Happy Chooks
Loving the herd life
The sound is amazing. I stood under mine last year when they were flying.
2017 Bee hive swarm information, history, lessons, successes, etc.
- Thread starter soarwitheagles
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #102
soarwitheagles
True BYH Addict
Yes, I totally agree! Amazing! But it would be even more amazing if we could video a swarm of epic size, and then catch it, documenting the entire adventure!
We did an in-depth service and inspection of all our hives today...some good news, some bad news...
Bad news first: both of our monster swarms, had beautiful laying queens, lots of eggs, larvae, etc. BUT, somehow, over 75% of the original bee swarm was gone...that was a bit disappointing because I was set upon splitting those two swarms today into 10 new hives...
Second set of bad news: two of my swarm traps that I left up in the trees for 1.5 weeks, that had bees yesterday, had absconded. So we lost two swarms due to waiting too long to move em...
And now the good news:
95% of the new swarms are doing incredibly well. I saw some of the most beautiful queen bees ever. And one of them was nearly completely and perfectly yellow! So strange, so wonderful.
We harvested some full, dripping to the brim, honey super deep frames of pure eucalyptus honey and comb. My only complaint was that the supers were so incredibly heavy. What a wonderful challenge to have!
The master beekeeper that worked with me [he actually did most of the work], did not want to put on the full bee suit. He wore shorts, short sleeve shirt, and a veil, and that was it! We worked well together the entire time. He is amazing to watch.
When we got to the "Hot" hive, I asked him to be careful. He agreed, and stepped back a few feet. I merely cracked the top cover a half inch, and out came a swarm of very aggressive, very intent upon stinging bees...and they nearly all landed on my veil, attempting to sting me.
The master beekeeper agreed to skip that hive...and I am very glad he did!
I think I found a solution for that hive...dig a hole, bury a treasure, and place the hive on top of the treasure. I would feel so safe!
Anyway, that was our latest bee adventure.
babsbag
Herd Master
Sounds like more good news than bad so that is a plus. I heard a swarm fly over my house one summer, it was huge. I wish it had landed nearby but it didn't.
I would definitely get that "hot" hive a new queen. I had a hive like that once and I just left it alone for over a year. When I finally checked on it I think it had requeened itself as it was much easier to work. Unfortunately ignoring it for a year was not a good thing and I lost it, probably to mites.
I am going to try the OA and glycerin with towels this year.
I would definitely get that "hot" hive a new queen. I had a hive like that once and I just left it alone for over a year. When I finally checked on it I think it had requeened itself as it was much easier to work. Unfortunately ignoring it for a year was not a good thing and I lost it, probably to mites.
I am going to try the OA and glycerin with towels this year.
- Thread starter
- #104
soarwitheagles
True BYH Addict
Babs, yes, definitely more positive news than negative. We are learning a lot as we continue in the bee adventure. I am hoping to be more successful in queen rearing by trying my hand at grafting. If we succeed at it, we should have a lot of new queens.
I would like to carefully reread Randy's article about using the OA and glycerin with towels. If it is easier [and it does sound easier], then maybe we will switch from the vaporization method to the OA and glycerin with towels. Every year right around August/Sept nearly all our hives begin to crawl with those awful varroa mites. So non treatment for us in not an option...
Happy Chooks
Loving the herd life
Mostly good news, so that is great! And honey too!
I have a video of my swarm last year, I'll get it uploaded and post it.
I have a video of my swarm last year, I'll get it uploaded and post it.
babsbag
Herd Master
I read about someone that caught their hive on fire with the OA vapor so now I am leery. If I started a fire here that late in the year I could burn acres and acres and do a lot of damage. The smoker makes me nervous enough, can't do the vapor too.
- Thread starter
- #107
soarwitheagles
True BYH Addict
Thank you HC! I would like to see a swarm flying! And yes, it is overall good news. Presently I am doing my best to crank out as many new nuc boxes as possible...
I can understand your fear. Living in a eucalyptus forest, we are in the highest level of red flag danger in the state.
Someone caught their hive on fire using an OA vaporizer? Hmmmmm....well, they were most probably doing something terribly wrong or they had purchased some terribly faulty hardware. For us, using the OA vaporizer is super fast, super easy, super cheap, super effective and super safe.
babsbag
Herd Master
- Thread starter
- #109
soarwitheagles
True BYH Addict
Babs,,
Not wanting to sound negative or diminish the post's authenticity, but I feel the person that wrote that article is extremely bias in a very negative bent and influenced by fear and all sorts of misunderstandings and untruths...
The thousands of beekeeper's personal experiences and success stories from people all over the world in the past ten years radically contradict what the author Rusty at HoneyBeeSuite wrote...
Most important of all, scientific write ups with corresponding data directly contradict Rusty's article.
I would counsel people to not accept Rusty's assimilation of the OA treatment as it is full of untruths and fear.
babsbag
Herd Master
That is good to hear. Being that I haven't done it I have no experience to go by so it is good to get an opinion from someone that does. I think I am going to do the towel this year and see how that goes. I am also planning on requeening in July to break the brood cycle. I would love to get a VSH queen and will be looking for some locally...if no luck I will go with an Italian from Wooten's Golden Queens.
