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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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  • From: "John Friedrick" <friedjf AT verizon.net>
  • To: "Brian and Lanette Fee" <fee436 AT att.net>, <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Dear Abbee, my whoas are many!
  • Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 09:37:03 -0400

Dear Abbee:
My wife and I decided to learn about beekeeping (before getting bee hives) by taking the class, joining OCBA, hosting events like the honey extraction, helping with the hives of others, attending field events and OCBA meetings and reading all the listserv posts to analyze how to solve each keeper’s problems. Now, 10 months later, I’ve got “hives” just reading Brian and Lanette’s problems with their bees. I have no idea where to even start in solving their problem. There are so many variables. It’s like Algebra 2... with most of the polynomials being B’s, some squared and some all the way to the sixth power. How do you beekeepers solve these complex equations?
 
I don’t want to just dive in with a hive and then “bumble” through. I feel no closer to getting our hives than before all this. How do I get past this buzzing headache?
Signed,
Johnny Bee Good
 
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2014 10:32 PM
Subject: [ocba] Dear Abbee, my whoas are many!
 

Dear Abbee,

     I got two nucs in the spring.  One has been a strong hive that has done quite well.  The other one has done so-so, but it was always a weaker hive.  Recently the weaker hive took a precipitous fall.  About a week ago and a half ago, I no longer saw eggs in the weaker hive.  The bees had started to make their own queen.  I think these queen cells were made using older larvae and in a hurry.  The queen cells were small.  I cut these out and gave them a frame from the stronger hive that had a mix of eggs and larvae.  I made sure I had eggs on the frame so they had a good start if they needed to make their own queen.  I also started hunting to buy a queen to save time.  This took a while, but a got one ordered late last week.  Last Saturday, I hear a noise 40 feet up in a tree and, bummer, a swarm, but I didn’t know from which hive, but I didn’t have time to go into them right away.

    The ordered queen comes, and I go into the bees to find the strong hive is still brimming with bees, but has about 7 very nice looking queen cells, also eggs, and larvae of various sizes.  I don’t believe this queen can fly.  >From day one she has had damaged wings.  In a case like that, what happens to the old queen since she is the one that normally leaves?  I cut out the swarm cells.  The weak hive is now a dying hive.  I think this one is either the one that swarmed or it’s dying a very fast death.  Since there are so many swarm cells in the strong hive, I’m thinking that by accident, I moved a queen cell to the weak hive – that or they just saw the writing on the wall and left.  There are still a fair number of bees in the weak hive. 

     Taking stock of what I have:  I have one hive that is dying with still a good number of bees in it.  Does it have a queen?  I’m not sure.  I have a new purchased queen.  And, I have a hive that desperately wants to swarm.  What do I do?

     My inclination is to move the old queen to a nuc and fake a swarm, then install the newly purchased queen in the old hive, then dismantle the dying hive.  Is that a good idea?  What’s the best way to fake a swarm?  How much brood etc., should I move with the old, strong queen?  What do I do with the bees in the old, weak hive?  How long will my purchased queen live without a hive?  She has attendants with her.  If I use her to fake the swarm of the old, strong hive, how long should I wait before I put the purchased queen in with that hive after I’ve moved the old queen out?

 

So many problems, so little time.  Anyone out there have any pearls of wisdom?

Lanette


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