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Posted: 10/19/2022 9:06:35 AM EDT
[#1]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: @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. That is exactly it, I wanted them to build more comb and repair what perhaps was damaged. It also stimulates the queen in my opinion to keep laying brood. I prefer to go into winter with a large cluster of bees. Many beekeepers prefer to have smaller clusters for winter. |
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Posted: 10/19/2022 8:44:15 PM EDT
[#2]
Another reply to get the new page to show!
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Posted: 11/24/2022 12:56:12 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Kitties-with-Sigs]
[#3]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DUX4LIFE: 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. No wonder I get you two confused. (Cutting Edge and Dux) You are both GSD people, and use them for your avatars! Finally I figure it out, after all these years.  
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Posted: 11/29/2022 7:14:37 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: No wonder I get you two confused. (Cutting Edge and Dux) You are both GSD people, and use them for your avatars! Finally I figure it out, after all these years.  Just kidding Kittie!!! |
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Posted: 11/30/2022 9:00:48 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryNo, it's the freaking TRUTH. I have lost more knowledge in the past four years, than I can possibly relay to you. And that joke about not getting on the floor without a plan to get up? I LIVE THAT NOW. And I'm only 58.
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Posted: 11/30/2022 9:14:50 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DUX4LIFE]
[#6]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: No, it's the freaking TRUTH. I have lost more knowledge in the past four years, than I can possibly relay to you. And that joke about not getting on the floor without a plan to get up? I LIVE THAT NOW. And I'm only 58. "And I'm only 58." Hey, I resemble that remark. So many people didn't make it this far so we must count our blessings... Maybe grumble a little though! And to keep your thread on track I went out and insulated the 8 frame Nucs the last few days. It was warm but windy 2 days ago. They were feisty to down right pissy. Got hit about 8 times(no ppd worn). It's been about 1-2 months since I've been stung and it actually felt kinda good. Not counting the one that nailed me in the eyelid. |
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Posted: 12/9/2022 9:39:52 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DUX4LIFE: "And I'm only 58." Hey, I resemble that remark. So many people didn't make it this far so we must count our blessings... Maybe grumble a little though! And to keep your thread on track I went out and insulated the 8 frame Nucs the last few days. It was warm but windy 2 days ago. They were feisty to down right pissy. Got hit about 8 times(no ppd worn). It's been about 1-2 months since I've been stung and it actually felt kinda good. Not counting the one that nailed me in the eyelid. Dude...stings felt good? You have been assimilated. So...it's time to order bees, right? If anybody is ordering? Dux and others who sell nucs...what is your order date? Are there any big places to order bees that are desirable now? |
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Posted: 12/10/2022 8:57:28 AM EDT
[#8]
I will not be ordering packages going forward.
Any expansion (or replacement) going forward will be from splits, cut outs, or swarms. If I had to buy bees, i'd get locally raised nucs. I peaked at 15 hives this year, pretty much running out of equipment on hand. I'm down to 10 now between combining and die offs, and expect a couple more, based on numbers alone. I bought 6 packages this year, only intended to buy 3, but then someone wanted to be mentored on their farmette, so 3 more. |
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Posted: 12/11/2022 7:53:55 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: Dude...stings felt good? You have been assimilated. So...it's time to order bees, right? If anybody is ordering? Dux and others who sell nucs...what is your order date? Are there any big places to order bees that are desirable now? I just take a few orders over winter as I don't have any idea how many I will have left in the spring. I will continue to sell into summer as long as I have surplus. Last year I bought a bunch from my supplier who got them from another supplier. Lets just say I won't sell anything I don't raise myself anymore... |
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Posted: 12/11/2022 10:28:47 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DUX4LIFE: I just take a few orders over winter as I don't have any idea how many I will have left in the spring. I will continue to sell into summer as long as I have surplus. Last year I bought a bunch from my supplier who got them from another supplier. Lets just say I won't sell anything I don't raise myself anymore... I really do feel like the southern bees are a big part of the failures folks here have had in recent years. HOWEVER, a local queen breeder actually turned out to have a far worse record, and I blame that on some significant hive losses I had. Not so many with your record of success or knowledge. Any advice for buying from local folks, other than flip and coin and pray? |
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Posted: 12/16/2022 10:31:39 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: Any advice for buying from local folks, other than flip and coin and pray? Ask a few local keepers if they know about the quality of the bees that are being sold, Also ask the seller for copies of inspection slips from the state inspector if they have one AND what kind of treatments he uses on his bees and specifically if he has treated for foulbrood. If your state has inspectors like ours(Illinois) you can call and ask about the quality of the bees that have inspected. |
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Posted: 12/28/2022 3:59:13 PM EDT
[#12]
As spring comes, I will be anxious to hear about everyone's bees who are in areas that normally don't get severe cold.
Worried. 
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Posted: 2/23/2023 9:40:36 PM EDT
[Last Edit: JQ66]
[#13]
There's been just a very few really cold days and nights where I am in SW PA. Mostly a very mild winter.
Today it was a nice sunny 70F day, day before around 60F but then cold or chilly again tomorrow and for some time. I really wanted to get home at least at lunch time to get them to syrup. But no dice. So when I got home I figured I would just take some more sugar and pollen to put in the boxes. I had less than 15-20 minutes of daylight to do seven hives. No time to get smoke ready. Several hives had no sugar, pollen, or the winter pollen patties left in the top feeder board. And there was probably 6+ pounds of sugar in each hive, plus they all had 8-10 deep frames mostly full of honey before I closed them up last November. I think well about the sixty plus pounds some people recommend, I didnt take any deep frames to collect, that was all their honey to get through the winter and there was a lot. Lots of bees on top when I opened them up. And they got angry fast, scary really. First one was bad. Somehow a couple got inside my hood. Inside my work gloves. So I balied out of there fast in my UTV, down to the house, and got my other newer jacket and full length gloves. Still got stung through my pants on my him, groin, wrist, and felt one crawling up my back from when I bent over to pick something up. Anyways Even if I had got them syrup late morning today, i dont think that would've helped them for more than a couple days, So i filled up the feeder board with sugar where I could, but most of them even ate all the craft brown paper. I guess it was saturated with sugar. No time and no smoke to get in below and see if there was any honey left, but if the sugar was all gone, probably not. Where no paper was left I put sugar above on the inner cover (and above that was a blanket board plus the telescoping cover). Most of the hives appeared to still have lots of bees. Not sure what I will be able to do, except maybe get some more sugar in thar if we get a mid fifty day, I dont see any 60F+ days for the next month or so, and it will be some time before the trees bud and start making pollen. |
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Posted: 3/11/2023 2:11:49 AM EDT
[#14]
Got my unassembled 8 frame Hoover Hives bee boxes in today. Seem to be excellent quality cut from Douglass fur, dove tail joints and all parts including the base to the top is coated in bees wax.
Bees are ordered and am hoping to have 3 bee packages arrive mid April from a local bee farm. I would like to set up a new fresh watering system but we still have snow on the ground and are expecting more snow this week.      |
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Posted: 3/11/2023 9:44:26 AM EDT
[#15]
Looking good. I have to run up to the gate and get a shipment from Mann Lake. New hives and some tools.
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Posted: 3/11/2023 11:01:29 AM EDT
[#16]
I lost three of four hives this winter. The drought was so bad I didn't feed them enough to pull them through the winter. I stopped checking them in late fall and it looked like they had enough resources.
The new nucs arrive next month and I will have plenty of food and pollen available. It looks like the early bloom is starting already. I have lots of bee brush to keep them busy this year. We did get some rain, but not enough to break the drought. Last year was a really hard one. It was too windy and dry to have a successful garden as well. The only thing that did ok was the chickens. |
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Posted: 3/11/2023 12:20:14 PM EDT
[#17]
Lost all hives this season up here in WI. Went into winter with 11 poorly prepared colonies. Last one perished last week.
Now to begin the tedious task of cleaning out the equipment and prepping swarm traps. I ordered one Nuc which will arrive in April. |
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Posted: 3/11/2023 7:33:05 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Cardplayer]
[#18]
Got one of the Hoover Hive Boxes together today. Way to much wax on the joints and ended up splitting wood on the first box so I ended up scraping the joints and then using a hairdryer on hot to melt the wax. Ended up working up very well and I am pleased with the craftsmanship of the hives.
I still need to attach the mouse guard permanently. 
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Posted: 3/12/2023 6:00:47 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By JQ66: There's been just a very few really cold days and nights where I am in SW PA. Mostly a very mild winter. Today it was a nice sunny 70F day, day before around 60F but then cold or chilly again tomorrow and for some time. I really wanted to get home at least at lunch time to get them to syrup. But no dice. So when I got home I figured I would just take some more sugar and pollen to put in the boxes. I had less than 15-20 minutes of daylight to do seven hives. No time to get smoke ready. Several hives had no sugar, pollen, or the winter pollen patties left in the top feeder board. And there was probably 6+ pounds of sugar in each hive, plus they all had 8-10 deep frames mostly full of honey before I closed them up last November. I think well about the sixty plus pounds some people recommend, I didnt take any deep frames to collect, that was all their honey to get through the winter and there was a lot. Lots of bees on top when I opened them up. And they got angry fast, scary really. First one was bad. Somehow a couple got inside my hood. Inside my work gloves. So I balied out of there fast in my UTV, down to the house, and got my other newer jacket and full length gloves. Still got stung through my pants on my him, groin, wrist, and felt one crawling up my back from when I bent over to pick something up. Anyways Even if I had got them syrup late morning today, i dont think that would've helped them for more than a couple days, So i filled up the feeder board with sugar where I could, but most of them even ate all the craft brown paper. I guess it was saturated with sugar. No time and no smoke to get in below and see if there was any honey left, but if the sugar was all gone, probably not. Where no paper was left I put sugar above on the inner cover (and above that was a blanket board plus the telescoping cover). Most of the hives appeared to still have lots of bees. Not sure what I will be able to do, except maybe get some more sugar in thar if we get a mid fifty day, I dont see any 60F+ days for the next month or so, and it will be some time before the trees bud and start making pollen. I suspect they feel that pressure dropping for the storm system that's rolling across the country. Pressure drops make bees pissy from what I have seen. Plus...it's winter. They got nuthin to do. They all be sittin in there, in a bad mood, waitin' fer YOU.  |
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Posted: 3/12/2023 6:03:44 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Idaholandho: Got one of the Hoover Hive Boxes together today. Way to much wax on the joints and ended up splitting wood on the first box so I ended up scraping the joints and then using a hairdryer on hot to melt the wax. Ended up working up very well and I am pleased with the craftsmanship of the hives. I still need to attach the mouse guard permanently. https://i.imgur.com/byDr7OHl.jpg Nice looking hives though! 
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Posted: 3/12/2023 6:05:52 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By shooter_gregg: I lost three of four hives this winter. The drought was so bad I didn't feed them enough to pull them through the winter. I stopped checking them in late fall and it looked like they had enough resources. The new nucs arrive next month and I will have plenty of food and pollen available. It looks like the early bloom is starting already. I have lots of bee brush to keep them busy this year. We did get some rain, but not enough to break the drought. Last year was a really hard one. It was too windy and dry to have a successful garden as well. The only thing that did ok was the chickens. Windy drought is just the worst, to me. Feels like I dry up along with everything growing. Have you started feeding the remaining hive? Enough bees there to survive? |
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Posted: 3/12/2023 6:06:12 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By jacobsk: Lost all hives this season up here in WI. Went into winter with 11 poorly prepared colonies. Last one perished last week. Now to begin the tedious task of cleaning out the equipment and prepping swarm traps. I ordered one Nuc which will arrive in April. Awww. Sorry to hear. 
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Posted: 3/12/2023 7:55:17 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: Windy drought is just the worst, to me. Feels like I dry up along with everything growing. Have you started feeding the remaining hive? Enough bees there to survive? Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: Originally Posted By shooter_gregg: I lost three of four hives this winter. The drought was so bad I didn't feed them enough to pull them through the winter. I stopped checking them in late fall and it looked like they had enough resources. The new nucs arrive next month and I will have plenty of food and pollen available. It looks like the early bloom is starting already. I have lots of bee brush to keep them busy this year. We did get some rain, but not enough to break the drought. Last year was a really hard one. It was too windy and dry to have a successful garden as well. The only thing that did ok was the chickens. Windy drought is just the worst, to me. Feels like I dry up along with everything growing. Have you started feeding the remaining hive? Enough bees there to survive? I combined the best drawn frames and added a feeder. The agarita is blooming and I added a half a pollen patty. I think the apocalypse is coming. The previous year we had a plague of grasshoppers. It was so dry they were eating cockle burr leaves. That is hard to eat and that was all that was available. I didn't have chickens then or I would have had free food for them. |
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Posted: 3/13/2023 5:39:12 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By shooter_gregg: I combined the best drawn frames and added a feeder. The agarita is blooming and I added a half a pollen patty. I think the apocalypse is coming. The previous year we had a plague of grasshoppers. It was so dry they were eating cockle burr leaves. That is hard to eat and that was all that was available. I didn't have chickens then or I would have had free food for them. I think the last of the Seals of Revelation is about to be broken. Never really thought that before. But yeah. |
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Posted: 3/13/2023 7:24:57 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: I think the last of the Seals of Revelation is about to be broken. Never really thought that before. But yeah. I'm guessing in my grandkids lifetime... they are 20-1yr old. |
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Posted: 3/14/2023 7:13:55 PM EDT
[#26]
Ok, question for you all. We live in the forests of AZ. I'm at almost 7k ft elevation. We bought a nuc from a keeper in the PHX area, IIRC it was in April. We have an enormous amount of garden, flowers, and a small clover field for them.
We have a FlowHive and is out first attempt at bees. So we had a pretty remarkable winter. Most of the days/nights below freezing, and a lot of snow. Unfortunately, our bees didn't survive. I just went out and checked on the brood box and silence. In the queen eliminator screen, (I forget the actual name), there were lots of dead bees, and it didn't look like they were able to get up to the artificial combs to make honey, however it does look like some bees got through. We did make some sugar water for them, as well as gave them a "bee food" called something like a fondant? We didn't try to harvest any honey due to allowing them time to establish a colony. So my question is, what did we do wrong, overlook, or just miss? Should we be trying to find bees locally that are "acclimated"? |
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Posted: 3/14/2023 7:30:15 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By azjogol: Ok, question for you all. We live in the forests of AZ. I'm at almost 7k ft elevation. We bought a nuc from a keeper in the PHX area, IIRC it was in April. We have an enormous amount of garden, flowers, and a small clover field for them. We have a FlowHive and is out first attempt at bees. So we had a pretty remarkable winter. Most of the days/nights below freezing, and a lot of snow. Unfortunately, our bees didn't survive. I just went out and checked on the brood box and silence. In the queen eliminator screen, (I forget the actual name), there were lots of dead bees, and it didn't look like they were able to get up to the artificial combs to make honey, however it does look like some bees got through. We did make some sugar water for them, as well as gave them a "bee food" called something like a fondant? We didn't try to harvest any honey due to allowing them time to establish a colony. So my question is, what did we do wrong, overlook, or just miss? Should we be trying to find bees locally that are "acclimated"? Was the nuc raised by the person you bought from, or was it a package sold as a nuc? I don't know the timelines for your state, but a April package in WI will be a package nuc, not locally raised. I've got a couple of local nucs in order, but they won't be ready til mid June, as they are the real deal. Second, don't leave the queen excluder on. I don't even use one most of the time. Third, Did your bees starve in spite of the fondant? If it's cold enough, the bees won't move up, and stay in cluster. Starving is indicated by bees being dead by them being head first in a cell. Fourth, I'm not clear what you mean by the bees not getting up to make honey. Did you leave the queen excluder on year around? Lastly, don't rule out disease. Everyone asks "what was your mite count", but it's not really the mites, it's the disease they carry. |
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Posted: 3/15/2023 12:06:49 AM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rcav8r: Was the nuc raised by the person you bought from, or was it a package sold as a nuc? I don't know the timelines for your state, but a April package in WI will be a package nuc, not locally raised. I've got a couple of local nucs in order, but they won't be ready til mid June, as they are the real deal. Second, don't leave the queen excluder on. I don't even use one most of the time. Third, Did your bees starve in spite of the fondant? If it's cold enough, the bees won't move up, and stay in cluster. Starving is indicated by bees being dead by them being head first in a cell. Fourth, I'm not clear what you mean by the bees not getting up to make honey. Did you leave the queen excluder on year around? Lastly, don't rule out disease. Everyone asks "what was your mite count", but it's not really the mites, it's the disease they carry. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rcav8r: Originally Posted By azjogol: Ok, question for you all. We live in the forests of AZ. I'm at almost 7k ft elevation. We bought a nuc from a keeper in the PHX area, IIRC it was in April. We have an enormous amount of garden, flowers, and a small clover field for them. We have a FlowHive and is out first attempt at bees. So we had a pretty remarkable winter. Most of the days/nights below freezing, and a lot of snow. Unfortunately, our bees didn't survive. I just went out and checked on the brood box and silence. In the queen eliminator screen, (I forget the actual name), there were lots of dead bees, and it didn't look like they were able to get up to the artificial combs to make honey, however it does look like some bees got through. We did make some sugar water for them, as well as gave them a "bee food" called something like a fondant? We didn't try to harvest any honey due to allowing them time to establish a colony. So my question is, what did we do wrong, overlook, or just miss? Should we be trying to find bees locally that are "acclimated"? Was the nuc raised by the person you bought from, or was it a package sold as a nuc? I don't know the timelines for your state, but a April package in WI will be a package nuc, not locally raised. I've got a couple of local nucs in order, but they won't be ready til mid June, as they are the real deal. Second, don't leave the queen excluder on. I don't even use one most of the time. Third, Did your bees starve in spite of the fondant? If it's cold enough, the bees won't move up, and stay in cluster. Starving is indicated by bees being dead by them being head first in a cell. Fourth, I'm not clear what you mean by the bees not getting up to make honey. Did you leave the queen excluder on year around? Lastly, don't rule out disease. Everyone asks "what was your mite count", but it's not really the mites, it's the disease they carry. This is a great post. If I had to bet any reason it would be #4. We can't leave them on during the winter here as they won't cluster. I also would add, what was the condition of the hive when you winterized it? How much honey did they have and what was the condition of the hive when winter hit. Whatever the reason, if you have the means, don't quit. |
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Posted: 3/15/2023 12:09:22 AM EDT
[#29]
Gluing together the rest of some new frames and will brad nail them when they are dry and the rest of the frames are complete.
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Posted: 3/15/2023 9:20:11 AM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rcav8r: Was the nuc raised by the person you bought from, or was it a package sold as a nuc? I don't know the timelines for your state, but a April package in WI will be a package nuc, not locally raised. I've got a couple of local nucs in order, but they won't be ready til mid June, as they are the real deal. It was raised by a keeper in the Phoenix area, which leads me to wonder if bees coming from a hit climate into a cold climate are more vulnerable to the freezing temps? Second, don't leave the queen excluder on. I don't even use one most of the time. Interesting! When do you put it in, and when would you remove it? Third, Did your bees starve in spite of the fondant? If it's cold enough, the bees won't move up, and stay in cluster. Starving is indicated by bees being dead by them being head first in a cell. We will be taking the hive apart this weekend to clean it out so we can try again. I'll look for those signs. Fourth, I'm not clear what you mean by the bees not getting up to make honey. Did you leave the queen excluder on year around? I did leave the excluder in.... no bueno? Lastly, don't rule out disease. Everyone asks "what was your mite count", but it's not really the mites, it's the disease they carry. Is there something specific I should look for to determine if it was disease? Really appreciate the insight and help. Wife is really bummed we lost the bees. |
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Posted: 3/15/2023 9:24:40 AM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Idaholandho: This is a great post. If I had to bet any reason it would be #4. We can't leave them on during the winter here as they won't cluster. I also would add, what was the condition of the hive when you winterized it? How much honey did they have and what was the condition of the hive when winter hit. Whatever the reason, if you have the means, don't quit. Unfortunately we did leave the excluder in.... I'm seeing that is not good. As for the hive, we left them alone to get established, and didn't even try to check for honey because we wanted to leave whatever was there for them to eat during the winter. We did give them some water at the entrance, and as I mentioned, the fondant. Not giving up at all. Ultimately we would like to be able to have 2 hives on our 6 acres. I will be creating more clover patches for them, and our garden is going to be made bigger as well. In the garden beds, my wife plants plenty of flowers to draw in the pollenators.... |
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Posted: 3/15/2023 10:57:15 AM EDT
[#32]
What type of feeders are y'all using these days? I have both frame feeders and a home made 5 gallon bucket feeder.
I think raccoons or skunks would get the small entrance feeders. |
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Posted: 3/15/2023 4:58:25 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By azjogol: I rarely use the excluder anymore, as I said. The only time I would use it if the queen starts laying in the honey supers, and then only if I need to harvest soon. And make sure the queen is not trapped in the supers by the excluder. Also, if the queen is laying in the supers, it means you are probably running out of space for her in the deeps. Time for corrective action. It's great to leave the bees alone, generally, but taking a peek to stay informed of the hives status doesn't mean you need to take all the frames apart during an inspection. Sometimes you can get a good idea by looking at the outermost frames, working your way in till you see honey or brood. Every couple of weeks at least. Watch for swarms cells, spotty brood, etc. |
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Posted: 3/15/2023 5:06:51 PM EDT
[#34]
Disease is hard to diagnose sometimes.
Sometimes it can be obvious like k wing, or deformed wing virus. Sometimes the signs are more subtle, such as in one hive that went into winter very healthy with a large cluster. When I checked it on a warm day in January, it was dead. Post mortem showed very few dead bees, which indicates the bees knew they were sick and left the hive to die. This hive also starved in the bargain. There were a few small clusters of brood! I don't know if these were early or late brood, but you could see bees headfirst in some of the cells around the brood. It was obvious they didn't have the numbers to keep the brood warm and move to the honey stores, which were literally on the same face of the frame they were on. Another dead hive, I suspect the queen died, as there were clusters all over the hive, as well as thousands dead on the bottom. Plenty of stores. |
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Posted: 3/15/2023 5:11:41 PM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By shooter_gregg: What type of feeders are y'all using these days? I have both frame feeders and a home made 5 gallon bucket feeder. I think raccoons or skunks would get the small entrance feeders. 5 gallons? How do you use that? If I have to feed syrup, I use one gallon buckets above the hole in the inner cover, with a deep box and the outer cover on top. Animals generally don't care about the sugar water, but entrance feeders (known as boardman feeders) tend to attract robbers. You could put these feeders on top of the inner cover surrounded by a deep box and covered by the outer cover, just like the bucket, but you can use multiple jars of feed like that. |
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Posted: 3/15/2023 5:25:27 PM EDT
[#36]
The five gallon feeder is set away from the yard. Small holes are drilled in under the reinforcing rib with an open bottom. Mix the syrup and put the lid on the bucket. Flip the bucket upside-down. Now the pockets in the rib are face up. Once they fill up the bucket will hold a vacuum. As the bees feed air is let in and refills the cups. This will boost feed to the hives for days.
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Posted: 3/17/2023 9:39:50 PM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: I suspect they feel that pressure dropping for the storm system that's rolling across the country. Pressure drops make bees pissy from what I have seen. Plus...it's winter. They got nuthin to do. They all be sittin in there, in a bad mood, waitin' fer YOU. They were pretty much all out of any food that day. One hive I think got very little sugar and i was rushed and didnt put down some new paper, so I just poured it on top the inner cover, and above that was the blanket board. When I got into them last weekend to add more food, they were all dead or motionless. And they hadn't touched any of the sugar on the inner cover. One other hive also didn't make it. They were all out of food again that last saturday, and it was just warm enough to open up the boxes. Shame as the two dead ones the queens had started laying eggs and there was some capped brood on two frames in each, I didnt get down into the other surviving hives, but just fed them. They were all bringing in pollen from the maples, and something else. There were two shades at keast of pollen, A pale yellow- white and a brighter yellow. Good thing it was nice enough to open them up as all the other hives were just about all o ut of sugar, and I think they consumed all their honey too. And they had lots in early November, plus the feeder board full of sugar and winter feed cakes. So currently at five hives. They all just need to hang on a couple more weeks. I gave them lots of sugar, and refilled the pollen tube |
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Posted: 3/17/2023 10:52:55 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Kitties-with-Sigs]
[#38]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By JQ66: They were pretty much all out of any food that day. One hive I think got very little sugar and i was rushed and didnt put down some new paper, so I just poured it on top the inner cover, and above that was the blanket board. When I got into them last weekend to add more food, they were all dead or motionless. And they hadn't touched any of the sugar on the inner cover. One other hive also didn't make it. They were all out of food again that last saturday, and it was just warm enough to open up the boxes. Shame as the two dead ones the queens had started laying eggs and there was some capped brood on two frames in each, I didnt get down into the other surviving hives, but just fed them. They were all bringing in pollen from the maples, and something else. There were two shades at keast of pollen, A pale yellow- white and a brighter yellow. Good thing it was nice enough to open them up as all the other hives were just about all o ut of sugar, and I think they consumed all their honey too. And they had lots in early November, plus the feeder board full of sugar and winter feed cakes. So currently at five hives. They all just need to hang on a couple more weeks. I gave them lots of sugar, and refilled the pollen tube Did y'all have a warm Jan or Feb? Then the hit of cold we are having now? Because I wonder if that can be devastating. @Dux4Life |
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Posted: 3/18/2023 10:23:32 PM EDT
[#39]
It was a pretty mild winter December January and February Only a few short cold spells.
Ive heard that can cause them to break up the cluster ball and then they have to consume more. |
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Posted: 3/18/2023 10:53:46 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By JQ66: It was a pretty mild winter December January and February Only a few short cold spells. Ive heard that can cause them to break up the cluster ball and then they have to consume more. A mild winter means they are active and so consume far more stores. But they can be caught unawares with a hard temp drop like we had here at Christmas. (It went from upper 70s at 2 pm, to below zero at midnight. That's fast.) I'm interested in what the more experienced beekeepers know about temp drops like that, but maybe where you are, you didn't have that? |
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Posted: 3/18/2023 10:58:26 PM EDT
[#41]
I remember bees in the chicken feed in January. I am going to try to get them to build up faster and maybe even get a split in if possible. I don't mind feeding them. Last year was hell on everything. This year la Nina is shifting to El Nino so it should be wetter.
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Posted: 3/18/2023 11:05:18 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Kitties-with-Sigs]
[#42]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By azjogol: Unfortunately we did leave the excluder in.... I'm seeing that is not good. As for the hive, we left them alone to get established, and didn't even try to check for honey because we wanted to leave whatever was there for them to eat during the winter. We did give them some water at the entrance, and as I mentioned, the fondant. Not giving up at all. Ultimately we would like to be able to have 2 hives on our 6 acres. I will be creating more clover patches for them, and our garden is going to be made bigger as well. In the garden beds, my wife plants plenty of flowers to draw in the pollenators.... My best advice to you is that you need to get involved with your local beekeeping community. Somewhere near you (within some driving distance, likely) is a beekeeping club or association. I just looked for yours and if I have the right one, it looks like there was a meeting this week, and an event this weekend. I did a couple of searches. I found this but it does not list the SOUTHERN Arizona beekeeping associations/clubs. Here is the Cooperative Extension Beekeeping page for Arizona I sound like a broken record to all the beekeepers who have seen me post since I started this thread so long ago. But my advice is....you need some mentors. You need people you can learn from, who might be willing, at some point, to come out and look at your hives. You need people who will invite you over to see THEIR hives when they open them, and teach you what they know. You need a group that hosts field days, and events, and bee schools on the weekends in winter and early spring. You will meet people there who will answer questions. And they will help you know when to do WHAT where you are. Cuz your climate and situation is very different from mine, and from pretty much everybody else except people who live in your region. You want to know those beekeepers. You want to learn from them. HINT: You will meet people who are old timers, who don't pay attention to the science much. YOU need to pay attention to the science. Pay CLOSE attention to the science. Learn all you can. BUT...you respect and appreciate those old timers who may have 30 hives, and have kept them alive and thriving for 20 years, and who may espouse some voodoo. Listen. Thank them. Learn. But don't ditch the science for that. Beekeeping is art AND science, because your yard/microclimate is not like ANYBODY else's. Sometimes, yeah, the voodoo will work. But mostly, you need to learn the science. Sometimes, when you pay close attention, you can listen to the voodoo the old timers teach, and you can think (without speaking), "OHHHH...that works because of THIS (that you learned from science.)  Every now and then, you will find a beekeeper who knows something that science does not. That's why you listen to everybody, but your fallback is the science. Does that makes sense? Go find some other beekeepers. Join the associations. Go to the bee schools. Make friends. Learn.  ETA: If you leave the queen excluder in in the winter, and the stores are up where she can't get to them, the bees will cluster around the queen. They will not abandon her. If they cluster around the queen and she cannot get to the honey, you can imagine the end result...it's not good. BUT...I'm not sure, from reading your post, that this is what happened. The more you learn about how a bee colony works, the more you will be able think through this type of situation. That is normal. We all have to learn. Bees are bugs. We are not. We all lose hives. This is not an instinct for us. Don't give up. |
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Posted: 3/19/2023 7:58:44 AM EDT
[#43]
My way of beekeeping is changing.
I'm moving away from the plain langstroth boxes, and going more to insulated hives. Apimaye, Lazutin, layens, and a new design I'm trying, the thriving hive. A couple of those are double deeps. Keyword here being insulation, especially at the top. |
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Posted: 3/19/2023 10:36:28 AM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: That is normal. We all have to learn. Bees are bugs. We are not. We all lose hives. This is not an instinct for us. Don't give up. Thank you, Kitties! Yes, we are looking for local resources. We're in the forests of AZ, (White Mountains), so our needs up here are a bit different from those down in the Phx area. We do have a friend that worked a couple times a year on his uncles farm in Wisconsin tending the hives. He's a good source of information, but some local insight would be more advantageous. |
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Posted: 3/19/2023 10:37:04 AM EDT
[#45]
I have been watching David Burns videos. His series on mite control is engaging. If you can get mite under control through green comb, queen brood cycle breaking, and other natural methods, the mite load goes way down, colonies go through winter stronger. I missed treatment last fall and may have suffered for it.
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Posted: 3/19/2023 10:53:11 AM EDT
[#46]
Good morning, folks!
The GF and I thought we'd lost our bees last year. The weather didn't allow us to do their final mite treatment, but when we went to move them to their (supposed) new location yesterday, we were surprised to see activity! Upon opening them, we found two healthy, thriving colonies. Now, however, the GF (she's really the beekeeper), is worried they will swarm and we'll lose them, so she wants to do a split. We're new to this, though, so if anyone has any advice for doing that, I'd appreciate it a lot. And, of course, since we thought we'd lost them, we have 30,000 bees set to be delivered 1st week in April! We only have one more hive set-up, so things will get a bit crazy the next few weeks! |
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Posted: 3/19/2023 1:00:03 PM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Former11BRAVO: Good morning, folks! The GF and I thought we'd lost our bees last year. The weather didn't allow us to do their final mite treatment, but when we went to move them to their (supposed) new location yesterday, we were surprised to see activity! Upon opening them, we found two healthy, thriving colonies. Now, however, the GF (she's really the beekeeper), is worried they will swarm and we'll lose them, so she wants to do a split. We're new to this, though, so if anyone has any advice for doing that, I'd appreciate it a lot. And, of course, since we thought we'd lost them, we have 30,000 bees set to be delivered 1st week in April! We only have one more hive set-up, so things will get a bit crazy the next few weeks! It's a bit early for splits, there may not be enough drones out there for mating yet. Do your bees have enough space? Do they have brood? Best thing to do is keep an eye on this hive, watch for swarm cells, etc until you are confident you have drones in your area for mating a new queen. |
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Posted: 3/19/2023 2:34:02 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Former11BRAVO]
[#48]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rcav8r: It's a bit early for splits, there may not be enough drones out there for mating yet. Do your bees have enough space? Do they have brood? Best thing to do is keep an eye on this hive, watch for swarm cells, etc until you are confident you have drones in your area for mating a new queen. We didn't open the brood boxes, just opened the supers and removed a few frames to get a look. There were hundreds of bees visible on top of the brooder frames, though. We both figured it was too early to do a split and didn't do a mite test either. I'm glad you mentioned neighboring drones, though. Hadn't considered that! Thanks! ETA: We use two brooder boxes for each colony, so I'm pretty sure they have space, but we'll definitely look more closely in the next few days, as it's supposed to be sunny and 70 here, Thursday. |
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Posted: 3/19/2023 7:08:08 PM EDT
[Last Edit: shooter_gregg]
[#49]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Former11BRAVO: Good morning, folks! The GF and I thought we'd lost our bees last year. The weather didn't allow us to do their final mite treatment, but when we went to move them to their (supposed) new location yesterday, we were surprised to see activity! Upon opening them, we found two healthy, thriving colonies. Now, however, the GF (she's really the beekeeper), is worried they will swarm and we'll lose them, so she wants to do a split. We're new to this, though, so if anyone has any advice for doing that, I'd appreciate it a lot. And, of course, since we thought we'd lost them, we have 30,000 bees set to be delivered 1st week in April! We only have one more hive set-up, so things will get a bit crazy the next few weeks! Look to se how many frames of brood you have in the upper and lower deep. If you are maxed out in the lower and have brood in the upper, look carefully for swarm cells on the lower part of the frames in the lower. If you have swarm cells, find the queen and move her and the upper deep to start a new colony. If you have multiple frames with swarm cells, you can do splits. I saw one video where they made five colonies out of one. It all depends on how crowded they feel. Another option is to reverse the deeps. Put the bottom on top of the upper. Come back in a week and look for new brood in the (now) bottom deep. There are a number of ways you can go. First find out how much brood you have. ETA: And buy more deeps. You may need them sooner than you think. If you end up with too many, you can sell the extras. |
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Posted: 3/20/2023 10:22:26 AM EDT
[#50]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By shooter_gregg: Look to se how many frames of brood you have in the upper and lower deep. If you are maxed out in the lower and have brood in the upper, look carefully for swarm cells on the lower part of the frames in the lower. If you have swarm cells, find the queen and move her and the upper deep to start a new colony. If you have multiple frames with swarm cells, you can do splits. I saw one video where they made five colonies out of one. It all depends on how crowded they feel. Another option is to reverse the deeps. Put the bottom on top of the upper. Come back in a week and look for new brood in the (now) bottom deep. There are a number of ways you can go. First find out how much brood you have. ETA: And buy more deeps. You may need them sooner than you think. If you end up with too many, you can sell the extras. Will do! Thank you. |
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