Weekly 101 (4/5/11)

And back to our regularly scheduled programming, we have classes this week!

Two of them. Both of them tonight, actually.

For the beginners, the NYC Beekeeping Group is hosting one of their free winter course lectures tonight:

How To Build and Paint Your Hive, And Get Your Bees Into Their New Home
or
"Wooden? Where?"

The last few days have been a whirlwind getting equipment distributed so please forgive this late reminder about the class. Even if you got the hang of assembly at one of the pickup days, you may want to attend if you are getting bees for the first year, or for the second.

If you are getting a package and equipment in the Spring group order but have not picked up your equipment yet, do not fail to make arrangements with us as you need time to assemble and let paint dry before your bees arrive!

Tuesday evening we'll review & demonstrate equipment assembly, setup, and cover getting your package of bees into your hive.

We will also review what you'll need to watch for in the first few weeks after your package arrives.

If you are new this is a very good entry point as we begin the transition to hands on and field work, so please email if you want to begin learning with us and we will get you registered for the program and seated for Tuesday.
Everyone is welcome!

It's happening tonight at the Central Park Arsenal at 830 5th Ave, and it starts at 6.30. As always, RSVP with the group at their website, www.nycbeekeeping.com.

For the more adventurous or advanced beekeepers, the NYC Beekeepers Association is hosting a talk on small cell beekeeping:

Dear Bee Lovers,

Join us on April 5 for a presentation on small-cell beekeeping. NYCBA member and long-term naturalist and gardener Juliana Zinger will discuss the "natural cell" method of beekeeping as a component of organic, low-treatment techniques in mitigating the impact of Varroa mites.

Juliana is a Manhattan mom whose hives are located on Long Island’s North Shore. This spring, she will be increasing from one to three hives and will be converting to small-cell beekeeping on the two new hives. In other insect-related news, she and her family raise hundreds of praying mantises every year to support biodiversity in their garden.
See you at the meeting!

The meeting starts at 7 and is hosted at the Seafarers & International House at 123 East 15th Street. The meeting is free, membership in the Association is $20.

I can't help but mention that I am annoyed that YET AGAIN, the talks have been scheduled on the same night.

Come on guys. Can't we all just get along?

Frame Assembly: DIY

Y'all guess what was in that cool new cardboard box I showed off last week?

That's right.

Frames. Glorious Frames.

Building frames is just about the MOST fun you can have in beekeeping. With all that gluing and assembly and hammering, how can you go wrong?! It's like all of my favourite things wrapped up into one soul-sucking chore that seems to never end.

It really isn't all that bad. Once you get into the swing of things, you barely have to pay attention and the frames start to come together really quickly. Plus, if you build it right, a good frame will last forever. I'm still using wood frames that I put together over a decade ago. I've had to cut out the comb and renew the foundation a couple times, sure, but the frame itself is just as solid as when I first built it, with the addition of a lovely propolis patina.

As with all other aspects of beekeeping, there is much debate over the best way to build frames. In my opinion, they're pretty much all fine, but for the sake of simplicity I'm going to show you my preferred method.

All (wooden) frames consist of the same basic parts: (1) top bar, (2) side bars, and (1 or 2, depending on the style) bottom bar(s). Depending on whether you are using wired wax or plastic foundation, they might be constructed in a slightly different manner, but the basics are the same.

Today, I am going to be building deep frames for wired wax foundation, with a wedged top bar, V'd side bars, and split bottom bars. V'd side bars? Let me show you what I mean:

Check out that sweet V, bro.

V'd side bars make it easier to remove frames by reducing the contact area between frames within the hive. I like them, but they make assembly a bit tricky because you have to pay attention to what direction they are facing. As I assemble frames, I prefer to keep the V on the right side bar facing me and the V on the left side bar facing away from me, like so:

If you have side bars like this, make sure you are consistent in how you orient them. If you have side bars with two flat sides, it doesn't matter!

SO.

LET'S DO THIS THING.

First, put a little splotch of glue in the notch on the top of each side bar:



Then, JAM IT ALL UP IN THAT TOP BAR. Like so:



Nail each side bar through the top of the top bar. Do it good. I use a single 1.5 inch galvanized nail. If there is any excess glue, wipe it off.



Once you've gotten both side bars nailed to the top, flip the whole assembly over and dot the notches on the bottom of the side bars with some glue.

Insert the bottom bar(s), nail it/them down, and you're (almost) done.

If you're really gung-ho about it (like me) then you should take the time to put in an extra nail through the flat side of the side bars into the top bar. These extra nails make the frame remarkably durable, but has the flip side of making it nigh on impossible to take apart and repair. I figure that frames are cheap and having them come apart when you're working a hive is a huge pain.

In the end, you're left with joints that are stronger than the wood the frame itself is made from.



MAGICAL.

Rinse, repeat x 1 million.

So what about adding the foundation?

I didn't cover it in this article! I prefer not to add foundation until a day or two before I put the frames in the hive. The stuff is a pain- it's brittle when it's cold and it sags when it's hot. Just like me.

Plus, my new foundation hasn't come yet. Stick around for a while and I'll post a follow-up showing you how to DO IT YOURSELF. AWESOME!!!

And in closing: LOOK! A SLIDESHOW!!!

Shazam

While I'm on the subject of updates, I may as well give you a hint of what I've been up to.

Check it.

Real estate.  It's what all the cool kids are doin'.

Cardboard boxes.  Even cooler.

Weekly 101 Update (2/14/11)

It's GROUP ORDER TIME! SORRY FOR THE LATE NOTICE, BUT ORDERS ARE DUE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15th! THAT'S TOMORROW!

If any of y'all were planning on ordering bees or equipment for the coming Spring, now would be an excellent time to do it. The NYC Beekeeping Group is putting together their yearly group order and the more people who participate, the cheaper it'll be for everyone! Socialism! Hoo-ray!

Packages of bees will be trucked up overnight from GA and delivered directly into the city, and will cost ~$80/package. I'm ordering my own new bees with this order, so you should as well.

If you need to order and aren't already on their mailing list, email Liane at nycbeekeeping@gmail.com.

Greetings all NYC Beekeeping Bee Lovers, Beekeepers & Beginners:

We welcome you to participate in our Spring Co-op Order this year -- We are stronger together!

If you are currently registered or bought with us last year, you should already have received the link.

If you have not yet received a link to the [order] form and want to participate, please reply to this email and we'll get you on the right lists.

Thanks for your interest, and please forgive us if you are receiving this in duplicate.

Kind regards,

The Spring Order Team

There is NO NYC Beekeeping Group class this week. Instead, they are hosting a super-exciting talk by a serious expert on bee society this Saturday!

Dr. Tom Seeley - "Honeybee Democracy: How Bees Choose a Home"

Honey bees make decisions collectively—and democratically. Every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home, honey bees stake everything on a process that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus building. In fact, these incredible insects have much to teach us when it comes to collective wisdom and effective group decision making. Dr. Thomas D. Seeley, a professor of animal behavior at Cornell University and a passionate beekeeper, will tell the amazing story that he and others have unravelled of house hunting and democratic debate among the honeybees.

He will describe how these bees evaluate potential nest sites, advertise their discoveries to one another, engage in open deliberation, choose a final site, and navigate together—as a swirling cloud of bees—to their new home. He will also suggest that what works well for bees can also work well for people: any decision-making group should consist of individuals with shared interests and mutual respect, a leader's influence should be minimized, debate should be relied upon, diverse solutions should be sought, and the majority will should be counted on for a dependable resolution.

We must charge a modest admission fee to defray the costs of this event. The talk is open to the public, but you can pay here online via Amazon to reserve, as seating is limited. We will also have copies of Tom Seeley's books available for purchase at the event.

The cost will be $9 and seating will be limited, so RSVP on their site here: LINKY

The talk is being held on Saturday, Feb 19th from 2pm to 4pm, at The Arsenal in Central Park.

Twitterpated!

Thank You to everyone who came out to the Brooklyn Kitchen for the honey extraction today!

I've been twitterpated!
Original imaged twittered by The Brooklyn Kitchen

I had a lot of fun talking with you all and answering your questions, and I hope that you enjoyed yourself as well.

With your support, we sold enough honey to pay for the new extractor! That is both A.) Amazing, and B.) Awesome. You'll be able to see it in action again this summer. Or maybe sooner!

The Brooklyn Kitchen is owed a HUGE thank you for hosting us! Hopefully we can hang out again soon!

P.S. If you were at the event and took pictures, would you please share them with me? My email is BoroughBees@gmail.com!

Hive Bodies: DIY

After my crotchety old man rant the other day, it seems only fair that I do my part in guiding those people who were foolish enough to take me seriously and assemble their own hive equipment. The winter is the best time to do assembly work, since the bees just want to be left alone and, you know, it's cold out. Really cold out.

So. . . I had a bee brunch! I invited my beekeeping apprentice, Emily, over for some bacon and buckwheat blini (crème fraiche and caviar! [don't be jealous (OK be jealous)]) and some hive assembly! Hoo-ray! Hive assembly!

We're going to start with the simple stuff and move onward and upward from there, and hive bodies of all sizes are the easiest components to assemble. They can really only go together one way, and if you have quality equipment, they really want to come out straight and square. However, there are always some small variations in the lumber, be it a slight bowing of the wood or millimeter differences in the width or depth of box joints. These variations rarely turn out to be a big deal, but to someone who has never knocked a super together, it can seem pretty daunting. Luckily, I have a method that works every time (60% of the time.)

Totally, like, angular, dude!
Image Copyright BoroughBees.com 2011

First, you want to mock up the hive body, just to make sure that everything fits right, that you have all the right pieces, and that you have them oriented correctly. Most manufacturers build their boxes in such a way that it is impossible to put any side upside-down, but it never hurts to make sure. Personally, I try to match sides that have similar grain/texture, but I'm neurotic like that.

Dab it.
Dab it good.
Yeah.
Image Copyright BoroughBees.com 2011

Second, you put a dab of glue on each contact face of the box joints. You really don't need to use very much, especially if you're using one of the newer glues. I've been using Elmer's Ultimate and have found that it both foams and expands as it dries, so just a dot of it will spread and expand to fill any cracks.

D.I.Y.

Many beekeepers, especially old school ones, have a decided DIY streak. You can't be a beekeeper if you don't enjoy working with your hands and for many of us, that enjoyment spreads out from the apiary and into our homes and apartments.

There is a growing trend in beekeeping toward the sterile standardization of beekeeping practice and equipment. Some experts suggest that beekeepers (new ones in particular) go so far as to purchase pre-built and pre-painted hives. They argue that so few people have the time, skills, tools, or space to assemble their own equipment and that it is often more effective and
enjoyable to have the work done for you.

That's bullshit.

One of the greatest pleasures in beekeeping, at least in my opinion, is working through a colony and realizing that you built it. Obviously you didn't make the bees or the comb they built, but the framework was your doing, your labor, your love, and I think that counts for something. The enjoyment just doesn't flow as deep when you don't take the time and effort to get your hands dirty knocking together some woodenware on your living room floor. You didn't make these things, you just pulled out your credit card and had someone else do it for you.

That's sad.

In a time when it is so easy to disconnect from the life going on around you, there are more and more people struggling to rebuild that bond. People like Martina at Farmtina who work hard to grow their own food and try new things. They may not always go the way they expect, but they gain an invaluable appreciation for just how much time, effort, and love can go into something as simple as eating a fresh tomato in the summer or putting local honey in your morning tea.
Beekeepers should strive to have a deeper connection with their bees, not to weaken it by giving one more honest experience away to the faceless voices at the beekeeping catalog.

My friend Melanie, who proofread this article for me, told me that I sound a little (read: really) judgy. She's a knitter and she loves it, but she has no interest in spinning her own yarn. Does that make her a bad knitter? No. Of course not. Nor does not having a full on woodworking shop in your shoebox of a NYC apartment make you a bad beekeeper. I certainly am not recommending that you go out and buy a bunch of power tools and start practicing box joints. I just think that you should try your hand at making something before you get someone to make it for you. Maybe it'll be a disaster! Maybe it just won't be for you. And there's nothing wrong with that.

The experts who push toward pre-built hives cite the fact that beekeeping supply catalogs are terrible at providing instructions. It's true, and I know beekeepers who have killed off entire colonies by misassembling equipment sent without any sort of instructions. Some kits are worse than others. Some are like IKEA from hell. Mistakes have been made and will continue to be made. I've built my fair share of crooked frames, but I've gotten better with practice and so will you.

I'm not saying it's easy.

I'm saying it's better.

Well, well, well...

What have we here?

Hello, Sailors.

Any guesses?!

Thanksgiving = Prezzies?

Thank you for placing an order with Walter T. Kelley Bee Co..


Order Details

Code Product Description Quantity
18RA Deep Hive Body 10 Frame 1-4 Cypress 10 Frame 4
38RA Medium Depth (Illinois) Cypress 10 Frame Medium Supers 4
57-RA Cypress Screen Bottom Board 2
49-RA Cypress Wood and Metal Cover 2
12-MCA Mountain Camp rim for 10 frame hive. 2
113 Frame Holder 1
55-N Entrance Reducer 2


Any guesses as to what I'm doing next year?

Prezzie!

My student Lana won this hook-end hive tool (authentic Maxant!) at JEOPARBEE last night.  She then proceeded to give it to me.  She is now my favourite.

Hive Tools: 101

Take a minute to consider the lowly hive tool. They are rarely discussed, yet they are one of the few basic tools (along with a veil and a smoker) that every single beekeeper requires regardless of comfort level or experience. It is more or less impossible to do any manipulation of your hives without one. Bees are remarkably good at gluing EVERYTHING together. In the week or two between inspections, your bees will seal every single crack with propolis. Inner and outer covers? Superglued. Hive bodies? Unified in stickiness. Frames? I've seen all ten frames hoisted out as a single unit. (Don't do this.) Without your trusty hive tool, you might get as far as seeing the bees fly in and out of the hive (which, for the record, is pretty enjoyable), but you won't get much further.

In the showcase: A variety of of hive tools!  Show us around the fabulous prizes, Becky!
Image from HoneyBeeSuite.com

Hive tools are used for the following basic beekeeping tasks: