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100% pure beeswax blocks from Massachusetts beekeepers!
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So are the frames on the honey super already drawn out or do the bees still need to work on them?
Anita. Nice story! I think it would bring a tear to larry the cable guys eye.
This is so sad. I wish there were a way to just let them go free and start their own colony. 🙁
Hi Beverly,
I was going to blog about the phenomena of honeybee undertaking, and ran across your blog while looking for footage of undertaker bees actually bringing out the dead or dying. You've said pretty much everything I want to say on the topic, and said it really well. I like your blog and will check back. Thanks and best,
Although a challenge, it seems a blessing to have a swarm, be able to catch it then run two queens, then merge; as you've done a lot more than the average first year beekeeper. Pretty exciting.
Hi Anita — You're website is fantastic! I'm in bee school w/ Brian and he mentioned your site to me. Believe it or not, our kids are classmates at school (my daughter is in ECE-4). I just wanted to say hi and tell you how great your website is; it's been officially bookmarked! I just ordered my bees on Monday and I'm vey excited to get started! Looking forward to meeting you in the future and good luck with your bees. – Cristina
I have to say this is one of the cleanest, most thorough, compleatest (is there such a word? There is now!) web sites I have ever been to. What a pleasure to read and enjoy your spring opening recently!! Thanks for all your dedication and effort.
I love the colors of pollen that the bees bring in. So far, I've seen orange, dark yellow, and white pollen going into the hive. I've not seen blue pollen, though. What a treat!
I wonder if Siberian Squill will grow in my 10a zone.
Wow! What a story. I read all three parts. I think bees sound like a lot more work than chickens. Although I would love some honey!
Lot less work than chickens. Once they are hived they mostly take care of themselves and if you want to leave for a week or so you can do so without arranging for someone to feed/water/gather eggs. A couple of hives (under normal conditions) will provide you with all the honey you can use and plenty to give as gifts at Christmas or even trade for other things. The initial phase is the most difficult of all.
Hi, Anita!
I found your blog via Mil's recommendation and I can see why she thought it worthy to follow.
My back yard is literally packed with squill, just finishing up blooming right now. I've hated it and fought it futilely for over two decades. I finally gave up trying to grow spring ephemerals back there because hardly anything can compete with it. I've managed to keep it out of the front garden where I concentrate my spring wildflower efforts. Since I've started beekeeping–actually just getting the first bees this week–I'm seeing squill in a totally different light and appreciate it for the sake of the bees.
Keep up the good work!
Very cool. I think that it would be so much fun to have bees, and have that honey available. I am slightly concerned about getting them because it gets so cold in the winters, and I'm not sure they would survive. Of course, we do have honey bees every year in our garden, so they must be surviving somewhere around here 🙂
LOVE the photos showing the blue pollen! I plant my gardens to feed a neighbors bees, love to see them.
Stopping in from Homestead Revival…
oh my gosh! my yard is full of squill. I feared that because it was not native and was spreading so nicely I was not doing anyone (bees) any favors! Hooray, I am. The bees/hoverflies/wasps/ground bees/bumbles etc seem to enjoy my yard. I often stand under the apricots just immersing myself in their songs as they do their work. I will have to check out the colors of pollen a bit more carefully, I have never noticed any but yellow, but now will watch my helpers more closely. Love this site!
This sounds amazing. I bet it will be great on bread fresh from the oven. Is liquid pectin the only kind you use? I'm pretty much exclusively using Pomona's Pectin now and love it.
Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks so much for commenting on our new bees. Your site is wonderful and we'll be checking it regularly. We're expecting the rest of our hive boxes soon – thanks for the info on painting them. We chose to get the unassembled ones because of the price difference. We're so very excited.
That blue pollen is so neat! And the pictures are beautiful 🙂
Hi Anita – this is a great summary. I've forwarded your site info to both Norfolk and Plymouth County Beekeepers Associations as a great reference for beeks, especially new. Keep up the great work.
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Thanks for sharing this with Wildcrafting Wednesday, Beverly! I'm so glad you stopped by! Beekeeping is definately on my to-do list. I envy and admire you, and I appreciate you sharing your experiences on your website.
Thanks again! 🙂
~ Kathy
Raspberries are my fave berries so I've pinned this to remember to give it a try this season.
This looks wonderful! It's good to see that you can use the liquid pectin successfully with the honey instead of sugar. I was under the impression that it wouldn't set up. Very good to know! Would you consider adding this post to my blog's homestead hop? It'd be a perfect fit! http://littlefarminthebigcity.blogspot.com/2012/04/homestead-helps-wednesday-homestead-hop_11.html
This looks so yummy! I can't wait to try it! My best friend and her husband are just starting their own bee hives so I've got some local honey coming my way! This will be my first recipe to try.
Jan from Tipgarden.blogspot.com
Can you do this with out using raw honey? I don't know of a source for the raw honey in this area. Wondering if the honey I buy at the store would work. Thanks
I love raspberry jam! I'll have to give this one a try.
I've never heard of liquid pectin. Is this pectin organic or somehow better or special? That was one problem I noticed when we used to make jam with honey, it was runnier. Perhaps we can now make jam again.
Good tips on the razor knife and square for such an unfavorite task. Have you ever used those frame assembly boards? I've always been curious about one, but didn't want to spend the money for something I ended up disliking.
Siberian Squill is pretty and I'm sure the bees like it just fine, but it's an aggressive invasive that spreads readily and displaces native species. There are lots of pretty native early spring bloomers that would make more ecologically sound alternatives as bee forage!
So timely! We installed our first two packages today and it was a great experience. Crocus is a great name. We've chosen to name our hives after our grandmothers so today we introduced Margaret and Lizzie to the world. A few grandmother names left so we're hoping for some splits or captured swarms this season. Happy beekeeping!
Thank you so much for sharing this on Wildcrafting Wednesday! I've talked to many who are interested in backyard bee keeping, so this post is just what we needed! 🙂
Forgetting the cork isn't too bad–as long as he remembered before too long. I actually was putting on the inner cover before I remembered the queen was still in my pocket. Oops!
I've never seen a similar site before. It's a lovely site. Thanks for sharing and nice meeting you. I'll get back to reading your amazing articles. Dropped by from UBP.
Wow, this is an amazing blog. I'm glad I found you on the #UBP12 list, I have always been interested in bee keeping but I'm not sure our city would allow it since our houses are closely packed. I'll have to read more here and study up, who knows..maybe bees are in our future. 🙂
A very nicely done job you are doing here. Nice presentations accompanied by interesting and entertaining copy. Good variety as well.
Hi there, I found thourgh the Barn Hop and so happy that I did.
I installed foundationless frames in a honey super about two weeks ago. It's my first time not using foundation. I used foundation for the brood chambers and will slowly swap the frames over to foundationless over time. I'm going to be adding a new nuc in a few weeks and will start that hive totally foundationless. In fact a friend, gave me 20 large frames of foundationless comb that I'm going use for that colony.
I'm enjoying watching my experiments as they unfold.
Very cool. Thanks for the step-by-step photos. You make it look easy. Bees are on the list when homeschooling is done. In the meantime, I'm trying to educate myself. Thanks!
I will be interested to hear if the girls build on the wax better too.
I didn't know the hive had to level to have the girls draw out the foundationless comb. I wonder if that was one of our problems–we have our hives a bit tilted to let the rain out.
We put in one foundationless comb a couple days ago, between two frames of capped honey. My teacher said the girls would be more likely to draw out the comb if the surrounded frames can't be built onto.
Great pics, btw. You sure put in a lot of effort for this post. I'm appreciating it; it was awesome.
Hi, Julie here from I Create Purty Thangs just makin the rounds from UBP2012. Wow, you really know your stuff! Enjoyed your site. Please visit me sometime.
You take some awesome pics. Keep us posted on the swarm status of this hive. It appears they definitely have good numbers. We have been having dynamic weather here. It is as if March and April switched places this year here.
I have been stung about 3 times this year. I hope to not get stung anymore, but some of my bees are mean and I won't kill my queens for it.
How do you put your website address in the bottom corner of your pics?
Hi Anita,
Sorry to hear the bees are deconstructing the drones. It's always hard to make the decision to feed the bees, especially now that it's spring and you'll be wanting to harvest honey. I hope they get a foraging day soon.
When I read you post about hiving your packaged bees (Great post btw. Is it on Pinterest so I can pin it?), I noted that you didn't wear gloves. Sam, in his video, also didn't wear gloves, and I felt like I should take the plunge some day. I've been thinking a lot about this lately…(What a bee nerd, huh?) The last time I got stung, though, I broke out in all body hives. I guess we'll see…
You're lucky you're not allergic. This reaction was a surprise to me after keeping bees for 3 years. I still want to go gloveless, though. Good idea about going with a small population.
Pretty neat huh! It is neat how they work right around the wires. It is good to see others using foundation less. When someone asks you what cell size you are using you can say, "whatever size the BEES want!" :). Nice pics as usual….
I don't believe the old addage that they build on foundation faster. I have seen some amazing rapidity on foundation less frames. This year I am experimenting with no starter strip. We shall see.
Make sure to keep your hives level on the hive stand. I learned the hard way.
Your bees are doing great! Most of my frames have foundation on them though some are just wire (but they now already have comb on them.) I am just in my second year so I am still learning. It is fun hearing how others are doing.
Good to see this. We had tried before with wax starter strips, but with no success. My partner was beginning to think it couldn't be done as the girls built out some crazy comb!!
We put one tentative frame in between built out comb just to see if we can get the girls to draw some out. I'll let you know how it goes.
I totatlly understand his reaction. Though I love working with bees one day when my veil got untucked I got around five bees up in it and in my face and down my shirt. I was running all over the yard throwing of clothes as I went too. I know better than to do that now but when you are getting stung (and I did get quite a few stings) it is any easy reaction.
Since I found your blog from UBP my husband and I have had renewed interest in keeping bees. This is definitely a good story to have read about! Thanks for sharing!
Very informative. We haven't started with bees but I hope to add it to our homestead within the next couple of years. I just recently heard about foundation less frames. I have SO MUCH to learn. Thanks for sharing!
They can really move a lot of stuff around in there in a hurry. The power of numbers. I have always been amazed at how efficiently a colony can just kill off drones. Bees don't know compassion, it is all about continuing the hemolymph line.
I always fear a warm spell in spring followed by a cold snap or other foul weather. It gets certain genetic lines of queens all ramped up laying then there is no food for brood. It can cause havoc. I prefer a nice moderate pace build.
Keep us posted on Crocus's progress.
I really miss the days of bee keeping with my dad! Thanks for letting us follow!
The bees are really artists with the different shapes that they make with wax. One of our hives once made some comb that looked like stalactite. It was also hanging off of the main comb.
I wonder why they wouldn't take the feed? Is it because they had the taste of the real thing and want the real stuff, already??? 🙂
I have actually heard of using that as a test for when flows start. Take a honey bear and place a line of honey across the bottom board entrance. If the bees walk across the honey and leave the hive there is a honey flow on. I have never tried it. Didn't want to get a robbing frenzy started.
If you are going to feed that's the best. My home apiary always gets to clean up my honey supers every year after spinning. They do a good job. Late July early August is normally dearthy here so they are more than happy to clean em up.
I wish the closet beekeeping association was like yours, and I would join in a minute. But from following their list serve emails, it seems they are always arguing with each other which scared me off!
Absolutely LOVE this! Thank you for sharing with us! 🙂
WOW, I had no idea that was even possible. My blog partner just installed her second set of bees on a roof top hive. please come to our DIYLinky at http://www.littlehouseinthesuburbs.com
Brrr…it was a bunch of name calling. The moderator had to threaten them to stop! Not sure why this bunch is like this since I'm supposed to be living in the land of the peace loving hippies!! 🙂
Interesting the color of your capped brood. From the pics, it looks yellow. Out capped brood is rather tan.
And I agree, the brood pattern on that one frame is a work of art!
I was making a link to you, and then saw this post. Dang, I'm supposed to leave soon, but your post had me enthralled. Great storytelling! And what an arm Brian has! Sorry the bees decided to move on, but at least you guys gave it your best shot.
Good thing to think about too–the hive that got left. Usually one concentrates on the swarm, and not the hive that got left. Got to keep that under consideration as to avoid getting stung.
I kept reading thinking. They're gonna get em'…… Sometimes it just doesn't work out.
Thanks for the idea though. You should video tape such efforts. In the event that would have been successful you would have had a hundred views from me alone, watching it over and over!!! 🙂
Your hive may have been cranky because you were opening up brood cells. I am just a first year beek but I think the general advice is if you are going to open drone cells to check for varroa and/or to reduce numbers of drones, or if you are destroying queen cells, you may want to shake all the bees off, and walk away to a work area and do the dastardly stuff there.
Drones may also be discarded if they are infested with Varroa or deformed in some way…this means your workers are very hygienic, which is good!
Our teacher once said he enticed a swarm down by clipping a frame of honey to a long pole.
Love it!
That is cool. I especially liked those asparagus. Ah, you know how these chefs are…
Seems like many factors here.
–I also question the plastic foundation. I wonder if they are trying to tell you something.
–Nectar flow. Does it flow well now?
–I think I would re-queen. I would hate for that gene to spread to the rest of the apiary.
–Do they come after you only when you open up the hive or all the time?
Based on what I learned in my beekeeping class, you should re-queen. It sounds like they might be slightly africanized because aggressive hive defense is one of the characteristics. I wouldn't want to keep those kinds of bees. The drones could be mating with other queens also.
The bees that we keep in the class are so friendly you could wear a veil and nothing else and most of the time not get stung if you're careful. I took apart several hives in jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and a veil but no gloves.
Also, I would make sure there are no diseases in the hive. Sometimes when I opened up a hive with foulbrood, the hive would be angry and sting several times even if they have friendly genetics. I think this is because they are under stress because they are unable to successfully hatch brood and the hive population is decreasing.
Keep us up-to-date!
How about Electric Boogaloo? 😉
Seriously, though, I can not say enough positive things about how great you and Brian were getting the swarm- you would not have known it was your first swarm capture. You both were so calm, focused, yet overjoyed and fascinated by the whole beauty of the swarm. My neighbors were totally impressed w/you both; in fact they refer to you and Brian as "the bee busters". You will absolutely be my first call next time there is a swarm nearby and I don't have a super available. Thank you again for coming over!
If I was your neighbor I would not complain of swarming bees! Good luck on the split.
The aggressive behavior might be alleviated by positioning the comb as in the Housel Positioning.
Worth a try, Before re-queening.
Always a learning experience, the bees are constantly trying to teach us.
Are you using a special bucket on a contraption? If so, do you have a picture of it?
"I'm glad I saved them. I would do it again a thousand times. It was well worth it to just to see and hear how happy the reunion made them. It is one of those bee moments I will never forget."
I love that quote. I feel the same way. We got the left over bees after the first beekeeper left. Frankly, I was surprised he didn't leave the box there until night. If I remember correctly, one of the neighbors told me she had asked him about the foragers and scouts, and he had said that they'll just die. Lucy and I called him the "Bad Beekeeper".
I never knew that about the position of the egg!
Eagerly awaiting the next installment…
We are new beekeepers this year and went foundationless using a wax starter strip. That's a pain, though, so for the next round of frames we will be using popsicle sticks.
We see the best results when we alternate every-other-frame: drawn out frame, foundationless frame, drawn out frame, and so on… they build 'em so fast & straight that way.
Nice photos!
I am going to start foundationless in deep boxes..is it necessary for them to be wired? I know that would make them more sturdy, but it is my intention to leave what's in the brood box for the bees and extract the supers.
Thank you so much for the photos etc of foundationless frames. I am trying that with three Nucs later this spring and I was a bit nervous about the process and what it would look like in practice. I am also concerned about toxins in the wax on coated plastic foundations. The supplier of my nucs has been going frameless for a long time with great success, so it seemed do-able, but I found your photos and all of the comments to be helpful and reassuring. Thanks!
Glad to hear you were able to avert the swarm and feed Crocus too. It's nice when you can avoid all that heavy work of moving hive bodies, and trying to find the queen.
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I have had similar results with similar pictures.
One thing that seems to be working in my honey supers is to place 3 or 4 drawn combs (in a group) in the center of the super above the main cluster of bees. Then the bees walk up the combs and begin building better on the frames to either side. Haven't written about it because it "seems to be working". I have about 4 different trials going on in about hives.
Sorry bout the stings… What's that inverted mason jar doing in the background of the last picture?!? 😉
Our teacher told us to put any frames you are trying to get the girls to draw out between frames that are already built out and filled, i.e. capped honey or capped brood. They won't, hopefully, want to disturb their finished comb so that should help them build out straighter.
Let me know if you try this. I am trying this and will see what the results are.
If it is capped it may just work. I will have some pictures at honey spinning time that show what happens if you alternate between drawn comb and foundation less frames (similar to checkerboarding). it is better than what they did here but I ended up with |fatcomb|skinnycomb|fatcomb|skinnycomb|………. All the way across.
Let us know what happens.
The exact same thing happened to me last week! Just 2 months after installing my first package of bees I discovered queen cups (empty) and got a swarm call that same day where I used my (only) other bottom board and lids. I rushed out to get more equipment on the chance that I'd need to do a split but my local store was sold out. They ordered what I needed but I didn't get it in time to paint it. To my relief the queen cups still looked empty this past weekend and I haven't had to split yet.
Thanks for the mention, and I love the video. Gosh, how many hives do you have now?
BTW, still groovin' on that kim chi recipe you shared. I just ate it with some eggs that a neighbor brought over today!
If you are going to feed, honey is what you should use! Thumbs up.
I work for Washington State University and provide pesticide safety education. I am working on a training module (Bee Health) for pesticide applicators to gain continuing education. I found an image of a bee with varroa mites and would like to use the image associated with a slide discussing USDA-ARS Areawide Project to Improve Honey Bee Health.
Please consider this request to use the image in my presentation.
Carol Ramsay
Carol Ramsay
Extension Pesticide Safety Education Specialist
Washington State University
PO Box 646382
Pullman, WA 99164-6382
For more program information, visit http://pep.wsu.edu
WSU Urban IPM & Pesticide Safety Education Program emphasizes personal safety, environmental protection, and effective integrated pest management in a multitude of disciplines.
That was so cool! I'm excited for them, and I'm not even a bee. I loved watching them march over to the brood. I think they will be doing much better now.
Hi Beverly, I'm a fairly new beekeeper & I was wondering if you could recommend a good place to get high quality Queens. Hope all is going very well with you.
Anita, Thank you so much. I do appreciate the knowledge and hope you have a wonderful day today.
Love your site. Your pictures are awesome!
Well, Anita, thanks for today's education. Since I was a boy (oh, some 55+ long years ago), my Mother and Grandmother had always answered my question about the striking, blue flowers as, "Oh, you mean the Scillas". They were neither botanists, nor taxonomists. After a late night search for some beek enlightenment, I stumbled upon your post. SQUILL? What in the world was this young lady talking about? Those pictures sure look like Scillas! Usually around here, in SE Wisconsin, just after the Snowdrops (Galanthus) are starting to fade, these blue beauties appear. After a quick search, I found we're both right.
As I said, Mom and Grandma weren't naturalists, and I'm sure they had no clue they were referring to a Genus. All in all, aside from sentimentality, "Scilla" falls on my ear as more poetically descriptive of their beauty.
"You say, TOMATO, and I say, TOMAHTO." Again, thanx for the education.
Queenlessnes is going around. Just began measures to remedy this situation here. I caught a queenless swarm last week. If they can hold out until Sunday I might just have a plan for them as well.
I have a cousin with Carniolans. He claims they are more aggressive, but I have never been around them. Can you let us know if the temperament of the hive changes?
I have suggestions on names for the new hives. In my garden right now the bees are all over the Borage and the Milkweed. Both would be good hive names, don't you think. I will see you at Mass Bee Field Day!
I think I have to agree with Jason about not putting a swarm trap in an existing apiary (although I've read on Linda's bees that she consistently captures swarms in one of her apiaries).
I put a hive body with old comb situated on both sides as a swarm trap in my apiary in March. Sad to say, so far, no takers. Perhaps we have managed our hives better, but our hives haven't swarmed as far as we know.
I'll be following this story with interest.
How fun! I wish we had something like this. My son is just getting started. He has one hive. This weekend he and my husband got a great deal on some equipment from a family whose beekeeping father passed away a few years a go. They are so excited to start a couple more hives. Thanks for all the info.
Wow… Looks good. Haven't had a reason to plant rhubarb yet but that looks as though it could be changing.
Nice post on a different theme… 🙂
This was a fascinating post. I unfortunately have many questions!
What is your opinion of the Taranov and Snelgrove boards?
Any way to distinguish with deformed wings from mites and from old age?
Did the teacher use the Pierco green drones frames for the mite control?
How did you get such a cool beek association? 🙂
That is a great story! I bet you have been saving that one for a while. 🙂
There aren't many people male or female who would have had the presence of mind and guts to pull something like that off. I will remember Charity Crabtree probably forever now. It is too bad that she didn't have the opportunity to have had a blog post about it!
I love this story!
Thanks for such a great blog. I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award. Here's more info http://www.schneiderpeeps.com/2012/07/versatile-blogger-award.html )
Thank you. I am glad you enjoy my blog as much as I enjoy yours. Wow, this is cool.
Congrads to each of you, well deserved!
I too have had issues with plastic foundation, but found it to be due to the stingy amount of wax they coat the foundation with. If the bees decide to chew off some of the wax, all bets are off – they won't build it up.
I had a bunch of plastic frames (undrawn). I was able to melt some wax and add another thin coating with a paintbrush and the bees drew it out just fine.
But I agree, wax foundation is best.
— Steven
I TOTALLY AGREE!!! I'm glad I never used plastic comb except those green Pierco frames as mite control, and even those I don't use anymore. My teacher, Serge Labesque, told us that the bees just don't like plastic, and so we just never used them.
My first year, I was up at Mann-Lake picking up equipment during almond pollination season, and there were beekeepers coming and going. I was waiting for them to put my order together which included wax foundation. I remember one beekeeper telling me how great and easy the all-plastic hives were. He kept trying to convince me to get plastic instead. I didn't want to, and he left thinking I was a fool.
Fool or not, the results speak for themselves, I think. The bees are happier, and they draw out comb really quick. I'll never do plastic!!
Awesome post!
i already took 10 frames from my hive for the honey, theres still 1 super on the hive with partial honey which i left, do i take all supers off to treat with apigar?what about the a second honey flow?dont the bees need the room?
Thank you very much Anita! I am enjoying checking out the other blogs listed.
I have seen much the same. There are a bunch of pictures somewhere on my Carbonite backup that show several different foundation types with both good and crazy results. Wax, heavy plastic, Duragilt, and foundationless are represented for sure.
I have had plastic and Duragilt work, but it's pot-luck. I am with ya. Sticking to foundationless for now at least. Gave the last plastic foundation, frames and all to a new beekeeper who said he wanted them. Not going to be in my hives.
Yet another great post.
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Beautiful photos. Her majesty looks quite regal.
Beautiful pictures! It is so fun to hear about others' beekeeping experiences. I hadn't know that milkweed is good for bees. I leave some of it in my veggie garden for the sake of the monarchs but now I realize that the bees will benifit too. Great name for your new hive!
WOW. Your post blew me away. The wonderful pictures and the wonderful information you have here has been the best "bee post" I've seen lately! Thanks! I'm now a new follower- and I found you on the Barn Hop. 🙂
Amazing about the wire. The line is well defined, indeed. Was the wire too loose?
As always, I enjoyed the beautiful pics of your frames and bees. That queen is a beauty!
I'll take all the plastic you have! All you need to do as posted elsewhere is give it a nice coating of beeswax and they'll drawl it out just fine. Not to say the wax foundation is not great, it is. However, I've never never have a plastic frame "blow out" on me in an extractor. Nice thing about plastic, the comb gets old, scrape it off and you have a "new" frame……
We're going through the same thing right now! Our bees swarmed on May 22nd. Turns out the bee company we order our package from accidentally sent us two queens (one in her separate package, one mixed in with the other bees). Yesterday, after several weeks of creating beautiful comb filled with honey, they packed up and left again. We still have lots of larvae, they robbed all of the honey, and took all of their sugar syrup from their feeder. Any idea what to do next?
Great blog! Made me feel a little more comforted!
I know!!! I know!!!! Though I would be cheating if I said so. Get back and give us some more beautiful pictures!!!! 🙂
Hmmm…you are in Hobbit Land learning about the pollinators there. I see those feet…:)
Finally!!! Someone I know and can follow the chronicles of a top bar hive. Can't wait to hear your wintering experience as well as see the great pictures you will have upon hive inspection. Keep us posted.
I went to that site and watched the video of Dean and Laurie. I DIG 'EM!!!!!! Treatment free and no feeding…. hrmmmm… sounds interesting.. 🙂
Aren't they one the ones that wrote The Idiot's Guide to Beekeeping?
Your TBH looks cool. I've always wanted to keep one just for the experience, but I've heard that TBH have a problem with moisture in my neck of the woods.
I've always wondered how you would expand it if your bees needed more room.
Can't seem to find the "gallery" of pix. when i click on the individual pix each one expands, that's all.
Hi I live in Kent UK, we or nobody I know has top bar here, although we all know about them always told they are too much trouble to keep, I am in ore of your bees and follow all your updates, I only wish we could come to these events with you…I shall wait patiently for any forthcoming news and follow ups on the new TBH,Such a great thread and page. I have but 3 hives in my back garden, we have just not had weather suitable for anything this year and only just begone a long awaited summer with a spring of continous rain and low temperatures, and last my hives are picking up, but not enough this year for us to take anything but leave it all for them and their overwintering, currently free of any mites ot nosema (I test myself), but undoubtedly here we shall need to treat soon, We have had swarm after swarm even with artifically swarming, and removal of queen cells, colonies just continue to want to supercede, we shall suceed in the end, Good luck and I wait with impatience. Wendy (by the way I have an Aster, Bluebell and Cowslip…)
I love the picture…you should enter it in the Mass Bee photo contest!
I want one of those hats!!!! I have always said I didn't want a tattoo, but Sam has made me at least consider the idea!!! 🙂 I looked at his site just briefly and realized I am going to need more time tonight after I get home from work. There is a lot of stuff there.
Is this conference a yearly thing? Please keep posting info about it anything and everything you have learned there. Thanks for informing us about something we may have never heard of.
Seems like many organisms need these friendly micro-organisms to flourish. Like us humans, for example, need friendly organism in our gut to help us produce the all important serotonin. Perhaps like us with our anti-biotics, all these anti-fungicides, mite-icides, and cides also harm the internal flora of the hive.
I have not seen these super hive tools. Advantages? More leverage?
Where did he get that super hive tool? I was trying to find them on the internet…
I got mine from Walter T. Kelly
Everyone told you it was impossible to keep treatment-free bees? Well, I submit myself as proof that it can be done!
I'll be excited to learn more about TBH through your eyes!
I was planning on making the trip to Mass. for this conference next year but why bother. Your coverage is so good I will just sit back and wait on the reporting… 🙂
I have seen the earnest that the bees will build comb above the brood nest when there are frames above. The magic number of three sounds like a good deal. I have been using five. Keeping two extra ones blow will make things easier since oftentimes in the summer a lot of the frames have brood and I don't want to move em.
Thanks for paying attention and passing all of this on to us!!!
When and where will Mass Bee Field Day 2013 be held so i can put it on the calendar?
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I learned two new things from your post. First of all, about feeding bees too late. I never heard that part about high humidity in winter. Next, I was always curious what Michael Bush looked liked! He's such a legend that I always wondered!
Thank you for this wonderful post. I really was so sad to learn that I could not attend. Great info for this newbee!
More and more reasons not to feed.
Another fine post… Wish I could have been there myself.
How interesting! Are they both bearding or is it one hive bearding across the two nucs? Not much happening here in our beeyard; I am thinking to the future already about over-wintering. I wonder if it is too soon. 🙂
Hello! Rhubarb and ginger look appetizing. I must try it!
Thanks for this recipe it looks amazing! What a great idea for holiday gifts! I would love to try it but I can't find pectin here. I know there is a natural way to make pectin (apple peels and seeds) but I haven't been successful at it. Do you know any recipes?
I will definitely try it! Thanks!
So now – a year later – did you end up splitting the hives again? Or merge them?
I am in the same place that you were a year ago. We got 2 hives in April. One dwindled and died – non-laying queen – or weak-laying, I am not sure. Then we were given a swarm by NYC Police Dept bee expert (!) beginning of June.
The swarm quickly drew out 10 frames – in about 10 days – but then stopped making new comb. They have nicely filled up one super, but did not expand beyond that point.
Our original hive has drawn out comb 2 supers – but then also stopped expanding. I think we might have had a big dearth, for 4-6 weeks June-July – and did not realize it.
We certainly have not gotten even one jar of honey.
2 weeks ago, we checked, and realized that both hives have almost no honey stored up – corners of the brood nest frames, and that's about it. After reading a bunch of stuff, we decided to start feeding more concentrated sugar syrup, as well as pollen patties (that I made from pollen, purchased from Dadant (at great expense,) mushed with sugar water), hoping they would build up some stores for the winter – but I was also wondering if we should dispatch the swarm queen, and merge the two hives, for the winter.
I wish we could know, in advance, what the weather will be this winter!
It's amazing to me that Sam could shake bees off a TBH bar without breaking the wax!
I need to investigate and find out if there is anything similar around here. Looks like this was a great week of events!
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Have skeps always been illegal here or is it only after the advent of all these bee diseases?
I was also fascinated by the section on queen raising. I would like to learn how to do that because I just love learning and what a skill to have. But then, is there anything about bees that isn't cool?
Love this post and shared it with our local beekeeper's association. I am definitely going to try this this winter. Thank you for sharing so much and keeping such a lovely blog.
Thank you for this timely post. I was thinking that this is something that I am going to look into for the future. I am definitely intrigued. I'd also like to invite you to link up this post to our blog hop. I think our readers that are interested in bees would just love it. ~Melissa
Did you take any pictures of the Russian queen with the broken leg? I know how hard it is to do stuff like that when you get busy, just wondering.
Don't know about everyone else, but I will be interested in hearing the results of this late split next spring. Keep us posted.
I like Warre's management method, which is almost no management. Warre emphasizes evaluating your hives with outside observation as opposed to getting in there and ripping the place apart. I am a HUGE fan.
Though I use Lang boxes, I manage in a way similar to the Warre method. In the spring I add a new deep to the bottom (making 4 deeps), and in the fall one of the "supers" I take is the top deep.
Other than the spring when I add the new deep underneath I never take the brood chamber apart. The bees tell me they like that…… I'm not crazy, I just mean they have been doing well since I have started this practice. That's how they talk to me… No different than when my wilted tomatoes tell me they really would like a rain.
Stupid regulations and state government just says we aren't allowed to use traditional Warre hives in Indiana….
Great post as always.
Well I see you got me take A pix of the me take a pix of Peter in the smoker contest pix on top of this Pg. I am the holding the camera
Just wanted to say hi and find out how things are with you. I hope all is well. 🙂
Will have to try this next time I wire a frame.
Use pliers to twist nail and tighten wire
My trip was great! We want to go back to France. I see you have been very busy. Congrats on all the awards. You are very artistic.
Would love to hear the latest on your neighborhood news.
Where can I get a Kit like what is shown above?
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Thanks for the invite Anita! This is such a great hop. I look forward to joining in when I can.~Melissa
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Anita, thanks for inviting me. I'm super excited about this hop. My son (14) is the beekeeper in the family. My husband is helping him and they are a little obsessed. I just take the pictures and use the honey.
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Hey Anita, I have a crazy question for you… Do you know if Raid Roach Foggers will harm wax foundations? We fogged our garage early this morning before going on a field trip and on the way home realized that some of my son's bee equipment is in there. I think the rest can just be scrubbed. Of course I don't want to hurt the bees or contaminate our honey but I also hate to see these foundations not to be used. Any ideas?
Bees on the roof is pretty cool, by the way.
Thanks, Anita. We had pretty much decided to throw away the foundations. Thanks for the info on getting it off of the wood surfaces. I'm just kicking myself for not being more aware.
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Hi there,
can you post the dimensions of the follower board please (upper and lower). Thank you
Another way to hold those moving screens on is by wrapping a strap around the hive body to hold it on. I hate putting tape on painted hive bodies. Do you have problems with it pulling paint off? I quit using screws as well. Just trying to keep that wood good for as long as possible.
The next time I am moving hives I am going to tell Holly that I am going to be the picture taker….. She can be the hive mover… 🙂
Hope that three deeper continues to thrive. Keep us posted.
Just ordered the nuc candy board and looking forward to it. What kind of wood do you use to make it? Does it need to be painted?
You can eliminate the hive tipping over in a truck bed by putting a pallet in the bed and ratchet strapping it to that…
Could you provide a link where such a kit is available online. I've done a little research and have had some luck finding most of the pieces and parts shown above, but would prefer to find a complete un-assembled kit such as the one you have here.
I think I missed the story on why this hive had to move.
One thing I really appreciated when I worked in professional kitchens with all guys, they sure are handy when it comes to lifting stuff.
Glad things went well with the move.
Thank you for the feedback. I wonder how rice paper would work instead of the wax paper? Just a thought….
great site, graphically stunning and info rich.
a question for you (or others) and your deck/roof hive experience…
i have a 12 x 12 second story deck with one open side and am considering putting a hive on a modified rail top which faces south. do you think since the bees are 12 feet high that my neighbors yard (and playing kids) just beyond that railing are out of harms way ?
i also use deck for gardening. will that activity disturb the bees (watering, pumps, etc)?
thanks for your insight
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If you are going to try to store the comb take the time to pick those bees out of there. Otherwise they will mold and it is no fun in the Spring. If you can preserve some of it for a while it might be wise to keep it around. You need to test for Duet…..
It has very cold here in Oregon. My girls are cold and were not eating the sugar solution sacks to get them through the winter. I will try to make the Bee candy board. I am starting a Warre hive for next spring. I have a top down bar hive now.
I will be saving a hard copy to take to some hives in March for a little CSI. Several of my hives that have died were text book examples of the scenarios you outlined.
Excellent post.
I am very happy to have this information about Beekeeping
I would like to start the same project i need more guidelines about the bees and honey.
I live in uganda where the weather is conducive for the project'
I have a big pice of land where i can put the project. thanks so much that i have now learnt somethings but i need more as I am a bigginner
thanks keepitup.
I just finished reading this and the previous post. Sorry to hear that Crocus might've died in such a horrific manner :(. The area I live in, thankfully, is so anti-chemical; it's so hard to think that municipalities spray for mosquitoes.
Fascinating what you wrote in the last post about water. I'm so against all the chems (not to mention all the chemicals from the medications that people take and then pee out) in water that I go and get water from a spring.
I agree with Jason that this list is a must have for any beekeeper.
What if you accidentally use pressure treated wood to build a top bar hive. Can you paint the inside of the hive and still use it or do I need to start over?
This strikes me as strange. Those are not emerging bees. Why are they dead face first in the brood area? If they were starving they would be like that, but not with pre-emergered brood all around. At least that is the way it seems to me. What do you think?
Great pictures but I don't envy your shoveling! This winter we've had soooooo much more precipitation than last year. I'm ready for spring.
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I love the photographs of the bees bringing in blue pollen and would like to use some of those images to illusttrate a flowers for bees project I am working on for Friends of the Earth as part of our Bee Cause Campaign. I am part of a local group within North Tyneside England, but would be grateful if you could give me permission to provide the Friends of the Earth organisation to use your photos as part of our campaign royalty free.
Many thanks.
Best Regards.
Carol Musgrove
Another great post. You are going to be the bee death specialist….. This post has been bookmarked on my computer.
True, this is not one of the greatest things to be known for, but it is a reality in bee keeping. New Keepers and those considering a jump into bee keeping need to learn this stuff too.
What do you think about this idea : If over the hive I put a queen excluder and a super and in that super I put a queen cell prepared to get it out. What will happens? Both qeens will put eggs?
Thank you
Hi Anita, great site and info, Thankyou. Question on the candy board, why the outside hole ? Would that induce robbing, and the bees of that hive seem like they eat it thru the hardware mesh. I am new to beekeeping and am interested in trying this out. Thanks again, Ken
This is a fantastic post. I just found your website and am reading through all the old posts. We are picking up our first package of bees on April 20. They'll go into a top bar hive. I have a 4 and a 2 year old. Everyone thinks I'm crazy. The kids are innocent, and my 4 year old is looking forward to them. I look forward to teaching them about the bees.
Sam was showing off his bravery… and got stung like 4 times… don't mess with the bees when they're after that camera
That smoker has seen some use
I must admit that I don't fully understand Housel Positioning. I have read about it here and there. Reading about it makes me wonder how such a high degree of order can be maintained when bees are building in the wild.
Take for instance one of my cutouts from last summer…..
I am not just being contrary. I need to learn more about this. It just seems amazing to me that they would be able to have the Y's and ^ lining up around curves and in like the UPPER LEFT of that photo where little pieces of comb are built between larger divergent combs.
What is Ms. Lusby's take on just allowing bees to make their own comb?
I am trying to find a source for small cell package bees within driving distance of Maine. Am willing to drive 3 or 4 hours one way to pick up. Anyone know where I can purchase these little beauties?
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I LOVE the idea of Hive Hosting however I live in Plymouth, MA. Do you have any contacts in this area? Thanks so much
I just wondered if you could ship bees and the kit to Ilfracombe in Devon,
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I have learned so much from your site and appreciate you in-depth photo essay on the No Treatment Conference.
Now I stumped. The Crocus Hive… Is this a Langstroth hive named Crocus or a Warre Hive named Crocus or is it a hive you have designed that is called the Crocus Hive. Please clarify.
In the meantime, I have sent a couple of links out from your No Treatment Conference blog entry. And about to copy your description of the Housal Positioning to two university apiarist because it is the most straightforward and clearly written statement I have been able to find.
Thank you for your skillful writing and your vivacious appetite for detailed infor and data on apiculture. Bravo.
By the way, my web site features my jewelry line and not bees. It will be making a slow transition to bees and my new bee venture. I'll send you an announcement when it's completed.
Thank you, Carol
I found this information very helpful. Thanks for posting it.
I have space for hive(s) and am interested in hosting. I live in West Gloucester
Our bees love peony's. we love watching them roll around in the opened flower.
Hi Anita,
I'm interested in buying some honey if you still have some. What size containers do you have and what is the cost?
I would like to buy some of your honey. Please send me details.
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Boy am I glad I found all you here.
I am a died in the wool rockie beginner.
I purchased a hive with 2 deep supers and a medium super with a peaked roof.
I also purchased a package of bees coming soon.
Now the fellow did not tell me where to put the screened thin board and the thin oval slotted board.
I read your installation on pkg. bees and very much appreciate it.
but this hive maker says the screen goes between the top med. super and the others below.
your install says put the queen bee tied between a couple of frames.
I hope someone can make things more clear for this rookie.
I'm impressed with your information about bee casts to which it is important to deal and investigate more and more on it.
Hey there! I've been reading
your weblog for some time now and finally got the courage to go ahead
and give you a shout out from Dallas Texas!
Just wanted to mention keep up the fantastic work!
Do you sell these kits you are showing here? If no, where can i find a kit for the super and the frames?
Do you know of any kind of host a hive program in Phila. I live on 2 1/2 acres on a park in Phila. We have chickens and do not use pesticides. I have two hives, but would love some mentoring and in exchange would offer our yard to set up hives. Any suggestions on where to turn in our area. Thanks. (from Waltham originally)
Hi Anita,
What a GREAT website. My neighbor just started her first bee colony and I happened upon your site in my quest for more education and information. Thanks very much for the dedication and effort that has gone into creating such a wealth of information for the "newbee"! Sorry, but i couldn't resist!
Wonderful content, informative and very fun and interesting to read.
Good luck with your hobby and new hives.
Doug B.
Eliot, Maine
My husband and I are very keen conservationists and would love to have hive in our garden to help with the decline of the bee population, not having a lot of money to spare, where could we purchase an inexpensive beginners hive? Thank you for your consideration.
I love the post and i would like to have such garden,please do you know where i could get this flowers for free or with money/purchase.i would appreciate any help on this,am thinking wouldn't this bees sting,course that is the only thing am sacred of.thanks
Liz, you can build a top bar hive yourself.
anita my online mentor! CONGRATS on your new appointment as bee inspector!!
wonderful articles and i hope to see you at the TF conference in Leominster 🙂
i HAVE REALLY ENJOYED THIS SO VERY MUCH……….PLEASE SEND MORE………AND BY THE WAY I ONLY HAVE 2 HIVES ONE OF WHICH I CAUGHT THAT MADE ME VERY HAPPY. SO NOW I AM OUT TO CATCH MORE.
I've been going through your lovely blog in preparation to get bees next spring. Your posts are so informative and I very much appreciate all the gorgeous step by step photos! Just curious, why did you freeze the wax? Isn't beeswax shelf stable at room temperature?
Congratulations on your new appointment! I can hardly wait to read more of your fascinating posts.
Looks interesting, but I don't think I would want to have bees in that kind of operation. Congrats on the new job.
This is going to be a job that provides stories for you for the rest of your life…. 🙂
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How can I purchase your honey? I desperately need local honey to cure my 5yr old son of allergies. Is the honey you sell available in "really raw", unheated, unfiltered condition?
Very neat idea! Here in Florida, we don't feed our bees much but this is a great idea for the occasional hive that needs supplemental feeding. Here's a thought though: when you strain the sugar water, use a paint strainer (located in the paint section of your hardware stores. That's what we use to strain wax from the honey. works great and would make the straining much much faster! 🙂
I've been using my own version of candy boards for a couple of years. The thing I do differently is I make a solid, plywood 'floor' to the board but have a large hole in the centre which I plug while pouring the candy. The bees move up through the large hole to feed but this design minimizes the amount of sugar falling into the hive and onto frames.
Hope this idea works for others as wel.
The plastic frames will work perfectly if you coat them in wax, otherwise the bees do not know what to do with them.
Hi Anita,
Many thanks for sharing such a great post! 🙂 Wonderful to go through it. Like the quality content , useful information and an amazing photos shared. Keep sharing post like this.
I would like to purchase some local honey, Marblehead area, to help quell my spring and fall allergies. Do you have any available for sale?
Thanks August 26th, 2013
Hi, we only use feral bees removed from human conflict situations here in LA—the BackwardsBeekeepers. We use no foundation, just start with open frames with comb guides for swarm installations. If doing a cutout, the brood combs are re-installed in the new hive body in the same order and orientation that they were removed from their original hive space. If there are large honey combs, those are fed back to the bees in a baggie feeder placed in a feeding shim on top of the frames. Housel positioning is not a issue with bees drawing their own comb or placement in cutouts. The bees have already put the cells the way they want them. Housel is for the installation of foundation bees. After the NE Treatment free conference, I finally figured this out, after fussing over what I was told I should pay attention to! Bees in the wild hives do it correctly for themselves, we don't need to try to manage that.
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Very interesting! If what you say is true, then I have learned. Chemical treatments are expensive, laborious and don't seem to work. Members of our association seem to go from one faddish practice to another, looking for a solution.
So, for the candy boards, that is 16 lbs of sugar for each hive to survive the winter?
Read his book, Top-Bar Beekeeping, solid information.
Would this candy board keep one deep of bees through the winter if they did not have any other honey stores?
Hi Anita – do you have simple easy recipe for fondant for winter feeding? Thanks.
I am a new bee keeper and I think I just made a huge mistake. I just re queened my hive bc it had been three weeks since I saw any eggs. There was plenty of uncapped larvae each week but no eggs. So I ordered a new queen. I inspected. The hive today before putting new queen in and found the old queen. I decided to re queen anyway bc my old one is three years old. But my mistake was that I didn't just put the queen cage in and leave the bees to release her, I emptied her straight in!!! Will she be ok? Have I set her up to die??
Hi Anita,
I am wondering where the entrance is on Sam's TBHs. They do not have a solid end at all, right? Just the follower boards to keep it simple? Is the entrance just a gap in the follower or a gap between bars?
My second year in bee keeping and a problem I had last winter was that some of my hives died from starvation. Some of the bees were fully formed but capped in the cell and dead. I believe they died because the bees covering them died from starvation and the capped bees died because they were chilled at least I hope thats what happened I'm just not sure. Bees on other frames were head first in cells.
I'm new as of 2013. I really value your site, as a neophyte bee keeper. My bees & I are in Nebraska. I have mostly guys here who have been doing it for a while. It's hard to ask questions w/o feeling awkward. It's good to have a different voice from a strong experienced keeper.
I'll follow the website more closely this year now that I've found you.
Happy New Year 2014
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I live near cranberry bogs on the Oregon Coast. Since you are inspecting bees in the bogs there, what exactly are you looking for? Don't the cranberry farmers spray with neonics? Is there a certain time after pollination is over that they spray?
I have a hard time asking the farmers around here…they get real defensive about it.
I agree with your footnote. We need stronger bees. By poisoning the mites, we are building stronger mites and weaker bees. We've GOT to let the bees adapt to the mites. You have to ask, how do the feral bees exist for years in the trees? They don't have humans inspecting them every couple of weeks and throwing antibiotics, sugar, or replacing their survivor queens with some import. (Russian Hygenics seem to be the rage around here). Whenever I say (at the bee meeting) get swarms, instead of package bees) for your hives because they are acclimated, the more experienced Beekeepers recommend killing the swarm queen and replacing her with a new one, one with a known history, sometimes artificially enseminated. No wonder our bees are in trouble. My mentor is into maximum honey production. He scolds me for not using fumagellin to kill the nosema that weakens the bees so you don't get as much honey. I say STOP THE BEE EXPLOITATION!!
Pat, I couldn't agree more. I run a host a hive program I
In Eugene to create pesticide free neighborhoods. I promote early swarming in Spring and it must help clean the hive of varroa with no eggs being laid. Almost all of our hives come from swarms! The tree hives die where I live but new swarms move in so it appears they don't die. Maybe some live?
Thank-you for your reference to the fumagillin research published on PLOS. I have recently subscribed to their site but had not yet seen this article. I made the decision not to treat when I began keeping bees four years ago and find this research very reassuring.
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I'm looking at starting some hives on top of buildings. Do I need to be concerned about heat or other issues from the rooftops?
Wow, scilla are one of my favorite spring flowers – plant a few more each year because they are slow to expand at first – and yet I never noticed that the pollen was blue! That does look lovely!
Love the squill photos :). We failed big time to get it to grow in the bank here so planted up a couple of big pots and it's just coming into flower now (mid-Feb at 650 feet!). Hopefully get it established soon…
I would like to purchase a yard sign….please tell me how I can do this.
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Great video!! I have lost 6hives over the years ! 1/2 were wild swarms.I am done!! I never use pesticides on anything and all that I plant in my yard has to benefit bees, us and our chickens. I just received from my sister an article on how Lowes and Home Depot's plants are sprayed with neonictides!! A gal behind me has a hive and I am seeing her hive slowly go down hill. I have also seen a steep decline in bumble,carpenter and other wild bees. My husband and I are trying to find acreage out of the sacramento valley..hopefully then I can start new hives. This has to be a main reason for bee decline! Home Depot and Lowes sell heirloom plants but I have stopped buying anything from them ..I cant believe that they dont warn us of neonictides use..a known insect killer!!!
Hi Anita,
I have a chicken and fox situation. A dead hive, two deeps and one honey super on a stand. I need to clean out the hive as I believe there is a mouse nest in the bottom honey super (that's another story). So I pulled out one frame, some of the top bars on the other frames separated, lots of honey leakage and no bees to eat it, sad. As noted I at that point pulled out just the one frame. Now, a frame dripping on my counter and honey in the hive is running into the mouse's ( probably more than one mouse) mouth, horrors. Any ideas to moving all the frames ( I found a lonely extractor for this weekend) but need to get from point A to point B with out a honey bath, contamination, lots of honey loss and a broken back. I will put 5 frames aside for the May nuc as you suggested, in my garage in a cooler (can the frames get moldy? Without air?). I plan to use a cooler to transport the frames from the hive to the extractor, any improvements on that idea is welcome. Please give detail on what to look for when determining hive death. I plan to send out a bee sample as soon as this weekend, post bad weather.
thanks ahead of reply.
Thank you for having all the complete instruction on you're site. I will be a new beekeeper this year. I have been to a basic beekeeping course; and still find some things confusing.
Thanks, Emily Jacobs
are these plants bulbs, and where can you purchase them
Great to know. I had always thought they were as unwelcome as the skunks who are waking and spraying like mad this time of year. I'm going to go down to my swamp now and look for their stinky, welcome flowers.
I had no idea that skunk cabbage was a nectar plant for my bees! Plenty of it grows behind my house, and coincidentally, I have a watercolor of it in a show next month. I researched skunk cabbage for the painting, but I thought flies pollinated it…Great to know it benefits honeybees.
Maybe they just get pollen?
Yes, I was watching them on winter aconite, last Saturday…
Congratulations on the baby and the bees!
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Though partly unplanned and partly planned your "bee abandon" practice is actually good confirmation of a beekeeping theory – that we may be fighting Nature by "over-caring" for bees and hence propagating various problems Nature would have dealt with quickly and viciously.
I am getting first two hives of my own this Spring (have built them over Winter, purchased bees, waiting…). Many things I learned from my grandfather (farmer with over 100 hives, overseas) are in sync with this line of thinking and I plan to apply those methods. One difference, though – insulation. Climate over there, in NJ where I now live and MA are similar. My grandfather have had practice I haven't seen elsewhere and will recreate with modern materials: hives (standard Langstroth type) were year-round insulated by application of thick (2cm), shellacked rope all around. His reasoning was: "that's how it have been done" by his father and his,… My guess is that this practice came about from merging over 19th and early 20th Century methods of old conical hives (where rope was insulation and structural) and new, Langstroth hives. It worked for grandpa' – Winter losses were small (10%?). No additional insulation was used but rope was on year-round.
One early item I'll take from BeverlyBees practices – I never had hives named, but my two will be using system inspired by you: Lavender and Sage.
Everything best with family addition!
Coming out of the winter in N.C. with my first hive. When I had the chance to order a spring queen, she asked me how many? Bought 2. I thought, if one is killed off, I still have the insurance. Used mess cages.., both queen acceptance in 2 days..!!
After several days, 80% of the field bees joined the main box. Two weeks have past resulting with two extremely small colonies.. (Both small colonies have several existing drawn combs now with some capped brood 3 weeks before main honey flow..)
Question: if I threw a towel over the strongest hive late in the day, would the remaining field bees do well in finding new homes..?
Overall, amazed on how adaptive this buggers are!!
Hi Anita,
how many frames of brood do you have in your strong bee hive? are they capped brood or uncapped,eggs and larvas?
I overwintered five hives and all still a live but one is very week, i would say less that 2 frames of bees.
the rest have 2 or full frames of brood but mostly uncapped.
Hi again,
how is the brood in that strong hives now? how many frames of brood do they have?
during this cold days, my hives have slowed down. there were a lot of pollen coming when the weather was sunny and warmer.
today, they just bring water
Hello Beverly Bees,
I lost two hive over the winter and found your site while looking for info on this white powder in a few cells? I plan on sending some samples out for testing.
I do not think it is the chalk brood, it looks like just a white powder filling the cells.
There are not many but has me curious, hope you may be able to shed some light or
direct me to more info?
Jon Hook
So glad to find a blog where wax foundations are used! My husband and I have disagreed in this regard with our hives (this is our first year) because no one local to us uses wax and they have all convinced him that plastic is the only way to go … so we decided to try an experiment 🙂 I have wax foundation in my hive and he has plastic in his. We shall see how they compare throughout the season. Unfortunately, all I could find locally was plain beeswax foundation (not the crimped wire kind) and I was told there was no need to wire my frames, so when we went to check on bees for the second time after hiving, a couple foundations were bowing and one had completely fallen and crumpled. We found though that the bees had already built a good amount of thick comb in that time in the now completely foundation-less frame (filling about a quarter of the frame); whereas the other hive with the plastic foundations only had a skiff of drawn out comb on about half of the foundation. I suppose it's possible that the plastic hive may just have a slower start and eventually catch up, but it was clear that the bees were able to get a faster start with even no foundation, over the plastic foundation.
That experience is what led me to start looking for instructions to wire my frames though. I was getting error messages when trying to reply to your post about that, and I did not see a tutorial for installing foundations, so I thought I would ask here: Is there a precise way to install the wax foundation after you've wired the frame? If the foundation just lies against the wires is there still risk of it falling out? And do you only use crimped wire foundations or have you also used the plain wax kind? That is what I have for my brood boxes, but will be ordering some crimped wire for my supers. Thanks!
I just hived two packages of bees on Sat, and the company that I bought them from said to release the queen after 3 days. So today is Tues, and I pulled the cork (there was no plug) and I put the queen cage down on the frames to let here out. The bees were pretty aggressive when I pulled up the queen cage, and then really pushed in the cage when I set it back on the frames. I don't want to disturb them again, but I think I might have released her too early? Any advice? I waited to release the other queen, as I am not sure if I did it right. Thanks!
I'm brand new at all of this. Just installed my first package of bees three days ago. The first thing that amazes me about learning about beekeeping is that there are so many contradictory ideas about the 'right' way to do it.
For instance, the rationale given me as to why it is important to release the queen at 3 days if she still isn't free of the cage is that the life cycle of a worker bee is about 6 weeks. The sooner the queen is out and about, the sooner that she can begin laying eggs. The hive requires a constant 'turnover' of new workers to replace ones that will die off of 'old age'.
So, since I am new at this I don't know exactly what the wrong or right of it all is – one thing I would suggest is that all the long-time beekeepers need to get together and sync up the information they are giving so it is all uniform …
Very cool blog! 🙂
My husband and I are new to beekeeping. We just picked up our first box of bees on 4/19/14. This article was very helpful. We are going to check on the Queen tomorrow (Thursday, 4/24/14) to see if it's OK for her to be in the bee box.
Again, thanks for the great article.
I am so happy to see other people that are willing to try new things in order to help our bees. I also use foundationless wedge top frames without waxing, with great success. I break the wedge and nail it to make a starter strip like Michael Bush describes. I have even gone as far as just using the wedge top bars alone in my NUCs and swarm traps. I do not wire the frames and have had a few issues, but nothing that a few rubber bands around a frame can't typically fix. My bees have tought me wood workig skills and to be creative with my troubleshooting. I've learned so much from books and the internet, but so much much more from the bees themselves. Thank you for your willingnes to try new ideas and for all the great pictures of your success.
Hello, can you just dig up existing skunk cabbage and replant? I would like to add to my property for the bees! I am new to this site. Thanks! Bettina
Just found your site – congrats on overwintering your bees so well. I just got my first swarm after a ten year gap in beekeeping.
We got a swarm from a feral colony that has been living continuously in the same roof space for at least 10 years. Optimistic for good genetics for a treatment free approach. I think that genetics are a key factor for people trying treatment free, and swarms from long standing feral colonies are a great way to start.
I hope your kids get into bees as well – I'm looking forward to taking my little boy to see the bees when he is a bit older.
Well my swarm seem to have settled in nicely. They are drawing out some comb at least, but I haven't opened them up to see how the queen is laying.
I've also been offered a job doing a cutout on some bees living in a stables nearby. Been a while since I did one, and last time I wasn't trying to preserve the bees. Hopefully it will all go smoothly.
I just setup a website advertising my service doing swarm removals. Already lined up a couple of cutouts from it, but no nice easy swarm as yet.
My husband are new to beekeeping….this is our first year. I can tell you stories about how terrified I have been of bees all my life…but this adventure has changed me. I actually drove home with our first box of 4,000-6,000 bees in my car 2 weeks ago! I go out every morning before work to check on *the ladies* and hope for good weather for them to *go shopping*. I found your site a few days ago on a Google search for *what to see on the first hive inspection* and I have been totally absorbed since then reading all your adventures. This one broke my heart. I feel I have learned so much from your website, and I wish you continued success with your bees……………..and with your new baby!! How exciting! I have so many of your posts yet to read. Thank you so much for this site! Adair and Jerry Renning
Hi Anita,
I just found your site a couple of weeks ago. I did a Google search for *what to look for on first hive inspection* and found YOU! What a wonderful resource your site is for new beekeepers like us! My husband and I (with a little help from a friend) hived our first package of bees that I won at the SEMBA conference in March. Our second arrives this weekend. We are very excited, and trying to learn all we can. Thanks again for the wonderful site. And congratulations on your new baby boy!!
Anita, have you ever seen a swarm on the ground? We installed our second (ever) package of bees last night and this afternoon there was a pile of bees on the ground, about 6′ from the hive. It was about the size of a medium pizza pan. We had gone out with the plan of checking our first (ever) hive, which was about 1 month old, so we decided to do that first, then check the pile 'o' bees. In the meantime we called our wonderful local mentors. Hive 1 queen is a *layin' machine* according to our mentor, and all appeared well. We went back to the pile and they were still swarming around on the ground. Our mentors came over and helped move the bees back to the hive, one-hive-tool-full at a time. Then dug the sod with the remaining bees up and moved it in front of the hive. We checked at dusk and it appears that they are camping out under the hive. Have you ever heard of such a thing?
Thanks so much for your reply Anita. Our *bee school teacher* came over today w/a nuc and some drawn comb from an old hive of hers. The put the nuc right next to the ball 'o' bees on the ground and they walked, strolled, sauntered in. Took about an hour Jerry said. So the nuc and the hive # 2 are right next to each other and all the bees are in one or the other. No bees on the ground. Our teacher thinks maybe the queen was not done mating and flew out and the others followed. (We saw the queen in the box, marked w/green. We replaced the cork w/marshmallow. They did not see the queen today. We hope she is in either the nuc or the hive # 2, which we are calling *Drama Queen*
Is it possible for two hives to merge on their own? I have to hive one weak the other strong
The weak when recently had a queen death and there were few bees left. While I was tending to my bees the weaker colony just took everything and left, and went into the stronger hive
It was not a swarm, a robbing, or an attack they just acted like they were part of the other colony. And there was no bees attacking each other or bees that died of being stung or bit
Is this possible?
I was wondering what cell size you are using in your foundation?
how to purchase your honey?
I was looking for a web site that would tell me how to re-queen a queen less bee hive. I just did my three week inspection of my packaged bees and I could not find any capped bees, I did see lots of capped honey and lots of honey not capped, I saw no drones and I saw what looked like two supercedure cells and what looked like two totally black drone or queens, what I observed it looked like the workers made two queen cells but all they have now are two unfertilized queens, if you want to call them that. I have heard of some ways on how you can re-queen a hive without getting a store bought queen. One is to bring over from another hive some capped brood and drone in hopes that the drones will fertilize the unfertilized queen, if its possible?
I may have run into the same problem. I collected a small swarm at work last week, right out on the road in front of the shop (surprise!). A fellow from across the streeet said there was a larger swarm about a week and a half before behind their shop that he said they chased off. My qualifications for beekeeping are… well, I am "YouTube certified", so I have absolutely no frame of reference for the sounds a hive will make sans queen. I only built my first hive in February, and these are my first bees. I was able to collect and place the swarm without any protective gear and no stings. They have stayed in the top bar hive for 5 days now. I have seen bees with their bums in the air, but not sure if this is the behavior you described. I have opened the hive, but not moved the bars the bees are on. I dont see any evidence of comb. Any comments?
On inspection Monday evening, 6 days since collection I did see some comb being drawn out. There was about 3+ inches on one bar and about a quarter size on another. I will be seeking a local source for a queen through the Olympia Beekeepers.
Hi Anita,
I started two colonies from packages April 5th, they are both now queenless. I only have these two colonies, so tomorrow I am going to try combing these two colonies using the newspaper method. I will then introduce two deep frames of brood and a new queen. I'm following methods outlined in "First Lessons In Beekeeping", but I was wondering if you had any advice to add.
I appreciate your time!
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I'm going to share this around on my Facebook since I live in MA. Hoping to help you save some more swarms!
Hi Anita,
Did anyone ever identify the white stuff? Because we have a cell of the same looking stuff in one of our hives.
Hi Anita
I think I know what the white colour is.
The bee larva in the cell pupates and spins a little cocoon around herself. Usually the bees on the comb add a wax capping on the outside of the cell just before this happens. But maybe your bees were a bit out of sync and you got a glimpse of the cocoon with the pupa inside it.
I'm a new beekeeper and want to go foundationless but I'm also wondering about extraction. Have you heard of anyone using the extractor with foundationless but wired frames and having success?
Thanks for sharing all of your information! It has been very helpful to me. I don't have bees yet, but want to someday. But I do make soap, and have a friend with bees who gave me a huge bunch of honeycomb that he cut off a hive that didn't make it through the winter. Can I still use the honey? Or is it bad? There are some parts that look totally normal, honey tastes fine to me, just from a little dab of it that got on my hands from moving it. I wasn't sure how to process it, there is a LOT of honey in it. But after reading this, I'm assuming I can just use the same straining method you did. There are some other parts that are darker. Very dark brown in color. Does that mean there is something wrong with it? Thanks for all of your help!!!
I used plastic when I first started out. It seemed to be okay. Maybe I bought wax coated. The last 2 years they started doing the bridge comb dance like you show above.
So I bought some wood frames and wired wax foundation. My goodness, quite a lot of time it takes me to make 20 frames. And I want to go from 6 to 12 hives. Not likely. I can reasonably make enough for 2 more hives each year.
Then I found 2 frames in storage that were annihilated by moths. Now I get to buy more foundation, pull out nails and re-wire.
I'm still on the fence. I like wax way better, but wax coated plastic might be the only practical way to get up to 100 hives before retirement.
Excellent post!
I would so love to take that job on!!! But living in Geneva il would be a bad commute, right. I want to have a bee hive of my own next spring. Need help getting started
I only live about an hour away from Beverly (I'm on the South Shore) — I wish I didn't already work full-time because this would be a great opportunity! I will pass the word around on Facebook 🙂
I have a huge nest of bees not sure if they are honey or not. I'm located in Rowley, ma. The whole side of my shop plus the crawl space attic is full. Do not want to spray in case they are honey bees do you think you can help
Well, we are nearing the end of our first year of beekeeping and your site has been an amazing resource of information!! The latest is how to clean the honeycomb! We have pulled 3 frames from our first ever hive and have wax to clean! We are so excited!We got just over 3 pints of honey per frame! We never expected to claim any honey this first year. And in the process we have wax to process! I used your method this morning and it worked just as described! I now have several layers of purified wax….dunno what I'll do w/it yet, but it's cool to look and, and to thank the bees for! Thanks for all your hard work keeping this blog going!
I swapped over to plastic frames, coated them with wax and put them in the supers on my two hives. The bees seemed to build on them no problem, and things went along well for a while.
However, before I got the chance to harvest any honey, they were hit by small hive beetle attack. Now the queens were old, and the hives possibly under a bit of strain rebuilding on the plastic frames, but I believe the frames with their little slot openings all along the edges of the frames, gave the SHB somewhere to breed and escape the bees repelling actions.
These slots were crammed with lava from the SHB and I think this exacerbated the attack and subsequent failure of the hives. Unless someone produces a solid plastic frame (absolutely NO cavities for SHB), I will not be interested in wasting my money again. Back to teh old way for me.
what do you do during catastrophic nectar collapse or pollen collapse ??
a commercial beekeeper in Australia told me if he is willing to feed pollen he can make a honey crop about 200 kilos or so pre hive. If he does not do this the bees will die for there is no natural pollen to be had.
PS. I have no way of proving this statement.
do you feed honey from other hives if available ?
do you move bees to a better location for a nectar flow if a catastrophic nectar collapses is all around you ??
I do believe honey is the best over wintering food available if you have it .
I just can not let the bees starve to death.
are you running three deep boxes for a brood chamber ??
if so how is that working out for you ??
I do hope the best for you and your family and your adventures in beekeeping.
if I use a deep configuration two deeps for winter since I went to Russian bees about 6 years ago need a lot less honey for winter feed.(had Itwinter. for about 50 years) With Italians I needed about 12 to 14 frames with Russians 10 to 12 frames one good thing I like about Russians is when they start laying a brood in about January they will follow the honey stores what I mean is the Queen will lay eggs towards the honeyside of the frame not on the empty side they do not stay still like most Italian I ever had and can only move on the comb on a warm day to get extra food and or pollen.
one thing you might like to incorporate in your fall emanagement
on about september first I will inspector hive and look for two frames of pollen I will take those two frames of pollen put them into the top box at number 3 and number 7 the bees will top them off With honey and capping and them.in the springtime bees will be in the top box most of the time and be right near the pollen honey mix combs this has worked well for me over the years.
I do know in northern Vermont and New Hampshire a lot of beekeepers who do use 3 deep configurations for winter.
I use all 10 frame equipment
Hi – thanks for this treatment-free article. I'm a first year beekeeper and had wanted to go this route but with just one hive and pretty high mite levels, I felt treating (with formic acid) was the right thing to do. I still do, in this particular case, but I am concerned with resistance. I did a little research and couldn't really find any info that bees were developing resistance to formic acid. I did see one statement somewhere that said they have been using it in Europe for 30-40 years without any signs of resistance, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of studies or scientific info out there. Do you have any knowledge of this? Clearly resistance is occurring with some of the chemical pesticides.
I have been beekeeping since May 18th 2014. Yeah, 4 months.
I have NOT treated my hives. I did put Diatomaceous earth
around my hives and I am allowing fireants to buld in my bee yard.
I just returned from the GBA (Georgia Beekeepers Assoc) Fall meeting and was told I must treat if I want my Bees to live.
My bees are local. A Russian/Italian mix. They seem to be doing well. I have beatles. I kill them by hand and I guess I will wait and see if my girls make it through the winter.
I live in Northwest Georgia. Our winters are on the mild side.
Is there anything else I could possibly do?
I am not applying treatments to my hives. I do feed sugar water when needed. My girls are Russian/Italian and they are doing good so far.
Thanks for providing information on Treatment Fee Beekeeping.
This is my first year with 4 hives. I am going to make these candy boards this weekend. Did you use 16pounds for each hive? Thanks!
Hi, Did the trap ever catch anything? If it got a swarm, how did it do with the "Let M Bee" method? I've tried bait hives the last 2 years in MA with no luck 🙁
If someone is keeping bees in a place where "catastrophic" nectar shortages occur it's a problem with hive placement. A treatment free person would have to concede that it was a bad location…. that's what I'd have to do.
In my first year I used all plastic, and it was a huge nectar year so the bees drew everything out nicely. This year was a big drought year and the bees did everything but draw out on the plastic (which I now was putting in wood frames). I will try both dipping the foundation in wax next year AND all wax foundation, and make a decision at that point. Let us hope we get more nectar in 2015 to help all that along~
Anita – thanks so much for your great blog. My Loving Bride & I are in our first year of beekeeping. I just put on my first candyboard using instructions you posted here. Our third hive – a split from earlier in the summer – is rather weak and they're already hanging out on top of the frames of the top super. I figured they've already exhausted their meager stores or are otherwise starved. My own Loving Bride is a biologist also (how we got into this) and we're both pleased to read about your "treatment free" approach. Take care. Keep up the good work. (Northern Virginia)
Great post on your candy board, why the vinegar as a ingredient in the recipe? Probably a stupid question , but was concerned that the vinegar might be Bad for the bees.
Have you ever used lemon grass oil as a feeding stimulant . It's marketed by Dadant as a product called Honetbee Healthy .Its primary ingredient is Lemon Grass Oil. Very expensive to buy !! Sence the main ingredient is the oil from the lemon grass , why couldn't you make it yourself. Any ideas on this ?
Thanks for taking time to answer my question on the vinegar
Every year I have a large percentage of my Italian queens never make it back to the mating nuks . Ive tried different shapes of structures ,colors or patternes , landmarks .
Spreading out the nuks , facing them differnt directions helps some.
Is this just a problem with the itallian queens?
It's been said that honeybees don't see red. Witch of the colors in the ultra violet color spectrum do they see clearly? Any ideas on this problem?
I have snowdrops in a bed 1/3 of a mile from the hive. Will they travel that far when it's cold or do I need to plant some closer to the hive? This is the end of my first year with bees. I lost a hive in the fall and hoping my other hive will hang on until spring. All I have are entrance feeders. A man that lives by me and has raised bees for 40 yrs. told me he puts sugar water out in a chicken waterer for days when it gets warm. (I live in NW Arkansas–zone 7 where we get 60- 70 degrees for a few days in the winter and then plummet to the 30's.) I did this only to have a small cluster die INSIDE the waterer. I guess I'm beginning to panic. Looking forward to reading more from your website. Brenda
Looks like an amazing experience! Thanks for posting these wonderful photos and for the information. I found the comments about Housel positioning really interesting. Also, I've long been convinced that the sole purpose of drones is not to eat and mate. Bees spend a lot of resources and work raising them, so they have to be important to the survival of the colony — not just for passing on genetic material — but for their overall health and well-being. I really thought the remarks on how they may provide a protection against parasites fascinating. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Anita,
What type of wire are you using for the board? Is there any concern of the sugar reacting with the metal?
Thank you so much for all your help!
Wow! Great sight! Thus will be my first year as a bee keeper, and your site has some awesome information with pictures! What a great help! Your site will definitely be a great reference as I start this journey!
Thanks for sharing. Yesterday I received from a friend, a big jar of pure, local honey, from around Lake Okeechobee, and a bucketful of dripping comb seemingly half-filled with honey as well. To get the honey from the small chunks of comb, I took an old clean honey jar, put a funnel in it, and squeezed the pieces of comb into the funnel, one chunk at a time. It was time consuming and messy, but I got a little over a half-pound done, I think. Not entirely sure of amounts, I've got about 10 times the amount I squeezed, to go. What I'm not sure of, is what to do with all the wax. I took the wax I squeezed, and put it in the funnel, over a SOLO cup to drip overnight. My A/C has it about 67F inside right now. Is that too cool for it to drain honey? Or should I just take the wax I have and refine it, to be mixed with more refined wax later? I know wax has a seemingly endless shelf life, as does properly stored honey. I love this stuff!
First off..LOVE your site! It is helpful in so many ways and has got me excited about really digging into the idea of beekeeping. I would like to begin my first hive this year, however we are currently purchasing a home and will not be moved in til mid April. I live in Ohio and the winter has been beyond cruel this year. Would June be too late to start a hive that can produce enough food to sustain itself through the winter months?
Thanks for this wonderful discussion.
I am picking up two packages of Italian bees in April up here in Maine and I think I'm going to try alternating wired foundation less frames with frames containing small cell foundation. Seems like a good way to get started. Yes?
I wonder, how did you add the wired supports for your foundationless frames? Or is there a vendor who sells them like that? I like the added stability. I think I'd feel terrible if comb fell apart on me.
Thanks for the great site and information. I'm starting two new hives on foundation less and will follow your lead by putting a few frames w/ foundation to start. Nice pics, and nice looking bees!
Hi Beverly;
Thank you for such an informative site. I am taking your advice this year and mixing 1/2 foundation divided by 1/2 foundation less frames. I was wondering what your take on your idea is after the fact. From the pics, it looks like it has worked out!
Hi Anita,
Could you tell me about your decision to put WWFs in with you FFs, and how you decided to alternate them?
Alternately, could you direct me to pages or videos that talk about this? I'm new but determined to go foundationless. The amount of information on the internet is amazing but weeding through it is tough.
I was considering Ross Conrad's vertical guide strips on the sides suggestion…and no full foundation at all.
Thank you for all you share on your site. Leecia
Anita, Very sorry, the answer is in your post, I had failed to read it all…
Beverly, lovely pictures but don't envy the snow. My husband and I are starting out with our first hives this spring. We are in Minnesota and I noticed you did not have your hives wrapped like everyone here seems to do. How do you overwinter your bees?
love this story! I would of done the same. My family has cherry orchards and we get bees every spring at the end of their stay on the orchard we get so many queen less swarms all the time because the beekeeping companies pick the bees up in the middle of the day leaving thousands of ladies behind. It's heartbreaking to hear and see.
I have 4 new packages as of a couple weeks ago. I used a drawn frame in the center, two partially drawn combs on either side of that then alternated wax coated plastic foundation with crimp wired wax foundation frames to fill out the boxes for all four.
I notice now two weeks later that the bees are moving ahead on the wax with wire foundation mush faster than the plastic with wax, in all 4 hives.
In my area, most prefer wax over plastic, and many opt for foundationless. I think it depends on who the active beeks in the local clubs are mentoring people to do.
One think that can help prevent the drone/burrs that you had on plastic is to use a hole saw to remove a couple of circles of the plastic from the frame to allow the bees to build drone comb if needed. If I can get the plastic drawn, I will use it, but if its still there in a couple of weeks, I will replace with wax/wire.
So we just put our package of bees and shook them into the hive. (this is our first). We placed the queen in her cage with a marshmellow as suggested by the apairy between the combs. So when should we check on her. I also read that when putting a package of bees in a hive it is best to "lock" them in for a day or so. Will they leave if I didn't lock them in and How will the escapiees get home?
New to beekeeping and have just started with a package and a nuc. to compare their progress. Third day in.
Nuc seems fine and is humming along nicely…very quiet and sedate hive, which I think must be a good thing.
The package hive is more noisy and busy looking which I would guess is normal since the Queen has only been in a few days and is (probably) still in her cage and not accepted.
I am feeding both hives using 'Dadant Ultimate Hive Feeder' which I put on top of the brood box using an empty deep as a cover, but a quick peek shows me that they have eaten a lot more of the syrup than I expected, so I have to refill sometime today or tomorrow.
Would it be better to now place to feeder outside, on top of the telescoping cover, (or somewhere near the front of the hive) so I won't disturb the hive as much, or would this simply encourage more problems with raiders and ants?
I would like to buy some raw honey if you still have some available? Please let me know. Thanks.
Thank you! Is there a list anywhere of treatment free beekeepers in Massachusetts who sell their honey? I would like to support them, though I am in western massachusetts.
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Hi! I came across your above post while researching honey bound hives. Did you just use a gravity pail feeder to feed the thawed honey back when they needed it? Thanks for your time 🙂
Any idea where the orange pollen comes from? What kind of plant/flower? My bees are bringing in the same thing right now.
Hi. What is the purpose of putting the wax in cheesecloth? Can't I just dumb some brood comb in the water and boil without it?
where can i get the entrance cover for my swarm trap. is it plastic or metal?
I have been using the waxed plastic foundation from Mann Lake for years (Rite-Cell) and have no trouble with it. My bees build it out very quickly and after a few years of use I can scrape it off, clean it with a stiff brush and re-coat with wax by hot dipping. Occasionally I would get the Pierco foundation in Nuc hive swaps and found that with the Pierco, quite often the comb would be snaked onto the foundation. I have as of late told customers who want to buy a bee nuc from me that I no longer accept the Pierco foundation. Around here folks sell nucs by trading out full frames of bees for empty fresh frames of comb, they bring their own nuc box. It keeps the cost of the nuc down a little. Plastic frames are a big no-no for me because they give the small hive beetles too many places to hide within the edges of the frame.
Nice capture! Looking forward to bagging a swarm myself one day.
Do you leave the bucket there for a while to attract the stray bees?
I have a number of videos of my first hive which is foundationless. Why start wrong? I was told it makes things harder for a new beekeeper but so far so good. I did not use any wax at all and the bees seemed to know just what to do. The comb is a little off in places but I think they started putting comb on the one wall first then went to the frames for some reason and it made a ripple in the frame comb. They started on the east side of the box and not in the middle. I'm about 5 weeks in and it seems like the bees no longer have much honey or pollen in the brood chamber, I think its all they can do to keep up. I do have many new bees and used uncapped brood chambers…. not sure if the queen has laid more in them or not. I need to inspect better this weekend.
I am a brand new beek. I bought a new hive with all foundationless frames. I bought a 4 frame nuc. The nuc had foundation. When I combined the nuc into my hive I spaced the 4 frames with foundation less frames in between. I'm worried about the bees building comb other then I'm the shape of the frames… I applied bees wax to the wedge to hopefully show the bees where to start. Is there anything else I should do? Also its only been a few days since I combined them, is it to soon to inspect? I don't want to overly stress them while the hive is weak and growing… Any advice would be much appreciated! You can email me too or I'll check this thread (firstname.lastname@example.com) thank you for any advice!
Geez, you guys make it look so easy!
Hi! I just bought a jar of the Sweet Summer Wildflower crystallized honey (#501) at the Beverly Farmers Market opening day earlier today. This honey is delicious! I hope to see the other honey types to try there next week too, i'm hooked 🙂
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So cool watching them march right in like that! All it took was some frames of honey in the nuc box? Did you uncap them first?
Beverly: great swarm pictures, thanks for sharing .
Been a very crazy spring – mid summer swarm seasion hear in Tulsa ok.
I've had more extractions this year from homes with rock or brick exterior. Rescuing the queen with all the nurse bees inside the exterior wall is very expensive for the home owner .
Removing them would require all the rock or brick to be torn off that section of the outside wall.
I am able to use my bee vac for the worker bees , but the queen- nurse bees and all the honey comb has to be sealed inside the wall cavity. What a sad ending to all the bees left inside the wall.
If there are any ideas on ways to Incourage the queen to abandon the bee cavity , please share your ideas or thoughts.
I've even tried to talk the home owner into leaving the bees alone if possible. Normally that's not a option.
Thanks all and may your beekeeping be blessed.
I did that also and caught only the foraging bees in a house where the owner would not allow me to remove them.I later went back to the site and the bees are still there working away!Apparently the queen and hose bees had eggs and they all have survived.I plan on doing a trap out this spring to get them out of the house.
I have heard that eventually all bees ail come out and if you leave the hive box there for a good while the bees will establish a home in it and later rob out the stores they had before the trap out. I am going to try that method this spring!
what is that wacky cone cause from? We just open up our hive today and there was some of those wacky cones and they had tunnel built with cone too; which seemed kinda of weird. Is this normal, if not what should I be doing? Thanks
Interesting scenery for swarm retrieval. Know anyone around there that would let you put a trap up….. 🙂
I have two bog commercial size hive both are filled with brood and uncapped honey should i add new box and honey to top and small brood on top trying to have bees capp the uncapped honey and stop urge to swarm.or put supperand queen extractor and then big frame on top thanks natural bee keeper keith
Hello, I have a hive with laying workers, introduced a mated queen ,in a cage but the workers killed her, so as now it's a bit late in the season I'm going to amalgamate with the newspaper method, is that all I can do as the hive is weak and be prone to wasp attack even with wasp traps
wow! Bees are amazing creatures. Is there a chance another swarm might be attracted to the same spot again?
This is incredible! This is my aunt's house. I think you need to mention that this is located on the THIRD floor. Thank you for giving these girls a new home.
Do you know if herbicide sprayed under powerlines nearby could kill a hive? My whole hive is dead, and herbicide was sprayed beneath powerlines, not on our property, but across the road from my hive.
Love the advice, and I try to add nothing to the hive but am curious what you do for wax moth prevention l, especially in stored frames this time of year.
I am a new beekeeper in Cranbrook, BC. I just harvested my first batch of honey and I ended up on your site while looking for directions for making a candyboard for winter. You have many great posts and I will be looking through all of them in the next few months. Thanks for all of the info!
My bees are bearding this evening, it's 66 degrees, so I went online to maybe find out why… After reading the above, I checked the humidity and it's 71%, after a rain.
I shouldn't worry so much as they know what to do!
I live in Ohio I have been told it is too cold here for a top bar hive, I had built one but set up a Langstroth hive. I had spent $60.00 to build the Langstroth hive but didn't want to take a chance on killing the bees I had caught. A well known bee man told me I was making a mistake that top bar hives are not warm enough for Ohio weather. Also that the bees won't move to the food in the winter and will die. Is this true? I am disable and the top bar hive would sure make it easier for me. I can't lift heavy weight I have a grandson that has been helping me this year but he is soon to leave for the service.
By the way you have one of the most informative bee sites I have found. The pictures are so well taken they really help. Keep up the good work.
There is the (IMHO valid) argument to start a small colony with any leftover swarm queens and use simple natural selection to see which ones prosper.
Also this helps the long term survival of the honey bee, as those queens might well be more resistant to parasites etc but are never given the chance to thrive.
In your candy board recipe what's the vinagar'pupose?
what I did, was moved a hive about 1/2 a meter,off the original stand , and put a nuc on the where it was, I took two frames of bees with honey and eggs and 1 frame of honey ,and one drawn frame, put them in the nuc ,the nuc was put on the where the hive was moved from, this was done in the middle of the day, when the bees come back from work they go in the nuc, leave it for around 2 days, before you put the new queen in. I also feed the bees 50- 50 sugar & water,best off luck. ron
yes it works ron
I'm a newbie just wondering why sugar cubes couldn't be used
How do you get your bees to dtaw out 4.9 i use5.1lost alot befor they took to it i have italian and allamerican cross hope you can gibe some advice i mever use chems.thanls
We just started with bees this spring, and I found your web site a month or two ago while looking for candy board recipes. I love that this one doesn't require "cooking" and appreciate your clear, step-by-step directions. I built our wired frames a few weeks ago and made the candy boards today (included pollen patties). They turned out great! Thanks!
This is a great tutorial! I've seen lots of different recipes cook-no cook- adding pollen, bee healthy, even chamomile tea! Have you tried adding any of these or tweaking the recipe?
I'm told you can use that leftover cheesecloth to start your smoker.
Could you point me to any resources regarding starting an urban hive? Also, how likley is it to be able to move a hive to a different secrion of the city once its established. I'm a renter but have always had a love for honeybees and would love to take the hive with if I could. Right now I have a whole garden full of thistle that the bees loved this year! It was a treat to watch them. Since you said that if you see honeybees, someone around you has a hive, I'd love to know where it is!
Thanks for the knowledge.
Thanks for a very informative website. Being new to the bee feeding, I have been planning on building a rim feeder and then putting a layer of newspaper over the frames then pouring in sugar. I thought about misting some water over the sugar to keep it intact. I have a hive blanket ready to install above this. Do you think this would work?
Hello, I used both your hardware design (mostly) and recipe last year. Worked great, both colonies I have not only survived very harsh and long winter in North NJ but started "explosively" in Spring. I used 8lbs of sugar for each hive. With paper below (below during candy making, in hive paper side faced up). Bees ate it all, including patty inside. I am about to make this year's candy tomorrow. I am contemplating between 9 and 11 lbs per hive. Why tomorrow?-I am following the same timing method I used last year: placing candy on when weather prognosis predicts a whole week with high temperatures of the day below 50F.
Now to the small differences from your design: on one side (top when in hive, bottom when pouring candy in) is board with standard circular hole in the middle; while candy is poured in ,the hole is temporarily closed by a standard tall cylindrical 1lbs honey jar; above board (when in hive) one side has standard size hive entrance notch; part of the system is insulated telescopic cover on top of it (which I use year-round).
Everything best and thanks for the idea and recipe.
Great article great reviews!. Last week i setup a deep super on top of brood box. I decided to try out going foundationless, my frames are wired. So i cut a strip of wax out of my extra foundations and glued strips to the top bars of the frames (10 frames). Today and i went to check the outcome of the experiment.
Two observations:1. Bees made a couple of holes on the strips about their size.
Any thoughts on why they made the holes?
2.reading the q&a here i noticed i put all 10 frames of the super foundationless and did not put any reference made comb next to any. So i learned that i have give them an example or pattern close by, interchanged i read above. I saw the bees started to make comb, but they started on the bottom bar of the frames going up and a little bit diagonally.
Just wanted to share my experience. Thanks for the good read.
Great information, I have for years seen bees in my back acreage on skunk cabbage, A new lesson for me and I thank you for posting it.
what a great site. I get my first package of bees tomorrow!
excited…but a little nervous too!
I live in southern Indiana…and have a top bar hive.
Thanks for sharing your expertise.