no comb yet

[beebiker]

hi guys
i just installed my first package of bees last thursday and have been watching them do the ground crawl thing as well as flying a bit and grouping at the hive opening, peeked inside this morning and was surprised to see absolutly no comb being made, ive been feeding them and althou they arent terribly active i would have thought that after 5 days they would have atleast made a start. the temps been up in the high 50's and low 60's but windy almost every day so i dont think temp is an issue.
am i just jumping the gun and being nervouse :waiting: or is it that since not much is blooming here yet they just dont feel the need for comb, or worse yet maybe my queen bit the dust .
any advice here for a first timer ??

buck

[BEES4U]

Start feeding them a 2:1 sugar syrup and feed them with a division board feeder.
I shook my 4 pound packages out when the oranges were in bloom and they have drawn out 5 frames +
Plan on feeding them until they refuse the syrup. It sounds like they are on foundation.
Ernie

[Tom G. Laury]

Warmth is conducive to drawing wax. Reduce entrance to 1/2" so wind can't penetrate.

[stangardener]

if they are all clustered up under the bars there is likely new comb under all the bees. they do whats called festoon.

[beebiker]

morning all
ive been using about a 2:1 mix already, my feeder is kind of my own desighn that they seemed very happy with for the first few days ( sort of a water bottle dispenser in an office building style) set out on the landing board. they just dont seem to be intrested in taking much if any syrup now, in fact they seem pretty indiffrent about everything at this point. my fear is with the daily die off soon i wont have enuff to support the hive when the blooms do arrive.
temp wise it sure could be better around here, i have noticed the wind blowing in from the west every day so this morning i turned the hive more in a southerly direction, this should help since the hive was situated to face directly to the west before due to the layout of the site. i have a entrance reducer already in place to keep any robbers at bay. i must say i did watch one stranger try to get a shot at my syrup feeder and my girls put a whippin on her right quick, i was impressed to say the least :applause:
as far as any clusters around tthe top they are not. only a few straglers when i check, but the sides seem to be covered well with bees so i know they are moving about in the hive, just not very intrested in building comb yet. for my top bars i simply cut a groove in the bars and filled it with wax to get them started, should i maybe change my desighn ??

thanks for the help so far guys

buck

[kaisfate]

ive been using about a 2:1 mix already, my feeder is kind of my own desighn that they seemed very happy with for the first few days ( sort of a water bottle dispenser in an office building style) set out on the landing board.

If I were you I would move your feeder inside your hive...to reduce the chances of robbing (you already saw that someone else has found your girls eats) also to encourage them to take syrup...with your temps a little low, not having to venture far may help them


for my top bars i simply cut a groove in the bars and filled it with wax to get them started, should i maybe change my design ??

Speaking from experience, get some better comb guides on your bars ASAP. Lots of discussion regarding the beeswax filled kerf and how it has not been working. You can use the popsicle stick method, or a paint stirrer or strips of foundation. I personally, ripped the sides of my top bars at 45 degrees. leaving about a 1 inch plane on the bottom for them to build on. My Hamlin hive(that these bars are in) are building nice straight comb. My Flower hive, with the wax filled kerfs, are all over the place.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[beebiker]

thanks kaisfate
i'll give your suggestions a try, at present im inindated with a slight snow storm :eek:(yea i know, welcome to wyoming). My 1929 majestic radio just said weather wouldnt improve till sunday or monday so i have time to rework my extra top bars, shouldnt be to much trouble to use my router and table to throw a quick angle on the bars and then glue in some paint stir sticks. figure while im at i'll rewax them when im done.
i guess things could be far worse weather wise, at least it's not raining and drowning the bees, but sure would be nice to get some real spring time weather that would stick around for a while :waiting:.
I have another package of bees arriving about the 15th, maybe spring will have sprung by then and i wont have the " no comb" problem with them. In any event ill keep you updated on how this batch im dealing with are doing

thanks again
buck

[gmcharlie]

thanks kaisfate
i'll give your suggestions a try, at present im inindated with a slight snow storm :eek:(yea i know, welcome to wyoming). My 1929 majestic radio just said weather wouldnt improve till sunday or monday so i have time to rework my extra top bars, shouldnt be to much trouble to use my router and table to throw a quick angle on the bars and then glue in some paint stir sticks. figure while im at i'll rewax them when im done.
i guess things could be far worse weather wise, at least it's not raining and drowning the bees, but sure would be nice to get some real spring time weather that would stick around for a while :waiting:.
I have another package of bees arriving about the 15th, maybe spring will have sprung by then and i wont have the " no comb" problem with them. In any event ill keep you updated on how this batch im dealing with are doing

thanks again
buck


A cpl of thoughts, first, don't worry about your bars, thats not the issue, so leave it alone for now. personaly I use tapered bars and leave them do the attaching as its stronger than my wax job.

Second, it sounds like you have a queen issue. a new package will swarm around the queen and work dilegently to give her laying room. I installed 30 new packages 2 weeks ago and ALL of them have at least 3 square FEET of comb( I measure surface area) on a typical TBH hive thats about 4 bars.

The fact they are milling around concerns me. normaly the queen kind of shows them where to start (I rubber band my queen cage in place) and they go to town.
I personaly would imediatly find another queen and put her in a cage attached to a top bar. you should quickly seem them cluster there and start comb. Cold will slow them down, but if they have food and are moving they should have SOME comb.

Charlie

[beebiker]

thanks for the reply charlie
that definitly makes sense, they do seem unmotivated to do much.
on that note, i have another package of bees arriving about the 15th, my thought would be to combine it with bees in the hive i have now. my concern would be that they have been queenless for a while now and are they going to accept her or ball her and the other new bees ???:scratch: or is this approach even advisable ???:no:. I know the clock is probably ticking here so if i can combine them fairly easly that would save me the cost of a new queen, but if i haft to order a new queen i should do so soon im sure.
I guess this is all part of the learning curve but man....

buck

[gmcharlie]

you could double up but it wouldn't be as cost effective. a new queen is 20.00 on the other hand a 6Lb package would probably build real fast... never tried it myself...

if they are queenless they will accept her no problem. Leave her in her cage until they release her even if it take 4-5 days that way they won't bother her a bit.... I would suggest you call your package guy and see if he will add a extra queen. save you shipping.