I caught the swarm a week ago and was previously unable to find the old queen to replace her with a new queen. I went to find the old queen and introduce the new queen to the hive. I looked through all the frames and could not find the old queen, and only found about 20 eggs that had been laid. I went back through the frames and finally found the old queen, captured her, killed her and smeared her on the new queen's cage. I then put the new queen cage in between two frames. I plan to check back in a few days to see if the bees have released the new queen.
Tahini Spice Cake
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/4 cups apple juice
4 tablespoon Aunt Patty's® Organic Date Sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ginger
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cups brown rice four
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cups sesame seeds
Preheat oven to 350° F. Cream together the tahini, eggs, vanilla, date sugar, and juice. In another bowl, mix together the spices, flours, soda, and powder. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet blend well, and pour into a greased and floured 8 x 8-inch pan. Sprinkle the sesame seeds evenly over the top of cake and bake about 1 hour or until done. Serve with Peach Sauce or a fruit sauce of your choice. Makes 12 servings.
Alan’s Vinegar & Sugar Syrup Recipe for Bees
After about a month of testing a vinegar and sugar syrup for feeding my bees, I have made some revisions to my formula. I noticed that if I added too much vinegar, it did not kill the bees, but it did discourage them from eating the syrup. At first I tried 1 cup of 5% acidity (50 grain) distilled white vinegar in 1 gallon of sugar syrup. However, after further experimentation and observation, I found that between ½ and ¾ cup per 1 gallon of sugar syrup is ideal. Just replace the ½ or ¾ cup of the water in your sugar syrup with the vinegar (1:1).
Bee Chronicles by Alan – Supersedure
One week after I added my second deep super to both hives I wanted to check to see if they had moved up and cleaned up some of the frames that had some mold and old honey/pollen store, as well as to see if the queen was laying in the second deep super yet. In the hive I started this year the queen was busy at work and had already laid eggs in three frames. What I found next surprises me even more (see picture) and that was what looked to be supersedure cells. I was surprised because the queen seems to be laying well and there is still plenty of space. I checked the rest of the hive and there was no other signs of supersedure cells. I will be checking this weekly to see if there are any signs of them still trying to supersede. The other hive have worked up into the second box and the queen had begun laying on 2 frames and she looked to be in great condition.
Bee Chronicles by Alan – Catching a Swarm
My wife Kelly and I got a text from friends of ours, Jason and Ann, who have a 5 acre farm near the river where we live. They reported seeing a swarm that had landed on their grape arbor. I headed that way with my two sons at about 10 am on our way to go fishing so that I could shake the bees into the hive. We shook the bees into the hive, and set the lid on the hive with 8 frames in it. On our way back from fishing at around 2 pm we stopped by to see if the bees had taken to their new home, at which time we could put the lid on the hive. Good news! They were settling well in the hive as some of 8 frames had honey in them, so I'm sure they found that very attractive. We left and loaded the hive into the back of our pickup once it was sealed. When I got home, I moved the hive into place, and unsealed the lid and entrance. I then added a feeder with vinegar syrup and a 9" frame so the bees would be well fed. I will plan to replace the queen on Wednesday night May 30, 2012. It's always fun to catch a swarm!
Bee Chronicles by Alan – Packaged Bee Hive
If you remember last week (one week after I added the 2nd Deep Super) the queen had laid in 3 frames. This week I checked and basically all of the frames were full of eggs. This queen is laying alot and fast. I found more queen cells and removed them. I found a swarm queen cell on the bottom and removed all signs of queen cells. I removed the feeder and added the 10th frame. I then decided to add a deep super with windows and thin foundation for cut comb honey, as well as change the 2nd deep super to a deep super with windows so I could have some educational hives for guests at my home. I'm worried about this hive swarming, so this week I plan to remove two or three capped frames of brood and switch them out with some empty drawn comb frames from my swarm hive. This will hopefully accomplish a two for one, giving my swarm hive some brood to jump start it and weaken the packaged bee hive so that, hopefully, it won't swarm. In addition, I may add a second honey super to my packaged bee hive just to ensure that the bees in this very strong hive feel they have enough room. With the wonderful sunny weather we had in May, the bees are really strong and with the rain this week, if we get sun next week, the blackberry blossom honey flow should be fantastic!
If you would like to purchase a Deep Super with Window click here. Please note that this comes unpainted, when painting this Super, paint the outside only.
Bee Chronicles by Alan – Last Year’s Hive
Two weeks after the second story had been added the queen is clearly busy at work as 5 frames are fully laid with eggs and two frames are full of fresh eggs. I did find two queen cells and removed them. They are out of food and I will plan to stop feeding them as they are getting strong now, and I don't want them to grow any faster in fear of them swarming. I will also plan on adding the 10th frame and then adding a honey super a week from now.
Bee Chronicles by Alan – Adding Supers and Frames
Brood Chamber getting bigger - both of my hives are ready for their 2nd brood chamber. The bees have filled up 90% of the lower brood chamber with brood or honey/pollen. It is time to add the 2nd Deep super, move the feeder up and add the 10th frame to the bottom deep super.
GloryBee Management Tours The Eugene Mission
In its own words, The Eugene Mission is "a Gospel Rescue Mission providing food, shelter, clothing, social services and the Gospel message to homeless men, women and children of the Eugene and Lane County communities".
The GloryBee management team, including co-founders Dick and Pat Turanski, visited the Eugene Mission last week for an inspiring tour of Mission facilities. GloryBee is privileged and humbled to contribute towards the 700 meals a day served up by Mission staff and volunteers.
If you're wondering how you can help this wonderful organization's efforts to provide for our area's homeless, here are a few ideas: the Mission is always in need of men's shoes, children's clothing, womens' essentials, vegetable starts for their gardens and bedding for homeless families.
To find other ways you can support the Eugene Mission, visit the organization's website at http://www.eugenemission.org/
Bee Chronicles by Alan – Checking for Egg Laying
Vice President Alan Turanski reports on his bees progress. My hive from last year is going to have 3 frames of brood hatch soon which should help increase the population significantly. I had to replace the queen a few weeks ago and it looks like she is laying. I want to continue to check to see if she is a strong layer. The pictures you see are from that hive.
My new hive is coming along really well. The queen is laying tons of eggs and they are building out wax. Yesterday both of my hives were buzzing with the beautiful 70 degree weather we were having and they were bringing in lots of pollen.
GloryBee Foods customer featured on Dr. Oz Show!
Wow! One of our customers, Betty Lou's, was featured on the April 30th episode of the Dr. Oz show! Their delicious Spirulina-Ginseng nut butter balls were highlighted.
To watch Dr. Oz talk about the health benefits of spirulina, you can view part 3 of the episode "Turbo-Charge Your Metabolism" here: http://www.doctoroz.com/newsletter/live-better-newsletter-april-30-2012. The Spirulina-Ginseng balls are displayed at the front of Dr. Oz's bountiful spirulina table. Perhaps this inspiring segment will inspire you to try some of these delicious nuggets for yourself!
Bee Chronicles by Alan — Installation of New Bees
Vice President Alan Turanski of GloryBee Foods checked on his package of bees that were installed in their new home along with their new Queen Bee after GloryBee's annual Bee Weekend on April 13th and 14th. He reports that all is well, the hive is buzzing with activity, the Queen is laying eggs and honey is being produced.