1st timer here & bee keeping.... thank you all in advance for any insight.
Re-queened 2 months ago, after finding the package queen was gone. Neglected the hive till today.
Today, we found lots of capped honey, some uncapped, & NO brood [well maybe 15 cells in a 2 brood box 10 frame hive].
Should I panic???
What should I do???
JG, if you have a queen and good stores and lots of bees, I would not panic. You did not mention wether you have lots of bees and this is important. Although not much you can do this time of year in your area.
In your area, cold is coming soon and the bees will cluster all winter. Then in the spring you can sort out problems. I hope you dealt with varroa mites.
Hope this helps.
van Thank you .... Wont panic.
Lots of bees? .... not sure. I can offer, we found a good amount on almost 8~9 frames on both brood boxes ..... my wife says "Yes, there were a lot".
After re-queening late this summer, we figured we'd try letting nature run it's course.
We opened the hive [two 10 frame brood boxes w/ a syrup feeder on top] to do a varroa mite test, look for the queen & check the status.
Found bees on almost every frame in both boxes.
Top box
Removed & inspected ... maybe 6 of the 10 frames. Figured the brood were below, so I pulled off the top box & it weighed +50#, closer to 60# [just checked w/ two 25# barbells]. I'm guessing +/-90% capped honey, in the upper box.
Bottom Box
I found the marked queen today near the middle of the bottom box ... love florescent green. Found just a few scattered brood on 1 or 2 frame(s) near the middle ... started to panic, decided we should "close 'er up" ... because things "looked" wrong (so few brood).
There were cells w/ uncapped honey & some pollen [wish I'd videoed w/ my phone to review ... next time].
We just tested 1/2 cup from the bottom box for mites & found 12+ from a 1/2 cup of bees ... ugh! Now on to learn about treatment.
Again Thank you for the input, much appreciated. Good health.
Quote from: jghpe1 on October 06, 2019, 05:47:05 PM
van Thank you .... Wont panic.
Lots of bees? .... not sure. I can offer, we found a good amount on almost 8~9 frames on both brood boxes ..... my wife says "Yes, there were a lot".
After re-queening late this summer, we figured we'd try letting nature run it's course.
We opened the hive [two 10 frame brood boxes w/ a syrup feeder on top] to do a varroa mite test, look for the queen & check the status.
Found bees on almost every frame in both boxes.
Top box
Removed & inspected ... maybe 6 of the 10 frames. Figured the brood were below, so I pulled off the top box & it weighed +50#, closer to 60# [just checked w/ two 25# barbells]. I'm guessing +/-90% capped honey, in the upper box.
Bottom Box
I found the marked queen today near the middle of the bottom box ... love florescent green. Found just a few scattered brood on 1 or 2 frame(s) near the middle ... started to panic, decided we should "close 'er up" ... because things "looked" wrong (so few brood).
There were cells w/ uncapped honey & some pollen [wish I'd videoed w/ my phone to review ... next time].
We just tested 1/2 cup from the bottom box for mites & found 12+ from a 1/2 cup of bees ... ugh! Now on to learn about treatment.
Again Thank you for the input, much appreciated. Good health.
Sounds right down the middle, perfect, to me. They have set themselves ready for winter. Wrap/insulate and forget about them until April.
HP, why no mention of treatment for mites? Very little capped brood, perfect for OAV.
Blessings
Can someone post or link the correct treatment for mites?
Quote from: saltybluegrass on October 07, 2019, 06:46:18 AM
Can someone post or link the correct treatment for mites?
Depends on the beekeeper...
Quote from: van from Arkansas on October 06, 2019, 09:46:56 PM
HP, why no mention of treatment for mites? Very little capped brood, perfect for OAV.
Blessings
When my hive went suddenly bloodless 2 weeks ago I first did a Powder sugar dusting of the hive and found 12 mites in the sticky board. Then my friend offered to do a OAV treatment with his vaporizer (I don?t have one) which we did a couple of days later and we only got a few more. I took that as an indication that the powder sugar dusting is pretty effective if there is little capped brood.
What ever works on mites is good with me, powder sugar, yes. Just personal preference I use OAV with provap 110V.
Thanks for the assurance of powder sugar. Would like to know how much powder sugar used per deep?
Blessings
Quote from: rgennaro on October 07, 2019, 12:35:11 PM
I took that as an indication that the powder sugar dusting is pretty effective if there is little capped brood.
I would take it as a healthy strain of bees that doesn't need to be doused with anything.
I used one cup for 2 deep. I also read a cup per deep.
I agree that this hive has been particularly good. Barely seen a mite on the sticky board all season. But if the powdered sugar didn?t work, then the OAV would have had more mites on the board I reckon.
Anyway I ended up doing both so it should be fine
>I took that as an indication that the powder sugar dusting is pretty effective if there is little capped brood.
Anything is more effective when there is no capped brood:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesvarroatreatments.htm