The Wally-Gee Bee Journey 🐝

[WallyG74]

 

[JacinLarkwell]

View attachment 3511729

Their legs always weird me our for some reason

 

[WallyG74]

@Sally PB
How’s your bees doing? You got them by now, right?

 

[Apis mellifera]

My plan is to let them go for a month before I look again.

A lot can happen in a month. You can do simple weekly checks with no harm at all to the bees. When Im making queens and nucs I will check on them every other day. With slow deliberate movements pull the outside frame and work your way in until you see eggs and larva. Take a photo of the frame and put them back in the same orientation. You'll become a much better beekeeper sooner and not a bee haver . Learn to identify stores, swarm cells, supersedure cells, drone brood, healthy worker brood pattern, diseases, and pests. It's important to also learn how to do mite counts. Just because something is blooming doesnt mean its producing nectar. Like all animals we are responsible for we can't leave them to the whims of mother nature. Take care of them and they can happily produce plenty of extra honey, wax, propolis, queens, and workers.

 

[Sally PB]

@Sally PB
How’s your bees doing? You got them by now, right?

Yes, it's a week today!

DH is gone till tonight, and I'm thinking we will take a peek tomorrow. It's also going to be chilly -- high of mid 60s -- so it's better to wait for mid 70s... right, @Apis mellifera? My thinking is taking the top of their house would let a big draft of chilly air down into their home, and that might be annoying to them. Would be to me.

My bee mentor said he plans to do a sugar shake test for mites at 40 days. I asked him if I could come over and help, as 40 days for me will be one week later. He's done it before, I never have, so the experience would be good.

Right now, the lilacs are blooming, and the honeysuckle is just starting. There is a LOT of honeysuckle around here. Or it's something like honeysuckle. Hope they like it.

 

[WallyG74]

I can’t remember who said it or where it was, but someone recently said that smoke sets the bees back by 4 days. I have a hard time with that, but I really can’t say they’re wrong. Should I at least try without smoke?

 

[Apis mellifera]

It's also going to be chilly -- high of mid 60s -- so it's better to wait for mid 70s... right, @Apis mellifera? My thinking is taking the top of their house would let a big draft of chilly air down into their home, and that might be annoying to them. Would be to me.

60 degrees F is generally recommended. Ive done plenty of inspections in the 50 degree range with zero issues. Just have a clear plan before you open the hive on what you are looking for and doing. That way your inspection is less than 10 or 15 minutes. Most of my inspections are less than 5 or 10 minutes.

 

[Apis mellifera]

I can’t remember who said it or where it was, but someone recently said that smoke sets the bees back by 4 days. I have a hard time with that, but I really can’t say they’re wrong. Should I at least try without smoke?

I have no idea who said it but it's an old persistent beekeeping myth that will never go away and does more harm than good. Until you get more familiar with honeybee behavior always light a smoker. Most times you may only need one light puff of smoke or none at all for quick inspections. Just keep it lit and use as necessary. Ants are honeybees cousins and if you kick over an anthill they recover quickly. If you really want to see a colony set back dont do inspections and miss a problem like queen lessness and in less than a month that colony will go laying worker on you and that colony is finished.

 

[WallyG74]

@Apis mellifera

Maybe you have seen where I mentioned the hive in the old house behind my sister’s house. About 2 years ago someone did a cutout and removed a colony. Right after that my BIL sprayed that wall cavity with diesel when he walled it back up in the hopes that bees would not build in there again. Obviously, that didn’t work. Knowing that the wall cavity was sprayed with diesel, do you think it would affect the honey? It makes me think twice about it, but the bees are back and thriving. What’s your take on the whole bee, diesel, honey thing?

 

[Apis mellifera]

@Apis mellifera

Maybe you have seen where I mentioned the hive in the old house behind my sister’s house. About 2 years ago someone did a cutout and removed a colony. Right after that my BIL sprayed that wall cavity with diesel when he walled it back up in the hopes that bees would not build in there again. Obviously, that didn’t work. Knowing that the wall cavity was sprayed with diesel, do you think it would affect the honey? It makes me think twice about it, but the bees are back and thriving. What’s your take on the whole bee, diesel, honey thing?

Unless they are problem and need to be removed, I wouldn't bother with them or extract the honey. Whoever removed the first colony didnt know what they were doing or just didnt care. If I had hives nearby, I would want them gone. Serious beekeepers who do cut outs in occupied homes take all kinds of steps to keep bees from returning. They scrape the area they best they can, spray with bleach/soapy water. Spray paint the cavity and stuff if with insulation. Finally, they silicone or caulk any cracks or openings they can. It's a lot of work that they dont do for the bees. The bees are hardly worth it. I dont even care for swarms much, they have to be about eye level and hanging on the end of a branch for me to think about getting them. Swarms are easy to treat for mites. Cut outs can come with all kinds of pests, diseases and possible contaminants like diesel fuel . You could do what's called a trap out, but even that is something you really want to try because of the time and work involved. The best bees and queens you'll ever have will be the ones you raise in your backyard from overwintered colonies.