Author Topic: Good News....and possibly bad!  (Read 11568 times)

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Offline Beeracuda

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Good News....and possibly bad!
« on: April 03, 2014, 09:19:46 pm »
The good news is we caught a swarm this afternoon.  The bad news is I think it was our bees.  I had been out in the back yard, checking on the bees earlier tonight.  They were all bringing in pollen, but the bees we got out of the water meter box have been hanging out on the front porch.  There have been 20 or so bees on the porch for the last week or so we had good weather.  There were always a few girls fanning and the rest just milling around.

Jill walked to the bathroom and saw a swarm in the tree.  She called me to verify and sure enough, there it was about 10' up on a limb.  Fortunately, I have almost fully recovered from last weeks treatment and felt like I had enough energy to get into action.  We had planned to build boxes this weekend, but I still had my plastic nuc box that my first bees came in.  Up the ladder I went, and they were in the box in no time.

If it had to happen, it is a good thing they held off until now.  There is no way I could have done this last week.  We are also lucky that we had some frames ready.  I wasn't going to build frames until this weekend.  I did have a few built, but they didn't have foundation in them.

So tonight, I am folding up two more of the Jester nucs to be ready.  I guess I will order more woodenware tomorrow.  ;D

Offline Perry

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2014, 09:32:11 pm »
I don't see where the "bad" part is?
Your hive swarmed and you caught it. That makes one more colony in your yard. Sounds like a good news day to me!  ;)
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Offline blueblood

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2014, 10:01:53 pm »
Yeap, all good.

Offline Beeracuda

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2014, 10:13:50 pm »
That is true.  We could have lost them.  I just wasn't ready to buy more woodenware, build more hive stands, etc.  I have a couple of weeks before my next treatment, so we have to get busy.   ;D

Offline Jen

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2014, 11:23:05 pm »
Way to go Beer! Glad you were up to the challenge. I have caught two of my own swarms already this year ~ Ha! those girls just thought they were gonna get away  :D
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Offline tecumseh

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #5 on: April 04, 2014, 06:55:39 am »
a snip..
I am folding up two more of the Jester nucs to be ready

tecumseh...
perhaps you could sell Jen on the value of these!  sounds like she could use 3 or 4.

Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #6 on: April 04, 2014, 08:15:32 am »
a snip..
I am folding up two more of the Jester nucs to be ready

tecumseh...
perhaps you could sell Jen on the value of these!  sounds like she could use 3 or 4.

   3 or 4?   Swarm season is JUST getting started!!     ;D

   Glad you were able to retrieve them!  Saved you from doing the split!
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Offline Beeracuda

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #7 on: April 04, 2014, 10:36:23 am »
a snip..
I am folding up two more of the Jester nucs to be ready

tecumseh...
perhaps you could sell Jen on the value of these!  sounds like she could use 3 or 4.

   3 or 4?   Swarm season is JUST getting started!!     ;D

   Glad you were able to retrieve them!  Saved you from doing the split!

I decided to buy some more after using that one twice last year and wishing I had another.  They are fairly easy to fold up, but I did have to watch the video a few times.   :laugh:

This is one of the hive I had planned to requeen this year.  It was a tiny bunch of bees, probably not much bigger than a softball, that I got out of a water meter box.  I never expected them to make it through the winter, but they filled out one deep and had another about 60% full before winter.  We looked at it about a month ago & I thought there was plenty of room, but I guess they thought otherwise.   :D

Offline Jen

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #8 on: April 04, 2014, 05:08:03 pm »
Hi guys! you caught my attention with Jester nucs, I looked it up on youtube.



So what's the story on this kinds of nuc?  :)
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Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #9 on: April 04, 2014, 08:27:31 pm »
Cardboard nucs.   you can get them in waxed and unwaxed. Obviously the waxed ones will be a little more resilient if they get rained on.
   Easier and cheaper than buying wood and making nucs, either out of boards or plywood. No worries about a deposit on a nuc box etc..  the seller can make them up, get them established and sell them with less investment or worries...   thats the extent of my knowledge.. only from reading, I've never used one of them, only read about them and saw them for sale in a few different supply catalogs.
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Offline Perry

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2014, 08:48:08 pm »
I just picked up 35 of the cardboard ones with my last frame order. I sold a few nucs using them last year and I like them. My wooden nucs are all 5 frame, but we only sell 4 frame nucs here. I include a fifth frame to keep things tight in the box when I sell them and I expect the extra frame back when the box returns. I have got back different frames, and have sometimes had to wait a while for the boxes to come home.. Cardboard leaves and only holds 4 frames, and no need to return it.
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Offline rcannon

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #11 on: April 04, 2014, 09:11:59 pm »
You people can actually fold those things? Man, I must be stupid! Me and my brother in law spent all afternoon and drank a case of beer trying to fold one of those nucs so that it actually resembled a box. We never did get it done, but by the time we gave up we didn't care if it got folded or not.
My wife said we looked like two monkeys trying to solve a Rubic's cube. She has a way with words.

Offline riverbee

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #12 on: April 04, 2014, 10:07:22 pm »
"You people can actually fold those things? Man, I must be stupid! Me and my brother in law spent all afternoon and drank a case of beer trying to fold one of those nucs so that it actually resembled a box. We never did get it done, but by the time we gave up we didn't care if it got folded or not.
My wife said we looked like two monkeys trying to solve a Rubic's cube. She has a way with words."


....... :D  rc, maybe this part was part of the problem?..."Me and my brother in law spent all afternoon and drank a case of beer trying to fold one of those nucs so that it actually resembled a box."

seriously funny stuff!...... :D
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Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #13 on: April 04, 2014, 11:08:58 pm »
Man.. I am siting here trying to decide if I have the energy to make a rum and coke....  Next thing I know I am laughing...
    Two monkeys trying to solve a rubics cube...   caught me completely off guard...  i was busy trying to determine how much beer I could drink and still fold a piece of cardboard..  Glad I didnt HAVE that rum and coke or it would be all over my screen about now!!!
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Offline Jen

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #14 on: April 04, 2014, 11:18:55 pm »
Perry- where did you purchase your cardboard nucs?
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Offline Beeracuda

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #15 on: April 05, 2014, 07:32:28 pm »
Cardboard nucs.

These are actually made out of the plastic material that you see yard signs made from.  I think they will hold up much, much better than cardboard.

Offline apisbees

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #16 on: April 05, 2014, 08:29:10 pm »
the plastic ones that are made of Coroplast (disposable election signs) that has no UV protection so if they are not stored away from the light they will get brittle and disintegrate in a few years.
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Offline Perry

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #17 on: April 05, 2014, 09:30:45 pm »
Perry- where did you purchase your cardboard nucs?

http://www.beemaidbeestore.com/product.php?txtCatID=0&txtProdID=196

I cut an extra hole (glue in #8 mesh) in the lid for ventilation during travel.














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Offline Beeracuda

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #18 on: April 05, 2014, 09:54:11 pm »
Quote
I cut an extra hole (glue in #8 mesh) in the lid for ventilation during travel.

Great idea!

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Re: Good News....and possibly bad!
« Reply #19 on: April 06, 2014, 02:36:40 pm »
Not rocket science on the boxes. Thinking the beer didn't help?