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

[Happy Chooks]

Good news! Hope they call you soon.

My feeder is inside the hive, in the center section, not really all that easy to remove regularly.

Ah, then you should be fine. Mine was an entrance feeder.

 

[1muttsfan]

Maybe a mistake, but since I am going to be gone for the long weekend I took the feeder out, cleaned it, then set it up a little ways from the coop. I filled a pan with water and put the feeder in the center to keep the ants out, then put it in the shade. I did not want it to spoil in a hot hive while I was gone (we are finally getting sun and temps up in the 60's to low 70's during the day). My friend that stays at the house is a good egg, but beekeeping is not her thing. I was concerned to find some black ants in the nest compartment where the feeder sat, will they be an issue?

 

[sgtmom52]

Maybe a mistake, but since I am going to be gone for the long weekend I took the feeder out, cleaned it, then set it up a little ways from the coop. I filled a pan with water and put the feeder in the center to keep the ants out, then put it in the shade. I did not want it to spoil in a hot hive while I was gone (we are finally getting sun and temps up in the 60's to low 70's during the day). My friend that stays at the house is a good egg, but beekeeping is not her thing. I was concerned to find some black ants in the nest compartment where the feeder sat, will they be an issue?

Ants are not a problem ~ the bees will keep they under control. You may find many insects in the hive especially on the inner cover ~ spiders, roaches, earwigs to name a few. None of these are problems ~ small hive beetles on the other hand must be squished!

 

[1muttsfan]

Ok thanks

 

[Deb B]

Maybe a mistake, but since I am going to be gone for the long weekend I took the feeder out, cleaned it, then set it up a little ways from the coop. I filled a pan with water and put the feeder in the center to keep the ants out, then put it in the shade. I did not want it to spoil in a hot hive while I was gone (we are finally getting sun and temps up in the 60's to low 70's during the day). My friend that stays at the house is a good egg, but beekeeping is not her thing. I was concerned to find some black ants in the nest compartment where the feeder sat, will they be an issue?

Just as preserving things with sugar retards bacterial growth, sugar syrup is sufficiently sugary that it will take several days in very hot weather (in the 90s) before enough mold will grow in it to spoil it. And at that point, the bees will just refuse to take it, it won't hurt them. Cleaning the feeder well to kill any mold that starts growing in it in between fillings is the best thing you can do to prevent spoiling.

 

[1muttsfan]

Well, since we still had snow on the ground 3 weeks ago, and are overjoyed at temps of 70's, we should be safe

 

[sgtmom52]

We had a couple of hives swarm the other day. I was there for one of them and got this video of them leaving the hive.

In this one they are starting to settle on a branch about 50' to 60' in an oak tree.

 

[OHhappychicks]

We had a couple of hives swarm the other day. I was there for one of them and got this video of them leaving the hive.

In this one they are starting to settle on a branch about 50' to 60' in an oak tree.

WOW! That was so awesome! And you got to see it! Will you try to collect it back? Is this a common thing to happen? And what happens to the hive it left from? I guess there is still a queen in the hive and some of them stayed in.

 

[sgtmom52]

Quote:
It was an awesome sight to see that many bees just pouring out. Sadly they went about 50' to 60' up an oak tree. They did not go into our bait hive ~ they just flew away after a few hours.

The hive that it swarmed from still have about half it's bees and a new queen should be hatching any day if not already. They will go on as usual ~ with a lower honey production due to a smaller workforce. We have had at least 6 of our 20 hives swarm so far. Swarms typically occur in hives that are very strong and healthy. We tried to prevent it by giving them plenty room and even did a few artificial swarm splits, but it is difficult to stop them once they get it in their heads to swarm.

 

[Happy Chooks]

What a bummer you lost them. How often can you catch them? I've worked hard with my bees, I don't want I lose them. I'm planning on getting another hive set up, just in case. I've been researching splitting a lot trying to figure out how best to deal with it.