Author Topic: Help I?m in trouble with my hive. (Read 16484 times)

Guitarman · « **Reply #60 on:** June 13, 2023, 02:27:15 am »

I?m finding lots of dead bees since the weather got cold. What I call lots is 5 or 6 every day on the ground walking around too weak to make it home. Whenever I look there is weak or dead bees around the hive. I didn?t worry thinking it?s a winter thing.

But today I noticed a small cluster of bees on the concrete slab. And quite a few weak ones. Maybe 15 or so weak ones all over the place and the cluster. I?m starting to think something is wrong. I know nothing of robber bees but I know it can be a problem and I have no idea if that?s what?s going on or this is usual winter behaviour. Something in my gut don?t feel right.

I will try to upload pics but I?m having a few problems resizing them. When look at the pics there?s bees everywhere on the ground. Not normal to me. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

I took the lid off and there wasn?t any hive beetle at all hiding on top of the frames between clear plastic cover as in the past. I think I have successfully squashed them all. Haven?t seen one in over a month.

I haven?t been into the hive after they went crazy last time. Been a bit hesitant. Am planning on going in for a look as soon as I know what I need to be looking for. Been over a month.

Michael Bush · « **Reply #61 on:** June 13, 2023, 06:20:48 am »

A queen in the middle of a buildup is laying 3,000 eggs a day. That means six weeks later the bees are dying at a rate of 3,000 a day.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #62 on:** June 13, 2023, 07:23:50 am »

Have you checked for mites, (Varroa Destructor) ?

Phillip

The15thMember · « **Reply #63 on:** June 20, 2023, 12:08:16 pm »

Quote from: Guitarman on June 13, 2023, 02:27:15 am

I?m finding lots of dead bees since the weather got cold. What I call lots is 5 or 6 every day on the ground walking around too weak to make it home. Whenever I look there is weak or dead bees around the hive. I didn?t worry thinking it?s a winter thing.

But today I noticed a small cluster of bees on the concrete slab. And quite a few weak ones. Maybe 15 or so weak ones all over the place and the cluster. I?m starting to think something is wrong. I know nothing of robber bees but I know it can be a problem and I have no idea if that?s what?s going on or this is usual winter behaviour. Something in my gut don?t feel right.

I will try to upload pics but I?m having a few problems resizing them. When look at the pics there?s bees everywhere on the ground. Not normal to me. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

I took the lid off and there wasn?t any hive beetle at all hiding on top of the frames between clear plastic cover as in the past. I think I have successfully squashed them all. Haven?t seen one in over a month.

I haven?t been into the hive after they went crazy last time. Been a bit hesitant. Am planning on going in for a look as soon as I know what I need to be looking for. Been over a month.

Based on your descriptions and pictures, I don't think there is much cause for concern here. My first winter, I was surprised how many dead bees showed up outside the landing board after my first few days of cold weather, just because the undertaker bees are no longer taking the dead bees away from the hive before depositing them. Also keep in mind that bees have trouble flying in cool temperatures, which may be why you are seeing bees walking around outside the hive. What are your temperatures like right now?

max2 · « **Reply #64 on:** June 21, 2023, 08:07:52 pm »

Quote from: Michael Bush on June 13, 2023, 06:20:48 am

A queen in the middle of a buildup is laying 3,000 eggs a day. That means six weeks later the bees are dying at a rate of 3,000 a day.

"3000 eggs" I wonder....has anybody ever counted?
I have heard 1500, even 2000.
At times beekeepers sound like Fishers...

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #65 on:** June 21, 2023, 08:38:10 pm »

Some queens are better than others at laying eggs. A 3000 egg a day is a very good queen. If you count the cells vertically and horizontally, you can quickly calculate the numbers of eggs pretty quickly. Graduates working on their masters are usually the ones doing the counting.
Jim Altmiller

max2 · « **Reply #66 on:** June 22, 2023, 04:26:46 am »

Quote from: BeeMaster2 on June 21, 2023, 08:38:10 pm

Some queens are better than others at laying eggs. A 3000 egg a day is a very good queen. If you count the cells vertically and horizontally, you can quickly calculate the numbers of eggs pretty quickly. Graduates working on their masters are usually the ones doing the counting.
Jim Altmiller

Are you sure they can count?
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Michael Bush · « **Reply #67 on:** June 22, 2023, 06:28:55 am »

>"3000 eggs" I wonder....has anybody ever counted?

Jan Dzierzon did. He wrote the second most important book about bees ever written. http://reader.library.cornell.edu/docviewer/digital?id=hivebees5017629#page/5/mode/1up

https://safe.menlosecurity.com/doc/docview/viewer/docNC785793EF833b248568aeef22181f287ec6e03a01427b76e14b4d0141bd406dbff731358ede9

Pg 18
"As the queen is capable of adapting the sex of the eggs to the cells so she is also able to adapt the number of eggs to the requirements of the stock, and to circumstances in general. When a colony is weak and the weather is cool and unfavourable she only lays a few hundred eggs daily; but in populous colonies and when pasture is plentiful, she deposits thousands. Under favourable circumstances a fertile queen lays as many as 3,000 eggs a-day; of which any one may convince himself by simply putting a swarm into a hive with empty combs, or inserting empty combs in the brood-nest of a stock, and counting the eggs in the cells some days after."--Jan Dzierzon, Rational Bee-keeping

Michael Bush · « **Reply #68 on:** June 22, 2023, 06:39:34 am »

Dzierzon's book was written and published in German as Rationelle Bienenzucht and later translated into English and other languages. He is the man who figured out parthenogenesis. He also came up with a movable frame hive years before L.L. Langstroth. Like Huber, he was a meticulous scientist.

max2 · « **Reply #69 on:** June 22, 2023, 08:06:59 am »

Dzierzon's - looks like a book worth reading.

Now he says -in 1882 - that a queen can lay 3000 eggs a day.

Do we have any information about todays queens?

Michael Bush · « **Reply #70 on:** June 22, 2023, 09:20:05 am »

>Do we have any information about todays queens?

Certainly, at least here in the US, queen quality has falling a lot...

max2 · « **Reply #71 on:** June 29, 2023, 02:12:31 am »

Any idea what the number of eggs would be - today?

Michael Bush · « **Reply #72 on:** June 29, 2023, 06:09:39 am »

My queens still last 3 years typically. I don't expect any change. I've heard some of the bee scientists estimate that a typical queen today gets superceded 3 times a year. That would be 9 times as often as was typical through most of the time anyone was keeping records. But how does that translate to eggs per day? I don't know.

max2 · « **Reply #73 on:** June 29, 2023, 07:36:48 pm »

Most of my queens have now Jo Horner genetics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPW1tmBjoQ0
I would like to get some more but due to varroa in NSW I can't bring more into Qld.

I have never counted and have no idea how many eggs my queens push out....but I do know ( as I marked them) that they last more than one season. I also know that there is daylight between a good queen and an exceptional queen.

Qld Queens are very expensive now - around $AUS 50 plus post, this is double from a couple of years ago - and I may produce a few extras, mostly for my use and fun.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #74 on:** June 30, 2023, 12:06:07 am »

Max, interesting; let us know how the queen rearing goes..

Phillip

Guitarman · « **Reply #75 on:** October 23, 2023, 02:11:29 am »

Hi everyone.
Just an update on my problem I?m having with my hive.
the last problem I think I posted about my bees dying as with the weather was getting cold. I took the under super out and that seem to have fixed the problem. I didn?t see you any more clusters of bees dying the next day. I just think it was getting too cold for them and the box had too much empty space in it with the under Super.

When the weather started warming up. I?ve put the under super back in. That was about seven or eight weeks ago. I checked the under super about 3 weeks after I put it in. They had just started to build a little bit of combs arm on the tops of the frames. So I left it for about another five weeks and checked them again last week. The Under super was fully built out. The frames I checked were full brood at all different stages. Some capped. And it was totally full of bees absolutely full. Every frame had been fully built from what I saw.

I tried to spot the queen on each frame I removed. I got to frame 5 and abandoned the task. The bees had become so hostile and I had been stung so many times through my suit. I took a sting to the tip of my nose when my veil must?ve been touching my nose. My wrists copped about eight or 10 things in each wrist. I think even though I?m wearing proper bee gloves that are leather with a like a canvas heavy material that goes up to your elbow. I should say they were still able to sting me around the wrist numerous times. I also had to stop because they were just psychotic. I?ve never seen so many bees swarming around me and trying to attack me. I had so many bees on my suit on my gloves on my face I was trying to smoke them off my off me but I was choking breathing in. I want to ask the question. Is it because I?m splitting the hive taking the top box off to access the Under super that is making them so angry. In the past with only one box and I took the lid off they were quite placid they didn?t seem to be any problem at all. But when I split the box and put one box on the ground and access that second box they go absolutely crazy. I think every bee leaves and has a go at me. I gave up, put hive together and got out of there.

I couldn?t enter my home through the back door because when I got to the back door there were hundreds of bees still attacking me. I also couldn?t get them off me. So I ran round to the front door where I managed to get rid of most of them. There were a couple which I managed to shake off and get into the house. When I went round to the back door to observe through the screen door they were smashing into the screen door trying to get to me. I was very concerned about my neighbours getting stung because they were happy to attack my screen door in huge numbers. I could see them easily going over the fence and attacking my neighbours as well.

The next day about 24 hours later I went to go hop on my motorbike. Not thinking I exited the back door and started heading to the garage. I was immediately attacked by a few bees and got stung a few times on my wrist again. This time my wrist inflamed so much I had to go to the doctor because it had blown up which It didn?t do The previous day.

I?m wondering if it?s the actual bees that are a bad bunch of bees. I don?t have any other hives to compare them to. I watched a few YouTube videos of people who have euthanised their hives and whilst the hives were very aggressive my hive wasn?t far from that sort of aggression that I was witnessing on YouTube. being a new beekeeper and not having any other hives to compare it to I?m not sure that these are dangerous type bees.

48 hours later when I exited my back door they still came at me not as many as the day before but I still had a couple come at me enough to make me run back inside and decide to exit the house by the front door. I am now quite scared to separate the box again. I really wanted to put the queen excluder in and try and trap the queen that bottom box so I can repair that top box but from what I?m seeing I don?t know if these bees are worth the headache. I would really appreciate your thoughts.

Given how quickly they drew the comb on those 10 frames in about four weeks from foundationless frames, I?m thinking that maybe I should not split these boxes any more and just put a super on top with an excluder and let them fill that with Honey. Then I might try and destroy that badly fused box pull it apart and if I kill the Queen or whatever happens bad luck. It would be nice to get some honey off these bees. They are extremely active at this time of year.

Or should I just split The hive and put the excluder in and take a 5050 chance that the Queen will be either in the bottom box or the top box. If I?m lucky enough to trap her in the bottom box then it?s an easy task I think once they fill the top one with Honey. To repair it. What would happen if I trap the queen in the top box. Would that cause a problem.

Thank you really appreciate your help guys. Philip

PS if I didn?t have a suit on they would?ve killed me.

Lesgold · « **Reply #76 on:** October 23, 2023, 02:52:42 am »

Sounds like you have a hive with a bit of attitude. I?d be requeening them as soon as you can. As you live in town, your neighbours could end up suffering as a consequence. An unfriendly bunch of bees takes the fun out of the pastime.

Michael Bush · « **Reply #77 on:** October 23, 2023, 06:01:15 am »

https://bushfarms.com/beesrequeeninghot.htm

Ben Framed · « **Reply #78 on:** October 23, 2023, 07:02:19 am »

I would requeen.

Terri Yaki · « **Reply #79 on:** October 23, 2023, 09:12:12 am »

I have no bees yet and am not an expert but I have been reading and have read more than once, that the queen is the problem and that requeening should solve the problem. A couple of beeks above me have suggested requeening as well so I think I'm on the right track. It sounds like you have not heard about this yet.