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

[1muttsfan]

Took some pictures today - the bees were stuck like glue to the comb with the queen cells, so they were much harder to see today. Because Top Bar comb is suspended without side support you really can't shake it very hard, but I did manage to displace a few bees for a few moments. Overall the bees were non-aggressive, calm, and busy, although as I said before there are not a whole lot of them.

Side 1





Side 2

 

[3goodeggs]

Ahh. that is why you said, ''in the middle.''


I would be tempted to just let them duke it out and let nature take its course too. I have no experience with top bar hives, but I have read they are more like a natural hive, and in a natural hive, that is what they will do.

The wad of bees in the bottom picture, are you sure there isn't a queen under them?

 

[Happy Chooks]

muttsfan - nice pictures! Mine are going to have to duke it out, because I couldn't get to doing anything about my queen cells. I'll let you know how it goes, I could have a queen hatch as early as tomorrow. I did send you a PM with a link discussing this very issue. Too bad you don't have more bees in the hive, you could split them and have more hives, but with your population low, I don't think I'd risk it.

 

[tmoore8595]

the bees were stuck like glue to the comb with the queen cells, so they were much harder to see today.

Gently blow on the area you want to see, they will move away.

 

[tmoore8595]

I believe it's a Tree of Heaven.

I hope it is not. Tree of Heaven is a foreign invasive from China and can grow to 70 ft. tall. It is also called Chinese sumac.

 

[1muttsfan]

Thanks Kelly they were one-handed, the other hand was holding the bar - and it was heavy!

While there may be a few cells with brood under all those bees it could not be very many, so the fact that there is very few cells occupied combined with the fact that there was a sudden and dramatic drop in population leads me to think they swarmed. I think the remaining bees, being disorganized by the recent upheaval in their lives, panicked and started making queens all over.

Oh, bees Really dislike being blown on!

 

[robhuncor]

Quote:
And it is poisonous to other plants near it. It kills native plants. It's taking hold around here and nobody realizes what a menace it is.

 

[3goodeggs]

Does it harm bees?
We have so much nasty stuff down here in Florida, no wonder California and Florida do not like sharing plants and fruits. We'll keep our cooties to ourselves.

 

[Hatchery Hive]

Just inspected my bee hives... My wife shot this awesome photo of one of my open honey cell frames. Yes the wax was THAT yellow. You can expand the photo and see me holding the bees in the reflection of the honey... WOW

 

[1muttsfan]

What a nice photo