(http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr304/shanevrr/IMG00045-20110320-1706.jpg)
complete hives with first coat of varnish
make sure you pick up the box on the right first :evil:
they look nice. varnish no less..... you will have some up-town bees!
Looks good. Everyone needs a good forklift when building hives. :-D
That fork lift is in anticipation of a heavy honey harvest, Allen.
Good looking hives, Shane
the painted looks ok but i wanted something differant, everyones is white/painted lol. the varnish brings out the character of the wood. hopefully it last a long time
the forklift was out of propane, and in my dam way lol
i think im going to build some stands too.
Nice looking hives Shane, is it my imagination or are the top covers a bit too large for the boxes? Kinda looks like a 10 frame top cover atop 8 frame hives bodies....
there just turned sideways to dry after painting
my setup behind garage, just waiting on bees
(http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr304/shanevrr/IMG00050-20110403-1638.jpg)
Very Nice! Should be in the next Southern Living issue :-D
Let me ask though, How do do have that tie down configured? The image doesn't enlarge. It looks like the tie down isn't doing anything :idunno:
Maybe you haven't put it on yet...?
Quote from: The Bix on March 21, 2011, 05:37:31 PM...is it my imagination
I see what you mean Bix so I counted the fingers in the box corners and the tops are sitting 90 degrees out of wack. In other words they havn't telescoped yet.
Quote from: Hemlock on April 04, 2011, 12:36:54 AM
Very Nice! Should be in the next Southern Living issue :-D
Let me ask though, How do do have that tie down configured? The image doesn't enlarge. It looks like the tie down isn't doing anything :idunno:
Maybe you haven't put it on yet...?
yea it has a rachet strap on it, its hooked on lag bolts on each side,
It all looks good to me :) Good luck with um.
i did my first inspection today hooray. my neck hurts from starring at frames for two hours lol. i found and marked all 4 queens, everthing looks ok i guess. lots of comb but no eggs yet from what i can see. i see honey and pollen stores. what you guys think?
(http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr304/shanevrr/IMG00071-20110421-1810.jpg)
(http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr304/shanevrr/IMG00069-20110421-1755.jpg)
(http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr304/shanevrr/IMG00068-20110421-1740.jpg)
Looks great to me! Are you feeding them? If not, you should. If they don't need it they won't take it, but if they do, they'll draw out the comb faster and the queen will start laying quicker.
Also, I'd get a frame rest if I were you, they really help with the inspections.
yes ive giving them about 6 gallons of 1.1 sugar. they have taking about half it and i had to refill one hive already. also i got a full pollen patty in each hive. i have way to many bees in one hive. not sure why or what to do. i put same amount in each hive. if i shake them in another hive will they stay?
I would just swap frames to the weak hive. Make sure you don't move the queen.
Bees drift a lot when you install packages. When I install multiple packages I do it early am or at dusk. Limited flying. If I can't do that then I wait an hour or two to let each package settle in before I start another.
Not to pick on your set up but you had a prime reason for drifting. All the hives facing the same direction, all hives look exactly the same, all hives perfectly spaced apart, and all hive in a straight line. Bees have no home when in a package. After install they know they are in the right spot but not certain which one is "theirs".
I got a call a couple years back. A person installed 10 packages on a warm sunny spring day. He ended up with 1 HUGE hive and 9 small hives. He only got about 5 of them back to the way they should be.
I may try that. not really sure but I think your right from some info ive read.
Don't swap frames. Wait until about 1 month and the first few rounds of brood are emerging. Then swap positions of the strongest and weakest hives. Simple painless manipulation and you don't risk losing brood in a colony to weak to cover it. Remember, for the first three weeks, a colony installed from package is losing population. Fewer intrusions the better.
will do, that makes sense
Quote from: Shanevrr on April 22, 2011, 10:06:37 PM
i have way to many bees in one hive. not sure why or what to do. i put same amount in each hive. if i shake them in another hive will they stay?
Sounds like there is a bit of drifting going on. You may want to consider painting some symbols,shapes or colors on the bottom boards or lower brood boxes next time to help them find the correct home. Another trick some use is to place different shaped and colored rocks on some of the hive tops and make sure you put it the same way after inspections.
what does commercial keepers do, not worry about it.
Commercial beeks have a thousand or two hives, so they probably dont worry about it too much. I would do as someone else suggested and wait to see how much capped brood you could switch out. But....if by some chance it is a failing hive, as some are, dont continually 'rob Peter to pay Paul' to keep one going either. I did and I regretted it later. Instead of having a really good hive I had two mediocre ones and wound up losing one of those. With packages though, its still too early to tell. 21 days at a bare minumum from when the queen was released to see any kind of a population increase. Its a long wait I know. Patience is something Im having to learn as a Beekeeper.
ya time well tell, all of them were very active today