Wont be long and youll have your first hive. I can see it happening Mackka......
Beekeeping
- Thread starter Lesgold
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A great thought Les, but no.
I will just keep supporting people like yourself.
Thanks again for this great thread and all the contributors.
Mackka :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
I will just keep supporting people like yourself.
Thanks again for this great thread and all the contributors.
Mackka :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
Morning everyone,
Just wanted to touch on a very important aspect of beekeeping this morning. The importance of using our senses. As prospectors, we tend to rely heavily on our vision and our hearing. Our sight is important for picking the ground that we are going to detect or for finding that location on a stretch of river that may hold the few specs that we are chasing. Our hearing is critical if we are trying to isolate that minor change in a detectors threshold that may reveal the treasure below. Similar skills need to be utilised when managing the little critters that produce the honey that we enjoy on our toast every morning. I remember going into a hive with an old timer and couldnt help myself. I was like you guys. Had to constantly ask questions and wanted answers. He turned to me and said. Be quite, watch, listen and learn. The questions can come later. Slowly, over time, what he said started to make sense. Sounds, smells and visual clues can tell you so much about what is happening. Let me see if I can give you just a few examples. At the moment, a small honey flow is in progress. The visual clues are obvious. Honey producing gums are in flower and can be spotted from quite a distance. When walking through the bush, bees can be heard working these trees. (Even when the flowers cant be spotted). The humming noise can be very loud at times. Of a late afternoon, the sweet overpowering smell of nectar hits you 50m away from the hive. The bees are fanning the honey, trying to lower the moisture content. This information tells quite a detailed story. When opening a hive at this time, there should be no surprises as you should know what to expect. Some of the diseases that infect a hive can be identified via visual information and often through the smell that comes from the frames. Have a close look at this photo:
If you look closely at the bees coming in to land, you may notice that some of them have pollen attached to their rear legs. (The photo is not all that clear, sorry) From that picture, a couple of pieces of information can be determined. The first thing that I noticed was the different colours of the pollen. Some is orange and there is also some yellow pollen coming in. This is a good sign as it means that at least two types of plant are providing this protein source. It is important that bees get variety in their diet (as it is for us) to provide all the essential minerals and proteins for hive health. The other information that the photo provides is about the queen. There is a good chance that there is a queen laying strongly in that particular hive. Pollen mixed with honey is fed to the young larvae to promote growth. When large quantities of pollen enter the hive it can mean that the queen is present and doing her job. All of this information is provided to you without invasively entering the hive. Quite often a simple walk around the hive can tell so much about what is happening. I will post some info tonight along with a question for you to answer. Hopefully a clue will help you determine what is happening in a hive that I have concerns about.
Cheers
Les
Just wanted to touch on a very important aspect of beekeeping this morning. The importance of using our senses. As prospectors, we tend to rely heavily on our vision and our hearing. Our sight is important for picking the ground that we are going to detect or for finding that location on a stretch of river that may hold the few specs that we are chasing. Our hearing is critical if we are trying to isolate that minor change in a detectors threshold that may reveal the treasure below. Similar skills need to be utilised when managing the little critters that produce the honey that we enjoy on our toast every morning. I remember going into a hive with an old timer and couldnt help myself. I was like you guys. Had to constantly ask questions and wanted answers. He turned to me and said. Be quite, watch, listen and learn. The questions can come later. Slowly, over time, what he said started to make sense. Sounds, smells and visual clues can tell you so much about what is happening. Let me see if I can give you just a few examples. At the moment, a small honey flow is in progress. The visual clues are obvious. Honey producing gums are in flower and can be spotted from quite a distance. When walking through the bush, bees can be heard working these trees. (Even when the flowers cant be spotted). The humming noise can be very loud at times. Of a late afternoon, the sweet overpowering smell of nectar hits you 50m away from the hive. The bees are fanning the honey, trying to lower the moisture content. This information tells quite a detailed story. When opening a hive at this time, there should be no surprises as you should know what to expect. Some of the diseases that infect a hive can be identified via visual information and often through the smell that comes from the frames. Have a close look at this photo:
If you look closely at the bees coming in to land, you may notice that some of them have pollen attached to their rear legs. (The photo is not all that clear, sorry) From that picture, a couple of pieces of information can be determined. The first thing that I noticed was the different colours of the pollen. Some is orange and there is also some yellow pollen coming in. This is a good sign as it means that at least two types of plant are providing this protein source. It is important that bees get variety in their diet (as it is for us) to provide all the essential minerals and proteins for hive health. The other information that the photo provides is about the queen. There is a good chance that there is a queen laying strongly in that particular hive. Pollen mixed with honey is fed to the young larvae to promote growth. When large quantities of pollen enter the hive it can mean that the queen is present and doing her job. All of this information is provided to you without invasively entering the hive. Quite often a simple walk around the hive can tell so much about what is happening. I will post some info tonight along with a question for you to answer. Hopefully a clue will help you determine what is happening in a hive that I have concerns about.
Cheers
Les
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Les you have to change your name to Bee whisperer. 
Me thinks BS whisperer would be closer to the mark......
OK folks,
A question for you to test your powers of observation and logic. A hive split that was checked yesterday had no signs of a laying queen. No eggs or brood at all. The only visual information was cells that looked like the ones below. Can you see anything? There may be clues in what you see. Would be interested to hear what you think. Will tell you my response to what I saw and also some other indicators later on.
Cheers
Les
OK folks,
A question for you to test your powers of observation and logic. A hive split that was checked yesterday had no signs of a laying queen. No eggs or brood at all. The only visual information was cells that looked like the ones below. Can you see anything? There may be clues in what you see. Would be interested to hear what you think. Will tell you my response to what I saw and also some other indicators later on.
Cheers
Les
No. Its a visual clue. Look into the cell Megsy.
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Are baby bee's about to be born.
Goody
Goody
Cant see any baby bees goody. Look hard and describe what you see. Tell me everything in detail. The answer there in front of your eyes.
Why is that Tathradj? They are concave and you are getting closer to the answer. By the way, notice how dark these cells are. Many young bees were raised in these cells and the dark brown colour is due to the cocoon that remains after the young bee hatches. Repeat this process quite a few times and the cells darken and also become a little smaller in diameter over time.
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Looks like the cells are shrinking and drying out,
So then the next lot of eggs could be maybe be layed,
Layer of old cells
So then the next lot of eggs could be maybe be layed,
Layer of old cells
To me it looks like certain cells are expanding and others are remaining almost flat.
Mackka
Mackka
Some actually over the edge and others are below
Mackka
Mackka
You are thinking goody. Well done but incorrect. The answer does not have anything to do with the colour, size, shape or anything that may be in some of the cells. Come on you lot, describe a visual characteristic of the cell that has not been touched on.....
Hi Mackka,
Well done mate. You are using your eyes but you are not on track. There is something there that is quite striking but is a feature that you are all ignoring. Sometimes a little thing means so much but until it is pointed out, it is disregarded.
Well done mate. You are using your eyes but you are not on track. There is something there that is quite striking but is a feature that you are all ignoring. Sometimes a little thing means so much but until it is pointed out, it is disregarded.
Megsy,
You are a legend. Notice how clean and polished those cells are. Why is that the case? We are nearly to the answer.
You are a legend. Notice how clean and polished those cells are. Why is that the case? We are nearly to the answer.
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