What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

[Ben Framed]

30WCF told us about his 2 framed motorized extractor a few years ago so I took his recommendation and ordered one then, except I ordered the 4 framer instead for just a little more money.  I?m glad I took his advice. No regrets!

Phillip

[.30WCF]

I?ve used my el cheapo extractor many times. It works just fine for my small scale operation. I bolt it down to a pallet now so I don?t have to tend it and can be free to be cutting the caps off the next set of frames while it spins out. In this pic, I have a weight under the extractor on the pallet since I was doing more than normal. I got about 15 gallons that day.




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[Terri Yaki]

I?ve used my el cheapo extractor many times. It works just fine for my small scale operation. I bolt it down to a pallet now so I don?t have to tend it and can be free to be cutting the caps off the next set of frames while it spins out. In this pic, I have a weight under the extractor on the pallet since I was doing more than normal. I got about 15 gallons that day.




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That looks like a tangential? What is the procedure with that? Do you spin some, flip, spin the other side out then flip again to finish the first side?

[.30WCF]

Yes and no, depending on foundation. With plastic foundation I only flip it once. With wax, I flip twice.

It may not be right for everyone. But for the price and the volume that I process, it suits me fine. For large scale, it just wouldn?t do.


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[Terri Yaki]

Today, I went through my swarm hive. I had topped them with a deep box full of extracted frames on Saturday night for cleanup. They were still in one deep brood box, with room to spare. They have it built up enough to give another brood box on top so they got one. I saw the queen, no eggs, very few larvae and not much brood and no drone cells. They were filling brood frames with nectar/honey. I'm guessing it's prep time for the dearth. They're well on the way to having those frames cleaned up.

I'm wondering, would I have done better by giving them a QE and a honey super instead of a deep brood box? Would they be better with just one deep and no new box?

[The15thMember]

So they are in one deep, you added a second one, and they have the box to clean?   The question is, are they backfilling because the brood nest is empty for some reason or because it's too full and they need more room?  There are some strains of bees that will be highly reactive to a dearth and drastically slow or stop brood laying.  But it could also be that something is wrong and they just backfilling the empty brood cells due to convenience.  How does the population seem?  Does the brood they have look healthy?  I might be inclined to give them a frame of eggs if they have none and see what they do with them.           

[NigelP]

30WCF told us about his 2 framed motorized extractor a few years ago so I took his recommendation and ordered one then, except I ordered the 4 framer instead for just a little more money.  I?m glad I took his advice. No regrets!

Phillip

I have a 20 frame radial which is getting too small for my needs. I really need a 30 frame radial  but it simply will not fit through the door of my extraction room. Solution will be to buy a second  20 frame radial when I some spare cash.  Run one whilst filling the other.

[Terri Yaki]

They seem healthy and are acting normal and their numbers look good. They're bringing in pollen. They still have more room on the outer frames so they're not too jammed up. Plus there were empty cells in the brood area.

[The15thMember]

Then maybe they are just responding to the dearth.  How much space they need will depend on whether you are expecting a fall flow and/or how much syrup they need to store for the winter.  Are you still feeding them?  Because if so, they shouldn't be responding to the dearth at all, and something else is likely going on. 

[Terri Yaki]

I was feeding them and they were guzzling 2 quarts in three days but I took that off when I gave them the frames to clean up. I'll check with my mentor and see what would be normal in our area for the time of year.

[Terri Yaki]

He got back to me pretty quickly and reports same with some of his hives. Recommends feeding, which I'll do after these frames are picked clean.

[The15thMember]

All right then.  I don't really understand it, because even a simulated flow should keep brood rearing up, as long as there is enough pollen coming in.  But if it's normal, it's normal.   

[Terri Yaki]

I took a look inside my nuc today and found that they are pretty full in the bottom box but haven't touched the upper box. So, I found the frame with the queen, some eggs and brood and moved it up into the upper box. I hope they like it. I also added a box of extracted frames on top to give them something easy to feed and store off of. Being by myself I couldn't get that box of extracted frames on top fast enough and we had a robbing attempt. Fortunately, their only entrance it pretty small and the rest of the hive is tight so the attempt was thwarted and didn't last very long. I got a first hand experience at witnessing that now and it is kind of scary and disheartening. One bee got killed and left on the porch for a while as a warning to others. But they filled that entrance up with guards pretty quickly and porch skirmishes didn't last long. It was interesting to see foragers still coming in and making it through the gauntlet. In the end, it was an interesting experience and I'm glad it didn't go worse.

[The15thMember]

These are my go to instructions for stopping a robbing spree.  It's the kind of thing you almost always should react to, at least by reducing the entrance if it's not already reduced, because it gets increasingly difficult to stop if the robbers have success.  Prevention is always better, but this is a pretty good cure.   
https://www.honeybeesuite.com/how-to-stop-robbing/

[The15thMember]

I spent all day building and cleaning frames.  I got about a baseball sized amount of wax out of the deal, along with a splinter in my thumb I can't seem to fully extract, and a swollen index finger for some reason.  It doesn't hurt, but I can't bend it all the way.  I guess I just overworked it.  I always play "tennis" with my dad on Wednesday evenings in the summer, so hopefully that won't aggravate it further.  I have "tennis" in quotations because the game is actually "keep the ball going back and forth at all costs with no regard to any of the lines on the court or how many times the ball bounces", not tennis, but "tennis" is easier to say.     

[Bill Murray]

Has anyone tried either of these two methods??

     Some beekeepers spread a commercial product such as Vicks VapoRub at the entrance to the colony. This product contains strong-smelling compounds such as camphor, eucalyptus oil, and menthol that confuse the robber bees.

    Some beekeepers recommend removing the lids from all the hives in the apiary. The theory is that the bees become so busy defending their own hives that they stop robbing other hives. However, if the robber bees are coming from somewhere other than your own apiary, it won?t work. Also, it will do nothing to stop wasps and other predators from entering the hives at will.

[Terri Yaki]

That sounds interesting and kind of risky. I was wondering if there have ever been robbing attempts during a hive inspection.

[The15thMember]

     Some beekeepers spread a commercial product such as Vicks VapoRub at the entrance to the colony. This product contains strong-smelling compounds such as camphor, eucalyptus oil, and menthol that confuse the robber bees.

I have done this, although I can't confirm if it's made a significant difference or not.  The wet towel seems to be the cornerstone of the functionality of Rusty's method. 

    Some beekeepers recommend removing the lids from all the hives in the apiary. The theory is that the bees become so busy defending their own hives that they stop robbing other hives. However, if the robber bees are coming from somewhere other than your own apiary, it won?t work. Also, it will do nothing to stop wasps and other predators from entering the hives at will.

I have not done this.  I think it's too risky, personally.

That sounds interesting and kind of risky. I was wondering if there have ever been robbing attempts during a hive inspection.

The overwhelming majority of the times I've had robbing it has been as a result of a hive inspection.  During robbing season, I now always take two old pillowcases along, one to cover the stack of boxes I'm not working, and one to cover the stack of boxes I'm working, and I'm careful to keep everything tightly stacked.  That seems to really help keep the smells down and robbers out. 

[Lesgold]

I use Vaporub and robbing screens but it comes down to seeing what is happening before it is too late. Reducing the entrances to hives as a preventative measure is a good move if no nectar is coming in.

[The15thMember]

it comes down to seeing what is happening before it is too late.

This, in my opinion, is THE key to solving robbing.  There is likely a point where if the robbers have overcome the guard bees, that nothing would stop it until the hive was decimated by the robbers.  Basically, any time I see robbing, I throw everything and the kitchen sink at it, because getting it to stop quickly is the key, as there is a point of no return that you are trying to make sure the bees don't reach.