Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: ThomasGR on May 02, 2013, 04:13:46 am
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Hello,
A few days ago i made a few splits from 1 hive ( afternoon ) with swarm cells and placed them just a few meters away from the mother hive ( entrance closed with grass ). Next morning opened a small entrance pulling the grass a few cm ( about 12 hours ).
Of course i knew that foragers will go back, but success last year was the reason trying again.
What i need to know is how long can bees can stay closed into their new hives in order not to transfer. Ideally 3 days. Do they stress too much ? Temperature is now 15 night - 28+ day. Is there any danger for bees ? I use 5 frame boxes solid for those splits ( 3 frames inside ).
* next day bees gathered outside the entrance, like during summer. This happened only first day. Surprisingly 2-3 of them have too many foragers returning to the new location from day one ( they where not new to the job ).
Thank you, Thomas.
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When it is hot, they can overheat very quickly. When they need pollen for feeding young, they can run out in a day or two. How long depends on many factors, but heat is a big one. If it's cold enough they couldn't fly anyway, then confining them is probably irrelevant.
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The temps you list are in Celsius correct? So in Fahrenheit that would be a night time temp of 59F and a daily high of 82F. The daytime high is pretty hot so beware of overheating.
David
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So, you think that the main concern for closing bees inside a hive is heat and ventilation. Do they stress in other ways ( queen cells inside )? Is screened bottom good enough for these situations ? Do they need also top ventilation ?
I am just trying to find a way of doing the job with the minimum cost. What i want from the nucs is to start small colonies and have queens mated, they have time to grow here. Did you ever noticed difference between transferred colonies and those who stay in yard. I mean difference over the time, not the first days when foragers drift.
Thanks.
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They have to haul water to cool the hive in hot weather. They need a constant source of pollen to feed brood. My concerns are:
1) water for cooling
2) ventilation for cooling
3) pollen for brood rearing