Some free bees for me (very pissy!)

yockey5 · July 29, 2012, 10:00:41 AM

Haven't been touched for 3 years, and the biggest colony went 2 years without a top on it. It is 2 deeps (10 frames capped brood) and 10 frames honey, and 2 supers completely full of capped honey. When I walked up to the hives I found approx. 3 lbs of bees clustering on the top (no room left inside)! A rain storm blew in and the clustered bees hung on tight and fluttered in the wind and rain. After the heavy rain subside I tore it down (everything glued together) and put a serviceable BB and IC on them. I am planning to go back and split the bigger hive today, and put a new BB on the double deep hive and move them home.

re-boxed with a super added

I did not get the picture with the original beard on it. I will look on my other camera.

new comb under cover. These bees had no room left. They were back filling the brood nest with nectar.

AllenF · July 29, 2012, 12:57:35 PM

Nice find. So all the frames were still good after tearing them out of the old boxes?

Boom Buzz · July 29, 2012, 01:18:58 PM

Nice pics, thanks or sharing.

How did you come by these bees?

yockey5 · July 29, 2012, 01:44:33 PM

Quote from: AllenF on July 29, 2012, 12:57:35 PM
Nice find. So all the frames were still good after tearing them out of the old boxes?

Frames were all good except one that I broke getting it's neighbor out! Everything was propolised (sp) in solid, and glued to the above frames as well and all the outside frames were glued full length to the box.

yockey5 · July 29, 2012, 01:47:17 PM

Quote from: Boom Buzz on July 29, 2012, 01:18:58 PM
Nice pics, thanks or sharing.

How did you come by these bees?

A guy that had done some work for the farmer (owner) got word to me about them.

It did cost me something: about 40 stings before I was done!

Boom Buzz · July 29, 2012, 04:16:17 PM

Thanks Yockey!
Great windfall for you, though you certainly did pay a price with the stings.
I am a wimp and don't know what I would do after 10 stings - maybe walk away for a while, then smoke the snot out of them. :evil:

John

AllenF · July 29, 2012, 05:08:19 PM

Working them in the rain gets them upset in a hurry.

BlueBee · July 29, 2012, 07:35:35 PM

Looks like a strong colony. At least the propolis might have been easier to pull apart due to all the heat you've been having.

yockey5 · July 30, 2012, 10:28:22 AM

Went back last evening to split the big hive. They still had 1 lb of bees hanging on the cover. I opened them up and they had filled 3 frames in the super I had added last Friday eve. They are now in 2 separate hives. Hoping to get them where they won't cluster on the outside so I can load them up to move. Former owner says, "no hurry, just want them moved". These are pissy bees.
BTW, I never found the queen, but was hard to look with so many air-borne bees!!!!!

Javin · July 30, 2012, 10:53:41 AM

That picture with the beard is almost exactly how my hive has looked all summer. I was super worried about swarming but never once found a queen cell on inspection.

yockey5 · July 30, 2012, 11:19:56 AM

Quote from: Javin on July 30, 2012, 10:53:41 AM
That picture with the beard is almost exactly how my hive has looked all summer. I was super worried about swarming but never once found a queen cell on inspection.

I too was worried about swarming when I first seen this hive and reacted accordingly, but as you found there were no indicators of it happening. How this bees survived the previous winters without a cover on them is beyond me.

Javin · July 30, 2012, 12:05:33 PM

Quote from: yockey5 on July 30, 2012, 11:19:56 AM
How this bees survived the previous winters without a cover on them is beyond me.

Wow, yeah, I didn't even think about that. They managed to make it through numerous winters without anything to keep the snow off of the top of the hive?! That's nuts!

yockey5 · July 30, 2012, 04:32:05 PM

Quote from: Javin on July 30, 2012, 12:05:33 PM
Quote from: yockey5 on July 30, 2012, 11:19:56 AM
How this bees survived the previous winters without a cover on them is beyond me.

Wow, yeah, I didn't even think about that. They managed to make it through numerous winters without anything to keep the snow off of the top of the hive?! That's nuts!

Yes, the old farmer didn't want stung up and left them. Last spring a guy working on the farm threw a top on them and run. :lau: It was just barely on, but the bees clued it down.

AllenF · July 30, 2012, 08:48:23 PM

Have those bees calmed down any yet? And I wouldn't worry about them swarming. They are going to be rebuilding for a while, and a break in the brood would help with the mites.

yockey5 · July 31, 2012, 09:33:24 AM

They have NOT settled down one bit.

I saw no evidence of varroa mites on them or in the drone larvae.

D Coates · July 31, 2012, 01:20:21 PM

Are you going to try to overwinter them as is (splits) without requeening? They're obviously cranky but they're apparently quite resilient.

TwoHoneys · July 31, 2012, 03:14:58 PM

Cool!

-Liz

BlueBee · July 31, 2012, 03:33:29 PM

40 stings in a short period of time is a lot. How did your body respond to that?

QuoteHow the bees survived the previous winters without a cover on them is beyond me.

And how did they survive the summer without a top! The blazing sun does a pretty good job of melting wax.

AllenF · July 31, 2012, 09:20:56 PM

Bees make their own air conditioning to protect the hive.

yockey5 · July 31, 2012, 10:25:30 PM

I will install a new queen in the split (should be here tomorrow), and save the old queen for the genetics.

I seldom ever have any reaction to stings anymore. Some of them sure did burn though!!!

I have never had to open a hive glued up this tight. Most of the frames in the brood box were stuck on both ends down to the bottom.

I checked them today and finally there is no cluster hanging outside.