Well my girls decided they wanted me to make some splits. Made 2 from one and culled a queen I didn?t like and put a capped cell in it. And my wife found she had a hole in her veil :shocked:
I?m going to start splitting tomorrow. I hope I?m in time!
My one hive was 2 weeks early with drones. Was lucky caught 4 capped queens cells. My other 10 hives had capped drones and 2-3 cups. Made a nice split and then culled out a week queen and will see what happens. Was only gonna split in late summer but guess the girls had their own plans.
Quote from: Barhopper on February 14, 2019, 07:56:42 PM
I?m going to start splitting tomorrow. I hope I?m in time!
You are not too late. The day before yesterday I went through 10 of my hives and did Altmiller Splits. Only one hive had 3 queen cells and they were only 6 days from being laid. Most of them were 3 boxes strong and I split them into 3 units. They are still stacked together but have double screens between the boxes. The bottom box has the queen and she gets a drawn super to keep her from swarming during the next 30 days. We were lucky and found most of the queens half of them were marked, we marked the others.
The first picture shows 4 hives after they were split, the first one only had 2 boxes. The others were split into 3 units.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
In. the next picture only the hive on the right has been split. We just stopped to get pictures.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
I also have a video explaining the process. I will try to post it. Last year this method was very successful.
Jim
what`s an altmeier split?
Quote from: blackforest beekeeper on February 15, 2019, 02:01:37 AM
what`s an altmeier split?
X2 - I looked it up and couldn't find a good explanation. ...
Here is a video that Judy and I made while we were doing the splits. It was pretty windy which makes it hard to hear at times.
We will be taking the hives apart during Beefest and make individual hives fro the ones that are successful. Then we will split the bottom to 2 boxes again with the Altmiller Split.
https://youtu.be/sLq7r1zgZl4
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNQJtYkKUmbk8Zyg-npAVBG5CfNePf5-P5evEXceaJDj-uYWWL_YgDPGKq-IcS44Q?key=ZlVKMXBFZW5YdDYxNG5oS2QyT19ndW5EeElZS0x3
Click on the hive when it shows up.
Jim
Going good. Halfway done with the in town bees. Farm bees are always behind. Took the splits up to the lake. Man those bees there are going strong. Willows blooming good.
Haven't seen any drones flying out of my hives yet and am waiting till then before splitting. Seems a little early according to my log book but I'll check my hives this weekend and look for drone cells. I'm planning to start splitting the first week of March.
Quote from: Barhopper on February 15, 2019, 07:22:08 PM
Going good. Halfway done with the in town bees. Farm bees are always behind. Took the splits up to the lake. Man those bees there are going strong. Willows blooming good.
well that?s good how many splits?
Quote from: Beeboy01 on February 15, 2019, 07:51:03 PM
Haven't seen any drones flying out of my hives yet and am waiting till then before splitting. Seems a little early according to my log book but I'll check my hives this weekend and look for drone cells. I'm planning to start splitting the first week of March.
I had drones 2 weeks ago on the west coast
Did 10 between Friday and today. Got them in the nuc yard with 5 others. Buyer coming next weekend to pick them up. Have 10 more to do in the south part of the county in a couple weeks.
Quote from: Barhopper on February 16, 2019, 05:33:04 PM
Did 10 between Friday and today. Got them in the nuc yard with 5 others. Buyer coming next weekend to pick them up. Have 10 more to do in the south part of the county in a couple weeks.
I brought mine to mine but still have robbing may have to move them tonight
Jim,
So moving up through double Q excluder .
A frame of brood or 2 , You let nurse bee's move up? And they make a Q , with protection from below?
Quote from: MikeyN.C. on February 16, 2019, 07:13:53 PM
Jim,
So moving up through double Q excluder .
A frame of brood or 2 , You let nurse bee's move up? And they make a Q , with protection from below?
Quote from: MikeyN.C. on February 16, 2019, 07:13:53 PM
Jim,
So moving up through double Q excluder .
A frame of brood or 2 , You let nurse bee's move up? And they make a Q , with protection from below?
No. Using a double screen wit 1/2? between screens over the bottom brood box with a drawn comb super for 30 days of growth. This keeps any bee contact between brood boxes. The nex brood box only needs a single screen with some kind of entrance for the middle brood box. The top brood box has a screen top entrance.
The idea is that all of the hives smell queen right but there are no contact queen right pheromones being passed to the top brood boxes. This causes the top brood boxes to make queen cells.
Jim
Jim,
So the screens are not Q-excluders ? They are made with #8 hardware screen ?
I am using window screen. Cheaper and easier to work with. I made up 12 of them.
Jim
So there's not a problem with forage bees drifting back to Q-rite box?
Quote from: MikeyN.C. on February 17, 2019, 11:10:26 AM
So there's not a problem with forage bees drifting back to Q-rite box?
That is correct. With my setup some will also return to the top box using the top entrance.
Jim
Watched video, some i couldn't hear because of wind.
So in upper split boxes, you added a good frame of capped, larva, fresh eggs with lots of nurse bee's and a good frame of stores (pollen, capped honey and uncapped ) so if forage bee's drift . There's enough resources to produce RJ?
Everything I've been reading is when you split is feed, feed,feed and I'm assuming that's for starter strips or new foundation.
Most of the boxes had lots of bees, brood, pollen and honey. Some I had to shuffle frames around to provide all 4. Some only ended up with 2 brood frames and a few extra bees added in. We kept notes on what each stack had. We will find out how each one worked out at BeeFest.
Jim
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 14, 2019, 04:37:49 PM
. And my wife found she had a hole in her veil :shocked:
Did you wife get stung??? I hope not.
@sawdust: I assume you don`t have a major flow on right now, so you can do this and either these nucs will have develeoped to bring in honey on the next flow or are you plannoing to sell nks?
BFB,
We still have maple and some fruit trees blooming, I has also seen Redbud blooming. Not major blooms but enough for build up. Our major bloom is gallberry, Palmetto, and Blackgum. They run from April to mid June. Our weather usually allows us to split and then build up for the flow. The bees are in town and I will move them here just before BeeFest. Once here I will have to feed them until the flow starts.
Jim
Quote from: Stinger13 on February 17, 2019, 10:24:50 PM
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 14, 2019, 04:37:49 PM
. And my wife found she had a hole in her veil :shocked:
Did you wife get stung??? I hope not.
Yes took two to the face. She swelled up pretty good. She laughed it off as a hazard of the job and bought a new veil. She came up with our name during it Sweetest stings, and we are making mead from some honey last year and we?re naming that batch ? Holy veil?
Sold the first 15 nuc splits today. They are on it up by the lake. Drew out a new frame in each this week.
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 18, 2019, 11:12:06 AM
Quote from: Stinger13 on February 17, 2019, 10:24:50 PM
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 14, 2019, 04:37:49 PM
. And my wife found she had a hole in her veil :shocked:
Did you wife get stung??? I hope not.
Yes took two to the face. She swelled up pretty good. She laughed it off as a hazard of the job and bought a new veil. She came up with our name during it Sweetest stings, and we are making mead from some honey last year and we?re naming that batch ? Holy veil?
That is a good one, Holy Veil. Sorry the wife got stung but sounds like she is a keeper with sence of humor.
Quote from: Barhopper on February 22, 2019, 03:33:11 PM
Sold the first 15 nuc splits today. They are on it up by the lake. Drew out a new frame in each this week.
congrats re checking all mine tomorrow
Quote from: Barhopper on February 16, 2019, 05:33:04 PM
Did 10 between Friday and today. Got them in the nuc yard with 5 others. Buyer coming next weekend to pick them up. Have 10 more to do in the south part of the county in a couple weeks.
You are on the ball. How did you get the queens hatched or emerged, mated, and laying so fast? Do you raise your own queens?
BarHopper, good for you. I enjoy the post by beeks in warm climate such as your area. I am so anxious for my bees, still cold in N Ar. Your area, central Fl, is prime bee country.
Blessings
Jim-Saw,
So when they make Q-cells in upper 2, ? Do you set boxes off, to let Q hatch and mate?
Quote from: MikeyN.C. on February 22, 2019, 07:43:53 PM
Jim-Saw,
So when they make Q-cells in upper 2, ? Do you set boxes off, to let Q hatch and mate?
No. The queens hatch in the stack and mate while still on the stack. That is why I wait 30 days from when I place the double screens.
Jim
I pull queens from my big hives and let big hives make new queens. Sell the Nucs with the over wintered queens. I usually try to wait until before the big spring flow to pull queens but they wouldn?t wait this year. I?ve got a new yard on Orange lake that turning out to be really good. Willows blooming to beat the band.
Yes I do raise my own but on a very limited scale.
Thanks Barhopper, sounds like a good plan!!
Thanks Jim for all the info.
So you don't worry that newly mated Q will enter the wrong box ?
Could you show some pics. of your screens? I was going to try and make Q's this year. To increase a feral hive i have and haven't decided what method. Thanks again.
Forgot to ask . is there sugar water on hives or a community feeder ?
Quote from: MikeyN.C. on February 23, 2019, 02:15:16 PM
Thanks Jim for all the info.
So you don't worry that newly mated Q will enter the wrong box ?
Could you show some pics. of your screens? I was going to try and make Q's this year. To increase a feral hive i have and haven't decided what method. Thanks again.
The queens have not had any problems finding their way back to the correct box.
I do not have a picture of the double screens on hand. We are going to a Stone Age Primitive Arts Festival today over in the pan handle. As soon as I get a chance I will take a picture.
To make them, I cut a 1/2? by 3/4? strips of wood with 45 degree ends that are the sizes of the box and use a staple gun to connect The miter ends. Then I staple window screen on both sides. That is all it is.
Jim
Quote from: MikeyN.C. on February 23, 2019, 02:36:01 PM
Forgot to ask . is there sugar water on hives or a community feeder ?
I only end up with sugar fondant jars on the top boxes. I do not community feed. I make sure all boxes have honey. The bottom box has the queen, it is the only one that can abscond. That has been my biggest problem this time of the year when the maple flow stops. Right now they are bringing in lots of honey. And they are growing fast.
Jim
Well checked on some of my checkerbording hives and they were building well. This frame was new on Saturday also my veil had a hole I think it was from my new hive tools being razor sharp bumped my veil, got lucky just a face full of bees no stings :cool:[attachment=0][/attachment]
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 25, 2019, 08:12:00 PM
Well checked on some of my checkerbording hives and they were building well. This frame was new on Saturday also my veil had a hole I think it was from my new hive tools being razor sharp bumped my veil, got lucky just a face full of bees no stings :cool:[attachment=0][/attachment]
Looking good! Did you use foundation? If so what type? I am looking forward to my bees drawing new comb, so far the weather is not right for it here. I have not found any evidence of the bees being ready to draw new comb. I am thinking not yet quite warm enough here for it, but being this is my first bee spring, I could be wrong.
[[[The bottom box has the queen, it is the only one that can abscond. That has been my biggest problem this time of the year when the maple flow stops. Right now they are bringing in lots of honey. And they are growing fast.
Jim]]]
Jim, your thoughts on absconding??? I had a hive abscond, August 2017. The hive had dwarf wing virus and I had not treated for varroa. It was a preplanned abscond as there was no brood. Since use of OAV I have not had an abscond. I am very interested in this little understood absconding issue.
Jim, I would most certainly appreciate your thoughts as well as other beeks thoughts on abscond of honeybees and any link to Varroa mites that might be concluded. Thank you for your time.
Quote from: Ben Framed on February 25, 2019, 08:35:58 PM
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 25, 2019, 08:12:00 PM
Well checked on some of my checkerbording hives and they were building well. This frame was new on Saturday also my veil had a hole I think it was from my new hive tools being razor sharp bumped my veil, got lucky just a face full of bees no stings :cool:[attachment=0][/attachment]
Looking good! Did you use foundation? If so what type? I am looking forward to my bees drawing new comb, so far the weather is not right for it here. I have not found any evidence of the bees being ready to draw new comb. I am thinking not yet quite warm enough here for it, but being this is my first bee spring, I could be wrong.
Well this was on plastic foundation. And have been feeding 1:1 had read if you add a pinch of salt to the 1:1 it increases wax but can?t find it any were else.
Stinger,
I used to think the absconding was caused by Africanized genetics but since I started using oxy it seems to have stopped.
Jim
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 25, 2019, 09:46:28 PM
Quote from: Ben Framed on February 25, 2019, 08:35:58 PM
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 25, 2019, 08:12:00 PM
Well checked on some of my checkerbording hives and they were building well. This frame was new on Saturday also my veil had a hole I think it was from my new hive tools being razor sharp bumped my veil, got lucky just a face full of bees no stings :cool:[attachment=0][/attachment]
Looking good! Did you use foundation? If so what type? I am looking forward to my bees drawing new comb, so far the weather is not right for it here. I have not found any evidence of the bees being ready to draw new comb. I am thinking not yet quite warm enough here for it, but being this is my first bee spring, I could be wrong.
Well this was on plastic foundation. And have been feeding 1:1 had read if you add a pinch of salt to the 1:1 it increases wax but can?t find it any were else.
Well there may be something to that! Would you mind telling me more? When you say you add a pinch is salt, a pinch to how much? Maybe a quart, of other? Thanks. I will follow your lead!
Again Thanks, Phillip
I am gonna try today on one hive this experiment. Putting quarts on so one will get a pinch one will not and will see how it goes both are equal size
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 26, 2019, 08:11:16 AM
I am gonna try today on one hive this experiment. Putting quarts on so one will get a pinch one will not and will see how it goes both are equal size
That's a good idea. Let us know how that works out. Very good idea!!
Quote from: MikeyN.C. on February 23, 2019, 02:15:16 PM
Thanks Jim for all the info.
So you don't worry that newly mated Q will enter the wrong box ?
Could you show some pics. of your screens? I was going to try and make Q's this year. To increase a feral hive i have and haven't decided what method. Thanks again.
Her are the pictures. The first one is the double screen. It goes above the 2 bottom boxes. The second one is a single screen. It goes above the middle box. It provides an entrance to for the middle box. There is also another one like it on the top box.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
[attachment=1][/attachment]
Jim
Thanks for pics. I thinking of trying this in spring. I'm going to move up just 1 box just like you did instead of 2 boxes. What I'm thinking is move 2 frames of fresh brood & eegs, 2 frames of pollen & nectar but put a Q- excluder between Q-rite and split box for 24 hrs. to let lots of nurse bees move up to brood frames and then replace Q-excluder with double screen. Do you think that will work? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
Oh, forgot to ask do nurse bees in split need water?
I like that entrance in the 2nd pic Jim. That's trick. :)
A followup question - your saying that since the bees can smell the queen, but can't get to her, they will raise a new queen(s)? It's that simple? (I've been following this thread closely. I'm new so still learning. I've raised all my queens so far - but in new boxes via splits).
Thanks,
Alan
Quote from: MikeyN.C. on March 02, 2019, 11:03:54 AM
Thanks for pics. I thinking of trying this in spring. I'm going to move up just 1 box just like you did instead of 2 boxes. What I'm thinking is move 2 frames of fresh brood & eegs, 2 frames of pollen & nectar but put a Q- excluder between Q-rite and split box for 24 hrs. to let lots of nurse bees move up to brood frames and then replace Q-excluder with double screen. Do you think that will work? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
Most of the time each box has brood in it. They already have nurse bees on the frames and field bees on the other frames.
Unless you are shaking off the bees before reinstalling them, I would not worry about using a QE. Even if LJ are moving brood frames up from the bottom box, they will still bee covered with nurse bees.
Other than delay the start of the splits, I do not think it would hurt to use the QE for a day.
Jim
Quote from: MikeyN.C. on March 02, 2019, 11:32:09 AM
Oh, forgot to ask do nurse bees in split need water?
No because they are able to go out and get water.
Jim
Allen,
A followup question - your saying that since the bees can smell the queen, but can't get to her, they will raise a new queen(s)?
It isn?t that they cannot get to her, it is that the retenue bees are not able to spread the queen pheromones into the upper boxes.
Jim
Thanks Jim,
This yr. l'll let everyone here know how. My experiments work out.
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 25, 2019, 09:46:28 PM
Quote from: Ben Framed on February 25, 2019, 08:35:58 PM
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 25, 2019, 08:12:00 PM
Well checked on some of my checkerbording hives and they were building well. This frame was new on Saturday also my veil had a hole I think it was from my new hive tools being razor sharp bumped my veil, got lucky just a face full of bees no stings :cool:[attachment=0][/attachment]
Looking good! Did you use foundation? If so what type? I am looking forward to my bees drawing new comb, so far the weather is not right for it here. I have not found any evidence of the bees being ready to draw new comb. I am thinking not yet quite warm enough here for it, but being this is my first bee spring, I could be wrong.
Well this was on plastic foundation. And have been feeding 1:1 had read if you add a pinch of salt to the 1:1 it increases wax but can?t find it any were else.
Well didn?t see any difference with the pinch of salt
Was in checking my splits and the parent hive we removed the queen couldn?t fine signs of eggs yet but was a couple day early, but found the virgin by her piping was neat. Almost getting ready to put ina queen cell from another.
Quote from: jtcmedic on March 03, 2019, 01:58:30 PM
Was in checking my splits and the parent hive we removed the queen couldn?t fine signs of eggs yet but was a couple day early, but found the virgin by her piping was neat. Almost getting ready to put ina queen cell from another.
Thanks for sharing your update.
Quote from: jtcmedic on March 03, 2019, 01:58:30 PM
Was in checking my splits and the parent hive we removed the queen couldn?t fine signs of eggs yet but was a couple day early, but found the virgin by her piping was neat. Almost getting ready to put ina queen cell from another.
JT,
From my experience with my observation hive, piping queens usually means that your hive is planning on making multiple swarms. Often to the point that the original hive does not survive. The good news is that you now have a hive full of virgin queens still in their queen cells. I recommend you open up that hive to harvest the queens and stop that hive from swarming to death. Be sure to have lots of queen cages on hand, I had 11 queens in a 8 frame hive. Expect a lot more. Gently remove one frame at a time. Try not to disturb the bees too much. Use only a little bit of smoke. They are constantly keeping the queens sealed in and if disturbed too much, they leave the queens and you will have a bunch of queens released at once trying to kill each other.
Good luck.
Jim
I had pulled out all the cells except for 2 on this frame. Queen was already moved out (3years old)and I made a split from it and took cells into a failing queen. So there was only 2 in it. I did make a mistake on my dates and thought she be laying but they just hatched so will check again in a week
Quote from: sawdstmakr on March 02, 2019, 07:40:08 PM
Allen,
A followup question - your saying that since the bees can smell the queen, but can't get to her, they will raise a new queen(s)?
It isn?t that they cannot get to her, it is that the retenue bees are not able to spread the queen pheromones into the upper boxes.
Jim
Ahhh - makes sense now. Thank you sir.
I like what your doing there, and thank you for the video. ... 2 of my hives are getting huge. I've got to do something as soon as we get a fair-weather day here. I'm trying to capture as much of a honey crop as possible this year. However, with the way they are growing I'm worried about swarming. I was hoping to wait till May (flow slows then) and then split these down - maybe from 2 to 10. .... but I think now I have to look towards options that will allow continued honey production, and splits at the same time.
Your system, combined with Mr. Bush's explaination of opening the brood nest, might allow me a middle road so to speak - splits (brood frames) and splits (screens), while continuing production. ... that's where I'm at right now.
Alan
Quote from: MikeyN.C. on February 17, 2019, 02:37:58 PM
Everything I've been reading is when you split is feed, feed,feed and I'm assuming that's for starter strips or new foundation.
Not quite. It assumes there is not enough resources in the hive to make a good queen. I do not feed. I make sure there is enough honey in the hive or the timing is such that there is a good flow. Now that I am in FL I will have to learn the new timing.
Quote from: jtcmedic on March 03, 2019, 10:32:41 PM
I had pulled out all the cells except for 2 on this frame. Queen was already moved out (3years old)and I made a split from it and took cells into a failing queen. So there was only 2 in it. I did make a mistake on my dates and thought she be laying but they just hatched so will check again in a week
JT,
If your queen just hatched, it may take up to 11 days for her to mate and a day or more for her to start laying. I would give her another 17 days before you inspect.
Jim
Quote from: sawdstmakr on March 22, 2019, 12:43:49 AM
Quote from: jtcmedic on March 03, 2019, 10:32:41 PM
I had pulled out all the cells except for 2 on this frame. Queen was already moved out (3years old)and I made a split from it and took cells into a failing queen. So there was only 2 in it. I did make a mistake on my dates and thought she be laying but they just hatched so will check again in a week
JT,
If your queen just hatched, it may take up to 11 days for her to mate and a day or more for her to start laying. I would give her another 17 days before you inspect.
Jim
Went back in 2 days ago, and the new queen is just starting to lay, added 2 frames of sealed from my donor hive to help out. All my re queens have taken (knock on wood) and there pattern has been good. So will see what shakes out.
Quote from: Acebird on March 21, 2019, 11:52:01 AM
Quote from: MikeyN.C. on February 17, 2019, 02:37:58 PM
Everything I've been reading is when you split is feed, feed,feed and I'm assuming that's for starter strips or new foundation.
Not quite. It assumes there is not enough resources in the hive to make a good queen. I do not feed. I make sure there is enough honey in the hive or the timing is such that there is a good flow. Now that I am in FL I will have to learn the new timing.
Mikey, I have heard and read the same as you in the situation that if you want to help the new splits get off to a running start.(thrive), you must Make sure that they have the resources readly available to feed and build comb etc. Sock the sugar water to them! Ace is probabaly on the money assuming the splits are made in the middle of a flow. I guess this depends on each individuals place of residents and time of year. As you might have read here in other post. I made some (really late) fall splits during the time of goldenrod. I took no chance going into winter by not feeding
Even though the goldenrods were booming. They built up very fast, including drawing out comb. I added tea tree oil, wintergreen, and spearmint essential oil to the sugar water as advised by at least 3 breeders. Two from Georgia, one from Indiana. Each one gave me the same good advise. These late season splits not only survived the winter but thrived during the winter and thus far. Even now the Nucs are booming, In fact I have already had to add a second box on all seven and on one of these, a third box, along with converting one over to a ten frame, and just yesterday had to add another 10 frame on top of the one. Now take into consideration, just a couple weeks ago it was to cold to open the boxes. This is how wonderfully they are building and how fast. Let me add, I also feed, in open feeders ultra bee as advised by these same three breeders, including the Indiana breeder which is in even colder weather than am I And with the good advise of LIVE OAK.
On the warmer days, they would fly out and take advantage of this supplement. Honestly, I didn't realize that bees would fly in the winter as this was my first winter with bees, but I noticed, as taking notes, anytime the tempatures would approach 50 they would COVER the pollen supplement. I have also noticed that since natural pollen, that they are finding, has caused them to TOTALLY lose interest in the pollen substitute. Good luck!
Phillip
Quote from: Ben Framed on February 25, 2019, 08:35:58 PM
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 25, 2019, 08:12:00 PM
Well checked on some of my checkerbording hives and they were building well. This frame was new on Saturday also my veil had a hole I think it was from my new hive tools being razor sharp bumped my veil, got lucky just a face full of bees no stings :cool:[attachment=0][/attachment]
Looking good! Did you use foundation? If so what type? I am looking forward to my bees drawing new comb, so far the weather is not right for it here. I have not found any evidence of the bees being ready to draw new comb. I am thinking not yet quite warm enough here for it, but being this is my first bee spring, I could be wrong.
jtcmedic
Well this was on plastic foundation. And have been feeding 1:1 had read if you add a pinch of salt to the 1:1 it increases wax but can?t find it any were else.
jtcmedic, what a difference three weeks can make as you can see from my post here in late February and my most recent post here! I Just wanted to let you know that I added the pinch of salt each time I mixed syrup and essential oils. I can't say that this helped improve wax and comb building, but I can say; it certainly didn't hurt progress! My hives are booming! Thank you for the tip! Weather it did or didn't help I will continue to add the (pinch of salt) for early spring buildup, unless one of our experts here know of a reason why not add salt.
Thanks, Phillip
Quote from: Ben Framed on March 22, 2019, 04:21:23 PM
Quote from: Ben Framed on February 25, 2019, 08:35:58 PM
Quote from: jtcmedic on February 25, 2019, 08:12:00 PM
Well checked on some of my checkerbording hives and they were building well. This frame was new on Saturday also my veil had a hole I think it was from my new hive tools being razor sharp bumped my veil, got lucky just a face full of bees no stings :cool:[attachment=0][/attachment]
Looking good! Did you use foundation? If so what type? I am looking forward to my bees drawing new comb, so far the weather is not right for it here. I have not found any evidence of the bees being ready to draw new comb. I am thinking not yet quite warm enough here for it, but being this is my first bee spring, I could be wrong.
jtcmedic
Well this was on plastic foundation. And have been feeding 1:1 had read if you add a pinch of salt to the 1:1 it increases wax but can?t find it any were else.
jtcmedic, what a difference three weeks can make as you can see from my post here in late February and my most recent post here! I Just wanted to let you know that I added the pinch of salt each time I mixed syrup and essential oils. I can't say that this helped improve wax and comb building, but I can say; it certainly didn't hurt progress! My hives are booming! Thank you for the tip! Weather it did or didn't help I will continue to add the (pinch of salt) for early spring buildup, unless one of our experts here know of a reason why not add salt.
Thanks, Phillip
Well glad it helped you but didn?t do anything for me but will try again
I'm not certain if it did or didn't but I was persistent about it and kept adding each time I mixed feed. Thanks again!
Let me add, I read somewhere that bees do indeed need salt. I have heard that they will go to swimming pools for the added salt, bypassing other water sources. Is this true?