Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: Got my first hive!  (Read 5531 times)

Offline OzBuzz

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1031
Got my first hive!
« on: March 27, 2010, 06:35:24 pm »
The day was yesterday! i picked up my first hive... a nice 8 frame Carniolan X Italian hive from a guy in Geelong!

I arrived with dark clouds and a little light rain - walk out the back with the guy, his smoker in hand, no protective gear... puff puff takes off the lid - neither of us have protective gear on. We're picking through the frames and i located the queen in my hive! a few landed on me - none flew at us, none stung us... and they'd drawn out four frames of foundation in 4 days. Lots of brood, lots of food and a calm docile hive... perfect start.

I went around the corner and got a smoker, jacket/veil and gloves - i'm ready to roll!

Offline Geoff

  • Heavenly Beekeeper
  • Field Bee
  • ********
  • Posts: 918
  • Gender: Male
Re: Got my first hive!
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2010, 06:46:45 pm »
Congratulations and good uck. You will be surprised how soon one becomes a few.

Geoff.
Local Area Network in Australia - the LAN down under.

Offline Bee Happy

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 1656
  • Gender: Male
  • that's me - setting a phoenix free
Re: Got my first hive!
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2010, 07:27:56 pm »
Congratulations. (can I say "good on ya."?). My carny/italians are still very gentle (2nd year) You brought the thrill of picking them up fresh back to my mind, so thanks for posting it.
be happy and make others happy.

Offline philinacoma

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 438
  • Gender: Male
Re: Got my first hive!
« Reply #3 on: March 28, 2010, 12:47:20 am »
Great, Enjoy!

Offline OzBuzz

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1031
Re: Got my first hive!
« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2010, 08:47:07 pm »
Thanks everybody - i'm really excited! had a look at the hive on Sunday (I didn't open it - just watced the bees flying in) and it appears that they have found five nectar sources (just based on he way they're flying from the hive) and one of those sources is providing a nice supply of pollen. I'm guessing it would be eucalypt pollen as they're flying through open paddocks in the direction of a river and the eucalypts are really the only vegitation between the hive and the river. Lots of bees were out foraging which was great to see - the weather was a little average (quite windy and overcast) but it certainly didnt stop them.

Offline OzBuzz

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1031
Re: Got my first hive!
« Reply #5 on: March 28, 2010, 08:48:05 pm »
Congratulations and good uck. You will be surprised how soon one becomes a few.

Geoff.

Geoff, absolutely you can say "Good on ya" the only thing to add to that which would make it 100% fair dinkum would be "Good on ya mate"  :-D

Offline Bee Happy

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 1656
  • Gender: Male
  • that's me - setting a phoenix free
Re: Got my first hive!
« Reply #6 on: March 28, 2010, 11:03:11 pm »
That'd be me  :-P Good on ya mate! I bet you're almost glued to a spot near the hive.
be happy and make others happy.

Offline Highlandsfreedom

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 450
  • Gender: Male
    • Organic gardening and Bee Services.
Re: Got my first hive!
« Reply #7 on: March 28, 2010, 11:17:24 pm »
I love the excitement.  You will need to get you a chair for all the viewing you are about to do.....  8-)
To bee or not to bee that is the question I wake up to answer that every morning...

Offline OzBuzz

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1031
Re: Got my first hive!
« Reply #8 on: March 28, 2010, 11:18:56 pm »
That'd be me  :-P Good on ya mate! I bet you're almost glued to a spot near the hive.

Hahahah thanks mate  :) and yeah, if i didn't have to be at work i would probably be there just watching! so relaxing! the place where i have put the hive is at a friends. He has about 5 acres of unused land - he told me the other day i can have as many hives as i want! he clearly doesn't know how addictive hives can be hahahha. It is probably a good thing i am at work though! if i was watching them the temptation would be too great and i'd have to seriously resist firing up the smoker and cracking the hive!

Offline OzBuzz

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1031
Re: Got my first hive!
« Reply #9 on: April 01, 2010, 08:23:30 pm »
And the expansion work goes on! today i bought two full depth bodies, two half depth bodies, a base, a lid and 8 already drawn out frames which have been nicely stored in a refrigerator since being removed from the hive! next weekend the full depth super goes on with the 8 frames of drawn out comb. I'm toying with the idea of adding this super as an additional brood chamber and then in spring just pulling the top super off, putting it on the base with a lid, adding a new queen a voila - second hive. Sound feasible? There is a nice nectar/pollen flow on at the moment that the bees seem to have tapped in to

Offline Jahjude

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 144
  • Gender: Male
Re: Got my first hive!
« Reply #10 on: April 01, 2010, 11:18:56 pm »
Yow,sounds like you in for some good times!! Yeahman ;)
I've chosen understanding over knowledge-since knowledge is all about knowing where to find facts and understanding is knowing how to manipulate knowledge...I've also chosen knowledge over beliefs!! We all need to..

Offline OzBuzz

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1031
Re: Got my first hive!
« Reply #11 on: April 02, 2010, 08:26:20 am »
So i opened up my hive yesterday - weather was perfect, no wind, 26oC, sunny... couldn't have asked for better.

Obviously being my first time solo i was a tad nervous but the bees were great - i didnt have any stings, none flew at me, none even landed on me.

I puffed some smoke at the entrance, lifted the lid and puffed some smoke under there... let it sit. Removed the lid and put it on the ground beside the hive...error no 1! Don't stand the frame you take out in an upturned lid - it gets full of bees and is hard to put back on. So i took my frame out and sat it on the side (Frame #8) - this frame had been in there about a week and a half as my hive was made from a four frame nucleus. Frame #8 & Frame #1 were fully drawn out and full of nectar (not yet capped). Frame #7 & Frame #2 had nice areas of uncapped brood with some capped both frames were almost full of visible pupa about to be capped. There was a nice area of capped honey at the top of the frame (about 1/4 of its height) and on the outsides were some pollen stores although not a huge amount. I found the queen on frame #6 walking around happily - Frame #6 & Frame #3 were about 50/50 capped brood and empty cells although me being an idiot forgot to look for fresh eggs - i'm assuming the empty cells would have had mostly new eggs in them. Again a nice layer of capped honey at the top of the frames with some small pollen stores  around the outer edges. Frame #5 & Frame #4 was mostly uncapped brood with some empty cells (which would possibly have contained eggs or else the queen was working her way back to them from the outside). Again nice layer of capped honey about the brood with some pollen stores around the outer edges of the brood nest.

When i purchased the hive the guy i bought it from suggested i put another box on about two weeks after getting the hive... should i put it on as a honey super with a queen excluder or should i put it on as a second brood box? a brood box would be handy coz it would mean i could do an early split in spring but i also don't want to have the hive run out of food stores over winter...
« Last Edit: April 04, 2010, 09:41:23 pm by OzBuzz »

Offline OzBuzz

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1031
Re: Got my first hive!
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2010, 10:10:13 pm »
Hey Everybody,

Opened my hive again yesterday - i added a post in the general beekeeping forum as things seem to have quietened down a bit in here... if you could have a look at it and give me your thoughts i'd really appreciate it...

Opened my three week old hive and WOW! but advice needed please