Last Year I Started Beekeeping - So Exciting

[Happy Chooks]

Thanks for the welcome!

How do you keep ants out of your hive? I have about 20 or so ants going after the sugar water in the entrance feeder. I don't care so much about the feeder, as that will be going away, but I don't want them finding the honey and invading the hive.

My bees are actively foraging right now, so that's good. I can't wait to check on them later this week.

 

[sgtmom52]

Thanks for the welcome!

How do you keep ants out of your hive? I have about 20 or so ants going after the sugar water in the entrance feeder. I don't care so much about the feeder, as that will be going away, but I don't want them finding the honey and invading the hive.

My bees are actively foraging right now, so that's good. I can't wait to check on them later this week.

Ants will not get into the hive itself unless the hive is very weak ~ the bees will keep them out. You may find a variety of critters inside your top cover ~ ants, spiders, earwigs, roaches, moths etc. The bees keep them up there, out of the actual hive and they are not really a problem. I don't worry about any of these ~ only small hive beetles and wax moths are a concern if they are down inside the hive itself. If you are really worried about the ants you can put petroleum jelly on the legs of your stand to prevent them climbing up.

 

[madamwlf]

I would say it was in the 80s but a bit overcast. I really think they were defending the hive. It was over in like 20 minutes. All back to normal. I didn't mark the queen, she came that way. As for moving the frames, all I did was move them straight down. The frames below were empty so I just switched the positions in the boxes. I'll have to remember to remove those cells along the bottom next time we go in there. I need to put on the new bottom boards this week anyway.

How hot was it when you had a lot of bees flying outside. If it was very warm, especially after a rainy or cool day the bees may be very active outside the hive. You may also notice a lot of bees hanging on the outside of the hive at night if it is very warm.
The red dot on the Queen ~ is the Queen marked or did you mark the picture? I was just wondering as in the standard marking for queens ~ red is for years ending in 3 & 8
It is OK to move frames around ~ as long as you do not break up the brood nest. If there is brood in the top & bottom it is not recommended that you move them. Also they should always be replaced in the same order & direction in the hive.

The "funky looking cells" are "burr comb" which bees will build almost anywhere. That burr comb is drone cells ~ they are larger than the worker cells and are often built at the bottom of the frames. I keep a small plastic bucket with me when I check my hives and scrape off all of the burr comb (even if it has larva in it) and collect it. You can store it in the freezer to melt down later for beeswax crafts. The larva/brood or any other debris is easily filtered out.

 

[madamwlf]

Happy Chooks, Welcome! and congratulations on your bees! We also just got our first bees. We were told:

"do not give them feed. Check in 2 days to see if they are building comb on the new frames, if they're building comb, then that means they've found a pollen source and no feed is necessary. No new comb, and add a feeder.'

I'm wondering if anyone else has done it this way, because everyone else seems to give feed and then check in a week, which seems much safer to me. Except, for the fact that I'm certain I'll mess the feeder up and drown my bees.

Madamwlf: I'm sure someone with experience will chime in. BTW, do you raise Cream Legbars, and if so, what is their temperament like?

Yes I do raise Cream Legbars and later this year White Legbars. I like them. They are not skittish at all. Very calm birds and nice to look at.

 

[chigger bait]

Paulownia or what the locals around here call "Princesswood" is blooming.

My bees are working it big time.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Beautiful flowers.

sgtmom.........thanks, I won't worry too much about them then. The feeder won't be out there too long. Blackberries will be blooming here soon, so that should keep them plenty busy.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yes I do raise Cream Legbars and later this year White Legbars. I like them. They are not skittish at all. Very calm birds and nice to look at.

My friend also raises them and they are very calm birds. Absolutely beautiful blue eggs too.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

I would love those blue-blue eggs. I haven't heard of white legbars.

Can I use the Honey B Healthy as feeder?

 

[sgtmom52]

Quote:
I usually put it in the first jar of feed then switch over to straight sugar syrup after that. I do know people who use it in all of their feed though

 

[madamwlf]

I would love those blue-blue eggs. I haven't heard of white legbars.
Can I use the Honey B Healthy as feeder?

White legbars are created when both parents are carriers of the recessive white gene. So far, I'm the only one with both parents that carry that gene. I have a beautiful little white legbar rooster right now.