[baranjhn]

Help! I built a top bar hive and housed my bees on Saturday. I got a lot of info from Michaek Bush's site.

Here are some things I did:

I sprinkled dry sugar in the bottom of the hive

I released the queen directly into the hive. She flew down to the bottom and was quickly surround by the other bees.

Yesterday, there were alot of bees on the outside of the hive

Today I got home and the hive had swarmed into my neighbors yard!

I opened the hive and they already had quite a bit of comb going, but except for a few stragglers it was empty.

I captured the swarm, but they weren't very docile. I managed to get most of them into a box, including a big clump which I hope the queen is in.

I dumped them back into the hive.

What else can I do?

What did I do wrong?

Thanks for your help

 

[kbenz]

maybe put a queen excluder(in this case includer) over the entrance?

 

[beez2010]

The queen "includer" may be a good idea. In lieu of that, I would make sure the hive is located in a good location http://www.thewarrestore.com/hiveplacement.htm, make sure the hive in ventilated enough, reduce the entrance all the way down to where only one bee at a time may enter/exit the hive and feed them a 2:1 syrup mixture by whatever means possible. Feeding Honey B Healthy for a short time may settle them down a bit by blocking phermone communication. The bees most likely absconded because they found something about the hive to be objectionable. You need to try to determine what that is.

Chris Harvey

www.thewarrestore.com

 

[Zonker]

I had the same problem. Didn't catch them the second time, but hope they found a good home. I suspect it was the finish I use (poly) or the cedar shingles on the roof. Other experienced beeks told me that it might have been a dead queen.

 

[baranjhn]

Well,

I think most of them left again, but there are still some around in the hive as of yesterday. I don't know if I have a queen still, but I want them to have a couple of days to calm down. On Sunday, I'll open the hive and have a look around. If I see some larvae or eggs, I'll assume she's still there.

I talked to a local beek, and he said maybe there weren't enough resources for all of them yet. At any rate I started with a three pound package, but I'm not sure how many are left. Maybe when I open the hive on Sunday, I'll see if I can get them onto a scale.

 

[FindlayBee]

I discovered I have a similar situation as you. However, I did not find the bees that left. I installed a 3lb package of bees last Thursday (4/15/2010) and it appears that as soon as the queen was released, they soon left.

 

[baranjhn]

I discovered I have a similar situation as you. However, I did not find the bees that left. I installed a 3lb package of bees last Thursday (4/15/2010) and it appears that as soon as the queen was released, they soon left.

The only reason I found mine was because when I walked out into my back yard, my neighbors said "I think your bees are over here!"

We've had bad weather the past few days, but yesterday the sun was out a bit, and I saw some bees flying in and out of the hive. So at least I still have some. I just hope I still have a queen.

 

[twd8711]

direct release of the queen is not a very good idea, leaving her in the cage gives the whole colony time to adjust

 

[baranjhn]

direct release of the queen is not a very good idea, leaving her in the cage gives the whole colony time to adjust

I was going by information on Michael Bush's site, where he said to release the queen directly into the new hive. Next time I'll keep her in the cage, but I will try direct release in the future again too.

 

[franktrujillo]

did you let them out just before it gets dark?it helps to release them at that time.also i keep the queen in her cage over night give alittle smoke then let her out the next afternoon...in the hive with the other bees also if you see them aggressive towards her don't let her out or they will kill her...give a little smoke then wait another day..by giveing a little smoke they have to rescent...

 

[Zonker]

This whole beekeeping thing is a black art. I installed a package because I wanted 2 hives. Followed all the instructions I could find, the food, the queen cage etc. The package left, I brought it back, it left again and was gone, then a second swarm attached itself to my glass back door and happily moved into a box I left near by and has refused to leave despite my efforts to get rid of them. Then a third swarm decided to live in the hive the package had left. I went from 1 hive to 4 in less than a month. No rhyme or reason.

 

[Sam-Smith]

lucky man