Package Progress - 30 days

[TWG1572]

Newbee looking for reasurrance here. I installed two 2lb packages on drawn comb 30 days ago. Two weeks ago I put the second hive body on with undrawn Mann Lake PF120s

Checked them today. Not much effort on comb building on the second body yet. One hive had drawn about a 3x3 section on a couple combs. The other hadn't done much.

I know the bees will draw it when they need it, but I'm a little worried about the plastic acceptance.. The bottom is full of brood, honey, and pollen - so it seems like they should be working the top harder.

Any thoughts on where the bees should be at this point, and if I should be worried?

Thanks!

[Oldbee]

Not much effort on comb building here also. I'm trying plastic for the first time and they are not doing so good.

Unfortunately, the Black locust bloom coincided with a "rainy spell" in our area so we can pretty much forget about that "nectar flow". Maybe later when more of the clovers and others are blooming we can expect a flow of some sort.

[TWG1572]

True - that last rainy spell pretty much wiped out the flow. I'm sitting next to a lot of DNR land this year, so I'm interested to see what that will do for honey.

My main concern is that the bees may not accept the foundation, and then decide to swarm because they don't have room. They are carnis, so I've been trying to make sure I'm staying on top of them.

[Hillside]

The weather has been absolutely aweful up in this part of the country. I expect it's just as bad over in Madison. All my bees (carni mutts) are on plastic, so I know it works, but with the rain, cold, and lack of sun you have to expect things to be a bit slow. It's still early in the season. Give them time and pray for sun. They'll make comb when they have the resources to do so.

[Oldbee]

"The weather has been absolutely aweful up in this part of the country". -Hillside.

Well at least I know now I'm not the only one and it wasn't just my "beekeeping INEXPERIENCE". Maybe we will read about it in the journals next month; I hope things will improve.

[Fred Bee]

I installed a package on plastic foundation in wood frames on April 17th this year. I fed sugar syrup and they started drawing the foundation immediately. As of a couple weeks ago, they had one deep completely drawn and a shallow on top of that completely drawn and full of bees, brood, etc. At that point, I stopped feeding and added a 3rd super (another shallow). The third super contained nothing but plastic foundation on wood frames. We have a honey flow on here, and now the 3rd super is about half drawn out and is quickly getting filled up with nectar/honey. So, the plastic foundation in the wood frames seems to be working just fine for me. When you put plastic foundation on, you need to feed them to get them to draw it OR there must be a good honey flow on. I wish you the best!

[Ross]

I think it takes some heat and a good flow to get plastic drawn. The cool damp weather is probably your problem.

[MapMan]

I think it takes some heat and a good flow to get plastic drawn. The cool damp weather is probably your problem.

Yep, agree with you Ross. We have had an incredibly slow to warm up, and not only damp, but drenching spring. Add to that it has rained right in the midst of many of the major flows -- we will have to wait until summer wildflowers and crops to get a good return. I feel sorry for the queen producers, as the weather has been too cool and wet for good mating flights.

My hives have been drawing okay, not the best, but enough to keep the queens happy in terms of laying space. Now, I have been mixing drawn and new foundation in the honey supers, and they were just starting to draw the new foundation well until our most recent deluge (flood!). You'd think that they would maximize time in the hive because of the rain to concentrate on drawing comb, but I think that they are just consuming resources...

I also think that the queens in the Carny hives have been hesitant to lay - they always talk about Carnys having explosive spring buildup, but I think they are hunkering down in our inclement weather, as in my yards the Italians are quite a bit more populated than the Carny colonies. Is this assumption correct?

MM

[bigeddie]

Yes, I agree.