I'm a confused new beekeeper

  • 20 Apr 2021 4:46 PM
    Reply # 10333277 on 9280085
    Deleted user

    Thanks Allen. I switched the hive bodies this morning and put all brood frames in the bottom one.  I checked for mites a week or so ago

    I had brood in both levels but not a lot in the old bottom. It was mostly comb being drawn.  I have been feeding sugar water 1:1 for about a month and there is a decent bee population.  I thought I found some swarm cells so I took a a frame with what I thought were queen cells and added another frame of brood and put them in a nuke box with a frame of honey.  Experimenting. I got stung right between the eyes while doing all this LOL


    Last modified: 20 Apr 2021 4:52 PM | Deleted user
  • 20 Apr 2021 10:14 AM
    Reply # 10331911 on 9280085
    Allen Engle (Administrator)

    Marc,

    Glad to hear they're doing well.  You might also check to see if all the bees and activity are/is in the upper hive body.  If so, and there is NO brood in the bottom hive, you might want to consider swapping the two hive bodies (bottom to top and top to bottom).  It helps them realize there's more space and they can more easily increase.  Also, might want to do another mite count.

    Keep up the good work.


    Allen


  • 19 Apr 2021 2:36 AM
    Reply # 10327790 on 9280085
    Deleted user

    Update:  LOL I am still learning.  I was not queenless as I thought but my bees were just smart and quit making brood because winter was almost here.  I still have the two hives and they survived the winter. I started feeding syrup about 6 weeks ago and they are doing well. 

  • 13 Oct 2020 12:42 PM
    Reply # 9301694 on 9280085

    Hey Mark, so I often don't find my queen when I am in the hive but what I call Queen Blindness (a beekeepers ability to see a queen when she is right there in front of you) gets better with time but is susceptible to random reoccurrence. Mostly I look for signs of a queen, specifically eggs and larvae (more so than capped brood). Finding eggs and larva lets you know that a queen is in the hie even of you don't see her. So it sounds like you have 2 hives as you are talking about joining them, if your hives have little stores of honey and pollen laid in even if you do possibly have 2 queens then by all means join them. One stronger hive is more likely to survive than 2 weaker hives. Certainly give a good look through both hives for a queen, if you find one go ahead and squish one and combine. If you squish a queen I would let that hive be queenless for a day before combining and I personally use the newspaper method. After the hives have been combined for a few days you can get back in there and condense all of your brood areas from each hive into the bottom box and put more of your honey resources in the top box.

    Good luck.


    R

  • 13 Oct 2020 10:15 AM
    Reply # 9301281 on 9280085
    Deleted user

    I completed my maqs mite treatment and dug into the hives again.  One has some brood so I might just combine the two hives after looking really close for a queen

  • 13 Oct 2020 10:11 AM
    Reply # 9301278 on 9280085
    Deleted user

    Thanks

  • 12 Oct 2020 1:28 PM
    Reply # 9299549 on 9280085

    Hi Mark, looks like you've had no response so I'll give it a try. 3 bees in a hundred would give you a 3% varroa population, during the spring often the deciding point is around 4% but we are in fall and it's best to treat so that you have the absolute minimum mite load going into the winter. The decision and method is up to you and it's a moot point if you are queenless. With no eggs larvae or brood (I think you said that) then you are likely queenless and the hive won't survive. It's pretty much to late to add a queen at this point in the year if you could even find one and haveing any chance of survival over the winter would be slim indeed. I would say chalk this year up to a learning process and start again in the spring with another Nuc or capture a swarm.

    It's been a rough year in Central OR for beekeeping. I started 2020 with 3 hives, I caught a swarm and went up to 4, neglected testing for mites in June/July as I had treated in may and my hives suffered from my stupidity. I am now back to 3 hives as I joined my 2 weakest hives a few weeks ago but now it looks like that hive is now queenless so it won't survive... rough year.

    So, treat if you want to but you are probably queenless so it's a moot point. Use the resources that you have (hive equipment/pulled comb [worth it's weight in gold]) to jump start next years bee keeping efforts.

  • 03 Oct 2020 4:50 PM
    Reply # 9281525 on 9280085
    Deleted user

    I did an alchohol wash and got about 3 mites per 100


  • 02 Oct 2020 5:35 PM
    Message # 9280085
    Deleted user

    My story: I bought a nuke this spring and put in in a 10 frame.  I was reluctant to bother the bees and they swarmed after about a month.  Too late, I tore into the hive and found about 4 what I thought were queen cells so I divided them between a nuke box and a hive.  I kept better watch and about a month or 6 weeks later I thought I saw a queen and brood, so I was happy.  Then I do wildland fire fighting so I just got back from a month away and dug into my hives and lots of bees, no brood.  I think I might be queenless.  What should I do?

    

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