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Author Topic: no honey at all  (Read 5107 times)

Offline slacker361

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no honey at all
« on: August 27, 2010, 09:25:06 pm »
first year hive.

 2 deeps.( two deep supers of bees)

 two weeks ago during an inspection,I noticed that the girls were starting to fill some deep frames with honey. Now nothing, no honey whatsoever.  There are plenty of blooms around, goldenrod and other fall flowers. No storage of honey at all now. Any ideas?  However there is still a lot of brood in the hive .
« Last Edit: August 27, 2010, 11:24:11 pm by slacker361 »
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Offline Kathyp

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2010, 09:33:24 pm »
they are using what they bring in.  you should consider feeding soon or they won't have stores for winter.
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Offline iddee

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2010, 09:54:44 pm »
You could also try using some periods. Then we might know what you're saying. I'm not sure what you mean.
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Offline slacker361

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2010, 09:59:15 pm »
thank you .  Mr Grammar Police ....................................................... :roll:
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Offline iddee

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2010, 10:13:00 pm »
Not trying to be. I try to answer questions. Seriously, I couldn't pick out your sentences and didn't know what you were saying. Maybe I should just back out and not try.
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"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

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Offline BBees

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2010, 11:05:39 pm »
Slacker,

I'm with Iddee on this one, like to help, but have trouble figuring out what your question is. Bottom line - the better your question the better your answer! I think your asking why you had honey 2 weeks ago and now it's gone? If so, it's probably due to a summer dearth in your area and they're hungry = feed those girls or keep wishing for a flow. I'd vote for feeding them to help them survive through winter. A club member that has his hives on a scale says they've been losing weight for about 3 weeks now, we're all counting on a goldenrod flow to fill our hives with honey for overwintering. How's your goldenrod doing?

Good luck, Steve
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Offline slacker361

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2010, 11:27:04 pm »
re phrased the question and correct grammar. Please let me know if the question is still not understandable.

kathyp: thanks for understanding what I was saying
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Offline Kathyp

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2010, 11:34:55 pm »
i have the (mis)fortune to be the owner of a jumbled mind.  unscrambling things is a daily task for me.  :-D
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Offline BBees

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2010, 11:41:13 pm »
Good job!

Possibiities;
1) Robbed
2) Had a lot workers hatch and more honey was consumed than was brought in.
3) Lack of nectar being brought in.

Solutions;
1) Reduce entrance if a weak hive.
2) Feed, feed, feed sugar syrup.
3) Could try to switch hive positions with a hive with a lot of foragers. The additional foragers may bring in more nectar and pollen.
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Offline iddee

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #9 on: August 28, 2010, 04:35:24 pm »
Thanks...

Along with the above mentioned, a varroa or tracheal mite infestation can cause the same thing.

If they were abnormally feisty, you may have a skunk eating the foragers, IE: guard bees at night.
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Offline slacker361

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #10 on: August 28, 2010, 04:37:30 pm »
the bottom box was a little pissier that normal. How would you trap for a skunk?
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Offline charmd2

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #11 on: August 28, 2010, 04:43:40 pm »
politically correct way to get rid of a skunk is to move your hive bottom board to a height of 18 inches. 

you could take a sheet of plywood and nail in a bunch of nails, set it in front of the hive and they won't walk on the nails. 

I'm sure someone will come along with a politically incorrect way to help in a minute. 
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Offline iddee

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #12 on: August 28, 2010, 05:57:52 pm »
Either raise it as above, or go to a carpet store and ask for a tack strip. Nail it across the front of the bottom board.

Live trap or shotgun. Steel trap stinks up the neighborhood.
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"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

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Offline Kathyp

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #13 on: August 28, 2010, 06:10:19 pm »
however...shooting the shotgun in the direction of the hive is probably not wise  :evil:

yes....we are not all PC.
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Offline charmd2

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #14 on: August 28, 2010, 06:13:13 pm »
actually Kathy, I forgot shotgun or 22's..   

I was thinking more along the line of the egg trick...  and I'm not recommending it due to neighbor animals and unintended casualties. 
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Offline rdy-b

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #15 on: August 28, 2010, 06:44:36 pm »
Hate it when that happens-very possible your bees swarmed and took the crop with them- was there any tell tale sighns that a swarm may have ocured -bee population is not always a indicator-RDY-B
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Offline slacker361

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #16 on: August 28, 2010, 08:47:26 pm »
No I dont think they swarmed. Will the skunk leave scratch marks on the hive? My hive is not painted so would i see the scratch marks if it is a skunk? I use linseed oil for the hive.
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Offline rdy-b

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #17 on: August 28, 2010, 08:56:50 pm »
scrathes -or at the least a smuch print-RDY-B
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Offline iddee

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #18 on: August 28, 2010, 09:36:17 pm »
It depends. A skunk scratches to get the bees to come out. Then he eats them. If the hive is strong enough for them to be bearding, he doesn't have to scratch. If they come out with very little coaching, he won't leave marks.
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"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

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Offline WhipCityBeeMan

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #19 on: August 28, 2010, 09:54:39 pm »
I catch skunks regularly with have-a-hart traps.  Never been sprayed.  Caught one today that was really friendly.  I just move them a few miles away across the river.
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Offline Michael Bach

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #20 on: August 28, 2010, 10:18:26 pm »
I am going through this very same thing.  My bees consumed about 20-30 lbs of honey in a week.  There was a 5-6 frames of capped brood that just emerged and they downed most of the honey in the two deeps.  There is still honey in the medium supers.  Will the bees bring that down to the brood boxes?

Either way the stores went from good the low in 7-10 days.  I am feeding them heavily now.  You never know about New England weather.
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Offline Scadsobees

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #21 on: August 28, 2010, 11:23:47 pm »
I'm in the same boat here.  Been a nice damp, sunny, hot year, and things are starting to get dry.   Clover/ knapweed done, goldenrod not really starting yet. I think my bees may not have slowed down like they would have normally, then the flow stopped quickly.  Weather permitting, the goldenrod should do well to make up the difference, though.

rick
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Offline hollybees

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #22 on: August 29, 2010, 11:27:47 am »

Hello Everyone,
I just did an inspection yesterday. I have 8 hives and each hive seems healthy and strong.
I was shocked  :shock: to find only one medium super filled with honey, but it's been there since mid July.
The super above nothing!! zip, zero, nada! It's been on there for a month and a half.....no drawn comb either.
Almost no honey in the 2 lower brood boxes.
They had plenty of pollen and plenty of brood, but I did not even see any collected nectar.
I still can't believe it, I spoke to a pro beek who I buy my bees from and she said she has no honey this year.
Lots of Goldenrod around but it's been too dry and it's not poppin'

Bummer

Paul


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Offline TwT

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #23 on: August 29, 2010, 11:41:55 am »
Hollybee's, i went through the same thing the last 4 years in Ga, to dry for golden rod to produce nectar, if they dont have stores or not enough you should poor the feed to them, like said above, dry summers will kill a fall flow.
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Offline wildbeekeeper

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #24 on: August 31, 2010, 01:09:46 pm »
slacker, we are in a nectar dearth in western PA....my bees are bringing in SOME nectar, but its slow...getting better but slow.  I wont be taking a fall harvest this year and morethan likely I'll be feeding them here in a few weeks
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Offline slacker361

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #25 on: August 31, 2010, 06:46:40 pm »
wildbeekeeper, I am not sure about down in the burgh but here in beaver county, the golden rod is ready to explode. this dry hot weather is keeping it from blooming large. it looks like me might get some rain Friday, but it is only 40%. I too will have to pull the trigger soon on feeding.
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Offline wildbeekeeper

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #26 on: September 01, 2010, 11:41:21 pm »
oh we have goldenrod and knotweed too!... but the dry weather isnt allowing for much nectar production!  hoping the rain will help as well!!
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Offline winginit

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Re: no honey at all
« Reply #27 on: September 02, 2010, 09:12:14 am »
My smaller hive was completely dry two weeks ago. I fed 4 pounds of dry sugar and it was gone in 4 days. Fed another 4 pounds and there was still quite a bit left after another 5 days...but comb is still empty.


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