Beginner course

[Kurt Bower]

We kicked off another year with our annual beginner course last night!
I estimate approximately 45 people in attendance and an absolutely fantastic group of people.
It just gets better every year.

Kurt

[p51d]

I ttok the course and enjoyed it. How do I schedule and show I can open a hive or what is necessary to complete the certification?

AFter the above pos where all the bees died and I am not so sure I should do this or continue.

thanks.

[Guest]

We've all lost hives. Don't let it get you down. If you want to try to save that queen, although doubtful, I can let you have a few frames of bees and brood. It is probably best to just clean your equip. and treat for wax moth and start again next spring. It isn't the first hive lost to unknown reasons and probably won't be the last. It is a nice enough hobby to take another chance rather than give it up.

[Kurt Bower]

I think it is sometimes more distressing to only have a colony or two and lose them all than to have several and lose a few. Either beekeeper loses the same amount but one has nothing versus the other who still has bees.
GCBA is all about working with beginners and helping them to succeed. Everyone needs some advice sometime.

Hope you stick it out. Next year is just around the corner.
If you dont already come to the monthly meetings; please do! You can also audit the course in the spring if you like.

Kurt

[Guest]

Thanks for the offer on a couple of frames as that was generous. I definitely appreciate that.

I was told they starved to death. Maybe true. Maybe not. There was alot of activity so I left them alone and they had build out 9 of the frames a month / 6 weeks ago. Said there is little to have them feed on this time of year.

Tell me if this works. I was told to bust up some moth balls and place in the bottom of the hive to keep the wax moths out and tape the entrance shut. Then try again in the spring.

The frames look good ..just no honey. (or now bees...)

It is killer thinking I was doing everything right and then see the "graveyard" in the front of the hive.. I guess it if was not my only hive it would not be so bad.

[Kurt Bower]

Drawn comb is a very valuable commodity when it comes to beekeeping.
I am a little leary of moth balls. The real stuff is "Para Moth" which contains paradichloribenzyne. If I spelled it right. Moth balls are different and I am unsure of their real value.
You can also simply place the comb in the box outside and leave it exposed to the elements. I simply cross stack all my supers to let the light and air in. Wax moths dont like these conditions but love a sealed box. I keep mine under a roof outside; not inside a building. Some like to hang them on a wall. Again... light and air is the key.

[Wally]

>>>It is killer thinking I was doing everything right and then see the "graveyard" in the front of the hive.<<<

That may be your answer..A starved hive will not have a pile of dead bees outside the hive. Only a pesticide kill will do that.
It sounds like someone covered their garden with Sevin dust, or similar, and wiped out your bees.

PS... Where do you live?

[p51d]

In guilford county. Two experienced bee keepers said they died because I starved them. I got bees from Brushy Mountain late in the year....there was honey and pollen, then according to those guys, there is nothing this time of year....itwas not anything left in the hive.

I probably screwed up but I told the two other beginners who started with me , they checked and are fine.

One of the beekeepers told me my queen might have perished as well since there was a new unmarked one in the hive. They kept her alive till the end....