71 replies to this topic

[ConcordAntman]

The saga continues. After installing the replacement queen and her entourage, I’d planned to check she was released from her cage in about 3 days but chilly weather postponed my inspection until the 20th. Three frames were covered with workers and uncapped comb with honey and pollen. 

 

 

 

To my shock, I checked the cage to find the queen and all her attendants dead!! At this point, beekeeping seemed much more humbling than ant keeping! My vendor assured me they’d replace the queen but recommended I scrupulously inspect my hive for an unmarked queen that had been inadvertently introduced into the package. My first two inspections had admittedly been cursory. I hadn’t expected a second queen and the built out comb within view was all uncapped and either empty or partially filled with honey or bee bread. I had no idea an unmarked queen was afoot. 

 

As instructed, I suited up, fired up my smoker (actually it’s kinda fun), and opened the hive. To my surprise and relief, BROOD!! I pulled 2 of the 3 bee covered frames to find drawn comb with uncapped honey, pollen, larva with Royal jelly, and capped brood cells. This was clearly a lesson on making sure that when you open your hive, know what you’re looking for, and make it a thorough inspection. Thankfully, my initial foray into beekeeping wasn’t yet a failure! 

 

And so, ConcordAntman’s bee castle survives. Will he be able to protect his charges from the scourge of Varroa and Tracheal mites or the dreaded Small Hive Beetle? Stay tuned…

[Ernteameise]

Great that it appears that you indeed have a surviving queen and that there is new brood.

I keep my fingers crossed for this venture!

[DRpepper]

yeah you kinda jumped the gun on the new queens lol. 

[ConcordAntman]

‘Nother noob error    
 

DRpepper, do you use any hive management software?

[DRpepper]

‘Nother noob error    
 

DRpepper, do you use any hive management software?

I use a notepad and just write a few notes down for each hive. 

 

‘Nother noob error    
 

DRpepper, do you use any hive management software?

I use a notepad and just write a few notes down for each hive. Are you going to mark your queen? this year is red.  

 

[ConcordAntman]

I’ve got the marking cage and stuff but I still haven’t identified the queen yet. I inferred her existence from the presence of brood and capped worker cells. As to the hive management software, I thought it’d be more accessible than a logbook and the ability to add pictures is kinda cool. I’m finding the free apps are a bit limited. I might end up subscribing to HiveTracks. It’s easy to log inspections and document findings. We’ll see. 

[ConcordAntman]

We’ve been away for a week babysitting grandchildren so I was anxious to see how my hive was doing. My beekeeping instructor connected me with a neighbor of ours that had kept bees but had two absconded hives. Amazingly, she recently went out to her dormant hive to find that a swarm had chosen it as their new digs. How unusual that a swarm chooses a hive over a tree!

 

This week’s inspection was delayed by bad weather. Last Friday was our first day this spring in the 70’s. I got carried away and forgot to take pictures. I’d gotten about 10 days out of a gallon of 1:1 nectar and had refilled the top feeder just before we left. I was a bit alarmed to see it nearly dry when I opened the hive. Otherwise things seem a tad slow. There’s 3 of 8 frames filled. The same number as last week but they’re much more filled out than previously. There was active foraging, there were all stages of brood with capped cells, no odors and only a few ants (I’ll need to better isolate the hive stand). I plan to make my inspections weekly and keep the feeder topped up until we get a good nectar flow. I’m hoping that a full feeder and flowers in bloom will make for a burgeoning population. Till next time!

[rptraut]

It's been awhile since I kept bees, but that that dead queen doesn't look very "queen like" to me. Her shrunken abdomen makes me wonder if, for some reason, the workers weren't feeding her or perhaps she was infertile.
RPT

[ConcordAntman]

It's been awhile since I kept bees, but that that dead queen doesn't look very "queen like" to me. Her shrunken abdomen makes me wonder if, for some reason, the workers weren't feeding her or perhaps she was infertile.
RPT

Don’t know what to say other than all three queens I’ve gotten (two of them marked ) have all looked the same. They’ve had tapered abdomens and were larger than the workers. I can easily say that it’ll take me a while to be able to pick out an unmarked queen in the colony!

[DRpepper]

It's been awhile since I kept bees, but that that dead queen doesn't look very "queen like" to me. Her shrunken abdomen makes me wonder if, for some reason, the workers weren't feeding her or perhaps she was infertile.
RPT

queens kinda dry up a lot after they are killed... so there gaster shrinks a lot 

[ConcordAntman]

Mother’s Day celebration and a 4:30 am birding trip delayed this post. Last Saturday, I inspected my hive. Even after adding a gallon of nectar, the top feeder was again dry. I’m going up to a gallon and a half and keeping my inspections weekly. 

 

The hive is slowly growing. Just 4 of 8 frames are covered so there’s not explosive growth. No sign of disease so far. 

 

I’ve learned some techniques to address hive pathogens. First is a trap for the Small Hive Beetle. This beetle eats honey and pollen then lays eggs in the hive and defecates in the honey supply causing it to ferment. The beetle’s larva also eat honey, pollen, bee eggs, and larva before dropping to the ground to pupate. The lure for the trap is a simple mix:

1 tsp Baking Yeast

2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar

1 Tbsp Raw Honey

1 Cup Water

I poured the mixture into a a reusable fly trap and hung it near my hive. So far it seems to be working.

 

 

Next is a natural remedy for mite infestation and viral infections in the hive. Oxalic acid is a known treatment for tracheal mite infestation but it’s highly toxic to humans when vaporized for hive management. Rhubarb leaves are high in oxalic acid but also toxic to humans when ingested. Placing a leaf on the frames of your brood box allows the bees to chew the leaf and ingest enough oxalic acid to decrease the mite load in the colony without the risk of toxicity for the beekeeper. The shot below was from a hive inspection I attended at a nearby Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary with 16 hives. 
 

 

Finally, there’s the naturopathic Reishi or Chaga mushroom mixture that when ingested by bees, is reported to decrease viral load. I add 1 Tbsp of ground Reishi mushroom per quart of water and mix 2 quarts per gallon of 1:1 nectar in my top feeder. The hives at the wildlife sanctuary are all fed this mixture and maintain viral and mite counts lower than untreated hives. I’m game to see if these methods are as successful for my hive. That’s all till next time!

 

[ConcordAntman]

Rainy weather was forecast for today so I did my inspection yesterday before the bad weather blew in. I got set for my inspection with my smoker fired up, a sprayer with a 2 quarts of 1:1 nectar mixed with 2 tablespoons of Reishi tea, a gallon of 1:1 nectar, 2 quarts of Reishi “tea”, and a rhubarb leaf.

 

After 6 days, there was still nectar in my top feeder along with a half-dozen drowned bees and Carpenter ants. There must be enough local bloom to support a decent nectar flow. I may have to rethink my feeding strategy and figure out how to screen out the ants. 

 

My bees clearly didn’t take the introductory bee architecture course! All the drawn frames are stuck together with bridged comb. Any attempt to inspect an individual frame, tears the comb, spilling honey and brood. If you look closely at the circular burr comb, I might have inadvertently caught my “stowaway” queen in the act of laying!

 

 

 

I didn’t pull any of the drawn frames, but I sprayed the un-drawn frames with a 1:1 nectar/Reishi mushroom “tea” mixture, placed a rhubarb leaf on the frames, topped up my top feeder, and closed the hive.

 

I removed the entry excluder and used it to partially prop up the outer hive cover to promote hive ventilation but discourage ants from entering. I’ll reassess how this worked at next week’s inspection. See you next time. 

 

[ConcordAntman]

I’m not due for another’s inspection for another three days but I seem never at a loss for drama. It just happens that my beekeeping instructor put me in contact with a neighbor who is also a novice beekeeper. Last week I helped her add a brood box to a previously dormant hive that was inhabited by a wild swarm. Three days ago, she called to say that she thought her newly acquired hive was about to swarm again!

 

I thought this odd since it couldn’t have been due to overcrowding. The box we’d just added was untouched. Sure enough, 48 hours later they swarmed!

 

 

Before attempting to catch the swarm, with the welcome help of Mel our beekeeping instructor, we inspected the old “newly occupied” hive. Honey, bee bread, brood, and full frames in 2 of the 3 boxes with evidence of swarm cells. We inverted the boxes, placing the empty box between the two full boxes, closed the hive and turned to catching the swarm. The capture and transfer proceeded without a hitch!

 

 

 

 

What luck! My neighbor went from a dormant hive last winter to acquiring 2 wild hives for free!!

 

On a more mundane housekeeping note, the Small Hive Beetle trap I’d fashioned works and appeared to be an all-purpose trap. I’ll fill you all in after my next inspection. See, ya!

 

 

 

 

[ConcordAntman]

Amazingly, last Thursday my neighbor has had a third swarm from her hive! We captured it and gave it to the nearby wildlife sanctuary. 

 

 

Edited by ConcordAntman, June 14 2023 - 6:55 PM.

[UtahAnts]

How often do colonies usually swarm? And it appears they like to swarm in the late spring or is it a year-round event?

[ConcordAntman]

From what I understand, you’re right, it’s usually a late spring event prompted by overcrowding or some defect the bees perceive in the hive. My neighbor has several acres of land and we’re surrounded by farmland. There’s ample nectar and pollen so her hives are flourishing. Even with adding a box to her hive, there was enough population growth to induce a swarm.

Edited by ConcordAntman, June 14 2023 - 7:14 PM.

[ConcordAntman]

I’m behind 2 inspections to report on so there’s quite a bit to share! When I last posted, I had rejiggered my hive ventilation in an attempt to keep Carpenter ants out of the top feeder. Well, at my last inspection in May, it proved to be an epic fail. I managed to go from ants in a dry hive to ants in a hive wet with condensation! I also found that my bees have their own ideas on where to place their comb. I’d wondered about the circular comb atop the frames on the bottom box. 
 

 

With all the condensation under the inner cover, I mistook the white material on the screen of the top feeder as mold. When I emptied and lifted the feeder, I found 4 frames worth of comb there rather than filling out the frames of the bottom box. This confirmed for me that my bees get an A for degree of difficulty in management and an F in architecture!

 

So now, I have to solve for poor hive ventilation and an ant invasion of my top feeder. Including the newfound comb under the top feeder, I counted he bottom box as fully built out so, I added a box, refilled and placed the feeder on top and reverted to using the entry limiter to prop the outer cover for ventilation. In an attempt to prevent ants from climbing up into the hive, I placed vegetable oil and water filled “ant moats” around the legs of my hive stand.
 

 

 

 

DON’T DO THIS AT HOME, as it was another epic fail! Over the next 72 hours, I scooped handfuls of drowned bees from the front two moats and still managed to have Carpenter ants in under the inner cover and in the top feeder. At least the hive was dry!

 

 

 

I’ll finish up with where things stand now in part two…

 

[liamsantics]

hope everything works out. if you have a 3d printer or know someone with one there are things you can print for hives to keep ants out.

[ConcordAntman]

I try not to open my hive any more frequently than once every 7-10 days unless there’s a need to check and/or fill the top feeder. I did my most recent inspection 4 days ago and was reasonably pleased. I had drained and removed the ”ant moats” 72 hours after I’d placed them and painted the upper margin of the hive stand with a thick band of Vaseline petroleum jelly. On opening the hive, it was dry but I still had ants in the feeder though nowhere else. At this point, I think I’ll live with that. 
 

 

 

There were workers on all the frames of the newest box though when I looked through to the bottom box, it was still only half built out. There was whiting on many of the frames of the new box but only this scant amount of comb on two frames. 

 

Satisfied that I wasn’t facing a massive die-off from some toxin, I topped off the feeder and buttoned things up. Till next time, BCNU!

 

 

[Ernteameise]

Oh wow!

You really got your work cut out with this!

This was really interesting to read.

Also, while these ant moats were quite ingenious, I am wondering if some glue paper (which you use in an orchard to prevent some pests climbing trees) might be practical? Or maybe the bees would get themselves caught in there, too?

Also, do the bees not fight the ants? They will prevent them plundering the hive, right?

I am continuing to follow this exciting story and the new developments.