Author Topic: Reasons why my hive is swarming? (Read 5178 times)

cao · « **Reply #20 on:** April 28, 2020, 10:57:11 pm »

It is a good thing to take notes. With a few hives, a notebook will work. But I found that as I grew in hive numbers it didn't work as well. What I do is put a piece of painters tape on the back of the hive and write what I need to on it with a sharpie. I do that as soon as I close the hive before I do anything else so I don't forget anything.

CoolBees · « **Reply #21 on:** April 29, 2020, 06:05:46 pm »

Quote from: cao on April 28, 2020, 10:57:11 pm

... But I found that as I grew in hive numbers it didn't work as well. What I do is put a piece of painters tape on the back of the hive and write what I need to on it with a sharpie. I do that as soon as I close the hive before I do anything else so I don't forget anything.

I concur. I quit taking detailed notes this year, and switched to a hive marking system. After about 6 hives, the notes got too complicated. With 6 hives and below, notes worked very well for me.

Acebird · « **Reply #22 on:** April 30, 2020, 08:45:24 am »

A brick has six sides. If color coded it gives you six conditions or courses of action. In 100 years nothing has improved on this note taking method.

Bob Wilson · « **Reply #23 on:** April 30, 2020, 09:25:49 am »

I am up to 3 hives when I said I would absolutely do no more than 2. The bees have made me a liar. I look forward to downsizing our home in another year, and getting less house and a bit more land with some privacy. THEN I will need the tape or brick note method. Funny thing also is that my wife doesn't want to get into the hives, but she finds it interesting. She is the one who said to me about this third swarm..."Well, you COULD build another hive box...."

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #24 on:** April 30, 2020, 01:00:56 pm »

Bob,
Give your wife a little time. Pretty soon they will bee her hives and you will have to get your own.
I tell the story many times here about while building an observation hive my wife, Judy, kept telling me it was not going into her house. It did not take very long before she started telling me what to do when I had to split it. 🤗
Jim Altmiller

CoolBees · « **Reply #25 on:** April 30, 2020, 05:06:07 pm »

Quote from: Acebird on April 30, 2020, 08:45:24 am

A brick has six sides. If color coded it gives you six conditions or courses of action. In 100 years nothing has improved on this note taking method.

Ace - that is excellent! ... I wonder how many decades it would have taken me to "invent" that on my own.

Thanks!

Ben Framed · « **Reply #26 on:** April 30, 2020, 05:13:26 pm »

As far as notes there are many ways. I suppose we all have our own ideas and systems. JurassicApiary Has told me of an app that he uses which I plan to look into further. At the present I use a red painters pen. My tops are white. If there is something that I wish to keep up with I simple write on the Lid. Why not? I intend to paint these on a schedule anyway.

Acebird · « **Reply #27 on:** May 01, 2020, 09:00:36 am »

Quote from: CoolBees on April 30, 2020, 05:06:07 pm

I wonder how many decades it would have taken me to "invent" that on my own.

You can actually get more than six options if you incorporate direction. But the more you complicate it the more it turns into unnecessary work.

Nock · « **Reply #28 on:** May 01, 2020, 09:45:34 am »

I got to start doing something. I?m up to 6 and things are starting to run together.

cao · « **Reply #29 on:** May 01, 2020, 11:14:53 am »

Quote from: Acebird on May 01, 2020, 09:00:36 am

Quote from: CoolBees on April 30, 2020, 05:06:07 pm
I wonder how many decades it would have taken me to "invent" that on my own.
You can actually get more than six options if you incorporate direction. But the more you complicate it the more it turns into unnecessary work.

my problem with bricks is I forget what it means in the different positions. I think they would need to be painted and labeled to be much help to me.

Bob Wilson · « **Reply #30 on:** May 02, 2020, 01:35:41 am »

A permanent fat marker, or a different color paint for each side of the brick.. But what would each side say/mean?
A. New queen ?
B. Super soon ?
C. Mite problem?
D
E
F

William Bagwell · « **Reply #31 on:** May 02, 2020, 08:39:20 am »

Quote from: Bob Wilson on May 02, 2020, 01:35:41 am

A permanent fat marker, or a different color paint for each side of the brick.. But what would each side say/mean?

All is well. And I suggest gold paint

Bob Wilson · « **Reply #32 on:** May 02, 2020, 09:05:59 am »

Lol, William. How about...
Gold. All is right.
Green. Hive is growing.
Blue. Maiden flight.
Yellow. Loaded with honey.
White. Always great hygiene.
Pink. Tickled pink about this hive.

TheHoneyPump · « **Reply #33 on:** May 02, 2020, 10:01:46 am »

Bricks are good until a prankster comes by and flips them all randomly. Just sayin...
Better options are a card stapled under the lid, or a notebook - efile on you phone that you fill in after closing the hive.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #34 on:** May 02, 2020, 12:21:16 pm »

Quote from: TheHoneyPump on May 02, 2020, 10:01:46 am

Bricks are good until a prankster comes by and flips them all randomly. Just sayin...
Better options are a card stapled under the lid, or a notebook - efile on you phone that you fill in after closing the hive.

I am thinking Ian uses both the cards and color coated push pin?

Nock · « **Reply #35 on:** May 02, 2020, 03:44:52 pm »

Quote from: TheHoneyPump on May 02, 2020, 10:01:46 am

Bricks are good until a prankster comes by and flips them all randomly. Just sayin...
Better options are a card stapled under the lid, or a notebook - efile on you phone that you fill in after closing the hive.

Sounds like you?ve had that happen.

Oldbeavo · « **Reply #36 on:** May 02, 2020, 06:38:47 pm »

I agree with Ben F, paint pen on the white lid, date and note.
Paper and honey don't go together, pens and bees wax are incompatible, objects on lids still need decoding which at my age 2 weeks later the code may be forgotten.
Each winter relevant info that needs to be kept, eg number of supers of honey for the season, requeening date are written in the hive and the lid painted white for the next season.
It is interesting sometimes you come to a struggle hive, and you look back over the lid and you have had multiple attempts to resurrect this hive, added brood, added honey and they are still below average. The info is all there in a glance.
The hive will get a RQ (requeen) in the bottom right corner of the lid which is not painted over.

Bob Wilson · « **Reply #37 on:** May 02, 2020, 11:39:15 pm »

Good grief. I went through my other hive today and there were multiple queen cells in it also. I couldn't find the queen, older larva, no eggs. Therefore, I followed the advice in this thread, a second time. Shook off each frame. Culled the queen cells. Restructured the hive with nectar, then brood, empties, and honey frames last.
However, this time I pulled a large queen cell frame and put it in a nuk, with resources, brood, empties, and several frames of shaken off bees, and moved it 2 miles away.
I need to get a better handle on how to winter prep, and spring manage these horizontal hives.

FloridaGardener · « **Reply #38 on:** May 03, 2020, 09:43:42 pm »

... my observation... the queen tends to like to max out her nest at 6 frames wide, when that threshold is reached she really seeks to go up or down to framespace above or below. If she cannot go up or down, she shows me signs of not liking it and making preparations towards getting ready to take off....Be prepared to split, cut down, the nest. Taking away all the brood to other hives or nucs, leaving her only 2 or 3 frames of brood. Then push all the honey away and put 4 frames of empty drawn comb next to brood left so she has a place to go to work.

HP: Here's my problem.
I have queens laying 10 brood frames wide, two mediums high. Packed. I do NOT want them to swarm.

Yes ... those frames are nearly all brood. Seriously, just when they pull some lovely white wax and start filling it with delicious citrus blossom honey, those rummy bugs feed it all to their family ! ! ! I'm not getting any yet.

And because their clans are pretending the QX is made of #8 cloth (even with a top entrance), I have caved to the demand and added another hive body. I really don't like the hive to get so big. Because honestly it's pretty hard to take apart to check for swarm cells and split preventively. Yet a big workforce = more honey.

I keep starting nucs with brood frames I'm culling, but mating success has been at only 50%. In two instances, I had a queen laying, getting rolling with capped brood, then suddenly! Emergency cells and queenless roar.

So, should I take the queen with 5 frames for an artificial swarm, even with no swarm cells, and leave the big hives to hatch out and just make honey at this point? Then they wouldn't need the excluder.

TheHoneyPump · « **Reply #39 on:** May 04, 2020, 01:31:08 am »

Sounds like a good queen there. I saw you PM and the question here. I will be happy to answer with some tips/tricks to boost the honey while concurrently controlling your queen and maximizing the bees. It would have to be in a PM reply or a new thread - in interest and respect to not take this one off on a tangent.
With respect to the QE being treated as a glass ceiling. First question is if that QE is plastic or steel. ... also best addressed in same new/other thread.
PS: none of what I will say / share in that regard will be applicable in any way to a long hive or top bar. Hive types are different tools for different purposes. One is for just having and enjoying bees. The other is for making bees and making honey, and making money.