HELP PLEASE!!! WHAT's NEXT? Many Pictures Included....!

[Finsky]

They had room. They had lots of brood, so the queen had places to lay. You had ventilation. Why do they swarm in what appears to be a great environment?

That is not true Beth. It is small colony and it can keep warm only certain space.  

* When colony is established  bees occupy a certain room.

I* t takes 3 weeks untill new bees emerge. During that time half of bees have died and colony cannot use any more space.

*  After that when new bees have emerged, colony can grow.

* a frame full of brood gives 3 frames bees. If you have 4 frames brood, you will get a whole box bees. And after that they are emerging all the time.

Same thing happens if you put swarm in the box. If queen is virgin, bees can fill the box during one  week and queen have no space for eggs.

One year I gived to swarm 3 empty box  and I put it on rape field.  When I went to look it next weekend, there was one box brood, and the rest capped honey and colony was swarmed. It got 100 lbs honey during one week.

It happens all the time if you are not aware. But how beginner can know or understand?

Small colony is not able to handle honey, pollen, brood and eggs. It will be full and so they swarm. That is their natural course.

[Finsky]

Your pics have  been good

If you didn't send pictures to forum, it would be impossible to get right sight and magnitude on your case. You have good pictures.

There are many right alternatives to act. The variation will come with experience. It is like tool box where you take a proper tool.

Many beekeepers do acts like robots, even if act is not needed. Order or schedule  is their key word. I try to see hives life in natural way and I lead it somehow to my directions.  I avoid to do tricks which are against their mood. I think that bees try to correct the acts which are against their instincts and it takes energy.

Bee books teach that you much do things which encourage bees to gather honey and keep busy in their hive.  If bees became lazy, it is difficult to change their mind. You can see often bigg ball hanging under the landing board when hive is hot or  full of honey. When you  help situation, it takes several days before ball is again away and working.

Carniola are  that kind of bees that when they got in their head to swarm, it was difficult to turn their heads.  They prefer loose their mind than cancel their swarming. Awfull gangs! They did not accept me. That is why they tryed to escape , I think  

[Ocean]

lol thanx alot for the information, iam glad iam learning as i go along with my experiance

hey i was thinking about it, this is my frist year and i already got about 60 pounds of pure honey for myself if i want to take it or not lol... i guess iam doing ok for a newbie....

the 2 frames that were full with honey i am eating as we speak,, the honey tastes so good the wax i chew and spit out it can't get better than that..

your own honey , wow the best medicine for your health ...


well i decided to leave them alone for about a week, and see how both hives adjust to the new environment.. i will be taking more pictures tomorrow just to follow up on things...


iam really happy i have people like you Finsky and Chick-Bee, that can always give a suggestion or advice... thanx alot to everyone again...

[Ocean]

quick question i forgot to ask... the middle super is full with honey but not capped yet... should i move it to the top? or wait till it is fully capped, and than just take the honey?

[Finsky]

quick question i forgot to ask... the middle super is full with honey but not capped yet... should i move it to the top? or wait till it is fully capped, and than just take the honey?

It is now difficult when swarm and most honey collectors are gone. Now you do not have queen and they fill what ever cells. You just wait that new bees emerge and they are over 2 weeks old to gather honey.

When you get queen, bees again move nectar away that queen have free cells for eggs. That is why there must be open space all the time for reforming their hive area. They can only act inside the area they can keep warm, even if you had drawn combs. I have used 8-15 W terrarium heater and with that help small colony can use 3 fold more room in the box and it developes 3 times faster in summer.

Honey must be capped 80% before you extract it.
Gather most capped frames to top. If foundation box is empty, take it away. It only takes warm from honey and brood.

When bees have no egg laying queen, it is not eager to draw foundations.

You should have a new egg laying queen. It is not usefull to wai your own swarm queen. It takes 2-3 weeks ultill it starts egg laying. During that time egg laying queen makes one box full of brood.

[Ocean]

hey Finsky i thought about it and i think you are right, i need to get at least a new queen for my old hive so they dont leave because i woke up just now and i see the hive is kinda dead, the bees are just standing around the hive not doing anything llol.... some bees come back with polen, not as many bees flying at all..

so iam thinking of buying  a new queen... where can i buy it? and i think i need it to be here quick.. can u give me some sites? or phone numbers where i can order one quick and so it comes here fast...

thanx alot finsky in advance

[amymcg]

Try Frank Lagrant in Massachusetts. He raises some nice queens.  413-967-5064

http://members.aol.com/lagrants

The website is a year out of date, but he's definitely in business.

[Ocean]

Try Frank Lagrant in Massachusetts. He raises some nice queens.  413-967-5064

http://members.aol.com/lagrants

The website is a year out of date, but he's definitely in business.

i called them , they said they dont have queens right now, told me to call back in a month

[Ocean]

hey i just found a website and ordered one marked and clipped queen for $18 shipped. they said it will be here on monday...

here is the website   http://www.gabees.com/

please tell me if its good or not?

[ronbert]

I bought my package and queen from Rossman. I am very satisfied.

[Miss Chick-a-BEE]

Yeah, they're good. That's where I bought my original package, and later two queens.

Beth

[amymcg]

Glad you found someone!  Too bad Frank didn't have any. Everyone I know that get his bees is ultra satisfied.

[bassman1977]

Rossman is a good place to buy from.  It would seem to me that the prices for nearly all their equipment are better priced than most places.  Especially the apiary nearest to me.

[beefree]

draper still has Italian and SMaRt queens ( I ordered one yesterday) but no Buckfasts left.  Does ANYONE have any buckfasts left?

beefree

[Ocean]

hey everyone, today i should be getting my new queen that i ordered on thursday... well now i need to introduce her to the hive... what are some steps that i should take? or should i just put the queen cage in there and let them take care of the queen? or i should do something else?


another question i have, is i see too many drones on my frames.. should i get rid of them? or my girls will take care of that problem themselves?

[Ocean]

and yes pictures of the new queen are coming soon

[Ocean]

anyone?

[Jerrymac]

You're looking for answer to your drone question?

How do you determine there are too many drones? If the bees think they need that many, and you get rid of them, they will use more resources to make more drones. I think they will run them off when they are ready.

[Finsky]

another question i have, is i see too many drones on my frames.. should i get rid of them? or my girls will take care of that problem themselves?

It is not problem. It is life. No use if you kill them.

[Joseph Clemens]

If you've been feeding them this whole time, then any, "honey" you get is gonna be a mixture of nectar honey and sugar-water honey. It will most likely not be pure honey.