The Best Bee Watering Hole in Town

May 28, 2013

My good friend Shawn has named my first bee hive of 2013.  Introducing Queen Mab!  A lovely nod to Shakespeare.

Some of you may remember my frustration with the bees and water over the last two seasons.  No matter how beautiful the watering hole was (in my opinion), the bees insisted on finding their water elsewhere...probably in some poor child's swimming pool!  This year I was determined to keep the bees happy and drinking at home :).  I did notice that the bees tended to congregate at a cement rhubarb leaf bird bath last year. They loved the veins since they could drink from them without getting the rest of their bodies wet.  It happened that I had a round cement rhubarb leaf  exactly the same size of the water barrel that we had bought for the bees.  The water is pumped up over some rocks onto the leaf.  It pools into the centre of the leaf and then runs through the veins back into the barrel.  The bees love it!

Cement rhubarb leaf fits exactly into the barrel

 There are dozens of bees on this watering hole constantly.  It makes me smile to see them.

The veins of the leaf are perfect watering areas for the bees

So the bees have water.  They are collecting pollen and nectar from the flowering trees.  The bees are very busy and happy. It's a good start.

New bees, new hope

May 22, 2013

Me with my first hive of 2013

I received my new bees from Dave Gale last night!  He breeds his own queens so this is an Ontario queen.  Genetically a bit of Buckfast, an English bee and whatever else flies around his home on the east edge of London.   It looks like a very healthy hive.

The pick up of this hive was slightly bitter sweet as Dave has lost 100 hives in the two weeks since I dropped off my box to be filled.  His hives that are situated at his home are fine due to "pesticide-free" London but most of his hives are in farm country where the fields are being planted.  His bees probably came in contact with the famous and terrible pesticides we have all been hearing about, neonicitinoids.  He still honoured our deal for a nuc and so I have his queen and bees and plan on taking very good care of them.  Dave has been getting calls from as far away as Manitoba and Michigan from hopeful beekeepers looking for healthy queens since everyone is having trouble this spring.

I am still waiting for my second hive which will come from John Van Blyderveen in Burgessville.  He has imported his queens from Australia but he is also struggling with a major loss of his bees...probably 100 hives as well.  It is a tough time for beekeepers and their bees if they are in the country.  Ironically, urban bees might have a better chance of it.

I am excited to start beekeeping again.  I will try to beekeep naturally, without chemicals.  I will feed the bees with capped honey on frames that I saved from last year and use open frames to let the bees build cells their own size and not what humans have prescribed.  There's my mantra.  This blog will let you know how I do.

Happy Spring to everyone!

PS:  My Ontario queen needs a name and when the Australian queen arrives, she will too.  Send me your suggestions please!