honey bees, how to start

[reinbeau]

Yes, that syrup is lighter, but it more replicates spring nectar. Heavier syrup is used for winter feed, less water to evaporate as they store it.

If you sharply rap the box of bees (quickly hit it on the bottom) the bees will fall away from both the queen cage and the syrup can. It disorients them, too, so they're less likely to fly. People try to be so gentle, which is nice, but not always effective. We've done many, many installs and no one has ever been stung. Quick, smooth, efficient movements keep things going and keep the bees calmer and contained.

 

[me&thegals]

Thanks so much, Ann and SimpleLife!

I didn't get stung until I went back out at night to see how many left-behind bees had gotten out of their shipping box. Some on the ground crawled up my legs (today I wore rubber bands!) and I think I crushed them when moving and caused them to sting me. Pleasantly not very painful.

I checked them this morning. Any idea on how quickly my syrup jars should go down? I have the jar feeders. When I exposed only the feeder portion, there are only tiny drips on the feeder "pan" that the jar empties into. Does this sound right? I'm afraid of starving the hive through sheer inexperience. It would be easy for me to access the jars and thin the concoction down since I think it is a bit too concentrated.

Lots of action around the hive and a huge swarm of them inside each hive around the queen. I'm assuming this means each queen is alive. So far, it just looks like chaos to my untrained eye.

It is so wonderful to have these experiences with our kids, isn't it. TSL--that's just great about your son! I'm so glad there are other kids out there so excited about something in nature. I can't remember the title of the book--maybe The Nature Deficit?--but it's all about how incredibly out of touch most children are with the natural world around them. I smile to think about what my kids must be gabbing about at school today Their classrooms will learn more about bees than they ever wanted to know. Priceless.

I've sure got my bee eyes on now. I am seeing EVERY flower from 50 feet down to earth and wondering, "Is this a kind my bees can use?"

It's so great to be able to share this experience with SS folks. Thanks for all your input! I'll try to get more to short-story length on these posts rather than novella each and every time I have to tell you all about what "my girls" are up to

me&thegals

 

[the simple life]

I am glad its working well for you. Don't worry about rambling on about the bees, share your experiences, thats the fun of it.
I didn't notice a big difference in the syrup level at first either but then once they got going it changed.
You could try the baggie feeders as well, you want to just do a one gallon size bag along with the jar feeder to try it first to see if you like that method.
Just dribble a little out when you lay the bag on the bottom of the hive so they know its there.
If a little spills they will clean it up.
Do you have your entrance reducer in place? You don't want to have too much of an entrance for the bees to have to guard in the beginning.
Whenever you are feeding there is a chance for robbery and a new colony isn't ready to protect themselves fully.
Once they are built up a little more you can give them more of an entrance so you don't have a traffic jam, you will be able to tell by watching them.

 

[me&thegals]

Yes, I have a reducer. I also heard or read that the jar feeders induce robbing, so that's why I cut down my false back board and kept it inside the hive.

Do you think that removing the cover and sliding it forward to expose only the feeder part of the hive is as distressing to the bees and taking the whole thing off? I'd hate to cause them to swarm just because I couldn't leave them alone!

I CAN see them and the jar through the observation window, though. I'm going to go back out when it has warmed up more and see if anything has changed. If they don't seem to be eating by tomorrow, I think I will add some warm water to the jar and see if that helps by thinning it down.

Now, need to hunt down some great skin and lip care recipes using bee's wax

 

[the simple life]

Since you are only opening the part of the hive that is excluded from the bees it should be fine.
You just don't want to go into their area for a couple of days when you check the queen and then you don't bother them for at least a week.

If you are still worried about the jar feeder you can add a baggie of syrup to the floor of the hive when you check to see if the queen was released.

Since its only been a day you won't see much of a difference in the level of the feeder.
I didn't notice the syrup level go down in my feeder for a couple of days and I wondered about it too but figured it would take more time for the bees to consume enough to make a difference in the level.Then they started going gangbusters building comb and taking syrup.

You can check the feeder to make sure its working okay today as long as you don't pull the bars out of their area.
It will give you peace of mind.

 

[me&thegals]

The feeder board had a few tiny drips on it. Is this the way it should look? I was expecting a bit more pooling...

 

[the simple life]

What type of feeder are you using, is it the boardman feeder?
If it is then they will go in between the slit to get to the holes in the inner cover.
They usually just go up to the holes and get the water from there, its not suppose to drip out.

I meant to add that you should also have a nearby water source so that they do not bother your neighbors' pools, ponds or just any old water they have laying around.
If you can fill a birdbath and drop sticks or pieces of cork in it to for them to stand on and keep them from drowning or take one of those jar feeders you have and fill it with water and put it nearby it will be fine.
They will even go to a drippy faucet, just give them anything that they won't drown in.
Once they find a pool its hard to get them to stay away from it.

 

[me&thegals]

Thanks for reminding me I keep meaning to get the chicken waterer out there with pebbles in the lip to keep them from drowning. It's drizzling right now, so I'm assuming they can catch drips here and there.

ETA: I thought chick TV was a time vanisher. Bee TV is going to get my fired some my at-home job!

They are eating, and voraciously. The entrances are just a mad house, bees in and out like crazy. I peeked through the observation window and saw them walking right into the feeder and (I'm assuming) eating from the cap. So, mystery solved. The ratio is okay. A few are even foraging already.

One hive is almost completely swarmed around the queen. The other has a small split that is hovering from the bars in the front of the hive. Could they be building a brood nest already?

 

[the simple life]

It all sounds good. Glad the feeder worked out.
You will probably see them festooning across the bars where they hang off of eachother like living chains, its really amazing to see that.
They will be doing that while they are building comb and its really cool to see so thats what they are probably doing right now.

 

[me&thegals]

Took the family out for bee TV last night Those wonderful, wonderful gals were already doing orientation flights and coming back loaded with pollen. One bee faced into the entrance and fanned with all its might--cooling off the hive? Others were dragging out dead bees and carrying them away. The quart jar was down 1/4-1/3. Too cool!

Natalie--You mentioned feeding empty bars into the middle of the brood nest once they get to that stage. Can you explain why? I know I need to find good comb and then feed extra bars into the middle of those to encourage more straight comb for honey.

Do you have any good websites (I already found Michael Bush's and another top bar blog) or books exclusively for top bar hives?

me&thegals