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Author Topic: How are your bees doing?  (Read 45529 times)

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Offline barry42001

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #140 on: February 25, 2014, 02:10:08 am »
so I have a question to ask you Jen, why would you want to deprive your queen of one more frame to lay eggs in? chances are excellent she will only use one side of it. but your still talking about what 2000 workers? that extra frame doesn't add much at all the way of weight. it is one of the frames at the bees will use to start storing honey in  fall. I'm just curious what your logic.

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« Last Edit: February 25, 2014, 02:12:40 am by barry42001 »
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Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #141 on: February 25, 2014, 02:18:10 am »
erm..  dangerous ground to walk on here.. fortunately there is SOME distance.. so if I see a car i don't recognize i can HIDE while "they" try to figure out the automatic gate....
  From reading only, I gather that there are about five thousand cells on a medium frame, and around seven thousand on a deep frame. In taking an entire frame out of the brood chamber, the queen has that much less space to lay in, and or, the bees have less storage space in the box. Deeper cells in the brood chamber serve no purpose if they actually build them deeper?? To me it would only seem that a wider gap would be harder to keep warm and would invite brace comb as seen in The lady Jen's picture. I see only loss and trouble. I can understand the 9 frame super with great clarity, so ask respectfully to please clear up my confusion on this?
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Offline barry42001

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #142 on: February 25, 2014, 02:41:41 am »
Lazybkr, I have night vision goggles. Should see her coming from quite some distance lol :) I have seen this is the mess bees make in the space between the top of frames and inner cover, even between drawn comb and foundation. And that is with 10 frames. I'm just trying to understand the logic...


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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #143 on: February 25, 2014, 07:36:45 am »
Quote from: Jen on February 25, 2014, 01:08:08 am

Because I don't know how many other females there are responding on our posts, I'm wondering how do they do their frames? So far, usually, I only see you and I discussing these deeper subjects.

The Female Bee Brigade might think completely different than the men. But how would we know if the other women don't chime in? ya know?

Let's see how much trouble this will stir up... hehehehe


I think this thread has been hijacked! :hijack:
That being said, and being part of the Female Bee Brigade, here is my 2 cents worth.  In my 10 frame langstroth hives I use 10 frames in the brood boxes.  And yes, I use two brood boxes.  In my honey supers I use 10 frames when I have frames that don't have drawn comb.  If I have drawn comb in my supers, I use only 9.  With 9 frames in a super, the bees will fill the individual frames fuller.  I push them together with any space on the outside walls.  This is a common practice around here.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I am 4 for 4.  All 4 hives doing well.  I recently put additional emergency feed on because around here, now is when we tend to lose them.  The queen starts laying, and they run out of stores before anything starts blooming.  I haven't been able to pull any frames yet.  I am just satisfied that they are alive.
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Offline Ziffa

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #144 on: February 25, 2014, 09:09:36 am »
Wow, Jen - those bees look great! Puts my puny baby hives in perspective! I guess i do have a long ways to wait.

I always hate to scrape comb as well, feel so bad for the larva :(.  But it is also a good check for mites inside your brood comb.  They really stand out on the white larva. 

I'm a 10 frame female.  I like 10 frames of natural comb in the brood box when I can get it.  But have to use foundation some to keep them straight.  I may try 9 frames in a honey super this summer, but my bees seem 'artistic' and wonky comb makes me a little crazy, so we will see.

I'm four for four too, so far!  so excited and worried at the same time for the next month.  Hope they all make it through and start building soon!

love,
ziffa
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Offline Garden Hive

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #145 on: February 25, 2014, 11:02:31 am »
Thanks for the welcome. Came over after I saw y'all here.
My bees have not faired very well. Lost 3 of 5 at the house here. Lost the ones with the most stored honey and the oldest hives. Feel like just small clusters didn't make the cold winds.
But the surviving hive are great. Had to open up the ER to allow for the heavy traffic. Got this nice pic with the phone. Photo doesn't represent the volume of yellow pollen coming in.


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Offline riverbee

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #146 on: February 25, 2014, 11:07:30 am »
thank you bakersdozen for getting this thread back on track. if we want to discuss the merits of frames there is another thread here with some discussion on it, otherwise, let's start a new thread so as not to take away from this one.

nice photo garden hive!  really love the e/r you have there...... :D
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Offline Garden Hive

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #147 on: February 25, 2014, 11:32:28 am »
Thank R/B....
I like those scrap pieces of 1/4 rd trim that are left laying around.
Temps here have been good for an early jump start. Going to have a few nights in the 20's this week but then hoping for it to be over!
From the dead outs, I have plenty of nicely honey trimmed brood frames to give some packages a great start. That is IF I find some. Supplier said I'm on a list....his order is full.
Wish me luck.
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Offline barry42001

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #148 on: February 25, 2014, 12:01:06 pm »
Garden Hive,
while no one likes losing hives,, those that survived seem to be doing well, the only thing I would suggest is to make sure that they have honey close to the cluster  other than that they should make it through the rest of this winter

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Offline Jen

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #149 on: February 25, 2014, 01:28:54 pm »
Lazy ""erm..  dangerous ground to walk on here.. fortunately there is SOME distance.. so if I see a car i don't recognize i can HIDE while "they" try to figure out the automatic gate....""

HA! I KNEW IT! While this thread was continuing to inspire and confuse... I had visions of LazyBkpr in the quiet night leaning back in his chair, boots up on old worn desk, rum in hand, exquisitly rolled cuban cigar thin smoke threading up staining the ceiling, reading away... plotting what he will add... when everyone else has retired...

A sleuth this one
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Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #150 on: February 25, 2014, 04:52:45 pm »
« Last Edit: February 25, 2014, 04:56:03 pm by LazyBkpr »
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Offline Marbees

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #151 on: February 25, 2014, 05:28:29 pm »
Jen, cuban cigars are illegal in US  :D
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Offline barry42001

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #152 on: February 25, 2014, 05:31:46 pm »
Details

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Offline Jen

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #153 on: February 25, 2014, 06:41:11 pm »
This bee girl will never tell her secrets ~  ;) 8)
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Offline barry42001

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #154 on: February 25, 2014, 07:38:16 pm »
LOL

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Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #155 on: February 25, 2014, 10:21:42 pm »
hehe, only if you get caught importing them!   C:-)
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Offline Marbees

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #156 on: February 25, 2014, 11:19:37 pm »
Quote from: LazyBkpr on February 25, 2014, 10:21:42 pm
hehe, only if you get caught importing them!   C:-)
:D :D
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Offline Jen

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #157 on: February 25, 2014, 11:35:10 pm »
Temps got up to 70 today, a record for our area in late Feb. We got into our bottom brood box, and was surprised to see about half the activity as the upper box which was full and bustling. Half the bees, half or less of capped brood, half the pollen. A handful of  honey, larvae, nectar, drone cells, didn't see eggs. Didn't see the queen.

The last picture is where we got a chance to swap out from plastic to wood/wax. Was able to eliminate two of my surgical implants.

I do see now that I could have checker boarded the new wood/wired wax, but the bees were getting cranky and I took 6 stings, so we buttoned it up. I can rearrange that in a couple of weeks or so.

Makes me think that I don't need to split.. just yet anyway. What do ya think?


a orange size ball of drone brood, removed it.


Not much going on here


Not mites on drone brood! Oxalic Acid Rocks!


The four frames that were removed


Could have checker boarded here

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Offline caesarsfish

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Re: How are your bees doing?
« Reply #158 on: February 27, 2014, 10:01:00 am »
Quote from: Marbees on February 25, 2014, 05:28:29 pm
Jen, cuban cigars are illegal in US  :D
  We have a place in Pedasi, Los Santos, Panama and I usually buy a couple of boxes of Cuban cigars at the airport on the way back and have never been checked coming back into the US.
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