Bee hives

[SamuraiCO]

My hive died last year so time to start over. Doing two hives this year. Here are the packages. I have a good friend in Elizabeth that wanted help learning beekeeping so they let me place hives on their property.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/EE2C4A22-AC99-45D3-B455-F84655E47481_zps8kgelrrx.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/EE2C4A22-AC99-45D3-B455-F84655E47481_zps8kgelrrx.jpg.html)


Here is the queen box and some of her court. There is a cork plug in one end that I removed and replaced with a mini marshmallow. The workers will eat up the marshmallow thereby releasing the queen. While in the box the queen releases pheromones to get the hive to accept her.



http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/74C328BB-48B4-4BA9-A15D-CEC18D31050F_zpsp7m2b5lb.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/74C328BB-48B4-4BA9-A15D-CEC18D31050F_zpsp7m2b5lb.jpg.html)

After placing the queen box between frames i dumped the rest into the hive near the queen. You can just see the metal strip that we use to secure the queen box in the lower portion 4 frames from the right.



http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/C54859A8-3EBA-4DD5-AA58-A46CEEB1E5F3_zpsgkcuvohn.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/C54859A8-3EBA-4DD5-AA58-A46CEEB1E5F3_zpsgkcuvohn.jpg.html)


After dumping the bee out I put on the top cover. It has an oval hole cut in it that the jars of food sit over. Small nail holes Iin the lid allow feeding. I set the packages in front to allow stragglers to climb in. I will reckeck in three days to assure the queens have been released.





http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/A4847EEB-C402-467B-9AF2-DDFD8AC952EA_zpsuy3phwws.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/A4847EEB-C402-467B-9AF2-DDFD8AC952EA_zpsuy3phwws.jpg.html)

[Irving]

Please provide updates over time.

[buffalobo]

+1, this will be interesting.

Lobbed from my electronic ball and chain.

[hurley842002]

+1, this will be interesting.

Lobbed from my electronic ball and chain.

Agreed!

[Sawin]

Fantastic! my wife and I really want to put a few hives on our future property. I am interested in learning a bit ahead of time, so please keep us updated.

[Irving]

Wranglerstar has a couple bee videos up as well.

[rbeau30]

If you need a place to put another hive I would be interested in learning as well!

I have just found out I have 5 trees
that flower on my property and I am sure the bees would love it.

30 raspberry bushes, 10 blackberry bushes, 3 grape vines, etc

[10mm-man]

How are you going to keep from losing a hive this winter?

EDIT: I assumed it died during winter, then re read your statement. How did it die?

Also, did you buy a queen, and the new bee's?

[SamuraiCO]

If you need a place to put another hive I would be interested in learning as well!

I have just found out I have 5 trees
that flower on my property and I am sure the bees would love it.

30 raspberry bushes, 10 blackberry bushes, 3 grape vines, etc

Send an email to Bev Rampey at threemares@gmail.com indicating your interest to host a hive ir two and learning in the process. I will have my hands full with my two hives.

[SamuraiCO]

How are youhuh going to keep from losing a hive this winter?

EDIT: I assumed it died during winter, then re read your statement. How did it die?

Also, did you buy a queen, and the new bee's?

Not sure if they got disease and died or if they starved. I did a treatment for mites, made sure their honey reserves were good and even put pollen patties and an in the hive feeder just in case. I wrap my hives with 1" insulation on three sides then silver backed bubble wrap for the winter. They will do very well like this but sometimes you do everything right and they still die. When I had them in my yard I never lost a colony in three years.

Packages come with one queen and 5000 or so workers.

[TFOGGER]

Not sure if they got disease and died or if they starved. I did a treatment for mites, made sure their honey reserves were good and even put pollen patties and an in the hive feeder just in case. I wrap my hives with 1" insulation on three sides then silver backed bubble wrap for the winter. They will do very well like this but sometimes you do everything right and they still die. When I had them in my yard I never lost a colony in three years.

Packages come with one queen and 5000 or so workers.

I'll bet the FedEx guy doesn't accidentally bust that one open....http://s3.amazonaws.com/advrider/amazon.gif

[10mm-man]

Not sure if they got disease and died or if they starved. I did a treatment for mites, made sure their honey reserves were good and even put pollen patties and an in the hive feeder just in case. I wrap my hives with 1" insulation on three sides then silver backed bubble wrap for the winter. They will do very well like this but sometimes you do everything right and they still die. When I had them in my yard I never lost a colony in three years.

Packages come with one queen and 5000 or so workers.


Thanks for the reply; that is AWESOME! Not that you lost them, but that you can get a Queen bee, and 5000 workers delivered! Good luck with these man...

[SamuraiCO]

Packages were from local bee keeper and I picked up at To Bee or Not To Bee in Denver. You can order from a whole host of breeders and have them Fed Ex as well.

Day three check and the queen boxes were empty indicating the workers ate up the marshmallow plug to release the queen. Closed back up and refilled their sugar water food.

Will check in a week or so for eggs showing a healthy and happy hive.

[10mm-man]

Packages were from local bee keeper and I picked up at To Bee or Not To Bee in Denver. You can order from a whole host of breeders and have them Fed Ex as well.

Day three check and the queen boxes were empty indicating the workers ate up the marshmallow plug to release the queen. Closed back up and refilled their sugar water food.

Will check in a week or so for eggs showing a healthy and happy hive.


That's cool man! Post up some pic's if you can, with the eggs, etc. Have you ever had a queen rejected? How long do you have to feed them for, before they are on there own?

[SamuraiCO]

If you need a place to put another hive I would be interested in learning as well!

I have just found out I have 5 trees
that flower on my property and I am sure the bees would love it.

30 raspberry bushes, 10 blackberry bushes, 3 grape vines, etc

Your letter was forwarded I hope someone comes forward with an extra hive or two. In the mean time pick up Be Keeping for Dummies. You can look up The High Land Bee Club and look for meetings to attend.

Keep trying someone may still need a home for a split or swarm hive. It has been busy season so far.

[SamuraiCO]

That's cool man! Post up some pic's if you can, with the eggs, etc. Have you ever had a queen rejected? How long do you have to feed them for, before they are on there own?


Last year my original queen was rejected or died and I had to replace her and that put me way behind last year.

You can feed all summer the bees will slow down or stop feeding on the sugar water if natural sources are available.

[SamuraiCO]

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/6CF46E30-723E-4F78-BAD6-57C4E08A8824_zpsyzfnoicn.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/6CF46E30-723E-4F78-BAD6-57C4E08A8824_zpsyzfnoicn.jpg.html)



One quick pick from a couple days ago. This was on the day I checked if the queens were released from their cages. Girls are busy collecting pollen.
I will have more pics this week when I get a chance to check inside and see if the queen is laying eggs.

[GilpinGuy]

Interesting stuff. Keep us posted!

[SamuraiCO]

Ok checked the hives for the first time in three weeks after assuring the queens were released. I wanted to find the queen and make sure she was busy laying eggs. I wanted to catch her and mark her so it would be easier to find her as the population grows. I wanted to look for overall health of the hives and determine how long I needed until the second deep hive body needed to be placed. Generally when the frames in one hive body are 60-70% full it is time for a new hive body.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/5B67EA62-C9BA-4229-A950-EA1D55C73A47_zps1xsro2dq.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/5B67EA62-C9BA-4229-A950-EA1D55C73A47_zps1xsro2dq.jpg.html)

Here is a nice healthy frame. What I noticed right away there were lots of smaller and lighter bees indicating the queen already had brood hatching. She must have gotten busy right away laying eggs. That was a promising start.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/E8E03208-158F-47CC-B958-27CCCA6D29D7_zpslxuorjuq.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/E8E03208-158F-47CC-B958-27CCCA6D29D7_zpslxuorjuq.jpg.html)

Here is another nice frame showing honey in the top right corner (uncapped yet), a couple of rows of pollen and then a lot of capped brood. This is what a good frame will look like for this time of year.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/26619CBA-5BFF-40A0-A838-3A4C0375730E_zpst0pkagew.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-05/26619CBA-5BFF-40A0-A838-3A4C0375730E_zpst0pkagew.jpg.html)

Here is one of the queens we found and caught. Just scooped her into this device and GENTLY pinch her to hold her in place while she is marked with non toxic ink. There is a specific color for every year to help bee keepers keep track. We generally replace every two years to ensure an young and healthy queen.

Overall I was pleased with hives thus far. I do have some issues with them building some comb where they should not and it makes it difficult pulling out the frames and disrupts any brood that they have in that comb when it breaks apart. I need to check what to do about that.

Will be putting on a second deep on each one later this week. Probably no honey but will see how they do.

More to come.

[GilpinGuy]

So cool! It looks like you're doing pretty well so far.

[rbeau30]

That is awesome! Thanks for the update!

I may have found a someone that has all the stuff, and comb already made in the boxes. They can't do bee keeping where they are at and I offered my space up to them if they wanted to get back into it. They sounded excited, but they said they can't find any place selling queens right now. but they woud keep watching for them.

[SamuraiCO]

http://www.highlandbees.com/

Have them try Tim at Highland. He is in Boulder

[SamuraiCO]

Time for another check up. Last time we found the queens and marked each one to make it easier to find her as the population increases. We decided to put another deep on so they have some growing room for the summer. We want them to put up lots of honey and pollen for their winter stores. They should have 1000 or so bees a day hatching. During this check we checked for brood, looked for disease and checked over all health. You always want to either find the queen or look for evidence that she is there laying eggs like lots of brood.

One hive was busier than the other but both definately had increases in populations. The bees were still pretty docile and I have yet to have to use any smoke when working in the hives.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-06/0027955E-A071-4A0A-935D-2A305EDA12A9_zpsuko9qrz0.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-06/0027955E-A071-4A0A-935D-2A305EDA12A9_zpsuko9qrz0.jpg.html)

I had removed a couple of empty frames and put aside so I can start pulling frames and check. We had scrapped off the old bees wax on the frames and the girls are busy building out new wax.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-06/304A88A9-2B36-48F6-BC45-02BF0C3991F5_zpsu6ta9f1h.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-06/304A88A9-2B36-48F6-BC45-02BF0C3991F5_zpsu6ta9f1h.jpg.html)

Closer look at the frame being drawn out with new wax.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-06/5ee77465-439a-4e4f-9af0-21387616a0e7_zpse66dab39.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-06/5ee77465-439a-4e4f-9af0-21387616a0e7_zpse66dab39.jpg.html)

Remember we marked our queens with green. Can you spot her? In the busier hive she was in the upper deep looking for good cells for laying eggs. I suspect in a few weeks they will be full of brood.

[SamuraiCO]

Time for another check. Looking at how the hives are filling out the frames.

Numbers coming up but they are still pretty docile. I have yet to have to smoke them to calm them down. If my stronger hive has filled out their honey stores I will put on a honey super for our consumption. The wet, mild summer has the wild flowers really blooming.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-07/1A765EE1-2843-4D05-9009-84AA624AA3F4_zpsgkvl1syl.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-07/1A765EE1-2843-4D05-9009-84AA624AA3F4_zpsgkvl1syl.jpg.html)

Nice frame of capped honey.....mmmm. But that is their winter stores.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-07/1456F935-17EB-4CCA-B238-89844C5EDA7A_zpsswuun2iz.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-07/1456F935-17EB-4CCA-B238-89844C5EDA7A_zpsswuun2iz.jpg.html)

Capped honey on top, capped brood under. Queen still busy that is good.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-07/6AF86E7A-B228-4B65-8C9A-5D7D50A15AD5_zpsyqpbltgy.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-07/6AF86E7A-B228-4B65-8C9A-5D7D50A15AD5_zpsyqpbltgy.jpg.html)

I also got some plants at Tagaowa that are bee friendly. There was some lavender from my yard that have reseeded and I dug up. I plan on bringing out as much as I can between now and the end of the year and transplant as much of it as I can. Lavender makes such good tasting honey.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-07/9334CD8D-94ED-49DD-87A8-5C2735ED555F_zpspff9zm8u.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-07/9334CD8D-94ED-49DD-87A8-5C2735ED555F_zpspff9zm8u.jpg.html)

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-07/1FFDF88E-3202-4DBD-9364-DE89D6945748_zpsjujn7rac.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-07/1FFDF88E-3202-4DBD-9364-DE89D6945748_zpsjujn7rac.jpg.html)



http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-07/66FA0D41-24A5-4370-B88A-D9525B1A97C2_zpshr9dmpdp.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-07/66FA0D41-24A5-4370-B88A-D9525B1A97C2_zpshr9dmpdp.jpg.html)

[CHA-LEE]

My wife started her first Bee Hive this year. Its all new to her and me, but it seems like they are doing good and are really busy. We have two deep boxes and one short on top. We just added the short on top this past weekend as the first two deep boxes were starting to get jam packed with bee's, honey and brood.

The bee hive is my wife's hobby and I am just a spectator. She gets all suited up to screw around with the hive but the Bee's are usually pretty docile. She has yet to smoke them to calm them down during the times she is working on or checking the hive. When the hive is all buttoned up and things are going as they normally would I can literally stand right next to the hive without a suite and the bee's could care less about my presence. They are busy coming and going as they do their thing.

[SamuraiCO]

That is great. You are right with being able to sit outsde the hive and watch the girls come and go. My HOA in Parker made me get rid of my hive. I still have lots of bees in my yard go figure.

[rbeau30]

That is great. You are right with being able to sit outsde the hive and watch the girls come and go. My HOA in Parker made me get rid of my hive. I still have lots of bees in my yard go figure.


If they can't see it....

My covenant docs do not mention Apiaries at all. I'm going to have a problem (and them a lawsuit) if they change the rules after I bought a house here.

[SamuraiCO]

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-09/C5851C0C-3FFE-4D4E-97EA-883956D6DC06_zpsnujnfrrz.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-09/C5851C0C-3FFE-4D4E-97EA-883956D6DC06_zpsnujnfrrz.jpg.html)

Getting ready for winter. I wanted to install the in the frame feeder and put some sugar water in it. Both hives had 8 really full frames of honey and pollen. I took out two frames from the top that they had started some comb and collected nectar and pollen and put them in the lower hive body swapping them out for frames that were empty. Here you see my buddy pouring in the sugar water. The bees have a plastic lattice they climb on inside those holes that allow them to follow the level down. Throughout the winter we will supplimental feed them and this makes it really easy. I don't want them to starve like they did last year. Inspection showed them in good shape. Hoping the best they survive the winter and I can collect honey next year.

I smoked the bees and the cooler weather drove them into the hive that is why you don't see many bees in the picture.

[SamuraiCO]

Checked them last Sunday. Both hives still alive and some workers were coming and going. There was some die off with a pile of dead bees in the front of each hive. That is normal for this time probably most of them were drones (males) that have outlived their usefulness and are not fed and die or older worker bees that the other workers cleaned out of the hives.

We topped off the in the hive feeders and I also put some pollen patties in each hive. They both still look good. Wrapped them both back up and then we shot our 1911's for a bit. Love having a friend with a shooting pit on his property.

[Irving]

Cool, thanks for the update.

[rbeau30]

I think I may try this next next year. F*** the HoA

[Irving]

I think I may try this next next year. F*** the HoA

If I lived in an HOA I'd raise Mountain Lions and Wolves for the same reason.

[TheGrey]

Awesome update! Our neighbors (the elderly folks that live behind us) have allowed their adult son to keep a hive behind their shed. They appear to be honeybees; quite docile and pretty efficient at hitting every bloom in my yard. I kept our hummingbird feeders out for quite some time and the bees enjoyed the sugar water well into the fall.

I haven't had the opportunity to speak with the beekeeper; my neighbors have little to do with the hive. I saw something on Pinterest about using a shallow dish with marbles when you put water out for them, so the bees can easily drink. I'll hang out more hummingbird feeders in the spring, some in the backyard where it's closer to the hive, but do bees require a stronger sugar-water mix than hummingbirds?

[rbeau30]

If I lived in an HOA I'd raise Mountain Lions and Wolves for the same reason.

Then I would get a Monkey that knows Kung Fu.

[hollohas]

How much honey were you able to harvest this year and how much do you have to leave for the bees over winter?

[Limited GM]

I've nothing worthy to add, but yrs ago my wife bought me a "trap", she thought, home. Wooden structure with screen on it. I had no idea what it was used for till I saw the OP picture in post #1.

Solved that mystery.

[SamuraiCO]

Did not harvest last year. Will try this year depending on how strong they come out of winter.

You can also float some corks on a water source for the bees to drink off of. So far they continue to survive the winter.

I will check in a few weeks if i get a chance to visit my buddy and shoot some. Always a bonus.

[00tec]

My brother keeps bees in/around San Antonio. He currently has a dozen hives, just ordered 30 more.

[SamuraiCO]

Took off the winter wraps 3 weeks ago. One hive was really strong and the other I thought was a doomed. Not a lot of bees. Some brood but I could not find my queen. Thought for sure when I checked this week it would be completly dead. But to my surprise it was alive. Found the queen, did some cleaning and treated for mites. I won't get honey from this hive. Guess either the queen started late in laying or they just got hit hard with mites.

Other hive was busting at the seams. No swarm cells and everything looked healthy. Put on a honey super so will see what they will do.

[Ah Pook]

The local bee keepers are already fortifying the hives against bears.

[hunterhawk]

I love honey! But have no place for hives! Jealous of those who do so keep on making me jealous!

[ChunkyMonkey]

BUMP!

http://www.honeyflow.com/shop/flow-hive/p/129 <-- ordered one..

[kidicarus13]

40% of hives died last year...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/14/honeybees-dying-situation-unheard-of/

[roberth]

The cold is lasting longer, I see alot less bees than in past years. Plants are suffering too because bees do an incredible amount of pollination.

[buffalobo]

Long time since last update. Still going?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[SamuraiCO]

Ok time for an update. Had one strong hive and one weaker hive going into the winter. I don't understand why the strong hive died and the weak hive lived. Oh well. It was time to requeen the hive that lived. I used the opportunity to clean out the hive and break up the frames looking for the queen. We found her and marked her for death at a later date. I also cleaned out the other hive that died over winter and replaced all the frames. I will melt off the wax and recycle the frames for future use. I purchased a new queen and what they call a nuc for the other hive. It is an established hive with five frames and a laying queen. I think it is easier for the commercial bee keeper to make and prepare versus packages that we have used in the past that was just bees and a queen. Over a two week period I had to time the finding of the queen again and killing her to the delivery of my new queen and the nuc for the other hive. Weather was and still is playing havoc with our bees but it all worked out even with my work schedule.

Here is what the nuc looked like. I had to drive to Boulder on a Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago to take delivery. All sealed up. I thought there may be bees still clinging to the outside so I threw on my soft topper but they were all inside. They got a comfortable ride in my cab.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-05/93E549C9-12B4-4044-BDAF-78C5B0DB783E_zpsfxynsmqf.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-05/93E549C9-12B4-4044-BDAF-78C5B0DB783E_zpsfxynsmqf.jpg.html)

I drove strait from Boulder to my buddies home in Elizabeth to place the bees. Here is the empty deep ready for the new bees.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-05/92D35C43-1410-484B-BB1D-D0C123F82F97_zpspmlrkxdo.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-05/92D35C43-1410-484B-BB1D-D0C123F82F97_zpspmlrkxdo.jpg.html)

Here they are placed. My buddy saw the marked queen on the opposite side of a frame as I was taking it out of the nuc and placing into the deep. That is always good to know you want to work fast so she does not panic and fly off.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-05/0B389295-B8C3-4CE0-B546-60A863CF5299_zps3y4pztfh.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-05/0B389295-B8C3-4CE0-B546-60A863CF5299_zps3y4pztfh.jpg.html)


Here is the final pic of the hive all buttoned up with some sugar water on top.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g410/samurai64/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-05/6F12C37F-9E35-43CA-AC27-4D74E27B7640_zpsvpul8rda.jpg (http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/samurai64/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-05/6F12C37F-9E35-43CA-AC27-4D74E27B7640_zpsvpul8rda.jpg.html)

I had my buddy confirm the other hive released the new queen from her cage. This was all done two weeks ago and he checked four days later for the queen to be released. On warm days both hives busy. I am going out this Sunday to check for brood in both hives. This confirms both queens are healthy and laying eggs. I will look for the queen in each hive to also confirm she is alive and well.

Hopefully the weather holds for the inspection and our celebration of the weekend by retiring to their shooting range and squeezing off a few before eating and enjoying each other's company.

[Dave_L]

Cool! My buddy just got a couple hives going. Interesting stuff and I look forward to getting honey from him on Holidays. Lol.