Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => Beekeeping 101 => Topic started by: Slowmodem on February 28, 2016, 04:13:29 pm
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I did an inspection of the hives today. As always, I had put some sugar on top of the hives as insurance to get them through the winter. They are all still going, although two of the hives are very light. But one hive was going gangbusters (although not very heavy in the bottom box).
I read recently here that bees would rather build up or swarm than move down. It's true! They didn't swarm, but they moved up! Up into the box that I had around the sugar! We had to get the bees out, then get the comb off. We tried to get all the bees back into the box, although there were a few flying around.
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs16.postimg.cc%2Fijcrbgg9d%2Fb12.jpg&hash=62055b45b6a8a2732b16cefd1daf162b5b92b37c) (http://postimg.cc/image/ijcrbgg9d/)
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs16.postimg.cc%2Fpb36eb58x%2Fb22.jpg&hash=ca495bbefdd9864dd0ff35e6f17c8a4dfc2fffde) (http://postimg.cc/image/pb36eb58x/)
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs16.postimg.cc%2Fn7sr6n5g1%2Fb32.jpg&hash=96018d418aeb284c295bb4a13dd8a78d9e47899c) (http://postimg.cc/image/n7sr6n5g1/)
They were not very happy with us, but I was not happy with them, so I guess that makes us even. Neither of the other two hives were this way, but they're not as strong as this hive, either. So in a week or to I'll go back in and see if things are going back to normal.
I put the hive-top feeders on the two weaker hives. The bees are bringing in lots of pollen now and I don't think there will be a prolonged cold spell, so I think I'm good for now.
I've never seen this before. I understand why it happened, but it was truly a surprise. A association member (that I used to work with years ago. It's a small world!) came over today and learned a lot, too. We talked about different equipment, theories, etc. So hopefully he got some time "in the bees" which I think always helps.
PS: I didn't see any hive beetles, and I only saw one mite on a bunch of drone larvae, so that's a good sign. :)
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If it was a surprise, you must not read the forum much. I don't know the number of times I have posted, "NEVER leave open space in a hive. That is the first place they will draw comb. They hate frames".
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If it was a surprise, you must not read the forum much. I don't know the number of times I have posted, "NEVER leave open space in a hive. That is the first place they will draw comb. They hate frames".
LOL Yes, I have read it before. That's why I said it's true it's true! I'm one of them that has to be bashed over the head to get the info in there. :) I really didn't think they'd be going so crazy this early in the year, though. But the guy that was with me got an interesting experience dealing with wild comb and bees and larvae.
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Messy, but not a bad problem to have in the spring, a hive bustin out. ;D
Beats a dead-out.
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"NEVER leave open space in a hive. That is the first place they will draw comb. They hate frames".
"Messy, but not a bad problem to have in the spring, a hive bustin out. ;D
Beats a dead-out."
...................... :D :D :D
good to hear from you and read your post greg!......LOL! it is true!........ :D
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It may be a mess to clean up but I would give my eye teeth to have that mess! Glad to see your bees made it through the winter :eusa_clap: :eusa_clap:
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Thanks gang. I posted the pictures in case there's some new ones that haven't experienced wild comb. that's what it looks like. :) I, too, am happy they're still alive. There's big bunches of pollen coming in already. So feeding with fingers crossed.
By the way, the 4 lbs of sugar was gone in each hive, so they either ate it or carried it out. I'm glad I had it there for them.
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I've had some experience with wild comb, acutally I think it is beautiful! But I learned here on the forum how to tighten up my hives to avoid this situation.
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs30.postimg.cc%2F7lw1rloi5%2FDSCF6797.jpg&hash=9f5da0c7b98e336bcd87ceba9e5d15946619ec58) (http://postimg.cc/image/7lw1rloi5/)