Think I'm getting in a mess here...

1961 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by FlowerPlanter, Jul 31, 2014

Organist

Discussion Starter · Jul 27, 2014

Hi,

My hive #1 seems to not be doing well. It was started at the end of May with a 4 pound package of Italians. The queen died, and I replaced her with a new one. All seemed well for several weeks, and I saw her on my inspections. A couple of weeks ago, I didn't see her, but saw some eggs. My last inspection, I saw a few larvae, but that's about it. It looks there is a lot of my syrup on the cells, but uncapped. I took a few picks. What looks like eggs is just a light reflection in the syrup. There didn't seem to be as many bees as before, but I can't say for sure. Usually, this hive is all over the place when I open it, but they were relatively calm this time.

Here's a frame:

See less See more

Save

1 - 7 of 7 Posts

Mr.Beeman

· #2 · Jul 27, 2014

Doesn't seem to be a sufficient amount of bees there. Brood is pretty much non existant. Didn't see the queen again this time I'm guessing? Hard to give advice with just a few frame pics.

Save

gone2seed

· #3 · Jul 27, 2014

The key is in this sentence from your post." All seemed well for several weeks, and I saw her on my inspections". The "s" on the end of inspection is usually the problem.

Save

Pete O

· #4 · Jul 27, 2014

Could be wrong but I see strong hints of robbing, especially in the 2nd photo. That hive has a serious population problem and what's left of it should be added to another, stronger hive.

Save

Organist

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 29, 2014

I'm wondering if there are signs in bee behavior that experienced folks would notice that I am missing. The problem hive is always very active-- lots of bees flying around and quick to respond to intrusion. On my last visit, however, they pretty much ignored me. The population has dropped.

Looking at hive 2, I usually see very little bee activity. There is little at the entrance and not a lot of flying around. They really don't react when I go in, and they have much more capped honey where the first hive has nearly none. They're getting things done. I'd like to see more eggs, but the queen is defiantly there.

As per advice, I've kept the entrance reducers in place on the smallest opening. I'm there once a week to mow. Sometimes I drive past. The entrances never look crowded to me, so I assume that is good. I look in every 7 to 10 days, which I thought was OK. Did I cause the problem by going in too much? I need to salvage this situation soon. I'm wondering about adding it to the other hive. Would it cause a problem there?

See less See more

Save

ericweller

· #6 · Jul 30, 2014

Organist said:
As per advice, I've kept the entrance reducers in place on the smallest opening. I'm there once a week to mow. Sometimes I drive past. The entrances never look crowded to me, so I assume that is good. I look in every 7 to 10 days, which I thought was OK. Did I cause the problem by going in too much? I need to salvage this situation soon. I'm wondering about adding it to the other hive. Would it cause a problem there?

I am far from an expert but my mentor tells me to inspect every 7 days. In the spring, he says that I should inspect every 5 days to catch swarm cells early. I would do a newspaper combine with another weak hive to make it stronger. This is after making absolutely certain there is no queen in the hive.

Save

FlowerPlanter

· #7 · Jul 31, 2014

Looks like EFB, I would send a sample in for testing. If it is EFB and you put that comb and/or bee in a different hive you could spread it. Careful with your equipment, tools and gloves, dont let your weaker hive get robbed out. EFB is very contagious.

Picture #2 says a lot: the dark cells had capped brood are inter mixed with yellow cells exactly what you see in a frame that has had one brood cycle in an EFB infected hive. It was so bad on that frame it was probably one of the last frames your package drew out.

>My last inspection, I saw a few larvae
Were they in a tight little group or spread out with empty cells between? Different aged larva intermingled with eggs?

>there is a lot of my syrup on the cells
Do you use EOs or HBH in your syrup?

How many hives do you have? how many packages from May? Do you have pictures of you other hive? Can you post them?

Save

1 - 7 of 7 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Think I'm getting in a mess here...

Organist

Attachments

Mr.Beeman

gone2seed

Pete O

Organist

ericweller

FlowerPlanter

Top Contributors this Month