tales of a novice beekeeper

Jow4040 · October 09, 2014, 07:14:36 PM

Thanks for the reply Michael.

It looks like I will need to do an inspection in the next week or two to be sure that things are ticking along ok. Is that what you'd recommend?

Last night after work, I again watched what was going on on the landing board and I saw a drone taking off.

I was happy that I could differentiate the drone from the other workers so easily. They are pretty different once you really look at them though I guess. Hopefully I have a queen doing her thing inside the hive. I will have to wait and see.

Joe.

Rmcpb · October 09, 2014, 08:32:43 PM

Its hard to sit on your hands isn't it Joe?

From what you have described all is going well So grab a beer and just watch the action for another week.

Cheers
Rob.

GSF · October 09, 2014, 10:09:00 PM

OMG! I'm going in there too much, OMG! I'm not going in there enough.

Enjoy it! It's one of those special rubies God hides from us sometimes. I don't know if it's addicting or an obsession.

Jow4040 · October 10, 2014, 05:46:22 AM

Ah it's actually not been that hard to keep my hands off them. Full time work and a new borne help to occupy most of my waking (and sleeping) hours. That said I have been enjoying the 10 or 20 minutes a day I've been spending watching them to unwind after work. It is the weekend though now so I might get a bit more keen to have a look.

Jow4040 · October 11, 2014, 06:09:35 PM

Ok, so I've been watching bees come and go which got me thinking of a couple of questions.

Firstly, I have read that a queen can lay up to 2000 eggs in a day. If the queen was laying this amount daily does this also mean that there would be around 2000 bees dying each day? The reason I ask is I have noticed 5-10 bees each day scattered dead around the area the hive is in. I am sure there is probably more lying around that I haven't found but I was just wondering if it is normal to find bees like this. Do bees normally die within a 10m zone of the hive or do they die inside the hive to be carried out? Or elsewhere?

Secondly i was thinking about honey flow. I know it is probably way too early to be thinking about honey but I had been reading about identifying nectar flows to decide when is best to rob the bees. My bees will be urban bees and will most probably forage from a wide range of species in people's gardens. There will be no one huge bloom of a single species as far as I know. Does this mean I will see a more consistent honey flow over the year? Do urban bees tend to produce more honey as they are exposed to flowers over a longer period? Does this mean that I will have to be less careful about when I rob the bees (providing it's not too late in the season) as they will most likely have nectar sources to rebuild their supplies with?

I am planning to inspect the hive next weekend so I will try to get some photos to share then.

Joe.

jayj200 · October 11, 2014, 07:40:38 PM

Yes, yes, yes.

wait till you get the local fauna to help cleanup. possums, coons, skunks, lizards, snakes, toads all is cool they will help keep the nastyies down (illnesses)

Rmcpb · October 12, 2014, 06:21:34 PM

Sounds perfectly normal Joe. The undertaker bees dump the dead ones outside and there can be a bit of a buildup but they take most away so no problem.

As for your flow. You are right, our urban hives have a flow all year with spikes in spring and autumn. The main derth is in summer where most things die off from the heat. As for robbing them, the beauty of backyard hives is its easy to grab a spare frame when you need it so I tend to rob them progressively and not all at once. Much easier to judge if the honey is spare and you only ever take a small proportion when you do rob them.

Jow4040 · October 16, 2014, 08:38:21 PM

The friend who has my bait hive setup at his place just sent me this picture. Looks like scouts are interested. Hopefully in a few days the swarm will turn up.

Jow4040 · October 17, 2014, 08:35:25 PM

Checked the hive today. It was looking good apart from where I had left a bit of a gap between frames and they have built some comb between frames. What should I do with this? Let's them raise more brood then once they are stronger replace the frames?

Jow4040 · October 17, 2014, 08:37:37 PM

Oh and there was also a fair amount of condensation under the lid. Is this normal for spring time? I would have thought this was not a good sign. Is my hive too shaded?

Rmcpb · October 18, 2014, 04:20:08 AM

Pull the double comb off!

As for the condensation I handle this with a Warre type quilt. Look it up, its worth the effort. Its great for condensation and I reckon it helped last summer in our heat wave when meltdowns were common but my hives with quilts were OK. Like having insulation on your roof.

Cheers
Rob.

Michael Bush · October 20, 2014, 10:48:06 AM

>Firstly, I have read that a queen can lay up to 2000 eggs in a day. If the queen was laying this amount daily does this also mean that there would be around 2000 bees dying each day?

Depending on the time of year and what she is laying (which also depends on the time of year)... yes.

> The reason I ask is I have noticed 5-10 bees each day scattered dead around the area the hive is in. I am sure there is probably more lying around that I haven't found but I was just wondering if it is normal to find bees like this. Do bees normally die within a 10m zone of the hive or do they die inside the hive to be carried out? Or elsewhere?

I would say some leave and don't make it back. Some fly out and die. Some die in the hive and are carried out...

>Secondly i was thinking about honey flow. I know it is probably way too early to be thinking about honey but I had been reading about identifying nectar flows to decide when is best to rob the bees. My bees will be urban bees and will most probably forage from a wide range of species in people's gardens. There will be no one huge bloom of a single species as far as I know. Does this mean I will see a more consistent honey flow over the year? Do urban bees tend to produce more honey as they are exposed to flowers over a longer period?

Probably, but it depends on what the non-urban bees have available...

> Does this mean that I will have to be less careful about when I rob the bees (providing it's not too late in the season) as they will most likely have nectar sources to rebuild their supplies with?

You always have to allow that at the end of the season things dry up quickly...

Jow4040 · October 20, 2014, 06:53:31 PM

Thanks for the replies guys. That all makes a lot of sense.

I opened the hive again and removed the secondary comb and then put the frames back at the correct spacing. There was a lot of capped brood an I could see many eggs and larvae. I'm guessing the population will start to ramp up once the brood starts to hatch.

I'm feeling a lot more confident on identifying drones from workers although the queen is still a hard find at times. Attached is a picture with what I am pretty sure is my queen (top left of the frame). Any idea on what species I have?

A lot of pollen going into the hive and a very strong honey smell can be noticed from several meters away. I was able I try the first honey, or at least strong nectar that was stored in the wonky comb I removed. It was very good. I think I am thoroughly hooked on this beekeeping caper.

The swarm trap at my friends house is still getting a lot of interest from scout bees and 10-20 can be seen around the entrance at any one time but the swarm still hasn't arrived from my friends observations. Any idea how long after strong scout activity you could expect a swarm? It's going to be close to 30 degrees C today with no wind so it might be good swarm weather.

Thanks for all your help so far.

Joe.

GSF · October 20, 2014, 09:50:40 PM

You're right about the queen top left. It's my understand that one frame of brood will make 3 frames of bees. It's up to the bees to decide how long before they move in. I'm not sure there's an exact answer for that one. Some very good advice was given me at our Bud event, by none other than Bud himself. He told me I need to grow out of the gloves. Reason, you squash a lot of bees using the gloves and that really ticks them off. I have found that to be very true. My hands seem to be smoked up enough from lighting the smoker so that takes care of the scent. The other thing is to move slow and methodical. However, sometimes if they are in a nasty mood you'll have to put them back on.

Jow4040 · October 21, 2014, 12:26:06 AM

Quote from: GSF on October 20, 2014, 09:50:40 PM
You're right about the queen top left. It's my understand that one frame of brood will make 3 frames of bees. It's up to the bees to decide how long before they move in. I'm not sure there's an exact answer for that one. Some very good advice was given me at our Bud event, by none other than Bud himself. He told me I need to grow out of the gloves. Reason, you squash a lot of bees using the gloves and that really ticks them off. I have found that to be very true. My hands seem to be smoked up enough from lighting the smoker so that takes care of the scent. The other thing is to move slow and methodical. However, sometimes if they are in a nasty mood you'll have to put them back on.

Thanks for the advice GSF, I was actually using one hand un-gloved to work my phone for the pictures and occasionally use the same un-gloved hand to hold a frame and that felt comfortable enough. I did get stung once though but only on the gloved hand. Your probably right in that i could feel when i was crushing a bee. I will give bare hands a go next inspection.

Joe.

Jow4040 · October 21, 2014, 09:54:47 PM

Ok my next question.

I just got a call from my friend who has the bait hive and he said that the hive has gone from a lot of scout activity yesterday to none this morning.

Do you think this means that they have decided against using the hive or could there still be a chance of getting a swarm?
Weather is nice and hot and still today so i imagine it would be good swarming conditions.

Joe.

Rmcpb · October 21, 2014, 11:43:49 PM

Joe,

There are no rules with bees. Just keep an eye on it to see what happens, you never know your luck.

Cheers
Rob.

awootton · October 22, 2014, 12:52:52 AM

Hi Joe, just PM'd you about a swarm. Cheers Andrew

Jow4040 · October 22, 2014, 01:54:41 AM

Thanks Andrew, I just replied, Pretty sure it went through.

Joe

Jow4040 · October 26, 2014, 03:32:10 AM

Well, I thought the trap was done and dusted, that is until until my friend sent me this pic today. Looks like I caught a swarm.

I also added a super to my first hive as they had already filled the first box. It's a fun time to be learning to keep bees!