Feeders off June 11, 2016

I took the syrup feeders off Hive B and one was nearly empty and the other was completely empty.
Lots of activity at the hives, knocked some wasp hives out of the roofs.

Update

so I'm very excited because someone other than my family is reading my blog.

I saw bees gathering on Hive A and sent pictures to experts - Jim Kloek at Nature's Nectar and David Heaf et al in the UK - and they all thought it was a swarm or secondary swarm.
Well by evening (this was last Sunday) it was smaller and Monday it was gone!

so if they did swarm, I missed it.

But there are still bees working the combs so I'm not sure what else to do at this point.
I do not have feeders on that hive, though I did put some pollen patties on that are almost gone as of yesterday.

People in the UK group did comment on the fact that I have too many boxes on and they thought they were full of honey. But as stated, when I tried to take off the top box, there was capped pollen at the bottom of the middle combs so I only took out one comb on the edge and replaced the top bar there. That was before this "swarm" phenomenon.

I had so many boxes on because they have comb filling 4 boxes then the next box doesn't have a window so to make sure they had plenty of room and "didn't swarm" (nice thought anyway), I had the 6th box on (windowed) for insurance. They have started one comb in there so I thought it was smart to give them the room.

I'm going to wait until the end of June or July, I guess, to try to remove the top two boxes - if it looks like they're filling the bottom one.

I honestly wish I could just transplant David Heaf over here to get me through a season of this because it feels like trial and error (more error) as I try to leave them alone to do their thing. OR I wish there was a group of Warre beekeepers around SE Minnesota.

Hive B is still eating its syrups (1:1) and pollen is nearly gone but the nectar flow is about to start so I'll take the feeders off this week.

The secondary swarm (Cast) was larger in the morning:

 Here it is that evening:

Armed to the gills May 22, 2016

Completely covered, smoker in hand, I took off the top box but it wasn't full of honey, so I just removed one comb of honey.
It's draining in the bucket right now.
So the big hive still has 6 boxes (too many but I'm not going to try to remove the bottom one - too heavy)

Boldly going where no epi pen can reach me

May 15, 2016
Decided to go to the hives and "quickly" add pollen patties without a veil.
First they buzzed into my hair near my ears - I ran.
Got my veil.

Then one stung my left hand, got the stinger out, went to the house, iced it, got 50 mg Benadryl in me and then took the smoker with me.

This time, they were so calm as I worked the hives, topped up the feeders and added pollen patties to both - will I ever learn??

May 2016

Small hive's feeders nearly empty - filled them both
Very little pollen left but lots coming in, so left it

Added pollen patties, feeding small hive

April 26, 2016:
I checked my large hive and most of the pollen patties were gone, since it is going to be cold and rainy, I added 1/2 pollen patty to the large hive then put the strap back over it.
The inside activity looks good and plenty of bees, I did not feed it because there is still honey in the hive.

I dug out the dirt under the hive so air could circulate under it better though the wood "shelf" is still under the screened bottom for now.

In regards to the small hive, I smoked it, and put a full pollen patty on it after dividing it into 4 small squares. Then I placed the feeder jars on top 1:1 sugar/water combination.

Added a box to the big hive

Sunday April 10, 2016
We smoked the hive, then hefted top 2 boxes and set them aside..
Then lifted the next two boxes and placed a windowless box on top of the now 6th box.
then I put a strap over the hive so it wouldn't topple in the wind.
I plan to harvest the top box this spring

Fed fondant and pollen to weak/small hive.