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No wonder they aren't as interested in the honey water
Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 4:38 pm
by Jacobs
Odd flight behavior of bees in front of one of my home hives was the tipoff--this hive didn't make it. My other hives are in the process of helping themselves. I did remove one medium (estimate about 40 pounds of honey) yesterday, but left 2 mediums with some honey and pollen for the other bees to take. This time of year I am not so worried about SHB or wax moth problems on the unprotected comb. I'll take the remaining hive down long before they can do damage.
Re: No wonder they aren't as interested in the honey water
Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:09 pm
by Wally
I've heard a number of beeks say they lost hives with a lot of honey left. I'm wondering why. Nosema cerranae, maybe?
Re: No wonder they aren't as interested in the honey water
Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:36 pm
by Jacobs
I would be surprised if that were the case with this hive. This hive swarmed in early June. The queen produced following the swarming was not the best, but it was a descendent of the 2009 bee tree hive, so I thought I would take a chance at overwintering it. I have her grandmother in a hive beside this one and her mother in a hive in Franklinville. Hopefully they will both overwinter. The original bee tree queen was a prolific brood producer. Her descendents have not been as good. I am thinking I may want to keep the line going as a source of relatively low brood producing queens for potential use in the observation hive. Slower laying means fewer times having to remove frames to prevent overcrowding.
Re: No wonder they aren't as interested in the honey water
Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 4:35 pm
by WannaBee1
What is the 2009 bee tree hive?
Re: No wonder they aren't as interested in the honey water
Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 6:16 pm
by Wally
Re: No wonder they aren't as interested in the honey water
Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:08 am
by Jacobs
And here is the early history of the 2009 bee tree from the original posts in this board.
http://www.guilfordbeekeepers.org/commu ... needs+help
I try and keep track of the queen source for my hives so that I can keep some genetic diversity at various hive locations and also so I can try and raise some queens from hives I like for various reasons.
Re: No wonder they aren't as interested in the honey water
Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:21 am
by WannaBee1
Wow, the threads and photos of the 2009 bee tree hive are fascinating. Please let us "newbees" know when and if something like this takes place again. I'd love to be involved in the process—or just watch and learn.
Re: No wonder they aren't as interested in the honey water
Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 6:57 pm
by Jacobs
One more deadout after the cold snap. This was a swarm from last year that requeened late in the season and then dwindled to a point that it was not worth combining with another hive. The others I looked at today were active and had decent stores judging by the tipping weight. The first dead out is still feeding bees and is getting lighter.