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I just stuck a rock inside to prop up the lid a little and there is a hole in the ....... Um... forgot what it's called. Its the inside lid with the oblong hole in it that I sit the bee feed on. Since I left the honey in that hive this year, I got about 10 different sized jars of dark amber. My husband says it's better than the light I got from the other hives in the Fall. I'll have do save this since I wont be harvesting much if any this coming Fall.
There doesnt seem to be much noise in the last hive. I'm keeping a close watch. They are barely eating the sugar water so I'm guessing they have spare honey. I left them 6 heavy frames. Maybe more.
 
I got a message from the chapter President today. They are doing a hive loss check. I asked if many are losing hives, but haven't heard back.
 
robinjopo said:
I just stuck a rock inside to prop up the lid a little and there is a hole in the ....... Um... forgot what it's called. Its the inside lid with the oblong hole in it that I sit the bee feed on. Since I left the honey in that hive this year, I got about 10 different sized jars of dark amber. My husband says it's better than the light I got from the other hives in the Fall. I'll have do save this since I wont be harvesting much if any this coming Fall.
There doesnt seem to be much noise in the last hive. I'm keeping a close watch. They are barely eating the sugar water so I'm guessing they have spare honey. I left them 6 heavy frames. Maybe more.
Click to expand...

It's called the inner cover. The rock is a bad idea. Take it out, put a nickel in 2 adjacent corners on top of the inner cover. When you put the telescoping cover over it, the nickels will create a 1/16th inch gap all around, that will help the vapor moisture to escape. 6 frames is nothing. A colony going into winter should have a full 10 frame deep and at least a 10 frame medium, all full of honey. They can eat a full frame every week in winter. When it's below the 50's, it is very hard for them to take sugar water. Fondant might be a better choice. Top priority is to make sure they don't starve. And I can't say this enough: talk to your local mentor.
 
TexasFreedom said:
It's called the inner cover. The rock is a bad idea. Take it out, put a nickel in 2 adjacent corners on top of the inner cover. When you put the telescoping cover over it, the nickels will create a 1/16th inch gap all around, that will help the vapor moisture to escape. 6 frames is nothing. A colony going into winter should have a full 10 frame deep and at least a 10 frame medium, all full of honey. They can eat a full frame every week in winter. When it's below the 50's, it is very hard for them to take sugar water. Fondant might be a better choice. Top priority is to make sure they don't starve. And I can't say this enough: talk to your local mentor.
Click to expand...
These aren't the small supers. I had the large deep frames. Some of the lower biz had honey too. Before getting to the lower brood chamber. At least 60 lbs. They didn't come any where near eating it all last year. I'll do the Nicolas. We are expecting bad storms with lots if rain and storms. Up to 3 inches. So more moisture coming.
 
These bees definitely weren't going to starve. I've got a counter full of jars of honey. I've changed clothes so many times this week. My kitchen is one sticky mess. I'll save most of these since next Fall will only have one hive to harvest. I don't even eat honey. I've preordered 2 nucs from my mentor. NOTE. Chickens do not eat dead bees. "You ever been bit by a dead bee"?. Name that movie.
 
Remember, I lost my sense of smell and taste 15 years ago so I dont know what I'm missing. I put it in hot tea sometimes for the medicinal properties, but that's it.

Maybe now that I'm getting some taste and smell back, I'll be learning that I like many new foods.
 
Some type critter clawed at 2 of my entrances and completely removed them.

I may put a cage out to see what I catch.

I'll have to wait till chickens are on the roost.
 
Robin, it's a skunk. Take some tack strips (what they put under a carpet to hold it in place, it looks like a bunch of tacks through a thin piece of wood) and nail it to your entrance area, with the nails toward the hive. Skunks don't like it. They can eat 1000+ bees in a night. Or spend the night with your 22 rifle watching.
 
Got my bees. Very active so I only found the queen in one box. I'll let them calm down then check on Friday.

I was transferring them to box and husband drove in and stopped to take a picture. I told him they were very riled and it was dangerous. He got it right in the ear. I warned him. Muahahahahaha
 
We have all seen, read and heard how very stupid and destructive the human animal can be...how shocking even more if it is a direct destruction of one of the two most important insects that Mother Nature has. The following picture was made in Eastern Europe and I do not know if it was a natural disaster, (extremely doubful), if it was an act of frustration, anger or even revenge, (more probable), of just a hateful, spiteful and unjustified act of human stupidity. The cause is no longer important. The end product will never be understood and the perpetrator will never be understood either. I cannot describe what I feel when I see something like this and I can never believe what other humans do and are capable of doing. Only judge for youselves and pray God and Nature will recover from the loss.......in tears, Gary







bees 2.JPG
bees 1.JPG

These are around 40 families of bees and their graveyard...........GP
 
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I've decided to spend this year accumulating hives and materials as well as reading up all i can find on running an apiary.
I have a past co-worker who is heavy into bees and runs 40 hives. I'll be getting a few nukes from him next spring and hopefully be successful in my endeavors.
I have also been collecting heirloom seeds to plant a garden and preferred flower species for bees to plant next spring.
 
WD8, join a local club & start learning. Learn a good bit before your first colony, otherwise you'll be throwing money away. 40 colonies isn't really 'heavy' into bees, he's not even at the 'sideliner' level yet. But he's got plenty of experience to be really helpful. Always remember that beekeeping is local, very local. 10 miles one way or another can be a completely different ball of wax.

Gary, beekeepers make plenty of mistakes on their own, they don't need help killing colonies. I remember reading about one fellow who had 100k colonies going into winter, and came out with 50k. Talk about losses...

Robin, sounds good! Make sure they have good stores & let them bloom. Remember that beekeepers have been practicing social distancing for 1000's of years.
 
Prepping to put another deep box on hives and pulled the frames from the plastic bags and some had mold on them.

I scraped the ones with plastic foundation and about that time my mentor called and said I had wasted my time because the bees would clean the mess. Oh well, better safe than sorry.

He advised me to wait another week before adding another box too. I found some frames that need a little repair on the bottom slat. Should have done all of this last Fall, but life got in my way.

Definitely need to buy some new foundations. I mangled mine during the harvest.
 
Robin, I would recommend 3 choices: 1. Plastic. 2. Foundationless. 3. Starter Strips. #3 is taking a 3/4" strip of plastic foundation and securing that on top. The bees start with it, but build all the comb below. That lets them build larger cells for drones (rather than making it between boxes) or you can cut it for comb honey. Wax foundation is a mess from the beginning.
 
TexasFreedom said:
Robin, I would recommend 3 choices: 1. Plastic. 2. Foundationless. 3. Starter Strips. #3 is taking a 3/4" strip of plastic foundation and securing that on top. The bees start with it, but build all the comb below. That lets them build larger cells for drones (rather than making it between boxes) or you can cut it for comb honey. Wax foundation is a mess from the beginning.
Click to expand...

I agree the wax is messy especially if it gets the least bit warm or brittle from cold.

I like the plastic a lot. Most of my Supers are plastic and much easier to harvest the honey
 
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