Sorry folks, just a little geeked up. I saved the homeowner a $125 exterminator fee and saved some bees from destruction...a nice big swarm, sorry no pictures, but they were up about 15 feet in a blue spruce tree. I decided to use my bee vac and after I finally got the suction set properly I pulled all the bees into their new home...a ten frame Langstroth hive. And I needed the whole box. They filled it entirely--pretty big swarm. I brought them to my bee yard, put a queen excluder on the bottom and an entrance reducer. I found very few dead bees, so the bee vac did its job pretty well.
I never saw the queen as I had to use a pretty long wand to collect all the bees from the top step of my a-frame ladder. So I don't know what condition she is in or whether I even got her for sure.
QUESTION....
So, how long do I wait to pull frames to find her or see whether there's any eggs?
I didn't have much drawn comb, about one half of one full frame, so my thought is to feed them, leave them alone...as is... for a week. Also, it is supposed to be cooler this week (could use some of that global warming I keep hearing about). The lows are going to be in the low thirties, supposed to get snow, yes SNOW, maybe 18" in the foothills in the middle of May! Starting Sunday it's supposed to warm up though...like perhaps some normal Spring weather...FINALLY!
Pull the queen excluder on the bottom out in about 2 or 3 day you may have a virgin queen.If you got a virgin queen 10 to 14 days If you got a laying queen 2 or 3 day and I see you are FEEDING AS GOING TO SNOW You can pull frames in about 3 days or so if as not SNOWING :evil: hope this will help you.
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
Jim 134, sorry, but sometimes I'm a little slow, are you saying pull off the excluder in 2-3 days if I have a laying queen? If a virgin queen then 10-14 days?
Also, I'm not certain I would be able to tell whether I have a virgin or laying queen in 2-3 days. If I have a laying queen she may not be laying due to the fact that there's not much drawn comb available.
Way to go Bix!!!!!!
Pull it off in 2-3 days, regardless. A virgin queen can't mate in the hive. A mated queen won't leave after 48 hours, unless there's a problem with the hive.
iddee, should I be concerned about a virgin queen exiting through the excluder but not being able to get back in after mating? In other words should I consider taking the excluder off sooner than 2-3 days? My bee vac sucks the bees right into the Lang hive, so very little transfer issues and I immediately put the excluder on when I got home. I'm confident I got her, not sure what her condition is though.
If the weather is a factor, the high today is supposed to be 50 (46 now), tomorrow and Thursday 46, low thirties for the lows. Rain today, snow tonight and tomorrow. It looks like the weather won't be nice till Sunday.
Slide the excluder off on the third day and wait until 55 degrees and sunny before opening. No matter what you do, there is a gamble. This is the better odds.
Quote from: Jim 134 on May 11, 2010, 06:58:03 AM
Pull the queen excluder on the bottom out in about 2 or 3 day you may have a virgin queen.If you got a virgin queen 10 to 14 days If you got a laying queen 2 or 3 day and I see you are FEEDING AS GOING TO SNOW You can pull frames in about 3 days or so if as not SNOWING :evil: hope this will help you.
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
1 Pull the queen excluder in 2 or 3 days.
2 If you got a lay queen You see eggs in about 2 or 3 days
3 If you got a virgin queen will see you eggs in about 10 to 14 days
4 And wait until 55 degrees and sunny before opening the hive
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
My lovely wife helped me pull the excluder off the bottom. I had to pull the feeder off the top to do this, and I couldn't resist, so I took a quick peek. Bees were all neatly packed and covering 7 of the 10 frames in a nice tight cluster. As soon as it warms up around these parts, they're going to be looking real good.
If they are covering 7 frames with bees in a cluster, add a super or another hive body the first 60 degree day.
iddee, should I do that even though there's not much drawn comb?
What would you do if there were 3 times as many bees, even if they hadn't started drawing comb? They need to spread out when the temps rise.