beekeeping...day 2

[givemeone]

OK..things "seem" to be going good.  Lots of activity at the hive and we've noticed a lot of bees coming back with pollen.  A couple of concerns. 

1.)  When re-filling the hive top feeder today..I think/know we put too much sugar water in the feeder.  Should we be worried about too much food in the feeder?  Will it go bad and if so, how long before we need to get it out of the feeder?

2.)  Our "nuc" had five "full" frames of bees.  It seemed to have a lot of bees on each and every frame.  How long does it take...if things are going well, before we need to add another hive body?  From what I've read it appears that we should wait 1 week before bothering the bees again...I'm just worried, based on the activity, that things might get crowded before then...

3.)  We bought a "vented super" with our hive top feeder.  It is not installed.  I was worried about all that extra space in the hive, but it's supposed to be 92 tomorrow, so I was thinking about putting it on the hive.  Just wondering if there was anything that I should be concerned about when using one of these devices?

4.)  Where are all of our bees going?  We have blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and some floweres in bloom, but hardly a bee in the yard.  I've noticed a couple by the fish pond...but, other than that, they seem to come out of the hive, fly up about 15-20' and zoom off to somewhere .........................else.  We have lots of bumble bees, wasps, hornets, butterflys, flies, etc....but the honeybees seem to be shunning our yard.  I assume this is normal, but I'm curious as to why they wouldn't utilize the closest food source before wandering afar????

[John Schwartz]

1.)  When re-filling the hive top feeder today..I think/know we put too much sugar water in the feeder.  Should we be worried about too much food in the feeder?  Will it go bad and if so, how long before we need to get it out of the feeder?

Nothing to worry about there. They'll eat until they find more/better nectar sources.

2.)  Our "nuc" had five "full" frames of bees.  It seemed to have a lot of bees on each and every frame.  How long does it take...if things are going well, before we need to add another hive body?  From what I've read it appears that we should wait 1 week before bothering the bees again...I'm just worried, based on the activity, that things might get crowded before then...

Also nothing to worry about. When they get to 70/80% filling the hive, stick another on. You'll find varying opinion on this. Checking them once a week is a good habit to get into.

3.)  We bought a "vented super" with our hive top feeder.  It is not installed.  I was worried about all that extra space in the hive, but it's supposed to be 92 tomorrow, so I was thinking about putting it on the hive.  Just wondering if there was anything that I should be concerned about when using one of these devices?

Make sure they have a good water source in your yard. Adding the vented super won't hurt. Once the hive is larger, don't be afraid to crack open a corner of the lid a bit to give them some more ventilation and access.

4.)  Where are all of our bees going?  We have blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and some floweres in bloom, but hardly a bee in the yard.  I've noticed a couple by the fish pond...but, other than that, they seem to come out of the hive, fly up about 15-20' and zoom off to somewhere .........................else.  We have lots of bumble bees, wasps, hornets, butterflys, flies, etc....but the honeybees seem to be shunning our yard.  I assume this is normal, but I'm curious as to why they wouldn't utilize the closest food source before wandering afar????

This is normal behavior. They'll typically zoom off and be looking for large sources of nectar. Don't worry, if there's flowering berries in your yard, they'll eventually find 'em. :)

[givemeone]

Thanks. Advice and knowledge appreciated. I'm sure "day 3" will bring more questions..

[iddee]

Day 1, day 2, day 7. Leave them alone in between, or you could cause an abscond. At the least, you will set them back when they need all they can get to get settled in.