Natural New England: Bee Update

I checked on the bees only a few short weeks ago, but the snow and some windy weather has since wiped out my colony. I discovered this last week, and have been on damage control ever since. I realized there were three things that I must do to continue being a beekeeper, and to grow and learn from the situation.

1. Call someone more experienced for advice. I rang up a local expert, and made a plan for her to come over and do an impromptu colony autopsy. She was very obliging, and came over the day after I called. Her determination was that the bees died from the cold. They were close to their honey stores, but not close enough. The cold immobilized them and they couldn't get to their food. So, really, they died from cold and starvation. Poor buggers. Some were dead with their heads in the cells.

2. Order up a new colony. I called up my local supplier and placed an order for a new package of Italians and a queen. Those bees should be here within a few weeks, so my hive won't be empty for long!

3. Clean out the hive and harvest the honey. On a nice day, I opened up the hive and scraped out all the errant wax and some of the propolis. The propolis is like glue, and very hard to clean. I did the best I could with that. I borrowed the honey extracting equipment from the Hampden County Beekeepers Association (they lend this equipment to members), and my husband and I took the better half of a day to extract the honey. We uncapped the combs, put them in the spinner, spun the honey, and strained it into jars. Here are some pics of the process.