So I hived my bees....

[Iceblink]

I went and picked up my package of bees on friday afternoon. We were forecast to have rain and thunderstorms all day, which didn't happen, it was rainy in the morning, then nice all afternoon.

When I got home (3 hour drive) I figured I would hive them on friday evening, since if we don't have a storm one day, it's usually on the next day, and I didn't want my bees to have to hang out in the package for 3 days.

Everything was going alright, I had the hive set up, my frame feeder filled, the extra frames removed, and was just starting to pry the feeder can out when a mini tornado whips up out of no where. The first few bees that emerged were blown away. I put the queen cage in the hive and dumped as many bees in as I could, but any bees that weren't in the main cluster were blown away.

Yesterday I went out there and there were about 100 dead bees all around the hive, I was so bummed that I had killed my brand new bees. I didn't see any live bees, but I didn't open up the hive either. There had been quite a few dead in the package too.

Today when I checked there are a few flying around, and a few more hanging out at the entrance, but it's really cold and windy today, and there really isn't anything in bloom yet.

I really hope they will do alright, I've been researching beekeeping for a couple years now, and I can't believe that when it came time to actually start, everything went so wrong.

 

[FarmerDenise]

Oh, that stinks!!! What a disappointment!!
I really hope they will manage to hang in there and succeed!
Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

 

[big brown horse]

Hi Iceblink,

I am so sorry about your bees. Thats a real bummer.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed too.

(I love your new member title. Is it new or did I miss something again?)

 

[dragonlaurel]

I looked about bee packages online, and they said that having a bunch of dead bees in the bottom of the box is normal and to contact them if it is more than a 1 inch layer. It was probably shipping stress. Still discouraging though.

Hope some of the lost ones found their way back. They would still have the same group scent, and should notice each other buzzing around. Any weaker ones probably got weeded out in the beginning so what's left may turn into a very strong hive. (fingers crossed)

 

[bibliophile birds]

i've never used frame feeders, so i don't know how well they work. they do seem like a hassle, just from what i've seen. we use the Miller type feeders

these are super easy to fill and clean since they just sit on top of your supers. ours are plastic (because we bought them), but it looks super easy to build from the image above.

some of the bees that got blown away will probably find their way home, as dragonlaurel said. i know it's a blow for things to go wrong right at the beginning, but i'm sure they will pull through. if you've got bees at the entrance that means they've accepted the hive and aren't going to just up and leave. they've taken possession of it and are guarding it already. that's a really good sign. so that's something to celebrate!

don't give up!

 

[bibliophile birds]

also, the very best advice i could give a new beek would be to start keeping records right now. before i was really in charge of the bees, no one bothered to keep records. they would just observe the bees and think they would remember it for next time. we could never keep up with ANYTHING.

my suggestion is to get a 3 ring binder and take it with you every time you inspect the bees. write down how active they were, how much sugar solution was in the feeders, how much comb/brood they had, if you saw the queen, even what the weather/temp was like. that way, you will notice the patterns that can help you save the hive. i can now compare records from the past 2 years and know that a colony is about to swarm before it happens or that they are stressed from some environmental factor that i can help with. i even take pictures every time i open each hive.

if you are interested, i've made up some record sheets that i would be happy to share. just let me know and PM me your email and i'll send them your way!

 

[Iceblink]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I knew there was a huge amount I didn't know, and a huge gap between 'researched' knowledge and 'hands on' knowledge, but I just realized how big that gap really is.

B Birds - I would love to see your record templates. I keep pretty through informal records, but an organized way to keep them would be pretty sweet.

Oh, and I plan on using the top feeders eventually, the teacher of the beekeeping class I took said that the frame feeders are the best for the first few weeks in this area, and since I am such a newbee
I thought I would go with that, just for now. The feeder in your pic does look easy to make, I might try to build one.


Bee - if you see this thread, since you ordered your bees from the same place, have you received your confirmation and queen intro sheet? Are you going to use the marshmallow method? I didn't, but now I wish I had. If you do, I'd be interested in finding out how it goes.

 

[reinbeau]

By 'frame feeder' do you mean a division board feeder? You have to feed, feed, feed until the flow starts, and the trees in your area start to bloom so they can gather pollen.

Also, how are you handling youe queen?

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I knew there was a huge amount I didn't know, and a huge gap between 'researched' knowledge and 'hands on' knowledge, but I just realized how big that gap really is.

B Birds - I would love to see your record templates. I keep pretty through informal records, but an organized way to keep them would be pretty sweet.

Oh, and I plan on using the top feeders eventually, the teacher of the beekeeping class I took said that the frame feeders are the best for the first few weeks in this area, and since I am such a newbee
I thought I would go with that, just for now. The feeder in your pic does look easy to make, I might try to build one.


Bee - if you see this thread, since you ordered your bees from the same place, have you received your confirmation and queen intro sheet? Are you going to use the marshmallow method? I didn't, but now I wish I had. If you do, I'd be interested in finding out how it goes.

I have received confirmation but not the queen intro sheet....can you describe it? I vaguely remember this marshmallow thingy from all the reading I've done but cannot remember the details. Can you tell us more?

Since I'm using a top bar hive, I'm not sure if hiving the bees and releasing the queen will be a different prospect. When we had bees when I was growing up, the bee came in a cage with a candied wall that you exposed to the workers. By the time they ate through the wall, they were familiar with their queen. Maybe that's the old-timey method now?

 

[Occamstazer]

Awww, I'm sorry!
I'd probably cry like a toddler if that happened to me.