LYKURGOS
No Surrender, No Defeat!
So I need a little help and advice from more experience bee keepers. Here is a run down of my last 6 years bee keeping failures. I always wanted to try bee keeping and love the hands on experience it has given me but I am at wits end.
YEAR 1 I had been watching a wild hive 30 feet up in an old dead snag near our home. The tree was way to dangerous for me to cut so I waited and watched and waited and 6 years ago they swarmed I went and bought a starter kit and was too late they moved off the low easy limb the next morning. I should have sugar sprayed them and put them into the box even in the dark but I wanted to work them in the day light I had set the box up close but hadn’t baited it yet.
YEAR 2 The tree fell over and I found out why they swarmed! A beetle colony was eating the wax and honey. So I ordered my first bee package no nucs were available that year from our feed store. I placed them on top of a conex container facing south with good access to water and lots of open sky. They did fair but we had a dry year and they only pulled 7 frames of wax. There was a mild winter and I didn’t feed them that fall. They starved to death by the end of March of Year 3.
YEAR 3 I had found Bee University of Galuph videos and increased my knowledge. This time I bought a 5 frame nuk. They were delivered may 15 and missed a lot of the spring flowering. They did very well and had the lower 10 frames full and 6 upper frames drawn out with comb and only two frames partially filled. I did leave the super on probably a mistake.
YEAR 4 I checked them in warm late feb last year and could not find a bee one in the hive upper or lower. Yet 50% of the honey was still there hadn’t checked in on them since late Nov. I ordered a bee package. I always cleaned the boxes after a hive failure and only found very minor beetle issues and almost no mite indicators. The hive was still 8 ft off the ground away from mice and other pests. Before my third attempt arrived a wild swarm moved into the box. The mean little black wild bees common in the Ozarks. I left them alone for two weeks until my package arrived then I set up my new package into a new box. But their neighbors the wild swarm were very pissy. The next two weeks the new package took hold and the wild swarm got meaner and meaner. Upon examination the wild swarm was queen less I on week three I pulled a small new brood frame out of the package hive with new eggs and put it into the wild box. Sure enough they were able to raise a queen and within in 4 weeks brood frames were being made. Success I thought two hives the converted wild with new domesticated queen did great and filled upper super and the lower was full of brood. As I prepared them for winter I saw the package bees were week had very little honey frames only 1 1/2 so I used some of the upper frames out of the super of the converted wild hive and put the drawn out yet empty frames into the super of the strong colony. After the goldenrod I fed them for two weeks. I was doubtful the package bee hive would make it but I reduced the entrances
YEAR 5 So as soon as we were consistently above 55 degrees all day I noticed lots of activity on the outside of the stronger hive. I get up an check and find no bees in the weak hive and it appears the bees on the strong hive are a mixture of wild bees and domesticated bees I suspected robbing so I started feeding for a couple weeks into we had millions of pear blooms all around. I ordered a five frame nuc to put into the brushed out weak box from last year. I was very disappointed with this nuc it had only three frames of bees two empty new frames were stuck in the box there was mud stuck in the vent holes and duct tape holding the lid on. Not what I had expected for $185. I swapped them over to a cleaned box with 5 full frames of empty drawn comb. I checked the big strong hive and found no bees! Wax caps were strung all over the empty box I assume a large robbing operation. Decimated this hive as well.
I’ve given the new hive one week to settle in. Tonight I checked them and they are dead, some brood capped still some dead and emerging young.
So I must have a bee black thumb.
I really would like to win this little battle.I’m concerned about buying again. Should I try moving them? The old original wild hive may be established close by and be a pirate hive flying the Jolly Rodger swooping in and decimating my little tame mild bees. I’m looking at having to drop another $185 for another weak five yet thee frame colony
YEAR 1 I had been watching a wild hive 30 feet up in an old dead snag near our home. The tree was way to dangerous for me to cut so I waited and watched and waited and 6 years ago they swarmed I went and bought a starter kit and was too late they moved off the low easy limb the next morning. I should have sugar sprayed them and put them into the box even in the dark but I wanted to work them in the day light I had set the box up close but hadn’t baited it yet.
YEAR 2 The tree fell over and I found out why they swarmed! A beetle colony was eating the wax and honey. So I ordered my first bee package no nucs were available that year from our feed store. I placed them on top of a conex container facing south with good access to water and lots of open sky. They did fair but we had a dry year and they only pulled 7 frames of wax. There was a mild winter and I didn’t feed them that fall. They starved to death by the end of March of Year 3.
YEAR 3 I had found Bee University of Galuph videos and increased my knowledge. This time I bought a 5 frame nuk. They were delivered may 15 and missed a lot of the spring flowering. They did very well and had the lower 10 frames full and 6 upper frames drawn out with comb and only two frames partially filled. I did leave the super on probably a mistake.
YEAR 4 I checked them in warm late feb last year and could not find a bee one in the hive upper or lower. Yet 50% of the honey was still there hadn’t checked in on them since late Nov. I ordered a bee package. I always cleaned the boxes after a hive failure and only found very minor beetle issues and almost no mite indicators. The hive was still 8 ft off the ground away from mice and other pests. Before my third attempt arrived a wild swarm moved into the box. The mean little black wild bees common in the Ozarks. I left them alone for two weeks until my package arrived then I set up my new package into a new box. But their neighbors the wild swarm were very pissy. The next two weeks the new package took hold and the wild swarm got meaner and meaner. Upon examination the wild swarm was queen less I on week three I pulled a small new brood frame out of the package hive with new eggs and put it into the wild box. Sure enough they were able to raise a queen and within in 4 weeks brood frames were being made. Success I thought two hives the converted wild with new domesticated queen did great and filled upper super and the lower was full of brood. As I prepared them for winter I saw the package bees were week had very little honey frames only 1 1/2 so I used some of the upper frames out of the super of the converted wild hive and put the drawn out yet empty frames into the super of the strong colony. After the goldenrod I fed them for two weeks. I was doubtful the package bee hive would make it but I reduced the entrances
YEAR 5 So as soon as we were consistently above 55 degrees all day I noticed lots of activity on the outside of the stronger hive. I get up an check and find no bees in the weak hive and it appears the bees on the strong hive are a mixture of wild bees and domesticated bees I suspected robbing so I started feeding for a couple weeks into we had millions of pear blooms all around. I ordered a five frame nuc to put into the brushed out weak box from last year. I was very disappointed with this nuc it had only three frames of bees two empty new frames were stuck in the box there was mud stuck in the vent holes and duct tape holding the lid on. Not what I had expected for $185. I swapped them over to a cleaned box with 5 full frames of empty drawn comb. I checked the big strong hive and found no bees! Wax caps were strung all over the empty box I assume a large robbing operation. Decimated this hive as well.
I’ve given the new hive one week to settle in. Tonight I checked them and they are dead, some brood capped still some dead and emerging young.
So I must have a bee black thumb.
I really would like to win this little battle.I’m concerned about buying again. Should I try moving them? The old original wild hive may be established close by and be a pirate hive flying the Jolly Rodger swooping in and decimating my little tame mild bees. I’m looking at having to drop another $185 for another weak five yet thee frame colony
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