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Post by onebentarrow on May 15, 2023 21:22:33 GMT -5
An official bee keeper now Cought my first swarm tonight after 4 years of trying. It is small, about the size of a soft ball but I saw the queen walk in. Have to figure out how to feed it in the swarm trap to help it grow till I can put it in a 10 frame deep. Got stung 1 time on end of Pointer finger when I was trying to move bees on the ground to find the queen. This may sound crazy but I was like a kid on Christmas morning watching those bees go in my box I built.
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Post by genesis273 on May 15, 2023 21:53:56 GMT -5
Congratulations to you!
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I am
May 16, 2023 6:15:02 GMT -5
Post by Mack Apiary Bees on May 16, 2023 6:15:02 GMT -5
Congrats and go ahead and move them to the ten frame.
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Post by onebentarrow on May 16, 2023 12:34:53 GMT -5
4 years trying to catch 1 swarm and I got another one today. Christmas in May. This one was a LOT bigger than the last. Filled a 10 frame.
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I am
May 18, 2023 1:53:23 GMT -5
Post by learn91 on May 18, 2023 1:53:23 GMT -5
Thats gonna be some good honey!
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Post by Mack Apiary Bees on May 18, 2023 6:47:41 GMT -5
Awesome. I'm on swarm #14. My friend beekeeper stopped by yesterday morning and we agreed most swarms every this spring. Also one of the best honey flows ever. I'm giving away two more swarms this Saturday. I'm out of equipment. I'm around 44 hives right now, but 6 of them have virgin queens that came with the swarms. One or two will not be successful on the mating flights. So I guess I'll be around 38 hives. I plan to move a few swarm queens to nucs and use the other bees to help a few hives that need bee numbers. I hope to get the number down below 35 hives. I will be pulling honey this weekend, earliest ever. So another bee weekend. I need to retire!
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I am
May 30, 2023 15:04:05 GMT -5
via mobile
stevein likes this
Post by onebentarrow on May 30, 2023 15:04:05 GMT -5
I am worried about my swarm. First the little one(tennis ball size) it dwindled down to about 300 bees with no visable queen and no drawn comb so I just combined them with the big one one week ago. I an only going in the hive every 7 days. Today makes 14 days. The big swarm has drawn-out a lot of comb and packed in the nector. I have both sides of a deep frame full of nector and 4 more aeras on both sides to equal 1 full fame but I do not see any eggs larva and NO capped brood. I did not see the queen but being a new beekeeper that would not surprise me. The bees are quiet(no loud buzzing when I am in the hive) and very gentle (I have been working the hive with NO vail and a t shirt and not taken one sting. Today is the first time I used smoke and it was to run them down when I put hive back together. The hive appears to have 3 pounds of bees in it. Question. Is it to early to expect eggs? Did I have a vergin queen that was not mated. I know an old mated queen would have started laying as soon as they got some comb drawn. How long should I wate befor looking in to getting a mailorder queen. I really wanted to do this with out a ton of investment. I built my boxes(4) swarm boxes(5) and all my frames except 10 from scrap lumber I had here at the house. Would a free swarm cell work or is the life span of the bees in the hive going to be too short to get replacement bees hatched? If I need a queen do you have any suggestions. Thanks for any advice. I am really enjoying my bees. I go over and watch them fly every day.
Onebentarrow
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