Where is the queen?

We had our 3rd meeting of the Bee Stangs last Thursday. We inspected the hive, cleaned the hive and fed the bees.

We were able to look at almost every frame.

No stings!








New Pictures


Mill Springs Bees

Rule number 1: Don't freak out! (Bee Stangs)

Last Thursday was the first meeting of the Bee Stangs here at Mill Springs Academy. We had several students participate.



Everyone was very excited! They dressed up in the bees suits, pulled frames to look for the queen and fed the bees.

Rule number 1: Don't freak out! We had a couple of moments, but they were handled very well. It went something like this,

"Hey Michael."

"Yes"

"All of these bees are freaking me out."

"Okay. What's rule number 1?"

"Don't freak out."

"That's right. Just walk away slowly and go relax for a minute."




Enjoy the photos!


Mill Springs Bees Photographs

The Beard

Last night I attended the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association monthly meeting at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. It was very interesting and educational. The speaker came to the meeting from North Georgia. Check out her site, Mtn Honey.

Also check out the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association Site.

One item of discussion was the temperature of the hive. Bees work hard to maintain a certain temperature inside the hive. In the summer, when it gets hot, the bees work to cool the hive. They accomplish this a couple of ways. One way the bees cool the hive is by flaping their wings to act like a fan. Another, is by getting water and basically spitting it into the air while flapping their wings to act like an air conditioner.

A third way to cool the hive is called bearding. The bees go outside the hive and sit on the outside of the hive box to remove their little body heat and cool themselves off.

Ours are bearding.



Listen out for the buzz around campus this year. We will be starting our Bee Club this fall. More information coming!


Mill Springs Bees

Swarm Success

Yesterday we went out to check the hives. It looks like we now have 2 hives in our garden.

The old hive must have a new queen. We did not see her, but we did see where she had laid eggs.

The old queen is also laying eggs, in the new hive box.

Lots of little bees in both hives. And each hive has more bees than it did 5 weeks ago after the swarm.

Check out the swarm video below. Turn up the volume.




Mill Springs Bees

Swarm!

2 weeks ago we came to school to check on and feed the bees. When we walked out the door I called to Michael G, "come and look at this!" Bees were everywhere. Everywhere!

Mr. D came around the corner and said, "Fantastic. Its a swarm!"



Our bees had decided they needed more room to grow so they decided to leave the hive in search for a new one.



Right before the bees leave the queen gives out a signal. Some how within the hive 2/3 of the bees get chosen to leave and the rest get chosen to stay. The workers that are leaving then fill up on honey and prepare to fly to their new home.

The queen departs along with several hundred of the workers. Once they have left, the queen makes a temporary stop, alongwith the rest of the bees, to decide on a new permanent place to live. Scout bees fly around to look for a new house.

We got lucky. The departed bees stopped in the top of a close by tree.

It was an amazing sight. Thousands of bees flying around all gathered on a limb in a big group. Bees were everywhere, and then, all of them were together.

Mr. D said, "well, you have to go up and get them. We can start a new hive!"

So I did. Twice! The first attempt caused another swarm, to the same tree.





And now we have 2 hives. The old one with a new queen, Novus. And a new hive, which is actually the old hive with the old queen in a new box.




Mill Springs Bees

Sounds in the Hive!

A few days ago Michael Griffeth and I went in for another look. We were looking for queen cells and adding sugar water to the feeder.

I recorded the hive after we smoked them. This is what is sounds like.

Turn up the volume.

Mill Springs Bees

Queen Hunter

Earlier in the week we got an email from Mr. Durocher. He let us know that we needed to check for queen cells.

The hive already has a queen. Apparently, all of the bees in the hive are loyal to the already established queen. If a new queen is born, the hive will swarm and find a new place to live.



We looked at each frame for queen cells which look like a drooping peanut.



We weren't totally sure about a few of the cells, so we removed what we thought might be queen cells. Kind of a gooey white liquid is what we removed. Royal jelly?




More Pictures below.

Mill Springs Bees

Going in Alone

This is the first time we have opened the hive without the supervision of Don D. It went pretty good. We smoked the bees, added simple syrup and cleaned off the extra honey comb.

The comb was delicious.






We also had our first sting. Ouch!

Mill Springs Bees

First Look

On April 1 we opened up the new hive for the first time. The bees seem to be doing well. The queen was out and laying eggs. We added a feeding tray into the hive. We filled it with sugar water to be sure the bees had plenty to eat while they are getting used to the new area.





This was the first time I had been in the hive area with the bees flying around. It was nerve racking. We smoked the bees which is supposed to calm them down. They are still every where. Landing on you. Its wild.

I asked Don D if bees could smell fear?

He said, "oh definitely."





Mill Springs Bees

Bring out your dead!

Honey bees are very clean. Bees work very hard to maintain a clean and healthy hive.

When bees die, worker bees carry them outside the hive a drop them.





If a bee feels sick, she will fly away to die so she does not contaminate the hive.

Bees take a flight to poop! No pooping in the hive.

Bee Delivery

On March 26th, Don D delivered the bees in the new hive. He went, with Jake, to pick up the bees somewhere in north GA. The bees came in a small container that looks like this.



The queen arrived in a container that looks like this.



It has a sugar plug that the other bees eat to access her. It takes a couple of days to get to the queen. This time allows the bees to become familiar with the queen's scent.

When the hive arrived, it was filled with a few hundred bees. By the end of summer there should be a few thousand little ladies!





More pictures here.

Hive Construction

A week prior to the bees arriving at school Michael A, Michael G and several students built a secure area for the bee hive to be. Here is what we have built.

The beeg idea (Fall 2011)

A few months ago at grandparents day, Don Durocher, Jake's grandfather and bee enthusist, offered to donate a honey hive to Mill Springs. We accepted! Since that time we have been extensively planning and constructing an area for the bees to live (next blog).

During the planning process, we researched and answered many questions regarding legal and safety concerns of having a bee hive. We worked closely with Robert, Mr. Durocher, Mr. Dunn and the Mill Springs attorneys to be sure this was a safe and legal project. We also researched other schools and community organizations that have bee hives.

Throughout this process we will be continuing to be educated and to educate others about the bee hive.

Follow the links to some pictures.

Mill Springs Bees