Hello,
I'm from Hampden, Maine, and I'm new to beekeeping. I received my first batch of bees in mid-May. The more I read about bees, the more amazed I am at how complicated taking care of them can actually be, and the more I wonder what the heck I'm doing!
About 3-4 days after receiving a nuc filled with 5 frames of bees, I successfully transferred them into a box filled with 5 other undrawn-out frames. After only a couple weeks, 8 of the frames were drawn out so I added another box on top with an additional 10 more frames. As of last week (second week of June) the bees had started drawing out 4 of the frames in the top box.
About three weeks ago I was concerned that my population had dwindled, but last week they seemed to be going strong. From what I read this seems to be common in the spring.
I feed my bees sugar water approximately every 2-4 days. I pull out some frames each week to look and learn. I have not seen the queen since I transferred the 5 frames from the nuc, but I assume she's there.
According to what I read, it seems that I should be working 7 times harder than I am, the bees need to be medicated, I should be building spare frames, I should be watching carefully for signs of trouble within the hive, looking out for robber bees, etc. etc.
My questions are: I am doing things right? And, what next?
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you for any advice, feedback, and/or knowledge you can provide.
Jesse
I'm from Hampden, Maine, and I'm new to beekeeping. I received my first batch of bees in mid-May. The more I read about bees, the more amazed I am at how complicated taking care of them can actually be, and the more I wonder what the heck I'm doing!
About 3-4 days after receiving a nuc filled with 5 frames of bees, I successfully transferred them into a box filled with 5 other undrawn-out frames. After only a couple weeks, 8 of the frames were drawn out so I added another box on top with an additional 10 more frames. As of last week (second week of June) the bees had started drawing out 4 of the frames in the top box.
About three weeks ago I was concerned that my population had dwindled, but last week they seemed to be going strong. From what I read this seems to be common in the spring.
I feed my bees sugar water approximately every 2-4 days. I pull out some frames each week to look and learn. I have not seen the queen since I transferred the 5 frames from the nuc, but I assume she's there.
According to what I read, it seems that I should be working 7 times harder than I am, the bees need to be medicated, I should be building spare frames, I should be watching carefully for signs of trouble within the hive, looking out for robber bees, etc. etc.
My questions are: I am doing things right? And, what next?
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you for any advice, feedback, and/or knowledge you can provide.
Jesse