[frysl]

Hello all,
I was gone a lot last year, which lead to my neglect of my hives and I ended up losing both. I'm supposed to pick up two more packages next week, but just found out I've got to go back overseas 4 days later and will be gone for 6 weeks. I've got no one to watch the hives for me, and my concern is that the hives get to the point where they are over crowded and swarm.
I realize it's all with the flow, which is pretty good here in north Texas thru May and June, but they will have to build all new comb from scratch.
Any thoughts on if I should give it a shot or turn off the packages now and wait. I just hate the idea of having to wait till next year.
Thanks,
Steve

 

[burns375]

Absolutely no one? No friends, no local bee club. If I were gone for an extended period of time during the flow I would throw on extra boxes.

 

[beepro]

Try to find a bee buddy to look after them while you are on a short trip away.
Try to put an ad on CL to see if any neighbor might help you out in exchange for
some honey later on. I am sure you have some good neighbors around who might
want to help you out. Besides, it is only a short time when you're out.

 

[Chemguy]

I'm not aware of any 'standard' things that you could do beyond giving them some extra supers, with drawn comb if available. You could put a hive top feeder on to get them to the main flow.

I am one of those people who is always trying to figure out how I can do things on my own for various reasons. It often works out well enough or even very well, but once in a while it leads to my becoming my own worst enemy. I'm getting better, though So, at risk of being viewed a hypocrite following that little confession, I'll agree with beepro and recommend that you visit a local bee club and bring up your question with the folks who seem to be running the show. They'll know the club membership well, and would be able to help you to identify someone you might be able to trust for your situation. Heck, you might even find more than one person who could help.

Best of luck to you.