My first hive

[eltalia]

@wiifm
 
You want 450mm minimum.
And I reitterate (sp?).. sack that fella, he does you nor us (industry)
no good at all. End of.

Bill

[wiifm]

@wiifm
 
You want 450mm minimum.
And I reitterate (sp?).. sack that fella, he does you nor us (industry)
no good at all. End of.

Bill

Great.  I can sort the height problem tomorrow.

[eltalia]

@wiifm
 
You want 450mm minimum.
And I reitterate (sp?).. sack that fella, he does you nor us (industry)
no good at all. End of.

Bill

Great.  I can sort the height problem tomorrow.

Lissunin' to Macca I am reminded of TFGP** so best I mention the other
three so as I know you do know;
GreenAnts - hive bodies under shrubs and low hanging trees can be attacked
by these. There have been reports of them climbing up into entrances also but
not in my experience. These guys take no prisioners and will ckean a colony up
inside of 48hours. Please do not kill GA nests, thry are a vital component of our
local ecosystem.

Wax Moth - most prevalent during warmer rainy periods most strong colonys
handle these on their own but keep an eye out on broodchamber inspections.
IF a screened bottom board is in place pay particular attention, likewise for SHB

Roaches, Earwigs, Frogs - all small bananas and usually require no intervention
 by the b'keep.
Aside from that work it is paradise, particularly right now. Enjoy ;-)))

Bill

---------
**The "FairGo" Priniciple

[wiifm]

Yes today was a glorious day.  Bees were a bit unhappy with me for moving them around to raise the hive stand.  The 'telescopic' legs worked well.

I was able to confirm eggs in the brood, so now at least I have a laying queen.

Will post a photo and a question when I am in front of a computer to resize images.

[Bamboo]

@wiifm
Pleased you got it sorted re the "nuc" and the height of the hive.

Not sure if you are getting @eltalia's drift or not but I would concur that the person who sold you the "nuc" really shouldn't have. Even his replacement looks a bit sus to me.
I know you are now committed and probably can't do anything about it now but in the spring if you are looking for another nuc I would strongly suggest you find another supplier.
Talk to people in your club about who the reputable ones are for nucs up your way. They will know the ones to avoid and the ones to rely on, local knowledge is a powerful thing.

Good luck with everything and I hope your nuc develops into a strong hive.

[wiifm]

@Bamboo, Bill was pretty direct about it lol, so I caught the drift :)  There is not much that can be done about it now.  I was aware it is late in the season going into this, so I will just have to deal with what I've got

This is the frame I observed eggs on, but there is also a couple of cells to the left hand side

Closer view.  What do you suggest I do (or note) about these?

[Bamboo]

So how many frames are in the nuc? 5? What is the situation with the other frames? Honey capped? Empty foundation? That frame is 3/4 full of honey so there is not much laying room for the queen.
Eggs and Larvae are good so at least you know you have a laying queen. One of those frames has really scattered brood in one of the previous pics, a sign of not a good queen. Was it a new queen do you know?
I am not seeing a lot of bees in any of the pics. I am hoping they have been shaken off for photography purposes? Some of that brood looks due to hatch so maybe the numbers will increase a bit.
Let us know about the other frames. Cheers

[wiifm]

The box is set up as 4 over 4.  I ended up with 6 frames from the seller and added 2 foundation frames.  The frame pictured above is one of the top centre frames with a foundation frame facing it's opposite side.  More bees in the bottom of the box.  I may have been heavy on the smoke.

[wiifm]

Just a quick post. @eltalia will be pleased to hear, I stopped feeding them 10 days ago.  Checked on them today and they appear to be doing well.  More capped brood than I have previously seen and eggs in all the empty cells on those frames too.

[eltalia]

Just a quick post. @eltalia will be pleased to hear, I stopped feeding them 10 days ago.  Checked on them today and they appear to be doing well.  More capped brood than I have previously seen and eggs in all the empty cells on those frames too.

Heh Hehh.. can I say Duntoljaso! :laffs:

Our colonys all shut down yesterday right on cue
as June 1 bought Winter on... plunged to 12C overnight
and didn't get above 18C till 10AM.
I was tempted to do as they but the paddock is crying
for corn planting so I had to get to it and hug the tractor
to stay warm, sort of. :-)))

Good news maaate, stick with it.

Bill

[wiifm]

Heh Hehh.. can I say Duntoljaso! :laffs:

yes

[Bamboo]

Pleased to hear it WIIFM.

@eltalia yes 1 June cold one here as well dropped to 7C overnight. We are getting nice mid 20C days though.

[eltalia]

@wiifm
You came in late to enjoy the "old ways" with todays work
now requiring inspection at least every brood cycle, eye out
 for P&D but rest assured unless you are into rescue and/or
experimenting with options in expansion and queening there
will never need to be a time to feed supplement to bees.
And provided the bees are packed down with lots of stores for
The Wet they easily manage foraging on their own.

Any more I'll keep an ear to the ground for you, only too
happy to assist where I can. :-)))

@bamboo

Yep, as long as it does not rain we are laughin' here, lots of
bloom around with a couple of the stacks smelling real sweet
on sundown. I am looking after two recovering 'deadouts',
 greenant attacks brought to me for requeening and even
those are looking good despite being low on foragers. I reckon
some younger bees got a hotswap lesson in flight training!!
Stay warm. :-))

Bill

[wiifm]

@eltalia, I am looking forward to doing some queen breeding for my own purposes, but obviously that will happen AFTER the cold

[eltalia]

Heh... through circumstance beyond my control (bushfire) I am right now
into raising a queen for one nucleus.
It' cold, fersuckn cold, with frosts a few mornings and nights hitting
four degrees buuuut days are still holding 18/20 and much bloom around.
So...worth a punt. ;-))

Bill

[wiifm]

@eltalia, how do you intend to raise your queen this late in the season?

[eltalia]

@eltalia, how do you intend to raise your queen this late in the season?

No problem with that here, it's cold nights but bees fly at 9:AM
and if not cloudy don't pack it in till 5:PM.
The Wet is our(your) winter, for queen raising and like other activity
as "wintering" precludes.
On the coast (now) you can chase the eucalypt forage up around
Ellis Beach and Hartley's, or take a run up the Rex

Hopefully I can get to check for built cells tomorrow. :-)

Bill

[wiifm]

Okay.  Yes FYI my bees are just on the north side of Kuranda with eucalyptus in bloom less than 50m away.  The bees are bringing in yellow and white pollen.

[eltalia]

Okay.  Yes FYI my bees are just on the north side of Kuranda with eucalyptus in bloom less than 50m away.  The bees are bringing in yellow and white pollen.

Yer laffin', good allround country there :-)))

Home is on the edge of the rainforest up against cropping lands and
orchards of sorts around us... where the attached are seen today.
My outyard is placed similar to your location being against a creek
well into open woodlands. Checked them today and both colonies are
booming , so they know something I cannot see. Weeks of empty
broodcomb are today all gleamingly shiny with many packed with
eggs and week old larvae. One colony is linebred the other maybe
second generation mutts after a mishap during the Wet.
Hard tp say just yet which is superior until the flow starts fair dinkum.

Bill

[wiifm]

@eltalia, how is your queen raising going?