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Author Topic: First peek of first hive!  (Read 4661 times)

Offline Royall

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First peek of first hive!
« on: November 12, 2013, 06:49:50 pm »
Sunday afternoon my Beek friend came over. We went out to the hives in style! He wore his bee suit, vail, gloves, and flip flops (yes this is Hawai'i!). I, on the other hand, wore T shirt, shorts, flip flops (slippahs) and a veil! I've got two hives. Second hive is 2 weeks newer than the first one. Lifted the lid on the girls and I was so surprised that all the frames were filled out with comb! We didn't go too far into the hive but what frames we did lift out was full of honey! I've never seen anything so beautiful. The girls started to get a little excited so we didn't look at the center frames to see how the brood cells looked. I didn't push the to go further as I was concerned how the beek was handling the frames. I only know what I see on youtube and they always show pulling an end frame first and then separating the frames a little before lifting them out. I thought that is to keep from rolling any of the bees when lifting the frame. As you can see in the photos some of the cells that got smeared bad when coming out. Still a wonderful visit to the girls! Just glad my beek got me started in all this. We added another brood box. Put two of the honey frames in it and two new frames in the bottom box. Also set an empty box on top of the 2nd hive so the tin roof would set level.















« Last Edit: November 12, 2013, 07:06:59 pm by Royall »

Offline Royall

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2013, 06:58:09 pm »
Well, tried twice but still won't post the photos.... Hmmmmmm, I'll try again!!

Offline bernsad

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2013, 07:22:23 pm »
Photos look good.

Offline splitrock

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #3 on: November 12, 2013, 07:57:23 pm »
Looks Good Royall! Visited your neighborhood back in the early seventies.

I went to high school on Oahu 69-71. Had friends in Hilo, but they would be pretty old now. Reese was their last name.

Wish I would have tried the local honey when we were there. Hows it?

Joel

Offline Royall

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #4 on: November 12, 2013, 08:33:25 pm »
Thanks Joel, didn't taste the honey!! The ladies were getting a little "angry" and me with out proper covering, decided to back off a ways with the camera! I had a few girls running around my fingers so agitated that I just knew they were going to let me have it! They settled down real quick when Jim got the hive buttoned back up. I'll let them rest for a week or so and then go back in specifically to check out the brood cells or lack of.... AND taste a little of the honey... ;) Jim did bring me a pint of the honey that his girls made. Tastes mighty fine!




Offline bernsad

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #5 on: November 12, 2013, 09:10:57 pm »
Any idea what floral sources that comes from?

Offline Royall

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #6 on: November 12, 2013, 09:38:25 pm »
Hard to say bernsad... There is always something blooming here. I wish the little girls were big enough to pollinate the Lilikoi (passion fruit) blossom. That I think would be some tasty honey! As it is, the big black carpenter bees handle that job!! My Beek has 40 some hives at his hydroponic strawberry farm and there are several coffee farms in the area too. That alone makes for some great tasting honey. This winter around January (not sure when) the Lehua (Lay-who-a) (blossoms from the Ohia(O-he-ah) tree) will start coming on and I've been told that that is some of the best honey to have. I do have many Ohia around me plus I'm in an area that has lots of mango trees too. I would like to get permission some day to put a hive in one of the papaya fields. The little ladies work year around here but won't be swarming now (I've been told) untill about January when the Lehua flowers start blooming. Hopefully by then I'll know more about bee keeping!! :)

Offline GSF

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #7 on: November 12, 2013, 09:43:01 pm »
Another way to keep from smearing the comb/honey/bees is to have the top of your frames numbered. Look to see if the number is on the left or right before you pull, then put it back in the same way. This method helps me because after I get to looking sometimes I forget what side I'm on, all I have to do is look at the number and put it back the way the rest are.
When the law no longer protects you from the corrupt, but protects the corrupt from you - then you know your nation is doomed.

Offline annette

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2013, 10:05:41 pm »
Hawaii has some of the best honey I have ever tasted. Congratulations on your beekeeping endeavors.

Offline Royall

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2013, 10:06:42 pm »
What happens to the numbering system if you start shuffling the frames around?! We put two of the frames with honey up in the new brood box and two new ones in the bottom. Is what we did OK?? I ask as my Beek has only been doing this for about a year and a half.

Offline Royall

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #10 on: November 12, 2013, 10:09:10 pm »
Hawaii has some of the best honey I have ever tasted. Congratulations on your beekeeping endeavors.

One Beek I was talking to at the Hilo farmers market mention the people back east are willing to pay an unholy price for good honey from Hawai'i! Maybe internet sales are in my future!!  :-D

Offline bernsad

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #11 on: November 12, 2013, 10:36:31 pm »
Hi Royall,

Thanks for the reply, you've got me hankering to try some different honeys now. I had to look up the Lehua; in New Zealand they also produce a honey from a variety of Metrosideros spp. that they call Rata.

Offline JWChesnut

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #12 on: November 13, 2013, 01:32:55 pm »
Royall,
Looks from the image of you lifting the damaged comb is that  you started your inspection on the #2 frame.  It is good practice to always draw the #1 comb first, and then use the expanded open space to pull subsequent comb without returning the #1 to the hive.  The real risk of not doing this practice is "rolling the queen".  You damage the queen by crushing her when lifting comb with no additional space.

To reiterate:
I pry all 10 frames away from the box side by inserting the frame tool and levering sideways.  This breaks any burr comb on the #1 away from the box side and opens up a bit of extra space.

I then pry the #1 away from  #2 and  back towards the side, centering it in its frame space.  Then you can lift the #1 without "tearing" comb. Queens are virtually never on #1.

Subsequent frames are lifted by levering into the open space to free them up. You can replace these subsequent combs, to the side of the hive, no need to keep them out.

In very heavily burred or otherwise tight hives you can pry from both sides to get a bit to get some space, observe where the natural break is,  and lift 2 or 3 combs as a unit, only separating them after you have them free of the hive.

"Rolling the queen" is one of the primary reasons new keepers seem to lose queen-right so frequently.

Offline Royall

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #13 on: November 13, 2013, 01:57:43 pm »
Yeah, JW.... wish it was ME that was doing the lifting. I was the camera man and observing My Beek do this. I cringed when I turned around and saw how he was doing this. I've done a lot of homework (watching Youtube and reading) to know the best way of going into the hive. Next time I will do this by myself so that this kind of damage doesn't happen again. Jim has a big heart and is always willing but he is only about 20 months into beekeeping himself. 

Offline GSF

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #14 on: November 13, 2013, 09:24:20 pm »
Royall; It's okay to shuffle the frames around. I numbered mine initially so when I took a picture and found something on the picture I missed with my eyes I could go back and check - if need be. Imagine all your numbers facing you on the right side of the frame. When I take the frame out and look both sides over and maybe look twice, I don't have a clue how it came out. All I have to do is look at the number and put it back facing the same direction as the others. Sometimes it seems like the comb may be thicker on one side than the other. If you put it back with two thick sides against each other it may roll the queen.
When the law no longer protects you from the corrupt, but protects the corrupt from you - then you know your nation is doomed.

Offline Royall

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #15 on: November 13, 2013, 11:09:10 pm »
Thanks GFS. I think I understand what you're saying/doing, I'll give it a try next week when I look into the girls again.

I was doing some work on a friends house today. She was asking questions about the bees. One thing led to another and now she has invited me to set up a hive or two on her property. Just a residential lot, a bit bigger than average, but has many citrus trees, papaya, and other fruits. Won't get a lot of morning sun but rarely does it get much below 58* here. I think the girls could be happy there!

Offline T Beek

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #16 on: November 14, 2013, 06:31:57 am »
I mark the tops of my frames to one side with the last 2 digits of the year they are placed.  

This serves 2 purposes.  1. As mentioned it'll keep frames facing the same direction the bees intended and 2.  It tells me when I should be thinking about replacing the older ones.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2013, 07:55:15 am by T Beek »
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Offline GSF

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #17 on: November 14, 2013, 09:00:14 pm »
Good point on the year thing TBeek.
When the law no longer protects you from the corrupt, but protects the corrupt from you - then you know your nation is doomed.

Offline Royall

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #18 on: November 14, 2013, 10:01:58 pm »
Yes, that is a good idea... duel purpose. Knowing the correct orientation and know how long my homemade wooden ware lasts! Thanks!

Offline merince

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Re: First peek of first hive!
« Reply #19 on: November 15, 2013, 01:30:26 pm »
Royall,

Thank you for sharing! I always start at the #2 frames, mostly because the #1 often has cross comb anchoring it to the side and then slide the rest similarly to what JWChesnut mentioned.

 

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