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Link Posted: 10/29/2021 11:44:57 PM EDT
[#1]
Keep it pinned.
Link Posted: 10/29/2021 11:49:28 PM EDT
[#2]
I prefer it kept pinned so it’s always page 1.
Link Posted: 10/29/2021 11:49:42 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Kitties-with-Sigs] [#3]
Link Posted: 10/30/2021 3:24:43 AM EDT
[#4]
Keep it pinned
Link Posted: 10/30/2021 9:10:29 PM EDT
[#5]
Pinned would be best.  Newbies would be more likely to see it and chime in with problems I think...
Link Posted: 10/31/2021 1:14:16 AM EDT
[#6]
Link Posted: 10/31/2021 3:50:07 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DUX4LIFE] [#7]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
Okey dokey.  Seems like everyone wants to keep it pinned, so I will.

View Quote




Thank you!
Link Posted: 11/3/2021 11:26:53 PM EDT
[#8]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By DUX4LIFE:




Thank you!
View Quote View All Quotes
View All Quotes
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By DUX4LIFE:
Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
Okey dokey.  Seems like everyone wants to keep it pinned, so I will.





Thank you!


Seconded
Link Posted: 11/11/2021 4:39:55 PM EDT
[Last Edit: JQ66] [#9]
I had combined four small or weak hinges into two, two weeks ago.
And thought I had two strong hives left as well
I did an inspection today as it was unseasonably warm (68F), To finally get the syrup feeder troughs out, and especially check on the two combined hives.  Unfortunately I found what I thought was one of my good hives with maybe no queen.  If it does have one it appears to be an unfertilized queen.   It was really small, but had all the features of a queen.   Maybe a month ago there was a good marked queen in there.   This one has a very abdomen. Too hard to post photos here now, to see what you all think.   Given her size it will be difficult to find her again.  And this box had a lot of honey.   Not good for human consumption, as I had used Apivar strips and also feeding a good bit with sugar water/syrup.  Lots of bees in the top box, too, few in the bottom one.
The other hive I thought was doing well appears to be OK.  



One of the combined hives is doing decent.   They chewed through the paper and that queen was laying some eggs even, but still in her original deep box.  Maybe she took a quick jaunt up to the top level and laid a few larvae.    
The other combined hive not so good.   The queen that I left was a newer one.  She has good size but didn’t see much if any sign of eggs.  I thought she was laying some about a month ago, but it’s just too late in the season now and there’s nothing left now for flowers.   And they never chewed through the paper.   But the second box has a lot of honey stored.  



So it looks like I’ll be lucky to have two make it through the winter.   I probably should combine the hive with the little queen with the other that got combined and wasn’t looking so good?    Would have to find and kill that little queen.  But might have to wait a few days at least, maybe till next weekend, as the temps are dropping again through thIs weekend.  Will be putting On the sugar feeder board and vivaldi box at that time.   They are surrounded with 2” foam now.
What a bummer.
Link Posted: 12/4/2021 11:01:56 PM EDT
[#10]
Link Posted: 12/6/2021 8:25:24 PM EDT
[#11]
You’re getting some pretty good heat from those hives.
I’ve had a FLIR one for a couple years, really mostly for the bees.
But I’ve got mine are wrapped up with foam insulation for the past couple weeks.   And soon I need to set up a wind break curtain around them (I use tarps set up a few feet away
Link Posted: 12/6/2021 8:34:16 PM EDT
[#12]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By JQ66:
You’re getting some pretty good heat from those hives.
I’ve had a FLIR one for a couple years, really mostly for the bees.
But I’ve got mine are wrapped up with foam insulation for the past couple weeks.   And soon I need to set up a wind break curtain around them (I use tarps set up a few feet away
View Quote

I was going to wrap mine, but the staple gun only had 2 staples left, and couldn't find the box of staples.

As it is the 2 langs have feeder shims and quilt boxes. Those are the ones  I need to wrap. The layens and horizontal hive are well insulated with thicker wood or insulation.
Link Posted: 12/10/2021 9:56:52 PM EDT
[#13]
Tell me a quick solution to a bee hive in the ground on my property in Alabama. I found one functional hive and a second that looks like an animal dug it up and ate it. This hive is in a pasture and I discovered it with the tractor
Link Posted: 12/11/2021 5:12:25 AM EDT
[#14]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By whiskerz:
Tell me a quick solution to a bee hive in the ground on my property in Alabama. I found one functional hive and a second that looks like an animal dug it up and ate it. This hive is in a pasture and I discovered it with the tractor
View Quote

Put a screen over the hole at night, weight it down along the edges. Put a long squirt of dish soap  in the hole, then fill with water. Wait a day.
They are not honeybees.
Link Posted: 12/11/2021 9:18:32 AM EDT
[#15]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By rcav8r:

Put a screen over the hole at night, weight it down along the edges. Put a long squirt of dish soap  in the hole, then fill with water. Wait a day.
They are not honeybees.
View Quote



What are they ? They look a lot like honey bees and we're not super aggressive even when I went over them with the tractor.
Link Posted: 12/11/2021 10:36:34 AM EDT
[#16]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By whiskerz:



What are they ? They look a lot like honey bees and we're not super aggressive even when I went over them with the tractor.
View Quote

They're probably a species of ground dwelling bees as you called them, can't be more specific without a good, detailed pic, based on what you said.
A few bee species like to dwell in former rodent holes, including yellow jackets, which would have been mean bastards if disturbed, or even if you got too close.

If they aren't bothering you, you can leave them alone if you like.
Link Posted: 12/11/2021 9:41:52 PM EDT
[#17]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By rcav8r:

They're probably a species of ground dwelling bees as you called them, can't be more specific without a good, detailed pic, based on what you said.
A few bee species like to dwell in former rodent holes, including yellow jackets, which would have been mean bastards if disturbed, or even if you got too close.

If they aren't bothering you, you can leave them alone if you like.
View Quote



They are not yellow jackets. Yellow jackets are assholes and if they were there would have been a fiery demise for them. I have experience running over a yellow jacket nest. This may be a former gopher tortoise hole. Those holes are all over my property. Is there any chance these are bees from a nearby beekeeper ? I just hate to kill them if they are beneficial.
Link Posted: 12/12/2021 11:00:13 AM EDT
[#18]
No, they're not from a beekeeper. Honey bees are a unique species in that they make and store honey, and they do not live in the ground.

The bees you have are pollinators, so they are beneficial in that regard.
Link Posted: 12/12/2021 12:15:04 PM EDT
[#19]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By rcav8r:
No, they're not from a beekeeper. Honey bees are a unique species in that they make and store honey, and they do not live in the ground.

The bees you have are pollinators, so they are beneficial in that regard.
View Quote



Okay but after visiting them this morning while it is cool. I got a better look at them. Not honeybees but slightly resemble them. They have a paper nest though.
Link Posted: 12/12/2021 3:37:05 PM EDT
[#20]
They can resemble honey bees.

pics of ground bees
Link Posted: 12/14/2021 11:08:02 AM EDT
[#21]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By rcav8r:
They can resemble honey bees.

pics of ground bees
View Quote




Thanks, As long as they are not aggressive I will leave them. I am next door to a guy who farms a couple hundred acres (peanuts, cotton and sod) and I am working on my smaller piece of dirt.
Link Posted: 12/16/2021 10:18:53 PM EDT
[#22]
Link Posted: 12/18/2021 11:22:54 AM EDT
[#23]
Simple question.... probably results in a complex answer

My life is finally becoming less demanding and I should have some time margin beginning next year.  

I have 170 acres in north east MO and am putting in an 8 acre monarch field and 22 acres of native grass, little blue stem.  

100+ acres are timber.  

Surrounded on all sides by like property for miles.  

Questions:  

When is the best time of the year to start a hive?

How many hives?

Thanks

Link Posted: 12/18/2021 11:40:41 AM EDT
[#24]
Spring is the best time to start a hive. Up here in WI, packages get delivered around late march, early april through may, and sometimes until June. It may be earlier for you. It would be best to find a local beekeeping club in your area to find out the local sources, there's usually a club member or business that will order bees from the south for resale locally.
They will also know the best times to start, when to treat, etc for your locality.
Link Posted: 1/3/2022 11:28:40 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Kitties-with-Sigs] [#25]
Link Posted: 1/3/2022 11:35:59 PM EDT
[#26]
Link Posted: 1/8/2022 9:10:34 AM EDT
[#27]
Thanks all for the encouragement.  

Link Posted: 1/13/2022 11:03:04 PM EDT
[#28]
Link Posted: 1/26/2022 7:55:36 PM EDT
[#29]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By Deuskid:
Simple question.... probably results in a complex answer

My life is finally becoming less demanding and I should have some time margin beginning next year.  

I have 170 acres in north east MO and am putting in an 8 acre monarch field and 22 acres of native grass, little blue stem.  

100+ acres are timber.  

Surrounded on all sides by like property for miles.  

Questions:  

When is the best time of the year to start a hive?

How many hives?

Thanks

View Quote



How far from Palmyra?
Link Posted: 2/2/2022 4:59:50 PM EDT
[Last Edit: JQ66] [#30]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By Deuskid:
Simple question.... probably results in a complex answer

My life is finally becoming less demanding and I should have some time margin beginning next year.  

I have 170 acres in north east MO and am putting in an 8 acre monarch field and 22 acres of native grass, little blue stem.  

100+ acres are timber.  

Surrounded on all sides by like property for miles.  

Questions:  

When is the best time of the year to start a hive?

How many hives?

Thanks

View Quote



Check your local community college too for bee keeping courses
I’ve been at this a few years, but I enrolled in a beginner beekeeping course at my local county community college today. Classes Monday nights in March.  
It can’t hurt and it’s pretty inexpensive.   Good to network and pick the instructors brain on more advanced things if he doesn’t cover things I want to know more on this session.  

The local beekeeping club for Westmoreland county he is pretty worthless.   All depends on who the officers are and if they’re afraid of having live meetings.   Apparently this one is totally worthless as far as I can tell


Penn State has a good online breaking course that will get you basic info.  It was free at the beginning of the covid shutdown, but they’ve since gone to to charging about $100 for it.   Go at your own pace.   I’m sure other state schools with ag programs will have something similar.


And get some milkweed seeds or even roots for your monarchs.  
My Dad started keeping up with a wild patch of milkweed on the gas co property next door, and I’ve kept up with it too.  May be too late to get you any seed pods by now this year.
Link Posted: 2/2/2022 9:15:48 PM EDT
[#31]
Also check your local beekeeping supply places for courses. One near me has a 4 part in-person class (they did put it online for peak covid last year).

I've given a 4 hour "quick" course, but haven't since because of mask rules in our county.
Link Posted: 2/23/2022 6:42:03 PM EDT
[#32]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By Vespid_Wasp:



How far from Palmyra?
View Quote


@Vespid_Wasp

6 miles south of Bowling Green
Link Posted: 2/26/2022 7:21:17 PM EDT
[Last Edit: drfroglegs] [#33]
Looking for some help from some of you guys who have recently started hives.

My wife does beekeeping at her college (she's bio instructor at community College). They've had bees for years and she is one of the main ones who gets grants, takes care of the hive and extracts the honey.

She has been talking more and more about starting some hives at our house (we have 9 acres off the beaten path).

I would like to get her a gift card to the local beekeeping supply store.

How much do you think would be a good budget to get her everything she needs to start a hive?

I'm talking the actual hive, suit, smoker, bees/queen, etc.

She will know what to get, but I want her to be able to go in there and buy everything she will need to get started. Thank you all for the help!

I'm trying to talk her into joining the site just to join your guys in your adventures.
Link Posted: 2/27/2022 8:45:41 AM EDT
[#34]
For a rough estimate, go to the Better Bee website and price it up.  I'm not saying they are the best or the cheapest, but you can get an idea of a budget.  

If you have a local bee club you can probably get some used equipment or borrow some stuff (like an extractor) until you get up and going enough to determine if you need different equipment.
Link Posted: 2/27/2022 11:05:45 AM EDT
[#35]
You could easily get up to 1K if you have to buy everything.

Suit, gloves, hive tool, smoker.

Assuming a traditional langstroth hive, bottom board, 2 deep boxes, inner cover, top cover, frames (10 for each box), 2 medium boxes and frames (10 for each box). You can save money by building these yourself if you have the equipment, but start building RIGHT NOW, cause the season is right around the corner. Don't forget to allow time for painting and off gassing, whether kit or homebuilt.
Wax foundation for the frames, wired or unwired depending on her preference. This is just for one hive.

And of course, the bees, a package or a nuc.

There'll be other stuff, like mite control, and the odds and ends like queen clips, queen markers, smoker fuel, etc.

With her experience, she'll know what she wants. Take her shopping, and learn some stuff yourself, maybe you'll get into it too.
Link Posted: 3/5/2022 5:10:29 PM EDT
[#36]
So who all is trying to get a swarm this year?  I’m thinking about throwing a couple frames in the nuc I bought a couple years ago and some wood boxes I found at work.  Saw a couple bees on on my blueberry bushes today and and don’t know of any keepers within 10 miles.
Link Posted: 3/5/2022 11:45:50 PM EDT
[#37]
Well, down to one potentially viable hive from the three that I had before winter.
2-3 weeks ago we had some warm weather and I got to have a look in my hives.  Two were living.
Today I check one that was intact from last fall, and there were bees.   They ate A LOT of the sugar on the feeder board.   But down below in the hive box, I saw two clusters of bees.   And as bad luck would have it, I found the queen in the second cluster of dead bees, dead too,   So no brood at all and those workers will probably not make it long.   They had a decent amount of honey left, but the Cluster must’ve split up and a lot of bees fell dead on the bottom frame.  So I guess not enough air movement there.

The other hive looked better, some dead bees, and found the original queen, that came from a swarm I found late last spring.   But I didn’t see any brood at all.  I would’ve though there would be some at this point.   I did give them some pollen on the feed board to help them out.

I’ve got four packages coming in a few weeks I guess.   Will have to go to Mann Lake in Wilkes barre to pick them up.  Seems like the sellers and USPS won’t guarantee delivery of live bees anymore. So sellers won’t insure live delivery either.  Just not worth the risk and the post office is so screwed up any more.
Link Posted: 3/9/2022 7:04:28 PM EDT
[#38]
Sad day at the Symptoms household. My single hive died.

Looks like there are diarrhea streaks along the top of the hive... rust-colored streaks near the upper entrance.

Looks like everyone's dead... I knocked on the hive and got no response.

Bummer.
Link Posted: 3/9/2022 7:27:14 PM EDT
[#39]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By FrankSymptoms:
Sad day at the Symptoms household. My single hive died.

Looks like there are diarrhea streaks along the top of the hive... rust-colored streaks near the upper entrance.

Looks like everyone's dead... I knocked on the hive and got no response.

Bummer.
View Quote

The poop is normal. They hold it, and first warm day, they get out and let it rip.

As for the hive itself, you need to go in and confirm.
Link Posted: 3/10/2022 12:51:21 AM EDT
[#40]
Central Wisconsin here:



Second year for us, lost all of our ‘20 bees last winter, the bees from ‘21 are overwintering.

Started with 2 nucs last March. Managed to split/capture 4 colonies entering winter with 6 healthy colonies. Having lost all last year we elected to try 6 different methods of insulating, wrapping, venting, etc.

Last inspection (20 Feb) we’ve lost half, but the remaining 3 appear to be doing fine

Interesting to examine the perished, plenty of honey and resources, two of the lost hives appear frozen in time. Small clusters across maybe 3 frames in the top of the lower deeps. Some honey on the frames with perished clusters even.



One lost hive was alive just before Christmas, yet in February it’s a box full of dead bees, nearly 2 inches in the bottom. Puzzling.

Link Posted: 3/10/2022 1:20:49 AM EDT
[#41]
Very good chance of mites in either case, and the small cluster could mean different things, queen died, not enough winter bees, moisture, unable to move the cluster to more honey.
Link Posted: 3/11/2022 12:08:36 AM EDT
[#42]
I have been really looking hard as most beekeepers I know have shared it was probably mites, I have never found mites anywhere.

Never seen a mite on a bee, never seen mites on the bottom board. I’ve spent hours handling them this past season, monitoring, splitting, marking queens etc. such an enjoyable hobby.

When you have mites can you see them? I’ve read a ton on mites, looked at plenty of pictures and figure I’d be able to see them.
Link Posted: 3/11/2022 12:59:16 AM EDT
[#43]
Have you done a alcohol wash, or perhaps broke open some pupae stage brood? Those are a better way to see them. Mites especially like drone brood, because of their longer gestation period.

I have seen mites on live bees, but it's rare.
Link Posted: 3/11/2022 9:55:56 PM EDT
[Last Edit: JQ66] [#44]
Jelly roll is similar to the alcohol wash, but doesn’t kill the bees.
But you need a surface you can shake out the jar on to see if mites drop out.

That’s interesting about not seeing them on the bees.   I always looked and never saw any.  There has to be some.
Also never  saw signs such as deformed wings
I used apivar, except on the hives with lots of honey - those I used Mite-Away which is pretty nasty - hold your breath!
Link Posted: 3/12/2022 5:33:53 PM EDT
[#45]
This late summer we used Mite away quick strips on all of the hives. Pulled the honey supers and with two deep 10 frames remaining placed two strips in each.

First time using the stuff, we live in a fairly windy area so staying up wind was fairly easy.
Link Posted: 3/12/2022 7:01:07 PM EDT
[#46]
Ok, another semi-cool project I’ve been working on with the bees.

***Nerd Warning***

Last fall we rigged up a data acquisition rig to monitor two of our hives. I’m a mechanical guy but with the kiddos becoming more interested in science I bumbled my way through programming an arduino with some temp/humidity sensors and a shield to write the data to an SD card.

Sensor collecting ambient temp behind my hives tucked up into the pallet/wind brake:



3 sensors writing a temp & humidity read to the SD card every minute.

Propolyzed sensor:


I had been tracking the hives through late summer into fall, then those naughty bees propolized the sensors and the data got iffy. To make things worse the two hives I had rigged both perished, so the data wasn’t very valuable.

When I did the February inspection I put the sensors into two living hives, today I nabbed the SD card with a months worth of data and plotted the last two weeks.

Arduino stuffed into a cut Tupperware container behind the bees:



Link Posted: 3/12/2022 7:25:04 PM EDT
[#47]
Below is a chart of a single day mid-summer where I had removed the upper inner cover from Hive #2 so it was completely unvented. I was curious if the bees would be able to keep the hive cool despite my hives sitting in direct sunlight. With the outdoor temp hitting the high 80's I could see the bees bearding and the hive temp (yellow line) revealed that the hive was indeed overheating (approaching 100 degrees). So I walked out there, plopped the inner cover back in which vented the hive, and almost instantly you can see the temp drop back to the ~91 range. It was also interesting to see the humidity (gray line) drop immediately, and dramatically, which I made mental note of.

This tells me that while an unvented hive had shown promise when ambient temps stayed below 90 degrees, the combination of unvented hive and direct sunlight was a no-go



Data from March 1-12: Very different time of year (winter) and two different hives now. Hive #3 is uninsulated, but vented and has a quilt board atop the sugar tray feeder. Hive #5 has black plastic wrapped around it, 2" of pink foam under the cover, and has a vent in front beneath the sugar tray.

Looks like the quilt board on Hive #3 is reducing the humidity inside the hive much better than the vented & insulated Hive #5.

Also interesting to see the temps of the hives follow ambient so well. The bees certainly are not keeping the entirety of the double deep 10 frame hives warm.

You can see about mid-chart we had two days of rain where the outdoor RH was near 100%.

You can see early in the chart where the bees in hive #5 must have clustered around the sensor for a period of time as the temp reading hit 90 degrees.

Sort of cool

Link Posted: 3/20/2022 5:49:44 PM EDT
[Last Edit: fttam] [#48]
Bears!

I’ve got two hives in the backyard that are big time producers for me. Well, they were.

It’s been mild, and they’ve been super busy. Awesome.

And then I woke up Thursday morning to find my electric fence wrecked, chicken wire and stake fence trashed and one of my hives dragged fifty feet away and wrecked. Ate some frames, wood and all! Damn.

So I suit up and clean it up as best as I can. Bees were PISSED and found a way inside my suit (I took three to the face). Grrrrrrr.

I wondered if he’d be back.

Friday morning, I had my answer. Now both hives are trashed! The electric fence was working, he just didn’t care. At all.

Attachment Attached File

Attachment Attached File

Attachment Attached File

Attachment Attached File

Attachment Attached File

Link Posted: 3/20/2022 6:54:16 PM EDT
[#49]
one concern of mine has always been detection of adulterated honey. I found a site that provides some methods!

13 ways to ID  pure honey.

Link Posted: 3/21/2022 10:53:59 AM EDT
[#50]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Originally Posted By jacobsk:
I have been really looking hard as most beekeepers I know have shared it was probably mites, I have never found mites anywhere.

Never seen a mite on a bee, never seen mites on the bottom board. I’ve spent hours handling them this past season, monitoring, splitting, marking queens etc. such an enjoyable hobby.

When you have mites can you see them? I’ve read a ton on mites, looked at plenty of pictures and figure I’d be able to see them.
View Quote


If you see mites on adult bees, you already have a big problem. >80% of the mites are underneath cappings during times when brood rearing is taking place.
Forget opening up drone brood and sugar shakes. Alcohol washes are the most effective way of accurately sampling to determine the mite levels within the colony. Killing 300 bees is nothing considering that a prolific queen can lay 1500 eggs per day. As our state inspector says- 300 bees now or 30,000 later, choose wisely..

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