Beekeeping

[Eldorado]

Well the swarm next door is still there.My neighbour was thinking of calling on someone to come and get them but must have changed his mind.The bees seem very content,just sitting there in a clump and not too many of them flying around.They are certainly not causing any problems.

 

[goody2shoes]

Les

The Queen is practical pregnant full time?

No wonder she has a short life span,

How many mates would she likely go through?

Is there a leadership of male Bee's,

Like a pecking order that she picks from for breeding,

Was going to ask do bee's drink water, but I remember a long time a go that they do drink water,

Goody

 

[Lesgold]

Hi Goody.

Gee youve put the pressure on with those questions. New research is now beginning to show that some of the older thinking about queen bees may not be fully correct. It looks as though the queen bee may take more than one mating flight and may have sex with up to about fifty drones. After that, there is no more. She holds that sperm for the rest of her fertile life. The experts say that she can lay up to about 200,000 eggs every year. An interesting point is that the bees within a hive are showing genetic traits from a number of different drones. To my knowledge, there is no leadership qualities shown by the male drone bees. The faster and stronger ones get to mate with the virgin queen and the rest miss out. Through the spring all they do is hang out for sex. They contribute nothing else to the hive. Drones are fed by nurse bees and basically sit back and relax. At the end of the season when they are no longer needed, they are kicked out of the hive and die of starvation. Poor blokes, they do it tough.

Cheers

Les

 

[goody2shoes]

I like asking questions Les

You never learn from sitting back in a old rocking chair growing old....

Goody

 

[Lesgold]

I agree goody. People ask questions to find answers. It shows interest and a quest for knowledge. Well done and keep them coming.

When I spoke about the consequences of a hive swarming, I forgot to mention the swarm itself. When the swarm finds a new home, the bees have to work quickly to get some comb drawn so that the queen can begin laying again. I have seen queens laying after one day but have also waited up to a couple of weeks for this to occur. I reckon about a weeks delay would be the average. When the first eggs develop and hatch, at least a month has gone by with no new additions to the hive. Again, bee numbers dwindle during that period. It is probably obvious at this point as to why most bees in a swarm need to be young. The older bees have well and truely finished their days at this point. You can see now that swarming is detrimental to the beekeeper if they are chasing a good quantity of surplus honey. Even if the swarm is caught and boxed, there will be honey losses for a month or so. I do have one swarm that is building up nicely. The queen is laying and bee numbers are starting to pick up. The hive that the swarm came from is OK but is much weaker than it was. I am going to combine the two hives in the next few days to make one strong hive. Will show you the process when I get back from my holiday. Until then,

Cheers

Les

 

[Eldorado]

Well the swarm next door is still there.My neighbour was thinking of calling on someone to come and get them but must have changed his mind.The bees seem very content,just sitting there in a clump and not too many of them flying around.They are certainly not causing any problems.

The bees next door have now moved on.After checking 3 hours after my previous post there was no sign of them ever being there.My neighbour is quite relieved.

 

[goody2shoes]

OK another question....

If all your bee's swarm and took off,

will the eggs that have not hatch, will they hatch?

The bee's that was off getting pollen , then come back to the hive, will they stay..or leave...

Would there still be enough bee's left to maintain a hive?

Would you have to put a new Queen in , in case there was not one ready to hatch ..or wait couple of days..

But if they have all swarm off, where would you be able to get another Queen ?

You can not go to Tathj place and nock he's queen bee off yet, he has not made any boxes and have no bee's yet :lol: :lol: :lol:

Or would you have to chase the bee's all over the country to get them back?

Bad bee...now go home to Les place :lol: :lol:

Goody

 

[Lesgold]

Good to hear Eldorado. Pleased to see they were not harmed in any way. As long as they settle in a hollow tree somewhere, they have a chance. Hopefully you can reap the benefits of a nearby hive through pollination of plants in your garden.

OK goody, now your questions. Only about half the hive swarms, the rest stay with the hive and look after any young brood or raise eggs into bees. There are plenty of bees to look after the hive. Swarming is a natural thing that ensures the survival of the species. It is really a doubling of hives. Any bees off gathering pollen or nectar return to the hive as normal. Remember that the bees who stay behind have raised a queen that is just about to hatch. The beekeeper doesnt need to do anything. This sort of answers your last questions as well.

Cheers

Les

 

[Tathradj]

LOL,
" Box " Project is about to start.
Had to do a bit of saving.

 

[goody2shoes]

:Y:

Goody

 

[Lesgold]

Hi Folks.

Just a quick post before I begin some extracting. Took four boxes of honey off fours hives about half an hour ago. These same hives were robbed just three weeks ago. The iron bark is producing well at the moment. The third hive that was opened had a heavy lid that was hard to remove. Knew what the problem was but couldnt believe what I saw. Seven days ago this hive was checked before going on holidays. The top box was nearly full of honey. Thought it would be right until I got home. This is what I saw when the lid was lifted:

In one week the remaining frames were filled and capped and the bees had built comb on top of the hive mat up into the lid. Good little workers in this colony. Anyway, time to get back into it.

Cheers

Les

 

[goody2shoes]

Yummy looking honey

Goody

 

[MegsyB007]

Huh! I've never seen that type of 'squiggly' comb before. It looks like honey sausages!
Is this normal when they work without the formation to build on, Les?

 

[goody2shoes]

Does it taste good?

 

[Lesgold]

Hi guys. Yes it does taste good. Will crush and strain that honey tonight. Not all of it is fully ripened so it will need to be eaten soon otherwise it may ferment. This is a good example to show why frames are important. It gives the bees guidance as to where the comb is to be built. In a beehive, all comb must be able to be removed to check for disease. If you look carefully, you can see that even though the comb is built all over the place, there is still regular tracks between the comb. Bees fell comfortable with a gap of around 8 to 10mm between comb. If that gap becomes to large, cross comb will be built. The bee space is a very important consideration and design feature that is built into all hives. The widths of comb and bee space helped standards to be set in relation to hive sizes. Doug, your KTB hive top bars (from memory the top bars are about 32 to 35mm wide) make allowances for comb width and bee space.

 

[goody2shoes]

If it ferment , can you turn that in to wine?

Goody

 

[MegsyB007]

"Not all of it is fully ripened so it will need to be eaten soon otherwise it may ferment."

Can you explain this further please Les? You lost me there.

Cheers,
Meg

 

[goody2shoes]

Thanks Meg

Goody

 

[Lesgold]

Honey will last for ever if the water content is low enough. Bees ripen honey by fanning it to reduce moisture. When its water content of the honey is at the right level, the bees seal the honey into the cell with a layer of beeswax (capped comb). If there is too much water in the honey, natural yeasts will ferment the honey. Mead is actually made this way. Honey and water are mixed together, yeast is added and the fermentation process begins. Its a bit like making beer or wine. I have a bottle in the fridge that a mate made recently. I can only drink it if Im in my jarmies. It has a kick like a mule.

 

[goody2shoes]

Well I am not going to drink that with you then Les....I don't own a pair of jarmies

Goody