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Learning Science. . .

Honey bees or Apis Mellifera, are an amazing system of life which we can explore on many different levels. Bringing kids and adults into the world of honey bees shows a system of life which is rich with complexity and intrigue.

I have found that kids in particular are amazed with the activities of bees and quickly dismiss the fear of stings. Overcoming the initial fear of bees suddenly leads to fascination and a passion for understanding their complex lives.

The Science of bees can be taught on many different levels. All grade levels from kindergarten up through high school can spend hours exploring different aspects of bee science.

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Learning control. . .

Well adjusted human beings have an inbuilt and learned fear of stinging insects. This is normal and to be expected. Being around thousands of buzzing creatures without running for the hills takes focus. Composure in the face of potential pain takes practice. Beekeeping is a journey.

The reality is, bees rarely sting and eventually stings really does not hurt too much. You learn to push away the fear and you will gain control. Gradually all you experience is the interesting lives of the bees in your care.

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Making Splits

Splits will be made from mother colony WildCA18A. The goal is to create several new colonies from my least aggressive, most productive and most hygienic colony. Also I would like to requeen the Wild17 colony which has become far too aggressive for my tastes.

Several capped brood frames and nectar pollen frames were taken from both the WildCA18A colony and the Wild17 colony. Two frames of larva were taken from WildCA18A mother colony and put into each of the splits.

Both splits were taken to the campus approximately 12 miles away to start new colonies.

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Queen Grafts – Failed

Day 6 after larva were grafted. The queen cells should be capped at this point. However the queen cell contents look desiccated and not viable. It appears that I may not have given the colony enough ventilation during the recent abnormally high temperature.

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Queen Grafts – Grafting Day

I had 3 successful 2018 overwinter colonies. WildCA18A colony has shown itself to be extremely gentle, productive and the most hygienic colony I have seen to date. They appear to have a good mite resistance. I would like to carry these genetics forward. Also possible re-queening Wild17 colony.

Pulled 1 frame of larva with 1-4 days old eggs and larva from WildCA18A. I grafted using a “Chinese grafting tool”, 8 larva of the correct size and shape into plastic queen cups. These queen cups had been previously polished out by nurse bees and should be more accepted.

This single grafting frame was placed into a starter colony box. The starter colony box was prepared the day prior with 2 frames of nurse bees and 2 frames of pollen and nectar from WildCA18A colony.