Author Topic: WHOOO HOOO! (Read 57732 times)

Jen · « **Reply #140 on:** June 17, 2014, 10:07:39 pm »

Now thar's a spiffy smoker for ya!

Don't worry it won't be shiney for very long

CpnObvious · « **Reply #141 on:** June 17, 2014, 11:23:51 pm »

Looks great! ... but like Jen beat me to saying...

Quote from: Jen on June 17, 2014, 10:07:39 pm

Don't worry it won't be shiney for very long

riverbee · « **Reply #142 on:** June 17, 2014, 11:42:33 pm »

"Don't worry it won't be shiney for very long "
............

very nice zweefer! love that style of smoker, i have the 10 inch of this. it's a good smoker! but what one isn't?.....

when it gets all gunked up just take a propane torch to the inside of it, especially the lid and nose, and a little on the outside. right back in business, and besides, it has to look used! ..........

i think i might have to finally replace the bellows on mine again, it has duct tape on it.........

Jen · « **Reply #143 on:** June 18, 2014, 12:34:11 am »

I love duct tape! I'll never forget the story in Readers Digest, where pilot had to land his small aircraft in a farmers field due to a loose wing. He duct taped the wing snug and tight, took off and flew the plane the rest of the way home ~ true story

Zweefer · « **Reply #144 on:** June 28, 2014, 04:57:48 pm »

This is elsewhere, but for the sake of having it all in one place:
Received the new queen from Eberts

Left for the weekend, and came back to find her safe and sound.

No new eggs however...
Will have to wait and see I guess :-)

riverbee · « **Reply #145 on:** June 28, 2014, 07:16:28 pm »

thanks for the pix and update zweefer......

give her some time, (already posted on your other thread), check her in 7-10 days and see how she's doing......

Zweefer · « **Reply #146 on:** June 28, 2014, 11:54:11 pm »

I almost forgot to report on my other hive...
Queen is still going strong! all the frames in the second deep are drawn out, and there is a good brood pattern on the bottom half of the inner frames, with nectar being stored in the outer ones.
There were enough bees for me to put a medium super on (finally!). unfortunately, this is where the generosity of my mentor runs out. all i have is foundation for these, no drawn comb. my question. do i feed to help them draw these out, or just rely on the flow and stored nectar to be able to do the trick?

I wish I would have grabbed pictures while i was in today, but by the time i was done messing with the weak hive, i was just about out of time for my good one. I didn't even disturb the bottom deep during this inspection, as i felt there was no good reason to do so.

I will make that my first hive in next Sunday.

Also while I am thinking about it, should I steal a frame of brood from this good hive to throw in the bad one to help kick start their road to recovery? If so, should i take the nursery bees that are on the frame with it?

as always, thanks for letting me bounce these ideas off all y'all

Jen · « **Reply #147 on:** June 29, 2014, 12:52:26 am »

I would feed with three holes to get the wax pulled. This three hole feeding idea came from Tech, which came from Idee, which came from Scott, and now from me. We won't stear you wrong.

My theary this year for those of us that had rough starts, is to a slow feed often thru the summer. Our summer is half over so I want at least a full deeps worth of bees in each hive to help them stay warm, and pulled wax will help the hive stay warm as well.

pistolpete · « **Reply #148 on:** June 29, 2014, 12:58:02 am »

feeding while drawing out a super can result in some syrup in your honey. What happens is they will start to draw out the middle frames and is the flow is strong they start to store nectar in the cells before they are even fully drawn, once the first couple of frames are drawn out, they start to move out. For best results, you want the hive borderline crowded before the super goes on (meaning all 20 frames in the boxes are occupied with bees but not necessarily full of stores), that way they rush up there and draw it out fast.

One strong hive with 50 000 bees will produce more honey than 2 hives with 30 000 bees each. So unless your second hive is really weak, I'd leave the weaker hive build up at their own pace and leave the strong hive strong. I don't really know how weak your second hive is. You want them to be strong enough to build up to 2 boxes by September.

If you decidet to help out your weaker hive, then give them a frame of capped brood and all the bees on that frame.

Jen · « **Reply #149 on:** June 29, 2014, 01:04:42 am »

That sounds like pretty sound advice Pete, I'm facing some of the same dilema's as Zweef ~

Zweefer · « **Reply #150 on:** June 29, 2014, 01:26:20 am »

They should get to two deeps by sept. I hope...

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #151 on:** June 29, 2014, 09:07:19 am »

How much reserve do they have Zweef? When you inspect, do they have nectar/honey stored around the brood combs? DO they have a frame, or a few with some nectar/honey being stored? Usually on the outside edges of the brood chamber. If they are storing nectar, feeding may not be necessary, but they can go through stores pretty quick if the nectar flow dies.
I do feed when I add a new brood box or super that has undrawn foundation. As Mrs. Jen mentioned.. three holes, so they get it a bit slower. You will know if they need that syrup or not by now.
Newer hives and swarms tend to suck the syrup down FAST! and put it wherever they can find an empty spot.. Established hives will often (not always) stop taking the syrup, or use it very slowly if there is a good flow. You just need to pay attention to what they have. If you put on syrup, they take it, but stuff it all in cells it isnt helping you. Make note of what they have, feed, and next inspection see where it all went IF they took it. Usually if they are getting crowded like Pete said, they will draw the wax for more room.

riverbee · « **Reply #152 on:** June 30, 2014, 12:37:46 am »

"Queen is still going strong! all the frames in the second deep are drawn out, and there is a good brood pattern on the bottom half of the inner frames, with nectar being stored in the outer ones.
There were enough bees for me to put a medium super on (finally!). unfortunately, this is where the generosity of my mentor runs out. all i have is foundation for these, no drawn comb. my question. do i feed to help them draw these out, or just rely on the flow and stored nectar to be able to do the trick?"

zweef, feed them, do not rely on the flow to draw these frames, (it's not that great right now near me) and the frames will be drawn quicker. some timing and watching and maybe shuffling around on these frames as they are being drawn, and pulling the feed before they begin to store any syrup.

"Also while I am thinking about it, should I steal a frame of brood from this good hive to throw in the bad one to help kick start their road to recovery? If so, should i take the nursery bees that are on the frame with it?"

wait for now, my HO, check her this coming weekend, then let us know how she is doing.

Jen · « **Reply #153 on:** June 30, 2014, 01:00:23 am »

Scott- "Newer hives and swarms tend to suck the syrup down FAST! and put it wherever they can find an empty spot.. Established hives will often (not always) stop taking the syrup, or use it very slowly if there is a good flow. You just need to pay attention to what they have. If you put on syrup, they take it, but stuff it all in cells it isnt helping you.

Yah, all my hives are swarms so I've been going thru the syrup, still feeding three. So Scott, Mrs. River and I have had a chat about how to tell the difference between nectar and syrup. They both look clear to me.. I think $:-\$ so how do we know if it's nectar or syrup in the cells?

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #154 on:** July 01, 2014, 09:04:21 am »

If your feeding consider it syrup, though there is likely some nectar in them as well. As long as your not feeding while you have supers on the hive it really does not matter.
Robbing can cause an issue with syrup being transsfered to supers on a different hive, and moving frames can also be problamatic if you end up with several capped frames in the brood box. I mark them with a red S on top of the frames and only use them for feed.

riverbee · « **Reply #155 on:** July 10, 2014, 12:20:16 pm »

zweefer......

where oh where art thou?
we are patrolling the forum for all the MIA beeks...........

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

tbonekel · « **Reply #156 on:** July 10, 2014, 02:52:22 pm »

Yeah, you need to get rid of that shininess! It looks too good!

Zweefer · « **Reply #157 on:** July 13, 2014, 05:12:00 pm »

New queen didn't disappoint. Found some frames that look like this today :

Zweefer · « **Reply #158 on:** July 13, 2014, 05:16:13 pm »

Quote from: riverbee on July 10, 2014, 12:20:16 pm

zweefer......

where oh where art thou?
we are patrolling the forum for all the MIA beeks...........

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

Sorry to worry or alarm. Work has been kicking my butt lately, and as you know the weather up here hasn't been the best for inspections :-(

Jen · « **Reply #159 on:** July 13, 2014, 05:26:15 pm »

Don't stay away for too long Zweef, I enjoy your input