Huge hello from Oregon

[yvette97206]

Hi wise bee keepers from a newbie-
I haven't kept bees since high school, but ever since we purchased our small acreage in Sandy and planted a mini-orchard, I have been thinking how much we need some bees.  We never see honey bees around here.  I hope that is not a bad sign!  I don't see how, because two and a half miles down the road are 100 acres of berry fields and it looks like they rent hives because they show up on "the hill" down HWY 211 towards Eagle Creek every summer.  The only other crops that might possibly cause a problem is the christmas trees about two acres away.  I think really that the abscense of bees is truly that there are no hives around.  Thus, our trees go unpollinated.

My bees are on their way here from California.  I was lucky enough to attend the big Bee Day out in Colton this past weekend.  We were able to open and inspect several dozen hives (and I got to try out my shiny new bee suit!) and it gave me a good refresher.  Also, the other good news is that I won the raffle Grand Prize - a complete lightly used hive donated by the great Helga Moll, including a bottom with runners that keep it off the ground, nine frame bottom box, top feeder (holds two gallons of syrup), two supers with ten frames each, and a queen seperator.  The frames all have drawn comb and some contain honey.  I believe that this was a good deal because I had two people offer to buy it off me.   Plus, I know what I paid for the set up I recently purchased.

I had purchased a complete hive with ten frames and a frame feeder (bare comb frames, only the base with horizontal and vert wires, and a thin layer of wax shaped like comb) from Ruhl Bee supply and was planning on installing my new bees in that.  But, I think that it would be better to put them right into the new setup - sans the supers - and use also the frame feeder that holds one gallon of syrup, so I would have three gallons all together.  I also have a pollen patty, just in case.  But, I live on 8.4 acres, lots of it blackberries and fruit orcharrds as well as grass and wildflowers and I am expecting that all of this preperation is overkill.

I am looking forward to installing for my first time.  I think I'll name my queen Sophia - she's Italian:)

Y

[yvette97206]

Well, it has been a few weeks, wondering how your Oregon bee experience is going?  I did enjoy reading your journey and tucked it all away for when mine finally arrived.  My package was, thankfully, very friendly.  I just couldn't stay away, so I opened it again this morning to put the last frame back in.  Found the queen on the second frame I picked up

I also have lots of fruit trees and shrubs and wildflowers.  But it seemed to me that this morning the colony was kind of weak...I am assuming because it is a little overcast that they are tending to indoor chores.  When I opened the hive, it was much livelier inside.  All seems well.  

So, my question is, do you think that I should feed them more syrup?  I had put nearly a gallon inside whn I installed them, but it was almost empty, although the three frames I examined seemed to have syrup in the combs.  Just thought I'd ask another local beek!  Hope you are still enjoying your experience-

[beemaster]

Yvette:

Somehow we never got to say hi.... HI  

I tend to make an effort to welcome new members, usually when I see a post that I think I can be helpful in or if someone writes me. Since I've been following this post - not sure why but I've taken a fancy to Denise (I think it's her Lucy Avatar    ) but I saw you here and needed to say howdy.

Totally NON-BEE Related, I'm writing from the motorhome, I dewinterize it and moved my bedroom PC out here for the Spring/Summer/Fall and above my head is the TV tuned to Nascar night race at Richmond, VA and I was just catching up on the forum with some stuff and saw you there.

Here is my favorite toy www.beemaster.com/bus.html - I'll be updating the photo with a shot of the PC in the bedroom vanity area as soon as I can get the camera out.

I'm afraid at $3.00+ a gallon and 9-13mph mileage, most of my camping MIGHT be in the yard this year - well.... some of it anyway. I just enjoy it out here, it really is a nice comfortable and roomy get-away after being couped in the house all Winter.

Peace to you and glad I finally got to say hi!!!!!!

[Denise]

Howdy yvette!
Our ladies are doing great! I'm like you, I HAD to peek a few days ago to see how things were going. I knew our weather was going to stink this entire weekend (typical Oregon springtime) so we looked in after work during the week. They have about 7 of the 10 frames drawn out and it looks gorgeous. Lots of eggs, larvae and capped brood. Picture-perfect so far. I've spotted the queen herself on the last 2 inspections. She really stands out at the moment because the workers are Italian and she is Carniolan. Once her children start taking over for them, she will be harder to spot. Dang it! We named this hive the Romans.
The other hive we named the Barbarians. They are the swarm that took up residence in an empty hive. That one is amazing with activity. An incredible number of bees. Always bustling. I've never seen this queen because of the sheer number of bees. The first honey super is absolutely full of capped honey. Wow! We added another super but it's new with only foundation. We switched 4 of the frames that had capped honey with 4 brand new ones that were only foundation. Hopefully they will start drawing it out. They've been kind of ignoring the entire super so far.

I had the same question about the syrup. The feeder is still on there, but there is plenty of nectar to be had. The apples, blueberries and clover are all blooming. The crimson clover around our area is just beginning to bloom as well. So beautiful to see all those red fields.

[yvette97206]

Well, I did decide to go ahead and feed the girls some syrup.  When I opened it up, the syrup level was so low I couldn't see it, yet there was a huge congregation of bees inside of it.  It is a frame feeder that i am talking about.  So, I went ahead and filled it up.  It looks like it's gonna be cold and rainy the next few days, so they may need the extra warmth.

Thanks for the response!  I have been enjoying your post, Denise, because your pictures are just beautiful and you write your story just how I feel about my bees and this whole endeavour.   Glad to see you are still enjoying, and please do keep us posted...especially if you are lucky enough to get a good picture of your queen on a frame...

And sorry, Beemaster, I snuck in the back door, here.  But thanks for noticing!  My main post is under, "OK, so I just installed my bees about half an hour ago"...

Yvette

[Denise]

I wanted to get a picture of her majesty before the big explosion of new bees obscures the view. There are a couple of her offspring here and there. She is Carniolan so she stands right out. Once her kids really start to take over, it will be harder and harder to spot her.





This was a frame they were just getting drawn out so she was busy laying in the finished cells.

[yvette97206]

Oh Denise!  She's GORGEOUS!  I just showed her to my husband.  Its funny, mine are opposite, my queen is Italian and all my workers are Carniolan.  I'm going to check mine in the morning, I think.  I put a second box on and removed the frame feeder.  Ten frames now on top and bottom.  I have a top feeder right on top of that.  Can't wait to see how much comb they can draw in one week.  Great picture!

Y