Sugar treatment

Approx 100 mites and about 8 beetles on the board 3 hours after the treatment.

Powderd sugar treatment for mites

Since my count is getting into the danger zone, I thought I would try a powdered sugar treatment. The treatment is a mechanical method, when the bees get covered in the sugar they groom themselves and each other knocking off the mites. Long Lane honey bee farm in central IL has a really nice blog with lots of informative lessons. Here is a link to the lesson on sugar treatments for mites with a video showing the process.

I noticed that my inner cover was hiding a lot of shb's. My last hive got infested with wax moths when it died out. The moths left a lot of small holes in the cover making hiding spots for the beetles. I have been lazy and not using my beetle eaters.

Mite cout going up

80 mites in two days! Ugh I'm loosing the mite battle. I'm feeling like small cell might just be BS.

Sugar water

After 4 days the bees have hardly touched the 2:1 syrup that I put in the hive. I added a 1/2 gal of water to the mix and some more honey b healthy and put some of the new mixture in. They seemed to start taking it as soon as I put it in.

I pulled a couple of frames just to see what was going on in the hive this time of year. The comb that was dark w/ brood is now starting to be filled with syrup for winter stores.

Still bright yellow and grey pollen being brought in.

I think my bees are good for winter

I believe that my bees are good for winter. My mite count today showed 30 mites for 4 days. They have two full deeps drawn and full stores.

It's getting cooler here at night w/ lows in the 30's some nights so I have reduced the entrance to help keep the cluster warmer at night.

When we went to the beach last week I put the frame of honey that I knock over in the empty supper on top while I was gone. They completely cleaned it out! I'm going to measure cell size since this frame was a foundationless frame, I want to see what my small cells bees built on their own.

Goldenrod and asters are in bloom here and pollen they are bringing in varries from a pretty bright yellow to a darker color of gold.











You can get a good idea of where your brood is located from your sticky board. Looks like the 4th frame from the left is the middle of my brood nest.













When I did a inspection the other day I forgot to bring my beekeeping caddy in the apiary with me so when I pulled out the first frame so I have some working room in the hive I set it next to a statue I had on the table. Bad plan. I should have just stoppedand got the caddy. I whole frame of honey and uncapped nectar fell to the ground. This frame was started from a popsicle stick so it wasn't wired at all. Bummer! I put it in the glass dish my husband was kind enough to get for me after her heard all the colorful words coming from the bee yard.