hive inspection today

slacker361 · August 06, 2010, 09:51:34 PM

my queen is still going freakin nuts laying, the bees have finally started to bring in honey , i think they finally learned how to do it.

But lotsof spiders around the hive, lots of daddy long leggers, are they just looking for the warmth of the hive. I didnt see any inside the hive just on the outside

CountryBee · August 06, 2010, 11:05:11 PM

Lots of daddy long legs on one of my hive also, not sure why.

Natalie · August 07, 2010, 12:30:43 AM

I get spiders here and there around the hive, usually the smaller ones though and they seem to nest in the crevices outside the hive around the base or in the corners of the outer cover.
I have never seen them in the hives though, I think they hang out there to catch all the little bugs that are attracted to the hives.

AliciaH · August 07, 2010, 11:47:56 PM

I have spiders, but they haven't been a problem.

For the first time, though, I keep finding tree frogs between my telescoping and inner covers (propped up for the warm weather). Do ya think they're just there for the view? Yea, neither do I....

MagicValley · August 08, 2010, 12:07:14 PM

I opened my hive again today. I looked in it last Saturday.

I have never seen the queen, but there are about 3 or 4 frames 80% with brood, so somebody is laying eggs. I didn't see any supercedure cells this time. The top deep had about 1/2 the frames stuck with wax on their bottoms. I pulled out each one and scraped off that stuff.

The bees were pretty calm, I smoked them quite a bit.

The top deep only has one frame with a lot of honey, a few with some honey, and many frames are still unused. The bottom deep has a couple empty frames, and the brood frames have honey cells at the edges.

I'm concerned that this colony has not grown big or fast enough. This is my first go with bees, and I'm just not sure what is normal. The huge bean field next to it has not put on the flowers yet, but they should be blooming any day now.

At this point there is plenty of room in the hive, so I'm not worried about it swarming. But as soon as that bean crop flowers, they might go into high gear and it might fill up fast. I've got two 6" supers ready to stack on, so I'm ready.

CountryBee · August 08, 2010, 08:24:49 PM

Put one on now and leave it alone, or two. :-D Mine like being left alone. They work harder if I don't bother them all the time and just let them seal the inner cover and work. Then check them after the flowers are all gone, or Oct. 1st. Country :)

MagicValley · August 09, 2010, 12:32:04 AM

Thanks Country. I was thinking of warming up the wax I took out and rubbing it all over the foundation in the super frames, and rubbing it on the empty foundations in the deeps.

I hope that might encourage them to start making more cells faster and filling out the foundations, since its their own wax, with their own scents.

CountryBee · August 09, 2010, 07:29:00 AM

As far as I know bees don't care. They will even build without anything. If you are concerned about old frames or just new plastic ones, spray with sugar water, that is what I do. When the flow comes they will build on anything, they need the room and aren't picky! Good luck with the flowers! Lots of honey, lots of honey, lots of honey!