View Full Version : What a strange 6 weeks it's been
Hi folks,
I'd like to give a summary of my Connecticut hive and get some general comments and suggestions. I packaged my first hive April 30th into a beemax hive with pierco frames up on 2 pallets. I added a 2nd deep on May 28. I've fed them about 20lbs of sugar from day 1 until this week ... when they swarmed. I'm about 95% sure it was my hive - I just had no idea I had so many bees. The swarm was at least as big as the original 3lb package, maybe twice as many. The bees left over is about the size of the original package. I was able to capture the swarm into a box. I took the top body off the only hive I have and put it on a pallet, shimming the front up for an entrance, took the top body's frames scrapped off the queen cells and put them in. Among these 10 frames are 2 with capped brood, some honey, etc. There has been a lot of bearding on the new hive, so I've been afraid they'd swarm again. In the interim 'til I get a new 2nd body and more frames, another bottom & top, I've added a medium with 2 empty frames to give them some more room - there's a lot of bees in there!
On the 1st hive (bottom) body today I noticed a hole in the bottom foot and from ramp where carpenter ants have eaten all the way thru and built a nest inside! Lots of ants and ant eggs.
This has been an interesting first season learning about bees! Again, looking for comment on what I've done wrong and suggestions going forward.
Michael Bush
06-23-2006, 08:57 AM
>I've fed them about 20lbs of sugar from day 1 until this week ... when they swarmed. I'm about 95% sure it was my hive - I just had no idea I had so many bees. The swarm was at least as big as the original 3lb package, maybe twice as many.
Overfeeding a package and allowing it to get too crowed or get the brood nest too clogged will cause this. Otherwise pakcages seldom swarm.
>The bees left over is about the size of the original package. I was able to capture the swarm into a box. I took the top body off the only hive I have and put it on a pallet, shimming the front up for an entrance, took the top body's frames scrapped off the queen cells and put them in.
Are the queen cells left in the orginal hive?
>Among these 10 frames are 2 with capped brood, some honey, etc. There has been a lot of bearding on the new hive, so I've been afraid they'd swarm again.
Quite possible. But bearding is neither the symptom nor the cause. Heat is the cause of the bearding. Heat may contribute to swarming as does overcrowding and a clogged brood nest. I'd try to deal with those. Also make sure they have a queen cell so they don't end up queenless.
>On the 1st hive (bottom) body today I noticed a hole in the bottom foot and from ramp where carpenter ants have eaten all the way thru and built a nest inside! Lots of ants and ant eggs.
They will do that. I'd throw the ants out. Borax and jelly is pretty effective to get rid of them.
Michael,
I'm concerned about getting a queen in the original hive. There were only 2 queen cells in the frames left in that hive body. I think I read to go back in 4 days and remove any capped queen cells?? Will they turn an egg into a queen cell if necessary? Will they build-out a normal cell into a queen cell with the egg already in it?
ScadsOBees
06-23-2006, 11:23 AM
If there aren't any queencells in the original, then they will be queenless and have problems. At that point you would probably need to either put in a frame of eggs, or re-combine the two hives(and I don't know how soon that can be done successfully with a swarm).
There are situations when you will destroy queen cells, but this is done after 4days with a split, and this isn't one of those situations.
Yes, they will build out a normal cell into a queen, but your original hive probably doesn't have many or any eggs anymore, since the queen left with the swarm.
[ June 23, 2006, 12:25 PM: Message edited by: ScadsOBees ]
Michael Bush
06-23-2006, 12:23 PM
>I'm concerned about getting a queen in the original hive. There were only 2 queen cells in the frames left in that hive body.
It would be nice to have more. That will probably do. Why did you destroy the other queen cells?
> I think I read to go back in 4 days and remove any capped queen cells??
I would not. You need a queen.
> Will they turn an egg into a queen cell if necessary?
Maybe.
> Will they build-out a normal cell into a queen cell with the egg already in it?
Yes.
Phil Minnesota
06-23-2006, 05:23 PM
I had a hive swarm this year. a 3 Lb. Package hived on April 10 and they swarmed Memorial day morning. At that point they were in 2 deeps and a cut comb super with excluder.
With the help of the kids, boxed the swarm up in 1 deep but it was tight. Had 7 Drawn frames and 3 foundation and started feeding right away.
Went into the parent hive and took out all queen cells that Monday. All queen cells were capped. Combined the two with newspaper between about a week later. Made a nuc out of swarm cells.
My thinking was big hives make big honey
I think overfeeding is a common error to make. Want the girls to have enough to eat but keep a closer eye in the brood nest for backfilling and you'll do fine.
Phil,
Terminology questions... Brood nest would be either deep? Backfilling is honey on the center frames instread of brood?
Phil Minnesota
06-23-2006, 08:32 PM
n1st,
Yes, that's my understanding of it. Running Buckfast bees and I've read they tend toward backfilling the brood nest.
I run 2 deeps ( give or take ) for brood. Have done away with excluders and wait for honey dome to start to super with nice wax.
Good Luck
LEAD PIPE
06-24-2006, 07:44 PM
Where in CT? Welcome.
carbide
06-26-2006, 11:25 AM
Brood nest is wherever the brood be. It's an area rather than a specific box. Wherever the queen is laying eggs is considered the brood nest. It can be one box, two boxes or more. It is normally one contiguous area located anywhere within the hive.
Michael Bush
06-26-2006, 08:41 PM
>Terminology questions... Brood nest would be either deep?
Since mine are all eight frame mediums, the brood nest is all the eight frame mediums that have brood in them.
>Backfilling is honey on the center frames instread of brood?
Backfilling is when comb that WAS brood is getting filled with nectar.
Thank you all for the input.
It's been about a week now since the swarm. Today I hope to add a 2nd deep onto each. They've been quite cramped as I've waited for the hive bodys to arrive and the child hive's bees have been "sleeping" on the front in a large beard at night. I put a medium with 6 frames into the child hive to occupy them and for them to occupy, until the deep arrived.
The parent hive has far fewer bees and I'm thinking I should add some to it from the child hive. I was thinking of just putting the medium frames from child into the to-be-added top deep of parent then after a few days, shaking them out and removing the frames (my intent is to use the medium frames for supers in the future. Is there a limit to how may child bees the parent hive will tollerate? At this point I don't believe that the parent hive has a queen yet.
[ June 27, 2006, 11:42 AM: Message edited by: n1st ]
Michael Bush
06-27-2006, 08:18 PM
>Is there a limit to how may child bees the parent hive will tollerate?
It's not so much a limit. It's whether they start fighting. I'd just give the weaker hive a frame of emerging brood.