Hello All
I thought I would introduce myself and share my start at bee keeping
My name is Zack and I have a place in south Mississippi that I moved my wife and kids to last year hoping to follow myself as soon as my job plays out in Texas.
We have always had feral bees on this property that I have been fascinated with for some time( maybe 15years ) This year I broke down and purchased a starter kit from Better bee and a 4# package of bees from the McCarys that I started in the beginning of June.
I filled my 4 gal hive top feeder and left them alone until last weekend (had to return to work) 21 days later and my first inspection would seem to indicate they are doing wonderfully.
The feeder was empty of course but they had successfully drawn out all but 2 of the white Pierco frames and I found plenty of new eggs and various stages of brood as well as a small amount of capped honey and pollen.
I did not find the queen but the new eggs would seem to indicate she is there, I was nervous and felt I was doing a lot of harm pulling the frames out so I didnt look to hard for her.
I moved the undrawn frames to the center and threw on my second deep body for them to draw out and refilled the feeder.
I can hardly wait to get back in a couple of weeks and see how far they have progressed.
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BTW. I didnt get stung even though I kept getting bees inside of my Veil
Problems
Ants Raiding my feeder, What I call sugar ants, nonstinging type but found none in the hive. Nothing I have tried yet has gotten rid of them.
Mold on the inner top cover that I had placed on top of the feeder, I dont think it was supposed to go there so I left it off this time and placed a popsicle stick between the feeder and hive body for ventilation I also used an SBB on this hive.
Left the queen cage in to long so the bees filled the gap between the frames luckily there was only some pollen in this new comb.
I think I inspected them to early in the morning when they tend to crawl more thus bees in my Veil.
Shortage of equipment
I captured a tiny swarm from my feral hive using one of my med frame boxes, I need a nuc to put them in.
I need another hive body for a feral hive that a neighbor offered to me that I hope to get next trip over.
Anyway thats my start, Thanks for this great resource, It has been incredibly helpful to me.
I have found I really love these wonderful creatures. I will be picking up a table saw and datto blade this week.
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Now if I can only find a cheap shipping method for these Pierco frames
![]()
Any advice would be welcome.
Zack
I thought I would introduce myself and share my start at bee keeping
My name is Zack and I have a place in south Mississippi that I moved my wife and kids to last year hoping to follow myself as soon as my job plays out in Texas.
We have always had feral bees on this property that I have been fascinated with for some time( maybe 15years ) This year I broke down and purchased a starter kit from Better bee and a 4# package of bees from the McCarys that I started in the beginning of June.
I filled my 4 gal hive top feeder and left them alone until last weekend (had to return to work) 21 days later and my first inspection would seem to indicate they are doing wonderfully.
The feeder was empty of course but they had successfully drawn out all but 2 of the white Pierco frames and I found plenty of new eggs and various stages of brood as well as a small amount of capped honey and pollen.
I did not find the queen but the new eggs would seem to indicate she is there, I was nervous and felt I was doing a lot of harm pulling the frames out so I didnt look to hard for her.
I moved the undrawn frames to the center and threw on my second deep body for them to draw out and refilled the feeder.
I can hardly wait to get back in a couple of weeks and see how far they have progressed.
BTW. I didnt get stung even though I kept getting bees inside of my Veil
Problems
Ants Raiding my feeder, What I call sugar ants, nonstinging type but found none in the hive. Nothing I have tried yet has gotten rid of them.
Mold on the inner top cover that I had placed on top of the feeder, I dont think it was supposed to go there so I left it off this time and placed a popsicle stick between the feeder and hive body for ventilation I also used an SBB on this hive.
Left the queen cage in to long so the bees filled the gap between the frames luckily there was only some pollen in this new comb.
I think I inspected them to early in the morning when they tend to crawl more thus bees in my Veil.
Shortage of equipment
I captured a tiny swarm from my feral hive using one of my med frame boxes, I need a nuc to put them in.
I need another hive body for a feral hive that a neighbor offered to me that I hope to get next trip over.
Anyway thats my start, Thanks for this great resource, It has been incredibly helpful to me.
I have found I really love these wonderful creatures. I will be picking up a table saw and datto blade this week.
Now if I can only find a cheap shipping method for these Pierco frames
Any advice would be welcome.
Zack
