What your seeing is more than likely your winter bees that have hatched, as long as you haven’t killed your queen by rolling her you will be fine. Keep feeding 2 to 1
they got robbed out by the comb fragments on the landing board just freeze the frames and start ove4r the remaining bees will drift to the other hive..
First, only my second year so you could fill a library with what I don’t know. So thanks for everyone’s thoughts. No queen cells so I’m not sure they swarmed. Second, I didn’t see the activity that would’ve indicated robbing the last couple weeks. I think the mite count got too high and they absconded, cleaning out the honey before they left. I should’ve treated after I pulled the honey so hard lesson learned. There were only maybe 20-30 bees around so no saving this one. I froze the frames and will start over next spring.
If you see eggs, the queen is there. I don't think you need to obsessively clean off the burr comb, because you are just going to accidently kill bees, and you end up spending too much time with the hive open. I prefer a jar top feeder myself so all they can do is propalise the openings from underneath. It allows you to add more syrup without opening the hive and disturbing them.
First, let me say it is always heartbreaking when you find your bees are gone. It has happened to me for several reasons. I have had a hive hit with pesticide, I have had a hive destroyed by wax moths, I have had them just disappear mysteriously. Now, I would like to point out a few things I found odd about your inspection. First, you did not put your frames back the way they started. In this case less important since they were gone, but in most cases, not good practice. The bees arrange things the way they like, and messing with the arrangement can actually kill brood. Second, why get the smoker going so strong when it is obvious that there is nothing left, though I did like your technique. Third, I would have liked to see the bottom under the brood box. Was there a layer of dead bees? What sort of debris was there? It is a bit late for a split, but it isn't the end of the world. You can feed your other hive and now they have less competition for resources nearby. Two, maybe salvage what you can from the dead hive, but put some frames in there. Sometimes a swarm will just move in if the hive is available. It smells like bees, so put some frames in there and just have a brood box. let it sit. A single brood box is the right size for an interested swarm to investigate. Just think of this ordeal as a learning experience and don't give up.
You shouldn’t have been let back into the race given you had 6 minutes recovery and approximately 2.5 free laps. Not to mention you restarted when the break passed and not when the field passed.
Hey so this happened last weekend to one of my hives. I did the same as you, with an empty hive, and they flew off. I notice swarms head north, in search of a new home.
I had to stop using the oil in traps , I always forgot to remove at least one and i would spill oil on my bees, I started going to the swiffer sheets and they are working great.
I did both the traps and the swiffer sheets last year (first year as a beek). I had the same problem with spilling until I filled them much less with a small wash bottle. I'm less of a fan of the swiffer since the bees drag it to the bottom board and block the entrance.
Hive beetles can take away that zen feeling of beekeeping. Up in massachusetts in found my first 1 last week. Still have lots of drones as well, in November! Weird year.
What are your thoughts on the plastic frames, have you been using them for awhile? Are there pros and cons that you have with them? Been thinking about trying them, just haven't pulled the trigger.
Plastic frames feel flimsy and I had one break when it was stuck to the super above. The grooves in the end bars are a place for beetles to hide as I was told. The frames are OK you just need to be careful with them but I prefer wood. I just bought 100 plastic frames because of the cost, Pierco and Acorn is what I used last summer and no regrets, even a wood frame can break.
Agh I forgot the crit was happening, wasn't able to get time off work for it. Gonna have to watch it through tomorrow, there's gonna be plenty for me to learn from your riding
I’m thinking about doing this race this year as my first cat 5, first crit ever. I’m confident I’ll be fine but this is just a recipe for disaster, like what is this? Do you know of any other crits around CVG?
Couldn't make it to the crit this year thanks to work, but it certainly looks like it was a good day for it. Glad to see some of the potholes have been fixed that were an issue last year.
I've had drivers do similar things to me in the muncie, IN area, motorists seriously seem to dislike cyclists. I really hope the local PD follows through with this
Was interesting seeing how quickly Revard got up there, but the field stayed together very well, made for some good photo and video opportunities. Good racing though, I can only dream of making it up to this level.
Top 10-15 guys are playing a different sport than me. I had a decent position and felt good until the crash about 7.5 mins in. Lost 20 spots immediately and spent the rest of the time tailgunning.
