Last night I got a call from my mentor who reminded me about the summer dearth. Around this time of year the nectar flow is really low and to compensate you are supposed to feed the bees. This allows them to continue building strong for the fall. So it was off to the store to buy some sugar . I had to use a 1:1 ratio which ended up being 2 gallons of water and 20 lbs of sugar. Which made 4 gallons of syrup. 2 gallons for each feeder which should last a little over a week. The plan is to feed them one more time and then we should get our next nectar flow.
While I was there I snapped some pictures of a swarm that my mentor recently removed with his bee vac. Some shots of his solar wax melter in action. I noticed some bees drinking from his bird feeder and I got some nice close up shots of them drinking. I'm looking forward to being able to move them soon to a final location at our own house or at a public apiary I'm trying to set up locally. I'd like to get more swarm calls but I think that season has past, but I still might get calls for hive removals.
I bought some honey straws from my mentor for a presentation I'll be doing next week in my English class. I want to highlight beekeeping and Colony Collapse Disorder. Always nice to leave them with a small treat and it probably won't hurt my grade either!
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