|
What we have in Tennessee is mandatory registration (they can destroy your hives if they're unregistered) and the state will cover your losses on foulbrood if you're registered. And yeah, I had to decline catching a swarm last weekend because I'm still not able to carry all my gear for a few more weeks. I only started catching swarms this year, but free bees are free bees. I kind of think everyone should do it at least once so they can say they did and it's just a neat thing to do. It seems like a lot of folks are letting their bees swarm around here, which means I need to figure out some way to be on the ball next Spring while also having a newborn (wife's due in January). She's not keen on my reasonable idea of a papoose with a beekeeper veil for the baby.
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2016 15:55
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 17:51 |
|
|
Sinister_Beekeeper posted:What we have in Tennessee is mandatory registration (they can destroy your hives if they're unregistered) and the state will cover your losses on foulbrood if you're registered. Registration here isn't mandatory but advised, but I think we have less AFB here. AFB and EFB are still mandatory to report of course. Sinister_Beekeeper posted:And yeah, I had to decline catching a swarm last weekend because I'm still not able to carry all my gear for a few more weeks. I only started catching swarms this year, but free bees are free bees. I kind of think everyone should do it at least once so they can say they did and it's just a neat thing to do. We've had lots of swarms here this year for some reason which no one can quite determine. I have 2 Poly Nuc's now so I'll definitely put my name down for it next year. Your idea seems entirely reasonable, I mean the alternative is no veil your baby and that just seems irresponsible to me, I'm sure your wife doesn't want to be irresponsible with your baby.
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2016 16:21
|
|
|
I did wonder how well bees would fair here with the cold (in Scotland) as I've been tempted to get a hive once I move into a house with a garden rather than a flat, from the sounds of things they manage ok though which is good
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2016 06:35
|
|
|
Sunber posted:I did wonder how well bees would fair here with the cold (in Scotland) as I've been tempted to get a hive once I move into a house with a garden rather than a flat, from the sounds of things they manage ok though which is good Obviously Aramoro could tell you more than me since I'm in the U.S., but in general bees can deal with the cold just fine if they got food stored. It's when they get wet and cold that they tend to have problems. Other than that, you might do better with different breeds of bees than people like me that live in warm and mild climates. Aramoro posted:My bees are quite black, here are some. Those are some pretty honeys. I suspect one of the swarms I caught (the one with the black queen) is at least somewhat Russian. Really wish I was a wealthy eccentric instead of just being weird so I could get my bees' DNA sequenced. But yeah, the strain you've got there has been found in the U.S. (though a bit west of me). I did some reading up on them and there was apparently a lot of deliberate destruction of that subtype by the Nazis, which could lead to a lot of bad taste jokes I'll refrain from making. Out of curiosity, since I saw the black bees tended to be bigger does Scotland/Great Britain have all the weirdness about foundation cell size? There's a bunch of old wive's tales here about using small/"natural" size cells for varroa control.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2016 19:47
|
|
|
Sunber posted:I did wonder how well bees would fair here with the cold (in Scotland) as I've been tempted to get a hive once I move into a house with a garden rather than a flat, from the sounds of things they manage ok though which is good They should be fine really. There's a guy keeping bees on Shetland but he has to artificially inseminate his bees. If you're south of there then it's fine I think, this year the weather has been particularly odd which hasn't helped. I would contact your local association for guidance, I did the course through the Edinburgh and Midlothian Beekeepers Association, it was £65 for 7 weeks of classroom lessons and 4 or 5 Apiary visits. Well worth it as I would not have had the experience to do half the things I've done this year without them.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2016 13:33
|
|
|
Sinister_Beekeeper posted:Out of curiosity, since I saw the black bees tended to be bigger does Scotland/Great Britain have all the weirdness about foundation cell size? There's a bunch of old wive's tales here about using small/"natural" size cells for varroa control. I've not idea really, everyone here just uses standard gauge foundation as far as I know. Some people use Drone Foundation occasionally for doing Varroa removal with Drone frames.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2016 13:33
|
|
|
Sunber posted:I did wonder how well bees would fair here with the cold (in Scotland) as I've been tempted to get a hive once I move into a house with a garden rather than a flat, from the sounds of things they manage ok though which is good Well, people do keep bees here in northern Norway, way past the arctic circle, so scotland should be fine. on that note : I have all my equipment ready, but no bees until next year because of varroa related restrictions on where I can get them from. (theres no varroa in the north, yet)
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2016 08:39
|
|
|
Aramoro posted:They should be fine really. There's a guy keeping bees on Shetland but he has to artificially inseminate his bees. If you're south of there then it's fine I think, this year the weather has been particularly odd which hasn't helped. Klogdor posted:Well, people do keep bees here in northern Norway, way past the arctic circle, so scotland should be fine. That's pretty cool, wonder if the guy on Shetland has to do it artificially because of weather or if its a lack of other hives (I'd presume the latter) Aramoro posted:I would contact your local association for guidance, I did the course through the Edinburgh and Midlothian Beekeepers Association, it was £65 for 7 weeks of classroom lessons and 4 or 5 Apiary visits. Well worth it as I would not have had the experience to do half the things I've done this year without them. Yeah that's something I'm definitely planning before going ahead with buying anything, still a few years before I have anywhere to keep a hive so plenty of time too
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2016 08:35
|
|
|
Sunber posted:That's pretty cool, wonder if the guy on Shetland has to do it artificially because of weather or if its a lack of other hives (I'd presume the latter) One hive should do the trick unless they're not letting the bees make drone comb. The drone comb is a different size and drones take longer to incubate, so some keepers remove comb the bees make as drones don't do anything beyond knocking up the queen. It's a wrong thing to do in my opinion as it seems to really encourage the bees to put comb in random spots, but a lot of beekeepers do it. Or they're really worried about inbreeding, but I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense for bees. Or they're some kind of weirdo. Actually, I'm guessing it's weather related since the queens won't do mating flights outside of certain weather conditions.
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2016 17:22
|
|
|
Sinister_Beekeeper posted:Actually, I'm guessing it's weather related since the queens won't do mating flights outside of certain weather conditions. Its the weather! The queens won't go out dor mating flights so he has to artificially inseminate them. Also hes probably weird.
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2016 17:43
|
|
|
Aramoro posted:Also hes probably weird. Its shetland 
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2016 13:02
|
|
|
Planning ahead for winter projects. Going to build 1 or 2 hives to begin raising little pollinators. Already bought a couple books and have been browsing a bit. Where I am located it ranges between a low of -20F in the winter to 100F in the summer (really low humidity). For the low temp possibility, is there a preferred design of hive? Top bar looks interesting, but I could not find anything that discusses temperatures. insight?
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2016 20:00
|
|
|
The bees will burn energy (read: honey) to keep themselves warm. You'll need to insulate the hive while still allowing for ventilation (because bees respirate and that adds moisture to the air, which needs to be able to escape). Faciliating warmth in the winter probably means aiming for the minimum surface-area-to-volume. A perfect sphere would be the ideal hive, but that's not practical. I think two Lanstroth deeps with honey supers on top is probably less exposed surface area than a long top bar hive, and it has the added benefit of being way easier to maintain - less prone to crazy comb, easier to add or remove frames, and much easier to add or remove volume by using mediums stacked on top of the brood chamber deeps. Note that if you want, you can use nothing but mediums: three mediums for a brood chamber is approximately the same as two deeps. That allows you to totally standardize your frame sizes, which is very convenient. In the summer, the bees will be able to keep cool provided they can easily ventilate the hive. I'd suggest painting it white rather than black, especially if it will be in full sun, to help them out. Partial sun/shade, especially afternoon shade, helps in the summer but obviously hurts a bit in the winter. When it's warm, you'll see workers at the entrance "fanning" by buzzing their wings, to push air in or out of the opening; and during warm summer evenings you'll often see the bees "bearding", gathering in big clusters on the outside of the hive to get some air and cool off both themselves and the inside of the hive (by removing themselves from the interior, so less heat is being added to the air in there). Having said all of the above: the very best way to get your hives set up ideally for your local climate and variety of bee, is to copy what the other beekeepers in your area are doing. Get in touch with your local beekeeper association and investigate what the local common practice is. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 20:09 on Aug 25, 2016 |
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2016 20:06
|
|
|
Leperflesh posted:The bees will burn energy (read: honey) to keep themselves warm. You'll need to insulate the hive while still allowing for ventilation (because bees respirate and that adds moisture to the air, which needs to be able to escape). There are a number of hives at residences along the road near my house, I am tempted to stop and chat. I suspect a lot of them have simply been left to rot. I know for a fact one cluster has. Old hives are not recommended by the folks I HAVE spoken with.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2016 21:17
|
|
|
I don't know a lot of folks that used top bars, but I'm unaware of any that have ever successfully kept the bees alive through the Winter. I'm just not sure they're a good idea for newbies to start with. Also, to add to what Leperflesh said, I go with all mediums since I just finished a multiyear series of medical adventures while beekeeping and I like having everything being interchangeable. And at least from American beekeepers, moisture is more of an issue for an overwinter hive than cold is. Which is why ventilation is so important. I know I'm repeating what the other poster said there, but I've very, very rarely seen any overwinter hive deaths that didn't have to do with not enough food or lack of ventilation and excessive moisture. And I'd totally snag free bees if they've just been left on their own like you're saying, but you would likely do best waiting until Spring and then if they're not good-tempered, re-queen them. Free bees is free bees. At least around here, actual feral hives tend to be a bit meaner and usually a bit better about dealing with varroa and hive beetles if you got that where you're at, but produce really well if you can deal with that. I got all my stuff near my house or near the homes of people I actually like so that isn't an option for me. Also, two+ hives are better than one if you can do it. If you have another hive, you can transfer capped brood to one that needs it, or merge them if they got queen problems you can't fix (I had a queen die in mid-October last year and had to do that). Cartouche posted:There are a number of hives at residences along the road near my house, I am tempted to stop and chat. I suspect a lot of them have simply been left to rot. I know for a fact one cluster has. Old hives are not recommended by the folks I HAVE spoken with. Most beekeepers will have no problems chatting with you about their bees. And a lot of non-beekeepers seem to be terrified of bees even if they appreciate them, so you might be able to get them or work out a deal to tend to them without relocating them. Also, what pic hosting should I use here? Sinister_Beekeeper fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Aug 26, 2016 |
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2016 00:09
|
|
|
 This is the first time I've ever seen a honeybee hive in the wild! It's incredibly cool. It's pretty close to my work and we get a ton of traffic - should I call a beekeeper to come take care of it? I don't want anybody to knock it down and disrupt the swarm. It's on city property so I'm not sure of the typical city procedure (Chicago). My coworkers thought I was insane for being so enraptured by it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2016 04:50
|
|
|
Thanks for posting that. You should be able to contact a beekeeping association and they'd know what to do about it if leaving it alone isn't a good option. That's not really a swarm as they look pretty established to me (I'm assuming the other side is covered by the tree as they like to put hives in tree hollows), but I'm not sure if they'd be alright where they're at since that area gets some nasty Winters. Also, if they ask you if you're sure that they're honeybees, send them that pic.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2016 06:00
|
|
|
Sinister_Beekeeper posted:Thanks for posting that. Thanks for the info! I have a half day today so I will do some research and make some calls. EDIT: Email is out to a few local beekeepers. Based on the size of the bee relative to that hive, what's a good estimate on the age of the hive? I'm kind of blown away that something that big could show up in an area with such high traffic. EDIT2: I took our community rep out there and she promised me she would let me handle it and that she wouldn't call the city, which is good because I'm certain they'd just come out and kill the colony. While out there I stood underneath the hive and a few bees fell off of it and landed on me and they just crawled around all adorably on me. Poque fucked around with this message at 14:49 on Aug 26, 2016 |
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2016 12:32
|
|
|
For some reason (maybe due to wanting my garden to be more consistently pollinated) this year I have grown in appreciation of the little guys. They are like little puppies as long as one doesn't flail around like a loon near them. The wasps in the area? Nuke them from space. Not a fan.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2016 17:11
|
|
|
Newbie question: I left my hive alone for about 6 weeks and my bees have propolyzed the ever living poo poo out of their frames, and have basically glued them to the wood of the boxes. I can get my tools under the tops and get them free, but they have also filled in between the frame sides and the box and I can't get to that without messing up the comb/killing bees. So what do I do here? Hulk out and keep rocking the frames until I can get them free and have pissed off all my bees? Is there some trick to this? I'd really like to do a good inspection of the hive. stealie72 fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Aug 26, 2016 |
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2016 21:48
|
|
|
Yup you will have to cut/break through connecting comb/crazy-comb and propolis. Be as careful as you can, but it may be hard to avoid squashing a bee or two. Often crazy comb happens when the gapping between frames and the box isn't quite right, but sometimes the bees just do what they want to do. e. I found a useful tool was a very very long-handled flathead screwdriver, for reaching down between the ears of a frame and the hive body to cut through connecting comb.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2016 00:35
|
|
|
Cartouche posted:For some reason (maybe due to wanting my garden to be more consistently pollinated) this year I have grown in appreciation of the little guys. They are like little puppies as long as one doesn't flail around like a loon near them. You get used to bees colliding into you, pausing, then flying around you. Also, stealie72 I like the hive tools that are flat for that sort of thing (and smashing hive beetles when I forget to bring pliers).
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2016 01:10
|
|
|
stealie72 posted:Newbie question: Assuming you use a standard hive tool (http://www.mannlakeltd.com/beekeeping-supplies/product/HD-588.html) place the small bit of the tool between the box and the outer frame at the spacer or as close to it as possible,then simply turn the hive tool like a water valve and the leverage will break the frames free much easier.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2016 00:01
|
|
|
I use a j-tool as described above. My bees love building brace comb at the top if the frame but that little bit doesn't really matter that much so you can just lever the frame apart. My process is use the j tool to lift out the end frame and put it on a hive stand. That gives you a bit more space to work with levering apart and lifting out the other frames. I clean off the brace comb with my tool to stop it getting out of control.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2016 15:13
|
|
|
I have one of these:  Best of both worlds. Also, last night I discovered just how pro I am at reversing with little visibility:    Unloaded then winched out, but still...  
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2016 04:21
|
|
|
Well, at least it looks like they were secured, unlike the few we've had nearby. So are you moving them around for a pollination service?
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2016 04:32
|
|
|
Poque posted:
A local beekeeper came out to look at the hive today and was very impressed! I didn't notice that there was a small cavity right above the hive - you can't see it from the picture I linked - and that the colony most likely had been in there for quite some time but only recently grew too big for the small hole, so they started building on the outside. He counted 11 individual comb slats (don't know the proper term) on the outside of the tree and said that based on the location, they will be able to rehome the entire colony. They'll end up cutting down the exterior hanging wax cells and then using a shop vac to gather up any bees that are inside the tree itself. He said that based on the swarming pattern of the bees on the outside of the new comb that the queen is almost certainly in those exterior cells, so as long as they get her, they can transfer the colony intact. He also said he would bring a bee suit for me when they do the transfer, and that they're aiming for Thursday. I can't wait.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2016 16:16
|
|
|
Sinister_Beekeeper posted:So are you moving them around for a pollination service? Yeah, avocados and kiwifruit. First avo hives start going in late Sept (in NZ). Just bringing them closer to a dump site for the moment, saves having to drive 5-6 hours when the orchardists start calling for hives. Poque posted:He also said he would bring a bee suit for me when they do the transfer, and that they're aiming for Thursday. I can't wait. 
thepaladin4488 fucked around with this message at 08:18 on Sep 1, 2016 |
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2016 08:16
|
|
|
thepaladin4488 posted:Take lots of photos (and video) Will do. It got moved to Tuesday due to weather so it'll be next week.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2016 02:52
|
|
|
thepaladin4488 posted:Yeah, avocados and kiwifruit. First avo hives start going in late Sept (in NZ). Just bringing them closer to a dump site for the moment, saves having to drive 5-6 hours when the orchardists start calling for hives.  "Hi, yeah, I need a tow. My truck full of bees fell into a ditch... Please stop laughing."
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2016 03:44
|
|
|
Here's hoping none of you are based in South Carolina: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ika-mosquitoes/ I'm pretty sure they spray that same poo poo in my town in Louisiana (from a truck, not a plane, at least), and I'm not sure I'm far enough out of town to safely start a hive, even if I wasn't renting.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2016 14:18
|
|
|
foxxtrot posted:Here's hoping none of you are based in South Carolina: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ika-mosquitoes/ I'm one street over from a small town that just got a confirmed travel-related Zika case and I'm terrified they're going do panic and do the same here. That the state and county government is all gone for the holiday means I'm waiting to find out if they at least give advance warning (Tennessee requires GPS coordinates on apiary registrations so they should know if there are any in the areas they hit if they end up going that route). My understanding of the SC mess, they notified folks on a Facebook page and a newspaper. Ugh.
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2016 01:09
|
|
|
Plus, you know, an insecticide that kills both mosquitos and bees must also kill tons of other insect species. Just wholesale destroying billions of wild insects in a random area is not a great idea?
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2016 02:35
|
|
|
We had our bee rehoming exercise today as expected and it was really cool to watch. I've been wanting some kind of bee experience for a long time and it made me want to somehow do more. Two guys from local beekeeping groups came out and they were able to do it as a two person job. They cut away a few branches to make their job easier and it allowed for some nice pictures of the hive in question. It really seemed to be more localized on this new comb on the outside of the tree.  It was hot and the bees were pretty docile, so nobody wore bee suits. I had one on for a little bit but overheated and ended up just winging it. They started off by cutting some of the outer empty slats of comb to expose a lot more bees.  Needed a bit of smoking as it went along. They were still docile at this point and I don't think anybody had been stung.  He had gotten the outer comb off of the tree and exposed all the bees on the inside of that section. The bees hadn't put anything in the outer comb - they were guessing that it may have been there as some extra protection from predators or weather since it wasn't inside the tree.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYW1Lf4jiqk They had a couple of boxes stacked on top of each other and were getting bees off of the pieces of comb and into the top box. They would climb through the slats and kinda get stuck in the bottom box. That is the only video I took, since I was also taking pictures for one of the beekeepers, and I wanted to get inside the box to get the buzzing.    Then the vacuuming began! They had a modified shop vac with less suction so they could safely suck the bees up into the vacuum. You can see in the second pic that they had removed a ton of the outer layers of bees so you could actually see the comb at this point. The vac was fitted with a canister so they were ready for transport at this point. Based on the reaction of the bees, they were fairly certain that they had successfully gotten the queen.   Some really beautiful and intact comb came down after that. They were able to fit these pieces (trimmed a little bit) into the wooden frames so that the bees wouldn't have to rebuild everything, as it's fairly late in the season for them to accomplish that. You can see some frames that they had finished already in the box in each photo. This will help out their transition. These were more brooding slats - the pieces that came down that were for dedicated honey storage were super delicious.  Some new bee friends were hatching at that very moment!  After most of the comb had been cut away. They still needed to do some more vacuuming for all the bees left behind up top.  The aftermath! They cut down most of it but a lot of bees returned after the fact, confused about their missing hive. They were fairly agitated, as you'd expect. I'm glad that the majority of the colony was able to be relocated intact. I did not get stung. Brown shirt got a couple of stings, and orange shirt got about a dozen.
|
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2016 19:32
|
|
|
Heyyyy all. First year beekeeper here hoping you more seasoned folk can give me some advice. I have a mentor but he's been pretty bad at communicating lately  So my bees have been awesome. Got a bit of a late start because I went with a queen from the Illinois Queen Initiative, which meant that she wasn't ready until the second week of May, but she's been super productive. The bees drew out every bit of comb pretty much immediately- I'm using all medium 8-frame boxes (I am very small and have only one fully functioning arm, so heft is a concern) and there are 3 boxes total currently. I'd been swapping around the order to keep them from abandoning the lowest super, and all three boxes have been chock full of brood. Hasn't been much honey aside from on the edges of the frames, but all seemed good. Just did a hive check yesterday for the first time in about 2 weeks, and it looks like we got robbed. Or they gorged themselves during the loving nonstop rain. Either way, there are 3 frames full of honey, and that's about it. There's still some frames with eggs and brood (maybe 5?) and honey around the edges, but most of the rest of the honey is gone. There's 2 or so frames of bee bread. They were already not doing much in the way of honey storage, so now I'm freaking out that there's less than they had in September. I'm feeding them a 2:1 syrup and have moved my entrance reducer down to the smallest hole, but I'm not sure what else I should do to ensure they'll have enough to get them through our garbage Chicago winter. I know I can't keep doing a jar feeder in the winter, and my mentor says they really won't eat anything I put in there once the weather turns anyhow, though I've read conflicting things about that. (Fondant? Candy board? Dry sugar?) I suppose it's possible my ladies will make 6 more frames of honey in a month, but I'd like to have some backup plans in order. Anybody else in a similar climate who can help me not kill this hive? I also just saw a loving varroa mite for the first time. Any recommendations as to what to use against them this late in the year? Melicious fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Oct 7, 2016 |
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 22:45
|
|
|
I'm a little bit confused because you are using the word "super" to describe boxes with brood in them. A typical hive made using mediums will have three mediums as the brood chamber, and then supers on top which would have just honey. Are you saying that at no point has your hive been larger than three medium boxes, total?
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 23:13
|
|
|
Leperflesh posted:I'm a little bit confused because you are using the word "super" to describe boxes with brood in them. Sorry, yes, I just meant boxes. And only the three boxes, total. I had anticipated adding a fourth, but they would frequently ignore the bottom box. I just kept swapping them around anticipating they'd start using whatever was on top for honey storage, but no dice. My mentor seemed to think everything was fine, but again, he's been pretty MIA recently. This last check, all of the eggs were in the bottom box (surprise to me), but there was still larvae/capped brood throughout all 3.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 23:38
|
|
|
Huh, I've never been told to rearrange brood boxes, but I have no idea what is normal in Chicago. So the bees didn't just create a spherical area in the center of their stacked brood boxes, and surround that on the edges with some honey and pollen cells? Out here in California I started with a package each year in April and by May they'd be ready to start drawing comb on supers. By September we had three or four supers full of honey on top of the three mediums of the brood chamber, which we rarely disturbed and only to do inspections, never to rearrange. We were also using 10-frame boxes with 8 frames and two follower boards on each end. Of course, that's California, the climate and blooming seasons in your neck of the woods are different so  maybe someone else will recognize the technique your mentor was having you do.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 23:43
|
|
|
Recent surprise beekeeper here, and I could use some advice. We'd been interested in getting into beekeeping, in part to improve pollination in our garden but a couple years ago our neighbors started up some hives so we decided to hold off since we were getting pollinators for free. Well, our neighbors moved out around August and a couple weeks ago, the house was turned over the the bank, with one active hive still going. Before the crew the bank hired to prep the house could wipe out the bees, we got permission to move the surviving hive onto our property. We sealed the entrances with mesh and moved the hive at night--leaving them sequestered for three days seems to have done the trick, as on release the bees seem to have re-oriented themselves well, with lots of bees successfully foraging and very few bees trying to return to the old hive location. Anyway, we live in southern VA and while it's still warm this week, I'd like to get into the hive, check out the situation, and prep them for winter while there's still a chance they might survive. The hive is all 10-frame medium boxes--it looks like there are four boxes stacked on the base, a queen excluder, then another two supers above that. I've read (and youtube'd) up on winter preparations, and know I should consolidate the honey into as few boxes as possible to have a compact hive, and that I need to remove any queen excluders that might keep the queen from moving up to the warmest part of the hive. I also plan to add a mouse guard and a candy board. However, the hive has probably been neglected since August. What should I expect? Any tips for a beginner jumping in head first? EDIT: Opened up the hive today; the top two "supers" were actually empty, and housed a mason jar full of what I assume was once sugar water, which the bees could get to through some hardware cloth that I had assumed was a queen excluder from the outside. The bees were well behaved, but I couldn't work the frames out with my hive tool. There are gaps between the combs on adjacent frames, so I don't think they're too bound up. Any tips, or do I just need to work on them more? I was trying not to disturb the bees overmuch. Tetraptous fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Oct 24, 2016 |
|
#
?
Oct 24, 2016 15:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 17:51 |
|
|
If you don't think they've got enough stores put a candy board on. Mouse gaurd and removing any spare/empty boxes is a good idea - not sure if you have woodpeckers locally? It's isn't unknown for the little bastards to drill a hole in the side of a hive during the winter so I wrap mine in chicken wire. I assume that there isn't a dummy/follower board in the broad box? If there isn't is may be worth removing one of the frames in the spring and putting one it - it makes inspecting the frames a little easier. Over the winter I'd invest is some more kit - a nuc would be ideal for swarm control. Have fun!
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2016 16:55
|
|
