First packages in first hives and syrup question

Rurification · April 03, 2012, 08:52:36 PM

Just wanted you all to know that we are grinning from ear to ear because we just installed our very first packages into our very first hives. We watched beemaster's installing package vid on YouTube last night and figured we just had to go for it. Made all kinds of rookie mistakes - kind of inevitable, I guess.

We've been so inspired by all that bare handed bee work that we see you guys do, that we decided to do it without suits or gloves. And we did! I got pinged once on the tip of the thumb when I was putting the frames back in and nudged one of the girls a little too hard. I'm happy to report that it only hurt a bit and you have to use a magnifying glass to see the mark. I'm hoping this means I'm bee immune.

The cans of syrup are still about 2/3 full. Is that good? Bad? Irrelevant? Can we use that syrup to feed them tomorrow?

backyard warrior · April 03, 2012, 08:59:35 PM

give them that jar of sugar right on top of the inner cover and put a extra super over it then the outer cover. If you dont have one just invert the jar so they can get to the syrup outside the hive, it shouldnt be a robbing issue if you only have a few new packages. U want to feed that package all summer until they have two full deep supers of wax and honey. Its very crucial that they get the stores for winter time and they need it to draw out the wax inside the hive. You will loose some of the population until the queen starts laying eggs and they start hatching out. Its a very rewarding hobby dont get discouraged. I started with two hives i now have around 40 Chris

dronedave22 · April 03, 2012, 10:28:49 PM

Congratulations sounds like fun! Can't wait til' I am doing this for the first time!

Robo · April 03, 2012, 11:01:56 PM

Quote from: Rurification on April 03, 2012, 08:52:36 PM
We've been so inspired by all that bare handed bee work that we see you guys do, that we decided to do it without suits or gloves. And we did!

Wow, very impressive. That takes some guts for being your first time working so many bees. Especially since installing packages really gets them flying about.

Now that you have overcome that, it's a piece of cake.

Sounds like you had a great experience and are probably well along the addiction train.......

FRAMEshift · April 03, 2012, 11:37:09 PM

The first time I installed packages, I dumped a bunch of bees on the ground. They crawled up inside my pants leg and I was stung 6 times on the lower leg. And it DID hurt. ALOT. Now I always wear a full suit for package installation. You are braver than I. :-D

Joe D · April 04, 2012, 01:50:29 AM

Way to go. May you have good luck with your bees

Joe

indypartridge · April 04, 2012, 07:33:33 AM

Quote from: Rurification on April 03, 2012, 08:52:36 PM
We've been so inspired by all that bare handed bee work that we see you guys do, that we decided to do it without suits or gloves.

I encourage you to always wear a veil.

QuoteThe cans of syrup are still about 2/3 full. Is that good? Bad? Irrelevant? Can we use that syrup to feed them tomorrow?

Good to irrelevant. 2/3 means they weren't in the package that long. I think you mentioned in another post that you got them from Graham's. Usually Roger picks up the packages the day they are made, drives thru the night and distributes them the next day.

Yes, you can let them finish up the syrup.

Rurification · April 04, 2012, 04:17:01 PM

Thanks, everybody. Indy - you're right about the veil. I wouldn't want to get pinged on the head. No reason to tempt fate.

The bees are happy today. I fed them a 1:1 mix of water and honey. I was so afraid they'd abscond that I splurged on their first syrup. I'm glad to know I can feed them the rest of the sugar syrup they came with when I refill the feeders.

It's supposed to drop down into the mid 30s tomorrow night - should I do anything to the hives and feeders or just trust that the bees can deal with it?

Jim134 · April 04, 2012, 04:44:16 PM

Quote from: Rurification on April 04, 2012, 04:17:01 PM
Thanks, everybody. Indy - you're right about the veil. I wouldn't want to get pinged on the head. No reason to tempt fate.

The bees are happy today. I fed them a 1:1 mix of water and honey. I was so afraid they'd abscond that I splurged on their first syrup. I'm glad to know I can feed them the rest of the sugar syrup they came with when I refill the feeders.

It's supposed to drop down into the mid 30s tomorrow night - should I do anything to the hives and feeders or just trust that the bees can deal with it?

Good way to get American Foul Brood (AFB)

BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

FRAMEshift · April 04, 2012, 06:11:05 PM

Quote from: Rurification on April 04, 2012, 04:17:01 PM
I fed them a 1:1 mix of water and honey.

Don't feed honey unless you know the source. It could be carrying spores for American Foul Brood. You don't want that. And I don't see any reason to dilute the honey with water.

Quote

It's supposed to drop down into the mid 30s tomorrow night - should I do anything to the hives and feeders or just trust that the bees can deal with it?

They have no brood to keep warm so they will be fine. You don't need to do anything.

jldoll · April 04, 2012, 07:19:44 PM

Hi Ruification
Sound like your on the way.
I am 60 years and I only keep bees because I enjoy it. and I get a small amount of honey for my wife and myself, Perhaps your doing the same. If so I could give you some advice.

You must have fun, and enjoy what your doing. Trust me its not fun to loose a hive over the winter and clean up afterwards. So for you to have the most enjoyment, your bees need to be healthy.

You need to treat your hive as a pet. Their servival through the winter must be your main concern. You must send them into winter and feel you have done everything possible for them to survive. This means they must be healthy, and for me, my bees have two brood hives full of brood and honey, and [at least] one supper full of honey two is better. If this is done the bees will be there for you in the spring.
And if you get a little honey for yourself, Thats good to. Remember its better to leave to much honey for the bees than not enough.
Like a good pet you need to take a good look at it once a week to check its progress and to see if its healthy.

I hear all the time-someone has 6 hives and lost 4 of them and don't know why. Chances are they were full of mites or didn't have enough food to eat. [ But if they really didn't know what the problem was ] The problem was neglect.

As far as protective equipment, Use what you need to be happy and safe.

Enjoy your new hobby Jerry

Rurification · April 04, 2012, 07:42:36 PM

Quote from: Jim 134 on April 04, 2012, 04:44:16 PM
Good way to get American Foul Brood (AFB)

Thanks for that information. I had no idea. Wish I'd known yesterday.

msully · April 04, 2012, 08:11:23 PM

No veil? I wasn't that brave! I really wanted to wear my gloves, but everyone said not too.

Best of luck!

Mike

backyard warrior · April 04, 2012, 09:30:34 PM

A friend of mine who has mentored me never wore a veil. He will never again go to a bee yard without a veil. One day he was doing a demonstration for a begining beekeeper class and had no veil to show people how docile honey bees are. To his surprise when he opened up the outer cover they nailed him he have over 50 stings to the face and neck and arms. Word of advice always go into your hives wearing a veil. If they prove to be docile and gentle then its your choice to remove it, but as for myself ill wear the veil these are dogs and cats they are bees u never know when they are going to go into a defensive mode. Chris

buzzbee · April 04, 2012, 09:51:04 PM

An established colony will be much more defensive than packages. I have gotten stung a couple times installing packages,but no major offensives.As mentioned before,it can be intimidating with a lot of bees in the air.But if there is a time you want to brave it,package installation may be it. Just keep your stuff close by in case you get overwhelmed.

stella · April 04, 2012, 11:42:38 PM

Congrats Ruri! Im glad you enjoyed it! :-D

Rurification · April 05, 2012, 09:42:09 AM

Here's a full write up and some pics. We're sure learning a lot.

Check out today's blog post for a full write up and pics. [The forum gods won't let me insert the link. Too new] My blog address is below.

FRAMEshift · April 05, 2012, 10:07:35 AM

Congratulations on getting your bees installed. Just a couple of points.

Boardman (entrance) feeders tend to cause robbing. If you only have one hive it's less of a problem but you could still attract feral bees or your neighbor's bees. So it's better to feed inside the hive or away from the hive. The entrance is the worst place.

Why do you want to take out your standard deep frames and replace them with top bars? Some people use top bars because the construction of the hive box is simpler (no routed ledge for the frames to rest on). But you already have a box designed for standard deeps. And you could say that you already have top bars.... it's just that your top bars have sides and bottoms as well. :-D

Top bars will give you adhesion of comb to the sides of the hive box. Generally makes it harder to move frames around. And you have less support for the comb since they will have their side support (and bottom support) cut away.

Rurification · April 05, 2012, 03:12:14 PM

Frameshift - those are great questions! We originally wanted a TBH and a lang - to see which we like better. My husband is a carpenter and top bars are easier and cheaper for him to make [with scrap that we already have] than the regular frames are. We designed the doublewide hive as a TTB that would take deep frames so we could move brood into it if we had to, etc.

The truth is - since we have no idea at all what we are doing, we're just trying stuff and talking about it and getting opinions until we find what works for us. I've heard tell that beekeeping is more art than science and if there are 4 beeks in a room, you'll get 5 different opinions. I figure the point is that we just make a decision, go for it and deal with the consequences, make appropriate changes and repeat. [Beekeeping as a metaphor for life?]

The feeders - thanks for that information. I've got extra supers that I can put on the hives to hide the feeder, so I'll be doing that next. I just watched the new vid on feeding installed packages and had just been thinking about changing things around a bit.

Kathyp · April 05, 2012, 03:28:45 PM

QuoteTop bars will give you adhesion of comb to the sides of the hive box.

it's going to be a problem. every time you go to pull frames you'll have to cut them lose from the sides of the box. get a long, sharp knife to keep at the hives.

also, and this is true with any foundationless, but will be a continuing problem with no frames, the comb will be hard to handle when you do pull bars. with no side support you will have to be super careful not to tilt the comb or it will break off. this will make inspections harder.

and yes...you were brave. far more so than i!! :-D don't let the package fool you though. they can go through some very pissy stages during the year and you don't want a face full of them.