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19 Posts
Hello All,
I read here more than I post, but I have a problem I can't find an answer for, so I guess it is time for me to type a little.
A week ago yesterday I installed two packages of bees, my first ever, into hives in my back yard. Hives are about 10-13 feet apart, with entrances facing in different directions. One is north one is east. Both hives get roughly the same amount of sun at the same time and seemed, from outside to be doing about the same things at the same time.
I'm feeding the north facing hive sugar water 1:1, via a Miller feeder. I'm feeding the East facing hive dry, bakers' sugar and pollen. (Not pollen substitute.) I wanted to see what the differences might be. Also, the north facing hive got full sheets of wax, wired foundation. The east facing hive got starter strips in the top bar.
On Monday my husband thought he saw some robbing going on and was going to plug the entrance to the hive that seemed to be the victim (north facing hive) in the evening. When he went out, he said little sentries were lined up everywhere and ready, so he left well enough alone. There have been no more instances of that. Last Wed, we began seeing pollen going into both hives. Hooray!
Today, we opened them. The north facing hive seemed to have a great deal more bees than expected. They were doing well. There was good comb on every frame in the box (8 frame box), some pollen stores and some open honey cells. I did not see the queen or eggs but the box was so full and it was only a week since they were put in until I didn't want to move every single frame. I inspected about half. They seemed happy, organized and working, so I didn't worry too much about the queen. I added a second box, and pulled two of the more center frames from the current box to put in it, replacing them with empty frames from the second box. (Hope that makes sense.)
The east facing box has some beautiful comb on it, but only on about three frames, and only in about 1/4 or so of the space. It is very neat, straight comb, so I'm happy with that. What it was missing was bees!!! I suspect half or more of this package have moved in with the northern bees. Now, the queen was present and busy, the bees had pollen and open honey cells, but there were just so few of them. Also, from the beginning there have been some that have been clustering on the back of the (screened) bottom board. When I opened it up it was easy to see they were building comb there. Not burr comb - pretty, white, straight, neat regular comb. Silly bees!
So here is my concern. A- That east facing hive has so few bees and only a little comb. Can they lay enough eggs to keep going? Do I change what I'm feeding? Add a more full frame from the other box? Do I just leave them to it?
And, B - What is with them building on the bottom board? I don't care except there are so few of them that I'd rather they be building inside. I scraped the comb off that was being built on the bottom of the bottom board. I also plugged the space at the back of the board with grass, since they seemed to be using that like an entrance. Obviously they can just fly under the hive (it is up on blocks) and get right back to where they were. What can I do to deter this? Should I try to deter it?
Very interested in whatever thoughts you all have to offer. Sorry it was so long but wanted you to have all the details.
Thanks for your help!!!
I read here more than I post, but I have a problem I can't find an answer for, so I guess it is time for me to type a little.
A week ago yesterday I installed two packages of bees, my first ever, into hives in my back yard. Hives are about 10-13 feet apart, with entrances facing in different directions. One is north one is east. Both hives get roughly the same amount of sun at the same time and seemed, from outside to be doing about the same things at the same time.
I'm feeding the north facing hive sugar water 1:1, via a Miller feeder. I'm feeding the East facing hive dry, bakers' sugar and pollen. (Not pollen substitute.) I wanted to see what the differences might be. Also, the north facing hive got full sheets of wax, wired foundation. The east facing hive got starter strips in the top bar.
On Monday my husband thought he saw some robbing going on and was going to plug the entrance to the hive that seemed to be the victim (north facing hive) in the evening. When he went out, he said little sentries were lined up everywhere and ready, so he left well enough alone. There have been no more instances of that. Last Wed, we began seeing pollen going into both hives. Hooray!
Today, we opened them. The north facing hive seemed to have a great deal more bees than expected. They were doing well. There was good comb on every frame in the box (8 frame box), some pollen stores and some open honey cells. I did not see the queen or eggs but the box was so full and it was only a week since they were put in until I didn't want to move every single frame. I inspected about half. They seemed happy, organized and working, so I didn't worry too much about the queen. I added a second box, and pulled two of the more center frames from the current box to put in it, replacing them with empty frames from the second box. (Hope that makes sense.)
The east facing box has some beautiful comb on it, but only on about three frames, and only in about 1/4 or so of the space. It is very neat, straight comb, so I'm happy with that. What it was missing was bees!!! I suspect half or more of this package have moved in with the northern bees. Now, the queen was present and busy, the bees had pollen and open honey cells, but there were just so few of them. Also, from the beginning there have been some that have been clustering on the back of the (screened) bottom board. When I opened it up it was easy to see they were building comb there. Not burr comb - pretty, white, straight, neat regular comb. Silly bees!
So here is my concern. A- That east facing hive has so few bees and only a little comb. Can they lay enough eggs to keep going? Do I change what I'm feeding? Add a more full frame from the other box? Do I just leave them to it?
And, B - What is with them building on the bottom board? I don't care except there are so few of them that I'd rather they be building inside. I scraped the comb off that was being built on the bottom of the bottom board. I also plugged the space at the back of the board with grass, since they seemed to be using that like an entrance. Obviously they can just fly under the hive (it is up on blocks) and get right back to where they were. What can I do to deter this? Should I try to deter it?
Very interested in whatever thoughts you all have to offer. Sorry it was so long but wanted you to have all the details.
Thanks for your help!!!