Olea's colony has met its demise

For sometime, I have been concerned about the viability of Olea's hive.  There has been no activity at the door, and lately I've seen no bees through the window.  Today, on an uncommon sunny day in the midst of all the rain, I decided to look inside.  At first I was wearing just my usual garden attire, but bees from the two other hives were harassing me, so I put on the bee suit.

Pile of dead bees on floor of hive

Heads down in cells

What I found were a lot of dead bees.  There was a pile on the floor of the hive and some on the frames.  Many bees were head down in the cells.  On close inspection, the bees had their tongues protruding.  These are signs of starvation and there wasn't a bit of honey anywhere.

Probable queen on left.  Note tongues.

I looked through the pile of bees and I think I found the queen.  When I stirred the bees about looking for the queen, I saw many small black flies that ran around rather than flying (like quails).  Phorid flies act that way.
I caught one and tried to identify it.  It has wing veins like a phorid and the femur looks right.  It is a darker color than the pictures, though.  I'm concluding that these are phorid flies.

I took out all the bars with comb and used my shop-vac to clean out all the dead bees, flies and debris.  I then used tweezers to pluck the bees and pupae out from the comb.  The pile of bees on the table attracted a blue jay who enjoyed an apian snack.
 I put all the bars with comb back in the hive and moved the false back forwards.  As usual, I don't know if I'm going about this properly.  I hope that there isn't a problem with pests such as the wax moth.  I intend to get a package in the spring for the hive.

Too cold to look

It's been too cold to go into the hives, but I'd really like to take a look and see what's going on.  I have real concerns regarding their viability.  I may be looking at three packages come spring.  If the colonies survive, I'll be re-queening.

Inside Olea's hive

Olea's hive has a window, so I can get a peek.  The number of bees seems to be declining, although they may just be  in a cluster.  I can also see several dead bees on the floor of the empty part of the hive.  The undertaker bees aren't doing their job and I suspect that that is not a good sign, although this may just be natural winter behavior. 

Under the lid of the new hive

I took a peek under the lids of the other two hives.  There was nothing in the old hive.  There were several dead bees in the new hive and one little fly that flew off.  Could these bees be victims of the Phorid fly?  There were also a lot of dead bees on the porch.

New hive porch

Dead bees and Phorid fly pupae

Speaking of Phorid flies, I had picked up 11 crawlers on the stones in front of the hives November 8 and 5 pupae resulted.  None of the pupae I have in containers have hatched yet.

On November 20, I was watching the girls and I noted two groups of bees on the rocks in the dry creek.  It looked like they were having some sort of meeting.

Olea's hive with Laura

Laura was down for Thanksgiving weekend and we took a look into Olea's hive.  The bee population looks pretty small.  There was no capped honey and only a few capped brood cells.  We didn't see the queen.  I'm pessimistic regarding this colonie's survival.  I don't intend to requeen the top bar hive, but I may change my mind down the road.

Old hive decreasing population

Over the past 1-2 weeks, I've noticed that the activity at the entrance of the old hive seems to have diminished.  It certainly is less active than at the new hive next door.  Yesterday I took a look into the old hive to see if I could spot anything amiss.
There was no honey at all in the top super, so I decided to take it off altogether.  Only two frames in the other super had honey.
In the upper brood box, there were 4-5 frames with honey, no brood. On a few frames, there were some empty cells surrounded by honey, suggesting that brood had once been there.  There was nectar in many of the empty cells.  (So they weren't really empty, were they?)
In the deep box, there was only one small patch of brood and larvae and I didn't spot the queen.
I did get the sense that the population had contracted.  Previously, there had been bees in the Vivaldi box, but there were no bees above the first super on last inspection or this one.  Also, there didn't seem to be as many bees as previously in the upper brood box.  Once again, we'll have to wait and see.

Pieces of propolis

On the bottom of two adjacent frames were leafs of propolis.  It looked like they may have formed a small dome.  I looked in the hive to see if there was anything the bees may have walled off, but I saw no foreign objects.  I took the propolis and added it to my small collection. 

Bees in jar coated with powdered sugar

Only two!

I did another sugar roll count.  This time I changed my collection technique.  I used a larger mason jar, put the powdered sugar in first and used a measuring cup to scoop the bees out of the bucket.  It was much easier, I got the full 1/2 cup and I didn't squish anyone.  This time there were only two mites- hooray!

After one week of MiteAway Quick strips

I took out the MiteAway quick strips today; they'd been in for one week.  I dumped the contents of the trays from below the screened bottom into a dish.  Most of the brown stuff is mites.

  A close-up  The oval shapes are mites.

No top queen but plenty of mites

Inspected both hives today.  First the new hive.
Once again I was impressed by the number of bees in the Vivaldi box.  I didn't see the queen or any larvae or capped brood in the top box.  Honey was being made in most of the cells in the central frames, including where there had previously been brood.  I did take a good look for the queen.  I assume she's gone.
In the bottom brood box, I did see the queen.  There was only a little honey and a bit of capped brood.  I didn't see, nor look hard for, any larvae.  I collected bees for a sugar shake count by dumping them into a bucket and then scooping them up into the jar.  Results of count below.

In the old hive, I checked for honey in the supers by heft only.  It didn't feel any heavier than last time.  In the deep boxes there were about 6 frames of capped honey combined. As in the other hive, I spotted the queen and collected bees for a sugar shake count.  I also saw a bee that was deformed- it looked like she had only a rudimentary abdomen and her wings looked thickened.  I set her aside for a photo, but she wandered off while I was busy.

Powdered sugar and Varroa mites shaken onto plate.

Then I took my two jars of bees in for the shake count. It was awful!  About 1/3 cup of bees in the old hive with 31 mites and 1/2 cup of bees in the new hive with 48 mites.  My calculations are 15.5% in the old and 16% in the new.  But with that number of mites, even if my calculations are off, I need to treat.  So later this afternoon I went back and put Mite-away quick strips into both hives.

 Released after the count

Phorid fly

As many of you have read, there is "new" pest bothering the honey bee- the Phorid fly.  I thought I should check to see if my bees were infested.  I found a site, ZomBee Watch, which has a map of reported infested hives.  Since there was one reported in Soquel, I figured my girls must also have been parasitized.
I didn't read the tutorial on the ZomBee site before I did my set-up, but just did it a simple way.  I hung my work light, with a florescent bulb, in front of the hives on a length of pipe.  When it was dark, I turned on the light.  One hour later, I went out and found 3 bees climbing around the light.  I put them, as well as a dead be from the walk below, into the jar I use for the sugar shake test.

Today, 7 days later, here's what I saw when I looked into the jar:
Those 3 brownish ovals at the top edge of the bottom are pupae.
There was a fourth, lighter pupa on the side of the jar.
I had been looking into the jar daily and had not seen the larva.
I examined the bees carefully and was unable to find the hole through which the pupae had exited.

The pupae out of the jar

 I transferred the pupae into a plastic vial and will wait until they hatch.

I submitted a report to ZomBee but it won't be complete until I report on the flies hatching.

Still have two queens

I took a look into both the old and new hive today.

Top queen

Bottom queen

I spotted both queens in the new hive.  The bottom queen was much more active and would quickly run onto the shaded (under) side of the frame.  There was still only a small area of brood in the top box.  Honey production continues slowly.
I spoke to James, the local beekeeper from whom I had borrowed the nuc.  The swarm I had given him was queenless, or the queen did not returned from her mating flight, so no colony developed.  He suggested making a second entrance on top.  I'm not going to do this and will just see how things develop. 
There was lots of brood in the bottom box.   I thought the stored pollen was pretty.

The comb on the plastic frames in the nuc I got from Jeremy had an uneven surface and irregularities.  I sort of expected the bees to remold it, but they haven't.  Perhaps they will in the spring when they start making more comb.

I only looked in the supers of the old hive to check for honey- there isn't much.  I replaced three frames of foundation with frames with drawn comb.
I took notice of a difference between the two hives.  The new hive has considerably less propolis.  It is difficult to pry apart the boxes and frames in the old hive and my tool gets very sticky.  I hardly even need my tool while inspecting the new hive.  Most sources say that Carniolans are heavy propolis producers and my extensive experience bears that out.

Sugar shake on new hive

It had been cold and overcast yesterday, but today was clear and when it warmed up in the afternoon, I went into the new hive.

First, however, I placed the entrance reducer in the old hive.  Jeremy Rose, as do others, advises placing entrance reducers this month.  Since the main honey flow is over, robbing will start happening as colonies are storing up for winter. 
The returning foraging bees were initially confused.

Then, into the new hive, where I placed an entrance reducer, as well.  I spotted the upper queen.  There was also a patch of capped brood and larva, about 3.5 cm on two frames.  Honey production, although ~90% nectar continues and seems to have increased.  Eric Mussen, the UC Davis entomologist, thinks that the honey is being made from the bees in the lower brood box.  Bees usually store honey above the brood, and so they are just going through the middle box and storing honey on top.  Furthermore, he suggests that the nurse bees from the top box were attracted to the bottom brood box.  But since I saw brood on top today, I know she's laying and there are some nurse bees.  Maybe the honey makers from below and the baby makers on top are competing for space.  I think I'll ask Tom Seeley.
In the bottom brood box, I spotted the queen and lots of brood.  I did a sugar shake count: 11 mites in about 250 bees, 4.4 mites/100 bees, and acceptable number.  I had been prepared to treat with formic acid (Mite-away quick strips) but will now hold off.  I will repeat sugar shake test in a couple of weeks.

What's happening in the two-queen hive?

What's going on in the new hive? I wish I knew.  I will tell you, though, what I saw when I went in on the 27th.
The day previous, I had seen the bees doing their orientation flights.  I got my net and marker paint and marked 6 bees that were hovering in front of the new hive.  I figured that if I saw any marked bees in the top super, then I would know that the bees I had combined were going out of the hive.  To really make the experiment work I should have marked a couple of hundred bees, but I don't have any grad students working for me.
So here's what I saw, from the top down.  There was loud buzzing going on, almost a roar.  I was surprised by the large number of bees in the Vivaldi box.  Usually there are only a few, but here were a hundred or more.  Many flew off when the lid was removed.  I wondered if they were trying to get out that way, through the vents.

In the medium super I spotted the queen.  But there were no eggs, larvae or capped brood.  There was nectar in many cells.  I didn't see any marked bees.  However, if there's nectar, I have to assume the bees are foraging.  Why isn't the queen laying?  I know she's mated since she was laying while in the nuc.  Perhaps she's being influenced by pheromones from the bottom queen.  I'll have to write to one or two experts about that.  I got the marking paint and marked a bunch of bees.  I'll look for them at the entrance in order to confirm my assumption that they are foraging.  (As of today and a total of maybe 10 minutes of observation, I haven't seen any marked bees.)
In the top deep box, there was still nothing happening.  Only some brace comb on the bottom.
In the brood box, I didn't spot the queen but did see capped brood and larvae. 
The population just doesn't seem to be increasing and there's no honey to speak of, just the nectar in the medium box.  So, the question, what's going on in the new hive?  Time will tell, maybe.

I also looked into the old hive.  There is no honey in the top super and a couple of frames with capped honey in the other medium super.  Lots of brood and several drones.  I did not see the queen.
I brushed bees off the capped brood, collecting almost half a cup for a sugar shake mite count.  The results, 8 mites.  I guess I had ~250 bees, so 3.2 mites/100 bees, an acceptable level.
It doesn't look like a honey crop this fall.

The bees leaving the jar after the sugar shake

The eight varroa mites

Brief two-queen hive report

I inspected the new hive yesterday.  In the medium super (the topmost box) I spotted one queen.  The number of bees seemed the same.  There were empty cells, no larvae or capped brood.  There was a small area on two abutting frames with nectar and capped honey.
The middle box (the top deep box) still had no drawn comb and only a few bees on it, mostly at the bottom.  The bottom box had lots of bees.  I didn't spot the queen, but there were larvae of all ages and capped (and hatching) brood.  No extra honey stores.
I wonder what's going on in the two queen hive and if the bees in the top are even foraging.  While looking in the box, I considered getting the paint and brush from the house to mark some bees.  That way I could see if any of the bees going in and out of the hive were from there.  I touche some bees on their back with a small stick to see how they'd react if I tried to mark them as they stood about.  They didn't move much so it may be possible.  I decided not to mark any then, but I'll think about doing it next week.  I wouldn't want to accidentally get paint on their wings or eyes as they crawl about.  Maybe there is an easy way to anesthetize them.

Hive combining successful... but wait, there's more!

I went into the new hive today to see how the combining had turned out.  In the few days, I had seen only one more small piece of newspaper on the ground and no dead queen bee.  I inspected today without smoking the bees.

Medium super with 2 frames removed

Chewed newspaper in place

First I noticed that there were still a lot of bees in the medium super, the one into which I had put the frames from the nuc.  I just took the box off and set it on the inverted cover without inspecting it.  The bees had done a pretty good job on the newspaper.  There was a large part gone from the center and a smaller holes at the edges.  I knew the old and new bees were able to get together and the new bees had a way out of the hive.
The next box is the top deep box.  It was pretty much empty with frames without comb and only a few bees hanging around.
Then, the bottom box.  Lots of bees, as before.  I had intended to take out the drone frame and replace it with a regular frame, but it had some capped honey and nectar in it.  No capped brood or larvae, so I left it.  This was just about the only honey in the hive.  On the remaining frames was capped brood and larvae of various ages.  Then I spotted the queen, fat and golden.  All's well, I figured.
I put the boxes back on and inspected the medium super- very little honey, capped brood and larvae, and another queen!  I have a two-queen hive!  I put everything back together and went to look up what to do.
The two queens are separated by the empty deep box.  I guess there are essentially two colonies in one hive.  Beekeepers do make two-queen hives because they produce more honey at a lower cost.  When this is done purposefully, they use a queen excluder to keep the queens apart.  I also read that 10% of colonies will naturally have two queens, often in the spring. 
I had wondered what I should do; nothing or remove one queen.  It is clear that I should do nothing.  The bees will figure it out themselves.  In the meantime, I expect the colony(ies) will quickly enlarge.  It needs to start making some honey stores.
I also hefted the top super on the old hive to check its weight (an indication of honey storage).  It felt like only a few pounds.  I'll check again in a week to see if it feels any heavier.

Hive combining report

This is what I found on the ground in front of the new hive this morning.

First evidence of the hives uniting.  With a piece this size chewed out, the colonies are able to mix together.  I've been listening for a lot of buzzing in the boxes that would indicate fighting, but haven't heard any.  I was actually looking for a dead queen when I found this piece of newspaper.  We'll all have to wait until later this week to see what's going on inside.

Hives united. Olea's hive queenright.

A lot was done today.
I decided to unite the nuc with the new hive.  The new hive isn't very populous and I didn't want to just leave the nuc all winter.  I figured it had to be getting pretty full and with only five medium frames, there wasn't room for both brood and honey.  Most of what I could find out about combining hives advised dequeening one of the hives first.  Jeremy Rose says in his book that this is not necessary.  The thinking in favor of dequeening is that when one doesn't, one of the queens will be killed by the other or by the workers and it may not be the one you want to be removed.  Typically, one wants to keep the younger queen.  Also, if the queens fight, both may be injured or die and you would be left with no queen.  I did some online research and found little about not dequeening.  One paper from The New Zealand Journal of Agriculture found no difference in queen survival and mating between dequeening and not dequeening.  However, they cite other articles that show a 33% loss when not dequeening.  I posted the question on the Santa Cruz Beekeepers Guild group, but no one replied.  In any case, as you will see, the issue is moot.
I had decided to remove the queen from the nuc, mainly because I thought it would be easier to find her since there are only five medium frames.  Also, this queen is likely to be the original queen I got from Jeremy and therefore the older.  Here's how it went.

Dessicated thymol gel

Super ready for frames

First I opened the new hive.  I took out the Apiguard tray.  It had been in for over a week.  All, or at least most of the thymol should have been gone.  But, no.  The majority of it was left and dried out.  Instead of leaving it in, I just tossed it.  Then I had to run to the shed to get the four deep frames to fill in the gap I had made when first putting in the Apiguard.  I put the frames in, then placed a sheet of newspaper over the box and made 4 slits in it with my hive tool.  I put on a medium box with five frames in and room for five more.  One by one, I removed the frames from the nuc.  I looked carefully for the queen, ready to grab her and put her into a glass I had handy.  No queen on the first frame, and it was placed in the super.  The same with the next, the one after, the one after that and, finally, the same with the last.  No queen!  At least, no queen seen.  I figure she's in there and I had just inadvertently used the no dequeening method.  After all the frames were in, I put the Vivaldi top on and then the lid.  The bees from the nuc have no exit and will have to chew through the newspaper.  Since this takes a few days, I'll wait a week and then inspect.  As the bees chew through the newspaper, I figure I'll see bits of it on the ground in front of the hive.  We'll have to wait and see how the no dequeening method works.

Old hive with united super

Returning foragers were returning to the nuc only to find their home gone.  I hope they eventually find their way safely into some hive.
Next, I moved my attention to the old hive.  I wanted to see how the honey crop was coming and to remove the drone frame and replace it with a regular frame.

Drone frame with drone hatching

There was essentially no honey in the supers.  The top brood box was heavy with honey, but I didn't look at individual frames.  I took out the drone frame and put in a regular frame.  The drone frame was not full of comb and there was only some capped drone cells.  I did see some drones hatching.  I then looked at several frames trying, unsuccessfully, to spot the queen.  There was healthy brood and larvae, but no queen seen.  I put the old hive back together.  It doesn't look like there will be a honey harvest this fall.
On to Olea's hive, and finally, some good news.  I saw capped brood, small and large larvae and eggs.  I didn't see the queen (of course), but with eggs I know the hive is queenright.  The population is small, there is no honey other than on the edge of the brood and I know there are mites, probably a good number.  I don't expect this colony to survive, but if it does, I will requeen it with one of Honey Bee Genetics' queens.  If it doesn't, I'll consider buying a package or maybe splitting my old hive.
I had placed the drone frame on top of the old hive while I worked on the others.  There was nectar in some of the cells.  The bees began to gather, eventually forming a small cloud. After they had eaten all the nectar/honey, I took the frame onto the deck and checked the drone pupae.  There were about 100 capped drone cells and I examined 27.  Two had mites (two mites on each).  I don't know how to interpret this data, but I think it's ok.  I'll be doing sugar shake counts in the near future.

Wax moth damaged comb

Wax moth frass

I still had the old frame that I got from Kathy Niven last year sitting in the shed.  I wanted to take a look at it today.  It had been resting on the box I got my package in last year.  When I picked it up, I was shocked to see a heavy infestation of wax moths.  There was a pile of frass on the box as well as several larvae.  The larvae quickly headed away from the light crawling into the cracks of the box or elsewhere.  The comb also had larvae on it as well as some sort of yellowish coating.  I left the frame outside.  I think I'll add it to my wax collection that I will eventually melt and purify.