Okay I'll start the beekeeping thread (Page 6 of 154)
My 60 deep frames and foundations just came in. I already assembled most of them. No inner covers, they're on back order. Also splurged and bought a new veil and top combo. Found back my hive tool and 3 or 4 smokers . Still can't find my electric uncapping knife though . Bought the items from Dadant and the frames are the worst quality I have ever seen. They seem to be thinner and split easier than I remember. These were their commercial line, not the economy line. I may make my own next time. Have you ever used Plasticell foundation. I bought 60 of them for the brood boxes just to try out. Seems to work well enough. Hopefully the bees will work it out.
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I have not used the plastic, but there are some folks who've posted here in this thread who have done so. Several people have said that if the bees don't take to it, it helps to rub beeswax on it. They also said to not mix plastic and wax in the same brood chamber. I don't remember the specifics, but there was some good advice––worth reading back through to find. Take some pics if you feel like it and want to post them. I've been threatening to take pics of equipment assembly since the beginning of the thread, and still haven't done it. Kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
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Oh, COOL! Those look great Cockatoo! Were you able to see your queen at all? What are you doing strapping up your hive? Are you moving it? Don't you just love all these questions?  OH...ETA: You may already know this.....but you might want to reduce your entrance at first, until the swarm gets going and the hive is strong enough to defend itself from robbing. Especially since you're feeding on the front. If you don't know about entrance reducers, just ask. Kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
I was taking it home. It was about 7pm when I started home.
In the back of my Honda! I had an entrance screen cover on it but a few got out anyway. it was over an hour drive home but they bee-haved themselves.
My colony is VERY strong! like 40,000! Ralph said he's never captured such a BIG swarm before! He said I don't need a reducer as there are plenty to guard the "porch" as he calls it. They were VERY busy yesterday foraging. I could see them bringing in pollen all day. My uncle dropped by and popped the top. They never paid him any mind. Me, I had my veil on! Oh I could spot my bees in my apple tree and the dogwoods! My hybrid Midnights are small compared to the Italians. |
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You might have fewer varroa mites with the smaller bees. Might. I dunno. If your apple trees are still setting fruit, you'll have more because of them too. My fruit trees had one apple, maybe two....until I got bees. Now I have to thin the fruit. Kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
I took a photo of their location last night.
Y'all only saw the front of the house and not the back. There's another 1/2 acre back there. My neighbor Sue had to come see them. She had bees growing up in the 1940's. Oh! I like UXB's avatar!
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Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
That's awesome that your neighbor likes the bees. My neighbors are forcing me to give up mine.  WTF.... growing up if the neighbours fussed we gave them a few sections of comb. The parents had to deal with a few "your bees stung my kid", but those poeple generally quieted down when dad spoke with them about the issue while working sans-gear on the hives. (i.e. tell your kids to not swat at bees.) It is hard to call bees a menace when you are arm deep in them. |
"Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way."
"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week."
"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week."
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I outlined the problem earlier in the thread. I've held off on moving the last hive, but I'm going to have to do it here eventually. I just took down a dog kennel, and was thinking I might actually try moving it to the other side of the yard and see if they'll shut up about it. I dunno. Kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
Unfortunately, not eradicated. It's a good way to lessen their numbers somewhat, but that's about the best it'll do and it's extremely labor-intensive. Still, if you want to go no-chemical and have only one or two hives, it can be useful to keep their numbers down. The thing is that every hive is likely to have some varroa. If the hive is healthy, they're fine. As far as I know, there's no longer a means of total eradication since the varroa have developed immunity to chemicals. I'm not into chemical usage anyhow (though if it came down to chemicals or losing my hive, I'd do it), but I don't have the patience to do the powdered sugar thing. Lame, I know. Comes from being too busy for my own good.Kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
My girls were working feverishly before the sun goes down tonight!
My brother and I was following the bees flight path to a huge tree with small white flowers on it. They were ALL in the tree. It seems the bees were all flying towards the west, to the setting sun to that particular tree, Interesting. |
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Is it a locust? Their method of finding a good nectar source, and then communicating the direction and distance to that source to the rest of the hive is amazing. Scientists haven't figured it all out of course, but the analysis of the bees' dance, all by itself, could take a lifetime and still leave a lot to be learned. They're amazing creatures. |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
Well. I've read in this thread a few times and thought I'd like to share my beekeeping story but never did because (1) it was a bit long, and (2) I'd never taken the time to type it up. I read some more of this thread today and was inspired to do so. I'm going to post it below- if it is too long tell me and I'll move it. I'm going to post it over in GD, too. This is all true!
Bees are cool. When I was a kid, we’d grab fruit jars from Grandpa’s garage and have contests to see who could catch the most bees from the clover blossoms in the yard in one jar without getting stung. I seldom got stung, but I didn’t catch many bees, either. When I’d settle the jar over a bee and slide a lid underneath, some would always manage to escape. I didn’t put a very big dent in the bee population because we would turn the bees loose before dark. We needed the jars to catch lightning bugs in for our next contest! In college, a roommate described everything there is to know about bees; his dad was a county agent and beekeeper. He even had an “observation” hive that he took to the fair as an educational exhibit. It was interesting to me and since I had to present an “Informative Speech” for class I decided that I could BS my way through a speech about bees. The whole class listened attentively and asked good questions. I knew the answers. It was the best speech I ever gave. A few years later, my wife and I purchased our home: a couple of acres with a patch of woods and a pond. It had plenty of room for a garden. The seed catalogs promised that dwarf fruit trees wouldn’t need very much space and twenty were soon ordered. Fresh peaches, apples, pears, and cherries occupied my dreams. I talked about them at work. I explained that I’d need to get some bees for good pollination. A friend gave me an old hive and I ordered foundations, a book, and supplies through the mail. All I needed was some bees and I could buy them by mail-order, too. The only thing holding me up was that I worked out of town during the week and my wife would NOT agree to open the mail if it had bees in it. This is the story of my bees………. I was on a late flight coming home one Friday in April. On the drive home, traffic was stopped because a car was on fire on a bridge. People were getting out of their cars and visiting while we waited. The flames were pretty spectacular and it took a while for the way to be cleared. Thus, it was early morning before I made it to my bed. I was deeply asleep when the phone rang about 8:00 a.m. on Saturday. “Skunkum, do you want some bees?” “Uh, yeah, I want some bees but I haven’t got any ordered yet.” I was not thinking very clearly. “No, I mean some bees today, RIGHT NOW! FREE!” “Huh? Free bees? Today? What are you talking about?” “My girlfriend’s Dad works at the fire station and this lady keeps calling them about these bees that are swarming in her back yard. The lady called them yesterday and they told her the bees would go away before morning. They are still there today and she is scared to open her door. She can’t find anyone to get rid of them. If you want them, you can have them! Let me give you the number at the fire station and he can tell you how to contact the lady.” A phone call later, I had the info. I loaded the hive, some duct tape, and improvised bee-suit gear into my car and drove 30 miles to the home of a lady who had “millions and millions” of bees in her back yard. She would not open the door to speak to me, lest a wayward bee sneak inside. “Just go around back, you’ll see them. Don’t leave any of them here!” She was right. Around back was a large mass of bees clustered on a tree branch that was bent to waist height. More bees were flying around- a whole cloud of bees. I’d never captured a swarm of bees, but I’d studied up on it and was confident that this was going to be no problem. I doubted it could ever be any easier. Back to the car to get everything ready! I readied the super by removing several frames from the center to make room for the mass of bees to drop right in. I put on my old denim mechanic’s coveralls. I put on hunting boots and welding gloves and duct-taped them to the coveralls. I put on a floppy bush-hat with a brim, over which I pinned a veil of nylon mesh that draped over my shoulders. No bee was going to get past my defenses! My preparations had drawn a crowd. At first, a couple of children from the neighborhood cruised by on bicycles, noting my appearance with interest. Then they turned back to ask what I was doing. “What’re you all dressed up like that for? Are you gonna catch them bees?” “Hey, he’s gonna catch them bees!” Kids seemed to come from everywhere, unable to pass the novelty of talking to a man who catches bees. “You ain’t scared of the bees?” They all seemed to ask questions at once. I explained that I was going to try to catch the bees and that I was going to take the hive into the back yard and see if I could get most of the bees to go in it. As I carried the hive to the back yard, I was followed by two or three children. As I approached the swarm, I warned them to stay back at the side of the house and told them they would still be able to see everything. I quickly determined that my plan needed some help. The limb would not bend down to reach the hive if I set it on the ground, yet I couldn’t hold the hive at waist level and still shake the limb. I found some concrete blocks to stack under the super which raised it nearly to the limb. I grabbed the end of the branch and brought it down sharply on the hive a couple of times, tumbling the mass into the super. I let go of the branch and stepped back. WAY back. Somehow, a bee had managed to get inside my veil and he was buzzing in my face! As I ran around the side of the house I was able to squish him between a couple of folds of veiling with my gloves. This seemed to be very entertaining to my watchers. My plan was working. I’d been able to shake the bees off the limb into my hive. Now I needed to put the lid on and wait for it to get dark. I sat in the shade at the side of the house and watched the bees, waiting for them to settle down. “You ain’t scared of them bees? Go up and touch that box, I dare you! I’ll give you a dollar if you go touch that box!” My new friends had a lot of confidence in me. “When you gonna put them in your car?” As dusk approached, most of the bees had settled into and onto the hive. I decided that I should put the top on the hive while I could still see what I was doing. It was hard to get all of the bees wiped off of the edge long enough to set the top on. Crunch! I could feel that there was now a dead bee underneath the lid but bees immediately blew out of the entrance, so I left the top in place and backed off again. I went back to my car and retrieved my flashlight, duct tape, a hammer, and a small board I had cut to cover the hive entrance. Once it got dark, almost all of the bees had entered the hive. I taped the lid on and tacked the board across the entrance. Then I taped over it. I was taking no chances. I did NOT want bees loose inside my car. The box was much heavier than when it was empty. The drive home was uneventful. I removed the hive and placed it near the fruit trees and at a distance from our house. I removed the tape and uncovered the entrance. The bees didn’t seem to notice. I set up a feeder jar of sugared water in the entrance to give them something to get started on. A few days later, I decided to check to see how my bees were doing. I needed to remove the top so I could replace the frames that I had removed when I caught them. I got back into my bee outfit and gathered a putty knife/ paint scraper and a large screw driver in case I needed to pry anything. It was a good thing that I did- the lid was really stuck down. The bees had already sealed it down with wax. Looking inside, I could see that the bees had really been busy and several of the frames had honeycomb construction well underway. I pried them out, looking for the queen. She was easy to tell from the others because she was obviously much larger. I was surprised that they did not seem to be disturbed at all. I placed all of the frames back into the box and set the top on. Crunch! Another dead bee- and another immediate cloud of angry bees! Once again, a single, solitary bee managed to get inside my veil. Once again, I managed to crush him before it could sting me. The next day, my sister came to visit. I told her the story of catching my bees and I told her how surprised I was that they had adapted to their new life so well. Eager to show off my bee-ranching skills, I dressed her up in my best improvised bee suit and gathered one for myself. Taking some tools to pry off the lid, we set out to find the queen. There was already honey. My sister was suitably impressed. Right up to the time I squished a bee when putting the top back on. Right on schedule, enraged bees flew out to duel with whoever it was that just murdered one of their own. And once again, ONE BEE found a way inside my veil, where I was forced to squish it in self-defense. Three bees inside the veil with three bees down and no stings. I was full of confidence. These bees were really pretty gentle, as long as you didn’t smash one with the lid. One week later my mother-in-law stopped by to visit. She and a couple of her co-workers had been to a nearby town for a conference and they were on their way home. They were all ears as I re-told the story of “How I Got My Bees” and they accepted my word that these bees were gentle, as long as you don’t smash one with the lid. We didn’t even bother with bee suits- these bees were GENTLE! Those were famous last words. Those bees WERE gentle- the week before when they were swarming. Now they had buckled down to doing the work that bees do and all of the instincts related to swarming were now GONE. As I started to pry off the top, bees flew out of everywhere! I dropped the lid back on as my mother-in-law ran back to the house, swatting at bees in her hair that were determined to do some damage. Her friends were right there with her, all the way to the house. They made it without getting stung, but I got zapped by one. I thought it was worth it. I learned a lesson. I would never mess with a hive without my bee suit, at a minimum, and I was going to use a smoker before lifting the top. But the bees learned a lesson, too, and never again was I allowed within 50 feet of that hive without a single, solitary bee showing me that they remembered me by stinging me, usually on the head. It didn’t matter if I was walking down the road or mowing the lawn, one sacrificial bee would remind me. And my son was now getting old enough to play outside. Kamikaze bees were not appreciated by my wife. The bees would have to go. The friend who gave me the hive always has a big garden. Some years he has three or four. He had plenty of room for a hive of bees and was willing to come and get them. I was happy that they would get a good home. We arranged for him to come by well after dark to transport them to his place. I tacked the same board across the opening and we loaded the hive into his pickup. When he got home, he placed the hive near his gardens. There were no problems. Until the next day, when he remembered to remove the board from the hive’s entrance. In his words: “I got the hive home and put it out by the garden. It was late and I was tired so I left the entrance blocked. I’d heard that you should leave them contained for a day or two to “re-set” their internal compasses, so the bees don’t get lost when they try to find their way back to their new home, so I didn’t worry about them. The next evening, I thought I’d take the block off. I just barely got one end lifted up a little when a cloud of bees blew out of there right in my face. I started running to the house but the bees were right on me so I ran AROUND the house- THREE TIMES- and when I made it through the door two of them got in with me and stung me!” When I’d ask about the bees, he’d say he thought they were doing OK, they seemed to be doing the job in his gardens. When I visited, I could see the wooden block still at the entrance with one end pried up and the other still in place (from a distance). One fall day I stopped by to visit. He told me he thought the bees were gone. We decided to approach the hive to look for bee activity. Seeing none, we decided to open it up and look inside. It was full of honey and honeycomb. I don’t remember seeing any bees, alive or dead. We decided that they had died off, thinking that the bees would have taken the honey with them if they just moved to somewhere close. He said that was what had happened to his hive the first time he had bees and that was why he had an empty hive to give me. The honey was very dark but had a good flavor. I brought a couple of quart jars of honey with comb home and he had a couple, too. We made a real mess getting it out and we left some of it that looked nasty. As far as we know, no bees have ever showed up to take over the hive. It is still sitting out by his garden, waiting for occupants. I had to give up bee ranching permanently because I was getting more and more allergic to the stings each time I got zapped. The fruit trees didn’t live, anyway. Still, every spring I let my lawn get a bit long before it gets mowed the first time in hopes that the little bit of nectar the weed flowers provide might help the wild bees regain strength after the winter. |
 Skunkum, that's a great story!I'm sorry you had to give up on the bees though. And it sounds like you had some fairly aggressive bees actually.  |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
... And it sounds like you had some fairly aggressive bees actually.
Maybe so. I always thought I'd probably bothered them too much AND I should have used smoke when handling them, I think. The thing I really remember is the way that they would came out at the very instant one of them got crushed. |
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Well––not knowing––and I DON'T know so this is just a guess.... I would venture that you might have put the lid on a little too "hard". Bees don't like to be bumped. The lifespan of a worker bee in a good honey flow, mid-summer, is only a few days. The attrition rate is just awful. My experience with bees tends to make me doubt it was the crushing of the bee itself (you can't put a lid on without crushing a bee––you just almost CAN'T) but the poof of bees out the entrance when you put the lid on is in line with what happens when I accidentally drop the lid on or "thump" it down rather than very gently lower it into place so slowly that they can't feel it. Any time you "bump" or "knock against" your hive, you'll hear the colony break into a loud, angry buzzing. Aggressive bees will then come out after you. Gentle bees will just buzz in a pissy tone for a minute or two, then calm back down to normal "work volume." But as I said, this is nothing more than an educated guess, and I could be dead wrong. |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
Awesome! That looks just like my smoker. As long as the bellows is intact, it's good. Does it say anything on it...like, the manufacturer or anything? Mine has a wood back on one side and has "Walter T. Kelley Company" engraved on it. I love it. I feel like the spirits of the beekeepers who used it before me are there with me, helping me know what to do with my bees. (Not that this has helped a lot. )Oh, and do you know a really good way to keep your smoker going is to take old jeans––cut them into strips you can roll up––like strips maybe four or five inches wide, roll them into a tight roll, and tie them with some cotton twine. I start my smoker with pine straw (you want to burn only natural materials so you're not blowing synthetic chemical smoke at the bees) then when it's going I put in a couple of rolls of denim. (One will do for a quick inspection, but it takes a lot of material to keep the smoker going long enough for more than one hive, or to tear the hive down completely). The denim smoulders in there and makes kind of a "cool" smoke. Burlap (non-treated) is good too, though harder to find. Cool smoke is what you want, because you can fry bees with the blast of hot smoke coming out of the smoker. Paper and cardboard and stuff burn so hot that the smoke is also too hot. Don't get TOO close to the bees with the tip of the smoker, as little sparks and a puff of very hot air come out when you puff the bellows, even with cooler-burning materials. But with cooler-burning stuff, you can get much closer than with hot-burning fuel. You probably know all this already, but there ya go....I don't think anybody has talked much about smokers in this thread yet. Kitties ETA: Oh...mine came with a carved piece of wood some beekeeper had made to stuff in the smoke hole to cool it down and/or make it go out...thus saving fuel between uses. A LARGE wine cork will fit mine (like a champagne cork) but a regular wine cork is too small. Any type of stopper will do, and is helpful. OH, and the most important thing...Don't smoke new bees....not much anyway If you smoke new bees, before they're real established and have a lot of brood and stored honey, they might just abscond. |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
I placed a shallow on top of my original shallow last weekend.
The first one was completely combed out and being filled. I checked the second shallow yesterday. MAN ON MAN the girls have been busy! It's halfway combed out already! I'm gonna need a BUNCH more supers! |
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Swarms draw comb FAST. That's good. Sounds like you got a good bunch of bees. You may need to move the outside frames to the inside if they're tending to avoid those. Sometimes they skimp on the outside frames and leave them only aobut half way drawn out. Kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
Saw this thread and couldn't help but stop by.
My next door neighbors got a couple of hives just a couple of weeks ago. They were nice enough to give us a heads-up about the hives (they're located just on the other side of the fence from our yard) but the bees haven't been a problem at all, despite the many kids in the culdesac. So yesterday I was working in the yard and when I saw my neighbor I asked if I could see the hives. We walked right up to them, took the lid off of one to see inside, and never had a single problem. The bees didn't seem to mind us one bit. It was cool to watch the busy little workers. Seeing how docile the bees are was also therapeutic for me. My last close personal encounter with a large gathering of bees was when I was attacked by africanized bees in Venezuela. Not an experience I would want to repeat. After seeing the hives yesterday I feel tempted to get one or two of my own someday.
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In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children
-Captain Moroni
72 B.C.
-Captain Moroni
72 B.C.
|
Originally Posted By Shane333: Saw this thread and couldn't help but stop by. My next door neighbors got a couple of hives just a couple of weeks ago. They were nice enough to give us a heads-up about the hives (they're located just on the other side of the fence from our yard) but the bees haven't been a problem at all, despite the many kids in the culdesac. So yesterday I was working in the yard and when I saw my neighbor I asked if I could see the hives. We walked right up to them, took the lid off of one to see inside, and never had a single problem. The bees didn't seem to mind us one bit. It was cool to watch the busy little workers. Seeing how docile the bees are was also therapeutic for me. My last close personal encounter with a large gathering of bees was when I was attacked by africanized bees in Venezuela. Not an experience I would want to repeat. After seeing the hives yesterday I feel tempted to get one or two of my own someday. They are very gentle when they're busy. As the summer progresses and they get more honey stores, they'll become more territorial. Don't throw grass on them with a mower or string trimmer. They'll think they're being attacked. And don't stand out there unprotected while he's working the hives. They get pissed when you tear a hive apart. But a good hive of bees with a good queen is not a dangerous thing. The scare over Africanized bees in the media has done us all a dis-service I'm afraid. I'm really glad you're open to your neighbor's having bees. They'll be great for the neighborhood's flowers and fruit trees. You should get some! (Notice how I use any opportunity to recruit new beekeepers. )Kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
Originally Posted By Shane333:
Saw this thread and couldn't help but stop by.
My next door neighbors got a couple of hives just a couple of weeks ago. They were nice enough to give us a heads-up about the hives (they're located just on the other side of the fence from our yard) but the bees haven't been a problem at all, despite the many kids in the culdesac. So yesterday I was working in the yard and when I saw my neighbor I asked if I could see the hives. We walked right up to them, took the lid off of one to see inside, and never had a single problem. The bees didn't seem to mind us one bit. It was cool to watch the busy little workers. Seeing how docile the bees are was also therapeutic for me. My last close personal encounter with a large gathering of bees was when I was attacked by africanized bees in Venezuela. Not an experience I would want to repeat. After seeing the hives yesterday I feel tempted to get one or two of my own someday. They are very gentle when they're busy. As the summer progresses and they get more honey stores, they'll become more territorial. Don't throw grass on them with a mower or string trimmer. They'll think they're being attacked. And don't stand out there unprotected while he's working the hives. They get pissed when you tear a hive apart. But a good hive of bees with a good queen is not a dangerous thing. The scare over Africanized bees in the media has done us all a dis-service I'm afraid. I'm really glad you're open to your neighbor's having bees. They'll be great for the neighborhood's flowers and fruit trees. You should get some!
(Notice how I use any opportunity to recruit new beekeepers. )
Kitties Maybe it's because their honey stores are still low, but my neighbor showed me pictures of him holding and inspecting one of the removable frames that was covered with bees. All he had on was a tee shirt and no protection for his face. Then again, once they have more honey he may not be able to do that anymore. Fortunately I won't have to worry about close contact with the hives unless I request it. A 6 foot privacy fence separates my yard from the location of the hives. On the other hand, my flowering crabapple tree in our front yard has been providing tons of blossoms for the last few weeks. I'll have to hold off on getting any hives of my own for now. We're in the process of selling our home and I'd hate to start a hive only to upset it with a move. |
In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children
-Captain Moroni
72 B.C.
-Captain Moroni
72 B.C.
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Cockatoo, you need to get another super on there. If there are that many bees in the top super, you need to add one. Keep them thinking there's lots o' room. At some point you'll get more space than they can fill, and then you can begin shifting stuff around and forcing them to make the best use of the space they have and fill it up with honey. That's one of the "hive management" tasks in beekeeping. But if they're still drawing comb, when they get one 3/4 drawn and 1/2 full, add another. Soon they'll slow down on drawing out comb and they'll begin to focus hard on filling it up and drying it. They'll still draw some, but it won't be at the speed they're drawing it now. By mid-summer they'll start preparing for winter. That's when you'll take honey if you're going to take some. Leave them time to set themselves up for winter. If you think they can't, leave them enough to make it even if you don't take any. Never "rob" the bees. Take only the extra for yourself. Also, if you don't have screened bottom boards on your hives, time to start planning for that. Kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
Installed two packages yesterday. It worked out well, despite the wind.
Both hives are active today. One more than the other though. I feed the "active" hive syrup from a 6 weeks ago. I hope that's not a bad thing? Still have lots to do for them. Main thing is the security panels/windbreak. That would've been better to do before the bees arrived though. I could always stand the panels up and wire them together? Then put plywood, or tarps, on them. I've got time, hopefully? Have a great season. M |
"Use of Deadly Force Authorized"
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Do you get constant wind there? Do you feel that you need to get the panels up before this season? A new package is generally not an aggressive thing. They're too busy trying to set up housekeeping, find their way around, and get going building comb and raising brood. So if you need to dig and hammer, now is the time to do it. Later in the season they'll be much more pissy about that kind of activity right around the hive. Just pay attention and if you start getting buzzed or bumped by bees, go put on your protective gear. Kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
Originally Posted By Cockatoo: What's the screened bottom board for? Screened bottom boards are one of the most powerful tools you have for integrated pest management in a beehive. In particular for the varroa mite, the SBB is a really important thing to have. What happens is that when the bees groom themselves and each other, they toss some varroa down in the bottom of the hive. If the hive has a regular bottom board, the varroa just climbs back up into the hive. With a SBB, the varroa fall through. The screen is sized EXACTLY to allow varroa and other bee pests to fall through, but won't allow the bees to go in and out through the screen. You mentioned powdered sugar. This is only truly effective against varroa with installation of an SBB. Here's the process with powdered sugar: When you dust with powdered sugar, what happens is that the bees accelerate their grooming to get the sugar off of other bees. In the process of this accelerated grooming and cleaning, a larger percentage of varroa are cleaned from the bees and tossed or carried into the bottom of the hive. With the SBB, the varroa fall through and are no longer a threat to your hive. Without the SBB, the varroa are not eliminated. Powdered sugar harms neither the bees nor the mites. But its use does cause the bees to go into a cleaning frenzy and thus rid themselves of more mites than they normally would. That's the benefit of the sugar treatment. Also, mice won't build on a SBB. (Mice are common residents in bee hives). Especially for you, in the heat of the south (but it's true for everyone) a SBB improves air circulation through the hive like a thousand times. It keeps humidity down (a good thing) and keeps the bees cooler in the summer. You'll see them hanging on the outside of the hives because they're too hot anyway, and SBBs will help them be cooler. With a SBb and a match stick or two placed under one edge of the top cover, you'll get a good air current flowing through the hives. They'll appreciate this ventilation. Lotsa good research on SBBs. You can google it, but the real facts come from going to apiculture specialists at universities and notice their studies on hives with SBBs as compared to those not using them. It's an obvious advantage to use them, and they don't cost much. Much cheaper, and better for bees and people, than chemicals. I have them on all my hives now. Kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
| Got my first swarm last Sunday. I have been peeking inside daily but they only seem to be on the original 3 frames. Kinda worried that they aren't spread out yet. It was about a 3 pound swarm. I have been feeding them all week. Probaby Sunday or Monday I will pull a frame or two and make sure they are building on them. I decided to try the Plasticell this year and now I am worried they don't like it. Any idea how the bees will act with the plastic if they don't like it? I thought if it was that bad they would have left and found a new place. |
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Originally Posted By MDS: I feed the "active" hive syrup from a 6 weeks ago. I hope that's not a bad thing? Well, if you have bees active, and nothing blooming for them to bring in nectar, then feeding isn't a bad thing. UNLESS you coudl stlll get a hard freeze. I have no idea about your seasons where you are. The only bad thing about feeding early in the season is that if the bees start producing a lot of brood, then it gets really cold, the bees will try to spread their "winter ball" out to where it covers all the brood. They will NEVER abandon the brood. If they spread out too thin because there's too much brood, they'll all freeze and die. It seems kind of late for that to be happening anywhere, but then I dunno....I was in Wyoming and it was snowing on June 26th a few years ago....so I don't have a clue about climate variations where you are. AFter the middle of April to the middle of May, it's really unusual for us to get very cold weather here in KY. Every area has its own idiosyncracies. (damn, that's a hard word to type after two glasses of wine.) Kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
| Just jumping in here, and sorry if I'm asking a dumb dupe question. When I moved into this house a 3yrs ago there was a large hive of bees in the split of a very large hickory tree about 15ft up. They weren't in the tree for the last few summers, but now they are back. There were so many swarming the tree yesterday and I couldn't get close, but this evening they were calm and on the tree. There were hundreds of them, and they didn't bother me while mowing. My question is now I have a 4yr old that likes to play outside, how concerned should I be for the bees? They are fairly high, but close enough to my front door and parking area. I'm live out in the country, and am all about a diverse biosphere around my house. However, I don't know anything about bee other than they sting! Do people come and get them for hives? Will they "spread"? Should I try to keep them around? Any input would be helpful. |
Living vicariously thru myself.
FUCK OBAMA!!
FUCK OBAMA!!
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Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
Originally Posted By MDS:
I feed the "active" hive syrup from a 6 weeks ago. I hope that's not a bad thing? Well, if you have bees active, and nothing blooming for them to bring in nectar, then feeding isn't a bad thing. UNLESS you coudl stlll get a hard freeze. I have no idea about your seasons where you are. The only bad thing about feeding early in the season is that if the bees start producing a lot of brood, then it gets really cold, the bees will try to spread their "winter ball" out to where it covers all the brood. They will NEVER abandon the brood. If they spread out too thin because there's too much brood, they'll all freeze and die. It seems kind of late for that to be happening anywhere, but then I dunno....I was in Wyoming and it was snowing on June 26th a few years ago....so I don't have a clue about climate variations where you are. AFter the middle of April to the middle of May, it's really unusual for us to get very cold weather here in KY. Every area has its own idiosyncracies. (damn, that's a hard word to type after two glasses of wine.) Kitties I was wondering if the syrup could go bad mostly. I waited until the last batch of packages were available, to get my packages. Last year at this time, it was in the high 20s, low 30s at night here. It's really nice thus far this year. I dunno? They seem OK today. I can put the panels up nearly any time. I'd need to pull some steel posts, and located the post pounder to make it work right. I'm not that worried about it now. It's something that needs to be done though. I'm not interested in any honey this years. Main goal is to get them up to speed, to make it through the winter. I picked up some protein patties also. I'll leave them one when I take the queen cages out. Pretty neat. Thanks for you continued support. M |
"Use of Deadly Force Authorized"
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Okay then...  Now that it's ME logged in and not uxb.... When the bees stop taking it, that's when you know they don't need it. The reason to feed in the spring is because you think they might not have enough stores to make it through the spring freezes. when they stop taking the syrup and you know it's fresh (cuz you've replaced it with fresh and they still aren't taking it) you can be certain they have another source of nectar. Protein patties are a good idea. I figured you had a lot longer cold season than we do. Any loud or heavy work you have to do around the hives, do it now, while the packages are new and gentle. Later in the year, they'll get pissy. Kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
Have they taken all that you had in there before? (Are you feeding INSIDE or from a feeder on the front?) I would do as you have suggested, and refresh everything when you get the chance. Now that you've started feeding, you probably need to keep going until there's enough of a honey flow to keep them going on their own. Let us know what you find when you look in tomorrow. Kitties ETA: To answer your question, which I don't think I ever did, YES, syrup can go bad...it sours and ferments..goes off and gets gross. You can usually smell it when it does this though, and it's usually in the warmer months. And they'll usually stop taking it when it goes bad so there is a good reason to check. |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
|
I'm using hive top feeders. Basically a tub with the top cover on it.
I also put the Boardman feeders in the opening. I'm not too high on them, they're both leaking. So it's queen cages out, feeders refilled, patties, and the Boardman feeders gonzo tomorrow. I've also found a couple of Power River type panels not doing anything. I'll snag two more and use those for my fencing. That will take some work to drag them out back, but it's better than pulling up the steel posts, and then replanting them. I"m still unsure how to post pix. I'd like to post some, one of these days. Thanks, as usual. M Grammatical edit 
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"Use of Deadly Force Authorized"
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Yikes!
I opened up the hives. Everything looked good. I pulled the little plastic queen cage out, checked the frames for the queen. Everything looked good, but I don't know enough to spot the queen (time constrained). Put one patty down, but had wished I'd brought two. Filled the empty hive top feeder. Then to the next hive. Smoked 'em took the top cover and feeder off intact. Separated, and pulled two frames. Pulled that plastic queen cage out. Now I'm checking the middle frames for the queen, and to see what's going on. All appears well. Then I notice a queen cage on the hive floor. Damn, I though that I had put that in the bucket. I reached in lifted it out. As I picked it up I noticed that the cap was still on it. There's a queen inside! So I pick through my bee bucket to find the TWO decapped queen cages, the ones that I pulled out. Now I have a spare queen, that was packaged a week ago this evening. I installed the packages last Thursday. I'm guessing that the queen cage fell into the package when they filled the package, then put another queen in the slot? When I pulled the queen cages out of the package and put them in the hive, I just dumped the package into the hive. With the open two frame spaces I never heard or saw the extra queen. Now what do I do with a spare queen. How long can she last without attendants/food? There was no major stir around her on the hive floor? Although I had smoked them a little, and pulled two frames. That's my bee event of today. Any help would be appreciated. I'm off to work at 3:30 PM PST Thanks. M |
"Use of Deadly Force Authorized"
| Just an update on all my bees. I filled my last 2 empty hives last week. The swarms were really small but I still have high hopes, my best hive to-date came from the smallest swarm that I picked up (except the 2nd swarm I got last week). I moved my 3 well-established hives to a location full of Black Locust trees. They're doing great! The entrances are so busy that sometimes the bees don't even have room to land. They come in laden with nectar and seeing no place to land, and not able to just hover, they crash to the ground and rest for a bit before making their way up to wait their turn to enter/exit. I'm hoping for a lot of delicious Locust honey this year. They've just come into bloom and they smell amazing! I tried to count all of the locust trees within 150 yards of my hives, but I lost count around 40-50. I wouldn't even be able to count the trees withing 300 yards of them, there are far too many. I wish I had more bees to take advantage of all those locust trees, there is no way that my 3 hives can take advantage of it all. |
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Originally Posted By MDS:
Yikes! I opened up the hives. Everything looked good. I pulled the little plastic queen cage out, checked the frames for the queen. Everything looked good, but I don't know enough to spot the queen (time constrained). Put one patty down, but had wished I'd brought two. Filled the empty hive top feeder. Then to the next hive. Smoked 'em took the top cover and feeder off intact. Separated, and pulled two frames. Pulled that plastic queen cage out. Now I'm checking the middle frames for the queen, and to see what's going on. All appears well. Then I notice a queen cage on the hive floor. Damn, I though that I had put that in the bucket. I reached in lifted it out. As I picked it up I noticed that the cap was still on it. There's a queen inside! So I pick through my bee bucket to find the TWO decapped queen cages, the ones that I pulled out. Now I have a spare queen, that was packaged a week ago this evening. I installed the packages last Thursday. I'm guessing that the queen cage fell into the package when they filled the package, then put another queen in the slot? When I pulled the queen cages out of the package and put them in the hive, I just dumped the package into the hive. With the open two frame spaces I never heard or saw the extra queen. Now what do I do with a spare queen. How long can she last without attendants/food? There was no major stir around her on the hive floor? Although I had smoked them a little, and pulled two frames. That's my bee event of today. Any help would be appreciated. I'm off to work at 3:30 PM PST Thanks. M Easy, build up a nuc with frames, call around to some local beeks to you and ask if they have any swarm removals within the next few days that they mind sharing some bees with you. Treat much like a package, add queen, dump your portion of the shared bees in the nuc, and now you have a box and a nuc going. You can build up another bottom box in a week or two and stick your frames from your nuc into and dump your bees into their permanant house and then build up with some supers when they need the room. |
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The PATRIOT ACT: Turning citizens into suspects since 2001.
Freedom is LINUX, Linux is free.
The PATRIOT ACT: Turning citizens into suspects since 2001.
Freedom is LINUX, Linux is free.
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Today was productive for me, I had some nucs built up and some Australians in them, I built up a few boxes that are pretty strong, I also visited one of my boxes, a triple, and built up another nuc that I will switch out to a box in the morning as the sun set before I had a chance to get them home from my farm location, this one I will stick in my back yard like I did last year, I've got good bloom going, so, I am good to go. I ordered a few new queens to build up a few more boxes.
I needed today, working with the "girls" always makes me feel good. |
μολών Λαβέ
The PATRIOT ACT: Turning citizens into suspects since 2001.
Freedom is LINUX, Linux is free.
The PATRIOT ACT: Turning citizens into suspects since 2001.
Freedom is LINUX, Linux is free.
|
Originally Posted By dogfacepappy: Originally Posted By MDS: Yikes! I opened up the hives. Everything looked good. I pulled the little plastic queen cage out, checked the frames for the queen. Everything looked good, but I don't know enough to spot the queen (time constrained). Put one patty down, but had wished I'd brought two. Filled the empty hive top feeder. Then to the next hive. Smoked 'em took the top cover and feeder off intact. Separated, and pulled two frames. Pulled that plastic queen cage out. Now I'm checking the middle frames for the queen, and to see what's going on. All appears well. Then I notice a queen cage on the hive floor. Damn, I though that I had put that in the bucket. I reached in lifted it out. As I picked it up I noticed that the cap was still on it. There's a queen inside! So I pick through my bee bucket to find the TWO decapped queen cages, the ones that I pulled out. Now I have a spare queen, that was packaged a week ago this evening. I installed the packages last Thursday. I'm guessing that the queen cage fell into the package when they filled the package, then put another queen in the slot? When I pulled the queen cages out of the package and put them in the hive, I just dumped the package into the hive. With the open two frame spaces I never heard or saw the extra queen. Now what do I do with a spare queen. How long can she last without attendants/food? There was no major stir around her on the hive floor? Although I had smoked them a little, and pulled two frames. That's my bee event of today. Any help would be appreciated. I'm off to work at 3:30 PM PST Thanks. M Easy, build up a nuc with frames, call around to some local beeks to you and ask if they have any swarm removals within the next few days that they mind sharing some bees with you. Treat much like a package, add queen, dump your portion of the shared bees in the nuc, and now you have a box and a nuc going. You can build up another bottom box in a week or two and stick your frames from your nuc into and dump your bees into their permanant house and then build up with some supers when they need the room. First you need to make sure the hive you took that queen out of actually is operating with a live, viable queen. With two queens in the hive, both giving off the pheromones that queens give off, that's kind of weird. You need to take that hive apart and find the functioning queen, make sure you have eggs getting laid and all that. THEN use that extra queen to build a nuc. FYI, when you pull frames from your other hives to build a nuc, pull frames with some brood in them, and take the house bees that are on those frames with you. The bees won't abandon that brood to go back to the original hive. That's the key to building a nuc, IMO––you have to get the bees to stay with it. If you take a brood frame or two, those will be "house" bees and likely won't have gone into the field yet. Most of them, when they go out for the first time to forage, will assume that nuc as their new hive, locate on it, and return to it. Put it as far as you can away from the original hive. First make sure you have a functioning and accepted queen in that original hive, then do what dogfacepappy says, and build a nuc. Oh, and you need to feed and water that queen a little. Do you know how to do that? Does she have any attendants in there with her? Or have they all died? kitties |
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit.
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe
Loosely connected to UXB.
Wait. That's an oxymoron.
Well-behaved women rarely make history--Marilyn Monroe