Michigan

[RaZ]

Quote: When honey bees swarm, they tend to keep very close to the new queen. A few bees will go out to scout for a suitable place for a new home but not 5 or 10 in a group.

Foraging bees are more likely what you are seeing. Once the first bee finds a nectar/food source, she will relay that information back to the colony. Usually, their range is about a mile from the hive but they can go quite a bit farther than that.

 

[Olive Hill]

Very cool. Wonder what the heck they were eating here. All I have right now are a handful of chive blossoms and a couple strawberry blossoms. Only the chives are near the deck/house though.

 

[RaZ]

Yes, yes you do need some ducklings.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: OK please forgive me for not reading all of the posts but when I dropped by I noticed the talk about honey bees. THIS IS THE TIME for colonies to swarm. See this time of year the colony will start to grow in numbers. When that happens the queen and about 30% of the colony will leave in search of a new home. The remaining bees will then use fresh eggs left by the queen and start the process of making a new queen.
Yes keeping bees is rather expensive and then when they die (like my last 2 hives just did) it makes it worse. But the rewards of working with the bees and watching things such as the queen laying an egg, or a new bee hatching are things that must just be seen.

 

[RaZ]

OK please forgive me for not reading all of the posts but when I dropped by I noticed the talk about honey bees. THIS IS THE TIME for colonies to swarm. See this time of year the colony will start to grow in numbers. When that happens the queen and about 30% of the colony will leave in search of a new home. The remaining bees will then use fresh eggs left by the queen and start the process of making a new queen.
Yes keeping bees is rather expensive and then when they die (like my last 2 hives just did) it makes it worse. But the rewards of working with the bees and watching things such as the queen laying an egg, or a new bee hatching are things that must just be seen.

I don't disagree with your statement for general purpose.
But this year here in the Great Lakes has been kind of strange. We had an unusually warm March and a very cool, wet April. Colony growth started early, before there was enough natural food source. Then with the cold and damp we had afterwards, colony division didn't happen naturally. Only the strongest colonies made it through the strange weather.

I got a couple of nucs that had new queens, but they didn't have the colony strength to swarm. That's why I was able to score the nucs this late in the season. Right now, the new queens are laying eggs and building up.

The last few years have been brutal on our bee colonies which is why healthy divisions are so darn expensive. I should have a couple of full hives by now, but instead I'm starting all over again.

I also agree that keeping bees is rewarding. One of the nucs I got will go into an observation hive, just so I can show people where that sweet honey comes from and how the life cycle works.

 

[Opa]

Well here we are again. Sitting, waiting for the sun to come up so we can get this day underway.

 

[BobBry]

I'm not Raz but my nucs were $135 each and my hives were $165 assembled (you can get them from the same guy for $122 unassembled). That's for 5 medium supers, I think the 2 deeps and 2 mediums are slightly cheaper.

Well here we are again. Sitting, waiting for the sun to come up so we can get this day underway.

Morning Sam, ( et al) I don't usually do this early a. m. thing. But since I was awake most of the night after Jo got to bed at 01: 00, what the heck. Why not. Was sorta nice to read most of the posts. By that I only mean that I usually skim over whole pages, not that there are posts that are less than nice. I am going to get back to you, am having difficulty deciding when to call. I don't want to disrupt the household. Have a good day everyone.

 

[taprock]

Morning! When I look out now it is green. Our leaves are officially out. It's nice but now I can't survey the whole 360 for predators before I let out the chickens. Today has a long TO DO list attached, almost all very physical. Yesterday I made myself sit down ten minutes every hour and a half so I don't end up hurting something like I have done every other year. Going from not much physical to hauling, digging, shoveling, loading and lifting tends to hurt the back. Somewhere my son's school work has to fit in also. I'll be glad in two weeks when we are done for the summer. Not for his sake, but mine!

 

[Nigellas]

All that talk of cleaning/not cleaning reminded me of a poem I love:

Song for a Fifth Child
by Ruth Hulbuty Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

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Congrats, Farmerboy! Soglad your experiment worked.

Zomg, Raz, you're killing me with all the painfully adorable duckling photos.

(I do not want ducks. I do not want ducks. I do not want ducks. I do not want ducks. I do not want ducks. I do not want ducks. I do not want ducks. I do not want ducks. I do not want ducks. I do not want ducks. I do not want ducks. I do not want ducks.)

*I* want ducks! lol.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Matthaei-Botanical-Gardens-and-Nichols-Arboretum/11017582539

Scroll down to the May 9, 2012 entry. Duck cuteness overload.

Awwwww! That's a lot of babies!

I have one concern, though, about 2 of my isa pullets. We noticed this afternoon that one of them had a wound on the back of her head and it turned out her sister did, too. These 2 were perfectly fine yesterday so I'm a bit surprised at their condition today. These wounds are the worst I've ever seen. They both literally have holes in their heads from what I can only assume was pecking by the others. I won't get too descriptive of it, but it is bad. This is probably the dumbest question ever asked, but is there anything I can do for these open with no way to close wounds or should I just call it as I see it and find a way to man up and pull the plug on them? I can only assume there will be infection, but they act so normal like nothing is wrong it's making me hesitate a bit. That plus DH is refusing to give an opinion on what to do. This would be my first time culling if I have to and I'm a bit apprehensive. I know it was asked recently, but what is the best most quick way to go about it?

I had a teenager pullet get out of teh grow out pen and get pecked by an older, much bigger hen and it looked like she had been scalped. It looked really awful but healed very quickly.

 

[1muttsfan]

Teeville, wounds like you are describing are unlikely to be dangerous, as long as the other chickens don't continue to peck at them. Clean them, treat them with blu kote, and if nescessary separate the affected birds until the wounds heal some.