Recent Posts

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: splits

« Last post by Terri Yaki on Today at 06:49:11 am »

With both splits and swarms the easiest check is a visual one from outside the hive. When you think that the queen could or should laying, just watch for pollen coming in. If the bees are bringing in heaps in the mid morning on a sunny day, there is a good chance that there is young larvae present that need to be fed. It?s not 100% accurate but it is a good indicator that the hive is progressing. I would check the hive after seeing that. The bees always seem happy and busy when the hive is travelling well.

Thanks. They started bringing pollen in the day after they moved in and they're still bringing some in but not much. I don't know what for pollen should be in right now but mostly, it's been orange tulip poplar but now I'm seeing a whiteish green in lower quantities. Our cars are all covered with pollen but I don't know where it's from or if it's even anything they can use. The only thing we have here that I can think of is the arborvitae and I don't know if that's a pollen that they can use.

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: splits

« Last post by max2 on Today at 04:14:49 am »

Do y'all check for queen cells after a split of do you prefer waiting and checking for eggs?

Usually I let the bees just do their thing and check back when there should be a queen laying.

Just split a hive last week for the first time. Was thinking I should just wait about 4 weeks then check for eggs. Then intervene if needed

4 weeks or a month ( in my case) has worked for me well.
I used to open the nuc's after 8 days to check for queen cells.
I don't do this anymore.
A month and open, check for the brood pattern ( generally only eggs at this point) and move/sell.

The advantage of checking after 8 days is that you can move extra cells into any nuc which has no q cells.

I do 8 to 12 nuc's only at a time

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: splits

« Last post by Lesgold on May 25, 2024, 10:41:33 pm »

With both splits and swarms the easiest check is a visual one from outside the hive. When you think that the queen could or should laying, just watch for pollen coming in. If the bees are bringing in heaps in the mid morning on a sunny day, there is a good chance that there is young larvae present that need to be fed. It?s not 100% accurate but it is a good indicator that the hive is progressing. I would check the hive after seeing that. The bees always seem happy and busy when the hive is travelling well.

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: splits

« Last post by The15thMember on May 25, 2024, 10:21:58 pm »

I don't have any personal experience with that, but if it was me, I'd wait about a week from the time they moved in. 

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: splits

« Last post by Terri Yaki on May 25, 2024, 09:48:03 pm »

That all sounds logical. And how long do you figure I should wait before I inspect my swarm hive? I'm itching to peek inside it.

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: splits

« Last post by The15thMember on May 25, 2024, 09:36:51 pm »

It's generally best to leave colonies in queen transition alone.  At certain times in their development, queen cells are pretty delicate and shouldn't be jostled around.  Virgins are difficult to spot and can be flighty, so it would be easy to accidentally crush one or have her end up outside the hive.  Also you don't want to interrupt any of the critical stages of the process, like a fight between virgins or a mating flight.  Lastly, you don't want to do anything to make the bees think something annoying you have done is the new queen's fault.  You want to let her get some amount of a brood nest established so the bees can appropriately assess her, without them thinking that your constantly coming in and tearing the nest apart is a characteristic of the new queen and have them supersede immediately.   

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HUMOR IS A FUNNY THING / Re: Run o' the Mill Jokes

« Last post by The15thMember on May 25, 2024, 09:25:12 pm »

also sorry that my last jokes have been so old, it's hard to stay a breast of the new ones.
I've been working on a new nipple joke, but it still needs more tweaking.

Hardy har.

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Follow the Bloom - 2024

« Last post by Terri Yaki on May 25, 2024, 08:27:17 pm »

How long does the tulip poplar bloom and when do they produce nectar?

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HUMOR IS A FUNNY THING / Re: Run o' the Mill Jokes

« Last post by animal on May 25, 2024, 08:08:03 pm »

sorry, just meant to display ... I'm flattered that you took it as bragging, though.

also sorry that my last jokes have been so old, it's hard to stay a breast of the new ones.
I've been working on a new nipple joke, but it still needs more tweaking.


edit: and I can sort of understanding Sal getting suspended in the past ... as I am also supportive of his brand of humor.

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: splits

« Last post by Terri Yaki on May 25, 2024, 08:00:50 pm »

Just split a hive last week for the first time. Was thinking I should just wait about 4 weeks then check for eggs. Then intervene if needed

I'm curious about this. I'd have a hard time resisting the urge to check its progress every 7 to 10 days.