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This is one of the normal chicks.

The offending comb grower...

Although we ordered all pullets, it is very hard to have a 100% accuracy rate sexing newly hatched chicks, so there is always the chance you’ll end up with a surprise rooster.

Jeremy would be tickled pink to have a rooster so we could do some of our own breeding, but I’m not sure how that will go over with the neighbors. The other possibility I had considered was infection, but it didn’t seem to be bothering her and the other chicks weren’t pecking at it.

I posted an inquiry over at my new favorite forum, Backyard Chickens, to see what the more experienced chook owners have to say. Before I even finished typing this, I had several responses (gotta love the internet!). The consensus seems to be that there is nothing wrong with my little girl’s/boy’s comb and that she could very well be a he! I guess time will tell.

Ok, maybe this wasn’t the most traditional way to catch a buzz on your birthday. And, maybe I got a little tipsy later that night. I guess that would be two buzzes by a truthful count.

The first buzz was from a honeybee hive.

I received a call this week from a great guy named Sean. He had an old shed near a house on a lake that had a hive in it. The house had burned down, so he was having the lot cleared to build a new house. The shed was going to the dumpster too.

He didn’t want to kill the bees, and he ended up finding me on the Internet (all hail good SEO!).

When I got to the house Sean had yet to arrive. There were two 13-year-old boys hanging around outside of a minivan. One of their mother’s was sitting in the drivers seat.

“Hello. Is Sean around?” I asked.

“Nope. We’re just here to work,” said the mom.

A car pulled up and Sean got out.

He showed me where the entrance to the hive was. The foragers were happily zooming in and out, legs heavily laden with pollen on those going in. I stood in front of them to gauge how aggressive they were. They ignored me and flew around. Two guard bees flew out and gave me the eye before heading back to the entrance.

The hive's entran ce

Hurrah! The hive wasn’t hot. I didn’t relish putting on my coveralls. They aren’t involved with the most comfortable way of doing anything. I decided to go with just a veil. I could always put the coveralls on later if need be (and they were never needed). I did get three stings. One was my own fault, the other two I consider an inconvenience that didn’t outweigh the discomfort of the suit.

As I unloaded all of my cutout kit (see the items below in the photo gallery) a small crowd formed. A neighbor came by. He was very nice. He said his dad used to keep bees. He told me that the colony in the shed spit out swarms at least once a year. It had been in the shed for at leave four years.

That was good news for me. That meant that the hive was thoroughly feral. They were survivors. Just the type of genetics that I’m looking for.

The two young guys were still hanging around. It was their job to tear down the shed when I was done. They were pretty interested in the bees and showed the least amount of fear. A couple of men who were doing demolition on the foundation stopped by to watch for a while too. I stopped paying attention at that point and started working on figuring out where the hive was.

And inch and a half of dead bees.

Inside the shed was about an inch and a half of dead bees. They had been using the interior as their graveyard for years. It was kinda spooky.

I started taking down the drywall with a prybar and hammer (the only tools from my huge cache that I ended up needing for the demolition portion). Someone had knocked a couple holes through the wall in the past so you could see some spots where there was comb. It was ancient looking, very dark.

There used to be at least two colonies in the wall. The one to the right was abandoned. The wax was all old and brittle, even though it looked relatively new.

The old hive filled the entire area between the two wallboards and about a quarter of the adjacent space between the next wallboards. Most had been abandoned, or was at least unused. There were areas that had been attacked by a fungus in the past. It took me a while to locate the newer honey reserves and the brood area. I expected to find more brood than I did, although there was both capped and uncapped brood.

I took a few wedges of the freshest honey (there was old honey that had long ago crystallized) and strapped them to top bars with two and a half inch strips of cloth. The brood comb I cut into four different wedges. I tried to minimize the number of brood that I cut when I was doing the slicing and dicing.

I attached the brood to the top bars using a little trick that was suggested on a forum. I used hair clips. It worked great. The honey filled comb was way too heavy for this technique though.

I never saw the queen. I was able to shake or brush in over 90 percent of the bees in the hive, so I’m pretty sure I got her. But you never know. A day later they are all clumped up in the new top bar hive in my back yard. Today is a bit rainy and cold, so I haven’t seen any action. Yesterday after I brought them home I noticed them doing orientation flights though. We’ll have to wait and see.

Bee Cutout April 2009

We got our chickens today! Seven Silver Laced Wyandottes and nine Buff Orpingtons. Woot!

Really, they are quite disgustingly cute. Pics after the click.

Hot Young Chicks

I was finally able to get together with a homesteading buddy to work on our top bar hives last night. It was a hoot.

We are both now the proud owners of two hives each. Now if I can only get a call for a swarm…

We used the Kenya Top Bar Hive design from Michael Bush’s Web site. They are really a cinch to make and are quite affordable. The grand total for my two hives was $35! Not bad if you ask me.

Click on the first image below to see a slideshow with captions describing how they were made.

Building Top Bar Bee Hives

A honeybee swarm (from photofarmer on Flickr)

“Help, there’s a swarm of bees!”

If you hear someone screaming that phrase, or something similar, feel free to give me a call at the number above (if you are in west Michigan that is). I’ll be happy to come out and take the bees away to a new home (click here for my rates). If you aren’t in west Michigan, you can likely find someone to help on the Bee Source Forum.

From journeyguy on Flickr

First off, take some advice from a great book and DON’T PANIC. Bees are pretty calm when they are swarming. They aren’t really looking to pick a fight with you. If you or anyone else nearby is allergic to bee stings, please stay out of the area and make sure you know where your EpiPen is just in case.

When a bee swarm has landed on a tree or structure they are usually just taking a rest while their scouts circle the area looking for a suitable spot to build their hive.

It is a very natural thing for bees to swarm. It most often happens when their hive gets overpopulated.

If I can get free from what I am doing I will get open swarms (those not inside buildings or the like, they’ve already set up a hive by then most likely) for free in the Kalamazoo area. I will go to Allegan, Van Buren, Barry and Calhoun Counties, but I ask for $20 to cover gas.

Important! Don’t spray the swarm with insecticides or anything else. Contact a beekeeper who will come out and remove the mass of bees.

From Charles Haynes on Flickr