The Honey Factory

[featherhead007]

Hopefully she is snug inside it was about 10 days ago I saw her outside the hive.

I would like to get a pen and mark her, but I have heard of people killing the queen marking them.

Don't mark her Some mark the queen to show at fairs or schools, but you don't need to threaten her health. Queens are hard to come by in MN. Except in Minneapolis (red light district) never mind!

 

[duluthralphie]

Don't mark her

But they look so regal with the blue jewel.

 

[featherhead007]

But they look so regal with the blue jewel.

re read my post.

 

[duluthralphie]

But youtube.

Both of these tell me not to try it.



also unlike the Wyoming beekeepers I wear heavy leather gloves when talking to my bees.

 

[featherhead007]

too much trouble, Best leave her BEE!

 

[OhZark Biddies]

I think I have a hive that is too weak and one that is too strong.

I have watched this video a couple times. I know he is working with a nuc, but I am wondering if I can move a frame or two of capped brood to the weak hive.

Tell me if this looks kosher to you?

I would put a couple empty frames in the strong hive and a couple full brood and nurse bees in the weak hive.

I have extra frames so I would not have both boxes open at once. I would do this Sunday so I have over two weeks from my last looksee.

If I don’t add them to the weak hive, I think I should make a nuc and start a new hive. I am worried about a swarm in the strong hive. I wish my phone could pick up how many bees that hive has. There are what looks like thousands of bees landing and taking off at once. The vent hole in the top brood box is bulging with bees. Some taking off from there, I did not see any land there.

It’s like they are using it as an extra departure point.

I think the best comparison is they are like flies around a dead rotting deer carcass.

I won’t make a final decision until I get into the box on Sunday, I am just trying to figure out my options .

I have read a good queen will lay up to 2,000 eggs a day or more. If I did the math right a frame can hold about 6,000 eggs. She will have had 32 days on Sunday, since I got her. That could be 64,000 eggs Since I got them.


If I figure half the brood box is honey and pollen, and she had 3 filled frames of brood when I took her out of the nuc. (She might have had 4 frames of brood, there was not room for one more bee in that nuc when I got it. I am surprised they had not swarmed there were so many in it.

I got them from a couple, in South Eastern Minnesota, The woman told me the nuc were overfull and they should have been picked up a couple weeks earlier.

I think they were being paid by the apple orchards to pollinate their trees. Our apple trees bloomed late so they kept the bees in the orchards longer than they planned too.

When I ordered the nuc my pick up was suppose to be May 10th, they didn’t let us have them until May 25th. I think that was why the nuc was so full.

But I digress, so she could have my brood frames full, even counting the 21 day cycle, emptying out cells, I could be crowding them. I have a medium super on them now and have another medium ready to add Sunday.

I would ask the guy helping me but he has been MIA lately.

thanks

What’s your end goal(s)?

It’s kinda like one of those ‘Choose your own adventure’ books...

Overwintering hives, might be one answer... building up for big late summer producing honey hive... might be a different answer... learning about managing a weak and strong hive might be something else...

The worst answer ( the one I’m often guilty of ) is “I’m not sure ... I just kinda want to get them to a point... and then I’ll decide...”

I will say this... I have made ‘package bees’ ... which is probably the worst way to start a hive... into/booming winter ready hives... by giving them some brood frames/ drawn comb and feeding them 1:1 sugar water heavily... i prefer not to feed... and I prefer not to start with packages also...

but I’m not afraid of them either...

one of my friends told me ‘it ought to be illegal to sell package bees’ ... because he’s had poor luck with them...

but I think you just need to prop them up ... a lot to get them to build up... and understand the importance of drawn comb ....

or the combo of thin sugar and young bees ... those two things are what you want to get drawn comb...

My point (if I have one) is a package hive if a generally a weak hive... I think your plan seems pretty sound... if your goal is to overwinter them both...

and even if the weak hive doesn’t get built up enough for winter, you can pinch a queen, and combine the two hives in late summer...

Or ... and I’ve never done this... but some folks over winter a weak hive by stacking it on a strong hive with a ...solid separation between them... might not be right for MN though... but might be... can’t remember where I saw that, but it seems like it might have been someone with long winters and they were overwintering nucs, by stacking them on strong hives...

One last thought is to think about the summer solstice date... and that your strong hive might wane after that date... here it not noticeable until later... but MN?... just something to consider... but again it depends on the end goal...

Anyway... those are some thoughts... BUT... I’ve been tearing up everything today... so take it for what’s worth

I nearly ruined a battery on a 24 volt system tractor today by reversing the second battery... managed to fix that with a trip to neighbor Joe’s (his dad had two of every thing... Joe had two of every thing... so when Joe retired down here to the old place... he now has five of everything ) ...

but then I popped a front tire on a stob through the side wall... laughed rather than cursed ... and took my turkey for a walk....

I asked...the turkey thinks you should just eat all the bugs and poop on the porch... but it’s two weeks old and has never kept bees before... soooo?

 

[featherhead007]

Yes, on bad days, I also take my rooster for a walk. I get looks, and laughs, so what. It's better than being miserable

 

[OhZark Biddies]

Yes, on bad days, I also take my rooster for a walk. I get looks, and laughs, so what. It's better than being miserable

The ruint tire nearly made for a ‘bad day’... because it meant money out of pocket...

then I realized my day was kissing Mrs. Zark bye this morning ... taking the turkey and his chicken BFF for the morning walk to look at bees and blooms ...and then wrenching a tractor, talking to neighbor Joe... lustily admiring Joe’s vast collection of coffee cans full of parts and hardware... no idea how he keeps it straight... but he hunts for nothing... so he has a system...

and then I cut grass... then took the tractor to the back ‘yard’ to clean up some invasive wisteria ... then popped a tire...

then I took turkey and pal for a walk... and realized the only a$$hole I had to deal with all day was me...

that’s a good day, lol

 

[featherhead007]

The ruint tire nearly made for a ‘bad day’... because it meant money out of pocket...

then I realized my day was kissing Mrs. Zark bye this morning ... taking the turkey and his chicken BFF for the morning walk to look at bees and blooms ...and then wrenching a tractor, talking to neighbor Joe... lustily admiring Joe’s vast collection of coffee cans full of parts and hardware... no idea how he keeps it straight... but he hunts for nothing... so he has a system...

and then I cut grass... then took the tractor to the back ‘yard’ to clean up some invasive wisteria ... then popped a tire...

then I took turkey and pal for a walk... and realized the only a$$hole I had to deal with all day was me...

that’s a good day, lol

Busy day!

 

[duluthralphie]

After 9 days of turning wrenches, fixing everything that broke I had a great day. I did not touch a wrench except to pick them up and put them back in the tool boxes.

I did break the handle on my shop broom, but after switching handles with the WW deck broom, my broom looks good and works just fine.

I watched a video on piggy backing one hive on top of another, the other day, I am considering doing that this winter.

I would move them indoors This fall.

The weak hive is the package, the nuc is extremely strong.