|
Melodywise: That sucks, sorry. Have you thought about trying Russian bees this time around? They're supposed to be hardy against cold weather and disease resistant.
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2010 07:27
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 18:01 |
|
|
Just ordered my first 2 packages of bees. Can't wait until April 21st'ish. I got Carniolans since they seem to be the most docile. All we have close by are buckfast, and Texas buckfasts are supposed to be a little mean at times. The local apiaries are all sold out of nucs until late May anyway, so I figured it was better to just get the packages and get going while there are still lots of flowers. They'll be going on my boyfriend's organic farm with lots of fruit trees and blackberries to buzz around. I live in Texas, any tips for a novice starting out in hotter climes? I figure Im going to have to requeen frequently to keep the africanized genes out.
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2010 21:32
|
|
|
A queen mates once, and that's it. So keeping the africanzed genes out would only matter if the hive requeens itself, right? As long as you start with a mated queen that wasn't wild-mated with the local bees, you should be fine, I think.
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2010 22:19
|
|
|
Leperflesh posted:
Yeah, they have a ton of honey still. I haven't taken it apart yet, since it's poo poo-tastic weather again (snow argh) but when I looked in they had a bunch of frames that looked packed with honey. As for how cold it got, it had a span of being between 12-17f every morning when I went to work for about 2 weeks maybe. I'm just not sure what happened. It's a sad, sad thing. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2010 03:26
|
|
|
Yeah, that's odd. If they still had honey, they should have been able to cluster together and keep themselves warm. Finding them spread out around the hive and frozen doesn't sound right. But that's all just based on what limited reading I've done, plus a class. There's probably some good reason I'm just not aware of.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2010 05:08
|
|
|
For anyone interested, Science Friday on NPR is going to be having a segment on bees and beekeeping that should be pretty neat.
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2010 02:12
|
|
|
Leperflesh posted:Yeah, that's odd. If they still had honey, they should have been able to cluster together and keep themselves warm. Finding them spread out around the hive and frozen doesn't sound right. The most likely reason is they left the cluster to feed and then died while checking cells. It's more common than most think to find a dead colony that still has honey. Never enough pictures. Our last bit of spring snow.  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image. Two days later. From 32 up to 72.  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image.  Click here for the full 1095x1460 image.  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image.
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2010 02:40
|
|
|
Tanisen posted:
I love this picture. They're such awesome little critters. My mind might change on that once I get stung.
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2010 04:12
|
|
|
Got word from Her Majesty's Royal Beekeeper in San Francisco: bees arrive on the 11th! I have two deeps and a medium ready, with two more mediums in parts for me to build at my leisure. Bees next weekend!!!
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2010 16:19
|
|
|
First time bee-keeper here. My father and I are getting our bees in later this month, so we are starting to put everything together in anticipation of their arrival  . I can't wait to see the little girls all over our rosemary. primed and ready for paint.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2010 03:08
|
|
|
just added a second super cause the hive is really overcrowded. And I switched the hive bodies. How do you know when you're supposed to add a third hive body? does that even happen, or should you just keep adding supers?
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2010 00:50
|
|
|
By hive body, you mean the box that the bees are raising brood in, right? Is your body made of deeps, or mediums? I believe the rule of thumb is, two deeps, or a deep and two mediums, or three mediums. Everything else goes on top for honey, and it's for you. When you say it's really crowded, do you mean they've filled all the frames with brood? Or just, they're socking away tons of pollen and honey and stuff. If it's the former, well, that's expected right after winter, but maybe they'll swarm if there's too many bees next month. In which case, you could consider splitting the hive I guess? I'm not too sure what you're supposed to do at that point actually, someone more experienced can say.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2010 03:07
|
|
|
Yeah, I mean the deeps. I have two deeps and two supers. I took off the queen excluder originally because the bees just weren't going inside, but now they're raising brood in there. For the second super I added the excluder. When I say they're overcrowded, I mean the hive is jam packed with bees. I think they might be running out of space. When I opened the hive all the frames were covered in bees.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2010 04:47
|
|
|
In class last week, our instructor said that's what bees do in the early spring: as soon as it's warm enough, the queen lays like crazy and starts ramping up the hive population as fast as possible. I'm guessing yours have hatched out and you're at peak population right now. I'm not sure there's what should be done about that, if anything.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2010 18:24
|
|
|
Oneiros posted:First time bee-keeper here. My father and I are getting our bees in later this month, so we are starting to put everything together in anticipation of their arrival Great looking hive, Oneiros! Good luck. Well my bees should arrive next Saturday, if the beekeeper doesn't flake on me. So I did a couple last-minute things to the hive, including adding some screened ventilation holes to the roof gables, and creating a little patch of gravel for the hive to sit on, to make mowing easier. I think it looks pretty good.  And here is the view out of our kitchen window now.  Can't wait!
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2010 23:51
|
|
|
Oh god what a day. Today... our hive swarmed. Three weeks ago we checked the hive and didn't see any problems so it must have been the next day our hive made a queen cell. I was telling my wife this morning we needed to expand the hive since it was starting to crowd then not even half an hour later we see this.  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image. Our bees will blot out the sun!  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image. Hmm they're starting to settle.  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image.  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image. I found this hidden on the north side of the house when pressure washing it the day before. It's an emergency and it will have to do.  Click here for the full 1095x1460 image. Ugh, a rush but I guess it'll work.  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image. Hmm. I have an idea.  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image. Muahahaha!  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image. My camera person failed me and I didn't get the video of catching the swarm in a bucket after a sugar water misting. Here's some aftermath though. They got me twice. One on each hand.  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image.  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image. This'll do for now until I can finish the bars, make a top, and a frame to support the whole thing.  Click here for the full 1460x1095 image. I put a feeder for sugar water in with them and some home made pollen substitute and they seem to be staying, so I guess I got the queen in there. Sorry there are so many pictures but I wanted to share them. edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r14POU5bzo4 The swarm started just a few minutes before they tested the tornado siren. Was amusing to think of it as the bee siren. Tanisen fucked around with this message at 02:43 on Apr 8, 2010 |
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2010 02:01
|
|
|
Ishmael you might wanna put the legs of your hive in tubs of some sort of oil otherwise you'll have an ant invasion. Just to let you know. Tanisen that looks crazy. I hope that doesn't happen to my hive. Is your hive just one deep?
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2010 05:14
|
|
|
Maximusi posted:Ishmael you might wanna put the legs of your hive in tubs of some sort of oil otherwise you'll have an ant invasion. Just to let you know. A few heavy chalk lines around the legs (if it's possible to do where they'll be safe from rain) can also help - chalk neutralizes the formic acid in ant trails and they have real problems crossing it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2010 06:18
|
|
|
If they swarmed, then every bee is full of honey and you shouldn't need to feed them much. Right? Have you looked to see how many bees are left in your original hive?
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2010 07:06
|
|
|
Tanisen posted:They got me twice. One on each hand. Holy poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2010 08:45
|
|
|
Maximusi posted:Tanisen that looks crazy. I hope that doesn't happen to my hive. Is your hive just one deep? I was going to put a second deep on this next week, but didn't know the queen cells had been made practically just a day or two after the last inspection. We were about to check it a week ago but the weather turned and checking a hive in stormy weather is not a good idea. I'm still going to add a second deep. Then a shallow super later on, which I might leave for the winter if they need. Leperflesh posted:If they swarmed, then every bee is full of honey and you shouldn't need to feed them much. Right? Yes, they gorge themselves before leaving. You still want to give them food to feel like it's a good place to set up shop. I can see crumbs from the pollen sub falling out all ready so I know they're eating that. Just looking in the front of the langstroth I can see quite a few bees milling around on the bottom of the frames still. We're going to open it up and check today. Yesterday was a bit hectic.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2010 15:52
|
|
|
Popped the hive open today to see what was going on. The girls were a bit defensive so we didn't get to check much or find the old queen cell or check for new ones. There's still a ton of bees in there. Click here for the full 1460x1095 image. The swarm seems to be staying in the new top bar. The 1/6th or so that were left clustered on the limb all night and made it through with temps dipping into the upper 30s. Around noon they dispersed and found the new hive. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2010 19:53
|
|
|
Nice work on the quick Top-bar hive, tanisen! Looks like you have 2 nice-sized hives of bees now. I'm surprised they stung you so much, though. Usually swarming bees are pretty docile. Here is a picture of a swarm that appeared on my car a couple years ago, it is actually what first got me interested in beekeeping, watching a co-worker deal with them and having them be so chill. He just scooped them into a box and put them near the hedges of the parking lot.   Well I finally heard from my beekeeper, he is ready for me to come get the bees! He wanted to give me a nuc hive, but since I have the top bar hive he doesn't know how to deal with that and so he is giving me a package instead. I tried to talk to him about cropping the frames to a TBH setup but he didn't seem interested in letting me try that (or doing it himself). In any case, I should have bees by this weekend! Can't wait! Ishamael fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Apr 8, 2010 |
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2010 20:25
|
|
|
Man, those swarms are cool looking. My parent's single hive swarmed FOUR times last year. Dad was able to catch 3, but one swarm fled down the street, and he lost the trail. I'm heading to my hive tomorrow (it's at my old house that I rent out now) to dismantle everything, clean it up, and bring it to my new place to set up. Anyone have good suggestions for mail-order bee packages?
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2010 00:53
|
|
|
Ishamael posted:Nice work on the quick Top-bar hive, tanisen! Looks like you have 2 nice-sized hives of bees now. I'm surprised they stung you so much, though. Usually swarming bees are pretty docile. I was kind of surprised as well. Talked to my father last night, who also keeps bees, and he said the same thing. I think it had to do with how they were draped across two limbs and I had to scoop half of them, couldn't just hit the branch and let them drop in easily. I'm a bit jealous of your top-bar and am tempted to make a better one and transfer the bars into it once they're established on them. For your setup are you using that white gravel to deter hive beetles? quote:In any case, I should have bees by this weekend! Can't wait!  
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2010 00:58
|
|
|
Tanisen posted:I was kind of surprised as well. Talked to my father last night, who also keeps bees, and he said the same thing. I think it had to do with how they were draped across two limbs and I had to scoop half of them, couldn't just hit the branch and let them drop in easily. Nope, the white gravel box is just to make mowing easier, but I hope that it will cut down on bugs and critters as well.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2010 01:03
|
|
|
Double post but I don't care. Picking up my bees at lunch today, then I will take them home and put them somewhere warm but out of the sun, and I will install them as soon as I get home from work! I never figured out a good feeder system for my top bar hive, so I will just be using a baggie feeder above the bars. Hope it works! I should have some pictures tomorrow. Wish me luck...
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2010 15:26
|
|
|
You know try as I might, I can't find any exact blueprints for a Top Bar Hive. I guess they're all rather "catch as catch can". Does anyone have any recommended specs for building one?
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2010 17:55
|
|
|
Raskolnikov2089 posted:You know try as I might, I can't find any exact blueprints for a Top Bar Hive. I guess they're all rather "catch as catch can". biobees.com has a downloadable PDF that has all the dimensions in it, the plans are not put together in a super orderly way but all the numbers are in it. Worked for me! Also, I went and got my package of Italian bees with a new queen, and drove them home. Here they are resting on my porch until dinnertime.  I have to say it's a new and unique experience to drive in a car with 10,000 bees in the passenger seat. Installation tonight! 
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2010 18:39
|
|
|
Ishamael posted:I have to say it's a new and unique experience to drive in a car with 10,000 bees in the passenger seat. Installation tonight! I get to do that in a week and a half! I thought about putting them in the trunk but I worry they won't get enough air for the hour drive. I looked at the biobees before and I guess that's probably the best to go off of. I just hate building without an exact blueprint. We're building it next weekend, then the bees should be here the tuesday after. Any suggestions on weatherproofing paint to use? I dont know if there are certain types they wouldn't like smell wise.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2010 18:53
|
|
|
OK, the bees are in their new home! Only one minor snag, and that was pure idiocy on my part. The queen cage had a cork on either end, and I took the cork out of the non-candied end. So she just fell right out into the hive! I hope she stays there!! Anyhow, here is the pictorial. Unfortunately I was losing the light so the end pics are a little dark. The package, 10,000+ Italian bees! Spraying them with some sugar syrup. They really responded to that, and calmed right down.  Top off.  Can feeder out.  Putting the queen cage in.  Prying the cork out of the WRONG GODDAMN END  Shake those bees!!  Hive full of bees.  Reassembling the hive bars and removing the now useless queen cage.  Bees hanging out at the entrance.  And there we go! I will have to wait a week or so to let them get situated. I did notice a problem with my hive - the follower boards are not tight enough along the sides, and bees are in the empty portion too. I hope they get bored and go back into the main section. I will definitely be learning a lot.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2010 01:11
|
|
|
:s I hope they don't kill your queen!
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2010 01:16
|
|
|
Maximusi posted::s I hope they don't kill your queen! Well, they have been in that box together since Tuesday, so I am hoping they have accepted her scent by now.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2010 01:21
|
|
|
It's always fascinating to -pour- out thousands of living things. I hope they establish for you. My top bar bees absconded yesterday. Not what I wanted but somewhat expected. I checked the langstroth and found a few queen cells and the empty one. We're trying a little experiment now and took a frame with a queen cell on it and put it into the top bar to see if we can get a new colony going.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2010 16:01
|
|
|
Raskolnikov2089 posted:You know try as I might, I can't find any exact blueprints for a Top Bar Hive. I guess they're all rather "catch as catch can". In addition to the biobees one there's http://www.tc.umn.edu/~reute001/Plan%20files/pTop%20bar%20Kenya.pdf which is pretty much just a plan. Found it in this month's Bee Culture magazine in a top bar article.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2010 17:53
|
|
|
If you have a deep for your first box, you don't actually have to dump the bees at all. This video from Beekind shows the package installation technique we were taught at our installation class. It's less disturbing to the bees, and less likely to get you stung too. Of course, I'm not saying you should do it this way, just, I think it's pretty cool and it certainly seems to be effective. Oh! I don't think the follow boards are supposed to be tight, actually - the ones that came with our deep have plenty of room around them for the bees to be able to get into the spaces on the ends. If the space is bigger than 'bee space' then the bees usually won't build comb there (although they can build crazy comb). Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Apr 10, 2010 |
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2010 19:00
|
|
|
Well it's been a full day and the bees are still in the hive! Thanks to the screened bottom I can lay under the hive once they are all back in at night and look up to see them. They are clustering in the corners, but they haven't started building any comb yet (of course its only been one day). I went out early this morning to see how they were doing and saw a big bunch of them had moved back into the package box. So I re-opened the hive and dumped that pile into the hive as well. I wanted to get them all in before their first day of exploration. It worked well, but waking bees up in the chilly morning makes them annoyed! I got stung once on the hand, but I got the stinger out quick so it didn't swell up at all. They went nuts all day, coming and going from the hive being busy little bees (hurr), and come sundown they all went back in. So far, so good!
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2010 01:01
|
|
|
Went up to Brushy Mountain Bee Farm this morning to pick up the rest of our equipment, a package of bees, and to watch an installation demo. We successfully installed our package in the hive just about an hour ago. The only hiccup we had was a clump of bees that seemed very reluctant to leave the package. We ended up having to cut open the mesh to get them out. By that time we had already closed the hive so we decided to dump them on the front porch. They still seem very lethargic and are just sort of clumping up around the reduced entrance. Should I be worried about my girls?  edit: Went out with a flashlight; About a dozen dead on the porch, another dozen  still clumped together in a corner on the porch (though while I was watching a few broke off and started searching for the entrance), and maybe another dozen very confused girls clinging to the underside of the bottom screen. I didn't see any big masses when I looked up from underneath so I assume they are all up between the frames.
Oneiros fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Apr 11, 2010 |
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2010 01:26
|
|
|
/\/\/\ You don't have to force all the bees out of the package. Just put it down near the entrance and the bees will find their way in. It helps if it's still daytime of course - the recommendation is to install in early evening, so the bees are getting ready to settle down but there's still warmth and light. We just picked up our package from Her Majesty's Secret Beekeeper in San Francisco. Their bees were due at 6:30, but didn't arrive till about 11pm... and the 75 packages of bees were covered with loose bees on the outside. We felt really bad, she was setting up to have to sit outside on the street (this is in a busy nightlife neighborhood of the city) all night long, because she couldn't bring all those loose bees into the store without risking a lot of them getting into the ventilation. She's got a twitter up... latest post: "Initiate shop vac". Jesus. Anyway bees are safe at home. They just got packaged today, so, we were planning on hiving them tomorrow evening but we might wait an extra day, especially if it's raining.   
Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 08:27 on Apr 11, 2010 |
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2010 08:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 18:01 |
|
|
Wow, those packages are huge! So it's day 2 and things are going well (I think!). The hive is crazy busy, with bees flying everywhere. I put the boardman feeder near the entrance to give them some extra food just in case, but they seem to be ignoring it. In any case, I am having a great time just sitting on the porch and watching them work. I can't see pollen on their legs, but I am not that close. Hopefully they are having no problem finding food in the area, since every plant in the world is blooming this weekend.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2010 16:46
|
|