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Bees were put in the hives yesterday. Pictures/videos to come. In the meantime they seem to be very active and buzzy so I'm quite encouraged that they'll like their home. And I know I haven't been stung yet or tried to check inside of their established hive, but what was I ever afraid of. They're so gentle
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Apr 23, 2010 20:17
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Well, being a really nice guy, my beekeeper is replacing the bees free of charge. And, in fact, he is going to install the bees himself to make sure that everything goes smoothly. This is all great, he is a really helpful and nice fellow, and is very interested in other people getting into beekeeping. So he is bringing a nuc hive over on Tuesday. In general, the way you put a Langstroth nuc into a top bar hive is to cut the frames' bottom bar and slice the wax foundation into the right shape. Video here: http://vimeo.com/5614348 But when I mentioned chopping the frames, he seemed to dislike the idea. Instead, he wants to hang the Lang frames perpendicular between two bars in two batches, one at each end.. He thinks that they will have no problem moving out to the bars and switching to a perpendicular comb moving towards the center. Here is a terrible drawing:  I don't have a lot of footing to stand on where I can say "no, do it this way", when this guy is giving me a nuc replacement for free and installing them too! But I worry that doing the frames sideways like that will create a giant cross-comb problem later. Thoughts?
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Apr 24, 2010 17:27
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I don't think it will be much of a problem. You'll want to pull those frames on your first inspection which should be after just a few days at the most. That's a pretty neat idea though. I was wondering how you'd install a nuc in that type of hive.
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Apr 24, 2010 17:41
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TouchyMcFeely posted:I don't think it will be much of a problem. You'll want to pull those frames on your first inspection which should be after just a few days at the most. Yeah, I was thinking that too, but there will be a lot of eggs/brood in those frames from what he said. I might have to wait a bit to pull them. Oh well, this hobby has been quite a learning experience so far!
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Apr 24, 2010 18:04
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Also, unrelated, my bees are going NUTS! I am not sure if its because there is a thunderstorm coming this afternoon or what, but every remaining bee seems to be circling my hive at a breakneck speed, and I can hear them buzzing from the porch. Weird!
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Apr 24, 2010 18:42
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Did our 2nd week inspection earlier today. They were very docile and we ended up not even using any smoke. We found the queen (I thought I got a picture of it, but looking over the photos I can't find her) and there is a ton of uncapped brood and a fair amount of capped so we are looking forward to a bee-splosion in the coming weeks. They are going through about 2 liters of simple syrup a week and it looks like they are storing some of it. One of the outer frames that they are still drawing the comb out on.  A little bit of brood with some pollen and syrup stores at the edges of the frame.  In the background of this one you can see the hive body and the bit of burr comb they built where the hole in the top cover (and the top feeder) would be.  Tons of brood.  Tons of pollen. 
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Apr 24, 2010 21:16
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My hive swarmed today. What a nightmare. I successfully got them down the tree into a box. Then I got the super off my hive and put that into another box, then dumped the bees into that box with the super. They keep going back to the tiny box even though I put sugar syrup in the one with the super. Stupid bees! I really didn't wanna swarm.
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Apr 25, 2010 22:53
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New bees! My hive is absolutely PACKED! The beekeeper brought about 5 frames of bees over, and helped install them. We did a chop-and-crop to 2 of the frames to help them (hopefully) start building their comb that way as much as possible, but the other 3 were just packed to the brim with eggs and larvae (and one was plastic), so they went in sideways like my last picture I drew. He says to wait until they are completely hatched, and then pull those frames and cut them as well (probably a couple weeks). So, here we go again! Fingers crossed.
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Apr 27, 2010 16:42
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BEES! I installed my new package of bees today. Spent yesterday running a torch over all my frames and boxes, just in case there was some sort of virus or something nasty in there, and put new foundation in all my frames. It's pretty windy today, but my backyard seems to be rather impervious to wind. I hope they do well, the installation seems to have gone without a hitch.
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Apr 27, 2010 23:31
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melodywise posted:BEES! Well that's good news. Hopefully this new batch will have a better run than the last colony. If you don't mind my asking, where did you get your ladies from this go around?
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Apr 27, 2010 23:40
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Oneiros posted:Buzz buzz buzz I feel comfortable saying that that is a shitload of bees. 
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Apr 28, 2010 00:21
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Funnily enough, it's not really that many bees. Just one medium looks like. A package of bees is 3 lbs of bees which is around 14k bees. By the fall, my hive should have more like 30k to 50k bees, and even larger hives are possible. But I know what you mean. When we had our hive open and maybe a couple hundred bees got airborne, you can't help but really start to feel at the gut level "gently caress me this is a lot of bees".
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Apr 28, 2010 00:27
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Leperflesh posted:Funnily enough, it's not really that many bees. Just one medium looks like. A package of bees is 3 lbs of bees which is around 14k bees. By the fall, my hive should have more like 30k to 50k bees, and even larger hives are possible. Yup, one 2-week old hive in an 8 frame medium. And there are almost certainly (marginally) less bees in there right now than when we installed the hive since you don't get new bees until around three weeks after the queen is released and starts laying. Out of curiosity, what are people's experiences here with how much simple syrup these girls can go through in a given time period? I know mine are using it to build comb but I still can't quite wrap my head around 2 liters a week.
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Apr 28, 2010 01:22
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They store a lot of it in that new comb they create. In fact if you keep feeding them for too long, they'll use all the space in the hive for storing it and you'll see just a tiny spot of brood in the very center.
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Apr 28, 2010 01:25
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Leperflesh posted:They store a lot of it in that new comb they create. In fact if you keep feeding them for too long, they'll use all the space in the hive for storing it and you'll see just a tiny spot of brood in the very center. Huh, never heard of that happening but I'll be sure to keep and eye on the ratios. The one little nagging worry I have right now it that when we checked the hive (and going back and looking at the photos I took) I didn't see anything stored that looked like natural nectar. It was all brood, pollen, and crystal-clear simple syrup. Maybe that's just because so much is going into producing comb right now and the syrup is just what they have available in excess? Oneiros fucked around with this message at 01:37 on Apr 28, 2010 |
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Apr 28, 2010 01:34
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Yup that's exactly what to expect. Once you stop feeding them they'll eat a bunch of the syrup and start making honey. Our teacher in the starting bees class said you go through one 7-lb bag of sugar (makes 14lbs of syrup) and then stop. He had people who didn't stop come in and ask why the bees kept eating more and more syrup and that's when inspection revealed they'd filled the hive with syrup and only had a tiny area left in the center for brood. Of course this is here in California, I dunno if they recommend more or less syrup in other climates.
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Apr 28, 2010 01:57
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TouchyMcFeely posted:Well that's good news. Hopefully this new batch will have a better run than the last colony. I ended up breaking down and getting a package from Jones. It was the cheapest and easiest way to get them. I wanted to get them somewhere else locally, but everyone else was sold out. I installed them at lunch today, and when I came home from work, all the remaining bees were out of the box and buzzing around happily. Looks like the installation has been successful thus far!
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Apr 28, 2010 04:17
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Couldn't take too many pics because my hands were full, but here are a couple! The helpful beekeeper, named Berry (spelled like the fruit). An overall cool guy - he keeps over 600 hives at the moment so he really knows his stuff.  Here is the nuc hive. Two of the frames were pretty much empty, we chop-and-cropped 2 more, and the other 4 went in perpendicular. But in those 4, there were TONS of eggs, larvae and capped brood. There was also honey, and he said there was no honey when he started the nuc less than a month ago. Go bees go!  And here he is prepping a frame for me to cut into the right shape.  Wish I had more pics, but I was busy! I will get some when I have a full inspection in a week or 2.
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Apr 28, 2010 05:25
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That's pretty awesome Ishamael. I talked to the place where I got my first batch from and they were not very helpful and I also found out that at least one other person had their colony disappear too. I don't think I'll be doing business with them again. Is it too late to try and order another batch and try again this year? I'm in Missouri if that makes a difference.
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Apr 28, 2010 16:25
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Elston Gunn posted:That's pretty awesome Ishamael. You might want to try going to some local farmer's markets and talking to the honey sellers there. That's how I met Berry and got both my failed package and the replacement nuc.
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Apr 28, 2010 16:32
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Bees are coming and going like crazy today, legs loaded with pollen. Woo! Most of them are using the entrance, but a few are coming and going under the roof lid. Either way, the hive is very busy and very alive, so I am happy. I will crack it open next weekend and see about removing and rearranging those sideways frames.
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May 1, 2010 18:29
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So,... this happened today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9vEXKj6yus
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May 3, 2010 01:27
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Wow, so you just happened to be there when you got a virgin queen flight? Crazy! Do you know if its succession in your hive, or not?
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May 3, 2010 01:32
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Leperflesh posted:Wow, so you just happened to be there when you got a virgin queen flight? Crazy! This is from the hive that swarmed twice. So they were without a laying queen for 10 days or so, which should be the normal development time. Going to give her a few more days for more mating flights and then see if she starts laying soon. I was between meetings and stepped outside for a bit and caught her flying home today. She must have been tired or whored out and full of sperm since she had to rest and climb the side of the box a couple times before flying in the front. What a slut.  Still surprised I caught her twice in two days.
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May 4, 2010 01:44
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Is there such a thing as a "bee feeder," similar to a hummingbird feeder for those of use who don't have hives, but enjoy their visits? I have one bush that blooms annually and like seeing traffic increase from the first exploratory worker to dozens in the spring, but those blooms don't last. Is there a way to support nearby bee traffic and colonies beyond what mylandscaping offers for a couple of months a year?
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May 5, 2010 21:18
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Well I suppose you could put out a feeder, but you'd also attract wasps/hornets. If that doesn't bother you, sugar water in a can with holes punched in the side should suffice I'd think.
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May 5, 2010 21:23
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onionradish posted:Is there such a thing as a "bee feeder," similar to a hummingbird feeder for those of use who don't have hives, but enjoy their visits? I have one bush that blooms annually and like seeing traffic increase from the first exploratory worker to dozens in the spring, but those blooms don't last. Is there a way to support nearby bee traffic and colonies beyond what mylandscaping offers for a couple of months a year? Planting as many flowers/blooming plants as you can is really the best you can do. If you want to really go nuts (and piss off your neighbors like I am), start mixing clover seed into your lawn. The bees will love it.
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May 6, 2010 01:44
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Rosemary bushes attract tons of bees. I wouldn't do sugar water because then you'll get a shitload of ants. Do you guys know if the old queen goes with the swarm or the new queen? I have two hives now cause my hive swarmed. Ugh. It's nuts.
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May 7, 2010 06:10
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The old queen leaves with the swarm, and the new queen stays with the hive. (Or so I remember being told years ago.)
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May 7, 2010 06:54
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Got my girls today  Was told to let them chill for a few days. Will move them from NUKs to hive probably Sunday afternoon. drewhead fucked around with this message at 19:41 on May 10, 2010 |
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May 7, 2010 17:11
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Inspection today! Gonna give waffle another shot because rightload has it and not tinypic and I'm lazy. We opened it up and there were a bunch of earwigs under the lid, yuck. Didn't see any inside the inner lid though, and we brushed off what we found there. First job was to scrape off burr comb. The bees seem to like to build up to the hole in the inner lid.       The two center frames. The center of these frames is all hatched bees, with unhatched capped brood around the edges. You can see fresh larvae in many of the center cells, so they're well into second-use there.         This freaked us out for a while - thought it might be a queen cell. But the blurry pictures in the book indicate maybe it's just a drone cell. (click for big)   This frame is next to the center frames. Looks like more hatched brood cells on one side, and mostly capped brood on the other. By the way, we didn't spot the queen (didn't pull every brood frame though) but if you see her in one of these shots let me know!  Second-to-outermost frame on one side. The outermost frame on this side had no comb yet, but the outermost on the other side of the hive was fully drawn on one side and half-drawn on the side facing the follower board. The mostly-built side  Half-drawn side:  Put on the second deep. I'm not sure if it was definitely time yet, but I don't think it will hurt. This hive will be two deeps, with mediums as supers above once they're full. We don't have a queen excluder but we'll probably go get one before we add the medium supers. 
Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 20:52 on May 7, 2010 |
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May 7, 2010 20:31
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I just wanted to say that I really appreciate all the pictures you guys post. This thread is awesome.
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May 7, 2010 21:41
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The picture heavy posts are why I read this thread.
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May 7, 2010 21:48
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Leperflesh posted:[pictures] These are great great pictures. Also, the brood pattern on those frames is really gorgeous. You have an excellent queen.
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May 7, 2010 23:40
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My swarm hive isn't doing well. I think the queen is dead/dying. They're building a bunch of queen cells. I also found a bunch of sugar water on the bottom of the hive, and it wasn't even close to the feeder, strangely. The queen cells also look oddly small....I think I better order one, right?
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May 8, 2010 01:19
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Lots of pictures! I had 2 things I needed to do today: -inspect the hive -rearrange the hive If you remember, I installed the nuc into my top-bar hive and only cut 2 of the frames to fit. The other 4 went in perpendicular. So today I had to remedy that. First, smoking time. I usually don't use a smoker but I knew they would be very unhappy with all this craziness (I was right).  Cracked the top, and there are lots of bees!  Also there was a giant spider hanging out around the hive. Get outta here!  So here you can see the weird arrangement I did when installing the nuc. I have 2 frames going the right way that have been cut to fit, and I put the other 4 in there perpendicular. They were already going crazy with the sideways comb, which I had to cut off.  Some more views of opening stuff up:    Frame inspections:     Found the queen!  I don't have any pictures of cutting the frames to fit, but it was difficult and time-consuming and I felt bad about it. Luckily I only cut through about 5-10 larvae, and some honey. 1 frame was plastic, so I couldn't cut it, and the other was too full of brood. So I set those upside-down in the other end of the hive. The bees don't like the cells being upside down, so they will remove all the honey, nectar and pollen from it, but the brood can still hatch out.  I put my bars in place and buttoned it all back up.  In theory, I am all set now. Assuming I didn't accidentally kill the queen somehow, they should clean up the mess and keep going. They seem like a healthy colony, there is a lot of larvae and capped brood in there, and not too much drone comb (just one small section). Chopping the hive up like this and rearranging it is no fun and makes me feel crappy, but it is better than having to destroy everything to inspect the hive later. Hopefully this is the last invasive thing I will have to do to the hive. So there we go! PS: Don't wear gloves you ever want to wear again when you are cutting up honeycomb. For instance, the gloves I wore. Yikes!
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May 8, 2010 19:08
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Every book I've ever read recommend not wearing gloves at all.
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May 8, 2010 20:11
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Ghostnuke posted:Every book I've ever read recommend not wearing gloves at all. Yeah, this is the first time I have worn gloves, and it was very necessary. Five different bees lost their lives trying to sting my hands. I knew I was really messing with their poo poo, so I took an extra precaution. Like I said, I hope to never be this invasive again.
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May 8, 2010 20:12
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I like to wear puncture resistant nitrile gloves. They let you feel everything you're doing but give you an extra layer of protection. When I bought my starter kit it came with these really heavy leather gloves with canvas arms that extended up to the elbow. Plenty of protection but there's no way to feel anything and you'd probably kill the ladies left and right.
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May 8, 2010 20:53
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Gibbo posted:The picture heavy posts are why I read this thread. OK, my turn. Sunday was move day. NUK #1    I'm pretty sure the audio here was "look I found the queen". I had a whole bunch of shots on the camera a lot closer up to find her later but I never managed to hold still when my wife pushed the button so they are all look like they went through a Gaussian blur about four times.  Nice capped brood here  25# bag of sugar for bucket-o-simple surp  NUK #2  My next door neighbor and I went in halfsies with two hives. Here she is installing the second one.    Everybee in their new home. 
drewhead fucked around with this message at 20:32 on May 10, 2010 |
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May 10, 2010 20:24
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