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Author Topic: Help please  (Read 10496 times)

Offline Janemma

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Re: Help please
« Reply #20 on: May 26, 2008, 06:47:58 pm »
thanks for the video clip - I ahd to tell DS it was broken after a while so he would stop watching ;) 

Offline thegolfpsycho

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Re: Help please
« Reply #21 on: May 26, 2008, 09:07:34 pm »
Looks like an awful lot of syrup or nectar in there and no brood area, unless I missed it in the pictures.  If your feeding them, I would take the welfare kitchen away from them and make them work for a living and see what happens.  All the pics I looked at seemed to be nectar or syrup top to bottom.  You want boxes full of bees to make honey,and you won't get them if there is no room to expand the brood nest.  Also, bees are vigorus gatherers when there is room in the hive.  They get lazy when there is little room, and often turn into swarm engines.  If your trying to build up a comb bank, you need lots of bees.  Again, you won't get it if they don't have room to raise more bees.

Offline Janemma

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Re: Help please
« Reply #22 on: May 26, 2008, 09:41:15 pm »
Looks like an awful lot of syrup or nectar in there and no brood area, unless I missed it in the pictures.  If your feeding them, I would take the welfare kitchen away from them and make them work for a living and see what happens.  All the pics I looked at seemed to be nectar or syrup top to bottom.  You want boxes full of bees to make honey,and you won't get them if there is no room to expand the brood nest.  Also, bees are vigorus gatherers when there is room in the hive.  They get lazy when there is little room, and often turn into swarm engines.  If your trying to build up a comb bank, you need lots of bees.  Again, you won't get it if they don't have room to raise more bees.

I haven't fed them for a while now.  I only fed them before there was pollen in the area.  I did give them a bit last week when there was constant rain in the area for days on end but not since - the feeders are left on the hive only because the entrance reducers were trimmed to get the feeders to fit so we leave the feeders in place but they are left empty now.

They have built comb on 5 or 6 frames in each hive.  I didn't think I was supposed to add another Super until thay had built on 7 frames at least.  I know I can switch around the frames though...should I do that now? 


Offline Janemma

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Re: Help please
« Reply #23 on: May 26, 2008, 10:56:33 pm »
Just a thought - can temperature stop bees from laying eggs?  Our weather has been awful lately - we have only really had a handful of good days since the bees arrived - four or five days of 20c + weather and the rest of the time it has been cold and rainy and VERY windy.  We had high winds (60km winds for a few days) we had constant rain for days.  The last few days have been cold today was 8c (46f)  with a frost last night.  The blossom on our apple tree still isn't out - it's almost out but not quite....

Can this effect things?

Offline JP

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Re: Help please
« Reply #24 on: May 26, 2008, 11:51:35 pm »
Just a thought - can temperature stop bees from laying eggs?  Our weather has been awful lately - we have only really had a handful of good days since the bees arrived - four or five days of 20c + weather and the rest of the time it has been cold and rainy and VERY windy.  We had high winds (60km winds for a few days) we had constant rain for days.  The last few days have been cold today was 8c (46f)  with a frost last night.  The blossom on our apple tree still isn't out - it's almost out but not quite....

Can this effect things?

Yes, cold weather can halt egg production.


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Offline tillie

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Re: Help please
« Reply #25 on: May 27, 2008, 12:05:42 am »
Janeemma,

I don't know if you are using screened bottom boards, but if you are, there really isn't a need to tip the hive at all.  The point of the slight slant forward (emphasis on slight) is to allow water not to accumulate in the hive bottom, but if your bottom board is screened, that issue is irrelevant.

Linda T in Atlanta

Offline Cindi

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Re: Help please
« Reply #26 on: May 27, 2008, 10:19:00 am »
Yo, JP,
 I always wondered about that creepy little guy!. Just last nite Janelle asked what that "Thing" is! :-D
 I always thought he looked kind of like that little voodoo doll that murdered people in one of those shows, either the twilite zone or Night Gallery!
 have you got him on a T-shirt yet?
your friend,
john

John, I clearly remember that show.  There was the little vodoo doll that had the knife that it kept slipping under the door trying to cut the people.  I think it was with Karen Black and the show was called "a Triology of Terror", it was three shows in one.  I think the other show in the trilogy was something about some woman that wouldn't stop smoking and her husband put her in a room that had an electrified floor or something and every time that she smoked the floor would be electrified.  Something like that.  That was many moons ago, and just tryin' to bring back something from the cobwebs of the mind, ooops, totally off topic!!!!  Beautiful and most wonderful day, lovin' our lives we all share and so do love.  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline Two Bees

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Re: Help please
« Reply #27 on: May 27, 2008, 10:48:29 am »
Janemma, I recommend that you feed your bees constantly in the first few months!  Newly hived packages really have to work hard to draw out 20 frames of comb and the only way they will do this is with a good nectar flow or having access to 1:1 syrup (imitation nectar).

With the cold weather and rain confining your bees to their hives, they are not able to get out and collect nectar.   So, you need to feed them.  The commercial beek that I bought my packages from said that it takes about 5 gallons of syrup to draw out 20 frames!
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Offline doak

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Re: Help please
« Reply #28 on: May 27, 2008, 11:08:05 am »
Janemma, "DO NOT" work your bees with out your veil.
Get in a position where the sun is coming over your shoulder and let the sun shine in the cells.
Please don't get stung in the eye or nose.
Pictures are nice.
doak

Offline Janemma

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Re: Help please
« Reply #29 on: May 27, 2008, 03:04:06 pm »
Oh my what to do what to do...to feed or not to feed that is the question!  Some say to feed and some say to NOT feed.....

I don't know what to do :(

My gut says to NOT feed them......until the Fall...or unless we have a really bad Summer.....but I am so new at this and I just don't know.....

This is worse than parenting - because you get so much different advice from everyone!  I am so grateful to you all but its very confusing!

Offline Janemma

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Re: Help please
« Reply #30 on: May 27, 2008, 03:10:46 pm »
Janeemma,

I don't know if you are using screened bottom boards, but if you are, there really isn't a need to tip the hive at all.  The point of the slight slant forward (emphasis on slight) is to allow water not to accumulate in the hive bottom, but if your bottom board is screened, that issue is irrelevant.

Linda T in Atlanta

No, my bottom boards are solid and not screened so they need to be slanted - and the ground down there is not completely flat so it's a bit deceiving and the wood is actually helping level out the hive too.....I will change it though as maybe it is too tilted.

Offline DayValleyDahlias

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Re: Help please
« Reply #31 on: May 27, 2008, 03:18:53 pm »
Jan

When I installed my packages I fed them sugar syrup which had lemongrass oil and a bit of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar in it.  A 2:1 ratio I believe...I fed them for about 2 weeks and they took the 2 Gallons a week right down...They are now on their 3rd brood medium and building up like mad...

Have fun!

Offline Cindi

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Re: Help please
« Reply #32 on: May 28, 2008, 10:31:18 am »
Janemma.  I think that the first year of keeping bees has got to be the most confusing of all, I hear you, I remember my feelings.  I am still rather confused.  You are given so many choices, and just don't have the experience to know of what choice to make.  You will need to go with your gut feelings.  And this can be confusing too.  It is a hard thing.  You will fair well though, have no fears about that, you are a new and concerned beekeeper.  In a couple of years (and it could be longer, like me, I began in April 2005), you will look back and say, "now what was so confusing and hard about that", hee, hee.  It is a lot to learn and alot to understand about the bees.

This is my two cents, we are both from north of the border, you have short and intense summers, nectar flows, we have longer summers, milder winters, but as one Canadian to another.  Listen to what I have to say, take it as my two cents only.  But listen, then make your decision.

To feed or not to feed is a huge question, no doubt.  Some will say don't feed, the bees will have enough from nature.  Some will say feed, they don't have enough with nature.

Nature provides nectar yes, and no.  It depends on the weather, the location, and man it can change from within a very few kilometres away. For example.  I live across the river from a town, I live close to the mountains.  My flows are at least 3 weeks behind those that are across the river, and it is only about 20 km away, if that.  It is simply amazing and stunning.

You are in your first year of building up.  The bees will need your help now.  They are drawing comb, this requires copious amounts of carbohydrates for the bees to secrete wax.  They must have sufficient food to do this.  And you must do this by providing sugar syrup.  The bees are new.  It takes about 6 weeks for a package of bees to build up to have a decent sized brood nest.  With enough nurse and foraging bees to support the colony.  When you have package bees, those bees will soon die off with the new brood replacing them.  There is a huge amount of bees to begin with, a huge loss of bees and then as the brood hatches the colony builds up again, real fast.  But they need enough food to do it.

I don't care what people will say.  Package bees need to be fed for at least 6 weeks to get them through this incredible amount of wax building and brood rearing.  Every book that I have ever read said to feed the be packaged bees for a long time.  I will probably get flack from saying this, but that is OK, this is my opinion and I am stickin' with it.  If the bees are getting enough from nature they won't use the syrup, but it will be there in case they need it.

My first year with bees, I fed my bees for about 2 months, they consumed all the syrup that I fed them, all the time, and I was shocked at how much they used.  As the summer progressed, I stoppped and the made out OK.  Jane, if I were you, I would feed your bees syrup for at least 6 weeks.  You will not  be taking a lot of honey for yourself this year (most likely), so the honey will not be adulterated with syrup for human consumption.  I am hoping that this may make you feel a little bit less confused about this issue that is bothering you so much, and I know that it is.  Feed your bees.  It cannot hurt to feed your bees, and may get them through some very hard times if there is not enough to feed.

I lost a nuc at the end of May last year because I did not provide enough food for this colony.  I thought that they were getting enough from nature, I learn by the many, many mistakes that I make, and let me tell ya, I am the queen of the mistaker.  Have that most beautiful day, feeling a little bit better about confusing issues.  My deep regards.  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline Janemma

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Re: Help please
« Reply #33 on: May 28, 2008, 02:03:55 pm »
Cindi thank you so much for your reassuring post!  I really appreciate that! I do sometimes wonder if advice varies so much because of where we live - I know our weather and our Summer is so very VERY different to almost everyone elses here - our blossom on our trees isn't even quite fully open yet!  I am just so worried that I am going to harm these little creatures!  I am really not in this for the honey!  I am in this to learn about these amazing creatures and to help them in some way because beekeeping has always fascinated me.  I would hate to start off this hobby by killing off a colony by doing the wrong thing!

Thank you!

Offline Kathyp

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Re: Help please
« Reply #34 on: May 28, 2008, 02:40:02 pm »
it may have something to do with where you are, but it also has to do with what we are doing to them. 

your package is kind of like a swarm.  it needs a new home and it has to start over from scratch.  unlike a swarm, your package has no say in where it builds it's home. 

your more mature hive in the wild will get to keep all that it stores, and will regulate it's size and health by swarming.  when we keep a hive, we take part of the food they have saved and we try to keep them from swarming.

bees are like any other thing we choose to keep. we must manage them and care for them.  because we have altered their environment for our benefit, we must recognize that their ability to survive is not what it would have been if we had not interfered.

feed :-)
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Offline Cindi

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Re: Help please
« Reply #35 on: May 29, 2008, 10:13:14 am »
Jane, welcome.  Kathy said some interesting stuff too, listen.

You do not have alot of food sources naturally for the bees yet, if you don't feed, what will they gather to feed themselves and their young.  You are thinking and listening.  Good.  Have a most beautiful and wonderful day, that awesome life, that great life, Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline Janemma

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Re: Help please
« Reply #36 on: May 30, 2008, 12:44:45 pm »
Thank you both - I went out and filled their feeders again :)  they don't seem to be taking as much as they were when they first arrived (when it was being filled daily) but they are at the feeders so I guess there is still an obvious need!!!  :) 

Another thing I don't understand about these silly bees is that we have about a million dandelions now and yet these bees of mine are not interested in them - or the blossom on the apple trees on our land that is finally flowering - they seem to go off of our land to forage - I don't see our bees on any of our plants or flowers - don't spot them anywhere - only bumblebees!!  Is this normal?  I was hoping my bees would pollinate my own plants NOT my neighbours ;) 

Offline Bennettoid

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Re: Help please
« Reply #37 on: May 30, 2008, 12:49:36 pm »
They will go to the best source, whether in quantity or quality.

Offline poka-bee

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Re: Help please
« Reply #38 on: May 30, 2008, 12:59:44 pm »
I have noticed this too.  Maybe there is an optimum time to get nectar/pollen from a flower?? It takes a few days for the pollen to develop to be ready to collect.   Go out & touch the flowers, the 1st few days there is no pollen, then there is.  Now my bees are all over em!  Just my unscientific observation... :roll:  Also, as new bees hatch out they will need more feed so your girls are building up! :-D   Jody
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Offline Cindi

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Re: Help please
« Reply #39 on: May 31, 2008, 11:51:34 am »
Janemma, bees will forage on what is most attractive to them.  Maybe they have found a source that is not at your near place.  Bees are devoted to certain crops at certain times, that is why they are such great pollinators.

I had something very strange happen with my bees this year.  I have always heard people speaking of how the bees loved dandelions.  I began keeping bees in April of 2005.  That year, the next year, and the next year I narry saw a honeybee on the myriad of dandelions that grow here.  This year, the dandelions we covered in them.

We have had a very unseasonably cold year, everything is late by about 2 weeks.  I am not exaggerating one little bit.  I am in a particularly cold spot.  For example.  I noticed within our town which is about 6 km west of our home that the Bridal Veil X Bumalda is in full bloom.  That be the Bridal Veil that is pink, extremely fragrant and extremely attractive to the bees.  I have the same cultivar here.  I have two massive X Bumalda that are of this species.  It is not even close to coming into bloom yet, the buds are just only buds.  I would think that they will be fully open in about two weeks.  Normally, this tree is in full bloom by May 30.  Not.

Something was not blooming this year when the dandelions were blooming, something which in previous years the bees obviously loved more than the dandelion flowers.  I wish I knew what it was that was not blooming and made them forage the dandelions.  These strange things with Mother Nature certainly are a befuddler. 

Another oddity.  People speak of the honeybee pollinating the raspberries.  Never have I seen a honeybee on my raspberries, and I have had these since we moved here, 18 years ago.  But there are the bumblebees by the thousands.  Weird.  They are wonderful pollinators.  The raspberries should be setting buds and flowering any day now.  Because of the number of honeybees on the dandelions, I will be observing deeply who is pollinating them this year.....Beautiful day, gotta be lovin' this life we all live and share, on our Great Planet, Earth. Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service