Okay I'll start the beekeeping thread (Page 152 of 154)
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Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: My night move to relocate my two hives did not go well. First hive went in the back of my truck no problem. Second one went to the ground. Went against my original plan trying to take advantage of it being dry enough to get my truck to them and their new place. Apparently hives that are two deeps tall are too much for me to safely handle. The dropped hive is where it landed and sitting on its bottom upright. Other is at its new home. Going to figure out a game plan for it when there's some daylight. Originally planned to split them to 4 hives with just one deep then move them. Ended up with four stings 2 on one knee cap, 1 on the other, and one on the back of my thigh. Currently sick as a dog from the stings. Which has me thinking that I may need get out of bee keeping since that's how the signs of my shellfish allergy started. Sorry to hear that your move didn't go well. I'm a very large and muscular guy, but I wouldn't try to move two deeps by myself simultaneously. That would be rough to say the least. Best of luck as you move forward. |
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Originally Posted By killingmachine123: Have you thought about going whole hog and getting a ton of stings? Randy Oliver suggest that a couple hundred stings a year and you'll be all set. Sorry to hear that your move didn't go well. I'm a very large and muscular guy, but I wouldn't try to move two deeps by myself simultaneously. That would be rough to say the least. Best of luck as you move forward. Originally Posted By killingmachine123: Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: My night move to relocate my two hives did not go well. First hive went in the back of my truck no problem. Second one went to the ground. Went against my original plan trying to take advantage of it being dry enough to get my truck to them and their new place. Apparently hives that are two deeps tall are too much for me to safely handle. The dropped hive is where it landed and sitting on its bottom upright. Other is at its new home. Going to figure out a game plan for it when there's some daylight. Originally planned to split them to 4 hives with just one deep then move them. Ended up with four stings 2 on one knee cap, 1 on the other, and one on the back of my thigh. Currently sick as a dog from the stings. Which has me thinking that I may need get out of bee keeping since that's how the signs of my shellfish allergy started. Sorry to hear that your move didn't go well. I'm a very large and muscular guy, but I wouldn't try to move two deeps by myself simultaneously. That would be rough to say the least. Best of luck as you move forward. I had ran a strap under the bottom to have something to actually get ahold of and it slid as I almost had it on the tailgate. Luckily I realized what was going on,in time to guide it to the ground. So it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Forecast is showing I’m clear of rain up to Tuesday. So I’m going to try again Saturday |
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Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: I had ran a strap under the bottom to have something to actually get ahold of and it slid as I almost had it on the tailgate. Luckily I realized what was going on,in time to guide it to the ground. So it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Forecast is showing I'm clear of rain up to Tuesday. So I'm going to try again Saturday Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: Originally Posted By killingmachine123: Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: My night move to relocate my two hives did not go well. First hive went in the back of my truck no problem. Second one went to the ground. Went against my original plan trying to take advantage of it being dry enough to get my truck to them and their new place. Apparently hives that are two deeps tall are too much for me to safely handle. The dropped hive is where it landed and sitting on its bottom upright. Other is at its new home. Going to figure out a game plan for it when there's some daylight. Originally planned to split them to 4 hives with just one deep then move them. Ended up with four stings 2 on one knee cap, 1 on the other, and one on the back of my thigh. Currently sick as a dog from the stings. Which has me thinking that I may need get out of bee keeping since that's how the signs of my shellfish allergy started. Sorry to hear that your move didn't go well. I'm a very large and muscular guy, but I wouldn't try to move two deeps by myself simultaneously. That would be rough to say the least. Best of luck as you move forward. I had ran a strap under the bottom to have something to actually get ahold of and it slid as I almost had it on the tailgate. Luckily I realized what was going on,in time to guide it to the ground. So it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Forecast is showing I'm clear of rain up to Tuesday. So I'm going to try again Saturday |
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My one hive survived a cold (for South Carolina) winter. I moved them to a shady spot since they got too hot last summer. They are very active right now. My blueberry bushes are loud from all of the activity. My parents gave me another swarm for my birthday, and I pick it up next Friday. I plan to assemble the new hive box for them this week so it will be ready. I'm not very experienced, nor do I anticipate getting a lot of honey. But I just love watching the bees. I go out every morning with a cup of coffee and just watch them flying around. They are fascinating. |
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Originally Posted By Brundoggie: I'm really liking bee school and learning alot and feeling more confident in getting into this hobby. I spent the last two Saturdays in club member apiaries learning some hands on stuff and I gotta tell ya you can look at dozens of pictures but it isn't real until you hold the frames in your hands and see the real thing. We get our nucs/packages in two weeks and part of tonight's class was how to introduce them into your hive. I'm really stoked to get my bees. That's exactly right. The community is what helps to make a good beekeeper IMO. |
Nobody ever wakes me at 2 in the morning telling me that my grass is out on the highway.~~Radiopat
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
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Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
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Originally Posted By JQ66: This is a local (Pittsburgh area) news story. A couple weeks ago a commercial honey producer lost fifty hives due to arson. The location of the hives was out near the OH PA state line near Midland or Shippingport PA https://www.observer-reporter.com/editors_pick/2026/mar/03/thousands-of-bees-killed-in-arson-at-bedillion-bee-yard/ No news that any persons of interest have been found. I saw were several people are contributing more to the reward $ amount. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s some Karen that lives nearby. Upset that the bees are a threat to her defective kids who are allergic to bee stings or just some crazy peta type. The family has a nice store down in Hickory Pa, a nice old small town north of Washington PA. They sell honey of course (they sell their honey in many local Giant Eagle grocery stores stores) and most of all for me they sell lots of supplies and I have bought some nucs and queens there a few times. I haven’t needed to buy any honey for a while since I have bees. But I did buy some nice knotweed honey from him. Don’t have much knotweed out my way so far. Really makes great honey - I don’t care that it’s terribly invasive  I saw something about that, maybe on youtube (can't remember) and it broke my heart. Who on Earth would burn hives of honeybees? How hateful do you have to be, to kill those beautiful little creations? 
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Nobody ever wakes me at 2 in the morning telling me that my grass is out on the highway.~~Radiopat
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
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Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: My night move to relocate my two hives did not go well. First hive went in the back of my truck no problem. Second one went to the ground. Went against my original plan trying to take advantage of it being dry enough to get my truck to them and their new place. Apparently hives that are two deeps tall are too much for me to safely handle. The dropped hive is where it landed and sitting on its bottom upright. Other is at its new home. Going to figure out a game plan for it when there’s some daylight. Originally planned to split them to 4 hives with just one deep then move them. Ended up with four stings 2 on one knee cap, 1 on the other, and one on the back of my thigh. Currently sick as a dog from the stings. Which has me thinking that I may need get out of bee keeping since that’s how the signs of my shellfish allergy started. I hate to hear this. First that you had trouble, but most that you may leave beekeeping. I understand though. I can no longer lift a full deep. Were you trying to just deadlift the whole hive strapped together? |
Nobody ever wakes me at 2 in the morning telling me that my grass is out on the highway.~~Radiopat
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
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Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: I hate to hear this. First that you had trouble, but most that you may leave beekeeping. I understand though. I can no longer lift a full deep. Were you trying to just deadlift the whole hive strapped together? Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: My night move to relocate my two hives did not go well. First hive went in the back of my truck no problem. Second one went to the ground. Went against my original plan trying to take advantage of it being dry enough to get my truck to them and their new place. Apparently hives that are two deeps tall are too much for me to safely handle. The dropped hive is where it landed and sitting on its bottom upright. Other is at its new home. Going to figure out a game plan for it when there’s some daylight. Originally planned to split them to 4 hives with just one deep then move them. Ended up with four stings 2 on one knee cap, 1 on the other, and one on the back of my thigh. Currently sick as a dog from the stings. Which has me thinking that I may need get out of bee keeping since that’s how the signs of my shellfish allergy started. I hate to hear this. First that you had trouble, but most that you may leave beekeeping. I understand though. I can no longer lift a full deep. Were you trying to just deadlift the whole hive strapped together? Kitties I’ve decided to not accept defeat. Think getting sick may have had some other factors involved. Like the amount of pine straw smoke I breathed in while smoking myself. Things haven’t gone right for me to split the hive that got moved or the one that is sitting in the field. Had planned on doing it today but the weather can’t make up its mind if it’s going to rain or not. Current plan is to split the hive and only be one deep and much lighter. Also going to make a different stand that all of the hives will fit on in my food plot. Just need for the last of the soy beans to go out at work in order for it to slow down and weather to cooperate. Also ordering a full suit as soon as I can find a sewing tape measure. Between age and weight loss my jacket doesn’t seem be tight at the bottom and my girls aren’t the gentle by any means |
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Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: Kitties I’ve decided to not accept defeat. Think getting sick may have had some other factors involved. Like the amount of pine straw smoke I breathed in while smoking myself. Things haven’t gone right for me to split the hive that got moved or the one that is sitting in the field. Had planned on doing it today but the weather can’t make up its mind if it’s going to rain or not. Current plan is to split the hive and only be one deep and much lighter. Also going to make a different stand that all of the hives will fit on in my food plot. Just need for the last of the soy beans to go out at work in order for it to slow down and weather to cooperate. Also ordering a full suit as soon as I can find a sewing tape measure. Between age and weight loss my jacket doesn’t seem be tight at the bottom and my girls aren’t the gentle by any means I switched to single deeps a few years ago. A lot less work and equipment. Also, if you use the pricier treatment you will have a significant cost savings. This is what I use for a multi-hive stand.Attached File |
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Originally Posted By DUX4LIFE: I switched to single deeps a few years ago. A lot less work and equipment. Also, if you use the pricier treatment you will have a significant cost savings. This is what I use for a multi-hive stand.https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/144881/1000011655_jpg-3741446.JPG Yeah I know I'm only a 2 week old beekeeper but I'm following your pattern...a single deep topped with a medium super for the brood chamber. Honey supers (next year) will go on top. Went to a mentor's hives today and I am continuing to learn. |
an event "of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,"
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Originally Posted By Brundoggie: Yeah I know I'm only a 2 week old beekeeper but I'm following your pattern...a single deep topped with a medium super for the brood chamber. Honey supers (next year) will go on top. Went to a mentor's hives today and I am continuing to learn. During the summer I run an excluder between the super and brood box. Winter they get a super or maybe 2 if they refill more than one after the harvest. |
A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!!!
| Dux that’s pretty much what I had in mind. I have some leftover 16 ft 2x6 and a bunch of 4x4 scraps figure do 2 double 2x6 beams for the bottoms to be supported front and back. Have that gap for stuff to fall through the screens when I don’t have trays in. Just need to figure out my height. So I’m not bent over when doing inspections or on my tippy toes getting a super off. |
| Question for those that have replaced queens before. What was your process doing it,and what did you do with the old queen? As the guy that I am getting queens from next weekend. Said to put a frame of food and the old queen in a cage next to the hive with the entrance in a different direction. In order to pull all of the bees that would kill the new one into it. What he said made sense. Just not sure what to do with that bunch of bees. Assuming I would need to dispatch the old queen and those bees at some point. One of the classes I’m going to at next weekends LBA field day is on requeening. So I may know more or be confused afterwards. Know beekeeping is like a lot of other things. Everyone has their opinion on how to do something or ways of doing it. |
| Never heard that technique before. Make sure the hive is queenless for at least 24 hours. Either remove the old queen or kill her and leave her in the hive. Then put the new cage in, If they seem aggressive towards her while still caged I would delay letting them eat the candy by a few days. In my experience though, adding 3 or so days to the timed queen release didn't improve her success much. |
A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!!!
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I have a stupid question: My hives boxes came with 2 deeps and 1 standard. For an established hive, would you run a deep, a shallow, the excluder then the second deep? Or would you run 2 deeps, the excluder, then the shallow? Or one deep, excluder, second deep, shallow? Basically what I'm asking is how much room should I give to brood development and how much room for honey? |
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Originally Posted By 57plymouth: I have a stupid question: My hives boxes came with 2 deeps and 1 standard. For an established hive, would you run a deep, a shallow, the excluder then the second deep? Or would you run 2 deeps, the excluder, then the shallow? Or one deep, excluder, second deep, shallow? Basically what I'm asking is how much room should I give to brood development and how much room for honey? In bee school the standard they showed was 2 deeps, excluder, and then super. Starting with one deep until at least 8 frames were full before adding the second deep and then the super when the second deep was 80% full. |
an event "of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,"
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Originally Posted By killingmachine123: I made a few Demaree splits yesterday. I hope they go well. I need some bee suit socks, as my pants are too short for me. My ankles were having a rough go of it to say the least. That's one of the disadvantages of being the average GD height. I usually wear my lacrosse grange rubber boots with my pants tucked in when checking my mean bees. If you’re wearing a suit muck boots or a similar brand might be big enough to get the suit bottoms secured inside. With the muck style I usually roll the neoprene top down to wear the rubber starts. Get my foot in and blouse my pants how I want and pull the top back up. Holds everything in place. Might be an option and have good pair of rubber boots. |
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Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: I usually wear my lacrosse grange rubber boots with my pants tucked in when checking my mean bees. If you're wearing a suit muck boots or a similar brand might be big enough to get the suit bottoms secured inside. With the muck style I usually roll the neoprene top down to wear the rubber starts. Get my foot in and blouse my pants how I want and pull the top back up. Holds everything in place. Might be an option and have good pair of rubber boots. Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: Originally Posted By killingmachine123: I made a few Demaree splits yesterday. I hope they go well. I need some bee suit socks, as my pants are too short for me. My ankles were having a rough go of it to say the least. That's one of the disadvantages of being the average GD height. I usually wear my lacrosse grange rubber boots with my pants tucked in when checking my mean bees. If you're wearing a suit muck boots or a similar brand might be big enough to get the suit bottoms secured inside. With the muck style I usually roll the neoprene top down to wear the rubber starts. Get my foot in and blouse my pants how I want and pull the top back up. Holds everything in place. Might be an option and have good pair of rubber boots. |
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Originally Posted By DUX4LIFE: Never heard that technique before. Make sure the hive is queenless for at least 24 hours. Either remove the old queen or kill her and leave her in the hive. Then put the new cage in, If they seem aggressive towards her while still caged I would delay letting them eat the candy by a few days. In my experience though, adding 3 or so days to the timed queen release didn't improve her success much. This is exactly how I used to do it and it was successful. All the bees have to adjust. I have a high level of skepticism toward, "those are the bees that would kill the new queen." They have a hive mind. They will adjust based on the needs of the hive. Old queen dead? "OMG WE NEED A NEW QUEEN RFN!!" So you give it 24 hours so they REALLY want a new queen and word has spread to everybody. Cage in and watch them while she's safe (assuming she has attendants in her cage). Once they start feeding her instead of trying to bite her, let them release her. |
Nobody ever wakes me at 2 in the morning telling me that my grass is out on the highway.~~Radiopat
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
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Originally Posted By killingmachine123: Thanks for the suggestion. With my size 15s I generally don't think about things like that. I appreciate it. Off to look for some tall boots. They also make velcro leg straps. I put those around the boot tops to keep the bees from crawling down in there. 
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Nobody ever wakes me at 2 in the morning telling me that my grass is out on the highway.~~Radiopat
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
| On a side note during this swarm season, found a small ball of bees in an otherwise nice swarm. It contained 1 queen and several bees around her. It appeared 1 of them was trying to sting her. Saw balling before but not in a swarm. Interesting. I don't recall if the swarm contained an additional queen but I think so. Another swarm I helped a newcomer catch had 1 light and 1 dark queen along with 2 dead queens on the ground under the swarm. Both queens went into the brood box with a queen excluder on top of the bottom board until they get it sorted out. Strange times indeed. |
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OH! Do they no longer sell the leg straps? Maybe that was just Walter T Kelley Company. Although I bought mine in the early 2000s so I bet they're still out there.
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Nobody ever wakes me at 2 in the morning telling me that my grass is out on the highway.~~Radiopat
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
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Originally Posted By DUX4LIFE: On a side note during this swarm season, found a small ball of bees in an otherwise nice swarm. It contained 1 queen and several bees around her. It appeared 1 of them was trying to sting her. Saw balling before but not in a swarm. Interesting. I don't recall if the swarm contained an additional queen but I think so. Another swarm I helped a newcomer catch had 1 light and 1 dark queen along with 2 dead queens on the ground under the swarm. Both queens went into the brood box with a queen excluder on top of the bottom board until they get it sorted out. Strange times indeed. Yeah that's really weird. I've recently begun to wonder if the strange bee behaviors are related to the movement of magnetic north. |
Nobody ever wakes me at 2 in the morning telling me that my grass is out on the highway.~~Radiopat
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
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Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: OH! Do they no longer sell the leg straps? Maybe that was just Walter T Kelley Company. Although I bought mine in the early 2000s so I bet they're still out there. I bought some stretchy Velcro bands this past hunting season off of Amazon to keep my pants legs from getting balled up in my rubber boots. Think I put blousing bands for pants in the search bar. I’m going to the Louisiana Beekeeper Association field day tomorrow to see what I can learn or get more confused. Then picking up some queens. Plan on splitting the hives and starting the process of introducing of introducing new queens Sunday. Since the rain chances are out at 3am Sunday. Then introduce the new queens Monday as soon as I get off work. My full bee suit came in Tuesday. Ordered one of the olive colored sting stopper suits. Well thought out and about looks like something you’d see EOD wearing minus the weight. |
| About to commence what I’m calling operation overthrow. Picked up four queens yesterday evening after the field day. Got all my new boxes, covers and everything I need setup yesterday evening. All I need to do is suit up bring a smoker, queen cages and hive tool with me today. Wanted to get started yesterday but with the storm blowing through didn’t want to take a chance of the bottom dropping out with frames out and lids off. If anyone hasn’t been to a field day it’s worth going. Even if you know what they go over. You can make some good contacts they you may not know you need. Already thinking about requeening again next year with Pol-line queens to get those genetics going Guess I need to renew my membership and get the GoPro going again so I can post pictures the easy way. |
| I inspected my hives today and the ladies were a bit grumpy for some reason. I didn't spot the queens but saw plenty of eggs and larva so I know they are around. |
an event "of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,"
| Last hive didn’t go as planned. Found the queen 3 times. Not sure if I got her the 3rd time. Was transferring frames from one box to another. Using a queen excluder on top of the box as a shaker board. Found her on frame 9 twice. Apparently I dropped my clip somewhere and tried to get her with my fingers. Couldn’t find her after the second time on the frame and started shaking them on the queen excluder. Found her and I thought I had her. Not sure if I dropped her between box and a swarm trap I had set up for her or didn’t really have her. Went back through that box and under the screen bottom. Then did the same queen excluder as a shaker board on the second box incase she was in it. Before I introduce the new queens I’m going to go through those boxes just for good measure. Did notice this hive was daylight to dark difference in temperament compared to the other one. So I’m thinking the other hive is the bad one. |
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It's amazing how two hives can have different personalities! I only have two, but my older hive is very calm while my new hive gets more upset when I open them. At the advice of you gentlemen, I moved my excluder up to the top of my second brood box on the older hive yesterday and added a second brood box to my new hive. I also put in mite treatment. I have a swarm trap at a buddy's house near a creek, so I went and added more Swarm Commander lure after church. I'm going to put a trap out behind my church in the woods as well. No one keeps bees near my church and there is a creek back there as well. I have little hope for catching a swarm, but it would be fun to do so. |
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Moved 4 hives of mean bees to a yard to be split and broken down into Nucs. I have a friend that has called me for 3 years. I swap him equipment that I build for all of his "mean bees". They were not in the mood to be messed with and we were lucky it was cold out this morning. I also have 1 customer that asked for 6 Nucs of mean bees so I know where they are going. He stated that the angrier bees make more honey. That is debatable I think. Also checked on my first swarm of the year, April 8th. On this hive I started them with 10 Acorn frames that I had cleaned up and rewaxed. 9 1/2 frames are drawn out to half depth, filled with syrup, pollen, and eggs. I gave this to my daughter in law as her first hive. I told her to give them 1 more round of syrup and I will add a super by next week. Also, caught 3 more swarms todayAttached File |
A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!!!
| Little while ago when I popped the top on the two hives that I’m starting to believe were the true mean hive. They had been considerably more busy than the 2 that came from the other one. One even had 2 new queen cells started on the frame I pulled out to put the new queen on. Really wanted to go through the hive thoroughly as I don’t remember seeing those Sunday when I did the split and they seemed a little further along than I would have expected for 48 hours. Kind of want to go back through all of them now. Going to have to wait for the weekend, since I left work when we saw the storm coming and I beat it getting everything in by 10 minutes. Got the supers put on the calmer hives when I put the new queens in. The mean hives are getting them this weekend when I move them out of the field. Shouldn’t be bad being they are one deep and not two like last time. |
| Wishing I had asked what they were using in the smoker at the field day. Had what I can best describe as a cigar or pipe smell to it. Been googling trying to figure it out and have come across all sorts of high dollar pellets. Does anyone have an idea of what you could add to give it that smell? Been using pine straw forever and wouldn’t mind having a different smell stuck on me for the day. About tempted to get a big bag of cheap pipe tobacco to try and hope the nicotine doesn’t bother them. |
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Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: Last hive didn’t go as planned. Found the queen 3 times. Not sure if I got her the 3rd time. Was transferring frames from one box to another. Using a queen excluder on top of the box as a shaker board. Found her on frame 9 twice. Apparently I dropped my clip somewhere and tried to get her with my fingers. Couldn’t find her after the second time on the frame and started shaking them on the queen excluder. Found her and I thought I had her. Not sure if I dropped her between box and a swarm trap I had set up for her or didn’t really have her. Went back through that box and under the screen bottom. Then did the same queen excluder as a shaker board on the second box incase she was in it. Before I introduce the new queens I’m going to go through those boxes just for good measure. Did notice this hive was daylight to dark difference in temperament compared to the other one. So I’m thinking the other hive is the bad one. Queens are soooo good at hiding! |
Nobody ever wakes me at 2 in the morning telling me that my grass is out on the highway.~~Radiopat
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
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Charged all my GoPro batteries to be able get pictures and video of going through the hive today. Put it in the wheel borough with my bee tool box and supers. Of course didn’t use it at all. Was mainly checking to make sure the queens got out their cages and remove any queen cells. Pretty sure one of the calmer 2 accepted her. Didn’t see her but she was out of the cage and didn’t find a single queen cell. Other calmer one I found 1 queen cell and the queen was still in her cage. Freed her and she darted off into the frames. Kind of worried about how another bee took off after her when she went into the frames. Guess time will tell. Didn’t see the queen in the 2 always angry hives. They were free from their cages. Had also put masking tape on these two to help give more time to be accepted. Found 4 queen cells in one and 3 in the other. Tried something I had seen on some frames that had spots not filled completely out. Supposedly with plastic foundation they will take the wax off and use it else where. So I took a block of bees wax and rubbed those spots with it until I could see it on there. Guess next inspection I’ll know if it helped or not. Ordered some 21st frames to try out in the next super that goes on. Have my new 8 foot long hive stand frame made just need to tote it out to the food plot. Then attach the legs so it level. ETA: not moving the hives until end of May, under advisement from the Keeper I got the queens from. Glad I finally found some people ask all my odd ball questions to this go around. |
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KY, USA
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Originally Posted By DUX4LIFE: Moved 4 hives of mean bees to a yard to be split and broken down into Nucs. I have a friend that has called me for 3 years. I swap him equipment that I build for all of his "mean bees". They were not in the mood to be messed with and we were lucky it was cold out this morning. I also have 1 customer that asked for 6 Nucs of mean bees so I know where they are going. He stated that the angrier bees make more honey. That is debatable I think. Also checked on my first swarm of the year, April 8th. On this hive I started them with 10 Acorn frames that I had cleaned up and rewaxed. 9 1/2 frames are drawn out to half depth, filled with syrup, pollen, and eggs. I gave this to my daughter in law as her first hive. I told her to give them 1 more round of syrup and I will add a super by next week. Also, caught 3 more swarms today https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/144881/1000017249_jpg-3749990.JPGHoly Smokes that's a great looking swarm! Every beekeeper who's ever commented to me has told me that mean bees make more honey. I agree it's debatable but they certainly would on average, I think, because they would be keener to defend the honey and the hive in general, which overall would (maybe) mean more honey harvested. That said, I am, as you sound, skeptical. And it ain't worth it. If I had a good source of queens available nearby and knew I could requeen with good stock, mean bees would be far less of a problem. And you hate squishing the queen a LOT less.
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Nobody ever wakes me at 2 in the morning telling me that my grass is out on the highway.~~Radiopat
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit
Joined:
Feb 2007
Posts:
53437
EE: 0% (0)
KY, USA
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Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: Little while ago when I popped the top on the two hives that I’m starting to believe were the true mean hive. They had been considerably more busy than the 2 that came from the other one. One even had 2 new queen cells started on the frame I pulled out to put the new queen on. Really wanted to go through the hive thoroughly as I don’t remember seeing those Sunday when I did the split and they seemed a little further along than I would have expected for 48 hours. Kind of want to go back through all of them now. Going to have to wait for the weekend, since I left work when we saw the storm coming and I beat it getting everything in by 10 minutes. Got the supers put on the calmer hives when I put the new queens in. The mean hives are getting them this weekend when I move them out of the field. Shouldn’t be bad being they are one deep and not two like last time. Wishing you had a good way to post pics. Would love to see all of this! 
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Nobody ever wakes me at 2 in the morning telling me that my grass is out on the highway.~~Radiopat
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
Born with a low tolerance for bullshit
Joined:
Feb 2007
Posts:
53438
EE: 0% (0)
KY, USA
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Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: Charged all my GoPro batteries to be able get pictures and video of going through the hive today. Put it in the wheel borough with my bee tool box and supers. Of course didn’t use it at all. Was mainly checking to make sure the queens got out their cages and remove any queen cells. Pretty sure one of the calmer 2 accepted her. Didn’t see her but she was out of the cage and didn’t find a single queen cell. Other calmer one I found 1 queen cell and the queen was still in her cage. Freed her and she darted off into the frames. Kind of worried about how another bee took off after her when she went into the frames. Guess time will tell. Didn’t see the queen in the 2 always angry hives. They were free from their cages. Had also put masking tape on these two to help give more time to be accepted. Found 4 queen cells in one and 3 in the other. Tried something I had seen on some frames that had spots not filled completely out. Supposedly with plastic foundation they will take the wax off and use it else where. So I took a block of bees wax and rubbed those spots with it until I could see it on there. Guess next inspection I’ll know if it helped or not. Ordered some 21st frames to try out in the next super that goes on. Have my new 8 foot long hive stand frame made just need to tote it out to the food plot. Then attach the legs so it level. ETA: not moving the hives until end of May, under advisement from the Keeper I got the queens from. Glad I finally found some people ask all my odd ball questions to this go around. Yes. That is the main reason to be in a bee club. The learning of course is great but finding mentors and help with issues is the key. 
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Nobody ever wakes me at 2 in the morning telling me that my grass is out on the highway.~~Radiopat
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
Wine is sunlight held together by water~~Galileo Galilei
Well-behaved women rarely make history~~Marilyn Monroe
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Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: Yes. That is the main reason to be in a bee club. The learning of course is great but finding mentors and help with issues is the key. Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: Charged all my GoPro batteries to be able get pictures and video of going through the hive today. Put it in the wheel borough with my bee tool box and supers. Of course didn’t use it at all. Was mainly checking to make sure the queens got out their cages and remove any queen cells. Pretty sure one of the calmer 2 accepted her. Didn’t see her but she was out of the cage and didn’t find a single queen cell. Other calmer one I found 1 queen cell and the queen was still in her cage. Freed her and she darted off into the frames. Kind of worried about how another bee took off after her when she went into the frames. Guess time will tell. Didn’t see the queen in the 2 always angry hives. They were free from their cages. Had also put masking tape on these two to help give more time to be accepted. Found 4 queen cells in one and 3 in the other. Tried something I had seen on some frames that had spots not filled completely out. Supposedly with plastic foundation they will take the wax off and use it else where. So I took a block of bees wax and rubbed those spots with it until I could see it on there. Guess next inspection I’ll know if it helped or not. Ordered some 21st frames to try out in the next super that goes on. Have my new 8 foot long hive stand frame made just need to tote it out to the food plot. Then attach the legs so it level. ETA: not moving the hives until end of May, under advisement from the Keeper I got the queens from. Glad I finally found some people ask all my odd ball questions to this go around. Yes. That is the main reason to be in a bee club. The learning of course is great but finding mentors and help with issues is the key. 100% I spent the day at the apiary of one of the guys in the club. I learn something new or confirm something I am unsure of every time. |
an event "of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,"
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Well, I did a poor job of preventing swarms on 4 of my hives. They're queenless, although only one showed the remnants of open queen cells. Only one of the 4 appears to be hopelessly queenless. We'll see how this pans out for me. On the up side, 3 of my hives seem to be successful Demaree splits as of now. Hopefully they bring in a lot of honey. I'm still learning every time I go out, and I think I'm really hooked on this bee keeping business. What's better, my 8 year old son was feeding the packages which I installed yesterday. That really helped to free me up for the inspection of the established hives. Hopefully this becomes a family affair. |
| So I’m trying to make sure I have everything for when it comes time to extract honey. Little hung up on the honey buckets with the gate valves due to cost. What all is everyone using? Should I just order some of the valves and source food grade buckets locally and install them myself to save some change? Or use regular buckets and transfer it to a bucket with a valve for bottling. Figure I’m over thinking this per usual and plan on asking at the next bee meeting. |
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Originally Posted By Brundoggie: 100% I spent the day at the apiary of one of the guys in the club. I learn something new or confirm something I am unsure of every time. Originally Posted By Brundoggie: Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors:. ETA: not moving the hives until end of May, under advisement from the Keeper I got the queens from. Glad I finally found some people ask all my odd ball questions to this go around. Yes. That is the main reason to be in a bee club. The learning of course is great but finding mentors and help with issues is the key. 100% I spent the day at the apiary of one of the guys in the club. I learn something new or confirm something I am unsure of every time. Been a big help this go around and during this requeening process. Finally picked up the phone today because I’ve been unsure of some things after yesterday. Current game plan after today’s conversation. Not going to mess with the two calmer hives for a week or two. Pretty sure one excepted the queen and the other I’m hoping she made it after I released her and saw a bee go straight after her when she went into the frames. The two always angry hives. This weekend I’m going to look for eggs. As soon as I pull a frame and see eggs the inspection is over. If no eggs are present. Going to order some VSH Pol line queens. Go ahead and move them to the food plot and turn them into 3 hives and introduce new queens. See if knocking the strength down will help with accepting a new queen. After few days only check that the queen is released. Afterwards wait a week and only pull frames until I see eggs and leave them alone. If that doesn’t work I’m sure someone can advise me where to go from there. |
| Curious what some of y’all’s opinion would be on this thought that I have. Went to a single deep on hives when I split this year and have my supers on. Flow hasn’t really started yet in my area. Only having one deep just hasn’t felt right in my gut. Even though a lot of people in the area only run one deep. Instead of adding another super. Would I be wrong for adding a deep instead and not try for more honey? My thinking is that there would still be enough time in the spring flow to give them the resources to build the comb up. Then decide in the fall flow if I want to go for more honey for myself or if they need it for winter. |