Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: bailey on February 09, 2013, 06:22:27 pm

Title: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: bailey on February 09, 2013, 06:22:27 pm
First five nucs pulled from hives as well as a couple boxes of honey. 
Will probably pull more nucs and honey tomorrow. 

I have blackberry blooming. White clover blooming.  Drones flying and drone brood with purple eyes on the pupae.

Guess we will see in about 14 days!
I love making nucs!
Bailey

Gotta give moots a bit of a thank you.  He came down and helped me play in the bees today. 
And I was nice and didn't work him to death. 

(http://s8.postimage.org/rthd0rfn5/image.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/rthd0rfn5/)
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: Moots on February 09, 2013, 06:30:58 pm

Gotta give moots a bit of a thank you.  He came down and helped me play in the bees today. 
And I was nice and didn't work him to death. 

(http://s8.postimage.org/rthd0rfn5/image.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/rthd0rfn5/)


Enjoyed it....Thanks again!  :)

I must admit, from a manual labor point of view, I thought I got off QUITE EASY!  Not that I'm complaining.  :-D
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: 10framer on February 09, 2013, 07:05:08 pm
if you're in south la. i have to think you'll be ok.  i guess one of these crazy cold fronts could dump some ice down that way but it would probably gone in a day or two and right back up in the 70's.  i'm going to texas in a couple of weeks and i want to think i'll be doing splits when i get back.  i'm watching the sunset in the middle of ga. right now and it's still 61 degrees.  got to love an early spring.
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: duck on February 09, 2013, 07:28:08 pm
havent seen any drones flying yet, im a few hours west of ya but our azaleas are full bloom, its wild!
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: splitrock on February 09, 2013, 08:23:22 pm
Enough already!!!

We have 3 foot of frost in the ground (where there's moisture) up here.
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: lazy shooter on February 09, 2013, 10:27:33 pm
Hey Bailey, is that oranges I see in the picture of your yard?  If it is, eat some for me.  I haven't had a ripe orange or Satsuma all winter.  I envy you those tree ripened oranges.
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: bailey on February 10, 2013, 09:14:51 am
Its some nice oranges. My lime tree is to my back in that pic. 
 :evil:
Satsumas don't have any fruit right now. 

Bailey
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: AstroBee on February 10, 2013, 10:20:48 am
Yeah, I think your timing is right on. A cold snap could set you back, but I gotta believe that these should do well.
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: RHBee on February 10, 2013, 10:50:15 am
I have blackberry blooming. White clover blooming.  Drones flying and drone brood with purple eyes on the pupae.

I'm gonna bet that your doing the right thing. I'm well north of you and after what I saw during my first inspection of the year I think we are about a month early. Population was very large, 16 deep frames heavy with bees, lots of drones, burr comb had stuck the upper frames to the lower, upper frames full of brood in various staged of development, stores looked good pollen and capped honey around brood and outer frames of top box yet the lower chamber nearly empty except for clinging bees and uncapped nectar. Tulip Tree in full bloom, blueberries beginning to bloom and lastly red buds budding out. When I went to a local beekeepers group meeting a friend gave me the calendar for the local area monthly tasks and based on information I was able to find out about regular bloom dates I see a good month ahead of normal. I went ahead and swapped the top and bottom box location and I'm getting ready for the flow which could start in about 2 weeks. I'm going into my other hives today expecting to see the same things. Next month should be split time, Sorry I was so long winded I wish every one the best.

----------------------------Here We Go-------------------------------------------
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: bud1 on February 10, 2013, 10:53:48 am
oranges and you bring me grape fruit; shucks put some in a hog pen and they wouldnt eat them and i dont cul much, but just ant eating something a hog refuses.
take care buddie sho looking farward to seing you soon
o did you introduce moot to the monkey?
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: gov1623 on February 10, 2013, 11:19:27 am
I was going through a hive yesterday and found a hatched out queen cell. A few frames later i found a patch of eggs. I don't think they swarmed, it looked like a supersedure cell. That must mean they replaced the queen back in January, so i wouldnt have any worries in making splits now.
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: bailey on February 10, 2013, 12:05:23 pm
No bud He didn't get his monkey pass yet. 
Bailey
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: bailey on February 10, 2013, 12:08:07 pm
I expect swarms any day now.   
Next full moon should be kicking!
Bailey
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: Moots on February 10, 2013, 12:12:04 pm
No bud He didn't get his monkey pass yet. 
Bailey

Yeah Bud, I didn't rank an introduction, but I did get a couple of monkey stories....I'm working my way up slowly. LOL!  :)

Hey Bailey, did you extract what we pulled yet? Got what you needed out of it?
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: Moots on February 10, 2013, 12:14:42 pm
I expect swarms any day now.   
Next full moon should be kicking!
Bailey

Hey Bailey,
Did you realize TONIGHT is a full moon?
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: 10framer on February 10, 2013, 01:46:57 pm
it's the new moon (no moon). 
bailey, i'm rooting for you and jealous at the same time.  this is the first time i've really had the time and money to be as involved as i want to be in beekeeping and i'm running about 3 weeks behind you by my estimates (still about a month early from what i remember) and i'm getting anxious.
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: Moots on February 10, 2013, 02:11:55 pm
it's the new moon (no moon).  
bailey, i'm rooting for you and jealous at the same time.  this is the first time i've really had the time and money to be as involved as i want to be in beekeeping and i'm running about 3 weeks behind you by my estimates (still about a month early from what i remember) and i'm getting anxious.

10framer, thanks for the clarification...I was having coffee at my moms when I read Bailey's post and asked when was the next full moon. She pulled out a calendar and it had a solid black circle. I took that as a full moon, Oops!  :?

Anyway, it was good motivation to get moving...got my first ever swarm trap up.  :)

(http://i1311.photobucket.com/albums/s664/jeffrobert41183/Bees/685CB189-5125-41AD-B9CB-1FA5E6CDC7D0-193-0000000893A642B0_zpsb3aa02f4.jpg)
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: Moots on February 10, 2013, 05:20:08 pm
Got swarm trap #2 done! 

No old brood comb and only two traps...I realize that makes a catch pretty much a long shot.  But hey, if it's like fishing, at least I have a couple lines in the water now.  I figure it's a better use for my two Nucs than sitting in storage.

One's about 50 feet from where my bees are at and the other is about 1/4 mile away, in my front yard...So, they'll both be easy to take a peek at pretty much on a daily bases.  :)

(http://i1311.photobucket.com/albums/s664/jeffrobert41183/Bees/EA19144D-ADFD-49A3-B518-E9D8A2BCFEB9-193-00000011667717F1_zpsaad5f3c9.jpg)
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: gov1623 on February 11, 2013, 09:03:07 am
Looks good moots. I found used nuc boxes make the best swarm traps. The bee smell is permanently in it.   
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: bud1 on February 11, 2013, 09:54:37 am
moot you thaught about toting that box down fulla bees> man just flip a rope over a limb and pull the sucker up just leave the entrance kinda down olny thing you ned think about    when bees come just untie rope and let it down
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: Moots on February 11, 2013, 10:04:13 am
moot you thaught about toting that box down fulla bees> man just flip a rope over a limb and pull the sucker up just leave the entrance kinda down olny thing you ned think about    when bees come just untie rope and let it down

LOL! Yeah bud, I thought about it!   :)

I've got a good sturdy ladder and a pretty straight shot to both, so in my "mental rehearsal" of what if would be like to have to take it down full of bees, it went flawlessly.  :)  I'm sure that "reality" might turn out to be a little different.  :(

Just hoping I get the chance to find out!  :-D
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: johng on February 11, 2013, 11:45:25 am
Your weather is probably similar to ours. I made my splits last week with queen cells so I'm hoping for good weather too.
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: Intheswamp on February 11, 2013, 12:23:42 pm
I'm about 50 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama.  Been getting the 50/60/70F, temperatures...even got up close to 80F the other day.  I get to looking this morning and the middle of the week the lows are beginning to dip down into the upper 30F...then I get a reality check when I see that Sunday morning the predicted low is 27F!!!!!!!!!!  
:jawdrop:
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: Moots on February 11, 2013, 02:16:32 pm
I'm about 50 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama.  Been getting the 50/60/70F, temperatures...even got up close to 80F the other day.  I get to looking this morning and the middle of the week the lows are beginning to dip down into the upper 30F...then I get a reality check when I see that Sunday morning the predicted low is 27F!!!!!!!!!!  
:jawdrop:

Looks like we're in for a few days with plenty of rain. However, the current 10 day forecast only has the low making it into the 30's twice, 36° one night and 38° the other. So I'm thinking we're still on track for an early spring.

How cold would it have to get and for how long to be considered a set back?  I've never really paid much attention to the weather or the seasons, I usually just take them as they come. I guess being a Beek is gonna change that!  :)
Title: Re: Gambling on early spring. Making nucs in feb!
Post by: 10framer on February 11, 2013, 09:26:24 pm
it got a little wind last night so i drove out and checked my bees today.  plums are in full bloom and my clover is a full inch taller than it was saturday.  the bees were flying in the rain.  i just saw swamps post and checked the forecast and i've got two nights below freezing at the end of the week then lows in the mid 40's again.  crazy.