tales of a novice beekeeper

[GSF]

Congrads!

[Jow4040]

Ok. I picked up the swarm trap that had caught a swarm. It had foundationless frames in it and I was happy to see the bees had began to build comb neatly following the guides. They had built 3-4 frames of comb already. Although they had only half filled the frames. It's a bit cold today so I am going to check for eggs or brood tomorrow.



I found these two bees dead outside the trap. My question is are these bees both from the hive? One is much blacker and doesn't have the yellow band of the other. I was wondering if they are the same species or perhaps a dead robber and a bee from my hive?
Thoughts?

[jayj200]

She mates with many drones

have you looked at your drones? they come in all shapes sizes and colors

[Jow4040]

I opened the swarm trap again today to have a better look in the warmer weather and noticed eggs in most cells. The bees are building really well on the foundation guides and its nice to see them building to their own dimensions and needs. I am sure that at this rate, in a couple of weeks when I next check on them they will have filled out most of the box .

[BeeMaster2]

I found these two bees dead outside the trap. My question is are these bees both from the hive? One is much blacker and doesn't have the yellow band of the other. I was wondering if they are the same species or perhaps a dead robber and a bee from my hive?
Thoughts?

Jow,
They are from one queen. Like Jay said "she mates with many drones". That is a good thing. Having good diverse genetics is what will save our bees. A well bred queen will mate with 20 males and sometimes as many as 60 males.
Jim

[Jow4040]

Thanks guys. I was trying to work out what genetics my bees had but then some look Italian and some like black bees. Sounds like it's probably a mix.

How do commercial queen breeders ensure their lines stay breed pure?

[jayj200]

100 hives nice queens

[Rmcpb]

How do commercial queen breeders ensure their lines stay breed pure?

The ones I know move their hives into the middle of nowhere so no other bees around then flood the area with their chosen drones. job done.

Its not foolproof but fairly reliable.

[Jow4040]

Ah that makes sense.

[OldMech]

Looks like your doing well!!!   I like my foundation-less frames "most" of the time :P

   I did notice at the beginning of the thread that you were advised to heck on your bees every ten days..  And, I wanted to give you some food for thought.
   In the spring time, it takes the bees nine days to cap a queen cell..  OFTEN, when that cell is capped, the old queen will Swarm with half or a little more of your bees...  If you check your hive every ten days....   see where I am going with this?
   In mid July of this year, I switched from weekly inspections to every two weeks.  I was ecstatic with my results of having NO SWARMS from my hives this year.. I had done good!!!  On the day of my first two week inspection, I was starting my run through, and heard the tell tale ROAR from behind me ... I turned to see them boiling from the hive...   "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"   I ran to get my Camera...  The swarm issued at 14 days, but could as easily have issued at 9 days..

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S4n2Xk21xk

  I agree that some people open the hives way too often, but by the same token, if there is a "reason" to open the hive it should be done.  Always have a reason, a purpose when you go in.. if you do not have a reason, then dont take the lid off.  After some time, looking in every 7 days loses some of its appeal, and checking every ten days to two weeks seems a lot better, but it can lose you bees and a good honey crop..   JUST... one old  guys opinion.
   Keep up the good work!  Looking forward to reading the rest of the story!

[Jow4040]

Well the next chapter is that 'Awootton' kindly invited me to join him for my first cutout at a house not too far from home. Although sticky, I had a great time and learnt a lot while getting a good amount of time becoming more comfortable around the bees. I also managed to get some good 'no glove' time which after the initial nervousness felt really natural.

Unfortunately the comb was all so fresh that it was a little delicate and difficult to get into the frames. In the end i got 2 frames of brood and a heap of bees. We left the hive there to catch the stragglers which i will pick up after work tonight.





It was nice to meet someone else interested in bees with much more experience than me that i could bounce questions off and as a result i came away with new ideas and more confidence.

This makes colony number 3 for me and i don't really want (or have the space for) any more. That said i think i have the cutout / swarm catching bug. Perhaps i can cut them out and donate the bees to friends? I'll find a way.

Joe

[Jow4040]

Oh and thanks for the tips Oldmech, I imagine that as all my colonies are still building up that they wont be a swarm risk this season but i will keep a close eye on them all the same. I am kind of keen to find my first swarm cells so i can try a split to raise a new queen.

Joe.

[Michael Bush]

Checking on the constantly does not prevent them from swarming...

[OldMech]

   

   I agree, checking will NOT prevent swarming..  But, the actions taken before they decide to swarm, and after they begin making preparations can help reduce the amount of swarming...

[CBT]

Are upper entrances a common thing? We don't use them where we live.

[Jow4040]

Well the backyard where I caught the last swarm might pay off again. I left a Nuc behind when I took the swarm trap home and I just got word that there is a lot of scout activity. The Nuc was baited with lemongrass oil and the comb I removed from my first hive. Fingers crossed I catch another in the next week or so.

[GSF]

That's great Jow! It's a fun thing to catch swarms.

[Jow4040]

Gave two hives an inspection this arvo. Both seem to be doing well. The one from the cutout has filled the Nuc with comb in the foundationless frames with only a couple of corrections needing to be made. Mostly this was due to the cutout comb being a bit wonky to begin with I think.

I've also been frantically building a couple of new hives after work this week to house the Nuc bees and the swarm of bees I caught in the trap. Hopefully I'll get some time over the weekend to swap the frames across.

My first hive from has almost filled the second box which is good.

Interestingly though, the cutout hive is already producing heaps more propolis. The bees in the first hive don't really produce any at all in comparison.
I guess that's the beauty of catching swarms and getting cutout bees. You get a wide mix of genetics.

The swarm trap is still out. The activity has slowed a bit but it is still getting plenty of attention. Fingers crossed.

I am up to 3 hives now but think I wouldn't mind a 4th. Is this how beekeeping usually plays out? I'm not addicted. I swear I can stop anytime I want to......... I just don't want to yet.

Joe.

[Jow4040]

So i inspected one of my hives yesterday and the bees had filled the two brood boxes with comb and had begun to back-fill the boxes with honey. I quickly added a third box and placed a couple of empty foundation less frames in between the drawn combs in the bottom two boxes and moved the drawn comb they were replacing up into the new third box along with the other new frames. Hopefully this will avoid them swarming. i think i caught them early enough as there were no queen cells visible.

Which brings me to my next question. I am planning on crush and draining my honey so i was wondering if i could get away with just the one super on top of the two brood boxes? I was thinking that as the super fills up with honey and when i see a frame is capped, i could remove it and replace it with a new frame to keep enough storage space for the bees in the super. It would mean i might be crushing one or two frames at a time and might be doing this every two weeks perhaps? Does that make sense? is there any reason this is not a good idea/ any pro's or cons to doing this? Should i just plan on adding more supers instead?

Im not using queen excluders if that makes any difference.

Thanks

Joe

[Jow4040]

Another quick question. Checked a hive today and they have sealed all the ventilation mesh with propolis. The hive as a result had a fair amount of condensation on the underside of the lid. Is there anything I can do to keep them from sealing up the ventilation?