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Author Topic: Just did a full inspection of hive  (Read 2271 times)

Offline Jwhatman

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Just did a full inspection of hive
« on: April 14, 2013, 12:03:25 am »
I finally went in and did a full inspection of my hive.  I only saw about 3 hive beetles, which are now dead.  The girls look great.  I have some questions though.  I only have 2 frames full of brood, the other 3 frames are full of honey, sugar syrup, etc.  I am now giving them Honey B healthy and amino B booster through a screened off top feeder. I am also feeding them a pollen patty which they love.I found something weird on one of my frames though.  It looks like they built the comb on the lower part of the frame outward, it looks bubbled up.  It also looks like it has drone brood in it.  I don't think it's swarm cells because there are no queen cells and they have at least 5 more frames to fill.  I have a 10 frame hive.  How many frames of food storage should I have anyway?  I currently have 2 full frames of storage that also has some drone brood on it.

Offline 10framer

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Re: Just did a full inspection of hive
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2013, 12:37:33 am »
bring us up to speed.  is this a new hive?  is it a nuc you just set into a 10 frame hive body?  is this a package you recently installed? 

Offline Bees In Miami

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Re: Just did a full inspection of hive
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2013, 12:51:06 am »
Jwhatman....How old is the colony?   There is such a great flow going on right now, I don't know if you are doing them a favor by feeding.  Will be interested to hear more.  Thanks! 

Online Jim134

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Re: Just did a full inspection of hive
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2013, 11:04:55 am »
SHB love pollen patty's




               BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
 
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Offline Jwhatman

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Re: Just did a full inspection of hive
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2013, 07:31:03 pm »
Sorry, forgot to mention the specifics.  The hive is 3 weeks old, started from a 5 frame nuc. That was just split with a newly mated queen, who is laying a good pattern from what I could see. I only saw about 3 hive beetles, there could have been more, But I took the hive apart and moved frames around, as I was doing this I was looking into the bottom of the hive as well.  I have the hive on pavers, then a hive stand that stands about 3 feet tall.  I was aware that SHB love pollen patties, that;s why I only gave them enough to last a couple days, then see how they are doing.  The apiary where I got the nuc suggested I feed for a bit until they get more established.  They are bringing in grocery bags full of pollen.  So should I stop feeding them the sugar syrup and pollen patty?

Joyce

Offline 10framer

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Re: Just did a full inspection of hive
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2013, 11:12:44 pm »
you need to be getting more equipment ready.  once a good flow kicks in the bees can draw out 5 frames pretty fast. 

Offline Jwhatman

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Re: Just did a full inspection of hive
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2013, 11:27:45 pm »
Already have 1 deep to put on top with 10 frames.  Considering getting a nuc box setup just in case it might be needed.  I saw no supercedure cells, but a few drones.  Those boys are big!  When should I turn the entrance reducer to the larger size?  Right now it's at the smallest opening that will allow 2-3 beed to pass through at a time.  There are times that it looks like a parking lot with all the bees coming and going, but not always.  Does it even matter if I have a smaller entrance?  I just don't want robbing especially since I know I have a guy with 10 hives about a mile away from me.  He's really cool and has an organic nursery and plans to carry beekeeping supplies.  Nice to know if I have a question I can show and tell since he's right here.

Joyce

Offline 10framer

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Re: Just did a full inspection of hive
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2013, 11:22:21 am »
how many frames of bees do you have?  i'm starting with a lot of hives that were 5 frame nucs and a couple of hives i bought as double deeps that have both been split already and i've got my entrances either wide open or half open depending based off the number of frames covered by the bees.  i'd at least give them a couple of inches to work from if i were you. 
go ahead and get a third deep or a couple of mediums ready.  i think you have a very long season down in florida compared to most of the country.  i'd also move an empty frame between the an outside brood frame and the frames of honey/pollen if i had enough bees to cover the five frames to try to speed up the build up and keep doing it as the population builds up until you've got a deep full of bees.  i don't feed pollen substitutes and it sounds like you need to pull the syrup too.  i've got the start of a flow up here and i have to think that things should really be wide open down your way. 
the best way to control hive beetles seems to be space management.  i'm really considering moving to 8 frame equipment after what i've observed since i got back into this last year or at least going to 1-1/4 inch frames (check out michael bushes website).  wall to wall bees seems to equal few or no beetles.
good luck, have fun and remember that no matter how many supers you have ready you will always probably need one more. 

Offline Jwhatman

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Re: Just did a full inspection of hive
« Reply #8 on: April 15, 2013, 03:00:37 pm »
I do see a bunch of pollen coming in,but they are still going after the pollen patties and sugar syrup like its going out of style. I'm going through at least 537ml daily, this is mixed with amino booster and honey b healthy. I gave them 1/2 pollen patty last week and its mostly gone now, so I just added the other half. If a flow is going on they wouldn't touch either right?

Offline 10framer

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Re: Just did a full inspection of hive
« Reply #9 on: April 15, 2013, 04:00:45 pm »
I do see a bunch of pollen coming in,but they are still going after the pollen patties and sugar syrup like its going out of style. I'm going through at least 537ml daily, this is mixed with amino booster and honey b healthy. I gave them 1/2 pollen patty last week and its mostly gone now, so I just added the other half. If a flow is going on they wouldn't touch either right?
hmmm a fifth of liquor is 750 ml.......
that's over a pint a day if i'm not mistaken, that seems like a lot. 
if you had a chef dropping off gourmet food every day would you pluck and gut a chicken?  from your description and considering the time of year i'd say you can pull the feed for a few days and see what happens.
do you have drawn comb or foundation?  i'm assuming foundation. 

Offline Jwhatman

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Re: Just did a full inspection of hive
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2013, 10:07:16 am »
I won't fill the sugar syrup for a few days and see what happens. I am using foundation frames. They are drawing out the frames well. Should I put some empty frames in between the brood frames to get them to fill those up or just leave as is and they'll move over as needed?

Offline 10framer

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Re: Just did a full inspection of hive
« Reply #11 on: April 16, 2013, 12:05:38 pm »
i'd just put one between the an outer brood frame and a honey/pollen frame at a time.  you don't want to spread the cluster out too much and risk chilling the brood.  by the time that frame is drawn out and full of eggs more bees should have emerged so you can do it again.  don't push them too hard until they get the population up a little. 

 

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