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Hive relocation and spring preparation field report
omnimirage:
I relocated nine beehives last week, and checked up on them this weekend, in preparation for the upcoming spring weather.
For some reason, almost half the hives had a lot of dead bees in front of it. I also took a weakened, queenless starving hive up there with me, with the intention of merging it with another weak hive, but they all died on the way. Does transportig bees stresss them and cause them to die? It seems like the hives with the most bees, and least space, had the most loses. Is there anything I can reduce loses next time?
I didn't see any queen cells, which surprises me. I figure the warm spring weather will arrive in ten or so days, so I expected to see some. I may have simply missed them. Only one hive had a heavy amount of drones. I wasn't sure what to do with them, as my mentor advised me to kill them but people on these forums have said otherwise; I ended up squishing most of them.
I gave most hives an extra super. Two of the hives proved to be a challenge, as last year, I needed to move my deep nucs into a bigger sized super, but I only had medium sized brood chambers available to me, so I put the deep frames into two medium supers. They of course built a lot of comb underneath, I discarded most and strapped the brood to frames with rubber bands. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my deep nucs anymore; I'm transitioning to all mediums. I guess I'll try to fill them with bees and sell them.
I wasn't sure if one of the hives should have had the extra super on top. They have a fair amount of space, there's a few frames that haven't been used and a few frames were somewhat low on honey, but spring is approaching and I'm not sure what the flow will be like soon.
I set up two trap hives. The hives are on stands, with feet sitting in a container with a little bit of vegetable oil in it. I've read that such can be used to stop ants, but I'm unsure how effective it'll be. I used to use sump oil for this purpose, but am concerned about the environmental impact of such as it'll spill when it rains, and I figure it'd be disrespectful to the farmer who I have the hives at, to even suggest using such. I guess I'll need to top up the containers when using vegetable oil; I didn't have to with sump oil. I used only a very little amount covering the bottoms, I'm not sure if I even used enough and it cost me a bit of money to do, about $12 in oil (which is the cheapest homebrand oil that I could find and was on half price, I wouldn't consistently bee able to purchase it for this price). I did wonder if maybe I could exchange honey for used vegetable oil from a local fish and chips shop, as I figure used vegetable oil would be just as good. I'm not exactly sure how I'd approach them for such or if it's even a good idea. I also read that mineral oil can perform the same function as vegetable oil, and that it's supposed to be very cheap, but it was enormously expensive when looking for prices online; I haven't checked local hardware stores for it, it may be cheap there.
A few of the hives had a bit of moisture on the top of them. I've very concerned about this, simply because I've had this issue in the past and I haven't ever really been able to work out how to effectively deal with it. The hives that had the most moisture, had the most buckled lid; I'm not sure if water got in there, causing it to buckle with time, or if the water came in from elsewhere.
I'm not sure when I should check the hives again, but I figure in about a months's time would be good.
I took a couple photos:
https://imgur.com/a/kRlhx
eltalia:
@omnimirage
As it is your post is looking like being read yet none committing to comment I swing by to
say - having read a great deal of your BMA bio whilst the post reads like a dirge it is
actually a record of some success - considering the bee numbers in pix you have
shown, and assuming those are what you see as worst cases.
Having managed an apiary north of your locale, and set migratory jobs to the south and
south east, I strongly recommend you try again in attracting the interest of a
noncommercial BK of sound experience, in other words a fella/shiela that owns success
over some years... or join a local club working the hill country.
Two things I can point to for your immediate attention.
1. The moisture trip you are having is only because you are looking at the hive as a series
of boxes, and not as a shell for an organism.
The shell has to be integral and has to have airpaths _bees_ manage.
Effectively "one in, one out". A big "in" is good for the bees can manage that.
2. There exist some mean mothers of ants (and millipedes) in that country.
If it was under my control the hive stands would not be as yours are, firstly, secondly, the
oilbath trap needs to be built around the same lines as those old oilbath air filters on
truck/tractor engines, and use an airgap.
That said, what you have now could be mostly 'fixed' using inverted cones packed with
grease, and monitored during summer months above 38C into a western sun.
In closing, as a general comment I would offer whomsoever led you down the path of
using mediums has done you a huge disservice and likely there is the cause of why many
a BK in Sou'Aussie - or anywhere else in Aussie - would not be able to - or at all keen
to - mentor such a direction.
Retailing honeycomb is an art form... and you do not need to run foundationless mediums
to produce it.
There it is for what it is. Good luck in your venture/s
Cheers.
Bill
--
thread 0ff
Oldbeavo:
How did you shift them?
What time of day did you shift?
If you shift during the day and it is warm then you risk smothering bees, especially if you block the entrances.
Acebird:
--- Quote from: omnimirage on August 20, 2017, 03:03:09 am ---I relocated nine beehives last week, and checked up on them this weekend, in preparation for the upcoming spring weather.
--- End quote ---
Ventilation... the bigger the hive the more ventilation it needs when you move it. Of course there is a stress in moving bees but they will be fine if they can breath and keep cool.
Moisture: very common in the spring when temperature swings warm and cold. Ventilation.
Do not put an empty box on top of the hive in early spring when there is no flow it could starve them out. If you need to provide space because you may not get to them soon enough put the box underneath.
Bees could care less what box you give them only beekeepers have a preference.
omnimirage:
@eltalia
What's my BMA bio?
I have had quite a success here! It was a challenge to prepare, and move the bees to this site, and then I also fixed a number of issues with the hives that I've been having and things are generally moving forward :) They are the worst case scenarios.
There is a local beekeeping club that I'm interested in joining. Next meeting is in two weeks I'll take action to join and attend it.
1.
Okay then. So should I be doing anything to increase their airpath? I'm a bit confused by all this.
2.
There's a white ant, termnite nest just sitting outside the apiary.
I'm not familiar with these old oilbath air filters unfortunately. An inverted cone packed with grease huh. Should I use that alongside the oiltraps? How often should they be monitored? What sort of grease should be applied to it?
Why would using mediums be detrimental to me? Michael Bush's online information was the greatest influence on me using them. Also concerns for my weak back and difficulty in lifting the heavy deeps.
@ Oldbeavo
Shifted them at night time! Went from 18:00-03:00
Ended up borrowing an extra station wagon, we fit all the bees and stands in them. One car had 7 beehives in the back :)
@Acebird
How much ventillation should I be needing?
I put the new supers in between the two supers of the hive, not on top.
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