John F
05-08-2006, 10:27 PM
I'm a beek. Novice, rookie, newbie, greenhorn,... that too.
The assosication's order of packages arrived in the State last Wednesday and I picked them up on Friday evening.
Saturday morning I carried my box-o-bees to the topbar hive that has been waiting. I did not wear a veil or gloves or anything since I'm still trying to keep this hush-hush with the neighbors.
Deep breath. Spray bees with syrup, pull off can. A few flyers. Deep breath. Remove queen cage and set can back over hole. Whew. The flyers are buzzing around but seem more interested in getting the syrup off the outside of the box right now.
The queen cage has no candy and the cork is sideway and pushed to far in to reach. Forgot marshmallow! I sat the queen down in the shade and went back into the house to get a marshmallow.
My hive is built using Dennis's plans except I put the entrance at the top just under the edge of the cover. I built a follower that also has a feeder box that holds 2 quart jars inverted and I've pushed that up so that the bees will only have 5 bars space for now and an entrance that is about pinky finger in diameter.
I hange the queen cage between bars 1&2. Her attendants won't leave her. I go back to the box-o-bees and Whoa! The can wasn't really covering the hole! The bees were free! Well, they would have been if the wanted to be. It appears that most all were busy with the sugar water.
I dump the box into the hive. HolyShmoly there a lot of bees here! And the sound has changed! And my fight or flight response has me thinking RUN! Deep breath. Shake the box a couple of times and there is no way your gonna get all of those bees out of this box. That's what they say and I now think they are right.
I put the hive back together, sat the box on the ground near the hive, and walk away. Will the flyers and the rest still in the box find the mass of bees through that pinky sized hole? Should I worry? I'll watch for a few minutes just to see what happens...
First WOW observation: I see one of the flyers flying in smaller and smaller arcs in front of the hive. After a bit she homes in on the area of the hole and in just a few seconds, BAMMO, she walks in. This couldn't have been but about a minute after I walked away. Guess I don't need to worry about that.
Today is about three days later and I need to go and check to make sure the queen is out of her cage. Again, no veil or anything, but pretty soon the neighbors are going to know something is up with me staring at the box in my garden and all.
I see very little action at the entrance. The sky above has overcast and I remember reading (here) that weather can get them cranky. I think this may be the day I learn to always wear my veil. I pull the cover. No bee behind the follower (I added a corrigated cardboard 'gasket' after reading Michael Bush's experience with followers) and about 1/3 of the syrup is gone. This action has the caused the hive to, well, nothing.
Remember I put the cage between bars 1&2? Well, the follower would be bar 6. I have to move all of the bars to make a space to get the cage out. I note to do this the other way next time.
I carefully lift bar 5 at the back and peek in. Cool! They're making comb along the comb guide. I lift all of the bars this way and it turns out to be true for them all. They are building the most right in front of the entrance, which would be bar 5, and all towards the front of the hive.
Now I have to make space enough to get the queen cage out so I make about a 1/2 space by pulling the follower back and then bar 5 and then 4 and so on. Grab the metal strap of the queen cage and lift bar 1. I tug and the bees that were camped on the cage fall to the bottom with a thud. The buzz changes and my instinct is telling me to run again. The cage is empty and I set bar 1 down.
They aren't trying to kill me yet. They have noticed the opening I've made between the bars. Now I wish I had the smoker. Wiggle jiggle coax with the hive tool and I get it all closed again. I know some got squished. I hope I didn't kill the queen.
(So your queen was out? Yeah, so I killed her...)
Next time, the smoker for sure just to push them down so I can close the bars. (or maybe Jim's stuff would be easier for this? Fischer beequick I think?)
I'm 43 and have worked around livestock quite a bit. The large animal type. I think it's kind of interesting how a few bees in a bunch can get the flight thing dug out of the instinctual part of the brain. I've been stung many times before. Didn't even know there was a fear there.
The assosication's order of packages arrived in the State last Wednesday and I picked them up on Friday evening.
Saturday morning I carried my box-o-bees to the topbar hive that has been waiting. I did not wear a veil or gloves or anything since I'm still trying to keep this hush-hush with the neighbors.
Deep breath. Spray bees with syrup, pull off can. A few flyers. Deep breath. Remove queen cage and set can back over hole. Whew. The flyers are buzzing around but seem more interested in getting the syrup off the outside of the box right now.
The queen cage has no candy and the cork is sideway and pushed to far in to reach. Forgot marshmallow! I sat the queen down in the shade and went back into the house to get a marshmallow.
My hive is built using Dennis's plans except I put the entrance at the top just under the edge of the cover. I built a follower that also has a feeder box that holds 2 quart jars inverted and I've pushed that up so that the bees will only have 5 bars space for now and an entrance that is about pinky finger in diameter.
I hange the queen cage between bars 1&2. Her attendants won't leave her. I go back to the box-o-bees and Whoa! The can wasn't really covering the hole! The bees were free! Well, they would have been if the wanted to be. It appears that most all were busy with the sugar water.
I dump the box into the hive. HolyShmoly there a lot of bees here! And the sound has changed! And my fight or flight response has me thinking RUN! Deep breath. Shake the box a couple of times and there is no way your gonna get all of those bees out of this box. That's what they say and I now think they are right.
I put the hive back together, sat the box on the ground near the hive, and walk away. Will the flyers and the rest still in the box find the mass of bees through that pinky sized hole? Should I worry? I'll watch for a few minutes just to see what happens...
First WOW observation: I see one of the flyers flying in smaller and smaller arcs in front of the hive. After a bit she homes in on the area of the hole and in just a few seconds, BAMMO, she walks in. This couldn't have been but about a minute after I walked away. Guess I don't need to worry about that.
Today is about three days later and I need to go and check to make sure the queen is out of her cage. Again, no veil or anything, but pretty soon the neighbors are going to know something is up with me staring at the box in my garden and all.
I see very little action at the entrance. The sky above has overcast and I remember reading (here) that weather can get them cranky. I think this may be the day I learn to always wear my veil. I pull the cover. No bee behind the follower (I added a corrigated cardboard 'gasket' after reading Michael Bush's experience with followers) and about 1/3 of the syrup is gone. This action has the caused the hive to, well, nothing.
Remember I put the cage between bars 1&2? Well, the follower would be bar 6. I have to move all of the bars to make a space to get the cage out. I note to do this the other way next time.
I carefully lift bar 5 at the back and peek in. Cool! They're making comb along the comb guide. I lift all of the bars this way and it turns out to be true for them all. They are building the most right in front of the entrance, which would be bar 5, and all towards the front of the hive.
Now I have to make space enough to get the queen cage out so I make about a 1/2 space by pulling the follower back and then bar 5 and then 4 and so on. Grab the metal strap of the queen cage and lift bar 1. I tug and the bees that were camped on the cage fall to the bottom with a thud. The buzz changes and my instinct is telling me to run again. The cage is empty and I set bar 1 down.
They aren't trying to kill me yet. They have noticed the opening I've made between the bars. Now I wish I had the smoker. Wiggle jiggle coax with the hive tool and I get it all closed again. I know some got squished. I hope I didn't kill the queen.
(So your queen was out? Yeah, so I killed her...)
Next time, the smoker for sure just to push them down so I can close the bars. (or maybe Jim's stuff would be easier for this? Fischer beequick I think?)
I'm 43 and have worked around livestock quite a bit. The large animal type. I think it's kind of interesting how a few bees in a bunch can get the flight thing dug out of the instinctual part of the brain. I've been stung many times before. Didn't even know there was a fear there.