I can't find the phone number to my local experienced beekeeper and I need to make sure I'm doing this right.
Thursday 21 July I got my first ever hive from a bee call. Left them alone until Saturday 30 July when I discovered queen cells (3 small capped and 1 larger uncapped). At that time I put in a top feeder instead of the open one I had. Tuesday 2 August peeked into top feeder and saw bees and a whole mess of ants. Killed off ants. 4 August the top feeder was empty and there were some ant carcasses (top is vented and an open sbb) but they seem to be getting them cleaned out and went back to open feeding. They started working something and also dived into a pollen substitute sample I set down before them. Yesterday it rained WOO HOO! After church today there are still some ant carcasses and no stench or stink.
I had planned on going in and clean up, refill and seal in the top feeder today to keep out any more ants. But with the time frame, with a three day window, I was thinking about staying with open feeding until this Saturday and see if I have any eggs or open larvae and reduce chances of running off the hive. What do you think? If I wait and there are no eggs or brood I will have to requeen (see if Michael Bush has any left) fast. Thanks for your time folks! David
Thursday 21 July I got my first ever hive from a bee call. Left them alone until Saturday 30 July when I discovered queen cells (3 small capped and 1 larger uncapped). At that time I put in a top feeder instead of the open one I had. Tuesday 2 August peeked into top feeder and saw bees and a whole mess of ants. Killed off ants. 4 August the top feeder was empty and there were some ant carcasses (top is vented and an open sbb) but they seem to be getting them cleaned out and went back to open feeding. They started working something and also dived into a pollen substitute sample I set down before them. Yesterday it rained WOO HOO! After church today there are still some ant carcasses and no stench or stink.
I had planned on going in and clean up, refill and seal in the top feeder today to keep out any more ants. But with the time frame, with a three day window, I was thinking about staying with open feeding until this Saturday and see if I have any eggs or open larvae and reduce chances of running off the hive. What do you think? If I wait and there are no eggs or brood I will have to requeen (see if Michael Bush has any left) fast. Thanks for your time folks! David