Beekeeping

[Zextraterrestrial]

Just heard a disturbing story catching up on a week ago NPR Morning Edition show (thanks to internet radio in the Model S!) Apparently a good percentage of colonies were killed this year in the California almonds, by what they termed "tank mixing". That is, the growers save money by not running trucks spraying individual chemicals, so they mix together and spray them ALL at once. Almost as was in the Ace Hardware yesterday and overheard a guy asking how to kill "a mushroom" in his FLOWER garden, and they quickly gave him a fungicide! This is not going to end well I fear ...

this year could be very, very, bad. Crops may/are having serious issues this year. I have heard that many many acres of almonds were plowed due to lack of pollinators. Even big farm corporations were accepting beekeepers with as few as 10 hives, where in the past they would only take commercial keepers w/ 1000s of hives.

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/19/6338235/beekeepers-search-for-answers.html

probably this NPR -
http://www.npr.org/2014/04/25/306718027/why-are-thousands-of-bees-dying-in-california

 

[ToddRLockwood]

For those on this thread who might enjoy an adventure novel in which honeybees play a pivotal role (a la canary in the mine), please check out my 2011 fiction debut, Dance of the Innocents. The novel revolves around the science of collective behavior, beginning with flocking and swarming, and eventually bringing humans into the picture. The book was heavily researched and will definitely keep your attention. You'll find it on Amazon.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

For those on this thread who might enjoy an adventure novel in which honeybees play a pivotal role (a la canary in the mine), please check out my 2011 fiction debut, Dance of the Innocents. The novel revolves around the science of collective behavior, beginning with flocking and swarming, and eventually bringing humans into the picture. The book was heavily researched and will definitely keep your attention. You'll find it on Amazon.

cool. very interesting
is it a 'sad' book?

update on our second swarm - 'I ended up moving a big clump onto the landing board and they started moving in...sort of...and I spotted a huge well formed queen in the mix. I sort of helped her find the entrance and she went in....hopefully they will all make it inside over the next few hours.....fingers crossed! '

 

[FlasherZ]

update on our second swarm - 'I ended up moving a big clump onto the landing board and they started moving in...sort of...and I spotted a huge well formed queen in the mix. I sort of helped her find the entrance and she went in....hopefully they will all make it inside over the next few hours.....fingers crossed! '

Good. Goal is to get the queen into the hive, until she gets in there, there's a chance the colony can fly away. Once she goes in there, the other bees will follow.

 

[ToddRLockwood]

cool. very interesting
is it a 'sad' book?

Not at all sad. Inspiring would be a better description. It's a thriller, but one with soul. Of course, the NSA makes an appearance. :smile:

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Not at all sad. Inspiring would be a better description. It's a thriller, but one with soul. Of course, the NSA makes an appearance. :smile:

sounds good, will have to check it out
...just read the description and will definitely pick a copy up. I believe that reading is bad for your eyes but will make an exception for this :wink:

another update-
little ball of bees still on Avocado has a beautiful amber 3rd(4th?) queen. Plan on grabbing a pre-built box tomorrow to see if we can get the very tiny colony to grow.

opened the top of our hive this afternoon to see if they ever utilized the top and it is still empty but the middle super is bridged a little to the top. will clean that all up after the bees settle a bit and get a better female/male balance back. lots of drones running around the hive w/ what I'd call um 'doggy lipstick' (never noticed that last year when the bees swarmed, interesting)

 

[FlasherZ]

\
little ball of bees still on Avocado has a beautiful amber 3rd(4th?) queen. Plan on grabbing a pre-built box tomorrow to see if we can get the very tiny colony to grow.

Love that picture, and I can see her. Good luck!

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Love that picture, and I can see her. Good luck!

pretty cool, she was just walking all around her little ball. awesome colored queen. I'm going to run out and grab a langstroth box to drop them in.
the ball is about a softball size so I am planning on just grabbing a small box and a few frames until we can make a new top bar hive

 

[Denarius]

pretty cool, she was just walking all around her little ball. awesome colored queen. I'm going to run out and grab a langstroth box to drop them in.
the ball is about a softball size so I am planning on just grabbing a small box and a few frames until we can make a new top bar hive

I'd pic up a Nuc box. 5 frames is more than enough for them until you get a new top bar built.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I'd pic up a Nuc box. 5 frames is more than enough for them until you get a new top bar built.

thanks.

well, I tried to find a nuc box but ended up only being able to find a medium sized super and a few frames. I cut off the branch and lowered it into the box very peacefully. poor avocado has lost 3 branches this week. local hardware store is having their spring sale, time to buy some cedar and get to work.
Also ordered Todd's book this morning. Been a busy bee week

 

[GasDoc]

Do people on this thread order their supplies online, buy locally or build?

I need to think about adding another deep super for brood in a month or so and need to get a queen excluder.

Where do you suggest for buying online?

I bought my initial supplies at Carriers Supplies in San Jose, CA and I see on Yelp that there is another supplier in Oakland.

 

[Denarius]

Do people on this thread order their supplies online, buy locally or build?

I need to think about adding another deep super for brood in a month or so and need to get a queen excluder.

Where do you suggest for buying online?

I bought my initial supplies at Carriers Supplies in San Jose, CA and I see on Yelp that there is another supplier in Oakland.

I buy locally, but the place I buy through sells online:

Eco Hive Solutions Co - Murray, UT | Square Market

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Any comments/ideas about minimum # of bees w/ a queen needed to thrive in a new hive? Should I bee trying to add some brood frames to the little nuc?

scratch that. Queen left the box with her small amount of bees to collect more! currently football sized + still 4 feet off the ground in one of our Clematis plants. cool bees

les crowder style top bar construction begins

 

[FlasherZ]

Do people on this thread order their supplies online, buy locally or build?

I need to think about adding another deep super for brood in a month or so and need to get a queen excluder.

Where do you suggest for buying online?

I bought my initial supplies at Carriers Supplies in San Jose, CA and I see on Yelp that there is another supplier in Oakland.

I used to buy from Brushy Mountain, but have gone locally lately, he's less expensive and builds them with higher quality.

- - - Updated - - -

Any comments/ideas about minimum # of bees w/ a queen needed to thrive in a new hive? Should I bee trying to add some brood frames to the little nuc?

scratch that. Queen left the box with her small amount of bees to collect more! currently football sized + still 4 feet off the ground in one of our Clematis plants. cool bees

I try to give them a frame of empty drawn comb and some frames of empty foundation. Giving them something to do (build wax) can suppress the swarm reflex. She might just be picky about her home, too. Hive entrance facing south? (Mine prefer south but if they get "itchy" I usually try east.)

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I try to give them a frame of empty drawn comb and some frames of empty foundation. Giving them something to do (build wax) can suppress the swarm reflex. She might just be picky about her home, too. Hive entrance facing south? (Mine prefer south but if they get "itchy" I usually try east.)

I think she might have just wanted more bees. The bees I just cut out of the clematis were a bit larger in volume than the nuc we got last year (just put them in a box minutes ago). Our hex hive is east facing but the box they fled earlier today was south facing.
we'll see what happens. We put foundationless frames in but I have someone willing to give me some drawn frames if need bee.

 

[FlasherZ]

Got a swarm call this morning - a really nice (3 lb. or so) swarm with a beautiful queen. No pictures because I got up in the air in the boom before realizing the camera was down in the cab of the truck, but they're happily resting in an 8-frame deep with some drawn comb and foundation to work with. Cool weather made swarm capture easy, a 5-gallon bucket beneath the swarm and two hits on the limb made them all fall nicely into the bucket.

 

[GasDoc]

Need some advice...

I installed my package into a new hive 4 days ago.

Yesterday, I got curious and wanted to see if the queen had gotten out of her plastic cage. I put on a white "bunny suit" from the hospital, my veil, boots and gloves and I entered the hive using "liquid smoke" (my traditional smoker is supposed to arrive today). I found a LOT of bees on the frames and the queen cage was covered in bees. So I couldn't see how the queen was doing. The candy had been eaten but not all the way through yet. I wasn't sure about freeing the queen and, frankly, I was getting a little freaked out by all the bees so I closed things up and got the hell out of Dodge.

Should I leave things be for a few days or should I go back in today and free the queen? I've got to disturb them a little today anyways as I have to remove the feeder to fill it. I made a homemade front feeder which requires me to remove it to fill. Weather here today is hot (supposed to be in the 80's) and windless.

 

[FlasherZ]

Should I leave things be for a few days or should I go back in today and free the queen? I've got to disturb them a little today anyways as I have to remove the feeder to fill it. I made a homemade front feeder which requires me to remove it to fill. Weather here today is hot (supposed to be in the 80's) and windless.

Historically, I've given them a week to free her naturally. As long as the candy's there, the nurse bees with her will feed her. I would leave her be. In a few days if she hasn't been freed, then carefully let her loose into the hive.

The one time I've pulled the candy after 7 days, I had my own Benny Hill moment as the queen didn't drop into the hive and instead began flying and buzzing around the hive. That 20 seconds felt like 2 years as my wife and I watched her, hoping she would drop back into the hive. Expensive insects, those queens are.

I've found "liquid smoke" to be far less effective at calming a hive... you need the real stuff to disrupt their chemical signals and settle them. Use liquid smoke when you have a nasty robbing situation and want it to stop, it'll keep outside bees away from robbing the hive.

 

[GasDoc]

OK. I'll leave the queen alone. But I have to make another homemade feeder that doesn't require removal to refill.

I thought I was being smart when I glued the top of the mason jar to the feeder I made. Now I have to make another one. I don't like the ants and thought this would be a way of keeping them out.

Is changing the bottom board a big deal? I got a new one with a screen and removable base for mite counts. Can I just pick the brood super off of the current bottom board and plop it on the new one?

 

[FlasherZ]

Is changing the bottom board a big deal? I got a new one with a screen and removable base for mite counts. Can I just pick the brood super off of the current bottom board and plop it on the new one?

Yes. I'm assuming that you're going to replace the bottom board in the same location by pulling off the boxes, replacing the board, then putting them back on (i.e., not moving a few feet). Either way, the bees will eventually find their home, but there's less confusion when they go in the same spot.

When you inspect the hive, place your inner cover upside down on the ground near the hive, then pull off each box and set it on the cover or the next box at a slight angle (not perpendicular so that bees can fall into the grass, but not parallel either where the propolis makes everything stick together). When you get to the primary brood body, stack it on top, then place your inner cover over it so you don't lose a lot of bees in the air. If there are bees on the bottom board, gently shake them into the hive, replace the board, then restore the hive.