Bees are here almost all dead

beerman · June 25, 2010, 01:08:26 PM

Well out of 6# of bees I have mabey 100 left alive. is it worth it to still try or is that two small a number?
Thanks
Brian

John Schwartz · June 25, 2010, 01:10:13 PM

Bummer, Brian! Ya, not enough. I'd get on horn with supplier and let 'em know asap.

beerman · June 25, 2010, 01:14:18 PM

They said they will not replace them.

John Schwartz · June 25, 2010, 01:33:17 PM

Yikes -- well, you know who not to use next time. Anybody close to Brian that can lend him some bees?

asprince · June 25, 2010, 01:37:27 PM

What happened to them? Was the shipper at fault?

Steve

montauk170 · June 25, 2010, 01:40:37 PM

Who did you buy the bees from?

beerman · June 25, 2010, 01:50:02 PM

hlbeefarm they were just all dead at the bottom of the boxes.

glenn c hile · June 25, 2010, 01:57:12 PM

Get on local swarm list (police, fire, internet, etc.) or contact local bee club if one is around.

Scadsobees · June 25, 2010, 01:59:02 PM

Too small a number.

If the queens are ok yet, then I'd see if I can find a beekeeper nearby, ASAP who'd give/lend/sell/donate at least 4 frames of brood with bees to get them at least started. I think that it would be worth a shot, especially if you can't get any due recourse, but even then there is a chance the queens are damaged. Two frames per queen, although that is still small.

If the queens are dead...well ...is there anything to do as far as filing a claim with the delivery service/post office, since it was most likely them who killed the bees, not the supplier? The bees are very sensitive to heat, to the point where package bee companies use refrigerated trucks.

Rick

AllenF · June 25, 2010, 02:17:42 PM

Did they ship USPS? Insured? It is now too hot to ship bees. Was all 6 pounds in one box or was it 2 packages?

beerman · June 25, 2010, 02:27:05 PM

2 packages both queens are dead they were shipped usps their response sorry sir we are not responsible for the packages we ship.

Hethen57 · June 25, 2010, 02:34:37 PM

What a bummer...if you were closer, I would have bees for you..I'm on the verge of too many. Unfortunately, all of the value of those packages is in the queens, and if they are dead, you don't have anything. Hopefully you can find some local nucs, there are some around here on Craigslist...otherwise try to capture a swarm, but it took me a year to get my first swarm call. Local pest control companies might be a good source of leads.

beerman · June 25, 2010, 02:45:54 PM

Anyone near Peoria want to sell a few bees or a queen?

TwoHoneys · June 25, 2010, 04:31:19 PM

What a bummer, beerman. Your eagerness was contagious.

beerman · June 25, 2010, 09:32:03 PM

Well after about a 400 mile round trip got a new queen and some bees, is it normal for a lot of bees to drown in a top feeder? I put some packing peanuts in it hope it helps.
Thanks for all the support guys.
If these don't work I will start over next year.
Brian

oldenglish · June 26, 2010, 01:25:45 AM

get rid of the top feeder, always have problems with them, get a 1 gallon pail put some holes in the lid and invert it on top of the inner cover.

jgaito · June 26, 2010, 08:49:30 AM

Quote from: beerman on June 25, 2010, 09:32:03 PM
is it normal for a lot of bees to drown in a top feeder?
Brian

i put sticks and pinestraw in mine and only put about two inches of syrup in.

garys520 · June 26, 2010, 08:56:38 AM

Glad to see that you have bees again. I have to agree to get rid of the top feeder, it's a swimming pool from hell for the bees. It took me a couple of years but I visited a dozens of restaurants and picked up one gallon glass jars to put over the top hole of the inner cover. My top feeders have been sitting on my shelf in the basement since. Good luck with the girls.

Paynesgrey · June 26, 2010, 10:39:57 AM

The gallon GLASS bottles worked out great for us too. We found that punching just 3 very small holes in the lids worked a lot better than a bunch of holes, like you see in a small boardman feeder. Less extra syrup leaking out. We set them on the inverted inner cover, above the bottom deep frames, put a deep around them, and the cover. They were too wobbly just set on the frames for me. NO robbing. No drowning.
Very glad that you are not going to give up :)

Is there a breeder within driving distance that you can DRIVE to next year to pick up your bees? We drove several hundred miles 1 way to do so. It was great to see their set up & meet other new Beeks. We didn't exchange numbers, but some people did. The breeders did installation demonstrations all day. They explained stuff, hived a package, showed how to remove queenbox etc, discussed newbie problems & what to do first weeks. They had hives aged 1,2,3,4 weeks etc to show what to expect, what eggs, larvae, capped brood, pattern should look like. What was coolest, was they were all dressed in shirtsleeves, no veils even, and the demo was done under a shady tree. Seeing one of their kids happily skipping rope under the tree with the bees...and the Texas sun drove everyone close in under to watch, which really reduced the obvious initial fear factor.
All the experienced beekeepers were just driving in, loading the pickups with boxes, and leaving :)

beerman · June 26, 2010, 12:59:37 PM

I went to Long Lane Honeybee Farm. Will be placing my order for the spring with them in November. About a 5 hour round trip from me but worth it. I told them my problem and the helped me out when they didn't have to. Would recommend them to anyone.