Author Topic: BeeWeaver bees  (Read 7086 times)

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Offline riverbee

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Re: BeeWeaver bees
« Reply #20 on: April 24, 2018, 12:13:33 pm »
"We followed BeeWeaver's instructions, killing the queen yesterday, and installing the cage today.
Someone else had suggested that I tape the end of the cage and go back in two to three days so the bees aren't released too quickly, but BeeWeaver told us the three to four days it takes to eat through the candy should be enough.
I chose to believe BeeWeaver, primarily out of laziness.  I didn't want to go back out in three days and reopen the hives."


wm, we can sometimes get a sense for how the bees will accept a new queen. i like to lay the cage on top of the frames (benton or jzbees) and watch the bees and how they react. i have requeened aggressive hives. with russian queens, i will sometimes leave the cork/cap in place when setting the cage in for 24 hours. i go back the next day and remove the cork/cap. in another 4 days i check to see if she's been released.

good luck, and it's always wise to follow the recommendations of the queen supplier!
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Offline Wandering Man

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Re: BeeWeaver bees
« Reply #21 on: May 02, 2018, 12:52:57 am »
Time for an update.

We checked in on the hives yesterday. 
First the nuc:  I've got a queen excluder between the bottom board and the hive body, to prevent the queen from leaving before she's started getting attached to the hive.  The nuc was supposed to be the easy hive, with bees that were a little agitated, but not overly aggressive.  So, we were surprised yesterday when our first pass through the hive (remember, only five frames) didn't turn up a queen.  Of course, we were looking for a queen with a bright red mark.  So, we went back through the hive a second time.  And I found her!  Well, I found a queen.  She wasn't marked.  The hive had plenty of brood, in a nice pattern, so I knew the BWQ's predecessor must have been a good queen.  BUT!  Was his the BWQ?  Or was she an impostor?  We found two queen cups and an emergency queen cell that was pretty far along.

Next, time for the Hot Hive.  We found the queen quickly, and she was marked.  So, this hive's requeening went well.  But the poor bees!  It was like a war was being waged inside the hive.  The healthy bees were attacking and trying to remove the bees infected with the Chronic Bee Paralysis virus.  I am hoping the new queen's offspring will be more resistant to the disease, and start calming things down.  The new bees won't start emerging until May 15, assuming the queen was released last Wednesday and started to work right away.

Back to the nuc.  The numbers just don't add up to this colony having produced it's own queen.  We found the swarm in the swarm trap on 11th, and the swarm could have moved in on the 10th.  I am fairly certain they weren't there on the 9th.

In order for the queen we saw Monday to be a queen produced by the swarm, the bees would have had to have started her queen cell on the very day they arrived in the swarm trap.  And, we would have had to have totally missed it while looking to kill the queen.  I contacted BeeWeaver, and they though the bees had probably cleaned off my queen, but wanted me to be sure she wasn't a new virgin queen.  They asked if I had seen any eggs.  I had not looked for eggs.

I went back today, and opened the nuc, looking for eggs.  There are three frames chocked full of brood.  A few empty cells in the middle, with supplies around the edges.  Just not many places for the new queen to lay.  I didn't see any eggs on these frames.  I did see, however, the queen.  I was able to look at her pretty closely, and saw no signs of paint.  The fourth frame has plastic foundation, and I found a few bees on the frame trying to draw out comb.  Most of them were just looking around, scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do.  The fifth frame was set up with Popsicle starter sticks.  The bees have started a nice bit of comb on that, about the size of my hand with fingers spread. This comb was filled with nectar and pollen.

I worried that the queen was a virgin, and decided it might be a good idea to remove the queen excluder, just in case she needed to go find some company.

When I got home, I met with a friend who has bought BWQ's before.  He told me he has had the bees clean off the marks on his BWQ's.  Amazing what just a few words from a friend can do for you.

I now feel confident that he queen in the nuc is the one I bought.

The only reason it makes a difference, besides wanting the BeeWeaver traits, is that I don't want to sell this nuc, only to discover that I've sold someone an aggressive africanized hive.  I am feeling much better about this nuc, and hope to sell it once I'm sure the queen is laying and the bees have set up some stores.
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Offline riverbee

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Re: BeeWeaver bees
« Reply #22 on: May 02, 2018, 12:13:26 pm »
"I contacted BeeWeaver, and they thought the bees had probably cleaned off my queen,"

"I met with a friend who has bought BWQ's before.  He told me he has had the bees clean off the marks on his BWQ's."


entirely possible wm. it's a hygenic trait. russian bees will also do the same with marked russian queens.
i keep wild things in a box..........™
if you obey the rules, you miss all the fun.....katherine hepburn
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Offline Lburou

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Re: BeeWeaver bees
« Reply #23 on: May 02, 2018, 10:07:40 pm »

It is your decision of course.  But if they kill her and you can afford it I would bet another one from Weavers and make a push in cage.  Wrapping the candy with tape for 3 or 4 days and then letting them at the candy works too but the push in cage is just about 100% effective.  And if you make it yourself it costs almost nothing. But lets hope they accept her.  I would not check for at least a week or 10 days though.  Checking too soon can cause them to kill her too.
  For a very long time, the push in cage has been the most reliable method to introduce queens.   The last time I did that, the small hive beetle larva hatched by the hundreds under the screen by the fourth day and the poor queen and her attendants could not do anything but run.  Won't do that again when it is warm enough for short brood cycles, (Victoria has a long warm season).  HTH   :)
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Offline Wandering Man

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Re: BeeWeaver bees
« Reply #24 on: May 02, 2018, 10:21:54 pm »
Lee, I hadn’t considered SHB as a problem for a push cage.

They’ve been a bit of a nuisance for me this year.

I fight with freeman boards, handiwipes, beetle jails, and diatomaceous earth, and still see the running when I open the tops.

BTW: Mann Lakes beetle trap oil helps better than plain cooking oil.

Also, tried beetle baffles for a while. I don’t like those as well as the freeman boards, as I realized that even if they worked, the beetles would just fly off and enter another hive.

Both beetles and larvae drown in the freeman trays.
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Offline Lburou

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Re: BeeWeaver bees
« Reply #25 on: May 02, 2018, 11:31:02 pm »
BWeaver bees don't have much trouble with SHB.  Only when I protected the hatching eggs under the push in cage did those bees let me see any larva.  I have pictures somewhere but didn't find them today.
Lee_Burough

Offline Wandering Man

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Re: BeeWeaver bees
« Reply #26 on: June 05, 2018, 06:30:52 pm »
Here's an update on my BeeWeaver bees.  We went out to check on the hives today to see how things were going.  We're in a bit of a drought down here, so there's not a lot of nectar happening.

First, the Sick Hive.  The BW bees have stated emerging, and the oldest should be in their third week of foraging.  Instead of hundreds of dead bees around the front entrance, we only saw a few.  Instead of huge war among bees, we only saw two bees being drug out of the hive by their sisters.  The hive has fewer bees in it than before, but the girls seem to be keeping up with housekeeping chores.  We spotted no loose Small Hive Beetles, even in the honey super, which we probably should have removed.  Nothing but empty combs and a few worker bees up there.  Lots of capped brood and larvae in the top super.  The bees were much calmer today, and no one tried to chase us away.

We added BW Queens to our other two hives on May 17.  Assuming the caged queens were released three days later, the BW bees should begin to emerge on Saturday.  We saw lots of capped brood as well as larvae in different stages of development.  So, we know the queen is doing her job.  Both hive were calmer than before.  One of the two that had several dozen bees chase us a couple of hundred feet the last time, only sent two warrior bees out to escort us to the truck.  They pretty much left us alone, otherwise.  Between the two hives, we found six frames of nectar/capped honey.  Probably the most we've ever had at any one time.  There were too many cells left uncapped, so we haven't harvested anything, yet.

We found no Small Hive beetles in either of these hives.

I'd like to say the BW bees were keeping the SHB out, but none of the BW bees should have emerged, much less been old enough to fight pests.

I think the move helped with the SHB which was beginning to be a problem in my back yard.  There is less shade, although they do get shade in late afternoon.  They are isolated from other colonies, there are several other backyard beekeepers living within a mile of my backyard., and the drought has allowed the Diamtoaceous Earth stay in place around the hives.  With no new SHB having found our hives yet, and the larvae falling either into the Freeman trays or onto the DE around the hives, I think the SHB I brought with me have not been able to reproduce like they were when the hives were in my backyard, and so their numbers have diminished.

Two of the hives were gentle enough that I may have been able to remove my bee suit while looking through the hives. 

So far, I am very happy with the impact of my new BW queens.

Only one thing that disturbs me.  There was red dye in the Freeman trays of two of the hives.  I know the families that live by hang out humming bird feeders, and they use the store-bought red syrup.  I'll have to visit with them and bring them some bee-friendly feeders.  I'm glad we've already had that discussion on the forum.  And yes, I'll try to talk them out of using the red stuff, since it is not good for either bees or birds.
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