Meet The Bees

Flights of Fancy Apiary July 13, 2021: the borage plants in the vegetable garden have their own dedicated group of foragers from several of the hives.
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Borage is an amazing plant for both native pollinators and honey bees alike. Borage flowers from early July until October, offering a long nectar flow, and each blossom refills with nectar every two minutes. The heads of the flowers hang down in the rain to protect the nectar from being diluted. In these videos you can see the ivory coloured pollen on the little forager’s and the bumblebee’s back legs.
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Flights of Fancy Apiary Ivy Hive ( hive inspection July 10, 2021): This new hive is in the same situation at the Elder hive that was installed on the same day in May. They were sticking to the four frames they came with and so after a month of letting them get settled and the nectar flowing, I used the checkerboard method during my last inspection and was delayed getting back in to check on their space. Finally was able to check them and it’s a hot one this afternoon!
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When learning how to be a beekeeper I read and watched any and all materials I could get my hands on, this included The Bee Works DVD collection by an Apiarist David Eyre. It was through this How-To DVD collection that I was first introduced to cover clothes and I LOVE them.
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Cover clothes (the blue canvases in the first photo), help to keep the bees calm by keeping the hive dark and more sheltered from the elements like the blazing sun, wind or cool air. They also prevent what beekeepers call “bubble over” or “boiling over” which is when a hive gets worked up during an inspection and they “pour” themselves out the open section and over the sides of their boxes. The bees eventually go back in the hive but it can make completing the inspection and closing the hive up difficult. The cover clothes prevent this from happening and make closing the hive up easier on my and the bees.
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In photos 2 and 3 you can see Queen Titania hard at working looking for any space she can find that is ready for an egg.
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Photo 5 is what a busy late afternoon looks like in the summer apiary. The other four hives will be wrapping up their Formic Pro mite treatments this coming week and I can hardly wait to check in on them! 🐝❤️
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#flightsoffancyhbc #fof_ivy ...

Flights of Fancy Apiary Elder Hive (Inspection July 10, 2021): During the last inspection of this hive, I noticed the bees were sticking to the four frames they came with and not drawing out the comb and working on the rest of the hive, a month had past since they were installed and so I used the checkerboard method, which means to split the frames they came with, up with new frames between. All of the rain we’ve been having delayed this hives inspection adding an additional 7 days to my standard 10 days between inspections and luckily I got in here before the next forecast of rain, because they are out of room!
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Normally the rule of thumb is that once a box is 80% drawn out ( if it’s a new hive) or once 80% of the frames are covered with bees (if it’s an established hive working with frames from another year), it’s time to add a box. My hives are all 10 frames so that means once 8 of the 10 are full it’s time for more space.
It’s important to keep to this rule because when bees run out of space they begin the process of swarming, where half the bees in the hive along with the Queen and a lot of resources, leave to start a new colony and the remaining bees are left to raise a new queen and start again in the hive they call home.
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Because this hive was so full, I carefully checked all of the frames for Queen cells and Queen cups, which is a sign that the swarming process has started.
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I did find a few cups but no eggs were inside so I believe they received the extra space they needed just in time.
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This hive seems like they are becoming quite a strong hive and Queen Dianthe is hard at work (photos 3 and 4).
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#fof_elder #flightsoffancyhbc ...

Flights of Fancy Apiary June 30, 2021: Summer mite treatment time. Last weeks mite test results indicated that it’s time for some mite treatments and it’s just been a waiting game for the temperatures to meet the range required for formic pro. The temperatures need to stay below 29 degrees and above 10 degrees for the first four days, and thankfully the forecast for today through Saturday should stay within this range.
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Once the two pads are placed on the top of the lower brood box the hive can’t be opened or disturbed for 14 days. After the treatment has been completed the beekeeper waits 8 days for the capped brood to emerge and then performs another mite test to check the post treatment mite levels. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
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Sage Hive Inspection June 23, 2021: Meet Queen Adelina of the Sage hive. This hive was created as a split from the Artemisia hive back in April and Queen Anastasia was moved into it (simulating a swarm), however the bees dedicated an issue and tried to supercedure her but failed. Interestingly the Artemisia hive that was left with established swarm cells and eggs tried twice to create a new Queen and failed also so I purchased two Ontario bred Queens and added one to each of these hives a few weeks ago and it was great to see this one on the move and the bees in the hive are calm and very active which are all good signs.
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Rose Hive Inspection June 23, 2021: This hive has been very busy since being created as a split from the Peony Hive back in April, they have filled their second deep box and are now working on a third deep that will be used to supplement any weaker hives going into winter or will be harvested in the fall if it’s not needed by the bees - just look at that those beautiful golden cells of honey in the first photo!
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It was very nice to see Queen Ezmerelda and her court busy at work and she looks so much like her mother Queen Celeste 🐝❤️.
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This hive is doing so well, and looking very strong so I added what is called a propolis mat on the top frames of their third deep box and will hopefully be harvesting some propolis this summer! Make sure to keep an eye out for the honey and maybe propolis from this hive in the coming months 🐝❤️.
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#flightsoffancyhbc #fof_rose ...

NEW Meet The Ivy Hive (Inspection June 23, 2021):
: Meet Queen Titania of the new Ivy Hive and in the first video you can see her laying an egg in a cell that is empty and has been cleaned by the bees. She reaches her long abdomen all the way down, makes sure the egg is gently placed standing up on the bottom and in the middle of the cell, when she is finished, she moves on to search for the next available cell, poking her head in and peering down to make sure it is empty and clean. The second photo is of her looking deep down into a cell to see if it is available.
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In the fourth and fifth photos you can see some of the bright traffic cone coloured pollen this hive has been collecting. Unlike most native pollinators who use the hairs on their body to transport pollen, honey bees have a collection spot on their back legs that most people call pollen baskets or pollen pants, this last one is because when full the bees look like they are wearing brightly coloured little pants.
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In the sixth photo you can see that this hive has drawn out a bit more of their new frames but not much, so the same steps have been taken as the Elder hive to try and get them back on track over the next rainy stretch of weather.
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#flightsoffancyhbc #fof_ivy ...

NEW Meet The Elder Hive (Inspection June 23, 2021): I’d love to introduce you to one of the two new hives that were installed on May 26, 2021. This hive has been named the Elder hive and in the first few photos and video you can see Queen Dianthe is hard at work, laying eggs that will become the workers and drone bees of the colony. I just love her golden colour and her daughters are calm and gentle which are good signs so far.
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In photo five you can see that the bees have already started to seal their new home with propolis which they make from tree resin and use to stick the frames to the boxes and to each other along with sealing any holes and finally to glue the boxes together.
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In photos 6 and 7 you’ll see this hive is having a little bit of an issue, they were installed a month ago but haven’t really started drawing out comb on the frames other than the ones they came with, instead they have begun building on the lid. To fix this, I have done what beekeepers call checker boarding the frames by splitting the drawn frames up with ones that are partially drawn or not drawn at all. Join me in welcoming the new bees of the Elder Hive 🐝❤️.
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#flightsoffancyhbc #fof_elder ...

Flights of Fancy Apiary June 20, 2021: 9:05pm and the last of the foragers were making their way back home. Standing 10
Feet away, outside their fenced area, I can hear the hum of busy, happy hives, who seem to be enjoying the last fleeting moments of sun during the longest day of the year.
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The summer solstice celebrates the longest day of the year and is a celebration of daylight. The berry season is in full swing, the fruits on the trees are ripening, the flowers are blooming, and is a time when natural abundance is beginning.
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For the honey bee, this is the time when the hive is at its peak activity and production, leading up to the longest day of the year, the Queen is laying up to 2000 eggs a day, the workers are busy collecting all the stores they need for the winter months, it is a time of celebration and in the evenings, when you stand close to the hive you can hear the happy hum of a busy hive.
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Beekeepers join their hives in celebrating the season and I will be celebrating with a small glass of honey vodka that I made 6 months ago on the winter solstice and let age in a cool dark place. 😋 🤗
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Happy Summer Solstice 🐝❤️
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#flightsoffancyhbc #fof_peony #fof_artemisia #fof_rose #fof_sage #fof_ivy #fof_willow ...

Flights of Fancy Apiary May 26, 2021: It was a very exciting day here, the two NUCs (nucleus colonies) that were the “insurance bees” should anything have happened over the winter were ready for pick up. The weather hasn’t been cooperating so they were installed in the light rain which they expressed their extreme dislike towards and the Apiary was set up fully since it was too hot or raining the days leading up to today, but everyone is in their new homes and I was able to spot of the queens while gently but quickly transferring them from their NUC boxes into their new hives. Not all of their equipment is fully painted yet either since the hives that were prepared for them had to be used a few weeks ago for emergency splits since the Peony and Artemisia hives were busting at the seems and prepared to swarm. The one thing I have learned about honey bees is this, you can make all the plans you like and make all the preparations you want but their gonna do what their going to do - they certainly keep me on my toes! 🐝❤️ ...

Flights of Fancy Apiary: Looks like we might be getting some pears from the trees we put in last summer, thanks to be bees. Lots of interest from the native bees and each hive had three dedicated foragers while the trees were in bloom 🐝❤️. These ones are Flemish Beauty pears. Scroll through to see the pears taking shape.
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Just planted some Royal Ann Cherry Trees last week for next year 🤞🏻
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#flightsoffancyhbc #fof_peony #fof_artemisia #fof_rose #fof_sage ...

Flights of Fancy Apiary May 9, 2021: it was an exciting day last Sunday in the apiary, when the two hives became four, and it appears to have been just in the nick of time - the Artemisia hive had multiple capped Queen cells! So meet the Rose Hive (on the right), and the Sage Hive (on the left)!
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The process used to split double deep hives is called a walk away split. The method should mimic the natural swarming behaviour of honey bees. The Mother Queen is moved into the box that is being used to create the second hive and that box must not contain any queen cells, but should have frames of capped brood which will emerge sooner than brood in any of the other stages. Both boxes must be left with sufficient honey and pollen stores and to help my new hives out, I equally split all of the deep frames that were drawn out last year for honey between the four boxes to help them build back up into double deeps quickly.
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I love having a few deep boxes used as supers, this way I can top off any light hives with resources before they go into winter and it leaves me with deep frames that have fully drawn comb on them.
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Flights of Fancy Apiary May 6, 2021: the bees are very grateful that the dandelions are out and available as a pollen and nectar resource. With all this cool weather and clouds lately it’s seems everything else has hit pause. The honey bees have stores left over from the winter but the native bees depend on these yellow flowers as a matter of survival.
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Artemisia Hive Inspection April 4, 2021: The Artemisia hive is looking really strong with lots of bees and lots of stores! 💪🐝❤️. I didn’t go through every frame and didn’t come across Queen Anastasia but I did see lots of her freshly laid eggs, larvae and capped brood. I need to get their Spring mite treatment in this week because they will need more space soon!
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Peony Hive Inspection April 4, 2021: Queen Ezmerelda busy laying eggs that, in 20 days will emerge as spring worker bees. I’m very happy to see lots of pollen coming in and this hive has lots of honey stores. Next up is their mite treatment and in a few weeks after that they will be ready for their first honey super, there may still be cold days ahead but there’s no arguing that Spring is here🐝❤️
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Flights of Fancy Apiary March 10, 2021: finally warm enough for the bees to come out and stretch their wings after months of clustering in their hives. Very happy to see them doing so well, so far 🐝❤️

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Flights of Fancy Apiary Feb. 15, 2021: lots of snow blanketing the hives. Did you know that loosely packed snow ( snow that has fallen naturally) actually helps the bees keep the hive warm by providing insulation? It’s true! Both hives have corrugated plastic wraps on the stops the winter wind and they also have insulation in the top section just below the outer lid but the snow on top is also helping to keep the heat from rising out. If we have to deal with the cold snowy winter, might as well look on the bright side 😉🐝❤️.

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