A bad day

[Beagle23]

So it started badly an went downhill fast. A quick inspection under the roof to see if I could remove the feeder, resulted in a sting on my wedding finger (now swollen to the size of an average UK sausage).
I then kitted up with the intention of making a quick inspection of the hive and inserting the queen excluder after a winter on 1 &1/2. So I took of the roof, smoked gently and then lifted the super. I took a couple of steps and three frames from the brood box that had been attached to the bottom of the super crashed to the floor. Bees, brood, stores everywhere, and big angry black clowd looking to hurt someone.

After much cursing, I manged to retrieve the fallen frames and made an inspection for the queen, I couldn't find her (she's unmarked). Hoping that she wasn't crushed on the lawn I brought the frames back to some semblance of order and placed back into the brood box.
So with the super off to one side I noticed two things that was going to make my task more difficult, there was a build up of comb on the top of the brood frames, and this was covered in bees, which as fast as I brushed them off retook their position. I then spent an hour gently removing the unwanted comb and then had a devil of a time adding the queen excluder without crushing bees.

With the hive settling down I re-added the super and carried out a quick inspection of the frames to make sure the queen wasn't trapped within. No queen, but I did see a dozen or so bees with ragged wings and some with only stubbs. Alarm bells started ringing and I'm back in the brood box looking for mites.....nothing found but I don't know what else it could be. I got stung through the face netting on my forehead for my troubles.

So a thoroughly miserable day beekeeping

 

[Anduril]

I carry cheese wire for times like that to separate the boxes. When you can try and coat the tops of the frames with petroleum jelly. DWV, if you are going to use the super for stores, then remove it, add an eke and get some apiguard, not ideal for this time of year but it will do the trick. Then later on in the season you may have to consider requeening your aggressive hive.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I took a couple of steps and three frames from the brood box that had been attached to the bottom of the super crashed to the floor.

Just break the seal and raise the super about an inch on one side, give a puff of smoke into the gap then use the tip of your hive tool on the end bars to pry down any attached frames, then remove the super.

 

[kevrhcfag]

As above, also if keep super low and turn it a tad also tends to just break seal.

First inspection are always a pain and frequented with bad language, gnashing of teeth, or at least mine are.

 

[pargyle]

So it started badly an went downhill fast. ,,,,,

So a thoroughly miserable day beekeeping

But not a BAD day - we all have those sort of days but you have to take the positives out of it ...

a. It's a leaning experience - you won't do it like that again.

b. You found something in the colony that requires more action or at least some investigation.

c. You got it all back together and coped with a difficult situation.

Put it behind you and accept it for what it was .. a steep learning curve.

 

[REDWOOD]

The best way I found in dealing with frames joined together is to break the seal between the boxes and twist the top box 90 degrees, this will break any wax joining them together. Either smoke the bees down before adding QE or slid it in from one corner gently. Always inspect frames over the hive. Don't worry mate I've been in worst sh!tty situation when I started


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Swarm]

Then later on in the season you may have to consider requeening your aggressive hive.

Possibly a bit premature? Judging by the OP, it sounds like the hive was open for longer than an hour, ages in fact. Frames lifted and dropped, a repeat inspection of frames to find mites and all this when temps are anything but consistently warm. I don't think I'd be judging that colony so harshly.

 

[Anduril]

Possibly a bit premature? Judging by the OP, it sounds like the hive was open for longer than an hour, ages in fact. Frames lifted and dropped, a repeat inspection of frames to find mites and all this when temps are anything but consistently warm. I don't think I'd be judging that colony so harshly.

Basing it on this thread http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=39022
An hour is a very long time, even buckfasts start to get tetchy after half an hour.

 

[Millet]

So it started badly an went downhill fast. A quick inspection under the roof to see if I could remove the feeder, resulted in a sting on my wedding finger (now swollen to the size of an average UK sausage).
I then kitted up with the intention of making a quick inspection of the hive and inserting the queen excluder after a winter on 1 &1/2. So I took of the roof, smoked gently and then lifted the super. I took a couple of steps and three frames from the brood box that had been attached to the bottom of the super crashed to the floor. Bees, brood, stores everywhere, and big angry black clowd looking to hurt someone.

After much cursing, I manged to retrieve the fallen frames and made an inspection for the queen, I couldn't find her (she's unmarked). Hoping that she wasn't crushed on the lawn I brought the frames back to some semblance of order and placed back into the brood box.
So with the super off to one side I noticed two things that was going to make my task more difficult, there was a build up of comb on the top of the brood frames, and this was covered in bees, which as fast as I brushed them off retook their position. I then spent an hour gently removing the unwanted comb and then had a devil of a time adding the queen excluder without crushing bees.

With the hive settling down I re-added the super and carried out a quick inspection of the frames to make sure the queen wasn't trapped within. No queen, but I did see a dozen or so bees with ragged wings and some with only stubbs. Alarm bells started ringing and I'm back in the brood box looking for mites.....nothing found but I don't know what else it could be. I got stung through the face netting on my forehead for my troubles.

So a thoroughly miserable day beekeeping

As far as that goes could you not feel the added resistance when trying to lift, a super weighs nothing like a brood box with bees and stores, i watched a video of Michael Palmers a good while back, which showed the full box being tilted to the side to inspect from below without pulling the frames apart, i do the same not so much for inspecting mainly just to see what is stuck together between boxes, give it a go next time it might save a load of time and stress on both parts.

 

[Swarm]

This manoeuvre being much easier with TBS

 

[enrico]

Or.... You can do what I do with some of my hives and place the top box at 90 degrees to the bottom box. That way the top frame does not get stuck to the bottom frame. And if it does then it is impossible to lift the two out together. Having said that, everything you do with your hives should be a learning curve, sometimes you learn one lesson and other times you learn many. Some things will be something you repeat and others will be something you try never to repeat. More than anything else, well done for not panicking, for putting it all back together and for not giving up at the first hurdle.
E

 

[andydormer]

>I got stung through the face netting on my forehead for my troubles.

Try wearing a baseball cap under your beesuit? I do, after being stung on the back of my head, through the hood material.

 

[thenovice]

Sounds like a hectic day. Well done on not bailing. Sounds a lot like my first inspections 3 years ago . I since learned that gentle movements and a minimum of bashing around goes a long way. I still get stung but it is managable. As above, if you need an hour to sort things out it the bees are going to get annoyed. Sometimes it is better to leave things for another day when they (or yourself) have settled down.

 

[Beagle23]

Thanks for all of the good advice and kind words. Really growing to appreciate this place

 

[MartinL]

>I got stung through the face netting on my forehead for my troubles.

Try wearing a baseball cap under your beesuit? I do, after being stung on the back of my head, through the hood material.

Are we to assume there was no hair layer to sting through?

 

[Angularity]

>I got stung through the face netting on my forehead for my troubles.

Try wearing a baseball cap under your beesuit? I do, after being stung on the back of my head, through the hood material.

I did that. My, how we all laughed when the cap slipped down over my eyes, then stuck under my chin, and I put down the frame of angry bees I was carrying to re-organise my face veil, cap and glasses, all while wearing gloves in 25 degree weather.

 

[seaknight]

I carry cheese wire for times like that to separate the boxes. When you can try and coat the tops of the frames with petroleum jelly. DWV, if you are going to use the super for stores, then remove it, add an eke and get some apiguard, not ideal for this time of year but it will do the trick. Then later on in the season you may have to consider requeening your aggressive hive.

Apiguard causes the queen to go off the lay, so it would be a very bad idea at this time of year!

 

[drex]

Mine generally seem to ignore it, when used in the autumn.