New beek. New pictures and new questions

[keljonma]

Well folks, my bees are here and in their hives for about a week now. So far so good. I have feeders inside the hives but forgot the name of it. It is a black plastic container about the size of a frame and it is filled with the bee food I got from my supplier...MANN LAKE, LTD. Great people, great prices and good company owned by the folks who work there.

Best of all, my bee veil/jacket works although they do seem rather mellow. Yes, I have ordered some tuberculin syringes and epinephrine and benadryl injectable "just in case".

I have heard from keljonma who appears to be a master beek and is full of great tips and advice so listen when she speaks!!!

I actually heard from a guy who recently retired as a federal judge in Alabama. He was a platoon leader in my company in Viet Nam and he just got some bees...so this is happening everywhere.

Why do we think bees are so important, you might ask?
In case you've never heard this, Albert Einstein is quoted as saying that "Man will be extinct within four years of the death of the last bee!" or words to that effect. Imagine how important these little guys are to our existence?

Please keep this string going and maybe make an entire section of the SS Forum just for bee keeping since it is becomming so important now.

Who would ever guess that life on earth for humans is so dependent on such a little critter?
//BT//
Trim sends

Good to hear from you Icu4dzs! Glad to hear the bees are doing well. Pretty neat that your old platoon leader is starting bees same time as you. It should give you plenty to discuss. Thank you for your kind words. Honestly, I am just a beek who loves to read......

 

[mandieg4]

The hive is fairly small still. There have been a fair amount of bees coming and going except for the past couple days which have been really windy and fairly cool. I haven't seen any bees hanging around outside the hive. All the frames in the bottom super are completely drawn out, although one frame still doesn't have anything in it. I put another super on top of that one last week but they have just barely started to draw the comb in those frames.


That was the only mite I saw and I didn't see any deformed bees, but I wasn't looking for them either. I didn't see anything unusual about the larvae. The only thing I saw unusual at all today was at the bottom of the hive it looked like there was a little pile of sawdust? Is that normal? I should have taken a picture of that, but my son was acting as cameraman and was getting jumpy at that point. He was stung a couple days ago and hasn't quite got his nerve back yet. He did better than I expected of him though, I was proud of him for not giving up.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Ok, what's the difference between a Top Bar Hive (other than appearances) and a deep body frame hive?

 

[valmom]

I have bookmarked the VT paper on Varroa mites . The beek I am getting my nuc from in June uses powdered sugar to get the mites off the bees for his organic hives. Seems to be a great non-toxic method- he just shakes powdered sugar right into the hive on top of the bees and the mites fall off onto sticky paper in the bottom board.

I am going to have to get a bottom screen- my hive set-up didn't include one. It also only has one medium super. I need at least one more (I hope!)

 

[keljonma]

The Langstroth removeable frame hive is the "standard" used by beeks. They have been used for a long time, so there is a great deal of knowledge for you to fall back on when you have questions about what you are looking at when you inspect your hive. The bees build combs on the foundation, so honey extraction is easy and again, because it has been used a long time, there is more help (in your neighborhood or county) if you need help.

Top bar hives began in Africa (Kenya or Uganda, depending on which site you are reading). The top bar hives (ime) have not been used much in the rural ag communities I am familiar with (here in NE OH). As there is no "standard" in the top bar hive, they can be any size the beek builds or purchases. In the top bar hives, the bees build natural comb, which depending on your reasons for having honeybees and opinions about beeing a beek, could be a good or a bad thing.

It is a personal choice. I use Langstroth hives, although I am the contrary in my beek association, as I am the only one using only medium 8-frame equipment. But that is another story......

 

[keljonma]

I have bookmarked the VT paper on Varroa mites . The beek I am getting my nuc from in June uses powdered sugar to get the mites off the bees for his organic hives. Seems to be a great non-toxic method- he just shakes powdered sugar right into the hive on top of the bees and the mites fall off onto sticky paper in the bottom board.

I am going to have to get a bottom screen- my hive set-up didn't include one. It also only has one medium super. I need at least one more (I hope!)

Valmom, I would estimate a *minimum* of 3 medium supers, if you are planning on using them for colony expansion AND surplus honey collection.

 

[valmom]

OK! I have 2 deeps for brood and will put the queen excluder above those. But I do need another super or 2. Can you get away with fewer supers if you swap out the frames with honey to harvest it and put in empty frames? I am thinking about how to (relatively inexpensively!) harvest the honey and the cheapest centrifuge I have found is hand powered and does 2 frames at a time. If I harvest out 4 or 6 frames periodically instead of waiting and doing 2 or more whole supers at once be easier?

Also- are 2 deeps enough for them to winter over in using their own honey stores in there? I will keep an eye on them (I am putting them fairly close to the house so I can get to them in the snow and am thinking of how to keep them from being buried in snow) and am expecting to feed them at some point this winter, but how do I know when?

I have so many questions! It reminds me of when we first got chickens

 

[keljonma]

OK! I have 2 deeps for brood and will put the queen excluder above those. But I do need another super or 2. Can you get away with fewer supers if you swap out the frames with honey to harvest it and put in empty frames? I am thinking about how to (relatively inexpensively!) harvest the honey and the cheapest centrifuge I have found is hand powered and does 2 frames at a time. If I harvest out 4 or 6 frames periodically instead of waiting and doing 2 or more whole supers at once be easier?

Also- are 2 deeps enough for them to winter over in using their own honey stores in there? I will keep an eye on them (I am putting them fairly close to the house so I can get to them in the snow and am thinking of how to keep them from being buried in snow) and am expecting to feed them at some point this winter, but how do I know when?

I have so many questions! It reminds me of when we first got chickens

A super that is used for colony growth will get full of propolis, ime. My beek mentor told me to always keep the supers and frames for surplus honey collection separate and never use them for colony expansion to keep them cleaner. I understand about the frames because they would get ugly fast with bee brood in them. And I think my mentor uses chemicals for bee treatments (I don't) and that could be why he keeps the supers separate as well. That way no chemicals could taint his honey (at least to his mind).

Your bees should be "put to bed" for winter in late autumn with enough honey stores to get them through the winter. You don't want to open the hive unnecessarily in the winter. We have a large group of hedges about 15 feet behind the hives for a windbreak. But we had planned to surround our hives with an igloo of straw bales to help block the wind. Unfortunately, while many people were selling hay last autumn, we had trouble finding straw that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. We didn't want to spend big$ for straw to sit out in the yard all winter.


Reinbeau is in New England and could probably help you with the honey and winter questions for your area better than I. Have you joined a beekeeper association in your county yet? That would definitely be a place for a wealth of knowledge....


I would think you would want more than 2 deeps for colony build up. Personally, I would add mediums for continued growth. (I should add here that my whole hive is medium 8-frame equipment.)

ETA: Like Chickens, Bees don't read the books either!

 

[valmom]

I was also thinking about a hay bale igloo for the winter! (hay is cheaper here than straw!) I pictured a 3 sided hay bale enclosure with some kind of lexan peaked roof over it to direct the snow to the outside of the bales and to let sun in.

I am siting the hive with the house blocking the west wind and a wooded hill blocking the north wind, open to the east and south.

I am taking seminars from the beekeeper who is selling the nucs- he used to be a NH state bee inspector and puts on 4 seasonal informational talks. I learn as much from his stories as from his structured lectures! I will have to look around and see what beekeeping groups are around here.

The saving grace for me is that animals of any kind don't read the books

 

[keljonma]

I was also thinking about a hay bale igloo for the winter! (hay is cheaper here than straw!) I pictured a 3 sided hay bale enclosure with some kind of lexan peaked roof over it to direct the snow to the outside of the bales and to let sun in.

I am siting the hive with the house blocking the west wind and a wooded hill blocking the north wind, open to the east and south.

I am taking seminars from the beekeeper who is selling the nucs- he used to be a NH state bee inspector and puts on 4 seasonal informational talks. I learn as much from his stories as from his structured lectures! I will have to look around and see what beekeeping groups are around here.

The saving grace for me is that animals of any kind don't read the books

I'd worry about the weight of the snow on top of the lexan. Also, you want to make sure the hive has enough space for air ventilation (even in winter).