Drone larva?

It rained all night and part of this morning.

I can see the hive from my porch and noted a few, most likely scouts, coming and going very early while it was raining. As soon as it quit I went down to see what was going on. I check it several times a day to see how much pollen is coming in and what color. Still trying to figure out where it is coming from. I know some is from the SpiderWort I have all around the yard.

I was surprised to see several dead bee larva in the grass in front of the hive.  I gathered up 9 of them, 2 still moving a bit. I could find no mites using a magnifying glass. There is a bit of dirt and grass on them.

There were also a couple of live full grown Drone with them.

I also saw about 20 bees sitting on blades of grass.  I thought they may have gotten too wet during the rain to get back into the hive and most are gone now.

These look like Drones to me…

Do they throw them out if they have too many?

The hive is only 50 days old and from a package. I quit feeding them a few days ago. Even though there seems to be a lot of plants blooming and my Bottle Brush are blooming again, maybe there isn’t enough feed for them. I read the Drones are the first to go when the food supply gets low.

We had a couple of hot days and the entrance seemed awfully crowded so I removed the reducers…perhaps too soon.

I put a couple of large pieces of slate on the ground in front of the hive so it will be easier to see what they are getting rid of.

I just went down to check the slate and saw a worker bring a live Drone out and attack it.

All help greatly appreciated.

Honey Bee Hive Entrance 4.29.13

I had 2 reducers in the entrance until 4.23.13. I removed one to give them more room after we checked the hive.

This picture was taken 4.12.13…..

When we got home from a week on the river, (www.alwayslingerawhile.blogspot.com) I noticed a larger number of bees and removed the second one.

Most of the bees were cleaning or fanning.

The entrance looks pretty crowded to me. It’s 17 days since the first picture at the top was taken….definitely a few more bees today. You can see one of the reducers to the right of the hive.

4.29.13

The package has been in the hive about 48 days now. I’ve seen 2 good frames of brood and there are probably more…we didn’t want to disturb them more than necessary to see if she was laying well.

When we checked them last week there was only one empty frame. I have a medium super on and will check them in a few days to see if they’ve started building there.

When I put my ear to the back of the hive I can hear a lot of humming in both the deep and the medium super.

The bottom board has 2 sizes.  I am considering turning it over when I check them and putting in reducers for awhile. If I put a white sheet on the ground under the hive stand, I will  be able to see the Queen if she should fall out…I hope…

If you have any suggestions on doing it right away or waiting or just leaving it as is…..I’m listening, and would appreciate them.

Cape May Warbler?

I spotted this little bird in my Bottle Brush bush with a Northern Parula Warbler.

These are not very good pictures. I had to take them from a video, but it would not sit still long enough for snapshots.

My field guide said the Cape May Warbler was the only warbler with “chestnut cheeks”.  Sure looks like this one has them.

I’ve put in several photos from different angles so someone who knows their warblers can make a call on this.

It has the black cap, chestnut cheeks and breast stripes.

Florida did not look like part of it’s habitat. That is the reason I am questioning it.

 

It looks like the Cape May Warbler to me. Perhaps I misunderstood the paragraph on the range for them.

Here’s part of the video…also not very good.

Hive Check 4.23.13

My neighbor, George, has had Honey Bees for years. I asked him to take a look at my hive. They looked good 2 weeks ago…but I checked them myself. After I found a frame of brood that looked good (according to pictures I found on the internet) I didn’t go any farther into the hive. I needed an expert opinion.

He looked at this frame that was mostly filled out…looks like they are storing some nectar here. The frames in this hive have no foundation …you have to be very careful how you handle the frames. They can be rotated end to end but must be kept in an up right position or the comb can break. Probably not the best way for me to start, but I bought small cell Honey Bees that have been raised this way and I want to continue.

 

Here’s a closer look. This was one of the frames with the tiny little comb in my last check.

After seeing this frame of brood he said it was doing well and we didn’t need to look any farther. The numbers of bees are increasing and the brood pattern looked good.

I put everything back together. There was still a little feed in the jar so I left it for them to clean up. George thinks there is enough feed in our area now so I can stop feeding them. They are only taking about 1/2 cup a day. Doesn’t seem like much for the number of bees. Guess they aren’t really interested in it.

We have the boat all packed and ready for travel…we’re going boating for a few days!!!

I’ll miss my “girls”.

Cuban Tree Frog

He might be a cute little thing…but he is killing off all of our little green tree frogs that are native.

We used to have the native green tree frogs all over. You could find them on your windows in the morning getting the moisture, or sitting in the plants. I’ve only seen a few in the last few years.

Indigo Bunting at the feeder 2.28.13 (another draft I forgot to post)

I’ve noticed a couple of brown Indigo Buntings coming to the feeders with the Painted Buntings. They are either female or juveniles.

Yester day I saw a Blue Indigo and it was back today.

This one is most likely one of the brown ones. You can see it is still in molt. Once it’s finished, it will be a stunning blue.

You can see some of the pin feathers on it’s head that look like they are coming out. Not one of it’s prettiest stages. They are usually in full breeding color when they leave in April.

Honey Bees bringing in pollen

The package of Honey Bees has been in the hive 30 days. At 1:30 this afternoon I decided to see if I could get some pictures of them bringing in pollen.

I like the way they line up to come in.

I like this photo because you can really see the eye on the one in the air.

I took these out of the video at the bottom. I see 2 distinct colors of pollen. None of the Spiderwort are blooming now. I don’t know where they are getting it.

A couple of very full sacs.

It looks like a lot of pollen for a small number of Honey Bees, but then…what do I know.   I ‘m not sure what percentage of bees are pollen bees, nectar bees and water bees. I do know that the water bees will take nothing but water. We had some getting water from our boat a few years ago and didn’t realize what they were doing. So we put a plate of honey near them and they ignored it. They had a job to do and they did it.

You have to watch very closely to see them come in with the pollen they are so fast. They seem to know exactly where to land unless another bee is clogging up the “skyway”.

Orientation flight this afternoon. It gets very busy for a few minutes then they all head back inside to finish their jobs. It’s fun to watch the workers try to get inside with all the traffic. You can see one with pollen just in front of the hive opening. They just keep on working.