Too Darn Hot

My little white hive at Tollgate,
right across the street from the mall.
I added a super yesterday so
it no longer looks so tiny

The SEMBA beginning
beekeepers' hives

Ironically, the bee yard at Tollgate Farm is directly across the street from Twelve Oaks Mall, which my co-workers call "Negative Twelve Oaks" because more than twelve oaks had to be removed in order to build it. The farm itself is a little idyll between freeways, complete with a pond, fruit trees, garden plots, goats and a gambol-roof barn.

The farm is about a 40-minute drive from home, too far for regular weekly checks. Last time I visited, three weeks ago, I left my girls with a completely empty medium super and the bottom board still in place. By yesterday, they were overheated and spread out all over the outside of the hive (ie, bearding). In these photos, the bearding is already starting to dissipate because I removed the bottom board and tilted the top cover to provide more circulation. Later, Winn, our teacher, recommended that I move the inner cover entrance to the back, face up, and close the telescoping cover. He said there would be enough ventilation with the bottom board removed, and the closed cover would keep out more pests.

The girls were overheated
and bearding when I arrived

I removed the bottom board
(see it behind the hive?) and
tilted up the top cover to provide
more ventilation

We saw just a couple of Varroa mites on my bottom board. We had learned in class that twenty mites on the bottom board is a good threshold for treatment. At Winn's recommendation, I decided not to treat, even though I had a flour sifter and powdered sugar in my bee box. Coating them with powdered sugar would distract them from their work at hand, and the hive seems strong enough to combat the mites for now.

The weather this year has been much better than last year for bees and flowers. By yesterday, the hive was already bigger than last year's ever got to be. The empty medium from three weeks ago was already 95% full. Luckily, the girls were not preparing to swarm, so all I had to do was add a third box to give them more room. My carpool mate, Ben, was not so lucky. But more on that later.