1
FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE / Re: The state of Oregon. Shutting down small farmers..
« Last post by Terri Yaki on Today at 05:28:34 am »The bad news is that that was just the first attempt, they'll try again later.
The first trap I hung and baited in my parents backyard had plenty of bee smelling stuff in there... melted down moth infested beeswax slathered over the interior. Propolis warmed to stickiness and rubbed around. Pippette with a small amount of lemon grass oil. Box had bees all over it the next day Match 11th and has had consistent bee activity every day with good weather. About 12:30 today the bees decided to move in. I got the call from my parents "there are so many bees flying everywhere, thousands!" haha. I told them to enjoy the show while they ate their lunch. My dad decided to get close to get some pictures and video.
But I'm wondering if I understand the space issue correctly. I thought it was mainly an issue of being able to keep warm enough, but maybe there are other reasonsIt is also about the fact that the bees have to be able to patrol and defend the space when they are not clustered. A package starts out in a state of severe disadvantage. They have no food, no comb, and many times not even a queen they know or who is even related to them. This makes them very vulnerable, and if they have too much space too soon, it can simply be overwhelming for them to try manage everything they need to do to make the space a functioning nest.
Thanks for the suggestions!
With both screen bottom boards and foundationless frames, thats way too much empty space. Not having any foundation there's nothing to anchor them to the hive. Remove the screen bottom boards and add frames with foundation or add a dummy board to reduce the area. Your colonies will struggle to get going if you dont decrease the area in the hive body. The next time you install packages cut the screen open and dump the bees onto the queen cage or place the queen cage below the inner cover hole, add another hive body and place the hole of the package over the inner cover. The next day take out the package cage and add feed.