Hello, how fast do new packages build comb? It has been two weeks with all the pollen patties and syrup they want and after seeing four frames drew out another four days later nothing seemed to grow out yet. Another Question is I see about 25% of the bees bringing pollen in but the rest are going in empty. Are these robbers? I have the entrance reduced down to 3/4" and using boardman feeder but also have a jar outside the hive too.
The other may be bringing in nectar. Not saying it's a good or bad thing but mine seems to have hit a snag in their growth as well. I got three packages about a month ago and they are at or about frame five out of eight. I'm moving frames also. One thing it also be is their small numbers in comparison to a large hive. Just one rookie to another.
What you see when progress stops is often the bees have created all the space they can use. They can only cover as many frames of brood as they can keep 93 degrees. They need a heated area to draw comb also. So you have reduced your entrance and I hope you are not slowing down their expansion with one of those religious artifact screened bottom brood chillers that some seem devoted to. You appear to be doing all you can, so you have to wait for the magic day when those new and growing patches of brood start expanding the work force.
New packages draw comb at different rates. They will usually do better after some of their own brood emerges. I think some packages have more older bees and some have more younger bees and they act accordingly but do what they need to do to get started. The bees coming in with nothing in their pollen baskets are probably bringing in necter or water and you can't see that.
Quote from: rookie2531 on April 27, 2014, 09:23:37 PM
Another Question is I see about 25% of the bees bringing pollen in but the rest are going in empty.
Look real close at the bees coming into the hive vs bees exiting the hive. Notice the size of the abdomen of the bees leaving - slim and narrow. Now notice the abdomen of the returning foragers - if they have a full load they will looked stretched and bloated. During good return loads you can tell a difference. Now it could be nectar or could be water. You just have to check the frames and know the flow condition to try and determine which.
Thank you to all that responded, and Vance I do have a screened bottom board, but I built it myself and it has a 3/4" plywood sliding bottom that I have left open for many reasons as which, when I went to dump my bees in the hive, the first thing I saw was what appeared to be a hive beetle so I thought great, I have an infested colony what else do these bees have? After reading a lot, many say use it and many said the cold doesn't bother theirs. I have not interacted with anybody else, just reading other blogs, forums, etc.. The weather has been chilly nights from 38-50 with days in the highs from 65-75 on average, so should I close the bottom up, it has never been closed yet, as I was thinking it would have to get below freezing to close?
Yes you should close the bottom for now they will draw comb and raise brood better in the warm hive. And as far as SHB you are going to get um like it or not if you live in an area where they live. And the SBB will not help unless you have an oil tray under it. The screen will just give them an easy way into the hive.
The argument is that the bees heat the cluster and not the space around it. Well, by that logic, we heat our body but not the air around us and should not be bothered by a cold wind. We don't go naked in the cold because we want a warm space around us--the warm air trapped in the fabric. So when I keep my bees wrapped in the winter on into summer, I am trapping that body heat which allows a healthier looser cluster to raise a bigger family. SSB's are dangerous foolishness before summers warm nighttime temperatures, but you do what you think is best.
Quote from: rookie2531 on April 28, 2014, 04:40:11 AM
Thank you to all that responded, and Vance I do have a screened bottom board, but I built it myself and it has a 3/4" plywood sliding bottom that I have left open for many reasons as which, when I went to dump my bees in the hive, the first thing I saw was what appeared to be a hive beetle so I thought great, I have an infested colony what else do these bees have? After reading a lot, many say use it and many said the cold doesn't bother theirs. I have not interacted with anybody else, just reading other blogs, forums, etc.. The weather has been chilly nights from 38-50 with days in the highs from 65-75 on average, so should I close the bottom up, it has never been closed yet, as I was thinking it would have to get below freezing to close?
Thanks again for everyone's response, and Vance, it makes sense the way you describe it. I will take good sounding advice and close it up. Thanks again for the advice and I hope to gather more wisdom from ones who know from experience as this is my first hive.
Vance,
It depends on the weather. Down here in the south, SHB can bee really bad. With oil in the pan, every hive turned solid black after 30 days. It doesn't help that I have too much shade on my hives here in town. My beetle numbers are down now. Most of my neighbor beeks did the same thing. Last year our SHB numbers were way down. Most of us went without the oil last year.just have to clean them out once a week.
They can save a hive in warm weather.
Jim
The SBB with oil trays for warm weather areas are a must if you ask me. I didn't clean mine out in the fall so they were non-functional. One hive I opened this spring was absolutely infested with small hive beetles. And the bee numbers were low. I replaced the oil in the tray removed extra frames. Within two weeks I went from about 1000 small hive beetles to 4. The trays were black with dead beetles. Of course my screens aren't wide open which let's in a lot of ventilation and can be an area for beetles to get in if wide open.
I wouldn't leave a wide open screen on any hive.
Quote from: HomeSteadDreamer on April 29, 2014, 09:17:18 AM
The SBB with oil trays for warm weather areas are a must if you ask me. I didn't clean mine out in the fall so they were non-functional. One hive I opened this spring was absolutely infested with small hive beetles. And their numbers were low. I replaced the oil in the tray removed extra frames. Within two weeks I went from about 1000 small hive beetles to 4. The trays were black with dead beetles. Of course my screens aren't wide open which let's in a lot of ventilation and can be an area for beetles to get in if wide open.
I wouldn't leave a wide open screen on any hive.
I have window screen under the oil pans to keep the SHB from using the bottom as an entrance, and to keep the bees out of the oil.
Jim