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Hi, is it too late to make a couple of splits? If I can find a queen I can introduce her or let the split make one. My issue is a get a hive or two running and one generally dies - probably from overuse of pesticides as I live in a residential neighborhood. I lose a perfectly strong high quickly. Th...

Hi,

Two questions I would like to see what the answers would be.

(1) is it too late do do a split, add a new queen to the split and feed?
(2) is it too late to get rid of a queen and replace her with a new one for a weak hive?

I doubt the weak hive will survive the winter.

thanks

Thanks Jacobs.I will see about grabbing the light color for a melt. That is what everyone seems to like. A second melt with the dark I used the plastic frames a couple of times. Are more beekeepers moving that direction as I notice you said you re-coat with the dark wax??? It was just one of those w...

Here is an example of "darK' frames from a dead hive. These would reduce down to dark wax ????? Somewhere back I saw some questions that indicated every couple of years you should rotate the wax....maybe I heard this at the meetings. ANyway, I am a terrible beekeeper - 8 hives going into "...

Thanks Jacobs, It sounds like the dark (almost black) comb has little value so I will discard it. The capping and light wax I will melt down. It is a learning process....my first attemp years back had a medium green color... since then, I only have melted down the light wax and cappings. Many thanks.

My bees don't seem to like "dark wax" and as I rotate these out. Will the dark wax melt down to normal colored wax???? I don't want to jsut get rid of it. Also, as it becomes "brittle" - it is still good to melt down. Unfortuantely I lost all my bees this winter. ( they ate thems...

Thank you. This is very helpful.

I appreciate your expertise. The hives are strong. I might try with a queen in hand first to see what happens.

Buying nucs and package bees in the Spring is expensive.

No one ever said you would make much at this.. boy. I stay in the red..

Many thanks.

First, I seemed to have gotten better so my couple of hives made it through winter. Only 20% loss this year for me. Nucs - I must be doing something really wrong. Two attempts so far. I have a couple of strong hives and the goal is to make a nuc or two using the strong hives for a couple of frames. ...

Hi...A beekeeper told me 12 a pint so that is what I will go for.

Just wanted to know the going rate for pints or quarts here???? Or per pound....

Also, a question for the wax folks....old frames which are dark brown, or ones which the moths get - are these still used to make wax in a solar heater or ??? or discard the comb.

Great..thanks for the direction Wally. Much appreciated.

Hi, I got two nucs today. Great. The issue is the nuc frames are the plastic foundation versus my normal wax foundations. Will the bees care or should I order some of the same type frames/

Thanks for the answers.

If it makes you feel any better Jacobs - my losses are generally 60 % or higher. I have thought about giving this hobby up and moving to another one.

Thanks for the information.

Thanks Wally. That makes me feel better. The most I have had is two - once if I remember correctly.

Do you guys use Bee-Healthy as a supplement ???? When feeding ???

Thanks for the information. This is really the first year I have not lost over 50% of my bees so I am quite thrilled. I thought I was way to early for supers. Several hives appear very busy, especially in the morning hours, less in the afternoon. I checked them - there is not a tremendous amount so ...

When is the proper time in the Piedmont - near Randolph to put honey supers on????

Some of my hives look really active in the morning and not so much in the afternoon.

thanks as always

All the information is useful - I have more surviving hives this year than the last several years.

Frames - so I have a number of frames with waxmoth sacks all over them. Can a beekeeper remove these, spray them with clorox and re-use these or add them to the burn pile? The only solace for me was I left them outside to freeze in the winter. Wax - after a number of years, it turns black and brown ...

When is it considered too late in our year to consider splitting hives? The goal is to have a number of new hives for next year. I would be adding a queen if they are still available for purchase.

I tried the Jacob's cinnamon oil as a test and will report back with the results. Thanks Jacob and Wally for the responses.

Happy Easter to the beekeepers

I have several hives on a farm which attract carpenter ants. All the hives kicked the bucket over the winter but I have gotten a swarm back into one. Others await new packages when they are available. The little ants march up the outside to the inner cover, whenever I work the bees, I knock the ants...