I tried to get her on my finger, but she was focused on her duties and I interrupted her. 

She had crawled away from me and then wanted back up at the entrance. You see her climbing toward her guard post.

Below, the blackish bee is on the left, and a drone bee is on the right. The drone has the gold bands around the black and is noticeably larger.  When I inquired on a beekeeping group in Boulder, Colorado about this bee, I received this reply from decades long beekeeper and expert, Tom Theobald., "Probably no cause for concern. The packages we brought from California were bees from Italian queens (yellow), but with new queens that are Carniolan (grey or black), so as the package bees age and die off the color of the colony shifts to grey... or...bees are very accepting of strangers during a honey flow and will accept bees from other colonies that come in loaded, so there is a lot of drift from one colony to another and this may be the explanation for the dark bee. If  the colony isn't worried about it, you shouldn't be either."

​

I spent time with this little bee (below).  I love interacting with tiny life in similar ways that I do with furry animals or birds. Honey bees are quite gentle if they do not feel threatened.  They often land on me coming and going from the hive.  This little girl was adjusting her pollen load and was seemingly grooming like a cat. There's a fine line between witnessing a healthy, but very tired bee, and one that is  just beginning to exhibit signs of exposure to toxins. As the toxins get more absorbed, and the exposure increased, it is unmistakable, but in the very beginning, it's not as clear. A poisoned bee on her way to death, will move erratically, and falter like a drunk losing his/her footing. The movements will be involuntary and non stop. This bee was border line to me. She had some nervous energy, but it could have been severe fatigue. I did get her to go back into the hive to hopefully deliver her load.  

Some yoga stretching ...

She was licking off some of the sugar water I dribbled at the entrance to the hive. I also had bees on my fingers with the sticky water. They were lapping it up. 

Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (C.B.P.V.) 

In my search about the black bee, I came across this article and learned that some black bees can mean a virus.

​"Honey bees that appear black, hairless, and shiny may be infected with Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus also known as Hairless Black Syndrome. The symptoms of this virus appear only in adult bees and include the loss of body hair, trembling, and the inability to fly.

Affected bees are often described as “greasy” in appearance and are frequently seen near the hive entrance or clinging to blades of grass in the immediate vicinity of the hive. Their paralyzed wings are often held at an unusual angle that resembles the letter “K.”

Because the healthy workers in a colony will quickly get rid of the infected bees, Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus rarely takes out a whole colony and is considered only a “minor” honey bee disease. However, if you find large numbers of such bees, the colony can be fortified by supplementing the population with brood from another colony. Usually, an infected hive will recover on its own.

Because some research has shown that susceptibility to the disease may have a genetic component, re-queening a hive may be necessary to prevent future outbreaks.

In my own experience, I have seen these symptoms only twice. Both times I found three or four distinctly greasy-looking bees walking around on the top bars with their wings splayed out. I removed these individuals and never noticed any further evidence of disease.
​
Don’t panic if you see symptoms of the disease, but stay alert. If the incidence of infected bees seems to increase, consider re-queening. As with most viral diseases, there is no cure for CBPV."

Rusty (source)

The photo below is of my bees today. Temps reached up into the high 60's by noon and the bees were busy making lots of runs for nectar and pollen. 

I've had my bees for exactly 3 weeks and one day. I think they're doing very well. They were bringing in dandelion pollen within the first week. It's about the only "flower" in my neck of the woods this early in the year. Elevation is 7,700 where I live and winters are long. The snow is still melting in the surrounding hills. 

 The bees love it when I dip my fingers in sugar water! They drink from me like a trough.

I sent the above two pictures to my cousin who is also a beekeeper (more knowledgeable than I) and she said, the comb here is what is called burr comb. In man-made hives it's basically comb anywhere but in a frame where the beekeeper doesn't always want it. Bees put it in gaps they want to fill that are bigger than 5/8 in. A lot of folks will simply scrape it off to keep the hive easier to work with so you aren't always pulling apart the bees work every time you open the hive.  What looks like honey (the shiny stuff) could be uncapped honey, but she guesses it's probably water, which they gather and bring home in addition to pollen and nectar. 

This little girl wasn't feeling well. She was either fatigued or had encountered some insecticide. 

I love becoming part of their environment so that they feel comfortable to land on me and adjust their loads before flying on into the hive. I was trying to put one bee near the entrance that had me "home" for awhile, but she just wanted to stay on me!

Below you can see the yellow and orange pollen coming in. It's a great source of protein for the bees. 

 
Today, I took some of the frames out to inspect. The top board that you see on the top right (see photo below) had comb being built onto it, which makes it difficult to open the hive because it disturbs the bees more when I pry it open. I took that top off and set it on the ground and let the bees leave it on their own and replaced the top with a fresh one. 

I didn't use smoke on my bees and I rarely do. I just move slowly and try not to ever jolt or bump them. That really bothers them when it happens. If I'm slow and fearless, they do fine. I did not get stung. I don't wear protective clothing. I prefer being able to connect with my bees enough that I am accepted by them. I had some aggressive bumps when I lifted the frame, and I back up when that happens if I don't have a frame in my hands. I want to show that I can respect their request for space. I'll pull a frame out and set it down and then photograph it. I let them calm down if they've gotten a bit spooked. Then I gently and slowly put the frame back. 

I often sit with my bees as they hoover above and all around me. I love the sound of their buzz and the feel of them so close. I'll put my hand at the hive entrance and they'll land on me as they're coming in with nectar and pollen. They'll crawl over me on their way out. Not once do they tell me they are threatened. There's a sound bees can make when they aren't happy. This hive is so sweet and kind to me. 

The bees are building up quite a lot of comb between frames 2 and 3 from the right.

Neonicotinoids persist in soil and are readily transported via air, dust and water both within and outside the planted fields.

Seeds coated with bee-killing neonicotinoid insecticides are now used on more than 150 million acres of U.S. corn, soybeans, cotton and other crops.

After seeds coated with neonics are planted, the chemicals spread far beyond the crop they are intended for and can contaminate nearby wildflowers, soil and water — all of which pose significant threats to bees foraging and nesting in the area. It has been known for several years that these chemicals can kill or weaken more than just the targeted pests.

Non-target harm can occur to beneficial invertebrates, as well as to birds and other wildlife, through both direct and indirect effects."

The EPA has consistently violated it ‘s responsibilities under the law and are under the complete control of the chemical industry." Please read full article here.

Source:
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/…/court-holds-bee-killin…

A close up of a drone from a previous season. I love their coloring.

I've never invested in a bee suit or veil. I started my bee-ventures when I stumbled upon a wild hive back in 2011. I got so used to being around wild bees that it never occurred to me to wear special clothing. I can tell by the sound of the bees if they're upset or if there's a worried bee that I should worry about. I have been stung fewer than a dozen times since 2011. I seem to react well to the stings, though I know that can change over time. I just love being with the bees and handling them; feeling their tiny feet and the vibration of their buzz. I welcome them to land on me. I put sugar water on my fingers today and had the bees lapping it up. Connecting with tiny life like this is part of who I am. I love connecting with all life in a very hands on way. ​

Today, April 22, 2017, marks the start of my new bee season. I took my dog on the 2+ hour ride to pick them up and he sat with them for more than half the ride home. A symphony of non-stop buzz filled the car. I do love that sound.

The hauler of the bees started to kill all the bees on the outside of my cage before he handed them to me. He called them collateral damage and apologized if I found it upsetting. I stopped him before he finished the slaughter and said I'd encourage the rest to fly off as I took possession of my bees. As I walked back to my car, a passerby asked me if I was talking to the bees. I said, "Yes." I'm thinking, "Of course, doesn't every beekeeper?" I'd been talking to the ones hanging on the outside. I let some crawl on my hand and told them they needed to find a new home. I gently blew at them, but I ended up with a half dozen who hitchhiked with us on the outside of the cage all the way home. I couldn't persuade them to stay. I hope they will be accepted into the hive. (The experts tell me they won't.)

Coop put his nose right up to the temporary cage and licked the sides. He must have smelled the sugar water. The buzzing didn't bother him.
​
I saw elk and hawks on the journey, and had my very first glimpse of a glossy ibis! (I think.) I watched him land in a hay field and pulled over to take pics, but he was so far away. He looked like a sandhill crane in the air. What caught my attention was the rust colored plumage.

I'm a nervous bee mom this morning. April 23rd. But first, I want to say how sweet this hive is. They remind me so much of my first hive. Not once yesterday did I hear the angry buzz I had with my hives last summer. I had the warning bumps yesterday, but not one sting. There wasn't ever a frenzied buzzing sound even though I know the long transport from California had to have been harrowing and very stressful, in addition to my transport yesterday.

It'll be days before the girls acclimate to their new surroundings and only time will tell if they will accept the new queen. Once the candy plug is eaten, the queen will crawl out and be loved or killed. I'm using an open trough thing inside the hive filled with 1:1 sugar/water. Wood is placed in the trough to float so the bees won't drown, but I know it's not 100% effective and will need supervision. But here it is almost 4 p.m. - one full day since I got them -- and all seems good.  Fingers crossed. I already love them. 

Since I'll be around my bees with my camera a lot, I put it near the hive and let them explore it. 

To my bee friends who don't keep bees, can you pick out the drone in the photo? 












(Top Center)

When I dove into the mass of bees this morning, I could feel their group warmth! This was the softball size huddled mass that spent the night outside in their travel home. 

I love being around their beauty! This mass of golden glossiness is gorgeous to me. 

After sadly losing my first colony of honey bees over the winter, I was "beeless" until the middle of May when I picked up two new hives. There's an energy that bees bring to bee lovers, and looking out my kitchen window to empty hive boxes from the end of February to mid May, left me with an odd feeling of emptiness and loss.  I was so excited to be bringing that beautiful bee energy back into my life.

I think my bees originally journeyed from California to Colorado. I then I drove them four hours from the city to their new home with me in a small, mountain town. One hive was doing well from day one. The girls were bringing in brightly colored pollen in no time. My other hive was smaller and I saw much less pollen going in.  I'd also been forewarned that it was a weak hive.

During a thorough investigation, the hive that always has girls filled with pollen coming and going daily, showed all the good signs of being healthy. It's definitely what bee lovers love to see.

Above are sealed brood cells where females will be born. In the
photo below, you're seeing drone cells, where the males will emerge.
Notice the difference in shape. Drone cells are quite distinguishable from
worker bee cells because of their round mounds. Drones take up more
space in the cells because they are larger than the worker bees.

In the photo below, the cells were glistening in the
bright sunlight. I'm guessing it's nectar or honey.
This was in one of the frames in the second box, known
as the "super" that sits on top of the bottom box which
is the brood chamber, also known as a "deep".  This
frame was full of the liquid stuff and considerably
heavier than any other frame.

 In the photo below, I think I'm seeing exposed larvae.

Below are more drone cells. I'm not sure why there are so many.

Below is capped honey again. Notice how capped
​honey is light in color and fairly smooth and flat.

Pictured above is a baby bee, just newly born! You can tell by the color and fuzziness. I always think baby bees are precious! Below is also a baby bee, but a little older.

As I said, from the time I got one of my two hives, it was showing signs of weakness. Since it was my first time dealing with a hive that wasn't thriving, I wasn't sure what to do. First, I gave them some time to see if their new surroundings and time would make a difference. I watched some bees going into the hive with pollen. I saw a couple of frames full of bees. I thought maybe it was just early in the year and they'd just gotten off to a slow start. In hindsight, I waited longer than I should have to figure out what was going on. ​

Without someone to guide me by seeing what I'm seeing, I only have reading books, searching online and examining my photos to try to figure out what's going on. I can also submit photos to an online bee student group. I usually try to do my own research first.

 I turned to one of my bee books called Beekeeping Mentor in a Book, by Don Studinski. Don teaches hands on beekeeping to many, many beginning and mid level beekeepers over in the Denver, Colorado area. What I learned was how to inspect the hive to determine if my hive was queenless. Things that are red flags are seeing too many drones (male bees) and a widely scattered pattern of drone cells.  Drone cells are very easy to spot; they're bulky and roundish. Also, I wasn't seeing much pollen going into the hive and the hive was not growing. Both are bad signs.

Below is a drone cell up close. Notice the texture. I tend to notice colors and textures instinctively because of photography and my love of that sort of thing, but it's also important as guardians of bees to learn to read the various colors and textures inside the hive to help identify the stages of growth and what constitutes a healthy or floundering hive.

   There are signs of a recently emerged drone in the photo below. You can see the rough edges around a couple of the cell openings. One drone looks to be inside and may not have fully emerged yet. What is most telling about this photo, and I saw it in other photos and wondered what was going on, is there are signs of many eggs in one cell. That's a sure indication that a worker bee is laying eggs.

I read a bee blog by David and Sheir burns that said, "Sometimes a newly mated queen or queen without room to lay may lay more than one egg in a cell, but a laying worker will fill up a cell with eggs." You'll see the eggs in a couple of the cells on the right toward the bottom. It's not very clear in the pic, but if you look closely, you can make out some squiggly white looking stuff inside on the bottom of the cell.

When a queen dies and isn't replaced by the colony (or by a human caretaker), a worker bee may begin to lay eggs. The problem with this, however, is that she can only lay drones (males) because her eggs are not fertilized. Drones have only one purpose in life and that's to mate with the queen. Otherwise, drones do nothing to advance the health or wealth of the hive. They take up space and utilize resources while giving nothing in return. The male who gets to fertilize the queen will die when the two disengage. It's a gruesome death; his sex organs are torn from his body in flight as the queen separates from him.  

Without a fertilized queen laying healthy baby girls, a colony will die. So, from my photos and analysis, my hive had a worker bee (maybe several) laying eggs, which meant there was no queen. I have since discovered it's not uncommon to lose a queen, which is one of many reasons to keep a close eye on the hives if you hope to have thriving colonies.

In my weak hive, there were only two frames with bees and I never saw the queen. She could have been there, because it can be very hard to find her, but all other indications confirmed my suspicions. I thought the hive had also gotten smaller, which it will do since there are no girls to take over, and the older bees die off. My big question was what to do now. Time was of the essence.

I made the decision to combine the weak hive in with my good hive. I read that it's an option. I don't know if the bees will be accepted, but I have no access to another queen in a very short period of time so I did what I felt best. I took the box of the weak hive and set it on top of the other two boxes. I've checked often and there seem to be more bees in the weak hive than there were two days ago. I did notice about 30 dead bees around the hive after their first night. I don't know if they were killed in a territorial dispute or what. There were some bees who were left outside when I put the weak hive onto the good hive. Maybe they just didn't make it into the hive. I'll never know for sure. I find it distressing not fully understanding things.

In Don's book, I learned that there will always be some workers who lay eggs. "As long as there is a queen in the hive, the laying workers are kept under control by normal queen and brood pheromone." Pheromones serve as a critical means of communication between all members of a colony. Pheromones are "involved in almost every aspect of development and reproduction (including queen mating and swarming), foraging, defense, orientation, and in general the whole integration of colony activities, from foundation to decline." source

ONE LAST UPDATE FOR TODAY

When I checked on the added bees today, I found them highly disgruntled and many less bees on the two frames. I decided to move the frame with the most activity right into the second box -- the "super" and set the other frame out next to the box to see if the remaining bees will find their way into the hive. What they're working on isn't doing anything. Maybe I should have let them fend for themselves. I don't know whether they're so confused now, or weren't accepted. I just don't know what's going on. 

I didn't get stung once doing my inspections a few days ago. Today I got stung immediately on the face, near my eye. Never have been stung ON my face before. Most stings don't even hurt or swell. This one hurts! The girls were very mad right from the beginning and that hive, the weaker one, had always been very sweet and gentle. I have no idea what that means. I gave my antique bee smoker to my niece last year, so I fashioned up a makeshift one and used it a little after I got stung. The girls still seemed agitated. I got two bees stuck in my hair! That's a kind of buzz you don't want to hear. The bees are upset and frightened and their buzz is highly stressful to both them and me! I'll keep you all posted ...

ALL PHOTOS BY BETSY SEETON

When they were bearding in a large mass, I sat down to play with them. That day, my bees were unusually cozy staying on me after I scooped them. Typically, when I scoop them, they buzz around on my hand and will soon, one-by-one, fly off. That day, they just wanted to stay on me.  I spent an hour or so with them.

I was scooping up enormous numbers of bees and they would buzz in my hand without a care. It was the most amazing day I'd had with them all summer! I felt so incredibly connected to them. They seemed to love my company more than usual.  

Some of the bearding bees were piles of drones. 

My "mitt" of bees!

By late afternoon, it seemed as though nearly half the hive was on the outside of the box.

Below is the history of the BAYER company. They shouldn't even be in business after what they did during WWII. This should be taught in school. 

SOURCE

"Bayer AG is a chemical and pharmaceutical giant founded in Barmen, Germany in 1863 by Friedrich Bayer and his partner, Johann Friedrich Weskott. Today it has its headquarters in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It trademarked acetylsalicylic acid as aspirin in 1899. It also trademarked heroin a year earlier, then marketed it world-wide for decades as a cough medicine for children "without side-effects", despite the well known dangers of addiction.

During the First World War, Bayer turned its attention to the manufacture of chemical weapons including chlorine gas, which was used to horrendous effect in the trenches. It also built up a "School for Chemical Warfare". During this time Bayer formed a close relationship with other German chemical firms, including BASF and Hoechst. This relationship was formalised in 1925 when Bayer was one of the chemical companies that merged to form the massive German conglomerate Interessengemeinschaft Farben or IG Farben, for short. It was the largest single company in Germanyand it became the single largest donor to Hitler's election campaign. After Hitler came to power, IG Farben worked in close collaboration with the Nazis, becoming the largest profiteer from the Second World War. Amongst much else, IG Farbenproducedall the explosives for the Germanmilitary and systematically looted the chemical industries of occupied Europe. It's been described as the Nazis' "industrial jackal" following in the wake of Hitler's armies.

During the Second World War, IG Farben used slave labour in many of its factories and mines and by 1944 more than 83,000 forced labourers and death camp inmates had been put to work in the IG Farben camp at Auschwitz in Nazi-occupied Poland. Auschwitz was a vast labour and death camp where more human beings were put to death than were killed in the whole of World War I. It was comprised by 3 main camps: Auschwitz I, a concentration camp; Auschwitz II (Birkenau), an extermination camp in which by 1944 some 6,000 people a day were being killed; and Auschwitz III, which supplied slave labour for the nearby IG Farben plant (Buna-Werke, also known as IG Auschwitz).

IG Farben's Auschwitz plant was a massive industrial complex. The largest outside of Germany, it consumed as much electricity as the entire city of Berlin. Built and run by slave labour, it is thought - at a conservative estimate - to have cost at least 35,000 lives. In 1941, Otto Armbrust, the IG Farben board member responsible for IG Farben's Auschwitz project, told his colleagues, "our new friendship with the SS is a blessing. We have determined all measures integrating the concentration camps to benefit our company." But not only did thousands of slave labourersdie from the conditions in which they worked for IG Farben, those camp inmates who were viewed astoo sick or weak to continue to labour in the IG Auschwitz plant were selectedfor the gas chambers. IG Farben paid 100,000 reichsmarks each year to the SS and in return was assured a continuous supply of fresh slave labour, while being "relieved" of unfit inmates.

Elie Wiesel, the writer, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor, came to Auschwitz in 1944 and was sent with his father to IG Farben's Buna work camp. That same year, the Holocaust survivor and author Primo Levi was among 125 men selected at the railhead for labour at IG's Buna-Werke. One of only 3 survivors from this group, Levi later wrote about his experiences in searing detail: "A fortnight after my arrival there I already had the prescribed hunger, that chronic hunger unknown to free men... On the back of my feet I already have those numb sores that will not heal. I push wagons, I work with a shovel, I turn rotten in the rain, I shiver in the wind, already my own body is no longer mine: my belly is swollen, my limbs emaciated." In Night, Elie Wiesel's acclaimed memoir of his personal experiences of the Holocaust, he describes how veterans of IG's Buna-Werke told those who had arrived there late in the war that the brutal treatment they were experiencing was as nothing to what had previously been endured by the IG work force: "No water, no blankets, less soup and bread. At night we slept almost naked and the temperature was 30 below. We were collecting corpses by the hundreds every day... Work was very hard... [The gangmasters] had orders to kill a certain number of prisoners every day; and every week selection [for the gas chambers] - a merciless selection."

When it came to "selection", it was an IG Farben subsidiary, with IG Farben managers on its Management Committee, that manufactured and supplied Zyklon B to the SS. This poisonous cyanide-based pesticide, on which IG Farben held the patent, was used during the Holocaust to annihilate more than a million people at both the Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek extermination camps. The form of Zyklon B used in the gas chambers was deliberately made without the normal warning odorant. IG Farben also supplied the SS with the Methanol used to burn the corpses.

In 1946 the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal concluded that without IG Farben the Second World War would simply not have been possible. The Chief Prosecutor, Telford Taylor, warned: "These companies, not the lunatic Nazi fanatics, are the main war criminals. If the guilt of these criminals is not brought to daylight and if they are not punished, they will pose a much greater threat to the future peace of the world than Hitler if he were still alive." Their indictment stated that due to the activities of IG Farben "the life and happiness of all peoples in the world were adversely affected."Chargesas graveas fomenting war and killing slave labourers were alsoadded. In his opening statement the Nuremberg Chief Prosecutor pointed out that, "The indictment accuses these men of major responsibility for visiting upon mankind the most searing and catastrophic war inhuman history. It accuses them of wholesale enslavement, plunder and murder." CLICK TO READ FULL HISTORY

Pictured above is a side view of the tree where the hive was located. 

Pictured above and below is the hive and bees coming and going.

Below are photos from my hive on August 26, 2015

Researchers concluded that increased exposure to nature "can have positive effects on mental/psychological health, healing, heart rate, concentration, levels of stress, blood pressure, behavior, and other health factors." READ FULL ARTICLE

To make a bee 'drip', you scoop bearding bees. I often do it toward evening.  (If you don't know what bearding is, click here.)

Depending on how many you're able to gently and slowly scoop, you'll end up with a gathering like this, pictured below. 

The bees will stay on my hands for various lengths of time. I start to play with them by moving my fingers apart.  One by one, they will eventually fly off. 

I used an old smoker one time, and only some paper caught on fire. It was about as much smoke as a match gives off. After that, I never used a smoker again. I've read where smokers are a must use. I've even read opinions that say it's mean to not smoke the hive; that the bees are stressed more if a smoker is not used.  I've worried a bit about that statement. I would not want to do anything to hurt or stress my bees. However, I have a different theory, or at least some questions.

The way I understand how a smoker works is that it effectively calms bees because smoke makes them instinctively think their hive is in danger and that they may have to abandon their home right away. The bees quickly gorge on honey to prepare for their fast departure in case they won't have another honey source for a while. Supposedly, the bees are preoccupied with sucking down honey and the gorging makes them less agitated.  I'm unsure of the science behind gorging, but I know humans are less active after a large meal. Maybe it's the same sort of effect.

When the human is done with the inspection (or done with taking the honey) the bees just lived through the tremendous threat that their home was going to be wiped out. They live through this every single time the smoke is used. How is it less stressful for them to endure that then it is when I don't use smoke? 

I think my bees have learned that the sounds and smells associated with me fooling their hive are not a threat.  By not inducing fear via smoke, I think they feel less stressed all the way around. I know this may seem ridiculous to even write about. There are beekeepers with decades of experience out there and there is history dating back thousands of years, and all say the same thing: smoking bees is necessary. 

I just happen to have a sweet hive. For whatever reasons, my bees don't seem inspired to attack me or sting me, so I can't see a reason to change what I'm doing.

I would not presume to tell others what to do. I am not suggesting to stop using a smoker. All I can do is go by what I feel and what I am experiencing. I am new to being a guardian of honey bees. My bees came to me two months ago. I spend time talking to them and touching them nearly on a daily basis. They are often ever ready to climb on my finger. I've blogged about my theories about how bees can sense human's emotions and intentions.  Here's my blog called A SENSE OF WONDER. I think some humans and bees can have a most symbiotic relationship.  I only urge guardians and bee keepers to find ways to make deeper connections with their bees. Any time we increase understanding between life forms, the world benefits.

I may have a hive some day that is not nearly so gentle and kind. All I can do is speak about this hive; the one I have right now, and they seem extraordinarily trusting. I have inspected the hive many, many times and not only do I not smoke them, I don't wear a bee suit or veil. I'm in sleeveless shirts and sandals. I've been stung once on my hand at the end of an inspection. 

Click here to read about my one and only sting so far. I wasn't even sure I got stung.