Guilfordbeekeepers.org

Finished this trapout at least a few weeks back. A couple of weeks after removing the cone and the last box of bees I went back and found a window sill full of bees acting pretty much at home. I figured this was still an active hive so I put the cone back on and while doing so most if not all of the...

Jacobs wrote: I would not try and make a split this late in the season unless I had access to a supply of mated queens..... Three brood cycles would require approx 63 days so it should provide a good supply of young bees to over winter the hive. How did you enjoy EAS? I had a blast when it was held ...

Well it turns out the operating manual that was sent was for a different refractometer. The folks at opticfactory were very nice and easy to communicate with but we were not able to work out the operating manual. They have offered a full refund and return shipping. SO the unit is on its way back. In...

Got my new PC and its nice having full time access to a computer again. Got the Refractometer today and am not all that impressed. It does not have a glass cover plate, it does use distilled water for calibration at 68 degrees F. So it cannot be calibrated until the distilled water and refractometer...

It does sound ok. It would be nice to hear that eggs and or larvae were seen indicating that the queen is still present. Would echo what Rob wrote about taking advantage of the available mentors.

I decided to go with this one for $97.77 it has: * Scale Range: 10%-33% Water * Divisions: 0.10% Water * Accuracy: +/- 0.20% Water 5 years warranty comes with storage case, manual, screw driver and pipette. Glass optics and cover plate. Uses water for calibration and has ATC. I can't say it s any be...

I would not have recognized Mr. Bush from the photo.
It would have been nice to hear Mr. Bush and maybe get my book autographed.

Thanks Doug,
I also got a flyer in the mail with that refractometer for $65. It does not appear to have Automatic Temperature Compensation (ATC) and I am not sure how important it is to have ATC if we are just doing one sample.
If any one has any comments I would appreciate it.

Sorry your only hive didn't make it.
Yellow jackets seem to feed on the dead bees and the hornets seem to pick off a bee at time from what I have seen around my hives.
Maybe next year you can start two hives and then if one doesent make it, it only hurts half as much.

Doug,
Which refractometer did you get?

Rob,
I have heard the same thing, maybe from the same source, that if a frame is uncapped give it a good shake and if nectar comes out its not ready and if none comes out its good to extract. A refractometer sounds like a good idea.

Mike, Someone stealing a hive is not bad luck that is just sorry *** folks that do not respect other peoples property. There is a nice write up in the Times news on the cutout so, congratulations on making it into the newspaper and keeping bees and beekeepers in the news. http://www.thetimesnews.com...

I will be heading to the State Beekeepers meeting July 12-14, 2012. Would be glad to pick up any called in/paid for orders that I can deliver to the next meeting or you can pick up at my house. Also willing to pick up any small requests for stuff that might be for sale on site. Just coordinate with ...

I was watching for pollen but did not see any on the bees I observed entering the church.

Have two pecan trees in the back yard and have checked on them a few times during the day but have not seen any bees around them.

Joe and I removed the second box of bees from the trapout on June 19. I observed about a bee every minute entering and exiting the church so there are a few bees still in the church wall. I am guessing the hive outside did not rob the hive in the wall because there was still nectar available. My pla...

Stopped by the church today and it looked like a few bees were checking out the wall entrance.

Having it down pat is usually when it turns around and bites me.

So always open to comments or suggestions.

Laying worker eggs, 3 to 6 per cell, on side of cell, not on bottom. Yep, that is what I was looking for but these were single eggs on the bottom of the cell and it has been about 3 weeks since the queen cell hatched so a good time frame. What bothered me was that they were in the outside frame of t...

Thanks Wally, just trying to do the the things that you taught me. Why would the new queen move into the wall? I have a full box of bees with a queen cell, so my concern is a swarm moving back into the wall. I should remove that hive and move another hive in to rob the wall, but a new beek needs a q...

We removed the cone today (Sunday), would have done it sooner but have been out of town again. We had an Inspection camera and was able to get maybe a foot inside the wall and viewed some cone with pollen and some empty cone as well as a few bees. I was in the hive Saturday and found eggs and larvae...