Newbie In Chestertown...WoohOOOO

[EasternShore]

 :-D
Very Happy to find all of you!!!  Mark here...trying to find folks who can answer a few questions before Bee School in Jan.

Just captured two Swarms, one has a queen, but is only 3 frames of Bee's, the other was a hive taken from a house in town. I've secured all remove comb into frames, with brood and honey mixed together.
This morning, less than 12 hours after captured, the new hive is very VERY active, and not just alittle agitated.
My questions are...Did I kill the queen?
Are they just upset about the move?
How long should I wait before I open the newly acquired hive?
I'm very dedicated to helping save our little friends and will do whatever is required to help them prosper.
Both hives have boardman feeders and appear to be feeding quite well.

Thanks for being here for me...I need all the help I can get.

Mark E.

[Cindi]

Mark, welcome to our forum.  You have found THE place that will assist you with your new venue into beekeeping.  Others will answer your questions, I am not going to.  So nice that you want to save the bees and the more that you get into the bees, the deeper your love of the honeybee will become, you will be held under their spell, this you will soon find out.

Ask your questions, if you don't get a sufficient response, ask again, all questions are important, none are ever considered dumb or irrelevant -- we all were once a beginning beekeeper ourselves.  Have that most beautiful and wonderful day, lovin' and livin' our great lives.  Cindi

[EasternShore]

Thanks Cindi...I have the Pres Of Delaware Bee As. coming over to inspect and advise. They are now much calmer..guess rush hour is over...hehe

[Cindi]

Mark, bump.  Your questions will hopefully be answered, I see no responses yet, come on guys!!!  Answer some of Mark's questions.  And Mark, have that most wonderful and beautiful day, Cindi

[poka-bee]

Welcome Mark
Another new-bee here so not much experience.  I think time will tell about the queen but you would be quite upset if big ugly aliens came & ripped your house apart, smushed your furniture & rooms into strange contraptions, put you in a box & moved you to what seems like another planet...I think it's quite normal for them to be a bit testy!  This is the greatest place for information & friendship, things you don't realize you have to know are revealed!  Jody

[annette]

Welcome Mark

I am not at all experienced when it comes to swarms, but I would also think you need to let them calm down a bit before assessing the situation. Stay in touch here and you will get all those questions answered. Experienced beekeepers come to the rescue. This is how I have learned all about beekeeping, by reading the forum and asking questions as the problems come up. Sometimes you might have to ask a couple of times, depending  on what time of day you have posted the question.

This is my third year with the bees and I never could have gotten this far without the help here on the forum.
You are in for some fun with these bees.

Take care
Annette

[EasternShore]

Ok Folks....Thanks to those who answered...The Master Beekeeper decided upon inspection that both hives needed to be blended, The newest(queenless) hive brood was dehydrateing and most of the workers went on strike. Did'nt look good for the newborns, many were already dieing and had pulled the ejection seat.

Now the good news, the Queened hive accepted the additional deep hive with very little fuss and has already begun housekeeping. Thank God nature programmed these girls with a tireless desire to care for their/others young brood.

At dusk I went back in and took a quick look and they were busy careing for the new kids.

It was a costly newbee mistake to think I would be able to save an entrenched hive like that one in perfect condition. I may have saved them from the gas chamber, but the cost was very high..so many young lives...kinda like iraq..but different :-D

Hope to keep you all informed...and not bore you to tears ...or worse...

[poka-bee]

Good Job!  Glad things worked out for your bees!  Hope to hear many more stories from you!  Jody

[Cindi]

Mark, good that things worked out good, combining colonies is sometimes very necessary, I had to combine two yesterday, one was recently queenless, lots of bees, the other one queenright, only one or two frames of bees, but a big FAT, FAT queen.  The bees weren't allowing her to lay very much and she was full to the brim.  Or at least that is what I suspect, I will need to make a post to get some answers to my questions about this.  With the queen with only a couple of frames of bees combined with a big queenless colony, they should get going good, plus I gave them a frame of capped brood and adhering bees from another colony that is far too big.  I had to add two boxes to that colony.  Our flow is tremendous this year and the weather is cooperating.  Have that most beautiful and wonderful day, Cindi

[budhanes]

On swarm removals, I always leave the swarm box on-site and pick-up later in the evening or early the next morning. It will help insure the queen and the work force are all in the hive before moving them. A new swarm will usually look very busy the next day after they are moved, as the bees need to re-orient to the new location. Than, after about a day, its business as usual for them. When I bring swarms home, after about 2 days, you'd swear they have been there years! All the normal hustle and bustle of a regular hive. Swarms are really quick to orient and get down to the business of establishing the new hive.

I personally have never done a cut-out of an existing hive, but a lot of what I read tells me that getting the queen is a rarety. The combine you did was probably a smart move. I would reccomend a newspaper combine though. Just put 1 sheet of newspaper between the boxes with a few slits in it. I combined two swarms about Memorial weekend here, and they are going gang busters!

Welcome to your new addiction!

[EasternShore]

Ok..update:
After the wholesale robbery of nearly 15lb's of honey my hive has settled down. As directed I reduced the hive entrance, took away all sugar and the robbers gave up. Many dead bee's on the inner cover and on the base screen...maybe 100. Lower Deep is fairly busy filling out frames with combo of honey and pollen. My upper which had 90% of the combined hive brood and honey is cleaned out...only brood left. Those combs are held in by rubber bands and the girls are doing their best to attach it. They seem to be cleaning house, I've seen them pulling some of the stressed dead larve out and dragging them far away from the hive area.
Will post in General area a few questions I have as this is only meet and greet here.
Thanks again for being my lifeline..my girls will prosper for your efforts.
THANKS

[EasternShore]

I just realized that I never formally introduced myself.  I'm Becky, Mark's other half.  Most of you have already gotten to know me from my posts. 

Keep Smiling,
Becky