The second split has 3 frames of brood/eggs in the bottom box and 4 frames in the top box. I added another box on top and pulled 2 frames of honey out of the second box to put into the top box. It has 8 frames of foundation and lots of room. I put another jar of syrup on top to keep the hive drawing comb and expanding into the space available. I also put the IPM board under the screened bottom board to reduce the airflow as the temperatures start to cool.
The first split has 5 frames of brood/eggs in the bottom box and 4 frames in the middle box. The top box is about half full of honey/nectar, and they are drawing comb on the remaining foundation. The IPM board is already in place on this hive, and I think that's why it has more brood in the bottom box. I did not see the queens in either split, but the brood patterns are nice, and the second hive had a crowd out front last evening. I think the crowd was drones being excluded from the hive, and I saw fewer drones in the hive this time. I may pull some frames of stores from this hive to give to the second split to balance out these 2 colonies next time I do an inspection.
Now the bad news: the main hive was the source of the swarm. There are no eggs, larvae, or capped brood. There is some honey/nectar, but mostly empty space and lots of bees. The good news here is that I saw the queen in the top box, upper right corner. Not sure why she is there instead of lower down, but as far as I can tell she is not laying yet. According to what I have read, it will take a minimum of 8 days, but more likely 2-3 weeks for her to start laying so all I can do right now is keep my fingers crossed. At least she is in there, and the bees are not crazy aggressive like they were last time. I don't know if I will get a harvest if they don't fill in the boxes soon.
At least they are going into winter with 3 new queens.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Friday, August 19, 2016
Run, run fast!
On Wednesday, August 17, I tried to do a thorough inspection of my hives.
I started with the first split. I found that there are 5 frames of eggs and brood in the bottom box and 3 frames in the middle box. The top box is about half full of nectar/honey so there is still room to expand. I have been feeding the split 1:1 syrup to try to have 3 full boxes going into the winter so I will continue feeding. They are taking a jar (2 lbs water and 2 pounds sugar) every other day. I saw the queen, and the brood pattern is good.
I then moved to the second split. Again I found that there are 5 frames of eggs and brood in the bottom box and 3 frames in the second box. I did not see the queen. The brood pattern is not quite as nice as the first hive, and there are more drones. The second box is not yet full so I have not added a third box yet. This hive is also taking syrup, just a little slower. Not quite as strong as the first split, but I expect to add a third box in another week so I think this split will be ready for winter.
Lastly I opened up the main hive all the way to the bottom box. I have not done that since the last time I pulled frames for the second split. There were a lot of bees, but they were cranky! I saw some drone brood and at least three supersedure cells in the first 5 frames in the bottom box. I could hear some odd noises as well. After being stung 4 times while looking at the first 5 frames, I decided to run away far and fast. Too much pain for this inspection. I put the boxes back together and had to use a lot of smoke just to keep from being stung again. I looked it up on YouTube to verify that the noises I was hearing correspond to a virgin queen announcing herself. I listened later the next day and could hear at least 3 queens piping and quacking. The noises were simultaneous and seemed to come from different parts of the hive. I listened again this morning, and the piping had stopped. The evidence suggests that the queens have fought it out, and they are down to one queen. The hive is no longer roaring loudly so hopefully they will settle down to making honey until the new queen starts laying. I don't know why they superseded the old queen. I thought she was great, but that eliminates any ideas I had about requeening that hive. Larry had said he was able to control mites by breaking the brood cycle and requeening every other year, and I was debating the wisdom of that, but the hive has made that decision for me. The weather is good so she should be able to fly for mating. I am still not feeding that hive since I hope to harvest some honey, but we'll see how things are going in a week or so.
With all new queens I should be set for overwintering these 3 hives. I have been cleaning up old equipment so in the spring I can try the split technique again and try to optimize the populations. I think I need to experiment and observe more to better manage the bees. My hands-off method certainly has not paid off so I might as well try a new approach.
I started with the first split. I found that there are 5 frames of eggs and brood in the bottom box and 3 frames in the middle box. The top box is about half full of nectar/honey so there is still room to expand. I have been feeding the split 1:1 syrup to try to have 3 full boxes going into the winter so I will continue feeding. They are taking a jar (2 lbs water and 2 pounds sugar) every other day. I saw the queen, and the brood pattern is good.
I then moved to the second split. Again I found that there are 5 frames of eggs and brood in the bottom box and 3 frames in the second box. I did not see the queen. The brood pattern is not quite as nice as the first hive, and there are more drones. The second box is not yet full so I have not added a third box yet. This hive is also taking syrup, just a little slower. Not quite as strong as the first split, but I expect to add a third box in another week so I think this split will be ready for winter.
Lastly I opened up the main hive all the way to the bottom box. I have not done that since the last time I pulled frames for the second split. There were a lot of bees, but they were cranky! I saw some drone brood and at least three supersedure cells in the first 5 frames in the bottom box. I could hear some odd noises as well. After being stung 4 times while looking at the first 5 frames, I decided to run away far and fast. Too much pain for this inspection. I put the boxes back together and had to use a lot of smoke just to keep from being stung again. I looked it up on YouTube to verify that the noises I was hearing correspond to a virgin queen announcing herself. I listened later the next day and could hear at least 3 queens piping and quacking. The noises were simultaneous and seemed to come from different parts of the hive. I listened again this morning, and the piping had stopped. The evidence suggests that the queens have fought it out, and they are down to one queen. The hive is no longer roaring loudly so hopefully they will settle down to making honey until the new queen starts laying. I don't know why they superseded the old queen. I thought she was great, but that eliminates any ideas I had about requeening that hive. Larry had said he was able to control mites by breaking the brood cycle and requeening every other year, and I was debating the wisdom of that, but the hive has made that decision for me. The weather is good so she should be able to fly for mating. I am still not feeding that hive since I hope to harvest some honey, but we'll see how things are going in a week or so.
With all new queens I should be set for overwintering these 3 hives. I have been cleaning up old equipment so in the spring I can try the split technique again and try to optimize the populations. I think I need to experiment and observe more to better manage the bees. My hands-off method certainly has not paid off so I might as well try a new approach.
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Quick check yesterday
I looked into the hives yesterday, but only the top one or 2 boxes.
In the first split I found the queen and saw frames for capped brood, eggs and larvae. I have kind of a checkerboard pattern of foundation and drawn comb so there is still room in the hive to expand. There are 3 boxes for the colony, but I'm going to feed this hive until it is more filled out.
In the second split I did not see the queen, but I did find frames of capped brood, eggs and larvae also. It also has not filled its space so I'm feeding it as well. I had let the feeding lapse for a couple of weeks in the hopes that these would grow on their own, but the weather has been so dry I think the dearth slowed them down.
I looked into the main hive, but only the top 2 boxes. The top box is a honey super that I am hoping they will fill, but so far that has not happened. I moved one frame of foundation down and a frame of honey up into the super when I looked into the next box down (3rd from the bottom). That box has frames of brood, eggs and larvae also so the queen is in there somewhere. I did not see any queen cells, just one empty queen cup on the bottom so I think the hive is doing OK. I need to do a more thorough inspection and maybe make a nuc for overwintering. I should set up a schedule for inspections and making of nucs for the fall so I don't get behind and get caught by the weather. I did catch a drone and practiced painting a spot on its back. It was easy, and the drone flew off after, but I need to do more than one to gain some confidence.
In the first split I found the queen and saw frames for capped brood, eggs and larvae. I have kind of a checkerboard pattern of foundation and drawn comb so there is still room in the hive to expand. There are 3 boxes for the colony, but I'm going to feed this hive until it is more filled out.
In the second split I did not see the queen, but I did find frames of capped brood, eggs and larvae also. It also has not filled its space so I'm feeding it as well. I had let the feeding lapse for a couple of weeks in the hopes that these would grow on their own, but the weather has been so dry I think the dearth slowed them down.
I looked into the main hive, but only the top 2 boxes. The top box is a honey super that I am hoping they will fill, but so far that has not happened. I moved one frame of foundation down and a frame of honey up into the super when I looked into the next box down (3rd from the bottom). That box has frames of brood, eggs and larvae also so the queen is in there somewhere. I did not see any queen cells, just one empty queen cup on the bottom so I think the hive is doing OK. I need to do a more thorough inspection and maybe make a nuc for overwintering. I should set up a schedule for inspections and making of nucs for the fall so I don't get behind and get caught by the weather. I did catch a drone and practiced painting a spot on its back. It was easy, and the drone flew off after, but I need to do more than one to gain some confidence.
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