The Honey Factory

[Egghead_Jr]

Make sure to treat that nuc for mites when you get it.

Beesource.com is a very good information forum. There are sub forums like beekeeping 101 and the like. You can narrow down what you read and often you google a question and beesource is one of the top links and has multiple topics of what your asking.

 

[Apis mellifera]

I just ordered one.

Congratulations! Getting bees for the first time is super exciting. I still have the same excitement waiting for it to be warm enough to do full hive inspections. Still waiting.

Your number one enemy is varroa mite and the diseases they spread. The most important colony management tool is to learn how to do mite washes before and after treatments. Jion the Michigan Beekeepers Assocation for great information. They work with MSU and put out excellent programs. Click on the link below and go to "Beekeeping Workshops and Webinars from MSU". I know the webinars are free to register. Even more exciting is that you are so close to Sand Hill Bees that is owned by Dr. Meghan Milbrath of MSU. Her operation is located in Munith. If beekeeping turns out to be something you truly love I would get queens from her, they are the very the best you can get for your area. Since you are putting a nuc on drawn comb you may have to split them and that would be a great time to start with one of Dr. Milbraths queens.


https://www.michiganbees.org/

 

[karenerwin]

I checked my hive today and saw some capped brood and some larva. My eyes aren’t good enough to see the eggs.
But I quit looking once I found capped brood and larva so I’m assuming the Queen is still there.

 

[BallsEleven]

Alright, looking for a little direction/advice here.

I went through my hive (2 deeps, 1 medium) this weekend and triple checked all of my frames. No sign of the queen or eggs. Plenty of capped brood and larvae but the cells seemed to be getting backfilled with nectar. However, I had a load of these gals:

So I stood there and thought for a while and need to know if my plan is good or not. Quick background, I'm in public accounting so needless to say the next 2 weeks are by far my busiest of the year.

What I ended up doing was going through every single frame and picking out 4-5 of the best looking queen cells I could find. I took my deep box that was empty and set it up as a stand alone hive. I brought over 2-3 frames of brood including 1 with a couple of queen cells in it along with 2 frames of food. I shook a solid 3-4 frames of nurse bees in the box to make sure the population was supported. I finished it off with a couple of foundation frames and a 2 gallon frame feeder and closed it up.

In the original hive, I consolidated the brood nest and put a couple of foundation frames in then buttoned it up with the medium super which had a little bit of brood as well.

I had already ordered a queen hoping to split my hive later this month after work slows down and I get some days off again. That isn't until the 21st though. So my thinking with this plan was best case scenario, both queens get mated and I end up with 3 queens at which point I will decide whether to cull one of the new mated or go for another split. Worst case scenario, neither queen gets mated and I can limp along until my new queen arrives in 3 weeks.

Solid plan or no? It's the best I could come up with on the spot.

 

[Sally PB]

I'm slowly working my way through the entire thread. I'm on page 160. Can I get some opinions on whether or not I need to clean some of this stuff up before I get a nuc on May 6?

I was assuming that the bees would appreciate having some comb to work with, but I didn't know if the darker stuff would be ok.

Soooo new. Soooo excited!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

@BallsEleven
I'm always amazed at the size of our country. I mean, here you are in swarm season and my bees have yet to bring in any pollen!

Too bad you missed the prime swarm. You didn't say what you did to the colony that has yet to swarm. Reversing and adding supers would be a good idea. There would not be queen cells without a strong nectar flow going on. By reversing you'll push the brood to the bottom of the stack and make them rearrange the nest area. With two supers added they will take that space into account for storage when reworking which usually holds them in.

Your plan for creating a nucleus colony is sound. I'd cull the queen cells to two or three in each colony or you risk after swarms. Losing more bees with virgins swarming out. If you don't have the extra equipment I'd cancel the queen order too.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I'm slowly working my way through the entire thread. I'm on page 160. Can I get some opinions on whether or not I need to clean some of this stuff up before I get a nuc on May 6?
View attachment 3454130View attachment 3454131View attachment 3454132
I was assuming that the bees would appreciate having some comb to work with, but I didn't know if the darker stuff would be ok.

Soooo new. Soooo excited!

That's not that dark. The issue is if there is enough wax on areas of undrawn and where comb has been removed. You can melt wax and brush it on in those areas or if small just rub balled up comb on it to get wax on top of plastic cell walls.

If you don't have wax then a frame like the one that has debris and half the comb torn off could be completely scraped to use wax then you can scrub the foundation with nylon brush and hot water before waxing it. 4 inch foam rollars work well for a moderate number of frames to wax.

In the club I head up the biggest problem with first year beeks is getting the bees to draw the comb. Either the foundation was poorly waxed to begin with or it was exposed to sunlight and melted from the cell edges. They'd half drawn boxes and swarming bees. Some extra care to ensure plastic foundation is adequately waxed in the beginning of the year will pay off later. There should be enough wax to feel sticky when you press your finger to the tops of the cell. If not then rubbing wax on it or lightly brushing melted wax (not so hot it melts plastic) or rolling entire sheets. Don't apply so much it pools in the bottom of the cells. Really that sharp edge of cell wall is what you need.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I'm slowly working my way through the entire thread. I'm on page 160. Can I get some opinions on whether or not I need to clean some of this stuff up before I get a nuc on May 6?
View attachment 3454130View attachment 3454131View attachment 3454132
I was assuming that the bees would appreciate having some comb to work with, but I didn't know if the darker stuff would be ok.

Soooo new. Soooo excited!

If you'd like to replace some of the foundation inserts you can. I get mine at Dadant beekeeping supplies.

 

[BallsEleven]

@BallsEleven
I'm always amazed at the size of our country. I mean, here you are in swarm season and my bees have yet to bring in any pollen!

Too bad you missed the prime swarm. You didn't say what you did to the colony that has yet to swarm. Reversing and adding supers would be a good idea. There would not be queen cells without a strong nectar flow going on. By reversing you'll push the brood to the bottom of the stack and make them rearrange the nest area. With two supers added they will take that space into account for storage when reworking which usually holds them in.

Your plan for creating a nucleus colony is sound. I'd cull the queen cells to two or three in each colony or you risk after swarms. Losing more bees with virgins swarming out. If you don't have the extra equipment I'd cancel the queen order too.

Yeah, I've steady been getting pollen since January. Haha

To be completely honest, I'd kind of be surprised if she had swarmed. All 3 boxes were still packed with bees even in the middle of the day with many workers out foraging.

I've got the equipment to support a 3rd colony with the exception of an inner/telescoping cover. I do have a 5 frame nuc box I could start one out in if needed though.

 

[Sally PB]

@Egghead_Jr, thank you for the info. Just to be sure I understand...

I should make sure that all the foundation in all the frames at least feels sticky, to know that it isn't bare plastic?

But the areas that have comb started on them, I should leave that stuff alone?

Should I clean the tops/bottoms/sides of any of the frames? Those are definitely sticky. Scrape them off, I assume, if anything will come off?

Reading through this thread is helping me a lot. (I know I'll have a lot of questions too.)