain put out our covercrop cowboy, Mark Griffen, up there at the Reserve, they're hustling to wrap up harvest I'm sure. Give it a week when the soil is prime and he's planting that Reserve cover blend JR mixed up for him at Napa Ag Supply. We'll have to have him drop in here at the ol' bee blog and lay out the stats on that for us, but until then you all better get your cover on and sow some seed for the bees. Because I saw what Mark has done in the past with cover crop -- he dropped the buckwheat bomb --I'm going to follow his lead and use his blend this year. I'll assess how it goes, and perhaps make some mods to his mix next year. We are a little more fortunate in that in our apiaries we don't have all the restrictions Mark has in terms of how the cover might affect the vines. It's crazy all the "you can't do this - you can't do that" hurdles one has to jump through when it comes to the vineyard. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with the vine, it's just all the red tape that comes with the grape if you know what I mean....

Bottom line is we're going to have a busting cover crop year if this rain keeps up. Besides Mark's blend I'm going big Phacelia tanacetifolia. Michael and I are going to unleash a fury of Phacelia that will make the bees flip. I'm telling you....                                                                                                            Apparently the seed is hard to come by.

I'm looking at:                                                              

Peaceful Valley Farm Supply

P.O. Box 2209
Grass Valley, Ca 95945
530-272-4769                                                                                                                 www.groworganic.com

Download Phacelia_farmer_version

If you haven't heard about Phacelia you need to read the attached PDF. It's an amazing plant and the bees love it. It's on both Michael and Melissa Garden's top five. M&M....

This is how it went for a wet beekeepr in Napa earlier today:

It was dumping at around noon today (driving up valley on Hwy 29). 

At the College Ave apiary I put cinders on top of ply to help keep some of the rain off the landing and out of the hive. Tilt your hives forward and weigh-down your lids. Check out the landscape, the rain will hopefully bump the forage for these bees. Well, it's probabley late for this year, but next sping will be roaring.

Brown - Dry - Zero - Zip

These are nice covers but I still put a piece of ply over the front to help with excessive water build-up on the landing. The bees looked cold, so even though they're calling it a tropical storm I also put in the monitoring trays to help them conserve some heat.

I hope the ply dosen't blow off.

Extra entrance reducer and... I know - I know.... you're meant to feed the bees inside the hive. 

Sopping wet!

 

More rocks at Roger's

Nine Bonick apples for Laura

the day in the life of a napa beekeeper - four/one/zero eight

spent the day on the bee scene, first stopping by nickel and nickel to meet with the bamboo beekeeper daniel townsend. he had a little sitch there at the winery where one of his colonies split and swarmed into a bush. luckily he was able to recapture them and had them housed nicely in a wine box by the time i arrived.

           

                                            

the man behind the can is dan.

 

                                            

see the flying bee just below the tree?

from there i headed north - way north - to hopland and spent an hour scoping the solar living institute. these new  sustainable living institutes are new to me. between the regenerative and solar institute i am totally floored. these folks have got it going on! i mean im all good, the planet should be able to sustain itself through my lifetime. it's my four year old son im concerned about.... places like solar and regen are doing far more than their part. YOU SHOULD TOO! check these guys out:
http://regenerativedesign.org
&
http://www.solarliving.org
they both offer fabulous classes on all things green. like the class i'll be teaching this sunday at solar:
http://www.solarliving.org/store/product.asp?pid=1763&catID=13,0

hopland was a little further north on 101 then i had originally thought but what a beautiful drive. my point people at the institute are jamie and pete who are super on task at helping me get my bee dilly-o on. looking forward to a great class- thanks serge for the hook-up.

                                                                                   

   

       

                             

                                            

super sweet to meet jamie and pete

on my way back up and over the hill i decided it might be a good time to check in on the mean hive at forni-brown vegetables in calistoga.  the reason i call them the mean hive is that every time i took a class out to check them  someone got stung. i even went out there once alone to inspect them and got hella stung for days. anyhow the bad news on the mean hive is that it has collapsed. i am sad because as mean as those bees were i believe they had some good survivor DNA because when i first started looking after them 2 years ago they had not been into in at least 5 years. what a mess! the problem was that the colony was so far out of the way i couldn't keep up on managing it, none of the students wanted to be 100 yards from them, and the prior owner was not able to do much either. i will try and re-populate with stronger stock.

                                                                                   

   

       

                             

                                            

aint no jive the hive aint alive

all this went down b4 3p when i had a 3D class to teach at napa college. shortly after i settled in with the students after being off for easter break my cell starts blowin' up in the 963. i try my best to not answer my cell-io when im teaching so i declined all the incoming. i must have gotten 1/2 a dozen jingy jingies from the 963. it wasnt until i got home and checked my e-mail did i realize what was shakin'
check it out:
e-mails from larry and shannon 
aka: LV and SK

Rob,
I just got a call from my church that there's a swarm in a rose bush. It's only been there an hour.  Please call me at 287-0#!3.
Thanks
Larry Vermeulen

from shannon:
We are going to try to rescue this swarm. Wish us luck!
Shannon Kelly
Executive Chef

2 hours later:
We totally nailed that hive.  LV had a good plan and we hardly lost any. I am installing them into Megan's new hive in the morning.  Any advice?  Good luck with the woodpile hive I have plans I can't get out of.  Remember I have the Expo hive if you need it. Peace and honey. SK
Shannon Kelly
Executive Chef

from me:
perfect!
could you tell where those bees split from?
LV said there is an old oak they may have came from.
fingers crossed - we need that DNA.

btw my beekeeper tool box came today.
no instructions though.
what is the thing that goes on top?
and what goes in the side with the metal bracket?

i also got one of  those italian hive tools - much smaller than the picture.

good luck tomorrow.
best if you have some drawn comb to put in her hive.
they tend to stay a little better if there is somewhere for her to start laying. - there were some frames with comb we pulled from the college ave bees last week. kelley took them, go get some if possible. i had swarms split on me b4 cause they didnt dig the scene... if you know what i mean.
if all she has is foundation i might think about locking them in with a feeder for a few days.
dont forget to pull the monitoring tray to give em' some air though -

in class all day tomorrow but call me if you need any help.
you're awesome!
rob

from shannon:
No Idea where they came from.  No visible curly wing or k-wing.  There is a heritage oak tree on the church property, but who knows?
Can I install these bees then open it later and add drawn comb?  I could look in my hive but we are in a fragile spot with my queen an all. I think I will lock them in with the top feeder I bought until I can get drawn comb, sound OK? I'll call Kelly first thing.  Plan "B" is the feeder. Thanks for the advice.
The thing on top is to hold a frame rack. $20.00 extra and the slot on the side is to hold one of those frame grippers. 
Peace and honey, SK
Shannon Kelly
Executive Chef
Knickerbockers' Catering

before the removal

 

after the removal











those st.helena bee guys are studs.
pimpin the bees in the 963!

Beekeeping in Bolinas

                                               

Home-Scale Beekeeping with Rob Keller

spent the weekend teaching beekeeping at the regenerative design institute in bolinas. it is pretty amazing what they have going out there coastside:  bees, bugs, goats, chickens, plants, plants, plants, more plants, and a yurt.  I was really feeling the earth vibe I generally don’t get here in napa. The wine vibe is fine but the earth vibe feels real, I was digging it. I met some great people that had plenty to say about the way we’re living and how to be healthier through things like drinking raw goats milk. I even got to try this new probiotic drink that changed the balance of bacteria in my gut. at first it made me slightly constipated but that worked out just fine cause I was a little freaked out by those composting toilets anyway. I had a hard time reconciling them using my junk to fertilize their garden later. EW!
The bee class went well, considering it was pouring rain the night I arrived and I’m pretty green when it comes to teaching these intensive workshops. All my bee teaching experience has been in 8 week courses, not 2 days. I quickly found I needed to limit my scope and just cover the basics. I think what happens is the idea of beekeeping can be rather daunting and if there is too much information on top of it……….
Im doing my best – one bee at a time.

                            

matt - neil <> neil matt

                

                               

my breakfast burrito at this little cafe in bolinas was the bomb!
           

                                          

Omar needs a room ya' all.

                

                                            

"big mama"  raw goat milk