Bee Saga

Bee Natural July and August brought a flurry of bee activity. I was worried about the TBH and air circulation, through a series of unfortunate events, I ended up contributing to a moth infestation. I sought answers from everywhere, anywhere and the result: "The best method to avoid moth infestation is to have a strong hive. A strong hive will keep the best out" I found it totally annoying. DUH, I already knew I had a hive that wasn't thriving... But I didn't know why. It had moths everywhere, but no more. I got advice from UC Davis. This nice man named Eric Mussen said to pick out the larvae, determine if there is a queen in there, freeze combs to rid them of moth larvae, and only return what the bees could cover." I removed combs the bees couldn't cover. I froze combs, keeping some, returning some. One comb broke in the freezer because someone at my house forgot to be careful with the comb and manhandled the freezer. I suspect my husband, but I can't prove it. I got up early every day and perused the hive for wiggling things and flying things. I became adept at smashing the fat moth larvae. They popped like coconut filled packets. The queen was gone. The queen I ordered came within 24 hours. I hung her, requeened the hive, continued on my morning moth patrol, and the hive didn't get any more moths, but still the hive was down to two handfuls of bees. No mites, no AFB, just no bees. I joined every bee site between San Diego and Sacramento. Eric told me to feed the bees and I made a weak syrup which they refused. I made a stronger syrup and they loved it. Within 24 hours of feeding the bees the queen laid eggs everywhere. In about 15 days I will have double the population. Finally, Finally, progress. I also bought pollen, mixed it with Karo and put it in the hive. If they can't find pollen, they can eat that. They actually didn't like it. I called a bee keeper, Jose Heredia. Jose is the only stranger who returned my calls and came over to help me troubleshoot the problems in person. He even got stung. First, he had never seen a top bar hive and suggested I burn it. My serious face conveyed that I didn't think he was funny. Like politics and parenting, people tend to endorse only what they know. I understood. He lit my smoker and unceremoniously stuck the smoke end in the door and began pump the bellows. I HEARD A SCREAM I knew his smoker was too hot and too close to the comb, but how would he know, he had never seen a Top Bar hive. I whacked his hand with the smoker and out flew the queen. She must have been on the other side of the door. "That's the queen" I said and tried to pick her up, but she darted around on the ground. "Let me pick her up," he said, and as he tried to pick her up with his non gloved hands, she avoided him. He got her, then she jumped back to the ground. Her wings were clipped. She couldn't go far. I picked her up and dropped her inside a fat comb. She was sure mad. There were several combs, but none had eggs. Jose said, "This hive is dying. That's a really nice queen, but the hive is too small to forage or take care of her, they will die." "What if I bought a full hive and split it. I could put five combs in each Langstroth box, search for the queen, and requeen with my good queen." "You can do that, but they will probably reject her and kill her. It's late in the season and you might go into winter with two weak hives instead of one strong hive." It's about a 140.00 dollar learning experience. "Look, I'll bring a full hive, a healthy hive, and I'll work with you to keep it healthy. I'll even treat for mites when you get them. Your not gonna get any honey from this hive. They put all their resources into building comb and then starved. You should have been feeding them." "I did feed them" "Let me see the syrup," and he swirled the container. "It should be thick like honey, this is too watery. Too much work for them to thin it down. I'll teach you how to make syrup." With that we closed the hive. I learned to make syrup. I made a bag feeder of honey and placed in in the top bar. Within a day, I had to go out of town and would not be there to see if the bees survived or thrived.