What's up Doc. take a look...

Acebird · December 31, 2010, 01:03:50 PM

I pulled the tray out of the bottom and this is what it looks like:

Is this a high dead bee count? I have no idea if more were revealed from the snow melting but I would say it is at least triple the count that I saw yesterday.

All opinions are welcomed on what you see.

G3farms · December 31, 2010, 01:48:03 PM

large black dots ..............small hive beetles
small black dots...............mites
yellow and brown dots......wax cappings from the honey stores they are eating
white dots......................not sure, are you feeding dry sugar? or it could be snow pellets

dead bees are just part of the winter thing, some go out on cleansing flights and get too cold to make it back in, others are old and weak, while some will die in the hive and are taken out by others.

Bee poop on the side of the hive is a sign they are taking cleansing flights.

Acebird · December 31, 2010, 02:21:36 PM

We looked up the SHB and convinced ourselves that is what they looked like. When I zoomed into the photo we were sure the small brown dots were mites. I went out to the tray just now and rubbed the white pieces together between my thumb and finger and that too feels like wax.

The bees are flying around like crazy in front of the hive right now so I am going to wait before I put the tray back. They are definitely pooping. We saw that yesterday in flight making tracks in the snow.

So, you think the death count is normal and the amount of pests on the tray is not alarming at this point?

G3farms · December 31, 2010, 03:22:03 PM

Looks about normal to me, mite count might be a little high.

Yes the white could be wax cappings also.

FRAMEshift · December 31, 2010, 03:44:46 PM

I'm thinking the white stuff is wax scales dropped during comb building. The yellow is cappings with some pollen coloring.

buzzbee · December 31, 2010, 03:46:28 PM

I would think the white may be from cappings on new drawn comb filled with honey,while the darker may have been severely travel stained cappings or from cappings from honey stored in the broodnest.

rdy-b · December 31, 2010, 05:22:04 PM

looks like your cluster is down to about 3-4 frames of bees -if it gets down to 3 frames its a wobler -RDY-B

rdy-b · December 31, 2010, 06:09:32 PM

oh and one more observation-at a quick glance- :) -your hive is entirely to level
you need to have a slop towards the entrance -reason bieing if water condenses in side of top it will run to the side wall and run out the entrance-and wont hurt your bees that way-its a easy fix that you should do -or not :lol: RDY-B

AllenF · December 31, 2010, 07:31:48 PM

All those dead beetles look good to me. :-D Maybe a few more will get run out of the cluster to freeze.

Acebird · January 01, 2011, 10:24:52 AM

Quote from: rdy-b on December 31, 2010, 05:22:04 PM
looks like your cluster is down to about 3-4 frames of bees -if it gets down to 3 frames its a wobler -RDY-B

I would like to know how you know this and also an explanation of the term "wobler".

Acebird · January 01, 2011, 10:30:10 AM

Quote from: rdy-b on December 31, 2010, 06:09:32 PM
oh and one more observation-at a quick glance- :) -your hive is entirely to level
you need to have a slop towards the entrance -reason bieing if water condenses in side of top it will run to the side wall and run out the entrance-and wont hurt your bees that way-its a easy fix that you should do -or not :lol: RDY-B

Great observation. The outside cover is actually pitched to the back at about 1/2 per foot. The hive and so the inner cover is bang on level. I thought if it was good for foundationless it would be good for foundation.

hardwood · January 01, 2011, 11:15:39 AM

Even with foundationless hives it's good to tilt them a bit forward so that water runs out the bottom board and (in your climate) condensation runs from the cover to the front wall and down.

With foundationless hives you need to level them side to side...not so much front to back.

Scott

Acebird · January 01, 2011, 11:24:15 AM

Quote from: hardwood on January 01, 2011, 11:15:39 AM
Even with foundationless hives it's good to tilt them a bit forward so that water runs out the bottom board and (in your climate) condensation runs from the cover to the front wall and down.

With foundationless hives you need to level them side to side...not so much front to back.

Scott

Now see, I would have had to read four chapters to get this bit of information and it came to me without even asking.

I am curious though, why does it make a difference if the hive is pitched toward the front or toward the back?

AllenF · January 01, 2011, 11:29:22 AM

Pitched to the back and the water runs through the hive on the bottom board to the back of the hive. Take it out the front door and off the front ledge.

Acebird · January 01, 2011, 11:30:42 AM

Everyone,
Please take another look at the tray. Notice that there is more debris (chewings) toward the front (north) and the left side (east). Anybody have any ideas on that?

Acebird · January 01, 2011, 11:44:39 AM

QuoteTake it out the front door and off the front ledge.

If you get a chance, do a vacation in the wintertime up in the Aderondack's. Notice all the icicles hanging off the roofs up here. The minute that water rolls to the front porch (so to speak) it will freeze and create an ice darn like what you see on every edge of the roofs up here. That would seal up the entrance in no time flat.

The second entrance is also used as an emergency exit. In a natural hive in the trees the snow and ice doesn't close off the only entrance.

Just thinking now, a better approach would be to pitch the hive to the back and drill exit holes in the bottom board along the back wall to expel the water.

AllenF · January 01, 2011, 12:03:57 PM

Down here, we just don't see that much ice. :-D

Acebird · January 01, 2011, 02:52:12 PM

It's into the 40's today and I had the top off again to smear some cappings on to the inner cover. They are really active today and I think they liked the honey treat. At least some of them did.

This time I noticed the exposed wood of the top cover was really wet in the center and toward the south east. I don't know why I didn't notice it before. Because the cover is covered with tin it suggest in my mind that frosting, or at least condensation is happening on the bottom of the top cover. There is no evidence at all of moisture on the top of the inner cover. The condensate must have run down the back and gone outside the hive because of the way the cover was tipped. Again, I did not pull the inner cover off, but I can't see how it would have made any difference based on how many bees were buzzing around.

rdy-b · January 01, 2011, 08:29:26 PM

Quote from: Acebird on January 01, 2011, 10:24:52 AM
Quote from: rdy-b on December 31, 2010, 05:22:04 PM
looks like your cluster is down to about 3-4 frames of bees -if it gets down to 3 frames its a wobler -RDY-B

I would like to know how you know this and also an explanation of the term "wobler".

The Tao of Kung Fu #1 - "Fear is the only darkness."

Acebird · January 01, 2011, 09:01:56 PM

Rdy-b,

I can see everything with you is going to be a riddle. Are you trying to tell me you are blind old man that sees grasshoppers?