I installed my 3 pound packages the other day. They were from Mann lake. Queen cages removed. Pollen coming in. A lot of activity. The issue is that it alerted me to how sol my over wintered hives are. They have lagged this spring. One has slowly grown and the other has dwindled. I kept telling myself that once maples were out things would change....sadly I think at least the dwindling hive is sol. The small hive doesn't even come out anymore. Not sure if they are struggling with disease or what. If anything I'd guess nosema. They had diarrhea this winter and now they are sluggish. Hives have queens but the weak hive doesn't have any brood at all. Thinking about a couple of things. Combine? To late to treat for nosema?
Feed and condense the hives. Reduce the hives down to what the bees can cover. Feed, as a hive with small numbers cannot cover brood and forage.
Pollen patties should have been on a month ago if not.
What makes you think the dysentary was nosema? When bees do their first outdoor cleansing flights in early spring it can make a mess outside. If the inside of the hive remained clean, the dysentary should have cleared up with cleansing flights.
Did you treat at all for mites last fall?
The dysentery has settled now but there was some mess inside in some hives. Mites were treated. They haven't touched the pollen patties. They don't seem interested in the syrup either. Nosema sucks because only a lab can detect it, but to me the symptoms seem consistent. Poor buildup. Almost no brood. No foraging. I was suspicious prior to my packages arriving, but now that my packages are in it's clear. One hive isn't well and the other is lagging. These packages are vigorous and gathering tons of pollen. My other hives haven't had any pollen coming in.
If they were not able to raise any brood over winter you may have some very old bees,or as you said it may have been nosema.
I just hate to see people treat for nosema every time a bee poops outside the hives after being cooped up several months as I read a couple studies that showed bees treated with Fumagilin for nosema apis or perceived nosema are much more likely to contract nosema ceranae than bees not treated.
Is there enough bees to combine the two weak hives together and attempt to make something. And perhaps a frame of brood from somewhere else or are the new packages your only other hives?
I second buzzbee's advice, the only thing I can add make sure your packages don't start robbing them & possibly infect themselves. A frame or two of sealed brood would give them a shot at making it for sure.
These two were my only remaining hives from the 8 I had going into last fall. I think I may combine the two. One of the two is in a poly nuc and is slowly growing. I think I'll combine the failing hive with the lagging hive. I think they have a shot at making it ok. The other thought would be to put the failing hive in a three frame poly nuc and see how they do.
i combined two weak (i would even say failing) hives in late january and they superseded the queen in late february and now they fill a ten frame deep wall to wall and i've given them a medium super of foundation. don't count those bees out yet.
Hey, Bush_84,
I'm building a TBH to bring to my nephew in North St. Paul in July (yeah, I know, just the right time of year, but he's young and can start next year) and was wondering if I should build in some insulation by double-walling it all around and on top with insulation between layers of 1x lumber. Would that make sense? If so, what kind of insulation would you recommend? i'm thinking that blue polyurethane they use here in constrction, but I know my sister's house has 2x6 framing, while we use 2x4 in Texas, so maybe thicker would be better?
Gary
I'd recommend some form of insulation. Everything I've read says TBH can have trouble in the cold. As to how to do that I'll leave that to cold experts.
Hey HomeSteadDreamer, you're in Florida and I'm in Texas. So what do we know. But it makes sense, doesn't it?
Thanks for your reply. I think a sandwich of stuff like I said would work, but I've been in St. Paul in the summer and with their lakes the humidity can be high and sometimes it's been in the 90s. I try not to go there in winter but have several times and it's been brutally cold. Oh, yeah, you're in Tallahassee, so you may not know about cold.
Gary
I would suggest at least putting a couple inches on top. I don't insulate the sides of my hives but I put foam over the top in the winter to keep the heat from going out the roof. It wouldn't hurt to insulate the sides either, but if they are going to wrap the hive it's not as critical. The insulation will also make it easier to maintain the temp in the summer.
Thank you Course Bee. I had wondered about the summer heat. I'm using a screened botton with a 1-inch board that can be drawn up against the bottom in the winter. Would you advise against top entrance? Michael Bush advocates top entrances and he lives in Nebraska. In fact, he doesn't drill a hole, but leaves a space in the cover by a wedge or something. See his site for exactly how he does it. Would that work in MN okay? Thanks again.
Gary
I would use 2 inch foil lined foam and foil tape
Painted where not foil lined joints and such
cut to match your woden ware. if one removes a deep or a honey super insulation goes too.
seams sensible to me
jay
I think that sounds fine to sand which hard board insulation on sides and a thick layer of insulation on top. Will make it heavy so just intend to make sure it doesn't have to be moved.