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[stever]

I inspected my 4 hives today. They were 4 frame nucs installed in 10 frame brood boxes on May 20th.
All 4 appear about same no real growth in the number of frames....
All activity is still in 4 frames. Some comb starting in other frames but minimal....
A queen was spotted in one of the hives,
I have not seen any eggs but might not be able to see them - Newbeee...I did find a queen cell that openned not destroyed - so? maybe new queen??
lots of leathery brood cells
one foundation had what looked like uncapped brood cells with white large larvae in them?

The weather was warm and we just had a week of cool wet weather.
The bees sound fine very calm with minimal smoke....
Today they are entering with tons of pollen in their sacs....
My question is without seeing eggs how can you tell whether its healthy or not.
At this rate will they even fill one 10 frame brood box by end of summer 4 months?
I was expecting them to be further along, is there anything I can do to strengthen the colony
I fed sugar water 3-1 up until a week ago, they were sucking it up like crazy (then I read on here you shouldnt feed??)
Is there a way to suplement them to help them feed, pollen etc?

So confused.. Any help?

[robherc]

#1: What kind(s) of flowers are in bloom in your area now?
#2: What are the hi/low temps like around there right now?

I could tell you a million things, but none of them would be good ideas for you, without knowing those two things. If it's still pretty cool out, with lows below 50F (about 10C, I think), then your bees won't be doing much expansion yet, and there's not too much to do for them; while if the temps are significantly warmer, and there are lots of flowers for them to forage, adding a couple undrawn frames in each brood cluster will likely encourage them to build up faster.

What I can tell you right now is that those large white larve you saw were most likely bee brood, which is almost always a good sign, and eggs are VERY hard to see if you're not used to seeing them/don't know exactly what you're looking for. Also, I see you said you just had a week of cool, wet weather...that could explain at least some part of your bees' reluctance to "build up" as quickly as you'd like to see...when it's cold, they have to spend more energy keeping the brood warm, and when it's wet they can't fly out to forage as much...so the two together often slow things down quite a bit

[bejay]

should feed them 1-1 syrup and dont stop until they have 2 brood boxes with comb.

[stever]

Thanks bejay, I will go back to syrup.
We finished poppies some of the other garden flowers,
Lots of buttercup in fields but I dont see any bees on it.
Milk week is about to explode in flowers - (next week)
when I got the bees it was in high 70's (22-26c) lows for night were 50's(10c)
then we had past week of cool and rain 60's wet.....
It is now dry and pleasant 65-70 (14-20c)
What about pollen patties???

[stever]

Oh and yesterday I really closed down the hive entrances, thought it mike make them stronger if there was less air flow...
It is now about 1.5 inches x 3/8" on each hive...

[stever]

Thannk you robherc I appreciate the fast repsonse....

[robherc]

I think the 1.5"x0.375" entrances should be good, that'll give 'em enough airflow to cool off if/when they need to, and keep things warmer until then (unless, of course, you were to live down here on the Gulf Coast, where heat (not cold) is your main enemy...lol

The syrup sounds like a fine plan for now; just be sure to watch them once they start building up & don't let them plug up the brood combs with syrup, or they may swarm on you (obviously, that's more of a concern AFTER they fill the first box with combs.

Pollen patties, I haven't used, so won't really comment much on except that I don't think your bees will need them much if they're bringing in loads of pollen on their own.

Assuming the weather holds in the more pleasant, warmer temps, without too terribly much wet, then you'll probably find that your bee populations will start to explode within 3 weeks of the milkweed, or other high-nectar plants "Exploding" into bloom...or at least that's what happened with my bees when the Chinese Tallow came into bloom down here


Good Luck & Happy Bees,
Rob

[stever]

I just made up some sugar water and went out to feed them.
Colony 1 is a swarm I was given about 2 weeks ago, which is by my house, they went crazy for new syrup...
My other hives on edge of an old farm pasture about 500 yds away. I placed syrup for them and they were coming back literally by hundreds with the pollen sacks PACKED!!!
While there the wind picked up and blew a wack of pollen off of the grasses, (i never considered them flowers)
I think I know where they are getting all that pollen. They really were not interested in the syrup, just bringing home the pollen.
I appreciate your help and cant wait to see 10 frames full! (there is already the next brood box on there for them to fill)
I was a little discourage this afternoon openning the hives and seeing minimal growth in a month. Now I am encouraged!!

[casinoken]

Stever, did I read your last post correctly? Did u say you already have the second brood box with frames on your hive? If so, that may be your problem, second box shouldn't be added until first box is around 80% filled out. With the extra space above a small brood area, your bees may be stressed from trying to keep the brood area warm on cool nights. This can lead to chilled brood and can set u back. Just an observation from your last posting.

[stever]

Thats news to me...
I will take the second box off...
Should I leave super above it? or just brood box with inner cover and lid?
Thanks
I am trying to see how strong I can make them so I can get a taste of honey in fall!

[casinoken]

No, u will have the one brood box with inner cover and top until the bees have drawn roughly 8 of the 10 frames, then u add your second deep or medium. When they fill that one to about 80%, then u add your super.

[stever]

Thats the new plan!!! It makes sense, thank you.

[Keth Comollo]

One box at a time when building a brood nest. 80-90% full on the first deep is time to put the second deep on.

[stever]

Thank you to everyone.
This forum has been an amazin wealth of info.
Hope I can share my experiences and give back to everyone....

[robherc]

You're quite welcome for the help, and yes....one box at a time; add the next as they near filling what they have.

Stick around a while and check the "New Posts" often...you'll be AMAZED at how quickly you'll find other new beeks asking questions you've already asked, and had answered...then it'll be your turn to pass on some knowledge

[Gord]

Steve

Where are you ?
I'm in Oshawa and could drop over and take a look on Sunday.
My hives are booming.

Gord

[stever]

Huge thank you to everyone, inspected hives today,
4 hives that were at 4 frames and stalled are now at 6 frames each with 7 frame partly combed. Very consistant between all of them, lots of capped brood, larvae etc present...
Might be able to add that second deep next week or so!
Great pollen and nectar flow is starting as well, milk weed is coming out and lots of flowers everywhere!!

Thanks for your help!

[robherc]

Glad to hear they're doing so well, keep us updated