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Posted: 3/21/2022 8:07:05 PM EDT
[#1]
Well, I'm not currently keeping bees. We are in between houses and building a homestead on 10 acres. We are in a modest home in town.
I got home today and there was swarm action in the back yard. I was like "cool", and brought kids out and discussed the event. They were collected around my water filtration system. I thought it was just a layover, as the spot didn't offer much. The ball was shrinking as I periodically checked. Yep - the scouts found something awesome and the crowd was moving. As the crowd diminished sufficiently that I could see the wall, I noted they ate a door through whatever the water filtration guys used to seal their work. I don't want to harm the girls, and they have very little progress on infrastructure. How should I inspire them to go back to zillow to search for a new place? @Kitties-with-Sigs and anyone else with ideas. I'm also not in a position to capture right now. I just want them to move on and find the right spot. |
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Posted: 3/21/2022 8:07:59 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Undaunted]
[#2]
eta: refreshed and didn't see my post. sorry for the double.
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Posted: 3/22/2022 1:21:40 PM EDT
[#3]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge: 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.. Was at the community college beekeeping class last night and they had the PA SW region bee inspectors there So the mite count method may vary state to state. She said currently the state (PA) does not allow their inspectors to use anything but the sugar roll method. Apparently in the past there were enough complaints from beekeepers about them killing bees. But she said if the beekeeper is OK with the alcohol wash, then the beekeeper has to do it himself and then they look the mite count over together. What she is really looking out for is American foul brood. Apparently there was a rash of it in Allegheny county several years ago. And then the follow up to make sure the beekeeper properly disposed of the affected hives. |
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Posted: 3/23/2022 8:03:27 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Kitties-with-Sigs]
[#4]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Undaunted: Well, I'm not currently keeping bees. We are in between houses and building a homestead on 10 acres. We are in a modest home in town. I got home today and there was swarm action in the back yard. I was like "cool", and brought kids out and discussed the event. They were collected around my water filtration system. I thought it was just a layover, as the spot didn't offer much. The ball was shrinking as I periodically checked. Yep - the scouts found something awesome and the crowd was moving. As the crowd diminished sufficiently that I could see the wall, I noted they ate a door through whatever the water filtration guys used to seal their work. I don't want to harm the girls, and they have very little progress on infrastructure. How should I inspire them to go back to zillow to search for a new place? @Kitties-with-Sigs and anyone else with ideas. I'm also not in a position to capture right now. I just want them to move on and find the right spot. I'm confused about what they ate through. Was it, like, a caulk of some kind? Are they in a hole and building in there? ETA: Clearly I know NOTHING about pools and filtration systems. And I do mean NOTHING. Zero. Nada. Zip. I don't know if these bees are in a small cavity beside your pool, or under your house. You need to call a beekeeper like...YESTERDAY. Because you cannot just make them leave (not without some specialized tools) without hurting them, at least not a way I know of. A beekeeper will come and get them, if the swarm is of a reasonable size. It's a good time of year. Do you have any pictures? Call your county extension agent and ask if there is a list of beekeepers who will catch swarms. Some beekeepers will do it for free if they don't have to climb and the bees are easy to get. (Some beekeepers WON'T. They will charge you to remove the bees.) Get some photos. @undaunted @CuttingEdge @Dux4Life |
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Posted: 3/26/2022 11:03:15 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DUX4LIFE]
[#5]
Simplest way is like Kitties said and find a beekeeper. Contact your local police or Sheriffs Dept. In my county they keep a list of Bee Keepers that will get them if it is reasonably easy to get to. Barring that, you should be able to get them out with either smoke or fumes. By fumes I mean the stuff beekeepers use on fume boards to run the bees out of the honey supers. https://www.foxhoundbeecompany.com/products/honey-bandit-spray I have used this to remove them from a house that they moved into the concrete block foundation. Took awhile but it did work. Got to be careful when you do this as the weather needs to be warm enough to not kill them when they are homeless.
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Posted: 3/28/2022 10:15:13 PM EDT
[#6]
Had the last last beekeeping class at the community college Today. They had a drawing at the end. First round I picked a hive tool as a door prize, then got my name picked for the grand prize at the end, and got a Mann Lake hive package. It has a bottom board and deep hive body box kit, not sure if it has a telescoping cover. But at least $125 from what I see on the ML website. So a pretty good day, considering I almost never win anything any good.
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Posted: 3/29/2022 4:30:37 PM EDT
[#7]
I checked my three hives on Sunday. Two of them had two brood boxes; the other was only 1 brood box. Back in November, I gave each hive sugar candy in a frame with the outside dimensions of the hive (frame built of 1x2). So, they had a lot of sugar. One of the large hives had eaten all the sugar, had some honey capped, and lots of brood. The second large hive was dead. There was still maybe 20% of the sugar left, but they had moved into the bottom box during the last freeze. I found a cluster of bodies with their heads in the cells. I moved their sugar to the other big hive. The small hive had some sugar left, capped honey, and a bunch of brood. I gave that hive a gallon of 1:1 syrup. They should be good to go for a while, but I'm going to check again next weekend. The feral hive in the bee tree was pretty lively on Sunday. They get to stay in there, since it's about 15 ft off the ground.
I still have plans to move them into long Langstroth hives built from 2x12 sidewalls. But, I just need to find time to play with the wood. A friend build a bunch of swarm traps, so I'm going to hook him up with some drawn comb once I cycle it through the freezer. |
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Posted: 3/29/2022 4:37:25 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Undaunted]
[#8]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: I'm confused about what they ate through. Was it, like, a caulk of some kind? Are they in a hole and building in there? ETA: Clearly I know NOTHING about pools and filtration systems. And I do mean NOTHING. Zero. Nada. Zip. I don't know if these bees are in a small cavity beside your pool, or under your house. You need to call a beekeeper like...YESTERDAY. Because you cannot just make them leave (not without some specialized tools) without hurting them, at least not a way I know of. A beekeeper will come and get them, if the swarm is of a reasonable size. It's a good time of year. Do you have any pictures? Call your county extension agent and ask if there is a list of beekeepers who will catch swarms. Some beekeepers will do it for free if they don't have to climb and the bees are easy to get. (Some beekeepers WON'T. They will charge you to remove the bees.) Get some photos. @undaunted @CuttingEdge @Dux4Life Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: Originally Posted By Undaunted: Well, I'm not currently keeping bees. We are in between houses and building a homestead on 10 acres. We are in a modest home in town. I got home today and there was swarm action in the back yard. I was like "cool", and brought kids out and discussed the event. They were collected around my water filtration system. I thought it was just a layover, as the spot didn't offer much. The ball was shrinking as I periodically checked. Yep - the scouts found something awesome and the crowd was moving. As the crowd diminished sufficiently that I could see the wall, I noted they ate a door through whatever the water filtration guys used to seal their work. I don't want to harm the girls, and they have very little progress on infrastructure. How should I inspire them to go back to zillow to search for a new place? @Kitties-with-Sigs and anyone else with ideas. I'm also not in a position to capture right now. I just want them to move on and find the right spot. I'm confused about what they ate through. Was it, like, a caulk of some kind? Are they in a hole and building in there? ETA: Clearly I know NOTHING about pools and filtration systems. And I do mean NOTHING. Zero. Nada. Zip. I don't know if these bees are in a small cavity beside your pool, or under your house. You need to call a beekeeper like...YESTERDAY. Because you cannot just make them leave (not without some specialized tools) without hurting them, at least not a way I know of. A beekeeper will come and get them, if the swarm is of a reasonable size. It's a good time of year. Do you have any pictures? Call your county extension agent and ask if there is a list of beekeepers who will catch swarms. Some beekeepers will do it for free if they don't have to climb and the bees are easy to get. (Some beekeepers WON'T. They will charge you to remove the bees.) Get some photos. @undaunted @CuttingEdge @Dux4Life Looks like spackle. Anyway, we apparently have a friend that can place a one-way door over the entrance. You can leave, but can't return. I'm not familiar, but I don't want to hurt them. Its not the best pic, but I don't have gear here and I'm not sure how spicy they are. @Kitties-with-Sigs  Attached File |
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Posted: 4/1/2022 11:54:57 AM EDT
[Last Edit: JQ66]
[#9]
Maybe there was a small opening or crevice in that caulk, and some scout bees looking for a new home thought it looked good
So you probably have a 2x6 frame wall, and they have built their hive/comb between those studs Check out some YouTube videos from a guy who goes by 628DirtRooster. Most of his videos are about saving hives in spots  We Gave Away 120 Pounds Of Comb Honey The “one-way” door will in time kill them The queen doesn’t go out and fly around The foragers will not be able to bring the pollen that they eat or the nectar they stir for honey to make the food to feed the young larvae and for cold weather. |
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Posted: 4/1/2022 11:47:39 PM EDT
[#10]
Anyone ever try double screen boards for splitting colonies pre-swarm?
My strategy last season was to inspect once a week and once I saw swarm cells I made splits. It worked for the most part, however I’d like to try a more proactive approach this season. I also have always had to purchase 5 frame nucs in late March/early April. This year we seem to have a few survivors from the winter so I figured I better plan accordingly |
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Posted: 4/2/2022 10:59:29 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Undaunted]
[#11]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By JQ66: Maybe there was a small opening or crevice in that caulk, and some scout bees looking for a new home thought it looked good So you probably have a 2x6 frame wall, and they have built their hive/comb between those studs Check out some YouTube videos from a guy who goes by 628DirtRooster. Most of his videos are about saving hives in spots  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H58y1iSRq1AThe “one-way” door will in time kill them The queen doesn’t go out and fly around The foragers will not be able to bring the pollen that they eat or the nectar they stir for honey to make the food to feed the young larvae and for cold weather. I noticed them on the day of arrival. They probably haven't built much. There are none inside the house, light fixtures, etc. Our friend came by last night and installed a mesh cone on the entrance. It works like a fish trap, but in reverse. The bees can get out, but their navigation system won't let them back in. On their return, the collect around the entrance on the outside of the cone. Once enough are gone, the queen will declare moving day. ETA: I noted the comment about the door killing them. Bee guy disagreed. I'm really not sure. She flew here...why wouldn't she make another trip? They haven't been here long enough to establish much.  Attached File |
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TX, USA
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Posted: 4/2/2022 4:12:21 PM EDT
[#12]
I got my new flow hive and bee order set up on Thursday. I can't wait for the fall harvest and hope the flow hive is a success.
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Posted: 4/3/2022 10:51:39 PM EDT
[#13]
I’m about to add beekeeping to our place. Lots of research still to come. My buddy (a local farmer) has some stuff he’s giving me including a hive.
The journey begins. |
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Posted: 4/6/2022 8:40:18 PM EDT
[#14]
Hi, all. I have a question.
I have a new layens horizontal hive from HorizontalHives.com. 14 frames. I've installed wax foundation in a handful of frames already. Not all of them, just 5-6. But I don't know for sure how many frames to start with. I was thinking of using 5, but a guy on the youtube thought four was right. I know not to use a high count, but I haven't read the books I bought with the hive purchase. There's a 3-lb swarm coming in the first couple of weeks of May from up north in MN, the Mann Lake company. Saskatraz variety. It shouldn't be too cold by then. This is my first hive. I still have to make a table for the hive(s) yet. I think I'll make it long enough for this one, and maybe a 22 frame that I'll build later. That'll give me a place to put all my crap while I'm working there, and for another hive should this thing expand. Not sure yet. It's a daunting undertaking, but I figured this would be the year to begin, come hell or high water. Bucket list thing. I've been wanting this since I was about 8, watching hives at the top of the hill and at the head of an alfalfa field. I'm about to turn 65 soon, so want to get things going. 'Preciate any assist you might have. Thanks. |
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Posted: 4/7/2022 9:41:18 AM EDT
[#15]
4 or 5 frames is fine. Have 2 dividers, one on each end, screw side down so they know they have room to expand. Put a liquid feeder on the other side of one of the dividers.
As far as stands go, just make one for each hive. You won't need to take much equipment with you on normal checks. It's all in either a bucket (extra fuel for smoker, extra hive tool, torch for lighting smoker, cork for stopping smoker), in your jacket pocket (queen markers (you may not need this yet, but handy for marking frames, etc as needed), queen clip, pen or pencil). You will usually have your hive tool in hand, and smoker on the ground when not using it. |
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Posted: 4/7/2022 9:44:50 AM EDT
[#16]
Oh, and if one of the books is "Keeping bees with a smile", read that now, before your bees come in.
Dr. Leo is in a few YouTube vids, mostly Doug and Stacie ones (Doug's kind of a idiot about the bees though), he's worth listening to. |
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Posted: 4/8/2022 10:47:47 PM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By JQ66: Had the last last beekeeping class at the community college Today. They had a drawing at the end. First round I picked a hive tool as a door prize, then got my name picked for the grand prize at the end, and got a Mann Lake hive package. It has a bottom board and deep hive body box kit, not sure if it has a telescoping cover. But at least $125 from what I see on the ML website. So a pretty good day, considering I almost never win anything any good. Congratulations!!! That's a good win! 
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Posted: 4/8/2022 10:50:02 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Undaunted: Looks like spackle. Anyway, we apparently have a friend that can place a one-way door over the entrance. You can leave, but can't return. I'm not familiar, but I don't want to hurt them. Its not the best pic, but I don't have gear here and I'm not sure how spicy they are. @Kitties-with-Sigs https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/112839/Screenshot_20220329-163638_Gallery_jpg-2330767.JPG They will die with that one-way door. Maybe that's your choice, and we understand. You can't save every hive. The queen will not come out that door and leave, so the hive is doomed if that is the solution. A beekeeper might could get them out, but it might not be worth it. |
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Posted: 4/8/2022 10:52:02 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By romad99: I’m about to add beekeeping to our place. Lots of research still to come. My buddy (a local farmer) has some stuff he’s giving me including a hive. The journey begins. Welcome to beekeeping! 
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Posted: 4/9/2022 5:47:53 AM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: They will die with that one-way door. Maybe that's your choice, and we understand. You can't save every hive. The queen will not come out that door and leave, so the hive is doomed if that is the solution. A beekeeper might could get them out, but it might not be worth it. There is a very small chance the queen might come out. That cone is used in bee trapping, but there needs to be a swarm trap near the end of the cone. It has a very low success rate, but sometimes it's the only option to try to get the bees out when they're in a space that just can't be gotten into another way. |
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Posted: 4/11/2022 6:51:23 PM EDT
[#21]
I inspected my two remaining hives on Saturday. They are doing well with a lot of brood in both. Here's the best frame that I've ever seen.
 Attached File |
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OR, USA
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Posted: 4/25/2022 5:54:27 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By pumbaajk: I got my new flow hive and bee order set up on Thursday. I can't wait for the fall harvest and hope the flow hive is a success. I'm interested in a flow hive. Gonna keep learning with my traditional langstroth hive, but may add a second next year |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 4:55:17 PM EDT
[#23]
Received notice today that my colony ships on the 9th. Yay. The hive is ready to receive.
No kidding, I did not realize I had the hive stand in John Deere colors until way after I placed it. I'm going to cut that entrance plug in half before I put the bees in. Maybe I'll get some aluminum screening to put in half the entrance but for the first week or so I don't think it's going to be very warm out.  Attached File |
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Posted: 5/10/2022 12:09:56 AM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By sgt_seti: I inspected my two remaining hives on Saturday. They are doing well with a lot of brood in both. Here's the best frame that I've ever seen. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/22116/much_brood_jpg-2345859.JPG Wow, that is a really full frame! |
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Posted: 5/10/2022 12:10:53 AM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rcav8r: There is a very small chance the queen might come out. That cone is used in bee trapping, but there needs to be a swarm trap near the end of the cone. It has a very low success rate, but sometimes it's the only option to try to get the bees out when they're in a space that just can't be gotten into another way. I hope you are right on this. I have not seen it, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Fingers crossed. |
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Posted: 6/4/2022 10:23:40 AM EDT
[Last Edit: shooter_gregg]
[#26]
I'm in. I bought 4 nucs over the last two weeks. I bought a hive setup last year from TSC trying to catch a swarm from a wild hive on my property. No luck. So I bought five deeps unassembled from Mann Lake. I made my own bottoms that are also tops.
They are much cheaper to build than buy and they are interchangeable. No telescoping tops for me except the one I bought last year. My bee keeper mentor is a young man whose family is in the business. He plans on making mead with his surplus and growing colonies to several hundred. I plan on a similar track but raising queens and nucs. This is livestock I can manage as I get older.  Attached FileThe bottom and top boards are easy to build and paint and I can make them the way I want. I will make a couple into double screen boards for splits. There is at least one bee group in the area on FB. I have been told I could sell assembled boxes on there for people who don't know how to build them or don't want to. ETA: next step is to add some kind of pattern on the boxes so bees can find their hive. |
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Posted: 6/12/2022 10:31:40 AM EDT
[Last Edit: JQ66]
[#27]
I got my four packages going back in late April I think it was.
Was feeding them until the clover and blackberries blossomed. They were getting crowded in the one deep, so added another deep box about three weeks ago, and put frames in the super boxes that previously housed the feeder. Tons of clover in the yard and the field next to the garden. But I don't think I've seen more than a couple bees on it. I did see some working the blackberries when they had flowers. It's like last fall - goldenrod all over, but they made no honey. I wonder if the clover that came out at first wasn't making nectar? Only some bumble bees and bore bees, plus some very little ones, maybe mason bees on the clover. Other than what nectar/honey they're storing in the deeps, not a single cell in and of the supers is filled. I thought they'd get something in there despite being new first year bee hives. At least their numbers look good and all the queens are laying lots of eggs. I will do my first mite treatment soon. I have mite-Away strips Since the bees were on the clover, and the grass was getting very tall, I mowed it down. Some more is flowering again, maybe getting a new batch of clover flowers will trigger some nectar production |
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Posted: 6/12/2022 7:13:52 PM EDT
[#28]
It has been so dry here I've been feeding mine syrup.
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Posted: 6/12/2022 7:15:56 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By JQ66: I got my four packages going back in late April I think it was. Was feeding them until the clover and blackberries blossomed. They were getting crowded in the one deep, so added another deep box about three weeks ago, and put frames in the super boxes that previously housed the feeder. Tons of clover in the yard and the field next to the garden. But I don't think I've seen more than a couple bees on it. I did see some working the blackberries when they had flowers. It's like last fall - goldenrod all over, but they made no honey. I wonder if the clover that came out at first wasn't making nectar? Only some bumble bees and bore bees, plus some very little ones, maybe mason bees on the clover. Other than what nectar/honey they're storing in the deeps, not a single cell in and of the supers is filled. I thought they'd get something in there despite being new first year bee hives. At least their numbers look good and all the queens are laying lots of eggs. I will do my first mite treatment soon. I have mite-Away strips Since the bees were on the clover, and the grass was getting very tall, I mowed it down. Some more is flowering again, maybe getting a new batch of clover flowers will trigger some nectar production Make sure to sample prior to treating to know that treatment is necessary and then again after the treatments are removed so that you can determine if the treatment(s) were effective at reducing the mite population down to acceptable levels. The importance of sampling using an accurate method (alcohol washes) cannot be overstated. |
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Posted: 6/24/2022 10:56:00 PM EDT
[#30]
I learned something about clover I didn't know before, that would explain why no honey bees where on it earlier
It needs at least three 80F + days for it to start producing nectar I am also now seeing some honey bees on the clover in the yard. Unfortunately it's starting to dry up and go to seed. And not much rain. |
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Posted: 6/25/2022 3:29:19 PM EDT
[#31]
Checked my hives on 6/3, went on vacation, and came back to a dry spell. I was not expecting it to get dry, so I added empty supers to the hives. Due to the dry spell, I harvested honey. I got 40# from two mediums that were mostly full. Those two hives had: brood box, QE, honey super(s). I added another brood box with frame feeders for both. For your viewing pleasure:
 Attached File |
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Posted: 6/27/2022 10:56:40 PM EDT
[#32]
I had a hive swarm, and I captured them.......a first for me.
For whatever reason they clumped up on the ground. I didn’t have an extra hive, but I did have a honey super hanging around. I placed it on top and they jumped right in. I put an inner cover on (with a couple of rocks holding up a board over the hole on top to keep rain out) until a could grab a new hive body with a base and a top cover. Moved them over today, let’s see how it goes. Anything I need to do with them? They looked to be going gangbusters, so I was going to leave them alone for a bit to do their thing, |
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Posted: 6/28/2022 10:15:37 AM EDT
[#33]
Yep, just leave them for a few days, at least a week, then check form larva.
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Posted: 6/28/2022 9:22:13 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rcav8r: Yep, just leave them for a few days, at least a week, then check form larva. That’s what the plan is then, thanks! |
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Posted: 7/2/2022 5:14:20 PM EDT
[Last Edit: JQ66]
[#35]
Bees are finally producing honey and getting some capped
There is still a decent amount of clover, and we had a nice long heavy rain last night Also some milkweed, but that got really stressed and lots burned up over the past two hot dry weeks. There’s some other flowers so not sure what all the bees are getting nectar from besides the clover (milkweed is supposed to be a great pollen producer but weak on nectar) So I will have some honey this summer. Removing the queen excluders did the trick. They were hardly paying attention to the supers before. And they’re also drawing out lots of new comb too. Great seeing this. My Dad would have been so excited  Attached FileI got an extra queen to make a split maybe two weeks ago. I didn’t think she was going to make it - she was very weak when I released her. But she is now laying eggs as has a decent amount of brood. Last I saw her they were feeding her and she was bigger. Won’t be going back to that guy And since I thought she was done, I called another apiary and he had some queens. Much bigger and healthier looking. I put them in new hive boxes with two frames of capped brood (mostly) from two of the bigger hives and they both got release already. They were in those little plastic queen containers with some candy and I swear a little screened cap on the end. They must’ve removed the little cap themselves in the last day or two. One wasn’t marked so didn’t see her at first but she is huge. So got her marked and back in. So far its turned out to be a good season. |
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Posted: 7/2/2022 7:21:41 PM EDT
[#36]
Who all is feeding pollen and syrup this year?
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Posted: 7/3/2022 6:17:28 AM EDT
[#37]
Just on the three nucs I've got going right at the moment
Still lots of pollen and decent nectar flow here. They have been storing a tremendous amount of honey in their deep boxes, pollen too in the four established hives I'm sure later this month will start feeding For pollen I have a section of PVC pipe hanging from the fence that I fill with pollen. No more pollen patties for me, too much trouble with hive beetles and their larvae |
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Posted: 7/18/2022 7:34:08 PM EDT
[#38]
Really great to see the honey in here. It was so, so, SO dry here, I wasn't sure how everyone was going to do. I know a lot of the country had bad drought, and much of the rest of the country had too much rain.
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Posted: 7/18/2022 7:35:12 PM EDT
[#39]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rcav8r: Yep, just leave them for a few days, at least a week, then check form larva. @rcav8r would you reduce the hive entrance on a little colony like that? I think I might be worried about robbing. |
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Posted: 7/18/2022 9:40:38 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: @rcav8r would you reduce the hive entrance on a little colony like that? I think I might be worried about robbing. That's really a case of "that depends". If it was package size, I might, if this hive was caught during a dearth. Possibly for a nuc size too. If it's not a dearth, the medium opening would be fine. If still a single box and it's getting full, full open. It all comes down to local conditions. And honestly, I usually don't do anything until I see actual signs of robbing. I have a couple of weak colonies at the moment that I will watch, but the rest are booming. Ones on the small opening, other on medium. Things are running a couple weeks late here, plant wise, so not in a dearth yet, but the next couple of weeks are going to be hot with little rain (not that I trust the forecast more than a couple days out), but we also get a pretty good goldenrod bloom in August. Anything harvestible, I will pull at end of August or early September, depending on when the weekend falls. |
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Posted: 7/27/2022 2:56:08 PM EDT
[#41]
Taking forever for the bees to cap the honey off
Two of the hives had the queen go up in the supers and start laying eggs. Including a bunch of drones on some frames that were hopefully for comb honey. So the excluders went back in. They ought to know their way by now Not much clover left. Joe Pie is starting to flower. That’s about all I’m seeing right now, maybe some Heliopolis type yellow Flowers that get some honey bees on them. Did a mite check yesterday and got four fumigated. Most had maybe one-two with the alcohol wash, one had about 5-6. Three more to do, need to get a spare small battery like the one in my quad to power the heater. This frame half or less capped. Nice drawn out comb. A couple not capped at all but lots of honey in them. But really you’d think the dearth is here but I see them bringing in decent amounts of pollen of a couple colors. No big farms right nearby - mostly overgrown and woods - but obviously finding something out there  Attached File Attached File |
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Posted: 9/6/2022 7:15:50 PM EDT
[#42]
Harvest time! I pulled 3 supers and 6 deep frames from my 3 hives. And I ended up with about 12 gallons of honey.
It's my second year as a beekeeper and I came into spring with 1 overwintered hive and I got 2 more packages of bees in may. I managed to split my overwintered hive and I caught 2 swarms so now I'm up to 6 hives. I'm feeding them like crazy now to get them fattened up to survive the winter. My mite load is low right now and I'll begin doing more mite checks and treating with Formic pro and apivar.  Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Posted: 9/7/2022 5:16:53 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DUX4LIFE]
[#43]
Extracting time is over for us. Got just under 2,700 lbs. I've got to do the math but looks like about 70ish pounds per hive. I'm more than happy. I didn't feed in the spring at all or use pollen substitute. Also August was the first time I have treated in like 2-3 years. I switched to running single brood boxes after listening to another member here and the honey production skyrocketed after 2 years of this method. I truly believe that taking better care of my bees will result in more honey per hive. In the last 4 years I have been doing my best to keep all of the weed growth away from my hives and they seem to be improving both in honey production and hive survival by keeping the area around the hive clear of weeds and brush.
I started feeding 1-1 for the first 2 weeks after pulling the honey from each hive. I will be going to 2-1 next week. Just scored a 2000 tote of sugar for $400 so bee feed is paid for this year already. |
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Posted: 9/8/2022 8:38:12 PM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DUX4LIFE: Extracting time is over for us. Got just under 2,700 lbs. I've got to do the math but looks like about 70ish pounds per hive. I'm more than happy. I didn't feed in the spring at all or use pollen substitute. Also August was the first time I have treated in like 2-3 years. I switched to running single brood boxes after listening to another member here and the honey production skyrocketed after 2 years of this method. I truly believe that taking better care of my bees will result in more honey per hive. In the last 4 years I have been doing my best to keep all of the growth away from my hives and they seem to be improving both in honey production and hive survival by keeping the area around the hive clear of weeds and brush. I started feeding 1-1 for the first 2 weeks after pulling the honey from each hive. I will be going to 2-1 next week. Just scored a 2000 tote of sugar for $400 so bee feed is paid for this year already. Awesome my friend! This was a bad year for honey production here as we had an extended period of dearth but we still harvested roughly 3500lbs. We have been feeding since late August as the brood chambers were neatly empty of stores when we harvested. Thankfully our mites are under control so we just need to continue feeding until everyone is up to our target weight and then we will hit them with OAD when we wrap things up for winter. Hope everyone had a great season! |
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Posted: 9/19/2022 1:29:45 PM EDT
[Last Edit: JQ66]
[#45]
I may be fortunate enough to get a nice fall harvest of honey.
I only got about 30# from this spring/early summer. But it was a nice dark amber and very sweet honey. Just all sorts of flowers I guess. Should’ve had a little more I think but the frames with honey just weren’t getting capped, and then one hive I think took all their honey down below after I put the queen excluder back in. I’ve seen massive amounts of knot weed flowering. It’s getting close to the end for that stuff. Not sure if there’s much within range of my bee hives, but there are lots and hillsides closer to work that are loaded with the stuff. And the goldenrod is flowering pretty nicely now. The four hives I started as packages this spring have their supers pretty well filled already. So I added another super to each. And they have lots of nectar and pollen stored in the deep boxes - they are very heavy. The temps are predicted to drop about 10F in a few days. Not close to frost but don’t know if it will be enough to impact the nectar output of the goldenrod. I need to order some more squeeze bottles. And 2 of 3 of the smaller splits I made are doing very well. I think if the bees had drawn out more comb, they would’ve been much better. I think one of my package hives may have made a new queen. I was sure I had her marked earlier. But yesterday I found an unmarked queen. I really ought to be keeping a journal. (Not a pleasure one). Most of the hives - all the package ones definitely are just loaded by brood. Surprised they capped some frames already  Attached FileFull or nice dark honey  Attached File |
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Posted: 10/4/2022 10:42:17 PM EDT
[#46]
Finally, my first year that I actually had time to look through a lot of my hives for a status check rather than a weight check before winter. I am finding brood, lots of brood... I am trying to get some single box 8 frame hives through winter. Last year I piled up my collection of 5 frame Nuc boxes and made the jump to using 8 frame boxes in the Nuc yard. I couldn't keep up with the 5 framers. They were either swarming before I knew it or killing me with the time it takes to feed with jars. Soon I will have nice 3 gallon plastic hive top feeders for each 8 frame nuc box, all 65 of them. I just rehived about 15 of these into some 10 frame deadouts I had and was able to count brood on about 6 out of 8 frames. This year I started feeding 1-1 in August, 1.5-1 in most of September, and 2-1 towards the end of September and October. I went through about 1,800 pounds of sugar but the hives are heavy and appear happy. I am cladding the 8 frame Boxes with 2" foam in 5 hive groups this winter. Also each hive will get 5-10 pounds of sugar in block form.
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Posted: 10/4/2022 10:46:06 PM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge: Awesome my friend! This was a bad year for honey production here as we had an extended period of dearth but we still harvested roughly 3500lbs. We have been feeding since late August as the brood chambers were neatly empty of stores when we harvested. Thankfully our mites are under control so we just need to continue feeding until everyone is up to our target weight and then we will hit them with OAD when we wrap things up for winter. Hope everyone had a great season! What is your target weight for single deeps with a medium super? |
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Posted: 10/6/2022 10:15:01 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DUX4LIFE: What is your target weight for single deeps with a medium super? Sorry, I hadn’t seen this earlier. I would probably aim for around 110lbs for that set-up. |
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Posted: 10/9/2022 9:30:21 PM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge: Sorry, I hadn’t seen this earlier. I would probably aim for around 110lbs for that set-up. Sounds easily doable. When I ran double deeps My goal was 150 pounds. We have a small time craft beer and soda bottler in town and I get sugar syrup towards the end of each season from them. I calculate the cost for me to buy the sugar and just swap them the value in local honey. Great deal for both. It is a small family business that has been in the family for generations. I bought 2000 lbs of sugar on Labor day and put 500 pounds away for a rainy day along with 1000 pounds from 2 years ago. Well, I blew through the 1500 pounds already and need another round of food so I am going to pick up another 150 gallons. I think each gallon is 70% solids and weighs about 11 pounds. |
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Posted: 10/18/2022 11:54:51 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Kitties-with-Sigs]
[#50]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DUX4LIFE: Extracting time is over for us. Got just under 2,700 lbs. I've got to do the math but looks like about 70ish pounds per hive. I'm more than happy. I didn't feed in the spring at all or use pollen substitute. Also August was the first time I have treated in like 2-3 years. I switched to running single brood boxes after listening to another member here and the honey production skyrocketed after 2 years of this method. I truly believe that taking better care of my bees will result in more honey per hive. In the last 4 years I have been doing my best to keep all of the weed growth away from my hives and they seem to be improving both in honey production and hive survival by keeping the area around the hive clear of weeds and brush. I started feeding 1-1 for the first 2 weeks after pulling the honey from each hive. I will be going to 2-1 next week. Just scored a 2000 tote of sugar for $400 so bee feed is paid for this year already. @Dux4Life What is your reasoning for doing the 1:1 for the first two weeks after pulling the honey? You want them to build some more comb? Maybe a dumb question, but feeding was simple when I was taught...1:1 to build comb. 2:1 to store for winter. I'm guessing you know a lot more about it. |
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