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MOVIES / Unsung Hero
« Last post by Kathyp on Today at 08:44:59 pm »Hubby and I took a break and saw this today. It was good. Kind of sniffly in a couple of places, but a worthwhile 2 hours spent if anyone is thinking about it.
Recent Posts
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Last post by The15thMember on Today at 08:02:34 pm »I'm going to try to look hard for mites and beetles this time around.At your stage of the game, I wouldn't expect to see any mites, if you are just going to be looking with your naked eye at bees' backs. Seeing mites riding on bees is usually a sign of an advanced infestation. You may have a few mites in there, but as they can also hide on the underside of bees, and during much of their life cycle they are in the capped brood, you shouldn't see any, just based on the probabilities. A sugar roll or alcohol wash could turn up one or two, but I would be concerned if I saw more than 1 mite if I was you.
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching
« Last post by The15thMember on Today at 07:53:35 pm »Hm, that's funny. I honestly don't think I would have pegged that behavior as anything specific. It may just be workers antennating each other.
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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 Today at 07:22:48 pm »My hives have that side door that I can open and look in at the outer frame. My nuc was five frames in the middle with three empty frames to one side and two empty frames on the other side. The side with two empty frames is the side that the port is on. I have looked in there every couple of days and there was nothing going on but today it was pretty full of workers. I didn't have my bee jacket on so I didn't spend much time looking in there. That being their first day in there, there wasn't anything to see anyway.
Then around 1630, the hive got real quiet out front for some reason and it seemed odd to me. I opened the port on the top box where they syrup is being served and everything looked normal in there. Then...suddenly...an orientation class beegan and bees came pouring out the entrance like water over Niagara Falls. I saw a couple of them on the grass trying their best to get back in the air but based on what I saw, it's not happening. I looked at their wings and they did not look deformed. Given the number of students in the class, I figure two or three that can't fly is probably not excessive.
I caught what I suspect was an SHB crawling on the outside of the hive. It was a flat black beetle about 1/8", maybe 3/16" in diameter. My ant trap isn't catching a lot of ants but it got a few. I moved it to another spot that was seeing more activity so I'll see what tomorrow brings. And tomorrow, I make my second inspection. I'm going to try to look hard for mites and beetles this time around.
Then around 1630, the hive got real quiet out front for some reason and it seemed odd to me. I opened the port on the top box where they syrup is being served and everything looked normal in there. Then...suddenly...an orientation class beegan and bees came pouring out the entrance like water over Niagara Falls. I saw a couple of them on the grass trying their best to get back in the air but based on what I saw, it's not happening. I looked at their wings and they did not look deformed. Given the number of students in the class, I figure two or three that can't fly is probably not excessive.
I caught what I suspect was an SHB crawling on the outside of the hive. It was a flat black beetle about 1/8", maybe 3/16" in diameter. My ant trap isn't catching a lot of ants but it got a few. I moved it to another spot that was seeing more activity so I'll see what tomorrow brings. And tomorrow, I make my second inspection. I'm going to try to look hard for mites and beetles this time around.
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching
« Last post by Terri Yaki on Today at 07:10:23 pm »OK, the video is up. This is not the best depiction of the 'dance' but you should get the gist of it. This hive saw heavy action all day with the first one at 1000 but the heavy action didn't start until 1100.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5MXwvElrcU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5MXwvElrcU
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching
« Last post by gww on Today at 06:36:37 pm »Closest thing I can think of of bees facing each other is at the swarm when dancing is going on and they don't like a location some bee is dancing for they will head butt the dancer. I had similar at one of my traps today. Just a few messing around the entrance.
We just had a rain and they might be sucking something out of the wood but my view is they are looking maybe for later and I hope they like it and bring their buddies. I have seen it a few times when they did did not or were not interested in a new home but mostly no bees unless looking. Mostly but there are rare occasions. If they are doing at more then just the entrance and flying around the trap, odds are good unless they choose some other site. Good luck.
We just had a rain and they might be sucking something out of the wood but my view is they are looking maybe for later and I hope they like it and bring their buddies. I have seen it a few times when they did did not or were not interested in a new home but mostly no bees unless looking. Mostly but there are rare occasions. If they are doing at more then just the entrance and flying around the trap, odds are good unless they choose some other site. Good luck.
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching
« Last post by The15thMember on Today at 06:22:23 pm »I?m just hoping that it?s not my neighbors laying workers.
Don't worry, I sincerely doubt it's that. I'm under the impression that laying workers act more like queens and don't leave the nest. And even if they do continue foraging activity, I don't know why they'd be looking for a place to live. Also, normal bees not allowing in laying workers is nothing to be concerned about. When you do a shakeout, that is your goal. 8
GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching
« Last post by Terri Yaki on Today at 05:27:35 pm »I?m just hoping that it?s not my neighbors laying workers.
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching
« Last post by Terri Yaki on Today at 05:26:02 pm »Are they fighting? Are they locked together and spinning?I would say not. It?s happened quite a few times. They come out of hive and do that then go back in or fly off. I have video of it and it put it on YouTube later.
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching
« Last post by The15thMember on Today at 04:36:29 pm »Are they fighting? Are they locked together and spinning?