Arcticdude
Top Poster
The wife is getting ready to place her order some more bees for Spring delivery. We've talked with a couple local bee keepers and got some good ideas on how to keep the hornets and yellow jackets out of the hives.
Bees
- Thread starter Robinjopo1
- Start date
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I'm bummed. I had another hive abscond. They at half of their feed so I know they didn't leave for food. They were there about 10 days ago. I guess I have to buy 2 nucs this fall.
TexasFreedom
A True Doomsday Prepper
AD, Robin,
Talk around to local beekeepers. Find someone LOCAL who has lines that are at least 5 years old treatment free. Buy a few nucs from them. Follow THEIR advise on how to manage the colonies. Visit them as they inspect their bee yards. Stop playing the expensive Beexit game, leave that for Britain!
Talk around to local beekeepers. Find someone LOCAL who has lines that are at least 5 years old treatment free. Buy a few nucs from them. Follow THEIR advise on how to manage the colonies. Visit them as they inspect their bee yards. Stop playing the expensive Beexit game, leave that for Britain!
I have a local mentor and buy from him. He has classes in the spring. I believe what happened is, if you remember, no one in this area had much honey harvest because our spring and summer were so wet the bees ate their stores when they were rained in. Therefore, we are having to feed them sugar this winter because they don't have any reserves. I guess they arent really digging the sugar. He said it was happening a lot here. Next spring I will monitor the weather more and make sure I don't let them eat all of their honey and have some left for winter.
Just sent in my deposit for two nucs.
How much do you guys pay for a 5 frame nuclear of Italians? I pay $165 per nuc.
How much do you guys pay for a 5 frame nuclear of Italians? I pay $165 per nuc.
TexasFreedom
A True Doomsday Prepper
That's cheap. Nucs in TX are in the $250 range. Italians are still 'popular' for the unknowing, but other breeds have quickly gained popularity due to longevity. But most places charge the same price independent of breed. Packages here are in the $150 range.
Have a new field day tomorrow at my mentors apart. I am also picking up two nucs to replace the one's that absconded.
Today at my bee field day they gave away a bee nuc. Value $175 here. I did not win. A nuc is enough bees to fill a hive.
Picked up 2 nucs today. Looked in rear view mirror and I have about 100 bees on my window. Longest trip home ever.
Two bees were hidden in my jacket and one got me on the finger. Other than than, I was lucky. I have my hatch open so the rest can fly out.
Two bees were hidden in my jacket and one got me on the finger. Other than than, I was lucky. I have my hatch open so the rest can fly out.
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A neighbor who sells me moonshine also has around 50 families of bees. I am going to ask if he will put one here on my land for the flowers on the acacia tree, potatoes, cherry tomatos and other trees here...only about a tenth of the flowers on my cherry tree have turned into cherries, the rest were not pollinated since it was too cold and no bees were flying or they were too far away. At the lake 3 miles away, all the cherry trees are full of fruit. 
Got my bees into their new homes and added the honey supers.
I had an empty hive and some renegades had a huge comb attached to the inner cover. What a mess. There was a little honey so I broke off that part of the comb and brought it in. I know that hive is going to be hard to harvest.
I had an empty hive and some renegades had a huge comb attached to the inner cover. What a mess. There was a little honey so I broke off that part of the comb and brought it in. I know that hive is going to be hard to harvest.
Did a well check on my bees today. All three hives are alive. That's major for me in mid-December. Lol
Noctis_Labyrinthus
Member
That's good news. Did you heft the hives gently to check their stores? How do you prep them for the winter?
They don't have much stored because I didn't get my nucs until June so we missed the flow. Therefore, I am feeding them sugar all Winter.
Noctis_Labyrinthus
Member
I'm sure you know this. Moisture is one of the major causes of colony loss during the winter. So make sure you are feeding them sugar or fondant. Also, using a moisture box / blanket over the winter is a really good idea. I keep around 20 hives and I have noticed a major increase in hives making it through the winter using a moisture box. If you need some help, ill be more than glad to impart some knowledge.
Thank you. The one year I wrapped my boxes, too much moisture was inside and they died. So moist they couldn't flap their little wings and they died. TN has very few really cold days, so it is best to leave them alone except to feed.
Arcticdude
Top Poster
The wife plans to order bees in January for May delivery. She didn't get bees last year like she planned but now that she's retired she should have time for her bees.
Noctis_Labyrinthus
Member
Give the moisture blankets / boxes a shot. Having just a couple hives is a good chance to experiment to see what works. Essentially, the moisture boxes are just an additional box that you can easily make or buy from Dadant. It has a mesh bottom and vent holes on the sides. You fill it with wood shavings. I use animal aspen bedding. The moisture drips from the top cover into the wood shavings and never makes it to the bees. The vent holes in the sides helps to keep air movement in the hive to help further combat excess condensation. You would think the air movement would be counter productive however, I have cold nights in the winter down to -15°f and the bees don't bat an eye at it.
Arcticdude - Glad to hear your wife is getting into the hobby. Is she starting with just one hive?
Arcticdude - Glad to hear your wife is getting into the hobby. Is she starting with just one hive?
Arcticdude
Top Poster
She has a couple hives but a couple years ago hornets and yellow jackets killed both hives. She has some ideas on how to reduce the entrance openings to keep the wasps out.
Noctis_Labyrinthus
Member
Yellow jackets are such a pain in the rear sometimes. When I was feeding a weaker hive this fall using a ceracell top feeder. I popped the cover to the feeder to a mound of dead yellow jackets in the thousands. No idea how they got into the feeder. Thankfully, they didn't kill he hive off. I don't even think they bothered it. They just went after the easy to get syrup. Not exactly what I was expecting to see. I need to figure out what is up with that feeder or top cover on that hive.
Here are some thermal images from a couple of my hives last winter. This is how I check if any died off.
Here are some thermal images from a couple of my hives last winter. This is how I check if any died off.
