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Posted: 6/8/2017 10:21:23 PM EDT
[#1]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge:
Has anybody heard from DUX? I have not seen him post in a while. I purchased a few of the Mann Lake Mini Mating Nucs to try this season for getting some mated queens. Has anyone used them? They seem to have some advantages but I will report back in a month or two with how I like them. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/294057/image-224337.jpg |
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Posted: 6/8/2017 10:31:38 PM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DUX4LIFE:
Impressive,  
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Posted: 6/8/2017 10:34:20 PM EDT
[#3]
Had another swarm today from the same hive. That makes 4 from one even after I split it in half. I put them in a box but must not have gotten the queen because I came back like 30 minutes later and they were gone. Oh well, can't catch them all and at this point I'm not sure I want those genetics. I will be requeening that colony in a week when I harvest some more mated queens.
 
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Posted: 6/8/2017 10:35:40 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DUX4LIFE:
I'm still here. Give me about 2 more weeks to get all of my orders filled then I will take a break and come back in . I would assume that like me, you are swamped. |
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Posted: 6/8/2017 10:49:04 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge:
Good to see that you are still around. I would assume that like me, you are swamped. I am set to retire next July and would like to be at 100 full hives and 100 nuc boxes. I think I could sell between 100-200 nucs per year with that equipment. I still need the knowledge of queen rearing to complete what I need for the business. One of my customers today said he would put a word in with the bee club he belongs to. They purchased 100 nucs again this year for the members. I also thought about the local farm and ranch store as they are selling packages for $175ish. This year I had 52 commitments for nucs and turned down 10-15 buyers. I see a good business opportunity here for a retired person. |
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Posted: 6/8/2017 10:57:08 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DUX4LIFE:
Getting up at 5am and getting in at 8pm on my days off isn't going to cut it. Got about 20 more nucs/hive combos going out by next weekend. Working 12 hour days at the regular job and this on my days off is just killing me. I am set to retire next July and would like to be at 100 full hives and 100 nuc boxes. I think I could sell between 100-200 nucs per year with that equipment. I still need the knowledge of queen rearing to complete what I need for the business. One of my customers today said he would put a word in with the bee club he belongs to. They purchased 100 nucs again this year for the members. I also thought about the local farm and ranch store as they are selling packages for $175ish. This year I had 52 commitments for nucs and turned down 10-15 buyers. I see a good business opportunity here for a retired person. |
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Posted: 6/8/2017 11:09:51 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge:
Congrats on your future retirement. I have sold a bunch of Nucs as well as Mated Queens already this season. Unfortunately the weather has been cold/ wet and not good for rearing queens. We had a late start and many of them have not been going out on mating flights due to the lower temps and rain. Things are looking up this week. Just sayin. In the cold months.... |
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Posted: 6/9/2017 1:18:15 PM EDT
[#8]
Dammit. Trap outs suck!
I've been farting around with this hive for a week, even putting the cone on this thing in the rain so I could get it started. Watching these little bastards all week collect on the wall, they won't go in the nuc. I didn't have a frame with eggs, but I had a partial frame with sugar water and pollen. I put that in there, there was some interest finally. I went to check on them yesterday, they chewed through 4 layers of FIBERGLASS air filter material that I was using as a gasket on the toilet flange I was using on the base of my cone. Now they're going in and out of the screw hole of the flange. So I'm standing there just looking at them yesterday trying to figure out how to plug this hole. POW! Little MF'er popped me on the underside of my jaw in my goatee. SOB!!! Really? I left them alone yesterday. It's raining again today. I really don't want to rebuilt this whole cone thing. Will they eat through metal AC duct tape? Not the gray tape, the silver metal tape. I didn't think they'd eat through real fiberglass, but they did. An honestly, I'm getting real close to drilling a hole in the wall, pumping in as much burlap smoke and tea tree oil as I can and just see what happens. Yeah, I'm pissed now. Spent a lot of time jacking with this one. If I was doing this for someone else and charging money, $500 would not be enough. |
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Posted: 6/9/2017 2:45:41 PM EDT
[#9]
Try beeing sneaky. I wonder if this would work?
Lures contain a scent (pheromone) which insects use to communicate. This lure duplicates the scent that scout bees release when they find a good home for their swarm. There is enough scent to last about three months and the special plastic container releases just the right amount. This lure formula is made up of 3 components...proven most effective by USDA research. Lure actually measures 2 3/4" long. Sold individually. |
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Posted: 6/11/2017 7:43:40 PM EDT
[#10]
Got varrora?
I tested my hives and one (the new one) looked clean. The other, older hive looked like 5 mites out of 100 (1/4 cup) bees. My beekmaster says that it's time to treat them. What's the current methodology of treatment? It gets upwards of 100 F almost every day now; many people say that it's too hot to treat with normal methods. |
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Posted: 6/11/2017 9:43:09 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By FrankSymptoms:
Got varrora? I tested my hives and one (the new one) looked clean. The other, older hive looked like 5 mites out of 100 (1/4 cup) bees. My beekmaster says that it's time to treat them. What's the current methodology of treatment? It gets upwards of 100 F almost every day now; many people say that it's too hot to treat with normal methods. I will leave the comments on current methodologies to the guys who are managing a lot of hives. I hate the conventional treatments, but I used them (Apilife Var I think)at one point. Be sure to closely follow directions about putting them in and taking them out ON TIME. Leaving those mite strips in way too long has caused us all a world of hurt by creating resistant populations, 
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Posted: 6/12/2017 11:53:22 AM EDT
[#12]
I used the sugar shake test.
 Sugar Shake to Check for Varroa Mites in Honey Bees One of the local keepers said to put some kind of fiberboard on the bottom of the hive, smeared with Crisco, to catch the bugs. Why not just put some wax paper with crisco, or aluminum foil? |
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Posted: 6/12/2017 11:58:50 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By FrankSymptoms:
I used the sugar shake test.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDAErFAIneY
One of the local keepers said to put some kind of fiberboard on the bottom of the hive, smeared with Crisco, to catch the bugs. Why not just put some wax paper with crisco, or aluminum foil? I have not heard of using aluminum foil, but.. I'm guessing the bees could chew it up, too, and I have no idea whether doing so might harm them. Interesting question. |
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Posted: 6/13/2017 5:14:59 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
Well...I figure the bees will chew up the wax paper and remove it. I have not heard of using aluminum foil, but.. I'm guessing the bees could chew it up, too, and I have no idea whether doing so might harm them. Interesting question. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
Well...I figure the bees will chew up the wax paper and remove it. I have not heard of using aluminum foil, but.. I'm guessing the bees could chew it up, too, and I have no idea whether doing so might harm them. Interesting question. I have not heard of using aluminum foil, but..
I'm guessing the bees could chew it up, too, and I have no idea whether doing so might harm them. |
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KY, USA
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Posted: 6/16/2017 7:25:59 PM EDT
[#15]
Caught another swarm.
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KY, USA
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Posted: 6/16/2017 7:28:07 PM EDT
[#16]
Just sharing a little trick I have learned to use when housing a swarm.
Use a Queen Excluder between the bottom board and the hive body. Essentially making it into a Queen "Includer" trapping her in the hive so that the swarm can't leave. 
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Posted: 6/16/2017 8:19:04 PM EDT
[Last Edit: cuttingedge]
[#17]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By scorpionmain:
Just sharing a little trick I have learned to use when housing a swarm. Use a Queen Excluder between the bottom board and the hive body. Essentially making it into a Queen "Includer" trapping her in the hive so that the swarm can't leave. https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/19113656_10213360481475874_7296177814051133913_n.jpg?oh=4c64b334da2ca72bbeb8ea9226287b76&oe=59CE0FA1 |
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Posted: 6/17/2017 3:39:33 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge:
That is a good tip. A friend of mine that has caught many, many swarms over the last few years told me about this. He had a few leave even after putting a frame of brood in to "lock them in". He started cutting up queen excluders and closed off the entrances with a piece of queen excluder to keep them in. Don't forget that Virgins can sometimes fit through an excluder. 
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Posted: 6/17/2017 8:55:39 PM EDT
[Last Edit: cuttingedge]
[#19]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
Ah yes...the girlish figure can take you a lot of places you can't go once you lose it. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
Originally Posted By cuttingedge:
That is a good tip. A friend of mine that has caught many, many swarms over the last few years told me about this. He had a few leave even after putting a frame of brood in to "lock them in". He started cutting up queen excluders and closed off the entrances with a piece of queen excluder to keep them in. Don't forget that Virgins can sometimes fit through an excluder. |
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Posted: 6/17/2017 9:43:50 PM EDT
[#20]
Just learned something.
Y'all remember my bee watering station? Well, while it's OK to let the water get nasty, i.e. lots of mud and pond scum (it's like a natural water source to them), it is NOT okay to let it stay too long in that condition. Evaporation leaves a lot of lime and salt and minerals behind. HobbitWife said that the bees had stopped going to the watering station. They were getting water from her garden after she'd sprayed the crops. So I emptied the station, cleaned off the rocks and got rid of the mud, and replaced the old water with new. The girls are happy again! BTW my watering station got good reviews at the annual beekeeper's meeting put on my beekeeping mentor. I made several copies of the article I wrote about it and people liked it! |
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Posted: 6/17/2017 9:47:44 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By FrankSymptoms:
Just learned something. Y'all remember my bee watering station? Well, while it's OK to let the water get nasty, i.e. lots of mud and pond scum (it's like a natural water source to them), it is NOT okay to let it stay too long in that condition. Evaporation leaves a lot of lime and salt and minerals behind. HobbitWife said that the bees had stopped going to the watering station. They were getting water from her garden after she'd sprayed the crops. So I emptied the station, cleaned off the rocks and got rid of the mud, and replaced the old water with new. The girls are happy again! BTW my watering station got good reviews at the annual beekeeper's meeting put on my beekeeping mentor. I made several copies of the article I wrote about it and people liked it! I've never seen them on stagnant water though. What do you think was the turning point between just enough skank and too much? |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 2:57:58 AM EDT
[Last Edit: FrankSymptoms]
[#22]
What do you think was the turning point between just enough skank and too much? Until they rebelled I had mud (from airborne sand), moss, in fact all the stuff you find in a nice little swamp in their water; it seems that the final straw was the alkali. |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 4:16:50 AM EDT
[#23]
Now here's a strange situation: I was checking my older hive a few days ago. The girls were humming along, all of them minding their own business, but somewhere in the hive, someone was singing a strong bass note.
Anyone else experience this? |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 10:33:42 AM EDT
[Last Edit: BustinCaps]
[#24]
Alright, my new packages want to swarm. Here is my scenario:
2 packages installed 4-22-17. Fed/patties, etc. Stopped feeding 2 weeks ago. Each hive has 2 deep supers, and two medium supers. Medium supers were added last week. Each hive has filled 2+ frames of a medium super with capped honey in a week. Bees all over the place. It felt like the hives were bursting at the seems when I opened them. I already suspected what I would find, just on a gut instinct. Swarm cells. Everywhere. Capped, uncapped, cups. One hive had a huge almost capped supersedure cell as well, and another big cup next to it. I found eggs and original marked queens in both hives. So they haven't swarmed...yet. Not sure why the one hive felt the need to supersede a queen, either. All brood looked great, both deeps were PACKED with honey and brood. Maybe too packed. My thoughts are that I need to go get some more hive bodies together and split these. OR since both queens are still present, could I kill all the swarm/supercedure cells and toss a queen excluder on the bottom of the hive? I really don't want to go swarm chasing right now, since I am in the middle of moving. 
ETA: Bees have been doing a bit of bearding the last week with temps over 90. Is bearding ever an external indicator of swarming? |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 11:46:19 AM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By BustinCaps:
Alright, my new packages want to swarm. Here is my scenario: 2 packages installed 4-22-17. Fed/patties, etc. Stopped feeding 2 weeks ago. Each hive has 2 deep supers, and two medium supers. Medium supers were added last week. Each hive has filled 2+ frames of a medium super with capped honey in a week. Bees all over the place. It felt like the hives were bursting at the seems when I opened them. I already suspected what I would find, just on a gut instinct. Swarm cells. Everywhere. Capped, uncapped, cups. One hive had a huge almost capped supersedure cell as well, and another big cup next to it. I found eggs and original marked queens in both hives. So they haven't swarmed...yet. Not sure why the one hive felt the need to supersede a queen, either. All brood looked great, both deeps were PACKED with honey and brood. Maybe too packed. My thoughts are that I need to go get some more hive bodies together and split these. OR since both queens are still present, could I kill all the swarm/supercedure cells and toss a queen excluder on the bottom of the hive? I really don't want to go swarm chasing right now, since I am in the middle of moving.
ETA: Bees have been doing a bit of bearding the last week with temps over 90. Is bearding ever an external indicator of swarming? |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 2:05:40 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By BustinCaps:
Alright, my new packages want to swarm. Here is my scenario: 2 packages installed 4-22-17. Fed/patties, etc. Stopped feeding 2 weeks ago. Each hive has 2 deep supers, and two medium supers. Medium supers were added last week. Each hive has filled 2+ frames of a medium super with capped honey in a week. Bees all over the place. It felt like the hives were bursting at the seems when I opened them. I already suspected what I would find, just on a gut instinct. Swarm cells. Everywhere. Capped, uncapped, cups. One hive had a huge almost capped supersedure cell as well, and another big cup next to it. I found eggs and original marked queens in both hives. So they haven't swarmed...yet. Not sure why the one hive felt the need to supersede a queen, either. All brood looked great, both deeps were PACKED with honey and brood. Maybe too packed. My thoughts are that I need to go get some more hive bodies together and split these. OR since both queens are still present, could I kill all the swarm/supercedure cells and toss a queen excluder on the bottom of the hive? I really don't want to go swarm chasing right now, since I am in the middle of moving.
ETA: Bees have been doing a bit of bearding the last week with temps over 90. Is bearding ever an external indicator of swarming? And now you know that you have to give them space 'before" they need it. Really good example of that. Of course, that is still no guarantee. Do you have the boxes and the setups to get them split? And yes...bearding can be an indication of them getting ready to swarm. But most of the time they're just hot. |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 2:51:22 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
Yeah, if those were mine I would split. But I think that depends on what you want from your bees and your temperament with regard to them taking off. If you have two great queens, my inclination would be to try to save those queens and split with queen excluders, but I hadn't thought of letting them swarm, per CE's idea. That's a good thought, but it sounds like you'd kind of like to keep them. And now you know that you have to give them space 'before" they need it. Really good example of that. Of course, that is still no guarantee. Do you have the boxes and the setups to get them split? And yes...bearding can be an indication of them getting ready to swarm. But most of the time they're just hot. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
Originally Posted By BustinCaps:
Alright, my new packages want to swarm. Here is my scenario: 2 packages installed 4-22-17. Fed/patties, etc. Stopped feeding 2 weeks ago. Each hive has 2 deep supers, and two medium supers. Medium supers were added last week. Each hive has filled 2+ frames of a medium super with capped honey in a week. Bees all over the place. It felt like the hives were bursting at the seems when I opened them. I already suspected what I would find, just on a gut instinct. Swarm cells. Everywhere. Capped, uncapped, cups. One hive had a huge almost capped supersedure cell as well, and another big cup next to it. I found eggs and original marked queens in both hives. So they haven't swarmed...yet. Not sure why the one hive felt the need to supersede a queen, either. All brood looked great, both deeps were PACKED with honey and brood. Maybe too packed. My thoughts are that I need to go get some more hive bodies together and split these. OR since both queens are still present, could I kill all the swarm/supercedure cells and toss a queen excluder on the bottom of the hive? I really don't want to go swarm chasing right now, since I am in the middle of moving.
ETA: Bees have been doing a bit of bearding the last week with temps over 90. Is bearding ever an external indicator of swarming? And now you know that you have to give them space 'before" they need it. Really good example of that. Of course, that is still no guarantee. Do you have the boxes and the setups to get them split? And yes...bearding can be an indication of them getting ready to swarm. But most of the time they're just hot. I am going to get new queens to minimize issues as this is my first time. Probably not the worst time of year for this situation, especially for varroa. I wish it would have waited until I didn't have a ton of people helping me move, but such is life! How common is it for new packages to fill out a hive like this and swarm 60 days after being installed on plastic foundation? |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 5:47:36 PM EDT
[Last Edit: cuttingedge]
[#28]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By BustinCaps:
My wife just arrived with two new hive setups. Tractor supply grade, but best bet on a Sunday. I'll split tomorrow and hope the winds and impending storms keep them from swarming. I am going to get new queens to minimize issues as this is my first time. Probably not the worst time of year for this situation, especially for varroa. I wish it would have waited until I didn't have a ton of people helping me move, but such is life! How common is it for new packages to fill out a hive like this and swarm 60 days after being installed on plastic foundation? 
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Posted: 6/18/2017 5:50:38 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge:
It happens. Especially if you feed them a lot and there is a good nectar flow. First year hives are a tricky balance of feeding to help them build up but not too much to make them honey bound. Splitting does not always stop them from swarming. I had a swarm today from a Nuc that I made on June 4. They were left to make their own queen so she should not even be mated yet. She certainly should not have swarmed today. BTW: These are my new Bear Resistant bees that I have been breeding. They landed right on my solar fence charger
https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/294057/image-233674.jpg |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 6:56:30 PM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Martlet:
I use that same charger. It's a power house. I power my bee fence, pig pen, and one of my chicken fences off it. Solar has come a long way apparently. |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 8:21:21 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
Wow! Solar has come a long way apparently. |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 8:49:00 PM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Martlet:
Mine's a 12. The one in the picture MAY be a 6. I can't really tell. The Parmak 12 is a powerhouse right out of the box. |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 9:05:19 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge:
It happens. Especially if you feed them a lot and there is a good nectar flow. First year hives are a tricky balance of feeding to help them build up but not too much to make them honey bound. Splitting does not always stop them from swarming. I had a swarm today from a Nuc that I made on June 4. They were left to make their own queen so she should not even be mated yet. She certainly should not have swarmed today. BTW: These are my new Bear Resistant bees that I have been breeding. They landed right on my solar fence charger
https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/294057/image-233674.jpg Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge:
Originally Posted By BustinCaps:
My wife just arrived with two new hive setups. Tractor supply grade, but best bet on a Sunday. I'll split tomorrow and hope the winds and impending storms keep them from swarming. I am going to get new queens to minimize issues as this is my first time. Probably not the worst time of year for this situation, especially for varroa. I wish it would have waited until I didn't have a ton of people helping me move, but such is life! How common is it for new packages to fill out a hive like this and swarm 60 days after being installed on plastic foundation?
https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/294057/image-233674.jpg Any thoughts on successful, no after the fact swarm splitting? Assume I intend to order as many queens as necessary tomorrow. |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 9:41:58 PM EDT
[Last Edit: cuttingedge]
[#34]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By BustinCaps:
That's awesome! lol Any thoughts on successful, no after the fact swarm splitting? Assume I intend to order as many queens as necessary tomorrow. |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 10:03:36 PM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge:
It can be done. It depends on what your equipment inventory is like. You also are going to need drawn comb as well as frames of food. I can make small splits up here until around the second week of July if I'm willing to over winter Nucs. Last year I made 6 splits with 2 frames of brood with attending nurse bees one frame of food and one of partially drawn comb. I introduced mated queens the next day. They built up to two stories (4 over 4 frames and 5 over 5 frames). They all were given approximately 2 gallons of syrup in late August/ early September. I placed candy on them for emergency food in November and wrapped them up with Insulation. The all made it through Winter and were very strong this spring. I have made multiple splits off of them this season. 2-4 frames worth of honey in honey supers on each hive. I have feeders and pollen patties. Brood chambers and supers on each hive are packed with bees. Should I go in half on each hive? Or just a few frames? I figure if I plan it out right, I could end up with four full 10 frame hives, new blank foundation 10 frame on top of each, and a frame or so of honey in a honey super just to get them going. Maybe feed 1:1 and toss a patty in to see what happens? I'll have 10 acres of Goldenrod blooming in front of them plate August and we clearly have a decent flow on right now. My disadvantage is I have no empty, drawn frames for deep supers. Except for any that might have just hatched out. I have two drone comb frames I was going to start trapping mites with, but my IPM has clearly taken a different direction this year. if I have no empty drawn comb, will the splits still be likely to swarm since it takes effort to have space to lay?
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Posted: 6/18/2017 10:19:30 PM EDT
[Last Edit: cuttingedge]
[#36]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By BustinCaps:
Cool. I have 2 complete new hive setups. Current hives are very full of honey, all 20 brood frames in each are drawn and full of brood and/or honey. Very little pollen overall. 2-4 frames worth of honey in honey supers on each hive. I have feeders and pollen patties. Brood chambers and supers on each hive are packed with bees. Should I go in half on each hive? Or just a few frames? I figure if I plan it out right, I could end up with four full 10 frame hives, new blank foundation 10 frame on top of each, and a frame or so of honey in a honey super just to get them going. Maybe feed 1:1 and toss a patty in to see what happens? I'll have 10 acres of Goldenrod blooming in front of them plate August and we clearly have a decent flow on right now. My disadvantage is I have no empty, drawn frames for deep supers. Except for any that might have just hatched out. I have two drone comb frames I was going to start trapping mites with, but my IPM has clearly taken a different direction this year. if I have no empty drawn comb, will the splits still be likely to swarm since it takes effort to have space to lay?Edit: you should not need to be feeding pollen sub this time of year. We are also in a very strong nectar flow right now. I have many hives on the verge of being honey bound from the abundance of nectar coming in. |
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Posted: 6/18/2017 11:57:23 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Kitties-with-Sigs]
[#37]
CE, are you having a good production year where you are?
We are having regular rains. I have to assume it's a very good year for bees, as it appears to be for field crops and gardens. @BustinCaps, please keep us updated. Take pics or just report in. We would all love to know your experience with whatever you do. |
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Posted: 6/19/2017 10:19:00 AM EDT
[#38]
Welp.
I treated my older hive today for Varrora. I used the powdered sugar sprinkle method. I removed each frame one at a time, sprinkled each with powdered sugar, and hung 8 of them from the frame hanger to give me room to work. I prepared 6 yellow posterboard cutouts, cut to fit the bottom of the hive and smeared with Crisco and put them at the bottom of the hive. (I don't have a screened bottom board.) This catches the mites as they fall off the bees. The color allows me to see them for an accurate count. Thousands of pointy stingy things flying about me and I only got stung once! (I startled her.) Tomorrow I get to do it all over, removing the posterboard and counting the mites. And in 2 weeks I get to do it all over again! |
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Posted: 6/19/2017 10:34:33 AM EDT
[#39]
Some observations and questions:
Kitties, several pages ago, you observed that you didn't know anything about keeping bees in the high desert. There are a few things I'm observing. One is that we retain cool evening temperatures later than other places. So lately we've had low 60s, and high 50s until dawn. Then the temperature rises quickly. And the 85+ temps maintain until after dusk. My bees don't seem to be very active beyond 80-85 degrees. So they only have a narrow window in the morning to collect pollen, compared to cooler climates--maybe 2 hours or so! (We ARE having a heat wave in the Southwest now; I hope that the temps will abate for a few weeks.) Has anyone ever been stung by the queen? It seems that she may not be temperamentally inclined to defend the hive. Also: Do your bees behave differently with strangers? I keep hearing that bees recognize their keeper and are noticeably less likely to get aggressive with that person. |
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Posted: 6/19/2017 12:05:43 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By FrankSymptoms:
Some observations and questions: Kitties, several pages ago, you observed that you didn't know anything about keeping bees in the high desert. There are a few things I'm observing. One is that we retain cool evening temperatures later than other places. So lately we've had low 60s, and high 50s until dawn. Then the temperature rises quickly. And the 85+ temps maintain until after dusk. My bees don't seem to be very active beyond 80-85 degrees. So they only have a narrow window in the morning to collect pollen, compared to cooler climates--maybe 2 hours or so! (We ARE having a heat wave in the Southwest now; I hope that the temps will abate for a few weeks.) Has anyone ever been stung by the queen? It seems that she may not be temperamentally inclined to defend the hive. Also: Do your bees behave differently with strangers? I keep hearing that bees recognize their keeper and are noticeably less likely to get aggressive with that person. I have personally witnessed that bees do know their keeper and are less aggressive with that person than with someone they do not know. Now...is that the more skilled behavior of the beekeeper? Maybe. I think it's the energy (bees can see on different frequencies than we do) and scent of the people. But that's just a guess. |
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Posted: 6/19/2017 1:43:45 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Kitties-with-Sigs]
[#41]
Y'all, I was doing some research this morning and hit this really cool article about the history of beekeeping in the US.
It's a pdf so I can't link to it directly, but if you paste this in color, below, into a search engine/browser, the article by E. Oertel should be the first thing that comes up: history of beekeeping in the United States-USDA ARS It's really worth a read if you enjoy history, or would like to see what we know about how beekeeping came to the US and spread, then developed into the industry it is today. One interesting thing is that in the 1800s, when queen rearing first became a thing here, queens were advertised for $20. That was a LOT of money back then and would probably have made a queen purchase available only to the wealthy (or so I would guess). I paid $15-20 for the queens I purchased just a few years back. Anyway, thought some of you might enjoy it. |
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Posted: 6/19/2017 2:27:01 PM EDT
[#42]
And another one. This one came out of a Nuc that I set-up on May 19th. They were left to make their own queen from a frame of eggs.
Apparently, they outgrow the Nuc box the day the new queen starts laying 
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Posted: 6/19/2017 2:34:23 PM EDT
[Last Edit: BustinCaps]
[#43]
I have no pictures because my hands were full, but I now have four hives! The last split tried swarming/absconding while I was installing it. Bees started boiling up from the frames like every video I've ever seen of swarming.
I popped the covers on in time to hold them in, and have queen excluders underneath the supers to prevent a full hive bailout. So I'll see how that works. I found both marked queens. They were skinny! The energy in both hives was very high and you could tell they planned to go soon! The original hives are now queen less. I plan to re queen. Should I destroy all emergency/swarm cells when I requeen? Or will the bees do that for me? This pushed me into advanced beekeeping topics a little faster than I anticipated! lol Pretty neat adventure, overall. Thanks for the earlier advice! |
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Posted: 6/21/2017 3:29:12 PM EDT
[#44]
My new queens have been added in cages. Lots of emergency cells appeared, obviously. Is my thinking correct that the caged queens will eliminate the queens being raised once they escape the cage?
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Posted: 6/21/2017 5:36:08 PM EDT
[#45]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By BustinCaps:
My new queens have been added in cages. Lots of emergency cells appeared, obviously. Is my thinking correct that the caged queens will eliminate the queens being raised once they escape the cage? |
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Posted: 6/21/2017 5:58:22 PM EDT
[#46]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge:
Did you go through the hives and remove ALL queen cups and cells before inserting the mated queens? I generally don't do it until I have the mated queens at my location because things happen that are beyond our control. Check on the queens in a week to make sure that they were accepted and laying. What style queen cages did they come in? Was there attendants inside the cages? Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge:
Originally Posted By BustinCaps:
My new queens have been added in cages. Lots of emergency cells appeared, obviously. Is my thinking correct that the caged queens will eliminate the queens being raised once they escape the cage? The cage was wood with a screen on one side. A single plug of candy in a black plastic tube about one inch long. No plug on the other end. 4 attendants per cage. If I didn't remove the cups yet, did I just murder two queens?
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Posted: 6/21/2017 6:22:05 PM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
what method did you use for testing and count? Sticky cards? I will leave the comments on current methodologies to the guys who are managing a lot of hives. I hate the conventional treatments, but I used them (Apilife Var I think)at one point. Be sure to closely follow directions about putting them in and taking them out ON TIME. Leaving those mite strips in way too long has caused us all a world of hurt by creating resistant populations, Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:
Originally Posted By FrankSymptoms:
Got varrora? I tested my hives and one (the new one) looked clean. The other, older hive looked like 5 mites out of 100 (1/4 cup) bees. My beekmaster says that it's time to treat them. What's the current methodology of treatment? It gets upwards of 100 F almost every day now; many people say that it's too hot to treat with normal methods. I will leave the comments on current methodologies to the guys who are managing a lot of hives. I hate the conventional treatments, but I used them (Apilife Var I think)at one point. Be sure to closely follow directions about putting them in and taking them out ON TIME. Leaving those mite strips in way too long has caused us all a world of hurt by creating resistant populations, Now we're facing a major heat wave (the rest of the Southwest is, anyway; we're having a cold snap 'cause the temps only topped 100 F.  )
Srsly though: The girls were very quiet today, I think they were busy with cooling the hive. I got more water in the watering station, after cleaning the old nasty alkaline-filled water. The bees are using it now. And in the early AM they are returning with pollen! So while I had the top off the hive, I took some precautions. I removed one bar, as it's a top bar hive, and spaced the rest of them about the thickness of a hive tool. I also put a couple of 2x4s under the lid to give some airspace. Seriously, it'll get down to maybe 75 F tonight so I'm not concerned about them getting cold. With plenty of water to drink and cool the hive with, I think they'll be OK. BTW on Monday one of the girls stung my left hand near the little finger. I thought I'd got the stinger out but didn't. Yesterday the back of my hand swelled up HUGEly... like James Kirk's hand in the Star Trek reboot! HobbitWife insisted I go to the doc... he said it wasn't abnormal, gave me a shot of prednisone and sent me home. |
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Posted: 6/21/2017 7:32:47 PM EDT
[Last Edit: cuttingedge]
[#48]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By BustinCaps:
I did not remove the emergency cups. The queens came today and I stuck the cages in at lunch. I plan on checking the queens to see how the bees are treating them tomorrow, and removing cells with more time available. The cage was wood with a screen on one side. A single plug of candy in a black plastic tube about one inch long. No plug on the other end. 4 attendants per cage. If I didn't remove the cups yet, did I just murder two queens? |
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Posted: 6/21/2017 8:10:12 PM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge:
As long as the mated queens are released and accepted before the other hatch you are good to go. I wouldn't check on them too soon as the bees can turn on them if you go into the hive too much. Give it like 4-5 days before going back in. Most queens should be released by then. I usually wait a week! Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge:
Originally Posted By BustinCaps:
I did not remove the emergency cups. The queens came today and I stuck the cages in at lunch. I plan on checking the queens to see how the bees are treating them tomorrow, and removing cells with more time available. The cage was wood with a screen on one side. A single plug of candy in a black plastic tube about one inch long. No plug on the other end. 4 attendants per cage. If I didn't remove the cups yet, did I just murder two queens? |
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Posted: 6/21/2017 10:17:21 PM EDT
[#50]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By BustinCaps:
Perfect. I figured since I had (incorrectly) removed all queen cells Sunday, I had plenty of time to accept and release queens before a challenger appeared. My one regret is early destruction of queen cells. But with eggs present in both hives, my in the moment logic was they could raise new ones on my program if necessary. And does she have attendants? I saw CE ask that, but if you answered, I missed it. |
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