Author Topic: CpnObvious' Beekeeping Journey (Read 16772 times)

riverbee · « **Reply #40 on:** July 09, 2014, 11:55:11 pm »

okay capn, you are really MIA and slackin'.........

we have rules here ya know.........

............

missed your presence on the forum as of lately, and wondering how you and your bees are doing?!

Jen · « **Reply #41 on:** July 10, 2014, 01:29:58 am »

Love That Nun! Cracks me up!

CpnObvious · « **Reply #42 on:** July 28, 2014, 11:05:30 am »

Quote from: riverbee on July 09, 2014, 11:55:11 pm

okay capn, you are really MIA and slackin'.........

we have rules here ya know.........
............
missed your presence on the forum as of lately, and wondering how you and your bees are doing?!

WOW! My absence was noticed! Yeah, Between vacations and life I've been off for a bit, or is it that I'm a bit off?... Well, after about 5 weeks...

So anyway... I'll try to do a write-up tonight of how things have been . VERY nervous about Hive 1 still :(

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #43 on:** July 28, 2014, 06:54:58 pm »

LOL

Welcome Back! Looking forward to updates!!

CpnObvious · « **Reply #44 on:** July 29, 2014, 02:10:57 pm »

I haven't had time to go through or post pictures of my last inspection... But I will. Reading this:

Quote from: apisbees on July 19, 2014, 03:48:20 pm

keep in mind there are different levels of inspections. there are lifting covers to inspect feed consumed, to lifting the inner cover to see the area the bees are working in the top super and whether nectar is being brought in and stored and wax is being pulled. To breaking down the hive and looking at each side of every frame. The evasiveness of the different types of inspection will have more effect on the colony than the actual number of times you open the colony. I find that the full inspection only happens about 4 times in the year. The inspections that you go in and remove a few frames and if things look good after a few frames in (you see brood Larva or eggs the hive has pollen and nectar) you put them back together and leave them to carry on, will happen every 3 or 4 weeks even longer in July and first 1/2 of August. The pop the top and look for signs that the bees are working the top supers and if more room is needed can be done any time you think it is necessary. Once a week or even more frequently if you are not sure or familiar with the rate thing can happen in the hive.
To me it is not how often you do an inspection, it is more how invasive you are when you do the inspection.

makes me have a lot of thoughts/questions/etc...

With the exception that this past week's inspection was 2 weeks after the previous, I've been doing weekly, frame-by-frame inspections. I'm new to this and trying to see what goes on where, how long things take, population, etc. I'm sure this disturbs them more than I really should, but I can't make much sense of what I see. I clearly need to go through my pics and post my regularly scheduled novel in here, but in short I'm baffled by so much...

Hive #1, which doesn't get nearly as much sun as the others (I need to cut down a few more trees that I should have already taken out), is moving along VERY slowly compared to the others. They don't have the stores or the numbers, though there is plenty of capped brood and larva. This is the hive I've had concerns with since the beginning. VERY slow to draw comb.

Hive #2 seems to be right in the middle. The numbers are high, stores are coming along, Things look good, I think.

Hive #3 - the numbers are insane! Brood, stores, bees, bees, bees.... Though, not quite as much honey as I'd expect for such high numbers. What I found exceptionally weird... Although there were lots of bees in the upper deep, when I removed it to check the bottom deep they were pouring out like a tub overflowing... why were they all huddled so much in the bottom? This is also the hive I now have to treat for mites. We only found a few... but that's a few too many for me.

DonMcJr · « **Reply #45 on:** August 02, 2014, 06:22:50 am »

Howdy Captn! Enjoyed reading your Journey!

You think hive 3 is your best and I'm thinking Hive 2 you'll end up liking most...

The best looking hive might be a Swarmie...meaning they swarm a lot...

Just my 4 year experience so far!

Good Job though!

Perry · « **Reply #46 on:** August 02, 2014, 08:26:23 am »

Great thread. I'm embarassed to say I'm finally catching up on it.
Hives 1 and 2, I would seriously think about requeening if there is no improvement at this point. I think Iddee was bang on in the beginning.
One thing I noticed at the very beginning as well was how the queen cages were installed. A bit of a puzzle to me in that the metal strap would seem to be on the wrong end. Whenever I place a queen cage in, I always install them so the candy side is up. Nothing worse than having an attendant die and fall to the bottom of the cage thereby blocking the entrance/ exit.

CpnObvious · « **Reply #47 on:** August 04, 2014, 10:12:04 am »

Quote from: Perry on August 02, 2014, 08:26:23 am

One thing I noticed at the very beginning as well was how the queen cages were installed. A bit of a puzzle to me in that the metal strap would seem to be on the wrong end. Whenever I place a queen cage in, I always install them so the candy side is up. Nothing worse than having an attendant die and fall to the bottom of the cage thereby blocking the entrance/ exit.

Perry - I hadn't thought of that! I'll keep that in mind next time around. I will also not place the queen between the top bars of the frames ever again. I be sure to place here against the foundation. I'm still dealing with the aftermath I caused my placing her between the top frames!

CpnObvious · « **Reply #48 on:** August 04, 2014, 10:30:04 am »

I'll have to calculate the week #'s and day count later... but here's a little bit of an update on where things stand... I'll try to get pictures up within the next day or so. I will correct any inadequacies in this post when I look at the pics.

Hive #1) still only about 9 drawn frames, maybe about 1 frame-worth of syrup/nectar (MAYBE), no capped honey, some pollen stores, drones are not an issue (acceptable amount), plenty of brood in all stages, but there's really only 4-ish (maybe 5) frames of bees. They are taking syrup fairly quickly now, I just don't know what they're doing with it. I'm sure it's too late to get a new queen from my original supplier, and is it too late in the year for a re-queening to be beneficial in New England?

Hive #2) plenty of bees, maybe about 14-ish drawn frames, some capped honey, plenty of brood in all stages, pollen stores, syrup/nectar stored, they seem to be moving along. I moved some of the lower full frames into the upper deep in hopes of getting the bees to better disperse themselves in the hive. the entrance is always chock-full of bees. This hive is sucking down syrup like it's going out of style. I placed a MAQS (formic acid) pad in this hive because last week I saw some mites in Hive #3 next to it. This was recommended by the manufacturer.

Hive #3) very strong! TONS of bees! honey stores, pollen stores, tons of brood in all stages, 16-ish frames drawn. This hive is also sucking down syrup like it's going out of style. I moved a few full frames to the upper deep because the bottom of the lower deep, as well as the entrance, is even more packed with bees than that of Hive #2. I placed a single MAQS pad in this hive as well. This is the hive I saw a 5 or so mites in last week. I only used 1 pad per my call with the manufacturer. I spoke to this in another thread I started in the "Pests & Disease" category. I recommend reading that thread if you're seeing mites. I included some great advice I received from the MAQS manufacturer.

I'll try to get some pics posted soon. Life has been N-U-T-S lately!

CpnObvious · « **Reply #49 on:** August 05, 2014, 12:52:17 pm »

Does anyone have any thoughts as to how I might save Hive #1? Maybe plan on a constant feed through the winter? I'd really like to help it survive.

apisbees · « **Reply #50 on:** August 05, 2014, 01:37:47 pm »

Find the queen in hive # 2 & 3 before moving bees or brood. once queens are found give hive 1 a frame of capped from each hive with no bees on the frame and find a frame of open young brood from hive 2 and 3 and shake the bees off of this frame into hive 1 also. this will expand the bee population to 10 frames in a weeks time. these bees will support the queen in raising a few full rounds of winter bees. this will only work if the queen is a good one and has be limited by the lack of brood. It she is a poor layer and not replaces the brood and bees added to hive one will be wasted because she will not produce well in the spring to build up the colony. A crappy queen in the summer and fall will still be a crappy queen in the next spring.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #51 on:** August 06, 2014, 11:31:58 am »

I agree with Apis.. You could try putting them in a two story nuc and hope the queen can build up that nuc enough to overwinter. In the nuc it will take less supplies and bees. At least have something in the spring to re queen and expand back into a hive.

CpnObvious · « **Reply #52 on:** August 06, 2014, 11:40:27 am »

Thanks for the advice. Is one option better than the other: keeping a single-deep 10-frame, or a 2-deep 5-frame? Is the second story beneficial for heating abilities in the winter? I'll have to pick up some material to make some 5-frame nucs.

apisbees · « **Reply #53 on:** August 06, 2014, 12:39:47 pm »

I'm in a climate that singles over winter fine and the weather breaks often enough and the early warm springs allows the bees to move and keep in contact with the honey. In colder longer winter regions it helps the bees to be 5 above 5 in that the bees only need to move up to stay in contact with there stores.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #54 on:** August 07, 2014, 11:30:14 am »

I have not had enough experience with nucs to say 100% At this time I would prefer to overwinter a well situated hive rather than a nuc. However, I have two colonies that are just not building up, and will likely get moved into nucs this coming Friday if they have not started to expand dramatically on the next inspection.. At this point it will take some heavy feeding and care to get them into wintering size and shape if I want them in full size hives.. the easier option will be to put them in nucs.. which is about the size the queens seem to be maintaining anyhow.. Getting them ready to winter in the nuc will take little to no effort on my part... two years ago.. LAST year.. I would have been in panic mode and looking for queens to replace them.. this year I am going to see if I can pull them through with less effort and heartburn. If they make it, I will make new queens in the spring. If they dont? I have some drawn comb to start a split with!!

CpnObvious · « **Reply #55 on:** August 07, 2014, 11:59:53 am »

Lazy,

That's the positive attitude I've been having... I'd really like them to make the winter. but if they don't, I will have some. Drawn frames to start a new colony off with!

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #56 on:** August 07, 2014, 07:17:24 pm »

I will give them the best chance my knowledge will allow, because my wallet apparently has some sort of tracking device on it.. I take it out my wife either shows up or calls...

Perry · « **Reply #57 on:** August 07, 2014, 07:50:12 pm »

Great advice. Sometimes a frame or two of brood is all the spark a struggling hive needs to get rolling. You need that "critical mass" for it to take off.

CpnObvious · « **Reply #58 on:** August 08, 2014, 07:51:58 am »

OK. So I finally went through my pictures of Week 10 (last weekend) and took a few notes. The downside is that I was waaaay over tired last night and the notes aren't great, but here you go...

Hive 1 - 8 empty frames (just foundation); 4 frames partially drawn out; 1 frame with syrup/nectar (not capped honey) and pollen; 4 or 5 frames brood. Not sure why I don't have them all accounted for

Hive 2 - 8 empty frames; 9 frames syrup, some capped honey, a bunch of syrup/nectar; 4 frames in the process of being drawn out.

Hive 3 - 3 empty frames; 3 1/2 frames syrup/nectar, including a bunch of capped honey; 9 1/2 frames brood; 3 i didn't look at because the bees were telling me it was time to close up their house.

WOW! My notes are even worse than I though! :(

CpnObvious · « **Reply #59 on:** August 12, 2014, 01:15:53 pm »

Week 11 - Quasi update...

Hive 1 - the population has suddenly exploded! I did not take any brood frames from my other hives as this explosion made one heck of a difference. In the past week they've drawn out about 2 1/2 frames that were completely untouched before! Nectar/syrup storage seems to have climbed a bit. They seem to suddenly be doing a bit better.

Hive 2 - I assume (and hope) it's just because it was starting to get late in the day (about 5:15/5:30) and the hive was already in the shade for the night, that the bees made it clear they were done with me sticking my nose where they felt it didn't belong. I only managed to get through frames 11-18 before I had to close them up. A couple more frames appeared to have been drawn, though. This is also the hive that prompted me to start the thread: gah! a queen cell - peanut exists! what should I do???. I have decided to follow your suggestions and leave this (hopefully) malformed drone cell alone. I was unable to remove the MAQS pad. It is between the supers and I wasn't able to get that far down. The instructions say that it can be left in, so I'm not worried about it.

Hive 3 - Hives #2&3 have crazy-high populations. This one also appears to be progressing quite well. Drawing foundation out fairly fast, lots of syrup, etc... I'll try to get some pics posted later tonight. I was only able to look at grams 11-18 & then #10 before they kicked me out. As with Hive #2, I'm hoping this is just because of the time of day.