I must have super nice bees

oblib · April 16, 2012, 10:42:25 PM

When I installed my bees 10 days ago i put in 1gal baggie feeders with a 4 inch spacer to keep the lid off the baggies. Four of the ten hives decided that that 4 inches was the perfect spot to build all the comb.

This evening after work being the first day that the weather was not either raining or gale force winds for a while so I decided it was time to fix it. Between those four hives I cut out 18 pieces of comb that was 3 1/2" tall and 15 or so inches long. Probably 80% of all the bees in those hives were in that comb. I used only smoke and a ventilated jacket and received exactly ZERO stings. :-D

There were many times i made newbie mistakes including droping comb :jawdrop:and they just let me pick it up, brush them off it, and move on.

I also removed those spacers and gave those hives jar feeders so they wouldn't do it again. Was gonna burn them dang spacers but remembered they will come in handy for mountain camp feeding in the winter but no more baggies for me.

AllenF · April 16, 2012, 10:47:06 PM

Put the spacers and feeders on bottom. Bees build from the top down. Remember bee space.

Hethen57 · April 17, 2012, 08:55:05 PM

Sounds good. Remember...you probably don't have any bees from your own queen's genetics yet. I have had things change dramatically (for the better, and worse) once the "filler" bees die off and your hives are repopulated by your own bees.

oblib · April 17, 2012, 10:47:09 PM

Yeah, I'm hoping they stay this nice but know it can change as new bees emerge.

danno · April 18, 2012, 03:34:08 PM

bee's that cover comb as you explained are nurse bee's (very young) and seldom very aggressive. Most likely if you look close you'll see eggs and larva in the combs

Bennettoid · April 18, 2012, 05:30:45 PM

A colony can change temperament due to the time of year, the amount of stores, the weather, or just because. Sometimes they decide to requeen and the hive goes from sweet to hot in what seems a matter of days.

annette · April 19, 2012, 12:18:19 AM

Don't give up on the baggie feeders. They work only when the comb is already drawn out, not when installing on undrawn frames. I know because I made the same mistake as you. But I have been using baggie feeders for years with no trouble.

dprater · April 19, 2012, 06:15:03 AM

Oh crap, I'm on day 5 after installing my first packages with baggies in them, and it may be Saturday before I can look and see what is going on. I have a empty medium on top, hope I don't have to much of a mess.

oblib · April 19, 2012, 08:35:46 AM

I wish you luck. It wasnt that hard to cut out. If i ever do packages again I will use the baggie under the frames to avoid that empty space above.

danno · April 19, 2012, 08:44:32 AM

buy or build hive top feeders and you wont have these problem plus they hold a couple of gallons

dprater · April 19, 2012, 08:53:00 PM

Good news Bad news. Good news I got to go in the hives today. Queens are out in both hives, stored pollen and eggs yes I've got eggs hooray. A little bad news is just like you'll said they had started building cone in the empty supper, three pieces about the size of my hand in one just a little in the other. I shook the bees on the top of the frames and did not put the baggie back in. I had bought entrance feeders, should have used them to start with.

Thanks for the info. If I had waited till Saturday I would had more of a mess.

I'm happy with what I saw.

Danny