Mass Exodus

After my initial attempt to save the hive I had some time yesterday to take a look inside. The ants had bypassed the sticky goo somehow and were still getting to the hive. I moved a table out and placed the legs in water and then moved the hive to that table. I reviewed the hive and there seemed to be an adequate amount of honey and lots of activity so I thought everything might be okay. But then today when I got home from work I noticed there didn't seem to be any activity around the hive. As I got closer I couldn't hear any hum of activity and when I removed the top I saw that all the bees had gone; there just a few stragglers hanging about. The crazy thing is that all the honey I had seen yesterday was gone. They had uncapped all the comb with honey and took it with them.

So now I think I just need to shut the farm down for the winter and start afresh in the spring when the carriage house is ready and everything is back to normal. I'd like to see if someone else will adopt our chicken and then I can get everything prepared for a new start.

Neglecting the Farm

The farm is a disaster at the moment. With the carriage house project under way there are piles of dirt, stacks of wood, and everything pushed out of the way. I've been neglecting the garden but it's still producing a few things like the cucumbers and tomatoes. The last chicken is lonely, though, and only comes out of its coop when I'm in the yard.

The worst thing I discovered is that the bee hive was overrun with ants. This is the time of year that the hive starts weakening and preparing for winter. Pollen availability is low and they need honey to feed themselves until February or so. Ants will come in and take all the honey leaving the bees vulnerable. I also saw evidence of bees from other hives trying to rob honey. I installed an entrance reducer and put some sticky goo on the hive stand to keep the ants away. I need to go into the hive to see how bad things are. I hope they survive until spring.