Welcome, Guest
Login or Register
Home
« previous next »
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: One week in  (Read 2493 times)

Offline Highlander

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 92
  • Gender: Male
One week in
« on: April 20, 2013, 03:24:01 pm »
Opened the hives today, despite the cool temps and high wind, and found everything to be good.  Both the strong hive (#1) and the weak hive (#2) have work going on over 5 frames with syrup in  many of the cells and what I assume is pollen in others. I did not identify any eggs laid and did not ID the queen in either hive.  I was working quickly because of the high wind and lower then 50 temps.  In hive #2 I found a large amount of comb built in the frame feeder, in hive #1 they did not do that.  I got the comb out of the feeder and left it in the bottom of the hive, I hope they will reuse the wax(?).  Overall I am happy with the progress they have made over a week with temps ranging from 20 to 72, lots of cloud and cold winds.  Is there anything els I should be looking for? 
Logged
Cruachan!

Highlander   

For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
From The Declaration of Arbroath 1320.

Offline Steel Tiger

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 563
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2013, 04:35:30 pm »
It seems as if both hives are coming through for you. Keep your eyes peeled for eggs and keep them well fed is about all you can do. If you don't have eggs soon, you might consider ordering replacement queens.
 I would give them no more than 4 weeks from the time they were introduced to the hive before going that route. Perhaps in your haste, you missed seeing them.
 One blogger I saw recommended taking pictures while doing an inspection. That way you can sit back later on and notice things you may have missed. She didn't see her queen during the inspection but found her on a photo.
 Good luck with your hives
Logged

Offline mikecva

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 983
Re: One week in
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2013, 05:33:30 pm »
Welcome to beekeeping.  :cheer:

It is not uncommon to miss the queen when you start out. The trick is watching the other bees, then you will notice one that is not acting like the others.
Upon inspection look inside the cells with the sun coming in over your shoulder, the eggs will look like a tiny peace of rice (with the emphasis on tiny.) As long as there are eggs there must be a queen. It took me until the end of June my first year before I could spot the queen without searching for her.  -Mike
Logged
.
Listen to others but make your own decisions. That way you own the results.
.
Please remember to read labels.

Offline Highlander

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 92
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2013, 09:03:33 pm »
Steel Tiger;  I did not want to expose the hives to the cold wind for any longer then I had to with refilling the feeder being the main goal for today.  I tried to use my phone camera but it would not function with the gloves on. The Misses says she will try to come out with me next time and take some photos, but I think I will use another camera that we have. 

Mikecva;  I really had little expectation of seeing the queen nor of identifying any eggs today, winds were very steady  up towards 25 mph with gusts going into the 40mph range.  I really did not want to take that long to observe. Temps will drop into the low 30s tonight and I wanted as much time and the late afternoon sun, to re warm the hive. The advice on egg spotting makes sense and I will be using it on the next warm calm day we have.

Thanks to you both for your responses. Its fantastic to have a resource like this to get answers and finding out if you are doing things (mostly) right.
Logged
Cruachan!

Highlander   

For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
From The Declaration of Arbroath 1320.

Offline blanc

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 345
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #4 on: April 21, 2013, 11:22:31 am »
Being from this far south I could not imagine living were you are and having a shorter summer than us. Garden been planted a month now and tomatoes are on the vines. We are experiencing some cooler temps at this time which is unusual but we are in a good flow right now and bees are building good. Removed four hives in past couple days that wore me out  :-\ but adding to the bee yard is good. Glad everything wintered OK for you.
Blanc
Logged
Psalm 19:9-10
The fear of the Lord is clean,enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea ,than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Offline Joe D

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 2246
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #5 on: April 21, 2013, 12:10:36 pm »
Glad to hear your bees are doing fine.  I would keep an eye out for the brood, to me its easier to find than the queen sometimes.  Good luck to you and your bees. 




Joe
Logged

Offline Highlander

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 92
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2013, 10:22:25 pm »
Thanks Blanc, I can't wait for tomatoes! But I won't see them until late July. 

Joe D, I am waiting for another nice day to open the hives up and look, although I would like to see the Queen, I will be happy if I just find some brood.  Question; do they bees lay down a base of pollen or bee bread for the egg to sit in?

Thank you all!
Logged
Cruachan!

Highlander   

For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
From The Declaration of Arbroath 1320.

Offline Highlander

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 92
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #7 on: April 22, 2013, 08:00:33 pm »
Well, I was over by the hives late morning and it was pretty warm, so I decided I would take a quick peek inside. I opened Hive #1 and immediately saw the queen on top of one of the frame, all the girls were busy and completely ignored my intrusion.  I then opened hive #2 and immediately got attacked by a bunch of angry bees!  One flew straight into my ear and, of course, stung me!  Ouch, that really hurt. After walking away from the rest of the bees swarming around my head, I returned and popped the top back on. After applying a numbing salve I immediately ordered three bee vales with hats for keeping in the turkey coop so I can pop into to see what is going on. 

Later in the afternoon, the wife and I sat on the porch and could see bees working the bleep willow down by the road, despite the wind.  All in all, it was good to see at least the one queen.
Logged
Cruachan!

Highlander   

For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
From The Declaration of Arbroath 1320.

Offline johng

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 124
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #8 on: April 23, 2013, 05:25:47 pm »
Did the testy hive have any eggs or brood? You don't have to see the queen but, making sure you have new eggs is a good idea. Something may have happened to her. It could explain why they were testy and the other hive was nice.
Logged

Offline Highlander

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 92
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #9 on: April 23, 2013, 07:50:07 pm »
Thanks John,  I was just taking a quick peek in the two hives since the weather has been very cold and damp since I installed the packages.  Hive #1 arrived with few dead bees and syrup left in the can, hive #2 arrived with several thousand dead bees and no syrup in the can. Bad handling by UPS.  Hive #2 has been an angry hive from the moment I  installed them.  When I opened the top they swarmed out and, since I did not have a bee head net on, had to depart rapidly.  Once the bees had returned to the hive I quickly replaced the top and did not see anything of the interior. I will be suiting up and taking a good look tomorrow as we are supposed to be up in the 70's and calm breezes, I will have time to take a longer look inside.
Logged
Cruachan!

Highlander   

For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
From The Declaration of Arbroath 1320.

Offline Sparky

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 804
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2013, 09:50:35 pm »
Give the testy hive a couple of good puffs of smoke under the cover and entrance and close of for a minute before you go in it. Pay attention to the sound of the bees when you start to inspect. If them start to hum pretty loud then their is a good chance that it is queenless and they can get mean quick so move slow with no jerking motions when moving things around. Good Luck.
Logged

Offline Highlander

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 92
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #11 on: April 23, 2013, 10:53:29 pm »
Thanks Sparky. They do get loud when I open the top, and very aggressive.  I also noted that the queen in her cage was extremely agitated. I will be taking a good look tomorrow since we will be having 70 degrees and sunny.  I plan on taking my time in that hive and locating the queen is one of the tasks I want to accomplish. 
Logged
Cruachan!

Highlander   

For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
From The Declaration of Arbroath 1320.

Offline Highlander

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 92
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #12 on: April 24, 2013, 01:46:14 pm »
Opened up the angry hive to day and (I hope) this is a picture of the one of the frames with brood. Does it all look okay?

Logged
Cruachan!

Highlander   

For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
From The Declaration of Arbroath 1320.

Offline Bees In Miami

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 169
  • Gender: Female
Re: One week in
« Reply #13 on: April 24, 2013, 03:25:43 pm »
Looks good to me!  Capped brood, and nice plump larvae that will soon be capped.  (the white shiny "C's" in the cups).  I don't see eggs, but the queen typically lays from the center, out, so the younger larvae and eggs are likely beyond the range of this close up pic.  Did you spot the queen or eggs?
Logged

Offline Highlander

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 92
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #14 on: April 24, 2013, 04:54:13 pm »
Thanks Bees, I may have caught a glimpse of the queen in a pile of bees, and it appeared she was hunched like she was laying but I lost her in the pile.  I did not see any eggs, just the larvae.  This is the frame from a bit less magnification.


Logged
Cruachan!

Highlander   

For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
From The Declaration of Arbroath 1320.

Offline Sparky

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 804
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #15 on: April 24, 2013, 08:19:49 pm »
The brood that is capped is flat. That is what you wanted to see. If it was all bulleted out they would be drones only. The hive should settle down over the next couple of weeks if you do not constantly disturb them. Good luck.
Logged

Offline Highlander

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 92
  • Gender: Male
Re: One week in
« Reply #16 on: April 24, 2013, 08:28:27 pm »
Thanks Sparky, now that I am satisfied that the queen made it and things seem to be going in the right direction, I intend to leave them be for a couple of weeks.  Checking them daily is easy as they are just a few yards from the turkeys coop.  So , no strange activity and I'll leave 'em alone.
Logged
Cruachan!

Highlander   

For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
From The Declaration of Arbroath 1320.
Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »