Hi; my name is Tom Jackson and my wife Barb and I have decided to become beekeepers... We purchased a beginner's kit and a second hive from a distributor in NC and two 3# pkgs of bees from GA with Cal queens... Hives were assembled and painted a couple of weeks ago and set up on posts to await the arrival the southern belles... Last weekend the gals arrived and after a couple of days in the garage, awaiting a warmup, were installed into their hives... They have been consuming a quart of 1/1 per hive daily and have been packing in pollen for the last three days... Today is the day to inspect the hives to see if the queen has been freed, remove the feeder cans that I placed inside when we installed the bees,and remove the medium supers that were installed to make room for the shipping boxes and feeder cans... We plan to install a medium super and frames to each hive in about a week, as soon as I get them assembled, painted and dried... Today will be the first day to use the smoker, so wish me luck... Thanks for the forum, all input and assistance will be greatly appreciated... Tom
glad to have you. when you get a chance, put your location in your profile. it help with questions later.
let us know how your inspection goes :-)
Hello and welcome!
Those packages sound like they are doing well. Have fun with the smoker, it is fun laying down a thick smoke screen over the whole yard! :) It can take a bit getting the hang of keeping it lit, though.
The queen should be out by now, but she may not be laying yet, sometimes it takes a few days to get going. Even if she is laying it may be tricky seeing eggs, white eggs on white comb. In a few days you should be able to see some wetness on the bottom, this is the larvae hatched in a little pool of royal jelly.
Don't add the next box to the hives until they need it. When they get around 80% of the box drawn out, then it is time to add the next box. If you add it too early then they have more room to heat and maintain.
Have fun! Rick
Hello and Welcome!
I'm sure you'll find this forum to be a good source of information about bees & beekeeping. Be sure to check out the tutorials on the main Beemaster page. I find the 'search' function to be very useful as well. Many times I can find an immediate answer to my questions by searching previous threads (sometimes you just can't wait for an answer!).
I also recommend getting involved in a local beekeeping club. Clubs are great for finding mentors and getting connected with nearby beekeepers. Much of beekeeping is location-specific, so the locals will be able to help you with what works best in your area.
http://www.wvbeekeepers.org/Associations.html (http://www.wvbeekeepers.org/Associations.html)
Thanks for the welcome and tips... How long are these ladies gonna be syrup junkies??? They're eating a quart a day and sometimes more... There's plenty of pollen coming in... Also, I need a better hood, any suggestions??? I didn't get stung, but had company in my hood today... The visibility is not great either... It's one of the "Starter Kit" veil/hood thingies... Thanks for any and all help... Tom
Welcome to the forum. I'm from West Virginia also. Located in Mathias WV. Good luck with the girls they are fun to watch an wait till they start making that honey. Again good luck .
James
Welcome to the forums Tom. I am sure you're well on your way to an exciting new adventure.
And great to see Pondman posting again,welcome back!!
Tom, welcome to our forum, wonderful that you found us, stick around, we love new members and we love to listen. Have that great and most awesome day, and beautiful health. Cindi
You should count on feeding your bees several weeks at least because it we take awhile to build up foragers from a package, and until those foragers are out working your hives will have an energy deficit. That is why you feed them.
After that it depends on local nectar flow. I sit at my hive entrances and look at how much pollen is coming on the workers and check what is blooming. Those cool WV night should get good nectar in the mornings. Place your hives so the rising sun hits your entrances. The bees get most of their nectar before the sun dries everything up.
Have fun.
Adam