- Thread starter
- #411
I finally have a few minutes to write here.
I got up at 4am Saturday and drive 100 miles to get my latest NUC.
I picked them up at 6:30 am. When I ordered them it was for a May 10 pick up. I did not have time to do them Saturday but I did it. This is the busiest two weeks of the election cycle in Minnesota next to the week before elections.
The woman selling them said the NUCs were a little crowded and they should have sold them a week or two ago. I think they were using them in the Apple Orchards in southern Minnesota and being paid for them. They didn’t want to lose the bee rent. Just my idea.
I got home at about 8:30, it was raining, so I took them out of the car and put them in the shed. When I went to lift them out was the first I had lifted them. It was a 5 frame Nuc in a cardboard box. They were darn heavy! Extremely darn heavy.
About 9:30 the rain stopped so I decided to move them. I smoked the box, by the air vents, lifted the cover and placed a little smoke inside the cover. I gave them a minute or two to calm down.
They failed to use the calm down period properly, I think they worked themselves into a tizzy. I had lifted the cover on their new home and had 3 frames in the brood box.
I then gently and slowly lifted the cover on the cardboard nuc, so I could gaze upon my new pets.
300,000 bees used this opportunity to rush me. I was immediately in the middle of a black swarm of buzzing angry bees. It was obvious some of them did not care for me. Being new to bees, I was temporarily befuddled as to what I should do.
I decided to slowly and carefully move the bees to their new home. I picked out the first frame, it was 3/4 full of brood and honey. The second frame was even fuller, mainly brood, the queen was about 2 inches from the bottom being attended to by a gob of bees. I assume she was laying eggs. She had the blue jewel on here I mentioned before, she was beautiful. I was glad to see her as my big fear was losing her during the move.
Everyone of the 5 frames were packed with bees, brood and honey. I am actually surprised they had not swarmed before this. I checked for queen cells and did not see any. There were some drone cells.
I used the three inch reducer on the entrance. I thought that would keep my old hive from robbing the new one. The first night I watched them and decided I might have made an error and should have went without any reducer.
In addition to the 5 frames full, there were the 300,000 bees dive bombing me as I worked. The cardboard box had an inch or two of bees on the bottom and the ends where the frames rested were packed solid with bees.
I was feeling pretty proud of how well I handled the bees. I had watched the YouTube videos on moving a nuc to a box.
I was quite impressed with how the could rap the box the nuc came in on the brood box and the bees just fell into the box. I tried this with the utmost confidence.
The YouTube videos are doctored!!! This does not work. It succeeds in doing one thing. It pisses off the bees in the cardboard box and in the brood box. Another 200,000 bees attacked me to let me know I had violated the worker bees union somehow. I still had bees in the end flaps and in the cardboard box. I decided to just set the box outside the new hive and let them find their own way in.
Now we come to the bee that hates me. I closed the hive as the bees hit me in the back, sides, head and front. I backed away, after about 10 ft most the bees backed off and left me alone. But one bee kept hitting me and buzzing me for about 50-60 ft. She was a true *itch! She finally left me and I headed to the house.
This is where I found the bee that truly loved me. She wanted to be a companion bee. Unbeknownst to me she rode my shoulder (or back) all the way to the house. I went into the house to take my suit off.
My pet bee decided to leave my back or shoulder at this time and fly around the house. It was a harmless bee. It loved me. Saint Judy lost her sainthood over a bee in the house. I am not sure if she hated me or the bee worse. She killed the bee with the broom, poor bee, I was afraid I was next.
She told me I am not allowed to bring any more bees into the house! Seriously, how can I stop that? The bee loved me and wanted to watch TV with me is all. She (the WW) is so unreasonable.
Sunday night, I decided I should remove the reducer, the bees felt otherwise. I did not have gloves or a suit on, I was going to try R2elk style. I soon gave up on the nekkie bee keeping moves.
I watched them yesterday morning and late afternoon and decided I needed to pull the reducer for sure, the bees were bunching up at the entrance and I was slowing down the honey making machine with the reducer.
I also decided I should put another box on the hive. I did that this morning along with opening the entrance. I was amazed how full the box was. I maybe could have waited a few days, but I would rather give them the room they need than risk them swarming.
They had comb on the inner cover and the top of the frames already, in just 4 days. I cleaned it off, added the other brood box and closed them up, they still, as a rule, did not care for me.
I closed them up and checked the other hive, they are the sweetest bees. They could careless if I look in on them.
They have a honey super on them. No honey in it yet, but the bees are working on cleaning it up. This is where they are stealing wax from.
I only spent a minute or two looking at them. Then I decided I wanted to check the angry bees again and make sure I had the vent properly set and open.
When I opened and looked inside their were bees in the upper box working all ready, I even took the inner cover off to watch them. Amazing critters, but they still don’t care for me.
All done and you’re all caught up on my bees.
I got up at 4am Saturday and drive 100 miles to get my latest NUC.
I picked them up at 6:30 am. When I ordered them it was for a May 10 pick up. I did not have time to do them Saturday but I did it. This is the busiest two weeks of the election cycle in Minnesota next to the week before elections.
The woman selling them said the NUCs were a little crowded and they should have sold them a week or two ago. I think they were using them in the Apple Orchards in southern Minnesota and being paid for them. They didn’t want to lose the bee rent. Just my idea.
I got home at about 8:30, it was raining, so I took them out of the car and put them in the shed. When I went to lift them out was the first I had lifted them. It was a 5 frame Nuc in a cardboard box. They were darn heavy! Extremely darn heavy.
About 9:30 the rain stopped so I decided to move them. I smoked the box, by the air vents, lifted the cover and placed a little smoke inside the cover. I gave them a minute or two to calm down.
They failed to use the calm down period properly, I think they worked themselves into a tizzy. I had lifted the cover on their new home and had 3 frames in the brood box.
I then gently and slowly lifted the cover on the cardboard nuc, so I could gaze upon my new pets.
300,000 bees used this opportunity to rush me. I was immediately in the middle of a black swarm of buzzing angry bees. It was obvious some of them did not care for me. Being new to bees, I was temporarily befuddled as to what I should do.
I decided to slowly and carefully move the bees to their new home. I picked out the first frame, it was 3/4 full of brood and honey. The second frame was even fuller, mainly brood, the queen was about 2 inches from the bottom being attended to by a gob of bees. I assume she was laying eggs. She had the blue jewel on here I mentioned before, she was beautiful. I was glad to see her as my big fear was losing her during the move.
Everyone of the 5 frames were packed with bees, brood and honey. I am actually surprised they had not swarmed before this. I checked for queen cells and did not see any. There were some drone cells.
I used the three inch reducer on the entrance. I thought that would keep my old hive from robbing the new one. The first night I watched them and decided I might have made an error and should have went without any reducer.
In addition to the 5 frames full, there were the 300,000 bees dive bombing me as I worked. The cardboard box had an inch or two of bees on the bottom and the ends where the frames rested were packed solid with bees.
I was feeling pretty proud of how well I handled the bees. I had watched the YouTube videos on moving a nuc to a box.
I was quite impressed with how the could rap the box the nuc came in on the brood box and the bees just fell into the box. I tried this with the utmost confidence.
The YouTube videos are doctored!!! This does not work. It succeeds in doing one thing. It pisses off the bees in the cardboard box and in the brood box. Another 200,000 bees attacked me to let me know I had violated the worker bees union somehow. I still had bees in the end flaps and in the cardboard box. I decided to just set the box outside the new hive and let them find their own way in.
Now we come to the bee that hates me. I closed the hive as the bees hit me in the back, sides, head and front. I backed away, after about 10 ft most the bees backed off and left me alone. But one bee kept hitting me and buzzing me for about 50-60 ft. She was a true *itch! She finally left me and I headed to the house.
This is where I found the bee that truly loved me. She wanted to be a companion bee. Unbeknownst to me she rode my shoulder (or back) all the way to the house. I went into the house to take my suit off.
My pet bee decided to leave my back or shoulder at this time and fly around the house. It was a harmless bee. It loved me. Saint Judy lost her sainthood over a bee in the house. I am not sure if she hated me or the bee worse. She killed the bee with the broom, poor bee, I was afraid I was next.
She told me I am not allowed to bring any more bees into the house! Seriously, how can I stop that? The bee loved me and wanted to watch TV with me is all. She (the WW) is so unreasonable.
Sunday night, I decided I should remove the reducer, the bees felt otherwise. I did not have gloves or a suit on, I was going to try R2elk style. I soon gave up on the nekkie bee keeping moves.
I watched them yesterday morning and late afternoon and decided I needed to pull the reducer for sure, the bees were bunching up at the entrance and I was slowing down the honey making machine with the reducer.
I also decided I should put another box on the hive. I did that this morning along with opening the entrance. I was amazed how full the box was. I maybe could have waited a few days, but I would rather give them the room they need than risk them swarming.
They had comb on the inner cover and the top of the frames already, in just 4 days. I cleaned it off, added the other brood box and closed them up, they still, as a rule, did not care for me.
I closed them up and checked the other hive, they are the sweetest bees. They could careless if I look in on them.
They have a honey super on them. No honey in it yet, but the bees are working on cleaning it up. This is where they are stealing wax from.
I only spent a minute or two looking at them. Then I decided I wanted to check the angry bees again and make sure I had the vent properly set and open.
When I opened and looked inside their were bees in the upper box working all ready, I even took the inner cover off to watch them. Amazing critters, but they still don’t care for me.
All done and you’re all caught up on my bees.
