Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

TBH Bee Keepers

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts



    Since it’s too early to split in my area, this hive got another deep for room. Both deeps were full of bees, and the 9 frame brood pattern had expanded to both deeps. It’s crucial to give them room or else you’ll loose half of them to swarming, and run the risk of not having enough drones to mate with your virgin queen that is left to lead the hive. I do not keep local genetics, and my queen breeder is still 4-5 weeks out, so giving them room was the only option for now.

    Comment


      Swarm traps ready to go. I put out 2 on my property the rest are going to the deer lease and spread out over 1500acres.
      Attached Files
      Last edited by sharkhunter; 02-24-2020, 05:00 PM.

      Comment


        Originally posted by MASTERS View Post


        Since it’s too early to split in my area, this hive got another deep for room. Both deeps were full of bees, and the 9 frame brood pattern had expanded to both deeps. It’s crucial to give them room or else you’ll loose half of them to swarming, and run the risk of not having enough drones to mate with your virgin queen that is left to lead the hive. I do not keep local genetics, and my queen breeder is still 4-5 weeks out, so giving them room was the only option for now.
        Are you feeding any internally ?

        Comment


          Originally posted by sharkhunter View Post
          Are you feeding any internally ?
          I feed both pollen sub and syrup internally. I use a 2 gallon feeder from mann lake for the syrup. Fed pollen subs today to the weaker hives and will feed syrup next week. Its hard to keep them all the same!

          Comment


            Originally posted by sharkhunter View Post
            Swarm traps ready to go. I put out 2 on my property the rest are going to the deer lease and spread out over 1500acres.
            Nice work! I catch enough bees and make splits to not have time to try swarm traps these days. I tried a few in the past just like the ones you have and didn't have much success. Hope you have better luck than I did!

            Comment


              Good thread

              Comment


                Originally posted by MASTERS View Post
                Nice work! I catch enough bees and make splits to not have time to try swarm traps these days. I tried a few in the past just like the ones you have and didn't have much success. Hope you have better luck than I did!
                I hope to have some success. I’ve done a good bit of research but in the end it’s up to the bees. Guys in my area catch 5 to 8 swarms a year using 5 traps. If I can catch half that I’ll be tickled. Would like to be up to 10 hives by summer. Have two strong hives I’m going to do walk away splits on as soon as queens become available in my area.

                Comment


                  Originally posted by MASTERS View Post
                  I feed both pollen sub and syrup internally. I use a 2 gallon feeder from mann lake for the syrup. Fed pollen subs today to the weaker hives and will feed syrup next week. Its hard to keep them all the same!
                  I feed pollen in a feeder outside the hive. I kept hearing don’t feed pollen patties because SHB love them but that’s not an issue in winter so now I wish I had fed them. Live and learn I guess.

                  Comment


                    Originally posted by MASTERS View Post
                    I winter 90% of my bees in double deeps. The top brood box will be all

                    honey and the bottom will be 5-6 frames of honey. If they still have excess

                    honey right now, just give it a minute. When the pollen from dandelion,

                    texas groundsel and agarita start blooming heavier (its been in my area for

                    a week 10 days now) the bees will expand the brood pattern to collect as

                    much pollen as they can off of that. The only downfall is there is very little

                    nectar available to forage on so the bees will uncap and consume their

                    available honey to get by until the rest of the nectar producing flowers catch


                    up and start blooming. That's just my opinion so don't take it for the gospel.
                    Great stuff
                    thank you very much

                    bill

                    Comment


                      I had a problem with feeding pollen patties to my hives and the SHB laying larvae in it (disgusting) so I took the patties out

                      Comment


                        Originally posted by MASTERS View Post
                        Nice work! I catch enough bees and make splits to not have time to try swarm traps these days. I tried a few in the past just like the ones you have and didn't have much success. Hope you have better luck than I did!
                        Its a lot of fun catching/relocating bees. We enjoy that as much as the bee keeping part.

                        Comment


                          make sure you have beetle jails and micro cloth in the hives to help control the hive beetle, then try using a smaller amount of pollen patty in the hive, something the bees can consume in two or three days....

                          Comment


                            Originally posted by hog_down View Post
                            I had a problem with feeding pollen patties to my hives and the SHB laying larvae in it (disgusting) so I took the patties out
                            During the mid summer months into the early fall I would not feed pollen sub internally in patty form, you run the risk of SHB laying larvae in it like you mentioned as the dearth has caused the brood pattern to shrink down to 1/4 of what it was a few months before. Those times its best to feed it dry in a feeder near the hives. For the most part I do not ever have any problems with SHB and wax moths.

                            Comment


                              Originally posted by lovemylegacy View Post
                              Its a lot of fun catching/relocating bees. We enjoy that as much as the bee keeping part.
                              Sometimes I can be work, but it dang sure is satisfying work. Especially when you have people that stop to watch and are astonished with your talent. I enjoy the little ones that are intrigued the most....

                              Comment


                                Originally posted by MASTERS View Post
                                Sometimes I can be work, but it dang sure is satisfying work. Especially when you have people that stop to watch and are astonished with your talent. I enjoy the little ones that are intrigued the most....
                                We were removing a hive down in the quarters, a brother walked by and said we were some bad motherf...., well you get the point. Bees were flying everywhere, it was our first recovery. I still have that hive today.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X