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Quote: Is that the only hive you have? If you have another, you can do a newspaper combine. Beetles will overtake a weak hive, sounds as though you've lost your queen and the hive has been taken over by a laying worker. That's a tough think to recover from, unfortunately.

Quote: Delaplane's book is good, just make sure you get the newest edition - he changed his gears quite a bit WRT chemicals in the latest edition (thankfully!! The best beekeeping forum out there is Beemaster, it's the friendliest for newbies. Beesource is where the authors for the bee...

Quote: It's awesome you want to get into beekeeping! First thing I would do is find my local bee club and join - no doubt they hold a 'bee school' at some point in the year. Here is a link to the Bee Culture bee club listing. They also probably do bulk orders of packages, that's the...

I liked the video, but I have to ask, is he holding the camera while he works? It was kinda all over the place! You've got a great little beek there, I hope he sticks with it, we need more young beekeepers!

Quote: Your company's insurance agent may not allow the bees on company property. This happened with a friend of mine, had 24 hrs to remove hives once insurance agent discovered bees on property. ...JP Exactly.

The first issue that comes to mind is liability. That's the biggest hurtle I see with 'the powers that bee'.

Quote: Be aware that bees DO NOT like horses. Make sure to put your hive (if you do it) well away from them or they'll be miserable (the horses, I mean). If you contact your local bee club (find it via this link) and get advice from local beekeepers who will be willing to help you get started.

Here is a link to the beekeeping organizations, by state. Find your state and find the most local club. Someone there can help you (I have read that sometimes clubs aren't very responsive, shame on them, up here you'll definitely get help!). The problem with getting them out of walls is that...

A thriving hive will keep the ants at bay, but you can use cinnamon sprinkled liberally around the outside of the hive to keep them at bay. It has to be renewed after a heavy rain.

Quote: They usually build two cells thick - in other words, back to back. But they can got a bit crazy if given enough room, as you can see. They usually build pretty straight comb, but once it goes off a bit, it can get really interesting. I've seen comb spiraled around in an unattended...

Yea, see what's going on in that bottom box, because it surely looks as though they've got too much room below that frame.

Quote: As I asked above (I was editing my post to show the pictures better), are these medium frames going into a deep super? If they are, that's the problem, the frames leave empty space below and they'll definitely fill that space if they can. No, you can't leave it like that. Scrape it...

Quote: In this photo the bees are 'festooning'. They're building comb. In this picture you've got a mess . They obviously had too much room on either side or below that frame and built comb to fill the space. The concept of 'bee space' must be adhered to. no more than 3/8" space or...

Quote: This is why we added slatted racks to our hives (you can get them from all of the major suppliers, Betterbee just came up first in Google). It helps immensely with cooling in the summer, and in the winter, it keeps the bottom of the frames that much higher than the entrance - so it...

I've seen it. It was ok, somewhat depressing - being a commercial beek is a difficult way to make a living, to support a family - I found it rather sad.

Attendant bees in the queen cage is very common, Bee. That soft hum is also a good thing. Did you release the queen? We never do it right away, four days after the install we check for her release, if she isn't out by then, we peel back the screen and let her out.

Quote: That's a good thought on DH's part - and a smart chicken if that's what she's doing. I've got one, the poor thing is so beaten up it's pathetic. I wish she'd figure that out!!

She's figured it out, I guess, but I doubt you'll have trouble with the others. My chickens could care less above the hives, and the hives are within 15' of the coop door.

Quote: Its not cheap but its not bad either. ...JP That's what they're going for around here (southeastern MA).

Morning sun and afternoon shade (like after 3 pm) is ideal. Bees are like teenagers, they don't get up until a bit later, when it's warm out.