The Wally-Gee Bee Journey 🐝

[Apis mellifera]

Is this a drone?

Yes, he's training for his favorite sport. Rug-bee

 

[5Australorpasaures]

74, partly cloudy and light wind tomorrow. Final mite chk on one hive with my shop made alcohol wash jars, all getting a medium of drawn comb as it looks like the Blueberry buds are getting ready to pop. Even though all looks good there is still a chance it could go south with a frost.........Always the optimist

 

[Sally PB]

Blueberry buds are getting ready to pop. Even though all looks good there is still a chance it could go south with a frost.

Very nervous about all the warm temps coming next week. It's too early!!

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Very nervous about all the warm temps coming next week. It's too early!!

Looking about yearly average here, up down temps, have had frost as far out as the middle of May back in the 80s, buy then bloom is done but can kill set fruit. Rather lose a Blueberry pie than pounds of honey. One thing you can count on, it will be what it will be. Nervous no, maybe disappointed possibly.

 

[Sally PB]

This is the "new" hive, the split off the original one. We took the deep box, the medium, and the feeder. The medium had whatever was left of the honey the original crew put up.

I have an entrance reducer on, and there is an access hole in the deep box. I used the "small" opening for the reducer, as we were going to have a few chilly nights.

Please tell me this is not robbing...? I have not seen anywhere near this level of activity around this hive yet.

I'm assuming I should open up the entrance a bit? Use the "half" open of the reducer, or should I remove it altogether?

 

[WallyG74]

View attachment 3800355
This is the "new" hive, the split off the original one. We took the deep box, the medium, and the feeder. The medium had whatever was left of the honey the original crew put up.

I have an entrance reducer on, and there is an access hole in the deep box. I used the "small" opening for the reducer, as we were going to have a few chilly nights.

Please tell me this is not robbing...? I have not seen anywhere near this level of activity around this hive yet.

I'm assuming I should open up the entrance a bit? Use the "half" open of the reducer, or should I remove it altogether?

If you suspect robbing, the entrance should be small so that colony can defend the hive easier. I wish I could say yes or no but still very much the novice.

 

[WallyG74]

Maybe y’all can find the queen here but it’s a good chance she was somewhere else. Brood and capped brood here so I figure this was my best chance to see her. I couldn’t get my phone to cooperate with the gloves. I need to find my big girl britches and do it without gloves. The capped honey was light and delicious!

 

[Apis mellifera]

Please tell me this is not robbing...? I have not seen anywhere near this level of activity around this hive yet.

Its hard to tell from the photo if its robbing. If it is robbing the hole in the hand hold will get covered with messy wax. You can switch the hives location.

 

[Sally PB]

Now the new hive is back to the 12 or so out front. The congestion is gone. I went out with binoculars, and I did see bees going in with pollen.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

If you suspect robbing, the entrance should be small so that colony can defend the hive easier. I wish I could say yes or no but still very much the novice.

Are there a number of dead bees on the deck or ground? Are the bees acting like they are going about business as usual. If you suspect robbing put a piece of duct tape over the upper entrance and use the larger reducer opening. Have you verified the queen is in the split? Look for a closed queen cell or for a queen cup with an egg if your not seeing the queen. Train your eyes to look for attending bees with the queen in the center of the activity. They will follow her all over the frame attending to her. You can also chk in 2 weeks to see if you have fresh larva. If you are queenless the bees become lethargic and lazy. We won't get into a laying worker just yet. As Apismellifera said, is there spotting of wax/bee feces on the hive, some is normal. A suggestion I can give is to go to the blue nitrile gloves from the drug store, more dexterity and feel on the frames. Bees can still sting but you know the feel of them under you fingers and learn to work around them. Still gloveless is desired. Try it when bees are in all out nectar gathering. I forgot to mention, if the bees seem overly agitated and aggressive this could be a sign of robbing.