Why don't like like me?????

[mgidewall@hotmail.com]

I know I'm not supposed to worry but this beekeeping thing is making me bi-polar.

The current situation is Hives 1&2 at my friend's home--they have brood and honey stores (but NO honey in the supers. We've tried one with a queen excluder and one without--ironically the one without is the "fuller" of the two but we don't even have one full frame of honey in the super yet--we added them back in June--right before they each swarmed.

Hive #3 was requeened about 3 weeks ago and 5 days later, they dragged her out dead. (This was not due to me as I had not checked since she had been released and she was fine then) They stung me two weeks later when I saw another unmarked queen being dragged out and I stopped to watch (giving them what I thought was plenty of room)--got that one on the eye and I'm still swollen 8 days later. UGH! Today there were about 200 bees outside all hovering near the exit with another 50 or so hovering higher in the air--a mating flight ritual? This hive came from our other hive when we captured a swarm. It is our most populated hive--in fact is probably overpopulated.

Lastly, my Observation hive...I enjoyed watching the bees raise a queen, baby workers emerged, etc. and got to watch the queen kill another virgin. It was great until they balled the only queen left--she should have been just ready to mate (about 10 days after she emerged) The weather was great but they just balled her. Now there is no queen, no eggs, they killed all the drone that was going to emerge by pulling them out prematurely (I think, they looked really light yellow-white) Now they are just running around all over the hive, buzzing frantically and clustering in the food chamber.

If anyone could please give me some advise I would appreciate it. I am ready to pull my hair out with this--don't mind getting stung if it is worth it in the end--healthy bees, some honey production, etc--but so far it is a lot of work for not much pay off. AAARRRGGHHH

[Barry Digman]

Are you trying to "manage" your bees? Maybe leaving them alone to do what they do would be an option.

[mgidewall@hotmail.com]

We used to check once a week when we first started but now are down to twice a month--is that too much? I heard that although it bugged them a little, it was more important for us as beekeepers to observe them often (once a week) to understand how they work. Do you all think that is too much? We also only look at one or two frames if we need to look for eggs and stuff. They were actually doing better when we looked in there every week.

[Michael Bush]

You should be able to learn what you want by watching the observation hive.

I'd give every hive you suspect of being queenless a frame of eggs, if you can. Let them sort it out. Apparently they don't like your queens or your help.

[Daisy]

I came to this realization myself since becoming a beekeeper.

It's been my observation that when we get inside the hives, we set them back much longer then most will advise....

This year my bees have not had one drop of hbh or one smidgen of oil, not one puff of smoke or scent of any other chemical.

I've left them alone since I split in the early spring. And I tell ya,

They are going gang busters.

For us newbees, it seems time stops until we get our next chance to peek inside our little honey factories, but it's prolly best if we let em alone until we're serious about taking some goodies.

You can know if something is wrong with a hive by watching from outside, particularly If you have several from which to compare.

Let nature have her way, if you lose, you will prolly lose anyway, whether you dig in their homes or not.

[Michael Bush]

>Let nature have her way, if you lose, you will prolly lose anyway, whether you dig in their homes or not.

But what fun is that?

[mgidewall@hotmail.com]

Is it too late for my observation hive to raise a queen and have her mate? I am north of Seattle, we have another 1 1/2 months left of warm weather before it will rapidly get chilly (40-50's in October) I would love to let them try again but am wondering if they will actually be able to get a laying queen or not this close to the end of summer

[Michael Bush]

There is plenty of time for her to be raised and mate, but not much time for brood rearing after that before winter. If you just want to let them raise a queen and let her start laying and then combine with another hive for winter it should work.

[BeeMiner]

mgidewall,

You might want to swing by BeezNeez beekeeping store in Snohomish and run some of your questions by Jean, the owner. She's quite experienced and helpful. Also, the Northwest District Beekeepers Association meets in Snohomish on the 2nd Tuesday of each month (although I believe this month's meeting is at a member's house). Here's a link to the club's website - http://www.nwdba.org .

The theme for this year's state fair in Monroe is "The Land of Milk and Honey", so our club is scheduled to do quite a few beekeeping-related activities in addition to our usual information booth.

Mark

[Daisy]

<But what fun is that?>

You're right MB.

Since it is fun for us beekeepers, we should have lots and lots of hives so our curiousities can be spread out over their numbers, eh?

LOL

A hobby is fun so lets just all make sure we have at least 8 or 10 hives. Then all the learning we need will cause less stress on any one hive.

Make sense?

[Michael Bush]

It's one of my reasons for having an observation hive. I can watch without having to open up the hive at all. http://www.beesource.com/ubb/smile.gif