Hey guys just to let you know I wouldn’t be putting a super on that hive and also I don’t think there’s a queen, those frames were full of pollen and nectar/capped honey I didn’t see any larvae or capped brood
Sadly, I think you are correct. A couple days ago they swarmed and left the hive completely. After taking all of the frames out we found 25 or 30 hive beetles. They were just all closer to the bottom of the box. We showed pictures of the frames to a couple of experienced beekeepers and they think the pests probably got to them. We do have some larvae that we will pull out and see if they have any of the mites on them because the local guy said that they have been a huge problem this year. They encouraged us to buy another nuke and try again, learning from our experience. There are several things we're going to do differently this time. I'm so sad we couldn't keep the environment safe enough for them. We feel terrible.
I see that you commented on two of my walk-through videos. These two houses are not available but I would love to set up a time to talk with you about the real estate market in Pensacola. Can you give me a call at 850-324-3510?
So I would not add another box. You really never want to add another box until the existing one is at least about 75% full. When feeding sugar syrup it's ideal to use an internal feeder of some sort, this will really increase your chances that you don't create a robbing situation with other nearby bees/colonies. Hive beetles I never really worry about unless you are seeing tons of them. With that being said, a strong hive will keep the beetles in check, as well as having the hive in full sun. Going into winter that size colony would probably need about 30lbs of honey to survive. Of course that depends on lots of factors like the length of cold weather, strain of bee and overall size of the winter cluster. In Houston I'll feed 1:1 syrup well into October, then if they still need weight then I switch to a thicker 2:1 syrup. I also feed pollen patties pretty much from August to October/November. Once they get through winter here I start feeding again in early march to build them up, split them and get them ready for the spring honey flow.
