swarm inspection

gov1623 · March 29, 2013, 10:41:57 PM

Went check some swarm traps I had in the swamp that I haven't checked since last year, And I caught two. :-D Went get them yesterday and took a look in them.

This one looks like its been there since last year. I found the darker bees in my area do very well and it looks like these are doing great. I was so impressed with their brood pattern so I had to take a pic. this one had 4 frames that looked like this.

The second one looks like it only been there only a week or two and it also had an impressive brood pattern. I just love my local bees.

bailey · March 29, 2013, 10:45:47 PM

2 very nice catches.
Also love that you and I are fishing in the same pond as far as gene pool.
Those dark bees are my favorites as well.
Bailey

gov1623 · March 29, 2013, 10:59:27 PM

Quote from: bailey on March 29, 2013, 10:45:47 PM
2 very nice catches.
Also love that you and I are fishing in the same pond as far as gene pool.
Those dark bees are my favorites as well.
Bailey

I set these traps out in an area late last summer/Fall after seeing some pure black bees flying around an old bridge. They looked like scouts. The darkest bees I ever seen. I really want to catch some of those but haven't been Lucky enough yet.

This puts me at six. Far behind you but catching up. Going check some more Monday

capt44 · March 29, 2013, 11:16:04 PM

Aren't the black bees a German Breed?

bailey · March 29, 2013, 11:19:24 PM

Your talking about German blacks. I'm not sure if those genes exist here anymore.
But I'm sure our ferrels look quite dark at times.
Queens down here are often Reddish to even light black at times.
Usually nice and fat!
Bailey.

schawee · March 30, 2013, 01:15:19 AM

gov,i find the darker bees do better here too.I had a black queen 2 years ago,i brought it to bud3 for show and tell.lost her last year.the new queen was reddish but the tip of her abdomen was black. schawee

Georgia Boy · March 30, 2013, 11:35:03 PM

Just WOW!!!

Nice brood pattern.

Thanks for posting the pictures. Really helps us new bees to see what is considered good and what is not.

David

gov1623 · March 31, 2013, 12:42:27 AM

Quote from: Georgia Boy on March 30, 2013, 11:35:03 PM
Just WOW!!!

Nice brood pattern.

Thanks for posting the pictures. Really helps us new bees to see what is considered good and what is not.

David

Next time I do some inspections ill get some more pics of my full size hives. Some of them have even more impressive brood patterns. I can also find some poor brood patterns for you to compare. This is one of my favorite parts of beekeeping. I love watching colonies grow and seeing the queen do her job. Honey comes in second. This is why I am getting more into queen rearing and raising bees than honey production.

Georgia Boy · March 31, 2013, 09:47:48 AM

Hey Gov,

Was just looking at the picture and noticed on the edge of the comb, just above your finger, is two cells the look like they exploded. Is that normal? Any idea what caused or causes that? Lastly is it bad?

Thanks

David

gov1623 · March 31, 2013, 11:41:30 AM

Quote from: Georgia Boy on March 31, 2013, 09:47:48 AM
Hey Gov,

Was just looking at the picture and noticed on the edge of the comb, just above your finger, is two cells the look like they exploded. Is that normal? Any idea what caused or causes that? Lastly is it bad?

Thanks

David

That was just some empty queen cups that a smashed. Most hives keep a couple empty queen cups around the edges.

Georgia Boy · March 31, 2013, 12:39:48 PM

Cool and thanks for the info.

David

oliver · March 31, 2013, 01:59:41 PM

We spotted some black bees here last fall, came in to help mine clean some wet supers. they were totally black no sign of a stripe, have no idea where they are from, going to spread some bait hives and see if I can catch some of these, I do know what honey bees are and am 100 percent certain these are them..dl