- Thread starter
- #101
Happy Chooks
Loving the herd life
Thanks! My super is starting to get heavy on my main hive.
Hive inspection and box reversal
- Thread starter Happy Chooks
- Start date
Wow... can't believe how fast time has gone by 
I put the 2nd deep on over 3 weeks ago now and just went in to check it today. Where are the days going to?! <sigh> Anyway, the 1st hive is all but dead. Bees on 1 frame, no queen, no honey, limited pollen stores, no brood, no eggs... doomed. I'll let them finish and store the hive for next year. If my other hive survives the winter I'll split it into this one.
The 2nd hive that I put the 2nd deep on is thriving. They've filled out all of the frames from what I could see without tearing into the hive. I didn't remove the top deep to check the lower one, but the quantity of bees entering and leaving leads me to believe it's full. I put a super on today as there's a nearby field of squash about to bloom. I haven't done any treatments for mites
I hope they aren't presently an issue... Maybe not messing with them is for the best.
Bought a new computer today and the new keyboard is driving me nuts... and I hate having to reload all the software and do all the updates. And it's a different operating system, so I have to figure out how to move my saved email files and such across to be able to access them. Grrrr.
I put the 2nd deep on over 3 weeks ago now and just went in to check it today. Where are the days going to?! <sigh> Anyway, the 1st hive is all but dead. Bees on 1 frame, no queen, no honey, limited pollen stores, no brood, no eggs... doomed. I'll let them finish and store the hive for next year. If my other hive survives the winter I'll split it into this one.The 2nd hive that I put the 2nd deep on is thriving. They've filled out all of the frames from what I could see without tearing into the hive. I didn't remove the top deep to check the lower one, but the quantity of bees entering and leaving leads me to believe it's full. I put a super on today as there's a nearby field of squash about to bloom. I haven't done any treatments for mites
I hope they aren't presently an issue... Maybe not messing with them is for the best.Bought a new computer today and the new keyboard is driving me nuts... and I hate having to reload all the software and do all the updates. And it's a different operating system, so I have to figure out how to move my saved email files and such across to be able to access them. Grrrr.
- Thread starter
- #103
Happy Chooks
Loving the herd life
Sorry the 1 hive is not doing well latestarter.
I checked on my split yesterday. The queen cell hatched and the queen cells on the other frames were torn down. No eggs to be seen, and I could not find a queen, but I'm hopeful she's in there somewhere. I've heard it can be up to 30 days before she starts laying. I didn't want to keep it open too long, so I closed it up and fed them. Now I just have to wait and see.
I checked on my split yesterday. The queen cell hatched and the queen cells on the other frames were torn down. No eggs to be seen, and I could not find a queen, but I'm hopeful she's in there somewhere. I've heard it can be up to 30 days before she starts laying. I didn't want to keep it open too long, so I closed it up and fed them. Now I just have to wait and see.
Fingers and toes crossed for you Chooks!
Hope she's just "shy" and was hiding from you. She may have been out on a mating flight? Either way, hope she starts doing her job real soon! Luckily you have longer "seasonal" weather where you are to give the hive a chance to build up. Bee's aren't as "simple" as they at first sounded... I think I'm going to have to "earn" any honey I get, and it may turn out to have been cheaper to just buy it...
Hope she's just "shy" and was hiding from you. She may have been out on a mating flight? Either way, hope she starts doing her job real soon! Luckily you have longer "seasonal" weather where you are to give the hive a chance to build up. Bee's aren't as "simple" as they at first sounded... I think I'm going to have to "earn" any honey I get, and it may turn out to have been cheaper to just buy it...- Thread starter
- #105
Happy Chooks
Loving the herd life
I hope so too!Fingers and toes crossed for you Chooks!
Yes, probably cheaper to buy honey, but look at how much we are learning! It's more rewarding when you get your own honey.
- Thread starter
- #106
Happy Chooks
Loving the herd life
Well, I admitted defeat last night. No eggs to be found at the 30 day mark, so I went and bought a mated queen. I got her installed last night and they instantly surrounded her, but didn't look hostile towards her. We covered the candy plug with wax to give her a couple extra days before releasing to increase her chances of acceptance.
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Maggiesdad
Loving the herd life
Haaaay Girrrl!
wow... hope it works for you! My one hive is dead... the other is (was?) thriving. I put a super on 2 weeks ago right before a local field of squash went into bloom. Been working wicked hours and haven't been able to check it since. Really need to get in there this weekend. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised and find a full honey super.
- Thread starter
- #109
Happy Chooks
Loving the herd life
Good news! I checked on the split this morning (I was too tired last night). My new purchased queen is still alive and the bees are actively caring for her. It was difficult for me to get in there to get the cage out so I could remove the wax around the candy plug. I got it off and placed the cage back in the hive for them to release her. They seem very happy to have a queen finally. I will go back in in a couple of days to remove the cage and push the frames back together.
- Thread starter
- #110
Happy Chooks
Loving the herd life
Latestarter.......sorry you lost one hive. I hope the other one is still hanging in there.
