[andydoc]

Sorry upfront for the length. This year is my entry into Beekeeping...started this year. Installed 2 packages into 2 hives on 26APR into exactly the same build medium hives...9 black plastic frames with one green drone comb in slot 2. Solid bottom boards...with an inner feeder like the Burns Bee Feeding system. Both have an entrance excluder with a 3/8x3 opening. We named them BHA (Bee Hive A) and BHB (Bee Hive B)...see attached pic.

BHA queen died in the cage after checking 3 days later, and Long Lane Honey Bee Farm out of Illinois was AWESOME and sent another queen the next day. She took in a few days and could see eggs by the end of the week. Booth hives are laying and capping brood ....Both are laying up to the Green Drone Comb I put in slot 2.

Been feeding each a 1/8 pollen patty as they would take it and 1:1 sugar. BHB has been taking the pollen and sugar water about 2x what BHA has. Been inspecting each week and see the queens, capped brood, as well as pollen and nectar. I added another box on top of BHB last week cause they were pulling foundation on frames 2 thru 10. BHA has foundation on 4-8/9

BHA just doesn't seem to be doing as well as BHA. Just not as much activity at the entrance of BHA as what BHB does. what I have noticed is a couple things...where the hives are located:

1. they are on the south side of my garage, get sun in the morning, and have a shade tree in the afternoon. What I saw today is that BHA get more shade than BHB (attached pic)
2. infront of BHA there is a boat kinda sticking in the line of their 'landing flight'.
3. I also noticed a bunch of 'bee butts' sitting right outside, which alot of bird poo (attached pic) could birds be sitting and picking them off?

any thoughts? My boys are loving this...more attached pics

 

[JWPalmer]

Nothing jumps out at me as being a problem with location. If you want, you could move BHA closer to BHB, my hives are practically touching each other so moving them closer won't cause any additional issues. Part of the problem may simply be that BHA is a week behind BHB. Also, not all hives act the same. One of the reasons it is suggested that a new beek start with two hives. You could try transferring a frame of capped brood with the bees shaken off from B to A. That will provide a population boost of around 5000 bees which should even things out some. I would get rid of the drone frames and replace them with regular frames, unless you are attempting to be treatment free, something I would strongly recommend against for a new beekeeper. Otherwise, keep doing what you are doing.

 

[Fivej]

Birds can eat a lot of bees but you would think they would be on the other hive too. Have you seen birds eating them? J

 

[andydoc]

thanks for the quick response. I haven't seen birds in the area, but my daughter said she saw some. We were thinking the same thing about moving the BHA closer...is there anything special to do with moving it a couple feet? Will definitely take the drone comb out for now...I would like to be treatment free, but probably need to take baby steps

 

[BadBeeKeeper]

From picture one to picture two, the hives appear to be in different locations, like you moved BHA from where it was originally, *after* you installed the bees and got them started. If this is the case, then I suspect that the dead(?) bees you see on the yellow thing are foragers that returned after you moved their hive, and they didn't know where to go. I suspect that you lost a bunch of bees from A and that has put them behind.

 

[Fivej]

Good catch Badbeekeeper. J

 

[andydoc]

I'm sorry my pictures look different...but the hive A didn't move. What we did do was move Hive A about 1/2 way towards Hive B, and not sure if that made the difference...or the very nice day today, but activity at the entrance of hive A was AWESOME today...equal to Hive B. Thank you all for the help...I'm sure I'll need more soon!

 

[BadBeeKeeper]

Ah, must be something else that I'm seeing, up at the corner of the building. Whatever it is kind of looks like a hive from that angle. But now that I've taken another look, I see that you marked the top covers with an 'A' and a 'B', and the hive visible in pic #2 has an 'A'. I should have caught that before.

 

[andydoc]

no worries...I really appreciate that you all are taking the time to help me and my boys/brood. they are having a blast!

 

[Fivej]

Wow, that was deceiving. Had to compare several times to be sure. Hope it works. J

 

[BadBeeKeeper]

no worries...I really appreciate that you all are taking the time to help me and my boys/brood. they are having a blast!

Excellent. Get 'em started young- maybe it will take, maybe it won't...and maybe they'll do something else for a while and then come back to it.

When I was young, my old man tried to teach me some things, but I already knew it all and wasn't ready to listen. We parted company under less than amicable circumstances, but years later, some of the things he said came back to me and they have served me well. You can't always tell when what you've said and done has made an impression, but it may be just the thing they need when they are ready to accept it some years down the road.

 

[JWPalmer]

J, after you posted I went back and looked at the photos. It was deceiving, but I concentrated on the relationship of the hive to the metal chairs and the edge of the pallet and saw they were the same. The presence of the Beebus in one and the brick in the other also seemed to.make the hive appear moved.

 

[Fivej]

That's how I did it too JW. Reminds me to check out the optical illusions websites. Some are mind blowing. J