Hello Beepeeple!

Maggiesdad

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1:1 is what you want - it stimulates wax production for drawing comb. 2:1 is for capping syrup in the fall if they're headed into winter low on honey stores.
Today was 26 days since I hived mine... I've got emerging brood and round two eggs already in! :woot

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eggs
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babies
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Happy Chooks

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I'll be doing package bees into 2 Langstroth hives, 10 frame deeps. They are set about 10' off my back property line and about 20' between them. They are just out in front of and in between some cottonwood trees for shade at noon. They'll be facing south/southeast, to catch the early morning sun :D I have the math all figured out and will make the sugar water 1:1 and syrup 2:1 for the feeders probably Friday after work. I also bought a bottle of Honey Bee healthy so will add the recommended amount of that into everything.

I agree with Maggiesdad, 2:2 sugar water is for the fall. It has less moisture, and they can store it faster for winter without getting chilled.

Sounds like a great location. Everything here has to face North since our weather comes from the South. Be sure to take pictures of your install!
 

Latestarter

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Hmmmmmm... :idunno Have to go back and check the course material... coulda sworn they said use the 2:1 until the first strong nectar flow to help them build comb fast... Of course I DON'T want them storing that as honey! Really, with all the dandelions around here, they probably don't need feeding anyway. But I figure I'll give them one round and see if they take it. Hopefully I'll have some pics up by Sunday evening :)
 

Happy Chooks

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I fed the first year all the way until winter when they wouldn't take it anymore. Mine would take it if it was above 40*. You leave the stores in the brood box anyway for them to get through winter, so no worries about them storing sugar syrup. It really is amazing how much syrup it takes for them to draw comb and raise brood.
 

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Well, what a day! I was out front early spraying all the foundation with 1:1 sugar water w/Honey B Healthy in it. Wanted it to have a chance to dry before I picked up & installed the bees. I had bees checking me out the whole time! :ep

Went & picked up the girls, got them all installed. Started out with no protection, but got a little overwhelmed by the sheer numbers :barnieso put on the veil... no stings and no issues! :clap

I was really amazed at how difficult it is to get the cork out of the queen cage and get a mini marshmallow stuffed in without killing her or letting her escape! She's one FAST little bugger! And on an "OOPS" note, on the 2nd instal, the cage slipped out of my fingers and fell right into the package! :he I had to dump 1/2 the bees into the hive to get the queen cage out and re-grab it. But both queens were very healthy and active! There were no attendants in with her, but they were all over the cage, making it even more difficult to replace the cork with a marshmallow!

Bee install #1

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Bee Instal #2
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internal feeder set up. I placed the syrup can in there too.
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The finished placement
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YAY!
 

Happy Chooks

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Nice job latestarter! My queen came with the marshmallow already in the cage. Glad you got them in without any big issues.

Looks like you don't live in termite land. :lol: Around here, wood touching the ground for a week, and the termites have found it.
 

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Thanks folks :D The queen cages had a cork wedged in there, and it was NOT easy to get out :ep and the whole time I'm prying in the opening with the screw, the queen was trying to escape!! I was really scared that I might accidentally kill her with the screw! and equally scared that she'd escape between the cork coming out and the marshmallow getting crammed in! I was more nervous about that than having hundreds/thousands of bees flying around my head :gig They were both still actively trying to escape when I placed the cages between the frames. :weee I expect to find the cages empty when I check on them later this week.
There ARE termites here in Colorado, despite what the "natives" say to the contrary...:hide There's this old rotted dog house that was here when I bought the place and when I turned it over to start dismantling it, there were, yup, you guessed it... termites! Not a lot and not a major infestation, but they were there. They're not as bad here as other places because of the altitude & cold(er) winters... although that hasn't stopped them from being up north like the great lakes areas and New England :hu Also, my soil here is almost pure sand... termites don't do well in sand.

The wood you see there (except the hives) are all treated landscape timbers... I remember as a kid my dad coating wood coming in contact with the ground with creosote. I don't think the termites particularly like them... At least not until they've been weathered and bleached out over many years. And at that, I think they rot and fall apart before the termites get to them.
 

Happy Chooks

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We're basically in the forest, so the termites are really healthy. We have to be quick with firewood in splitting it and getting it off of the ground. We even discovered (accidentally) that termites will also eat cardboard.:th

Ah sand, good drainage soil. I bet you could grow nice asparagus, it likes sandy soil.

We had a couple days of cold/rainy weather. Yesterday was clear, but windy, and when I checked on the hive, they were back to bringing in pollen. I'll inspect the hive in another couple of weeks and see how quickly they are filling up the super. The comb is already drawn from last year, so they just have to fill it. The blackberries are going to be exploding in flowers soon.:clap
 

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Oh yeah! Cardboard for a termite is like pre-digested manna! :drool What is it but wood pulp after all! And if you didn't know, they will also tunnel vertically through sheetrock/wallboard. They poke little pin hole breathing holes through the paper as they move upwards. :somad

That rain hit us about 3am Sunday morning and maintained through about noonish today. It's still cloudy, cool, and damp, but is supposed to clear out overnight and be back in the 60s then 70s over the coming days. Like you folks in CA, we really need and appreciate the rain when we get it. It's amazing how much greener everything looks in just the past 48 hours because of it. :clap

I'm actually glad about it happening right after I installed my bees as well... They won't come out in this weather, so they'll have nothing to do but draw comb and work on releasing the queen so she can get down to business! I've been working horrendous hours, but I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet on Wednesday when I get home and open the hives to check/pull the cages and see if they need more syrup... I also need to replace the 3 frames I had to take out when I installed them! I do NOT want a burr comb nightmare in there! I'm also really curious to see how things went with the previously drawn comb fame that was placed in each hive as a starter...

I need to retire again so I'll have more time to do all these things I keep taking on! At least they're more fun than work ;)
 
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