Welcome to our new beehive page! This is where to come for more detail & ongoing updates on the hives.
McConnell Springs Park is dedicated to the mission of History, Nature & Education.
Honey Bees are a crucial part of the natural environment and have been in Kentucky since before it was a state. As well as being beneficial to the park, we are glad to have a living exhibit of this wonderfully complex creature and their society. It’s our hope to share insights into the bee colony on this page and in future programming for park visitors.
Monthly Log for beehive maintenance
2020
June – cleaned & installed new bees (Saskatraz breed / Ueland Farms, Lexington, KY – contact them for honey @ (859)536-0031!) in old hive relocated to new site by the pond.
July – weekly feeding, sugar water (due to late start).
August / September – treatment for Varroa mites, the prime danger to honey bees. Installed with Larry, removed with Melissa.
October – Checked hive for honey, seems to be a lot, enough to get them through the winter, added “mouse guard”, removed liquid feeder.
November – Along with park staff, keeping an eye on the hive. Little activity as it gets colder, making plans for a wind break for Dec-Feb.
December – Added wind break for Dec-Feb. Added insulation to the ceiling of the hive. Have gotten approval to continue the hive in 2021, and to add a 2nd hive! If anyone is interested in supporting this project, that would allow us to provide additional educational opportunities. Some ideas are bee/hive programming, observational items, scientific monitoring, allowing us to better manage the hive and publish results for you to share in our experiences.
2021
January – Added dry sugar to hive, this is additional nutrition to their natural stores as insurance for winter survival.
Late January – Installed monitoring devices (2 of 3), for hive weight, upper hive & outside temperature.
(See graph at bottom of page.)
February – This month the hive experienced extreme ice and snow and low temperatures. As it starts to look more spring-like, I’m happy to report the colony has survived and is active!
In this video, you can see what we call “Orientation Flights”, the bees doing figure eights in front of the hive. Bees progress through stages, and these have just graduated to the outside/flying jobs like foraging or guard duty. Watch them crawl out, walk up the hive, then launch themselves into the air. Previously, they would have been caring for the brood, making wax & honey, taking care of the queen, all in the dark!
March – The bees have eaten all the winter “dry sugar” and I have been feeding them some pollen substitute until the plants catch up to our warm weather since the ice storm. The bees are active, and use a lot of energy, but may not be getting enough pollen/nectar yet.
April – With freezing nights behind us, we’ve removed the wind break, as well as the pollen substitute. They are bringing in more nectar & pollen as flowers increase. And the Queen is rapidly building up numbers of bees.. These next few weeks, I’ll be working on measures to make sure the colony has room to expand. That may involve removing some frames, adding boxes, and even splitting the hive. Another project is to do some testing to see if they have any health issues that need to be treated. The idea is to keep the colony strong and healthy.
If you see us in the “bee yard” we may be observing or taking readings to update the (below) graphs. If we are in beekeeping gear, we may be doing a hive inspection or other changes, like setting up a second hive!
At 2pm on April 23, the hive swarmed – thousands of bees in the air right around the hive. The beekeeper team arrived within the hour and were able to collect them and save them.
According to the State Apiarist, this swarm can’t be located in the park or it will return and swarm again. It has been relocated to a safe place and will serve as a backup colony for the park hives. Allowing swarms is a natural approach to beekeeping. The swarm allows for a break for the colony which helps kill the deadly Varroa Destructor mite which “vectors” disease, weakening the bees. This is one of the main causes of the Colony Collapse Disorder you may have heard about in the past few years.
We are keeping a close eye on the beehive as it is already in the process of growing baby Queens. And you may have noticed a second hive, a few dozen yards from the first. We are anticipating adding bees to this location within a few weeks – stay tuned!
BE AWARE we have had a couple disturbances of the hive this spring. If you see anything that seems out of the ordinary, please call the Honey Bee Hotline at: (859)23O-5l94. Leave a message, and if possible, a name & return number, so we can get more details (and thank you). Sometimes immediate attention can save a hive. This is everyone’s hive, and we appreciate your help!
May – Continuing to monitor the Boardwalk Hive, saw signs of hatching queen(s) and then eggs, larvae & capped brood! Preparing the 2nd hive location (Woodland Trail) for a new colony. Equipment was purchased during the winter, boxes & frames assembled, painted & waxed.
June – On June 4th, a hive is born! The young colony, a donation of Micka Ueland of Lexington, KY is now installed in the Woodland Trail Hive!
Also, as part of our partnership with the Blue Grass Beekeepers Association, we hosted their June meeting.
July – On July 9th, Jon & Don treated the hives for the varroa destructor mite. We also install a new screened bottom board and moved the Pond Hive to a new stand the park had built!
Both hives are doing well. We inspected for pests and signs of brood, a healthy Queen. Be sure to check our sensor data graphs at the bottom of this page.
We hosted the July meeting of the Blue Grass Beekeepers Association! If you’re interested in beekeeping, this organization is a good resource.
July 29, Don & I removed the formic acid strips (Formic Pro), completing the 2-week mite treatment.
Formic acid is a naturally occurring component in honey that not only kills adult Varroa mites but also kills 95% of the mites incubating under the cappings. Since it can be found naturally in honey, organic formic acid treatments can be applied during honey flow, leaves no chemical residue, and mites develop no resistance.
Saturday July 31, at 2:00, the McConnell Springs Beekeeper gave a talk at the hive.
August – On the 11th, Jon checked the hives. There is partial capped honey on a few frames in #1.
Trying out a theory, I drilled two holes in the #1 super for ventilation and easier access.
Replaced feeder on #2, Don will be feeding it sugar water to assist in building comb.
The sensor on #2, being increasingly defective, was removed for replacement.
Due to high temperatures and a lot of rain, not much else was done this month.
September/October – Working on winterizing. Mid Oct, started treatment for mites. Added sliding bottom boards and insulation under cover. Early November, will add mouse guards and remove mite treatment & honey supers (No honey this year). I have had reports that this summer & fall were bad for honey in parts of Kentucky.
November/December – The hives have been winterized, reduced the entrances to avoid mice. The Pond Hive was reduced to one box for the winter.
2022
January / February – The hives have settled into the winter. Although we leave a good amount of honey, hard/dry sugar has been added in case they run out of stores. They are regulating the heat & humidity in the hives. With the top insulation, there is no contact with the cold, and with a very small entrance, it allows them to preserve their precious winter heat & humidity.
March – After completing our first inspection, we have a few things on the list. The Pond Boardwalk Hive now has it’s second box back. We’ve opened up the entrances to a medium setting. Replenished dry sugar, and added pollen patties. With the Woodland Hive growing, I will add another box to be sure they have room to grow.
Additional sensors, a transmitter have been approved. The goal is real-time data uploads.
Summer – Through the summer, we have been having less frequent inspections due to weather schedules.
We have been able to extract a few pounds of honey, and are waiting to see what plans the Friends Board have for that.
Sensors have been installed in the new hive (see bottom of page!) Note, Woodland Trail has no weight or humidity sensors, just Pond Boardwalk. And you may see where we had to remove & repair the weight sensor, but that is back, and working well!
Young Honey Bees first time out of the hive, commonly called “Orientation Flights”.
This is a sign of a healthy hive. The queen is producing brood, and the bees are getting ready to forage and pollinate. They will actually start during the late winter in preparation for the large numbers they will need in the Spring.
You can recognize the orientation flight activity by the back & forth, “Figure 8” pattern.
Orientation Flights and also “Robbing” are often mistaken for “Swarming”.
Robbing is when a weak or dead hive is raided by other beehives for honey.
Swarming is not just a lot of bees flying around. Swarming is the way the colony replicates. When the hive gets full, the bees start making new queens, and then a good percentage of the bees leave with the old queen to look for a new home. a large number of swarms do not survive, so beekeepers will capture them, and place them in a safe home.
Thoughts on beekeeping
My great appreciation to my friend & mentor Larry, and also my friend and advisor Melissa! And to the Friends, MS staff and the city of Lexington. And thanks to Richard Pryor! And to the wonderful encouragement & support from the Kentucky Beekeeper community and others that provide solid research.
I had been very interested in beekeeping for 2-3 years before getting my first hive. During that time I visited with beekeepers Larry & Melissa, and since installing the hive, have assimilated numerous articles, reports, books, videos & workshops. For the most part, I am following my mentor’s advice, but am also working to develop my own philosophy as I incorporate my own ideas and experiences, as well as those of friend beekeepers and research. And understanding each hive is different, as is the hive environment, so the best path is to listen, think things through and then incorporate your own growing base of experience.
A philosophy should also include the goals of the site and our Friends group, which are nature, history, education. That leads me towards a more natural style of beekeeping. And with the intent of using the hive for educational programming.
History of the Hives
The first attempt (2018-2019) was made under the direction of the park staff as a volunteer project. After some time, expert supervision ceased and the hive died. I was aware of the project, but was not directly involved. It was located in a wooded area, with a close cage around it.
In mid 2019, I began to take a stronger interest, encouraging the park to plan ahead, offering assistance.
After plans/funding fell through in May 2020, I offered to take over the project. With the approval and support of the *FMS board, Larry & I restored the hive, bought a new set of bees and in early June installed them in our new location.
The new location is near the pond, but not prone to flooding. It faces East into the rising sun, and is in a clearing that gets sunlight through the day, and is raised a few feet. Our thinking is that all this gives the bees a natural advantage to fight pests.
Due to the late installation, we fed the bees (sugar water) more than normal, nonstop through the summer & fall. That does, in effect, “water down” the honey, so we have no plans to harvest honey in 2020. Need for sugar water feeding should be limited in 2021 (for the original hive).
Early June 2021 I added a second hive, the colony a donation of Micka Ueland of Lexington, KY!
As of early March, the hives are doing well!
Plans for 2022 include formal progamming on bees, including a portable observation hive and the Friends are investigating the possibility of processing & selling honey. We are also researching a permanent observation hive!
Jonathan Hagee – Beekeeper
- Board member, *Friends of McConnell Springs
- Web Developer/Admin
- Log Cabin Project
- Founder’s Day
- Traditional Musician
- Historian/Reenactor (with frontier Kentucky ancestors that were at McConnell’s Station / Fort Boonesborough / Ruddle’s Station, Fort Harrod, etc.)
With the wonderful assistance of Larry Ginter & Don Powell!
And great advice and equipment from HappBee Acres, East of Cincinnati. https://happbeeacres.com/
Also, Mimi Ball (local honey/beekeeper), Mick Ueland (local honey/beekeeper) and the Blue Grass Beekeeper’s Association.
Hive Sensor Data
Early 2021, I installed monitoring devices in the hive. These are sensors for hive weight and temperature. I have a system that allows me to upload the data to the “cloud” to be presented here in a graph.
Let us know if you are interested in sponsoring this project, so we can enhance this with additional scientific monitoring, “live” updates, and even a “Beehive Cam”! As it is, it may be several days in between updates.
I plan to participate in nature studies with the hope of helping our park pollinators to survive and thrive.
Below you will see a graph of the weight of the hive. That includes all the boxes, rocks on top, and everything within, frames, a few thousand bees, hatching bees, their winter/spring food stores, etc.
And you may notice slight variations that may indicate bees are going in & out on nice days, freezing or melting ice or snow piled on the hive, etc. During warmer months, a temporary/drastic drop may indicate a hive inspection.
The middle graph shows the sensors which measures temperature. In early April a second temperature sensor was added, the first relocated. Before that, the original temperature sensor was inside the hive, but not yet in an extremely helpful placement. Just under the top cover, it didn’t tell us as much as if it was lower, in the middle of the warm ball of bees. For the safety of the colony, during the winter, it’s not a good idea to open up the hive too much.
Also, note the outside temperature is also graphed for comparison.
One of the newer sensors (Pond Boardwalk, bottom graph), placed in early April 2021, shows humidity in the hive.
And the new hive (Woodland Trail) now has two brand new sensors, as noted in the very bottom graphs!
This is the final configuration and will be useful especially during the winter, showing weight, humidity & temperatures in the lower & upper hive boxes!