want my bees back

10framer · April 22, 2014, 12:00:36 PM

those bees had been there a while.

theBeeLord · April 22, 2014, 12:52:54 PM

we think they escaped from the yellow hive to the tree sometimes in august. does it look like they've been there longer and we're looking at a different group of bees?

10framer · April 22, 2014, 03:25:44 PM

i doubt that bees that tried to start a hive as late as august would survive the winter in kentucky. when is your first frost? the bees would have to build the comb before the queen could start laying and then it takes about a month for the new bees to emerge. so, it would be well into september before they even started building up. they would also have needed a pretty good flow to produce the wax as well as store enough honey to winter with. it just doesn't seem probable to me but i've never kept bees in kentucky and have no idea of what your flows are like. i don't think i've ever seen a swarm after june in my area but that may not be the case up there.

theBeeLord · April 22, 2014, 04:26:50 PM

frost usually hits October--ish
well - if it's not my swarm it's at least a healthy colony.

only weird thing was an over-abundance of drone cells and drones. queen was also not as big as i expected her to be.

Kathyp · April 22, 2014, 06:30:40 PM

pretty damaged tree. probably a good thing you took it down. good job. looks like it was a bit of a project!

you saw the queen?

theBeeLord · May 06, 2014, 02:13:14 PM

yup. saw the queen.
checked on them thursday and saw her again.
this has got to be the most productive hive i've seen.
gonna have some frames of capped honey soon.

Dallasbeek · May 06, 2014, 11:10:22 PM

Fantastic job. Congratulations.

Gary

jayj200 · May 06, 2014, 11:12:56 PM

Quote from: Alan on April 02, 2014, 10:24:47 AM
maybe they thought it was a good April Fool's joke?

been reading up on "bee trees" --- sounds like if i cut it down i'm gonna need to keep it upright and not let it fall (hadn't thought about that).

how effective are swarm traps? or should i say -- what's the most effective method that you have used?

15 drops of LGO 5 on the right 5 on the left inside and 5 onthe top inside deep.
in 4 days I had a swarm and thats no joke FACT
jay

theBeeLord · May 26, 2014, 01:07:46 PM

15 drops of LGO 5 on the right 5 on the left inside and 5 onthe top inside deep.
in 4 days I had a swarm and thats no joke FACT

Jay,
just pure LGO? i found a recipe that used LGO and wax and little bit of olive oil. tried that. i'll try the pure LGO as well.