swarmed

During weekly inspection early this month, we found that the colony decided to swarm. Are we not up to the par when it comes to bee keeping? I am partly relieved and partly left with guilt. Definitely Allah knows what is the best for us and for the colony of course, however the guilt sensation is there.

Hubby seems to consider purchasing another colony from a different supplier this time. Well I told him, sure but not in too near future. I need to mourn over the loss.

After the incident, hubby told me he had few dreams on the bee. One of it was being eaten by predator. Considering the previous month was the holy month of Ramadhan, it was an early signed I guess. No wonder hubby was not shocked upon discovering the empty hives.

Birds, Lizards, Ants and Monkeys

The hives are in a 3 acres pineapple farm. Plenty of source to make honey right? Yup but don’t forget the pests. First it was the birds, not to mention lizards which cohabit the hives. We put up a 3m x 12m net and it did trapped a bird. No more birds within sight landing to catch the hardworking bees. The lizards? Hubby moved the hives further in farm, not as close to the farm house.

Last weekend, hubby did hive-housekeeping. 1 of the queen passed away! Hubby combined the workers of the lost kingdom to the other hive. I read about how the workers might not be welcoming another colony. Well he did it without my knowledge, so let’s pray for the best. A slitted newspaper serves as barrier could make the combination of colony process a swifter move.

The ants are creating their spot at the ground, right below the hive. Easy access to the honey for the ants. Honey? If any.

The farm is currently being plant with bananas at few rows. Hence another pest that come into the farm is – monkeys!

In the final stage of Ramadhan, lets pray for the best. May Allah grant the best outcome needed upon our effort as what we want might not be good for us. Amin.

So bees, see you in Syawal.

The Farm

Smoking, smoking, smoking hot

The Two Hives

Usik Semut

The Boys at the Farm House

The bee could be seen on the right side of the picture – going in, out and about at the entrance of the hive.

The first inception on the day we moved the hive to the farm, we found out there was no more honey left in all the combs! They have been living off the honey during their orchard days instead of hunting for more nectar.

During the following inspection we could see the famous predator, Mr. Birdy.

The Jungle Look a Like Orchard

The Triving Hive

This hives was fine when we moved it into the orchard (with jungle feel as most of the habitat comprises of wild plants).

Building Own Honeycomb

Yups, the honeycomb was built from their concrete house days. When they were here at the orchard, the pollen we provided was left to dry unlike when they were in the klang valley area.  Just when you thought they better off to be left in the jungle, they seem to flourish when they were in the klang valley.

The additional honeycomb built was abandon when we decided to transfer the hives to a farm.

After the move from the orchard to a farm, we still wonder why the jungle like orchard seems to be unsuitable to the bees. Was there wasp interfering them?

Self Made Frame

The supplier ran out of frames and to accommodate more frames we decided to build our own frames. I bought 2 pieces of 6 feet 1/2 inch square wood at RM4.50/piece. Another RM0.50 for labour to cut it into pieces.

I nailed them all at the four edges.

1 piece of frame, another piece to go.

2 pieces of frame which 1 of it I will try to attach the honeycomb into it. A trial frame for each hive.

The attached honeycomb to the frame will be updated. Hope the bees welcome this new frame and it will fit well into their hives.

Into the Orchard

The hives have been moved, again and this time around into an orchard. No longer working from the office for the bees – their home for the past 2 weeks. Hopefully hubby and the bees will be better off there. No more relocating the hives in near future hopefully. Amin.

Beeswax instead of Honey

They are producing honeycomb everywhere. The existing comb is not full of honey but they are producing honeycombs. What are we doing wrong? More like what we should have done? We did nothing to it, left them in the hive doing their thing.

And, I had my first sting. It feels like a sting, a real STING! The real pain last for about half and hour, then it subside and I merely feel it anymore unless direct touch to the sting spot.

Hubby had his 1st sting before, today he had another 3 stings and 1 of it seems to attack hubby with full dosage. It last for approximately a day, it sore.

So he finally decided to wear a bee suit the following day. He ware his marching uniform from last years which he only wore once before. The material is sturdy compared to normal cotton shirt and it covers the whole body properly. We bought netting from the bridal department at a textile store which he wares on top of a cap, another pair of sturdier glove and he wares shoe this time around.

The colony are more aggressive in confine place since they do not have an open space to move when they are being disturbed.

A Sudden Move

On Friday uncle called hubby to inform that about a dozen of bees entered the house and surround a lighting fixture. He felt disturbed, sprayed pest control fume and called hubby. Hubby decided to move the hives to his hometown, approximately 4 hours journey from the current location.

Obviously I would disagree to the suggestion. I gave him few other locations as option considering we will eventually move it to an open area, an orchard. This is a temporary site which able us easy monitoring and inspection.

Yes it was our fault to believe that the bees will be well accepted at a new place which adjacent to human habitat. This serve as a good lesson for us: not everybody accept the bees with open arms and not everyone keen on the idea of being a beekeeper. If a person wants he could find out more about the bees -if a person WANTS.

The hives current location is still admist concrete jungle and hopefully it will be at this site for more than 6 days this time around. Amin.

Directly facing the window but not direct sunshine.

Facing the sunshine.

*The thoughts of expanding being beekeeper at mosque for the jemaah as practice at Kingston Mosque might not be a welcoming idea *

The Arrival

Alhamdulillah, the two hives arrived on 25th March.

Each hive could accommodate up to 10 combs. We are provided with 5 bar combs in each hive, plenty space for the additional comb by ourselves.