A BEE thread....for those interested in beekeeping.

[3goodeggs]

We moved our nuc into a brooder Sunday. (We have such docile bees. I love them)

Anyway, We found the queen in the nuc frames.
I think she is our original queen from the old hive, My husband thinks she is a supersedure queen that the workers made when he put frames in the nuc to start a split.
Soon after he did that our original hive looked like it was getting ready to swarm so I had him put the nuc beneath the opening of the original hive.
He said they just flowed into the nuc like a big bee wave.

Do supersedure queens look different than mated queens?
because this one is long and yellow and looks like a real queen. (I think it's the crown, ermine cape, and scepter, but I might be wrong.)

(I so want to be right)

 

[Happy Chooks]

I don't know the answer to your question 3 goodeggs.


I got my super put on a bit early, but I took the risk and decided to not split them and hope they don't swarm. So, I wanted the super on the hive to give them appearance of more room. Hopefully, I'm right. It looks like I got it on just in time, because the blackberries just started blooming.

I sat outside my hive yesterday and noticed 7 different color of pollen coming in. I even saw black - I haven't seen black before, but the irises are in bloom, and I know sometimes they have black pollen.

BUT, I did place my order for an extractor today.

I decided to spend a bit extra and get the Maxant, because it's made in the US.

 

[3goodeggs]

We have an old one that looks like that. hand crank, stainless steal. it only holds four frames at a time though,
it does not look like we will get honey this year, but I am not really in it for the honey.
I wasn't in the chickens for the eggs either, but they are pretty nice!

 

[Happy Chooks]

We have an old one that looks like that. hand crank, stainless steal. it only holds four frames at a time though,
it does not look like we will get honey this year, but I am not really in it for the honey.
I wasn't in the chickens for the eggs either, but they are pretty nice!

Yours is the same as the one we borrowed. Maxant only makes a 2 frame, and the larger one I bought. I figured I'd out grow the 2 frame pretty quickly.

I didn't get into bees for the honey either, but once you get it, it's pretty darn nice! It's so good! And it's amazing how many people come out of the woodwork and want honey from you.

 

[1muttsfan]

True of eggs too. And, I am finding out, maple syrup

 

[Honey Maid]

Happy Chooks, I did the same, supered early to make them think they've lots of room, and hopefully not swarm. I purchased an extractor last year, I think it holds 4 frames, I can't remember, one thing I wish I'd gotten though is one with an electric motor, that hand cranking gets old fast!
Yesterday I checked out all three hives, not much action in the supers, but one hive was festoning all over a couple of frames in the supers.
I just noticed some of the redbud here, scary, it bloomed, then started to leaf out, but now all the leaves are dead. This is an old established red bud too, must be the drought conditions, I don't think I'll be getting any honey this year either if this keeps up.

 

[Happy Chooks]

True of eggs too. And, I am finding out, maple syrup

Oh how I'd love to have maple syrup. But I guess I'd have to get accustomed to REAL cold. Not CA cold.

Happy Chooks, I did the same, supered early to make them think they've lots of room, and hopefully not swarm. I purchased an extractor last year, I think it holds 4 frames, I can't remember, one thing I wish I'd gotten though is one with an electric motor, that hand cranking gets old fast!
Yesterday I checked out all three hives, not much action in the supers, but one hive was festoning all over a couple of frames in the supers.
I just noticed some of the redbud here, scary, it bloomed, then started to leaf out, but now all the leaves are dead. This is an old established red bud too, must be the drought conditions, I don't think I'll be getting any honey this year either if this keeps up.

Well,

for both of us then on avoiding swarming! I borrowed a hand crank extractor last year, and I didn't find the spinning too bad. But, the extractor I bought I can put a power conversion on it, if I decide to later.

Bummer on the redbud. After doing some research, the black pollen I saw could also be poppies. I am putting in english lavender, rosemary, sage and french lavender into my garden this year for my bees. Now that a friend mentioned her locust tree is full of bees, I might think about putting in one of them too. I just have to find a place for it.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Anyone know what this weed is? The bees love it, and the chickens won't eat it. Some sort of nettle? I know it's invasive, because it multiplies like crazy.

 

[3goodeggs]

Square stem? looks like a mint.
a type of monardra perhaps?

Found it! common horehound invasive sp.
http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=5370

 

[Happy Chooks]

Nice job! Yep, that's it. Horehound.