Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
MEMBER BULLETIN BOARD => PHOTO PAGE - MEMBER PHOTOS & BEE-MOVIES HERE! => WHAT THINGS SHOULD LOOK LIKE! => Topic started by: Lone on July 12, 2012, 06:26:08 am
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Jose swapped me a beehive for a van a few years ago then yearned to keep bees again. So I split off a nuc for him. 12 months passed and he never touched it except to face an empty double deep to the entrance of the nuc. I do not have another 5 frame nuc box, so to regain the use of my nuc box I then had to sort out the mess that was Jose's Hive.
The set up:
(http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/9295/shive3.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/441/shive3.jpg/)
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First I had to clean the honeycomb and bees from the lid and the top of the frames:
(http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/7322/shive4.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/411/shive4.jpg/)
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I did not know what to expect or what I'd find in the empty supers - lovely capped honeycomb with a little pollen. A few beetles on the pollen but not a problem:
(http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3805/shive6.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/7/shive6.jpg/)
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They were lovely quiet bees. But were they everywhere!
(http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/1872/shive7.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/7/shive7.jpg/)
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(http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/8593/shive14.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/692/shive14.jpg/)
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I didn't try to look for the queen and risk losing her. There was mainly capped brood and very few eggs. I slipped the 5 frames into the new box quickly, but she could have been anywhere. But last week when I checked, there were signs of a queen and a thriving hive.
(http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/2720/shive13.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/191/shive13.jpg/)
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The moral of this story is , if you give Jose bees, you will end up with pictures that show you how not to keep bees.
Lone
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I'm surprised they chose to store honey in the detached hive bodies.Quite an interesting setup,to say the least. :)
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I find that amazing also. I would never have thought it. But I guess it worked.
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that jose kinda like me, dont sweat it if it works
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Lone if Jose's hive was on the roof in that setup during cyclone Yasi it is unbelieveable.
Nico
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Buzzbee and Allen, you'd better move quick before Jose patents his set up.
Bud, you are quite right. With my brand on the nuc box though, I didn't want to take the blame for all the swarms he's likely to throw to his neighbours.
Nico, we split it after the cyclone. I guess when the next cyclone comes Jose will put a flower pot on or something to stop the lid blowing off.
Say nice things about Jose folks. I'll send him the link so he can admire his beautiful bees.
Lone
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I think I killed Jose's hive. :'(
I am a bee murderer. I had told Jose that I would supply the frames and foundation, and stick it on his hive so they wouldn't be so cramped, and then leave him to it. But the day I went he was late getting back, and his wife had to get to work. So when I found he had put an empty super on top, with 4 wired foundationless frames, I was not amused. There was comb at all angles, and difficult to remove because of the wires. I made a real big booboo. I tried to quickly cut it out while the super was still on top of the brood super. It was a stinking hot day on top of an iron roof and honey went everywhere. Bees were drowning in masses. And I can't bear to think of all the honey that slipped into the brood. It will be a miracle if the queen survived. A couple of days later there were still bees dying, and some had swirled around, maybe absconded?
I have made many mistakes with bees, but that will be about the worst. You have never seen such a mess. Those poor bees didn't deserve to die like that. They were a real quiet and strong hive, too. I don't hold out much hope for it, but I will check it when I have a chance. I took a photo before the mass destruction which I can post if I work out how to load it. I know I should have removed the honey super before trying to cut the comb away, and probably left it till the bees deserted it at nightfall, but are there any other suggestions? I certainly have learnt 'how not to keep bees'...and also that you can't teach old Joses new tricks. :roll:
Lone
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I want to see a picture of the van you were will to swap for a beehive. :-D
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(http://imageshack.us/a/img38/9233/toyotahiacet.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/38/toyotahiacet.jpg/)
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This is the van after the school hijacked it for the street parade. It is not normally a hippie van.
Some mechanic said he could fix it for 2 grand and without warning charged me over 5 grand for a new engine when I went to collect it, and it still didn't work. First time I drove it there was no water in the radiator, and second time there was water in the transmission oil. Then they charged me $150 for oil to flush the system out. It stopped running on gas (LPG) and was running rough on petrol. Someone said they would sell it for me so I made a sign and went to drive it to town when it broke down again. That's when I bumped into Jose and got the beehive. It cost him another 2 grand to get it going and that's only because he's a man and knows what to ask without getting duped. I have been swindled by nearly every mechanic in town and have similar stories about most of them. I wrote this up for a friend who was going to take this mechanic to a TV show about swindlers, but before that happened he tried a stunt on his own wife, and I guess her fury was enough punishment for all the people he's ripped off.
Well I might have the most expensive beehive in history, but I tell you, it was worth every cent. :-D
Epilogue. I now have a kia rio I got in good condition through the public trustee. Above mechanic said if he was asked to look at a kia he'd say "I can see it from here", but I tell you, it's never broken down.
Lone
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that jose kinda like me, dont sweat it if it works
Hay Bud.......
Jose's looks like another bee haveor to me!!
:lau: :lau: :lau:
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
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Update.
The queen was lost that hot day along with most of the bees. Jose wasn't worried that there wasn't a queen or eggs. He wanted to wait and see how they went. I introduced a frame of eggs which did no good. Probably all the bees that were left by this time were my introduced ones. I spoke to my mentor who said to tell him "It's my way or the highway". I told him he'd be off down the Flinders Highway unless he left it to me and didn't try and do anything. (anything being some really unusual and odd things). So I took it home and introduced two more frames of eggs and brood. I saw the queen a couple of weeks ago and there are plenty of bees around the entrance now. But he's not getting it back - yet.
Lone