To BEE or not to BEE (Honeybees)!

[txav8r]

It is fun, past the stress of what it costs vs possibly losing them. The bees are cheap compared to all the other stuff including hives.

I moved the inner cover above the top feeder and the bees look ok. Didn't lose what I thought I might have. The bees had already attached the inner cover! Here's the update...

Both hives will get another deep hive body for the bees to store their own food supply (honey), and pollen next week. And as soon as they have 2 frames filled, the top feeders come off until fall. As soon as 7 of 10 frames in top box are filled 70%, I'll add the queen excluder and honey supers. Fingers crossed!

 

[latitudeadjuster]

It is fun, past the stress of what it costs vs possibly losing them. The bees are cheap compared to all the other stuff including hives.

I moved the inner cover above the top feeder and the bees look ok. Didn't lose what I thought I might have. The bees had already attached the inner cover! Here's the update...
View attachment 55223 View attachment 55224 View attachment 55225 View attachment 55226
Both hives will get another deep hive body for the bees to store their own food supply (honey), and pollen next week. And as soon as they have 2 frames filled, the top feeders come off until fall. As soon as 7 of 10 frames in top box are filled 70%, I'll add the queen excluder and honey supers. Fingers crossed!

Looks awesome....might want to double check on the inner cover use with feeder. I think, most, have a notch that bees can get in the top then down into your sugar water and drown. I believe I use either the inner cover OR the top feeder.

Have you got stung yet? lol

 

[txav8r]

No stings for either of us yet I was asking a few posts up, about the inner cover and stating I put it on the top of the deep brood chamber without thinking. I was awaiting a call from the supplier about if I should wait to remove it or just move it now. They said to use it on top of the feeder and not under it as your saying (you may be saying don't use it at all if I use the feeder) The supplier said using it gets more air flow and separation above the screen in the feeder. I have moved the inner cover to the top, just under the outer cover. I don't have a top entrance notch. But I am going to add one soon, when the feeder comes off. All is good for now I think. Thanks for the continued help! I definitely have one hive more active than the other. Last night, they were PISSED that we had shanghaied them from where they were and moved them here! They were pretty much all over the both of us but we never got stung. Today, they were nice and docile and didn't seem to care that I was moving things around, they just kept working in the hive and paid no attention to me...except for the one that followed me back to the barn on my suit! He wasn't trying to sting, just walking around on my suit.

 

[latitudeadjuster]

No stings for either of us yet I was asking a few posts up, about the inner cover and stating I put it on the top of the deep brood chamber without thinking. I was awaiting a call from the supplier about if I should wait to remove it or just move it now. They said to use it on top of the feeder and not under it as your saying (you may be saying don't use it at all if I use the feeder) The supplier said using it gets more air flow and separation above the screen in the feeder. I have moved the inner cover to the top, just under the outer cover. I don't have a top entrance notch. But I am going to add one soon, when the feeder comes off. All is good for now I think. Thanks for the continued help! I definitely have one hive more active than the other. Last night, they were PISSED that we had shanghaied them from where they were and moved them here! They were pretty much all over the both of us but we never got stung. Today, they were nice and docile and didn't seem to care that I was moving things around, they just kept working in the hive and paid no attention to me...except for the one that followed me back to the barn on my suit! He wasn't trying to sting, just walking around on my suit.

True on inner cover, it is much warmer in Texas than here in Virginia. In the Summer I put four bottle caps under the top cover and above the inner cover for more air flow.

Yea they getting pissed. Its amazing how used to you they get. They are less pissed when I bring new sugar water....feed me beotch!! LOL

 

[txav8r]

I'm going to add sugar water today too. And the screened bottom boards get here today so I will add those too. Now that is when all hell may break loose because I have to move the entire hive to put the new bottom boards on.

I went to our county bee association meeting last night. They have a beginners class going and I missed the first class last month I guess. but will try to make all the rest. Anyway, he said the bees in your part of the country were much more docile than here. Same European strain but here, the African variety has been around long enough to creat a little more aggressive bee. Said that changing the queen annually was best to mitigate a continued aggressive behavior.

 

[txav8r]

I installed the new screened bottom boards and ch coed over the hives without opening the brood box. One hive has an issue it seems. But my mentor suggests it will be self correcting regardless. I will check for queen and look at the brood pattern and capped honey Saturday. Suspect I'll add another brood box to the strong hive and rotate frames in the weak one. Lots of debris on the entrance of the hive in question. I removed the solid bottom boards when I replaced with screened. Here are the pictures of them. The heavily debris board is the hive in question. And that feeder haven't been used up best as much as the other.

 

[latitudeadjuster]

I installed the new screened bottom boards and ch coed over the hives without opening the brood box. One hive has an issue it seems. But my mentor suggests it will be self correcting regardless. I will check for queen and look at the brood pattern and capped honey Saturday. Suspect I'll add another brood box to the strong hive and rotate frames in the weak one. Lots of debris on the entrance of the hive in question. I removed the solid bottom boards when I replaced with screened. Here are the pictures of them. The heavily debris board is the hive in question. And that feeder haven't been used up best as much as the other.
View attachment 55303 View attachment 55304

I don't do chemicals or treatments. If the hive doesn't survive then so be it. These bees of today have become entitled brats....lol. We joke about "how did they survive 200 years ago without me feeding them protein patties and sugar water" lol....

Keep us posted!

 

[txav8r]

I don't know if there are any other would be beekeepers that are following this thread. But I have to think some may drift into it thinking it has to do with bees in the boat storage! Regardless, I shared this part of our journey because we are all family here and many of us do some pretty interesting things, and it is just fun to see what everyone does and in many cases...how they do it.

Since Wednesday, we have been pretty alarmed by the difference in the two hives. The one obviously strong hive, but the other, I actually thought it might be dying completely. We have named the hives to keep them straight when discussing...the north tower and the south tower. The north tower is the hive that appears weak or has an issue.

Well, while my observances progress, my observances confuse me. Part of not being so worried now is because the owner of Texas Bee Supply, the commercial bee and honey operation that I purchased my bees and most of my beekeeping equipment and supplies from, called me back from my email and phone calls to them. He first acknowledged that they would make it right, be it replace the bees or frames. But most of all, that he took the time to talk with me about what I was seeing and what the pictures I sent him meant. He feels it could be Chalkbrood or Stonebrood. The former is very common and the second is pretty rare and they both are sometimes mistaken for the other. But bottom line, many hives are affected by it in the spring as conditions are damp and cool. Funny how one hive has it and the other doesn't, if that is what it was. But the good news is that it is mostly self correcting.

I will inspect the hives internally today, looking at every frame. I'll be looking at the brood pattern of capped larvae in the comb as well as pollen and nectar stores, and any capped honey production. I will also be looking at how many of the 10 frames in each of the brood boxes have been filled, and how many bees cover them. I will look for eggs in the cells and try to find the queen as well. In the north tower, I need to help determine the number of bees I have as we know a number have died. So that hive will get more than a cursory glance. I will be placing a banana half sliced lengthways peel and all, on top of the frames of each hive, but it is really for the north tower as it is a known help for chalkbrood. When I was watching the bees yesterday on and off, I thought the north tower was just as active as the south tower. So I have questions about all of my interpretations. I got under my hives and looked up into the frames. I now have full screen Varroa bottom boards with the drawers removed. I have these for ventilation as we need it in Texas. Most of the keepers in Texas use screen bottom boards here year round. It is still very cool at night lately, but the bees clump together and maintain their needed heat easily in a strong hive. So a weak hive could be self damaging just by the fact they don't have the numbers to keep themselves and the brood warm enough for the hive to mature and grow correctly. The good news is that it is part of the journey, and we are learning.

I now have a mentor that will help with things I am needing to understand, and a supplier local to me that will stand behind the bees. So we are really doing just fine. It is amazing to watch the bees come and go, and to try and figure out their flight patterns and what it all means. I have been walking up to the hives now for several days within a few feet, standing behind and beside, without the suit and veil, as the bees just don't offer aggression or even come close to check me out. It is as if they know I am not a threat. I even clean the bird bath that is 19' from the front quarter of the hives without suiting up. I suit up when I open the top cover to add the sugar water syrup, or open the hive for deeper inspection. I have a feeling I could easily just open the cover and add syrup without the garb on, but so far I won't take the chance. I have gotten down in front of the hive to look into the entrance several times. At first, they would certainly buzz me, land on me, but not since the first night home have they attempted to sting me (that I know of). And the last two days they haven't even landed on me.

I wish I had some microscopic tracking collars for a few of them, seeing where they go and their flight pattern would be cool! Who knew we would ever have honeybees!

I know you guys with hives may read some of this dribble and see something key, so that is another reason I write it. You know, its funny, I have found a bee forum and a motorhome forum or two. They just don't have the atmosphere we have here. If I were to mention something other than the forum intent, I would get flamed. I have seen such nonsense on other forums. You just have to love Jetboaters, it is a class above, that is for sure.

 

[txav8r]

Here is a 30 second clip just watching the bees come and go...and the sounds of our home.

 

[latitudeadjuster]

Here is a 30 second clip just watching the bees come and go...and the sounds of our home.

Vid wont play, says its private....hope its not the WRONG vid....lol

 

[txav8r]

Hmm, it was marked public. I'll try to fiix it if I can remember my YouTube sign in.

 

[txav8r]

Vid wont play, says its private....hope its not the WRONG vid....lol

Try it now, it wasn't showing on my channel for some reason and I updated it.

 

[zipper]

@txav8r How are the bees doing? I took these pics. yesterday as our blueberry crop flowers, I know they are not Honey bees, but the wild bumbles are free labor. We could not do this without them. They pollinate the flowers for our 1000 bush PYO patch. Picking starts mid July.

 

[txav8r]

They are doing good! Our Vitex are covered with them as are the desert willows

 

[txav8r]

Well, it was going to happen sooner or later... I got the first sting out of the way! Glad I checked that box so I don't have to do it again! I was putting. A super on in the dark, and between two deep hives too, I smoked em, but they still got airborne. In the dark, we didn't do a good job checking our suits. I left the whole right side of my hood closure st the heck open. I heard her in my suit and she wasn't hurting me at all. But thinking she might get up in my face, I calmly cupped my hand over where I eard the sound...BAM!

It's making me peel and it is sore. The sting itself wasn't nearly as bad as a hornet or yellow jacket. My fault completely, and couldn't get to the stinger until I got back to the garage, maybe 5 minutes. So I got all her venom I guess.

 

[txav8r]

@zipper , what is a PYO patch?

 

[giroux68]

boats and bees...my favorite things in one place. I agree about leaving them for at least a week. if you have a screen bottom board you can look up under and see if the bottoman frame and if they are drawing comb on them. each inspection will take days for them to fix, which cost honey. here is a shot of my girls.

 

[zipper]

@zipper , what is a PYO patch?

From mid July thru August, we open up out organic Blueberry field to P.Y.O. (pick your own). These folks typically pick about about 2 tons of berries every year. If I only had a way to weigh what they eat as they pick. It is a lot of fun, checking up with long time regulars as well as watching the faces of the first timers who previously only knew Blueberries from a super market.

 

[Scottintexas]

We went to a PYO blue berry patch in Houston a few years ago, I never had thought about where blue berries come from and had just assumed it was a vine like plant like a black berry, Was I surprised! it was a good time,

 

[txav8r]

I thought blueberries only grew in the i.e. Maine. Would have thought it was way too hot in Houston @Scottintexas !