Update your hives here.

[Shawn]

10/14/17 update:
We were setting up to go through all four hives today, to prep them up for winter. DH is standing there and nonchalantly says "There's a tiny swarm." I thought he was joking... nope. A baby-sized swarm on the peach tree!?!?? What ARE they thinking? Then I began to wonder if a hive was overrun by pests and they were bailing out. But nope. We went through each one and they're all still there. I am totally guessing they came out of a hive that has been my "survivor" hive. This one was packed to the gills with bees, so I'm only guessing.

So, we hived the swarm in a nuc box for now.

We left all hives with one super on them. Two hives had 2 supers on, so we took the best frames and put them into one and left it on the hive.

Later, it occurred to me that since this baby swarm will not build enough house to do anything and I'm going to combine them back with someone anyway, I should give them the excess super frames, so at least they have some drawn foundation to make a house with. Plus, I have extra super boxes and no brood boxes right now, so that would be easier to set them on top of a hive. So tomorrow I will swap out their brand new brood frames for the super frames that have some nectar in them. I also made some sugar syrup to feed them and will insert a frame feeder in their box.
How ridiculous. About two-ish weeks ago DH said there was a swarm that went over his head and disappeared. I worried then that they could not get a virgin queen mated before the cool weather sets in, and now it's probably the same hive doing it again. So I may end up putting this queen back in her old hive.

[margiejd]

You are a brave and very knowledgeable lady. Wish I had studied more on bee's.

[Shawn]

Oct 14, 2017 21:10:18 GMT -5 margiejd said:

You are a brave and very knowledgeable lady.

And I think the same of you!

[Shawn]

The last one I caught late was in August maybe last year or year before. I did combine it with newspaper onto another smaller hive. Then, the next spring, that hive was booming. I caught several swarms and got those going and sold them, so it was a good thing. And no way would I try to get this hive to overwinter. There are probably 200 bees in it.
I hate to let a queen go, especially when this late, the swarmed hive may not successfully make another one. So I will feed them in the nuc box and maybe give them a frame of bees to boost their population until I determine which hive to combine them with.

Swarmy-ness could be heritable for sure, but it is a common trait in Africanized bees (which we do NOT have) but to me that indicates health and vitality. That's why I think it came off this one hive that was almost dead from SHB, but then came roaring back. So in this case, I am wanting to preserve the toughness factor they are displaying. But I really don't know which hive it came off of and I've been pretty bad at guessing a lot of bee things so far, so we'll see.

[Shawn]

1/20/18 update:

Warm enough for cleansing flights today. I had four sugar boards ready, so we popped those on this afternoon. I still had liquid feeders on two, so we took those off also.

On a bee blog I read a couple months ago about bees that were kicking the sugar out of their hives. In years past, I have felt like we were late getting boards on, but now I'm thinking that it's fine to wait until Jan/Feb. Because if they're kicking it out before it truly sets in winter cold, then you've gained nothing. It almost seems to me like after we have a severe cold spell, then they leave the sugar in the hive.
I do sugar boards as "insurance" feed even though I leave all of my hives with at least one super. Last year, in spite of the boards (and because I didn't recheck them) we lost a full hive that was absolutely packed with larvae and bees. They simply starved to death in early March because they had consumed their sugar board and needed another. So this year, I'll set a reminder to check if they need another board made. I was sick cleaning that hive up, because it was so fresh the larvae were still squirting out when I scraped the frames. Made me very upset with myself.

[simplynaturalfarm]

I know profesional bee guys who dump sugar in the entrance, tip the hive back to get it to pour in and leave it if it is too cold to open. So I'm sure they will be good with a sugar board.
Man, an entire super of honey and a sugar board and they still died in March - that seems like a hive that is wanting to cull itself. Here the single deeps go into our harsh winter with their single brood chamber filled with sugar syrup (feeding 1-4 gallons of it) and a 12 lb sugar board if people are worried. Many don't want to do the sugar unnecessarily, so just feed them up to weight in fall and then check them for honey during a warm day (not pulling frames, just sticking hive tool into outside frames to see if honey comes out). If they have honey they leave them.

[Shawn]

simplynaturalfarm They have single deeps in your area?? Around here they don't recommend singles, we have all double deeps. But now that I think about it, you're colder, the bees would be less active, would consume less honey, so that makes a bit more sense. Here the weather yo-yo's so much that they eat a lot of honey when the weather warms up (like today).

And I'm surprised that bees would eat much off the floor, since they usually go up for food.

Guess it just goes to show you there's lots of ways to keep bees!

[simplynaturalfarm]

They recommend more because they have to eat for 4-5 months with no cleansing flights. Not sure why yours would need the quantity they do as the bee guys in your neck of the wood are saying 7-8 frames honey and 2-3 pollen will take them through a winter. Maybe the year, maybe your hive starts building earlier etc - not much we can do but feed
When is your first pollen and nectar? here usually mid April so you have to make sure they have stores before then as they are laying in march - or at least they will lay and build up killer strong hive if you feed them before the pollen and nectar are flowing strong. If you don't then you lose the opportunity of building up the hives so that when the honey flow starts the bees are already strong and can bring in hundreds of pounds with strong hives.

[Shawn]

kim'scows Yes, they were really ramping up. I'd like to blame my not checking it on other things, but I just didn't think about them blowing through all their honey and a sugar board. We did have a mild winter, though, so that would account for the high food consumption. Plus, some strains of bees are known to have a bigger appetite than others. Since ours are mostly mutts at this point, I need to start paying attention to which hives overwinter on less feed. I have a hive now that has proven itself as a survivor of SHB and sheer neglect. So those are bees I want more of.

I read the blog Honey Bee Suite. A while back she had an excellent post about the summer solstice being the time when bees start to gear down and conversely, the winter solstice, they start gearing up. That really changes your perspective if you think of it that way. You realize they are way ahead of you in the planning department. The bee season doesn't begin when you're starting your garden, like I seem to have stuck in my head. I didn't realize that somewhere in my subconscious, that's what I was thinking.

simplynaturalfarm The first year that we overwintered bees and I saw them bringing in pollen in February, I couldn't believe my eyes. I had NO idea where they were getting it. I've since learned about how the maple trees (and other large trees) have pollen that early. I guess I never looked up high enough before. Today, I looked at our maple by the house. You can see the bumps on the limbs where the buds are already swelling. Crazy.

[lew92]

I went out to listen to my hive a couple of weeks ago and couldn't hear a thing. So I opened it up and it was full of dead bees. Honey all over in the two supers plus a syrup feeder that had been barely touched. So I'll be starting over again. Pout.

[Shawn]

Rats lew92 and kim'scows That so sucks to find a dead out, let alone multiples.

We purchased a Georgia queen a few years ago and I loved her. She was a "small cell" bee, so very tiny queen, but boy did she produce. I still have lots of her offspring.

[Jes]

I want to do better this year in general as a beekeeper, and keeping records of the hive goings-on is part of my objective. I found a "beekeepers journal" available to purchase and am wondering if it's worth the expense? What do you typically record??

This is the journal I found. Anyone by chance used it? I'm wondering if it's more pretty pictures and less useful. I'm sure I could create my own record journal from a simple notebook if I knew what's useful to keep track of.

Beekeepers Journal

[simplynaturalfarm]

Jan 22, 2018 6:31:49 GMT -5 kim'scows said:

I checked our hives on a warm day last week and 2 were dead, but they all still had plenty of honey stores. One had been a split I made back in the spring and let the bees make an emergency queen, and the colony had been puny all season so I wasn't surprised they died. The other that died was one of my strongest colonies, but it is interesting to note that it was the one hive where I placed a purchased queen from Georgia back in the spring. That colony was BOOMING all summer, but I wonder if they just couldn't take the cold. The rest of my colonies are mutts that have been running on natural selection for several years and they seem to be survivors.

Do you treat for mites in fall with anything natural or otherwise? You requeened so was there a period of time with no brood this spring (best for mites killing)? Was there pollen in the hive?

It sure was a cold year for sure! Sometimes the most frustrating thing about bees is how many unanswered questions there are when they die!

[Shawn]

Jan 22, 2018 11:10:08 GMT -5 Jes said:

I'm wondering if it's more pretty pictures and less useful. I'm sure I could create my own record journal from a simple notebook if I knew what's useful to keep track of.

I'd say this ^^. Sorry, but yes, you can keep one yourself. I have a spiral notebook that I carry out to the hives and make notes. Then I use my Word program on my laptop and have a bee log on there, where I can type out longer notes.

It is very helpful to keep notes, as you cannot remember from time to time what happened. I have a hard time (with four hives) keeping track of which hive I noticed "X, Y, Z" in.

So this weekend we put sugar boards on. I noted:

Hive A: Removed a liquid feeder, added a shim, added a sugar board. Bees look good/active. Very golden colored bees.

Hive MG: Added a sugar board. Bees very assertive, but not stinging.

Hive E: Added a sugar board. Bees look good/active.

Hive D: Removed a liquid feeder, added a sugar board. Bees look good/active.

Those were my jotted down notes, then I expound if needed.

[lew92]

kim'scows, I'm going to order two packages, but I'll take the earliest delivery date I can get. I got this hive in mid May, so I'm sure that has something to do with it.

It surprised me that they died because the queen was super active, there were a LOT of worker bees and plenty of honey AND a feeder in the hive. I honestly have to wonder if the queen died because the bees weren't as clustered as I would have expected. I wrapped the hive in tar paper and left one hole open for ventilation and for them to do cleansing flights, so it shouldn't have been too bad in there.

One question: I have at least 16 medium frames full of honey in there. Do I keep them all and split them up between the new hives in the spring? I've never done this before.

[Shawn]

Jan 23, 2018 10:46:27 GMT -5 lew92 said:

One question: I have at least 16 medium frames full of honey in there. Do I keep them all and split them up between the new hives in the spring? I've never done this before.

I'd put them in the freezer to keep moths/beetles out of them. And yes, when you get your new packages, they'll be happy to have some honey, so you could split them between the hives. Or, you could extract it if you need some or all.

[lew92]

My brother has been keeping bees for years and the black tarpaper with one hole opening is how he does it. The tar paper is semi-permeable for air and letting the moisture out but blocks the wind. It also helps warm things up due to the color. He said never to use plastic or the foam insulation, as it traps moisture too much.

I checked for mites off and on throughout the summer and did a really thorough check in September, but didn't see any at all. I do have a screened bottom board and I know that helps.

I may take a couple of frames of honey for me and freeze up the rest then. Thanks for the input.

[Cowlicked]

lew92 did your brother give you his idea on why the colony died?

[lew92]

I haven't had a chance to talk with him. I haven't opened up the hive yet, either but probably should before going for my surgery. I want to see where they were in relation to the honey comb.

I know the last time I had bees, they clustered in the center and ran out of honey where they were, with plenty in the next frames over.

I do want to create a better shelter for them prior to next winter. The hives are on a platform that is surrounded on three sides by lattice and late this fall I put up windbreaks around the hive, but it wasn't built in, just kind of propped in there. I'm thinking a roof on it that is higher to the south would be good too. Rather like a run-in shelter for cattle

[elnini]

I have three hives, two full size and one was a tiny swarm this spring, so it's about three months old. We use "ideal" size boxes in Tas, about half the depth of a normal box. More fiddly, but easier to lift.

Dad came down recently for a visit and brought a whole lot of new bee gear with him. We did some maintenance work and extracted, it was great doing that with him :-)

So the swarm is now in three boxes, and growing fast, Dad was delighted with how healthy it is. The two bigger hives we took the two top boxes off each and extracted (equivalent to one box each of normal size) and got about 38kg of honey.

I need to get queen excluders in, so I don't have to worry about where the queen is. And escape boards, to make extraction day simpler :-)

The hives came with some frames that have plastic comb... if there was an empty frame in any box it was the plastic one.