The Bee Thread

[RZehr]

Might be too hot today for that many of them inside the hive?

[violet]

Nope, they swarmed.

The husband and I watched them leave in awe. It was actually quite beautiful...except for the fact that I should have split it two weeks ago.

My husband says I am just being a "good environmentalist" and we will learn from it.

I have some new queen cells in development. Hopefully it will all work out...as my husband said, "just leave them alone, God knew what he was doing when he created the bee."

I do know what a crowded hive looks like now though and will hopefully be better at judging when to split the hive next time.

[violet]

my question...will a hive only swarm once at a time?

they did the same thing yesterday too, but we did not actually see them do it.

[RZehr]

my question...will a hive only swarm once at a time?

they did the same thing yesterday too, but we did not actually see them do it.

I think so. They need a queen to swarm, and there wouldn’t be two queens, so couldn’t have two swarms.
Too bad you were not able to split them and have another hive.

[violet]

I know.

A learning experience.

I now know what to look for and am learning to "read" the hive better.

[Ken]

my question...will a hive only swarm once at a time?

they did the same thing yesterday too, but we did not actually see them do it.

Former beekeeper here. I did beekeeping growing up and taught beekeeping and worked with beekeepers dealing with the Africanized bees in Guatemala years ago in the Peace Corps.

Yes, one hive can have multiple swarms. The first swarm with the queen and older worker bees flying off would be the primary swarm. A secondary and smaller swarm called a cast swarm can happen when a second queen is hatched and she flies off with more workers. Typically when a new queen hatches she goes around and kills all the other queens still larva stage but she doesn't always get them all.

If you want to prevent swarming you have to keep an eye on your hives and continually kill off any queen cells you find.

[violet]

Thank you for all of the replies.

I am feeling a tad sad and defeated this morning. But, I shall get over it quickly I am sure.

I took a beginner bee class and did really well in it actually. I took gobs of notes, I have read a few books, I try to study up on it all....as, I did not want to make all of the "beginner" mistakes.

But the truth is, until you get your hands on a hive, the real learning doesn't really occur I suppose.

And yes, I should have split when I had that slight urge to do so, but I was hesitant. And, I knew going with Carnolians as the first bees, the learning curve would be steeper.

But, I learned a lot from all of this and hopefully will put the knowledge to good use. I will check on queen development in a week or so. I hope they are able to produce a new one....I will really be sad if I messed up the whole hive.

[violet]

So any updates on your bees?

After my fiasco where I let not one, but two swarms fly off into the beautiful sunset....I thought some nonMN appropriate words and threw caution into the wind.

I split my hive...yup, probably not the smartest thing to do, but I thought...whatever. Gonna do it anyway. After all, that was my master plan...to have two hives by fall.

So, then I waited. And waited and waited. I did not have any queens...you know. they flew off. But, I did have a bunch of queen cells, so I placed half in each hive.

I still do not really have the ability to spot my queen, even after watching a million youtube videos....

Finally, though, they did start acting like "normal bees" coming in with pollen, so I took that as a promising sign.

And, just a few days ago, I spotted developing babies.

So, I am hopeful that I will have two hives. One hive is clearly stronger than the other...but, I am going to just wait, watch and see....

so, that is my update.

[violet]

Szdfan,



I need some advice.

My hive did not make it through winter. So, I ordered a new batch in hopes that the learning curve won't be so steep this year. On Thursday UPS delivered and entire box of dead bees. I have the queen and maybe two dozen alive. I called Mann Lake and they told me that UPS destroyed over a thousand shipments this spring and I am completely out of luck.

I have contacted the complete group of bee keepers in my area and apparently, they all had hive loss this year too. One local man was going to give me a slat of brood and some nurse bees but unfortunately his swarmed this morning. At this point everyone that I can think of has sold out of their bees and I am sure there are a thousand other people looking for some thanks to Mann Lake and UPS.

So, I have my queen still caged. I am feeding them sugar water and put some pollen out.

What am I to do? Advice from someone who actually has alive bees would be a good thing. If I could find bees, any bees, within reasonable driving distance, I would go and get some. But, I am out of leads.

Thoughts?

[Wayne in Maine]

If you can get even a few hundred worker bees to look after the queen (keep her caged until they acclimate to her) you might start a colony successfuly. This is how you can divide hives in any case, and there are special nuc boxes specifically for that purpose.