We finally went in. The upper deep is very heavy (around 40 pounds) and difficult to get back onto the lower deep with all of the sticky propolis they used to glue the two together. In the process we killed quite a few bees. There were so many in there and near impossible to move.
As we were starting to inspect the upper deep we felt a drop....then a storm. So we just closed up the hive to finish another day. In case you were wondering...yup we checked the radar before we went in.
So...we are going to go back in on Friday and take a good look at the upper deep. With any luck we can super.
Any tips on getting the heavy upper deep back onto the lower deep for next time with out killing a bunch of bees would be very helpful.
Hope all is well with everyone.
Best,
Sarita
I put top boxes on in three ways. Slide it from one end to the other, Place a corner down first and SLOWLY lower it allowing the bees to crawl out of the way (not easy when the box is heavy), or my favorite way, set the box down on an angle (you'll still crush bees but not many) and twist into position.
Scott
You were using smoke...right? That usually works to clear the bees from the top bars and rails. Then I use the "slowly and gently tipping into place" approach.
We always have smoker issues. I'm on a quest this week to find some wood pellets so we don't have to worry about it going out.
Sarita, if you have a cabinet or woodworking shop around you ask them for some planer shavings. I normally use pine straw in my smokers, but if I have to keep smoke going for more than 2-3 hrs I use the shavings from my shop. They're not as easy to light but once you get them going they go for a looong time!
Scott
"Sarita, if you have a cabinet or woodworking shop around you ask them for some planer shavings. I normally use pine straw in my smokers, but if I have to keep smoke going for more than 2-3 hrs I use the shavings from my shop. They're not as easy to light but once you get them going they go for a looong time!"
I'll work on that. I don't know how many squished bees is common during an inspection but it's literally breaking my heart this evening.
We need to get much better at putting the boxes back together.
I do it the way Scott says, I twist the supers back into place. Many bees that are in the way, tend to end up outside the hive, but at least they are not being crushed. Smoke would help to make them go down.
Try not to get too sentimental with the bees. Believe me when I say I have been there, but no more. Just do the best you can, and say a prayer for the ones that got crushed.
Some of their little bodies are still visible in-between the deeps from the outside of the hive. :(
I'm going to go back in tomorrow to take a look at the upper deep and put in the ventilation thing that we forgot to put on the hive in our haste to cover them up. I guess I'll remove the carnage then.
Going forward we will use the angle technique.
Thanks a bunch for everyone's support.
Best,
Sarita
It has gotten better for me, but sometimes when I'm in the same situation, well...some bees just gonna die!! :'(
But then again, I always look at it this way...each bee is a cell in the organism body known as the hive. When a Dr. does surgery, some cells are going to die. When we do surgery, some bees are going to die. Like the Dr. we try to minimize it, but there are times when it is unavoidable.
Do what you have to and just remember that far more bees in the hive die of natural causes in a day than you will probably ever kill doing an inspection.
:)
Rick
Sarita
I always take my hive tool and scrape away any bodies that are stuck in between supers. Just to put them out of their misery quickly.
I really appreciate everyone's support.
When I think about it in the big picture everything falls into place for me.
Annette, thanks for letting me know about the hive tool...I was wondering if I should use it to remove dead bees for fear there would be some sort of "dead bee" juju that would tell the bees the next time we were in there that we are bee killers.
Still, even after today...no stings. The bees seemed active (flying around us) and I noticed one head butt.
There were a lot of bees. We didn't get thru the entire bottom deep. We saw larvae and that was enough for us.
I suppose it will just take some time to feel comfortable.
Here are some quick picks from the bottom deep.
(http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/8299/img0473s.jpg) (http://img827.imageshack.us/i/img0473s.jpg/)
(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/1963/img0471g.jpg) (http://img231.imageshack.us/i/img0471g.jpg/)
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