Recent Posts

41

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Trap deadout/abscond

« Last post by Occam on April 22, 2024, 12:08:19 am »

They built no comb. Just that tiny bit?
Usually, if there is any real, decent sized swarm, they build comb immediately. They completely fill up my swarm traps with comb in less than two weeks.

That was something that shocked me as well, they're comb building machines at that stage. That part doesn't make sense since they're been around for over a week. The only thing I can think is that flow wasn't super strong yet though there's definitely nectar coming in now. Maybe they built up too early and the nectar wasn't there for building yet. Idk

42

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

« Last post by Bob Wilson on April 21, 2024, 11:14:05 pm »

This afternoon, i built more Layens frames. Build, build, build.
Yesterday, a fellow beek had a nice sized, wild swarm move into a spare nuc box behind his shed. I quickly dumped them into a Layens swarm trap with a bit of old comb on one frame and moved it the 4 miles to my house. It looks like they are staying in the box. Whoo-hoo! Free bees!

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Trap deadout/abscond

« Last post by Bob Wilson on April 21, 2024, 11:08:57 pm »

They built no comb. Just that tiny bit?
Usually, if there is any real, decent sized swarm, they build comb immediately. They completely fill up my swarm traps with comb in less than two weeks.

44

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

« Last post by beesnweeds on April 21, 2024, 11:03:47 pm »

                                                                  Matt's uncle got a queen cell from our club to install

If the colony has gone laying worker the cell will be torn down quickly unfortunately.  Some of the laying worker drone brood can take on an odd appearance and be mistaken for a queen cell.  If there's multiple eggs in the cells (and on the cell walls) just remove the best brood comb before they do more damage to it with drone brood. Personally, I would shake the bees out into a bucket of soapy water.  They're not worth saving. 

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

« Last post by Bob Wilson on April 21, 2024, 10:57:18 pm »

on photo is of a Compacta Holly, a landscape shrub used for foundation planting. I think it makes a nice 8-10 foot small tree form if limbed up. The bees are all over it today, with its little, almost unnoticeable flowers.
The large flower is from a Tulip Poplar tree in my neighborhood, a very tall, straight woodland tree, and one of the major nectar flow sources in Georgia.

46

TOP BAR HIVES - WARRE HIVES - LONG HIVES / Re: Nectar management in a long hive

« Last post by Bob Wilson on April 21, 2024, 10:38:18 pm »

Tigger.
Sorry for the late reply.
It is true that I had difficulty with the deep long langs.
It seemed to me that the queen tended to stretch out her brood nest through 2/3 of the hive body, leaving only 10 frames or so of nectar, which never seemed to cure. The deep frames are only 9 or so inches deep.
Since then, I have been steadily moving towards Layens hives. I like the depth a lot better. They seem to give me all the best parts of a deep long langstroth, but without the problems. The colonies in them are building up nice, big populations, without the cramped quarters and resulting swarming, and yet they still have a lot of room for nectar. I will know more about Layens honey production at the end of this season.

47

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

« Last post by .30WCF on April 21, 2024, 09:57:44 pm »

I?ve had a queen from a split or something. I forget the details, but she was a drone layer. Could have been too early and cold, too much rain, late summer/fall.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

48

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

« Last post by The15thMember on April 21, 2024, 08:36:05 pm »

I may be off but I'm thinking that with the amount of time that seems to have passed, a queen made from the last eggs should have hatched by now, there is no other brood other than drone brood. If I'm wrong, then there is a queen but if I'm right, what is there?

Oh okay, I understand now.

And I don't know what you mean by a shakeout and we are worried about the success with this new queen cell as well.

A shakeout is when you remove the hive from the stand and shake out the bees. Then the bees will be forced to to beg into the other hives, who would only let in normal workers, not laying ones. But honestly, it was a dumb assumption on my part, since you were saying how this is his only hive.

49

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

« Last post by BeeMaster2 on April 21, 2024, 08:10:51 pm »

It is possible for a laying worker to produce a viable queen cell/larvae. It doesn?t happen very often. More than likely it was in there from a larvae before it got too old.
You will probably not notice the larvae in the pollen patty until it is too late. When they hatch they are very small and would be hard to see from outside of the hive.
Jim Altmiller

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

« Last post by Terri Yaki on April 21, 2024, 08:09:13 pm »

I may be off but I'm thinking that with the amount of time that seems to have passed, a queen made from the last eggs should have hatched by now, there is no other brood other than drone brood. If I'm wrong, then there is a queen but if I'm right, what is there?

And I don't know what you mean by a shakeout and we are worried about the success with this new queen cell as well.