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Author Topic: We Gots Eggs!  (Read 2728 times)

Offline Denise

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We Gots Eggs!
« on: April 25, 2006, 02:22:33 pm »
We checked back in on our new packaged hive yesterday and I saw eggs! I'm so glad to know everything is progressing just fine with our new girls. The comb is being drawn nicely as well. We tried to spot the queen, but she was hidden pretty well. There was lots of pollen tucked away as well as the sugar syrup (maybe some nectar too). Yay! It's just so nice to see these things for the first time for yourself rather than a picture in a book. Go girls!  :D
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Offline beemaster

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We Gots Eggs!
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2006, 03:01:04 pm »
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet :)

Nothing like seeing eggs for the first time - that is a real accomplishment!!! Larva is just days away and wait until you see the different sizes as they mature. Then sealed brood and WORKERS!!!!!

You are getting very good at this Beekeeping Stuff Denise  :wink:
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Offline Denise

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We Gots Eggs!
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2006, 03:45:02 pm »
I was absolutely thrilled to see them. I'm glad this hive is progressing right along the way it should.
The other hive is more of a challenge since they were already established and they were a wild swarm. That one is just full o'bees!  We did get into the brood chambers and it wasn't as bad as we expected. Only 3 really bad frames that had to be replaced. Also it had only 9 instead of 10 frames in both boxes. It was a real headache to pry everything apart. Quite a bit of propolis sticking everything together. And lots of bridge comb full of grubs. Arrrgh.  But also capped brood and honey in the good frames. I would like to check again for eggs and/or larva when more of them are in the field. Too many were home and the frames were just covered with bees. You really couldn't see much. I did notice good tight patterns in there though.
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"I saw me life pass before me eyes. It was really boring." - Babs, Chicken Run

Offline Denise

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We Gots Eggs!
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2006, 10:29:57 pm »
Popped in for a look today since the weather was cooperating (it poured oceans yesterday) and found all kinds of great things. I SAW THE QUEEN! Totally cool! She's Carniolan so she's almost all black and among all the Italian workers, she stood right out. She's been a busy monarch. I saw eggs, larvae and capped brood. Fantastic. The larvae are a nice white like they should be. There's lots of pollen and either nectar or most likely sugar syrup. We had my hubby's son with us and he got to take a good look at everything too. Even got to see a big clumsy drone as he lumbered along a frame. There's just nothing like seeing these things for the first time outside of the books. They are starting to draw out the outer 4 frames as well. We will give them another week or so and add another deep. The feeder still has syrup in it and I'm not sure how much longer to leave it on and keep filling it. I filled it most of the way up last week and it's still about half full. It's one of the hive-top feeders.

We did take a quick look at the other hive (that was the established swarm) and found that the super we left on is now absolutely FULL of capped honey. Amazing. We had put another super on the very top with the queen excluder 2 weeks ago. It is a brand new box with only new foundation in the frames. They haven't started drawing out the comb at all. There are bees milling around in there, but not doing anything. Is there a reason they haven't started drawing out the foundation? What, if anything, should we do?  :?:
"I saw me life pass before me eyes. It was really boring." - Babs, Chicken Run

Offline TwT

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We Gots Eggs!
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2006, 12:06:40 am »
take the excluder off and see what happens, I dont use one much but when im tring to get comb drawn out I wouldn't use them at all... not saying this is the problem but could be but thats how I do it... and if they are still taking sugar syrup, give them all they want....
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Offline Jack Parr

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« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2006, 08:21:09 am »
If you have capped honey the sugar feeding is not needed and should be stopped. The bees will store that sugar in the comb like they do nectar.

If your new foundation is not being drawn then the bees don't need it just yet.  Also at the end of the honey flow the bees won't draw comb either. If there is room in the brood area the bees will store honey there.

I would find a local beekeeper to get some idea of your area's nectar or honey flow season.  It's all about the honey flow and climatic conditions IN YOUR area.  That info can best be obtained by contacting local folks.

Offline Denise

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« Reply #6 on: May 01, 2006, 11:43:43 am »
Sounds good. Thank you muchly! I will take the excluder off today and see how that goes. Would it be a bad idea to switch some of the un-drawn foundation and trade with the full frames of capped honey in the other super? Or would that just confuse them?
"I saw me life pass before me eyes. It was really boring." - Babs, Chicken Run

Offline Jerrymac

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We Gots Eggs!
« Reply #7 on: May 01, 2006, 02:25:01 pm »
Quote from: Denise
Would it be a bad idea to switch some of the un-drawn foundation and trade with the full frames of capped honey in the other super?


Be sure it is mostly capped or all capped frames. Other wise they might start drawing out the already drawn comb, making it really deep cells and then the rest turns out really shallow, but other wise it's a good way to get them to move up and start working the next box.
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