What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

[The15thMember]

Finally my schedule and the weather cooperated today, so I opened up every single one of my colonies.  Several needed additional boxes, and in the colonies on screened bottom boards, I had left my inserts in too long, and they were all moldy.    The colony whose queen went drone layer over the winter finally made some queen cells from a donor frame.  My favorite colony looked like they were about to swarm, so I split them, but we'll see if they swarm anyway, because they seemed pretty far along in their preparations.   

[.30WCF]

Went in mine today for the first time. Split one that was full of queen cells and busting at the seams, the double mustard hive. I took some of the bees and queen cells and put them in a dead out (teal nuc).

I didn?t really go deep into the double red hive. I opened it and know enough to know that they are full to the top from fall still, and if I get time, I should split them. I?m sure they are well on their way to swarming. A couple cracks and peeks, and that hive is overflowing.

The tripple white medium had a queen x left on it from last year. There was some bees in the top three boxes tending the comb, but fairly light. The bottom two boxes were busting and like all the other hives, full of brood. I moved the excluder up one box there to give them a little room to expand.

Over all, I need to probably go back and split the three hives.

I didn?t actually split the first one. I just stole from it. It could afford it, and I didn?t look for the queen. I just took bees and QCs and put them in the nuc. The hive will still swarm if I don?t go find the queen and give her the boot or split it again.

I was in a rush cause I had some phone interviews to conduct. I opened the third hive with 10 minutes to spare until my first phone call.





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[Ben Framed]

Thumbs up!

[.30WCF]

Before



After

So, I mixed them up again today. I took five more frames of bees and brood out of the blue/white/blue hive and dropped them on top of the teal nuc I made yesterday from the bearded hive. Yesterday there was two reds and one yellow on that hive. That hive got a blue box of open air stored comb from last year.

I took the two red boxes and one yellow of bees and brood from what is now blue/white/blue, and put them on the yellow bottom board that held two empty blue/yellow boxes directly over the right side cinder blocks. That hive is now full of bees and brood and 2 QCs. I topped it off with a second yellow box of drawn comb.

The other half of the bees, brood and QCs that went to the orange box on the teal hive started another nuc on the far right in a yellow medium that?s stacked on time empt nuc boxes.

I stored all my drawn comb from last year?s extractions in the tall stack of boxes on the right side of the stand. It?s a couple boxes of comb, then a gap from a screen bottom board, then more boxes with drawn comb. I never put a lid on that. It probably sat like that since Sept/Oct last year. A bit of mold on some of it, but the bees needed some distractions anyways.

And I was going to cut back this year. Ha.


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[FatherMichael]

Built a hive stand.  Took a hive out of storage and moved hive and stand to the farm.

Trimmed branches through the woods and shrubs to make more room for the truck.

This was after moving the hive in my backyard out to the farm on Tuesday because it was getting too aggressive.

[Ben Framed]

It sure is good seeing you posting!  Ive missed you! I hope it yields loads of honey! When does your mesquite bloom start?

Phillip

[BeeMaster2]

Welcome back Father. It has been a long time since you have posted. Glad you are back.
Jim Altmiller

[FatherMichael]

Thanks, Phillip and Jim.

It'll be a while before the Mesquite bloom.  But Horehound is starting.

[FatherMichael]

Put a new chain and lock on the gate to my borrowed 5 acre bee yard.

The one hive there now is aggressive.  The property is posted but I needed to make the gate more secure so no-one gets hurt trying to go down to the creek to fish or drink!

[.30WCF]

Put a new chain and lock on the gate to my borrowed 5 acre bee yard.

The one hive there now is aggressive.  The property is posted but I needed to make the gate more secure so no-one gets hurt trying to go down to the creek to fish or drink!

Stomp the queen. In a few weeks you?ll be glad you did. I?ve done that a few times.


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[Ben Framed]

Put a new chain and lock on the gate to my borrowed 5 acre bee yard.

The one hive there now is aggressive.  The property is posted but I needed to make the gate more secure so no-one gets hurt trying to go down to the creek to fish or drink!

Stomp the queen. In a few weeks you?ll be glad you did. I?ve done that a few times.


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Keep in mind that Father Michael lives in Snyder, Texas, a place where a large percentage of wild bee populations are partially Africanized.

[.30WCF]

Put a new chain and lock on the gate to my borrowed 5 acre bee yard.

The one hive there now is aggressive.  The property is posted but I needed to make the gate more secure so no-one gets hurt trying to go down to the creek to fish or drink!

Stomp the queen. In a few weeks you?ll be glad you did. I?ve done that a few times.


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Keep in mind that Father Michael lives in Snyder, Texas, a place where a large percentage of wild bee populations are partially Africanized.

Ahh, then a store bought queen. I?ll put one of mine in the mail.


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[FatherMichael]

Yes, we have a problem with Africanized bees.  A friend of mine quit altogether because it was so unpleasant to work them.

Yes, I need to re-queen.

[Ben Framed]

I watched a documentary several years ago that featured a fellow from Arizona, Bixbe, Arizona, I am thinking.  This guy was a professional bee remover, and from what he portrayed in the documentary, most of those hives were Africanized and vicious bees. He wore a complete ventilated protection suit. The suit including the attached hood which seemed to get the job done and safety. It?s been a while since I watched the documentary, but if I remember correctly, the only stings he took was on his nose when the veil touched his nose,

What I?m getting to is if I lived in such an area, I would wear the complete suit, and not worry about the viciousness, if I wanted to keep bees .

In the meantime;  Maybe 30WFC is serious and will send you one of his queens. .  Being from North Carolina, perhaps she will be gentle in nature.

Phillip

[.30WCF]

I would. I seem to have the problem of always being over run with more bees than I want. Brood breaks and requeening gives me a break.
Shoot me a PM and I can grab one in a few days when it warms back up.


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[FatherMichael]

I would. I seem to have the problem of always being over run with more bees than I want. Brood breaks and requeening gives me a break.
Shoot me a PM and I can grab one in a few days when it warms back up.


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Wow!  Thanks, .30!

[FatherMichael]

What I?m getting to is if I lived in such an area, I would wear the complete suit, and not worry about the viciousness, if I wanted to keep bees .



Phillip

Ayup, that is what I'll have to do in the immediate next stages of caring for this hive.

Had five hives going into 2023.  Four at the farm died.  Only this one at the house that I moved to the farm this week survived.

I had never lost even one hive before.  Losing four was a gut check.

Will have two be a better manager.

[.30WCF]

I would. I seem to have the problem of always being over run with more bees than I want. Brood breaks and requeening gives me a break.
Shoot me a PM and I can grab one in a few days when it warms back up.


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Wow!  Thanks, .30!

No problem. Glad to see if it helps. Just let me know.


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[Terri Yaki]

I prepped the hive I'm going to put my nuc into and will probably pic it up this week. I have a ratchet strap wrapped around it and figure I'll just take that hive to the apiary and put the nuc straight into it. I cut a bottom board with no entrance and made it a tight fit so I had to wedge it in there. I figure that should hold them 'til I get them back. I also put a tilt to it to keep rain from sneaking in. I rooted around and the best I could come up with without cutting something is a 3.3 degree tilt. I'm not sure if that's good but it seems to be within the parameters I found on the internet. Should I cut a notch in the top inner cover to let a little air through?

[Ben Framed]

Without pictures I?m not sure I fully understand your description. I was taught, by placing bees in a container, box, nuc, or full frame without ventilation,  such a swarm or cutout, the bees may be dead before you can get home. 🤷🏻‍♂️

What I do when I move a Nuc, just for precaution, is this, I?ll use either door screen or number eight hardware cloth on the full bottom entry, (for ventilation ), cut a piece out to fit, then I will place this screen in position and staple it in place with T-50 staples.  Then add the ratchet strap, or I will staple the top and bottom to the box. This has always worked for me.

I will add; Before I transfer a nuc into a full 10 frame box, I will first release the nuc in its new location for a day or two, usually 2  , giving them plenty of time to orient and get use to their new location and surroundings, letting them settle in, then transfer. This works well for me.

Phillip