BEE UPDATE. Many people have asked how Anastasia has been doing, I have to admit it has not been good. I check on her often, to see how things are going. She lost a lot of her bees in the move and even more left after the move. Her hive was over run with what we know as small hive beetles. They lay eggs in the comb and the beetle larvae spoil the honey, they look like maggots. With her depleted numbers she did not have the ability to fight the beetles and keep the brood (The baby bees) warm. I help with what I can, I kill the hornets and yellow jackets that I find as they are in there to eat the honey and kill the babies. I also bought a jug of pro health for bees. It has essential oils and other stuff to stimulate them. I mixed up some sugar water and added it and started feeding it to them. I have slowly seen more and more at the feeder. Today when I checked them there was something that was very different. Something bad was happening.......to the beetles and yellow jackets. Anastasias daughters had finally turned the corner. They were outside the hive and inside the hive in force. I saw 2 or 3 bees attacking the yellow jackets at a time. Others were seen dragging the beetle larvae out of the entrance and grabbing them and flying over the lawn and dropping them. There were many guard bees at the entrance and signs of housekeeping and hive cleaning had resumed. I will continue to feed the hive and get them ready for winter. Gemma will of course donate some frames of honey if they need extra. Never count nature out, it has a way of beating the odds. Long live Anastasia !!
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 23:55:35 +0000
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