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So here is the deal. Multiple 2nd year Carni queens failed to build this spring. I chalked it up to the terrible weather and my first year with Carni's, however 5 hives went queen less and into...

Drop a frame wih eggs/larva and brood from another hive. This will give them a very slight boast in population plus you will know for sure if they are queenless. If they deveolp queen cells then...

So I have a question for the group. I have tried the approach of not culling old brood frames for the past five or six years and I suspect this may be an issue with my success. I lost 7 hives last...

Vance..no I did not. Does reducing the number of swarm cell reduce the chance of the hive swarming with virgins? I guess that makes sense. It was getting late and everyone was home if you know...

Something said to check my hives today after work. My hives are almost an hour away from my home and I just checked them last week, but something told me to check before the weekend wet weather hit....

The bottom deep is probably mostly empty. I had the same issue with one of my hives this year. The queen managed to get through my excluder last last fall and filled up my medium with brrod and...

So Soupcan and Roland please share with me how you guys use queen excluders. I am relatively newish (if that is even a word) and I am trying to learn through experience. So far I think I have made...

John,

Great point on the pollen and temp/ventilation topic. I think that is why I am leaning on reducing the bottom entrance and finding a way to provide an entrance between the brood boxes and...

This is actually a very good debate with some great ideas and observations. My typical set up is a screened bottom board on top of a solid bottom board (to hold a debris tray). I use two deep brood...

So there are some great ideas out there and thank you for sharing them. I had a chance to go back into my two hives this afternoon. I placed MegaBee patties in the hives last week and have been...

So I had the chance to inspect my two remaining colonies this week and was overwhelmed by the number of SHB I saw in both hives. Both hives were super populated with bees. One had two frames of...

You could try spraying them with sugar water mixed with Honey B Healthy. I have not scrapped any of my frames down, but I do have a couple hives with frames approaching 5 or 6 years old. I know...

I lost 7 of my 9 hives this fall as I was not able to check on them for a couple weeks in September. Nothing at all left except some pollen in the empty hives. I guess I am going to be starting...

Thank you everyone for your help. This was a terrible year for me as I lost 6 of my 9 colonies already. I am not placing all the blame on the breed as most of it was my fault, lack of time, etc. I...

Charlie,

Well I have had Italians since I started out a couple years ago and they have been decent. However, in my area there is no real flow after June once the clover dries up. We have cold...

Can anyone recommend a breeder of Carniolans who ships packages? I would like to give them a try next spring as I think they may do much better then the Italians in my area.

I was hoping I could get some insight on planting clover. First, does anyone think it is too late to broadcast plant Dutch White and Alskie clover this year. I live in Zone 7A and we see our first...

I have been in this situation before. My hives are about an hour away from my home residences and could only really check on them about once a week. I use top feeders that hold 2.5 gallons at a...

You mentioned that this hive already swarmed this year? Well that right there may be the main issue. It takes a strong hive to built out and fill up supers, especially from foundation. A swarmed...

Hey thanks for the ideas. I may look a little more at milkweed since that seems to bloom through the summer, a time my bees could use a little more foraging options.

These are some great suggestions and I have some already growing. On the drier land I have tried sweet clover in two areas with no success. I think it is too acidic because the blueberries do great...

Small hive bettles and the worm things on the pollen patties are the larva. Oil traps and trays work great at killing the adult bettles. Watch the weaker hives as the bettles will target all hives...

Ok, so I am looking for suggestions on what to plant as forage for my bees. Specifically, some marshy/bog areas near ponds, drainage ditches, etc. These areas are usally either spongy or water...

I have seen some conflicting articles on which types of buckwheat are good for nectarproduction. Last year I planted some mancan buckwheat last year did not see much in result. To be fair it may be...

The robbing question is what I was going to ask also. Entrance feeders do invite robbing, however either way the bees tend to defend this area very heavily regardless. I would switch to a top...