Bee Illness, and Rabbit Magazines
It was half way through January- and my birthday- so I went up to see my mom and while there, checked in on the two hives I have at her house- and I brought sugar muffins to feed them, if I needed them. Its been a few weeks- but I had left them in what seemed good health, though worried about dampness (in the woods basically, and up in the foothills and notoriously wet), I had put two plywood "roofs" over each hive.
But apparently not enough of a roof to keep them as dry as I'd thought they'd be- and as I walked up to the hive, I saw bee shit all over #11. Classic nosema sign (but could be lots of reason)- almost like you see in books- but mostly, on the side of the hive, where bees had clustered (I am guessing) in the vent holes in the vented tops I made, and defecated down the sides of the hive. It was discouraging. Last year, my pal Brian and I wintered two hives up in this area- and all died- or suffered terribly- from the damp. Its just a few hundred feet elevation difference, and a few miles east to the mountains, so hard to fathom that there'd be a difference between town and the hills- but there is.
I washed the outside of the hive off with clorox and hot water (not sure if that was a good idea)- and pulled it all off the screened bottom board- and right then and there, I felt things were different than my hives downtown. There were dead bees (in both hives), and mold, and pieces of old Apil-Life, and just a general wetness, that frankly, I have seen in the old days in town- but have thought I have licked with vented tops and roof covers,
But my first guess- is that I failed these bees. And the basic failure was too small a roof. This has irony, as I am an architect. And dammit- should know better. But I think that despite the roof that I did put on these hives, a 2x3 piece of plywood that my brother in law had in his shop, it was not big enough. Water seeps. And it got in though the sides I guess, and driving rain through the entrance- and just the general, constant dampness of the area (I should have moved these hives, now that I think about it).
In any case, its a fight against water seeping, and making mold and this bad place where mold and amoeba and disease flower- way up here in the PNW- and in the end, decimate.
So: bigger roofs. Total dryness. That's my mantra.
On a side note -it was my birthday, and I went to the Family Grocer to get coffee and beer. And the coffee aisle faces, by 4 feet, the magazine aisle. So while looking at coffee, there was a boy on the floor behind me with a magazine spread out, and his dad, standing, looking at a hunting magazine, and the boy- 10 or 11 years old? starts reading out loud: to his dad along paragraph which ends with " ...and the rabbit, lupus (something or other), can turn its head 180 degrees and see behind itself...".
And to no one in particular, he comments loudly: "gee, I wonder how they do that?". Which I though was a pretty cool question and secretly wished the boy luck in the world.
But apparently not enough of a roof to keep them as dry as I'd thought they'd be- and as I walked up to the hive, I saw bee shit all over #11. Classic nosema sign (but could be lots of reason)- almost like you see in books- but mostly, on the side of the hive, where bees had clustered (I am guessing) in the vent holes in the vented tops I made, and defecated down the sides of the hive. It was discouraging. Last year, my pal Brian and I wintered two hives up in this area- and all died- or suffered terribly- from the damp. Its just a few hundred feet elevation difference, and a few miles east to the mountains, so hard to fathom that there'd be a difference between town and the hills- but there is.
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| Hive #11's remaing cluster- looking weak, but eating sugar muffins. I don't think prospects are too good, but one never knows. Bee shit on food- not good. Will attempt to clean out. |
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| Hives with bigger plywood roofs. Still wet. I took out a box from #11 on right- still filled with honey, but molding up. |
In any case, its a fight against water seeping, and making mold and this bad place where mold and amoeba and disease flower- way up here in the PNW- and in the end, decimate.
So: bigger roofs. Total dryness. That's my mantra.
On a side note -it was my birthday, and I went to the Family Grocer to get coffee and beer. And the coffee aisle faces, by 4 feet, the magazine aisle. So while looking at coffee, there was a boy on the floor behind me with a magazine spread out, and his dad, standing, looking at a hunting magazine, and the boy- 10 or 11 years old? starts reading out loud: to his dad along paragraph which ends with " ...and the rabbit, lupus (something or other), can turn its head 180 degrees and see behind itself...".
And to no one in particular, he comments loudly: "gee, I wonder how they do that?". Which I though was a pretty cool question and secretly wished the boy luck in the world.
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