Tuesday, December 9, 2008

more new beekeeping mistakes!


well here it is winter here in illinois. freezing rains, and snow tonight. yesterday i decided to check the hives, as the day was rather mild, temps. in the 40's. well there were moisture issues with 2 of the 3 hives! note to new beekeepers, if you are starting beekeeping with used equipment, not only do you need to use a propane torch to sear all woodenware and boxes, but also to check that your beeboxes match up good and tight. i thought the little cracks in between my hive bodies would be filled with propolis by the bees before winter, but alas, they must have not got the job done completely as the recent rains had really caused watery conditions in the pink painted hive. so much that the bee cluster was in the top brood chamber instead of the bottom one where it belonged! yikes! poor little bees having to suffer through the learning process with their mum,me! well, poked in a stick and drug out the dead, mourned briefly, then got to work! took duct tape, ( any red green television fans out there?), sealed the two hive bodies of each of the three hives together with the tape, went to the back of the hives, (which already are tilted up a bit), and raised the back side even higher to drain out any remaining moisture, and then asked their forgiveness! hoping these actions will save the pink hive as it is certain it would have died out before spring left as it was.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Love your pink and yellow beehives! I have one at my son's that I want to move to my home this spring. A local beekeeper started it for me, but I have not even checked it this winter, and I know there is some great honey in there, so here is another new beekeeping mistake!. I read with interest your "dream" of having an herb shop. I love the China Bayles mystery books, she owns an herb shop and I can live vicariously through those. Keep up those beekeeping posts for me to learn more!
Karen
www.gardenchick.com/garden-blog

Comfrey Cottages said...

oh karen i adore the china bayles series also! she has the type of herb business i would dearly love to do sometime. i have a question, have you worked with bees before or is this your first experience also? and have you actually been in the hive yet? will gladly continue posting my bee posts, now that i know someone will actually be interested!:) hugs to you and all who enjoy this blog

Lisa Zahn said...

Ooh, I love your pink and yellow beehives too! Love your "comfrey cottages" name.

Thanks for following my herbal blog. Sorry I don't post much...

Comfrey Cottages said...

oh lisa i just love colorful hives too and was so glad i took the time to do these. the yellow one i say is for one of my grandsons evan, age 7 and the pink one for the apple of my eye, four year old lily,his siter! got the cutest little beekeeping suit for them and will post pics of them in it sometime!

Comfrey Cottages said...

karen, do try to get your hive moved to your yard this summer. great fun and no nuisance to neighbors either, like some folks would think. the partial fence i have around my hives forces the bees to go out and up from their hives, thus keeping them out of neighbors hair!lol oh and china bayles is my personal hero!LOL thanks for following us! the name comes from my friend linda's lifelong dream of having a place and calling it comfrey cottage!