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Author Topic: Worst Case Scenario  (Read 1998 times)

Offline Bush_84

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Worst Case Scenario
« on: April 23, 2018, 07:09:26 pm »
So I?m sure this has happened before but it never even crossed my mind until it happened. So I took my hives out of their shed last Wednesday. Today was a beautiful day and I decided it was the best day to do my first inspection. First hive was filling half of the 8 frame box. Queen spotted. Eggs and young larvae spotted. Good start. I go onto the second. I see the queen and eggs. Only 2-3 frames of bees. So I reduced it down to a single deep and move onto my last hive (5 frame nuc). Very few bees. Like softball size. Bummer. Didn?t see queen which was odd as I saw eggs and there were few bees.

Thus far this may sound like not a terrible situation. Here?s the problem. When I was finishing up with my second hive I couldn?t see the queen again. I had to change out boxes as the original had damage. So I really wanted to see her as I put it back together. I couldn?t and decided to just close it up and come back to it adfter the third. So after I couldn?t see the queen in the third I returned to the second and still no queen. Now I?m getting frustrated. I?m pretty good at spotting queens. I figure they are still small from only laying for a few days...I?ll keep looking.  I start looking around and see a cluster of bees on a piece of polystyrene insulation. Of course there?s a queen in that cluster.

So now the game of which hive did she come from starts. I have two hives that I can?t find a queen.  I cage her and put her on the top bars of both hives. Both seem accepting of her. Crap!  I look through both hives again and still can?t see the queen. I notice the small nuc is now almost without bees. Crap!  I then notice my 2nd hive is almost void of bees. DOUBLE CRAP!  What is going on!  I then notice a cluster on my main hive. There was another queen getting balled by bees. So now I have both queens accounts for but two empty hives. I assume the few bees I has from each hive just joined up with my remaining queenright hive. I believe that the first queen I found was from the second hive and the second queen I found was from the third hive (based on hive activity during the whole process).  I walk each queen into the hive and close up shop.

What an awful day. I mean real awful day. I am currently drinking a very stiff drink. I feel like a complete and udder failure. I had 11 hives in the fall and am likely down to 1. I have had bad years before but nothing this bad. I have never even thought of quitting but it crossed my mind today. In the end I don?t think I?ll quit beekeeping as it?s truly my passion but I just feel like I?m pissing in the wind. Everything I do feels like a mistake.  I have invested so much of my heart and soul into this (as well as money) and this winter/spring has been such a slap in the face.  Sorry everybody. I needed to vent.
Keeping bees since 2011.

Also please excuse the typos.  My iPad autocorrect can be brutal.

Offline Acebird

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2018, 08:03:47 pm »
Intervention is a pissing contest.  So what do you think would have happened if you just took them out of the shed?
Brian Cardinal
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Offline Bush_84

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2018, 08:14:53 pm »
Had I just taken them out of the shed last week and done nothing my bigger hive would have been just fine. My other two were inherently weaker and also needed some honey management. So eventually something would have needed to be done. Also equipment needed tending to and switching out. So eventually I would have been involved. However my take home point is leave them alone for a week or two. Let queens get fat and unable to fly.

And now for my third stuff drinking. If my grammar gets worse as this discussion goes on tonight you know why.
Keeping bees since 2011.

Also please excuse the typos.  My iPad autocorrect can be brutal.

Offline cao

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2018, 09:18:54 pm »
Hopefully the bees will sort everything out for you and they will be O.K.

Offline beepro

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2018, 12:36:41 am »
I don't know how many season you are into beekeeping.  You have to find a method to keep them
alive before quitting.   I'm into my 6 seasons and still made little bee mistakes from time to time.  Human
errors are my biggest mistakes in beekeeping.  Until I can learn them all from other beekeepers or have
corrected my own mistakes then I will not quit, especially on something that I have some passion about.
This season one of my family members suggested that I don't bother my bees that much.  Leave one side to
do inspection and another side without.  Just leave them alone!     

From your story and my own experiences, I will take all the necessary precaution to inspect my hive one at a time at
different day.  It has been almost 2 and a half months since hiving them that I only done 6 hive inspection so far. 

Offline little john

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2018, 04:41:47 am »
Hi Dan - sounds like you had a really bad day.  We've all had them - but it sounds like your's was a lot worse than the average.  Good to have a forum where a bloke can vent-off a bit of steam and/or frustration.

Tomorrow's another day ...
LJ
A Heretics Guide to Beekeeping - http://heretics-guide.atwebpages.com

Offline Acebird

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2018, 09:00:58 am »
Had I just taken them out of the shed last week and done nothing my bigger hive would have been just fine.
The only thing that I wanted you to reflect on is looking for queens when you have no possible way of supplying one is a bad practice.  Fixing equipment or adding honey to a hive that needed it is a good thing.  Beekeeping is very humbling.  Just when you think you got it mastered it reminds you how fast things can turn to poop.
Brian Cardinal
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Van, Arkansas, USA

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #7 on: April 24, 2018, 10:27:32 am »
Bush, so sorry for the loss.  We have all made mistakes.  I would (did) inspections as soon as weather permitted.  I saw winter loss, bees frozen in cluster with honey close.  One hive died of condensation, my largest, only,  carni hive.  Their lid was vented, however the bees sealed the vents and I placed a sugar patty above the cluster.  The condensation formed off the patty and the rest is history.

Winter inspection would have saved this hive, but I do not conduct winter inspections so the hive was lost.  I shoveled out dead bees, handful after handful of moisture soaked bees and found my beautiful solid black queen.  Such a good layer, honey producer, I was sick also KNOWING my sugar patty above the cluster was cause.  My other hives also had sugar patties, they did fine with small ventilation vents that were open.

Now understand this is not a lessen to ventilate your hives.  This area has horrible humidity.  My purpose is to demonstrate I make mistakes, we all do.

So Mr. Bush, been there, done that, DONT GIVE UP, Buddy.  In your shoes I would have done the exact same thing.
Blessings

Offline Oldbeavo

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #8 on: April 24, 2018, 07:45:02 pm »
After a few years of beekeeping, one thing that I have realised is that "don't rush", A day or two in the life of things will not have much effect.
To take the bees out of the shed and let them sit for a few days or a week may have allowed the bees to settle, orientate and the confusion may not have happened.
Queens leaving frames is a total mess usually, we lost one who fell off the frame, by the time we found her she was running under the hive, couldn't find her, never got back into hive and it set that hive back for a few months.

Offline Bush_84

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2018, 08:24:47 pm »
So I managed to salvage one of the hives. The really weak nuc is dead. I?m fairly certain that the queen that was killed belonged to that hive. After some drinks I decided to move over a frame of bees. I knew it was a risk but I figured that a lot of the bees from the hives merged into my remaining hive. It was also the last shot to save the queen/hive. I moved a single frame with adhering bees. The queen right hive did seem to grow from earlier in the day confirming my suspicion. Today I just popped lids. There are bees in the hive. It?s very small and won?t amount to any honey production, but I should have a chance at a split later this summer or just overwintering it. We will see.
Keeping bees since 2011.

Also please excuse the typos.  My iPad autocorrect can be brutal.

Offline Bush_84

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #10 on: May 10, 2018, 06:43:11 pm »
A quick update and question. The one hive I?ve salvaged is very weak. Like baseball sized cluster. At this point my assessment is that they are to weak to save. If I add a frame of nurse bees or switch positions with a strong hive there?s to big of a chance they will kill the queen due to their small size. So what to do with them?

Right now I?m just going to leave them alone. They are sustaining he queen and I figure I?ll use her for a split later. Any other suggestions?
Keeping bees since 2011.

Also please excuse the typos.  My iPad autocorrect can be brutal.

Offline Oldbeavo

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #11 on: May 10, 2018, 07:14:16 pm »
I would shift over a frame of brood and bees.
When you add it we would cover everyone with icing sugar, shake through a kitchen sieve, everyone smells the same and by the time they have licked the icing sugar off each other everyone is buddies.
We have a lot of success with icing sugar in joining hives and adding bees.

Offline Bush_84

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #12 on: May 11, 2018, 04:14:08 pm »
Has anybody ever heard of a newspaper combine with a queen excluder. I?ve seen this from some Canadian beekeepers on YouTube. You slap a queen excluder on a hive then newspaper. You stick the weak hive on top. Once they have chewed through the newspaper the bees won?t kill the queen and equalize out a bit.
Keeping bees since 2011.

Also please excuse the typos.  My iPad autocorrect can be brutal.

Offline NasalSponge

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Re: Worst Case Scenario
« Reply #13 on: May 11, 2018, 08:04:10 pm »
I have from time to time just let a weak hive go to see what they can do. More often than not I am pleasantly surprised, they can be very tenacious little creatures. Just a thought. A bit of apiary experimentation can afford much experience.

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