OH observation

[BULLSEYE BILL]

My bee numbers have been dwendling all winter in my observation hive, they are down to about a five inch loose cluster on both sides of a frame.

They have plenty of stored syrup but not much pollen.  Our pollen won't be forthcoming for at least a week or two here, so I put some pollen in the syrup feeder a few weeks ago but they have not touched it yet.  Now I did have a piece of pollen pattie about the size of my little finger setting out by the OH that they had neglected as well and it dried out.

I decided to soften it up by adding some syrup to it.  I put it into a shot glass and poured some syrup with HBH in the glass.  Monday morning it was still hard but when I got home it had disintegrated into a soupy yellow brown liquid.  Last night I poked a few small holes in the vent on the top of the hive and poured three ML in the vent.  I repeated this about three times that night, and once Tuesday morning.  Tuesday evening I gave them another 3 ml and late that night I noticed the queen had started laying!

I will have to watch and see if they eat the eggs, but it is encouraging seeing her laying again.   :yippiechick:

[BjornBee]

It is nice to see eggs again after the winter stoppage.

One of my O.H. died. Slow steady decline all winter. Even attempts to feed and stimulate did not help.

[BULLSEYE BILL]

Something strange has happened.  I noticed on the eighth day a nice amount of capping, I had an area about the size of a couple of half dollars.  The next day the area grew to about twice that, then the next morning I noticed that there was condensation on the inside of the glass.  I looked closer and the bees had opened up most of the cells that were closed the night before. :eek:

I had been watching one or two SHB in there all winter but now there were more than a half dozen running all over the place.  The bees were chasing them and they were running from the flashlight.  I could not tell if they were in the cells with the larva, but when the bees would chase them into a cell I could see that the larva was close to the opening of the cell.

That evening I could see that the bees were eating the larva.  They had also cleaned up the cells and the queen was laying fresh eggs in those cells that had been capped just the day before.  On the other side of the frame I did not notice any of these same problems.

I have a lot to learn about SHB. :(  Do they lay their eggs in with the larva like mites do?

As I posted earlier about feeding a soupy mix of pollen/syrup, the only thing I have changed was the day before this happened I mixed up a fresh batch with the new pattie I had just recieved from Mann Lake.  It is the new version with the Pro Health added to it.  Dont know if it is responsible for the increased beetles in the hive, just thinking out loud.

Any ideas why they would open up the cells and eat the larva?

[Greg Peck]

I set up my OB hive last weekend from a weak hive that i did not think would make it through another cold snap. There is about half a frame of bees on both sides. I gave them some pollen substitute when I set them up and they have a feeder in place and some stored honey. The queen is laying but I think I may have the same problem as you do minus the beetles. I circled a approx 2 inch area with a dry erase marker that had fresh eggs in the cells and noted the date. 4 days later there are still eggs in the cells but only 2 or 3 of them have hatched and are in the larva stage with royal jelly in the cells. After reading this post I wonder if the bees are taking the eggs out then the queen is laying in the cells again. Is this a common thing in the hive in spring or is it an indication that the conditions are not right in the hive?

[drobbins]

I don't have any SHB in my ohive this year but I have had them in there in the past
I've never seen anything like you describe
this winter a small, late swarm is on vacation in the ohive, maybe this is why there are no SHB
they are down to a 6" patch of bees on one side of a frame, but they have a nice little patch of sealed brood
we have a couple more days of chilly weather then the weather man says it's going to get nice
I took a pic today and plan to take one each weekend through spring
will be interesting to see how they progress

Dave

[Brian D. Bray]

That evening I could see that the bees were eating the larva.  They had also cleaned up the cells and the queen was laying fresh eggs in those cells that had been capped just the day before.  On the other side of the frame I did not notice any of these same problems.

I have a lot to learn about SHB.   Do they lay their eggs in with the larva like mites do?

I would venture to say you have it nailed.  The SHB eggs need to get into the comb somehow and what's better than laying an egg in a brood cell just before it is capped.  It also seems that bees that are varroa resistant are also SHB resistant, probably for the same reason and the same action.