Some Inspection questions

1531 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by rand, Jan 24, 2010

rand

Discussion Starter · Jan 15, 2010

Hi all,
I took a break from the terrible news about what is going in Haiti and went
to the second inspection of my two hives (23 degrees Celsius) and all the inspection check list was perfect.

I moved from Nucs to these 10 frame hives two weeks ago and after i saw that my foundation was built very fast and wild combs from the ceiling was created this week, i took your suggestions to fill up all the rest of the hive space with foundations instead of filling it one by one.

I have 2 questions:
1. I fed my lovely bees every week two times after i moved from Nucs to big hives (total of 2.5 kg each hive). Should i stop feeding ?, they drink it all
and they bring Pollen and have enough kept honey.

2. Im sorry to cry like a little baby, but just for my curiosity. Today, i got stung two times in my thumbs and it was much more paintfull then my previous two stings i got. why is the big different, mabey the bees sting is more developed?

Thank you
Randi

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PCM

· #2 · Jan 15, 2010

My guess from 6000 miles away is that it is time to stop feeding.

As for the stings; the tip of your fingers have many nerves !
Some stings don't hurt at all, others will make you want to set down and CRY !
Of course you'll hear some people say " I've never felt a bad sting " :no:

PCM

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ACBEES

· #3 · Jan 15, 2010

Hello fom Texas. You live in a very politically interesting and challenging part of the world.

Everything I've read says to keep feeding syrup to bees in newly installed equipment until they won't take it anymore. If your bees are still drinking up all the syrup...keep feeding. Remember, it takes a lot of energy and nutrition to produce wax and draw comb and you have a lot of frames to draw. The bees will let you know when it's time to stop feeding syrup.

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Ski

· #4 · Jan 15, 2010

I would agree that if there is comb to be drawn and they are drawing it out then keep feeding them. But as far as they will tell you when they have had enough, well, maybe I didn't hear them. When my hives had drawn out the comb they back filled the brood comb with syrup and the queen didn't have any place to lay that lead to swarming.
So yes keep feeding but keep an eye on the brood area to make sure they don't back fill it with syrup.

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rand

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 15, 2010 (Edited by Moderator)

Hi ACBEES
Thanks to all of you for the quick answers, this forum is really really great...
I'm apologize for my english but im trying my best.

My little place in the world is really chalenging and as an optimistic guy
i can guess that the future won't be so good in this region :s
and agree to be stung by my girls in the hive everyday day of my life, rather than solving this region problems

I got an opposite answers about feed or not to feed, so im a little bit confused. If i will stop feeding, the foundations building will be slower
and the queen laying also?

My goal is to split the hives when it can be done, so i could grow to 8-10 hives this season.

Thanks again
Randi

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StevenG

· #6 · Jan 15, 2010

Greetings Randi!

I've visited Israel twice, its a beautiful country... tough political situation. My best to you and your family.

The concerns expressed about feeding focus on what happens when the foundation is built out into comb. At that point if the bees keep taking the syrup they fill the comb, thus restricting the size of the brood nest, which leads to swarming.

So as you feed, be aware of the amount of foundation left. Are they still building comb, or now filling comb with syrup and restricting the queen's space to lay? by paying attention to that, you'll know when to stop feeding. You'll also know when to add a super for honey storage.

What I have done with a new package is to add frames and foundation and feed until two 10-frame brood boxes have been drawn out and are full of bees. As the last couple of frames are being drawn, then i add a shallow extracting super of foundation, and continue feeding while the bees draw that. This gives me a two-story hive full of bees and food, and the start on an extracting super. As they're drawing the extracting super, then I stop the feeding. I DO NOT harvest honey from that extracting super. I mark it, and leave it with them at the end of the season for their winter stores. That way I don't contaminate my honey harvest with sugar syrup. (You may decide to continue using deeps or mediums for your extracting/harvesting honey)

This process has allowed me to pull a slight harvest of honey off a new package hived on foundation in the spring. of course, it doesn't always work that way! :lpf: Some seasons are better than others, some hives develop more rapidly than others.
Hope this helps,
Steven

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rand

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 15, 2010 (Edited by Moderator)

Hi Steven,
If you were in Israel, mabye you remember a place called Ein Avdat, that is a famous desert spring i leave near by? I happy that you liked Israel and truthfully, with all the problems here, i can't think of living in another place for more than 3-4 years

....

This is a very interesting method that sound very convincing,
please let me know if i understood it right:
instead of risking in swarming, i can give them space and increase the
bee population by feeding (much more then without feeding), so iget another super full of bees, that i will separate to another hive and introduce them a new queen, because its fit to my main target - growing with new hives
and make little honey.

Thank you very much for your help

Randi

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backtobasics

· #8 · Jan 24, 2010

Hi Randi,

I live in the Negev, Israel as well. I'm in the northern part though up near Netivot. My family and I made Aliyah in July of 2008.

I have kept bees in the USA and would like to start keeping bees here.

Can you tell me what I need to do to legally keep bees? Someone told me that I need a license but I don't know how or where to get one.

Also, where did you get your nucs, do they have more, and how much do they cost?

Thanks,
Michael

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rand

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jan 24, 2010

Hi Michael,

It's good to know that i have a close neighbor in this forum.

You can email me with your phone number and i will be glad to give
you all the information you need.

your living area is one of the best for beekeeping even though
its already crowded with beehives

Good Night
Randi
[email protected]

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