Search:

It is possible they superseded the queen which is more common than you might think with new packages. It takes some time for the queen to mate and start laying eggs. If you have a second hive, move...

Ya, seems like anything is possible in beekeeping considering all the variables.

Sounds like she was ready to swarm just as you suspected. I had luck over wintering two nucs this last winter and plan on doing it again. I moved bees and eggs with brood in all stages along with...

Queen cup on left, drone on right.

y

Yes, generally swarm cells are more numerous than supercedure cells. Also swarm cells are generally located at the bottom of the frame and supercedure are generally not.

I agree, give the hive a frame with eggs on it just in case. Personally, I move eggs in every two weeks until I know I have a laying queen. Prevents workers from laying eggs. Just make sure the...

Best cut out the swarm cells or move them to a nook with nurse bees to finish the queen. Agree, they generally swarm after the cells are capped but I've seen her leave early from my observation...

Do not cut out a supercedure cell unless you plan on installing a new queen. The bees know best in terms of if they need a new queen.

Sometimes you have to move the most outer frames inward to...

If you use deeps for brood boxes then move them to a deep box. If you are using mediums for brood boxes and don't care if brood boxes double as honey supers then leave them alone until they require...

Sounds like you are on track with two per hive with a couple of extras given you have 4 hives. As you are most likely aware of, there are other uses for supers other than for honey collection, such...

Nope. I don't see any advantage worth risking all the burr comb they will build. I have never met anyone nor heard of anyone suggesting to go with 9 frames in a 10 frame brood box.

I remove it cause they seem to never fix it. Not for sure what causes it, maybe frames not pushed together or they just use the extra space caused when two pieces of new foundation are side by side,...

Hello from Kansas City and welcome to the site. Hope to learn a few tricks of the trade from you relative to Missouri.

Post photo or link if you can. I am wanting to build one myself.

I give them water twice a day by rubbing a finger tip of water across the screen of the cage. Install cage in hive asap even if not the perfect weather conditions. I have had good luck when...

Sounds normal. They prefer natural pollen. Would not try too hard to find the queens because you can kill them by accident when moving frames. I generally look for eggs which tells me I have a...

Compare the amount of bees against what you purchase in packages in terms of size, if its the same size as a package you might start in 10 frames then start off using 10 frames for the swarm. At...

Wow. Very nice. Looks like you have some strong hive that can even be worked with little protection early in the year when less nector flow can cause them to be moody. What kind of bees are you...

Sounds like you should be okay. I don't worry about laying workers unless they have been quenless for a couple of weeks and have no frames with eggs. I always leave supercedure cells as the bees...

You might also try placing your caged queen on top of the frames of a split hive after an hour or so. If they quickly ball the cage that would be an indication the split has an existing queen...

Not many yet, but I have drones in a few hives in Clay County Missouri. Observation hive and one other are packed with bees but have no indication of swarm cells. I suspect when the first good...

Welcome to the site.

I was guessing they might fight when combined as the bearded ones are older. I have an observation hive that is over flowing and don't want to open it and move frames of nurse bees. Also I avoid...

Wonder if it is a problem to move bees that are bearded on one hive to another hive 100 yards away!

I appreciate the replies. Appears I should air out some equipment prior to swarm season just in case I need it. The only time, so far that I have had moth issue is when a hive was weak. I have had...