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westMI New Bee
Joined: 23 May 2014 Posts: 2 Location: Ludington MI
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2014 11:37 pm Post subject: beginner- first hive |
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Greetings! Brand new beekeeper here using a top bar hive built on the chandler plans with minor modifications (of course)
I ordered a package during winter and picked it up May 12. After driving all over MI with it in my car (a long story) I got home that early evening and the weather was quite nice so I put the bees in the hive. I did the partial boring of the candy plug in the queen cage and pinned it to the top bar. The next three days the weather took a turn for the chilly and didn't get much above 40 and in the 30s at night (frost 2 mornings). Needless to say I was a little worried about the bees as they were unable to break their cluster to take any food.. They seemed to come through it ok and the first semi nice afternoon after that I checked the queen cage and she had been released. got the cage out and let them get to their business. In the next few days the consumption of the sugar water seemed to increase and I noticed several bees coming back to the hive with pollen. Very encouraging. Currently I am away on a business trip that I left on weds. tuesday evening I checked thte progress of the comb building as I was concerned that a cross comb issue would be bad if I was away for 2 weeks. The comb that they are building is straight so no worries so far. there is a good bit of comb on the first three bars and a tiny bit on the forth. Anyhow The weather forecast looks good fro the next week so I am hoping that the bees continue on as they are doing. One thing I will do when I get back is verify that the queen is doing her thing in there somewhere which I wasn't able to do before I left. Can't wait to see whats going on when I get back. I left 2 quart sized feeders filled for them for while I'm away. I hope they are finding plenty out and about by the time I get back... here are some pics and a short video-->
Ok no pics and video I need to post 4 more times before i am allowed... |
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westMI New Bee
Joined: 23 May 2014 Posts: 2 Location: Ludington MI
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Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 2:40 am Post subject: |
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One thing I was wondering about is how you decide when to open up more access holes? I originally had one open, but before I left I opened a second one as there seemed to be a lot of traffic jams with just the one open.. |
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Dexter's shed Scout Bee
Joined: 16 May 2014 Posts: 307 Location: Grays, Essex, UK
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Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 6:11 am Post subject: |
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westMI wrote: | One thing I was wondering about is how you decide when to open up more access holes? I originally had one open, but before I left I opened a second one as there seemed to be a lot of traffic jams with just the one open.. |
think you just answered your own question |
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Quality Top Bar Hives by Andrew Vidler
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Conserving wild bees
Research suggests that bumble bee boxes have a very low success rate in actually attracting bees into them. We find that if you create an environment where first of all you can attract mice inside, such as a pile of stones, a drystone wall, paving slabs with intentionally made cavities underneath, this will increase the success rate.
Most bumble bee species need a dry space about the size a football, with a narrow entrance tunnel approximately 2cm in diameter and 20 cm long. Most species nest underground along the base of a linear feature such as a hedge or wall. Sites need to be sheltered and out of direct sunlight.
There is a spectacular display of wild bee hotels here
More about bumblebees and solitary bees here
Information about the Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
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Barefoot Beekeeper Podcast
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4th Edition paperback now available from Lulu.com
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