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My Bees Swarmed Today

My bees swarmed at mid day today. Hindsight is a wonderful thing; whilst the weather held we should have gone through the bees instead of blithely watching them bringing in the different coloured pollens, trying to decide what they had been foraging on. Anyway, back to my tale: The bees landed on the fence directly behind the hive. There appeared to be two separate entities. So, we placed an empty brood frame box on the fence above them and tried to gently smoke them up (bees go up into the dark don’t they? - they certainly go up your trouser leg quick enough if they have half a chance!)bee-smillie The bees did not go up into the box as planned (as per book) but formed a rather nice football shape underneath it. It started to...
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New 5 frame nuc installed

Just installed five frame nuc yesterday, bees seem healthy and queen was present on frames. Also put top feeder on top of crown board then empty super then roof. Checked today and bees don't seem to be feeding on the sugar syrup, and bees aren't flying. Is this normal, or have I don something wrong ? Please help
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Friday 27th Apr

Had a good look in the brood box I put on top and the 2 supers. But could not find any Queens. So my guess is 1 Queen killed the other. :confused: Put a new brood box to the left of my hive. I only made 3 brood frames with foundation. I need to change another 3 frame and move the 2 super over also. So this hive must have a virgin Queen in it. Hope not 2. :rolleyes: As I finished it started to rain. So I did not get a chance to look at the brood in the right hive.
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Sunday 15th Apr

Been a bizzy for the last 2 weeks and not had a chance to look at the hives. Had a quick look. Turns out there were 5 queen cells in the hive I joined up and I did not look for Queen Cells last time. Removed the 3 celled Q/Cs and found 2 open Q/Cs. There is a Q/E separating them from my laying Queen. I will have to spilt the hive next week.
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New Member in need of advice

I would like to learn about beekeeping but have no idea where to start. Looked up a few websites and I know I will need all the start up kit. One site said not to use second hand hives due to diseases etc. is this correct? What books can you recommend please. Also I would imagine some courses are needed. Should I read up a bit first and then some courses? I have a fairly large garden which is on a main road, there is a tall hedge separating the garden from the road kerb. Would it be dangerous to put a hive next to this hedge (I expect yes is the answer)? You can see how much I don't have a clue about the subject but very willing to learn. Any help would be great and thanks. Margaret
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Hail and rain this morning

My original hive remains very busy, just as though nothing had happened. This morning we noticed bees still flying around the fence where the swarm landed yesterday. Although they didnt go far from the original hive I wonder why they are still persist, after all they weren’t there last night. The swarmed bees are very slow and seem very tentative in coming in and out. Should I give them some syrup to help them draw out the foundation? Weather not good today sunshine and showers forcast for the rest of the week.
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No capped brood

bee-smillieWe are now well into April and one of my hives shows very little worker bee activity. When I opened the hive I found no capped brood and no new larva. Pollen reserves present but no capped brood. Freshly laid eggs ? The queen is present and seems to be moving around with no signs of distress. No drone cells present. Any suggestions ?bee-smillie
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Worrying for nothing

The talk of bees eating a kilo of stores a week in very cold weather once they have started brooding on the Spring had me worried. I hadn't looked at my overwintered nucs for 3 weeks, but it was a bit warmer yesterday, so I checked them. I was so, so happpy to find them all alive. I'm hoping all 5 will make it through now. I don't reckon they could eat a kilo of stores in a week. I reckon there won't be more than a couple of kilo of bees in the boxes - probably less. It feels like time to start making up frames and thinking about how I'm going to sell them.
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Changeable Weather

Have not managed to get inside for a look at the bees, yet. Today they were at it again - outside the hive. We have decided that they are orientating! We have noticed dead drones in small numbers too.:angelsad2::angelsad2: Put some euphorbia in the garden (present actually) and noticed the wasps like it - but have had bees on it too. Got a nasty surprise yesterday... put my hand into a gardening glove and touched something furry it was a queen wasp!!!! Better day tomorrow -
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Dead bees at the hive entrance

Hi all Ive just taken delivery of 3 hives. I have had them a week today and just noticed that on 2 hives there are 2-3 clusters of 20 or so bees on the ground outside the hive clinging together for warmth. Are there winter bees being turfed out to perish or should I be concerned. The more advanced hive has more bees on the floor than the lesser advanced, the beas appear in perfect health in appearance. Any ideas? thanks Mark.:eek:
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Faulty Beehaus Kit

New member to this forum - I have a problem! Received a Beehaus kit last september but only now assembling prior to taking delivery of 1st nucleus. Trying to assemble brood frames but it seems that none of the top bar pieces have been scored through so there are no 'removable parts' to snap off for the frame to receive and sec:nopity:ure wax foundation. Any advice out there, or is it just complain to to Omlet? rstationhives
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Ants!!

After giving my bees some more water today I noticed that there are several ants inside and outside the hive. After a quick look under the roof i can see that the ants are clearing up the remainder of the candy that the bees have left. Should I be worried? will the damage the bees? How do I go about eradicating them and not damaging the hive? Any advice greatly received please. This is only my second year at bee keeping.
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A swarm has just adopted us and we need a mentor

Hi Jane and I have recently began to `live the good life´ on a 3000 square metre piece of land in mid Portugal. Luck would have it that a short time ago (yesterday) I noticed that a swarm of bees have taken up residence in a small (25 litre) wooden wine barrel in a small out house. We know nothing about keeping bees but realise our good fortune. We have decided that we should try to keep the bees so that they will assist in the pollination of our crops and benefit from their production of honey. Firstly we need to relocate them to a proper hive in another part of the land. We realise that we will need to care for them in the future and hopefully learn how to keep them properly. Is there a patient person on this forum that is...
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Waiting for the weather to improve

Cold start to the day - ice on my bird baths! Warmed up later but still not warm enough to take a peek at the girls. Bees got busy just before lunch and have found the oil seed rape (which was only a matter of time - just a short walk for me through the wood). They were coming back covered in bright yellow pollen. However, some bees were bringing in dark orange stuff- and of course there are the water carriers raiding the pond. Bees seem settled and dont (yet) seem to be planning the great escape! ;) Which I am told is too early. Noticed a few drones today. Looked at the super we were thinking of using for brood and a half - not Hoffman so we put plastic spaces back on. Been reading about brood and a half and wondering if its more...
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What to do next?

Just come back from the Bee Auction at Lincoln (not tempted by anything – although an extractor is high on our list). Decided to take advice from my mentor and other (revered) bee keepers - to add more room in the brood chamber. Thoughts are that the bees are over crowded (certainly a lot of bees in there last time we had a look!) We will probably use a super that was (accidentally) left in (which the bees cleared by the way) when we used Apigard last autumn. Still smells a bit of thymol so I guess I won’t be using it for the honey crop anyway. So, as soon as the weather allows (sods law, its gone cooler now :toetap05:) the super goes on over the brood and the queen excluder on top of that. We will then have a brood and a half. All...
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